The reconstruction of identity in people living with HIV in Nepal : a thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

This research is about the experiences of people living with HIV (PLHIV) in Nepal, especially with regard to the processes of reconstructing their identities. The processes of identity reconstruction include migration, concealing and disclosing HIV status, movement towards economic independence, gaining knowledge on Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and Acquired Immuno-deficiency Syndrome (AIDS), practising HIV treatment, receiving support of organizations, and practising spirituality. Despite the availability of some studies on HIV and AIDS in Nepal, most have focused on epidemiological facts. There is a dearth of Nepalese HIV and AIDS literature on identity reconstruction of PLHIV. This study investigated the lived experiences of 33 PLHIV related to their HIV stigma, discrimination and identity issues in Kathmandu and Pokhara valleys in Nepal, using semi-structured, face-to–face, in-depth interviews. The field data were analysed using a thematic, meaning-making approach. This research contributes to HIV literature by showing that the economic stigma and discrimination due to HIV experienced within a family are often stronger than social stigma and discrimination. This research proposes a model entitled “the reconstruction of identity in PLHIV in Nepal”, based on the data derived in an inductive way from the two research sites, then moving from data to theory. There are various stages of identity ranging from spoiled to reconstructed. This proposed identity model is based on the economic and social empowerment of the PLHIV, together with identity transformation from one stage to another, and the situations participants experience in the contemporary Nepalese socio-political context. The identity of PLHIV is fluid and non-linear. This research suggests that access to resources often determines the degree of family and social stigma and discrimination. Moreover, PLHIV also reunite with both family and society after becoming economically independent and socially empowered. Indeed, HIV has been a catalyst, especially for in-migrant women with limited access to resources. This study has significant policy implications for improving the quality of life for PLHIV, reducing family and social stigma and discrimination as well as reconstructing their identity in Nepal, and in South Asian countries with similar socio-cultural and economic settings

Amplitude Death: The emergence of stationarity in coupled nonlinear systems

When nonlinear dynamical systems are coupled, depending on the intrinsic dynamics and the manner in which the coupling is organized, a host of novel phenomena can arise. In this context, an important emergent phenomenon is the complete suppression of oscillations, formally termed amplitude death (AD). Oscillations of the entire system cease as a consequence of the interaction, leading to stationary behavior. The fixed points that the coupling stabilizes can be the otherwise unstable fixed points of the uncoupled system or can correspond to novel stationary points. Such behaviour is of relevance in areas ranging from laser physics to the dynamics of biological systems. In this review we discuss the characteristics of the different coupling strategies and scenarios that lead to AD in a variety of different situations, and draw attention to several open issues and challenging problems for further study.Comment: Physics Reports (2012

Amplitude death phenomena in delay--coupled Hamiltonian systems

Hamiltonian systems, when coupled {\it via} time--delayed interactions, do not remain conservative. In the uncoupled system, the motion can typically be periodic, quasiperiodic or chaotic. This changes drastically when delay coupling is introduced since now attractors can be created in the phase space. In particular for sufficiently strong coupling there can be amplitude death (AD), namely the stabilization of point attractors and the cessation of oscillatory motion. The approach to the state of AD or oscillation death is also accompanied by a phase--flip in the transient dynamics. A discussion and analysis of the phenomenology is made through an application to the specific cases of harmonic as well as anharmoniccoupled oscillators, in particular the H\'enon-Heiles system.Comment: To be appeared in Phys. Rev. E (2013

Explaining the Supply-side Constraints to Export-led Growth in Selected Pacific Island Countries

Over the past two decades, an integral part of some Pacific island countries (PICs’) economic policy rhetoric has been export-led growth. However, despite the policy and technical support provided by many international organizations and bilateral donors, and an abundance of natural resources, their export sectors remain narrow and, with few exceptions, export industries have experienced little growth. Therefore, if these countries are to do better, it is critical to understand the supply- side constraints to export-led growth. Hence, the objective of this study was to identify and subsequently analyse the impact of supply-side constraints on export receipts for selected PICs, using Linear Programming (LP) models of export receipts. The study also provides estimates of the magnitude of the increase in export receipts that may be achieved if some of these constraints are removed. The results show the maximum export receipts that these PICs can achieve, given the supply-side constraints that they face. It is also seen that if some of the supply-side constraints are removed, the increase in exports receipts would be very promising. Finally, the paper provides some policy recommendations for the removal of some of the supply-side constraints.export-led growth, suppy-side constraints

