Studies within second language learning indicate that higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) are important for the process of learning a new language. At the same time, previous literature indicates that assessment tasks in online courses often focus on lower-order thinking skills. Little is still known about if and how thinking skills are assessed in online EFL courses. Hence, the purpose of this st

The present thesis investigates higher-order thinking skills (HOTS) and critical thinking in English courses at Swedish universities. The rationale for investigating this topic is based on policy documents which state that students’ development of these skills is a goal in both Swedish and international higher education. Previous research indicates a connection between critical thinking and L2 pro

David Hume’s various writings concerning problems of religion are among the most important and influential contributions on this topic. In these writings Hume advances a systematic, sceptical critique of the philosophical foundations of various theological systems. Whatever interpretation one takes of Hume’s philosophy as a whole, it is certainly true that one of his most basic philosophical objec

Brain insulin resistance links the failure of energy metabolism with cognitive decline in both type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2D) and Alzheimer's disease (AD), although the molecular changes preceding overt brain insulin resistance remain unexplored. Abnormal biliverdin reductase-A (BVR-A) levels were observed in both T2D and AD and were associated with insulin resistance. Here, we demonstrate that re

The concept of pre-diabetes has led to provision of measures to reduce disease progression through identification of subjects at risk of diabetes. We previously considered the idea of pre-asthma in relation to allergic asthma and considered that, in addition to the need to improve population health via multiple measures, including reduction of exposure to allergens and pollutants and avoidance of

Choice blindness (failure to notice when our choices are switched unexpectedly) suggests people are often unaware of reasons underlying their intentions/preferences. Some argue, however, that research revealing choice blindness simply reflects social-demand characteristics in participant-experimenter interactions. To address this, we compared autistic adults (a population less susceptible to socia

Birds and mammals show remarkable convergence in their neurocognition and thermal physiology despite being phylogenetically separated for 325 million years of evolution. This elaboration in neurocognition is hypothesised to be directed at increasing the caloric intake through efficient foraging to power tachymetabolic endothermy. To gain a better understanding of how and why cognitive abilities ev

Purpose: Cancer survivors experience barriers to primary healthcare (PHC) services. The aim was to explore reactions to and opinions about perceived challenges associated with PHC access and quality among cancer survivors in Sweden, including how they have acted to adapt to challenges. Methods: Five semi-structured focus group interviews were conducted with cancer survivors (n = 20) from Skåne, Sw

Introduction: Cerebrovascular reactivity imaging (CVR) is a diagnostic method for assessment of alterations in cerebral blood flow in response to a controlled vascular stimulus. The principal utility is the capacity to evaluate the cerebrovascular reserve, thereby elucidating autoregulatory functioning. In CVR, CO2 gas challenge is the most prevalent method, which elicits a vascular response by al

Sustainability is a critical societal aim, and local governments (LGs) play an important role in fostering sustainability, as the implementation of the global aims set by the United Nations—namely, the 2030 Agenda and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). The SDGs offer novel accounting, reporting, and management perspectives for LGs. The objective of the study is to understand the role of the

Biopharmaceuticals are highly valued for their ability to specifically and efficiently treat diseases. However, they require rigorous purification that involves complex unit operations to reach the levels of purity necessitated for use in patients. Maintaining this purity while recovering as much of the valuable biopharmaceutical as possible is the core challenge in biopharmaceutical downstream pr

Säkerheten om demokratins robusthet har gett vika för en allmänt diagnostiserad demokratikris. Allt fler röster höjs för att försvara de demokratiska institutionerna mot dem som vill avskaffa dem på formellt demokratisk väg. Men för att värna demokratin, hävdas det, krävs paradoxalt nog att man håller tillbaka den demokratiska omvandlingen. I denna avhandling hävdas att denna ”demokratiska paradoxCertainty about the robustness of democracy has given way to a widely diagnosed crisis of democracy. There are increasing calls to defend democratic institutions against those who seek their formally democratic abolishment. But safeguarding democracy, it is argued, paradoxically requires restraining democratic transformation. This dissertation argues that this ‘democratic paradox’ is misconceived.

Ultrafast photoexcitation can generate internal compressive stress in Mott insulators that lead to strain waves from free surfaces. These photoinduced elastic waves can trigger phase transitions in materials. However, a comprehensive physical picture of the phase transformation dynamics that includes acoustic-scale propagation has not yet been developed. Here we demonstrate that such a strain-wave

The study aimed to investigate the feasibility of dynamic glucose-enhanced (DGE) MRI technology in the clinical application of glioma. Twenty patients with glioma were examined using a preoperative DGE-MRI protocol before clinical intervention. A brief hyperglycemic state was achieved by injecting 50 mL of 50% w/w D-glucose intravenously during the DGE imaging. The total acquisition time for the D

HPV testing has a higher sensitivity than cytology for identification of women at risk of cancer. Primary HPV testing was introduced in the organized screening program in Skåne, Sweden in 2017 for women 30 years and older. High-risk HPV E6/E7 mRNA was detected in 7.0% of these women. Primary HPV-screening identified a similar proportion of abnormal cytology (ASCUS+) as cytology-based screening (3.