Divine Embodiment and Women’s Resistance in Sri Lanka: Opposing the Ideologies of Nation and Empire

This thesis articulates how the divine possession of women in Sri Lanka enacts resistance against the imposition of colonial rule and nationalist politics. Women’s lives are implicated in active histories of violence, spanning from the brutality of colonial rule to the continued forms of violent regulation inherent to Sri Lanka’s multi-decade conflict. My work aims to show how divine possession, through a subversion of ritual hierarchies both within the space of ritual and outside of it, counters the hegemony of empire. To do this, I look to how divine possession inhabits bodies previously consumed by colonial rule and nationalist ideology, contests spaces that exist on the margins of political control, and relies upon subversive religious practice that open up knowledge and power against the formations of the state

Exploring the Indigenous Remedies for Maternal Health in South Punjab

Culture influences every aspect of life including health. This study investigates the traditional indigenous remedies for maternal health in South Punjab, providing insight into prevailing attitudes and customs within the local populations. The study investigates the use of herbal medications, adherence to traditional guidance, and the involvement of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in maternal care. For this purpose, the phenomenological research design was used to conduct qualitative research in the district Rajanpur of South Punjab. In-depth interviews were conducted with six TBAs and three spiritual healers which were selected through snowball sampling. Data was analyzed through thematic analysis using ATLAS.ti software. The persisting belief in the authenticity of herbal treatments is prevalent in the local community, supported by socio-cultural values. The study highlights the essential contribution of Traditional Birth Attendants (TBAs) in delivering psychological, emotional, and healthcare assistance. In addition, spiritual and religious healers have a prominent role, emphasizing belief-based techniques. The conclusion recommends strategies to enhance knowledge, integrate indigenous practices with contemporary medical techniques, and engage people in comprehensive healthcare

Physical and Chemical Modifications in Starch Structure and Reactivity

Starch is a naturally occurring glucose homo-polysaccharide of nutritional, pharmaceutical, and industrial importance. The complex polymeric structure and poor solubility of native starch in water limits their importance at pharmaceutical and industrial level. The structure, reactivity, and functionality of the native starch can be modified by physical, chemical, enzymatic, and biotechnological methods. Various physical modifications techniques, including the thermal, radio-thermal, freezing and thawing, annealing, high-pressure, ultrasonic, and pulsed electric field treatment, and chemical modifications, including oxidation, etherification, esterification, cationization, cross-linking, and graft polymerization, have been found to change the surface properties, polarity and linearity of the molecular chains, the degree of substitution, the polymeric, granular, and crystalline structure, amylose to amylopectin ratio, solubility, viscosity, pasting, gelatinization, swelling, water absorption, and emulsifying properties of starch. The structural changes have resulted in the improvement of thermal and freeze-thaw stability, viscosity, solubility, water binding capacity, swelling power, gelling ability, and enzymatic digestibility of starch. The exposure of reactive functional groups after physical or chemical modification modifies the reactivity of starch toward water, oil, acids, enzymes, and other chemical species. These modification techniques have led to some revolutionary changes in reactivity, functionality, and application of starch in various fields

Interconnectedness: A Case Study of Revolutionary War and War of the Regulation Battlefields in North and South Carolina.

This paper examines the preservation and interpretation practices of six battlefields in North and South Carolina, all of which occurred during the American Revolution or the War of the Regulation. I not only conducted interviews with personnel at the sites in question, but also examined resources related to each site, as well as the National Park Service in general. I discovered that in multiple locations preservation and interpretation are interconnected, in that each has a broad, rather than narrow focus. Specifically, both concentrate not just on the battlefield itself and what occurred on a specific day, but also contextual information that helps enlighten visitors to the importance of the site.Master of Science in Library Scienc

Optimal Control Analysis of Ebola Disease with Control Strategies of Quarantine and Vaccination

The 2014 Ebola epidemic is the largest in history, affecting multiple countries in West Africa. Some isolated cases were also observed in other regions of the world

Public and private control and contestation of public space amid violent conflict in Karachi

"Few cities in South Asia have been affected by violence more than Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city and economic centre. This working paper examines the impacts of the city’s declining security situation on the control and contestation of public space. It focuses specifically on the efforts of public and private actors to protect themselves through the widespread use of physical barriers as a form of conflict infrastructure. To help provide a way forward, recommendations are presented for planning and managing barriers more effectively and equitably, and for supporting alternative means of security for the poorest and most insecure groups. Particular attention is paid to the city’s ethnic and religious/sectarian politics and the limited capacity of the authorities, and their difficulties in maintaining neutrality in attempting to intervene.

