Strategic manoeuvring with accusations of inconsistency in prime minister's question time

Tese arquivada ao abrigo da Portaria nº 227/2017 de 25 de Julho-Registo de Grau EstrangeiroDeze studie beoogt een uitgebreide argumentatieve uiteenzetting te geven van een specifieke discussiezet in Prime Minister’s Question Time, het vragenuurtje van de minister-president in het Britse Lagerhuis. Het behelst een pragma-dialectisch onderzoek naar beschuldigingen van inconsistentie die de minister-president doet in reacties op standpunten die door parlementsleden (MP’s) van de oppositie naar voren zijn gebracht en waarin zij kritiek uiten op beleid, acties of plannen van de regering. In zulke zetten is het gebruikelijk dat de minister-president de gebondenheid van de MP aan het kritische standpunt bestrijdt door te wijzen op een vermeende inconsistentie tussen de huidige kritiek van de MP en een andere positie die aan hem kan worden toegeschreven. In deze studie wordt het pragma-dialectische instrumentarium toegepast en verder ontwikkeld om zowel een empirisch adequate uiteenzetting te geven als een uiteenzetting die kritisch inzicht biedt in dergelijke reacties. De onderzochte reacties van de minister-president worden gekarakteriseerd als een specifieke manier van strategisch manoeuvreren in de confrontatiefase waarmee een gunstige uitkomst van de argumentatieve confrontatie wordt nagestreefd die binnen de grenzen van de redelijkheid blijft (Hoofdstuk 2). De karakterisering toont de strategische functie van de reacties aan: zij gelden als pogingen van de minister-president om zijn tegenstanders zover te krijgen om hun kritische standpunten in te trekken op basis van de in principe redelijke grond dat iemand niet tegelijkertijd twee mutueel-exclusieve gebondenheden kan hebben. Bovendien werpt de karakterisering licht op de strategische keuzen die de minister-president maakt voor bepaalde onderwerpen, aanpassingen aan het publiek en stilistische middelen in zijn poging om de MP de vermeende inconsistentie te laten repareren door zijn huidige kritiek, in plaats van zijn eerdere positie, in te trekken. Om ervoor te zorgen dat de analyse van de reacties trouw is aan de specifieke eigenschappen van de institutionele context waarin de reacties plaatsvinden, wordt de argumentatieve praktijk in Question Time gekarakteriseerd als een argumentatief actietype (Hoofdstuk 3). De institutioneel geconventionaliseerde praktijk wordt gekarakteriseerd als een gelaagd actietype dat wordt gereguleerd door zowel parlementaire regels en conventies als politieke overwegingen. In de karakterisering wordt een hoofddiscussie geïdentificeerd over een standpunt als de prestatie van de regering voldoet en een andere discussie over een standpunt als in tegenstelling tot de andere partij kunnen wij goed leiderschap bieden, die parallel loopt aan de hoofddiscussie. Volgens de regels van Question Time kunnen MP’s en de minister-president alleen kwesties aankaarten die te maken hebben met de verantwoordelijkheden van de regering. Er kan daarom alleen worden verwezen naar het verschil van mening over de politieke bekwaamheid van politieke partijen door te verwijzen naar het meningsverschil over de prestatie van de regering

Evaluation of Adding Desmopressin to Alpha Blockers in Treatment of Nocturia in Cases of Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia: A Prospective Randomized Clinical Study

Background: Nocturia is one of the most bothersome symptom of lower urinary tract symptoms in males with Benign Prostatic Hyperplasia (BPH). Alpha blockers has good effect in relieving bladder outlet obstruction.Objective: The aim of the present study was to provide best available medical treatment for nocturia in patients of BPH.Patients and methods: This prospective study was carried out on 44 male patients complaining of lower urinary tract symptoms (LUTS) of BPH with nocturia, were enrolled in this prospective randomized study for 12 weeks. They were divided randomly into 2 groups, each group included 22 patients. Group A: the patient received oral desmopressin added to tamsulosin once daily. Group B, the patient received oral tamsulosin daily.Results: The mean serum Na of patients at group A was 142.35. No significant difference regarding in-between groups before treatment but at after  12 week of treatment; group A was (mean of Na=137.68±2.033) significantly lower than  group B and significantly decreased from before to after treatment. There was no significant difference between groups in both nocturnal void and nocturnal volume before treatment and after treatment as group A was significantly lower and both groups significantly changed and improved from before to after treatment. No significant difference was found at before treatment regarding total International Prostate Symptom Score (IPSS) but group A was significantly lower regarding total IPSS after treatment and both groups significantly decreased after treatment (6.36±2.59 in group A and 10.55±4.13 in group B).Conclusion: Addition of desmopressin to α-blockers is an active therapy for men with BPH and suffering nocturia and is preferred than α-blockers therapy alone

THE ROLE OF PUBLIC POLICIES IN THE ACTIVATION OF THE EMPLOYMENT POLICY IN ALGERIA

At the beginning of the third millennium, Algeria experienced a different developmental policy through the programs of economic recovery and growth support, helped by the increase in oil prices. This affected the situation of work, where unemployment rates fall relatively in this period compared with the previous one, but critics said that it was not as was expected

