‘BLACK INTIFADA’: BLACK ARTS MOVEMENT, PALESTINIAN POETRY OF RESISTANCE AND THE ROOTS OF BLACK AND PALESTINIAN SOLIDARITY

This dissertation is an interdisciplinary contrapuntal study of Black Arts, Black Power Movements, Palestinian Poetry of Resistance and Palestinian Nationalist movement of the 1960s and 1970s. It starts with the examination of shared historical, political cultural and aesthetic forces that propelled the emergence of these movements and how their shared ideological matrix determined the resonance of their political and artistic strategies and goals. It moves on to analyze Black discourse on the Palestine/Israeli conflict from 1948, until the 1967 War, using W.E.B. Du Bois and James Baldwin as models, showing how its key characteristics premeditated the transformation of this discourse with the emergence of the Black Arts and Black Power Movement in mid-1960s. The dissertation shows that the resonance between Black and Palestinian radical movements of the decade propelled the emergence of Black solidarity Movement with Palestinians post 1967 War. It examines major manifestations of this movement and how it impacted articulations of Black and Palestinian identity, internationalist ideology and discourse and vision of liberation. It provides close readings of Black Arts Movement and Palestinian Poetry of Resistance to show detailed aesthetic parallels between them. Finally, it outlines and examines some of the major political and cultural legacies of the connections forged between these movements: Black and Palestinian hip hop, Slam poetry, and contemporary manifestation of Black and Palestinian solidarity and their future implications

Growth of GeSn and GePb Alloy Films Using Thermal Evaporator

Silicon is the most important semiconductor material used in microelectronic devices. As the number of transistors keep doubling every 24 months (Moore’s law), transistors continue scaling down in size, electrical interconnect is reaching its limits to keep up with the scaling down rate in integrated circuits. These limitations are related to interconnect density and power consumption. Hence, replacing electrical interconnect with optical interconnect on the chip or between chips has the ability to overcome these limitations. However, silicon has poor light emitting efficiency, and other substitutes such as III-V materials are not suitable due to high cost, lattice mismatch, and thermal mismatch with Si. Recently researchers have been developing novel group IV alloys from silicon, germanium, and tin to overcome these problems. In this research a less developed group IV alloy, GePb, as well as GeSn, have been studied for the development of optoelectronic devices. A physical vapor deposition method is used to evaporate the solid sources in a thermal evaporator chamber to deposit the films on a Si substrate. The GeSn and GePb samples were deposited at room temperature then annealed in a Fisher Scientific furnace at different temperatures (300-600 °C) and times (15-60 min). Material and optical characterization of the samples was performed using Raman spectroscopy, X-ray diffraction, photoluminescence, and scanning electron microscopy

Estudo experimental da dinâmica e estabilidade do gás-lift intermitente em modelo de escala de laboratório

Orientador: Sérgio Nascimento BordaloDissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia MecânicaResumo: Os sistemas convencionais de gas-lift intermitente (GLIC) são normalmente empregados para poços de petróleo em campos maduros quando a pressão do reservatório fica tão baixa que o gas-lift contínuo não é mais eficiente. O objetivo deste estudo experimental é investigar a dinâmica e a estabilidade dos ciclos para sistemas convencionais de gas-lift intermitente (GLIC) usados em poços de petróleo. Atualmente, este tipo de dados experimentais ainda está faltando na literatura. Seguindo os avanços alcançados até agora por Carvalho (2004) e Lara (2013) sobre o assunto, um simulador físico em escala de laboratório para um GLIC foi aprimorado e um conjunto selecionado de experimentos foi conduzido. O aparato de laboratório do GLIC é composto por três conjuntos operacionais, representando, respectivamente, o reservatório de óleo, o poço produtor e seus controles e o sistema de injeção de gás. No entanto, água e ar são usados, ao invés de óleo e gás natural, como o fluido produzido e o gás de elevação, respectivamente. Uma placa de microcontrolador é usada para aquisição de dados de pontos chaves de pressão e também para o sistema de atuação de uma válvula proxy de gas-lift. Além disso, uma válvula de fluxo de entrada variável fornece uma gama de índices de produtividade para o reservatório modelo. Três dutos verticais de diâmetros diferentes são usados como colunas de produção. Uma série de experimentos foi realizada para analisar a influência dos principais parâmetros na produtividade do sistema de GLIC e para identificar as condições de estabilidade dos ciclos do GLIC. Para esse fim, o fallback foi determinado para várias condições dos parâmetros operacionais e a repetibilidade dos ciclos foi verificada. Os resultados deste estudo ajudarão no desenvolvimento de um simulador matemático para o GLIC. Tal simulador pode ser estendido para poços de campos petrolíferos maduros e ser aplicado no projeto de ciclos de GLIC para atingir vazões de produção otimizadasAbstract: Conventional intermittent gas-lift systems (CIGL) are usually employed for petroleum wells in mature fields when the reservoir pressure becomes so low that continuous gas lift is no longer efficient. The purpose of this experimental study is to investigate the dynamics and stability of the cycles for conventional intermittent gas-lift systems (CIGL) for petroleum wells. Presently, this kind of experimental data is rare in the literature, following the advances achieved so far by Carvalho (2004) and Lara (2013) on this subject, further development of a laboratory scale physical simulator was carried out for a CIGL, and a selected set of experiments was conducted. The laboratory apparatus for the CIGL is composed of three operational sets, representing, respectively, the oil reservoir, the well production section and the injection gas system. However, water and air are used, instead of oil and natural gas, as the produced fluid and the lifting gas, respectively. A microcontroller board is used for data acquisition of key pressure nodes and also for the actuation system of a gas-lift valve proxy in addition to a variable flow valve provides a range of productivity index for the mock up reservoir and three vertical pipes of different diameters as production tubings are used. A series of experiments were done to analyze the influence of main parameters on the productivity of the CIGL system and to identify the stability conditions for the CIGL cycles. For this reason, the fallback for various operational parameters and concurrent stages was determined, the repeatability of the cycles was verified. The results from this study will help to develop a mathematical simulator for the CIGL. Such simulator may be extended for mature oilfield wells and be applied to design the CIGL cycles and the injection gas volume per cycle to achieve optimum production ratesMestradoExplotaçãoMestre em Ciências e Engenharia de Petróleo01-P-1862/2016CAPE

