The social life of rumors: uncertainty in everyday encounters between the military, Taliban and tribal Pashtun in Pakistan

In the aftermath of 9/11, with respect to the US-led invasion of Afghanistan, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) in Pakistan have been the site of immense violence and destruction, including from US drone attacks, ground military operations by the Pakistan Army, and retaliatory attacks by different factions of Taliban fighters. Using uncertainty as an analytic and ethnographic concept, this article traces the social life of the rumors, conspiracy theories, and stories that float around this violence. It draws attention to their multiple and often contradictory effects: rumors simultaneously breed fear and confusion, help forge intimacy, and provide certainty and coherence. Rather than subvert power relations or simply critique the powerful, I suggest that rumors and conspiracy theories provide the means through which tribal Pashtuns live and make their way in a social world in which they remain unequal, but coeval, participants

Love as understanding Marriage, aspiration, and the joint family in middle-class Pakistan

In middle‐class Pakistan, marriage is the prescribed future for all women, but premarital contact between the sexes is discouraged. To find the right partner, then, without visibly flouting social norms, requires a skillful balancing act between private interests and aspirations, and between public representations and collective concerns. Young women often navigate these conflicting demands by developing what they call an understanding: a secret premarital relationship that they normalize by involving family at a late stage to orchestrate an arranged marriage. Firmly enmeshed within the social life of joint families, understandings are an instance neither of defying patriarchal norms nor of pursuing self‐cultivation within them. Instead, they offer a window into how young women live and explore new possibilities within the vestiges of normative structures. [love, marriage, desire, morality, consumption, joint family, Lahore, Pakistan

M-GEAR: Gateway-Based Energy-Aware Multi-Hop Routing Protocol for WSNs

In this research work, we advise gateway based energy-efficient routing protocol (M-GEAR) for Wireless Sensor Networks (WSNs). We divide the sensor nodes into four logical regions on the basis of their location in the sensing field. We install Base Station (BS) out of the sensing area and a gateway node at the centre of the sensing area. If the distance of a sensor node from BS or gateway is less than predefined distance threshold, the node uses direct communication. We divide the rest of nodes into two equal regions whose distance is beyond the threshold distance. We select cluster heads (CHs)in each region which are independent of the other region. These CHs are selected on the basis of a probability. We compare performance of our protocol with LEACH (Low Energy Adaptive Clustering Hierarchy). Performance analysis and compared statistic results show that our proposed protocol perform well in terms of energy consumption and network lifetime.Comment: IEEE 8th International Conference on Broadband and Wireless Computing, Communication and Applications (BWCCA'13), Compiegne, Franc

Perceptions and Experiences of Artificial Intelligence (AI) Use in Libraries: A Study of Library Users in Pakistan

This study sought to understand library users\u27 opinions, attitudes, and needs regarding using artificial intelligence (AI) in libraries. A survey questionnaire was administered to 71 respondents from academic and public libraries throughout the region. This survey examined a range of topics related to AI use in libraries, such as its perceived benefits and drawbacks; ethical and privacy considerations; user demographics; and factors influencing user adoption of and satisfaction with AI-powered services. The survey results revealed a generally positive attitude toward AI use in libraries. However, concerns were raised regarding such decisions\u27 privacy and ethical ramifications. Libraries must consider user needs and expectations when implementing and managing AI-powered systems. At the same time, further research is necessary to explore different topics related to this emerging technology field

Biases and heuristics in judgment and decision making: The dark side of tacit knowledge

The crux of knowledge management theory is to devise different strategies to capture the tacit knowledge of the people in the organization, to make it explicit and to share it throughout the organization. This paper draws from the literature in cognitive psychology and highlights the limitation of the human mind by observing that knowledge is lost out of memory over time. Judgment and gut feelings are usually associated with different forms of biases and heuristics that may influence decision making negatively by altering the context in which the knowledge has been constructed. The paper argues that the timing and context in which tacit knowledge has been shaped is of immense importance when attempting to capture it. It is suggested that, while striving to capture the tacit knowledge of the individuals, it is important to make sure that it is not under the influence of any bias and its context is accurately perceived and preserved. Biased and incomplete knowledge may do more harm than good and should be avoided

