No description available.

No description available.

Religion and religious ritual has been linked to providing individuals and entire communities with the ability to cope in the aftermath of life-changing traumas. This thesis explores the intersection of coping and ritual in the aftermath of the recent persecution of the Yezidi people. The methodology utilizes qualitative interviews and participant observation which was conducted in Ainkawa, Lalish and Bashiqa during fieldwork that took place in July 2017. A sample of 25 Yezidis who remain displaced in Northern Iraq were asked to describe their experience of coping in the aftermath of the Sinjar Massacre. I argue that the introduction of a baptismal ritual extended to adult women became a medium to reclaim identity. This allowed women who were abducted to symbolically re- declare themselves as Yezidi, cope with the trauma, reintegrate into the community and reclaim their identity through ritual, which presents healing in a framework that is largely relatable.

The light-matter interaction in the near-field of high-Q resonators in SOI and SiN platforms is studied. The interactions of high-Q traveling-wave resonators with both resonant and non-resonant nanoparticles are studied and different applications based on this enhanced interactions in near-field such as high-resolution imaging of mode profile of high-Q resonators, label-free sensing, optical trapping, and SERS sensing are investigated. A near-field imaging system for the investigation of the near-field phenomena in the near-field of high-Q resonators is realized. A new technique for high-resolution imaging of the optical modes in high-Q resonators based on the near-field perturbation is developed that enables to achieve a very high resolution (< 10 nm) near-field image. The prospect of the high Q resonators on SOI platform for highly multiplexed label-free sensing and the effect of different phenomena such as the analyte drift and diffusion and the binding kinetics are studied. Also, the possibility of enhancing nanoparticle binding to the sensor surface using optical trapping is investigated and the dynamic of a nanoparticle in the high-Q resonator optical trap is studied. Furthermore, the interaction between a resonant nanoparticle with a high-Q microdisk resonator and its application for SERS sensing is studied. A model for interaction of resonant nanoparticles with high-Q resonators is developed and the optimal parameters for the design of coupled microdisk resonator and a plasmonic nanoparticle are calculated. The possible of resonant plasmonic nanoparticle trapping and alignment in an SiN microdisk resonator optical trap is also shown.

Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 1999. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In this thesis an exploration is made into whether or not hieroglyphs reflect ideas of the ancient Egyptians themselves. By examining "living creature" hieroglyphs one may contemplate why the ancient Egyptian chose a particular manner of depiction. The manner of depiction can then be examined insofar as what ideas they may reflect. In this way study into other groups of signs such as those of the environment may be used to further illuminate the lives and our understanding of the ancient Egyptian(s). This thesis begins with an examination of both the problem inherent in such a task and an overview of some of the "processes" involved. By understanding that a reconstructed reality, that of the hieroglyph, reflects both real and perceived characteristics represented in glyphic form, one may seek out the mental impressions considered relevant to the people themselves. Next the role literacy played and still plays is discussed. This discussion includes a brief historical overview of both the history of decipherment and the "language" of the ancient Egyptians. The importance of "writing", artistic in nature in Egypt in regards to hieroglyphs, is then discussed as it relates to its use as symbol. Hieroglyphs are then discussed in their role as art, communication, and language emphasizing the multitudinous role(s) which they served. The importance is thus reiterated that hieroglyphs served as a communication of ideas to both the literate and the "illiterate" in at least a menial manner. After providing a "background" context of both the world and time of hieroglyphs and their subsequent "understanding" and interpretation, there is an analysis of the hieroglyphs for living creatures including the following Gardiner groupings: (1) mammals, (2) birds, (3) amphibians and reptiles, (4) fish, (5) invertebrates and lesser animals. The signs are examined in regards to their function and variations followed by some observations and comments related to the "structure" and perspective of the sign itself. Summary observations and comments are then made about each group. The thesis is then brought full circle by examining the implications of what hieroglyphs can tell us about the ancient Egyptians, via the perceptive and communicative role which they played. By understanding hieroglyphs as "fingerprints" of/from the mind of the people and subsequently their culture, this framework may provide a new mechanism into understanding the Egyptian via their own visualization and perceptive nature. A case is then proposed that this new "mechanism", if it is indeed considered feasible, can be applied to not only the physical world consisting of nature such as the environment, but also to groups which depict manmade objects. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In hierdie tesis is die moontlikheid ondersoek dat hierogliewe iets van die ideewereld van die antieke Egiptenare reflekteer. In die bestudering van "lewende wese" hierogliewe kom vrae op soos waarom die antieke Egiptenare juis 'n spesifieke vorm van voorsteIIing verkies het. Die vorm van voorsteIIing kan dan bestudeer word vir die idees wat dit moontlik mag reflekteer. Ander groepe/velde van tekens, soos die van die breër omgewing, kan gebruik word om verdere lig te werp op die lewe van die antieke Egiptenaar(e) en ons verstaan daarvan. Die tesis begin met 'n bestudering van die inherente probleme in die aanpak van so 'n taak en 'n oorsig oor sommige van die "prosesse" daarby betrokke. By die verstaan van die hieroglief as 'n gekonstrueerde realiteit, wat weklike sowel as afgeleide eienskappe reflekteer, ontdek die ondersoeker daarvan iets van die persoonlike/kulturele indrukke wat deur hierdie groep mense as relevant ervaar is. In die volgende afdeling kom die rol van geletterdheid aan die beurt. Hierdie bespreking sluit 'n bondige historiese oorsig oor die geskiedenis van ontsyfering asook die taal van die Egiptenare in. Die belang van die "skryfkuns" en veral die kunsaard daarvan in die Egiptiese hierogliewe word vervolgens bespreek. Dit is veraI waar soos dit in verhouding staan met die gebruik daarvan as simbool. Die veelsydige rol(le) en belang van hierogliewe in die kuns, kommunikasie en taal word dan ondersoek en bespreek. Die klem word daarop gelê dat hierogliewe as die kommunikasie van idees aan beide die geletterde en "ongeletterde" dien. Nadat 'n agtergrondkonteks van die wereld en tyd van die hierogliewe en die daaruitvloeiende "verstaan" en interpretasie daarvan gegee is, word 'n analise van die "lewende wese" hierogliewe gedoen. Dit sluit die volgende groeperinge van Gardiner in: (1) soogdiere, (2) voels, (3) amfibiee en reptiele, (4) visse, (5) invertebrata en kleiner diere. Hierdie hierogliewe word ondersoek in terme van hulle funksie en variasies, gevolg deur waarnemings en opmerkings aangaande die "struktuur" en die perspektief van die teken. Opsommende observasies en enkele opmerkings oor elke groep volg daarna. Die tesis word afgerond met 'n ondersoek na die implikasies van wat ons kan wys word uit die hierogliewe aangaande die antieke Egiptenare, via die perspektiwiese en kommunikatiewe rol wat dit vervuI. Deur hierogliewe te verstaan as die "vingerafdrukke" van die begrip van hierdie mense kan hierdie raamwerk 'n nuwe meganisme in die verstaan van die Egiptenaar via die visualisasie en waarneembare aard daarvan, vorm. 'n Voorstel word gemaak dat hierdie nuwe "meganisme", indien dit uitvoerbaar is, toegepas kan word, nie net op die hierogliewe van die fisiese wereld bestaande uit die natuur en die omgewing nie, maar ook op hierogliewe wat mensgemaakte voorwerpe voorstel.

Thesis (M.A.)--Stellenbosch University, 1955. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: no abstract available / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: geen opsomming

Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2000. / ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Final sentences are a neglected area of research in Biblical Hebrew. Apart from an investigation by Mitchell (1879) in the previous century, and a more recent article by Muraoka (1997), this is certainly an area of Biblical Hebrew grammar in need of research. Biblical Hebrew grammars propound a variety of ways final constructions can supposedly be expressed. The main thesis of this study is that the diversity of final constructions in Biblical Hebrew is not merely different syntactic realizations of the same semantic meaning, but that each syntactic construction carries definite semantic nuances. Traditional grammars, because they are sentence-based, present some shortcomings in the description of final sentences. I will briefly expose some of the linguistic presuppositions of traditional grammars, and their inherent limitations with respect to the study of final constructions. Recent developments in general linguistics, especially the variety of approaches subsumed under the broad classification textlinguistics, create new opportunities to address Biblical Hebrew grammar. I will explore this relatively recent developments to the study of language, in order to determine whether insights from studies conducted in terms of this paradigm can be used to describe final constructions more adequately. A number of theses are presented in Chapters 2 and 3, which are evaluated in Chapters 4 to 6. The findings are presented in a summary of at the end of each chapter. The final results of this investigation are summarized in Chapter 7. / AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Finaalsinne het tot dusver min aandag geniet in Bybelse Hebreeuse navorsing. Afgesien van 'n ondersoek deur Mitchell (1879) in die vorige eeu, en 'n onlangse artikel deur Muraoka (1997), is hierdie 'n navorsingsgebied wat vra om nadere ondersoek. Volgens Bybelse Hebreeuse grammatikas kan finaalsinne op verskeie wyses uitgedruk word. Die hooftese van hierdie studie is dat die verskeidenheid van finaalkonstruksies in Bybelse Hebreeus nie bloot verskillende sintaktiese opsies is om dieselfde semantiese betekenis te realiseer nie, maar dat elke onderskeie sintaktiese konstruksie 'n besondere semantiese nuanse weergee. Omdat hulle eng op die beskrywing van die sin gebaseer is, hou traditionele grammatikas tekortkominge in vir die beskrywing van finaalsinne. In hierdie studie wys ek kortliks op die linguistiese voorveronderstellings van die tradisionele benadering, en op die inherente tekortkominge van so 'n benadering ten opsigte van die ondersoek van finaalsinne. Onlangse ontwikkelinge in die algemene linguistiek, veral die verskeidenheid benaderings saamgevat onder die begrip tekslinguistiek, bied nuwe moontlikhede vir die beskrywing van Bybelse Hebreeus. Ek sal hierdie nuwe benadering tot taalstudie ondersoek om vas te stel of dit aangewend kan word om finaalsinne beter te beskryf. Verskeie tesisse word in Hoofstukke 2 en 3 geformuleer en dan in Hoofstukke 4 tot 6 geëvalueer. Die resultate word aan die einde van elke hoofstuk saamgevat. Die uiteindelike konklusies van hierdie studie word in Hoofstuk 7 saamgevat.

