This essay is about democracy and how a democracy index can be used as a tool to illustratethe gap between reality and ideal. The purpose of this study can be expressed by two researchquestions: Does the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) democracy index illustrate thedistance between reality and the ideal of democracy presented by Dahl? and Can the EIU'sdemocracy index be modified by a) internal adjustments and b) using the variables includedin World Economic Forum?s (WEF) equality index?By using a combination of theories (Dahl?s theory of democracy, Rawls theory of justice andchosen theories critical to liberal democracy) as an analytical framework the following twoquestions have been answered:1) Which of the variables included in the EIU's democracy index have the potential to capturethe level of political equality?2) Which of the variables included in the WEF?s equality index have the potential to capturethe degree of political equality?By using a quantitative method the study?s third and last question has been answered:3) How strong is the rank correlation between the EIU?s democracy index and the WEF?sequality index, that is; how strong is the rank correlation coefficient (rho)?The data presented by the WEF?s equality index indicate that women are systematicallydiscriminated against as a group. From a democratic perspective the EIU may need tomeasure inequalities at a group level in order to capture the lack of political equality betweenindividuals. By reformulating some of the EIU?s variables, by revising the EIU?s point systemand by using the variables included in the WEF's equality index to extend EIU?s democracyindex, the chances of capturing the gap between reality and the ideal of democracy presentedby Dahl would likely increase..

This essay is about democracy and how a democracy index can be used as a tool to illustratethe gap between reality and ideal. The purpose of this study can be expressed by two researchquestions: Does the Economist Intelligence Unit's (EIU) democracy index illustrate thedistance between reality and the ideal of democracy presented by Dahl? and Can the EIU'sdemocracy index be modified by a) internal adjustments and b) using the variables includedin World Economic Forum?s (WEF) equality index?By using a combination of theories (Dahl?s theory of democracy, Rawls theory of justice andchosen theories critical to liberal democracy) as an analytical framework the following twoquestions have been answered:1) Which of the variables included in the EIU's democracy index have the potential to capturethe level of political equality?2) Which of the variables included in the WEF?s equality index have the potential to capturethe degree of political equality?By using a quantitative method the study?s third and last question has been answered:3) How strong is the rank correlation between the EIU?s democracy index and the WEF?sequality index, that is; how strong is the rank correlation coefficient (rho)?The data presented by the WEF?s equality index indicate that women are systematicallydiscriminated against as a group. From a democratic perspective the EIU may need tomeasure inequalities at a group level in order to capture the lack of political equality betweenindividuals. By reformulating some of the EIU?s variables, by revising the EIU?s point systemand by using the variables included in the WEF's equality index to extend EIU?s democracyindex, the chances of capturing the gap between reality and the ideal of democracy presentedby Dahl would likely increase..

This essay examines the role religion plays in kindergarten. Today, the Swedish kindergarten provides child care for a secular and multicultural society where religion is considered a private matter that should not influence government nor the policy documents of kindergarten and elementary school. According to a study by Jenny Berglund, there is a so-called Protestant bias present in the Swedish elementary school. Protestant bias is shaped by a ?marinade? of liberal Protestant Christianity and has an indirect influence on how other religions are described, how religion is defined and how concepts such as religion, tradition or culture are viwed.The study was also based on Ninian Smart?s dimensions of religion, whichcorrelates to Berglund?s theory on Protestant bias.

Theoretical framework: The Theory of Human Caring by Jean Watson was used as a theoretical framework.Aim: The aim of this literature review was to describe the attitude of nursing patients who go through an induced abortion, from a nurse perspective.Method: This literature review is based on a sample of nine qualitative and quantitative studies, collected in the databases Cinahl, PubMed and PsycInfo. The qualities of the studies were assessed through modified templates. Analysis of the results from the studies was inspired of a content analysis.Findings: The nurses experienced their work as meaningful since they give support to the patient. The nurses felt that their work was justified when the decision to have an abortion was well thought through and they felt respect towards the patient when they were aware of the patient?s circumstances.

In visual programming the developer specifies her code, using visual tools. Within the range of visual programming languages lay icon-based languages, form-based languages, and diagram languages.Mediator is a multimedia authoring tool that allows the user to create interactive CD-ROM presentations, dynamic HTML pages and Flash projects, without any coding or scripting. The user can create interactivity in her project, using event driven and icon-based visual programming, through a ?drag and drop? user interface. This report intends to determine some of the qualifications of a tool of this kind, as well as its limitations.The report is based on a case study, in which a smaller software application was to be updated using Mediator 9.