Circulation and Transport Timescales in Tidally Dominated Estuaries

The susceptibility of estuaries to pollution has increased in the past few decades due to the increased anthropogenic inputs. The vulnerability of these estuaries to pollution is closely related to the circulation and transport in these estuaries. This work, therefore, aims to understand the transport of water-born materials in tidally dominated estuaries in relation to residual circulation and estuarine shape. The role of river discharge, tide, density gradient, and advection in altering the residual circulation and the transport timescales (flushing and residence time) are investigated. Three-dimensional hydrodynamic Eulerian-Lagrangian models are developed considering mesotidal (2 m 4 m) estuaries as the tidal could be significant compared to the mean flow. The Frenchman Bay (a mesotidal) in Maine, USA, and The Gironde estuary (macrotidal) in France are considered as study sites. The results show that density gradient and river discharge can be an important driver for the residual circulation and the flushing in wide estuaries with relatively simple geometry (simple bed profile and no constriction, headlands, or island). The results also demonstrate that the density gradient is more important to the transport than the river discharge in mesotidal estuaries and the river discharge is more important than the density gradient in macrotidal estuaries due to the increase of friction. The presence of complex morphological features gives arise for the advection to drive the residual circulation in estuaries and may affect the transport timescale. It is shown that advection can decrease the flushing time by 100% at the location where advection dominates the creation of residual circulation. It is shown that the residual circulation can be complex. Regardless of the complexity of the flow in estuaries, it is demonstrated that it is possible to predict what mechanism (river, tide, density gradient) drive the transport process in estuaries and whether to expect high or low flushing time based on simple metrics such as estuarine width and tidal excursion (the distance traveled by a water parcel over half tidal cycle). Such knowledge can facilitate better water-quality management as it provides a general idea about the transport and the water quality in estuarine environments

Determinants of decision making process for Iraqi students studying in Malaysian Research Universities

Internationalization of education has become a big phenomenon in recent decades especially with the entry of many Asian countries like Malaysia, that have surpassed many developed countries such as United States, England, Europe etc. Lot of studies has been conducted on .student’s choice to study abroad in developed countries, but very few have been done in the context of developing countries like Malaysia. Malaysia being a developing country has started attracting a lot of international students mainly because of quality of education as well as low tuition and living costs. The studies regarding international students in Malaysian context have focused on the undergraduate level and not on the perspectives of adult learners. The present study is an attempt to investigate the factors that help the international students especially Iraqi students in making decisions to pursue their tertiary education at post graduate level in Malaysian university specifically in Malaysian research universities. The study utilizes case study approach with Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) as a study context. The theoretical underpinning of the study relies on the theory of adult learning and selfdetermination theory for model building. The sample consisted of postgraduate Iraqi students pursuing their masters or PhD in various faculties of UTM. Secondly, focus group discussion was also carried out with international post graduate students of various nationalities for triangulation of results. Semi structured interviews were conducted from the respondents chosen using theoretical sampling technique. The results indicate that the decision making process of Iraqi students is influenced more by external factors as compared to internal factors. The study provides useful insights into the phenomenon of study abroad. The findings of the study have several implications for both higher education institutions and policy makers

Identifying the Determents of Government E-Service Quality In the UAE

Globally, government entities are facilitating ever more over-the-internet transactional services. In the Middle Eastern context, the United Arab Emirates (UAE) is at the forefront. Although the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority of the UAE has adopted appropriate e-service quality (ESQ) assessment tools in-house, these tools are designed only for back-end developers, not for gauging end-user satisfaction levels. In light of this, we developed a conceptual framework for the holistic measuring of such citizen opinions. The study incorporated a survey instrument on a sample population (n = 2,197) for investigating the ESQ of the UAE Ministry of Interior transactional e-services. Key findings indicate that most ESQ content factors (excepting reliability) and all ESQ delivery factors, along with Trust in government positively impacted the ESQ user perceptions measured in terms of reuse intentions and overall satisfaction levels. However, familiarity with information and communication technology (ICT familiarity) was found to be insignificant. Responsiveness has the largest impact on ESQ perceptions. Interestingly, no differences between the genders were observed, but age, education and nationality all led to statistically significant differences. This research study adds an in-depth case to the relevant literature on public sector e-service provision in the Middle East and also to the one that considers ESQ assessment. The dissertation furnishes some suggestions about the wider and more systematic deployment of the analytical framework in future studies

