People Encounter Research Articles

Social Media as a Lens into Careers During a Changing World of Work

People share and encounter a range of posts on social media that depict different career experiences, such as one's successes or failures. In a continually shifting world of work, observing others' job experiences can be useful for navigating one's own career journey. The present study applies the possible selves theory to understand how viewing people's career experiences on social media might affect viewers' career-related expectations, hopes, and fears. From semi-structured interviews with 19 social media users with different career experiences, this study found that social media posts may facilitate functions of possible selves by 1) increasing people's awareness of new and diverse career paths and 2) motivating people in planning and preparing for a desired possible self. Across these functions, we found that videos were particularly beneficial for uncovering and learning about life in a career and that observing others' career experiences online often evoked social comparison. Through an affordances lens, findings also indicate that social media affordances of visibility and persistence were particularly relevant in developing and assessing career-related possible selves and sometimes strategically managed through leveraging platform algorithms. This paper brings forth empirical contributions to the possible selves theory in the digital age and highlights the significance of social media mechanisms for possible selves. This paper also provides design implications for social media platforms and recommendations for potential career counseling and mentoring strategies that may be useful for individuals navigating and exploring career possibilities.

EXPLOITING OPTIMAL SELF-ATTENTION DEEP LEARNING-BASED RECOGNITION OF TEXTUAL EMOTIONS FOR DISABLED PERSONS

A disability is a significant issue that has posed and continues to pose a challenge. Disability is a basis of frustration because it can be observed as a mental, constraint, cognitive, and physical handicap that inhibits the individual’s growth and involvement. Consequently, significant effort has been put into removing these kinds of restrictions. These initiatives address the trouble that disabled people encounter. People with disabilities often need to rely on others to meet their requirements. Machine learning (ML) is excelling in producing smart cities and offering a secure environment for disabled individuals. Emotional detection is an important research domain that can expose many appreciated inputs. Emotion is expressed differently through speech and facial expressions, gestures, and written text. Emotion detection in a text document is fundamentally a content-based classification task, utilizing models from deep learning (DL), complex systems and natural language processing (NLP). This paper presents an Optimal Self-Attention DL-based Recognition of Textual Emotions (OSADL-RTE) technique for Disabled Persons. The presented OSADL-RTE technique focuses on identifying distinct types of emotions in the textual data. As a primary preprocessing step, the OSADL-RTE technique comprises different phases to transform the input in a useful way. For word embedding, the bag of words (BoWs) approach is exploited. The OSADL-RTE technique derives self-attention long short-term memory (SA-LSTM) approach to identify emotions. Lastly, the arithmetic fractals optimization algorithm (AOA) approach correctly tunes the hyperparameter selection of the SA-LSTM approach. The experimental study of the OSADL-RTE approach occurs on the emotion database. The investigational outcome of the OSADL-RTE approach portrayed a superior accuracy outcome of 99.59% over existing methods.

Yoga Education in the 21st Century: A Comprehensive Exploration of its Significance, Effect, and Connectivity in Modern Societal Contexts

Abstract: This paper aims to present a theoretical model based on a synthesis of ancient knowledge and contemporary research, as well as to argue for the integration of yoga with education in the present educational system. Resilience and overall well-being have become increasingly important in today's hectic and demanding environment. This abstract explores the value of yoga instruction as a transforming tool for dealing with the various issues people encounter nowadays. Yoga is an age-old Indian discipline that combines physical postures called asanas, breathing exercises called pranayama, meditation, and moral teachings to bring the mind, body, and spirit into balance. Regular yoga practice provides many physical, mental, and emotional benefits that have been confirmed by scientific studies. With the current state of affairs marked by high levels of stress, sedentary lifestyles, and rising mental health problems, it is essential to integrate yoga instruction into regular classroom instruction. This abstract explores how yoga's focus on self-awareness, stress reduction, and mindfulness corresponds with the modern world's need for coping strategies against life's stresses. The abstract also looks at how yoga instruction might help people develop resilience, emotional intelligence, and a positive outlook. The practice is a flexible strategy for improving general well-being because it may be applied to different age groups and fitness levels. A proactive approach to addressing the growing health concerns and fostering a culture of self-care is the incorporation of yoga into educational curricula, businesses, and healthcare systems. Additionally, by highlighting the preventative qualities of yoga in healthcare, the abstract underlines the social and economic advantages connected to a population that is healthier and more robust. The way this work compares and contrasts the results-driven current research with the process-driven old knowledge makes it special. This makes it possible to develop a more thorough theoretical model of yoga in education in the present scenario.