This essay examines the role religion plays in kindergarten. Today, the Swedish kindergarten provides child care for a secular and multicultural society where religion is considered a private matter that should not influence government nor the policy documents of kindergarten and elementary school. According to a study by Jenny Berglund, there is a so-called Protestant bias present in the Swedish elementary school. Protestant bias is shaped by a ?marinade? of liberal Protestant Christianity and has an indirect influence on how other religions are described, how religion is defined and how concepts such as religion, tradition or culture are viwed.The study was also based on Ninian Smart?s dimensions of religion, whichcorrelates to Berglund?s theory on Protestant bias.

Purpose: The purpose of this thesis is to test for the existence of Capital Structure Arbitrage oppertunities in the equity-credit markets. Methodology: The mispricing of Credit Default Swap contracts are calculated and used as input in an Equity-Credit market trading strategy. The returns are then evaluated with a modified Value-at-Risk simulation. Theoretical perspectives: A Merton-based structural model, CreditGrades, is used for credit pricing and a mispricing-convergence trading-strategy between the credit and equity markets is implemented. Empirical foundation: Daily quotes for the Credit Default Swap spread of 37 European firms were collected for a period of two years, as well as equity-prices for the same period and the previous two years, used for model calibration.

Relationships between defence mechanisms and body movements were investigated in regard to three hypothesis; I. that a difference in frequency of body movements correlates to different signs of defence mechanisms, II. that themes of body movements can be identified in regard to signs of defence mechanisms, III. that no significant differences will be found between the different groups of gender. The aim of the study was to seek a relation between quasicommunicative body movements and defence mechanisms.

The market-leading wage and PA-.system for the Swedish public sector Palasso is developed in Karlstad. In order to achieve the highest quality of code , the developing team behind Palasso has been conducting extensive testing. Testing is done to ensure that the software does what it should do. However, the testing has been done at a high level. In order to continue to evolve, the group that develops Palasso has started to look at the new development methods that have become popular in the computer industry in recent years.

This essay analyses the European Food Safety Authority's (EFSA) legitimacy. Theories on input- and output legitimacy are used in the examination. After analysing stakeholder representation, forum for deliberation, transparency, independence, and information sharing, input legitimacy in EFSA is assessed to be high. Output legitimacy was examined through the authority's outcome effectiveness, which was divided into compliance and effectiveness. Since food safety is an immense area, two important parts were chosen for the analysis of output legitimacy; transmissible/bovine spongiform encephalopathy (TSE/BSE) and genetically modified organisms (GMO).

Abortion remains a contentious issue, which greatly raises ethical problems. This thesis examines the leading arguments in the Swedish abortion debate around the ? in terms of legislation ? critical years of 1938 and 1974. With Foucault's genealogical method, Butler's theories of gender as a social construction in relation to power and doxa, the study examines what the development of the argumentation says about the views on morality, the woman's body, life, individual and state? How has the arguments pro and against abortion changed over time and what does this say about the norms that guide and orientate the arguments? The most obvious change in argumentation is seen in the shift from an absolute moral and conservative position into an increasingly relativistic and liberal position, and this study will argue that this shift has its prerequisites in the changing status of the citizen and state.

Already in the late 1970´s it became clear that the traditional catalogs in libraries were not suited for children, neither their interests nor their way expressing themselves were accounted for. The goal of this thesis is to investigate if and how children?s OPACs (Open public access catalogs) interface design is at present adapted to the presumed audience of children. My method consists of literature studies and an investigation on the graphical interfaces in OPACs for children, according to the five criteria formulated by childrens library consultant Lena Lundgren and IT-consultant Kia Gumbel. The aims are to find out: a) what requirements for children?s OPAC interfaces and their usability are defined in literature and b) what the actual (real) features of the children?s OPAC interfaces are.

The purpose of this bachelor?s thesis is to examine how public librarians and people engaged in sports associations think of the possibility of collaboration between their organizations regarding children and youth and furthermore how they think this collaboration and collaboration in general would or should be practiced. This is done in the light of the increasing necessity of collaboration in today?s information society as well as the view that reading and sports could make a good match. Focus is placed on the libraries? perspective and also on the respondents? perceptions and thoughts.

The purpose of this master?s thesis is to find out in which ways a group of first generation immigrants use Swedish papers and magazines in a public library and which information needs this group has about Swedish society. One important aspect in this essay is integration of immigrants in the Swedish society as a possible effect of newspaper reading. The method used in this study is qualitative. Data is generated through semi-structured interviews.

Vectors based on lentivirus backbones have revolutionized our ability to transfer genesinto many cell types. Lentiviral vectors integrate into the chromatin of target cells and do not transfer any viral genes causing vector replication. Both of these features arecommonly used in gene therapy and have been used clinically in individuals sufferingfrom cancer, infections and genetic diseases. It has been discovered that T-cells can be genetically modified to be used as effective weapons against cancer: therefore virus mustbe produced to deliver the gene of interest into the T-cells. In this project, lentiviralvectors have been produced to transfer the gene coding for a chimeric antigen receptor(CAR) which is directed to CD19 on B-cells.