Gender politics and feminism in Caryl Churchill's "Cloud Nine"

Màster Oficial en Construcció i Representació d'Identitats Culturals (CRIC), director Dr. Enric MonforteThis dissertation analyzes Caryl Churchill's Cloud Nine (1979) with the help of an eclectic theoretical framework enriched with a critical approach drawn from the ideas prevalent around the discussions of feminism, gender politics, and the construction and the representation of gendered identities. Reading Cloud Nine, this study argues that gender and sexuality are discursively constructed in accordance with the interests of the patriarchal and heteronormative regulations. It also traces how a distinction between sex and gender is forged with a view to securing patriarchal kinship systems, which maintain the binary oppositions based on the sex/gender dichotomy. Reading a range of theorists analyzing the notions of sex and gender, this dissertation upholds that the assumedly stable and unalterable distinction between the two is illusory. Laying bare the constructedness of the notions of sex/gender, this work asserts that these notions are fashioned through the repetition of the stylized acts pertinent to a sanctioned gender. As gender is understood to be a social and cultural construct predicated upon the repetition of various acts, this project asserts that the patriarchal notion of gender could be subverted by repeating such acts in an unorthodox way, thereby contesting patriarchy¿s grand narratives of gender. Thus, it explores how gender could be 'done' subversively by using the patriarchal and heteronormative machinery that purports to repress the non-conforming gender identities and sexualities. Heralding the possibility of subversion within the patriarchal regulation of gender and sexuality, this dissertation claims that gender-bound expectations from women and other marginalized groups could no longer be valid. In addition, this study analyzes how a feminist practice of theater challenges the patriarchal assumptions of an abiding hierarchy between the male and the female through the analysis of a number of feminist theorists. By the same token, it explores how feminist playwrights could write plays against the grain to challenge the central position of patriarchy within conventional theater as a site of power relations. Providing the theoretical framework fundamental to the analysis of Cloud Nine as a feminist play resisting patriarchal and heteronormative impositions, this dissertation argues that Cloud Nine subverts the patriarchal and heteronormative grand narratives with the aim of vindicating subjective power for women and other peripheral groups through both its content and its deployment of non-Aristotelian theatrical techniques. This project, thus, aims at deconstructing the taken-for-granted assumptions concerning the notions of sex/gender and subverting the patriarchal hierarchy that restrains women from occupying central positions in theater and in society as a whole

THE EFFECT OF THE LAW NO.6360 ON THE FINANCIAL SYSTEM OF METROPOLITAN MUNICIPALITIES: THE CASE OF TR62 CITIES

The metropolitan municipalities’ public income composed both from their capital and the contribution of the central government for an effective and efficient provision of the public services to the local citizens in Turkey. In that regard, the Law No. 3030 that enforced in the year 1984 was a regulation that encompassing a starting point for metropolitan municipalities in related with the financial allocated pies. In this way, the first objective of the article is to examine the transition of the financial pies of the metropolitan municipalities before the enactment of the Law No 6360 entitled ‘The Establishment of Fourteen Metropolitan Municipalities and Twenty-Seven Districts and Amendments at Certain Law and Decree Laws’. The second objective of the study is examining related items of the Law No. 6360 about the financial system that creating changes on the allocated pies of the metropolitan municipalities for putting forth the effects of the Law No. 6360 on the transition of the financial system of the metropolitan municipalities. Finally, new regulations of metropolitan municipalities after the enforcement of the Law No. 6360 is analyzed within the framework of the TR62 cities of Adana and Mersin regarding G.B.V.G. and per capita income

LOCAL AUTONOMY LAW EFFECTS ON ADMINISTRATIVE AND FINANCIAL STRUCTURE OF LOCAL GOVERNMENTS IN JAPAN

The local governments that have a significant pie within the central government expenditure furnished with vital responsibilities by the central government concerning the provision of the public services. Within the framework of the applications towards financial autonomy; the development of financial policies take attention in related with the stability of the responsibility and its financial share, and as a result of that, some reform implementations come to the front side. The continuously increasing budget deficit and the expected alterations at the fiscal federalism application field before the local government reform process do not abolish entirely to the dependency of local government to the central administration but reduce this dependency to a great extent. The local autonomy that was enforced in 2000, the limits of local autonomy that is attributed from the central government to the local governments revised and a large-scale and persistent proves of change is foreseen for the provision of the effectiveness at the regional scale. In this regard, some regulations come forefront having ties to strengthen local community and governance approach. In this study, the first objective is examining the administrative framework of the local governments in Japan before the enforcement of the Local Autonomy Law for grasping the main differences after the implementation of that related Law. The second target is analyzing deeply the Local Autonomy Law in related with the administrative and financially updated items. The third objective is putting forth reflections and effects of that related Law on the transformation of the financial structure of the local governments in Japan.

R&D investments and credit lines

Using data for 939 publicly listed firms from 17 European countries over the period from 2004 to 2013, we investigate the effect of used credit lines on R&D investments, controlling for other determinants of R&D investments, i.e., cash flows, cash holdings, sales growth, equity financing, and Tobin’s Q. Our estimation results, based on the system-GMM method, show that used credit lines have a positive and significant impact on R&D investments. In addition, we find that this impact is more pronounced for small and young firms than for large and mature firms. These results show that firms use credit lines as part of their liquidity management tools for supporting their R&D investments. Finally, we provide evidence that European firms in bank-based countries increased their use of credit lines for financing their R&D investments during the financial crisis of 2007-2009, while the link between R&D investments and used credit lines became weaker during the European sovereign debt crisis of 2010-2013

International evidence on the non-linear impact of leverage on corporate cash holdings

