Imperialist tools: A postcolonial deconstruction of Orientalist media and the obsession with unveiling

My dissertation is a deconstructive exercise that adopts feminist postcolonial theory and Orientalism to investigate and deconstruct popular media texts about Afghanistan and the Middle East. The media machine projects representations of the Middle East that are steeped in pathos; this provides justification for the continued occupation of these territories, as we are there to help them. What is symbolically presented as a liberating mission often amounts materially to exploitation and domination: an imperialist mission. This research is about imperialist agendas that seek to infiltrate minds and change cultures through engaging with the cultural members themselves. A deconstructive approach to the popular texts Kabul Beauty School and The Beauty Academy of Kabul allowed for my participation in co-constructive narratives with seven Middle Eastern women residing in the US. Employing methodologies that do not fall within the typical corpus of epistemic assumptions held by the dominant paradigm demonstrates the viability of alternative modes of knowledge production, as what it means to know is questioned. Through exposing and problematizing media‘s role in creating fear-based and pity-based narratives that give the US justification for continued occupation and imperialization of the Middle East, my participants and I articulated new meanings and alternative constructions of the functions of media, opening up space for social change. Through writing about those meanings, I hope to imprint upon others the possibilities that can emerge from discourse. In terms of praxis, there is no clear-cut answer to what the best course of action is regarding American intervention and occupation of the Middle East. Middle Eastern cultures are complex and fragmented just as US cultures are, and our histories with each other affect how we interact. I do not wish to prescribe the best way for Americans to interact with or represent other cultures. Rather, problematizing mainstream media representations of the Middle East through questioning how they function as imperialist tools is a logical first step toward social change

Treatment of young children with CNS-primitive neuroectodermal tumors/pineoblastomas in the prospective multicenter trial HIT 2000 using different chemotherapy regimens and radiotherapy

BackgroundEspecially in young children, primitive neuroectodermal tumors of the central nervous system (CNS-PNET) and pineoblastomas are associated with an unfavorable outcome, and only a few prospective trials have been conducted thus far.MethodsFrom January 2001 through January 2005, 17 eligible children aged <4 years with CNS-PNET not otherwise specified (n = 8), ependymoblastoma (n = 1), or pineoblastoma (n = 8) confirmed by central review were prospectively treated in the trial HIT 2000. In nonmetastatic disease (n = 11), up to 5 postoperative cycles of HIT-SKK systemic multiagent chemotherapy (8 months duration), followed by craniospinal radiotherapy (CSI), were given. In metastatic disease (M1-M3, n = 6), treatment consisted of a shorter induction chemotherapy (2-3 months) with carboplatin and etoposide, followed by tandem high-dose chemotherapy (HDCT) in case of good response to induction. During induction and HDCT, patients received intraventricular methotrexate. CSI was applied to all patients with poor response to induction or residual disease after HDCT and was optional for patients with residual disease before HDCT.ResultsFive-year event-free survival and overall survival rates ± standard error for all eligible patients were 24% ± 10% and 40% ± 12%, respectively (median follow-up of survivors: 8.3 years). Only one patient with nonmetastatic disease remained free of relapse/progressive disease during induction. Three of 6 patients with metastatic disease responded to induction and received tandem-HDCT, followed by preventive CSI, and remain in continuous complete remission.ConclusionsShort intensive induction chemotherapy followed by tandem-HDCT in young children with CNS-PNET/pineoblastomas seems to be superior to the prolonged and less intensive induction regimen

Measurement of the Mass of the Z-Boson and the Energy Calibration of Lep

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