Comparative assessment of Industrial air pollutant exposure on pulmonary function and respiratory symptoms among primary school children, Kala Amb, Sirmour, Himachal Pradesh, India

Background: Outdoor air quality has been connected with the prevalence of allergic respiratory infections in children. The impact of industrial pollution on respiratory health during early years of life in school children is a major concern. Pulmonary function tests can be used to assess the impact of air pollution and the degree of airway reactivity.Methods: A cross sectional comparative study was conducted between Primary school children aged 6 to 10 years in the industrial area and non-industrial area. Structured questionnaire based data was recorded from the students regarding respiratory symptoms. Spirometric parameters recorded were Forced Vital Capacity (FVC), Forced Expiratory Volume at one second (FEV1), Maximal Midexpiratory flow (FEF 25-75%) and Peak Expiratory Flow Rate (PEFR).Results: Data from 102 students from each of the two primary schools revealed mean forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) as 1.01±0.31 L/sec in industrial area and 1.12±0.34 L/sec in non-industrial area (p=0.01). Four or more episodes of allergic rhinitis in the last year were present in 24/84 (28.5%) children in the industrial area as compared to 8/90 (8.8%) in the non-industrial area (p=0.002). Point prevalence of allergic rhinitis was 36 (35.3%) students in industrial area and 22 (21.6%) students in non-industrial area (p=0.03).Conclusions: Industrial air pollution has impact on the lung function tests of school children in the age group of 6 to 10 years with significant difference in spirometric parameters of FEV1, frequency of episodes of allergic rhinitis and point prevalence of allergic rhinitis

Brand New Worlds: Disney's Theatre Assemblages

The significance of brands within our media-intensive culture can hardly be overstated. Having emerged in the mid-20th century as platforms for the distribution of commodities, brands have since become, as scholar Celia Lury argues, “the logos of the global economy.” Brand interfaces not only differentiate mass production, but produce cultural assemblages that rewrite social and political relations. This dissertation concerns itself with the meaning of theatrical production within brand performance, with a specific focus on the Walt Disney Company. Although there are many corporate producers in commercial theatre today — Warner Brothers, MGM, Universal, and Cirque du Soleil, to name a few — Disney has the distinction of being the first to make live theatre a cornerstone of its brand relationships. Disney has also had, in branding terms, the most depth, breadth and consistency of any global entertainment brand. Using the concept of assemblage as an applied framework, I consider how Disney’s brand theatre functions as a form of communicative/affective capitalism, as an interface for consumer interactivity and exchange. Following Deleuze and Guattari, DeLanda and Lury, I argue that Disney’s theatre assemblages are heterogeneous, contingent, emergent and most of all generative. At the heart of this project is the question of how Disney’s theatre assemblages cohere – the question of identifiable, intensive continuities. What kinds of historical contingencies are replicated in Disney’s texts and territories? How does the company code cultural flows? In what ways are Disney’s theatre assemblages networked to social formations like childhood, gender, race, sexuality, and nation? What kinds of consumer interactions and socio-technical conditions are most important to the ongoing process of developing brand relations? Although Disney’s multi-modal theatre assemblages are a function of neoliberal logic and labor norms, and sustain dominant modes of production, they are also highly mutable, often supporting contested claims of intelligibility and citizenship. The company produces a vast range of theatre experiences. This dissertation focuses on character encounters, children’s theatre, Broadway musicals, a re-creation of Buffalo Bill’s Wild West and animal/safari performance. The chapters are composed as a nested set of assemblages, starting with theatre for Disney’s most important demographic: children. I then move into larger social fields/assemblages, considering theatre that addresses the nation, theatre that reframes transnational/global space, and finally, animal/ecological theatre. Taken together, the chapters present an argument for the significance of brand theatre as a localized, expressive, collaborative and extremely flexible site of cultural affiliation, agency and assembly

Behavioral Risk Factors of HBV Infection and its Association with HBs Ag Positivity among Residents of Kaza Sub- division of District Lahaul & Spiti in Himachal Pradesh

