Digital Commons Network^™

The Spiritual Prodigy, The Reluctant Guru, And The Saint: Mirabai And Collaborative Leadership At Hari Krishna Mandir, Nancy M. Martin

Religious Studies Faculty Articles and Research

This article explores the life and influence of Indira Devi Niloy (1920–1997) who in 1949 began to encounter the sixteenth-century saint–poet Mirabai during her meditative trance states. She would recount songs, stories, and teachings that the saint gave to her as well as scenes from Mirabai’s life that she witnessed as an observer and at other times experienced directly as a participant. Their ongoing relationship would have a tremendous influence on Indira Devi as well as her guru Dilip Kumar Roy (1897–1980) and the increasingly international community that grew up around them. Their interactions and Indira Devi’s reports in turn …

Title-Molecular Diagnostics Of Dystrophinopathies In Sri Lanka Towards Phenotype Predictions: An Insight From A South Asian Resource Limited Setting, Nalaka Wijekoon, Lakmal Gonawala, Pyara Ratnayake, Roshan Liyanage, Dhammika Amaratunga, Yetrib Hathout, Harry W. M. Steinbusch, Ashwin Dalal, Eric P. Hoffman, K. Ranil D. De Silva

Pharmacy Faculty Scholarship

Background: The phenotype of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) and Becker muscular dystrophy (BMD) patients is determined by the type of DMD gene variation, its location, effect on reading frame, and its size. The primary objective of this investigation was to determine the frequency and distribution of DMD gene variants (deletions/duplications) in Sri Lanka through the utilization of a combined approach involving multiplex polymerase chain reaction (mPCR) followed by Multiplex Ligation Dependent Probe Amplification (MLPA) and compare to the international literature. The current consensus is that MLPA is a labor efficient yet expensive technique for identifying deletions and duplications in the …

U.S. Invasion Of Afghanistan: A Critical Analysis Of American South Asian Policy, Kerem Tasdan

Student Research – Politics and Government

This study will offer a critical analysis of U.S. foreign policy in South Asia specifically centered around America’s invasion of Afghanistan in 2001 and its aftereffects. The 2001 Invasion of Afghanistan was a pivotal moment not only in the geopolitical landscape of the nation of Afghanistan but also in shaping the outline of American foreign policy in the broader South Asia region. This study embarks on a critical examination of the multifaceted repercussions stemming from the U.S. intervention in Afghanistan, analyzing its profound impact on the destabilization of Afghanistan itself and its intricate ramifications on the broader South Asian geopolitical …

Clinical Characteristics, Management, And 5-Year Survival Compared Between No Standard Modifiable Risk Factor (Smurfless) And ≥ 1 Smurf Acs Cases: An Analysis Of 15,051 Cases From Pakistan, Sana Sheikh, Ghazal Peerwani, Bashir Hanif, Salim S. Virani

Section of Cardiology

Background: There has been an increase in Acute Coronary Syndrome (ACS) patients without standard modifiable risk factors i.e. hypertension, diabetes, dyslipidemia, and tobacco use (SMuRFless) compared to the patients with ≥ 1 SMuRF but this has not been studied in South Asia despite them being a high-risk population. We conducted a comparative analysis of first episodes of ACS cases admitted to a tertiary cardiac center in Pakistan between SMuRFless and ≥ 1 SMuRF patients for clinical presentation, management, in-hospital, and 5-year mortality.
Methods: We undertook a retrospective study and data of 15,051 patients admitted at Tabba Heart Institute (THI) with …

India's Neighbourhood Outreach | What Lies Ahead For South Asia In 2023?, Suhasini Haidar

Documents

No abstract provided.

Textures Of Purāṇic Transmission: A Contemporary Vernacular Exposition Of A Sanskrit Purāṇa, Sucharita Adluri Ms.

