Search results for: housing pathways

Authors: Marta Fernandez Cabrera

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The period of economic boom generated by the housing bubble created a climate of social indifference to the problem of corruption. This resulted in the persecution and conviction for these criminal offenses being low. After the economic recession, social awareness about the problem of corruption has increased. This has led to the Spanish citizenship requiring the public authorities to try to end the problem in the most effective way possible. In order to respond to the continuous social demands that require an exemplary punishment, the legislator has made changes in crimes against the public administration in the Spanish Criminal Code. However, from the point of view of criminal law, the social change has not served to modify only the law, but also the jurisprudence. After the recession, judges are punishing more severely these conducts than in the past. Before the crisis, it was usual for criminal judges to divert relevant behavior to other areas of the legal system such as administrative law and acquit in the criminal field. Criminal judges have considered that administrative law already has mechanisms that can effectively deal with this type of behavior in order to respect the principle of subsidiarity or ultima ratio. It has also been usual for criminal judges to acquit civil servants due to the absence of requirements unrelated to the applicable offense. For example, they have required an economic damage to the public administration when the offense in the criminal code does not require it. Nevertheless, for some years, these arguments have either partially disappeared or considerably transformed. Since 2010, a jurisprudential stream has been consolidated that aims to provide a more severe response to corruption than it had received until now. This change of opinion, together with greater prosecution of these behaviors by judges and prosecutors, has led to a significant increase in the number of individuals convicted of corruption crimes. This paper has two objectives. The first one is to show that even though judges apply the law impartially, they are flexible to social changes. The second one is to identify the erroneous arguments the courts have used up until now. To carry out the present paper, it has been done a detailed analysis of the judgments of the supreme court before and after the year 2010. Therefore, the jurisprudential analysis is complemented with the statistical data on corruption available.

Keywords: corruption, public administration, social perception, ultima ratio principle

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Authors: D. Castillo T., Luis F. Jimenez

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The compressed earth blocks (CEBs) constitute an alternative as a constructive element for building homes in regions with high levels of poverty and marginalization. Such is the case of Southeastern Mexico, where the population, predominantly indigene, build their houses with feeble materials like wood and palm, vulnerable to extreme weather in the area, because they do not have the financial resources to acquire concrete blocks. There are several advantages that can provide BTCs compared to traditional vibro-compressed concrete blocks, such as the availability of materials, low manufacturing cost and reduced CO2 emissions to the atmosphere for not be subjected to a burning process. However, to improve its mechanical properties and resistance to adverse weather conditions in terms of humidity and temperature of the sub-humid climate zones, it requires the use of a chemical stabilizer; in this case we chose Ca(OH)2. The stabilization method Eades-Grim was employed, according to ASTM C977-03. This method measures the optimum amount of lime required to stabilize the soil, increasing the pH to 12.4 or higher. The minimum amount of lime required in this experiment was 1% and the maximum was 10%. The employed material was clay unconsolidated low to medium plasticity (CL type according to the Unified Soil Classification System). Based on these results, the CEBs manufacturing process was determined. The obtained blocks were from 10x15x30 cm using a mixture of soil, water and lime in different proportions. Later these blocks were put to dry outdoors and subjected to several physical and mechanical tests, such as compressive strength, absorption and drying shrinkage. The results were compared with the limits established by the Mexican Standard NMX-C-404-ONNCCE-2005 for the construction of housing walls. In this manner an alternative and sustainable material was obtained for the construction of rural households in the region, with better security conditions, comfort and cost.

Keywords: calcium hydroxide, chemical stabilization, compressed earth blocks, sub-humid warm weather

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Authors: Semire Yekta

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Many online retailers set up manual review teams to overcome the limitations of automated online fraud detection systems. This study critically examines the strategies they adapt in their decision-making process to set apart fraudulent individuals from non-fraudulent online shoppers. The study uses a mix method research approach. 32 in-depth interviews have been conducted alongside with participant observation and auto-ethnography. The study found out that all steps of the decision-making process are significantly affected by a level of subjectivity, personal understandings of online fraud, preferences and judgments and not necessarily by objectively identifiable facts. Rather clearly knowing who the fraudulent individuals are, the team members have to predict whether they think the customer might be a fraudster. Common strategies used are relying on the classification and fraud scorings in the automated fraud detection systems, weighing up arguments for and against the customer and making a decision, using cancellation to test customers’ reaction and making use of personal experiences and “the sixth sense”. The interaction in the team also plays a significant role given that some decisions turn into a group discussion. While customer data represent the basis for the decision-making, fraud management teams frequently make use of Google search and Google Maps to find out additional information about the customer and verify whether the customer is the person they claim to be. While this, on the one hand, raises ethical concerns, on the other hand, Google Street View on the address and area of the customer puts customers living in less privileged housing and areas at a higher risk of being classified as fraudsters. Phone validation is used as a final measurement to make decisions for or against the customer when previous strategies and Google Search do not suffice. However, phone validation is also characterized by individuals’ subjectivity, personal views and judgment on customer’s reaction on the phone that results in a final classification as genuine or fraudulent.

Keywords: online fraud, data mining, manual review, social construction

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Authors: Maria Angela Bedini, Fabio Bronzini

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The risk of natural disasters affects all the countries of the world, whether it refers to seismic events or tsunamis or hydrogeological disasters. In most cases, the risk can be considered in its three components: hazard, exposure, vulnerability (and urban vulnerability). The aim of this paper is to evaluate how the Italian scientific community has related the contribution of these three components, superimposing the three different maps that summarize the fundamental structure of the risk. Based on the three components considered, the study applies the Regional Planning methodology on the three phases of the risk protection and mitigation process: the prevention phase, the emergency intervention phase, the post-disaster phase. The paper illustrates the Italian experience of the pre-during-post-earthquake intervention. Main results: The study deepens these aspects in the belief that “a historical center” and an “island” can present similar problems at the international level, both in the phase of prevention (earthquake, tsunamis, hydrogeological disasters), in emergency phase (protocols and procedures of intervention) and in the post-disaster phase. The conclusions of the research identify the need to plan in advance how to deal with the post-disaster phase and consider it a priority with respect to the simple reconstruction of destroyed buildings. In fact the main result of the post-disaster intervention must be the return and the social and economic support of the indigenous population, and not only the construction of new housing and equipment. In this sense, the results of the research show that the elderly inhabitants of a historic center can be compared to the indigenous population of an atoll of fishermen, as both constitute the most important resource: the human resource. Their return in conditions of security testifies, with their presence, the culture, customs, and values rooted in the history of a people.