Background: Chronic viral hepatitis is a major global public health problem, an important cause of morbidity and mortality. We conducted this study to evaluate the behavioral risk factors of HBV infection and its association with HBsAg positivity among residents of Kaza sub-division of district Lahaul & Spiti in Himachal Pradesh. Material & Methods: The study was carried out by the Gastroenterology, Community Medicine, and Microbiology Department at Indira Gandhi Medical College Shimla at Kaza, a subdivision of Lahaul & Spiti. The cluster sampling technique was used to get the desired sample size of 4000. Forty clusters were chosen using a probability proportionate to size sampling method, and 100 research participants were added to each cluster using a simple random sampling method. The data was gathered using a pre-tested interview plan. A blood sample of 5ml from each study participant was obtained, and its HBsAg content was examined. Results: In our study, 2.7% of the interviewed respondents’ parents were positive for hepatitis B and 3.7% reported one positive family member. Injectable drug use was reported by 1.6 (68/4231). Among these users 8.8% (6/68) shared needles with other IDUs in last 12 months and 35.3% (24/68) used a common container to draw up drug solution. Sexual intercourse was reported to be experienced by 15.5 (655/4231) and 12.2% either did not disclose or were children. Out of those who ever experienced sexual/penetrative intercourse 38.3% (251/655) had reported it with someone else other than a spouse. Majority of these had two partners other than a spouse (30.3%; 76/251). Around 30% (195/655) reported of using a condom in their last intercourse. Body piercings or a tattoo from someone who doesn’t sterilize his or her equipment, including local treatment from lamas, was prevalent among 16.3% of the population (689/4231). Acupuncture was taken as a remedy for any medical condition by 9% of participants. Regression analysis also revealed that one infected family member emerged as an independent factor associated with HBsAg positive test after adjusting for confounders. Conclusion: Our study provided much important information concerning hepatitis B risk factors in this tribal group. Health education about behavioral risk factors among this tribal population should be the main intervention that might help limit the spread of these blood-borne infections

Verifying a Computational Method for Predicting Extreme Ground Motion

Large earthquakes strike infrequently and close-in recordings are uncommon. This situation makes it difficult to predict the ground motion very close to earthquake-generating faults, if the prediction is to be based on readily available observations. A solution might be to cover the Earth with seismic instruments so that one could rely on the data from previous events to predict future shaking. However, even in the case of complete seismic data coverage for hundreds of years, there would still be one type of earthquake that would be difficult to predict: those very rare earthquakes that produce very large ground motion

The SCEC/USGS Dynamic Earthquake Rupture Code Verification Exercise

Numerical simulations of earthquake rupture dynamics are now common, yet it has been difficult to test the validity of thesesimulations because there have been few field observations and no analytic solutions with which to compare the results. This paper describes the Southern California Earthquake Center/U.S. Geological Surve(SCEC/USGS) Dynamic Earthquake Rupture Code Verification Exercise, where codes that simulate spontaneous rupture dynamics in three dimensions are evaluated and the results produced by these codes are compared using Web-based tools. This is the first time that a broad and rigorous examination of numerous spontaneous rupture codes has been performed—a significant advance in this science. The automated process developed to attain this achievement provides for a future where testing of codes is easily accomplished. Scientists who use computer simulations to understand earthquakes utilize a range of techniques. Most of these assume that earthquakes are caused by slip at depth on faults in the Earth, but hereafter the strategies vary. Among the methods used in earthquake mechanics studies are kinematic approaches and dynamic approaches. The kinematic approach uses a computer code that prescribes the spatial and temporal evolution of slip on the causative fault (or faults). These types of simulations are very helpful, especially since they can be used in seismic data inversions to relate the ground motions recorded in the field to slip on the fault(s) at depth. However, these kinematic solutions generally provide no insight into the physics driving the fault slip or information about why the involved fault(s) slipped that much (or that little). In other words, these kinematic solutions may lack information about the physical dynamics of earthquake rupture that will be most helpful in forecasting future events. To help address this issue, some researchers use computer codes to numerically simulate earthquakes and construct dynamic, spontaneous rupture (hereafter called “spontaneous rupture”) solutions. For these types of numerical simulations, rather than prescribing the slip function at each location on the fault(s), just the friction constitutive properties and initial stress conditions are prescribed. The subsequent stresses and fault slip spontaneously evolve over time as part of the elasto-dynamic solution. Therefore, spontaneous rupture computer simulations of earthquakes allow us to include everything that we know, or think that we know, about earthquake dynamics and to test these ideas against earthquake observations

Community Code Verification Exercise for Simulating Sequences of Earthquakes and Aseismic Slip (SEAS)

