Encapsulated Skin-Ego and Anti-Corporeal Manichaean Myth of Femininity in Transmission

We propose, within the context of a Skin Model of Ego Development (SMED), that Didier Anzieu’s work of the skin-ego is a useful entry point into understanding the Manichaean mythic view of femininity as creating an encapsulated skin-ego, that tends to enclose the feminine object in a defensive-isolative capsule, through culturally transmitted ideals, shaped by misogyny. Utilizing this perspective, the unconscious and the myth are seen as being, in general terms, intertwined and expressed in epidermal psychoanalytic dialogue. As a result, the psyche and the body are radically split from one another through the dysfunctioning of the skin-ego that is an asexualized phantasmal-mythic dome of ‘womanhood’, which preserves misogynistic norms and ideals and blocks any possibility of femininity as a subjecthood. Moreover, a culturally transmitted myth-fueled psychic alienation is conveyed through a linguistic mythic time machine, which, in turn, results in transmitting a mythic mindset from one generation to another. In this sense, it is of utmost importance to mention that dysfunctional skin-ego leads to dysfunctional thinking ego therein the result is the isolated mind. Encapsulated thinking ego rejects embodiment, spontaneity, and connectedness with anything that has to do with emotional life. To enrich our discussion, the Matrix movies are used to discuss how the Manichaean system of thought is in motion and survives in transmission

Superego and Will to Dominate Over Ego

The study of superego and ideology within the context of bodily ego and skin as a psychic wrapping is vital to understanding the intersubjective aspects of those individuals who are living in a mal-attuned or extreme situation. This paper investigates superego’s will to dominate over the skin-ego to satisfy the id by itself and takes an intermediate position between id and external reality. The authors further attempt is to conceptualize superego formation in a skin model of ego development in a synthetic way and redefine ideology within the context of this conceptualization. The term Encapsulated Skin-Ego may explain how when the skin-ego is dysfunctional, a certain part of superego comes into being a psychic wrapping instead of the skin-ego and has left its developmental position. Consequently, the skin-ego takes refuge in the encapsulated skin-ego to be secure. In addition, ideology has a hegemonic character and wishes to control social symbols to continue its domination over people’s minds and bodies. Ideology tries to encapsulate the skin-ego and deprive it of natural sensations to lead it to an isolated corner ultimately to suppress the thinking ego. Two-case studies present the psychoanalytic application of the authors’ ideas.   &nbsp

MyoRing Implantation with and without Corneal Collagen Crosslinking for the Management of Keratoconus

Purpose: To evaluate the safety and efficacy of femtosecond laser-assisted MyoRing implantation with concurrent corneal collagen crosslinking (CXL) compared to MyoRing alone for the treatment of progressive keratoconus. Methods: A total of 60 patients were enrolled in this randomized controlled trial. The patients were randomly allocated into two groups. In the first group, MyoRing was implanted, while in the second, it was inserted in the corneal stroma using the same technique, along with simultaneous CXL. Visual, refractive, topographic, and abberometric outcomes were measured preoperatively and at every postoperative visit. Results: Data of 47 patients were available at the end of the study; 28 in the MyoRing group and 19 in the MyoRing + CXL group. The mean uncorrected distance visual acuity (UDVA) improved from 0.79 ± 0.39 logMAR to 0.52 ± 0.31 logMAR (P < 0.05) in the MyoRing + CXL group and from 0.65 ± 0.38 logMAR to 0.62 ± 0.23 logMAR (P = 0.70) in the MyoRing group. CDVA changed from 0.33 ± 0.19 logMAR to 0.25 ± 0.16 logMAR (P = 0.10) in the MyoRing + CXL group and 0.32 ± 0.22 logMAR to 0.33 ± 0.17 logMAR (P > 0.5) in the MyoRing group. The mean keratometry (Km) decreased from 47.5 ± 2.7 D to 43.8 ± 3.2 D (P < 0.001) in the MyoRing group and 49.3 ± 3.4 D to 45.1 ± 3.0 D (P < 0.001) in the MyoRing + CXL group. Besides, horizontal coma was significantly lower in the MyoRing + CXL group (P = 0.022). Conclusion: MyoRing insertion combined with CXL is a safe and effective method for the treatment of keratoconus. The visual and topographic outcomes were comparable to that for MyoRing insertion after 10 months; however, horizontal coma was significantly lower in the MyoRing + CXL group

Measurement of BTEX (benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene and xylene) concentration at gas stations