“Because we’re dying in here”: A study of environmental vulnerability and climate risks in incarceration infrastructure

This article draws on the stories of formerly incarcerated people to examine the ways in which the physical and social infrastructures of carceral facilities increase incarcerated people's vulnerability to environmental hazards exacerbated by climate change. We present qualitative data from interviews and focus groups with people who have been incarcerated in prisons and/or jails in Colorado regarding their experiences with incarceration infrastructure, amplifying the voices of formerly incarcerated people to identify vulnerabilities which have been deliberately hidden by carceral social and institutional processes, and adding them to the academic dialogue around incarceration and climate change. By providing testimony on the ways in which incarceration infrastructure—how they are designed, built, and maintained—amplify environmental harm, we identify how incarceration infrastructures create environmental vulnerability along axes of temperature, air quality, and water supply even before incarcerated people are exposed to climate hazards. Then, we illustrate ways incarcerated people encounter limits to their agency to mitigate this vulnerability, suggesting the need for structural change. Finally, we provide evidence that climate-related extreme temperatures, wildfires, and flood events experienced by our participants exploited the axes of vulnerability laid out above, affecting the majority (65%) of our 35 study participants. Overall, we argue current carceral infrastructure creates material realities that regularly cross the threshold of cruel and unusual punishment, and our argument supports decarceration as a necessary public policy intervention for robust, just, and humane climate resilience.

Sustainability of Digital Friendship: Insights from Early Buddhist Mettā

One of the significant effects of technology on human relations is visible in friendship. Positively technology through its digital spaces is facilitating friendship that is instant and beyond the limitations of time and space. However, such digital friendships that operate through social media often suffer from issues of trust and sustainability. To resolve this predicament, we need to pause and reflect on how digital friendship can be reframed to improve its sustainability in a practical manner. The primary purpose of this article is to examine how helpful the early Buddhist concept of mittatā (friendship) is in sustaining friendship in the digital age. The article begins by eliciting the moral challenges people encounter in online friendships. The objective is to highlight the need for a more vital concept of friendship, such as the early Buddhist concept of mittatā, that can mitigate the moral concerns in digitized friendship, making it genuine and sustainable. The subsequent part of the article offers an overview of some of the significant theories of friendship upheld in the West and examines whether they can support the sustainability of a digitized friendship. The objective is to reflect upon the lacuna in the practice of such ideas of friendship in the contemporary digital age. To replenish the lacuna, the following section articulates the early Buddhist concept of mittatā as a noble concept of friendship that can be morally relevant and sustainable in this digital world. Based on the philosophical study of the early Buddhist literature, the present article investigates how helpful mettā (loving kindness) in this society to sustain a trustworthy friendship. It proposes an ethical and noble way to nurture and savour an honourable friendship relevant to the digital era by inculcating specific virtues advocated by the Buddha.

Developing a Model to Enhance Employability for Graduates with Disabilities in Negri Sembilan's Private Sector, Malaysia

Purpose: This research is to design a comprehensive strategy to improve employability of graduates who have disabilities in the business sector of Negri Sembilan in Malaysia. Notwithstanding their relevant qualities, these people encounter considerable obstacles to employment, such as attitudinal prejudices, insufficient workplace accommodations, and discrepancies between their skills and employer expectations. The study used a mixed-methods approach to identify significant obstacles and evaluate the readiness of private sector firms to employ handicapped graduates. Findings: The study indicates that while several private sector businesses are inclined to employ graduates with impairments, they encounter obstacles concerning accessibility, knowledge, and preparation. Identified key impediments are inadequate training opportunities, adverse views toward disability, and the absence of support structures inside enterprises. The suggested strategy includes specialized training programs, promotion of inclusive hiring practices, and strategic alliances with disability groups, designed to align the abilities of handicapped graduates with corporate needs. Implications/Values: The results underscore the need for systemic reform in employment processes to promote diversity and fairness throughout the workforce. This concept, by aligning with the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals—especially in fostering decent work and mitigating inequalities—has the potential to cultivate a more inclusive job environment in Negri Sembilan. The results are anticipated to provide significant insights for policymakers, employers, and disability advocacy organizations, facilitating improved socio-economic inclusion and empowerment with disabilities in the labor market.

