Beauty as the Beast: Constructions of the Girl in Three Modern Variants of the Tale as Old as Time

This thesis aims to answer the following question: How is the girl constructed across three modern variants of “Beauty and the Beast?” The three primary texts examined in this paper are Disney’s Beauty and the Beast, Angela Carter’s short story, The Tiger’s Bride, and Salman Rushdie’s novel, Shame. Each text was analyzed specifically for how it remains consistent with and deviates from Jeanne-Marie Leprince de Beaumont’s “Beauty and the Beast” published in 1756. My aim was to go beyond a sex-role theory analysis and assess how these modern variants revise a traditional plotline to construct the girl in terms of her agency, transformation, and fate. Emphasis was placed not only on comparing and contrasting the girl and the female experience across these three texts, but also on placing these texts within the context of gender studies and fairy tale scholarship at large. A major premise of this thesis is that fairy tales are in an incredibly powerful position to inform, socialize, and re-socialize both children and adults. As a result, this project strives to elucidate what each of the three primary texts conveys about the fictional girl and about the actual girl represented by the fiction. Ultimately, this thesis demonstrates how the fairy tale influences our popular conception of gendered identities and how it can play a role in remedying longstanding and often harmful portrayals of these identities. It shows also how important this research is in today’s social and political climate—where fundamental (if subconscious) misunderstandings of the woman have perpetuated the injustices she faces.Plan II Honors Progra

Learning Malay Language as Secondary Language for Chinese Children Using M-Learning Application

This project is about learning modules of Malay language. It is an interactive learning application where the target users are Chinese students aged four to ten. It is for learners which Malay is their second language in communicating. Mobile application will be used to help the children to learn Malay language. The aim of this project is to encourage children who do not use Malay language as their first language to master this national language. The environment of the m-learning application is customized using App Inventor. This learning application will be consisting of three learning modules. The learning modules offered are alphabets, numbers and object. Each module will be divided into two sections; tutorials and exercises. In tutorials, the students will be given exposure on the simple Malay words. The tutorials will use graphic approach where simple images are used. As for the exercises, the students‟ knowledge will be tested where they are required to answer the quest ions given and it will be scored. The progress of the learners will be recorded and the parents or teachers are able to view the progress report via web site. In addition, the teachers are able to create their own learning modules to suit the users‟ capabilit ies in learning the language. The admin is responsible to put entry of the users into the server‟s database. The admin will give permission to the new users based on their authority. The admin will set whether the user is a teacher or student. The teacher is able to view the students‟ progress marks while the students are able to do the exercise and learn the tutorials. This interactive learning application will assist kindergarten children aged four to six and secondary students aged seven to ten in learning simple Malay language. The target users of this application are Chinese students as this application helps to translate Chinese language to Malay language. This application will also monitor the progress of the students from time to time

Exploratory study into awareness of heart disease and health care seeking behavior among Emirati women (UAE) - Cross sectional descriptive study

© 2017 The Author(s). Background: Cardiovascular disease was the leading cause of death among women in the United Arab Emirates (UAE) in 2010. Heart attacks usually happen in older women thus symptoms of heart disease may be masked by symptoms of chronic diseases, which could explain the delay in seeking health care and higher mortality following an ischaemic episode among women. This study seeks to a) highlight the awareness of heart diseases among Emirati women and b) to understand Emirati women\u27s health care seeking behaviour in UAE. Method: A cross sectional, descriptive study was conducted using a survey instrument adapted from the American Heart Association National survey. A convenience sample of 676 Emirati women between the ages of 18-55 years completed the questionnaire. Results: The study showed low levels of awareness of heart disease and associated risk factors in Emirati women; only 19.4% participants were found to be aware of heart diseases. Awareness levels were highest in Dubai (OR 2.18, p \u3c 0.05) among all the other emirates and in the 18-45 years age group (OR 2.74, p \u3c 0.05). Despite low awareness levels, women paradoxically perceived themselves to be self-efficacious in seeking health care. Interestingly, just 49.1% Emirati women believed that good quality and affordable health care was available in the UAE. Only 28.8% of the participants believed there were sufficient female doctors to respond to health needs of women in UAE. Furthermore, only 36.7% Emirati women chose to be treated in the UAE over treatment in other countries. Conclusion: Emirati women clearly lack the knowledge on severity and vulnerability to heart disease in the region that is essential to improve cardiovascular related health outcomes. This study has identified the need for wider outreach that focuses on gender and age specific awareness on heart disease risks and symptoms. The study has also highlighted potential modifiable barriers in seeking health care that should be overcome to reduce morbidity and mortality due to heart disease among national women of UAE

