Search results for: spatial patterns

Authors: Tanvi P. Medshinge, Prasad Vaidya, Monisha E. Royan

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In India, cooling loads in residential sector is a major contributor to its total energy consumption. Due to the increasing cooling need, the market penetration of air-conditioners is further expected to rise. Natural Ventilation (NV), however, possesses great potential to save significant energy consumption especially for residential buildings in moderate climates. As multifamily residential apartment buildings are designed by repetitive use of prototype designs, deriving individual NV based design prototype solutions for a combination of different wind incidence angles and orientations would provide significant opportunity to address the rise in cooling loads by residential sector. This paper presents the results of NV performance of a selected prototype apartment design with a cluster of four units in Pune, India, and an attempt to improve the NV performance through design modifications. The water table apparatus, a physical modelling tool, is used to study the flow patterns and simulate wind-induced NV performance. Quantification of NV performance is done by post processing images captured from video recordings in terms of percentage of area with good and poor access to ventilation. NV performance of the existing design for eight wind incidence angles showed that of the cluster of four units, the windward units showed good access to ventilation for all rooms, and the leeward units had lower access to ventilation with the bedrooms in the leeward units having the least access. The results showed improved performance in all the units for all wind incidence angles to more than 80% good access to ventilation. Some units showed an additional improvement to more than 90% good access to ventilation. This process of design and performance evaluation improved some individual units from 0% to 100% for good access to ventilation. The results demonstrate the ease of use and the power of the water table apparatus for performance-based design to simulate wind induced NV.  

Keywords: fluid dynamics, prototype design, natural ventilation, simulations, water table apparatus, wind incidence angles

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Authors: Rasha Ali Dheyab

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In today's increasingly interconnected and technologically-driven world, communication has evolved beyond traditional verbal exchanges. This paper delves into the fascinating realm of multimodal communication, a dynamic field at the intersection of linguistics, gesture studies, and technology. The study of how humans convey meaning through a combination of spoken language, gestures, facial expressions, and digital platforms has gained prominence as our modes of interaction continue to diversify. This exploration begins by examining the foundational theories in linguistics and gesture studies, tracing their historical development and mutual influences. It further investigates the role of nonverbal cues, such as gestures and facial expressions, in augmenting and sometimes even altering the meanings conveyed by spoken language. Additionally, the paper delves into the modern technological landscape, where emojis, GIFs, and other digital symbols have emerged as new linguistic tools, reshaping the ways in which we communicate and express emotions. The interaction between traditional and digital modes of communication is a central focus of this study. The paper investigates how technology has not only introduced new modes of expression but has also influenced the adaptation of existing linguistic and gestural patterns in online discourse. The emergence of virtual reality and augmented reality environments introduces yet another layer of complexity to multimodal communication, offering new avenues for studying how humans navigate and negotiate meaning in immersive digital spaces. Through a combination of literature review, case studies, and theoretical analysis, this paper seeks to shed light on the intricate interplay between language, gesture, and technology in the realm of multimodal communication. By understanding how these diverse modes of expression intersect and interact, we gain valuable insights into the ever-evolving nature of human communication and its implications for fields ranging from linguistics and psychology to human-computer interaction and digital anthropology.

Keywords: multimodal communication, linguistics ., gesture studies., emojis., verbal communication., digital

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Authors: Katja Siefken, Astrid Junge

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Background: Research indicates that physical activity (PA) protects us from developing mental disorders. The knowledge regarding optimal domain, intensity, type, context, and amount of PA promotion for the prevention of mental disorders is sparse and incoherent. The objective of this study is to determine the relationship between PA domains and mental well-being, and whether associations vary by domain, amount, context, intensity, and type of PA. Methods: 310 individuals (age: 25 yrs., SD 7; 73% female) completed a questionnaire on personal patterns of their PA behaviour (IPQA) and their mental health (Centre of Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), Generalized Anxiety Disorder (GAD-7) scale, the subjective physical well-being (FEW-16)). Linear and multiple regression were used for analysis. Findings: Individuals who met the PA recommendation (N=269) reported higher scores on subjective physical well-being than those who did not meet the PA recommendations (N=41). Whilst vigorous intensity PA predicts subjective well-being (β = .122, p = .028), it also correlates with depression. The more vigorously physically active a person is, the higher the depression score (β = .127, p = .026). The strongest impact of PA on mental well-being can be seen in the transport domain. A positive linear correlation on subjective physical well-being (β =.175, p = .002), and a negative linear correlation for anxiety (β =-.142, p = .011) and depression (β = -.164, p = .004) was found. Multiple regression analysis indicates similar results: Time spent in active transport on the bicycle significantly lowers anxiety and depression scores and enhances subjective physical well-being. The more time a participant spends using the bicycle for transport, the lower the depression (β = -.143, p = .013) and anxiety scores (β = -.111,p = .050). Conclusions: Meeting the PA recommendations enhances subjective physical well-being. Active transport has a substantial impact on mental well-being. Findings have implications for policymakers, employers, public health experts and civil society. A stronger focus on the promotion and protection of health through active transport is recommended. Inter-sectoral exchange, outside the health sector, is required. Health systems must engage other sectors in adopting policies that maximize possible health gains.

Keywords: active transport, mental well-being, health promotion, psychological disorders

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Authors: Janet Modu, Jean-Francois Georgin, Laurent Briancon, Eric Antoinet

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The current practice during the repowering phase of wind turbines is deconstruction of existing foundations and construction of new foundations to accept larger wind loads or once the foundations have reached the end of their service lives. The ongoing research project FUI25 FEDRE (Fondations d’Eoliennes Durables et REpowering) therefore serves to propose scalable wind turbine foundation designs to allow reuse of the existing foundations. To undertake this research, numerical models and laboratory-scale models are currently being utilized and implemented in the GEOMAS laboratory at INSA Lyon following instrumentation of a reference wind turbine situated in the Northern part of France. Sensors placed within both the foundation and the underlying soil monitor the evolution of stresses from the foundation’s early age to stresses during service. The results from the instrumentation form the basis of validation for both the laboratory and numerical works conducted throughout the project duration. The study currently focuses on the effect of coupled mechanisms (Thermal-Hydro-Mechanical-Chemical) that induce stress during the early age of the reinforced concrete foundation, and scale factor considerations in the replication of the reference wind turbine foundation at laboratory-scale. Using THMC 3D models on COMSOL Multi-physics software, the numerical analysis performed on both the laboratory-scale and the full-scale foundations simulate the thermal deformation, hydration, shrinkage (desiccation and autogenous) and creep so as to predict the initial damage caused by internal processes during concrete setting and hardening. Results show a prominent effect of early age properties on the damage potential in full-scale wind turbine foundations. However, a prediction of the damage potential at laboratory scale shows significant differences in early age stresses in comparison to the full-scale model depending on the spatial position in the foundation. In addition to the well-known size effect phenomenon, these differences may contribute to inaccuracies encountered when predicting ultimate deformations of the on-site foundation using laboratory scale models.