Numerical simulations of sequences of earthquakes and aseismic slip (SEAS) have made great progress over past decades to address important questions in earthquake physics. However, significant challenges in SEAS modeling remain in resolving multiscale interactions between earthquake nucleation, dynamic rupture, and aseismic slip, and understanding physical factors controlling observables such as seismicity and ground deformation. The increasing complexity of SEAS modeling calls for extensive efforts to verify codes and advance these simulations with rigor, reproducibility, and broadened impact. In 2018, we initiated a community code‐verification exercise for SEAS simulations, supported by the Southern California Earthquake Center. Here, we report the findings from our first two benchmark problems (BP1 and BP2), designed to verify different computational methods in solving a mathematically well‐defined, basic faulting problem. We consider a 2D antiplane problem, with a 1D planar vertical strike‐slip fault obeying rate‐and‐state friction, embedded in a 2D homogeneous, linear elastic half‐space. Sequences of quasi‐dynamic earthquakes with periodic occurrences (BP1) or bimodal sizes (BP2) and their interactions with aseismic slip are simulated. The comparison of results from 11 groups using different numerical methods show excellent agreements in long‐term and coseismic fault behavior. In BP1, we found that truncated domain boundaries influence interseismic stressing, earthquake recurrence, and coseismic rupture, and that model agreement is only achieved with sufficiently large domain sizes. In BP2, we found that complexity of fault behavior depends on how well physical length scales related to spontaneous nucleation and rupture propagation are resolved. Poor numerical resolution can result in artificial complexity, impacting simulation results that are of potential interest for characterizing seismic hazard such as earthquake size distributions, moment release, and recurrence times. These results inform the development of more advanced SEAS models, contributing to our further understanding of earthquake system dynamics

Microstructural Changes Induced by CO₂ Exposure in Alkali-Activated Slag/Metakaolin Pastes

The structural changes induced by accelerated carbonation in alkali-activated slag/metakaolin (MK) cements were determined. The specimens were carbonated for 540 h in an environmental chamber with a CO₂ concentration of 1.0 ± 0.2%, a temperature of 20 ± 2°C, and relative humidity of 65 ± 5%. Accelerated carbonation led to decalcification of the main binding phase of these cements, which is an aluminum substituted calcium silicate hydrate (C-(N-)A-S-H) type gel, and the consequent formation of calcium carbonate. The sodium-rich carbonates trona (Na₂CO₃·NaHCO₃·2H₂O) and gaylussite (Na₂Ca(CO₃)₂·5H₂O) were identified in cements containing up to 10 wt.% MK as carbonation products. The formation of these carbonates is mainly associated with the chemical reaction between the CO₂ and the free alkalis present in the pore solution. The structure of the carbonated cements is dominated by an aluminosilicate hydrate (N-A-S-H) type gel, independent of the MK content. The N-A-S-H type gels identified are likely to be derived both from the activation reaction of the MK, forming a low-calcium gel product that does not seem to undergo structural changes upon CO₂ exposure, and the decalcification of C-(N-)A-S-H type gel. The carbonated pastes present a highly porous microstructure, more notable as the content of MK content in the cement increases, which might have a negative impact on the durability of these materials in service

Community Code Verification Exercise for Simulating Sequences of Earthquakes and Aseismic Slip (SEAS)

Numerical simulations of sequences of earthquakes and aseismic slip (SEAS) have made great progress over past decades to address important questions in earthquake physics. However, significant challenges in SEAS modeling remain in resolving multiscale interactions between earthquake nucleation, dynamic rupture, and aseismic slip, and understanding physical factors controlling observables such as seismicity and ground deformation. The increasing complexity of SEAS modeling calls for extensive efforts to verify codes and advance these simulations with rigor, reproducibility, and broadened impact. In 2018, we initiated a community code‐verification exercise for SEAS simulations, supported by the Southern California Earthquake Center. Here, we report the findings from our first two benchmark problems (BP1 and BP2), designed to verify different computational methods in solving a mathematically well‐defined, basic faulting problem. We consider a 2D antiplane problem, with a 1D planar vertical strike‐slip fault obeying rate‐and‐state friction, embedded in a 2D homogeneous, linear elastic half‐space. Sequences of quasi‐dynamic earthquakes with periodic occurrences (BP1) or bimodal sizes (BP2) and their interactions with aseismic slip are simulated. The comparison of results from 11 groups using different numerical methods show excellent agreements in long‐term and coseismic fault behavior. In BP1, we found that truncated domain boundaries influence interseismic stressing, earthquake recurrence, and coseismic rupture, and that model agreement is only achieved with sufficiently large domain sizes. In BP2, we found that complexity of fault behavior depends on how well physical length scales related to spontaneous nucleation and rupture propagation are resolved. Poor numerical resolution can result in artificial complexity, impacting simulation results that are of potential interest for characterizing seismic hazard such as earthquake size distributions, moment release, and recurrence times. These results inform the development of more advanced SEAS models, contributing to our further understanding of earthquake system dynamics