Sensing and making sense of climate change in a Western European urban setting: Bodily exposures, uncertain epistemologies, and climatic care practices

This article probes the crucial role of the body, embodiment, and sensation in the way people encounter large-scale processes of climate change in the city of Rotterdam, the Netherlands. Exploring how urban denizens in one of the more temperate regions of the world come to know, speak, and conceptualize climate change in their everyday life, we aim to revitalize a conceptual engagement with embodiment and sensation as meaningful modes of knowing and situating the large-scale realities of climate change. Drawing on a series of group conversations with diverse urban dwellers, we empirically (1) highlight moments, settings, and practices within which climate change is sensed as a local and material reality; (2) trace recurring epistemological questions and anxieties that arise around the register of sense-able experience; and (3) show how moments, settings, and practices within which climate change appears as a sense-able reality generate novel forms of what we coin climatic care practices, in which people try to modulate and manage their exposure to changing climatic conditions in the city. In our conclusion, we underscore the multiple and fragmented character of climate change in the everyday lives, knowledges, and practices of these city dwellers; reflect on methodological possibilities to further address climate change as an everyday reality in Western urban settings; and emphasize the urgency of attuning to climate change as a sensed, in addition to a cognitively known or contested, reality at the level of social theory as well as policy-making.

Kosningar, lýðræði og fatlað fólk

Kosningaréttur er grundvallarréttur þegna í lýðræðisríkjum og þátttaka í kosningum álitin ein af mikilvægustu athöfnum borgaranna. Þó að þessi réttindi skuli tryggð öllum þegnum sýna alþjóðlegar rannsóknir að fatlað fólk er víða útilokað frá þátttöku í kosningum. Fatlað fólk er síður líklegt til að kjósa en ófatlað fólk og mætir iðulega ýmsum hindrunum ef það reynir að taka þátt í kosningum. Þessi grein fjallar um kosningaþátttöku fatlaðs fólks með hliðsjón af niðurstöðum alþjóðlegra rannsókna. Í upphafi eru raktar helstu hindranir í vegi kosningaþátttöku fatlaðs fólks og leitast við að svara hvaða áhrif þessar hindranir hafi, ekki aðeins fyrir fatlaða borgara, heldur jafnframt hvað það þýði fyrir heilbrigði lýðræðis og lýðræðislegra stofnana þegar hluti þegnanna mætir alvarlegum hindrunum varðandi borgaraleg grundvallarréttindi. Íslenskar rannsóknir á þessu sviði eru ekki fyrir hendi og engin skipuleg tölfræðileg gögn eru til varðandi þátttöku fatlaðs fólks í kosningum eða stjórnmálum hér á landi. Byggt á gögnum sem aflað var hjá tveimur fjölmennustu heildarsamtökum fatlaðs fólks hér á landi er rýnt í reynslu, aðstæður og möguleika fatlaðs fólks til þátttöku í kosningum á Íslandi, lagasetningar þar að lútandi og skyldur ríkisins til að stuðla að og tryggja þátttöku fatlaðs fólks í stjórnmálum og opinberu lífi, ekki síst í ljósi þess að Samningur Sameinuðu þjóðanna (SÞ) um réttindi fatlaðs fólks (SRFF) hefur verið fullgiltur hér á landi.

Urban novel ecosystems as affective landscapes

Intertwined within a patchwork of different types of land use and land cover, novel ecosystems are urban ecosystems that have no historical analogues and contain novel species assemblages. Some researchers and practitioners in the field of conservation and restoration regard urban novel ecosystems unworthy of concern, while other groups call for their preservation due to the rate of biodiversity loss in cities and limited access to nature among some social groups. However, very little is known about how people perceive novel ecosystems (such as informal green spaces, post-industrial or derelict land sites awaiting redevelopment, brownfield sites, vacant lots, interstitial or gap spaces) which are often characterised by assemblages of wild, spontaneous, and overgrown vegetation, but also remanent or derelict urban infrastructure in cities. This paper addresses this gap by firstly asking how people percieve assemblages of wild-looking vegetation and urban infrastructure often found in novel ecosystems and how our affective and aesthetic responses to these ecosystems affects our attitudes towards wildness in cities. To begin to unpack this question, we obtain data from a series of exploratory workshops held in four cities in the global north where we asked people ‘what is urban nature?’ Our findings suggest that value judgements that people ascribe to novel ecosystems are often deeply polarised, but they are influenced by different ecological and urban conditions that people encounter within them. However, some negative perceptions about novel ecosystems may be mediated by situational cues; these situational cues could have important implications for rewilding and restoration programmes that aim to reconnect urban communities with nature through socio-ecological stewardship. To conclude, areas for further research that could improve our understanding of the social values of novel ecosystems in cities and the influence that these ecosystems may have on affective encounters with urban nature are proposed.

