Search results for: sexual representation

Authors: Deniz Guven, Wil Ward, Jinming Duan, Li Bai

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Over the past two decades or so, Optical Coherence Tomography (OCT) has been used to diagnose retina and optic nerve diseases. The retinal nerve fibre layer, for example, is a powerful diagnostic marker for detecting and staging glaucoma. With the advances in optical imaging hardware, the adoption of OCT is now commonplace in clinics. More and more OCT images are being generated, and for these OCT images to have clinical applicability, accurate automated OCT image segmentation software is needed. Oct image segmentation is still an active research area, as OCT images are inherently noisy, with the multiplicative speckling noise. Simple edge detection algorithms are unsuitable for detecting retinal layer boundaries in OCT images. Intensity fluctuation, motion artefact, and the presence of blood vessels also decrease further OCT image quality. In this paper, we introduce a new method for segmenting three-dimensional (3D) OCT images. This involves the use of a Kalman filter, which is commonly used in computer vision for object tracking. The Kalman filter is applied to the 3D OCT image volume to track the retinal layer boundaries through the slices within the volume and thus segmenting the 3D image. Specifically, after some pre-processing of the OCT images, points on the retinal layer boundaries in the first image are identified, and curve fitting is applied to them such that the layer boundaries can be represented by the coefficients of the curve equations. These coefficients then form the state space for the Kalman Filter. The filter then produces an optimal estimate of the current state of the system by updating its previous state using the measurements available in the form of a feedback control loop. The results show that the algorithm can be used to segment the retinal layers in OCT images. One of the limitations of the current algorithm is that the curve representation of the retinal layer boundary does not work well when the layer boundary is split into two, e.g., at the optic nerve, the layer boundary split into two. This maybe resolved by using a different approach to representing the boundaries, such as b-splines or level sets. The use of a Kalman filter shows promise to developing accurate and effective 3D OCT segmentation methods.

Keywords: optical coherence tomography, image segmentation, Kalman filter, object tracking

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Authors: Lee Artz

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Based on content analyses of major US media, immediately following the George Floyd killing in May 2020, some mayors and local, state, and national officials offered favorable representations of protests against police violence. As the protest movement grew to historic proportions with 26 million joining actions in large cities and small towns, dominant representations of racism by elected officials and leading media shifted—replacing both the voices and demands of protestors with representations by elected officials. Major media quoted Black mayors and Congressional representatives who emphasized concerns about looting and the disruption of public safety. Media coverage privileged elected officials who criticized movement demands for defunding police and deplored isolated instances of property damaged by protestors. Subsequently, public opinion polls saw an increase in concern for law and order tropes and a decrease in support for protests against police violence. Black Lives Matter and local organizations had no coordinated response and no effective means of communication to counter dominant representations voiced by politicians and globally disseminated by major media. Politician and media-instigated public opinion shifts indicate that social movements need their own means of communication and collective decision-making--both of which were largely missing from Black Lives Matter leaders, leading to disaffection and a political split by more than 20 local affiliates. By itself, social media by myriad individuals and groups had limited purchase as a means for social movement communication and organization. Lacking a collaborative, coordinated strategy, organization, and independent media, the loose network of Black Lives Matter groups was unable to offer more accurate, democratic, and favorable representations of protests and their demands for more justice and equality. The fight for equality was diverted by the fight for representation.

Keywords: black lives matter, public opinion, racism, representations, social movements

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Authors: Nuray Okcum, Jenny Sharples

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While the scrutinization towards marginalized groups throughout the globe has been existent for decades, prejudice towards Muslims in Western countries has been increasing dramatically. The vicious attacks across the globe by perpetrators who identify with Islam as well as popular political discourse by politicians in Western countries claiming and portraying Muslims as being dangerous, oppressed, or lacking the ability to assimilate into the community, adds to the exclusion and lack of belonging Muslims living in Western countries experience. The early stages of adulthood which have recently been conceptualized as emerging adulthood is a critical and socially ambiguous transition. For a young Muslim emerging into adulthood in a Western country, a variety of different challenges and demands that can exceed their coping abilities can arise. While in search for their identity and in a bid to structure themselves with their past childhood experiences together with their newly forming values, the emerging adult may attempt to direct or change the way in which they are viewed by others. This can be done to gain approval from others and to feel a sense of belonging. A change in the emerging adult’s interpersonal interactions and relationships, the way in which they view themselves and others, their sense of belonging, and their identity, also occurs during this developmental stage. To explore the manner in which Muslims emerging into adulthood carve their identity, their experiences, and representation of their Muslim identity, social identification, and their sense of belonging in Australia, an interpretative phenomenological methodology was utilized. This allowed participants to offer their own subjective experiences. A total of eight emerging adults took part in the study whilst four adults who work with emerging adults took part. Adult participants who work with emerging adults took part in the study to bring forth their insight and experiences. Common experiences were organized into themes. Themes included identifying as a Muslim, social identification, and belonging. Identification included visual identification and name, discrimination and resilience. Findings clearly indicated that Muslims emerging into adulthood in Australia do face various hurdles while they try to retain and represent their religious identity. Despite the unique challenges that they face, they still feel a sense of belonging and identity as being Australian.

Keywords: Muslim, Islam, emerging adulthood, Australia

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Authors: Kayliegh Richardson, Ana Speed

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The international campaign, '16 Days of Activism against Gender Based Violence', seeks to raise awareness and understanding of gender based violence in a variety of settings. The campaign requires its participants to join in for advancing the right to education and challenging violence, discrimination, and inequality and take into account intersections such as gender, race, ethnicity, religion, sexual orientation, socio-economic status and other social identifiers. The authors of this paper are both clinic supervisors at Northumbria University in Newcastle Upon Tyne, England. As part of their research project, the authors are going to ask final year students on the MLaw degree at Northumbria University to become involved in the campaign by participating in a variety of awareness-raising activities during the course of the 16 days, which runs from 27 November 2017 until 10 December 2017. As part of the campaign, the authors will be running the following activities for students to participate in 1. Documentary showing of Banaz, a love story followed by discussion group. 2. 16 blogs for 16 days. Students will contribute to our family law blog over the 16 days, with articles about gender based violence. 3. Guest lecture on domestic violence (potentially run by a domestic violence organisation) 4. Workshop by Professor Ruth Lewis who will be presenting her innovative research in gender based violence and online abuse. 5. Poster competition - the students are asked to submit a poster about the different forms of gender based violence or proposals for ending violence against women and girls. The research aims are to identify whether participation in the project: 1. increases the students' engagement with issues of gender justice 2. is an effective educational tool for raising the students' awareness and understanding of gender based violence in its many forms. 3. increases the students' understanding of the domestic and international framework for protecting victims (in particular women and children) of gender based violence. After the activities, an impartial, experienced researcher will be holding a focus group with volunteering students to discuss their experiences of participating in the activities and whether they felt that participation in the project achieved the aims set out above. This paper will discuss the activities undertaken by the students and will address the data gathered during the focus group. Finally, the authors will discuss their thoughts on whether awareness of gender-based violence and other international family law issues can be appropriately raised in an educational setting.

