Reading power: Muslims in the war on terror discourse

ABSTRACT: This paper analyzes the relationship between Muslims and the west defined at a particular moment in post 9/11 America and the war on terror context through a conversation in the novel The Submission (2011) by Amy Waldman. It critiques the construction of knowledge about Muslims and how this knowledge functions as part of a hegemonic discourse of Orientalism. The novel is about a public competition for an architectural design for a memorial marking the site of the World Trade Centre attacks in New York City. Khan is the architect who wins the competition through a blind selection process. But when his identity is revealed, public controversy erupts. Claire, the other protagonist in this encounter, is a white woman with two children, widowed in the 9/11 attacks. She is also a member of the selection committee. While Claire’s assumptions denote western, hegemonic representations that define Muslims in narrow ways, Khan’s responses represent a critique of this Orientalist construction, as well as indicating how it can be reshaped, with all the tension that this process provokes. This fictional encounter offers an opportunity to reflect on decolonial possibilities in the ‘real life’ encounter between Muslims and the west in the war on terror context. Dr. Uzma Jamil is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the International Centre for Muslim and Non- Muslim Understanding at the University of South Australia

Serum calcium and magnesium abnormalities in patients with status epilepticus: a single centre tertiary care experience

Electrolyte imbalances frequently cause seizures, and these seizures may be the sole presenting symptom. Seizures are especially common in patients with sodium disorders, hypocalcemia, and hypomagnesemia. Successful management of patient seizures begins with the establishment of an accurate diagnosis of the underlying electrolyte disturbance, because rapid identification and correction of the disturbance is necessary to control seizures and prevent permanent brain damage. Objectives: To delineate the percentage of people with status epilepticus having calcium and magnesium deficiencies at admission. Methods: The study was carried out from April 2013 to October 2013 at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS), Islamabad, Pakistan. Seventy patients diagnosed with status epilepticus were enrolled in the study and frequencies of serum calcium & magnesium abnormalities were measured and compared. Results: Calcium level was low in 29 (41.4%) patients. Magnesium level was low only in 7 (10%) patients. Both calcium & magnesium levels were low in 7 (10%) patients. Among the known epileptics, 16 (76.1%) were on regular antiepileptic treatment. Among those on antiepileptic drugs, 8 (50%) had low calcium levels while 6 (37.5%) had low magnesium levels. Conclusion: Serum calcium level was lower in nearly half while magnesium in nearly 2/5th of the previously diagnosed epileptics who presented in status. Among those on antiepileptic drugs, 50% had low calcium levels while 37.5% had low magnesium levels. It is suggested that all epileptic patients, especially those on long term AEDs, should at least be worked up once in detail for electrolyte abnormalities as timely identification and correction can help reduce the morbidity and mortality associated with future status epilepticus

How Muslims Became Corn

Over the past 16 years, the global “war on terror” has expanded in scope, ranging from US-led military interventions in Iraq and Afghanistan, domestic counter-terrorism and counter-radicalization legislation, and mass surveillance of Muslim communities to the “Muslim ban” on citizens of seven Muslim-majority countries from entering the US. This expansion in scope has normalized the idea of Muslims as threats to and within Western societies. This article analyzes this process of securitization, how Muslims are constructed as terrorists, and threats to national security, through a discussion of three books that illustrate how violence, politics, and state power are intricately related in the production of the “war on terror.” It advances a critique of the relationship between state power and the construction of knowledge about Muslims as terrorists, whether in the US government-supported counter-radicalization industry or in the documentation of Muslim experiences as prisoners in Guantanamo Bay's prison. Last, this article discusses Muslim agency and the position of racialized scholars in the “war on terror” as a question of authority and scholarship. It notes the gap between those whose voices are legitimized as “experts” on “explaining Muslims” in ways that conform to accepted assumptions about Muslims as threats, and the voices and experiences of racialized scholars whose expertise is considered not “objective” enough

