Faculty of Health and Life Sciences

Gender mainstreaming is accepted by many national and international agencies and Non-governmental organization, as an effective strategy for promoting gender equality. Many researchers widely agree thatessential but can also lead to poverty eradication, human development and general economic growth everywhere but more specifically in Africa. This just shows the importance at a global level of gender equality and any strategy towards achieving it. The main aim of this thesis is to assess how gender mainstreaming as a strategy and approach has led to gender equality within the Swedish Cooperative Centre-Viagroforestry project-Kisumu (SCC-VI). It is based on exploring how gender mainstreaming works on a day-to-day basis in the project area. To collect relevant information, a detailed background review of Swedish Cooperative Centre-Viagroforestry project was done; field staff were interviewed with the help of a predesigned semi -structured question guides and focused group discussions w...

Based on a study initiated in 2018 (Persson, ¡La maternidad será deseada o no será!: En kvalitativ analys av feministiska strategier i kampen för fri, (laglig), säker och gratis abort i Chile (Thesis). Lund University, 2019), this chapter revisits and re-examines feminist mobilisations around reproductive rights and justice in Chile. Focusing on performative and discursive strategies used by feminist organisations in the struggle for free abortion, the aim of the chapter is to analyse how such strategies are grounded in epistemologies of embodied resistance to past and present biopolitical and anti-gender regimes. The theoretical framework draws upon a feminist trajectory of (gendered) biopolitics, and embodied performativity and reproductive justice are key concepts in the analysis.The chapter argues that the demands for easy, (legal,) safe and free abortion constitute the frame within which the struggle for free abortion is situated. Subsequently, the struggle situates itself outs...

Background: Skin bleaching is a widespread phenomenon in spite of their potentially toxic health effects. Objectives: This study aimed to determine if such products are used in Sweden in particular by pregnant women, furthermore to explore immigrant women's view skin bleaching. Methods: 455 pregnant women completed a questionnaire, which were statistically analysed. Focus groups and individual interviews were conducted with immigrant women, content analysis was used to assess the data. Results: Skin bleaching products were used by 2.6% of pregnant women, significantlly more by women born in non-European countries. Motivating factors were associated with the concept of beauty together with social and economic advantages. The women had low awareness of the potential health risks of the products. Regulations on the trade of skin bleaching products have not effectively reduced the availability of the products in Sweden nor the popularity of skin bleaching. Conclusion: There is need for further research especially among pregnant women and possible effects on newborns. Products should be tested for toxicity. Public health information should be developed and health care providers educated and aware of this practice, due to their potential negative health implications.

Gender equality and women's empowerment have, since the 1970s, become a significant policy discourse globally. The millennium development goals (MDGs) constitute one of the most recent attempt by the Global North to tackle discrimination against women, poverty, hunger,

s u m m a r y Despite significant contributions made in the area of persistent/chronic insomnia, especially with regard to the underlying mechanisms driving its maintenance, the area of acute insomnia has received comparatively little attention. The aim of this paper is to review the literature with regard to understanding the situational and personaological circumstances that surround the development of acute insomnia. The review begins by examining how the existing diagnostic systems conceptualise acute insomnia. Theoretical models that explain, or inferentially explain, the transition between normal sleep and acute insomnia are then explored and evaluated. The review then examines the current evidence base in terms of the pathogenesis of acute insomnia from naturalistic and experimental studies. Overall, the findings from the review confirm the paucity of evidence available but perhaps more importantly highlight the need for a structured diagnosis of acute insomnia as the first step in a research and treatment strategy. To this end a diagnostic system, drawing on the existing literature on stress and the systems used to diagnose depression, is forwarded and justified and a research agenda advanced.

