Body Beyond Boundaries: An Auto-Ethnography On My Embodied Culture In My Work as a Dance/Movement Therapy Intern Practicing In Another Culture

This auto-ethnographic study explored how embodied cultural knowledge impacts my work as a dance/movement therapy intern, practicing in a culture different from my own. As the sole participant in the study, I am a 23 year old female, international student at Columbia College Chicago. I am originally from New Delhi, India and moved to the United States to pursue my Master’s degree. My dance/movement therapy internship was at a high school in the Northwest region of Chicago, United States. This qualitative study included data collection methods of journaling, art making and creating a movement narrative over a period of eight weeks, between March 2016 and April 2016. The data collected through artwork and journaling were analyzed using intuitive analysis, and the data collected through creating a movement narrative were analyzed using narrative analysis. 84 pages

A Novel Model of “Remedy and Elimination of Tuberculosis”

Tuberculosis (TB), is one of the top ten causes of death worldwide. TB is commonly linked to poverty and creates poverty as it is the single largest cause of death in the 15-49-year-old age group in South-East Asia (WHO, 2017). It is also linked to the HIV population, and its leading cause of death. TB is effected by socio-economic factors, cultural factors, and health policy. My goal of this dissertation is to identify systematic approaches that shall support the mission set by World Health Organization (WHO): to eliminate TB globally by the year 2050. Measures might include addressing social barriers and improving implementation of tools which may increase the likelihood of achieving elimination. Looking at the high incidence rate of TB, this dissertation aims to research and find foundation for this disease in countries and especially in South-East Asia, more specifically India. TB is a severe health crisis in India with one third of its population suffering from this infectious disease. TB is associated with socioeconomic factors such as levels of poverty and under nutrition while HIV and smoking are a result of co-infections. (WHO, 2017). My goal is to provide a systematic approach in the identification of factors which if modified could lead to increased preventive measures, diagnosis and treatment. This can be done by looking at the history of tuberculosis, diagnostic tests and global impact related to public health with a focus for the newer diagnostic tests that could potentially help reduce the burden of this disease

Indian Handicrafts: A Sustainable future of Utilitarian Consumer Goods

Utilitarian products are those which are designed to be useful rather than attractive. Handmade products are, thus, one among the wonders of Indian artisans, which are both useful and attractive at the same time. World-renowned Indian handicrafts are imported by several countries, which is highly supporting Indian art and culture. This is a source of livelihood for more than half of the unskilled labours and artisans of the Handicraft Industry. But with high-quality décor, luxurious items being exported to foreign lands, middleman income and trade fairs are sucking up most of the profits. Indian artisans and handicraft workers are therefore left with little income in hand except for the very famous art workers of big businessmen. This is one of the major problems which can be solved by encouraging the supply of handicrafts and domestic consumer demand. Since Indian consumers have been evolving through manufactured products, globalization, industrialization, etc. they are producing harmful effects on the environment and socio-economic conditions. Hence, it is very alarming for the handicraft sector to be able to protect its art and small business during an economic crisis. To address the small businesses and art of poor craftworkers this study intends to focus on the utilitarian aspect of handicrafts as being the sustainable alternative. The research broadly focusses on the socio-economic conditions of rural artisans and the environmental benefits of handicrafts by assessing the demand of domestic consumers and their perspectives. Based on primary data collected through the survey method, the study finds that domestic consumers are aware of the sustainable alternative handicrafts have to offer, while the utilitarian aspect has a vague response when it comes to purchasing handicrafts. However, demand for handicrafts is high because of their utilitarian aspect only. The study applied multiple regression analysis to analyse the results and conclude with suggestions based on qualitative research analysis to support rural handicraft artisans and small businesses. The study initiates a broad scope of research in consumer behaviour towards handicrafts in India as a sustainable alternative to mass production. This is one of the ways of supporting the cultural art forms as well as replenishing sustainability in the three major directions, which are economic, environmental & societal. Based on the empirical findings of this study, it concludes with the suggestions of co-existence with culture and sustainable development in India

Vaginal foreign body in a 6 year old girl: a game for the child but a challenge for the gynaecologist

A 6 year old girl visited our gynaecology out-patient department of S.R.N hospital, Allahabad, India with the complaint of relapsing blood stained vaginal discharge for 3 months. Different gynaecologists, including us, tried treating the condition with different courses of antibiotics. To each, the girl responded only for few days and relapsed again. We investigated completely into the background of the child's home and school environment, her playing habits and her behaviour with her kins. Then, we got her various investigations done but with no derangement. With the backup of her history, examination and investigations, we performed another detailed examination of her genitals. The findings were intriguing as to their cause, and it definitely was a lesson to all of us.

