Dialogue \u27On The Ground\u27: The Complicated Identities and the Complex Negotiations of Catholics and Hindus in South India

Interreligious dialogue is a vital theological concern for the Catholic Church in India. Over the past three decades, church leaders, progressive theologians, and maverick monastics have experimented with various models and forms of interreligious dialogue. Quite distinct from these contrived institutional initiatives is the dynamic of intimate, subtle, and spontaneous ritual exchange and dialogue between ordinary Hindus and Catholics occurring in the arena of popular piety and rituals at the grassroots level - often in opposition to institutional norms and directives - that may be described as dialogue on the ground. In light of ethnographic research at the shrine of St. Anthony at Uvari in Tamil Nadu - that serves as a representative sample of regional shrines in rural south India - this essay focuses on the logic and grammar of a specific public ritual locally known as asanam as an illustrative case-study of the \u27dialogue on the ground,\u27 delineates the social and religious themes embedded in this ritual, and reflects on its implications for interreligious dialogue

Being Catholic the Tamil Way: Assimilation and Differentiation

The ritual life of Tamil Catholics in south India defies tidy, conventional categories like assimilation, differentiation, and othering, since the complex negotiations characteristic of this lived tradition often involve both assimilation and differentiation. This dynamic reflects/reveals their hybrid and liminal cultural and religious condition where boundaries are not fixed or absolute, but constantly fluid, permeable, and negotiable. While this pattern is manifest almost in all spheres of Tamil Catholic life and practice, in this paper I focus on how lay Catholics configure and maintain their tamilness in the realms of devotional music, caste discourse, and public devotional rituals with relevant anecdotal accounts and illustrations drawn from personal experience as well as field research, and reflect on the both/and dynamic characteristic of Tamil Catholic life and practice

The impact of tool selection on back and wrist injury risk in tying steel reinforcement bars: a single case experiment

The paper explores the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injury in tying steel reinforcement bars. Three tools are compared to determine the extent to which ergonomic tools can reduce the risk of injury to the back and wrist in steel-tying. A whole body system of wearable sensors was used to measure biomechanical risk in tying. Three tools were assessed to determine their impact on the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injury when used at different heights. These were: a conventional pincer-cutting tool; a power-driven tying tool, and a long handled stapler tool. No tool was found to work best in all situations. The long handled stapler tool significantly reduced trunk inclination when used from ground to shoulder height, but produced higher trunk extension (backward bending) when used above shoulder height. The power tying tool did not reduce the need to bend when working at lower work heights. The power-tying tool produced significantly lower peak wrist flexion values compared to the conventional pincer-cutter tool at all work heights except overhead. The power tying tool involved significantly lower levels of wrist rotation than the conventional pincer-cutter tool at all work heights above knee level. Many assessments of ergonomic risk factors in construction rely on observational methods. The use of small, lightweight wearable sensors permits the objective measurement of biomechanical risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal injury, as well as providing objective performance data that can be used in the design and selection of task-specific tools. Our analysis of work by height also provides insight into the way in which risk factors and reduction opportunities afforded by different tools vary depending on the height at which work is to be performed

The impact of tool selection on back and wrist injury risk in tying steel reinforcement bars: a single case experiment

The paper explores the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injury in tying steel reinforcement bars. Three tools are compared to determine the extent to which ergonomic tools can reduce the risk of injury to the back and wrist in steel-tying. A whole body system of wearable sensors was used to measure biomechanical risk in tying. Three tools were assessed to determine their impact on the risk of work-related musculoskeletal injury when used at different heights. These were: a conventional pincer-cutting tool; a power-driven tying tool, and a long handled stapler tool. No tool was found to work best in all situations. The long handled stapler tool significantly reduced trunk inclination when used from ground to shoulder height, but produced higher trunk extension (backward bending) when used above shoulder height. The power tying tool did not reduce the need to bend when working at lower work heights. The power-tying tool produced significantly lower peak wrist flexion values compared to the conventional pincer-cutter tool at all work heights except overhead. The power tying tool involved significantly lower levels of wrist rotation than the conventional pincer-cutter tool at all work heights above knee level. Many assessments of ergonomic risk factors in construction rely on observational methods. The use of small, lightweight wearable sensors permits the objective measurement of biomechanical risk factors for work-related musculoskeletal injury, as well as providing objective performance data that can be used in the design and selection of task-specific tools. Our analysis of work by height also provides insight into the way in which risk factors and reduction opportunities afforded by different tools vary depending on the height at which work is to be performed