Keywords: cement hydration, early age behavior, reinforced concrete, shrinkage, THMC 3D models, wind turbines

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Authors: Amanina Iymia Jeffree, Reena Thriumani, Mohammad Iqbal Omar, Ammar Zakaria, Yumi Zuhanis Has-Yun Hashim, Ali Yeon Md Shakaff

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Metabolite profiling is a strategy to be approached in the pattern recognition method focused on three types of cancer cell line that driving the most to death specifically lung, breast, and colon cancer. The purpose of this study was to discriminate the VOCs pattern among cancerous and control group based on metabolite profiling. The sampling was executed utilizing the cell culture technique. All culture flasks were incubated till 72 hours and data collection started after 24 hours. Every running sample took 24 minutes to be completed accordingly. The comparative metabolite patterns were identified by the implementation of headspace-solid phase micro-extraction (HS-SPME) sampling coupled with gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GCMS). The optimizations of the main experimental variables such as oven temperature and time were evaluated by response surface methodology (RSM) to get the optimal condition. Volatiles were acknowledged through the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST) mass spectral database and retention time libraries. To improve the reliability of significance, it is of crucial importance to eliminate background noise which data from 3rd minutes to 17th minutes were selected for statistical analysis. Targeted metabolites, of which were annotated as known compounds with the peak area greater than 0.5 percent were highlighted and subsequently treated statistically. Volatiles produced contain hundreds to thousands of compounds; therefore, it will be optimized by chemometric analysis, such as principal component analysis (PCA) as a preliminary analysis before subjected to a pattern classifier for identification of VOC samples. The volatile organic compound profiling has shown to be significantly distinguished among cancerous and control group based on metabolite profiling.

Keywords: in vitro cancer cell line, metabolite profiling, pattern recognition, volatile organic compounds

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Authors: A. Hira Masood, B. Umer Hameed, C. Ezza Nasir

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Contemporary studies support the strong co-relation between psychology and design. This study elaborates how different psychological personality test can help a fashion designer to judge the needs of their clients with respect to have products which will satisfy the client's request concerning costumised clothing. This study will also help the designer to improve the lacking in the personality and will enable him to put his effort in required areas for grooming the customer, control and direct organization regarding quality maintenance. The use of psychology test to support the choice of certain design strategies that how the right clothing can make client a better intellectual with enhanced self-esteem and confidence. Different projective personality test are being used to suggest to evaluate personality traits. The Rorschach Inkblot Test is projective mental comprising of 10 ink-blots synonymous with the clinical brain research. Lüsher Color Diagnostics measures a person’s psycho physical state, his or her ability to withstand stress to perform and communicate. HTP is a projective responsibility test measuring self-perception, attitudes. The TAT test intend to evaluate a person’s patterns of thoughts, attitudes, observation, capacity and emotional response to this ambiguous test materials. No doubt designers are already crucially redesigning the individuals by their attires, but to expose the behavioral mechanism of the customer, designers should be able to recognize the hidden complexity behind his client by using the above mentioned methods. The study positively finds the design and psychology need to become substantially contacted in order to create a new regime of norms to groom a personality under the concentration and services of a fashion designer in terms of clothing, This interactive activity altimately upgrade design team to help customers to find the suited way to satisfy their needs and wishes, offer client relible relationship and quality management services, and to become more disereable.

Keywords: projective personality tests, customized clothing, Rorschach Inkblot test, TAT, HTP, Lüsher color diagnostics, quality management services

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Authors: Sibonakaliso Shadrack Nhlabathi

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In South Africa local governments which are charged with the provision of services and amenities, frequently, face challenges of public protests against what the public perceives to be poor services. Public protests are common, even though the Integrated Development Plan, a central public participation document, which informs local government planning and resources management, ought to be a reflection of the voices of the beneficiary communities. The Integrated Development Plan concept –which evolved from the international discourse on governance, planning, and urban management of the 1990s, and, which bears similarities to the UK’s approaches to urban management and planning– is a significant concept in the planning practice in South Africa. Against this backdrop of the spread of public protests and the supposedly public participation in IDP formulation, this study investigated the extent to which residents of the city of uMhlathuze municipality, South Africa, could use Geographical Information Systems (GIS) Story Maps to enhance public participation in the provision of services and amenities. To this effect, this study collected and analysed data obtained through interactive web maps or hard copy maps; this map data was accompanied by research participants’ attributes data. Research participants identified positive or negative service delivery areas. Positive places were the places which the residents represented as good infrastructural, and amenities areas and weak places were marked as poor amenities. Participants then located each of their identified strong or weak places as points on the GIS Story Maps or on hard copy maps of the city. The information which participants provided was subsequently analysed to produce maps of patterns of service provision. In this way, the study succeeded to identify places that needed attention regarding delivery of services and amenities. Thus, this study advanced service provision through GIS Story Maps.

Keywords: GIS, IPD, South Africa, story maps

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Authors: Carla Idely Palencia-Aguilar

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Artificial wetlands play an important role at Guasca Municipality in Colombia, not only because they are used for the agroindustry, but also because more than 45 species were found, some of which are endemic and migratory birds. Remote sensing was used to determine the changes in the area occupied by water of artificial wetlands by means of Aster and Modis images for different time periods. Evapotranspiration was also determined by three methods: Surface Energy Balance System-Su (SEBS) algorithm, Surface Energy Balance- Bastiaanssen (SEBAL) algorithm, and Potential Evapotranspiration- FAO. Empirical equations were also developed to determine the relationship between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) versus net radiation, ambient temperature and rain with an obtained R2 of 0.83. Groundwater level fluctuations on a daily basis were studied as well. Data from a piezometer placed next to the wetland were fitted with rain changes (with two weather stations located at the proximities of the wetlands) by means of multiple regression and time series analysis, the R2 from the calculated and measured values resulted was higher than 0.98. Information from nearby weather stations provided information for ordinary kriging as well as the results for the Digital Elevation Model (DEM) developed by using PCI software. Standard models (exponential, spherical, circular, gaussian, linear) to describe spatial variation were tested. Ordinary Cokriging between height and rain variables were also tested, to determine if the accuracy of the interpolation would increase. The results showed no significant differences giving the fact that the mean result of the spherical function for the rain samples after ordinary kriging was 58.06 and a standard deviation of 18.06. The cokriging using for the variable rain, a spherical function; for height variable, the power function and for the cross variable (rain and height), the spherical function had a mean of 57.58 and a standard deviation of 18.36. Threatens of eutrophication were also studied, given the unconsciousness of neighbours and government deficiency. Water quality was determined over the years; different parameters were studied to determine the chemical characteristics of water. In addition, 600 pesticides were studied by gas and liquid chromatography. Results showed that coliforms, nitrogen, phosphorous and prochloraz were the most significant contaminants.

