Local politics: examining the political participation of Qatari women in the central municipal council elections

Qatar embarked on a political progressive reform path with the announcement of Central Municipal Council elections in 1999, granting universal suffrage in the same year. The participation of Qatari women since then has be underwhelming, with the presence of only two females in the Central Municipal Council as of 2015. The main purpose of this thesis was to explore and examine Qatari women's formal political participation through the Central Municipal Council, by employing theoretical, analytical, and empirical components found within existent literature, as well as interactions with Qatari women. The main research questions included: How has the formal political engagement of Qatari women changed within the Qatari society? What are Qatari female‟s perspectives on CMC elections, on CMC the institutional framework and to what extent has it affected their formal political participation? What and how are the challenges and opportunities interconnected within this formal participation? To what extent have different barriers accounted for low Qatari women‟s formal political participation? What challenges remain for Qatari women today ahead of the anticipated Consultative Council elections? The thesis takes into consideration the existent literature, as well as employing quantitative and qualitative methods through a survey among Qatari females and an interview with Shaikha Al Jufairi. The thesis concludes that Qatari females' low political participation can be attributed to the institutional framework of the Council, social/family barriers, of which more government support and initiatives are needed to address and counter it

What should I study?: factors affecting student choice of subject at Libyan universities

This thesis focuses on the analysis and discussion of issues and factors influencing Libyan students’ subject choices at undergraduate level. It reviews the literature in the field, situating the study firmly in the context of educational research. However, it is noted that this literature has mainly emerged from Western contexts, and hence cultures. Nonetheless, the body of literature is used as a framework to analyse the Libyan case. The main research question focuses on the main factors influencing the choice process in respect of the field of study for first year undergraduates at Libyan universities. Further questions regarding why students choose to attend university, their perceptions of subjects, and the concerns and influences brought to bear in the choice process are posed. A mixed methods approach is adopted in which the research sample comprises first year students at four different universities in Libya, in order to identify any differences and similarities in the choice process among the students in different regions and different disciplines. Both questionnaire survey and interviews are used to secure fact and opinion regarding the mechanisms employed by students to make their choice of subject. Four different subjects are considered so that comparisons can be made of the influences that are brought to bear in student choice. Underpinning the research instruments is the theoretical framework consisting of cultural capital, social capital, and human capital, as obtained from the comprehensive literature review. The research was conducted in two phases, the first being quantitative, in which 2,209 questionnaires were completed by first year students at two coastal city universities and two rural city universities in Libya. The second phase was qualitative, and involved 65 individual interviews, together with a focus group discussion to cater for female students who excused themselves from participating in the individual interviews because of their religious and cultural beliefs. The research findings show that the subject choice process is influenced by multiple factors and that substantial differences between subject choices are seen among urban and rural students, the latter being destined to study in poorly equipped rural universities. As evidenced in the responses, there is no equity in the provisions of Libyan universities. A further result is that the student’s academic ability has little influence on the selection process, and that other factors such as the parents’ level of education, institutional infrastructure, career prospects and geographical location play important parts in influencing the decision. More interestingly, the study established that students from urban areas with educated parents are more likely to take courses offered in long established universities in the cities. The thesis concludes by highlighting the pertinent points in the research, and makes recommendations for Libyan policy-makers and higher education institutions on how to facilitate the improvement of the student subject choice process. Additionally, it suggests possible avenues for further research area around the topic of this thesis. As a final note, the thesis offers a brief explanation of the socio-political, economic and cultural changes that have taken, and continue to take place, since the overthrow of the previous regime on 23rd October, 2011

What should I study?: factors affecting student choice of subject at Libyan universities

This thesis focuses on the analysis and discussion of issues and factors influencing Libyan students’ subject choices at undergraduate level. It reviews the literature in the field, situating the study firmly in the context of educational research. However, it is noted that this literature has mainly emerged from Western contexts, and hence cultures. Nonetheless, the body of literature is used as a framework to analyse the Libyan case. The main research question focuses on the main factors influencing the choice process in respect of the field of study for first year undergraduates at Libyan universities. Further questions regarding why students choose to attend university, their perceptions of subjects, and the concerns and influences brought to bear in the choice process are posed. A mixed methods approach is adopted in which the research sample comprises first year students at four different universities in Libya, in order to identify any differences and similarities in the choice process among the students in different regions and different disciplines. Both questionnaire survey and interviews are used to secure fact and opinion regarding the mechanisms employed by students to make their choice of subject. Four different subjects are considered so that comparisons can be made of the influences that are brought to bear in student choice. Underpinning the research instruments is the theoretical framework consisting of cultural capital, social capital, and human capital, as obtained from the comprehensive literature review. The research was conducted in two phases, the first being quantitative, in which 2,209 questionnaires were completed by first year students at two coastal city universities and two rural city universities in Libya. The second phase was qualitative, and involved 65 individual interviews, together with a focus group discussion to cater for female students who excused themselves from participating in the individual interviews because of their religious and cultural beliefs. The research findings show that the subject choice process is influenced by multiple factors and that substantial differences between subject choices are seen among urban and rural students, the latter being destined to study in poorly equipped rural universities. As evidenced in the responses, there is no equity in the provisions of Libyan universities. A further result is that the student’s academic ability has little influence on the selection process, and that other factors such as the parents’ level of education, institutional infrastructure, career prospects and geographical location play important parts in influencing the decision. More interestingly, the study established that students from urban areas with educated parents are more likely to take courses offered in long established universities in the cities. The thesis concludes by highlighting the pertinent points in the research, and makes recommendations for Libyan policy-makers and higher education institutions on how to facilitate the improvement of the student subject choice process. Additionally, it suggests possible avenues for further research area around the topic of this thesis. As a final note, the thesis offers a brief explanation of the socio-political, economic and cultural changes that have taken, and continue to take place, since the overthrow of the previous regime on 23rd October, 2011