The Arab Socialist Ba’ath Party was established in Syria during the mid-twentieth century, originally championing Arab unity and freedom from foreign influence. The party eventually managed to rise to power in Syria and Iraq, thereby concluding the widespread political instability that had previously plagued both countries. In each of these contexts, autocratic leaders emerged at the forefront of the ruling regimes and manipulated the party to bolster their rule for over three decades. This paper examines the Ba’ath party’s history and ideology to understand the party’s source of strength. It also discusses the party’s role in achieving power as well as the different functions it undertook in Syria and Iraq once autocratic rule was established. Finally, it studies the fall of both regimes and the status of the Ba’ath party today.

Near field imaging using microwave in medical applications has gain much attention recently as various researches show its high ability and accuracy in illuminating object comparing to the well-known screening tools such as Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI), digital mammography, ultrasound etc. This has encourage and motivate scientists continue to exploit the potential of microwave imaging so that a better and more powerful sensing tools can be developed. This thesis documents the development of antenna design for microwave imaging application such as breast cancer detection. The application is similar to the concept of Ground Penetrating Radar (GPR) but operating at higher frequency band. In these systems a short pulse is transmitted from an antenna to the medium and the backscattered response is investigated for diagnose. In order to accommodate such a short pulse, a very wideband antenna with a minimal internal reflection is required. Printed monopole and planar metal plate antenna is implemented to achieve the necessary operating wide bandwidth. The development of new compact printed planar metal plate ultra wide bandwidth antenna is presented. A generalized parametric study is carried out using two well-known software packages to achieve optimum antenna performance. The Prototype antennas are tested and analysed experimentally, in which a reasonable agreement was achieved with the simulations. The antennas present an excellent relative wide bandwidth of 67% with acceptable range of power gain between 3.5 to 7 dBi. A new compact size air-dielectric microstrip patch-antenna designs proposed for breast cancer detection are presented. The antennas consist of a radiating patch mounted on two vertical plates, fed by coaxial cable. The antennas show a wide bandwidth that were verified by the simulations and also confirmed experimentally. The prototype antennas show excellent performance in terms the input impedance and radiation performance over the target range bandwidth from 4 GHz to 8 GHz. A mono-static model with a homogeneous dielectric box having similar properties to human tissue is used to study the interaction of the antenna with tissue. The numerical results in terms the matching required of new optimised antennas were promising. An experimental setup of sensor array for early-stage breast-cancer detection is developed. The arrangement of two elements separated by short distance that confined equivalent medium of breast tissues were modelled and implemented. The operation performances due to several orientations of the antennas locations were performed to determine the sensitivity limits with and without small size equivalent cancer cells model. In addition, a resistively loaded bow tie antenna, intended for applications in breast cancer detection, is adaptively modified through modelling and genetic optimisation is presented. The required wideband operating characteristic is achieved through manipulating the resistive loading of the antenna structure, the number of wires, and their angular separation within the equivalent wire assembly. The results show an acceptable impedance bandwidth of 100.75 %, with a VSWR &lt; 2, over the interval from 3.3 GHz to 10.0 GHz. Feasibility studies were made on the antenna sensitivity for operation in a tissue equivalent dielectric medium. The simulated and measured results are all in close agreement.