Keywords: DEM, evapotranspiration, geostatistics, NDVI

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Authors: Fitih Ademe, Kibebew Kibret, Sheleme Beyene, Mezgebu Getnet, Gashaw Meteke

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Changes in precipitation, temperature and atmospheric CO2 concentration are expected to alter agricultural productivity patterns worldwide. The interactive effects of soil moisture and nutrient availability are the two key edaphic factors that determine crop yield and are sensitive to climatic changes. The study assessed the potential impacts of climate change on maize yield and corresponding water productivity and nutrient use efficiency under climate change scenarios for the Central Rift Valley of Ethiopia by mid (2041-2070) and end century (2071-2100). Projected impacts were evaluated using climate scenarios generated from four General Circulation Models (GCMs) dynamically downscaled by the Swedish RCA4 Regional Climate Model (RCM) in combination with two Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP 4.5 and RCP8.5). Decision Support System for Agro-technology Transfer cropping system model (DSSAT-CSM) was used to simulate yield, water and nutrient use for the study periods. Results indicate that rainfed maize yield might decrease on average by 16.5 and 23% by the 2050s and 2080s, respectively, due to climate change. Water productivity is expected to decline on average by 2.2 and 12% in the CRV by mid and end centuries with respect to the baseline. Nutrient uptake and corresponding nutrient use efficiency (NUE) might also be negatively affected by climate change. Phosphorus uptake probably will decrease in the CRV on average by 14.5 to 18% by 2050s, while N uptake may not change significantly at Melkassa. Nitrogen and P use efficiency indicators showed decreases in the range between 8.5 to 10.5% and between 9.3 to 10.5%, respectively, by 2050s relative to the baseline average. The simulation results further indicated that a combination of increased water availability and optimum nutrient application might increase both water productivity and nutrient use efficiency in the changed climate, which can ensure modest production in the future. Potential options that can improve water availability and nutrient uptake should be identified for the study locations using a crop modeling approach.

Keywords: crop model, climate change scenario, nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency, water productivity

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Authors: Jeena Gupta

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In the today’s world of pharmaceutical products, one should not forget the healing properties of inexpensive food materials especially spices. They are known to possess hidden pharmaceutical ingredients, imparting them the qualities of being anti-microbial, anti-oxidant, anti-inflammatory and anti-carcinogenic. Further aberrant epigenetic regulatory mechanisms like DNA methylation, histone modifications or altered microRNA expression patterns, which regulates gene expression without changing DNA sequence, contribute significantly in the development of various diseases. Changing lifestyles and diets exert their effect by influencing these epigenetic mechanisms which are thus the target of dietary phytochemicals. Bioactive components of plants have been in use since ages but their potential to reverse epigenetic alterations and prevention against diseases is yet to be explored. Spices being rich repositories of many bioactive constituents are responsible for providing them unique aroma and taste. Some spices like curcuma and garlic have been well evaluated for their epigenetic regulatory potential, but for others, it is largely unknown. We have evaluated the biological activity of phyto-active components of Fennel, Cardamom and Fenugreek by in silico molecular modeling, in vitro and in vivo studies. Ligand-based similarity studies were conducted to identify structurally similar compounds to understand their biological phenomenon. The database searching has been done by using Fenchone from fennel, Sabinene from cardamom and protodioscin from fenugreek as a query molecule in the different small molecule databases. Moreover, the results of the database searching exhibited that these compounds are having potential binding with the different targets found in the Protein Data Bank. Further in addition to being epigenetic modifiers, in vitro study had demonstrated the antimicrobial, antifungal, antioxidant and cytotoxicity protective effects of Fenchone, Sabinene and Protodioscin. To best of our knowledge, such type of studies facilitate the target fishing as well as making the roadmap in drug design and discovery process for identification of novel therapeutics.

Keywords: epigenetics, spices, phytochemicals, fenchone

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Authors: Runa Laila

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In Bangladesh, migration and employment opportunities in the ready-made garment factories presented an alternative to early and arranged-marriage to many young women from the countryside. Although the positive impact of young women’s labour migration and employment in the garment industry on economic independence, increased negotiation power, and enhancement of self-esteem have been well documented, impact of employment on sexual norms and practices remained under-researched. This ethnographic study comprising of an in-depth interview of 21 single young women working in various garment factories in Gazipur, Dhaka, explores the implication of work on sexual norms and practices. This study found young single garment workers experience a range of consensual and coercive sexual relations. The mixed-sex work environment in the garment manufacturing industry and private housing arrangements provide young single women opportunities to develop romantic and sexual relationships in the transient urban space, which was more restricted in the rural areas. The use of mobile phones further aids lovers to meet in amusement parks, friends’ houses, or residential hotels beyond the gaze of colleagues and neighbors. Due to sexual double standard, men’s sexual advantage is seen as natural and accepted, while women are being blamed as immoral for being engaged in pre-marital sex. Although self-choice marriage and premarital relations reported to be common among garment workers, stigma related to premarital sex lead young single women to resort to secret abortion practices. Married men also use power position to lure women in a subordinate position in coerce sexual relations, putting their reproductive and psychological health at risk. To improve sexual and reproductive health and wellbeing of young female garment workers, it is important to understand these changing sexual practices which otherwise remain taboo in public health discourses.

Keywords: female migration, ready-made garment, reproductive health, sexual practice

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Authors: Ali Razmi, Saeed Golian

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Climate change is known to have the potential to impact adversely hydrologic patterns for variables such as rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature and sea level rise. Long-term average of these climate variables could possibly change over time due to climate change impacts. In this study, trend analysis was performed on rainfall, maximum and minimum temperature and water level data of a coastal area in Manhattan, New York City, Central Park and Battery Park stations to investigate if there is a significant change in the data mean. Partial Man-Kendall test was used for trend analysis. Frequency analysis was then performed on data using common probability distribution functions such as Generalized Extreme Value (GEV), normal, log-normal and log-Pearson. Goodness of fit tests such as Kolmogorov-Smirnov are used to determine the most appropriate distributions. In flood frequency analysis, rainfall and water level data are often separately investigated. However, in determining flood zones, simultaneous consideration of rainfall and water level in frequency analysis could have considerable effect on floodplain delineation (flood extent and depth). The present study aims to perform flood frequency analysis considering joint probability distribution for rainfall and storm surge. First, correlation between the considered variables was investigated. Joint probability distribution of extreme water level and temperature was also investigated to examine how global warming could affect sea level flooding impacts. Copula functions were fitted to data and joint probability of water level with rainfall and temperature for different recurrence intervals of 2, 5, 25, 50, 100, 200, 500, 600 and 1000 was determined and compared with the severity of individual events. Results for trend analysis showed increase in long-term average of data that could be attributed to climate change impacts. GEV distribution was found as the most appropriate function to be fitted to the extreme climate variables. The results for joint probability distribution analysis confirmed the necessity for incorporation of both rainfall and water level data in flood frequency analysis.

