Search

Purpose: A well-established set of language-specific norms for phonological development is imperative in the assessment of child speech sound difficulties. Currently, English norms are used clinically (in the absence of norms for local languages) to determine if a child displays age-appropriate, delayed or disordered speech patterns in Sinhala. This preliminary exploratory study aimed to document phonological processes observed in typically developing Sinhalaspeaking children aged 3;0–6;11 (years;months). Method: The Test of Articulation and Phonology–Sinhala, a picture-based assessment, was devised by the researchers and administered to 102 Sinhalaspeaking children from three geographical locations (Colombo, Kandy, and Gampaha). The quantitative measures included percent consonants correct, percent vowels correct, and percent phonemes correct, while the qualitative analysis identified phonological processes. Results: The quantitative results showed a marked influence of age on phoneme production accuracy with over 75% consonants correct by 3 years 6 months. The qualitative findings demonstrate common typical phonological processes and less common phonological processes in Sinhala compared to the speech pathology and cross-linguistic literature. Common phonological processes included fronting, stopping, and weak syllable deletion widely documented in linguistic and speech-language pathology literature. Many shared phonological processes were observed between Sinhala and Sri Lankan Tamil, the two main local languages, including fronting of retroflex sounds and lateralization. The phonological process of denasalization of prenasalized stops was observed in Sinhala, with no documentation of the phonological process found within the mainstream speech-language pathology literature. Conclusion and Implications: These findings reinforce the need to document and use language-specific typical phonological processes in Sinhala given the implications for early and accurate identification of speech difficulties and intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article presents the conceptual framework of political and physical homelessness as embodiments of precarious homelessness, emanating from the palpable characteristics of housing. This physical housing doesn't just provide shelter, it also gives people a sense of political identity and belonging to a home or country. The uphill Tamil community, coerced into migratory movements from India to Sri Lanka for plantation labor, confronted a formidable existence marked by precarious homelessness. This community nurtured a perception that the absence of their personal dwelling impeded a sense of belonging to the Sri Lankan nation. Even subsequent to acquiring Indian citizenship and repatriating, their precarious homelessness endured during their post-repatriation phase due to transient or inadequate housing conditions in India. This state of precarious homelessness begets housing insecurity and prolonged psychological adversities, encompassing apprehension, strain, and anguish among the Hill Country Tamils. By propounding this framework, the study not only enhances understanding of homelessness dynamics, but also provides scholars and policymakers with a holistic view to address homelessness among stateless and displaced populations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sri Lankan Tamil refugees (SLTRs) have lived in the United Kingdom in substantial numbers for about three decades. However, they remain under‐represented in academic and public discourse, and little is known about their migration experiences. This study examined first‐hand accounts of such experiences, with special attention paid to identity and acculturation. Data were collected through four semi‐structured interviews and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). The results suggest that SLTRs' experience of conflict as an imposed life disruption continues to shape their adaptation, identity, and meaning‐making ("Afflicted life"). Changing social identities mediate protection from, as well as risk of, trauma. SLTRs try to remedy the socio‐economic and emotional losses suffered in the conflict, but achieve only a partial compensation. Consequently their repair efforts are a source not only of positive emotions but also of dissatisfaction ("Living past"). Finally, participants' sense of belonging and quest for home represent a challenging socio‐emotional process in which they continue to engage even decades after migration ("Continuing quest for home"). This nuanced analysis of how the past continues to shape lived experience, contributes to the under‐developed literature on qualitative psychological investigations of acculturation, research on forced migration, and the establishment of IPA in social psychology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The increased prevalence of Helicobacter pylori infection and inadequate genetic research on the same, demands a genetic study among Tamil population of South India to unravel the association of NLRP3 (NLR family pyrin domain containing 3) variants with persistent H. pylori infection. This research was aimed to study the correlation between persistent H. pylori infection and influence of such genetic variants in the development of disease progression. In this study, 200 healthy volunteers and 120 H. pylori-positive cases were screened for two NLRP3 variants, rs74163773 and rs10754558, using allelespecific PCR and TaqManTM SNP genotyping assay, respectively. Based on our genotype and allelic distribution, rs74163773 variant did not associate with the risk of developing the persistent infection. However, a significant association of heterozygous CG variant of rs10754558 with patient showing clinical symptoms of gastritis, PUD and persistent infection in the over-dominant, co-dominant and recessive models was found. Our findings suggest that persistent H. pylori infection susceptibility was influenced by genetic variant rs10754558 and its heterozygous CG variant can serve as an independent risk factor in the manifestation of chronic gastritis and PUD in the South Indian Tamils. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study profiled various levels of engagement and related communication behaviours among 50 Asian Indian Tamil autistic children (AUT) and their mothers. The interaction was compared with two groups of mother-child dyads of non-autistic (NA) children, 50 in each group, matched for chronological age (CA), and for language level (LL). Results indicated that despite mother's efforts to engage with their children, autistic children were often 'engaged with objects' or remained 'unengaged' due to children's preference for solitary play, while NA children were often engaged in 'co-ordinated' and 'people engagement'. Across the three groups, mothers predominantly took the lead and dominated the interaction, irrespective of children's language levels. These initiations by the mothers were often to provide instructions and to ask 'What' questions. Autistic children initiated communication predominantly to ask for an object and responded often in the form of negations and protests with limited verbal output or non-verbally. Most of the communication behaviours of both children and mothers in AUT group was quantitatively and qualitatively different when compared to those in both the NA groups, indicating unique nature of interactions despite matching for CA or LL. The observations from the study highlights the need for considering adult's contingent behaviours also, while assessing communication skills of autistic children in order to provide effective intervention. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Pharmacological drugs and medications are being widely used for the control of non-communicable diseases like hypertension. Hill-Bone--Compliance to High Blood Pressure Therapy Scale (HB-HBP) is a newly developed specific questionnaire for assessing the anti-hypertensive medication adherence. Hence, this study was done to translate the HB-HBP in Tamil and to assess the construct validity and reliability of the Tamil version. Materials and Methods: Translation of HB-HBP to native language, Tamil was done by experts and piloted with subsample of hypertensive patients from rural Puducherry. Final Tamil-translated HB-HBP was administered among 328 Tamilspeaking hypertensive patients in the selected villages of rural Puducherry (union territory in South India). Construct validity was assessed by exploratory factor analysis (EFA) through the principal component method. Based on the minimum average partial and parallel analysis, three-factor model was distinguished. Confirmatory factor analysis was done to obtain the goodness-of-fit. Reliability of questionnaire was assessed through Cronbach's alpha coefficient. Results: Three factor structures were obtained with eigenvalues of 6.5045, 2.8165, and 1.2261, respectively, which accounted for 75.34% of variance. Three-factor model assessed by the confirmatory factor method found Chi-square value of 1055.048 (P value <0.001). Goodness of fit revealed acceptable comparative fit index (0.773), Tucker-Lewis index (0721), standardized root mean square residual (0.077), and root mean square error of approximation (0.201). The reliability coefficient (Cronbach's alpha) for the scale was 0.9020. Conclusion: Our study concludes that the HB-HBP questionnaire is internally valid and consistent with a good reliability coefficient for application in Tamil-speaking patients with hypertension. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study engages with debates on Tamil populism using insights from the field. The initial theorists of Tamil populism characterised it broadly into two — assertive populism propagated by the Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (DMK), and paternalist populism promulgated by the All-India Anna Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam (AIADMK). However, recent scholarship has strongly opposed this characterisation, arguing that Tamil populism approximates left populism. With these confounding views as the backdrop, we argue, through field insights, that one cannot discount the formulation of Tamil populism along assertive/paternalist lines. Secondly, we contest the recent formulation that the Dravidian Model approximates left populism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"The Stories Of Us" considers the ways that culture, heritage, and rituals come together. This ethnographic study is guided by methodologies of narrative photovoice that speak to the lived experiences of how five 2nd Generation Queer Tamil Canadians living in Toronto/Scarborough reclaim their Tamil culture and heritage as Queer people living in the West. The intersectional marginalization Queer Tamil people face often ostracizes them from both their Tamil community as well as their Queer community. The participants of this study reflected on their identities growing up as well as how they've engaged with community at different stages of their Queer journey, speaking to their experiences reclaiming their cultural identity as Queer people. Based on the lived experiences of the participants, this data-based study looks at the creative ways that Queer Tamils take up space and reclaim their cultural heritage as a politically and historically silenced community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Lost" is a film that explores the themes of crime, corruption, and the role of investigative journalism in uncovering the truth and holding those in power accountable. The movie follows the story of Vidhi Sahani, a young crime reporter who investigates the disappearance of a youth and uncovers a nexus between crime, corruption, law enforcement, and politics. The film authentically portrays the media spaces and the challenges faced by journalists, while also addressing issues such as caste discrimination, male chauvinism, and gender inequality. Although the film has some flaws in its pacing and character development, it provides a thought-provoking exploration of these important topics. [Extracted from the article]