Keywords: gender based violence, clinical legal education, international family law, domestic abuse

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Authors: U. Ali Rahoma, Nabil Esawy, Fawzia Ibrahim Moursy, A. H. Hassan, Samy A. Khalil, Ashraf S. Khamees

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The design of any solar energy conversion system requires the knowledge of solar radiation data obtained over a long period. Satellite data has been widely used to estimate solar energy where no ground observation of solar radiation is available, yet there are limitations on the temporal coverage of satellite data. Reanalysis is a “retrospective analysis” of the atmosphere parameters generated by assimilating observation data from various sources, including ground observation, satellites, ships, and aircraft observation with the output of NWP (Numerical Weather Prediction) models, to develop an exhaustive record of weather and climate parameters. The evaluation of the performance of reanalysis datasets (ERA-5) for North Africa against high-quality surface measured data was performed using statistical analysis. The estimation of global solar radiation (GSR) distribution over six different selected locations in North Africa during ten years from the period time 2011 to 2020. The root means square error (RMSE), mean bias error (MBE) and mean absolute error (MAE) of reanalysis data of solar radiation range from 0.079 to 0.222, 0.0145 to 0.198, and 0.055 to 0.178, respectively. The seasonal statistical analysis was performed to study seasonal variation of performance of datasets, which reveals the significant variation of errors in different seasons—the performance of the dataset changes by changing the temporal resolution of the data used for comparison. The monthly mean values of data show better performance, but the accuracy of data is compromised. The solar radiation data of ERA-5 is used for preliminary solar resource assessment and power estimation. The correlation coefficient (R2) varies from 0.93 to 99% for the different selected sites in North Africa in the present research. The goal of this research is to give a good representation for global solar radiation to help in solar energy application in all fields, and this can be done by using gridded data from European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts ECMWF and producing a new model to give a good result.

Keywords: solar energy, solar radiation, ERA-5, potential energy

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Authors: Sandra Smart-Akande, Chaminda Hewage, Imtiaz Khan, Thanuja Mallikarachchi

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According to UK police-recorded data, there has been a substantial increase in knife-related crime and youth violence in the UK since 2014 particularly in the London boroughs. These crime rates are disproportionally distributed across London with the majority of these crimes occurring in the highly deprived areas of London and among young people aged 11 to 24 with large discrepancies across ethnicity, age, gender and borough of residence. Comprehensive studies and literature have identified risk factors associated with a knife carrying among youth to be Adverse Childhood Experience (ACEs), poor mental health, school or social exclusion, drug dealing, drug using, victim of violent crime, bullying, peer pressure or gang involvement, just to mention a few. ACEs are potentially traumatic events that occur in childhood, this can be experiences or stressful events in the early life of a child and can lead to an increased risk of damaging health or social outcomes in the latter life of the individual. Research has shown that children or youths involved in youth violence have had childhood experience characterised by disproportionate adverse childhood experiences and substantial literature link ACEs to be associated with criminal or delinquent behavior. ACEs are commonly grouped by researchers into: Abuse (Physical, Verbal, Sexual), Neglect (Physical, Emotional) and Household adversities (Mental Illness, Incarcerated relative, Domestic violence, Parental Separation or Bereavement). To the author's best knowledge, no study to date has investigated how household mental health (mental health of a parent or mental health of a child) and domestic violence (domestic violence on a parent or domestic violence on a child) is related to knife homicides across the local authorities areas of London. This study seeks to address the gap by examining a large sample of data from the London Metropolitan Police Force and Characteristics of Children in Need data from the UK Department for Education. The aim of this review is to identify and synthesise evidence from data and a range of literature to identify the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and youth violence in the UK. Understanding the link between ACEs and future outcomes can support preventative action.

Keywords: adverse childhood experiences, domestic violence, mental health, youth violence, prediction analysis, London knife crime

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Authors: Anum Javed

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This study identifies the dynamical image of human body that continues its metamorphosis in the virtual field of reality. It calls attention to the ways where humans start co-evolving with other life forms; technology in particular and are striving to establish a realm outside the physical framework of matter. The problem exceeds the area of technological ethics by explicably and explanatorily entering the space of literary texts and criticism. Textual analysis of Geek Love (1989) by Katherine Dunn is adjoined with posthumanist perspectives of Pramod K. Nayar to beget psycho-somatic changes in man’s nature of being. It uncovers the meaning people give to their experiences in this budding social and cultural phenomena of material representation tied up with personal practices and technological innovations. It also observes an ethical, physical and psychological reassessment of man within the context of technological evolutions. The study indicates the elements that have rendered morphological freedom and new materialism in man’s consciousness. Moreover this work is inquisitive of what it means to be a human in this time of accelerating change where surgeries, implants, extensions, cloning and robotics have shaped a new sense of being. It attempts to go beyond individual’s body image and explores how objectifying media and culture have influenced people’s judgement of others on new material grounds. It further argues a decentring of the glorified image of man as an independent entity because of his energetic partnership with intelligent machines and external agents. The history of the future progress of technology is also mentioned. The methodology adopted is posthumanist techno-ethical textual analysis. This work necessitates a negotiating relationship between man and technology in order to achieve harmonic and balanced interconnected existence. The study concludes by recommending a call for an ethical set of codes to be cultivated for the techno-human habituation. Posthumanism ushers a strong need of adopting new ethics within the terminology of neo-materialist humanism.

Keywords: corporeality, dematerialism, human ethos, posthumanism

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Authors: Patrycja Pichnicka

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Anime is the Japanese art of animation and a kind of Japanese animated movie, different from the Western ones by its specific features. In the world dominated by live action movies, mostly the ones produced in the United States, Japanese animated movies, which constitute a large part of the Japanese movie industry, play the role of the Other. They adapt elements of Western culture and technology to create something that resists global Western domination. This phenomenon is particularly interesting to observe in the case of narration borrowed from the Western culture, yet transformed in a specific manner: such as Vampire Narration. The phenomenon should be examined using the theory of cultural adaptation of Siergiei Arutiunow, as well as theory of cultural hegemony and postcolonial theories, including the theory of the discourse of resistance. Relations of cultural hegemony and resistance have been mentioned in works of Susan Napier, however they are worth to be fully developed. Anime relations to globally dominating culture reveal tension between submission and resistance in which non-Western identity is constructed and performed. Nonetheless, the tension between the Global/Western and the Japanese is not the only one existing in contemporaneous Japanese society and culture. Sexual, gender, class, and ethnic issues are also expressed in and through pop culture narrations. Using the basic division of the types of cultural adaptation we can trace the line of the evolution of the Japanese cultural attitude towards the West, expressed in the Vampire Narration from the time of American occupation till now. These attitudes changed from the submissive assimilation or reproduction of cultural models, through the simple opposition, to the more nuanced attitude of nowadays. However, according to Kimberlé Crenshaw’s intersectional theory, there is no one category of discrimination or submission. There are individuals or groups existing on the cross of two or more categories of emancipation. If the Japanese were culturally subdued to the Westerner, the Japanese woman was doubly subdued: as a woman and as a Japanese. The emancipation of one group can deepen the submission of another one, of internal Other, of the group in which two or more categories of domination/submission intersect. That is why some Japanese female authors enthusiastically reproduce the Western cultural models, even if this means a cultural hegemony of the West over the Japanese. They see, as women, more liberal attitudes towards their gender in the Western culture than in the Japanese culture, as it is constructed and produced by Japanese men. The Japanese anime is the realm in which sophisticated art meets social tendencies and cultural attitudes. Anime examination permits to study of the composed contemporaneous Japanese identity, as well as general rules of cultural relations.

