Object Of Desire Research Articles

Stranger Teens: Eleven Transforms the Monstrous Symbolism of Adolescence through a Contemporary Narrative Arc

At first glance, the Netflix series Stranger Things places itself within the category of monstrous feminine narratives by introducing preteen Eleven as the series’ human monster. The show pits her against literal monsters which, like adolescents, exist in a physically transformative and liminal space. However, while the series initially appears to reinforce the stereotype of young females as borderland monsters who defy categorization, the show ultimately undermines this same convention. Instead, it presents Eleven as a complete person who exhibits intelligence, individuality, and power in a manner more complex and modern than earlier filmic embodiments of monstrous adolescence and femininity. Eleven represents a new generation; while the monsters can still be viewed as illustrative of adolescence, Eleven rises above the characterizations of previous horror texts, successfully defying the containment often placed on girls. Viewers are shown that rather than letting society dictate their actions, girls can perform with agency and ability. Instead of serving only as objects of desire (or angst) for boys, girls can be the ones to save the day.

Iselin as Object of Desire in Knut Hamsun's Pan and Victoria

Iselin as Object of Desire in Knut Hamsun's <i>Pan</i> and <i>Victoria</i>

Artistic Immortality as an Objet Petit a: The Subject of Samuel Taylor Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan”

This study presents a psychoanalytical reading of Coleridge’s “Kubla Khan” having an eye on Žižek’s theory of the subject. “Kubla Khan” contains a host of components providing an illustration of Coleridge’s psychological status. In such a case, Žižekian approach to psychoanalysis could provide a suitable paradigm for an analytical reading of the poem. The works of Žižek conducted disputatious re-articulations of the subject/object, the displacement of an objet petit a (object of desire) with object-cause of desire, and parallax. Žižek, like Hegel, accentuates the one-to-one relationship of the subject and the object while introducing parallax and the ticklish subject, which are later followed by tickling object. It is thus possible to illustrate the psychoanalytical status of Coleridge in the course of writing “Kubla Khan.” The poem pictures a path to immortality while it is in search to immortalize its poet too. In this study, it is demonstrated how Coleridge followed his objet petit a, which is ‘artistic immortality,’ in the lines of “Kubla Khan.”

‘Sanna, Aren't You Ashamed?’ Affective‐discursive practices in online misogynist discourse of Finnish prime minister Sanna Marin

AbstractThis research examines online misogynist discourse related to the Finnish prime minister (PM) Sanna Marin's image published in Trendi magazine in October 2020. The affective‐discursive analysis of online commentaries resulted in the identification of four affective‐discursive practices: an immoral woman, incompetent woman, calculating woman and inferior woman. Misogynist discourse related to the PM Marin took the form of a moral act, drew from stereotypical images of women as less rational than men, appeared as accusations targeted at Marin for playing the gender card as a political tactic, and constructed an image of Marin and female politicians as objects of men's sexual desires and as inferior to men. These affective‐discursive practices mobilized dehumanizing discourse ranging from milder forms of derogation, scorn and other‐condemning practices to harsher forms of belittlement, humiliation and animalistic dehumanization. This study contributes to the current knowledge on the affective‐discursive processes underlying online misogyny against female politicians.

Comic Empires: Imperialism in Cartoons, Caricature, and Satirical Art

Comic Empires: Imperialism in Cartoons, Caricature, and Satirical Art

Identification of Buni Fruit Image Using Euclidean Distance Method

Identification is an important part of image analysis because in this procedure the desired image/image will be analyzed for further processing to make it easier to analyze for further purposes, for example in image identification pattern recognition which is part of image analysis used to divide an image into several parts and take some of the desired objects. This study aims to identify buni fruit with Euclidean distance and extract shape and texture features. Extraction of shape features using boundary metrics and whimsy. This boundary is considered to be able to recognize objects based on their shape and can distinguish them from other objects. For identification expositions, Euclidean distance is used which serves to represent the level of similarity of two images that take into account the distance value of the Euclidean distance. From the results of the evaluation using a disarray network by calculating precision, review, and accuracy, in order to identify the image of the buni fruit object properly.