This world is differentiated by various factors such as civilization, ethnicity, language, religion, culture, and tradition. Each country has its unique culture, tradition, and civilization, operating independently. Amidst these differences, certain cultural elements share a unified perspective across the globe. Examples include worshiping the divine and honoring ancestors. While different nations follow distinct methods of worship and ancestral reverence, the core idea remains unchanged. In ancient times, humans, being nomads, would abandon their dead in the wilderness due to lack of knowledge about handling corpses. Later, as civilizations developed, humans began burying their dead. To identify the burial site, they arranged stones around it. Over time, this practice evolved into erecting a single stone, known as Nadukal, bearing the name and details of the deceased in script. This Nadukal tradition aimed to honour and commemorate the dead, preserving their legacy for future generations. Tamil society adapted this tradition, laying the foundation for idol worship. Although the Nadukal tradition is found worldwide, its significance in Tamil Nadu is uniquely intertwined with the lives of Tamils. While other nations also honoured their dead, Tamils took this tradition to greater heights, restricting it to warriors who died in battle, protected their communities or demonstrated exceptional bravery. In Tamil Nadu, Nadukal was not a common practice for every deceased person. Instead, it was reserved for warriors who died in battle, protected their villages, or performed heroic deeds. There is no evidence of Nadukal or inscriptions dedicated to ordinary citizens. Furthermore, this article focuses on the notion that Tamils were the pioneers of the Nadukal tradition, which served as a precursor to the global societal practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Kongu country was known to the ancient people of Tamil Nadu as a separate territorial entity. It played an essential role in the context of its relationship with the neighbouring regions. The Saiva Saints like Thirunavukkarasar, Tiruganasambandar and Sundaramurti Nayanar highlighted the seven Saiva temples in the Kongu region. Their hymns are based on a poetic composition called Devaram. The study of inscriptions from these seven Saiva temples can be corroborated with literary evidence, which gives a graphic description of the region, the social condition, numerous customs, and traditions. Tamil land was divided into five central territorial divisions: Chera Nadu, Chola Nadu, Pandya Nadu, Thondai Nadu, and Kongu Nadu. Tolkappiyam mentions the three divisions of Kongunadu, Cheetham, panic, and malanadu, while purananuru refers to Kongunadu as a separate division. These sources confirm that the kongunadu had flourished separately for several centuries. This paper aims to trace the spread of Saivism and Lord Shiva Worship in the Kongu country from a historical perspective. The Kongu country enjoyed a premier position in the history of Saivism due to the fact that the people of the country and the ruler had extended their patronage to the Saiva religion. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Like other conflict-torn societies, Sri Lankans have long sought to build peace through constitutional re-design with devolution of power and minority protections. However, the preoccupation with legal norms and institutions runs counter to the widely-held conviction that politicians routinely transgress norms and twist institutions. It is thus imperative to study the lived political realities of power-sharing arrangements, rather than their intended design. The 1987 Thirteenth Amendment devolved state power to the provinces to assuage Tamil separatism. The limited academic work that exists on the Provincial Council system outlines its shortcomings and failures, but there is little scholarship of the councils as a political arena in their own right. This article discusses the politics around the Eastern Provincial Council, especially the brief but unique period between 2015 and 2017 when it was run by Tamil and Muslim parties. More specifically, the empirical material pivots on three Sinhala, Tamil and Muslim Ministers in the Eastern Province and two lower-ranking Muslim politicians. The Provincial Council has very different meaning, legitimacy and utility to these diverse political figures. I argue that we must consider these diverse ethno-nationalist manifestations of provincial politics to understand what the Provincial Council system entails in Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Following three decades of armed conflict, the Government of Sri Lanka (GoSL) defeated the Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam in 2009. The victory was framed as a successful counterterrorism operation, yet, the GoSL's military campaign in the Tamil-populated Northern and Eastern Provinces of Sri Lanka, faces credible allegations of war crimes, crimes against humanity, and genocide. As the armed conflict reached its apex, the Tamil diaspora mobilised politically across the globe and the participation of younger generation Tamils (YGTs), namely, those who were born outside their parents' country of origin, or had settled outside of their ancestral homeland as children, caught the attention of scholars and analysts. Within this small pool of literature, the pervasive and problematic counterterrorism-inspired concept of "radicalisation" surfaced. This article contributes to critical debates on terrorism by analysing the cursory application of a radicalisation framework to the political mobilisation and perspectives of YGTs. Based on critical ethnographic research on YGT activism in the London diaspora, this article provides an alternative to criminalising and marginalising approaches by utilising an emotion-based conceptual framework, derived from social movement studies, to unearth and understand the complex mechanisms, contexts, and processes surrounding their political mobilisation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

