Multi-stakeholder organising for sustainability

Multi-stakeholder dialogue and collaborations have been considered as ‘panacea’ for complex local to global problems confronting governments, businesses and society. And for over a decade now, they have also been increasingly promoted as mechanisms to achieve sustainability. There is, however, a dearth of empirical studies that give deeper insights into the practical dimensions and various implications of such processes for sustainability. This dissertation explores how multi-stakeholder organising processes for sustainability occur in local settings. It relies on a theoretical framework that combines institutional and social movements theoretical perspectives. Such a theoretical cross-fertilisation has been helpful in explaining: (a) how the macro institutional context of sustainable development influences micro interactions of individuals during collaborations; and (b) how those micro interactions may influence the sustainability movement organised at macro societal levels. The dissertation is philosophically based on the principles of critical hermeneutics. It draws on the works of Hans-Georg Gadamer and Jürgen Habermas to understand the nature of reality, society and human relationships. The study also uses literature on sustainable development, organising, dialogue, collaboration, stakeholder engagement, emotions and time. Three cases of multi-stakeholder dialogic collaborations organised to address sustainability of two regions in New Zealand were investigated through observations, interviews with participants and documentary research. These processes were developed in response to a regulatory change in New Zealand – the new Local Government Act (2002) which emphasises sustainable development of communities. The data across the three cases was analysed using principles of grounded theory and critical hermeneutics. Analysis reveals how various kinds of institutional pressures (engulfing cultural-cognitive, regulative and normative institutions connected with sustainable development) confront different stakeholders with varying intensities. Those pressures influence stakeholders to become involved in and commit to such collaborations. And as stakeholders participate in such processes, they are shown to engage with one another rationally and emotionally, and with different conceptions of time. The collaborations thus can be characterised by a complex fusion of rationality, emotionality and temporality. On the one hand, multi-stakeholder dialogic collaborations stimulate learning, facilitate relationship building and build social capital for implementing sustainable development. They thus prove themselves as potent governance mechanisms that can help to institutionalise sustainable development. On the other hand, multi-stakeholder dialogic collaborations for sustainability are highly messy, unpredictable, paradoxical and conflict-ridden processes of stakeholder engagement. They are shown to suffer from three major problematics: problematic of misunderstandings; problematic of stakeholders’ emotions; and problematic of stakeholders’ time. They thus, ironically and paradoxically, are also problematic solutions for sustainability

Using ICT-based Instructional Technologies to Teach Science: Perspectives from Teachers in Trinidad and Tobago.

The purpose of this study was to investigate how science teachers in Trinidad and Tobago use ICT-based instructional technologies in classroom science teaching. The participants were 30 secondary school science teachers who completed their Postgraduate Diploma in Education within the last 2 years from the University of the West Indies in Trinidad and Tobago. The teachers were asked to prepare lesson plans which demonstrate their use of instructional technologies to teach science topics within their term’s schemes of work. They were subsequently asked to explain their reasons for using the selected instructional technologies. The findings revealed that PowerPoint was the most widely used ICT-based instructional technology in the lesson plans analyzed. Animations and hands-on practical activities were the least used ICT-based instructional technologies. Virtual labs, computer-aided simulations and smartboards, were other ICT-based instructional technologies used by a few teachers. Textbooks and whiteboards were the non-ICT-based instructional technologies teachers used

Ion activated bioadhesive in situ gel of clindamycin for vaginal application

Vaginal preparations, although generally perceived as safer most , still they are associated with a number of problems, including multiple days of dosing, dripping, leakage and messiness, causing discomfort to users and expulsion due to the self-cleansing action of the vaginal tract. These limitations lead to poor patient compliance and failure of the desired therapeutic effects. For effective vaginal delivery of antimicrobial agents, the drug delivery system should reside at the site of infection for a prolonged period of time. In our present work, we have developed and optimized a chitosan (bioadhesive and permeation enhancer) and gellan gum (ion activated gelling polymer) based in situ gel system of clindamycin for vaginal application. The developed formulation was characterized for various in-vitro parameters e.g. clarity, refractive index, pH, isotonicity, sterility, viscosity, drug release profile, statistical release kinetics, bioadhesive force, retention time, microbial efficacy, irritation test and stability studies. To simulate vaginal conditions, a synthetic membrane (cellophane hydrated with modified simulated vaginal fluid) and sheep vaginal mucosa were used as model membranes. The developed formulation was found to be non irritant, bioadhesive with good retention properties. Developed formulation shows matrix model release kinetic by PCP disso software. The developed formulation is thus a viable alternative to conventional vaginal dosage forms.Keywords: sol-to-gel system; chitosan; gellan gum; vaginal; clindamyci

Vehicle Number Plate Recognition with Bilinear Interpolation and Plotting Horizontal and Vertical Edge Processing Histogram with Sound Signals

The Vehicle Number Plate Recognition is a system designed to help in recognition of number plates of vehicles. This type of system is designed for the objective of the security system. Vehicle Number Plate Recognition is based on the Image Processing system. Vehicle Number Plate Recognition helps in the functions like detection of the number plates of the car, processing them and using processed data for further processes like storing. The system is simulated and implemented in MATLAB, and its performance is tested on the real image. It is assumed that images of the vehicle have been captured from Digital Camera or Mobile Phones. Alphanumeric Characters on the plate has been extracted using the Template Images of Alphanumeric characters. Many times it becomes very difficult to identify the owner of the Vehicle who violates the traffic rules and drives the vehicle so fast. Therefore, it is difficult to catch and punish those people because the traffic personal might not be able to retrieve the vehicle number from the moving vehicle because of fast speed of the vehicle. Therefore, there is a need to develop Vehicle Number Plate Recognition (VNPR) system as this is one of the best solution to this problem