HIV-1 subtype A gag variability and epitope evolution

Objective: The aim of this study was to examine the course of time-dependent evolution of HIV-1 subtype A on a global level, especially with respect to the dynamics of immunogenic HIV gag epitopes.Methods: We used a total of 1,893 HIV-1 subtype A gag sequences representing a timeline from 1985 through 2010, and 19 different countries in Africa, Europe and Asia. The phylogenetic relationship of subtype A gag and its epidemic dynamics was analysed through a Maximum Likelihood tree and Bayesian Skyline plot, genomic variability was measured in terms of G → A substitutions and Shannon entropy, and the time-dependent evolution of HIV subtype A gag epitopes was examined. Finally, to confirm observations on globally reported HIV subtype A sequences, we analysed the gag epitope data from our Kenyan, Pakistani, and Afghan cohorts, where both cohort-specific gene epitope variability and HLA restriction profiles of gag epitopes were examined. Results: The most recent common ancestor of the HIV subtype A epidemic was estimated to be 1956 ± 1. A period of exponential growth began about 1980 and lasted for approximately 7 years, stabilized for 15 years, declined for 2-3 years, then stabilized again from about 2004. During the course of evolution, a gradual increase in genomic variability was observed that peaked in 2005-2010. We observed that the number of point mutations and novel epitopes in gag also peaked concurrently during 2005-2010. Conclusion: It appears that as the HIV subtype A epidemic spread globally, changing population immunogenetic pressures may have played a role in steering immune-evolution of this subtype in new directions. This trend is apparent in the genomic variability and epitope diversity of HIV-1 subtype A gag sequences

Political Awareness and Media’s Consumption Patterns among Students-A Case Study of University of Gujrat, Pakistan

This research examines the role of different media outlets in creating political awareness among students. This study shows that students of University of Gujrat consume mass media for both entertainment and political information. However, Television considered the best source of political information. Through this study agenda and framing theory used which revealed that media has an effect on its target audience. While, survey method has used to gauge the media consumption among university students. Mass media is considered a source of information that has the power to change choice of people. Media present issues to its audience with an effect that public forms opinion according to media’s emphasis on issue. Keywords: Mass Media, Consumption Pattern, Political Awareness, Media Agenda, Media Framin

The Role of Art in the Patient Experience: An Evaluation of Art from the Heart at UVM Medical Center

Introduction: The World Health Organization defines health as a state of total physical, mental and social well-being, not just the absence of disease or fragility. Making art in medical settings reduces pain, tiredness, emotional distress and other feelings that negatively affect well-being, while enhancing positive emotions and communication. According to the 2009 “State of the Field Report” by the Society for the Arts in Healthcare, 43-45% of healthcare institutions reported having some form of an art program. Art from the Heart (AFTH) is a program of Burlington City Arts in collaboration with the University of Vermont Medical Center. With the aid of volunteers, AFTH offers pediatric patients and their families the opportunity for a more normalized experience by providing them with time and materials to experience the joys of creativity and imagination. Waiting areas, in-patient hospital rooms, exam rooms and chemotherapy infusion bays become temporary art studios. The purpose of our public health project was to evaluate the presence and impact of AFTH in three pediatric points of care at UVM Medical Center.https://scholarworks.uvm.edu/comphp_gallery/1204/thumbnail.jp

Association of obesity with infertility among Pakistani men: A case control study

Background: The reported prevalence of infertility in Pakistan is 21% of which 35% is contributed by male factor. Male infertility has multifactorial etiologies ranging from modifiable to genetic risk factors. Among all the risk factors that may account for male infertility, obesity is one of the emerging public health problems. Therefore, the aim of the study was to determine the association of obesity with infertility in Pakistani men.Methods: We conducted a case control study. Cases were men with impaired semen parameters and controls did not have impaired semen parameters.Results: The final multivariable logistic regression model after adjusting for the effect of other variables revealed that with every 1 kg/m2 increase in BMI the odds of being infertile was 6% higher as compared to being fertile (aOR = 1.06; 95% CI = 1.01, 1.11). Moreover the odds of having education of higher secondary or above was 3 times greater among cases as compared with the controls (OR = 3.10; 95% CI = 1.66, 5.77). Furthermore the odds of having previous medical conditions increasing the risk of infertility was higher among cases as compared with the controls (OR = 3.07; 95% CI = 1.63, 5.79).Conclusion & recommendations: This study indicates that obesity is an important risk factor for male infertility. Moreover our findings also indicate that higher educational status and previous medical conditions are also associated with male infertility. Thus awareness can be raised through treating physicians and public health messages