Keywords: climate change, climate variables, copula, joint probability

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Authors: K. Alafogiannis, E. E. Houssos, E. Anagnostou, G. Kouvarakis, N. Mihalopoulos, A. Fotiadi

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The Mediterranean basin is an area where different aerosol types coexist, including urban/industrial, desert dust, biomass burning and marine particles. Particularly, mineral dust aerosols, mostly originated from North African deserts, significantly contribute to high aerosol loads above the Mediterranean. Dust transport, controlled by the variation of the atmospheric circulation throughout the year, results in a strong spatial and temporal variability of aerosol properties. In this study, the synoptic conditions which favor dust transport over the Eastern Mediterranean are thoroughly investigated. For this reason, three datasets are employed. Firstly, ground-based daily data of aerosol properties, namely Aerosol Optical Thickness (AOT), Ångström exponent (α440-870) and fine fraction from the FORTH-AERONET (Aerosol Robotic Network) station along with measurements of PM10 concentrations from Finokalia station, for the period 2003-2011, are used to identify days with high coarse aerosol load (episodes) over Crete. Then, geopotential height at 1000, 850 and 700 hPa levels obtained from the NCEP/NCAR Reanalysis Project, are utilized to depict the atmospheric circulation during the identified episodes. Additionally, air-mass back trajectories, calculated by HYSPLIT, are used to verify the origin of aerosols from neighbouring deserts. For the 227 identified dust episodes, the statistical methods of Factor and Cluster Analysis are applied on the corresponding atmospheric circulation data to reveal the main types of the synoptic conditions favouring dust transport towards Crete (Eastern Mediterranean). The 227 cases are classified into 11 distinct types (clusters). Dust episodes in Eastern Mediterranean, are found to be more frequent (52%) in spring with a secondary maximum in autumn. The main characteristic of the atmospheric circulation associated with dust episodes, is the presence of a low-pressure system at surface, either in southwestern Europe or western/central Mediterranean, which induces a southerly air flow favouring dust transport from African deserts. The exact position and the intensity of the low-pressure system vary notably among clusters. More rarely dust may originate from deserts of Arabian Peninsula.

Keywords: aerosols, atmospheric circulation, dust particles, Eastern Mediterranean

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Authors: Daniel Osieko Okach, Joseph Otieno Ondier, Gerhard Rambold, John Tenhunen, Bernd Huwe, Dennis Otieno

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Increased human activities such as grazing, logging, and agriculture alongside unpredictable rainfall patterns have been detrimental to the ecosystem service delivery, therefore compromising its productivity potential. This study aimed at simulating the impact of drought (50%) and enhanced rainfall (150%) on the future herbaceous CO2 uptake, biomass production and soil C:N dynamics in a humid savanna ecosystem influenced by livestock grazing. Rainfall pattern was predicted using manipulation experiments set up to reduce (50%) and increase (150%) ambient (100%) rainfall amounts in grazed and non-grazed plots. The impact of manipulated rainfall regime on herbaceous CO2 fluxes, biomass production and soil C:N dynamics was measured against volumetric soil water content (VWC) logged every 30 minutes using the 5TE (Decagon Devices Inc., Washington, USA) soil moisture sensors installed (at 20 cm soil depth) in every plots. Herbaceous biomass was estimated using destructive method augmented by standardized photographic imaging. CO2 fluxes were measured using the ecosystem chamber method and the gas analysed using LI-820 gas analyzer (USA). C:N ratio was calculated from the soil carbon and Nitrogen contents (analyzed using EA2400CHNS/O and EA2410 N elemental analyzers respectively) of different plots under study. The patterning of VWC was directly influenced by the rainfall amount with lower VWC observed in the grazed compared to the non-grazed plots. Rainfall variability, grazing and their interaction significantly affected changes in VWC (p < 0.05) and subsequently total biomass and CO2 fluxes. VWC had a strong influence on CO2 fluxes under 50% rainfall reduction in the grazed (r2 = 0.91; p < 0.05) and ambient rainfall in the ungrazed (r2 = 0.77; p < 0.05). The dependence of biomass on VWC across plots was enhanced under grazed (r2 = 0.78 - 0.87; p < 0.05) condition as compared to ungrazed (r2 = 0.44 - 0.85; p < 0.05). The C:N ratio was however not correlated to VWC across plots. This study provides insight on how the predicted trends in humid savanna will respond to changes influenced by rainfall variability and livestock grazing and consequently the sustainable management of such ecosystems.

Keywords: CO2 fluxes, rainfall manipulation, soil properties, sustainability

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Authors: B. Frączek

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The paper analyses the usage of the Internet by university students in Visegrad Countries (4V Countries) who study economic fields in their formal and informal financial education and captures the areas of untapped potential of Internet in educational processes. Higher education and training, technological readiness, and the financial market development are in the group of pillars, that are key for efficiency driven economies. These three pillars have become an inspiration to the research on using the Internet in the financial education among economic university students as the group of the best educated people in finance. The financial education is a process that allows for improving the level of financial literacy. In turn, the financial literacy it is the set of financial knowledge, skills, awareness and patterns influencing the financial decisions. The level of financial literacy influences the level of financial well-being of individuals, determines the scale of saving of households and at the same time gives the greater chance for sustainable and more predictable development of the financial market with the positive impact on economy. The financial literacy is necessary for each group of society but its appropriate level is desirable especially in respect of economics students as future participants of financial markets as well as the experts and advisors in financial decision making. The low level of financial literacy is the great problem of many target groups in both developing and developed countries and the financial education is seen as the best way of improving this situation. Also the financial inclusion plays the special role in enhancing the level of financial literacy in the aspect of education by practice as well as due to interrelation between level of financial literacy and degree of financial inclusion. Despite many initiatives under financial education, the level of financial literacy is still very low. Scientists still search for new ways of solving this problem. One of the proposal is more effective usage of the new technology in financial education, especially the Internet, because of the growing popularity of e-learning and the increasing number of Internet users, especially among young people who are called the Generation Net. Due to special role of the university students studying the economics fields for the future financial markets, students of four universities from Visegrad Countries (Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland and Slovakia) were invited to participate in the survey. The aim of the article is to present the level and ways of using the Internet technology in financial education and indicating the so far unused or underused opportunities.