THE ROLE OF NON-GOVERNMENTAL ORGANIZATIONS IN THE SOCIO-PROFESSIONAL ORIENTATION OF YOUNG PEOPLE AND ITS IMPACT ON THE ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF THE COUNTRY

Purpose of the research. The aim of the study is to elucidate the role of non-governmental organizations in facilitating the social adaptation and professional orientation of the younger generation in the country as a process of providing human resources for the country's economy.Methodology. The research employed systemic, statistical, and comparative analysis methods to assess the role of non-governmental organizations in supporting the socio-professional orientation of young people in Kazakhstan. The authors conducted a literature review of scholarly works on the research topic, which allowed for the examination of similar trends and effective approaches of advanced countries to address this issue, as well as to identify key aspects contributing to the successful socio-professional orientation of young people in the country.Originality / value of the research. The originality and value of the study lie in examining and evaluating the role of non-governmental organizations in supporting the socio-professional orientation of youth in Kazakhstan, taking into account the changes in institutional frameworks in accordance with the new reality. This understanding underscores that effective youth support requires not only the development of corresponding programs and projects but also the alteration of institutional mechanisms in such a way that these programs are successfully implemented and bring maximum benefit to society.Findings. Key aspects related to youth's choice of professional path, crucial for Kazakhstani youth, have been identified. At this stage, young people encounter a range of issues. It has been revealed that the adaptation of institutional mechanisms contributes to the more effective functioning of non-governmental organizations and increases their influence on the socio-professional orientation of youth. Practical recommendations for enhancing interaction between governmental and non-governmental organizations to ensure the most effective support for the socio-professional orientation of youth in Kazakhstan have been formulated. The role of nongovernmental organizations in strengthening institutional capacity in ensuring more consistent, result-oriented support for youth has been justified.

The Moderating Effect of Role Conflict on the Relationship between Perceived Organizational Support and Work Engagement

The purpose of the study is to investigate how role conflict affects the relationship between work engagement and perceived organizational support. The emotional and practical support that workers feel they receive from their organizations is referred to as perceived organizational support. Work engagement is the term used to describe a person's dedication, loyalty, and commitment to their work. The emergence of competing demands that people encounter in their professional responsibilities is referred to as role conflict. A questionnaire-based approach is used to collect data from 299 workers in a public agency. The acquired data is then subjected to statistical analysis using the AMOS and SPSS 24 software programs. The results imply that work engagement and perceived organizational support are positively correlated. Moreover, it is discovered that role conflict moderated the association between work engagement and perceived organizational support.

Impact of somatic complaints on the mental health of bank sector employees: An empirical study

Somatic complaints refer to bodily symptoms that people encounter that don't have obvious biological origins, such as headaches, digestive issues, and musculoskeletal discomfort. There is a scarcity of research explicitly concentrating on the banking industry, despite prior studies looking at the connection between somatic symptoms and mental health in a variety of professional circumstances. This study explores somatic symptoms' impact on banking sector employees' mental health. The research initiative intends to collect quantitative data through questionnaires using a mixed methods approach to determine the incidence and severity of somatic symptoms experienced by bank personnel. Questionnaires (n=196) were distributed amongst different public and private banks of Southern Punjab. The data was analyzed using a reliability test, linear regression model, and correlation to find the relation between somatic complaints and mental health issues. The results show that there is a positive relationship between somatic complaints and mental health issues, i.e., a person having somatic complaints will also suffer from mental health issues, hence, satisfies the research hypothesis. Moreover, according to the study, greater levels of somatic complaints among workers in the banking industry are correlated with higher levels of stress, anxiety, and depression. The association between somatic symptoms and mental health was also examined with respect to potential moderating factors such as company culture, workload, and job satisfaction. In a nutshell, enhancing an employee's psychological health may benefit their work happiness, productivity, and overall organizational performance.

