| 1. |
- Barman, Malin, 1983, et al.
(author)
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Short-chain fatty acids (SCFA) in infants’ plasma and corresponding mother's milk and plasma in relation to subsequent sensitisation and atopic disease
- 2024
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In: EBioMedicine. - 2352-3964. ; 101
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Short-chain fatty acids (SCFAs) in intestinal contents may influence immune function, while less is known about SCFAs in blood plasma. The aims were to investigate the relation between infants’ and maternal plasma SCFAs, as well as SCFAs in mother's milk, and relate SCFA concentrations in infant plasma to subsequent sensitisation and atopic disease. Methods: Infant plasma (N = 148) and corresponding mother's milk and plasma were collected four months postpartum. Nine SCFA (formic, acetic, propionic, isobutyric, butyric, succinic, valeric, isovaleric, and caproic acid) were analysed by UPLC-MS. At 12 months of age, atopic disease was diagnosed by a pediatric allergologist, and sensitisation was measured by skin prick test. All families participated in the Swedish birth cohort NICE (Nutritional impact on Immunological maturation during Childhood in relation to the Environment). Findings: Infants with sensitisation, atopic eczema, or food allergy had significantly lower concentrations of five, three, and two SCFAs, respectively, in plasma at four months. Logistic regressions models showed significant negative associations between formic, succinic, and caproic acid and sensitisation [ORadj (95% CI) per SD: 0.41 (0.19–0.91); 0.19 (0.05–0.75); 0.25 (0.09–0.66)], and between acetic acid and atopic eczema [0.42 (0.18–0.95)], after adjusting for maternal allergy. Infants’ and maternal plasma SCFA concentrations correlated strongly, while milk SCFA concentrations were unrelated to both. Butyric and caproic acid concentrations were enriched around 100-fold, and iso-butyric and valeric acid around 3-5-fold in mother's milk, while other SCFAs were less prevalent in milk than in plasma. Interpretation: Butyric and caproic acid might be actively transported into breast milk to meet the needs of the infant, although mechanistic studies are needed to confirm this. The negative associations between certain SCFAs on sensitisation and atopic disease adds to prior evidence regarding their immunoregulatory potential. Funding: Swedish Research Council (Nr. 2013-3145 and 2019-0137 to A-S.S.), Swedish Research Council for Health, Working Life and Welfare FORTE, Nr 2018-00485 to A.W.), The Swedish Asthma and Allergy Association's Research Fund (2020-0020 to A.S.).
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| 2. |
- Daelman, Bo, et al.
(author)
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Frailty and cognitive function in middle-aged and older adults with congenital heart disease
- 2024
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In: Journal of the American College of Cardiology. - : Elsevier. - 0735-1097 .- 1558-3597. ; 83:12, s. 1149-1159
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Background: Life expectancy of patients with congenital heart disease (CHD) has increased rapidly, resulting in a growing and aging population. Recent studies have shown that older people with CHD have higher morbidity, health care use, and mortality. To maintain longevity and quality of life, understanding their evolving medical and psychosocial challenges is essential.Objectives: The authors describe the frailty and cognitive profile of middle-aged and older adults with CHD to identify predictor variables and to explore the relationship with hospital admissions and outpatient visits.Methods: Using a cross-sectional, multicentric design, we included 814 patients aged ≥40 years from 11 countries. Frailty phenotype was determined using the Fried method. Cognitive function was assessed by the Montreal Cognitive Assessment.Results: In this sample, 52.3% of patients were assessed as robust, 41.9% as prefrail, and 5.8% as frail; 38.8% had cognitive dysfunction. Multinomial regression showed that frailty was associated with older age, female sex, higher physiologic class, and comorbidities. Counterintuitively, patients with mild heart defects were more likely than those with complex lesions to be prefrail. Patients from middle-income countries displayed more prefrailty than those from higher-income countries. Logistic regression demonstrated that cognitive dysfunction was related to older age, comorbidities, and lower country-level income.Conclusions: Approximately one-half of included patients were (pre-)frail, and more than one-third experienced cognitive impairment. Frailty and cognitive dysfunction were identified in patients with mild CHD, indicating that these concerns extend beyond severe CHD. Assessing frailty and cognition routinely could offer valuable insights into this aging population.