Keywords: post-disaster interventions, risk of natural disasters in Italy and abroad, seismic events in Italy, social and economic protection and support for the native population of historical centers

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Authors: Ábrám Zoltán

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Introduction: Climate change is now a major health risk, and its environmental and health effects have become frequently discussed topics. The consequences of climate change are clearly visible in natural disasters and excess deaths caused by extreme weather conditions. Global warming and the increasingly frequent extreme weather events have direct, immediate effects or long-term, indirect effects on health. For this reason, it is a need to teach the health effects of climate change in medical schools. Material and methods: We looked for various surveys, studies, and reports on the main pathways through which global warming affects health. Medical schools face the challenge of teaching the health implications of climate change and integrating knowledge about the health effects of climate change into medical training. For this purpose, there were organised World Café workshops for three target groups: medical students, academic staff, and practising medical doctors. Results: Among the goals of the research is the development of a detailed curriculum for medical students, which serves to expand their knowledge in basic education. At the same time, the project promotes the increase of teacher motivation and the development of methodological guidelines for university teachers; it also provides further training for practicing doctors. The planned teaching materials will be developed in a format suitable for traditional face-to-face teaching, as well as e-learning teaching materials. CLIMATEMED is a project based on the cooperation of six universities and institutions from four countries, the aim of which is to improve the curriculum and expand knowledge about the health effects of climate change at medical universities. Conclusions: In order to assess the needs, summarize the proposals, to develop the necessary strategy, World Café type, one-and-a-half to two-hour round table discussions will take place separately for medical students, academic staff, and practicing doctors. The CLIMATEMED project can facilitate the integration of knowledge about the health effects of climate change into curricula and can promote practical use. The avoidance of the unwanted effects of global warming and climate change is not only a public matter, but it is also a challenge to change our own lifestyle. It is the responsibility of all of us to protect the Earth's ecosystem and the physical and mental health of ourselves and future generations.

Keywords: climate change, health effects, medical schools, World Café, medical students

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Authors: F. Sahnoune, M. Belhamel, M. Zelmat

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Solar thermal systems available today provide reliability, efficiency and significant environmental benefits. In housing, they can satisfy the hot water demand and reduce energy bills by 60 % or more. Additionally, collective systems or large scale solar thermal systems are increasingly used in different conditions for hot water applications and space heating in hotels and multi-family homes, hospitals, nursing homes and sport halls as well as in commercial and industrial building. However, in situ real performance data for collective solar water heating systems has not been extensively outlined. This paper focuses on the study of real energy performances of a collective solar water heating system using the remote monitoring technique in Algerian climatic conditions. This is to ensure proper operation of the system at any time, determine the system performance and to check to what extent solar performance guarantee can be achieved. The measurements are performed on an active indirect heating system of 12 m2 flat plate collector’s surface installed in Algiers and equipped with a various sensors. The sensors transmit measurements to a local station which controls the pumps, valves, electrical auxiliaries, etc. The simulation of the installation was developed using the software SOLO 2000. The system provides a yearly solar yield of 6277.5 KWh for an estimated annual need of 7896 kWh; the yearly average solar cover rate amounted to 79.5%. The productivity is in the order of 523.13 kWh / m²/year. Simulation results are compared to measured results and to guaranteed solar performances. The remote monitoring shows that 90% of the expected solar results can be easy guaranteed on a long period. Furthermore, the installed remote monitoring unit was able to detect some dysfunctions. It follows that remote monitoring is an important tool in energy management of some building equipment.

Keywords: large-scale solar water heater, real energy performance, remote monitoring, solar performance guarantee, tool to promote solar water heater

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Authors: Sami Khan, Kripa Varanasi

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Corrosion is a widespread problem in several industries and developing surfaces that resist corrosion has been an area of interest since the last several decades. Superhydrophobic surfaces that combine hydrophobic coatings along with surface texture have been shown to improve corrosion resistance by creating voids filled with air that minimize the contact area between the corrosive liquid and the solid surface. However, these air voids can incorporate corrosive liquids over time, and any mechanical faults such as cracks can compromise the coating and provide pathways for corrosion. As such, there is a need for self-healing corrosion-resistance surfaces. In this work, the anti-corrosion properties of textured surfaces impregnated with a lubricant have been systematically studied. Since corrosion resistance depends on the area and physico-chemical properties of the material exposed to the corrosive medium, lubricant-impregnated surfaces (LIS) have been designed based on the surface tension, viscosity and chemistry of the lubricant and its spreading coefficient on the solid. All corrosion experiments were performed in a standard three-electrode cell using iron, which readily corrodes in a 3.5% sodium chloride solution. In order to obtain textured iron surfaces, thin films (~500 nm) of iron were sputter-coated on silicon wafers textured using photolithography, and subsequently impregnated with lubricants. Results show that the corrosion rate on LIS is greatly reduced, and offers an over hundred-fold improvement in corrosion protection. Furthermore, it is found that the spreading characteristics of the lubricant are significant in ensuring corrosion protection: a spreading lubricant (e.g., Krytox 1506) that covers both inside the texture, as well as the top of the texture, provides a two-fold improvement in corrosion protection as compared to a non-spreading lubricant (e.g., Silicone oil) that does not cover texture tops. To enhance corrosion protection of surfaces coated with a non-spreading lubricant, pyramid-shaped textures have been developed that minimize exposure to the corrosive solution, and a consequent twenty-fold increased in corrosion protection is observed. An increase in viscosity of the lubricant scales with greater corrosion protection. Finally, an equivalent cell-circuit model is developed for the lubricant-impregnated systems using electrochemical impedance spectroscopy. Lubricant-impregnated surfaces find attractive applications in harsh corrosive environments, especially where the ability to self-heal is advantageous.

Keywords: lubricant-impregnated surfaces, self-healing surfaces, wettability, nano-engineered surfaces

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Authors: Shveta Bathla, Preeti Rawat, Sudarshan Kumar, Rubina Baithalu, Jogender Singh Rana, Tushar Kumar Mohanty, Ashok Kumar Mohanty

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Pregnancy is a complex process which includes series of events such as fertilization, formation of blastocyst, implantation of embryo, placental formation and development of fetus. The success of these events depends on various interactions which are synchronized by endocrine interaction between a receptive dam and competent embryo. These interactions lead to change in expression of hormones and proteins. But till date no protein biomarker is available which can be used to detect successful completion of these events. We employed quantitative proteomics approach to develop putative serological biomarker which has diagnostic applicability for early detection of pregnancy in cows. For this study, sera were collected from control (non-pregnant, n=6) and pregnant animals on successive days of pregnancy (7, 19, 45, n=6). The sera were subjected to depletion for removal of albumin using Norgen depletion kit. The tryptic peptides were labeled with iTRAQ. The peptides were pooled and fractionated using bRPLC over 80 min gradient. Then 12 fractions were injected to nLC for identification and quantitation in DDA mode using ESI. Identification using Mascot search revealed 2056 proteins out of which 352 proteins were differentially expressed. Twenty proteins were upregulated and twelve proteins were down-regulated with fold change > 1.5 and < 0.6 respectively (p < 0.05). The gene ontology studies of DEPs using Panther software revealed that majority of proteins are actively involved in catalytic activities, binding and enzyme regulatory activities. The DEP'S such as NF2, MAPK, GRIPI, UGT1A1, PARP, CD68 were further subjected to pathway analysis using KEGG and Cytoscape plugin Cluego that showed involvement of proteins in successful implantation, maintenance of pluripotency, regulation of luteal function, differentiation of endometrial macrophages, protection from oxidative stress and developmental pathways such as Hippo. Further efforts are continuing for targeted proteomics, western blot to validate potential biomarkers and development of diagnostic kit for early pregnancy diagnosis in cows.

