The History of the South East Asian Peninsular Games,1959–1975

After the Second World War the Southeast Asian countries of Burma (1948), Laos (1954), Cambodia (1955), South Vietnam (1955), Malaya (1957), and Singapore (1959) sought independence from the British, French and Japanese colonialists. The first post Second World War and post-colonial biannual multisport Southeast Asian Games was held in Bangkok in 1959 among these countries (and Thailand) although they were relatively poor developing countries. Referring to official reports of the eight bi-annual SEAP Games and other sources of information this research studies how the organization of the eight SEAP Games since 1959 contributed to the nation building process of each country and shaped the political landscape. This was carried out by creating a national identity through sports in each country as well as creating a sense of regional cooperation during periods of war, shifting boundaries and identities. This was done through rituals to legitimize newly ascended constitutional monarchies and heads of states, national flags and athletes' national identity during competition. The SEAP Games also gradually opened avenues for women's participation similar to female athletes in the Olympic Games. It also provided opportunities for promising athletes to shine, improve and compete at higher levels at the Asian and Olympic Games.     

The Sporting Lives of Sir Shenton Thomas and the Male European Internees at Changi Prison Camp During the Japanese Occupation of Singapore, 1942–1945

During the Japanese occupation of British Malaya and Southeast Asia from the years 1942 to 1945 there were reports of POWs being allowed to play cricket, football, rugby and basketball, as told by Kevin Blackburn in The Sportsmen of Changi published in 2012. This research about the sporting lives of a Governor and male European internees at Singapore's Changi prison is likely to be first detailed research on this topic. The authors depended mainly on four published diaries and 262 issues of the men's camp newspaper, Changi Guardian, to account for the male internees' casual and competitive cricket, football, hockey, volleyball, badminton, tennis and boxing matches that were played during internment. The Japanese Military Administration allowed the male internees to organize their daily lives and play games that they indulged in during the pre-War period as the British dominated the Singapore Cricket Club, Penang Cricket Club and Perak Club. The internees were able to play the various games and matches in spite of the limited food and sparse facilities. Many of the cricket and football games that were played were organized as inter-state, inter-club or league matches. These games were played with improvized equipment and rules.     

Distribution of Methionine Synthase Reductase (MTRR) Gene A66G Polymorphism in Indian Population

Methionine synthase reductase (MTRR) is an important enzyme of the folate/homocysteine pathway. It is responsible for regulation of methionine enzyme by reductive methylation. A common variant A66G is reported in the FMN-binding domain of the MTRR gene, which leads to substitution of isoleucine by methionine (I22M) in MTRR enzyme with reduced activity. Reduced catalytic activity of enzyme leads to high homocysteine concentration in blood and increases risk for numerous diseases. The frequency of A66G polymorphism varies in different ethnic groups. The present study has been designed to evaluate the frequency of MTRR A66G gene polymorphism in the Eastern UP population by PCR–RFLP method. Along with this we also performed a meta-analysis to evaluate the global prevalence of this polymorphism. Databases were screened to identified the eligible studies. The prevalence of the G allele and GG genotype was determined by the use of prevalence proportion with 95% CI. Open meta-analyst software was used for the meta-analysis. Total 1000 blood samples were analyzed, the frequencies of A and G alleles were 0.35 and 0.65 respectively. Meta-analysis results revealed that the prevalence of G allele and GG genotype were 49.4% (95% CI 40.6–58.1, p ≤ 0.001) and 24.3% (95% CI 17.8–30.9, p ≤ 0.001) respectively. In sub-group meta-analysis, the lowest frequency of G allele was found in South America (32.7%; 95% CI 14.1–51.3, p ≤ 0.001), and highest in Asia (56.4%; 95% CI 39.5–73.3, p ≤ 0.001). The results of the meta-analysis showed that the Asian population has the highest frequency of G allele and highest frequency of the GG genotype was found in the European population.     