Bridging, linking, and bonding social capital in collective action: The case of Kalahan Forest Reserve in the Philippines

"This paper seeks to identify the factors which are responsible for successful management of natural resources when communities are given opportunities to manage those resources. Applying the social capital framework, it analyzes empirical data from the well known case of Kalahan Educational Foundation, the Philippines. The study confirms previous findings, which have emphasized the high level of cohesion and traditional norms among a homogeneous community of indigenous peoples (bonding social capital) as a success factor. This study further identifies that for effective management of collective action, mobilization of bridging and linking social capital are equally important as they do not only help mobilize external resources but, at times, also promote bonding social capital." authors' abstractKalahan, People's Organization (PO), Bonding, Bridging, Linking social capital, Governance, Collective action, Environmental risk,

FEM Modeling of Single Walled Carbon Nanotube

Carbon nanotubes show exceptionally high stiffness, tensile strength, and resilience, which have the potential to be an ideal reinforcement for new Nanocomposites. But before that, research in this field is needed to confirm the use of CNTs in various composites for real world applications. It is very difficult to compute different material properties of these Nano-scale materials. Compared to physical experimentation, Molecular Dynamics (MD) simulation and continuum mechanics model an effective way to model its different properties. The continuum approach has the advantage of analyzing large-scale models over MD simulation. In the present work, modeling of CNT is done through both Finite Element Method (FEM) & MD simulation technique that are two major and distinct research fields. MD Simulation method is used through LAMMPS (Large Atomic Molecular Massively Parallel Simulator) software to evaluate the Young's modulus (superior mechanical property) of CNT. The finite element (FE) model is based on the RVE (Representative Volume Element) technique through ANSYS. This work involves the calculation of one of the important mechanical property (Young’s modulus) of a composite where CNT is used as a layer to improve the overall mechanical property of it. The simulation method first develops an armchair structure of CNT, then with the help of accurate coding and potential file, evaluates this property. After getting Young’s modulus value of the CNT by simulation technique, Carbon Nanotube is used as homogeneous and isotropic material layer inside a 3-D solid model of the composite matrix. Numerical results from the deformation response of CNT are analyzed to confirm the increment in load carrying capacity of the matrix by the use of CNT layer

Early English travellers in India: a study in the travel literature of the Elizabethan and Jacobean periods with particular reference to India

