Analysis of environmental influences in nuclear half-life measurements exhibiting time-dependent decay rates

In a recent series of papers evidence has been presented for correlations between solar activity and nuclear decay rates. This includes an apparent correlation between Earth-Sun distance and data taken at Brookhaven National Laboratory (BNL), and at the Physikalisch-Technische Bundesanstalt (PTB). Although these correlations could arise from a direct interaction between the decaying nuclei and some particles or fields emanating from the Sun, they could also represent an "environmental" effect arising from a seasonal variation of the sensitivities of the BNL and PTB detectors due to changes in temperature, relative humidity, background radiation, etc. In this paper, we present a detailed analysis of the responses of the detectors actually used in the BNL and PTB experiments, and show that sensitivities to seasonal variations in the respective detectors are likely too small to produce the observed fluctuations

The Effectiveness of Emotional Schema Therapy on Improving Emotion Regulation and Reducing Neurotic Perfectionism Among University Students

The aim of the study was to examine the Effectiveness of emotional schema therapy (EST) on university students experiencing Difficulties Emotion Regulation and Neurotic Perfectionism. Researchers found that individuals who have experienced Neurotic Perfectionism (NP) have emotional dysregulation than others. 14 males’ students were randomly assigned to experimental group (n=7, M =18.09, SD =3.7) and control group (n=7, M =18.05, SD=3.8). Participants in the experimental group received 14 sessions of group emotional schema therapy. Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale by Bjureberg et al. (2016), The Big Three Perfectionism Scale by Smith et al. (2016) were measured pre, post, and at 2-month of follow-up. Results indicated that emotional schema therapy was effective in improving emotion regulation at post-test and follow-up in experimental group. In addition, participants showed significant reducing Neurotic Perfectionism at post-test and follow-up. Our results suggest that emotional schema therapy may be useful in Emotion Regulation and Neurotic Perfectionism

Investigating the Postcolonial Grotesque in Martin McDonaghʼs A Very Very Very Dark Matter

McDonagh is arguably one of the most celebrated yet most controversial of contemporary Anglo-Irish playwrights. His plays have received mixed reviews from critics and audiences alike, mostly for featuring graphic violence and obscene dialogues. Even though comedy is mostly seen as an inferior genre compared to tragedy, McDonagh, among many contemporary Anglo-Irish writers, makes use of the malleability of the grotesque to address myriads of serious issues. In his most recent play A Very Very Very Dark Matter (2018), McDonagh juxtaposes both comic and grotesque elements to create a black comedy that manages to represent the painful memories of colonial history. This comic mediation of pain and suffering is only one of the several aspects of the grotesque that are present in Dark Matter. Through a nuanced examination of the features and functions of the grotesque in Dark Matter, this articles aims to illustrate how, by means of the grotesque, McDonagh manages to address the seminal issues of colonialism and social justice. The article shows that by recurring to the shocking, the repugnant, and the fantastical, McDonagh manages to remind his audience of the ugliness of colonial realities. A careful examination of the play reveals that McDonagh employs the grotesque to undermine the power and arrogance of Europe and to remind the audience of the atrocities committed against Africa and other colonized nations in the name of white supremacy

The Intersections of Masculinity and Disability in Khaled Hosseini᾿s A Thousand Splendid Suns and Leila Aboulela᾿s Lyrics Alley

Abstract of my full article published on disability and masculinity in the Global South

“The past goes to sleep, and wakes up inside you”: Identity Crisis in Hassan Blasimʼs “The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes”

This article examines “The Nightmares of Carlos Fuentes,” the last of the fourteen stories that comprise Iraqi writer Hassan Blasimʼs collection The Corpse Exhibition. In “The Nightmares” Blasim is not concerned at all about depicting the reception of refugees in Europe. As evident in the title itself, what is central to the story is the psychological impacts of war on the individual. Drawing on Julia Kristevaʼs psychologically-informed theory of the abject, this article attempts to show how the central character in Blasimʼs short story situates his ethnic origin as an abject object that he should avoid by all means to be able to bury the traumatizing memories of the war. The article argues that, by situating the crisis of identity in the context of the protagonistʼs nightmares, Hassan Blasim manages to articulate the anxieties of exile and the complexity of identity construction particularly for traumatized individuals. Despite his constant denial and avoidance, the central character in the story, Carlos Fuentes, fails to neither construct a hybrid identity nor bury his former self

