The Space of Enforced Disappearance

Enforced disappearance is a pertinent issue, particularly in the context of Pakistan and many other developing countries. However, the phenomenon of \u27enforced disappearance\u27 and the presence of a corresponding \u27penal architecture\u27 characterized by its \u27invisibility\u27 and \u27unknowability\u27 has not been given sufficient scholarly attention. Most of the literature available on enforced disappearance describes it as a tool of terror used by the state (or its agents). What is not focused on is the relation that exists between the phenomenon of enforced disappearance and the sovereign in the modern state. I unveil this relationship and explore its implications on our understanding of the concept of sovereignty by formulating arguments derived mainly on Arendt and Agamben’s concepts of ‘appearance’ and ‘bare life’ respectively. I argue and establish that enforced disappearance is an \u27exceptional\u27 phenomenon that results in the placement of an individual outside the protection of law into the ‘space of exception’ that is a complete and imposed negation of the space of appearance. Furthermore, the relationship between the sovereign and appearance is explored

The Space of Enforced Disappearance

Enforced disappearance is a pertinent issue, particularly in the context of Pakistan and many other developing countries. However, the phenomenon of \u27enforced disappearance\u27 and the presence of a corresponding \u27penal architecture\u27 characterized by its \u27invisibility\u27 and \u27unknowability\u27 has not been given sufficient scholarly attention. Most of the literature available on enforced disappearance describes it as a tool of terror used by the state (or its agents). What is not focused on is the relation that exists between the phenomenon of enforced disappearance and the sovereign in the modern state. I unveil this relationship and explore its implications on our understanding of the concept of sovereignty by formulating arguments derived mainly on Arendt and Agamben’s concepts of ‘appearance’ and ‘bare life’ respectively. I argue and establish that enforced disappearance is an \u27exceptional\u27 phenomenon that results in the placement of an individual outside the protection of law into the ‘space of exception’ that is a complete and imposed negation of the space of appearance. Furthermore, the relationship between the sovereign and appearance is explored

The Space of Enforced Disappearance

Enforced disappearance is a pertinent issue, particularly in the context of Pakistan and many other developing countries. However, the phenomenon of ‘enforced disappearance’ and the presence of a corresponding ‘penal architecture’ characterized by its ‘invisibility’ and ‘unknowability’ has not been given sufficient scholarly attention. Most of the literature available on enforced disappearance describes it as a tool of terror used by the state (or its agents). What is not focused on is the relation that exists between the phenomenon of enforced disappearance and the sovereign in the modern state. I unveil this relationship and explore its implications on our understanding of the concept of sovereignty by formulating arguments derived mainly on Arendt and Agamben’s concepts of ‘appearance’ and ‘bare life’ respectively. I argue and establish that enforced disappearance is an ‘exceptional’ phenomenon that results in the placement of an individual outside the protection of law into the ‘space of exception’ that is a complete and imposed negation of the space of appearance. Furthermore, the relationship between the sovereign and appearance is explored

Outflow Fdi and Domestic Investment: Aggregated and Disaggregated Analysis

Recently, the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) member countries increased their foreign investment outflows (OFDI), underpinning domestic investment (DCF) and diversifying their economies to reduce the reliance on hydrocarbon economies and augmenting green investments. Thus, our research study examines the effects of OFDI on aggregate capital formation and the de-composing effects of capital formation in to private as well as public investment by applying the common correlation effects (CS-ARDL) panel data methodology in the GCC countries. Our empirical result findings show that OFDI do not significantly spur domestic investment in the GCC countries. However, our disaggregated analysis shows that OFDI significantly contributes to private capital formation only while its contribution to public capital formation remains inconclusive. The extensive public involvement in the economies causes a crowding-out effect, eventually impedes the economic diversification, competitiveness and green activities. Our empirical evidence provides a few policy implications. © 2021 by the authors. Licensee MDPI, Basel, Switzerland.Funding: This research is funded by the National Social Science Foundation Project of China, grant number 16ZDA038 and also is supported by the International Innovation Team Project of China, grant number 2019GJTD03

Knowledge, attitudes and practices of parents regarding antibiotic use in children

