Christianity from the Margins in Southeast Asia

Studies on Christianity in Asia have been weighed down by a double burden—the commonplace of Christianity as a passive minority and an invading foreign as well as the notions of religion and secularization derived from western experience. The following essays of Forum Kritika shed both burdens by focusing on the “lived religion” of different Christian groups and leaders on the margins of Southeast Asian societies because of religious faith as well as ethnicity, status or location. Their critical analysis shows how these actors interacted with other social and cultural traditions and problematized narratives of identity linked to the dominant sociocultural ethos. These negotiations, far from being private and divorced from the institutional, point to the complex and dynamic nature of Christianity in the Asian landscape and to how Christian groups and individuals manage to hold their ground

Dynamic Response and Flutter Prediction of Structures with Unknown System Parameters using Experimental Modal Parameters

This paper presents an approach for prediction of dynamic modal transient response and flutter characteristics of structures with unknown system parameters, such as stiffness and mass, using experimental modal parameters. Correlation of the results with a finite element model created using the actual material properties of the structure was studied. Close agreement was observed for the computed transient responses and flutter velocities by the proposed method, using experimental modal parameters, for which material properties are not a pre-requisite

PROMIS CAT in SLE Personal non-commercial use only

ABSTRACT. Objective. The aims of this study were to assess the construct validity and the test-retest reliability of Patient Reported Outcomes Measurement Information System (PROMIS) computerized adaptive tests (CAT) in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SL

Implementation of Multigene Germline and Parallel Somatic Genetic Testing in Epithelial Ovarian Cancer: SIGNPOST Study

We present findings of a cancer multidisciplinary-team (MDT) coordinated mainstreaming pathway of unselected 5-panel germline BRCA1/BRCA2/RAD51C/RAD51D/BRIP1 and parallel somatic BRCA1/BRCA2 testing in all women with epithelial-OC and highlight the discordance between germline and somatic testing strategies across two cancer centres. Patients were counselled and consented by a cancer MDT member. The uptake of parallel multi-gene germline and somatic testing was 97.7%. Counselling by clinical-nurse-specialist more frequently needed >1 consultation (53.6% (30/56)) compared to a medical (15.0% (21/137)) or surgical oncologist (15.3% (17/110)) (p 0.001). The median age was 54 (IQR = 51–62) years in germline pathogenic-variant (PV) versus 61 (IQR = 51–71) in BRCA wild-type (p = 0.001). There was no significant difference in distribution of PVs by ethnicity, stage, surgery timing or resection status. A total of 15.5% germline and 7.8% somatic BRCA1/BRCA2 PVs were identified. A total of 2.3% patients had RAD51C/RAD51D/BRIP1 PVs. A total of 11% germline PVs were large-genomic-rearrangements and missed by somatic testing. A total of 20% germline PVs are missed by somatic first BRCA-testing approach and 55.6% germline PVs missed by family history ascertainment. The somatic testing failure rate is higher (23%) for patients undergoing diagnostic biopsies. Our findings favour a prospective parallel somatic and germline panel testing approach as a clinically efficient strategy to maximise variant identification. UK Genomics test-directory criteria should be expanded to include a panel of OC genes.Peer reviewe

The concept of goods and service tax (GST) and its impact on indian economy

Goods and Services Tax (GST) is a comprehensive tax levy on manufacture, sale andconsumption of goods and services at national level. Goods and Services Tax integrates Stateeconomies and boost overall growth. Currently, companies and businesses pay lot of indirecttaxes such as VAT, service tax, sales tax, entertainment tax, octroi and luxury tax. On GSTimplementation all these taxes cease to exist. There is only one tax, that too at the nationallevel, monitored by the central government. GST is levied at the final point of consumptionand not at the manufacturing stage. Previously, separate tax rates are applied to goods andservices. Under GST, there is only one tax rate for both goods and services. The goods andservices Tax is an improvement towards a comprehensive indirect tax reforms in the country.Integration of goods and services taxation would give India a world class tax system andimprove tax collections. It would end distortions of differential treatments of manufacturingand service sector. GST is expected to create a business friendly environment and henceinflation rates would come down overtime as a uniform tax rate is applied. It will alsoimprove government's fiscal health as the tax collection system would become moretransparent, making tax evasion difficult. This paper is a study of the concept of goods andservice tax and its impact on Indian economy. It also aims to know the advantages andchallenges of GST in Indian scenario</jats:p