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| 3. |
- Ehrström, Monica, 1970-
(author)
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Uppmärksamhet för bedömning : att följa varje barns lärprocesser för en likvärdig utbildning i förskolan
- 2023
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Licentiate thesis (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The purpose of this study was to contribute with knowledge about the tension between preschool teachers' mission to teach and support children's learning on the one hand and the mission to assess children's learning processes on the other hand, in relation to equality in education. In Swedish preschools, children with different experiences meet, all of whom should have the opportunity to develop and learn based on their varied circumstances and needs. According to the Education Act (SFS, 2010:800), preschool education must be equal, and all children must have the opportunity to learn and develop as far as possible based on their potential. However, previous research (Alasuutari, Vallberg Roth & Markström, 2014) indicates that assessment involves risks for children’s identity creation. This study examines how seven preschool teachers tackle the challenge of assessing and paying attention to individual children in their ongoing learning processes. A sociocultural perspective (Vygotskij, 1978) has been used to study preschool teachers' reasoning about assessment in relation to each child's possibilities for being supported in their proximal development zone. The sociocultural perspective stresses the importance of cultural tools for communication. Stimulated-recall interviews were conducted with seven preschool teachers in Sweden. Content analysis was used to reveal the views that emerged in preschool teachers’ descriptions.In the preschool teachers' reasoning, different strategies for assessment and methods for making the child's learning processes visible as well as approaches for following the progression in children's learning processes have emerged, which can create both opportunities and limitations for children to learn based on their potential. Findings indicate three areas significant for assessment in relation to an equivalent education in this study. Firstly, there is clarity regarding the approach to assessment, what is to be given attention and assessed and how the assessment should be carried out. Secondly, the preschool teachers in the study have knowledge about various methods to make children's learning processes visible and thus possible to follow over time. Thirdly, the preschool teachers in the study know how to draw attention to and make visible the child's learning from a holistic perspective. The Licentiate thesis highlights different strategies for assessment, methods for making the child's learning processes visible and approaches for following the progression in children's learning processes that emerged during the preschool teachers' reasoning. The study has shown that attentiveness (Elbaz, 1992) can be used as a concept to bridge the tension surrounding assessment.
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| 4. |
- Gio-Batta, Monica, et al.
(author)
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Fecal short chain fatty acids in children living on farms and a link between valeric acid and protection from eczema.
- 2020
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In: Scientific reports. - : Springer Science and Business Media LLC. - 2045-2322. ; 10:1
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Children growing up on farms have low rates of allergy, but the mechanism for this protective effect has not been fully elucidated. Short chain fatty acids (SCFAs) produced by the gut microbiota may play a role in protection from allergy. We measured fecal SCFA levels in samples collected from 28 farming and 37 control children over the first 3years of life using gas chromatography. Data on diet and other host factors were recorded and allergy was diagnosed at 8years of age. Among all children, median propionic and butyric acid concentration increased over the first 3years, and longer SCFAs typically appeared by 1year of age. Farm children had higher levels of iso-butyric, iso-valeric and valeric acid at 3years of age than rural controls. In addition, children with elder siblings had higher levels of valeric acid at 3years of age, and dietary factors also affected SCFA pattern. High levels of valeric acid at 3years of age were associated with low rate of eczema at 8years of age. The fecal SCFA pattern in farm children suggests a more rapid maturation of the gut microbiota. Valeric acid or associated microbes may have protective potential against eczema.
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| 5. |
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| 6. |
- Lindgren, Monica, 1958, et al.
