Child sexual abuse is a heinous crime. It consists of a variety of pernicious practices which include, but are not limited to, online child pornography, rape and incest. Globally, an estimated 15 million female adolescents have been coerced into sex during their lifetime, whilst the figure for boys is unknown.1 In many instances, this crime is perpetrated by those who are closest to the victims. Child victims may be severely traumatised and as a result become dysfunctional members of society. Child sexual abuse harms the very fabric of society and society thus pays a heavy price for continuing to tolerate this crime. As such, as this crime predominantly takes place behind closed doors and victims only very rarely report cases,2 a comprehensive legislative and policy approach must be adopted in order to effectively combat child sexual abuse. Legislators around the world as well as the international community must therefore make combating child sexual abuse a priority. However, the question arises whether there exist difficulties and weaknesses within international law which contribute to the persistent problem of child sexual abuse. Accordingly, this research probes whether international law accords adequate protection to the rights of the children and, if not, whether it fails to adequately protect children from sexual abuse. For this purpose, a detailed examination of relevant UAE laws is undertaken in the form of a case study. It is argued that international law has failed to clearly establish norms and also lacks enforcement mechanisms. The main international instrument, the Convention on the Rights of the Child, fails to determine the age of the child. Instead, it empowers domestic law to do this. Other shortcomings also limit the effectiveness of international law, particularly implementation issues. In the context of the UAE, the fundamental problem is that cultural values entrenched in Islamic criminal and family law have not shown an understanding of the child sexual abuse paradigm. Instead, the honour ideology has been reinforced.

acase@tulane.edu

acase@tulane.edu / The Sustainable Development agenda, which will be driving the development discourse of the world in next fifteen years, has 17 goals and 169 target. Goal 3 is related to health and it has 13 targets. Target 3.8 states “Achieve universal health coverage, including financial risk protection, access to quality essential health-care services and access to safe, effective, quality and affordable essential medicines and vaccines for all”. This target - related to universal health coverage (UHC) is considered the linchpin of all other health targets. Although more than 100 countries across the world are pursuing UHC reforms, there is no one-size-fits-all approach to achieving UHC. It has been recommended that governments should develop approaches that fit the social, economic, demographic, and political context of their countries. Pakistan, the sixth most populous country in the world, underwent its first democratic transition after elections 2013. The 18th constitutional amendment of devolution has made health a provincial subject in the country. As promised in election manifestoes, all the three major political parties ruling provincial governments have recently committed to health financing reforms for achieving UHC. Though the existing literature provides a few key health financing indicators at the national level, there is a paucity of evidence for planning and monitoring UHC reforms at the provincial level. This dissertation, comprised of three papers, addressed this gap by providing empirical evidence on: i) incidence and determinants of catastrophic health expenditure, ii), efficiency of division level health systems in producing UHC tracer indicators. and iii) provincial progress towards Universal health coverage and associated in-equities from 2001-14. / 1 / Faraz Khalid

acase@tulane.edu

This study investigated potential ways in which student-reported stress and support levels, represented by the Ecomap stress-support index (SSI), could inform school-based universal screening efforts. Participants included 260 students in grades K to 3 attending an urban elementary charter school in New Orleans, Louisiana, during the academic year of 2011-2012, for whom specific data relevant to the study's variables were available in school records. Child self-report of stress and support (SSI), measured by the Ecomap, was hypothesized to enhance the prediction of school academic and behavioral outcomes, measured by achievement and behavior reports, beyond teacher report of social emotional functioning and school functioning, as reported on the Behavioral Assessment System for Children: Behavioral and Emotional Screening System (BESS) 1. Step-wise regression analyses were conducted. Results indicated that the BESS and Ecomap SSI together predicted variance in behavior reports and academic scores; however, the SSI did not account for significant additional variance. The Ecomap SSI also was hypothesized to explain variances in student self-reports of internalizing difficulties, whereas teacher reports of student functioning on the (BESS) were hypothesized to explain variances in reports of externalizing difficulties. Multiple regression analyses were used to explore this relationship. The Ecomap SSI was found to predict Attention Difficulties reported by students on the Behavioral Assessment System for Children: Self-Report Protocol C (BASC-2, SRP), with higher reports of stress corresponding to higher reports of attention problems. Findings indicate that data on student stress can be useful in the mental health screening process and provide important information that could inform intervention. / acase@tulane.edu