Philosophy and Religious Studies Department Faculty Publications

It is well known that, contrary to the transmission of the Vedas, the purāṇas continually incorporated ever more information as they circulated as oral texts for centuries. This flexible nature has led to their denotation along with epics as ‘fluid texts’ or textual and/or cultural ‘process[es]’. Integral to popular consumption of purāṇic lore were the exegetes—expounders who were trained in reciting and interpreting the purāṇas and who incorporated material both oral and written in their delivery in temples or other performance spaces. Bailey notes that ‘fully understanding the purāṇa as a cultural phenomenon in the development and transmission of Hindu …

Assessment Of Spatio-Temporal Variations In Pm2.5 And Associated Long-Range Air Mass Transport And Mortality In South Asia, Md Sariful Islam, Shimul Roy, Tanmoy Roy Tusher, Mizanur Rahman, Ryley C. Harris

Political Science & Geography Faculty Publications

Fine particulate matter (PM_2.5) is associated with adverse impacts on ambient air quality and human mortality; the situation is especially dire in developing countries experiencing rapid industrialization and urban development. This study assessed the spatio-temporal variations of PM_2.5 and its health impacts in the South Asian region. Both satellite and station-based data were used to monitor the variations in PM_2.5 over time. Additionally, mortality data associated with ambient particulate matter were used to depict the overall impacts of air pollution in this region. We applied the Mann–Kendall and Sen’s slope trend analysis tool to investigate the …

Health And Socioeconomic Resource Provision For Older People In South Asian Countries: Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan And Sri Lanka Evidence From Neesama, Natasha Roya Matthews, George James Porter, Mathew Varghese, Nidesh Sapkota, Murad Khan, Ammu Lukose, Stella-Maria Paddick, Malathie Dissanayake, Naila Zaman Khan, Richard Walker

Brain and Mind Institute

Background: The global population is ageing rapidly, with low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) undergoing a fast demographic transition. As the number of older adults in LMICs increases, services able to effectively address their physical and mental health needs will be increasingly important.

Objective: We review the health and socioeconomic resources currently available for older people in South Asian countries, Bangladesh, India, Nepal, Pakistan and Sri Lanka, to identify gaps in available resources and assess areas for improvement.

Methods: We conducted a search of grey and published literature via Google Search, Compendex, EBSCO, JSTOR, Medline, Ovid, ProQuest databases, …

Hypertension In Women: A South-Asian Perspective, Fatima Farrukh, Amin Abbasi, Misbah Jawed, Aysha Almas, Tazeen Jafar, Salim S. Virani, Zainab Samad

Medical College Documents

Introduction: Hypertension is an important contributor to cardiovascular disease related morbidity and mortality. Despite the magnitude of its negative impact on cardiovascular outcomes, treatment and control of hypertension remain suboptimal in both men and women.
Materials and methods: Numerous databases, i.e., PubMed, ScienceDirect, etc., were searched using keywords to identify relevant studies to our narrative review. The findings from the most pertinent articles were summarized and integrated into our narrative review on hypertension in women.
Results: The pathophysiology of essential hypertension is still being delineated in both men and women; there are multiple sex specific factors in association with the …

Conclusion: Comparing Women's Representation In Asian Parliaments, Devin K. Joshi

Research Collection School of Social Sciences

This chapter explains important findings from this study while identifying common trends across Asia and the sub-regions of South Asia, Southeast Asia, and East Asia. It examines to what degree Asian parliamentarians have prioritized substantive representation of women (SRW). It assesses whether SRW was a primary reason or motivation behind why members of parliament (MPs) entered politics in the first place and whether they viewed SRW as a pressing issue for their governments to address. MPs interviewed in this study expressed what they felt were the most important issues today that need government’s attention. MPs were asked whether they make …

Social Contributors For The Rise Of Covid-19 Infections In South Asia: A Large Cross-Sectional Survey, Zouina Sarfraz, Azza Sarfraz, Muzna Sarfraz, Nishwa Azeem, Namrata Hange, Miguel Felix, Ivan Cherrez-Ojeda

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: The ongoing global coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus-2 (SARS-CoV-2) was first reported in South Asia on 30th January 2020 in India. Ever since, certain countries have witnessed multiple waves of COVID-19, requiring attention by public health experts and strategists in the region. The objectives of this study are to assess social contributors to the recurrent waves of COVID-19 in South Asia including first demographic traits, second household characteristics and social measures, third workplace trends and personal protective equipment use, and fourth satisfaction and attitudes concerning public health measures and vaccination status. …