Keywords: bRPLC, Cluego, ESI, iTRAQ, KEGG, Panther

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Authors: Ozlem Oral, Emre Taskin, Aysel Yuce, Serap Dokmeci, Devrim Gozuacik

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Autophagy is an evolutionary conserved lysosome-dependent catabolic pathway, responsible for the degradation of long-lived proteins, abnormal aggregates and damaged organelles which cannot be degraded by the ubiquitin-proteasome system. Lysosomes degrade the substrates through the activity of lysosomal hydrolases and lysosomal membrane-bound proteins. Mutations in the coding region of these proteins cause malfunctional lysosomes, which contributes to the pathogenesis of lysosomal storage diseases. Gaucher disease is a lysosomal storage disease resulting from the mutation of a lysosomal membrane-associated glycoprotein called glucocerebrosidase and its cofactor saposin C. The disease leads to intracellular accumulation of glucosylceramide and other glycolipids. Because of the essential role of lysosomes in autophagic degradation, Gaucher disease may directly be linked to this pathway. In this study, we investigated the expression of autophagy and/or lysosome-related genes and proteins in fibroblast cells isolated from patients with different mutations. We carried out confocal microscopy analysis and examined autophagic flux by utilizing the differential pH sensitivities of RFP and GFP in mRFP-GFP-LC3 probe. We also evaluated lysosomal pH by active lysosome staining and lysosomal enzyme activity. Beside lysosomes, we also performed proteasomal activity and cell death analysis in patient samples. Our data showed significant attenuation in the expression of key autophagy-related genes and accumulation of their proteins in mutant cells. We found decreased the ability of autophagosomes to fuse with lysosomes, associated with elevated lysosomal pH and reduced lysosomal enzyme activity. Proteasomal degradation and cell death analysis showed reduced proteolytic activity of the proteasome, which consequently leads to increased susceptibility to cell death. Our data indicate that the major degradation pathways are affected by multifunctional lysosomes in mutant patient cells and may underlie in the mechanism of clinical severity of Gaucher patients. (This project is supported by TUBITAK-3501-National Young Researchers Career Development Program, Project No: 112T130).

Keywords: autophagy, Gaucher's disease, glucocerebrosidase, mutant fibroblasts

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Authors: Kensuke Otsuyama

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The United Nation World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction was held in Sendai, Japan, in 2015 and priorities for actions until 2030 were adopted for the next 15 years. Although one of these priorities is to ‘build back better’, there is neither a consensus definition of better recovery, nor indicators to measure better recovery. However, the community is considered as a key driver of recovery nowadays, and participation is a key word for effective recovery. In order to understand more about participatory community recovery, the author investigated recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami (GEJET) in Kesennuma, a severely affected city. The research sought to: 1) Identify the elements that contribute to better recovery at the community level, and 2) analyze the role of community volunteers for disaster risk reduction for better recovery. A Participatory Community Recovery Index (PCRI) was created as a tool to measure community recovery. The index adopts seven primary indicators and 20 tertiary indicators, including: socio-economic aspect, housing, health, environment, self-organization, transformation, and institution. The index was applied to nine districts in Kesennuma city. Secondary and primary data by questionnaire surveys with local residents’ organization leaders and interviews with crisis management department officials in city government were also obtained. The indicator results were transformed into scores among 1 to 5, and the results were shown for each district. Based on the result of PCRI, it was found that the s Local Social Welfare Council played an important role in facilitating better recovery, enhancing community volunteer involvement to allow elderly residents to initiate local volunteer work for more affected single-living elderly people. Volunteers for the elderly by the elderly played a crucial role to strengthen community bonding in Kesennuma. In this research, the potential of community volunteers and inter-linkage with DRR activities are discussed.

Keywords: recovery, participation, the great East Japan earthquake and tsunami, community volunteers

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Authors: Annunziata Albano

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Intimate Partner Violence (IPV) and Non-Partner Sexual Violence (NPSV) are still the most common forms of interpersonal violence against women today, and numerous studies have shown how they can affect women's physical and psychological well-being, frequently leading to depression, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and substance abuse. The primary goal of Italian Anti-Violence Centres (AVCs) is to provide an appropriate context for women to embark on a personalised path out of violence by providing various services such as listening groups, psychological and legal support, housing support in collaboration with shelters, work orientation, and specific support in the case of minor children. However, their physical environment is frequently overlooked, partly because these centres are typically established in pre-existing buildings and have a limited budget. Several studies on healthcare design and mental health, on the other hand, emphasise the potential of the built environment to facilitate healing by providing a restorative setting that aids in coping with stress and traumatic experiences, investigating the positive role of natural features and sensorial qualities such as light, colours, sound, and smell. This research aims to collect and summarise the key evidence-based principles derived from a multidisciplinary literature review about interior design elements that can help women recover after their traumatic experience. Furthermore, the study examines multiple case studies of Italian AVCs through the lens of previously determined principles, to understand how and whether these guidelines have been applied and which outcomes can provide relevant insights for design practice, with an emphasis on sensory qualities, usually overlooked in favour of other requirements. The outlined guidelines may serve as a framework for various typologies of services provided to women who are the victims of interpersonal violence, such as women's crisis centres and shelters.

Keywords: anti-violence centres, environmental psychology, interior design, interpersonal violence, restorative environments

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Authors: Larry O. Awo, George N. Duru

