Towards a More Equal City: Framing the Challenges and Opportunities

Cities are growing differently today than before. As much as 70 percent of people in emerging cities in Asia, Africa and Latin America is under-served. Furthermore, cities face challenges in four areas:Highest rates of urbanization are in sub-Saharan Africa, South and Southeast AsiaUrbanization is now happening in more low-income countries than in the pastThe share of poor people living in urban areas is on the rise worldwideCities in the Global South have the fewest public resources per capitaWe need a new approach that will benefit all urban residents and create sustainable, productive cities for the 21st century. The World Resources Report (WRR) examines if prioritizing access to core urban services, we can create cities that are prosperous and sustainable for all people.This first installment of the WRR developed a new categorization of cities into emerging, struggling, thriving, and stabilizing cities. It focuses on solutions for struggling and emerging cities—over half the cities included in the analysis—because they have the greatest opportunity to alter their development trajectory

Ease of Doing Business in India: A Vision of Make in India

India has always been viewed as an economic power house and now it is among the top five fastest improving economies in the world which clearly is the result of various reforms launched under the Make in India campaign. There has been a paradigm shift in the approach towards governance as the government has unveiled multitude of reforms aimed towards improving the business climate in India. In the recent Ease of Doing business ranking released by the Worldank India is at 100th spot which indicates that all the efforts made to make India a manufacturing hub is bearing fruits still there are few challenges which needs to be dealt in order to help India to continue its glorious run. The present paper tries to analyze the indicators of ease of doing business ranking and the major improvements done to make them of international level, it also tries to thrive on the key issues which dampens the trust of investors, various suggestions are offered which when implemented will be helpful in rebuilding the confidence of investors to invest in India and make it a preferred business destination. Overall, the study indicates that Make in India campaign will be able to achieve its objective of transforming India into a manufacturing hub

Gaia DR2 Distances and Peculiar Velocities for Galactic Black Hole Transients

We report on a first census of Galactic black hole X-ray binary (BHXRB) properties with the second data release (DR2) of {\em Gaia}, focusing on dynamically confirmed and strong candidate black hole transients. DR2 provides five-parameter astrometric solutions including position, parallax and proper motion for 11 of a sample of 24 systems. Distance estimates are tested with parallax inversion as well as Bayesian inference. We derive an empirically motivated characteristic scale length of $L$=2.17$\pm$0.12 kpc for this BHXRB population to infer distances based upon an exponentially decreasing space density prior. Geometric DR2 parallaxes provide new, independent distance estimates, but the faintness of this population in quiescence results in relatively large fractional distance uncertainties. Despite this, DR2 estimates generally agree with literature distances. The most discrepant case is BW Cir, for which detailed studies of the donor star have suggested a distant location at >~25 kpc. A large DR2 measured parallax and relatively high proper motion instead prefer significantly smaller distances, suggesting that the source may instead be amongst the nearest of XRBs. However, both distances create problems for interpretation of the source, and follow-up data are required to resolve its true nature. DR2 also provides a first distance estimate to one source, MAXI J1820+070, and novel proper motion estimates for 7 sources. Peculiar velocities relative to Galactic rotation exceed $\sim$ 50 km s$^{-1}$ for the bulk of the sample, with a median system kinetic energy of peculiar motion of $\sim$ 5 $\times$ 10$^{47}$ erg. BW Cir could be a new high-velocity BHXRB if its astrometry is confirmed. A putative anti-correlation between peculiar velocity and black hole mass is found, as expected in mass-dependent BH kick formation channels, but this trend remains weak in the DR2 data.Comment: MNRAS in pres