Keywords: financial education, financial inclusion, financial literacy, internet and university education

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Authors: H. S. Niroshani, W. M. Ediri Arachchi, R. Tudugala, U. J. M. A. L. Jayasinghe, U. M. U. J. Jayasekara, P. B. Hewavithana

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Mammography is used as a screening tool for early diagnosis of breast cancer. It is also useful in refining the diagnosis of breast cancer either by assessment or work up after a suspicious area in the breast has been detected. In order to detect breast cancer accurately and at the earliest possible stage, the image must have an optimum contrast to reveal mass densities and spiculated fibrous structures radiating from them. In addition, the spatial resolution must be adequate to reveal the suffusion of micro calcifications and their shape. The above factors can be optimized by implementing an effective QA programme to enhance the accurate diagnosis of mammographic imaging. Therefore, the radiographer’s knowledge on QA is greatly instrumental in routine mammographic practice. The aim of this study was to assess the radiographer’s knowledge on Quality Assurance and Quality Control programmes in relation to mammographic procedures. A cross-sectional study was carried out among all radiographers working in each mammography setting in Sri Lanka. Pre-tested, anonymous self-administered questionnaires were circulated among the study population and duly filled questionnaires returned within a period of three months were taken into the account. The data on demographical information, knowledge on QA programme and associated QC tests, overall knowledge on QA and QC programmes were obtained. Data analysis was performed using IBM SPSS statistical software (version 20.0). The total response rate was 59.6% and the average knowledge score was 54.15±11.29 SD out of 100. Knowledge was compared on the basis of education level, special training of mammography, and the years of working experience in a mammographic setting of the individuals. Out of 31 subjects, 64.5% (n=20) were graduate radiographers and 35.5% (n=11) were diploma holders while 83.9% (n=26) of radiographers have been specially trained for mammography and 16.1% (n=5) have not been attended for any special training for mammography. It is also noted that 58.1% (n=18) of individuals possessed their experience of less than one year and rest 41.9% (n=13) of them were greater than that. Further, the results found that there is a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the knowledge of QA and overall knowledge on QA and QC programme in the categories of education level and working experience. Also, results imply that there was a significant difference (P < 0.05) in the knowledge of QC test among the groups of trained and non-trained radiographers. This study reveals that education level, working experience and the training obtained particularly in the field of mammography have a significant impact on their knowledge on QA and QC in mammography.

Keywords: knowledge, mammography, quality assurance, quality control

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Authors: Mario Sandro F. Rocha, Carlos S. Ande, Anderson A. Oliveira, Felipe M. Bersotti, Lucas O. Venzel

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The inertial motion capture systems (mocap) are among the most suitable tools for quantitative clinical analysis in rehabilitation and sports medicine. The inertial measuring units (IMUs), composed by accelerometers, gyroscopes, and magnetometers, are able to measure spatial orientations and calculate displacements with sufficient precision for applications in biomechanical analysis of movement. Furthermore, this type of system is relatively affordable and has the advantages of portability and independence from external references. In this work, we present the last version of our inertial motion capture system, based on the foregoing technology, with a unity interface designed for rehabilitation and sports. In our hardware architecture, only one serial port is required. First, the board client must be connected to the computer by a USB cable. Next, an available serial port is configured and opened to establish the communication between the client and the application, and then the client starts scanning for the active MOCAP_S servers around. The servers play the role of the inertial measuring units that capture the movements of the body and send the data to the client, which in turn create a package composed by the ID of the server, the current timestamp, and the motion capture data defined in the client pre-configuration of the capture session. In the current version, we can measure the game rotation vector (grv) and linear acceleration (lacc), and we also have a step detector that can be abled or disabled. The grv data are processed and directly linked to the bones of the 3D model, and, along with the data of lacc and step detector, they are also used to perform the calculations of displacements and other variables shown on the graphical user interface. Our user interface was designed to calculate and present variables that are important for rehabilitation and sports, such as cadence, speed, total gait cycle, gait cycle length, obliquity and rotation, and center of gravity displacement. Our goal is to present a low-cost portable and wearable system with a friendly interface for application in biomechanics and sports, which also performs as a product of high precision and low consumption of energy.

Keywords: biomechanics, inertial sensors, motion capture, rehabilitation

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Authors: Irene Yi

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Machine learning, natural language processing, and neural network models of language are becoming more and more prevalent in the fields of technology and linguistics today. Training data for machines are at best, large corpora of human literature and at worst, a reflection of the ugliness in society. Computational linguistics is a growing field dealing with such issues of data collection for technological development. Machines have been trained on millions of human books, only to find that in the course of human history, derogatory and sexist adjectives are used significantly more frequently when describing females in history and literature than when describing males. This is extremely problematic, both as training data, and as the outcome of natural language processing. As machines start to handle more responsibilities, it is crucial to ensure that they do not take with them historical sexist and misogynistic notions. This paper gathers data and algorithms from neural network models of language having to deal with syntax, semantics, sociolinguistics, and text classification. Computational analysis on such linguistic data is used to find patterns of misogyny. Results are significant in showing the existing intentional and unintentional misogynistic notions used to train machines, as well as in developing better technologies that take into account the semantics and syntax of text to be more mindful and reflect gender equality. Further, this paper deals with the idea of non-binary gender pronouns and how machines can process these pronouns correctly, given its semantic and syntactic context. This paper also delves into the implications of gendered grammar and its effect, cross-linguistically, on natural language processing. Languages such as French or Spanish not only have rigid gendered grammar rules, but also historically patriarchal societies. The progression of society comes hand in hand with not only its language, but how machines process those natural languages. These ideas are all extremely vital to the development of natural language models in technology, and they must be taken into account immediately.

Keywords: computational analysis, gendered grammar, misogynistic language, neural networks

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Authors: Pramoda Karunarathna, Hemamalie Gunatilaka

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This study is based on experiences of Sri Lankan lesbian and gay workers’ career in the corporate sector, which include both manufacturing and service sectors. The study has started with the intention of shedding light on a grey area to observe the negative effects on lesbian and gay workers and their experiences while they are employed in the Sri Lankan corporate sector. In order to understand the experiences of lesbian and gay workers while they are at work within the corporate sector, the study seeks to address four questions. First research question is about the challenges faced by lesbian and gay workers while they are at work, and the second research question looks at their career patterns. Third research question seeks to address the behavior at work, and the fourth research question looks at the influence of class, religion, and cultural aspects on the career of lesbian and gay workers. Methodologically, the research was based on semi-structured interviews with nine participants (five gay men and four lesbian women) having work experience in the corporate sector and residing in Colombo, the capital city of Sri Lanka. The research found that the participants have gone through the process of developing sexual identity; gay men possess more feminine characteristics, while lesbian women possess more masculine characteristics. Further, their identity gets revealed in different ways, such as through the curriculum vitae, at the interviews, through the attire and behavior, and with the use of social media. The study also found that lesbian and gay workers experience discrimination due to violation of hierarchical power difference by other employees and marginalization, verbal and nonverbal abuse by other men at work are common experiences. Another finding is that lesbian and gay workers adopt strategies for survival at work, and they prefer the NGO sector to the corporate sector. In contrast, even within the corporate sector, advertising is preferred by lesbian and gay workers. Some of the Sri Lankan corporate sector organizations, especially multinational organizations, have initiated diversity training, and it might lead to making these organisations lesbian and gay-friendly workplaces in the future. It is also found that nearly 44 percent of the participants do not have a religion, and it is due to the rejection of deviant behaviours by most of the religions. In conclusion, lesbian and gay workers experience discrimination at work in the Sri Lankan corporate sector with an exception to the companies relating to advertising and non-governmental organisations is the sector that these workers prefer the most.

