On evildoers: A Foucaultian analysis of the discursive structuring of contemporary terrorism

Terrorism is routinely portrayed in the twenty first century as an evil perpetrated by Arab/Muslim barbarians—Evildoers—waging a holy war against the Western civilisation. This study challenges not just this present understanding of terrorism, but the very existence of a ding an sich of terrorism. Using a combination of Foucault’s archaeological and genealogical methods it provides an alternative history of the phenomenon in the form of a history of its discursive structuring: the regimes of practices that governed what could and could not be thought of, identified, defined, known, judged and punished as ‘terrorism’ during particular epochs, and particular places. It asserts that the conceptual anchor point of the present Evildoer-terrorist is the rebel who opposes established order, and identifies the first such figure in modern Western history as the Devil who rebelled against God and came to play a significant politico religious role in Western societies of the Middle Ages. The discourse of ‘terrorism’ emerged from the epistemic spaces created from the separation of religion and politics in the eighteenth century, from when onwards rebellion was no longer a sin but a crime. Since then, various other rebels have been brought under the domain of terrorism during different epochs, the latest of whom is the Evildoer. This is not to say that the Devil remained a blatant constant in the forefront of Western terrorism discourse, but that the various rebels share a conceptual history that made it possible for the contemporary terrorist to be the Evildoer that he is. How the rebels came to be known as terrorists during various epochs and the various mechanisms implemented to defend societies against them, it is argued, are irrevocably linked: one could not exist without the other. The contemporary terrorist cannot be known as an Evildoer without the War on Terror; at the same time, the War on Terror cannot be waged without the knowledge of the terrorist as an Evildoer. To demonstrate this power/knowledge dyad at work, this study analyses what was said and done about terrorism by the United States and the United Kingdom, the foremost allies in the War on Terror, during its first ten years. In the differences in their discourses emerges not just the ontological uncertainty of terrorism but also how these mechanisms for establishing the ‘truth’ of terrorism function as mechanisms of power. It is asserted that the Evildoer has made possible, and was made possible by, some of the most significant changes in how power is exercised in Western societies since the separation of religion and politics in the eighteenth century

Maternal and Fetal Risks Associated with Teenage and Adult Pregnancy

Background: To compare the fetal and maternal complications between teenage and adult mothers. Methods: This comparative study included 200 teenage pregnant patients (15 – 19 years) and 200 adult pregnant patients(20-28 years). The fetal and maternal complications in both age group were compared. Results: Anaemia was more frequent in teenagers (30% vs 18%). Preterm delivery occurred in 28% of cases as compared to 12% in adult group. Spontaneous Vertex Delivery (SVD) was the mode of delivery in 73% of teenage group as compared to 65% of cases in adult group. Caesarean section was done in 10% of patients in teenage group as compared to 20% cases in adults while the rate of instrumental delivery was 8% vs 10%. Pregnancy Induced Hypertension occurred in 12% of teenagers group as compared to 5% in adult group . Eclampsia occurred in 8 patients of teenage group as compared to 3 patients of adult group. Diabetes was seen in 2% versus 12% in teenage and adult group, respectively. Low Apgar was noted in 12% of babies born to teenage age mothers as compared to 5% in adult group. Low birth weight babies were born more in teenage group as compared to adult group ( 20% vs 10%) Neonatal death occurred in 20 babies of teenage group as compared to 8 babies in adult group. Conclusion:Teenage mothers generally encounter more problems during pregnancy and child birth than older women. There is an increased risk of complications such as premature labour, anaemia and small for gestational age babie

Classification and evaluation of digital forensic tools

Digital forensic tools (DFTs) are used to detect the authenticity of digital images. Different DFTs have been developed to detect the forgery like (i) forensic focused operating system, (ii) computer forensics, (iii) memory forensics, (iv) mobile device forensics, and (v) software forensics tools (SFTs). These tools are dedicated to detect the forged images depending on the type of the applications. Based on our review, we found that in literature of the DFTs less attention is given to the evaluation and analysis of the forensic tools. Among various DFTs, we choose SFTs because it is concerned with the detection of the forged digital images. Therefore,the purpose of this study is to classify the different DFTs and evaluate the software forensic tools (SFTs) based on the different features which are present in the SFTs. In our work, we evaluate the following five SFTs, i.e.,“FotoForensics”, “JPEGsnoop”, “Ghiro”, “Forensically”, and “Izitru”, based on different features so that new research directions can be identified for the development of the SFTs