Health and needs assessment of geriatric patients: results of a survey at a teaching hospital in Karachi

Objective: To study the health and needs of geriatric patientsMethods: A questionnaire based survey of patients visiting the out-patient department of Aga Khan University was carried out. Ethical requirements were met and included administration of informed consent and provision of confidentiality to patients. Convenience sampling was used without any randomization for interviews. Epi-info and SPSS software were used for data management.Results: Four hundred and two (402) subjects above the age of 65 were surveyed. Most of the subjects were retired (40.5%) married (76.4%) men (69.7%). Ages ranged from 65 to 90 years, the mean being 70.57 years and 291 (72.4%) had five or more health problems. Mobility impairment, urinary incontinence, dyspnoea, fatigue and visual impairment had the worst impact on the life of the individual. Hypertension (42.5%), diabetes mellitus (28.1%) and arthritis (26.6%) were the most commonly reported chronic ailments. Two hundred and three (50.5%) respondents were taking three or more different medications daily. A large number of people had religion (61.4%), reading (36.1%), socializing (53%) and watching television (49.5%) as a regular activity. Eighty five (21.1%) respondents reported having financial problems. Three hundred and sixty five (90.8%) respondents had spiritual needs and 264 (72.3%) reported that their spiritual needs increased with aging

Post disaster management (PDM) in Malaysia: Issues and challenges

In Malaysia, Kelantan has been well known to experience the flood disaster almost every year. Flood has been considered as a very common disaster in Kelantan, especially during the end of the year. However, the flood in December 2014 has been considered as one of the biggest which had caused massive destruction in many areas in Kelantan especially in Kuala Krai; leading to the destruction of livelihood of local communities. Due to this, it has been considered that it is important to identify the recovery activities and strategies in order to reduce the impact of flood disaster to the life and property of the communities. Hence, the Post-Disaster Management (PDM) is implemented to ensure that any coming disaster that may occur, can be managed effectively. However, literature search has shown that there have been low responses and lack of effectiveness in the recovery activities of flood disaster. Therefore, this paper describes the issues and challenges faced during the PDM activities in Malaysia. In addition, this paper discusses the recommendations made in order to minimise the issues faced in the current practice of the PDM in Malaysia. This study had conducted semi-structured interviews involving eight (8) respondents who were directly involved in the management of post-flood disaster in Kuala Krai, Kelantan in the year 2014. The findings from the interview conducted has shown that majority of the respondents were in the agreement that the main issues arising from the PDM in Malaysia are: no specific evacuee sleeping areas, as well as lack of immediate supplies of essential needs to the victims. Furthermore, the respondents felt that the government needs to take into consideration several steps to overcome the main issues and challenges such as integration of immediate rescue and relief responses, develop the readiness to sustain the number of emergency, redevelop the drainage systems, as well as to create awareness within the community in order to help the victims’ spiritual needs when faced with disaster. © 2017 American Scientific Publishers All rights reserved

Dermatologic Manifestations of Rheumatic Disease: Cutaneous Manifestations of Sarcoidosis

Cutaneous Manifestations of Sarcoidosis is a Powerpoint based learning module that depicts fictional patient scenarios detailing sarcoidosis and erythema nodosum. It explores other cutaneous and non-cutaneous manifestations, diagnostic criteria, and medical evaluation of sarcoidosis and the possible etiologies, workup, treatment, and prognosis of erythema nodosum. Health and racial disparities experienced by patients with sarcoidosis are also highlighted and discussed. It takes approximately 25 minutes to complete. This module was created for use in the VCU School of Medicine M1 Movement block, Rheumatology and Dermatology sections. It is part of the Dermatologic Manifestations of Rheumatic Disease project, which provides overviews of the identification, diagnosis, and workup for different rheumatologic diseases, with a focus on providing examples from persons of color (POC). The project is a tailored resource for medical learners that addresses a longstanding educational deficit in diverse representation. The OERs will enable us to train future physicians who are not only clinically astute, but also knowledgeable of and sensitive to inequities in healthcare. Ultimately, it is our hope that these OER will aid in fostering a generation of physicians who are truly patient-advocates