The Potential of Elephantorrhiza goetzei Seed Extract as a Coagulant for Household Drinking Water Treatment

ABSTRACTPoor access to adequate, clean, and safe water is one of the greatest world problems people encounter. There has been considerable attention in recent times toward the use of natural coagulants for water treatment. This study seeks to promote this by investigating the potential of Elephantorrhiza goetzei (E. goetzei) seed extract as natural coagulants for water treatment. This included the determination of key ingredients responsible for the coagulation process and optimal dosages for the removal of turbidity, fluoride, manganese, and iron. The residual content of organic matter in the treated water and the quality of sludge produced were also investigated. The methodology consisted of a proximate analysis procedure to investigate the active ingredient(s) responsible for coagulation and standard jar tests. Standard methods were used for the analyses. Coagulant dosages ranging from 0 to 300 mg/L at a rapid mixing speed of 120 rpm for 1 min, a slow mixing speed of 30 rpm for 15 min, and a settling time of 15 min were used for the jar test. The analysis of variance (ANOVA) using IBM SPSS Version 20 was conducted, and regression models were developed to determine the effect of coagulant dosage on turbidity, pH, total dissolved solids, fluoride, iron, manganese, chemical oxygen demand (COD), nitrogen, and phosphorus. The results obtained from the proximate analysis of E. goetzei seed extract show that values of 5.25%, 21.40%, 8.23%, 32.99%, 2.20%, and 29.93% were obtained for moisture, crude protein, crude fiber, fat, ash, and carbohydrate content, respectively. Moreover, seed extract of E. goetzei achieved removal efficiencies up to 94.8%, 50.1%, 90.0%, and 53.9% for turbidity, fluoride, iron, and manganese in water, respectively. The coagulant has the potential to achieve the desired World Health Organization (WHO) drinking water standards for turbidity, fluoride, iron, and manganese. The COD increased from 55.3 to 419.3 mg/L as the coagulant dosage increased from 0 to 100 mg/L. This could cause an unwanted rise in microbial activities, affecting the microbiological quality of the treated water. The total nitrogen and phosphorus concentrations obtained in the sludge at 100 mg/L were 0.343 and 0.194 µg/kg, respectively, and this compromises its attractiveness for agricultural reuse purposes.

Deaf migrants in Sweden: exploring linguistic and bureaucratic challenges through the lens of Crip Theory and Crip Linguistics

Abstract Disabled people encounter numerous barriers to accessibility and face discrimination and inequalities in their daily lives. The situation is even more complex for migrants with a disability, who have to learn how to navigate a new bureaucratic system. This study focuses on deaf adult migrants and the linguistic and bureaucratic challenges they face in Swedish society. The data consists of interviews with 43 deaf migrants participating in language learning courses in four folk high schools catering to deaf people in Sweden. Crip Theory and Crip Linguistics are used as lenses to explore the impact of able-bodiedness and linguistic norms on this particular group. The findings show that deaf migrants experience infantilisation, that sign language interpreters are often seen as a one-size-fits-all solution without much consideration for other factors influencing communication, and that normative able-bodiedness underlies many of the bureaucratic issues deaf migrants face.

Is the alarm on deception ringing too loudly? The effects of different forms of misinformation warnings on risk perceptions of misinformation exposure

Misinformation is widely regarded as an undermining force to European democracies. Yet, to date, empirical research shows that the amount of misinformation people encounter is rather low, and not in proportion to the strong alarming messages spread throughout society. In this light, current interventions that pre-bunk misinformation by using warning messages may disproportionally prime suspicion and result in inflated estimates of misinformation. To assess whether messages that pre-bunk misinformation result in disproportionate risk perceptions related to inaccurate or false information, and to explore the effectiveness of alternative interventions, this article relied on an online between-subjects experiment in the Netherlands ( N = 437). Our main findings indicate that exposure to a media literacy intervention does not result in higher first- or third-person risk perceptions related to misinformation exposure. However, a warning message that emphasizes the identification of reliable news while contextualizing the threats of misinformation significantly lowers perceived misinformation salience. As an important implication of our findings, we suggest that pre-bunking interventions should relativize the threats of misinformation by facilitating the recognition of honest and reliable information as an alternative path to help people identify reliable information.