A simplified sliding‐mode control method for multi‐level transformerless DVR

Here, a finite-control-set sliding-mode control (FCS-SMC) method is proposed for single-phase three-level T-type inverter-based transformerless dynamic voltage restorers (TDVRs). The inherent advantages of SMC (fast dynamic response and high robustness) are combined with FCS concept to increase the effectiveness of the method in achieving the desired control objectives. First, the use of FCS eliminates the modulator requirement, which reduces the design complexity in the practical implementation. Second, an effective method based on charging/discharging conditions of DC capacitors is proposed for balancing capacitor voltages using relevant switching state rather than combining DC voltage error with the inductor current error through a suitable weighting factor in forming the cost function. Therefore, the weighting factor necessity in the control algorithm is eliminated. Finally, the steady-state error in the compensation voltage is eliminated by the proportional-resonant (PR) controller. The studied T-type inverter-based TDVR topology offers an alternative solution to the existing DVR topologies. Experimental results are carried out to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed FCS-SMC method in maintaining the load voltage at the desired level despite the voltage sags, swells, and distortions occurring in the grid voltage.

PERSEPSI MAHASISWA TENTANG PENERAPAN PTMT DALAM PEMBELAJARAN BAHASA ARAB MENGGUNAKAN MODEL BLENDED LEARNING

&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt;The integration of face-to-face learning offline in classrooms and online using the blended learning model requires the mental readiness of educators and students to achieve the desired learning objectives. This study intends to explore students' perceptions of the application of limited face-to-face learning policies in learning Arabic using a blended learning model. This study adopts a qualitative approach with a case study method at STAI Sabili Bandung, West Java, Indonesia. Research informants totaled 30 people obtained through a questionnaire using Google Form. Data were analyzed through three stages, namely reduction, presentation and verification of data. Finally, the data validation technique uses triangulation of data and data sources. The results of this study indicate that students prefer face-to-face learning using up-to-date learning models and media compared to online learning only. Therefore, creativity and teacher skills are required in designing Arabic learning in accordance with the mandate of global developments. This study recommends further research to analyze the opportunities and challenges of using the blended learning model in learning Arabic.&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;&lt;p&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Keywords:&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;strong&gt;&lt;em&gt; &lt;/em&gt;&lt;/strong&gt;&lt;em&gt;Arabic Learning, Blended Learning, PTMT, Learning Technology&lt;/em&gt;&lt;/p&gt;

Active inference models do not contradict folk psychology

Active inference offers a unified theory of perception, learning, and decision-making at computational and neural levels of description. In this article, we address the worry that active inference may be in tension with the belief–desire–intention (BDI) model within folk psychology because it does not include terms for desires (or other conative constructs) at the mathematical level of description. To resolve this concern, we first provide a brief review of the historical progression from predictive coding to active inference, enabling us to distinguish between active inference formulations of motor control (which need not have desires under folk psychology) and active inference formulations of decision processes (which do have desires within folk psychology). We then show that, despite a superficial tension when viewed at the mathematical level of description, the active inference formalism contains terms that are readily identifiable as encoding both the objects of desire and the strength of desire at the psychological level of description. We demonstrate this with simple simulations of an active inference agent motivated to leave a dark room for different reasons. Despite their consistency, we further show how active inference may increase the granularity of folk-psychological descriptions by highlighting distinctions between drives to seek information versus reward—and how it may also offer more precise, quantitative folk-psychological predictions. Finally, we consider how the implicitly conative components of active inference may have partial analogues (i.e., “as if” desires) in other systems describable by the broader free energy principle to which it conforms.

