Naresuan University Journal
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Religious Activities of Administrative Agencies and the Relation between Religion and the State in Modern Thailand
No full text This paper concerns the religious activities of administrative agencies in Thai Government. It attempts to show the relation between religion and state in Thailand from a different perspective. Various studies on Thai Buddhism have been conducted to explore this relation. These have focused on, among others, the relationship between Sangha and monarchy, movements of political monks, and use of Sangha by the state. However, these studies stress the Buddhist categories of monks and laity. Sometimes this set of concepts is merged with a modern Westernized secularized concept of religious organization and state or religion and politics. This may lead to reduced concern for religious activities undertaken by the Thai government itself.
Contemporary Thailand is not a very secularized society and does not strictly follow the principle of separation of state and religious organizations. There are cases where administrative agencies carry out religious activities, such as the promulgation of Buddhist moral education in public schools by the Ministry of Education and welfare work related to Buddhism by the Ministry of Social Development and Human Security. This paper thus offers a trial approach to analyze these phenomena and to construct some concepts applicable to the case of other countries.
Keywords: Religion and the State, Administrative Agencies, Official Religio
Healthcare Accessibility of Incarcerated Women in Thailand
No full text Female inmates are facing higher health risks than males due to physical conditions which cause them to live harder in limited space like in prison. Many articles pointed out that female inmates would have a higher chance of facing greater health sufferings in prison than male. In Thailand, the number of female prisoners reached forty thousand people and is ranked 5th highest rank in the world. Being a prisoner does not make a person less than human; therefore, their human rights shall not be deprived and must prevail. To lift the living standard for female inmates, the United Nations have adopted “the Bangkok Rules” after a prototype prison for women in Thailand has been tested. However, the accessibility to healthcare for female inmates still needs improvements because of high prisoner density. Lack of budget and limited resources also indicate that expanding or building new standard facilities are an unlikely solution. Rather than spending money, we may need to turn and look around what we have, and later develop medical wards that have sufficient resources, while merging the penitentiary's isolated health care system with the national health services. A medical prison ward should start with the minimum standard requirements in regulating professional services needed, and have these initiated, rather than a mere memorandum of understanding between organizations.
Keywords: Healthcare Access, Incarcerated Women, Prison Health, Bangkok Rules, Prison Health Care Refor
A Twelve Week Home Exercise Program to Improve the Physical Fitness in the Elderly
No full text An aging population is an increasing world phenomenon that will continue to affect Thailand, and the whole world. One of the factors for achieving a healthy body is to maintain regular physical activity. Normally, aging results experience a significant decline in physical fitness. Exercise will help to improve physical fitness, which is associated with the ability to perform daily tasks. However, suitable exercise regimes for the elderly are still a challenge. Therefore, the aim of this study was to evaluate the outcome of an easy-to-follow home exercise program for 12 weeks. The quasi experiment research design was used for this study. Thirty two healthy elderly were recruited through convenient sampling and their physical fitness assessed before the program started. They were given an exercise plan to follow at home, and were examined after 6 and 12 weeks. All exercises were selected for safety, ease of performance, and without the use of equipment, to improve all aspects of their physical fitness. The groups were asked to perform these exercises regularly –standing on one leg, wall press ups, hamstring stretches, heel and toe raises, calf stretches, and step forward, for the allotted time 5 times a week, for 12 weeks. Comparison of the baseline and post exercise intervention measurements, demonstrated a significant improvement in agility, coordination, grip strength and balance (P<0.01) but not in leg strength and flexibility. In conclusion, a 12 week home exercise training program is beneficial to improve the important variables of physical fitness in elderly people. An exercise frequency of five times per week is recommended in order to maintain a healthy physical function in the elderly.
Keywords: home exercise program, physical fitness, elderl
The Net Reproductive Rate (R0) and Stable Age Distribution of the Leaf Roller (Hedylepta indicata F.) on Soybean (Glycine max L.)
No full text The present study aimed to determine the net reproductive rate (R0) and stable age distribution of the soybean leaf roller (Hedylepta indicata F.) on soybean (Glycine max L.). All experiments were conducted at the entomology laboratory of the School of Agriculture and Natural Resources, University of Phayao. At 24-h intervals, twelve pair of adult moths less than 24 hours, were transferred to a new set of host plants until all insects died. Consequently, the old host plants served as a source of the freshly laid eggs. The number of live daughters produced per day per female (mx) in her life time (lx) was determined and a net reproductive rate (R0) calculated. The results show a value of R0 6.808, indicating that a population of H. indicata had the capacity of multiply 6.808 times in each generation under the given conditions. The stable age distribution was constructed with 1-day-old eggs of H. indicata. A Petri dishes containing 20 eggs each on soybean leaves were incubated in a rearing room held at 25±2 °C and 70±2% RH with 12 hours photo-phase. Ten replicates were run for a total of 200 eggs tested. After hatching, the early instar larvae were transferred singly into a 6x6x3.5 cm plastic cage. A tender leaf was placed into the cage to provide food for larva. At 24-h intervals, larva in each cage was transferred to a new leaf and the duration of each stage of development was observed until adult emergence. Newly emerged adult moths were examined daily until all of them had died. The investigation reveals that when the population reached the stable age distribution, 89.1% consisted of immature stages, and 10.9% of the total number of individuals were adults. The innate capacity for increase (r) attained in the given environment and the finite rate of increase (λ) was 0.0744 and 1.0772 respectively. When the birth rate (b) 0.6634 exceeded the death rate (d) 0.5890 then the population of H. indicata increased over each succeeding time period.
Keywords: net reproductive rate, stable age distribution, soybean leaf roller, Hedylepta indicata, innate capacity for increas