Evaluation of the Larvicidal Efficacy of Five Indigenous Weeds against an Indian Strain of Dengue Vector, Aedes aegypti

Background and Objectives. Aedes aegypti, dengue fever mosquito, is primarily associated with the transmission of dengue and chikungunya in tropical and subtropical regions of the world. The present investigations were carried out to assess the larvicidal efficiency of five indigenous weeds against Ae. aegypti. Methods. The 1,000 ppm hexane and ethanol extracts prepared from the leaves and stem of five plants (Achyranthes aspera, Cassia occidentalis, Catharanthus roseus, Lantana camara, and Xanthium strumarium) were screened for their larvicidal activity against early fourth instars of dengue vector. The extracts which could cause 80–100% mortality were further investigated for their efficacy. Results. The preliminary screening established the efficacy of hexane extracts as compared to the ethanol extracts. Further investigations revealed the highest larvicidal potential of A. aspera extracts exhibiting LC50 value of 82.555 ppm and 68.133 ppm, respectively. Further, their leaf extracts showed 5–85.9% higher larvicidal activity and stem extracts exhibited 0.23- to 0.85-fold more efficiency than the other four extracts. Conclusion. The present investigations suggest the possible use of A. aspera as an ideal ecofriendly, larvicidal agent for the control of dengue vector, Ae. aegypti. Future studies are, however, required to explore and identify the bioactive component involved and its mode of action

Post-operative rehabilitation of displaced-proximal radius fracture: a case study

Proximal radial fractures typically occur after a fall on the outstretched hand. Elbow trauma is usually followed by post-traumatic elbow stiffness, which has been recognized as a major cause of functional impairment. A stiff elbow restricts patient’s ability to position hand in space required, for desired use of the upper extremities during activity of daily living. The goal of rehabilitation, post-traumatic elbow stiffness is to restore functional arc of motion. The patient treatment should be designed depending on the severity, type and time course of the arthrofibrosis. Since, there is no universally recognized treatment algorithm, treatment must be personalized/customized and stipulated through a shared decision-making process with each patient. Fourty four-year female was diagnosed with post – operative elbow stiffness following a displaced proximal one-third of radius fracture (right side). The patient had decreased muscle strength and limited shoulder, elbow and wrist range of motion, hypersensitivity around the scar and wrist and elbow pain. Progressive multi-treatment rehabilitation approach was given to the patient. Physical therapy intervention improved range of motion, strength, decreased hypersensitivity and pain of the patient as well as aided in quick recovery from stiff elbow

Propagation of Plane Waves in a Generalized Thermo-magneto-electro-elastic Medium

In the present paper, the governing equations of a generalized thermo-magneto-electro-elastic medium are formulated in the x-z plane. The plane wave solution of these equations indicates the existence of three quasi plane waves, namely, quasi-P, quasi-T and quasi-SV waves. The thermo-magneto-electro-elastic medium is modeled with LiNbO3 for computing the speeds of these plane waves. Effects of the frequency, thermal relaxation time, electric coupling coefficient, magnetic coupling coefficient and angle of propagation on the speeds of these plane waves are observed and shown graphically

Biodiversity and abundance of benthic macro invertebrates community of Datte-da-Talab pond, Birpur (J&K) India

A Perennial pond "Datte Da Talab" has a dense population of benthic communities and it plays an important role in the exchange of nutrient cycles in the aquatic ecosystem. Fourteen (14) different species were identified in the present investigation belonging to three groups viz. Annelida (3 taxa), Arthropoda (8 taxa) and Mollusca (3 taxa). Arthropoda represented by Chironomus chironomus, Chironomus pupae, Pentaneura sp., Culicodes sp., Tabanus sp., Berosus sp., Paracymus sp., Hydroglyphus sp. and Canthydrus sp. The population of Mollusca was represented by Melanoides tuberculata, Physa sp. and Gyralus sp. Annelida dominated by Tubifex tubifex, Branchiura sp. and Dero digitata. Arthropoda was the dominant group among all and it constitutes 43.19 % of the total macrobenthic invertebrates collected. Mollusca were the second dominant group and contribute 38.55 % of total macrobenthic population. Whereas group Annelida was the least abundant among all and it shared 18.26 % of total macrobenthic fauna of pond. The maximum abundance of macrobenthic organisms recorded from station IV and minimum at the station I, which was 11558 and 7712 individuals/m2sediment respectively. The relative species diversity, species richness, dominance and evenness were calculated. The value of Simpson index ranged between H' = 0.48 to 0.69. The value of Shannon-Weiner index was higher (I = 1.66) at station III. Species richness in term of Maraglef's index and Menhinick's index varied between minimum valued R1= 1.08 (Station IV) to a maximum value R1 = 1.22 (Station III) and a minimum valued R2= 0.105 (Station IV) to a maximum value R2 = 0.133 (Station III) respectively. The minimum evenness value was observed at station I and maximum at station III the values being E = 0.581 and E = 0.668 respectively. The pond was investigated monthly during the year 2011-2012 for various physico-chemical parameters and macrobenthic invertebrates. Among physico-chemical parameters Depth, Transparency, pH, Water Temperature, Air Temperature, Weather conditions, Dissolved oxygen, Free carbon dioxide, Carbonates, Bicarbonates, Calcium, Magnesium, Chlorides, Phosphates, Sulphates and Nitrates were monitored which showed well marked seasonal fluctuations