Objetivo: Comparar características clínicas e resultados de gestações múltipla com mola completa e feto normal coexistente (MHCFC) no New England Trophoblastic Disease Center (NETDC) e em centros de doença trofoblástica (CDT) brasileiros. Métodos: Coorte retrospectiva composta por pacientes com MHCFC provenientes do NETDC (1966-2015) e quatro CDT brasileiros (1990- 2015). Foram realizadas comparações referentes à localização geográfica (NEDTC vs CDT brasileiros), períodos diferentes no NETDC (1966-1989 vs 1990-2015) e quanto evolução para neoplasia trofoblástica gestacional (NTG). Resultados: No período, foram identificados 12.455 casos de doença trofoblástica gestacional, sendo 72 casos de MHCFC inclusos neste estudo. As características clínicas e resultados foram semelhantes entre os casos dos CDT brasileiros (n=46) e NETDC (n=13) entre 1990 e 2015, com exceção de um número significativamente maior de condições potencialmente letais no Brasil (p=0,046). Não houve diferença quanto à apresentação clínica ou aos resultados em dois períodos diferentes no NETDC (13 casos de 1966-1989 vs 13 casos de 1990-2015). Houve 10 casos de interrupção eletiva da gestação (14% das 70 gestações em que o resultado obstétrico estava disponível) e 36 nascimentos de fetos viáveis (60% das 60 gestações nas quais se optou por conduta expectante). A taxa de NTG foi de 46% (31 de 68 casos em que o resultado quanto evolução para NTG estava disponível); os casos que progrediram para NTG apresentaram níveis mais elevados de gonadotrofina coriônica (250.000 mUI/mL vs 120.000 mUI/mL; p=0,026), menor idade gestacional no término da gravidez (17 semanas vs 28,5 semanas; p < 0,001), menor viabilidade fetal (27% vs 69%; p < 0,001), maior taxa de evolução para abortamento espontâneo (35% vs 9%; p=0,020) e mais interrupções da gestação por conta de intercorrências clínicas graves (26% vs 0%; p=0,003). No entanto, a interrupção eletiva da gestação não teve associação com o desenvolvimento de NTG. Conclusões: A maior diferença regional nas MHCFC foi a presença de mais condições potencialmente letais no Brasil. Quando adotada conduta expectante, houve possibilidade de nascimento de feto viável na maior parte das MHCFC. Foi observada elevada taxa de evolução para NTG em MHCFC. A interrupção eletiva da gravidez não influenciou a progressão para NTG, porém interrupções da gestação por complicações clínicas graves, evolução da gestação para abortamento espontâneo, menor idade gestacional no término da gestação, menor viabilidade fetal e níveis elevados de gonadotrofina coriônica foram associados ao desenvolvimento de NTG em MHCFC / Objective: To determine the clinical characteristics and outcomes of multiple pregnancies with complete mole and coexisting normal fetus (CHMCF) in New England Trophoblastic Disease Center (NETDC) and Brazilian trophoblastic disease centers (BTDC). Methods: Retrospective non-concurrent cohorts comprised of CHMCF from NETDC (1966-2015) and four BTDC (1990-2015). Comparisons were made regarding: geographical location from 1990 to 2015 (NETDC vs BTDC), two different periods of time in NETDC (1966-1989 vs 1990-2015) and patients who developed gestational trophoblastic neoplasia (GTN) with the ones that spontaneously regressed. Results: From a total of 12,455 cases of gestational trophoblastic disease seen at the referral centers, 72 CHMCF were identified. Clinical characteristics and outcomes were similar between BTDC (n=46) and NETDC (n=13) from 1990 to 2015, apart from a much higher frequency of potentially life-threatening conditions in Brazil (p=0.046). There were no significant changes in the clinical presentation or outcomes in two different time periods in NETDC (13 cases in 1966-1989 vs 13 cases in 1990-2015). Ten pregnancies were electively terminated (14% of 70 cases with available obstetric outcome) and 36 resulted in viable live infants (60% of 60 pregnancies that were expectantly managed). The rate of GTN was 46% (31 out of 68 cases with available information on GTN development); the cases that progressed to GTN presented with higher chorionic gonadotropin levels (250.000 mIU/mL vs 120.000 mIU/mL; p=0.026), lower gestational age at the end of pregnancy (17 weeks vs 28,5 weeks; p < 0,001), lower fetal viability (27% vs 69%; p < 0,001), higher rate of spontaneous abortions (35% vs 9%; p=0.020) and higher frequency of termination of pregnancy due to medical complications (26% vs 0%; p=0.003) when compared to those with spontaneous remission. However, elective termination of pregnancy was not associated with GTN development. Conclusions: The main regional difference in CHMCF was related to a higher rate of potentially life-threatening conditions in Brazil. Most of the women with CHMCF who were managed expectantly delivered a viable fetus. CHMCF exhibited a high GTN rate. Elective termination of pregnancy did not influence the risk for GTN; however the need for termination due to severe medical complications, spontaneous abortions, lower gestational age at the end of pregnancy, lower fetal viability and higher hCG levels were associated with GTN progression in CHMCF