A Smartphone-Based Mobility Assistant Using Depth Imaging for Visually Impaired and Blind

The means of assisting visually impaired and blind (VIB) people when travelling usually relies on other people. Assistive devices have been developed to assist in blind navigation, but many technologies require users to purchase more devices and they lack flexibility, thus making it inconvenient for VIB users. In this research, we made use of a mobile phone with a depth camera function for obstacle avoidance and object recognition. It includes a mobile application that is controlled using simple voice and gesture controls to assist in navigation. The proposed system gathers depth values from 23 coordinate points that are analyzed to determine whether an obstacle is present in the head area, torso area, or ground area, or is a full body obstacle. In order to provide a reliable warning system, the research detects outdoor objects within a distance of 1.6 m. Subsequently, the object detection function includes a unique interactable feature that enables interaction with the user and the device in finding indoor objects by providing an audio and vibration feedback, and users were able to locate their desired objects more than 80% of the time. In conclusion, a flexible and portable system was developed using a depth camera-enabled mobile phone for use in obstacle detection without the need to purchase additional hardware devices.

The Sex Therapists' Approach to the Evaluation and Management of Low Sex Drive in Men

Desire represents the most complex and fascinating among sexual response phases. It is often defined as "the subjective psychological status for initiating and maintaining human sexual behavior, triggered by internal (erotic fantasies, emotions) and/or external (attraction, pornography) stimuli." 1 Mark K Herbenick D Fortenberry D et al. The object of sexual desire: Examining the “what” in “what do you desire?. J Sex Med. 2014; 11: 2709-2719 Google Scholar In other words, desire refers to feelings and thoughts that motivate individuals to approach or be receptive to sexual stimulation. 2 Spector IP Carey MP Steinberg L. The sexual desire inventory: development, factor structure, and evidence of reliability. J Sex Marital Ther. 1996; 22: 175-190 Google Scholar Over time, researchers and clinicians seemed to agree that sexual desire is a complex construct, moving away from simplistic unidimensional definitions toward multidimensional models. For example, Levine 3 Levine SB. Reexploring the concept of sexual desire. J Sex Marital Ther. 2002; 28: 39-51 Google Scholar described desire under a biopsychosocial model (BPS) that highlights 3 components: drive (biological substratum such as anatomy and neuroendocrine system physiology), motivation (psychological components such as mental states, relationships, and social influences), and wish (cultural ideals, values, and scripts concerning sexual expression). This subdivision could be very useful in emphasizing the central role of the biological, psychological, and sociocultural components that are present in every sexual expression. On the one hand, it is important to recognize the specific role of these 3 components, for example, by exploring them in detail during the assessment phase in the evaluation of a desire problem. But on the other hand, focusing only on one component in spite of the others would imply a great loss of information, a theoretical and practical reductionism which does not help clinicians and researchers to understand desire function and related problems or to find effective treatments. In our perspective, it is fundamental to always keep an eye on the overall experience of sexual desire as reported by individuals and couples in order to be able to navigate desire.

Female Desire in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women and Middle English Romance by Lucy M. Allen-Goss