To cite: Gotts ZM, Deary V, Newton J, et al. Are there sleep-specific phenotypes in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome? A cross-sectional polysomnography analysis. ABSTRACT Objectives: Despite sleep disturbances being a central complaint in patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), evidence of objective sleep abnormalities from over 30 studies is inconsistent. The present study aimed to identify whether sleep-specific phenotypes exist in CFS and explore objective characteristics that could differentiate phenotypes, while also being relevant to routine clinical practice. Design: A cross-sectional, single-site study. Setting: A fatigue clinic in the Netherlands. Participants: A consecutive series of 343 patients meeting the criteria for CFS, according to the Fukuda definition. Measures: Patients underwent a single night of polysomnography (all-night recording of EEG, electromyography, electrooculography, ECG and respiration) that was hand-scored by a researcher blind to diagnosis and patient history. Results: Of the 343 patients, 104 (30.3%) were identified with a Primary Sleep Disorder explaining their diagnosis. A hierarchical cluster analysis on the remaining 239 patients resulted in four sleep phenotypes being identified at saturation. Of the 239 patients, 89.1% met quantitative criteria for at least one objective sleep problem. A one-way analysis of variance confirmed distinct sleep profiles for each sleep phenotype. Relatively longer sleep onset latencies, longer Rapid Eye Movement (REM) latencies and smaller percentages of both stage 2 and REM characterised the first phenotype. The second phenotype was characterised by more frequent arousals per hour. The third phenotype was characterised by a longer Total Sleep Time, shorter REM Latencies, and a higher percentage of REM and lower percentage of wake time. The final phenotype had the shortest Total Sleep Time and the highest percentage of wake time and wake after sleep onset. Conclusions: The results highlight the need to routinely screen for Primary Sleep Disorders in clinical practice and tailor sleep interventions, based on phenotype, to patients presenting with CFS. The results are discussed in terms of matching patients' selfreported sleep to these phenotypes in clinical practice. Gotts ZM, Deary V, Newton J, et al. BMJ Open 2013;3:e002999.

We investigate the complexity and recurrence properties of human activity measured from forearm movement in individuals carrying out their normal daily routines. We show that complexity in activity decreases with age and speculate that this coincides with a reduction in healthy behaviour and could also indicate that one of the underlying physiological systems that help control and maintain a person's activity levels could also be declining. We also uncover a threshold that exists in the 60-70 age-group and hypothesise that this be a possible peak in human activity levels.

Background: The relationship between sleep and daytime physical and mental functioning in chronic fatigue syndrome has been largely neglected by researchers, as has the impact of daytime napping. Objectives: To examine self-reported sleep in CFS patients and explore whether sleep quality and daytime napping predicted markers of daytime functioning, specifically fatigue, sleepiness and cognitive functioning, all key dimensions of the illness experience. Methods: A consecutive sample of 118 CFS patients (Fukuda) completed a standardised sleep diary over 14 days. Levels of daytime functioning and disability were quantified using symptom assessment tools to measure fatigue (Chalder Fatigue Scale), sleepiness (Epworth Sleepiness Scale), cognitive functioning (Trail Making Test, Cognitive Failures Questionnaire), and mood (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale). Results: Hierarchical Regression analyses demonstrated that longer time since diagnosis, higher depression and longer wake time ...

Despite cognitive behavioral therapy for insomnia (CBT-I) being effective, barriers to adherence have been documented. Perceived partner alliance has been shown to influence adherence and treatment outcome across a range of other health conditions. The present study examined patients' perceptions regarding the role of their partner in CBT-I and the impact of perceived partner alliance on treatment outcome. Twenty-one patients were interviewed, following CBT-I, to examine the areas where partners were thought to influence the process of CBT-I. The majority of statements made during interviews explicitly mentioned a partner's influence (65%). Additionally, the production of more positive partner statements was associated with better treatment outcome (using the Insomnia Severity Index). The integration of perceived partner alliance into CBT-I is discussed.

We investigate the complexity and recurrence properties of human activity measured from forearm movement in individuals carrying out their normal daily routines. We show that complexity in activity decreases with age and speculate that this coincides with a reduction in healthy behaviour and could also indicate that one of the underlying physiological systems that help control and maintain a person's activity levels could also be declining. We also uncover a threshold that exists in the 60-70 age-group and hypothesise that this be a possible peak in human activity levels.

To identify whether sleep disturbances are more prevalent in primary SS (pSS) patients compared with the general population and to recognize which specific sleep symptoms are particularly problematic in this population. Electronic searches of the literature were conducted in PubMed, Medline (Ovid), Embase (Ovid), PsychINFO (Ovid) and Web of Science and the search strategy registered a priori . Titles and abstracts were reviewed by two authors independently against a set of prespecified inclusion/exclusion criteria, reference lists were examined and a narrative synthesis of the included articles was conducted. Eight whole-text papers containing nine separate studies met the inclusion criteria and were included in the narrative analysis. Few of these studies met all of the quality assessment criteria. The studies used a range of self-reported measures and objective measures, including polysomnography. Mixed evidence was obtained for some of the individual sleep outcomes, but overall c...