The Fall and Rise of Bengali Muslim Conciousness: Conceptualising the Identity of the Bangla Universal

The emergence of modern-nation states saw the end of the empirical era of exploitation and exercise of inherent racist tendencies towards the \u27other\u27. However, the effect of that colonial system is still ever-present in the creation and governance of these newly independent states. While every new state aims to be \u27modern\u27, they adopt the international legal framework of the West as their own - a system they had initially wanted to escape. The concept of Muslim universality in the form of the ummah should have freed Pakistan from the shackles of its former colonial masters. Instead, this phenomenon was replaced by European universalism, aiding the subtle colonial expansion in a postcolonial world and further division in the Indian subcontinent. Bangladesh recently entered the 50th anniversary of its independence; Bangladeshis worldwide enshrine this historical significance through annual celebrations commemorating its saviours. Nevertheless, the question of belonging still lingers despite liberation from British, Indian, and Pakistani rule as they seek to heal from the colonial trauma which has caused various identity shifts concerning their \u27Bengaliness\u27 and \u27Muslimness\u27. This thesis aims to problematise and provoke discussions around what the Bangladeshi identity currently represents and whether the idea of Bengali Muslim consciousness goes beyond the postcolonial framework of nationalism. Historically, European epistemology has played a significant role in the self-image a person or group creates for themselves. There is a need to revisit and dismantle those frameworks to, ultimately, understand and conceptualise the identity of the Bangla Universal

Using Technologlical Tools to Solve Group Work Problems in Higher Education of Under Developing Countries: A Case Study

Group work activities are one of the main point or task in the high education. Switzer and Shriner (2000) were of the view that students are the most obvious party who benefit from group work among students, faculty members, and the community. According to them there are four overlapping types of benefits for students. These are: 1) immediate educational benefits, 2) immediate social benefits, 3) critical thinking benefits, and 4) long-term career benefits. Lawrance (1992) , and Yates (2001) were of the opinion that face to face communication will not solve the empowerment problems in group work activities. As, through FTF interaction male dominant role can be produced due to identity of speaker, eye contact, nodding, moving the hands , and facial expressions etc. In this situation suitable adoption of technology can be consider as an alternative mode of communication, where there is a chance of discrimination. This case study will be a further step in addition to the previous technological tools & group work related researches. In this researcher will try to explore that how suitable technological tools can play a role to over come the group work problems and to increase the performance of the students in the developing countries like Oman

Modular DC-DC Converters

DC-DC converter is one of the mostly used power electronic circuits, and it has applications in various areas ranging from portable devices to aircraft power system. Various topologies of dc-dc converters are suitable for different applications. In high power applications such as the bi-directional dc-dc converter for dual bus system in new generation automobiles, several topologies can be considered as a potential candidate. Regardless of the topology used for this application, the reliability of the converter can be greatly enhanced by introducing redundancy of some degree into the system. Using redundancy, uninterrupted operation of the circuit may be ensured when a fault has occurred. The redundancy feature can be obtained by paralleling multiple converters or using a single modular circuit that can achieve this attribute. Thus, a modular dc-dc converter with redundancy is expected to increase the reliability and reduce the system cost. Recently, the advancement in power electronics research has extended its applications in hybrid electric automobiles. Several key requirements of this application are reliable, robust, and high efficiency operation at low cost. In general, the efficiency and reliability of a power electronic circuit greatly depend on the kind of circuit topology used in any application. This is one of the biggest motivations for the researchers to invent new power electronic circuit topologies that will have significant impact in future automobile industry. This dissertation reviews existing modularity in power electronic circuits, and presents a new modular capacitor clamped dc-dc converter design that has many potential uses in future automotive power system. This converter has multilevel operation, and it is capable of handling bi-directional power. Moreover, the modular nature of the converter can achieve redundancy in the system, and thereby, the reliability can be enhanced to a great extent. The circuit has a high operating efficiency (\u3e95%), and it is possible to integrate multiple voltage sources and loads at the same time. Thus, the converter could be considered as a combination of a power electronic converter and a power management system. In addition to the new dc-dc converter topology, a new pair of modular blocks defined as switching cells is presented in this dissertation. This pair of switching cells can be used to analyze many power electronic circuits, and some new designs can be formed using those switching cells in various combinations. Using these switching cells, many power electronic circuits can be made modular, and the modeling and analysis become easier

Interventional techniques in the management of persistent atrial fibrillation

Atrial fibrillation (AF) is a common cardiac rhythm problem experienced by patients and comprises an increasing demand on healthcare systems. AF is characterised by advanced neurohormonal remodelling in the atria resulting in dilation and variable degree of atrial fibrosis that can be measured by imaging techniques with difficulty in developing methods of identifying and quantifying left atrial (LA) fibrosis. LA fibrosis can be estimated by measuring LA scar using non-invasive imaging methods such as strain imaging in advanced echocardiography and in cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging. Achieving rhythm control strategy utilising catheter ablation (CA) has shown to be advantageous in improving quality of life (QOL) in patients with paroxysmal AF. The most effective method in management of AF has remained elusive in non-paroxysmal AF. Thoracoscopic surgical ablation (TSA) has been developed over the last decade by experienced surgeons with some promising early results but has not been investigated in long-standing persistent AF (LSPAF). I have attempted to answer some of the relevant questions that have remained in management of LSPAF by conducting a multicentre randomised control trial comparing efficacy between CA and TSA (CASA-AF RCT) and improvements in quality of life indices. In a sub-study, I measured LA volumes using echocardiography and CMR to determine reverse remodelling and LA function using tissue Doppler imaging and strain imaging to predict AF recurrence. In a CMR sub-study, a novel automatic LA segmentation algorithm was used to quantify LA fibrosis before and after ablation. I was able to quantify the response of the autonomic nervous system to targeted ganglionic plexi (GP) ablation as part of TSA compared to CA by measuring heart rate variability. I am hopeful that the knowledge gained from this thesis will help with an appropriate selection that will improve the management of patients with LSPAF.Open Acces

