Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 2004. / Supervisor: Martha Newman. Vita. Includes bibliographical references. Available also from UMI company.

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-57).

Thesis (M.A.)--University of Hong Kong, 1998. / Includes bibliographical references (leaves 54-57). Also available in print.

In this thesis I argue that the received understanding of the work of the Women’s Missionary Association of the Presbyterian Church of England is flawed in that it does not acknowledge the agency of women themselves in creating and directing the path of the Association and its work of mission. Using archive material from the Presbyterian Church of England, and the Women’s Missionary Association itself, I show that as the context in which they were operating changed, the Women’s Missionary Association responded to that shifting context, and that changes in their relationship to the national Church affected the work that they sought to do among the congregations. I uncover a hitherto hidden story and to relate it to the context of the United Reformed Church which stands in the tradition of Presbyterians, Congregationalists and Churches of Christ. I demonstrate how the Story of the Women’s Missionary Association interacts with changing paradigms of mission. Further, I discuss the role of power relationships between the Women’s Missionary Association and the Presbyterian Church of England and the changing role and powerfulness/powerlessness of women in the Presbyterian Church and its successor the United Reformed Church. I show how seeming powerlessness can confer power and how being invited to the seat of power can restrict agency for the women of the Church. Finally, I look at the implications for the contemporary United Reformed Church.

Thesis (M.A.)--Georgia State University, 2006. / Title from file title page. Emanuela Guano, committee chair; Layli Phillips, Juliana Kubala, Wendy Simonds, committee members. Electronic text (116 p.) : digital, PDF file. Description based on contents viewed Dec. 13, 2007. Includes bibliographical references (p. 98-116).

The aim of this thesis is to discuss and illustrate the visibility of Ottoman imperial women in relation to their spatial presence and contribution to the architecture and cityscape of sixteenth and seventeenth century istanbul. The central premise of the study is that the Ottoman imperial women assumed and exercised power and influence by various means but became publicly visible and acknowledged more through architectural patronage. The focus is on istanbul and a group of buildings and complexes built under the sponsorship of court women who resided in the Harem section of Topkapi Palace. The case studies built in Istanbul in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries are examined in terms of their location in the city, the layout of the complexes, the placement and plan of the individual buildings, their orientation, mass characteristics and structural properties. It is discussed whether female patronage had any recognizable consequences on the Ottoman Classical Architecture, and whether female patrons had any impact on the building process, selection of the site and architecture. These complexes, in addition, are discussed as physical manifestation and representation of imperial female power. Accordingly it is argued that, they functioned not only as urban regeneration projects but also as a means to enhance and make imperial female identity visible in a monumental scale to large masses in different parts of the capital.

<p>Interrogating the concept of power is ethical social work practice. This research aims to investigate the manner in which visible minority women social service providers perceive the concept of power as non-managerial employees in the women’s shelter system. Therefore, the necessity to delineate the ongoing challenges and contradictions that shape the work experiences of visible minority women social service providers contributes and furthers our understanding of social justice, critical social work practice, and strategies to enhance workplace equity. In addressing the phenomenon of power from the viewpoint of those affected, this ultimately helps to broaden the understanding how as social workers it remains pivotal to raise awareness about the ongoing power imbalances in social services settings. Semi-structured, in-depth interviews with visible minority women employed in the women’s shelter system in southern, Ontario were conducted and complement the author’s own personal reflections as a visible minority woman previously employed in the Violence Against Women’s shelter system. This research suggests that due to ongoing power differentials, neoliberal restructuring and discriminatory incidents, continued attention is required in order to address social inequality and enhance workplace equity.</p> / Master of Social Work (MSW)

The primary objective of this thesis is to conduct a comparative analysis of Sweden'slegislation, that criminalizes the purchase of sexual services, with Finland's laws thatdistinguish prostitution from human trafficking and prohibit the purchase of sexual services ifthe customer is aware of or ought to have suspected that the prostitute is a victim of humantrafficking. The study aims to identify and examine the core differences between these laws and how they reflect distinct views on prostitution and women, and the extent to which they are aligned with gender equality. The study employs a liberal sex work perspective which regards prostitution as a form of work that can be separated from the individual's body and aneo-abolitionist perspective that views prostitution, whether voluntary or involuntary, as a harmful and exploitative practice that oppresses women. The study employs a most-similardesign and ideological analysis to address the research questions. The results reveal the legislations' role in promoting gender equality as part of a broader feminist struggle against patriarchal structures. Sweden's law addresses gender inequality by identifying prostitution as a manifestation of male violence against women, while Finland's law targets exploitation insex trafficking, maintaining gender equality by protecting those most vulnerable inprostitution.

