Liberation at Gunpoint: Deconstructing Politicized Representations of Afghan Women

Following the terrorist attacks on September 11, 2001, the United States waged its longest-running war on Afghanistan. Military intervention was justified through representations of oppressed Afghan women to frame the “War on Terror” as a war for women. The Bush administration\u27s war propaganda exploited the plight of Afghan women by co-opting a feminism-as-humanitarianism framework. This approach, cloaked in universalist language, was uncritically accepted by the Feminist Majority Foundation’s (FMF) campaign to stop gender apartheid. Through careful consideration of the Bush administration and the Feminist Majority Foundation\u27s Taliban-centered rhetoric, this thesis offers a critical analysis of the ahistorical and imperialist backdrop in which representations of Afghan women are embedded. Emphasizing the underlying geopolitical and economic motives of US military intervention in Afghanistan, I argue that the Feminist Majority Foundation is shaped by the discourse of modern US imperialism and appropriates a feminism-as-humanitarianism framework, which contradicts their mission. These contradictions reinforce the East versus West binary and are best articulated through images of the ubiquitous blue burqa. The Feminist Majority Foundation and the Bush administration’s rhetoric go beyond recycling the imagery and mentality of the “clash of civilizations.” The destructive consequences of US foreign policy and imperialism are justified by ideological constructions of the West versus the Islamic “Other.” This thesis raises relevant concerns of the role of feminist NGOs in 21st century imperial political projects. My findings insist that feminist solidarity should be based on geographically and culturally specific histories of struggle and understood through Muslim women’s interpretation of their identity and freedom, amidst and beyond the “War on Terror.

Design and implementation of computational systems based on programmed mutagenesis

Thesis (M.S.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 1998.Includes bibliographical references (p. 35-37).by Julia Khodor.M.S

THE IMPACT OF ECONOMIC GROWTH AND INFLATION ON YOUTH UNEMPLOYMENT: EMPIRICAL STUDY IN ESCWA REGION

High unemployment particularly among youth is a serious burden for economy. There are many causes behind the high unemployment in the Escwa region, which differ from one country to another. Governments policies aim to solve this problem by creating new jobs symmetric with the sustainability of economic growth. These policies usually aim to increase growth rates and not to reduce unemployment. Inflation is another factor that has influence on unemployment rate, therefore economic growth and inflation are two factors that have impact on unemployment. Youth are the most affected group due to many reasons, the most important is the employment production act applied by within countries. For this purpose, this study investigates the influence of economic growth and inflation on youth unemployment in 16 countries belonging to the ESCWA region for the period 1991-2017. Pedroni Residual Cointegration Test statistic showed that there was no relationship between young unemployment, inflation and economic growth in ESWA’S economies. So, it can be clearly said that the series were not moving together for the long-term period. Furthermore, in this context, the results of Dumitrescu-Hurlin (2012) panel Granger causality test indicated that there is no causality relationship between youth unemployment and economic growth as well between inflation and economic growth. While a unidirectional causality moved from inflation to youth unemployment to inflation

Biomechanical understanding of blow-out fractures: A finite element study

Blow-out fractures are one of the most common fractures in maxillofacial trauma. Two mechanisms are thought to cause these fractures, the buckling mechanism and hydraulic mechanism. This study aims to compare between the two mechanisms in terms of intensity and extension using the finite elements method. Three-dimensional model was generated using computed tomography data of young male patient. Virtual loads were applied on the infra-orbital rim and the eyeball separately. Von Mises stress and equivalent elastic strain were examined in each simulation. The simulation predicted fractures on the infra-orbital rim and orbital floor when simulating the buckling mechanism, and on the orbital floor and mesial wall when simulating the hydraulic mechanism. Biomechanical studies are essential in understanding maxillofacial fractures mechanisms. Our results ascertained and confirmed what is seen clinically and explained the two mechanisms of blow-out fractures

Esophageal ph monitoring study of eight hours in pediatric patients with suspected gastroesophageal reflux

PURPOSE: To study the pH monitoring over eight hours, analyzing variables such symptomatology and esophagogastroduodenoscopy, as well as the following pH monitoring parameters: number of reflux episodes, number of episodes longer than five minutes, length of reflux time during the eight hours, and the episode of longest duration, for the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux. METHODS: A prospective study. Continuous measurement of esophageal pH was performed over eight hours on 35 patients whose ages ranged from four months to 11 years. The DPS-100 Diagnosis pH meter System was utilized, programmed in accordance with the methodology suggested by Vandenplas. The pH monitoring results were divided into positive and negative and compared with all the variables and parameters of the examination. RESULTS: We obtained statistically significant differences in all the pH monitoring parameters analyzed, with the reflux index being the most effective for identifying the pathological reflux, independent of age. None of the qualitative variables of age, symptomatology and esophagogastroduodenoscopy showed statistically significant differences when compared to the pH monitoring results. CONCLUSION: The esophageal pH monitoring of eight hours has its pH monitoring parameters validated for the diagnosis of gastroesophageal reflux.OBJETIVO: Estudar a pHmetria em oito horas, analisando variáveis como a idade, sintomatologia e esôfago-estômago-duodenografia, além dos seguintes parâmetros pHmétricos: número de episódios de refluxo, número de episódios maiores de cinco minutos, tempo de refluxo nas oito horas e episódio de maior duração, para o diagnóstico do refluxo gastroesofágico. MÉTODO: Estudo prospectivo realizado com a medição contínua do pH esofágico em oito horas em 35 pacientes, de quatro meses a 11 anos de idade. Foi utilizado aparelho de pHmetria DPS-100 Diagnosis pHmeter System com programa de acordo com a metodologia sugerida por Vandenplas e comparados com todas as variáveis e parâmetros do exame. RESULTADOS: Obtivemos diferença estatisticamente significante em todos os parâmetros pHmétricos analisados, com o índice de refluxo sendo o mais efetivo para identificar o refluxo patológico, independente da idade. Todas as variáveis qualitativas, idade, sintomatologia e esôfago-estômago-duodenografia, não mostraram diferenças estatisticamente significantes quando relacionados aos resultados da pHmetria. CONCLUSÃO: Concluímos que a pHmetria esofágica de oito horas tem seus parâmetros pHmétricos válidos para o diagnóstico do refluxo gastroesofágico.Universidade Federal de São Paulo (UNIFESP) EPM Departamento de CirurgiaUNIFESP, EPM, Depto. de CirurgiaSciEL