“Kids are Kids”: Benevolent Ignorance and the Omission of Race in Developmental Justice Reform

The criminal culpability of juvenile offenders remains a controversial and contested issue in the legal and public arenas in the United States. Since the mid-2000s, juvenile crime has been reframed by SCOTUS as a problem of brain immaturity. This article interrogates the omission of race from this new discourse of immaturity. First, I show that an alliance of learned societies, scholars, policy experts, legal professionals, and philanthropic foundations, which I call the new child savers, strategically sowed doubt about the criminological evidence of “high-risk” offenders to ensure the success of this new discourse of immaturity. I introduce the concept of benevolent ignorance to explain how they strategically concealed this inconvenient knowledge to achieve the socially valued goal of “saving children” from harsh sentences, and to escape public controversies over the racial overtones of risk assessment tools. Second, using Mills’ s concept of white ignorance, I argue that progressive elites and scholars involved in juvenile justice reform have historically ignored the lived experiences of juveniles of color. Finally, I discuss how the discourse of brain immaturity perpetuates and reinforces a colorblind explanation of juvenile crime that ignores the role of race in young people's encounters with the justice system.

Open is not enough: design considerations for a networked data commons

Recently, researchers within the Networked Learning (NL) community have tried to (re)claim NL’s roots in critical pedagogy and (re)assert its commitment to social justice (Networked Learning Editorial Collective, 2021; 2021a). However, despite these avowed intentions, NL has also been criticised from within for “fail[ing] to take account of emancipatory struggles and political imperatives in society more broadly” (Networked Learning Editorial Collective, 2021a, p. 328). The suggestion is made to put NL “to work … to allow the concept of NL itself to become ‘networked’: to make connections, to interrelate, to transform, mutate, and hybridise in response to the pressing issues of our time” (Networked Learning Editorial Collective, 2021a, p. 359). In this paper, we take concepts from NL and put them “to work” in relation to the design of an informal digital learning environment – that is, a digital environment that lies outside of formal education provision, but that is intended to be a place where knowledge can be shared and circulated and where people encounter knowledge in ways that enable them to think, understand or act differently. The work was carried out in the context of a project aiming to develop design principles for an internet-based platform through people would be able to openly access, learn about and share publicly available data, using Scotland’s waste and re-use data as a case study. In this context, we plug NL into a theoretical and methodological design assemblage that connects concepts of openness, data literacy, (de)coloniality, and participatory design into new formations that we hope will allow these concepts to mutate and hybridise into something closer to the social justice ideals that NL claims.

The role of public art has changed in recent times: a study

Public art which falls under the institutional category of visual arts primarily focuses on audience engagement and public representation. Additionally, there are other types of art in public settings that are designed for audience participation. The term Public Art means to those works of art commissioned and sponsored, monuments, memorials, and civic statues and sculpture installed in physical public domain by the Government and agencies and organization, which are especially significant within the Art World. The term is sometimes also applied to include and art which is exhibited in a public space these public art are basically symbolic, imaginary and illustrative representation on the Historical, political and cultural and civic values of the state. While speaking of public sculptures we often speak in terms of its artistic identity i.e. we always look at it and recognize merely as a piece of art only. We cannot undermine its importance in day to day social, cultural and political life. The presence of these pieces of art in any society holds a cultural recognition of that particular society. These are like the index or contents of a book that are sufficient enough to explain the entire subject matter. These public sculptures have become a part and partial of our day to day life. Since the colonial times to the modern era, in India, public art has undergone numerous changes. The institutions of public art and the public realm, media, genres, and forms of public art have all changed over time. Since the last two decades, site-specificity, public engagement, and process-based activities have been the main focuses of art in public spaces. Two types of public space can be distinguished. The first is the actual public space as a location, site, piece or thing. The second is the discursive public space, which is an abstract/conceptual area created briefly as a result of private individuals coming together to talk about or share important and light-hearted subjects. According to Habermas, this discursive space is the public sphere, which includes gatherings and encounters of people in public places like coffee shops, streets, community centers, and parks.