Community-Based Asthma Assessment In Young Children: Adaptations For A Multicentre Longitudinal Study In South Asia, Mohammad Shahidul Islam, Samin Huq, Steven Cunningham, Jurgen Schwarze, Asmd Ashraful Islam, Mashal Amin, Farrukh Raza, Benazir Baloch, Muhammad Imran Nisar, Sajid Bashir Soofi

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Systematic assessment of childhood asthma is challenging in low- and middle-income country (LMIC) settings due to the lack of standardised and validated methodologies. We describe the contextual challenges and adaptation strategies in the implementation of a community-based asthma assessment in four resource-constrained settings in Bangladesh, India, and Pakistan.
Method: We followed a group of children of age 6-8 years for 12 months to record their respiratory health outcomes. The study participants were enrolled at four study sites of the 'Aetiology of Neonatal Infection in South Asia (ANISA)' study. We standardised the research methods for the sites, trained field staff …

Child Mortality In Africa And South Asia: A Multidimensional Research And Policy Framework, Rachel Kimani, Samwel Gatimu

School of Nursing & Midwifery, East Africa

Globally, progress has been made to address the diagnosis and management of common and avoidable acute illnesses that contribute to child mortality. Nevertheless, regions across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia continue to have the highest rates of mortality in children younger than 5 years, with most deaths occurring after discharge from health facilities, indicating a gap in care following hospitalisation.

Childhood Mortality During And After Acute Illness In Africa And South Asia: A Prospective Cohort Study, Childhood Acute Illness And Nutrition (Chain) Network, Abdoulaye Hama Diallo, Abu Sadat Mohammad Sayeem Bin Shahid, Ali Fazal Khan, Ali Faisal Saleem, Benson O. Singa, Blaise Siezanga Gnoumou, Caroline Tigoi, Syed Asad Ali, Zaubina Kazi

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Mortality among children with acute illness in low-income and middle-income settings remains unacceptably high and the importance of post-discharge mortality is increasingly recognised. We aimed to explore the epidemiology of deaths among young children with acute illness across sub-Saharan Africa and south Asia to inform the development of interventions and improved guidelines.
Methods: In this prospective cohort study, we enrolled children aged 2-23 months with acute illness, stratified by nutritional status defined by anthropometry (ie, no wasting, moderate wasting, or severe wasting or kwashiorkor), who were admitted to one of nine hospitals in six countries across sub-Saharan Africa and …

A Note On The Relationship Between Covid-19 And Stock Market Return: Evidence From South Asia, Md Arafat Rahman, Md Mohsan Khudri, Muhammad Kamran, Pakeezah Butt

Research outputs 2014 to 2021

Purpose:

The transformation of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) from a regional health crisis in a Chinese city to a global pandemic has caused severe damage not only to the natural and economic lives of human beings but also to the financial markets. The rapidly pervading and daunting consequences of COVID-19 spread have plummeted the stock markets to their lowest levels in many decades especially in South Asia. This concern motivates us to investigate the stock markets’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic in four South Asian countries: Bangladesh, India, Pakistan and Sri Lanka. This study aims to investigate the causal impact of …

An Epidemiological, Strategic And Response Analysis Of The Covid-19 Pandemic In South Asia: A Population-Based Observational Study, Hafiz Muhammad Salman, Javaria Syed, Atif Riaz, Zouina Sarfraz, Azza Sarfraz, Syed Hashim Abbas Ali Bokhari, Ivan Cherrez Ojeda

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Introduction: South Asia has had a dynamic response to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. The overall burden and response have remained comparable across highly-burdened countries within the South Asian Region.
Methodology: Using a population-based observational design, all eight South Asian countries were analyzed using a step-wise approach. Data were obtained from government websites and publicly-available repositories for population dynamics and key variables.
Results: South Asian countries have a younger average age of their population. Inequitable distribution of resources centered in urban metropolitan cities within South Asia is present. Certain densely populated regions in these countries have better testing and healthcare facilities …