A comparison of locally adaptive multigrid methods: LDC, FAC and FIC

This study is devoted to a comparative analysis of three 'Adaptive ZOOM' (ZOom Overlapping Multi-level) methods based on similar concepts of hierarchical multigrid local refinement: LDC (Local Defect Correction), FAC (Fast Adaptive Composite), and FIC (Flux Interface Correction)--which we proposed recently. These methods are tested on two examples of a bidimensional elliptic problem. We compare, for V-cycle procedures, the asymptotic evolution of the global error evaluated by discrete norms, the corresponding local errors, and the convergence rates of these algorithms

Impact of Excess Body Weight on Health-Related Quality of Life Among Adults in Lebanon

The objective of this study is to evaluate the impact of excess body weight on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQoL). A convenience sample of 320 adults was recruited from different health centers in Lebanon. Body mass index (kg/m2 ) was calculated based on measured weight and height. Participants were divided into three groups: normal-weight (18.5-24.9), overweight (25.0-29.9) and obese (≥30.0). HRQoL was assessed using the Short-Form health survey questionnaire (SF-36). The eight scales as well as the physical (PCS-36) and mental (MCS-36) component summary measures of the SF-36 were calculated and compared statistically among the three groups. The impact of Body Mass Index (BMI) on HRQoL was also examined through linear regressions, adjusting for sociodemographics, health behaviors and presence of chronic diseases. The results show that overweight and obese men reported reduced HRQoL on all physical scales, while overweight/obese women reported impairments on only two subscales: bodily pain and general health perceptions. PCS-36 showed lower scores in the obese and overweight subjects than the reference group. With regard to mental well-being, obese men and women displayed lower scores on vitality, social functioning and mental health subscales compared to the normalweight group. Additionally, MCS-36 showed lower scores in obese subjects. Results from linear regressions revealed significant negative correlations between BMI and both PCS-36 and MCS-36. In conclusion, overweight adults experience significantly worse physical HRQoL, while obese adults suffer from reduced physical and mental HRQoL. This highlights the importance of development and implementation of effective prevention strategies to improve HRQoL among adults with overweight and obesity

Dynamically reconfigurable asynchronous processor

The main design requirements for today's mobile applications are: · high throughput performance. · high energy efficiency. · high programmability. Until now, the choice of platform has often been limited to Application-Specific Integrated Circuits (ASICs), due to their best-of-breed performance and power consumption. The economies of scale possible with these high-volume markets have traditionally been able to hide the high Non-Recurring Engineering (NRE) costs required for designing and fabricating new ASICs. However, with the NREs and design time escalating with each generation of mobile applications, this practice may be reaching its limit. Designers today are looking at programmable solutions, so that they can respond more rapidly to changes in the market and spread costs over several generations of mobile applications. However, there have been few feasible alternatives to ASICs: Digital Signals Processors (DSPs) and microprocessors cannot meet the throughput requirements, whereas Field-Programmable Gate Arrays (FPGAs) require too much area and power. Coarse-grained dynamically reconfigurable architectures offer better solutions for high throughput applications, when power and area considerations are taken into account. One promising example is the Reconfigurable Instruction Cell Array (RICA). RICA consists of an array of cells with an interconnect that can be dynamically reconfigured on every cycle. This allows quite complex datapaths to be rendered onto the fabric and executed in a single configuration - making these architectures particularly suitable to stream processing. Furthermore, RICA can be programmed from C, making it a good fit with existing design methodologies. However the RICA architecture has a drawback: poor scalability in terms of area and power. As the core gets bigger, the number of sequential elements in the array must be increased significantly to maintain the ability to achieve high throughputs through pipelining. As a result, a larger clock tree is required to synchronise the increased number of sequential elements. The clock tree therefore takes up a larger percentage of the area and power consumption of the core. This thesis presents a novel Dynamically Reconfigurable Asynchronous Processor (DRAP), aimed at high-throughput mobile applications. DRAP is based on the RICA architecture, but uses asynchronous design techniques - methods of designing digital systems without clocks. The absence of a global clock signal makes DRAP more scalable in terms of power and area overhead than its synchronous counterpart. The DRAP architecture maintains most of the benefits of custom asynchronous design, whilst also providing programmability via conventional high-level languages. Results show that the DRAP processor delivers considerably lower power consumption when compared to a market-leading Very Long Instruction Word (VLIW) processor and a low-power ARM processor. For example, DRAP resulted in a reduction in power consumption of 20 times compared to the ARM7 processor, and 29 times compared to the TIC64x VLIW, when running the same benchmark capped to the same throughput and for the same process technology (0.13μm). When compared to an equivalent RICA design, DRAP was up to 22% larger than RICA but resulted in a power reduction of up to 1.9 times. It was also capable of achieving up to 2.8 times higher throughputs than RICA for the same benchmarks