Keywords: anime, cultural hegemony, intercultural relations, resistance, vampire narration

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Authors: Deepak Kumar, Ravi Rajwanshi, Mohd. Aslam Yusuf, Nisha Kant Pandey, Preeti Singh, Mukesh Saxena, Neera Bhalla Sarin

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Global issues are leading to concerns over food security. These include climate change, urbanization, increase in population subsequently leading to greater energy and water demand. Futuristic approach for crop improvement involves gene pyramiding for agronomic traits that empower the plants to withstand multiple stresses. In an earlier study from the laboratory, the efficacy of overexpressing γ-tocopherol methyl transferase (γ-TMT) gene from the vitamin E biosynthetic pathway has been shown to result in six-fold increase of the most biologically active form, the α-tocopherol in Brassica juncea which resulted in alleviation of salt, heavy metal and osmoticum induced stress by the transgenic plants. The glyoxalase I (gly I) gene from the glyoxalase pathway has also been earlier shown by us to impart tolerance against multiple abioitc stresses by detoxification of the cytotoxic compound methylglyoxal in Brassica juncea. Recently, both the transgenes were pyramided in Brassica juncea lines through sexual crosses involving two stable Brassica juncea lines overexpressing γ-TMT and gly I genes respectively. The transgene integration was confirmed by PCR analysis and their mRNA expression was evident by RT-PCR analysis. Preliminary physiological investigations showed ~55% increased seed germination under 200 mM NaCl stress in the pyramided line and 81% higher seed germination under 200 mM mannitol stress as compared to the WT control plants. The pyramided lines also retained more chlorophyll content when the leaf discs were floated on NaCl (200, 400 and 600 mM) or mannitol (200, 400 and 600 mM) compared to the WT control plants. These plants had higher Relative Water Content and greater solute accumulation under stress compared to the parental plants having γ-TMT or the glyI gene respectively. The studies revealed the synergy of two components from different metabolic pathways in enhancing stress hardiness of the transgenic B. juncea plants. It was concluded that pyramiding of genes (γ-TMT and glyI) from diverse pathways can lead to enhanced tolerance to salt and mannitol stress (simulating drought conditions). This strategy can prove useful in enhancing the crop yields under various abiotic stresses.

Keywords: abiotic stress, brassica juncea, glyoxalase I, α-tocopherol

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Authors: Shahin A. Abdel-Naby, James P. Colgan, Michael S. Pindzola

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A time-dependent close-coupling method is developed to calculate a total, double and triple autoionization rates for hollow atomic ions of four-electron systems. This work was motivated by recent observations of the four-electron Auger process in near K-edge photoionization of C+ ions. The time-dependent close-coupled equations are solved using lattice techniques to obtain a discrete representation of radial wave functions and all operators on a four-dimensional grid with uniform spacing. Initial excited states are obtained by relaxation of the Schrodinger equation in imaginary time using a Schmidt orthogonalization method involving interior subshells. The radial wave function grids are partitioned over the cores on a massively parallel computer, which is essential due to the large memory requirements needed to store the coupled-wave functions and the long run times needed to reach the convergence of the ionization process. Total, double, and triple autoionization rates are obtained by the propagation of the time-dependent close-coupled equations in real-time using integration over bound and continuum single-particle states. These states are generated by matrix diagonalization of one-electron Hamiltonians. The total autoionization rates for each L excited state is found to be slightly above the single autoionization rate for the excited configuration using configuration-average distorted-wave theory. As expected, we find the double and triple autoionization rates to be much smaller than the total autoionization rates. Future work can be extended to study electron-impact triple ionization of atoms or ions. The work was supported in part by grants from the American University of Sharjah and the US Department of Energy. Computational work was carried out at the National Energy Research Scientific Computing Center (NERSC) in Berkeley, California, USA.

Keywords: hollow atoms, autoionization, auger rates, time-dependent close-coupling method

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Authors: Chia-Wen Kuo

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Jesse Curran states that there is a "breath awareness" that "facilitates a present-minded capability" to catalyse an "epistemological rupture" in Emily Dickinson's poetry, particularly in the age of Anthropocene. In Dickinson's "Nature", non-humans are subjectified as nature ceases to be subordinated to human interests, and Dickinson's Eco-humility has driven us, readers, into mimicking nature for the making of a better world. In terms of sustainable architecture, Norman Foster is among the representatives who utilise BIM to reduce architectural waste while satiating the users' aesthetic craving for a spectacular skyline. Notably, the Gherkin - 30 St. Mary Axe in east-end London. In 2019, Foster and his team aspired to savour the London skyline with his new design - the Tulip, which has been certified by the LEED as a legitimate green building as well as a complementary extension of the Gherkin. However, Foster's proposition had been denied for numerous times by the mayor Sadiq Khan and the city council as the Tulip cannot blend in the public space around while its observatory functions like a surveillance platform. The Tulip, except for its aesthetic idiosyncrasy, fails to serve for the public good other than another ostentatious tourist attraction in London. The architectural team for Mode Gakuen Cocoon tower, completed in 2008, intended to honour Nature with the symbolism in the building's aesthetic design. It serves as an architectural cocoon that nurtures the students of "Special Technology and Design College" inside. The building itself turns into a Dickinsonian anthropomorphism, where humans are made humble to learn from the entomological beings for self-betterment in the age of Anthropocene. Despite bearing resemblance to a tulip as well as its LEED credential, Norman Foster’s Tulip merely pays tribute to the Nature in a relatively superficial manner without constructing an apparatus that substantially benefit the Londoners as all green cities should embrace Emily Dickinson’s “breath awareness” and be built and treated as an extensive as well as expansive form of biomimicry.

Keywords: green city, sustianable architecture, London, Tokyo

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Authors: Barbara Janari

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In this paper it is argued that the effect of the disjunctive temporality in Summertime (the third of J.M. Coetzee’s fictionalised memoirs) is two-fold: firstly, it reflects the memoir’s ambivalent, contradictory representations of place in order to emphasize the fractured sense of self growing up in South Africa during apartheid entailed for Coetzee. Secondly, it reconceives the autobiographical discourse as one that foregrounds the inherent fictionality of all texts. The memoir’s narrative is filtered through intricate textual strategies that disrupt the chronological movement of the narrative, evoking the labyrinthine ways in which the past and present intersect and interpenetrate each other. It is framed by entries from Coetzee’s Notebooks: it opens with entries that cover the years 1972–1975, and ends with a number of undated fragments from his Notebooks. Most of the entries include a short ‘memo’ at the end, added between 1999 and 2000. While the memos follow the Notebook entries in the text, they are separated by decades. Between the Notebook entries is a series of interviews conducted by Vincent, the text’s putative biographer, between 2007 and 2008, based on recollections from five people who had known Coetzee in the 1970s – a key period in John’s life as it marks both his return to South Africa after a failed emigration attempt to America, and the beginning of his writing career, with the publication of Dusklands in 1974. The relationship between the memoir’s various parts is a key feature of Coetzee’s representation of place in Summertime, which is constructed as a composite one in which the principle of reflexive referencing has to be adopted. In other words, readers have to suspend individual references temporarily until the relationships between the parts have been connected to each other. In order to apprehend meaning in the text, the disparate narrative elements have to first be tied together. In this text, then, the experience of time as ordered and chronological is ruptured. Instead, the memoir’s themes and patterns become apparent most clearly through reflexive referencing, by which relationships between disparate sections of the text are linked. The image of the fictional John that emerges from the text is a composite of this John and the author, J.M. Coetzee, and is one which embodies Coetzee’s often fraught relationship with his home country, South Africa.