Reviewed by: Female Desire in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women and Middle English Romance by Lucy M. Allen-Goss Holly A. Crocker lucy m. allen-goss, Female Desire in Chaucer's Legend of Good Women and Middle English Romance. Gender in the Middle Ages, Volume 15. Woodbridge: D.S. Brewer, 2020. Pp. ix, 225. isbn: 978–1843845706. $99. With this study's focus on feminine desire, Lucy M. Allen-Goss asks what I believe will be the most crucial question in premodern literary studies: what will emerge if we change the standpoint from which we begin our scholarly enquiries into gender, sexuality, and other literary representations of embodiment? Allen-Goss focuses welcome attention on Chaucer's Legend of Good Women as a hermeneutic locus where the absences that might create a 'lesbian-like erotic' potentially emerge. Allen-Goss pairs this consideration with analysis of Middle English romance, or 'a mode of writing about female desire and bodily agency that is innovative and contemporary rather than isolated and retrograde' (pp. 28–29). In thinking through the tradition Chaucer and romance writers inherited, where women's desire is equated with deviance or treated as an absence, this book pursues a model of sexuality that is not constructed in relation to masculine desire. That kind of sexuality is almost always thwarted in Chaucer. While Chaucer might seek to represent a form of desire that emerges outside or beyond masculine domination or violence, in Chapter One Allen-Goss suggests that the 'Legend of Philomela' shows how a feminine hermeneutic is ultimately silenced in keeping with Jerome's famous model of reading as the rape of a conquered woman. Chapter Two, which turns to the Alliterative Morte, reads the giant's violent rape of the duchess at Mont St Michel as a traumatic hermeneutic that subtends the knights' attempts to establish their martial prowess. By thinking through this narrative's hyper-masculine suppression of feminine agency and desire, Allen-Goss offers a completely persuasive reconsideration of this poem as 'not anti-war but anti-rape' (p. 71). In Chapter Three, it becomes clear, there needs to be more than a foregrounding of women to render a plot revisionist. With his rethinking of the relicta motif in the 'Legend of Hipsiphyle and Medea,' Chaucer potentially queers Jason's faithlessness—unmooring him from conventional masculinity—in order to make space for women's desire. Despite the fact that Chaucer's 'Legend of Dido' expresses a more fluid form of feminine desire, Chaucer's poem codes her non-binarized attraction to Aeneas as deviant, and tumbles together Hipsiphyle's and Medea's betrayed expressions of desire for Jason in a way that diminishes the potential of the female masculinity it explores. Chapter Four, which analyzes the 'stony femininity' of Floripas in the Sowdone of Babylon, argues that this romance imagines the possibility of a woman whose desire is [End Page 95] not constituted in relation to masculine fantasies or demands. Rather than nightmares of women's affective and embodied fluidity, this romance instead charts the ways that an impenetrable feminine body produces desires that cannot be contained by masculinist fantasies of penetration or manipulation. It is only with his Thisbe, whom Allen-Goss considers alongside Ariadne in Chapter Five, that Chaucer creates a narrative of feminine innocence that might exceed the phallic logic that a masculinist hermeneutic demands. By reading these women's relation to veiling and reading, Chaucer's legends entertain the possibility of lesbian-like erotic that admits feminine desire through gaps and openings in edifices conventionally drawn to render women's bodies as available to men's sexual domination. By circumscribing the desire Chaucer associates with these women, these legends mark feminine eroticism as deviant in a way that assures Chaucer's own gendered authority. In Chapter Six, Allen-Goss turns to the late fifteenth-century romance, Undo Your Door, to argue that 'female sexuality [is] represented as a transgressive yet creative force, which . . . assembles its own objects of desire from inanimate materials and from mechanisms disturbingly reminiscent of the objects medieval writers associated with same-sex desire and female autoerotic satisfaction' (p. 166). By showing how women's desire is associated with inanimacy...

