Sexual Minority Rights as Human Rights: Mapping the Evolution of LGBT Norms in Swedish and U.S. Foreign Policy

Thesis (Ph.D.)--University of Washington, 2016-06

Comparability of perceptual analysis of speech characteristics in Australian and Swedish speakers with multiple sclerosis

The aims of the present study were to compare the perceptual assessments of deviant speech signs (dysarthria) exhibited by Australian and Swedish speakers with multiple sclerosis (MS) and to explore whether judgements of dysarthria differed depending on whether the speakers and the judges spoke the same or different languages. Ten Australian and 10 Swedish individuals with MS (matched as closely as possible for age, gender, progression type and severity of dysarthria) were assessed by 2 Australian and 2 Swedish clinically experienced judges using a protocol including 33 speech parameters. Results show that the following perceptual dimensions were identified by both pairs of judges in both groups of speakers to a just noticeable or moderate degree: imprecise consonants, inappropriate pitch level, reduced general rate, and glottal fry. The reliability (Spearman rank-order correlation) of the consensus ratings from the Australian and the Swedish judges was high, with a mean rho of 85.7 for the Australian speakers and mean rho of 84.3 for the Swedish speakers. The most difficult perceptual parameters to assess (i.e. to agree on) included harshness, level of pitch and loudness, precision of consonants and general stress pattern. The study indicated that perceptual assessments of speech characteristics in individuals with MS are informative and can be achieved with high inter-judge reliability irrespective of the judge's knowledge of the speaker's language. Copyright (C) 2003 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Study of the integrated cognitive model of depression among Latin-Americans

Objective: The objective of the present study is to test the validity of the integrated cognitive model (ICM) of depression proposed by Kwon and Oei with a Latin-American sample. The ICM of depression postulates that the interaction between negative life events with dysfunctional attitudes increases the frequency of negative automatic thoughts, which in turns affects the depressive symptomatology of a person. This model was developed for Western Europeans such as Americans and Australians and the validity of this model has not been tested on Latin-Americans. Method: Participants were 101 Latin-American migrants living permanently in Brisbane, including people from Chile, El Salvador, Nicaragua, Argentina and Guatemala. Participants completed the Beck Depression Inventory, the Dysfunctional Attitudes Scale, the Automatic Thoughts Questionnaire and the Life Events Inventory. Alternative or competing models of depression were examined, including the alternative aetiologies model, the linear mediational model and the symptom model. Results: Six models were tested and the results of the structural equation modelling analysis indicated that the symptom model only fits the Latin-American data. Conclusions: Results show that in the Latin-American sample depression symptoms can have an impact on negative cognitions. This finding adds to growing evidence in the literature that the relationship between cognitions and depression is bidirectional, rather than unidirectional from cognitions to symptoms.

Hypertension, glomerular number, and birth weight in African Americans and white subjects in the southeastern United States

Low nephron number has been related to low birth weight and hypertension. In the southeastern United States, the estimated prevalence of chronic kidney disease due to hypertension is five times greater for African Americans than white subjects. This study investigates the relationships between total glomerular number (N-glom), blood pressure, and birth weight in southeastern African Americans and white subjects. Stereological estimates of N-glom were obtained using the physical disector/fractionator technique on autopsy kidneys from 62 African American and 60 white subjects 30-65 years of age. By medical history and recorded blood pressures, 41 African Americans, and 24 white subjects were identified as hypertensive and 21 African Americans and 36 white subjects as normotensive. Mean arterial blood pressure ( MAP) was obtained on 81 and birth weights on 63 subjects. For African Americans, relationships between MAP, N-glom, and birth weight were not significant. For white subjects, they were as follows: MAP and N-glom ( r = -0.4551, P = 0.0047); Nglom and birth weight ( r = 0.5730, P = 0.0022); MAP and birth weight ( r = -0.4228, P = 0.0377). For African Americans, average N-glom of 961 840 +/- 292 750 for normotensive and 867 358 +/- 341 958 for hypertensive patients were not significantly different ( P = 0.285). For white subjects, average N-glom of 923 377 +/- 256 391 for normotensive and 754 319 +/- 329 506 for hypertensive patients were significantly different ( P = 0.03). The data indicate that low nephron number and possibly low birth weight may play a role in the development of hypertension in white subjects but not African Americans.

Challenging From Within : Youth Associations and Female Leadership in Swedish Mosques

This chapter focuses on women members of the Sunnī-dominated national organization Sweden's Young Muslims (Sveriges Unga Muslimer, SUM) and some of its local youth associations in different Swedish towns, to argue that involvement with these associations is increasing Muslim women's engagement with mosques and other venues for acquisition of Islamic knowledge. Illuminating the continuous challenges to the women's presence in mosques and their wider public activism the chapter examines how these women defend their right to exercise religious authority while supporting the traditional sources of Muslim authority in the public sphere. It analyzes how the women reinterpret the Islamic texts to change their daily lives as well as their position within both the Muslim community and Swedish society as a whole. The chapter emphasizes that in more informal situations, backstage among peers, the women put gender on the agenda, initiate reflexive deliberations, and test alternative norms and practices.