Antarctic Harsh Environment as Natural Stress Model: Impact on Salivary Immunoglobulins, Transforming Growth Factor-β and Cortisol Level

The Antarctic continent on the planet Earth is full of environmental extremes. It is considered as natural stress model. Therefore, the present study examined the effect of harsh environment on the certain salivary markers of 28th Indian Antarctic expeditioners. Thirty healthy men and women (median age 36 year; range 22–61 year) participated in this study. Parameters measured were salivary IgA (SIgA), IgM (SIgM), TGF-β and cortisol level at three different time points: (I) before leaving India on 26th October 2008 for base line level; (II) after 1 month on-board journey on 31st January 2009 in Southern Ocean and (III) after 1 month staying at Maitri, Antarctica on 3rd March 2009. Our observation indicated that Ship borne journey and Antarctic environment increased the SIgA levels while that of SIgM level was not altered on-board but decreased by staying for 1 month at Antarctica. No significant alteration was found in the TGF-β and cortisol level at any point of time. The present study concluded that ship borne journey and Antarctic environment may induce the SIgA level while SIgM level decreased in environmental extremes of Antarctica.     

Cord Blood Insulin Levels: It’s Correlation with Gender,Birth Weight and Placental Weight in Term Newborns

The cause of more insulin resistance in female than males are still unknown. To know the cause from early life, normal values of relevant parameters are required. So, aim of this study was to determine the reference levels of glucose and insulin in cord blood of term newborns and to examine their effects on gender, placental and birth weight of term newborns. In cross sectional study 60 consecutive term newborns were included from constituent hospitals. Placental and birth weights were measured and cord blood was collected for estimation of serum insulin and plasma glucose. Plasma glucose estimation was done by auto analyzer (GOD–POD method) and serum insulin analysis was done using Insulin ELISA Kit. After analysis, mean ± 2SD used for estimating cord blood insulin and glucose levels, which were 10.1 ± 7.8 μIU/mL and 67.8 ± 33.8 mg/dL respectively. Correlation of insulin with both birth weight and placental weight were r = 0.359 and 0.41 respectively; p < 0.001. Interestingly we found higher insulin levels in females as compared to male newborns in spite of having lower birth weight in them. In conclusion this study reported the levels of insulin and glucose in cord blood of term newborns. Incidentally, this is the first study as per our knowledge to report significant correlation between cord blood insulin, glucose with birth weight, placental weight and gender in south India. Female newborns had higher insulin levels than males, despite lesser birth weight can be attributed to intrinsic insulin resistance in them.     

Effect of thiazide drug compound on the testicular protein and cholesterol contents of albino rat

In this study the effect of thiazide diuretic compound on the protein and cholesterol contents in the testes of albino rats as the experimental model. The drug thiazide was administered orally daily for 10,20 and 30 days at the dose of 100mg/kg body weight. Total protein decrease in the testes of rats were evidenced may be due to the side effects of thiazide drug compound which is linked with the hyponatremia and protein metabolism. An elevated level of cholesterol contents observed in thiazide treated rats also revealed that the side effect of drug compound thiazide and also may be due to the stimulation of catecholamine which is stimulated therefore, the biochemical estimation such as protein and cholesterol in the testes after the thiazide treatment determined the effectiveness of diuretic drug compound would provide clinical evidences of their side effects.     

Children''s Use of Anatomically Detailed Dolls to Recount an Event

The use of anatomically detailed dolls in child sexual abuse investigations has raised several controversial issues related to important theoretical questions in developmental psychology. The present study was designed to examine some of these issues in a methodologically sound experiment. 80 3- and 5-year-old children experienced a social interaction with a male confederate and were later tested under 1 of 4 recall conditions: reenactment with anatomically detailed dolls, reenactment with regular dolls, free recall with visual cues, or free recall without visual cues. The children were also asked a variety of specific and misleading questions, some of them dealing with acts associated with abuse ("He took your clothes off, didn't he?"). Both anatomically detailed and regular dolls along with other props aided 5-year-olds more than 3-year-olds in recounting the event. To use increased rather than decreased age differences. Anatomically detailed dolls did not foster false reports of abuse. Overall, 3-year-olds were more suggestible than 5-year-olds. The findings have implications for children's testimony in child abuse cases and for psychological theories concerning the effects of stimulus support on children's memory.     

A model for end-of-life vehicles management based on green manufacturing

1 Introduction With the increase in the number of vehicles beingused in our human society, the numbers of vehiclesarriving at their end-of-life stage are also in increase. Inthe context of the issuance of ELV managementdirectives by EU[1], the management …