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There are growing public and mental health concerns over the availability of gambling platforms and shops in Nigeria and the high level of youth involvement in gambling. Early theorizing maintained that gambling involvement was driven by a quest for resource gains. However, evidence shows that the economic model of gambling tends to explain the involvement of the gambling business owners (sport lottery operators: SLOs) as most gamblers lose more than they win. This loss, according to the law of effect, ought to discourage decisions to gamble. However, the quest to recover losses has often initiated prolonged gambling sessions. Therefore, the need to investigate mental contemplations (such as counterfactual reasoning (upward versus downward) of what “would, should, or could” have been, and feeling of the illusion of control; IOC) over gambling outcomes as risk or protective factors in gambling decisions became pertinent. The present study sought to understand the differential contributions and conditional effects of upward versus downward counterfactual reasoning as pathways through which the association between IOC and gambling decisions of Nigerian youths (N = 120, mean age = 18.05, SD = 3.81) could be explained. The study adopted a randomized group design, and data were obtained by means of stimulus material (the Gambling Episode; GE) and self-report measures of IOC and Gambling Decision. One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) result showed that participants in the upward counterfactual reasoning group (M = 22.08) differed from their colleagues in the downward counterfactual reasoning group (M = 17.33) on the decision to gamble, and this difference was significant [F(1,112) = 23, P < .01]. HAYES PROCESS macro moderation analysis results showed that 1) IOC and upward counterfactual reasoning were positively associated with the decision to gamble (B = 14.21, t = 6.10, p < .01 and B = 7.22, t = 2.07, p <.05, respectively), 2) downward counterfactual reasoning was negatively associated with the decision to gamble more to recover losses (B = 10.03, t = 3.21, p < .01), 3) upward counterfactual reasoning did not moderate the association between IOC and gambling decision (p > .05), and 4) downward counterfactual reasoning negatively moderated the association between IOC and gambling decision (B = 07, t = 2.18, p < .05) such that the association was strong at the low level of downward counterfactual, but wane at high levels of downward counterfactual reasoning. The implication of these findings is that IOC and upward counterfactual reasoning were risk factors and promoted gambling behavior, while downward counterfactual reasoning protects individuals from gambling activities. Thus, it is concluded that downward counterfactual reasoning strategies should be included in gambling therapy and treatment packages as it could diminish feelings of both IOC and negative feelings of missed positive outcomes and the urge to gamble.

Keywords: counterfactual reasoning, gambling cognition, gambling decision, Nigeria, youths

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Authors: Yelin Zhao, Xinxiu Li, Martin Smelik, Oleg Sysoev, Firoj Mahmud, Dina Mansour Aly, Mikael Benson

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Background: Early diagnosis of pancreatic cancer is clinically challenging due to vague, or no symptoms, and lack of biomarkers. Polygenic risk score (PRS) scores may provide a valuable tool to assess increased or decreased risk of PC. This study aimed to develop such PRS by filtering genetic variants identified by GWAS using transcriptional programs identified by single-cell RNA sequencing (scRNA-seq). Methods: ScRNA-seq data from 24 pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) tumor samples and 11 normal pancreases were analyzed to identify differentially expressed genes (DEGs) in in tumor and microenvironment cell types compared to healthy tissues. Pathway analysis showed that the DEGs were enriched for hundreds of significant pathways. These were clustered into 40 “programs” based on gene similarity, using the Jaccard index. Published genetic variants associated with PDAC were mapped to each program to generate program PRSs (pPRSs). These pPRSs, along with five previously published PRSs (PGS000083, PGS000725, PGS000663, PGS000159, and PGS002264), were evaluated in a European-origin population from the UK Biobank, consisting of 1,310 PDAC participants and 407,473 non-pancreatic cancer participants. Stepwise Cox regression analysis was performed to determine associations between pPRSs with the development of PC, with adjustments of sex and principal components of genetic ancestry. Results: The PDAC genetic variants were mapped to 23 programs and were used to generate pPRSs for these programs. Four distinct pPRSs (P1, P6, P11, and P16) and two published PRSs (PGS000663 and PGS002264) were significantly associated with an increased risk of developing PC. Among these, P6 exhibited the greatest hazard ratio (adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.67[1.14-2.45], p = 0.008). In contrast, P10 and P4 were associated with lower risk of developing PC (adjusted HR[95% CI] = 0.58[0.42-0.81], p = 0.001, and adjusted HR[95% CI] = 0.75[0.59-0.96], p = 0.019). By comparison, two of the five published PRS exhibited an association with PDAC onset with HR (PGS000663: adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.24[1.14-1.35], p < 0.001 and PGS002264: adjusted HR[95% CI] = 1.14[1.07-1.22], p < 0.001). Conclusion: Compared to published PRSs, scRNA-seq-based pPRSs may be used not only to assess increased but also decreased risk of PDAC.

Keywords: cox regression, pancreatic cancer, polygenic risk score, scRNA-seq, UK biobank

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Authors: Ayesha Waqar Khan, Mariam Altaf, Jamil Ahmad, Shaheen Shahzad

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Kidney fibrosis is an anticipated outcome of possibly all types of progressive chronic kidney disease (CKD). Epithelial-mesenchymal transition (EMT) signaling pathway is responsible for production of matrix-producing fibroblasts and myofibroblasts in diseased kidney. In this study, a discrete model of TGF-beta (transforming growth factor) and CTGF (connective tissue growth factor) was constructed using Rene Thomas formalism to investigate renal fibrosis turn over. The kinetic logic proposed by Rene Thomas is a renowned approach for modeling of Biological Regulatory Networks (BRNs). This modeling approach uses a set of constraints which represents the dynamics of the BRN thus analyzing the pathway and predicting critical trajectories that lead to a normal or diseased state. The molecular connection between TGF-beta, Smad 2/3 (transcription factor) phosphorylation and CTGF is modeled using GenoTech. The order of BRN is CTGF, TGF-B, and SMAD3 respectively. The predicted cycle depicts activation of TGF-B (TGF-β) via cleavage of its own pro-domain (0,1,0) and presentation to TGFR-II receptor phosphorylating SMAD3 (Smad2/3) in the state (0,1,1). Later TGF-B is turned off (0,0,1) thereby activating SMAD3 that further stimulates the expression of CTGF in the state (1,0,1) and itself turns off in (1,0,0). Elevated CTGF expression reactivates TGF-B (1,1,0) and the cycle continues. The predicted model has generated one cycle and two steady states. Cyclic behavior in this study represents the diseased state in which all three proteins contribute to renal fibrosis. The proposed model is in accordance with the experimental findings of the existing diseased state. Extended cycle results in enhanced CTGF expression through Smad2/3 and Smad4 translocation in the nucleus. The results suggest that the system converges towards organ fibrogenesis if CTGF remains constructively active along with Smad2/3 and Smad 4 that plays an important role in kidney fibrosis. Therefore, modeling regulatory pathways of kidney fibrosis will escort to the progress of therapeutic tools and real-world useful applications such as predictive and preventive medicine.

Keywords: CTGF, renal fibrosis signaling pathway, system biology, qualitative modeling

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Authors: Evangelia-Chrysanthi Kouklari, Evdokia Tagkouli, Vassiliki Ntre, Artemios Pehlivanidis, Stella Tsermentseli, Gerasimos Kolaitis, Katerina Papanikolaou