Keywords: lesbian workers, gay workers, Sri Lankan corporate sector, discrimination

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Authors: Henok Hailemariam, Frank Wuttke

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Collapsible soils are weak soils that appear to be stable in their natural state, normally dry condition, but rapidly deform under saturation (wetting), thus generating large and unexpected settlements which often yield disastrous consequences for structures unwittingly built on such deposits. In this study, a prediction model for the relative subsidence of stressed collapsible soils based on dielectric permittivity measurement is presented. Unlike most existing methods for soil subsidence prediction, this model does not require moisture content as an input parameter, thus providing the opportunity to obtain accurate estimation of the relative subsidence of collapsible soils using dielectric measurement only. The prediction model is developed based on an existing relative subsidence prediction model (which is dependent on soil moisture condition) and an advanced theoretical frequency and temperature-dependent electromagnetic mixing equation (which effectively removes the moisture content dependence of the original relative subsidence prediction model). For large scale sub-surface soil exploration purposes, the spatial sub-surface soil dielectric data over wide areas and high depths of weak (collapsible) soil deposits can be obtained using non-destructive high frequency electromagnetic (HF-EM) measurement techniques such as ground penetrating radar (GPR). For laboratory or small scale in-situ measurements, techniques such as an open-ended coaxial line with widely applicable time domain reflectometry (TDR) or vector network analysers (VNAs) are usually employed to obtain the soil dielectric data. By using soil dielectric data obtained from small or large scale non-destructive HF-EM investigations, the new model can effectively predict the relative subsidence of weak soils without the need to extract samples for moisture content measurement. Some of the resulting benefits are the preservation of the undisturbed nature of the soil as well as a reduction in the investigation costs and analysis time in the identification of weak (problematic) soils. The accuracy of prediction of the presented model is assessed by conducting relative subsidence tests on a collapsible soil at various initial soil conditions and a good match between the model prediction and experimental results is obtained.

Keywords: collapsible soil, dielectric permittivity, moisture content, relative subsidence

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Authors: Seyran Naghdi

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Background: Orphan drug development is limited by very high costs attributed to the research and development and small size market. How health policymakers address this challenge to consider both supply and demand sides need to be explored for directing the policies and plans in the right way. The price is an important signal for pharmaceutical companies’ profitability and the patients’ accessibility as well. Objective: This study aims to find out the orphan drugs' price-setting patterns and approaches in health systems through a systematic review of the available evidence. Methods: The Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analysis (PRISMA) approach was used. MedLine, Embase, and Web of Sciences were searched via appropriate search strategies. Through Medical Subject Headings (MeSH), the appropriate terms for pricing were 'cost and cost analysis', and it was 'orphan drug production', and 'orphan drug', for orphan drugs. The critical appraisal was performed by the Joanna-Briggs tool. A Cochrane data extraction form was used to obtain the data about the studies' characteristics, results, and conclusions. Results: Totally, 1,197 records were found. It included 640 hits from Embase, 327 from Web of Sciences, and 230 MedLine. After removing the duplicates, 1,056 studies remained. Of them, 924 studies were removed in the primary screening phase. Of them, 26 studies were included for data extraction. The majority of the studies (>75%) are from developed countries, among them, approximately 80% of the studies are from European countries. Approximately 85% of evidence has been produced in the recent decade. Conclusions: There is a huge variation of price-setting among countries, and this is related to the specific pharmacological market structure and the thresholds that governments want to intervene in the process of pricing. On the other hand, there is some evidence on the availability of spaces to reduce the very high costs of orphan drugs development through an early agreement between pharmacological firms and governments. Further studies need to focus on how the governments could incentivize the companies to agree on providing the drugs at lower prices.

Keywords: orphan drugs, orphan drug production, pricing, costs, cost analysis

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Authors: Emily Kislik, Gabriel Mantilla Saltos, Gladys Torres, Mercy Borbor-Córdova

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The Galápagos Marine Reserve (GMR) is an internationally-recognized region of consistent upwelling events, high productivity, and rich biodiversity. Despite its high-nutrient, low-chlorophyll condition, the archipelago has experienced phytoplankton blooms, especially in the western section between Isabela and Fernandina Islands. However, little is known about how climate variability will affect future phytoplankton standing stock in the Galápagos, and no consistent protocols currently exist to quantify phytoplankton biomass, identify species, or monitor for potential harmful algal blooms (HABs) within the archipelago. This analysis investigates physical, chemical, and biological oceanic variables that contribute to algal blooms within the GMR, using 4 km Aqua MODIS satellite imagery and 0.125-degree wind stress data from January 2003 to December 2016. Furthermore, this study analyzes chlorophyll-a concentrations at varying spatial scales— within the greater archipelago, as well as within five smaller bioregions based on species biodiversity in the GMR. Seasonal and interannual trend analyses, correlations, and hotspot identification were performed. Results demonstrate that chlorophyll-a is expressed in two seasons throughout the year in the GMR, most frequently in September and March, with a notable hotspot in the Elizabeth Bay bioregion. Interannual chlorophyll-a trend analyses revealed highest peaks in 2003, 2007, 2013, and 2016, and variables that correlate highly with chlorophyll-a include surface temperature and particulate organic carbon. This study recommends future in situ sampling locations for phytoplankton monitoring, including the Elizabeth Bay bioregion. Conclusions from this study contribute to the knowledge of oceanic drivers that catalyze primary productivity and consequently affect species biodiversity within the GMR. Additionally, this research can inform policy and decision-making strategies for species conservation and management within bioregions of the Galápagos.

Keywords: bioregions, ecological monitoring, phytoplankton, remote sensing

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Authors: Hilal Al Shamsi, Abdullah Almutairi

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Introduction: As primary healthcare centres play an important role in implementing Saudi Arabia’s health strategy, this paper offers a review of publications on the quality of the country’s primary health care. With the aim of deciding on solutions for improvement, it provides an overview of healthcare quality in this context and indicates barriers to quality. Method: Using two databases, ProQuest and Scopus, data extracted from published articles were systematically analysed for determining the care quality in Saudi primary health centres and obstacles to achieving higher quality. Results: Twenty-six articles met the criteria for inclusion in this review. The components of healthcare quality were examined in terms of the access to and effectiveness of interpersonal and clinical care. Good access and effective care were identified in such areas as maternal health care and the control of epidemic diseases, whereas poor access and effectiveness of care were shown for chronic disease management programmes, referral patterns (in terms of referral letters and feedback reports), health education and interpersonal care (in terms of language barriers). Several factors were identified as barriers to high-quality care. These included problems with evidence-based practice implementation, professional development, the use of referrals to secondary care and organisational culture. Successful improvements have been implemented by other systems, such as mobile medical units, electronic referrals, online translation tools and mobile devices and their applications; these can be implemented in Saudi Arabia for improving the quality of the primary healthcare system in this country. Conclusion: The quality of primary health care in Saudi Arabia varies among the different services. To improve quality, management programmes and organisational culture must be promoted in primary health care. Professional development strategies are also needed for improving the skills and knowledge of healthcare professionals. Potential improvements can be implemented to improve the quality of the primary health system.