Sweet Asceticism: An Ethnographic Study Of Female Renouncers In The Chaitanya Vaiṣṇava Tradition, Leena Taneja

All Works

This paper is based on an ethnographic study which aims to examine female asceticism in the Chaitanya Vaishnava sect, a Hindu devotional school found in the region of Vrindavan in Northwest India. Asceticism, meaning to renounce worldly life, is deeply rooted in Hindu practice. Yet, despite its wide acceptance, female asceticism has remained on the margins of Hindu religious experience. Despite the lack of a model of asceticism for women, scripturally and sociologically, female ascetics are a growing religious group in India. This paper seeks to use empirical data collected during two years of fieldwork to examine how asceticism is …

A Mediation Analysis Of The Role Of Girl Child Marriage In The Relationship Between Proximity To Conflict And Past-Year Intimate Partner Violence In Post-Conflict Sri Lanka, Ruvani W. Fonseka, Lotus Mcdougal, Anita Raj, Elizabeth Reed, Rebecka Lundgren, Lianne Urada, Jay G. Silverman

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Background
Studies from many contexts indicate that proximity to conflict is associated with increased likelihood of intimate partner violence (IPV), and girl child marriage is associated with both proximity to conflict and increased IPV. In this study, we consider whether girl child marriage acts as a mediator of the association between proximity to conflict and IPV in the context of Sri Lanka, which sustained long-term conflict until 2009.
Methods
We analyzed responses of currently partnered women between ages 18 and 49 in the 2016 Sri Lankan Demographic and Health Survey (N = 13,691). Using logistic regression analyses, we measured associations …

Does Proximity To Conflict Zones Moderate Associations Between Girl Child Marriage, Intimate Partner Violence, And Contraception In Postconflict Sri Lanka?, Ruvani W. Fonseka, Lotus Mcdougal, Anita Raj, Elizabeth Reed, Rebecka Lundgren, Lianne Urada, Jay G. Silverman

Faculty Research, Scholarly, and Creative Activity

Women’s primary contraceptive method type is impacted by the gender inequities of girl child marriage and intimate partner violence (IPV). Outside of South Asia, proximity to conflict zones has been found to impact contraceptive use, girl child marriage, and IPV, possibly moderating associations between these variables. We created multinomial regression models using the 2016 Demographic and Health Survey data from postconflict Sri Lanka to study associations between primary contraceptive method type (modern spacing methods, sterilization, and traditional methods compared to no method) and the gender inequities of girl child marriage and past year sexual, physical, and emotional IPV and to …

Clinical Characteristics And Prognostic Factors Of Atrial Fibrillation At A Tertiary Center Of Pakistan – From A South-Asian Perspective – A Cross-Sectional Study, Intisar Ahmed, Aiysha Nasir, Pirbhat Shams, Hunaina Shahab, Muhammad Hassan, Faryal Subhani, Ghurfan Adnan, Awais Farhad, Aamir Hameed, Yawer Saeed

Section of Cardiology

Background: There is lack of large data from South-Asian region on atrial fibrillation and it is imperative that clinical presentation, prognostic factors, management pursued, and outcomes are known for this part of the world. Once collective evidence for the region is known, region-specific guidelines can be laid forward.
Objectives: To evaluate clinical characteristics and prognostic factors of atrial fibrillation at a tertiary care center of Pakistan.
Methods: This was a retrospective study conducted at a tertiary care center of Pakistan. Period of study ranged from July-December 2018. All hospitalized patients who were admitted with atrial fibrillation as a primary or …

Conflict, Extremism, Resilience And Peace In South Asia; Can Covid-19 Provide A Bridge For Peace And Rapprochement?, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Arun Mitra, Afsah Salman, Fawad Akbari, Suraya Dalil, Fyezah Jehan, Mushtaque Chowdhury, Saroj Jayasinghe, Purnima Menon, Samiran Nundy