Evaluation of papsmear in pregnancy

Background: Cervical cancer is common worldwide and ranks fourth among all malignancies for women. Cervical cytology (PAP smear) as a cancer screening method is most commonly used worldwide. Cervical cancer can be detected at an early stage by PAP smear which is a cost effective and easy to perform test which is also very safe in pregnant women, hence this study is taken up as an opportunistic time for cervical cancer screening to this accessible group of women during their antenatal period and to find detection rate of infectious diseases, precancerous and cancerous pathology of the cervix.Methods: 500 pregnant women of age 21 years and above and between 16-24 weeks of gestation attending the antenatal OPD were included in the study. Scrapings were obtained from the ectocervix and sent for cytological evaluation. Findings were tabulated and statistically analysed.Results: 7.2% of the patients in our study had cervical infection which included candidiasis and trichomonial infections. 0.4% of the patients had abnormal PAP report, and 88.2% had inflammatory smear implying higher risk of STD’s and pregnancy related complications.Conclusions: The cervical cytology is highly recommended for the routine screening in the antenatal care clinic specially for women who had no prior cervical cancer screening. Awareness on cervical cancer, preventive measures and screening methods need to be strengthened among pregnant women when they visit health care facilities and also in the community settings

Third Gender Rights: The Battle for Equality

The identity of an individual is often determined by the moral dictates and judgments of the society. However, individuals who seek to challenge these with their personalities, sexual orientations and inclinations are often shunned, abandoned and treated as the “other”. Abandoned by families and ridiculed by negative stigmas, they are usually left with no other option, than resorting to begging or singing in weddings, to make a living. Even with such vulnerability to harassment and violence, their agony mostly remains unnoticed. This only indicates the extent of helplessness and neglect this community faces. Various rights granted to this community are seldom potent and welfare measures hibernate on paper. Though the Indian Constitution makes mighty promises prohibiting discrimination of all sorts, there exists ambiguity concerning the concept of gender and the effects that such a prohibition can have on third gender rights. With the Supreme Court taking a proactive step in the NALSA judgment, there has been significant attention drawn towards transgender rights, which will be examined in the paper subsequently. Highlighting the historical growth of the transgender people and analyzing their position in jurisdictions across the world, this research paper aims to shed light on the murky world of suffering and discrimination this community has been relegated to in India. Despite some positive developments that have contributed to increased awareness and recognition of their plight, major problems still plague this section of the society. In addition to the social and legal position of the transgender community and the judicial treatment of the same, the paper also seeks to act as an expose when it comes to make-believe cases of being transgender

Disparity line utilization factor based optimal placement of IPFC for congestion management

Recently, due to the adoption of power reforms, there is a marked increase of contracted power that flows in the transmission line and also the spontaneous power exchanges leading to complex power transmission congestion problems. The appearance of Flexible AC Transmission Systems (FACTS) devices specifically Interline Power Flow Controller (IPFC) has opened up new opportunities to overcome the congestion problem by increasing the possible system load. Hence, the optimal placement of FACTS devices is deservedly an issue of great importance. This paper proposes a Disparity Line Utilization Factor (DLUF) for the optimal placement of IPFC to control the congestion in transmission lines. DLUF determines the difference between the percentage MVA utilization of each line connected to the same bus. The proposed method is implemented for IEEE–14 and IEEE-57 bus test system. The IPFC is placed in all possible line combinations of IEEE-14 bus system to check the validity of the proposed methodology. To confirm the generality of the proposed method, the technique is also implemented and verified for IEEE-57 bus test system. An increased load of 110% and 125% is applied, and the results are presented and analysed in detail to establish the effectiveness of the proposed methodology

Twin reversed arterial perfusion syndrome: a rare but critical event of twin pregnancy

Twin-Reversed Arterial Perfusion (TRAP) sequence is also known as acardiac twin gestation or chorioangiopagus parasiticus, it is a rare and unique complication of monozygotic monochorionic twin pregnancies. 35 year old 8 gravida four alive issues and one spontaneous abortion. Patient came with complaint of pain in abdomen since 8 hours. She was having an ultrasonography report of twin pregnancy of 28 weeks gestation with one fetus alive and normal while other fetus was anomalous fetus FHS of first fetus was localised while FHS of other fetus was not localised. Twin-Reversed Arterial Perfusion (TRAP) sequence is a rare complication of monochorionic multiple gestation. Accurate antenatal diagnosis is essential to improve the prognosis of this rare entity