Political violence and necropolitics in Omar Shahid Hamid’s The Prisoner

This article examines violence and necropolitical experiences in the management of life and death in Pakistan’s largest city, Karachi and its representation by Omar Shahid Hamid in his debut novel The Prisoner (2013). Pakistan’s western border and the largest city Karachi have long been epicentres of violent actions in the backdrop of wars (for instance, the Soviet and the ‘War on Terror’) in neighbouring Afghanistan. The relationship of governing authorities with violence and necropolitics is analysed in the light of critical approaches from the works of Michael Foucault (2008), Achille Mbembe (2001 & 2003), Giorgio Agamben (1998 & 2005), and Judith Butler (2004). Through the analysis of the fictional narrative, this paper examines local and global deployment of various strategies of occupation, domination and subjugation that aims to manage human bodies through social, economic, political and religious discourses. This article argues that violence and death are used as a means of control over human bodies as represented in the novel, a situation in which some lives are disposable and are reducible to ‘bare life’ by state and nonstate actors. Against this backdrop, the article highlights how some lives matter more than others in Karachi’s political landscape. This article also suggests that the landscape in The Prisoner is an embodiment of what Agamben called the ‘state of exception’, a state where (some) people are deemed unworthy of life, and are therefore, removed. It is hoped that this article will be useful to understand complex issues of Karachi

Visual Improvement after Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal Excision of Pituitary Gland Tumor

Objective: To evaluate the frequency of improved visual acuity after Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal excision of pituitary gland tumor.Study Design: Descriptive case series.Materials and Methods: In our study, Pre-operative visual acuity was noted by using the Snellen’s chart. Then patients underwent pituitary gland excision though Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal approach under general anesthesia. After surgery, patients were shifted in postsurgical wards and then will be discharged from there and were examinedfor 3 months in OPD. Snellen’s chart was used to evaluate patents for visual acuity after 3 months by an experienced ophthalmologist having at least 4 years residency experience If visual acuity increased ≥ 1 line, then improved visual acuity was labeled.Results: Improved visual acuity after pituitary gland tumor excision was seen in 59(89.39%) patients. Age and gender of patients did not show any statistically significant association for improved visual acuity.Conclusions: Results of this study showed that pituitary gland tumor excision through Endoscopic Endonasal Transsphenoidal approach is effective in terms of visual acuity improvement. Our main objectives in pituitary surgery are protection and reinstatement of vision and this surgical approach give maximum cover to vision restoration

Selective Harmonics Elimination in Multilevel Inverter Using Bio-Inspired Intelligent Algorithms

Multilevel inverters are powerful electronic devices that are used for the conversion of DC input voltage into AC output voltage and mostly used in medium and high voltage operations. In these operations, pulse width modulation (PWM) frequency is distorted because of electromagnetic interference (EMI) and switching losses which are caused by dv/dt stress. To achieve a pure sinusoidal waveform at output of multilevel inverter is a primary purpose so that a smaller number of harmonic contents are produced. Selective harmonic elimination PWM technique is used in cascaded multilevel inverter for the mitigation of lower harmonics by solving nonlinear transcendental equations and maintains the required fundamental voltage. An objective function is derived from SHE problem to calculate switching angles. For the solution of objective function, optimization approach such as bio-inspired intelligent algorithms are used. In this paper, Genetic Algorithm (GA), Particle Swarm Optimization (PSO) and Bee Algorithm (BA) are used to determine the optimum switching angles for cascaded multilevel inverters to get low total harmonic distortion (THD) in output voltage. These computed angles are analyzed in MATLAB simulation model to authenticate the results. And there will be direct comparison among these algorithms

Outcome of Endoscopic Treatment of Intracranial Arachnoid Cysts

Objective: To analyze the outcome of endoscopic treatment of intracranial Arachnoid Cysts.Materials and Methods: The study was conducted from July 2015 to September 2016 at the department of Neurosurgery Unit III, PGMI, Lahore General Hospital, Lahore. A total number of 13 patients were included in the study of both gender and age range of 05-45 years. Detailed history, neurological examination, preoperative CT and MRI scans were performed in all patients. Karl Storz (Lotta system) endoscope was used in all patients. Postoperative CT scan and follow up MRI scans were done in all patients.Results: Out of 13 patients, there were 08 (60%) male and 05 (40%) female patients. Their age ranged from 05 - 45 years. The majority of patients in our study were in their second and third decade of life. In this study, the symptomatic relief and reduction in cyst size was gained in most of the patients with minimal recurrence and fewer number of side effects.Conclusion: Endoscopic treatment 0f intracranial Arachnoid Cysts proved to be an effective and a very safe technique, provides the best results, avoids shunt dependency with minimal recurrence and fewer side effects

Toxicity and bioaccumulation of heavy metals in spinach (spinacia oleracea) grown in a controlled environment