The Effects of Podcasts on Mental Health Stigma

Research indicates that media can have both negative and positive impacts on mental health stigma and self-stigma. No studies, to our knowledge, have examined the impact of audio media representation (podcasts) on mental health stigma. Our study therefore examines the effects that both positive and negative portrayals of mental illness in a news podcast would have on mental health stigma. We hypothesized that participants assigned to podcast conditions that primed for mental illness would lead participants to attribute an incident to mental illness. Additionally, we hypothesized that listening to a podcast that speaks negatively about individuals with mental illnesses would be correlated with an increase in mental health stigma. Similarly, we hypothesized that listening to a news podcast that speaks positively about individuals with mental illnesses would be associated with a decrease in mental health stigma among participants. Undergraduate students (n = 169) were randomly assigned to one of four podcast conditions. Each condition had identical scripts describing a store robbery, manipulating if mental illness was disclosed and if it was the robber or the Good Samaritan that had the mental illness. Study findings strongly support the first hypothesis, that placing participants in a podcast condition that primed for mental illness leads participants to attribute the incident to mental illness. We did not find a significant relationship between podcast conditions and an increase or decrease in self-reported mental health stigma or self-stigma. Limitations of the study are addressed and authors conclude that additional research using audio interventions is needed to better understand its effect on mental health stigma

Mobility for the Cause: The Massachusetts State Navy and Inter-Service Mobility in the Revolutionary War

Master of ArtsDepartment of HistoryLouise A BreenServicemen during the American Revolution chose to participate in the conflict for many different reasons, and they frequently transitioned among the different types of services available to them on sea and land. This thesis, using the Massachusetts State Navy as a focal point, will examine the ways that revolutionary fighters and colonial authorities worked to balance the former’s contributions to the war effort in an environment where various official and quasi-official military organizations – privateering vessels, state navies, militias, the Continental Army and the Continental Navy – vied for recruits. The Massachusetts State Navy, dedicated to protecting Massachusetts’ coastline, securing necessary trade goods in the face of the British blockade, and raiding British shipping, provided one such option for military service, competing with other Patriot military organizations for recruits. Finding – and retaining – enough seamen was challenging for the Massachusetts State Navy because servicemen might choose to end their military service altogether at the end of an enlistment, move to a privateer or land-based military unit during their current term of service, or desert their posts. This thesis will assess the military careers of ten Patriot servicemen to illustrate the mobility between branches of service that these men and their counterparts often experienced. The thesis will examine the choices that various servicemen made when moving in or out of the Massachusetts State Navy, and the struggle Patriot military forces faced in retaining personnel. While some Patriot servicemen stayed in one military branch for their whole military career, many Patriot sailors and soldiers chose to move from one branch of service to another

Induction of Labour by Extra-Amniotic Saline infusion in Women having Previous One Cesarean Section

Background: To determine the efficacy of labor induction by extra-amniotic saline infusion in women having previous one lower segment cesarean section. Method: All women, fulfilling inclusion criteria, were selected for study. In lithotomy position, Foley’s catheter no.16 was passed in the cervical canal extra amniotically and 30 ml sterile water was injected to inflate the balloon. Then 0.9 % normal saline at 40 ml/hour injected into the extra-amniotic space. Results: The successful cervical ripening was 74.8% (49/66). The number of women delivered vaginally within 24 hours of insertion of Foley’s catheter were 56.1% (37/66). The rate of uterine rupture was 1.5% (1/66). Thus extra-amniotic saline infusion through trans-cervical was an effective method for induction of labour in women having previous one lower segment cesarean section was 56.1% (37/66). Conclusion: Extra-amniotic saline infusion is an effective method for labor induction in women having previous one lower segment cesarean section. Keywords: Induction, labour, caesarean section, extra-amniotic saline infusion, Bishop score etc