Producing educated selves: Gender, migration and subjectivity on the edge of transnational high-tech labor arbitrage

University of Minnesota Ph.D. dissertation. May 2017. Major: Organizational Leadership, Policy, and Development. Advisor: Joan DeJaeghere. 1 computer file (PDF); viii, 176 pages.This study examines the transnational movement of high-tech labor from the perspective of techmigrant families. It highlights the issue of dependent immigrant women, spouses of guestworkers who perform high-skilled jobs in the United States. As dependents, these immigrant women are subject to a restrictive immigration status that mandates years of unemployment, while permitting limited pathways to pursue higher education. The study poses the issue of dependent migration as a feminized construct at the intersection of the fields of gender, migration and educational studies. Data were collected through an ethnographic study of the Indian techmigrant community in and around Atlanta over a period of eighteen months. In-depth interviews with techmigrant spouses generated narratives on migration and education. The study framework accounted for the simultaneous subjection and self-making of gendered and dependent immigrant subjectivities. Using a blend of discourse and narrative analyses, a contextual reading of subject-making processes saw immigrant women as located on the edge of transnational labor arbitrage and within overlapping state, market and familial discourses. While the narratives of dependent immigrant women showed evidence of interwoven subjection discourses, they also exemplified moments of awareness of subjection processes and the appropriation of these same discourses into self-making processes. Ultimately, in the navigation of macro institutional forces, educated subjectivities, also referred to as “educated selves” in this study, played a significant role in offering these immigrant women room to leverage these subject-making processes

Le maternel/spirituel et la question de l'orientalisme dans trois romans québécois contemporains

La Mère divine fascine par son potentiel de possibilités non actualisées dans un monde où domine Dieu le Père. L'Orient recèle une promesse semblable dans la littérature occidentale. Notre étude examine ces deux sources de fascination dans trois romans québécois qui décrivent une quête spirituelle en Inde: Le Pays d'ailleurs (1999) de Xavière Sénéchal, Les Silences du corbeau (1986) d'Yvon Rivard et Made in Auroville, India (2004) de Monique Patenaude. Les questions que nous soulevons concernent la nature du maternel quand il est spirituel et la place de l'Inde comme Mère spirituelle dans l'imaginaire québécois. Pour explorer le maternel/spirituel, nous nous servons des théories féministes et littéraires (lrigaray, Hirsch) et des approches à un modèle spirituel au féminin en études religieuses (Daly, Christ). Les aspects de la Mère divine en hindouisme serviront de référence pour tenir compte du contexte de l'action des romans (Sri Aurobindo). La narratologie féministe (Bal, Lanser) aide à chercher les Mères dans les formes des récits grâce à la notion du roman familial de Marianne Hirsch. Finalement, la critique de l'orientalisme par Edward Said de même que la théorie postcoloniale (Bhabha, Spivak) permettent de déconstruire l'Inde comme Mère orientale et spirituelle. Le maternel/spirituel est caractérisé par la présence et l'absence alternées de la Mère et par la permutation des rôles du lien Mère-enfant. Les Mères communiquent par le silence ou par les symboles au lieu du langage verbal. L'analyse narratologique des romans montrera aussi le statut double des Mères à travers des récits eux aussi doubles. Quant aux romans familiaux, ils témoignent du besoin de transformation; les anciennes structures triangulaires sont remplacées par la dyade avec la Mère. Enfin, le désir transformatif est projeté sur le contexte et l'Inde devient l'Autre/Orient malléable pour servir la construction du soi dans un processus continu, inachevé. La seule porte de sortie pour le subalterne réside dans les espaces et personnages hybrides. qui se situent à la croisée de l'Orient el de l'Occident. Entre le présent insatisfaisant et un avenir désiré avec la Mère, nos romans sont suspendus. incapables de faire le saut. Mais leur statut intermédiaire représente une ébauche de réflexion sur l'hybridité des identités qui composent notre monde actuel. ______________________________________________________________________________ MOTS-CLÉS DE L’AUTEUR : Mère divine, Inde, Maternel, Narratologie, Orientalisme, Études féministes