The Erotics of Materialism: Lucretius and Early Modern Poetics by Jessie Hock

Reviewed by: The Erotics of Materialism: Lucretius and Early Modern Poetics by Jessie Hock Philip Hardie Jessie Hock. The Erotics of Materialism: Lucretius and Early Modern Poetics. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2021. 234 pp. Cloth, $59.95. LCCN: 2020019209. ISBN: 9780812252729. This reworking of a 2015 Berkeley thesis puts the spotlight on the response, by a number of French and English Renaissance poets writing between the 1550s and the 1670s, to the fusion of erotics and poetics in Lucretius' De Rerum Natura: in France, Pierre de Ronsard and his associate in the Pléiade, Remy Belleau; in England, John Donne and two female writers, Lucy Hutchinson and Margaret Cavendish. In the "Introduction," Hock identifies as Lucretius' central strategy of persuasion a poetics of seduction. Whatever other purposes the opening hymn to Venus may have, it establishes erotic desire as that which the poem instils in its readers: the lepos "charm" that ensnares all living creatures to follow Venus in the business of procreation is, as universally recognised, the same as the aeternus lepos that the poet asks the goddess to lend his own words. Hock reads back into the relationship between poem and reader the "eternal wound of love" that disarms Mars in the presence of Venus, in the ensuing prayer for peace. The honeyed cup simile is also read as an image of seduction (true, the tenor for which it is the vehicle is the musaeus lepos with which Lucretius touches that of which he sings, 1.934). Perhaps surprisingly, nothing is made of the amor musarum which impels the poet to roam over his trackless ways (1.924–5). But more surprising for many will be the claim that the notoriously vivid description of the frustrations of sexual desire at the end of book 4 "is central to DRN's wide-ranging discussion of poetics and the imagination, as well as to the reception of those ideas in early modernity" (5). Where most readers find a disturbing disjunction between the procreative and pacific Venus of the opening hymn, and the psychologically destructive Venus of erotic delusion in book 4, Hock sees the two as part of the same nexus of erotics and poetics. Of recurrent importance for Hock's readings throughout the book are the atomic simulacra of the object of desire, the fine films of matter which both provoke desire, as material things, and frustrate its fulfilment by their insubstantiality. Much is made of Foucault's paradoxical phrase "incorporeal materiality" with reference to simulacra, a phrase extended by Jonathan Goldberg to atoms themselves, as being matter that cannot be directly apprehended by the senses. But this is to obscure the absolute division in Epicurean between matter (atoms) and non-matter (the void). Invisibility does not verge on incorporeality. The claimed "here-not-here" quality of both simulacra and atoms is mobilized for the reading of a materialist poetics into the passage on desire at the end of book 4, via the analogy that [End Page 181] "Just as images stoke desire for bodies, Lucretian poetry stokes desire for the atom itself, or rather, for materialist teachings about the atom" (15; I am not sure that this is a desire that I recognise in myself). The impossibility of sensory apprehension of the atoms is important also for a recurrent identification of a Lucretian "scepticism" in the early modern reception. simulacrum et imago may be Lucretius' necessary route to knowledge of the atoms, but this most dogmatic of philosophical poets is no sceptic. I was puzzled to see myself quoted (twice: 181 n. 18, 210 n. 31) as ascribing "a rhetoric of uncertainty" to Lucretius' didactic voice, until I checked and found that what I had in fact written was "a rhetoric of certainty." More productive is the enlistment of simulacra for a thesis about the materiality of fantasy and of poetry, convergent with the analogy, merging into identity, between atoms and the letters of the poem, in the pun on elementa. This ontological identity of representations and things, undermining the Platonic hierarchy of reality and imitation, is later put to good use in tracing the collision between Renaissance Neoplatonism and Lucretian poetics. Chapter 1, "Materializing...

Course of Instruction.

Course of Instruction Harvey P. Peet, LLD The character and long experience of Mr. Turner give to his article with this heading, in the last number of the Annals, (page 97 et Seq,) a certain importance, and entitle his views to a careful examination. It is to be regretted that "twenty-eight years" of experience in teaching language, should not have taught Mr. Turner the value of perspicuity and propriety of expression. For instance, the phrase, "a manual alphabet on one hand," is unnecessarily ambiguous, giving the reader the idea, not of a one-handed manual alphabet, but of a manual alphabet, set in contrast with something else. On page 101, near the middle, we find a verb and its dependent words without a nominative, (a contempt of grammar quite in character in an article written professedly to decry "books constructed according to the grammatical theory.") And Mr. Turner surely expresses more than he intended, when he states, page 98, that the "German system" "is content with nothing short of changing the deaf-mute into a speaking and apparently a hearing person." We usually connect present contentment with what is actually done, not with what is merely a rarely, if ever, attainable object of desire and effort. Just exception may be taken to the epithet, "infallible" near the bottom of page 101. We are aware of no "guide in composition," that is claimed to be "infallible." But it is claimed that the pupil who enjoys the benefit of a well arranged course of lessons, in which the difficulties of construction are divided and graduated, will, other things being equal, compose with greater ease, and with fewer mistakes, than one whose instruction in language has proceeded without order or method. Faults like these are noticed because they indicate crudeness of thought, as well as haste and negligence of expression; because they lead to the inference that Mr. Turner could not have bestowed upon the subject that careful and close reflection which its importance demands. But the present communication has a higher object than the advantages which may be taken from the haste, negligence, or confusion of an opponent. Mr. Turner has put forth objections to the "elementary part" of a certain "course of instruction," which, according to him, is used in the "French and American schools." The elementary works published by the New York Institution, without being openly named, are still comprehended under this designation, and evidently aimed at. Without pausing to examine the correctness of Mr. Turner's exposition of the different systems of instruction, or of his remarks on unimportant or irrelevant points, let us seek to discover, if possible, the rationale of his objections to what he is pleased to name "the French course," and reply to whatever there may be tangible in his reasoning, letting the chaff blow away of itself. We are bound to suppose that when Mr. Turner "acknowledges the hand of Providence" in the "fortunate" adoption in this country, of the "French system, rather than either of the others," he must have [End Page 32] meant to make a distinction between this "French system" and the "French course of instruction," which he condemns. What, in his view, constituted the difference, it is not very easy to divine. He states, (page 98,) as one of the most prominent traits of the "French system," that it employs "a set of conventional signs expressive of the relations of words in a sentence, and of the changes which words admit of in respect to case, tense, number, comparison, &c.;" in other words, a set of grammatical signs; and he defines (page 101) the "French course of instruction" as proceeding on the principle of teaching language in connection with grammar. So, then, Mr. Turner is devoutly grateful for an artificial set of signs, expressive of the grammatical relations and inflections of words, while he deprecates as "artificial" a course of lessons designed to impress practically on the memory these grammatical relations and inflections. The fact probably is that Mr. T. finds in his system of grammatical signs, a means of supplying the want of order and method in his lessons. If by "teaching language in connection with grammar...

