Sikh diasporic negotiations: Indian and Canadian history in Can You Hear the Nightbird Call?

The perceived interconnection of Sikh religion and extremism, and the mistaken association of Sikhism with Islam impacted Sikh consciousness and historically, these have presented challenges to Sikh identity, representation, and intercultural negotiations in Canada. With reference to Anita Rau Badami’s Can You Hear the Nightbird Call? (2010), this article investigates Canadian Sikh diaspora’s collective memories, specifically: (i) the return of the Komagata Maru ship from Vancouver (1914) (ii) partition of India (iii) the death of passengers in Air India 182 (23 June 1985) from Toronto to India; (iv) Operation Blue Star (1984) and (v) the 1984 Sikh carnage.     

Trauma-Informed Medical Care: Patient Response to a Primary Care Provider Communication Training

Trauma exposure predicts mental disorders and health outcomes; yet there is little training of primary care providers about trauma’s effects, and how to better interact with trauma survivors. This study adapted a theory-based approach to working with trauma survivors, Risking Connection, into a 6-hour CME course, Trauma-Informed Medical Care (TI-Med), to evaluate its feasibility and preliminary efficacy. We randomized four primary care sites to training or wait-list conditions; PCPs at wait-list sites were trained after reassessment. Primary care providers (PCPs) were Family Medicine residents (n = 17; 2 sites) or community physicians (n = 13; 2 sites). Outcomes reported here comprised a survey of 400 actual patients seen by the PCPs in the study. Patients, mostly minority, completed surveys before or after their provider received training. Patients rated PCPs significantly higher after training on a scale encompassing partnership issues. Breakdowns showed lower partnership scores for those with trauma or posttraumatic stress symptoms. Future studies will need to include more specific trauma-related outcomes. Nevertheless, this training is a promising initial approach to teaching trauma-informed communication skills to PCPs.     

Hackneying hybridity? Fending off ‘foreignness’, Khoja Community and hybridisation in The Magic of Saida

In the context of colonialism, religion and culture, the theory of cultural hybridity has assumed paramount importance due to its ineluctable nature. However, as most critics and theorists have suggested, the concept gestures at the precedence and prior existence of purity and this perception is exceedingly contentious. This article examines the various layers of hybridisation, Khoja Community (specifically Ismaili faith) and the complexities that it inherently contains and focuses on the argument that while Hybridity is contestable due to its ever-shifting connotations and inherent ambiguity, the so-called ‘differences’ in textual representation, culture and religion, actually move forward towards a homogenous state. To study the subject, the study focuses on the narrative, The Magic of Saida, by M. G. Vassanji. Like his trajectory through continents, his characters too traverse the oceans, and explore in new lands through the forces of acculturation and hybridisation. Despite, the seemingly forces of admixture, what is palpable is the ability of readers to discern the ‘differences’ in the intermixed format. If the differences are ostensible in hybridised version, can the resulting creation be called hybridised? This paper investigates this idea and is premised on how the theory is self-contradicting.     

Toy-oriented changes in early arm movements III: constraints on joint kinematics

The purpose of this study was to identify invariant features of shoulder and elbow kinematics during prereaching arm movements with and without a toy present. Invariant movement features may reflect the presence of constraints that reduce the complexity of learning to reach and provide a link between early arm movements and reaching. Joint excursion and smoothness were consistently greater at the shoulder than the elbow suggesting strong organismal constraints on prereaching movements. Speed became greater in the shoulder than the elbow only with a toy present during the 4 weeks leading up to reach onset suggesting the introduction of task related constraints. We propose that organismal constraints on joint coordination throughout the prereaching period provide a foundation for the overlay of task related constraints closer to reach onset. We also suggest that the coordinative structures of early arm movements and later reaching may be much more similar than currently thought. This similarity would significantly reduce the elements needing to be actively controlled, and simplify the learning process.     

Quality of Life in Patients with Chronic Pain- A Study in Indian Population Using European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer(EORTC) Questionnaire

Quality of life in chronic pain Health-related quality of life was compared in patients of chronic pain with that of general population.We designed this study as a prospective, observational trial in a tertiary care centre. Quality of life was measured using the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire (EORTC QLQ-C30). The EORTC QLQ-C30 is a valid alternative to the SF-36 in the assessment of QOL in patients with chronic pain especially when a broader assessment of symptoms is desired. All participants completed a set of questionnaires on demographic variables, cause, pain intensity (VAS) and quality of life (EORTC qlq c30). A total of two hundred participants were enrolled including 100 patients with chronic pain. Chronic pain was defined as one which is persisting beyond 3 months. The study revealed significantly decreased quality of life in patients with chronic pain as compared to general population (p?<?0.001). Patients with chronic pain had significantly decreased score in Physical functioning, Role functioning, emotional and social functioning on functional scales and increased scores of pain, fatigue, sleep disturbances and financial difficulties on symptom scales. The study revealed sex-related differences on the QoL with females having a lower global QOL. It is thus concluded that patients with chronic pain especially females have decreased quality of life as compared to general population     

Toy-oriented changes in hand and joint kinematics during the emergence of purposeful reaching

Infants first consistently reach for objects between 3 and 5 months of age. In the months before reaching, infants produce a variety of arm movements. The relationship between these early arm movements and the emergence of purposeful reaching is still unclear. The purpose of the present study was to determine how groups of non-reaching, nearly reaching, and newly reaching infants changed the kinematics of their spontaneous arm movements in the presence of a toy. Five infants in each of these groups were observed with a high-speed motion capture system during trials with and without a toy present. Kinematic analyses examined 3D hand, shoulder, and elbow motions. Our results suggest that with a toy present, non-reachers altered their movement quantity whereas near- and new-reachers altered their movement quality through spatio-temporal dissociation and reorientation of the arm. When comparing the changes across groups we observed three preliminary patterns of toy-oriented changes. Our results join other studies to strengthen the relationship between early arm movements and purposeful reaching. Future longitudinal studies are now required to begin to fully understand the complex process by which infants adapt their early arm movements for purposeful behaviors.