Homeland as a Site of Trauma in Selected Short Stories by Edwidge Danticat

The main objective of this article is to examine the representation of ʻhomelandʼ in three short stories by Caribbean-American writer Edwidge Danticat: “The Book of the Dead,” “Night Talkers,” and “The Gift.” All three stories represent Haitian migrants in the multi-cultural setting of the United States. A central theme that connects these stories is that of trauma and its physical and psychological repercussions on both victims and perpetrators. In the majority of earlier Caribbean migration narratives, the return to homeland is utilized to allow characters either to “confront the traumatic experience of historical violence and to finally begin the process of healing from it,” or to “[recover] an empowering cultural past” (Richardson 37, 41). However, Danticat problematizes her return narratives by presenting Haiti as a site of perpetual trauma rather than a site of healing. A close reading of Danticatʼs work shows unwillingness to heal from the wounds of the past. Drawing on the intersections between literary trauma theory and psychoanalysis this paper argues that, by establishing Haiti as a site of repetitive traumatic experiences, Danticat resists the perception of ʻreturnʼ as a healing and empowering act

"'You cannot assimilate Indian ghosts' : a magical realist reading of Louise Erdrich's The Night Watchman"

In The Night Watchman (2020), Louise Erdrich continues to blur the lines between history and fiction as she has done in several of her novels. Erdrich introduces the reader to several magical elements that appear to be entirely real: two ghosts, a dog that talks, and an unearthly powwow with Jesus as one of the dancers. The main objective of this article is to show how Erdrich's adoption of a magical realist narrative mode grants her the authority to challenge "the orthodox version of history" (Holgate 2015: 635) and to "re-envision" Native American history from the perspective of "the dispossessed, the silenced, and the marginalized" (Slemon 1995: 422). In particular, this article investigates the characterization and function of one of the two ghosts that appear in the novel in the context of two significant eras in the history of Native Americans: off-reservation boarding schools and the termination policy of the 1950s

Afghanistan’s “Bacha Posh”: Gender-Crossing in Nadia Hashimi’s The Pearl That Broke Its Shell

This article explores the tradition of Bacha Posh in Afghan culture as depicted in Afghan-American Nadia Hashimiʼs debut novel The Pearl that Broke its Shell (2014). In this novel, Hashimi shows how Afghan girls are obliged to cross-dress and live dual lives as boys for several years to lay claim for their rights to education and freedom of movement. Unlike the ʻtransvestitesʼ in Western culture whose cross-dressing is read mostly as a marker of transsexual and/or gay identity, the tradition of bacha posh in Afghanistan is recognized and practiced by society as a long-established cultural. Drawing on the complex interplay between cross-dressing, transgender identity, and Judith Butlerʼs theory of gender performativity, this article argues that Afghan culture, though deeply misogynistic, destigmatizes the act of cross-dressing by coding the bacha posh tradition, not as a transgression of gender norms but as a legitimate cultural practice. By institutionalizing cross-dressing, Afghan culture changes, though in all probability unintentionally, the categorization of cross-dressing from a stigmatizing deviant act to an effective survival strategy

The Effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Based on the Handicraft in Reducing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Hearing Impaired University Students

The present study aimed to assess the effectiveness of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) based on the use of handicrafts in reducing symptoms of Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) among university students with hearing impairments. A total of 12 hearing impaired students were randomly assigned to either the experimental group (n=6, M=19.47, SD=3.55) or the control group (n=6, M=19.47, SD=3.55). Participants in the experimental group underwent fifteen sessions of group-based ACT using handicrafts. The researchers measured PTSD symptoms before, immediately, after, and two months after the therapy sessions. The findings revealed that ACT based on the use of handicrafts effectively reduced symptoms of PTSD in the experimental group on the post-test and follow-up assessments. These results indicate that ACT based on the use of handicrafts may be a valuable approach in treating individuals with PTSD