An AI-based open recommender system for personalized labor market driven education

Attaining those skills that match labor market demand is getting increasingly complicated, not in the last place in engineering education, as prerequisite knowledge, skills, and abilities are evolving dynamically through an uncontrollable and seemingly unpredictable process. Anticipating and addressing such dynamism is a fundamental challenge to twenty-first century education. The burgeoning availability of data, not only on the demand side but also on the supply side (in the form of open educational resources) coupled with smart technologies, may provide a fertile ground for addressing this challenge. In this paper, we propose a novel, Artificial Intelligence (AI) driven approach to the development of an open, personalized, and labor market oriented learning recommender system, called eDoer. We discuss the complete system development cycle starting with a systematic user requirements gathering, and followed by system design, implementation, and validation. Our recommender prototype (1) derives the skill requirements for particular occupations through an analysis of online job vacancy announcements; (2) decomposes skills into learning topics; (3) collects a variety of open online educational resources that address those topics; (4) checks the quality of those resources and topic relevance with three intelligent prediction models; (5) helps learners to set their learning goals towards their desired job-related skills; (6) recommends personalized learning pathways and learning content based on individual learning goals; and (7) provides assessment services for learners to monitor their progress towards their desired learning objectives. Accordingly, we created a learning dashboard focusing on three Data Science related jobs and conducted an initial validation of eDoer through a randomized experiment. Controlling for the effects of prior knowledge as assessed by means of a pretest, the randomized experiment provided tentative support for the hypothesis that learners who engaged with personal recommendations provided by eDoer to acquire knowledge of basic statistics, attained higher scores on the posttest than those who did not. The hypothesis that learners who received personalized content in terms of format, length, level of detail, and content type, would achieve higher scores than those receiving non-personalized content was not supported.

Perplexity-Based Molecule Ranking and Bias Estimation of Chemical Language Models.

Chemical language models (CLMs) can be employed to design molecules with desired properties. CLMs generate new chemical structures in the form of textual representations, such as the simplified molecular input line entry system (SMILES) strings. However, the quality of these de novo generated molecules is difficult to assess a priori. In this study, we apply the perplexity metric to determine the degree to which the molecules generated by a CLM match the desired design objectives. This model-intrinsic score allows identifying and ranking the most promising molecular designs based on the probabilities learned by the CLM. Using perplexity to compare “greedy” (beam search) with “explorative” (multinomial sampling) methods for SMILES generation, certain advantages of multinomial sampling become apparent. Additionally, perplexity scoring is performed to identify undesired model biases introduced during model training and allows the development of a new ranking system to remove those undesired biases.

