Advertising Styles’ Impact on Attention in Pakistan

The topic was selected after giving consideration to the modern environment and the use of media by advertisers for attention purposes of their products. It was also observed that the number of channels especially in the electronic media have also geometrically increased over the last two decades. It is now becoming difficult for advertisers to get the attention of their products in the minds of their viewers. The methodology used in the research was focus group and ads of different products were shown to them which included humorous and serious appeals. As the literature review revealed that these two types of appeals have significant difference when measuring attention between humorous and serious advertisements. At the end of the research it was established that there is a significant difference between the attention of humorous and serious appeals. Initially the idea was taken form a research conducted in Sweden. Same parameters were analyzed in Pakistan. We concluded that the reaction of two different societies have almost the same response for humorous and serious advertising appeals.Humorous Appeals, Serious Appeals, Attention

Coherent modulation of the electron temperature and electron-phonon couplings in a 2D material

Ultrashort light pulses can selectively excite charges, spins and phonons in materials, providing a powerful approach for manipulating their properties. Here we use femtosecond laser pulses to coherently manipulate the electron and phonon distributions, and their couplings, in the charge density wave (CDW) material 1T-TaSe$_2$. After exciting the material with a short light pulse, spatial smearing of the electrons launches a coherent lattice breathing mode, which in turn modulates the electron temperature. This indicates a bi-directional energy exchange between the electrons and the strongly-coupled phonons. By tuning the laser excitation fluence, we can control the magnitude of the electron temperature modulation, from ~ 200 K in the case of weak excitation, to ~ 1000 K for strong laser excitation. This is accompanied by a switching of the dominant mechanism from anharmonic phonon-phonon coupling to coherent electron-phonon coupling, as manifested by a phase change of $\pi$ in the electron temperature modulation. Our approach thus opens up possibilities for coherently manipulating the interactions and properties of quasi-2D and other quantum materials using light.Comment: 15 pages, 4 figure

Women's empowerment: what works

With radical roots in the 1980s, women’s empowerment is now a mainstream development concern. Much of the narrative focuses on instrumental gains—what women can do for development rather than what development can do for women. Empowerment is treated as a destination reached through development’s equivalent of motorways: programmes rolled out over any terrain. But in the process, pathways women are travelling in their own individual or collective journeys of empowerment remain hidden. Revisiting foundational feminist work on empowerment, this article draws on findings from multi-country research programme, Pathways of Women’s Empowerment, to explore what works to support these journeys

Melting of Al Induced by Laser Excitation of 2p Holes

Novel photon sources—such as XUV- or X-ray lasers—allow to selectively excite core excitations in materials. We study the response of a simple metal, Al, to the excitation of 2p holes using molecular dynamics simulations. During the lifetime of the holes, the interatomic interactions in the slab are changed; we calculate these using WIEN2k. We find that the melting dynamics after core-hole excitation is dominated by classical electron–phonon dynamics. The effects of the changed potential surface for excited Al atoms occur on the time scale of 100 fs, corresponding to the Debye time of the lattice

The Social Relations Approach, empowerment and women factory workers in Malaysia

This article discusses the empowerment of women factory workers in Malaysia through the lens of Kabeer’s Social Relations Approach. The approach offers an institutional analysis of how gender inequality is produced and calls for the overall terms of exchange and cooperation to be shifted in women’s favour. Its application shows that Malaysian women factory workers face significant challenges, due to the character of institutions, and women’s difficulties in adopting and internalising the notion of ‘empowerment’

From working in the wheat field to managing wheat: women innovators in Nepal

This article presents research conducted in Nepal’s Terai plains in 2014-15 showing that women are innovating in wheat to the extent that wheat farming is experiencing a shift from feminization of agricultural labor towards women taking control over decision making. Processes accounting for this include male out-migration, non-governmental organizations working on promoting women’s equality that has developed women’s confidence, individual support from extension agents, and strong cooperation between women to foster each other’s “innovation journeys.

Girls’ and women’s education within Unesco and the World Bank, 1945–2000

By 2000, girls’ and women’s education was a priority for international development organisations. While studies have examined the impact of recent campaigns and programmes, there has been less exploration of ideas about girls’ and women’s education within development thought in the immediate post?colonial period, and the political mechanisms through which this came to be a global concern. Through a study of policy documents, this paper investigates how the education of girls and women came to be prioritised within the two principle UN agencies involved with education since 1945, the World Bank and Unesco. A shift in priorities is evident, from ensuring formal rights and improving the status of women, to expanding the productive capacities of women, fertility control and poverty reduction. While the ascendance of human capital theory provided a space for a new perception of the role of women’s education in development, in other policy arenas women’s education was central to exploring more substantive, rights?based notions of gender equality. Ultimately, the goal of improving girls’ and women’s education fitted into diverse development agendas, paving the way for it to become a global development priority

Breadwinners and Homemakers: Migration and Changing Conjugal Expectations in Rural Bangladesh

The literature on marriage norms and aspirations across societies largely sees the institution as static – a tool for the assertion of masculinities and subordination of women. The changing meanings of marriage and conjugality in the contemporary context of globalisation have received scant attention. Based on research in rural Bangladesh, this article questions the usefulness of notions of autonomy and dependence in understanding conjugal relations and expectations in a context of widespread migration for extended periods, especially to overseas destinations, where mutuality is crucial for social reproduction, though in clearly genderdemarcated domains