Background: Emerging resistance to antimicrobial chemotherapy is becoming a challenge for medicine in recent times. Un-prescribed use of antibiotics is a major contributor to development of this problem. In Pakistan access to antibiotics remains unchecked and hence results in it are over use. The aim of this study was to assess knowledge of parents regarding use of antibiotics, its associated problems, their source of information and their expectations from Paediatricians for prescription of anti-biotics.Methods: This is a questionnaire based cross sectional study conducted in Hayatabad town, District Peshawar. Parents who were consenting, had children aged between 0-16 years, and were not related to medical profession were included in study. Total number of participants interviewed was 400. Analysis was done using prevalence ratios.Results: Most of the participants were mothers. Majority of respondents were literate with education up till level of Graduation. 64% mentioned that they enjoyed a good access to healthcare. Most common source for use of antibiotics was Physician. 35% mentioned that antibiotics must be administered in any case of fever, 47% thought antibiotics to increase recovery time and 51% knew that antibiotics have their own side effect. The most common reason to administer un-prescribed antibiotics was same antibiotic being prescribed by a physician earlier followed by family member or pharmacist recommending use of antibiotic. Lack of resources was denied as a reason for self-administration of antibiotics by majority of parents.CONCLUSION: There is a need of intervention to increase awareness regarding judicious use of antibiotics and to check un-prescribed dispensing of antibiotics

Efficacy of Botanical Plant Extracts on the Population Dynamics of Cotton Aphid, Aphis gossypii Glover (Hemiptera; Aphididae)

Synthetic pesticides are excessively consumed to control crop pests but abundant use of chemicals may implicate the whole ecosystem badly in the end. Despite the growing concern, few natural products are commercialized for pest control whilst on-farm use of existing botanically-based pesticides remains a small, but growing, component of crop protection practice. The experiment was conducted to assess the potential trade-offs of using botanical extracts (Neem leaf extract, NLE, and Moringa leaf extract, MLE) along with synthetic insecticide, Confidor 200 SL, against Aphis gossypii Glover. Meanwhile, impact of these insecticides on natural enemies were also determined in the field experiment. Data were recorded 12h before, as well as 1, 3, and 7 days after the application (DPA) of insecticides. Results revealed that chemical insecticide after 1DPA were showed higher mortality (%) of aphid’s population at leaf (33%) and boll stage (41%), whereas, the botanical treated plots showed lower mortality used alone as well combined application but lower numbers were observed on the negative controls. The same trend of insecticidal activity was observed from all treatments after 3DPA, but interestingly, after 7DPA, the resurgence of beneficial insects were only recorded in botanical extract-treated plots. The Confidor presented an adverse effect on natural enemies whereas no or few natural enemies were observed compared to herbal extracts. Overall, for long-term control, the combined use of botanical insecticides is proved to be more efficient in the management of the aphids than Confidor and caused no or little adverse impact on the beneficial insects

Study of nonlinear thermal convection of ternary nanofluid within Darcy-Brinkman porous structure with time dependent heat source/sink

The dynamical behaviour and thermal transportation feature of mixed convective Casson bi-phasic flows of water-based ternary Hybrid nanofluids with different shapes are examined numerically in a Darcy- Brinkman medium bounded by a vertical elongating slender concave-shaped surface. The mathematical framework of the present flow model is developed properly by adopting the single-phase approach, whose solid phase is selected to be metallic or metallic oxide nanoparticles. Besides, the influence of thermal radiation is taken into consideration in the presence of an internal variable heat generation. A set of feasible similarity transformations are applied for the conversion of the governing PDEs into a nonlinear differential structure of coupled ODEs. An advanced differential quadrature algorithm is employed herein to acquire accurate numerical solutions for momentum and energy equations. Results of the conducted parametric study are explained and revealed in graphs using bvp5c in MATLAB to solve the governing system. The solution with three mixture compositions is provided (Type-I and Type-II). Al2O3 (Platelet), GNT (Cylindrical), and CNTs (Spherical), Type-II mixture of copper (Cylindrical), silver (Platelet), and copper oxide (Spherical). In comparison to Type-I ternary combination Type-II ternary mixtures is lesser in terms of the temperature distribution. The skin friction coefficient is more in Type-1 compared to Type-2

