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The human MDR1 gene encodes the efflux transporter P-glycoprotein, which plays an important part of the blood-brain barrier function of brain microvascular endothelial cells (BMECs). Here, we report the generation of an iPSC line, where a construct of the human MDR1 gene was inserted into the safe-site locus AAVS1. This iPSC line (BIONi010-C-48) shows functional expression of P-gp and can further be differentiated and cultured into electrically tight BMEC-like monolayers exhibiting polarized expression of P-gp in the apical membrane.

In this Masters’ thesis I examine how the epistolary novel form can shed light on female experience in Karin Michaëlis’s Den farlige alder (The Dangerous Age) (1910). The novel and Michaëlis herself was well-known in 1910s but is now almost forgotten, even though Den farlige alder sparked controversy and was considered scandalous at the time, mainly because it suggested, that women possessed a sexual desire beyond the menopause. To put the examination into perspective I have involved the somewhat different epistolary novel Kvindehjerter (Female Hearts) (1910) by Betty Nansen and Karin Michaëlis. Throughout history the letter has been associated with the feminine and with sensitivity. To investigate this, I have applied an écriture féminine approach to the analysis, focusing on Hélène Cixous and her concept of the metaphor as an exposer of other female positions in the text. Because the great female experiences in Den farlige alder is about mature desire, I have applied Judith Butlers theory about desire as identity-forming, which among other things illustrate the sexual and ageing double standards among the sexes around 1910. By letting mature desire frame the female characters in both Den farlige alder og Kvindehjerter, it contributes to the exposure of the female experiences, because the social stigma evolving it mainly is a female experience. By drawing on epistolary theory by Elizabeth J. MacArthur and Bertil Romberg among others through the examination of my case, I conclude, that the epistolary form in collaboration with diary records gives the female novel characters the opportunity to express their experiences (almost) freely because of the privacy of the genre and thus avoiding condemnation from the society and especially the men. Letters often contain everyday trifles and confessions, and in exactly these elements the experiences of the characters can be uncovered. At the same time the dialog and “self conversation”, which letters and diaries

A high consumption of discretionary foods and drinks has been associated with increased risk of multiple adverse health outcomes, including risk of overweight and dental caries. The family-based cluster randomized intervention study "Are you too sweet?" aimed at reducing the intake of discretionary foods and drinks in a population of children starting pre-school. As part of the intervention a new short web-based sugar-rich food screener (SRFS), was developed to make the parents and the school health nurses aware of the children's intake of discretionary foods and drinks. In addition to the short assessment tool the parents also completed a validated web-based 7-day dietary record for the children. In the present study, estimates for intake of discretionary foods and drinks from the two assessment tools were compared (n = 80). There was significant correlation between estimates from the two assessment tools, but the SRFS provided lower estimates for intake of discretionary foods and drinks compared to the 7-day dietary record. The correlation coefficient between the two assessment tools was 0.49 (p < 0.001) and Kappa coefficient was 0.33. It is concluded that the SRFS can provide a fairly ranking of participants according to their intake of discretionary foods and drinks when compared to a validated 7-day dietary record. The screener may be a useful tool in practical settings, such as school health nurse consultations, in order to gain insight into the child's sweet intake habits.

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The chapter contains an analysis of recent debates over irregular migrant’s access to medical care in Sweden. These debates were initiated in the early 2000s in response to political campaigning that sought to secure rights to a group of former asylum seekers that stayed in the country without residence permits. The analysis begins from the assumption that the existence of the group — and the exposure of its precarious circumstances of living — shed light on the boundaries of the welfare state and paved the way for a series of debates over the relationship between membership and entitlement to rights. The analysis, moreover, approaches the exclusion of the irregular migrants as an effect of the current citizenship regime. Citizenship is, both conceptually and practically, marked by a tension between inclusion and exclusion. This tension is, I argue, manifest in the fact that the social rights of the welfare state is reserved for a demarcated community of recognized residents. The paper explores how this linkage between citizenship and access to social rights has been contested through the mobilization of notions of human rights in recent debates in the Swedish parliament. These debates have essentially revolved around whether access to subsidized medical care should be regarded a citizenship right, to be reserved for a demarcated group, or a human right, to be provided to all residents without distinction. The focal point of the analysis is the conceptual component of these struggles and, in particular, the attempts to determine the meaning of the two set of rights.