This thesis analyses narratives associated with the development of public policy in telecommunications from the advent of telegraphy to Australia in 1854 to the end of 2000, with particular emphasis on concepts of universal service. The history of public policy development in telecommunications universal service obligations is analysed to gain an understanding of how different narratives are used to frame policy within particular material contexts. The study demonstrates that narratives in telecommunication development reflect national public policy agendas. In addition the thesis analyses how policy narratives are used to underwrite and legitimise assumptions, values and statements that influence the agendas and expectations of diverse social actors and interpretive communities. Furthermore, the thesis examines the interaction between policy narratives and the barriers and opportunities created by dynamic material environments such as economic, legislative and technological arenas. The study analyses five narratives that influence telecommunication policy and the agendas and expectations of diverse social actors and interpretive communities. National development, technocratic, rights, competition and charity narratives are used to frame different approaches to telecommunication policy, with particular reference to universal service. The study demonstrates how national development and competition narratives compete to dominate policy. Furthermore, diverse technocratic narratives provide scientific reinforcement to underwrite and legitimise the dominant narrative as well as discredit alternative perspectives. In addition, social rights and charity narratives respectively provide moral support to underwrite and legitimise national development and competition policy narratives. A key focus of this study is a narrative analysis of more than a thousand submissions to an independent inquiry in 2000 into telecommunication service levels with particular reference to universal service. The Telecommunications Service Inquiry was a forum that provided examples of the narratives analysed in this study from a cross-section of the Australian community. Submissions came from diverse social actors and institutions that included governments and state bodies, the telecommunication industry, unions, the farming industry, other business groups, community groups and individuals. The research demonstrates that changes in material environments and social expectations of universal service produce tensions within dominant narratives that require greater support from secondary narratives to provide scientific and moral legitimacy. Furthermore the research indicates that, in part, universal service policy functions to stabilise and legitimise the dominant policy narrative. However, the diverse social expectations associated with universal service produce continuing tensions within the dominant narrative that keep the policy in a state of flux. Consequently, government and industry policy makers find telecommunications policy a problematic area to reconcile with expectations of universal service.

This thesis analyses the development of telecommunications universal service in relation to people with disabilities and national policy making in Australia from 1975 to the end of 1997. The history of public policy development in telecommunications universal service obligations is analysed to gain an understanding of how different political, scientific, social symbolic and material contexts have influenced policy. It is argued that social symbolic and material contexts mutually constitute telecommunications policy. Social symbolic influences, such as charity and 'rights' discourses of disability, have framed telecommunications policy toward people with disabilities. Material contexts, including changing technological, economic and legislative environments, have created favourable conditions for either charity or 'rights' models of disability, and have dominated related policy arenas at various times. The study demonstrates that policy arenas influenced by certain discourses, may also lead to changes within the material environments. The influence of community interest groups is also analysed to investigate their effect on telecommunications policy. Associated with interest group influence on telecommunications policy is a joint consultative process initiated by Telstra and consumer groups in 1988. The value of the consultative process to people with disabilities is evaluated. A key focus of this study is the consideration given by policy makers to the interests of people with a disability in the continuing debate on access and equity issues in relation to telecommunications services for all Australians. A turning-point in telecommunications policy for people with disabilities occurred in 1995, when various people with a disability made a successful complaint against Telstra to the Human Rights and Equal Opportunity Commission (HREOC). The outcome forced a major change of policy in telecommunications service delivery and benefited many who have disabilities. The HREOC inquiry is a useful case study which indicates the significance of the mutually constitutive effect on policy stemming from the dynamic interaction of social symbolic environments and material conditions. The research revealed that policy in this area may be described as a pluralist, non-linear process. Government and Telstra policy makers have found telecommunications policy a problematic area to reconcile with universal service obligations.

The purpose of this study was to determine the level of awareness and use of selected universal design features and products in single-family housing by Oregon housing contractors. Also researched were barriers and incentives to use as well as the position and opinions of these housing contractors on the viability of universal design standards becoming part of the residential building code. This study used a self-administered, mail survey questionnaire developed by the researcher. The Dillman Total Design Method (Dillman, 1978) was used as the basis for the survey instrument and its administration. A random sample of housing contractors indicating single-family residential construction as a primary focus of business was taken from the Oregon Construction Contractors' Board list. One hundred sixty-four surveys were returned for use in analysis. Data analysis included descriptive statistics, mean, and frequency distributions. Paired sample t-tests were used to determine differences between awareness and use of universal design. Multiple regression and Pearson correlations were used to compare universal design use and selected demographic characteristics. Paired sample t-tests determined whether or not added cost to implement universal design affected use. Kendall's tau tests compared viability and mandated use of universal design as part of the building code. The MANOVA test compared current voluntary use and housing contractors' opinions about specified characteristics of universal design. These analyses found that of Oregon housing contractors surveyed, there was a greater awareness than use of universal design, which was significant. Barriers and incentives to use were important considerations in the process of adopting universal design. Cost and demand by clients were most often cited. A majority of respondents felt that incorporating universal design standards as part of the building code was a viable idea, even though they disagreed with it. Specified demographic characteristics of housing contractors did not play a significant role in either awareness or use of universal design. Added cost to implement universal design was found to be associated with its use. The more there was an indication of additional cost, the less the use of universal design. / Graduation date: 2000

An analysis of the Einstein Field Equations within a Robertson-Walker Cosmology. More specifically, what values of the cosmological constant will result in a Big Bang.

Originally presented as the author's thesis (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology), Diss. ETH No. 16687. / Summary in German and English, text in English. Includes bibliographical references (p. 175-180).