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Executive Function (EF) is a set of goal-directed cognitive skills essentially needed in problem-solving and social behavior. Developmental EF research has indicated that EF emerges early in life and marks dramatic changes before the age of 5. Research evidence has suggested that it may continue to develop up to adolescence as well, following the development of the prefrontal cortex. Over the last decade, research evidence has suggested distinguished domains of cool and hot EF, but traditionally the development of EF in Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) has been examined mainly with tasks that address the “cool” cognitive aspects of EF. Thus, very little is known about the development of “hot” affective EF processes and whether the cross-sectional developmental pathways of cool and hot EF present similarities in ASD. Cool EF has also been proven to have a strong correlation with Theory of Mind (ToM) in young and middle childhood in typical development and in ASD, but information about the relationship of hot EF to ToM skills is minimal. The present study’s objective was to explore the age-related changes of cool and hot EF in ASD participants from middle childhood to adolescence, as well as their relationship to ToM. This study employed an approach of cross-sectional developmental trajectories to investigate patterns of cool and hot EF relative to chronological age within ASD. Eighty-two participants between 7 and 16 years of age were recruited to undertake measures that assessed cool EF (working memory, cognitive flexibility, planning & inhibition), hot EF (affective decision making & delay discounting) and ToM (false belief and mental state/emotion recognition). Results demonstrated that trajectories of all cool EF presented age-related changes in ASD (improvements with age). With regards to hot EF, affective decision-making presented age-related changes, but for delay discounting, there were no statistically significant changes found across younger and older ASD participants. ToM was correlated only to cool EF. Theoretical implications are discussed as the investigation of the cross-sectional developmental trajectories of the broader EF (cool and hot domains) may contribute to better defining cognitive phenotypes in ASD. These findings highlight the need to examine developmental trajectories of both hot and cool EF in research and clinical practice as they may aid in enhancing diagnosis or better-informed intervention programs.

Keywords: autism spectrum disorder, developmental trajectories, executive function, theory of mind

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Authors: Epameinondas Xanthakis, Erik Kaunisto, Alain Le-Bail, Lilia Ahrné

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Fruits and vegetables are characterized as perishable food matrices due to their short shelf life as several deterioration mechanisms are being involved. Prior to the common preservation methods like freezing or canning, fruits and vegetables are being blanched in order to inactivate deteriorative enzymes. Both conventional blanching pretreatments and conventional freezing methods hide drawbacks behind their beneficial impacts on the preservation of those matrices. Conventional blanching methods may require longer processing times, leaching of minerals and nutrients due to the contact with the warm water which in turn leads to effluent production with large BOD. An important issue of freezing technologies is the size of the formed ice crystals which is also critical for the final quality of the frozen food as it can cause irreversible damage to the cellular structure and subsequently to degrade the texture and the colour of the product. Herein, the developed microwave blanching methodology and the results regarding quality aspects and enzyme inactivation will be presented. Moreover, heat transfer phenomena, mass balance, temperature distribution, and enzyme inactivation (such as Pectin Methyl Esterase and Ascorbic Acid Oxidase) of our microwave blanching approach will be evaluated based on measurements and computer modelling. The present work is part of the COLDμWAVE project which aims to the development of an innovative environmentally sustainable process for blanching and freezing of fruits and vegetables with improved textural and nutritional quality. In this context, COLDµWAVE will develop tailored equipment for MW blanching of vegetables that has very high energy efficiency and no water consumption. Furthermore, the next steps of this project regarding the development of innovative pathways in MW assisted freezing to improve the quality of frozen vegetables, by exploring in depth previous results acquired by the authors, will be presented. The application of MW assisted freezing process on fruits and vegetables it is expected to lead to improved quality characteristics compared to the conventional freezing. Acknowledgments: COLDμWAVE has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under the Marie Sklodowska-Curie grand agreement No 660067.

Keywords: blanching, freezing, fruits, microwave blanching, microwave

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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: Claudia Carbajal, Jija Dutt, Smriti Pahwa, Sumukhi Vaid, Karishma Vats

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ASER Centre, the research and assessment arm of Pratham Education Foundation sees measurement as the first stage of action. ASER uses primary research to push and give empirical foundations to policy discussions at a multitude of levels. At a household level, common citizens use a simple assessment (a floor-level test) to measure learning across rural India. This paper presents the evidence on the applicability of an ASER approach to the health sector. A citizen-led assessment was designed and executed that collected information from young mothers with children up to a year of age. The pilot assessments were rolled-out in two different models: Paid surveyors and student volunteers. The survey covered three geographic areas: 1,239 children in the Jaipur District of Rajasthan, 2,086 in the Rae Bareli District of Uttar Pradesh, and 593 children in the Bhuj Block in Gujarat. The survey tool was designed to study knowledge of health-related issues, daily practices followed by young mothers and access to relevant services and programs. It provides insights on behaviors related to infant and young child feeding practices, child and maternal nutrition and supplementation, water and sanitation, and health services. Moreover, the survey studies the reasons behind behaviors giving policy-makers actionable pathways to improve implementation of social sector programs. Although data on health outcomes are available, this approach could provide a rapid annual assessment of health issues with indicators that are easy to understand and act upon so that measurements do not become an exclusive domain of experts. The results give many insights into early childhood health behaviors and challenges. Around 98% of children are breastfed, and approximately half are not exclusively breastfed (for the first 6 months). Government established diet diversity guidelines are met for less than 1 out of 10 children. Although most households are satisfied with the quality of drinking water, most tested households had contaminated water.

Keywords: citizen-led assessment, rapid health assessment, Infant and Young Children Feeding, water and sanitation, maternal nutrition, supplementation

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Authors: Ramesh Joshi, Nisha Khatik

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Murraya koenigii (L.) Spreng locally known as “Curry patta” or “Meetha neem” belonging to the family Rutaceae that grows wildly in Southern Asia. Its aromatic leaves are commonly used as the raw material for traditional medicinal formulations in India. The leaves contain essential oil and also used as a condiment. Several monomeric and binary carbazol alkaloids present in the various plant parts. These alkaloids have been reported to possess anti-microbial, mosquitocidal, topo-isomerase inhibition and antioxidant properties. Some of the alkaloids reported in this plant have showed anti carcinogenic and anti-diabetic properties. The conventional method of propagation of this tree is limited to seeds only, which retain their viability for only a short period. Hence, a biotechnological approach might have an advantage edging over traditional breeding as well as the genetic improvement of M. koenigii within a short period. The development of a reproducible regeneration protocol is the prerequisite for ex situ conservation and micropropagation. An efficient protocol for high frequency regeneration of in vitro plants of Murraya koenigii via different explants such as- nodal segments, intermodal segments, leaf, root segments, hypocotyle, cotyledons and cotyledonary node explants is described. In the present investigation, assessment of clonal fidelity in the micropropagated plantlets of Murraya koenigii was attempted using RAPD and ISSR markers at different pathways of plant tissue culture technique. About 20 ISSR and 40 RAPD primers were used for all the samples. Genomic DNA was extracted by CTAB method. ISSR primer were found to be more suitable as compared to RAPD for the analysis of clonal fidelity of M. koenigii. The amplifications however, were finally performed using RAPD, ISSR markers owing to their better performance in terms of generation of amplification products. In RAPD primer maximum 75% polymorphism was recorded in OPU-2 series which exhibited out of 04 scorable bands, three bands were polymorphic with a band range of size 600-1500 bp. In ISSR primers the UBC 857 showed 50% polymorphism with 02 band were polymorphic of band range size between 400-1000 bp.