Study on the Post-Harvest Physical and Chemical Characteristics of Apricot (Prunus Armeniaca L.) in Peshawar

Physical and chemical properties of four apricot varieties viz., Travett, Palumella, Charmaghz and Badami, fruits were presented in this study. Information about these properties is very important for understanding the behavior of the product during the post harvest operations such as harvesting, transporting, sorting, packing and storage processes. The mean value of fruit length, width, thickness, weight, volume, pulp weight,  kernel weight were established between 40.36-31.19mm, 36.17-26.76mm, 32,20-26.16mm, 30.63-23.83g, 29.53-22.10cm³, 29.91-22.20g, 2.63-1.63g, respectively. The chemical properties which include TSS was found in range of 11.27-9.43, total sugar 11.21-8.75%, reducing sugar 2.43-1.65%, non-reducing sugar 7.35-6.32 and titratable acidity 1.60-1.12%. Therefore, based on physical (quality) properties varieties Palumella and Charmaghz were found superior, whereas in chemical properties varieties Badami and Travett were the best among the tested varieties.   Keywords: Apricot (Prunus armeniaca L), Apricot, physical and chemical properties, Pakistan

Testing the Predictive Power of Equity Valuation Metrics: A Minskyian Approach

Valuation process is at the core of finance. There are several methods that can be used to value a stock. Analysts, due to constraints in time, choose between a few metrics to obtain a target price for the stock. In this paper we analyze the predictive power of different valuation metrics when used to predict the S\&P 500. We do so by first presenting theoretical discussions about the financial markets. The case that EMH is not a good model for finance and that behavioral finance, though useful, does not create a complete picture. Mainstream investment theories presented by Neoclassicals and Neo-Keynesians is argued against and Hymen Minsky\u27s alternate non-equilibrium based interpretation of John Maynard Keynes is explained. Using Minsky\u27s interpretation we explain a market where mis-pricing in stock is a normal phenomenon. The presence of mis-pricing in the market enables our reasoning for using fundamental analysis to identify the mis-pricings. Our results show that using daily data, Price to Sales ratio is the best predictor for the changes in daily returns and Price to Earnings ratio is the best predictor for changes in monthly returns for the S\& P 500

Automated Debugging Methodology for FPGA-based Systems

Electronic devices make up a vital part of our lives. These are seen from mobiles, laptops, computers, home automation, etc. to name a few. The modern designs constitute billions of transistors. However, with this evolution, ensuring that the devices fulfill the designer’s expectation under variable conditions has also become a great challenge. This requires a lot of design time and effort. Whenever an error is encountered, the process is re-started. Hence, it is desired to minimize the number of spins required to achieve an error-free product, as each spin results in loss of time and effort. Software-based simulation systems present the main technique to ensure the verification of the design before fabrication. However, few design errors (bugs) are likely to escape the simulation process. Such bugs subsequently appear during the post-silicon phase. Finding such bugs is time-consuming due to inherent invisibility of the hardware. Instead of software simulation of the design in the pre-silicon phase, post-silicon techniques permit the designers to verify the functionality through the physical implementations of the design. The main benefit of the methodology is that the implemented design in the post-silicon phase runs many order-of-magnitude faster than its counterpart in pre-silicon. This allows the designers to validate their design more exhaustively. This thesis presents five main contributions to enable a fast and automated debugging solution for reconfigurable hardware. During the research work, we used an obstacle avoidance system for robotic vehicles as a use case to illustrate how to apply the proposed debugging solution in practical environments. The first contribution presents a debugging system capable of providing a lossless trace of debugging data which permits a cycle-accurate replay. This methodology ensures capturing permanent as well as intermittent errors in the implemented design. The contribution also describes a solution to enhance hardware observability. It is proposed to utilize processor-configurable concentration networks, employ debug data compression to transmit the data more efficiently, and partially reconfiguring the debugging system at run-time to save the time required for design re-compilation as well as preserve the timing closure. The second contribution presents a solution for communication-centric designs. Furthermore, solutions for designs with multi-clock domains are also discussed. The third contribution presents a priority-based signal selection methodology to identify the signals which can be more helpful during the debugging process. A connectivity generation tool is also presented which can map the identified signals to the debugging system. The fourth contribution presents an automated error detection solution which can help in capturing the permanent as well as intermittent errors without continuous monitoring of debugging data. The proposed solution works for designs even in the absence of golden reference. The fifth contribution proposes to use artificial intelligence for post-silicon debugging. We presented a novel idea of using a recurrent neural network for debugging when a golden reference is present for training the network. Furthermore, the idea was also extended to designs where golden reference is not present

Production of Indigenous and Enriched Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Coal Briquettes: Combustion and Disintegration Strength Analysis

Khyber Pakhtun Khwa province of Pakistan has considerable amounts of low ranked coal. However, due to the absence of any centrally administered power generation system there is a need to explore indigenous methods for effectively using this valuable energy resource. In the present study an indigenous coal briquetting technology has been developed and evaluated in terms of combustion characteristics such as moisture content, volatile matter, ash, fixed carbon and calorific value of the resulting coal briquette and disintegration strength using polyvinyl acetate (PVA) in combination with calcium carbonate (sample no 3 with highest disintegration strength value of 2059N). Comparison of test samples with the commercially available coal briquettes revealed improved combustion characteristics for the PVA bonded (sample no 1 and 5) coal briquettes having higher fixed carbon content and calorific value, lower ash contents as well as lower initial ignition time