Sociological and Literary Profile of Indo-American Diaspora

Indo-American diaspora is one of the important diasporas which has exerted the massive impact on the literary world and produced literary genius of our time. An Indian American is a resident or citizen of the United States with origins in India. They both born in India and immigrated to United States or are born in the U. S. and have Indian heritage. Indian population is spread across the U. S. primarily in the urban areas in general and the large metropolitan area in particular. They are regarded very affluent community. Like the terms ‘Asian American’ or ‘South Asian American,’ the term ‘Indian American’ is an umbrella expression applying to people of widely varying socio-economic status, education, places of residence, generations, views, values, lifestyles and appearances. They are known to assimilate into American culture effortlessly because they have no language barriers and come from a similar society

Manju Kapur’s Shagun: Conflict between Individual Freedom and Patriarchy

Manju Kapur’s novel, Custody (2011) reveals some of the significant aspects of human relation such as the conflict between husband and wife and its dimensions. In recent time, the notion of human relationship is under the process of change due to various striking and contradictory factors that lead them to separation. The issue of an independent identity leads husband and wife in conflicting situation. The narrative leads with the tension of human relation against the issues like education, modernity and humanity. A feeling of discontent, shock and fear, misunderstanding, lack of dedication, unfaithful nature, miscommunication and constant quest of identity are portrayed in Custody. It is through the character of Shagun Manju Kapur deals with conflict between individual freedom aspired by the modern women and patriarchy that imposes limitations on personal space in the family

Diaspora Literature: Comparative Analysis of Bharti Mukharjee and Jhumpa Lahiri

There are prominent expatriate Indian writers known for their Diasporic literature.  Writers like Rohinton Mistory, Ashish Gupta, Kiran Desai, Chitra Banarjee -Divakaruni, Uma Parmeswaran etc. have contributed their literary genius to express Diasporic experiences. The eminent writers, especially South Asian Women novelists Jhumpa Lahiri and Bharti Mukharjee contributed a lot in the area of diasproic literature. Their contribution is recognized at the international level with applaud. The similarities and distinctions between them are briefly taken into consideration in this paper

Advances in reproductive biology and seed production systems of Eucalyptus: The case of Eucalyptus globulus

Eucalyptus globulus is the main eucalypt species grown in Australian plantations. The focus on seedling deployment systems, coupled with exploitation of large, open-pollinated base populations for breeding purposes over the last two decades, has required a detailed understanding of the reproductive biology of this species. We review our research on the reproductive biology of E. globulus, with a focus on it’s breeding system and advances made in seed production systems. While most improved seed is still obtained from open-pollinated seedling or grafted seed orchards, the development of the one-stop/single-visit pollination procedure has revolutionised the breeding and deployment of this species. The reduced costs of controlled pollination has meant full pedigree-control can now be maintained in large advanced generation breeding populations and E. globulus is one of the few eucalypt species where large-scale production of manually pollinated seed for family forestry is being undertaken

Inter-examiner reliability of the diagnosis of cervical pillar hyperplasia (CPH) and the correlation between CPH and spinal degenerative joint disease (DJD)

BACKGROUND: Cervical pillar hyperplasia (CPH) is a recently described phenomenon of unknown aetiology. Its clinical importance is poorly understood at the present time; therefore, the objective of this study was to determine (1) the inter-examiner reliability of detecting CPH and (2) if there is a clinically important correlation (r > 0.4) between the number of cervical spine levels showing signs of degenerative joint disease (DJD) and CPH. METHODS: The sample consisted of 320 radiographs of human male and female subjects who ranged from 40 to 79 years of age. The inter-examiner reliability of assessing the presence/absence of pillar hyperplasia was evaluated on 50 neutral lateral radiographs by two examiners using line drawings and it was quantified using the kappa coefficient of concordance. To determine the presence/absence of hyperplastic pillars as well as the presence/absence of DJD at each intervertebral disc and zygapophysial joint, 320 AP open mouth, AP lower cervical and neutral lateral radiographs were then examined. The unpaired t-test at the 5% level of significance was performed to test for a statistically significant difference between the number of levels affected by DJD in patients with and without hyperplasia. The Spearman's rho at the 5% level of significance was performed to quantify the correlation between DJD and age. RESULTS: The inter-examiner reliability of detecting cervical pillar hyperplasia was moderate with a kappa coefficient of 0.51. The unpaired t-test indicated that there was no statistically significant difference (p > 0.05) between the presence/absence of cervical pillar hyperplasia and the number of levels affected by DJD in an age-matched population, regardless of whether all elements were considered together, or the discs and facets were analyzed separately. A Spearman correlation rank of 0.67 (p < 0.05) suggested a moderately strong correlation between the number of elements (i.e. discs/facets) affected, and the age of the individual. CONCLUSION: Cervical pillar hyperplasia is a reasonable concept that requires further research. Its evaluation is easy to learn and acceptably reliable. Previous research has suggested that CPH may affect the cervical lordosis, and therefore, alter biomechanics which may result in premature DJD. This current study, however, indicates that, globally, CPH does not appear to be related to the development of DJD

Cervical spondylosis with spinal cord encroachment: should preventive surgery be recommended?

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>It has been stated that individuals who have spondylotic encroachment on the cervical spinal cord without myelopathy are at increased risk of spinal cord injury if they experience minor trauma. Preventive decompression surgery has been recommended for these individuals. The purpose of this paper is to provide the non-surgical spine specialist with information upon which to base advice to patients. The evidence behind claims of increased risk is investigated as well as the evidence regarding the risk of decompression surgery.</p> <p>Methods</p> <p>A literature search was conducted on the risk of spinal cord injury in individuals with asymptomatic cord encroachment and the risk and benefit of preventive decompression surgery.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>Three studies on the risk of spinal cord injury in this population met the inclusion criteria. All reported increased risk. However, none were prospective cohort studies or case-control studies, so the designs did not allow firm conclusions to be drawn. A number of studies and reviews of the risks and benefits of decompression surgery in patients with cervical myelopathy were found, but no studies were found that addressed surgery in asymptomatic individuals thought to be at risk. The complications of decompression surgery range from transient hoarseness to spinal cord injury, with rates ranging from 0.3% to 60%.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>There is insufficient evidence that individuals with spondylotic spinal cord encroachment are at increased risk of spinal cord injury from minor trauma. Prospective cohort or case-control studies are needed to assess this risk. There is no evidence that prophylactic decompression surgery is helpful in this patient population. Decompression surgery appears to be helpful in patients with cervical myelopathy, but the significant risks may outweigh the unknown benefit in asymptomatic individuals. Thus, broad recommendations for decompression surgery in suspected at-risk individuals cannot be made. Recommendations to individual patients must consider possible unique circumstances.</p