While most research on the Tamil diaspora and the conflict in Sri Lanka studies the Tamil diaspora in the United Kingdom and Canada, this article focuses on the role of organized Tamils in Germany. Based on an extensive three years of qualitative field study in Germany and Sri Lanka, and using the theoretical framework of Bercovitch's (2007) conflict cycle, I analyzed the engagement of the Tamil diaspora in Sri Lanka in three phases of the conflict: conflict emergence before the war (until 1983), conflict escalation and the war (1983–2009), and post-conflict reconstruction after the war (from 2009). In each of these phases, they took different positions toward the conflict. Before the war, German Tamil organizations were reluctant to get involved in the conflict. During the war, some Tamil diaspora organizations in Germany were involved in the war to a minor degree by their active membership and political participation in larger umbrella organizations initiated by the Tamil militant organization called Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE). The larger part of the diaspora focused on self-initiated and independent social development projects in Sri Lanka. After the LTTE lost the war, the second generation of Tamils took over leadership positions in the diaspora in Germany and focused on new social and health projects in Sri Lanka. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The prolonged Sri Lankan conflict in Sri Lanka occurred between the majority Sinhala govt. and the minority Sri Lankan Tamils on the island. The discrimination of identity and ethnicity led to major ruins on the land. This paper emphasizes the role of Buddhist values in Sri Lanka during the ethnic conflict. The principles of Buddhism help people rehabilitate and restore peace in the war-torn nation. In particular, the paper attempts to examine the Buddhist values practiced by the people irrespective of their religious denominations during the Civil War, through the literary landscape of Anuk Arudpragasam's The Story of a Brief Marriage. The noble precepts of Buddhism are four noble truths and the eightfold path, which teaches non-violence, selflessness, and tolerance. The doctrines of Buddhism restored humanitarian values at the height of the ethnic conflict in society. The current research paper helps to identify the influence of Buddhism on the people of the island nation in maintaining self-control, self-discipline, and morally upright behaviors. However, it proves the absence and ignorance of the Buddhist precepts which incited many ethnic clashes among the people. Further, it focuses on the causes of the major devastation and the collapse of the Sri Lankan socio-political system and the role of Buddhism in restoring peace in the war-torn nation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indigenous knowledge (INK) and Community knowledge (COK) based development efforts are gaining recognition in India. These are intertwined with local people's ideas, wisdom, perception etc. Different types of INK and COK exist in heterogeneous multilingual Indian society. They are transmitted from one generation to another. Examples taken from the farm practices, leather tanning industry, use of medicinal plants, biodiversity preservation, informal archives and oral history sources suggest that a well orchestrated effort is necessary to preserve INK and COK systems. The present condition of memory institutions like libraries, archives and museums is unsatisfactory. The implementation mechanism for the laws enacted for the purpose of safeguarding cultural artefact and traditional know-how are weak. Coordination among various state controlled and federal agencies is necessary to achieve the results. Prudent use of information and communication technology (ICT) can help to develop a system to collect, process, preserve and proper use of INK and COK. The success will depend on right kind of laws, social and cultural norms, research projects etc. which can create awareness among the professional groups and sensitize the citizens about their age old traditions and skills. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this world of modern data, it is so difficult to recognize handwritten characters for Tamil as many people have different styles of writing, so some of the letters are very difficult to understand and only a few can understand them. So, to overcome this issue, we built an algorithm in which the system could recognize the character and return the output. As it is difficult to understand letters manually for all their text, there is a need for some automatic method. The only intention of character recognition is that it wants to create a high-quality, accurate result that has the important points while considering the outlined input source image. Mostly, natural language processing and machine learning face the same problem with text recognition. The main goal of automatic character recognition is to create a high degree of accuracy as best as a human can do. Character recognition is the process of filtering the required information from the input-trained source to output the most useful content. This paper proposes a CNN-VGG16-RF model (convolution neural network-VGGNet-random forest) which employs an effective method to pick out the correct output. Experimental tests for our model were carried out to evaluate text quality, and the Tamil language dataset from the HP Tamil Lab website was used to compare our model to some other models; our model was found to be more effective in solving the