The impact of heavy metal toxicity on the shoot and root lengths, total protein, fiber characteristics, moisture content and nutrient composition of spinach (Spinacia oleracea) was evaluated. Plants were grown in pots containing soil and treated with different concentrations (mg/kg) of lead (Pb; 300, 400 and 500), cadmium (Cd; 0.5, 1 and 1.5) and zinc (Zn; 250, 500, and 700) as well as mixtures of Cd and Pb (0.5/300, 1/400, 1.5/500), Cd and Zn (0.5/250, 1/500, 1.5/700), and Pb and Zn (300/250, 400/500, 500/700). Soil contaminated by long-term irrigation with wastewater containing heavy metals was simulated. An increase in concentrations of heavy metals both individually and as mixtures significantly (p < 0.05) reduced the growth parameters and nutrient contents of S. oleracea. The uptake patterns of heavy metals in mixtures showed antagonistic impacts on each other. The toxicities of the mixtures Cd and Pb, Cd and Zn as well as Pb and Zn were higher than those observed in separate heavy metal applications but less than their additive sums. The toxicity caused by individual heavy metals was the highest for Cd followed by Pb and Zn. The highest toxicity was observed in plants grown in soil contaminated by Cd and Pb

Load balancing solution and evaluation of F5 content switch equipment

The Thesis focused on hardware based Load balancing solution of web traffic through a load balancer F5 content switch. In this project, the implemented scenario for distributing HTTPtraffic load is based on different CPU usages (processing speed) of multiple member servers.Two widely used load balancing algorithms Round Robin (RR) and Ratio model (weighted Round Robin) are implemented through F5 load balancer. For evaluating the performance of F5 content switch, some experimental tests has been taken on implemented scenarios using RR and Ratio model load balancing algorithms. The performance is examined in terms of throughput (bits/sec) and Response time of member servers in a load balancing pool. From these experiments we have observed that Ratio Model load balancing algorithm is most suitable in the environment of load balancing servers with different CPU usages as it allows assigning the weight according to CPU usage both in static and dynamic load balancing of servers

Biodeterioration of buildings and public health implications caused by indoor air pollution

Biodeterioration challenges range from poor indoor air quality and exterior marble defacing to more dangerous building degradation. People often change the look of degraded walls by painting over them, removing carpets as well as replacing damaged wood and papers to improve their aesthetic value. Due to a lack of public awareness and health care infrastructure, the degradation rate is increasing in many countries. There is a need for a review of the international literature supporting practical recommendations. In this critical review paper, the role of microbes in deteriorating buildings, their health impacts in terms of mycotoxins and diverse strategies to handle them are discussed. Moreover, the forthcoming challenges associated with biodegradation and their health impacts have been addressed. Key recommendations have been made: (a) increase of awareness due to community involvement in enhancing moisture control, (b) improvement of cleaning processes and the use of air conditioning systems, (c) regular inspection and maintenance regimes for buildings and (d) cleaning of heating and air conditioning units and associated replacements of filters. The review provides a broad overview of the subject area and should be of interests to generalists working in a wide range of disciplines relevant to indoor air quality

Water-related impacts of climate change on agriculture and subsequently on public health : A review for generalists with particular reference to Pakistan

Water-related impacts due to change in climatic conditions ranging from water scarcity to intense floods and storms are increasing in developing countries like Pakistan. Water quality and waterborne diseases like hepatitis, cholera, typhoid, malaria and dengue fever are increasing due to chaotic urbanization, industrialization, poor hygienic conditions, and inappropriate water management. The morbidity rate is high due to lack of health care facilities, especially in developing countries. Organizations linked to the Government of Pakistan (e.g., Ministry of Environment, Ministry of Climate Change, Planning and Development, Ministry of Forest, Irrigation and Public Health, Pakistan Meteorological Department, National Disaster Management, Pakistan Agricultural Research Centre, Pakistan Council for Research in Water Resources, and Global Change Impact Study Centre), United Nation organizations, provincial government departments, non-governmental organizations (e.g., Global Facility and Disaster Reduction), research centers linked to universities, and international organizations (International Institute for Sustainable Development, Food and Agriculture, Global Climate Fund and World Bank) are trying to reduce the water-related impacts of climate change, but due to lack of public awareness and health care infrastructure, the death rate is steadily increasing. This paper critically reviews the scientific studies and reports both at national and at international level benefiting generalists concerned with environmental and public health challenges. The article underlines the urgent need for water conservation, risk management, and the development of mitigation measures to cope with the water-related impacts of climate change on agriculture and subsequently on public health. Novel solutions and bioremediation methods have been presented to control environmental pollution and to promote awareness among the scientific community. The focus is on diverse strategies to handle the forthcoming challenges associated with water resources management

Impact of sample size on principal component analysis ordination of an environmental data set: effects on eigenstructure

In this study, we used bootstrap simulation of a real data set to investigate the impact of sample size (N = 20, 30, 40 and 50) on the eigenvalues and eigenvectors resulting from principal component analysis (PCA). For each sample size, 100 bootstrap samples were drawn from environmental data matrix pertaining to water quality variables (p = 22) of a small data set comprising of 55 samples (stations from where water samples were collected). Because in ecology and environmental sciences the data sets are invariably small owing to high cost of collection and analysis of samples, we restricted our study to relatively small sample sizes. We focused attention on comparison of first 6 eigenvectors and first 10 eigenvalues. Data sets were compared using agglomerative cluster analysis using Ward’s method that does not require any stringent distributional assumptions