The effects of eccentrically-biased versus conventional resistance training in older adults

The major objectives of this thesis were: (i) to compare the acute effects of eccentrically-biased and conventional resistance training on arterial stiffness, platelet reactivity, activation and count, postural stability and isometric force steadiness in older men and women; and (ii) to compare the effects 16-weeks of eccentrically-biased versus conventional resistance training on muscle architecture, 1 repetition maximum, isometric strength, isokinetic force-velocity characteristics, functional capacity and pulse wave velocity in older men and women. The results of this research show that both eccentrically-biased and conventional resistance training are effective at increasing strength and improving function in older adults. The improvements in strength during quick isokinetic contractions of the knee extensors after eccentrically-biased resistance training may have implications for functional movements that require rapid movements of the limb, such as recovering from a stumble. However, more research is needed to evaluate the effectiveness of this type of training in this area. The small acute increase in platelet count and postural instability after eccentrically-biased resistance training mean that older adults should exercise caution immediately post-training and appropriate management will decrease these risks

The Making of Elite Schools in Singapore, 1940s - 1980s

Master'sMASTER OF SOCIAL SCIENCE

Experimental Evaluation of Performance and Emission Characteristics of a Diesel Engine Fuelled with Neem Methyl Ester

The dwindling fossil fuel resources and the environmental degradation have spurred research interest to find better renewable alternative energy sources. Biodiesel is one such viable promising alternative fuel, which can be extracted from various renewable vegetable oils. In the present study, biodiesel extracted from neem oil is characterized for engine performance and emission analysis is done at various compression ratios (CR) and fuel blends. The brake thermal efficiency (BTE) of the blend B20 is considerably higher than that of diesel at CR 18, 20, and 22. The specific fuel consumption (SFC) increases with diesel blends due to a higher calorific value of diesel in comparison with biodiesel. All the biodiesel blends had lower carbon monoxide (CO) emissions compared with diesel, which indicates better combustion due to the presence of inherent oxygen. At lower CRs, the in-cylinder temperature is lower, which in turn reduces the nitrogen oxide (NOx) emission. The overall engine performance is optimum at CR of 18 with the NB20 fuel blend

Shifting markers of identity in East London's diasporic religious spaces

This article discusses the historical and geographical contexts of diasporic religious buildings in East London, revealing – contrary both to conventional narratives of immigrant integration, mobility, and succession and to identitarian understandings of belonging – that in such spaces and in the concrete devotional practices enacted in them, markers and boundaries of identity (ritual, spatial, and political) are contested, renegotiated, erased, and rewritten. It draws on a series of case-studies: Fieldgate Street Synagogue in its interrelationship with the East London Mosque; St Antony's Catholic Church in Forest Gate where Hindus and Christians worship together; and the intertwined histories of Methodism and Anglicanism in Bow Road. Exploration of the intersections between ethnicity, religiosity, and class illuminates the ambiguity and instability of identity-formation and expression within East London's diasporic faith spaces

Enhanced Hsp70 Expression Protects against Acute Lung Injury by Modulating Apoptotic Pathways

The Acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) is a highly lethal inflammatory lung disorder. Apoptosis plays a key role in its pathogenesis. We showed that an adenovirus expressing the 70 kDa heat shock protein Hsp70 (AdHSP) protected against sepsis-induced lung injury. In this study we tested the hypothesis that AdHSP attenuates apoptosis in sepsis-induced lung injury