Blended learning: Call of the day for medical education in the global South

Blended learning (BL) is an e-learning approach that combines the strengths of both online and face-to-face learning, creating meaningful interactions between students, teachers, and resources. This paper explores students’ expectations and satisfaction with, and participation in, a basic science course offered through BL approaches in an undergraduate medical education programme in Pakistan. Developmental anatomy (embryology) was redesigned as a BL course and offered to a hundred first-year students. Both online activities and technology-assisted face-to-face interactive discussions were used in each topic. Students’ expectations were gathered at the start of the course and perceptions regarding their satisfaction with the course was collected at the end of the course via questionnaires. A temporal analysis of the website use was conducted to determine any changes in use across the course. The data shows that students were satisfied with their experience in the course. Their expectations regarding technology and pedagogy were met. Online individual learning activities were rated higher than collaborative discussions. Face-to-face discussions received a high rating compared to online learning activities. Students’ access to the website varied throughout the course and declined over time. However, some activity was noted before the exams. Students made extensive use of WhatsApp. In basic science subjects, BL has the potential to offer learners some control over content, learning sequence, and pace and time of learning. Unless made part of an assessment scheme, online discussions and other activities are not likely to be seen as useful learning strategies by students. Teachers’ skills in designing and facilitating BL courses are critical to the success thereof

The COVID-19 pandemic: A catalyst for creativity and collaboration for online learning and work-based higher education systems and processes

The purpose of this research is to focus on work-based problems catalysed by the COVID-19 global pandemic, based on a case study of a multi-continental, multi-campus university distributed across Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Pakistan. Higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries lacked pre-existing infrastructure to support online education and/or policy and regulatory frameworks during the pandemic. The university\u27s programmes in Pakistan and East Africa provide lessons to other developing countries\u27 HEIs. The university\u27s focus on teaching and learning and staff development has had a transformational organisational effect

School teachers and principals’ experiences during COVID-19 in Pakistan

As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, educational activities were disrupted globally. In Pakistan, schools were also closed, and though some schools had started teaching online, the staff (including principals and teachers) and students\u27 readiness for education during the pandemic remained unexplored. An internet-based survey was conducted to explore the experiences of the teachers and principals during the lockdown. The survey included both open-ended and closed-ended questions. Responses were collected from respondents in different parts of Pakistan, with the majority coming from Sindh and coming from both the private and public sector. While the respondents from private schools reported that they could teach online, the respondents from government schools could not continue the teaching process during the lockdown phase. School principals focused on acquiring technology for online teaching and offering skills development sessions. They used a variety of methods to monitor teaching and learning. Teachers relied on a mix of synchronous and asynchronous teaching. Infrastructure issues posed numerous challenges. Findings highlight an urgent need for teacher education programmes to incorporate digital literacy development and enhance pedagogical understanding of engaging students in online teaching environments and exploring solutions such as blended learning. The findings also draw our attention to questions of equitable access to quality education for all in Pakistan

Designing EthAKUL: A mobile just-in-time learning environment for bioethics in Pakistan

In developing countries such as Pakistan, bioethics has not been included in mainstream thinking in medical education. The authors’ experiences suggest that current methods of teaching bioethics are problematic as students are unable to translate theory to practice. Alternative pedagogies, such as just-in-time learning (JiTL) using mobile devices, may be able to foster the development and implementation of ethical reasoning among nurses, doctors, and medical and nursing students. This research was conceived to determine the effectiveness of mobile JiTL – anytime, anyplace learning through mobile devices – for teaching bioethics. After obtaining ethical clearance, a participatory design (PD) approach was adopted to ensure input from all stakeholders for the design of ‘EthAKUL’, comprising a mobile app, five modules and just-in-time pedagogy. The name of the app is an acronym evoking ethics, learning and the university where the project originated. As a part of the design process, three PD workshops were held with junior doctors, nurses, nursing students, medical students and bioethics teaching faculty, and five meetings were held with faculty members, to discuss functional specifications and user-acceptance testing of the app. The feedback related to the nature of common ethical issues encountered in clinical settings, the existing process of teaching and learning bioethics, and the requested features of the app were recorded. These data sets were analyzed and synthesized into functional and technical specifications for the mobile app. The software programmers developed the app with the close involvement of the stakeholders. The development of teaching content continued alongside this process. While this enabled EthAKUL’s developers to incorporate needs of all stakeholders, challenges were encountered in the process relating to the pragmatic and conceptual aspects of JiTL, ML and PD. We discuss the implications of this research in bringing about transformative changes in higher education