(author)
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Care as technology for exclusion : Power operating in jurors’ talk about admission tests to Swedish music teacher education
- 2021
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In: Nordic Research in Music Education. - : Cappelen Damm Akademisk. - 2703-8041. ; 2:2, s. 58-73
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- In this article, we explore and problematise admission tests to specialist music teacher education in Sweden from a governing perspective, where higher music education is considered a discursive practice. It illustrates how power operates in legitimating the tests. The study uses stimulated recall in jury members’ talk about assessing applicants for music teacher education programmes, and uses Foucault’s concept of governmentality to reveal entrance tests as something regarded as generally good for all. This operating discourse is built on governmental rationality and processes that make it possible to reach conclusions about the applicants’ personalities and prospects for learning and developing in the future. Through care as technology of power, failing applicants are excluded from becoming music teachers and at the same time they are rescued from struggling in the future. The results are discussed in relation to issues of democratic music education, ethics and requirements for widened access to higher music education.
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| 7. |
- Lindgren, Monica, 1958, et al.
(author)
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Ideas of new directions for music teacher education. A discussion based on current Nordic Research in relation to challenges of the present and the future.
- 2022
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In: Nordic Network for Research in Music Education conference 2022.
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Conference paper (other academic/artistic)abstract
- The purpose of this symposium is to stimulate discussion of new directions for generalist and specialist music teacher education in Finland, Norway and Sweden. The symposium incorporates research from the three Nordic countries and the discussion will be based on results from the research projects. This research has been going on for several years and has recently been completed or is in the final phase. Common to all projects are the critique of status quo in music teacher education and the call for changes and new directions in relation to the needs and challenges in our contemporary societies. By this, we join all those scholars who for decades have addressed democracy and social justice in relation to music education. However, because democracy is an open and socially constructed concept (Woodford, 2005), we make no claim to a specific common paradigm in this presentation. Rather, we will present three research initiatives by contextualizing the results within the respective Nordic countries as democratic societies. And from there, we will take the opportunity to raise and discuss some questions about how to set forth a music teacher education agenda for the future: How should music teacher education evolve to increase equity, inclusion and access in music education? Curriculum discourses indicate teacher education as a field of tension, marked by negotiations and struggles between competing policies, philosophies and views of music, culture and education. Can such tensions have potential for change? How can teacher education prepare student music teachers for a complex and diverse school life? How can we approach digital tools in educational spaces that can promote critical reflection about challenges of the present and the future? How can we rethink the selection principles for the music teacher programs?
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| 8. |
- Sandberg Jurström, Ragnhild, 1954-, et al.
(author)
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A Mozart concert or three simple chords? : Limits for approval in admission tests for Swedish specialist music teacher education
- 2021. - 1
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In: Higher Education as Context for Music Pedagogy Research. - Oslo : Cappelen Damm Akademisk. - 2703-7843. - 9788202696979 - 9788202706326 ; , s. 19-40
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Book chapter (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Against the background of problems with unarticulated concepts of quality and assessment criteria when assessing music, this article concerns how the limit for approval is constructed and legitimised by jurors when assessing entrance auditions to Swedish specialist music teacher education. The data comprise video documented auditions, focus group conversations, and stimulated-recall based interviews, involving jury members at four music education departments. Social semiotic theory is used to study how jurors assess applicants’ knowledge representations in main instrument tests, what is considered decisive for an approval, and how this set limit is legitimised. Four approaches have been constructed:the demanding education and profession;the supposed capacity of the applicant; the flexible admission situation, and the care of the applicant.What is considered to be the minimum requirement for approval in these constructions differs markedly, which shows a striking difference between the views of jurors within and between institutions on how the applicants´ musical performances on a main instrument should be assessed. These findings are discussed in relation to two possible scenarios of revised admission tests.
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| 9. |
- Sandberg Jurström, Ragnhild, 1954-, et al.