Institute for Global Health and Development

Abstract, issue, and pagination are not provided by the author/publisher

The Double Burden Of Malnutrition And Associated Factors Among South Asian Adolescents: Findings From The Global School-Based Student Health Survey, Sara Estecha Querol, Romaina Iqbal, Laura Kudrna, Lena Al-Khudairy, Paramijit Gill

Community Health Sciences

The health and nutrition of the global adolescent population have been under-researched, in spite of its significant size (1.2 billion). This study investigates the prevalence and associated factors of malnutrition (stunting, thinness and overweight) among adolescents living in South Asia. The sample analysed was 24,053 South Asian schooled adolescents aged 12-15 years that participated in the cross-sectional Global School-Based Student Health Survey (GSHS) between 2009 and 2016. The prevalence of stunting, thinness and overweight was calculated using the World Health Organization (WHO) Child Growth Reference 2007. Associations between the three forms of malnutrition and their possible associated factors were assessed …

Direct Maternal Morbidity And The Risk Of Pregnancy-Related Deaths, Stillbirths, And Neonatal Deaths In South Asia And Sub-Saharan Africa: A Population-Based Prospective Cohort Study In 8 Countries, Imran Ahmed, Shabina Ariff, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Muhammad Ilyas, Fyezah Jehan, Usma Mehmood, Karim Muhammad, Muhammad Imran Nisar, Sajid Bashir Soofi, Yaqub Wasan, Anita K. M. Zaidi

Woman and Child Health

Background: Maternal morbidity occurs several times more frequently than mortality, yet data on morbidity burden and its effect on maternal, foetal, and newborn outcomes are limited in low- and middle-income countries. We aimed to generate prospective, reliable population-based data on the burden of major direct maternal morbidities in the antenatal, intrapartum, and postnatal periods and its association with maternal, foetal, and neonatal death in South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa.
Methods and findings: This is a prospective cohort study, conducted in 9 research sites in 8 countries of South Asia and sub-Saharan Africa. We conducted population-based surveillance of women of reproductive …

Smoking Cessation Interventions In South Asian Region: A Systematic Scoping Review, Sajid Iqbal, Rubina Barolia, Pammla Petrucka, Laila Ladak, Rameesha Rehmani, Abdul Kabir

School of Nursing & Midwifery

Background: Cigarette smoking is one of the most preventable causes of morbidities and mortalities. Since 2005, the World Health Organization Framework Convention for Tobacco Control (WHO-FCTC) provides an efficient strategic plan for tobacco control across the world. Many countries in the world have successfully reduced the prevalence of cigarette smoking. However, in developing countries, the prevalence of cigarette smoking is mounting which signifies a need of prompt attention. This scoping review aims to explore the extent and nature of Smoking Cessation (SmC) interventions and associated factors in South Asian Region (SAR) by systematically reviewing available recently published and unpublished literature. …

Adolescent Undernutrition In South Asia: A Scoping Review, Sara Estecha Querol, Paramjit Gill, Romaina Iqbal, Maartje Kletter, Neslihan Ozdemir, Lena Al-Khudairy

Community Health Sciences

Undernutrition is a growing public health challenge affecting growth and development during adolescence in many low- and middle-income countries. This scoping review maps the evidence on adolescent undernutrition (stunting, thinness and micronutrient deficiencies) in South Asia and highlights gaps in knowledge. Using Arksey and O'Malley's framework and the Joanna Briggs Institute Reviewers' Manual, the search included electronic bibliographic databases (Medline (OVID), Embase, Cochrane Library, Web of Science, CINAHL, PsycInfo, and Scopus) as well as various grey literature sources published up to March 2019. In total, 131 publications met the inclusion criteria of this review. All the included evidence used quantitative …

Early Marriage And Early Childbearing In South Asia: Trends, Inequalities, And Drivers From 2005 To 2018, Samuel Scott, Phuong Hong Nguyen, Sumanta Neupane, Priyanjana Pramanik, Priya Nanda, Zulfiqar Ahmed Bhutta, Kaosar Afsana, Purnima Menon