Polio health economics: assessing the benefits and costs of polio, non-polio, and integrated activities of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative

Background: Investments made by countries and donors to support polio eradication and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) over the past 35 years provided financial support for significant health interventions beyond the prevention of polio. Prior economic analyses that sought to quantify the economic benefits of some interventions encountered insufficient data and evidence associated with non-polio-specific activities. The 2022-2026 GPEI Strategic Plan explicitly identified integration and gender equity as funded mandates that must move forward in parallel with polio eradication, but these goals remain vaguely defined from a health economic perspective. Methods: To ensure unambiguous and full accounting for all financial investments in the GPEI, polio eradication, and other desirable objectives, we identify the health economic analysis methods and inputs needed to ensure transparent financial accountability and cost-effective use of funds. Results: Sufficient inputs and methods exist to characterize the health and economic benefits of polio-specific activities, but we identified the need for additional information and method development for some non-polio-specific and cost-sharing activities. Donors who seek to support non-polio-specific objectives as part of the GPEI may want to provide dedicated support financing for which it may be difficult to apply typical health economic criteria and to expect net health and/or net economic benefits. Conclusions: Given the mixture of funding sources provided to the GPEI, which includes support by governments and private donors, we recommend that the GPEI separately account for financial needs that represent necessities for polio eradication from those used for other stated objectives. An added layer of specificity that identifies all funds according to each activity, the accountable party and/or parties, and the associated measurable health or other outcome(s), will enable improved health economic analyses and reporting to donors who seek to track returns on their investments.

Mal De Ojo and Other Poems

Female sexuality makes people uncomfortable, and, from this fact, rises the Madonna and whore dichotomy, as it allows for the division and neat categorisation of chaste and promiscuous women that keeps female sexuality in check. In both the Madonna and the whore, the sexual facet is outside of the woman’s control, and both are objects of desire for the heterosexual male – very much like the femme fatale. I have here three poems that reflect on female figures and how they have been viewed through their sexual acts, and their vilification or idolisation.

Ženski sukobi zbog nedostatka / Women's Conflicts due to Deficiency

Instead of subversive action, in literature, as well as in the culture, women clash and thus enable the unhindered survival of patriarchal norms. In some literary texts, female characters are often opposed, i.e. women show envy towards other women, either because of beauty or a man who is the object of desire. In any case, such opposition is often only part of a patriarchal strategy aimed at women's disunity that distances women from projects that would allow them to act more homogeneously and to oppose traditional patterns of behavior.

Polio health economics: assessing the benefits and costs of polio, non-polio, and integrated activities of the Global Polio Eradication Initiative.

Background: Investments made by countries and donors to support polio eradication and the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI) over the past 35 years provided financial support for significant health interventions beyond the prevention of polio. Prior economic analyses that sought to quantify the economic benefits of some interventions encountered insufficient data and evidence associated with non-polio-specific activities. The 2022-2026 GPEI Strategic Plan explicitly identified integration and gender equity as funded mandates that must move forward in parallel with polio eradication, but these goals remain vaguely defined from a health economic perspective. Methods: To ensure unambiguous and full accounting for all financial investments in the GPEI, polio eradication, and other desirable objectives, we identify the health economic analysis methods and inputs needed to ensure transparent financial accountability and cost-effective use of funds. Results: Sufficient inputs and methods exist to characterize the health and economic benefits of polio-specific activities, but we identified the need for additional information and method development for some non-polio-specific and cost-sharing activities. Donors who seek to support non-polio-specific objectives as part of the GPEI may want to provide dedicated support financing for which it may be difficult to apply typical health economic criteria and to expect net health and/or net economic benefits. Conclusions: Given the mixture of funding sources provided to the GPEI, which includes support by governments and private donors, we recommend that the GPEI separately account for financial needs that represent necessities for polio eradication from those used for other stated objectives. An added layer of specificity that identifies all funds according to each activity, the accountable party and/or parties, and the associated measurable health or other outcome(s), will enable improved health economic analyses and reporting to donors who seek to track returns on their investments.