Keywords: autobiography, place, reflexive referencing, temporality

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Authors: Mao Huasong, Tang Siqi, Cheng Yu

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The cognition and practice of Chinese landscapes have distinct uniqueness. The intergenerational inheritance of urban and rural landscapes is a common objective fact which has created a unique type of heritage in China - scenic heritage. The current generalization of the concept of scenic heritage has affected the lack of innovation in corresponding protection practices. Therefore, clarifying the concepts and connotations of scenery and scenic heritage, clarifying the protection objects of scenic heritage and the methods and approaches in intergenerational inheritance can provide theoretical support for the practice of Chinese scenic heritage and contribute Chinese wisdom to the transformation of world heritage sites. Taking ancient Shaoxing, which has a long time span and rich descriptions of scenic types and quantities, as the research object and using local chronicles as the basic research material, based on text analysis, word frequency analysis, case statistics, and historical, geographical spatial annotation methods, this study traces back to ancient scenic practices and conducts in-depth descriptions in both text and space. it have constructed a scenic heritage identification method based on the basic connotation characteristics and morphological representation characteristics of natural and cultural correlations, combined with the intergenerational and representative characteristics of scenic heritage; Summarized the bidirectional integration of "scenic spots" and "form scenic spots", "outstanding people" and "local spirits" in the formation process of scenic heritage; In inheritance, guided by Confucian values of education; In communication, the cultural interpretation constructed by scenery and the way of landscape life are used to strengthen the intergenerational inheritance of natural, artificial material elements, and intangible spirits. As a unique type of heritage in China, scenic heritage should improve its standards, values, and connotations in current protection practices and actively absorb historical experience.

Keywords: scenic heritage, heritage protection, cultural landscape, shaoxing, chinese landscape

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Authors: Oyku Yenen

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The notion of biopolitics, as studied by such intellectuals as Foucault, Agamben, and Negri, is an important guide for comprehending the current understanding of politics. While Foucault evaluates biopolitics as a survival policy, Giorgio Agamben, German legist, identifies the theory with death. Agamben claims the fact we can all considered to be homo sacer who are abandoned by the law, left in the field of exception, and whose killing does not require punishment. Agamben defines the person who is tried by the public for committing a crime but is not allowed to be sacrificed and whose killing is not considered a crime, as 'homo sacer'. This study analyzes how the concept of 'homo sacer' is made visible in TV series such as Çemberimde Gül Oya (Cagan Irmak, 2005-2005), Hatırla Sevgili (Ummu Burhan, 2006-2008), Bu Kalp Seni Unutur Mu? (Aydin Bulut, 2009-1010) all of which portray the period Turkey's 1980 military coup, within the framework of Agamben's thoughts and notions about biopolitics. When the main plots of these abovementioned TV series, which constitute the universe of this study, are scrutinized closely, they lay out the understanding of politics that has existed throughout history and prevails today. Although there is a large number of TV series on the coup of 1980, these three series are the only main productions that specifically focused on the event itself. Our final analysis will reveal that the concepts of homo sacer, bare life, exception, camp have been embodied in different ways in these three series. In these three series, which all deal with similar subjects using differing perspectives, the dominant understanding of politics is clearly conveyed to the audience. In all three series, the reigning power always decides on the exceptions, those who will live, those who will die, and those who will be ignored by law. Such characters as Mehmet, Sinan, Yıldız, Deniz, Defne, all of which we come across in these series, are on trial as a criminals of thought and are subjected to various forms of torture while isolated in an area where they are virtually deprived of law. Their citizenship rights are revoked. All of them are left alone with their bare lives (zoe).

Keywords: bare life, biopolitics, homo sacer, sovereign power, state of exception

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Authors: Somya Sharma

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Ahalya, the critically acclaimed short film, is known to demolish the gender constructs of the age old myth of Ahalya. The paper tries to crack the overt meaning of the short film by reading between the dialogues and deconstructing the idea of the pseudo feminism in the short film Ahalya by Sujoy Ghosh. The film, by subverting the role of male character by making it seem submissive as compared to the female character's role seems to be just a surface level reading of the text. It seems that Sujoy Ghosh has played not just with changing the paradigm, but also trying to alter the history by doing so. The age old myth of putting Ahalya as a part of the five virgins (panchkanya) of Hindu mythology is explored in the paper. God's manoeuvre cannot be questioned and the two male characters tend to again shape the deed and the life of the female character, Ahalya. It is of importance to note that even in the 21st century, progressive actors like Radhika Apte fail to acknowledge the politics of altering history, not in a progressive way. The film blinds the viewer in the first watch to fall for the female strength and ownership of her sexuality, which is reflected in the opening scene itself where she opens the gate for the police man Indra Sen (representing God Indra who seduced her) who is charmed by her white dress. White, in Hindu mythology, stands for mourning, and this can be a hint towards the prophecy of what is about to come. Ahalya, bold, strong, and confident in this scene seems to be in total ownership of her sexual identity. Further, as the film progresses, control of Ahalya over her acts becomes even more dominant. In the myth of Ahalya, Gautama Maharishi, her husband, who wins her by Brahma's courtesy, curses her for her infidelity. She is then turned into a stone because of the curse and is redeemed when Lord Rama's foot brushes the stone. In the film, it is with the help of Ahalya that Goutam Sadhu turns Indra Sen into a stone doll. Ahalya is seen as a seductress who bewitches Indra Sen, and because the latter falls for the trap laid by the husband wife duo, he is turned into a doll. The attempt made by the paper is to read Ahalya as a character of the stand in wife who is yet again a pawn in the play of Goutama's revenge from Indra (who in the myth is able to escape from any curse or punishment for the act). The paper, therefore, reverts the idea which has till now been signified by the film and attempts to study the feminism this film appropriates. It is essential to break down the structure formed by such overt transgressing films in order to provide a real outlook of how feminism is twisted and moulded according to a man’s wishes.