This paper investigates cash holding behaviour of firms from France, Germany, Japan, the UK and the US using data for 4069 companies over the period 1996–2000. Our focus is particularly on the relation between cash holdings and leverage. We argue that the impact of leverage on cash balances of firms is likely to be non-monotonic. To the extent that leverage of firms acts as a proxy for their ability to issue debt one would expect a negative (substitution effect) relation between leverage and cash holdings. However, as leverage increases firms are likely to accumulate larger cash reserves to minimise the risk of financial distress and costly bankruptcy. Thus, one would expect a positive (precautionary effect) relationship between cash holdings and leverage at high levels of leverage. Our findings provide strong and robust support for a significant non-linear relation between cash holdings and leverage. Additionally, our results show that the impact of leverage on cash holdings partly depends on country-specific characteristics such as the degree of creditor protection, shareholder protection, and ownership concentration

ERZURUM KENT HALKININ HOBİ BAHÇESİ HAKKINDAKİ GÖRÜŞLERİNİN BELİRLENMESİ

Erzurum kentinde artan kentleşme hareketleri halkın rekreasyonel alanlara gereksinimini de artırmaktadır. Hobi bahçeleri insanların doğayla ilişkilerini yeniden düzenleme, ekonomik katkı sağlama, kentlere yeşil alanlar kazandırma açısından önemlidir. Bu çalışmada; halkın genel bir hobi bahçesine olan ihtiyaç ve eğilimleri anketle belirlenmiş ve sonuçlar ki-kare (x2) testi ile değerlendirilmiştir. Ankete katılan kişilerin % 66’sının hobi bahçesinin ne olduğunu daha önce duymadıkları tespit edilmiş, hobi bahçeleri hakkında bilgi verildikten sonra aynı kişilerin % 85’i hobi bahçelerinin Erzurum için gerekli olduğunu bildirmişlerdir. Bu kişilerin kişisel istekleri doğrultusunda; kente yakın, içerisinde çoğunlukla sebze ve meyve yetiştirilebilecek rekreasyonel alt ve üst yapı elemanlarına ile düzenlenmiş hobi bahçesinin tercih edildiği sonucuna varılmıştır. Anahtar Kelimeler: Hobi bahçesi, Kent küçük bahçeleri, Yeşil alan, Erzuru

SPATIO-TEMPORAL ANALYSIS OF POLLUTANT GASES USING SENTINEL-5P TROPOMI DATA ON THE GOOGLE EARTH ENGINE DURING THE COVID-19 PANDEMIC IN THE MARMARA REGION, TÜRKIYE

In this study, the changes in nitrogen dioxide (NO2), carbon monoxide (CO) and sulfur dioxide (SO2) pollutant gases were examined between June 2019 and June 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic period. For this purpose, monthly and annual averages of Sentinel-5P TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) values were calculated on the Google Earth Engine (GEE) platform. According to the results obtained using the GEE platform, the average column density values of NO2, CO, and SO2 in the Marmara Region between the selected dates were calculated as 8.40E-05 mol/m2, 3.23E-02 mol/m2, and 3.75E-04 mol/m2, respectively. During the lockdown, these values decreased to 7.84E-05 mol/m2, 3.05E-02 mol/m2 and 2.75E-04 mol/m2 respectively. According to TROPOMI data, these three gas column density values showed a decreasing trend during the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown period. However, in a 25-month examination in general, these three gas values showed an increasing trend due to population growth, industrialization, and increasing traffic density

State of Utah v. Christena White : Appellant\u27s Reply Brief to Appellee\u27s Brief

DISTRICT COURT NO. 021900588FS APPELLANT COURT NO. 20040201-C

Magnetic resonance imaging based kidney volume assessment for risk stratification in pediatric autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease

IntroductionIn the pediatric context, most children with autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD) maintain a normal glomerular filtration rate (GFR) despite underlying structural kidney damage, highlighting the critical need for early intervention and predictive markers. Due to the inverse relationship between kidney volume and kidney function, risk assessments have been presented on the basis of kidney volume. The aim of this study was to use magnetic resonance imaging (MRI)-based kidney volume assessment for risk stratification in pediatric ADPKD and to investigate clinical and genetic differences among risk groups.MethodsThis multicenter, cross-sectional, and case-control study included 75 genetically confirmed pediatric ADPKD patients (5–18 years) and 27 controls. Kidney function was assessed by eGFR calculated from serum creatinine and cystatin C using the CKiD-U25 equation. Blood pressure was assessed by both office and 24-hour ambulatory measurements. Kidney volume was calculated from MRI using the stereological method. Total kidney volume was adjusted for the height (htTKV). Patients were stratified from A to E classes according to the Leuven Imaging Classification (LIC) using MRI-derived htTKV.ResultsMedian (Q1-Q3) age of the patients was 6.0 (2.0–10.0) years, 56% were male. There were no differences in sex, age, height-SDS, or GFR between the patient and control groups. Of the patients, 89% had PKD1 and 11% had PKD2 mutations. Non-missense mutations were 73% in PKD1 and 75% in PKD2. Twenty patients (27%) had hypertension based on ABPM. Median htTKV of the patients was significantly higher than controls (141 vs. 117 ml/m, p = 0.0003). LIC stratification revealed Classes A (38.7%), B (28%), C (24%), and D + E (9.3%). All children in class D + E and 94% in class C had PKD1 variants. Class D + E patients had significantly higher blood pressure values and hypertension compared to other classes (p > 0.05 for all).DiscussionThis study distinguishes itself by using MRI-based measurements of kidney volume to stratify pediatric ADPKD patients into specific risk groups. It is important to note that PKD1 mutation and elevated blood pressure were higher in the high-risk groups stratified by age and kidney volume. Our results need to be confirmed in further studies