Albuminocytological dissociation in different electrophysiological gbs variants

The objective of our study was to determine the distribution of different electrophysiological variants of GBS and its relationship with albuminocytological dissociation (ACD). The rationale of the study was to determine whether presence or absence of albuminocytological dissociation has any association with NCS findings and whether can be relied upon as an indirect predictor of axonal variant which warrants poor patient out comes versus demyelinating. Materials and Methods: A consecutive series of 76 patients who presented at PIMS over a 12 month period with GBS were included. Nerve Conduction studies (NCS) and Electromyographic (EMG) findings with CSF characterization for albuminocytological dissociation were recorded. P value \u3c 0.05 was taken significant. Results: NCS revealed AIDP as the most common variant (44; 57.8%) followed by AMAN (19; 25%) and AMSAN (7; 9.2%).For 5(6.5%) patients with normal NCS, EMG revealed early neuropathic changes in 4 (80% of normal NCS; 5.2% of total) (suggesting axonal degeneration). Total axonal degenerative type accounted for (AMAN + AMSAN + axonal neuropathy on EMG=30) 39.4% while demyelinating (AIDP + prolonged/absent F-wave=45) 59.2%. ACD was found in 60 (78.9%) patients.There was no signification association between ACD and NCS variants (p\u3e0.05). Conclusion: AIDP is the most prevalent (58%) GBS variant in our population, at least in the vicinity of Islamabad. There is high prevalence of axonal variants (≈40% of total) as compared to Western countries. There is no correlation between ACD and NCS variants. ACD cannot be used as an independent predictor of NCS variant. Presence or absence of ACD has no definite predilection for axonal variant which itself warrants poor patient outcomes versus demyelinating type

Physicochemical characteristics of stingless bee honey from UiTM Jengka / Uzma Jamil

The study analyses the physicochemical characteristics of stingless bee honey from UiTM Jengka. Although the stingless bee species are similar, the factors such as geographical origin and botanical may result in the production of honey with different properties of pH value, ash content, total acidity and colour intensity. The research provided more information of stingless bee honey according to their species based on their physicochemical properties to determine the beneficiary differences of the honey correspond to their species. Five stingless bee honey samples from different species were used for the current study. The analysis determined the physicochemical characteristics derived from Heterotrigona itama, Heterotrigona erythrogastra, Trigona apicalis, Trigona binghami and Trigona melanoleuca. From the analysis, the values for pH were 3.17±0.01 to 3.51±0.01, the ash content were 0.2732±0.01 to 0.4436±0.004 g/100g, the total acidity were 124.83±4.75 to 138.67±1.26 meq/kg, the colour intensity were 0.2772±0.00 to 0.9044±0.01 and the moisture content were 23.1±0.12 to 28.8±0.12 %

Hand Detection using HSV Model

Natural Human Computer Interaction (HCI) is the demand of today’s technology oriented world. Detecting and tracking of face and hands are important for gesture recognition. Skin detection is a very popular and useful technique for detecting and tracking human-body parts. It has been much attention mainly because of its vast range of applications such as, face detection and tracking, naked people detection, hand detection and tracking, people retrieval in databases and Internet, etc. Many models and algorithms are being used for detection of face, hand and its gesture. Hand detection using model or classification is to build a decision rule that will discriminate between skin and non-skin pixels. Identifying skin color pixels involves finding the range of values for which most skin pixels would fall in a given color space. All external factors will be eliminated to detect the hand and its color in the image in complex background. Keywords: image segmentation, hand detection, hci, computer vision, RGB, HS

Etiology of stroke in young pakistani adults; results of a single center study

The aim of this study was to determine the demographic profile and incidence of young stroke at a tertiary care setup in Islamabad, Pakistan. Materials and Methods: This single centre, cross sectional study was conducted by recruiting 119 patients of either gender, ≥ 12and ≤ 45 years of age with stroke and receiving care at Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences, Islamabad. Results: Total number of young strokes was 119 out of a total of 322 strokes i-e-, 36.9 %; 1/3rd strokes were in ≤ 45 years of age. Ischemic arterial strokes were 47% (56 out of 119) while venous ischemic strokes were 11.7 % (14 out of 119) and almost all in females (13 out of 14; 92.8 %).Infective causes of central nervous system were identified in24.3 % (29 out of 119). 49 patients (41.1 %) had hemorrhagic strokes. Major individual risk factors for stroke included hypertension identified in 35 (29.4 %)followed by diabetes mellitus in 8 (6.7 %) patients. Amongst infectious causes, CNS tuberculosis was the major infection associated with young stroke i-e-, 89.6 % (26 out of 29). Conclusion: Nearly 1/3rd of strokes in our population are in young.While risk factors in general for stroke stand true for young stroke as well namely hypertension and diabetes, CNS infections are a major cause of young stroke in Pakistan; particularly CNS TB. While majority of strokes in elderly are ischemic, strokes in young comparatively are almost equally divided between ischemia and hemorrhage i-e-, 1.4:1. 1/5th of these ischemic strokes are due to cerebral venous thrombosis. National level guidelines should therefore adopt different strategies for primary and secondary prevention, laboratory work up and imaging, and treatment of stroke in young