Neural Dynamics of Phonological Processing in the Dorsal Auditory Stream

Neuroanatomical models hypothesize a role for the dorsal auditory pathway in phonological processing as a feedforward efferent system (Davis and Johnsrude, 2007; Rauschecker and Scott, 2009; Hickok et al., 2011). But the functional organization of the pathway, in terms of time course of interactions between auditory, somatosensory, and motor regions, and the hemispheric lateralization pattern is largely unknown. Here, ambiguous duplex syllables, with elements presented dichotically at varying interaural asynchronies, were used to parametrically modulate phonological processing and associated neural activity in the human dorsal auditory stream. Subjects performed syllable and chirp identification tasks, while event-related potentials and functional magnetic resonance images were concurrently collected. Joint independent component analysis was applied to fuse the neuroimaging data and study the neural dynamics of brain regions involved in phonological processing with high spatiotemporal resolution. Results revealed a highly interactive neural network associated with phonological processing, composed of functional fields in posterior temporal gyrus (pSTG), inferior parietal lobule (IPL), and ventral central sulcus (vCS) that were engaged early and almost simultaneously (at 80–100 ms), consistent with a direct influence of articulatory somatomotor areas on phonemic perception. Left hemispheric lateralization was observed 250 ms earlier in IPL and vCS than pSTG, suggesting that functional specialization of somatomotor (and not auditory) areas determined lateralization in the dorsal auditory pathway. The temporal dynamics of the dorsal auditory pathway described here offer a new understanding of its functional organization and demonstrate that temporal information is essential to resolve neural circuits underlying complex behaviors

Environmental Justice and Information Technologies: Overcoming the Information Access Paradox in Urban Communities

Scientific studies and resident testimony suggest that urban residents in low-income and minority communities have been subject to an unequal burden of environmental pollution and inequitable environmental enforcement practices. A key component of the equitable development and implementation of environmental policies is the participation of citizens and community-based organizations in the policy process. Such participation rests upon equitable access to agency-generated environmental information and effective use of that information by citizens. This article focuses on the adoption of Internet technologies by environmental agencies as a mechanism for disseminating information and the implications for low-income and minority residents in urban communities. A framework is developed to guide a programmatic response to overcome these implications. The results from several community-based projects are described and analyzed for their capacity-building effectiveness. Analysis of the projects indicates improvement in community capacity for information access and use, which bolstered community participation in the environmental decision-making process

Microwave Combustion Synthesis of Silver Doped Lanthanum Ferrite Magnetic Nanoparticles

Lanthanum ferrite (LaFeO3) and silver doped LaFeO3 powders were synthesized by a single step microwave combustion route using nitrates as precursors and glycine as a fuel. XRD analysis indicated the formation of cubic phase with the dopant peaks at 2θ values of 38.3°, 44.1° and 64.4° apart from the peaks corresponding to LaFeO3. As observed from the transmission electron micrographs, LaFeO3 exhibits particles with a larger size (mean size ~57 nm), significant decrease in particle size is observed for silver doped samples. The magnetic measurements reveal weak ferromagnetic nature of LaFeO3, while silver doped samples are ferromagnetic in nature. Lanthanum silver ferrite (x=0.25, A site) shows maximum coercivity (Hci=480.96G) with hysteresis loop at room temperature which is a clear sign of ferromagnetic ordering. The S shape of the curve implies the presence of domain wall movements in nanoparticles. Thermogravimetric analysis of the samples show stable behavior of the products.Defence Science Journal, 2013, 63(3), pp.285-291, DOI:http://dx.doi.org/10.14429/dsj.63.238

Floral biology and pollinator captivating semiochemicals in Goniothalamus wynaadensis (Bedd.) Bedd. (Annonaceae) an endemic tree species of the Western Ghats

Goniothalamus wynaadensis (Bedd.) Bedd. (Family Annonaceae) is an endemic tree species growing in the evergreen forests of the Western Ghats up to 900m asl. The present study aims at understanding the functional floral traits and semiochemicals found in G. wynaadensis which support plant-pollinator interactions. The study revealed G. wynaadensis exhibits abbreviated anthesis (c.28hrs). Goniothalamus flowers exhibit unique features of cantharophily. The study indicated that outcrossing is promoted by protogyny, and pollination efficiency is enhanced by pollen aggregation, anthesis duration, and pollinator trapping which involves a close alignment between petal movements and the circadian rhythm of pollinators. Curculionidae and Nitidulidae beetles are effective pollinators of the plant. In beetle-pollinated flowers, floral scent is a crucial component for pollinator attraction. G. wynaadensis has a strong fruity aroma. The floral scent analysis performed using headspace solid- phase microextraction combined with GC-MS detected various semiochemicals that support plant-pollinator interactions. Ethyl butyrate, isobutyl acetate, 3 hydroxy 3 methyl 2 butanol, isopentyl acetate, and 3 methyl 1 butanol dominate the floral scent of G. wynaadensis