Keywords: deconstructing, Hindu mythology, Panchkanya, predominant feminism, seductress, stone doll

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Authors: Mary Bernardin, Margie Batek, Joseph Moen, David Schnadower

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Background: Exposure to violence not only has negative psychological impact on children but is a risk factor for children becoming recurrent victims of violence. However, little is known regarding the degree to which child victims of violence are exposed to trauma at home and in their community, or its association with specific psychological diagnoses. Objective: The aims of this study were to perform in-depth characterizations of family, community and psychological wellness amongst pediatric victims of interpersonal violence. Methods: As standard of care at the Saint Louis Children’s Hospital pediatric emergency department (ED), social workers perform in-depth interviews with all children presenting due to violent interpersonal encounters. In this retrospective cross-sectional study, we collected data from social work interviews on family structure, exposure to violence in the community and the home, as well as history of psychological diagnoses amongst children ages 8-19 years who presented to the ED for injuries related to interpersonal violence from 2014-2017. Results: A total of 407 patients presenting to the ED for an interpersonal violent encounter were analyzed. The average age of studied youths was 14.7 years (SD 2.5). Youths were 97.5% African American ethnicity and 66.6% male. 67.8% described their home having a nonnuclear family structure, 50% of which reported living with a single mother. Of the 21% who reported having incarcerated family members, 56.3% reported their father being incarcerated, 15% reported their mother being incarcerated, and 12.5% reported multiple family members being incarcerated. 11.3% reported witnessing domestic violence in their home. 12.8% of youths reported some form of child abuse. The type of child abuse was not specified in 29.3% of cases, but physical abuse (32.8%) followed by sexual abuse (22.4%) were the most commonly reported. 14.5% had history of placement in foster care and/or adoption. 64% reported having witnessed violence in their community. 30.2% reported having lost friends or family due to violence, and of those, 26.4% reported the loss of a cousin, 18.9% the loss of a friend, 16% the loss of their father, and 12.3% the loss of their brother due to violence. Of the 22.4% youths with psychiatric diagnose(s), 48.4% had multiple diagnoses, the most common of which were ADD/ADHD (62.6%), followed by depression (31.9%), bipolar disorder (27.5%) and anxiety (15.4%). Conclusions: A remarkable proportion of children presenting to EDs due to interpersonal violence have a history of exposure to instability and violence in their homes and communities. Additionally, psychological diagnoses are frequent among pediatric victims of violence. More research is needed to better understand the association between trauma exposure, psychological health and violent victimization amongst children.

Keywords: community violence, emergency department, pediatric interpersonal violence, pediatric trauma, psychological effects of trauma

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Authors: Yijun Shao, Yan Cheng, Rashmee U. Shah, Charlene R. Weir, Bruce E. Bray, Qing Zeng-Treitler

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Deep neural network (DNN) models are being explored in the clinical domain, following the recent success in other domains such as image recognition. For clinical adoption, outcome prediction models require explanation, but due to the multiple non-linear inner transformations, DNN models are viewed by many as a black box. In this study, we developed a deep neural network model for predicting 1-year mortality of patients who underwent major cardio vascular procedures (MCVPs), using temporal image representation of past medical history as input. The dataset was obtained from the electronic medical data warehouse administered by Veteran Affairs Information and Computing Infrastructure (VINCI). We identified 21,355 veterans who had their first MCVP in 2014. Features for prediction included demographics, diagnoses, procedures, medication orders, hospitalizations, and frailty measures extracted from clinical notes. Temporal variables were created based on the patient history data in the 2-year window prior to the index MCVP. A temporal image was created based on these variables for each individual patient. To generate the explanation for the DNN model, we defined a new concept called impact score, based on the presence/value of clinical conditions’ impact on the predicted outcome. Like (log) odds ratio reported by the logistic regression (LR) model, impact scores are continuous variables intended to shed light on the black box model. For comparison, a logistic regression model was fitted on the same dataset. In our cohort, about 6.8% of patients died within one year. The prediction of the DNN model achieved an area under the curve (AUC) of 78.5% while the LR model achieved an AUC of 74.6%. A strong but not perfect correlation was found between the aggregated impact scores and the log odds ratios (Spearman’s rho = 0.74), which helped validate our explanation.

Keywords: deep neural network, temporal data, prediction, frailty, logistic regression model

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Authors: Kajal Attri

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Introduction: Transgender people are considered third gender in India, although they still face identification issues and alienated from society. Furthermore, they face several challenges, including discrimination in employment, resources, education, and property as a result, most transgender people make a living through begging at traffic lights, trains, and buses; attending auspicious occasions such as childbirth and weddings; and engaging in sex work, which includes both home-based and street-based sex work. During COVID-19, maintaining social distance exacerbates transgender people's circumstances and prevents them from accessing health care services, sexual reassignment surgery, identity-based resources, government security, and financial stability. Nonetheless, the pandemic raised unfavorable attitudes about transgender persons, such as unsupportive family members and trouble forming emotional relationships. This study focuses on how we missed transgender people during COVID-19 to provide better facilities to cope with this situation when they are already the most vulnerable segment of the society. Methodology: The research was conducted using secondary data from published publications and grey literature obtained from four databases: Pubmed, Psychinfo, Science direct, and Google scholar. The literature included total 25 articles that met the inclusion criteria for a review. Result and Discussion: Transgender people, who are considered the most vulnerable sector of society, have already faced several obstacles as a result of the outbreak. The analysis underscores the difficulties that transgender persons faced during COVID-19, such as, They had trouble accessing the government's social security programmes during the lockdown, which provide rations and pensions since they lack the necessary identifying cards. The impact of COVID-19 leaves transgender people at heightened risk of poverty and ill health because they exist on the margins of society, those livelihood base on sex work, begging, and participation on auspicious occasions. They had a significant risk of contracting SARS-CoV2 because they lived in congested areas or did not have permanent shelter, and they were predominantly infected with HIV, cancer, and other non-communicable illnesses. The pandemic raised unfavorable attitudes about transgender persons, such as unsupportive family members and trouble forming emotional relationships. Conclusion: The study comes forward with useful suggestions based on content analysis and information to reduce the existing woes of transgenders during any pandemic like COVID-19.

Keywords: COVID-19, transgender, lockdown, transwomen, stigmatization

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Authors: Gilad Padva, Sigal Barak Brandes

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This research centers on an unexpected Israeli advertising campaign for Elemento, a local furniture company, which eroticizes male nudity. The discussed campaign includes a series of printed ads that depict naked male models in effeminate positions. This campaign included a series of ads published in Haaretz, a small-scaled yet highly prestigious daily newspaper which is typically read by urban middle-upper-class left-winged Israelis. Apparently, this campaign embodies an alternative masculinity that challenges the prevalent machismo in Israeli society and advertising. Although some of the ads focus on young men in effeminate positions, they never expose their genitals and anuses, and their bodies are never permeable. The 2010s Elemento male models are seemingly contrasted to conventional representation of manhood in contemporary mainstream advertising. They display a somewhat inactive, passive and self-indulgent masculinity which involves 'conspicuous leisure'. In the process of commodity fetishism, the advertised furniture are emptied of the original meaning of their production, and then filled with new meanings in ways that both mystify the product and turn it into a fetish object. Yet, our research critically reconsiders this sensational campaign as sophisticated patriarchal parody that does not subvert but rather reconfirms and even fetishizes patriarchal premises; it parodizes effeminacy rather than the prevalent (Israeli) machismo. Following Pierre Bourdieu's politics of cultural taste, our research reconsiders and criticizes the male models' domesticated masculinity in a fantasized and cosmopolitan hedonistic habitus. Notwithstanding, we suggest that the Elemento campaign, despite its conformity, does question some Israeli and global axioms about gender roles, corporeal ideologies, idealized bodies, and domesticated phalluses and anuses. Although the naked truth is uncovered by this campaign, it does erect a vibrant discussion of contemporary masculinities and their exploitation in current mass consumption.