Keywords: quality, primary health care, Saudi Arabia, health centres, general medical

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Authors: Rohan Bhasin

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Agrammatism in non-fluent Aphasia Cases can be defined as a language disorder wherein a patient can only use content words ( nouns, verbs and adjectives ) for communication and their speech is devoid of functional word types like conjunctions and articles, generating speech of with extremely rudimentary grammar . Past approaches involve Speech Therapy of some order with conversation analysis used to analyse pre-therapy speech patterns and qualitative changes in conversational behaviour after therapy. We describe this approach as a novel method to generate functional words (prepositions, articles, ) around content words ( nouns, verbs and adjectives ) using a combination of Natural Language Processing and Deep Learning algorithms. The applications of this approach can be used to assist communication. The approach the paper investigates is : LSTMs or Seq2Seq: A sequence2sequence approach (seq2seq) or LSTM would take in a sequence of inputs and output sequence. This approach needs a significant amount of training data, with each training data containing pairs such as (content words, complete sentence). We generate such data by starting with complete sentences from a text source, removing functional words to get just the content words. However, this approach would require a lot of training data to get a coherent input. The assumptions of this approach is that the content words received in the inputs of both text models are to be preserved, i.e, won't alter after the functional grammar is slotted in. This is a potential limit to cases of severe Agrammatism where such order might not be inherently correct. The applications of this approach can be used to assist communication mild Agrammatism in non-fluent Aphasia Cases. Thus by generating these function words around the content words, we can provide meaningful sentence options to the patient for articulate conversations. Thus our project translates the use case of generating sentences from content-specific words into an assistive technology for non-Fluent Aphasia Patients.

Keywords: aphasia, expressive aphasia, assistive algorithms, neurology, machine learning, natural language processing, language disorder, behaviour disorder, sequence to sequence, LSTM

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Authors: Vandana Mishra, Niladri Sekhar Dash, Jayshree Charkraborty

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This present paper focuses on the application of corpus linguistics techniques for critical discourse analysis (CDA) of Hindi newspapers. While Corpus linguistics is the study of language as expressed in corpora (samples) of 'real world' text, CDA is an interdisciplinary approach to the study of discourse that views language as a form of social practice. CDA has mainly been studied from a qualitative perspective. However, we can say that recent studies have begun combining corpus linguistics with CDA in analyzing large volumes of text for the study of existing power relations in society. The corpus under our study is also of a sizable amount (1 million words of Hindi newspaper texts) and its analysis requires an alternative analytical procedure. So, we have combined both the quantitative approach i.e. the use of corpus techniques with CDA’s traditional qualitative analysis. In this context, we have focused on the Keyword Analysis Sorting Concordance Lines of the selected Keywords and calculating collocates of the keywords. We have made use of the Wordsmith Tool for all these analysis. The analysis starts with identifying the keywords in the political news corpus when compared with the main news corpus. The keywords are extracted from the corpus based on their keyness calculated through statistical tests like chi-squared test and log-likelihood test on the frequent words of the corpus. Some of the top occurring keywords are मोदी (Modi), भाजपा (BJP), कांग्रेस (Congress), सरकार (Government) and पार्टी (Political party). This is followed by the concordance analysis of these keywords which generates thousands of lines but we have to select few lines and examine them based on our objective. We have also calculated the collocates of the keywords based on their Mutual Information (MI) score. Both concordance and collocation help to identify lexical patterns in the political texts. Finally, all these quantitative results derived from the corpus techniques will be subjectively interpreted in accordance to the CDA’s theory to examine the ways in which political news discourse produces social and political inequality, power abuse or domination.

Keywords: critical discourse analysis, corpus linguistics, Hindi newspapers, power relations

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Authors: Christina Hagen, Pragathi Kamale Gurmurthy, Thorsten M. Buzug

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CFD simulations are performed in the upper airway of a patient suffering from obstructive sleep apnea (OSA) that is a sleep related breathing disorder characterized by repetitive partial or complete closures of the upper airways. The simulations are aimed at getting a better understanding of the pathophysiological flow patterns in an OSA patient. The simulation is compared to medical data of a sleep endoscopic examination under sedation. A digital model consisting of surface triangles of the upper airway is extracted from the MR images by a region growing segmentation process and is followed by a careful manual refinement. The computational domain includes the nasal cavity with the nostrils as the inlet areas and the pharyngeal volume with an outlet underneath the larynx. At the nostrils a flat inflow velocity profile is prescribed by choosing the velocity such that a volume flow rate of 150 ml/s is reached. Behind the larynx at the outlet a pressure of -10 Pa is prescribed. The stationary incompressible Navier-Stokes equations are numerically solved using finite elements. A grid convergence study has been performed. The results show an amplification of the maximal velocity of about 2.5 times the inlet velocity at a constriction of the pharyngeal volume in the area of the tongue. It is the same region that also shows the highest pressure drop from about 5 Pa. This is in agreement with the sleep endoscopic examinations of the same patient under sedation showing complete contractions in the area of the tongue. CFD simulations can become a useful tool in the diagnosis and therapy of obstructive sleep apnea by giving insight into the patient’s individual fluid dynamical situation in the upper airways giving a better understanding of the disease where experimental measurements are not feasible. Within this study, it could been shown on one hand that constriction areas within the upper airway lead to a significant pressure drop and on the other hand a good agreement of the area of pressure drop and the area of contraction could be shown.

Keywords: biomedical engineering, obstructive sleep apnea, pharynx, upper airways

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Authors: Barbara Janari

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In this paper it is argued that the effect of the disjunctive temporality in Summertime (the third of J.M. Coetzee’s fictionalised memoirs) is two-fold: firstly, it reflects the memoir’s ambivalent, contradictory representations of place in order to emphasize the fractured sense of self growing up in South Africa during apartheid entailed for Coetzee. Secondly, it reconceives the autobiographical discourse as one that foregrounds the inherent fictionality of all texts. The memoir’s narrative is filtered through intricate textual strategies that disrupt the chronological movement of the narrative, evoking the labyrinthine ways in which the past and present intersect and interpenetrate each other. It is framed by entries from Coetzee’s Notebooks: it opens with entries that cover the years 1972–1975, and ends with a number of undated fragments from his Notebooks. Most of the entries include a short ‘memo’ at the end, added between 1999 and 2000. While the memos follow the Notebook entries in the text, they are separated by decades. Between the Notebook entries is a series of interviews conducted by Vincent, the text’s putative biographer, between 2007 and 2008, based on recollections from five people who had known Coetzee in the 1970s – a key period in John’s life as it marks both his return to South Africa after a failed emigration attempt to America, and the beginning of his writing career, with the publication of Dusklands in 1974. The relationship between the memoir’s various parts is a key feature of Coetzee’s representation of place in Summertime, which is constructed as a composite one in which the principle of reflexive referencing has to be adopted. In other words, readers have to suspend individual references temporarily until the relationships between the parts have been connected to each other. In order to apprehend meaning in the text, the disparate narrative elements have to first be tied together. In this text, then, the experience of time as ordered and chronological is ruptured. Instead, the memoir’s themes and patterns become apparent most clearly through reflexive referencing, by which relationships between disparate sections of the text are linked. The image of the fictional John that emerges from the text is a composite of this John and the author, J.M. Coetzee, and is one which embodies Coetzee’s often fraught relationship with his home country, South Africa.