Keywords: genetic fidelity, Murraya koenigii, aromatic plants, ISSR primers

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Authors: Sabyasachi Behera, Shiv Kumar, Pramod Gautam, Anisur Rahman, Pawan Pathak, Rahul Bhadouria

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Background: The increasing proportion of population especially urban poor and vulnerable groups or groups with specific needs, with health indicators worse than their rural counterparts in India face various issues related with availability and quality of health care. The reasons are myriad, starting from information and awareness of the community, especially, in a scenario wherein the needs and challenges of floating and migrant urban populations remain poorly understood. Weak linkages between health care facilities and slum dwellers and vulnerable populations hinder the improvement of health services for urban poor. Method: To address this issue, TCIHC program is helping health department of Indore city of Madhya Pradesh to establish a referral mechanism with a dual approach: at both community and facility level. The former is based on the premise of ‘building social capital’, i.e. norms and networks within a community facilitating collective action, helps improve the demand and supply of health services at appropriate levels of care (Minus 2: Accredited Social Health Activist and Community Health Groups; Minus 1: Urban Health Nutrition Days; Zero: Urban Primary Health Center; Plus 1: secondary facility with BEmONC services; Plus 2: secondary facilities with CEmONC services; Plus 3: tertiary level facility) for the urban poor. The latter focuses on encouraging the provision of all services at various levels of service delivery points and stakeholders to function in a coordinated manner to ensure better health service availability and coverage in underserved slum areas. Results: This initiative has enhanced the utilization of community based, primary and secondary level services through defined referral pathways that are clearly known to a community dweller. Conclusion: An ideal referral mechanism should begin with referral at the community level wherein services of a frontline health care provider are accessed by them at their door-step, causing no delay in both understanding and decision on the health issues faced by them.

Keywords: levels of care, linkages, referral mechanism, service delivery

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Authors: Alka Jakhar, Harmanpreet Kaur Sandhu, Samaresh Das

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The Terahertz (THz) technology-based devices are heightening at an alarming rate on account of the wide range of applications in imaging, security, communication, and spectroscopic field. The various available room operational THz detectors, including Golay cell, pyroelectric detector, field-effect transistors, and photoconductive antennas, have some limitations such as narrow-band response, slow response speed, transit time limits, and complex fabrication process. There is an urgent demand to explore new materials and device structures to accomplish efficient THz detection systems. Recently, TMDs including topological semimetals and topological insulators such as PtSe₂, MoTe₂, WSe₂, and PtTe₂ provide novel feasibility for photonic and optical devices. The peculiar properties of these materials, such as Dirac cone, fermions presence, nonlinear optical response, high conductivity, and ambient stability, make them worthy for the development of the THz devices. Here, the platinum telluride (PtTe₂) based devices have been demonstrated for THz detection in the frequency range of 0.1-1 THz. The PtTe₂ is synthesized by direct selenization of the sputtered platinum film on the high-resistivity silicon substrate by using the chemical vapor deposition (CVD) method. The Raman spectra, XRD, and XPS spectra confirm the formation of the thin PtTe₂ film. The PtTe₂ channel length is 5µm and it is connected with a bow-tie antenna for strong THz electric field confinement in the channel. The characterization of the devices has been carried out in a wide frequency range from 0.1-1 THz. The induced THz photocurrent is measured by using lock-in-amplifier after preamplifier. The maximum responsivity is achieved up to 1 A/W under self-biased mode. Further, this responsivity has been increased by applying biasing voltage. This photo response corresponds to low energy THz photons is mainly due to the photo galvanic effect in PtTe₂. The DC current is induced along the PtTe₂ channel, which is directly proportional to the amplitude of the incident THz electric field. Thus, these new topological semimetal materials provide new pathways for sensitive detection and sensing applications in the THz domain.

Keywords: terahertz, detector, responsivity, topological-semimetals

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Authors: Reshu Saxena, R. K. Tripathi

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HIV-1 transmission and spread involves significant host-virus interaction. Potential targets for prevention of HIV-1 lies at the site of mucosal barriers. Thus a better understanding of how HIV-1 infects target cells at such sites and lead their invasion is required, with prime focus on the host determinants regulating HIV-1 spread. HIV-1 Nef is important for viral infectivity and pathogenicity. It promotes HIV-1 replication, facilitating immune evasion by interacting with various host factors and altering cellular pathways via multiple protein-protein interactions. In this study nef was sequenced from HIV-1 patients, and showed specific mutations revealing sequence variability in nef. To explore the difference in Nef functionality based on sequence variability we have studied the effects of HIV-1 Nef in human SupT1 T cell line and (THP-1) monocyte-macrophage cell lines through proteomics approach. 2D-Gel Electrophoresis in control and Nef-transfected SupT1 cells demonstrated several differentially expressed proteins with significant modulation of alpha-enolase. Through further studies, effects of Nef on alpha-enolase regulation were found to be cell lineage-specific, being stimulatory in macrophages/monocytes, inhibitory in T cells and without effect in HEK-293 cells. Cell migration and invasion studies were employed to determine biological function affected by Nef mediated regulation of alpha-enolase. Cell invasion was enhanced in THP-1 cells but was inhibited in SupT1 cells by wildtype nef. In addition, the modulation of enolase and cell invasion remained unaffected by a unique nef variant. These results indicated that regulation of alpha-enolase expression and invasive property of host cells by Nef is sequence specific, suggesting involvement of a particular motif of Nef. To precisely determine this site, we designed a heptapeptide including the suggested alpha-enolase regulating sequence of nef and a nef mutant with deletion of this site. Macrophages/monocytes being the major cells affected by HIV-1 at mucosal barriers, were particularly investigated by the nef mutant and peptide. Both the nef mutant and heptapeptide led to inhibition of enhanced enolase expression and increased invasiveness in THP-1 cells. Together, these findings suggest a possible mechanism of host invasion by HIV-1 through Nef mediated regulation of alpha-enolase and identifies a potential therapeutic target for HIV-1 entry at mucosal barriers.

Keywords: HIV-1 Nef, nef variants, host-virus interaction, tissue invasion

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Authors: M. Dieb, T. Hodairi