Feature Selection and Molecular Classification of Cancer Using Genetic Programming

AbstractDespite important advances in microarray-based molecular classification of tumors, its application in clinical settings remains formidable. This is in part due to the limitation of current analysis programs in discovering robust biomarkers and developing classifiers with a practical set of genes. Genetic programming (GP) is a type of machine learning technique that uses evolutionary algorithm to simulate natural selection as well as population dynamics, hence leading to simple and comprehensible classifiers. Here we applied GP to cancer expression profiling data to select feature genes and build molecular classifiers by mathematical integration of these genes. Analysis of thousands of GP classifiers generated for a prostate cancer data set revealed repetitive use of a set of highly discriminative feature genes, many of which are known to be disease associated. GP classifiers often comprise five or less genes and successfully predict cancer types and subtypes. More importantly, GP classifiers generated in one study are able to predict samples from an independent study, which may have used different microarray platforms. In addition, GP yielded classification accuracy better than or similar to conventional classification methods. Furthermore, the mathematical expression of GP classifiers provides insights into relationships between classifier genes. Taken together, our results demonstrate that GP may be valuable for generating effective classifiers containing a practical set of genes for diagnostic/ prognostic cancer classification

Comparative genome analysis of a large Dutch Legionella pneumophila strain collection identifies five markers highly correlated with clinical strains

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>Discrimination between clinical and environmental strains within many bacterial species is currently underexplored. Genomic analyses have clearly shown the enormous variability in genome composition between different strains of a bacterial species. In this study we have used <it>Legionella pneumophila</it>, the causative agent of Legionnaire's disease, to search for genomic markers related to pathogenicity. During a large surveillance study in The Netherlands well-characterized patient-derived strains and environmental strains were collected. We have used a mixed-genome microarray to perform comparative-genome analysis of 257 strains from this collection.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Microarray analysis indicated that 480 DNA markers (out of in total 3360 markers) showed clear variation in presence between individual strains and these were therefore selected for further analysis. Unsupervised statistical analysis of these markers showed the enormous genomic variation within the species but did not show any correlation with a pathogenic phenotype. We therefore used supervised statistical analysis to identify discriminating markers. Genetic programming was used both to identify predictive markers and to define their interrelationships. A model consisting of five markers was developed that together correctly predicted 100% of the clinical strains and 69% of the environmental strains.</p> <p>Conclusions</p> <p>A novel approach for identifying predictive markers enabling discrimination between clinical and environmental isolates of <it>L. pneumophila </it>is presented. Out of over 3000 possible markers, five were selected that together enabled correct prediction of all the clinical strains included in this study. This novel approach for identifying predictive markers can be applied to all bacterial species, allowing for better discrimination between strains well equipped to cause human disease and relatively harmless strains.</p

Mutation Detection in Patients with Retinal Dystrophies Using Targeted Next Generation Sequencing

Retinal dystrophies (RD) constitute a group of blinding diseases that are characterized by clinical variability and pronounced genetic heterogeneity. The different nonsyndromic and syndromic forms of RD can be attributed to mutations in more than 200 genes. Consequently, next generation sequencing (NGS) technologies are among the most promising approaches to identify mutations in RD. We screened a large cohort of patients comprising 89 independent cases and families with various subforms of RD applying different NGS platforms. While mutation screening in 50 cases was performed using a RD gene capture panel, 47 cases were analyzed using whole exome sequencing. One family was analyzed using whole genome sequencing. A detection rate of 61% was achieved including mutations in 34 known and two novel RD genes. A total of 69 distinct mutations were identified, including 39 novel mutations. Notably, genetic findings in several families were not consistent with the initial clinical diagnosis. Clinical reassessment resulted in refinement of the clinical diagnosis in some of these families and confirmed the broad clinical spectrum associated with mutations in RD genes