Background: Fuel stations are one of the major sources of air pollution with volatile organic compounds, especially the four main petrol compounds benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene (BTEX). BTEX in gasoline enters the air of gas stations due to high evaporation of gasoline. Therefore, determining the concentration of these compounds in gas stations in crowded and busy cities is one of the important priorities of environmental health, which is doubly important in terms of its negative effects on health. Methods: In this descriptive cross-sectional study, a total of 39 samples were collected from 13 gas stations. Sampling was performed in autumn 2018 in three working shifts (morning, noon, and night). The method NIOSH-1501 (i.e., using charcoal sorbent tubes and SKC pump with a flow rate of 0.2 L/min) was used for sampling the BTEX compounds. The mean difference and correlation of BTEX compounds based on meteorological parameters and the number of nozzles in gas stations were assessed using one-way ANOVA and correlation tests. Results: The mean and standard deviation of benzene, toluene, ethylbenzene, and xylene concentrations in the air of fuel stations were 2.784 ± 1.461, 3.495 ± 1.390, 2.091 ± 0.811, and 1.140 ± 0.419 mg/m3, respectively. The relationship between BTEX compounds and meteorological parameters such as humidity and exposure time is very important. There is a strong correlation between the concentrations of BTEX compounds. The highest correlation was observed between benzene and toluene and the lowest one was observed between benzene and xylene. In this study, no significant relationship was observed between air temperature and concentration of BTEX compounds, but there was a relationship between relative humidity and the concentration of BTEX compounds. Conclusion: The average benzene concentration in the air at the fuel stations was about 5.5 times the standard limit. Authorities should improve fuel quality and reduce its evaporation through engineering measures to overcome the issue. Keywords: BTEX, Gas stations, Ira

Investigating the Role of Environmental Factors on the Survival, Stability, and Transmission of SARS-CoV-2, and Their Contribution to COVID-19 Outbreak: A Review

publishedVersio

Blood for Bread: Kurdish Kolbers, State Violence, and Another Call for Militant Anthropology. (A Dissertation Portfolio)

As a stateless nation, geopolitically dispersed across various states (Iran, Iraq, Syria, and Turkey), the Kurds are known mainly in the West as excellent soldiers/fighters and political revolutionaries. But amid the devastation of war and political unrest, most Kurds are struggling for economic survival. This is especially true for the Kurds living under the rule of Iran’s ethno-theocratic state. The Kurds refer to the part of Kurdistan under the Iranian state’s control as Rojhelat or Eastern Kurdistan, as it comprises the eastern part of the greater Kurdistan territory. The modern Iranian state has subjected the Rojhelaties or Eastern Kurds to decades of hostile ‘de-development’ policies that have undermined their traditional forms of livelihood, such as agriculture, animal husbandry, and natural resources. They have seen their lands confiscated and their access to capital, educational mobility, and resources severely restricted. In addition, under the rule of the Iranian Perso-Shia state, Kurds have been culturally and economically under a regime of internal colonialism that has eroded their capacity for economic survival. In this context, Rojhelati Kurds find few options for sustaining their lives: either join the central government’s repressive security apparatus in the region or become Kolber (cross-border worker, in Kurdish). This research seeks to provide a socio-political and ethnographic understanding of the work and experience of the Kurdish Kolber\u27s. These workers engage in the transport of goods across the Iranian and Iraqi borders. Drawing on interviews with current and past kolbers and the existing data from social media and a human rights organization, I seek to understand who enters this work, why they engage in kolberi, and their strategies for internal survival networks and mutual support. Finally, this study argues that kolberi is an embodiment of systematic exclusion and it is accompanying structural inequalities tailored along with the ethno-religious lines by the Iranian state. I will try to put the Kolber lived experiences of the labor as well as their narratives of violence within the larger context of Perso-Shia nationalist discourse which defines the very human and human rights on the metrics of language and religion. my research will discuss kolberi as an ethnicized and racialized labor and as a natural outcome of a systematic and systemic exclusion of Kurds due to their ethnic and religious background. Keywords: State, Sovereignty, Violence, Kolberi, Militant Anthropology, Eastern Kurdistan, Ira

Inhuman Traffick: The International Struggle Against the Transatlantic Slave Trade, A Graphic History

Book Revie

Review of The Emergence of Iranian Nationalism: Race and the Politics of Dislocation, by Reza Zia-Ebrahimi (2016), Columbia University Press; First edition

A Review of Reza Zia-Ibrahimi's The Emergence of Iranian Nationalism: Race and the Politics of Dislocatio

Decolonizing Iran: a tentative note on inter-subaltern colonialism

This paper investigates the ways in which the nationalist narrative of the statist archaeology in Iran has contributed to the dominant nationalist discourse in systematic attempts to erase any evidence of the existence of a “non-Aryan” past in the Iranian plateau. Sponsored by the state, ethnoracial archaeological studies in Iran have functioned as a powerful instrument for constructing a desired past, one that is informed by Persianist primordial nationalism. To justify the state’s concurrent homogenization policies, Iranian archaeology has ascribed a sole historical agency to the Persian ethnie. Iranian archaeological studies have been employed by the Persianist intelligentsia and the state for propagating the idea of the singularity of “the nation”—one in which nonsovereign communities have no history, identity, or culture. Building on emergent decolonized literature on archaeology, this paper aims to interrogate some of the fundamental premises of nationalist archaeological studies in Iran