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In the Southwest Libya area, the Palaeozoic deposits are an important petroleum system, with Silurian shale considered a hydrocarbon source rock and Cambro-Ordovician recognized as a good reservoir. The Palaeozoic petroleum system has the greatest potential for conventional and is thought to represent the significant prospect of unconventional petroleum resources in Southwest Libya. Until now, the lateral and vertical heterogeneity of the source rock was not well evaluated, and oil-source correlation is still a matter of debate. One source rock, which is considered the main source potential in Marzuq Basin, was investigated for its uranium contents using gamma-ray logs, rock-eval pyrolysis, and organic petrography for their bulk kinetic characteristics to determine the petroleum potential qualitatively and quantitatively. Thirty source rock samples and fifteen oil samples from the Tannezzuft source rock were analyzed by Rock-Eval Pyrolysis, microscopely investigation, GC, and GC-MS to detect acyclic isoprenoids and aliphatic, aromatic, and NSO biomarkers. Geochemistry tools were applied to screen source and age-significant biomarkers to high-spot genetic relationships. A grating heterogeneity exists among source rock zones from different levels of depth with varying uranium contents according to gamma-ray logs, rock-eval pyrolysis results, and kinetic features. The uranium-rich Tannezzuft Formations (Hot Shales) produce oils and oil-to-gas hydrocarbons based on their richness, kerogen type, and thermal maturity. Biomarker results such as C₂₇, C₂₈, and C₂₉ steranes concentrations and C₂₄ tetracyclic terpane/C₂₉ tricyclic terpane ratios, with sterane and hopane ratios, are considered the most promising biomarker information in differentiating within the Silurian Shale Tannezzuft Formation and in correlating with its expelled oils. The Tannezzuft Hot Shale is considered the main source rock for oil and gas accumulations in the Cambro-Ordovician reservoirs within the Marzuq Basin. Migration of the generated and expelled oil and gas from the Tannezzuft source rock to the reservoirs of the Cambro-Ordovician petroleum system was interpreted to have occurred along vertical and lateral pathways along the faults in the Palaeozoic Strata. The Upper Tannezzuft Formation (cold shale) is considered the primary seal in the Marzuq Basin.

Keywords: heterogeneity, hot shale, kerogen, Silurian, uranium

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Authors: Ngoc-Hieu Vu

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Although dairy production in Vietnam is a relatively new agricultural activity, milk production increased remarkably in recent years. Smallholders are still the main drivers for this development, especially in the southern part of the country. However, information on the farming practices is very limited. Therefore, this study aimed to characterize husbandry practices, educational experiences, decision-making practices, constraints, income and expenses of smallholder dairy farms in Southern Vietnam. A total of 200 farms, located in the regions Ho Chi Minh (HCM, N=80 farms), Lam Dong (N=40 farms), Binh Duong (N=40 farms) and Long An (N=40 farms) were included. Between October 2013 and December 2014 farmers were interviewed twice. On average, farms owned 3.200m2, 2.000m2, and 193m2 of pasture, cropping and housing area, respectively. The number of total, milking and dry cows, heifers, and calves were 20.4, 11.6, 4.7, 3.3, and 2.9 head. The number of lactating dairy cows was higher (p<0.001) in HCM (15.5) and Lam Dong (14.7) than in Binh Duong (6.7) and Long An (10.7). Animals were mainly crossbred Holstein-Friesian (HF) cows with at least 75% HF origin (84%), whereas a higher (P<0.001) percentage of purebred HF was found in HCM and Lam Dong and crossbreds in Binh Duong and Long An. Animals were mainly raised in tie-stalls (94%) and machine-milked (80%). Farmers used their own replacement animals (76%), and both genetic and phenotypic information (67%) for selecting sires. Farmers were predominantly educated at primary school level (53%). Major constraints for dairy farming were the lack of capital (43%), diseases (17%), marketing (22%), lack of knowledge (8%) and feed (7%). Monthly profit per lactating cow was superior in Lam Dong (2,817 thousand VND) and HCM (2,798 thousand VND) compared to other regions in Long An (2,597 thousand VND), and Binh Duong (1,775 thousand VND). Regional differences may be mainly attributed to environmental factors, urbanization, and particularly governmental support and the availability of extension and financial institutions. Results from this study provide important information on farming practices of smallholders in Southern Vietnam that are useful in determining regions that need to be addressed by authorities in order to improve dairy production.

Keywords: dairy farms, milk yield, Southern Vietnam, socio-economics

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Authors: Soumen Mitra, Aparna Saha

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The perceived link between the city and the countryside is evolving rapidly and is getting shifted away from the assumptions of mainstream paradigms to new conceptual networks where rural-urban links are being redefined. In this conceptual field, the fringe interface is still considered as a transitional zone between city and countryside, and is defined as a diffused area rather than a discrete territory. In developing countries fringe areas are said to have both rural and urban characteristics but are devoid of basic municipal facilities. Again, when the urban core areas envelopes the fringe areas along with it the character of fringe changes but services are not well facilitated which in turn results to uneven growth, rapid and haphazard development. One of the major services present in fringe areas is inter-linkages in terms of transit corridors. Planning for the appropriate and sustainable future of fringe areas requires a sheer focus on these corridors pertaining to transit facility, for better accessibility and mobility. Inducing a transit facility plan enhances the various facilities and also increases their proximity for user groups. The study focuses on the western fringe region of Kolkata metropolis which is a major source of industrial hub and housing sector, thus converting the agricultural lands into non-agricultural use. The study emphasizes on providing transit facilities both physical (stops, sheds, terminals, etc.) and operational (ticketing system, route prioritization, integration of transit modes, etc.), to facilitate the region as well as accelerate the growth pattern systematically. Hence, the scope of this work is on the basis of prevailing conditions in fringe areas and attempts for an effective transit facility plan. The strategies and recommendations are in terms of road widening, service coverage, feeder route prioritization, bus stops facilitation, pedestrian facilities, etc, which in turn enhances the region’s growth pattern. Thus, this context of transit facility planning acts as a catalytic agent to avoid the future unplanned growth and accelerates it towards an integrated development.

Keywords: feeder route, fringe, municipal planning, transit facility

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Authors: Tai Chen, Caihuan Tian, Xiuxia Ren, Jingqi Xue, Xiuxin Zhang

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The herbaceous peony has become increasingly popular worldwide in recent years, especially as a cut flower with great economic value. However, peony has a very short vase life, only 3-5 d usually, which seriously affects its commodity value. In this study, we used the cut peony (Paeonia lactiflora cv. Sarah) as a material and found that melatonin treatment significantly improved its postharvest performance. In the control group, its vase life was 4.8 d, accompanied by petal dropping at last; melatonin treatment (40 μM) increased this time to 6.9 d without petal dropping at the end. Further study showed that melatonin treatment significantly increased the activity of antioxidant enzymes as well as reduced sugar content in petals, whereas the starch content in petals decreased. These results indicated that melatonin treatment may delay the oxidation reaction caused by aging, which also provides extra energy for maintaining flowering. Through full-length transcriptome sequencing, a total of 2819 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between control and melatonin treatment groups were identified. KEGG enrichment analysis showed that these DEGs were mainly involved in three pathways, including melatonin synthesis, starch and sucrose conversion, and plant disease resistance. After the RT-qPCR verification, we identified three DEGs, named PlBAM3, PlWRKY22 and PlTIP1, and they should play major roles in melatonin-improved postharvest performance. One possible reason is that PlBAM3 caused maltose production (by starch degradation), maintained the proline biosynthesis, and then alleviated oxidative stress. Another reason is that both PlBAM3 and PlWRKY22 are key drought resistance regulators, which have the ability to alleviate osmotic stress and improve water absorption, which may also help to improve the postharvest quality of cut peony. In addition, PlTIP1 is involved in the sugar signal pathway, indicating sugar may also as a signal substance during this process. Our work may give new ideas for developing new ways to prolong the vase life of cut peony and improve its commodity value eventually.