Characterization of cowpea to harvest rainwater for wheat in semiarid conditions

Aim of study: A field experiment was executed, under rainfed conditions from 2014-15 to 2017-18, to study the role of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L.) in rainwater harvesting to enhance the wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) yield.Area of study: Rain-fed area of Pothwar region, Punjab, Pakistan.Material and methods: We designed three treatments (T1: control; T2: cowpea grown after conventional tillage and incorporated into soil to act as “green manure”; and T3: grown without any tillage practice, cut with sickle and spread as “mulch”). The effect of these treatments on soil moisture conservation was studied against conventional farmer’s practice, wherein no host crop is grown before wheat sowing.Main results: Available soil water remained highest in T2 during first three years when sufficient rainfall was received contrary to fourth year with low rainfall. The results revealed that cowpea biomass of 15.2 t/ha and 13.72 t/ha, from T2 and T3 respectively, were produced during 2015 corresponding to 213 mm rainfall. Whereas, these quantities increased to 25.69 t/ha and 24.29 t/ha during 2017 with 387 mm of rainfall. The study revealed that net income from wheat crop under T2 was Rs 13000 and Rs 9000 per hectare higher than that of control during the first two years respectively. Contrarily, net income from T2 was found negative and benefit-cost ratio reduced to 0.79 when very low rainfall was received during the last year.Research highlights: Use of cowpea as green manure gave maximum net return if sufficient rainfall is received during decomposition of cowpea and hence recommended for in-situ rainwater harvesting

Fostering teaching-learning through workplace based assessment in postgraduate chemical pathology residency program using virtual learning environment

Background: The principle of workplace based assessment (WBA) is to assess trainees at work with feedback integrated into the program simultaneously. A student driven WBA model was introduced and perception evaluation of this teaching method was done subsequently by taking feedback from the faculty as well as the postgraduate trainees (PGs) of a residency program.Methods: Descriptive multimethod study was conducted. A WBA program was designed for PGs in Chemical Pathology on Moodle and forms utilized were case-based discussion (CBD), direct observation of practical skills (DOPS) and evaluation of clinical events (ECE). Consented assessors and PGs were trained on WBA through a workshop. Pretest and posttest to assess PGs knowledge before and after WBA were conducted. Every time a WBA form was filled, perception of PGs and assessors towards WBA, time taken to conduct single WBA and feedback were recorded. Faculty and PGs qualitative feedback on perception of WBA was taken via interviews. WBA tools data and qualitative feedback were used to evaluate the acceptability and feasibility of the new tools.Results: Six eligible PGs and seventeen assessors participated in this study. A total of 79 CBDs (assessors n = 7 and PGs n = 6), 12 ECEs (assessors n = 6 and PGs n = 5), and 20 DOPS (assessors n = 6 and PGs n = 6) were documented. PGs average pretest score was 55.6%, which was improved to 96.4% in posttest; p value\u3c 0.05. Scores of annual assessment before and after implementation of WBA also showed significant improvement, p value 0.039, Overall mean time taken to evaluate PG\u27s was 12.6 ± 9.9 min and feedback time 9.2 ± 7.4 min. Mean WBA process satisfaction of assessors and PGs on Likert scale of 1 to 10 was 8 ± 1 and 8.3 ± 0.8 respectively.Conclusion: Both assessors and fellows were satisfied with introduction and implementation of WBA. It gave the fellows opportunity to interact with assessors more often and learn from their rich experience. Gain in knowledge of PGs was identified from the statistically significant improvement in PGs\u27 assessment scores after WBA implementation