Keywords: male body, campaign, advertising, gender studies, men's studies, Israeli culture, masculinity, parody, effeminacy

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Authors: Mirjana Dokmanovic

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In recent years, the disadvantaged and marginalised position of rural women in the Republic of Serbia has been recognised in a number of national strategies and policy papers. A number of measures have been adopted by the government aimed at economic empowerment of rural women and eliminating barriers to accessing decision making and economic and social opportunities. However, their implementation pace is still slow. The aim of the paper is to indicate the necessity of a comprehensive policy approach to eliminating discrimination against rural women that would include policy and financial commitments for enhancing agricultural and rural development as a whole, instead of taking fragmented measures targeting consequences instead of causes. The paper introduces main findings of the study of challenges, constraints, and opportunities of rural women in Serbia to enjoy their economic and social rights. The research methodology included the desk research and the qualitative analysis of the available data, statistics, policy papers, studies, and reports produced by the government, ministries and other governmental bodies, independent human rights bodies, and civil society organizations (CSOs). The findings of the study reveal that rural women are at great risk of poverty, particularly in remote areas, and when getting old or widowed. Young rural women working in agriculture are also in unfavorable position, as they do not have opportunities to enjoy their rights during pregnancy and maternity leave, childcare leave and leave due to the special care of a child. The study indicates that the main causes of their unfavorable position are related to the prevalent patriarchal surrounding and economic and social underdevelopment of rural areas in Serbia. Gender inequalities have been particularly present in accessing land and property rights, inheritance, education, social protection, healthcare, and decision making. Women living in the rural areas are exposed at high risk of discrimination in all spheres of public and private life that undermine their enjoyment of basic economic, social and cultural rights. The vulnerability of rural women to discrimination increases in cases of the intersectionality of other grounds of discrimination, such as disability, ethnicity, age, health condition and sexual discrimination. If they are victims of domestic violence, their experience lack of access to shelters and protection services. Despite the State’s recognition of the marginalized position of rural women, there is still a lack of a comprehensive policy approach to improving the economic and social position of rural women.

Keywords: agricultural and rural development, care economy, discrimination against women, economic and social rights, feminization of poverty, Republic of Serbia, rural women

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Authors: Mpho Mokoatle, Darlington Mapiye, James Mashiyane, Stephanie Muller, Gciniwe Dlamini

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Great advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have resulted in availability of huge amounts of sequencing data in public and private repositories, enabling a holistic understanding of complex biological phenomena. Sequence data are used for a wide range of applications such as gene annotations, expression studies, personalized treatment and precision medicine. However, this rapid growth in sequence data poses a great challenge which calls for novel data processing and analytic methods, as well as huge computing resources. In this work, a machine and statistical learning approach for DNA sequence classification based on $k$-mer representation of sequence data is proposed. The approach is tested using whole genome sequences of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates to (i) reduce the size of genomic sequence data, (ii) identify an optimum size of k-mers and utilize it to build classification models, (iii) predict the phenotype from whole genome sequence data of a given bacterial isolate, and (iv) demonstrate computing challenges associated with the analysis of whole genome sequence data in producing interpretable and explainable insights. The classification models were trained on 104 whole genome sequences of MTB isoloates. Cluster analysis showed that k-mers maybe used to discriminate phenotypes and the discrimination becomes more concise as the size of k-mers increase. The best performing classification model had a k-mer size of 10 (longest k-mer) an accuracy, recall, precision, specificity, and Matthews Correlation coeffient of 72.0%, 80.5%, 80.5%, 63.6%, and 0.4 respectively. This study provides a comprehensive approach for resampling whole genome sequencing data, objectively selecting a k-mer size, and performing classification for phenotype prediction. The analysis also highlights the importance of increasing the k-mer size to produce more biological explainable results, which brings to the fore the interplay that exists amongst accuracy, computing resources and explainability of classification results. However, the analysis provides a new way to elucidate genetic information from genomic data, and identify phenotype relationships which are important especially in explaining complex biological mechanisms.

Keywords: AWD-LSTM, bootstrapping, k-mers, next generation sequencing

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Authors: Darlington Mapiye, Mpho Mokoatle, James Mashiyane, Stephanie Muller, Gciniwe Dlamini

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Great advances in high-throughput sequencing technologies have resulted in availability of huge amounts of sequencing data in public and private repositories, enabling a holistic understanding of complex biological phenomena. Sequence data are used for a wide range of applications such as gene annotations, expression studies, personalized treatment and precision medicine. However, this rapid growth in sequence data poses a great challenge which calls for novel data processing and analytic methods, as well as huge computing resources. In this work, a machine and statistical learning approach for DNA sequence classification based on k-mer representation of sequence data is proposed. The approach is tested using whole genome sequences of Mycobacterium tuberculosis (MTB) isolates to (i) reduce the size of genomic sequence data, (ii) identify an optimum size of k-mers and utilize it to build classification models, (iii) predict the phenotype from whole genome sequence data of a given bacterial isolate, and (iv) demonstrate computing challenges associated with the analysis of whole genome sequence data in producing interpretable and explainable insights. The classification models were trained on 104 whole genome sequences of MTB isoloates. Cluster analysis showed that k-mers maybe used to discriminate phenotypes and the discrimination becomes more concise as the size of k-mers increase. The best performing classification model had a k-mer size of 10 (longest k-mer) an accuracy, recall, precision, specificity, and Matthews Correlation coeffient of 72.0 %, 80.5 %, 80.5 %, 63.6 %, and 0.4 respectively. This study provides a comprehensive approach for resampling whole genome sequencing data, objectively selecting a k-mer size, and performing classification for phenotype prediction. The analysis also highlights the importance of increasing the k-mer size to produce more biological explainable results, which brings to the fore the interplay that exists amongst accuracy, computing resources and explainability of classification results. However, the analysis provides a new way to elucidate genetic information from genomic data, and identify phenotype relationships which are important especially in explaining complex biological mechanisms

Keywords: AWD-LSTM, bootstrapping, k-mers, next generation sequencing

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Authors: Monika Szpringer, Aneta Pawlinska

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Adverse childhood experiences are linked to various types of health and adapt problems at different stages of life. They include various types of abuse, neglect, and dysfunctional environment. They have an unfavorable impact on the development of a child and his future functioning in society. Adolescents who were exposed to bad treatment may suffer from health problems during adulthood, like chronic diseases, psychological disorders, drug addiction, and suicide attempts. Objective: The aim of the project is to assess the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and the sense of efficacy and coping with emotions among teenagers aged 16-18 taking drugs. Material And Methods: The research was carried out in the period from March to December 2018 in Mazowieckie, Świętokrzyskie, Łódzkie, and Lubelskie Voivodship. The group consisted of 600 people aged 16-18 (M=16,58; SD=0, 78), men (63,2%) aged 16-18 (M=16,60;SD= 0,78) and women (35,5%) aged 16-18 (M16,55;SD=0,79). Participants included residents from Youth Educational Centers and Youth Sociotherapy Centers. Each participant filled in Author's Questionnaire, Adverse Childhood Questionnaire, then Courtland Emotional Control Scale-CECS and Generalized Self Efficacy Scale-GSES. Results and conclusions: The most common adverse experiences, according to teenagers, were family abuse, divorce/separation/parent's death, overuse of alcohol or drugs by an inmate, and emotional neglect. Adolescents who suffered from five to twelve adverse experiences had a higher level of depression's control. Adverse childhood experiences have an importance for the level of anger and depression's control among teenagers taking drugs. The greatest importance of the level of anger's control has emotional neglect. A higher level of emotional neglect is linked to a lower ability to control anger. The greatest importance of the level of depression's control has physical abuse and emotional neglect. The higher physical abuse during childhood, and the higher frequency of emotional neglect, the bigger the depression's control. The sense of efficacy in the group of people who suffered from one to four adverse experiences is close to the sense of efficacy that suffered people from five to twelve adverse experiences. The most important factor lowering the sense of one's efficacy was the intensification of sexual abuse. It was confirmed that the intensification and frequency of adverse childhood experiences were higher among women than men. Women also characterized lower anger control and greater depression's control. The authors’ own analyses confirmed the relationship between adverse childhood experiences and the sense of efficacy and coping with emotions among teenagers aged 16-18 taking drugs.