Malaria is the most important parasitic disease in man and it kills approximately 2,000 people each day. Pregnant women are especially vulnerable to malaria with increased incidence and mortality rates. There are indications that pregnancy alters the pharmacokinetic properties of many antimalarial drugs. This is worrisome as lower drug exposures might result in lowered efficacy and lower drug exposures can also accelerate the development and spread of resistant parasites. The aim of this research was to study the pharmacokinetics and pharmacodynamics of the most commonly used drugs for the treatment of uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria during the second and third trimester of pregnancy using a pharmacometric approach. This thesis presents a number of important findings that increase the current knowledge of antimalarial drug pharmacology and that may have an impact in terms of drug efficacy and resistance. (1) Lower lumefantrine plasma concentrations at day 7 were evident in pregnant women compared to that in non-pregnant patients. Subsequent in-silico simulations with the final pharmacokinetic-pharmacodynamic lumefantrine/desbutyl-lumefantrine model showed a decreased treatment failure rate after a proposed extended artemether-lumefantrine treatment. (2) Dihydroartemisinin exposure (after intravenous and oral administration of artesunate) was lower during pregnancy compared to that in women 3 months post-partum (same women without malaria). Consecutive in-silico simulations with the final model showed that the underexposure of dihydroartemisinin during pregnancy could be compensated by a 25% dose increase. (3) Artemether/dihydroartemisinin exposure in pregnant women was also lower compared to literature values in non-pregnant patients. This further supports the urgent need for a study in pregnant women with a non-pregnant control group. (4) Quinine pharmacokinetics was not affected by pregnancy trimester within the study population and a study with a non-pregnant control group is needed to evaluate the absolute effects of pregnancy. (5) Finally, a data-dependent power calculation methodology using the log likelihood ratio test was successfully used for sample size calculations of mixed pharmacokinetic study designs (i.e. sparsely and densely sampled patients). Such sample size calculations can contribute to a better design of future pharmacokinetic studies. In conclusion, this thesis showed lower exposures for drugs used to treat uncomplicated Plasmodium falciparum malaria during the second and third trimester of pregnancy. More pharmacokinetic studies in pregnant women with a non-pregnant control group are urgently needed to confirm the current findings and to enable an evidence-based dose optimisation. The data-dependent power calculation methodology using the log likelihood ratio test can contribute to an effective design of these future pharmacokinetic studies.

This thesis examines the internal dynamics of the Revolutionary United Front of Sierra Leone over the course of the civil war waged from 1991-2002. It does so in two parts, looking first at the RUF’s organizational capacity—its ability to emerge and survive as a group; and second, at its material viability—the logistics and procurement of food, weapons, and other resources required to sustain war. The RUF has become a paradigmatic case for the study of war and rebel groups in Africa. Although much has been written on the group and its violence, comparatively little is known about the inner-workings of the organization and how a largely forcibly recruited group of ill-equipped thousands managed to pose a viable threat to the state for over a decade. Through a fine-grained, case-based analysis, this study applies research on the microdynamics of violence in civil war to the structural and logistical mechanics that underpin it. Doing so contextualizes debates about resource wars, collective violence, and mobilization and onset within the RUF’s own strategies for controlling these aspects of war- making. New primary material, including rebel archive documents, describes the extensive military and civilian governance structures through which order and cohesion were established and enforced. Tracking the success and failure of these mechanisms helps explain the disconnect between rebel rhetoric and behaviour. A detailed examination of the RUF’s material capacity applies this organizational analysis to the group’s strategic priorities for survival. It reorients the resource war debate toward what actually fuels fighting on the ground. Food has long been overlooked as the primary requirement for group survival, and ammunition the basic element of military viability. These ‘low politics’ of survival explain the nature of the war and underscore the importance of shifting factors, such as territorial control, in shaping rebel behaviour. Finally, the ‘high politics’ of international arms trades and global diamond markets illumine changes in the RUF’s firepower and personalization of power, returning to the organizational failings that ultimately led to the group’s dissolution.