Prevalence and Predictors of Relapse among Patients with Schizophrenia at Psychiatric Healthcare Institutions in North-Western Nigeria

Background: Nigerians with Schizophrenic disorder are experiencing multiple relapses during the course of the illness. Relapse is disabling and  distressing, associated with progressive functional deterioration as well as worsening treatment response and clinical prognosis. Aim: Thestudy aims to assess the prevalence and predictors of relapse among patients with Schizophrenia in North-western Nigeria. Methods: A cross-sectional descriptive design was employed to conduct the study in Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Kaduna, Kano State  Psychiatric Hospital Dawanau, and Federal Neuro-Psychiatric Hospital Kware, Sokoto States. The Population of the study constitutes all patients with  schizophrenia attending the outpatient units of the Hospitals with a sample size of 464 patients a crossed the facilities. A purposive sampling  technique was used in the study to recruit respondents. Self -structure Questionnaire was the instrument for data collection. Data collected were  analyzed using SPSS Version 23 and presented using mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentages. Regression analysis was used at a 0.05  level of significance to determine predictors of relapse.. Results: Findings revealed that from the year 2018 to 2020, the prevalence of relapse  among patients with schizophrenia is very high in the year  2020 with 71% relapse in Kano state, 40% relapse in Sokoto state, and 14% relapse in Kaduna state. The study shows that co-morbid illness, stressful  life events, and inadequate mental health services are predictors of relapse (p<0.05). Conclusion: The study concludes that personal, social, and health facility factors are predictors of relapse among patients with Schizophrenia in  North-west Nigeria. Recommendations: Emotional and social support like halfway home, assertive community therapy, self -help groups should be provided to patients  with schizophrenia, as these can play a vital role in their response to the ailment thereby reducing relapse and the prevalence of the  disease

The Impact of Supply Chain Management and Information Systems on Operational Performance: Empirical Evidence from SMEs in Saudi Arabia

The study entails impact on operational performance (OPER) of small and medium size enterprises (SMEs) by using supply chain management (SCM) and information system (IS) practices in Saudia Arabia empirically. Moderation investigation of Supply Chain Management and Information System link promoted factors and impeding factors in implementing Supply Chain Management and Information System applies and OPER also taken in to account in the second part of the research. In the current study, underlying dimensions of SCM and IS practices are also empirically identified, and enabling and inhibiting fators related to SCM-IS are also identified at the first stage. Regression analysis was used for estimation of studying impact of variables on OPER and SMEs in the second phase of the research. Comparative results discussion have taken place in Saudi context at the end of the research. The study significantly contribute while considering and evaluating literature, acquire and analyses of collected data about Supply Chain Management and Information System implementations in Saudi Small and Medium Enterprices

Reducing power consumption in LEO satellite network

Current low earth orbit (LEO) satellite network display poor power efficiency, running network devices at full capacity all the time regardless of the traffic matrix and the distribution of the population over the Globe. Most of the research on energy efficiency of LEO satellites has focused on component level or link level. Therefore, this kind of research is not holistic to try to look at the satellite system as a single node. To enhance the energy efficiency. The solution should exploits multipath routing and load balancing. LEO network is overprovisioned, and hence selectively shutting down some satellite nodes and links during off-peaks hours seems like a good way to reduce energy consumption. In this paper, we exploit the fact that due to geographical and climatic conditions, some satellite links are expected to be loaded with data while others remain unused. Our approach is to power down satellite nodes and links during period of low traffic, while guaranteeing the connectivity and QoS. Finding the optimal solution is NP-problem and therefore, we explore in this work two heuristic algorithms. We evaluate our heuristics on a realistic LEO topology and real traffic matrices. Simulation results show that the power saving can be significant

MRI value in characterization of tendon and ligament lesions of the fingers

Background: MR imaging is a powerful method for characterization of swellings arising from the tendon sheath especially giant cell tumors and ganglion cyst of the tendon sheath. A trigger finger is a common condition and is either blockage or triggering of the finger from flexion to extension.Objective: To evaluate the diagnostic performance of MRI in non-traumatic finger tendon and ligament-related lesions to allow a more focused assessment of the soft tissue structures of this region.Patients and methods: This study was performed in Radiology Department, Menoufia University Hospitals, during the period from August 2018 to April 2020. This study included 44 patients; 25 males, 19 females with an age range from 13 years to 58 years (mean age 35 years). In terms of clinical presentation, 73% of cases presented by swelling and cases presented by pain were 27%.Results: Primary diagnosis by MRI revealed 50% of cases were giant cell tumors, 25% were ganglion cysts and the remainder were hemangiomas, MRI detection of characterization represented by 100%, the results then compared with pathology and laboratory results with accuracy of MRI in the detection of tissue characterization is 93.3%, MRI evidence of non-traumatic tenosynovitis constituted about 75% of all cases of tenosynovitis. On the other hand, only 25% of cases had a radiological diagnosis of trigger finger.Conclusions: MRI is a great assessment of the tendon and ligaments tear whether partial or complete, any associated marrow edema or bony fragment avulsion, and the extent of retraction in cases of a complete tear