Keywords: adolescences, adverse childhood experiences, coping with emotions, drugs

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Authors: Afsha Shaikh, Mohammed Azizur Rahman, Ibrahim Hassan, Mayur Pal

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Student engagement in learning is instantly affected by the sources of learning methods available for them, such as videos showing the applications of the concept or showing a practical demonstration. Specific to the engineering discipline, there exist enormous challenging concepts that can be simplified when they are connected to real-world scenarios. For this study, the concept of heat exchangers was used as it is a part of multidisciplinary engineering fields. To make the learning experience enjoyable and impactful, 3-D printed heat exchanger models were created for students to use while working on in-class activities and assignments. Students were encouraged to use the 3-D printed heat exchanger models to enhance their understanding of theoretical concepts associated with its applications. To assess the effectiveness of the method, feedback was received by students pursuing undergraduate engineering via an anonymous electronic survey. To make the feedback more realistic, unbiased, and genuine, students spent nearly two to three weeks using the models in their in-class assignments. The impact of these tools on their learning was assessed through their performance in their ungraded assignments as well as their interactive discussions with peers. ‘Having to apply the theory learned in class whilst discussing with peers on a class assignment creates a relaxed and stress-free learning environment in classrooms’; this feedback was received by more than half the students who took the survey and found 3-D models of heat exchanger very easy to use. Amongst many ways to enhance learning and make students more engaged through interactive models, this study sheds light on the importance of physical tools that help create a lasting mental representation in the minds of students. Moreover, in this technologically enhanced era, the concept of augmented reality was considered in this research. E-drawings application was recommended to enhance the vision of engineering students so they can see multiple views of the detailed 3-D models and cut through its different sides and angles to visualize it properly. E-drawings could be the next tool to implement in classrooms to enhance students’ understanding of engineering concepts.

Keywords: student engagement, life-long-learning, visual demonstration, 3-D printed models, engineering education

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Authors: Shende Suraj Balu, A. B. Deoghare, K. M. Pandey

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The human middle ear (ME) is a delicate and vital organ. It has a complex structure that performs various functions such as receiving sound pressure and producing vibrations of eardrum and propagating it to inner ear. It consists of Tympanic Membrane (TM), three auditory ossicles, various ligament structures and muscles. Incidents such as traumata, infections, ossification of ossicular structures and other pathologies may damage the ME organs. The conditions can be surgically treated by employing prosthesis. However, the suitability of the prosthesis needs to be examined in advance prior to the surgery. Few decades ago, this issue was addressed and analyzed by developing an equivalent representation either in the form of spring mass system, electrical system using R-L-C circuit or developing an approximated CAD model. But, nowadays a three-dimensional ME model can be constructed using micro X-Ray Computed Tomography (μCT) scan data. Moreover, the concern about patient specific integrity pertaining to the disease can be examined well in advance. The current research work emphasizes to develop the ME model from the stacks of μCT images which are used as input file to MIMICS Research 19.0 (Materialise Interactive Medical Image Control System) software. A stack of CT images is converted into geometrical surface model to build accurate morphology of ME. The work is further extended to understand the dynamic behaviour of Harmonic response of the stapes footplate and umbo for different sound pressure levels applied at lateral side of eardrum using finite element approach. The pathological condition Cholesteatoma of ME is investigated to obtain peak to peak displacement of stapes footplate and umbo. Apart from this condition, other pathologies, mainly, changes in the stiffness of stapedial ligament, TM thickness and ossicular chain separation and fixation are also explored. The developed model of ME for pathologies is validated by comparing the results available in the literatures and also with the results of a normal ME to calculate the percentage loss in hearing capability.

Keywords: computed tomography (μCT), human middle ear (ME), harmonic response, pathologies, tympanic membrane (TM)

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Authors: Tridipa Biswas, Kamal Pandey

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A Digital Elevation Model (DEM) is a simple representation of a surface in 3 dimensional space with elevation as the third dimension along with X (horizontal coordinates) and Y (vertical coordinates) in rectangular coordinates. DEM has wide applications in various fields like disaster management, hydrology and watershed management, geomorphology, urban development, map creation and resource management etc. Cartosat-1 or IRS P5 (Indian Remote Sensing Satellite) is a state-of-the-art remote sensing satellite built by ISRO (May 5, 2005) which is mainly intended for cartographic applications.Cartosat-1 is equipped with two panchromatic cameras capable of simultaneous acquiring images of 2.5 meters spatial resolution. One camera is looking at +26 degrees forward while another looks at –5 degrees backward to acquire stereoscopic imagery with base to height ratio of 0.62. The time difference between acquiring of the stereopair images is approximately 52 seconds. The high resolution stereo data have great potential to produce high-quality DEM. The high-resolution Cartosat-1 stereo image data is expected to have significant impact in topographic mapping and watershed applications. The objective of the present study is to generate high-resolution DEM, quality evaluation in different elevation strata, generation of ortho-rectified image and associated accuracy assessment from CARTOSAT-1 data based Ground Control Points (GCPs) for Aglar watershed (Tehri-Garhwal and Dehradun district, Uttarakhand, India). The present study reveals that generated DEMs (10m and 30m) derived from the CARTOSAT-1 stereo pair is much better and accurate when compared with existing DEMs (ASTER and CARTO DEM) also for different terrain parameters like slope, aspect, drainage, watershed boundaries etc., which are derived from the generated DEMs, have better accuracy and results when compared with the other two (ASTER and CARTO) DEMs derived terrain parameters.

Keywords: ASTER-DEM, CARTO-DEM, CARTOSAT-1, digital elevation model (DEM), ortho-rectified image, photogrammetry, RPC, stereo pair, terrain parameters

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Authors: Atousa Khodadadyan, Gabe Mythen, Hirbod Assa, Beverley Bishop

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Risk assessment and the knowledge provided through this process is a crucial part of any decision-making process in the management of risks and uncertainties. Failure in assessment of risks can cause inadequacy in the entire process of risk management, which in turn can lead to failure in achieving organisational objectives as well as having significant damaging consequences on populations affected by the potential risks being assessed. The choice of tools and techniques in risk assessment can influence the degree and scope of decision-making and subsequently the risk response strategy. There are various available qualitative and quantitative tools and techniques that are deployed within the broad process of risk assessment. The sheer diversity of tools and techniques available to practitioners makes it difficult for organisations to consistently employ the most appropriate methods. This tools and techniques adaptation is rendered more difficult in public risk regulation organisations due to the sensitive and complex nature of their activities. This is particularly the case in areas relating to the environment, food, and human health and safety, when organisational goals are tied up with societal, political and individuals’ goals at national and international levels. Hence, recognising, analysing and evaluating different decision support tools and techniques employed in assessing risks in public risk management organisations was considered. This research is part of a mixed method study which aimed to examine the perception of risk assessment and the extent to which organisations practise risk assessment’ tools and techniques. The study adopted a semi-structured questionnaire with qualitative and quantitative data analysis to include a range of public risk regulation organisations from the UK, Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The results indicated the public risk management organisations mainly use diverse tools and techniques in the risk assessment process. The primary hazard analysis; brainstorming; hazard analysis and critical control points were described as the most practiced risk identification techniques. Within qualitative and quantitative risk analysis, the participants named the expert judgement, risk probability and impact assessment, sensitivity analysis and data gathering and representation as the most practised techniques.