Climate and causation in the Swedish Iron Age : Learning from the present to understand the past

The paper reassesses the role of climate as a factor shaping changes in settlement and landscape in the Swedish Iron Age (500 BC to AD 1050). Two reasons motivate this re-evaluation. First, high-resolution data based on climate proxies from the natural sciences are now increasingly available. Second, the climate-related social sciences have yielded conceptual and theoretical developments regarding vulnerability and adaptability in the present and recent past, creating new ways to analyse the effects of climatic versus societal factors on societies in the more distant past. Recent research in this field is evaluated and the explicitly climate deterministic standpoint of many recent natural science texts is criticized. Learning from recent approaches to climate change in the social sciences is crucial for understanding society–climate relationships in the past. The paper concludes that we are not yet in a position to fully evaluate the role of the new evidence of abrupt climate change in 850 BC, at the beginning of the Iron Age. Regarding the crisis in the mid first millennium AD, however, new climate data indicate that a dust veil in AD 536–537 might have aggravated the economic and societal crisis known from previous research.

Without a trace? The Sámi in the Swedish History Museum

Around 2005, the Swedish History Museum (SHM) in Stockholm reworked their Vikings exhibition, aiming to question simplistic and erroneous understandings of past group identities. In the process, all references to the Sámi were removed from the exhibition texts. This decision has been criticised by experts on Sámi pasts. In this article, it is argued that we can talk about a Sámi ethnic identity from the Early Iron Age onwards. The removal of references to the Sámi in the exhibition texts is discussed accordingly, as well as the implicit misrepresentations, stereotypes and majority attitudes that are conveyed through spatial distribution, choice of illustrations, lighting, colour schemes and the exhibition texts. Finally, some socio-political reasons for the avoidance of Sámi issues in Sweden are suggested, including an enduring colonialist relation to this minority.

Sustaining local manufacturing: a longitudinal study of Swedish companies

This paper reports an investigation of local sustainable production in Sweden aimed at exploring the factors contributing to survival and competitiveness of manufacturing. Eight companies were studied on two occasions 30 years apart; in 1980 and 2010. To provide a valid longitudinal, perspective a common format for data collection was used. As a framework for data collection and analysis the DRAMA methodology was employed (Bennett and Forrester, 1990). There are a number of results reported in detail concerning long term competitiveness and sustainability of manufacturing companies.

Latin Americans in London:language, integration and ethnic identity

This thesis studies the links between language, migration and integration in the context of the 'new migrant' group of Latin Americans in London. It reviews the many ways in which language impacts the integration processes of migrants by influencing people's access to jobs, services, social contacts and information. By focusing on migrants' experiences this research also investigates the ways in which language and identity articulate, as well as the affective variables that are at play in the acquisition of the local language. With a large sector trapped in a cycle of poor command of English and labour market disadvantage, many Latin Americans experience exclusion and poverty. In reaction to this, a sector of the community is campaigning for ethnic minority recognition. This work reviews the debates for recognition and the strategy of organising around ethnicity, paying special attention to the role language plays in the process. The study is based on over two and half years of qualitative research, which included interviews, surveys, and long-term participant observation within a community organisation and a recognition campaign. Its interdisciplinary perspective allows the recognition of both the intimate links between language and identity, as well as the social and structural forces that influence migrants' linguistic integration. It unveils the practical and symbolic value that the mother tongue has for Latin American migrants and provides a broader account of their experiences. This research calls attention to the need for a more comprehensive approach to the study of language and migration in order to acknowledge the affective and social factors involved in the linguistic practices of migrants. By studying the community's struggles for recognition, this work evidences both the importance of visibility for minority groups in London and the intrinsic methodological limitations of monitoring through ethnic categorisation.

Does the Swedish Interactive Threshold Algorithm (SITA) accurately map visual field loss attributed to vigabatrin?

Background: Vigabatrin (VGB) is an anti-epileptic medication which has been linked to peripheral constriction of the visual field. Documenting the natural history associated with continued VGB exposure is important when making decisions about the risk and benefits associated with the treatment. Due to its speed the Swedish Interactive Threshold Algorithm (SITA) has become the algorithm of choice when carrying out Full Threshold automated static perimetry. SITA uses prior distributions of normal and glaucomatous visual field behaviour to estimate threshold sensitivity. As the abnormal model is based on glaucomatous behaviour this algorithm has not been validated for VGB recipients. We aim to assess the clinical utility of the SITA algorithm for accurately mapping VGB attributed field loss. Methods: The sample comprised one randomly selected eye of 16 patients diagnosed with epilepsy, exposed to VGB therapy. A clinical diagnosis of VGB attributed visual field loss was documented in 44% of the group. The mean age was 39.3 years∈±∈14.5 years and the mean deviation was -4.76 dB ±4.34 dB. Each patient was examined with the Full Threshold, SITA Standard and SITA Fast algorithm. Results: SITA Standard was on average approximately twice as fast (7.6 minutes) and SITA Fast approximately 3 times as fast (4.7 minutes) as examinations completed using the Full Threshold algorithm (15.8 minutes). In the clinical environment, the visual field outcome with both SITA algorithms was equivalent to visual field examination using the Full Threshold algorithm in terms of visual inspection of the grey scale plots, defect area and defect severity. Conclusions: Our research shows that both SITA algorithms are able to accurately map visual field loss attributed to VGB. As patients diagnosed with epilepsy are often vulnerable to fatigue, the time saving offered by SITA Fast means that this algorithm has a significant advantage for use with VGB recipients.