handwritten recognition problem. In this model, we are going to propose Tamil vowels such as 12 letters only for the training and testing process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disability among the geriatric population is a major health issue. Assessment of disability among the elderly population is useful in terms of identifying the needs, setting priorities, and allocating resources. Purpose: To assess the disability level among the geriatric population and to identify factors associated with disability. Methods: Used prevalence study among 384 participants in the age group between 60 and 80 years. Eligible households for interview were selected using systematic random sampling (every 5th household). Trained interviewers carried out the study by direct interviews at the individuals' residences using the WHODAS 2.0 questionnaire. Individuals with normal cognitive status (abbreviated mental test score >6) were included in the study. In determining the overall level of disability, the International Classification of Functioning scale were used: extreme disability (96 to 100%), severe disability (50 to 95%), moderate disability (25 to 49%), mild disability (5 to 24%) and no disability (0 to 4%). Results: Around 32.8% of the study population reported no disability, 40.9% disability was reported by most, and moderate level of disability 24.0%. Analysis of the factors associated with disability level showed the existence of significant relationships between disability score >24 and factors like age, marital status, family type, living arrangement and, physical activity of more than 150 hours per week. Conclusion: Higher disability rate was noted among the elderly in the study population. Increasing age, single member /nuclear family, divorced/widowed individuals, and inadequate physical activity were the factors significantly associated with increasing disability level. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article explores the motivational needs of doctors to retain in the rural areas by reducing their turnover intention. The study investigates the effect of Existential, Relatedness, and Growth (ERG) dimensions on turnover intention of Community Health Centre (CHC) doctors when they are placed in rural and remote areas of Tamil Nadu. This article discovered and examined the link between ERG needs and turnover intention. The study is based on a cross-sectional analytic study design, wherein primary data were gathered using a structured questionnaire on a five-point Likert scale from 318 doctors and processed through descriptive statistics and structural equation modelling using Smart PLS 3. The element of 'growth needs' within the ERG framework has been identified as the most significant predictor of rural CHC doctors' intention to leave their positions. Therefore, policymakers should focus on developing strategies related to this aspect to retain doctors in rural areas. Additionally, researchers and public health practitioners can employ validated ERG instruments to analyse doctors' motivation for choosing rural postings in India. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Stress is an essential determinant of depression, leading to a greater prevalence of depression among medical students than the general population; a vulnerable subgroup. The objective of the present study was to determine the prevalence of depression and its associated factors among undergraduate medical students. Methods: This was an analytical cross-sectional study conducted among medical college students in Salem, Tamil Nadu between October 2021, and December 2022. Beck's Depression Inventory (BDI) was used. Results: The prevalence of depression among undergraduate medial students was 27.0%; 10.2% had mild depression, 5.4% had borderline clinical depression, 8.5% had moderate depression, 2.4% had severe depression, and 0.5% had extreme depression. Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that presence of separated or divorced or single parent, being in Phase II, without satisfactory academic performance, presence of active or chief complaints, conflicts in the family, and recent failures were independent predictors of depression among undergraduate medical students (p<0.05). Conclusion: It is crucial that medical schools prioritize the mental health of their students and provide appropriate resources and support. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Children continue to experience unrelieved moderate to severe pain post operatively despite the evidence to guide practice being readily available. Objectives to ascertain how nurses actually manage post operative pain in children and whether pain management practices adhere to current best practice guidelines.1 Materials and Methods: The sample size was 69 from chettinad hospital and research institute. The research design used in this study is Quantitative descriptive design. Non-probability convenient sampling technique will be used to select the samples. Standardized questionare and checklist was used to collect data. There data was analyzed and tabulated. Result: Study shows Starting with age group majority of nurses about 72.5% were under the age group of 20 to 29. Among the nurses, majority about 63.9% were female, male nurses were very less comparatively. About 70% of pediatric nurses were inadequate in knowledge and 30% of pediatric nurses were moderate in knowledge. About 72.5% of nurses were good in practice and 27.5% of nurses were moderate in practice. There is no association between the selected demographic variables and the level practice of pediatric nurses regarding post operative pain management in children. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Disordered eating behaviors (DEBs) among persons with schizophrenia (PwS) have been reported widely in the literature, with very few studies in India. Robust tools to assess DEB are needed in the vernacular language to capture symptoms of disordered eating accurately. No such tools are available in the Tamil language. Globally, the Eating Attitudes Test (EAT-26) is widely used to assess DEB among PwS. Aim: This study aimed to translate and study the factor structure and reliability of EAT-26 among Tamil-speaking PwS. Materials and Methods: EAT-26 was translated into Tamil following the Oxford linguistic validation process. Experts evaluated its face validity and content validity. One hundred and fifty PwS, aged between 18 and 65 years, who attended the outpatient department of a psychiatric facility, and consented to participate, completed the Tamil version of EAT-26. Test-retest reliability of EAT-26 was assessed by readministering the tool to 30 PwS after two weeks. Data were analyzed using Stata 16.1. Internal consistency and test-retest reliability were computed using Cronbach's alpha and intraclass coefficients, respectively. The factor structure of EAT-26 was explored using principal component analysis (PCA). Spearman's rho was calculated to understand the correlation between the factors. Results: EAT-26 had an internal consistency of 0.71 and test-retest reliability of 0.896. Factor analysis revealed nine latent factors consisting of 21 of the original 26 items on EAT-26. These 21 items could explain a variance of 63.63%. Conclusions: The Tamil version of the EAT-26 is a reliable tool to assess DEB among Tamil-speaking PwS. It can be used to screen PwS for eating disorder risk. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Siddha medicine is a traditional system of healing that originated in South India and is regarded to be one of India's oldest medical systems. Siddha System of Medicine played an important role in the health care scenario of the people in Tamil Nadu. The government sector contributes significantly to the development of the system throughout the country and still the number of users is less. The objective of this study is to understand the demographic profile of the respondents, the awareness and preference for siddha treatment in Kancheepuram district of Tamil Nadu. Data were collected from 252 respondents and the results show the lack of knowledge about the treatment available for various ailments in siddha. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background and Aim: Dichotic listening has been defined as the simultaneous stimulation of both ears and has been used to evaluate a listener's binaural integration/separation ability. Dichotic tests are available in various languages and use varied stimuli. The study aimed to evaluate the differential performance of Tamil-speaking young adults in two tests of dichotic perception namely Dichotic Consonant Vowel (DCV) test and Dichotic Digit Test in Tamil (DDT-T). Methods: Sixty adults with normal hearing aged 18 to 35 years were the participants of the study. All the young adults were native speakers of the Tamil language without significant auditory history. DCV and DDT-T were administered in randomized order at 50 dB SL (re: SRT) in free recall condition. The participants were instructed to respond orally and the responses were noted. Results: Better performance was observed in dichotic digit compared to DCV test for all participants. This was attributed to the higher number of cues available in DDT-T. Further, error analyses of participants' responses revealed that voicing errors were higher with the highest errors in the identification of unvoiced consonant/ta/in both ears. The reason for this could be the lack of contextual cues in DCV test for Tamil-speaking individuals to interpret the voicing feature of a consonant. Conclusion: It can be concluded that DDT-T was more useful in assessing binaural integration ability of native Tamil speakers compared to DCV. It is recommended to be used in the behavioral test battery for evaluating auditory processing disorder in native Tamil speakers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to address gaps in understanding of the lived experiences of caregivers of persons with mental illness in low-income countries. It was conducted among caregivers of persons with mental illness making use of a free non-governmental clinic in and around Chennai, India. The study adopted a qualitative methodology, with semi-structured interviews and life history exercises (n = 29) and six focus group discussions with caregivers (n = 21) and mental health professionals and community-based workers (n = 39). The experiences of caregivers were analyzed in the framework of "The Banyan model of caregiving," which identifies six phases. Major themes in caregivers' experience were: embarrassment and losing honor; fear; awareness; stigma and social exclusion; and reduced social interaction and loneliness. Posttraumatic growth considered as the result of caregiver experiences was found to consist mainly of personal growth and focusing on positive life experiences. Lost opportunities particular to the context of Tamil Nadu were described as the inability to get married, obtaining less education than desired, and loss of employment. Siblings faced lower levels of burden, while elderly mothers experienced especially high levels of burden and lack of happiness in life. Caregiver gains were identified as greater compassion for other people with disabilities, resulting in a desire to help others, as well as increased personal strength and confidence. Understanding the nuances of the caregiving experiences over time can provide a framework to devise more fine-tuned support structures that aim to prevent reductions in social interaction and lost opportunities, and improve a sense of meaning, in order to assist caregivers to continue providing care for their relatives with mental illness in a context with scarce mental health resources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The poem "River ‘Kaveri'" by S. Padmapriya is presented. First Line: Kaveri, Last Line: We all belong to her.