Mediating role of academic attitude on sports participation and academic performance

This study examines the mediating effect of academic attitude on the relationship between sport participation and academic achievement of student athletes in Saudi Arabia. A total of 102 subjects comprising of undergraduate student athletes from Saudi Arabia were randomly selected as the sample of this study. Participation in competitive sport is measured as frequency of the students’ participation in sports activities in a week (Wicker, Hallmann, Breuer, 2013) and whether the students are active members of sport university teams (Lindner & Kerr, 2000) or sport clubs (Dollman& Lewis, 2010). Academic achievement is measured by the formal academic report from the student athletes’ respective university. Survey of Study Habits & Attitudes (SSHA) by Brown and Holtzman (1956) was adapted to measure academic attitude. Result indicates a positive significant relationship between participation in competitive sport and academic achievement. Results also showed a partial mediation of academic attitude on the relationship between sport participation and academic achievement. It was concluded that when a student athlete developed a positive attitude towards academic achievements, the level of their participation in the sport competition will positively affect their academic scores

The Glycolytic Pathway is the Predominate Path for Glucose Utilization in Human Pancreatic Beta Cells (1.1B4)

The oxidative metabolism of energy substrates has a paramount role in the stimulus secretion pathway of insulin. However, the role of glycolytic pathway in pancreatic beta cells is not very well understood. To address this, we have investigated and compared the functional effects of two mitochondrial substrates (glucose and α-ketoisocaproate) between the human (1.1B4) and murine (MIN6) pancreatic beta cell lines. MTS assay was conducted as an indicator of the metabolic activity of both cell lines. Polarographic detection of (ΔO2) and lactate were used to measure the oxygen consumption rate and anaerobic glycolysis respectively. The mitochondrial redox state was monitored via RH123 distribution and NAD(P)H autofluorescence. The metabolic assays showed glucose stimulated MTS reduction in MIN6 cells in a time and concentration dependent manner and nor in 1.1B4. Both sub strates failed to affect OCR, NADPH and increased lactate production in 1.1B4 cells. However, they stimulated OCR, increased NADPH, increased lactate output but was less extent and hyperpolarized the mitochondria in MIN6 cells. The above results showed that 1.1B4 cells are mainly depending on the glycolytic pathway different from MIN6 cells which rely on mitochondrial respiration. In conclusion, 1.1B4 cell line represents a new model to study the bioenergetics profile because it depends on the anaerobic glycolysis rather than aerobic respiration of the other models such as MIN6 and islets

Developing Strategic Competence through Task-Based Language Teaching: A Comparison of Implicit and Explicit Instruction

Speakers, native and non-native alike, frequently encounter difficulties expressing their intended meaning or attaining a desired communicative goal. To overcome such communication difficulties and achieve the desired communicative goal, speakers employ a variety of Communication Strategies (CSs). For example, circumlocution, clarification requests, gestures, conversation gambits and hesitation devices. Learners who successfully achieve their communication goals through the use of CSs are said to be strategically competent. Research has established that CSs can be effectively taught through explicit instruction. However, the impact of implicit instruction on the development of CSs has not been investigated to date. It is believed that implicit instruction may outperform explicit instruction in enabling learners to acquire the procedural knowledge which is the final step on the learning continuum. The acquired implicit knowledge can be accessed in time pressure situations, stored in mind, retained for longer periods and used more automatically. This study set out to assess the differential impact of explicit and implicit instruction on the use of CSs among pre-intermediate Arabic learners of English as a second language. The total number of learners was fifty-two learners enrolled in two English language centres in the United Kingdom. The learners in each centre were randomly assigned to one of three experimental conditions: implicit instruction (n=18), explicit instruction (n=18), and no instruction (n=16). Both implicit and explicit conditions received strategy instruction in a TBLT format. In the implicit condition, learners were exposed to video examples of two speakers doing similar tasks but no instruction focusing on CSs was provided. In explicit instruction, learners were exposed to the same video examples and instruction focusing on CSs was provided. The third condition served as a control group which was only exposed to pre- and post-tests. Development of CSs was measured through observation of task completion, followed by stimulated recall interviews and completion of a self-report questionnaire. The results suggest that both explicit and implicit strategy instruction has a positive impact on developing participants’ use of CSs and on supporting task completion. The results showed that explicit instruction was beneficial for developing meaning-negotiation, positive self-solving, non-verbal and time-gaining CSs, whereas implicit instruction showed to be effective for developing positive self-solving and time-gaining CSs. Further, learners who received implicit instruction made greater gains in the use of meaning-negotiation strategies from pre-test to delayed post-test than learners who received explicit instruction