Keywords: decision-making, public risk management organisations, risk assessment, tools and techniques

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Authors: Mariana Calderón, Paola Montenegro, Diana Moreno

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Through this study, it was possible to identify the different levels and types of violence, both individual and collective, experienced by women, girls, and the sexually diverse population of Buenaventura translated from the different tensions and threats against ancestrality and accounting for a social and political context of violence related to race and geopolitical location. These threats are related to: the stigma and oblivion imposed on practices and knowledge; the imposition of the hegemonic culture; the imposition of external customs as a way of erasing ancestrality; the singling out and persecution of those who practice it; the violence that the health system has exercised against ancestral knowledge and practices, especially in the case of midwives; the persecution of the Catholic religion against this knowledge and practices; the difficulties in maintaining the practices in the displacement from rural to urban areas; the use and control of ancestral knowledge and practices by the armed actors; the rejection and stigma exercised by the public forces; and finally, the murder of the wise women at the hands of the armed actors. This research made it possible to understand the importance of using tools such as the violence meter to support processes of resistance to violence against women, girls, and sexually diverse people; however, it is essential that these tools be adapted to the specific contexts of the people. In the analysis of violence, it was possible to identify that these not only affect women, girls, and sexually diverse people individually but also have collective effects that threaten the territory and the ancestral culture to which they belong. Ancestrality has been the object of violence, but at the same time, it has been the place from which resistance has been organized. The identification of the violence suffered by women, girls, and sexually diverse people is also an opportunity to make visible the forms of resistance of women and communities in the face of this violence. This study examines how women, girls, and sexually diverse people in Buenaventura have been exposed to sexism and racism, which historically have been translated into specific forms of violence, in addition to the other forms of violence already identified by the traditional models of the violentometer. A qualitative approach was used in the study. The study included the participation of more than 40 people and two women's organizations from Buenaventura. The participants came from both urban and rural areas of the municipality of Buenaventura and were over 15 years of age. The participation of such a diverse group allowed for the exchange of knowledge and experiences, particularly between younger and older people. The instrument used for the exercise was previously defined with the leaders of the organizations and consisted of four moments that referred to i) ancestry, ii) threats to ancestry, iii) identification of resistance and iv) construction of the ancestral violentometer.

Keywords: violence against women, intersectionality, sexual and reproductive rights, black communities

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Authors: Sofiya Rao, Sagnik Dey

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Aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction continues to be one of the largest sources of uncertainty in quantifying the aerosol climate forcing. The uncertainty is increasing from global to regional scale. This problem remains unresolved due to the large discrepancy in the representation of cloud processes in the climate models. Most of the studies on aerosol-cloud-climate interaction and aerosol-cloud-precipitation over Indian Ocean (like INDOEX, CAIPEEX campaign etc.) are restricted to either particular to one season or particular to one region. Here we developed a theoretical framework to quantify aerosol indirect radiative forcing using Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) aerosol and cloud products of 15 years (2000-2015) period over the Indian Ocean. This framework relies on the observationally constrained estimate of the aerosol-induced change in cloud albedo. We partitioned the change in cloud albedo into the change in Liquid Water Path (LWP) and Effective Radius of Clouds (Reff) in response to an aerosol optical depth (AOD). Cloud albedo response to an increase in AOD is most sensitive in the range of LWP between 120-300 gm/m² for a range of Reff varying from 8-24 micrometer, which means aerosols are most sensitive to this range of LWP and Reff. Using this framework, aerosol forcing during a transition from indirect to semi-direct effect is also calculated. The outcome of this analysis shows best results over the Arabian Sea in comparison with the Bay of Bengal and the South Indian Ocean because of heterogeneity in aerosol spices over the Arabian Sea. Over the Arabian Sea during Winter Season the more absorbing aerosols are dominating, during Pre-monsoon dust (coarse mode aerosol particles) are more dominating. In winter and pre-monsoon majorly the aerosol forcing is more dominating while during monsoon and post-monsoon season meteorological forcing is more dominating. Over the South Indian Ocean, more or less same types of aerosol (Sea salt) are present. Over the Arabian Sea the Aerosol Indirect Radiative forcing are varying from -5 ± 4.5 W/m² for winter season while in other seasons it is reducing. The results provide observationally constrained estimates of aerosol indirect forcing in the Indian Ocean which can be helpful in evaluating the climate model performance in the context of such complex interactions.

Keywords: aerosol-cloud-precipitation interaction, aerosol-cloud-climate interaction, indirect radiative forcing, climate model

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Authors: Zubaidan Yushan, Hudayar Cıhan

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Turkiye and China are countries that have collective cultures, but they have different cultural backgrounds. They have different cultures, different religions, and different levels of economic development. The aim of this study is to test the moderation effect of caregiver bonding on the relationship between dating violence and coping strategies among unmarried emerging adults in China and Turkiye. Participants ages were 19 and 26 years (X=23.66, SD=3.66), unmarried emerging adults Turkish 171 participants (72.5% women, 24% men, 3.5% prefer not to say), Chinese 170 participants (71.8% women, 21.8% men, 6.5% prefer not to say). All participants had been in a relationship for more than six months. Participants completed The Conflict Tactics Scales—(CTS2), The Cope Inventory, and The Parental Bonding Instrument (PBI). Examining the dating violence and coping strategies of the participant's relationship through caregiver bonding moderation analysis was performed using the Jamovi. Significance was tested using the bootstrapping method with bias-corrected confidence estimates. The outcome variable for analysis was dating violence, and the predictor variable for the analysis was coping strategies. The moderator variable evaluated for the analysis was parent attachment. Before the analysis, the mean-centered scores of each variable and moderator were calculated. Furthermore, the moderation analysis was conducted separately for each outcome. The Moderation analysis results show that the sub-dimension of over-protection moderates psychological aggression perpetration and avoidance coping in China. The sub-dimension of care moderates injury victimization and avoidance management in Turkiye; also, over-protection moderates injury victimization and social support coping. Moreover, the sub-dimension of care moderates sexual coercion perpetration and avoidance coping. In the results, caregiver bonding moderates the relationship between coping strategies and dating violence, which may be explained by the fact that our ways of coping with problems are learned, and people are influenced by their parents when they face problems. Therefore, problem-solving is permanently fixed, and each person has his or her fixed solution, which leads to a habit of using solutions to problems. However, sometimes, these solutions become the justification for the injured or abusive person. The quality of the attachment between parents can regulate this state. The results are somewhat similar to and slightly different from those in the previous literature. These mixed results indicate the need for further exploration. Many other factors, such as alcohol, drug violence, and pathological problems, maybe the reasons for these differences. In addition, diverse factors such as the study environment and the applied measurement scales may also affect the results.

Keywords: caregiver bonding, coping strategies, dating violence, emerging adulthood, cross-cultural, comparison

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