Helping behaviour is thought to play a major role in the evolution of group-living animals. Yet, it is unclear to what extent human males and human females use the same strategies to secure support. Accordingly, we investigate help-seeking over a 5-year period in relation to gender using data from virtually all adults in two Tamil villages (N = 782). Simulations of network dynamics (i.e. stochastic actor-oriented models) calibrated to these data broadly indicate that women are more inclined than men to create and maintain supportive bonds via multiple mechanisms of cooperation (e.g. reciprocity, kin bias, friend bias, generalized exchange). However, gender-related differences in the simulated dynamics of help-seeking are modest, vary based on structural position (e.g. out-degree), and do not appear to translate to divergence in the observed structure of respondents' egocentric networks. Findings ultimately suggest that men and women in the two villages are similarly social but channel their sociality differently. This article is part of the theme issue 'Cooperation among women: evolutionary and cross-cultural perspectives'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Com K. Anandha Nambiyar, the veteran freedom fighter and a leader of railway workers union born and brought up at Kerala and served in Tamil Nadu for 53 years for the upliftment of Tamil Nadu people especially the railway workers. He chose a clerk post in the railway department and joined at Golden Rock in Tamil Nadu. Realizing the importance of workers unity he joined the railway workers union, led the struggle for their rights and emerged as a leader among workers and later joined in the communist movement. His contribution in independent struggle was as significant as many other communist leaders. In the independent India he intensified his struggle for the rights and amenities of railways workers. He was elected as a Member of Parliament for three terms. He was forced to be underground and was imprisoned for many years on many occasions. This chapter discusses about his devoted public life as a trade union leader and as a communist leader. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: The goals of this examination were to survey the information and data of the Coronavirus pandemic among the understudies and the overall population in Tamil Nadu (TN). Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional examination was completed among the understudies and in TN normal public in 2020. A cross-sectional examination was completed by poll apparatus circled through Google structures through web-based media, and information were dissected by Statistical Package Social Sciences Programming (SPSS) form 25, and the outcomes were analyzed utilizing investigation of difference (ANOVA) and Pearson's Chi-square test (χ²). Results: In general, 25.4% of the male and 74.46% of the female respondents showed great information, and practically, 36.25% showed moderate information. 56.43% of the members showed helpless information about COVID-19. The normal information score of understudies was 20.13%, which is viewed as inside the size of good information. Both the school of study and level of instruction fundamentally (P < 0.05) correlated with understudy information. Understudies who studied clinical sciences showed the most noteworthy 58.80% showing a decent information level. A large portion of the understudies utilized the web, television, and other web-based media and broad communications for social occasion data about COVID-19. Conclusion: The present study shows that the majority of students and the general public are aware of the current COVID-19 pandemic and are actively adopting preventative measures, which have stopped the illness from spreading to the next stage of the pandemic in the community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The main psychological stress among medical students was associated with anxiety and depression. Fear of unforeseeable situations, using equipment, speaking with patients, etc., is a typical issue among students. The two factors that are most directly associated with poor emotional states are physical and mental health. Methodology: Students from the Erode district of Tamil Nadu were recruited for this cross-sectional study. The study involved 273 undergraduate students who were randomly selected. Participants were selected by a systematic, random sampling technique. To measure the study's outcomes, the depression, anxiety, and stress scale-42 with 42 items was employed. Statistical significance was shown using a P = 0.05. Results: Among the 273 respondents, 80 (29.30%) were male and 193 (70.70%) were female. Among undergraduate students in Tamil Nadu's Erode district, there was a 40.29% prevalence of depression, a 40.39% prevalence of anxiety, and a 31.04% prevalence of stress. Female students had a 10.25 depression score than male students' 7.75 score. Furthermore, female (11.76) students had more stress scores than male students (9.30). Nursing and MBBS students had more anxiety. Conclusions: Stress, anxiety, and depression all have disturbingly high prevalence rates. Therefore, it is strongly advised to implement stress reduction strategies and to set up a student counseling center. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Though research on assessing posttraumatic growth has been severely critiqued, some evidence suggests close others can observe and report changes in individuals following traumatic life events and are sensitive to idiosyncratic ways in which changes manifest. We extended these findings by investigating corroboration of self-perceived posttraumatic growth (PTG) and depreciation (PTD) as measured by the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory–42 (PTGI-42) among Sri Lankan Tamil war survivors (n = 200). Informants slightly corroborated overall levels of PTG and PTD, while a more nuanced profile analysis procedure revealed overall—but not distinctive—profile agreement. This suggests self–other agreement is modest and may partly reflect shared narratives and collective cultural understandings about how people change after trauma. Results demonstrate further that informants were not sensitive to idiosyncratic ways in which target individuals had changed. Together, the lack of validity evidence suggests that the PTGI-42 may be inadequate in some cross-cultural contexts as a measure of nuanced posttraumatic change (i.e., as a measure of specific changes in the five theorized domains of growth and depreciation). Future work should emphasize culture- and context-sensitive measurement of posttraumatic change, particularly focusing on methods other than retrospective self-reports, such as prospective longitudinal designs. Public Significance Statement: This study suggests a common measure of perceived posttraumatic change may not capture changes among Sri Lankan civil war survivors. Posttraumatic change may manifest differently following collective trauma (e.g., ethnopolitical violence) in collectivistic cultures than it does following idiosyncratic trauma in individualistic cultures (the setting for most posttraumatic change research). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study endeavors to enquire the power of item arrangements in Tamil motion pictures. The past surveys are more focused towards Hollywood films, and the majority of the Indian examinations are concentrated towards Hindi motion pictures. Subsequently, there exists a critical hole for this flow exploration to discover the viability of item position and item advancement in the films. The review bargains on Tamil films, VIP support, buyer mentality, corporate believability, brand picture and buy expectation are thought about to foster the speculations. The review was led utilizing an organized poll which was coursed among 3500 film circumvents Tamil Nadu. The investigation was achieved utilizing Visual PLS and SPSS. The consequences of this examination demonstrate that item situations really do have compelling exploration among Tamil crowds, which likewise has a positive relationship with buy goal. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research article seeks to introduce readers to my dissertation's methodology, where I conceptualize and apply methodology as a form of repatriation in my research project. I do this by first setting the stage of my dissertation, explaining my influences for this methodology of repatriation, breaking down key components of this methodology in relation to my work, and lastly, demonstrating the intent and importance of methodology of repatriation throughout this critically reflexive note. The purpose of this piece is to expand our methodological imaginations as qualitative researchers and to showcase the beginnings of how our personal and political positionalities, theories, and ethics can be beautifully weaved to create research methodologies for healing – and even repatriation. Besides, being able to reimagine academic research methodology – with its roots in harmful Eurocentric, colonial institutions – is itself a form of repatriation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article analyzes stereotypes of Muslims that have recurred in Sinhala literature over the past seven centuries. This temporal span includes (1) a precolonial time when Muslims were a curiosity in Sinhala poetry as rich traders, wild men, and seductive women; (2) an early colonial time when the Portuguese and Dutch displaced more Muslims into the island interior, and Sinhala authors increasingly wrote of them as religious others akin to Tamils; and (3) a late colonial time when British policies forged religo-racial political categories in the decades leading up to the anti-Muslim pogroms of 1915. Each case is also connected to postcolonial instantiations or transformations of these typecasts. This history therefore eschews linear narratives of change to show the recurrent tendencies of social reasoning through stereotyping, past and present. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evidence shows that immigrants face several challenges post migration, impacting their social inclusion. Yet, limited scholarly knowledge exists on older immigrants including Tamils from Sri Lanka. Thus, an exploratory concept mapping (CM) study was conducted in 2017 with 27 Tamil immigrant women and men aged ≥55 years and settled in Toronto, Canada. The aim was to gather their perspectives on factors that help them to feel socially included (focal question). The CM methodology first engaged participants in brainstorming sessions to generate ideas in response to the focal question. Participants then joined sorting and rating sessions and sorted 72 generated items and rated them on a scale of 1–5 for importance and feasibility to initiate a change. Finally, in the interpretation session, participants provided feedback on the visual cluster maps generated through quantitative analysis of the collected data. Participants labelled the seven identified clusters: (a) Services for Employment and Settlement; (b) Financial Independence; (c) Medical System and Senior Care; (d) Adaptation and Integration; (e) Family Harmony; (f) Cultural Interaction and Feeling of Security; and (g) Social Interaction. The clusters one to three were at the top for importance (mean 4.33, 4.22, 4.17) and participants interpreted these as needing policy‐level attention (e.g. credential evaluation, hiring practices) and identified the roles of advocacy and community‐engagement for community‐based programmes (CBPs). The Family Harmony was interpreted as needing 'work within families', while CBPs' culturally sensitive outreach was viewed as valuable. Participant interpretation of other clusters highlighted the role of social networking, trust, belonging, civic engagement and social cohesion through joint working of the community members and CBPs. The findings call for an inter‐sectoral and community‐engaged approach to strengthen the social inclusion of the community. Future research with a larger sample is needed, especially on early settlement experiences and social inclusion of older immigrants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Sri Lankan conflict that officially ended in 2009 resulted not only in large numbers of Tamils leaving the country to join the vast global Tamil diaspora but also created many internally displaced persons (IDPs) from Sri Lanka's Northern Tamil communities who settled in Colombo. This article examines the idea of home among such IDPs, showing how broken memories of an earlier home and different approaches towards return shape feelings of being an 'insider' or 'outsider' among Tamil IDPs in Colombo. Drawing on the life experiences of such IDPs, the article shows that they now often view Colombo as a more suitable home yet are still 'becoming insiders' rather than 'being insiders'. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Canadian Journal of Occupational Therapy is the property of Sage Publications Inc. and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)