Spousal role expectations and marital conflict: perspectives of men and women

Intimate partner violence (IPV) affects millions of people across the world and is associated with a significant impact on physical and mental health of the victim. IPV often takes place within the context of marriage, where gender role expectations can play an important part in shaping attitudes towards it. While there is much research carried out to understand the phenomenon of IPV, little relates to how a husband and wife’s accounts of spousal role expectations of each other contribute to marital conflict. The issue of IPV within marriage is highly sensitive, particularly in a patriarchy such as Pakistan. The aim of this unique study was to explore the perspective of Pakistani men and women about a husband and wife’s role expectations and how fulfillment of such spousal role expectations impacts on marital conflict, and thereby IPV. Using the community setting, data for this qualitative study were collected through 41 individual interviews, including 20 from Pakistan and 21 from the UK. The findings are presented in two main themes, each containing two subthemes. The theme “provider and protector” relates to the role expectations from a husband, whereas “caretaker and household manager” relates to the role expectations of a wife. Overall, husbands and wives have numerous expectations of each other, and these expectations are shaped by gender role attitudes alongside cultural and societal norms. Unmet expectations and deviation of behavior from the perceived norms can result in the development of marital conflict which can escalate to IPV. The significance of this study lies in understanding spousal role expectations from the perspectives of husbands and wives and how unmet expectations contribute to marital conflict and IPV is important for health care professionals within family health contexts. This article provides a detailed insight of this largely hidden phenomena

Oxidative stress contributes to cobalt oxide nanoparticles-induced cytotoxicity and DNA damage in human hepatocarcinoma cells.

BackgroundCobalt oxide nanoparticles (Co(3)O(4)NPs) are increasingly recognized for their utility in biological applications, magnetic resonance imaging, and drug delivery. However, little is known about the toxicity of Co(3)O(4)NPs in human cells.MethodsWe investigated the possible mechanisms of genotoxicity induced by Co(3)O(4)NPs in human hepatocarcinoma (HepG2) cells. Cell viability, reactive oxygen species (ROS), glutathione, thiobarbituric acid reactive substance, apoptosis, and DNA damage were assessed in HepG2 cells after Co(3)O(4)NPs and Co(2+) exposure.ResultsCo(3)O(4)NPs elicited a significant (P < 0.01) reduction in glutathione with a concomitant increase in lipid hydroperoxide, ROS generation, superoxide dismutase, and catalase activity after 24- and 48-hour exposure. Co(3)O(4)NPs had a mild cytotoxic effect in HepG2 cells; however, it induced ROS and oxidative stress, leading to DNA damage, a probable mechanism of genotoxicity. The comet assay showed a statistically significant (P < 0.01) dose- and time-related increase in DNA damage for Co(3)O(4)NPs, whereas Co(2+) induced less change than Co(3)O(4)NPs but significantly more than control.ConclusionOur results demonstrated that Co(3)O(4)NPs induced cytotoxicity and genotoxicity in HepG2 cells through ROS and oxidative stress

Autism, surge in the prevalence and linkage with childhood vaccination - A Review

Autism a neurodegenerative disorder characterised by an abnormal child behaviour likeisolation, learning difficulties, general abnormality in communication and social reciprocity, inability to maintain eye contact or point at something, looking at thing with the peripheral vision and many other neurological disorders, the aetiology of autism is multifactorial including among other social, environmental, genetics, epigenetics andneurological factors, in recent years vaccines have drawn large interest of scientific community for its asserted role in the development of autism, this is largely due to the presence in higher concentration of a mercury containing compound thimerosal in many vaccines, and due to some evidence which link some vaccines including measles, mumps and rubella vaccines with autism, moreover several authentic scientific studies wereundertaken to falsified those findings. Here we critically review those assertion, examined some implicating component of vaccine and relate them with neurobiology of autism

The influence of zinc fertilization on lentil seed yield and zinc concentration in ten Saskatchewan soils

Non-Peer Reviewe