Physical activity level and stroke risk in US population: A matched case-control study of 102,578 individuals

Background: Stroke has been linked to a lack of physical activity; however, the extent of the association between inactive lifestyles and stroke risk has yet to be characterized across large populations. Purpose: This study aimed to explore the association between activity-related behaviors and stroke incidence. Methods: Data from 1999 to 2018 waves of the concurrent cross-sectional National Health and Nutrition Examination Survey (NHANES) were extracted. We analyzed participants characteristics and outcomes for all participants with data on whether they had a stroke or not and assessed how different forms of physical activity affect the incidence of disease. Results: Of the 102,578 individuals included, 3851 had a history of stroke. A range of activity-related behaviors was protective against stroke, including engaging in moderate-intensity work over the last 30 days (OR = 0.8, 95% CI = 0.7-0.9; P = 0.001) and vigorous-intensity work activities over the last 30 days (OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.5-0.8; P \u3c 0.001), and muscle-strengthening exercises (OR = 0.6, 95% CI = 0.5-0.8; P \u3c 0.001). Conversely, more than 4 h of daily TV, video, or computer use was positively associated with the likelihood of stroke (OR = 11.7, 95% CI = 2.1-219.2; P = 0.022). Conclusion: Different types, frequencies, and intensities of physical activity were associated with reduced stroke incidence, implying that there is an option for everyone. Daily or every other day activities are more critical in reducing stroke than reducing sedentary behavior duration

Discovery of novel 1,2,4-triazole tethered β-hydroxy sulfides as bacterial tyrosinase inhibitors: synthesis and biophysical evaluation through in vitro and in silico approaches

In this study, a series of 1,2,4-triazole-tethered β-hydroxy sulfide scaffolds 11a–h was synthesized in good to remarkable yields (69–90%) through the thiolysis of oxiranes by the thiols in aqueous basic catalytic conditions. The synthesized 1,2,4-triazole-tethered β-hydroxy sulfides were screened against bacterial tyrosinase enzyme, and Gram-positive and Gram-negative bacterial cultures i.e., (S. aureus) Staphylococcus aureus & (E. coli) Escherichia coli. Among the synthesized derivatives, the molecules 11a (IC50 = 7.67 ± 1.00 μM), 11c (IC50 = 4.52 ± 0.09 μM), 11d (IC50 = 6.60 ± 1.25 μM), and 11f (IC50 = 5.93 ± 0.50 μM) displayed the better tyrosinase inhibitory activity in comparison to reference drugs ascorbic acid (IC50 = 11.5 ± 1.00 μM) and kojic acid (IC50 = 30.34 ± 0.75 μM). The molecule benzofuran-triazol-propan-2-ol 11c proved to be the most potent bacterial tyrosinase inhibitory agent with a minimum IC50 of 4.52 ± 0.09 μM, as compared to other synthesized counterparts and both standards (kojic acid and ascorbic acid). The compound diphenyl-triazol-propan-2-ol 11a and benzofuran-triazole-propan-2-ol 11c showed comparable anti-bacterial chemotherapeutic efficacy with minimum inhibitory concentrations (MIC = 2.0 ± 2.25 mg mL−1 and 2.5 ± 0.00 mg mL−1, respectively) against S. aureus bacterial strain in comparison with standard antibiotic penicillin (MIC = 2.2 ± 1.15 mg mL−1). Furthermore, among the synthesized derivatives, only compound 11c demonstrated better anti-bacterial activity (MIC = 10 ± 0.40 mg mL−1) against E. coli, which was slightly less than the standard antibiotic i.e., penicillin (MIC = 2.4 ± 1.00 mg mL−1). The compound 11c demonstrated a better binding score (−7.08 kcal mol−1) than ascorbic acid (−5.59 kcal mol−1) and kojic acid (−5.78 kcal mol−1). Molecular docking studies also validate the in vitro anti-tyrosinase assay results; therefore, the molecule 11c can be the lead bacterial tyrosinase inhibitor as well as the antibacterial agent against both types of bacterial strains after suitable structural modifications