Obstetrics and gynaecology in the era of COVID-19

The World Health Organization has declared the outbreak of COVID-19 as a global pandemic. The alarming levels of spread and severity of the viral disease has resulted in significant morbidity and mortality. Women often face the highest risk of suffering devastating losses from the pandemic. Historically, women’s health has always been inadequately represented in responses to global outbreaks. Resources are often funnelled away from women’s health services towards targets perceived to be more important. Pregnant women with suspected, probable or confirmed COVID-19, should have access to obstetric and foetal medicine, neonatal care as well as mental health and psychosocial support, at facilities ready to tackle maternal and neonatal complications. In this article, we attempt to look at the challenges faced by gynaecologists because of this pandemic, and provide an overview on the current protocols in antenatal care, foetal care, childbirth, and oncological care

A novel druggable interprotomer pocket in the capsid of rhino- and enteroviruses

Rhino- and enteroviruses are important human pathogens, against which no antivirals are available. The best-studied inhibitors are capsid binders that fit in a hydrophobic pocket of the viral capsid. Employing a new class of entero-/rhinovirus inhibitors and by means of cryo-electron microscopy (EM), followed by resistance selection and reverse genetics, we discovered a hitherto unknown druggable pocket that is formed by viral proteins VP1 and VP3 and that is conserved across entero-/rhinovirus species. We propose that these inhibitors stabilize a key region of the virion, thereby preventing the conformational expansion needed for viral RNA release. A medicinal chemistry effort resulted in the identification of analogues targeting this pocket with broad-spectrum activity against Coxsackieviruses B (CVBs) and compounds with activity against enteroviruses (EV) of groups C and D, and even rhinoviruses (RV). Our findings provide novel insights in the biology of the entry of entero-/rhinoviruses and open new avenues for the design of broad-spectrum antivirals against these pathogens.Peer reviewe

An assistive navigational device for the blind and the visually impaired

One of the major challenges faced by the blind and the visually impaired in their daily activities, is independent navigation in an urban setting. There may be protrusions, potholes, excavations, vehicles, etc. on their path. The main aim of the assistive devices is to make the visually impaired or the blind more independent and self-sufficient. White canes and guide dogs are the primitive mobility aids they use. Currently there are many Electronic Travel Aids (ETA) and Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) available in the market such as the smart canes, radix rotating cone, etc. This project presents the development, hardware implementation and testing of an Electronic Travel Aid (ETA) system, which can be used by the blind or the visually impaired for independent navigation within an urban environment. The system uses nRf24L01+ radio modules to communicate information about the street grid to user. The information includes distance to the next intersection, structure of the intersection, intersection name, and pedestrian signal status. The information is received on a hand-held device and can be converted to a voice signal by a speech synthesis device

2-[(4,6-Diaminopyrimidin-2-yl)sulfanyl]-N-(2-methylphenyl)acetamide

In the title compound, C13H15NOS, the plane of the pyrimidine ring makes a dihedral angle of 54.73 (9)° with that of the o-tolyl ring. The molecule adopts an extended conformation, which is evident from the C—C(=O)—N—Car (ar = aromatic) torsion angle of 178.42 (15)°. In the crystal, molecules are linked via pairs of N—H...N hydrogen bonds, forming inversion dimers with an R22(8) ring motif. The dimers are linked by N—H...O and C—H...O hydrogen bonds, with the O atom accepting three such interactions, forming sheets parallel to (100)

Simultaneous detection of LipL32 and LipL21 genes of pathogenic leptospira from serum samples of bovines by multiplex PCR

<p>Leptospirosis is a worldwide zoonotic disease of cattle associated with pathogenic leptospiral infection. This study focuses in the use of a molecular tool to detect pathogenic leptospiral infection in bovines by targeting the outer membrane proteins LipL32 and LipL21 simultaneously in a multiplex PCR. Sixteen pathogenic reference strains and 10 bovine serum samples were analyzed for simultaneous detection of both genes at appropriate annealing conditions. These findings are suggestive of the fact that multiplex PCR can be used to detect major outer membrane proteins of pathogenic leptospira from serum samples. Further it aided in the differentiation of pathogenic and non-pathogenic species of leptospires too. This study will definitely serve as a valuable tool, as it suggests the importance of <em>LipL32</em> genes as potential candidates for vaccine development to control animal Leptospirosis.</p