Keywords: autobiography, place, reflexive referencing, temporality

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Authors: Mbuotidem Brendan, Nathanael Afolabi

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Teenage pregnancy is a major health concern because of its association with high morbidity and mortality for both mother and child. In 2013, 23% of women in Nigeria, aged 15 - 19 yr have begun childbearing: 17% have had a child and 5% are pregnant with their first child. Reported differences across locations have been attributed to factors such as educational attainment and exposure to mass media. This study therefore seeks to determine the difference in the level of exposure among teenage mothers and older women of reproductive age in Nigeria. Over 12,000 women of reproductive age (18 – 49 yr) were interviewed across 8 states from the Northern and Southern region of Nigeria. The women were further segregated into two groups of 0 (women aged 18 – 20 yr who had children of their own) and 1 (women of reproductive age excluding teenage mothers). Data was collected via structured questionnaires on mobile devices using the open data kit platform. Initial data formatting and recoding was done using STATA 13 package. Initial analysis was also conducted using SPSS version 21 and the data points were mapped on QuantumGIS package. From the results of analyzed data obtained from the studied states, there were various mean ages of first births across the supported states. Though Akwa Ibom had one of the oldest mean ages (21.2 yr) at first birth and the lowest fertility rate of 3.9 births/woman according to the National Demographic Health Survey 2013, Akwa Ibom had the highest rate of teenage pregnancy (18.2%) across the respondents. Based on education, the respondents that had completed secondary school education (56.9%) made up the greatest cohorts of the teenage parents. This is counter indicative of the initial thinking that there is an inverse relationship between level of education and teenage pregnancy. Akwa Ibom, Bauchi and Delta states are states where respondents felt that contraceptive use is dangerous to health and they were the top 4 states that had a large proportion of teenage mothers. Similarly, across the states examined, all the women of reproductive age felt they could convince their spouses to use contraceptives, as using family planning does not cause women to be promiscuous. This study thus reveals that across the states studied, there was no marked variation in the perception of family planning between teenage parents and women of reproductive age. The study also highlights the need for future planning and exposure to family planning messages at secondary school level.

Keywords: adolescent, family planning, mass media, teenage mothers

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Authors: Shreya Srivastava, Sushovan Ghosh, Sagnik Dey

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Aerosols directly affect Earth’s radiation budget by scattering and absorbing incoming solar radiation and outgoing terrestrial radiation. While the uncertainty in aerosol radiative forcing (ARF) has decreased over the years, it is still higher than that of greenhouse gas forcing, particularly in the South Asian region, due to high heterogeneity in their chemical properties. Understanding the Spatio-temporal heterogeneity of aerosol composition is critical in improving climate prediction. Studies using satellite data, in-situ and aircraft measurements, and models have investigated the Spatio-temporal variability of aerosol characteristics. In this study, we have taken aerosol data from Multi-angle Imaging Spectro-Radiometer (MISR) level-2 version 23 aerosol products retrieved at 4.4 km and radiation data from Clouds and the Earth’s Radiant Energy System (CERES, spatial resolution=1ox1o) for 21 years (2000-2021) over the Indian subcontinent. MISR aerosol product includes size and shapes segregated aerosol optical depth (AOD), Angstrom exponent (AE), and single scattering albedo (SSA). Additionally, 74 aerosol mixtures are included in version 23 data that is used for aerosol speciation. We have seasonally mapped aerosol optical and microphysical properties from MISR for India at quarter degrees resolution. Results show strong Spatio-temporal variability, with a constant higher value of AOD for the Indo-Gangetic Plain (IGP). The contribution of small-size particles is higher throughout the year, spatially during winter months. SSA is found to be overestimated where absorbing particles are present. The climatological map of short wave (SW) ARF at the top of the atmosphere (TOA) shows a strong cooling except in only a few places (values ranging from +2.5o to -22.5o). Cooling due to aerosols is higher in the absence of clouds. Higher negative values of ARF are found over the IGP region, given the high aerosol concentration above the region. Surface ARF values are everywhere negative for our study domain, with higher values in clear conditions. The results strongly correlate with AOD from MISR and ARF from CERES.

Keywords: aerosol Radiative forcing (ARF), aerosol composition, single scattering albedo (SSA), CERES

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Authors: Razieh Rezabeigi Sani, Alireza Farahani, Mahdi Haghi

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Displacement, local discontent, and forced exclusion have become prominent parts of urban regeneration activities in the Global North and South. This paper discusses the processes of massive displacement and neighborhood alteration as the consequences of a large-scale political/ideological placemaking project in central Tehran that transformed people's daily lives in surrounding neighborhoods. The conversion of Imam Hussein Square and connecting 17-Shahrivar Street to a pedestrian plaza in 2016 resulted in adjacent neighborhoods' physical, social, and economic degradation. The project has downgraded the economic and social characteristics of urban life in surrounding neighborhoods, commercialized residential land uses, displaced local people and businesses, and created unprecedented housing modes. This research has been conducted in two stages; first, after the project's implementation between 2017-2018, and second, when the street was reopened after local protests in 2021. In the first phase, 50+ on-site interviews were organized with planners, managers, and dwellers about the decision-making processes, design, and project implementation. We find that the project was based on the immediate political objectives and top-down power exertion of the local government in creating exclusive spaces (for religious ceremonies) without considering locals' knowledge, preferences, lifestyles, and everyday interactions. In the continued research in 2021, we utilized data gathered in facilitation activities and several meetings and interviews with local inhabitants and businesses to explore, design, and implement initiatives for bottom-up planning in these neighborhoods. The top-down and product-oriented (rather than process-oriented) planning, dependency on municipal financing rather than local partnerships, and lack of public participation proved to have continued effects on local participation. The paper concludes that urban regeneration projects must be based on the participation of different private/public actors, sustainable financial resources, and overall social and spatial analysis of the peripheral area before interventions.

Keywords: displacement, urban regeneration, distressed neighborhoods, ideological placemaking, Tehran

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