Keywords: cut peony, melatonin, vase life, oxidation reaction, energy supply, differentially expressed genes

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Authors: Vidya Yadav

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Migration is the demographic process that links rural to urban areas, generating or spurring the growth of cities. Evidence shows the role of the city as a production processes. It looks the city as a power of centre, and a centre of change. It has been observed that not only the professionals want to settle down in an urban area but rural labourers are also coming to cities for employment. These are the people who are compelled to migrate to metropolises because of lack of employment opportunities in their place of residence. However, the cities also fail to provide adequate employment because of limited job opportunity creation and capital-intensive industrialization. So these masses of incoming migrants are force to take up whatever employment absorption is available to them particularly in urban informal activities. Ultimately with this informal job they are compelled to stay in the slum areas, which is another form of deprived housing colonies. The paper seeks to examine the evidences of poverty induced migration from rural to urban areas (particularly in urban agglomeration). The present paper utilizes an abundant rich source of census migration data (D-Series) of 1991-2001. Result shows that Mumbai remain as the most attractive place to migrate. The migrants are mainly from the major states like Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, West Bengal, Jharkhand, Odisha, and Rajasthan. Male dominated migration is related mostly for employment and females due to marriages. The picture of occupational absorption of migrants who moved for employment, cross classified with educational status. Result shows that illiterate males are primarily engaged in low grade production processing work. Illiterate’s females engaged in service sectors; but these are actually very low grade services in urban informal sectors in India like maid servants, domestic help, hawkers, vendors or vegetables sellers. Among the higher educational level, a small percentage of males and females got absorbed in professional or clerical work but the percentage has been increased in the period 1991-2001.

Keywords: informal, job, migration, urban

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Authors: Tanjil Sowgat, Shamim Kobir

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World is now experiencing the consequences of climate change such as increased heat stress due to high temperature rise. In the context of changing climate, this study intends to find out the planning interventions necessary to adapt to the current heat stress in the planned residential areas of Khulna city. To carry out the study Sonadanga residential area (phase I) of Khulna city has been taken as the study site. This residential neighbourhood covering an area of 30 acres has 206 residential plots. The study area comprises twelve access roads, one park, one playfield, one water body and two street furniture’s. This study conducts visual analysis covering green, open space, water body, footpath, drainage and street trees and furniture and questionnaire survey deals with socio-economic, housing tenancy, experience of heat stress and urban design interventions. It finds that the current state that accelerates the heat stress condition such as lack of street trees and inadequate shading, maximum uses are not within ten minutes walking distance, no footpath for the pedestrians and lack of well-maintained street furniture. It proposes that to adapt to the heat stress pedestrian facilities, buffer sidewalk with landscaping, street trees and open spaces, soft scape, natural and man-made water bodies, green roofing could be effective urban design interventions. There are evidences of limited number of heat stress adaptive planned residential area. Since current sub-division planning practice focuses on rigid land use allocation, it partly addresses the climatic concerns through creating open space and street trees. To better respond to adapt to the heat stress, urban design considerations in the context of sub-division practice would bring more benefits.

Keywords: climate change, urban design, adaptation, heat stress, water-logging

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Authors: Marzouk Benali, Jawad Jeaidi, Behrang Mansoornejad, Olumoye Ajao, Banafsheh Gilani, Nima Ghavidel Mehr

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Canadian forest industry is seeking to identify and implement transformational strategies for enhanced financial performance through the emerging bioeconomy or more specifically through the concept of the biorefinery. For example, processing forest residues or surplus of biomass available on the mill sites for the production of biofuels, biochemicals and/or biomaterials is one of the attractive strategies along with traditional wood and paper products and cogenerated energy. There are many possible process-product biorefinery pathways, each associated with specific product portfolios with different levels of risk. Thus, it is not obvious which unique strategy forest industry should select and implement. Therefore, there is a need for analytical and design tools that enable evaluating biorefinery strategies based on a set of criteria considering a perspective of sustainability over the short and long terms, while selecting the existing core products as well as selecting the new product portfolio. In addition, it is critical to assess the manufacturing flexibility to internalize the risk from market price volatility of each targeted bio-based product in the product portfolio, prior to invest heavily in any biorefinery strategy. The proposed paper will focus on introducing a systematic methodology for designing integrated biorefineries using process systems engineering tools as well as a multi-criteria decision making framework to put forward the most effective biorefinery strategies that fulfill the needs of the forest industry. Topics to be covered will include market analysis, techno-economic assessment, cost accounting, energy integration analysis, life cycle assessment and supply chain analysis. This will be followed by describing the vision as well as the key features and functionalities of the I-BIOREF software platform, developed by CanmetENERGY of Natural Resources Canada. Two industrial case studies will be presented to support the robustness and flexibility of I-BIOREF software platform: i) An integrated Canadian Kraft pulp mill with lignin recovery process (namely, LignoBoost™); ii) A standalone biorefinery based on ethanol-organosolv process.

Keywords: biorefinery strategies, bioproducts, co-production, multi-criteria decision making, tool

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Authors: E. M. Rifqi Wilda Pradana, Bagus Bayu Prabowo, Meida Riski Pujiyati, Efraim Maykhel Hagana Ginting, Virgiawan Arya Hangga Reksa

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The VLF (Very Low Frequency) method is an electromagnetic method that uses low frequencies between 10-30 KHz which results in a fairly deep penetration. In this study, the VLF method was used for zonation of disaster-prone areas by identifying geological structures in the form of faults. Data acquisition was carried out in Trimulyo Region, Jetis District, Bantul Regency, Special Region of Yogyakarta, Indonesia with 8 measurement paths. This study uses wave transmitters from Japan and Australia to obtain Tilt and Elipt values that can be used to create RAE (Rapat Arus Ekuivalen or Current Density) sections that can be used to identify areas that are easily crossed by electric current. This section will indicate the existence of a geological structure in the form of faults in the study area which is characterized by a high RAE value. In data processing of VLF method, it is obtained Tilt vs Elliptical graph and Moving Average (MA) Tilt vs Moving Average (MA) Elipt graph of each path that shows a fluctuating pattern and does not show any intersection at all. Data processing uses Matlab software and obtained areas with low RAE values that are 0%-6% which shows medium with low conductivity and high resistivity and can be interpreted as sandstone, claystone, and tuff lithology which is part of the Semilir Formation. Whereas a high RAE value of 10% -16% which shows a medium with high conductivity and low resistivity can be interpreted as a fault zone filled with fluid. The existence of the fault zone is strengthened by the discovery of a normal fault on the surface with strike N550W and dip 630E at coordinates X= 433256 and Y= 9127722 so that the activities of residents in the zone such as housing, mining activities and other activities can be avoided to reduce the risk of natural disasters.

Keywords: current density, faults, very low frequency, zonation

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