Life After Death and the Paranormal World

This research paper explores the question of whether life after death and the paranormal world exists or if it is just a string of false beliefs. Life after death and paranormal activities have a wide area of discussion in India wherein, we focus on the existence of different realms, the interaction between these realms, the process of channeling, and various perspectives regarding the idea of “ghosts”, “spirits” and “entities”. We aim to logically deconstruct the phenomenon of paranormal activities and delve deeper into the concepts of soul, spirits, good and bad energies, and how they travel through this dimension to the other after death. The role of human beings in these occurrences is also substantially discussed in the context of the energies we emit and attract. These energies and actions that we give out in the world and perform throughout our lives also pave the way to the kind of vibrational frequency we would turn out to be in another dimension and also focus on the deeds and unfulfilled wishes of this lifetime which entraps our spirits in this world refraining it from starting a new life. This paper takes us through the experience and encounters of people who have become mediums to bridge the gap between different worlds, how these abilities can be of use, and what effects it has on them. It attempts to give an insight into all the inexplicable phenomena and the ravenous beliefs that surround the topic. It aims at unraveling the mystery around the question of whether the paranormal world and life after death are concepts that can be logically accepted or are just a set of deep-seated fears that emerge in the form of beliefs and experiences.

Efficacy of McKenzie, Maitland Mobilisation and Myofascial Release in Chronic Low Back Pain

Objective: To compare the effectiveness of Myofascial Release, Mc Kenzie and Maitland Mobilisation in Chronic Low back Pain and find out the effects of Myofascial Release, Mc Kenzie and Maitland Mobilisation in Chronic Low back Pain. Background: Low back pain is defined as the pain that occurs in an area with boundaries between the lowest rib and the crease of the buttocks. It is one of the most common complain of working-age population. Low back pain is associated with deconditioning of spine and trunk due to lack of core strength and stability in which 60-80% of general population suffer with high recurrence rates of 60 - 85% within following three years. The global prevalence of LBP as 7.3%. Activities that are required for daily living are affected because of LBP. The significance of disability is created because of LBP. The lumbosacral, sacroiliac and lumbar regions are the main regions of LBP. Pain in the back region that lasts for more than three months is called chronic lower back pain (CLBP). Lower?back pain (LBP) is seen in all age groups. Half of the people encounter back pain in a year and nearly three-fourths of the population account for LBP in their lifetimes. It is one of the most disabling factors often preventing sports person for participation in sporting activities. In United States, the workers compensation claims account for about one fourth of all claims and one third of total compensation costs. It results in about 40% of absences from work. In total spinal pain cases low back pain accounts for 60-70%.Chronic Low back pain is the pain that persists longer than the expected time period for healing, with a duration of more than three months. The natural course of most low back pain is of self-limiting in nature, with vast majority of individuals improving within six weeks or less. Study design: Experimental study Methods: 51 subjects were selected through convenient sampling. All the subjects who were diagnosed with chronic low back pain from Orthopaedics OPD was referred to physiotherapy department and was screened and assessed according to inclusion and exclusion criteria. The eligible subjects were approached with proposal of the study. Aim and procedure of the study was explained to the subject and a written informed consent was taken from them in their preferred language. At first the demographic data (age, sex, duration) was collected forever subject. Then the baseline data (pre intervention) of CLP intensity, functional disability was taken before commencement of the study. Then the subjects were randomly allocated each 17 subjects. A final data of pain intensity, functional disability was recorded. Results: For all the outcome measures, no significant difference results were found for all three techniques. Whereas, Mc Kenzie techniques is the most effective and the least effective is Maitland Mobilisation. Mean Improvement calculated as Pre- post values of VAS and RMQ scores at follow-up on 7th and 14th day was compared between the 3 techniques. Its significance was tested by testing whether the 95% CI of the mean improvement included 0 or not. Mckenzie techniques howed maximum improvement 4.68 (2.29, 7.07) on Day 7th and Maitland mobilisation the least improvement, 1.56(0.95, 2.93). Improvement by all techniques was significant at 95% CI using paired t test. However, on day 14th McKenzie showed maximum improvement 5.56(2.72, 7.07)) Maitland mobilization remaining the least effective. Conclusion: LBP is a common condition and all age groups are facing it. Pain can be due to various causes and the line of treatment depends upon the cause of pain. In this review, we found out that LBP is a condition everyone is facing. Mc Kenzie is a better treatment approach over other two techniques to reduce chronic LBP. Pain and disability were the points considered while concluding. LBP affects the quality of life and to maintain or improve the quality of life strengthening the muscles plays an important role. This review gives a brief about the treatment methods available for treating CLBP clinically. Hence physiotherapy treating subjects with chronic low back pain may choose any one technique but Mc Kenzie Technique is the most effective technique for pain and for functional disability in CLBPis the most effective. However sufficient experience and expertise is necessary. Key words: Chronic Low Back Pain, Mc Kenzie, Maitland Mobilisation, Myofascial Release, VAS, RMQ