(author)
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Assessment cultures and limits for approval in entrance tests for Swedish music teacher education
- 2021
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In: Qualities in music education practice and research.
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Conference paper (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This paper concerns assessment of main instrument entrance tests for Swedish specialist music teacher education. The two articles presented are part of a larger research project of admission tests financed by the Swedish Research Council. The background of the project is based on problems with transparency and unarticulated assessment criteria when assessing music (Harrison et al, 2013; Olsson & Nielsen, 2018; Zandén, 2010), as well as the Swedish governments demands on higher education to strive for strengthened societal democracy by promoting equality and broader recruitment. Four music education institutions with specialist music teacher educations participated in the project. Applicants who gave their written consent were video recorded during their entrance auditions during spring 2018. Almost every member in the jury groups, in which video recordings had been carried out, agreed to participate. The data in the two studies comprise 27 video documented auditions and 22 focus group conversations or individual interviews with use of stimulated-recall for comments on the auditions. A social semiotic theory (Kress, 2010) was used to capture how instrumental/vocal skills were represented by applicants in main instrument auditions, and verbally articulated and assessed by jurors. The aim was to study what was considered as acceptable skills in applicants’ knowledge representations, and how these statements were legitimised. In article one (Sandberg-Jurström et al., in press, a), with focus on how criteria are articulated and used by jurors when assessing main instrument entrance auditions, two assessment cultures is emerged showing a great discrepancy between assessing musical skills and assessing person-related skills. The music-centred assessment culture emphasises assessments of technical, communicative, and genre-anchored interpretation skills essential for meeting the demands of the education and profession. The person-centred assessment culture emphasises assessments of personal traits suitable for education and profession. In the discussion the reliability, credibility, and validity of assessing abilities in terms of being and behaving in a particular way is addressed. The second article (Sandberg-Jurström et al., in press, b), concerns jurors’ views of the limit for approval in main instrument auditions. Four approaches to what is considered decisive for an approved instrument test have been constructed: (a) the demanding education and profession that legitimises a high or very high level of competencies for approval, (b) the supposed capacity of the applicant that legitimises a low level of competencies for approval, (c) the flexible admission situation that legitimises a changeable level for approval, and (d) the care of the applicant that legitimises an insufficient level. What is considered to be the minimum requirement for approval in these constructions differs markedly. The findings are discussed in relation to transparency and broadened recruitment by highlighting two possible scenarios of revised admission tests. In the presentation, focus is on the criteria and the limits for approval used, the qualities and skills represented in these criteria, and the assessment cultures considered for the assessments. Some overlaps between the findings are also highlighted.
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| 10. |
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| 11. |
- Sandberg Jurström, Ragnhild, 1954-, et al.
(author)
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Mapping the applicants’ learnability : a discourse analysis of assessors’ talk of admission tests for Swedish specialist music teacher education
- 2022
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In: Music Education Research. - : Taylor & Francis. - 1461-3808 .- 1469-9893. ; 24:5, s. 599-610
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- This article concerns assessors’ use of predictions of applicants’ ability to learn when assessing admission tests for specialist music teacher education in Sweden. The data consist of stimulated-recall interviews with video-recorded admission tests as stimuli, and the analyses are based on discourse psychology with a focus on the variations, functions, and effects of the assessors’ statements about learning opportunities. The results highlight several ways of talking about applicants’ learnability, based on the view that learnability is a matter of teacher help, learning time, applicant age, and talent. Based on these results, learnability can be considered a selection tool, legitimised with reference to the assessors as experts able to foresee and make decisions about applicants’ future development opportunities. In this sense, the test contexts can be seen as permeated by educational traditions in which discourses about learnability govern the assessors’/masters’ decisions.
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| 12. |
- Sandberg Jurström, Ragnhild, 1954-, et al.