Woman and Child Health

Early marriage (EM) and early childbearing (ECB) have far-reaching consequences. This study describes the prevalence, trends, inequalities, and drivers of EM and ECB in South Asia using eight rounds of Demographic and Health Survey data across 13 years. We report the percentage of ever-married women aged 20-24 years (n = 105,150) married before 18 years (EM) and with a live birth before 20 years (ECB). Relative trends were examined using average annual rate of reduction (AARR). Inequalities were examined by geography, marital household wealth, residence, and education. Sociodemographic drivers of changes for EM were assessed using regression decomposition analyses. We …

South Asian Economies In Two Imperialist Regimes Between 1950 And 2020, Vamsi Vakulabharanam

PERI Working Papers

This chapter discusses the evolution of post-colonial South Asian economies using the triad of dominant classes, state and imperialism. Two key insights help us make sense of this evolution. First, the dominant classes such as landed interests, private capital and government bureaucrats in South Asia were able to prevent a radical/progressive restructuring of the economies from the very outset. Any deep crisis that threatened to radically transform the existing social order was solved through an ‘imperialist fix’, whereby the dominant classes in conjunction with the state sought external help (e.g. ‘Green Revolution’ in the wake of food crises of 1960s). …

Diagnostic Value Of Clinical Features To Distinguish Enteric Fever From Other Febrile Illnesses In Bangladesh, Nepal, And Pakistan, Kristen Aiemjoy, Dipesh Tamrakar, Shampa Saha, Shiva R. Naga, Alexander T. Yu, Ashley Longley, Kashmira Date, Caitlin Hemlock, Farah Naz Qamar, Samir K. Saha

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Enteric fever, a bacterial infection caused by Salmonella enterica serotypes Typhi and Paratyphi A, frequently presents as a nonlocalizing febrile illness that is difficult to distinguish from other infectious causes of fever. Blood culture is not widely available in endemic settings and, even when available, results can take up to 5 days. We evaluated the diagnostic performance of clinical features, including both reported symptoms and clinical signs, of enteric fever among patients participating in the Surveillance for Enteric Fever in Asia Project (SEAP), a 3-year surveillance study in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan.
Methods: Outpatients presenting with ≥3 consecutive days …

Utilization Of Blood Culture In South Asia For The Diagnosis And Treatment Of Febrile Illness, Caitlin Hemlock, Stephen P. Luby, Shampa Saha, Farah Naz Qamar, Jason R. Andrews, Samir K. Saha, Dipesh Tamrakar, Kashmira Date, Ashley T. Longley, Denise O. Garrett, Isaac I. Bogoch

Department of Paediatrics and Child Health

Background: Blood culture is the current standard for diagnosing bacteremic illnesses, yet it is not clear how physicians in many low- and middle-income countries utilize blood culture for diagnostic purposes and to inform treatment decisions.
Methods: We screened suspected enteric fever cases from 6 hospitals in Bangladesh, Nepal, and Pakistan, and enrolled patients if blood culture was prescribed by the treating physician. We used generalized additive regression models to analyze the probability of receiving blood culture by age, and linear regression models to analyze changes by month to the proportion of febrile cases prescribed a blood culture compared with the …

Hemoglobin Concentrations And Adverse Birth Outcomes In South Asian Pregnant Women: Findings From A Prospective Maternal And Neonatal Health Registry, Sumera Aziz Ali, Shiyam Sunder Tikmani, Sarah Saleem, Archana B Patel, Patricia L Hibberd, Shivaprasad S Goudar, Sangappa Dhaded, Richard J Derman, Janet L Moore, Elizabeth M Mcclure, Robert L Goldenberg

Global Health Articles

BACKGROUND: While the relationship between hemoglobin (Hb) concentrations and pregnancy outcomes has been studied often, most reports have focused on a specific Hb cutoff used to define anemia. Fewer studies have evaluated pregnancy outcomes across the entire range of Hb values. Moreover, to date, most studies of the relationship of Hb concentrations to pregnancy outcomes have been done in high-income countries. Thus, we have sought to determine the relationship between the range of maternal Hb concentrations and adverse birth outcomes among South Asian pregnant women.

METHODS: For this study, we used data collected from two South Asian countries (Pakistan - …