The narratives of travel and exploration written by the English voyagers and merchant adventurers who visited India during 1579 -1630 are of great literary and historical value for many reasons. For the first time they brought the ordinary Englishman in contact with the peoples of the East and made it possible for tradesmen to see through the mind's eye new and unlooked -for splendours in the Indies, the glamour of the Mughal court, or the power of the Great Turk. The common man found in the narratives of travel not only a romantic literature more fascinating than fiction, but a call to personal adventure. These were the stories, not of King Arthur or of fabulous knights, but of men who had lived and had their being in Elizabethan England. To any apprentice might come adventures that would have dazzled even Guy of Warwick -, as Captain John Smith2 himself had witnessed. Nor was rhetorical decoration needed to adorn these tales. The plain narratives were sufficiently attractive without adornment. No one has yet appraised the influence on modern English prose of the matter -of -fact relations of the voyagers; but merely as evidence of the development towards verbal simplicity many of these accounts deserve the study of literary historians. Out of utilitarian works on geography and the homespun narratives of merchants and seamen grew a vast literature, perhaps more completely than any other inspired by and appealing to the middle class. For the modern reader, these narratives not only throw considerable light on one of the most crucial periods of Indian history, but also reveal the beginnings and gradual growth of English power in the East. Compiled by men to whom everything in India was new and strange, they form a valuable supplement to the records of the native chroniclers; for the latter took for granted many local institutions and customs unfamiliar to Europeans, and all too often sacrificed objectivity to eulogies of the reigning sovereign.The number of English visitors to India during this period was remarkably large, and for this reason, detailed examination of all of them is outside the scope of such a study as this. In order to avoid swelling the dimensions of this already lengthy work to unreasonable proportions, I have omitted all but a few absolutely important travellers and have employed the word 'traveller' to signify only those who left extensive records of their experiences in India. Amongst them, how - ever, I have included, at the very outset, a Jesuit who is hardly a traveller except in an extended sense of the word, since no account of the early British transactions in the East can be deemed complete unless some notice is taken of this pioneer of British `gravel to India. The importance of Fr. Stephens (for this was the name of the Jesuit in question), which has led me to devote one full chapter to him, will be sufficiently clear in the following pages, but the particular circumstance which has made his inclusion imperative is the fact that he is little known in this country, whereas he deserves to be much better known by his countrymen, perhaps as well known as some of the distinguished poets of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries or the Orientalists of later ages.From what we have seen..., it is clear that although there were notions current about Indian people, Indian traits, Indian climate, long before there was any regular contact between England and India, precise information about the latter began to find its way into Europe after the discovery of the Cape route, and into England after the return of the British pioneers, such as Ralph Fitch, Newberry, etc. The modern European knows much about India, and in this sense at least these early travel -accounts may appear to be outdated; but their importance lies in the fact that they throw considerable light on the India of the great Mughals and that their writers had a certain advantage over the chroniclers of the court. Having nothing to fear or to expect from the powers that were, they could fearlessly tell the unvarnished truth regardless of official frowns or favours. Having come from other lands, they recorded with meticulous care matters seemingly unimportant which a native of India would ordinarily have dismissed as commonplace. Moreover, their narratives and journals have been drawn upon by English poets and prose- writers, some of whom read them extensively and thus broadened and enriched both their knowledge of the world and their general outlook on life. Through these accounts accessions were made to the English language of many Hindi, Arabic and Persian words.It is these travellers, sailors and sea- captains who ask us Indians not to be led too far astray by complacent dreans of the days of glory that are no more, but to see and realize our most degrading varieties of superstition, our most grotesque forms of idolatry. They had no desire to hide things. They spoke more plainly than we do, and far more strongly, and they believed, as we do, that what we think of ourselves is not necessarily what the world thinks of us

PECVD of silicon and titanium based coatings to enhance the biocompatibility of blood contacting biomedical devices

The clinical success of a surgical implantation depends on various factors including the design and biocompatibility of the biomaterial, surgical procedure adopted, injuries made during implantation and health and condition of the patient. The success of a biomaterial depends on the interaction and the progressive reaction between the blood components and the surface of the implant. Proteins present in the blood will be the first components to become adsorbed on the surface of the biomaterial. Studies show that the protein fibrinogen present in the blood plasma is the major initiator of inflammatory reactions and involved in blood clotting. By minimizing the fibrinogen adsorption it is possible to reduce the contribution of the biomaterial surface characteristics to thrombosis and inflammatory reactions. In this work, silicon and titanium based thin film coatings with four different surface characteristics were deposited by PECVD on 316L stainless steel substrates. Polymer-like SiOxCyHz, silica-like SiOx, titanium oxide TiO, and silicon-titanium mixed oxide coatings were deposited by plasma decomposition of organic molecules. An extensive study was done on silicon based coatings deposited from hexamethyl disiloxane (HMDSO) to analyze the influence of plasma process parameters like RF power, precursor flow ratio and flow rate on the surface chemical and mechanical characteristics of the film. Titanium dioxide coatings deposited from titanium tetraisopropoxide (TIP) were also analyzed for the effect of plasma process parameters on their surface characteristics. Silicon - titanium mixed oxide coatings were deposited to obtain intermediate characteristics between silicon oxide and titanium oxide films and the process was optimized to get a hydrophilic surface with wettability lower than SiO, and a bandgap higher than that of titanium dioxide. It was concluded, from the fibrinogen adsorption studies, that both the film wettability and bandgap has to be optimized in order to minimize the fibrinogen adsorption