(author)
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Musical skills, or attitude and dress style? : Meaning-making when assessing admission tests for Swedish specialist music teacher education
- 2022
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In: Research Studies in Music Education. - : Sage Publications. - 1321-103X .- 1834-5530. ; 44:1, s. 70-85
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Although entrance test criteria seem decisive for accessing higher music education programmes, and problems and challenges with the assessment process are reported, the area is largely unexplored. This article concerns how entrance auditions, specifically primary instrument auditions for Swedish specialist music teacher programmes, are examined and discussed. The data comprise video-documented auditions, focus group conversations, and stimulated-recall-based interviews involving assessor groups at four music education departments. Social-semiotic theory is used to study how assessors judge applicants' knowledge representations in audition performances. A music-centred assessment culture is constructed, emphasising assessments of technical, communicative, and genre-anchored interpretation skills essential for meeting the demands of the education and profession. Also, a person-centred assessment culture is revealed, emphasising the assessment of personal traits suitable for education and profession. The discussion addresses the reliability, credibility, and validity of assessing abilities in terms of being and behaving in a particular way.
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| 13. |
- Sandberg, Lise Orduk, et al.
(author)
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Emergent magnetic behavior in the frustrated Yb3Ga5O12 garnet
- 2021
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In: Physical Review B. - : American Physical Society (APS). - 2469-9950 .- 2469-9969. ; 104:6
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- We report neutron scattering, magnetic susceptibility and Monte Carlo theoretical analysis to verify the short-range nature of the magnetic structure and spin-spin correlations in a Yb3Ga5O12 single crystal. The quantum spin state of Yb3+ in Yb3Ga5O12 is verified. The quantum spins organize into a short-ranged emergent director state for T < 0.6 K derived from anisotropy and near-neighbor exchange. We derive the magnitude of the nearneighbor exchange interactions 0.6 < J(1) < 0.7 K, J(2) = 0.12 K and the magnitude of the dipolar exchange interaction, D, in the range 0.18 < D < 0.21 K. Certain aspects of the broad experimental dataset can be modeled using a J(1)D model with ferromagnetic near-neighbor spin-spin correlations while other aspects of the data can be accurately reproduced using a J(1)J(2)D model with antiferromagnetic near-neighbor spin-spin correlation. As such, although we do not quantify all the relevant exchange interactions, we nevertheless provide a strong basis for the understanding of the complex Hamiltonian required to fully describe the magnetic state of Yb3Ga5O12.
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| 14. |
- Ullsten, Sara, et al.
(author)
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Highly blood perfused, highly metabolically active pancreatic islets may be more susceptible for immune attack
- 2020
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In: Physiological Reports. - : Wiley. - 2051-817X. ; 8:13
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Journal article (peer-reviewed)abstract
- Differences in pancreatic islet susceptibility during type 1 diabetes development may be explained by interislet variations. This study aimed to investigate if heterogeneities in vascular support and metabolic activity in rat and human islets may explain why some islets are attacked earlier than other islets. In rats, highly blood perfused islets were identified by injection of microspheres into the ascending aorta, whereas a combination of anterograde and retrograde injections of microspheres into pancreas was used to determine the islet vascular drainage system. Highly blood perfused islets had superior function and lower glucose threshold for insulin release when compared with other islets. These islets had a preferential direct venous drainage to the portal vein, whereas other islets mainly were incorporated into the exocrine capillary system. In BioBreeding rats, the hypothesis that islets with high islet blood perfusion was more prone to immune cell infiltration was investigated. Indeed, highly blood perfused islets were the first affected by the immune attack. In human subjects, differences in glucose threshold for insulin (C-peptide) secretion was evaluated in individuals recently diagnosed for type 1 diabetes and compared to control subjects. A preferential loss of capacity for insulin release in response to low glucose concentrations was observed at debut of type 1 diabetes. Our study indicates that highly blood perfused islets with direct venous drainage and lower glucose threshold for insulin release are of great importance for normal glucose homeostasis. At the same time, these highly metabolically active islets were the primary target of the immune system.
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