This thesis explores the political struggles that followed after the appearance of irregular migrants in Sweden. The analysis starts from the assumption that the group’s precarious circumstances of living disrupted the understanding of Sweden as an inclusive society and shed light on the limits of the welfare state’s inclusionary ambitions. The overarching analytical point of entry is accordingly that the appearance of irregular migrants constitutes an opening for contestation of the demarcation of the welfare state. The analysis draws on two strands of theory to explore this opening. Citizenship theory, first, provides insights about the contradictory logics of the welfare state, i.e. the fact that it rests on norms of equality and inclusion at the same time as it is premised on a fundamental exclusion of non-members. Discourse theory, furthermore, is brought in to make sense of the potential for contestation. The study approaches these struggles over demarcation through an analysis of the debates and claims-making that took place in the Swedish parliament between 1999 and 2014. The focal point of the analysis is the efforts to make sense of and respond to the predicament of the group. The study shows that efforts to secure rights and inclusion for the group revolved around two demands. The first demand, regularisation, aimed to secure rights for irregular migrants through status, i.e. through the granting of residence permits, whereas the second demand, access to social rights, aimed to secure rights through turning the group into right-bearers in the welfare state. The thesis concludes that the debates and claims-making during the 2000s resulted in a small, but significant, shift in policy. In 2013, new legislation was adopted that granted irregular migrants access to schooling and health- and medical care. I argue that this was an effect of successful campaigning that managed to establish these particular rights as human rights, and as such, rights that should b

Allmänna val är demokratins livsluft. På valdagen tillmäts alla röster samma värde. Men vägen fram till valurnan är kantad av förhållanden som skiljer sig åt mellan väljarna. Dessa olika livserfarenheter har betydelse för våra tankar och känslor om politik. Därmed har personliga egenskaper och erfarenheter också betydelse när vi röstar. I denna bok följer läsaren Den svenska ­väljaren genom livet fram till valurnan. Här analyseras politiskt beteende utifrån olika infallsvinklar och teoretiska perspektiv. Med hjälp av Michigan-modellens ­berömda ”orsakstratt” beskrivs hur både egenskaper och ­erfarenheter påverkar röstningsbeslut. Läs­aren får veta hur alltifrån kön, ålder, politiskt arv, utbildning, klass, reli­gion, ­identitet, ideologier och värden, till privat- och samhällsekonomi, partiledare, sak­frågor samt taktikröstning inverkar på valet.

This study explores the notion of class and social inequality as expressed in the Swedish election campaign of 2006 and in the reception of the Swedish conservative party as a "worker's party". Inspired by Fairclough's critical discourse analysis I have carried through an investigation of the debate. My sources consists in a collection of articles, mainly leader columns and contributions to the debate, from a selected number of Swedish newspapers. I found that an explicit discussion about class, or use of the concept as such, was largely absent. In cases where the concept occurred it was often used in a purely descriptive sense or dismissed as outdated. Furthermore, I have drawn the conclusion that the traditional understanding of class is being challenged by a discourse which aims at establishing a new understanding of social inequality as lack of paid work. I take my point of departure in the belief that class continues to be one of the most important bases of social inequality. Furthermore, I believe that political articulation is a prerequisite of identification of common interests and, hence, collective struggle. From this perspective I have underlined that the absence of a discussion about class is problematic.

The purpose of this study is to analyse the discourse on political exclusion in the official report Demokratiutredningen. It has been my ambition to relate the analysis of the report to a critical academic discourse on political exclusion and thereby make visible hidden norms and structures which functions to exclude certain individuals and groups from political participation. My paper point out that the report establishes a strong link between democracy and participation and that it, therefore, makes a strong case for a process of democratic inclusion. Though, in my study I suggest that that there is an unawareness of the importance of norms, hegemonic conceptions and structures and that inclusion, therefore, is unlikely to take place. Furthermore, I criticize the focus on deliberative democracy in the report. With insights offered by Mouffe in her argumentation on the necessity to acknowledge the dimension of antagonism present in all societies I underline that the focus on this democratic model is problematic. My conclusion is that the analysis presented in the report is insufficient if we want to create a democratic system characterized by equality.

FN har sedan starten varit en tongivande gestalt för demokratisering och människorätt. Trots detta passerade 30 år innan organisationen manifesterade sitt motstånd mot den frekventa diskrimineringen av kvinnor. Därefter har jämställdhetsarbetet undergått flera genomgripande paradigmskiften. FNs fjärde globala kvinnokonferens utgjorde startskottet för ännu ett nytt progressivt tänkande kring jämställdhet och respekt för kvinnors mänskliga rättigheter. Denna uppsats behandlar FNs jämställdhetssyn med särskilt fokus på ambitionen att utforma globalt fungerande principer. Genom kritisk analys granskas FNs uppfattning om jämställdhetsproblematiken ur ett feministiskt perspektiv. Särskild uppmärksamhet har ägnats jämställdhetssynens relation till universalism och intersektionellt förtryck. Uppsatsen diskuterar därmed samspelet mellan FNs jämställdhetssyn och samtida emancipatorisk kritik. Analysen har påvisat etnocentrism och en onyanserad förståelse för heterogenitet bland kvinnor. Intersektionalitetsperspektivet understryker att FNs inställning undervärderar betydelsen av motsättningar baserade på etnicitet och klass bland kvinnor. Löpande genom uppsatsen tolkas jämställdhetsidén mot bakgrund av FNs organisatoriska karaktär.