Making sense of CSR practices: a case of companies operating in Nepal

Responsible business practice in emerging economies is a relatively underrepresented topic. Despite the argument that the version of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) that exists in one country is not caused by its stage of development, the literature groups CSR studies in all developing countries as substitutionary. Where there is literature focussing on CSR activities in developing countries, it tends to be of MNCs in a developing country or CSR activities of a country that has MNC presence. The CSR literature is particularly underrepresented in conflict-ridden economies beyond a multinational facet. This research undertakes a grounded theory methodology to understand CSR practices of companies operating in post-conflict Nepal. The aim of this research is to make sense of CSR practices in companies operating in Nepal. In making sense of CSR practices, this research undertakes an institutionalist approach and discusses business systems prevalent in Nepal. While investigating CSR practices in companies operating in Nepal, it was found that non-financial reporting is a new concept in Nepal and CSR issues are philanthropic in nature. CSR issues are more likely to reflect issues in the government agenda. CSR perception and CSR activities are driven by the wider institutional environment. The findings partly reflect other work that found that the existence of ‘patriarchal companies ’and ‘a segmented business system ’in emerging economies results in limited enforcement of regulations including CSR policies. Weak political institutions have created a CSR paradigm that focuses on ‘political CSR’. The existence of a segmented business system in Nepal has created an environment where private companies are expected to contribute towards social issues. The economic, social and cultural challenges faced by Nepal as a community drives the CSR policy of companies operating in Nepal. This research contributes to the existing CSR literature on two different levels. Firstly, one could argue that CSR as a terminology, does not encapsulate Nepali ethical business practice. Pursing societal issues are understood as their “Samajik Kartavya”. Similar to Confucianism in China, Samajik Kartavya are context driven and ingrained in the Nepali way of life arising from the culture-cognitive pillar. Fulfilling one’s Samajik Kartavya is a social obligation and not always voluntary, differing from the broader concept of CSR. Secondly, this research argues that companies in conflict- ridden economies such as Nepal should assume a governance role. Private companies have an authoritative role whereby they pursue issues on the government agenda and fulfil their economic responsibility. The regulatory role of the state cannot always be assumed to give rise to the coercive pressures that normally drive companies to adopt CSR. CSR prevails even when political institutions are near absent. This research argues that there is a need to study CSR as a standalone topic in an emerging economy because different economies have different societal institutions giving rise to different perception and meaning of CSR

Providing equivalent learning activities with software-based remote access laboratories

Laboratory-based learning activities are important components of engineering and surveying education and it is difficult to offering practical activities to distance education students. Remote Access Laboratory (RAL) systems are widely discussed as learning tools to offer students remote access to rigs or hardware. In some disciplines laboratory activities are purely software based and RAL systems can be used to provide access to software. As part of a larger study into the transferability of the remote laboratory concept to non-engineering disciplines this project evaluates the effectiveness of RAL based software activities in supporting student learning is investigated. In the discipline of Surveying and Spatial Science, RAL technology is used to provide Geographic Information System software access to distance students. The key research question discussed in this paper is whether RALbased software activities can address the same learning outcomes as face-to-face practical classes for software activities. Data was collected from students' discussion forums, teaching staff diaries and teaching staff interviews. The project demonstrates that students undertaking learning activities remotely achieve similar learning outcomes than student in practice classes using the same software. Ease of system access and usability are critical and the learning activity needs to be supported by comprehensive learning materials. This research provides a clear case in which the use of RAL technology has provided inclusive educational opportunities more efficiently and these general results are also applicable to experiments that involve physical hardware

Reproduction of Soybean Cyst Nematode Populations on Field Pennycress, Henbit, and Purple Deadnettle Weed Hosts

Several weeds serve as alternative soybean cyst nematode (SCN) hosts. Still, the relative reproductive capacity of SCN HG types (Heterodera glycines type) on weed hosts relative to soybean is not well understood. This study examined the reproduction of three South Dakota endemic SCN populations—PSCN-1 (HG 0), PSCN-2 (HG 2.5.7), and PSCN-3 (HG 7)—on purple deadnettle, field pennycress, and henbit. The Relative Female Index (RFI) was calculated to compare SCN reproduction relative to the susceptible soybean check. Weed hosts, HG types, and their interactions influenced SCN reproduction. Henbit (RFI = 51.8) and purple deadnettle (RFI = 47.6) roots had a similar high RFI, whereas field pennycress (RFI = 23.04) had a lower RFI. Similarly, SCN populations PSCN-1 and PSCN-3 had a similar RFI of 36.9 and 37.2, respectively, while the population PSCN-2 had a higher RFI of 44.9 across weed hosts. A significant interaction between PSCN-1 and purple deadnettle was observed where the RFI was the highest (RFI = 53.3). These results indicate that these weed hosts support endemic SCN populations, and the HG type influenced reproductive success, further complicating SCN management. Hence, SCN presents a significant challenge in the new prospect of incorporating field pennycress host as an oilseed cover crop in the Midwest’s corn–soybean production system

Selecting Site Suitable for Animal Waste Application using a Vector GIS

Due to the increase in the number and size of intensive animal industries (IAI) in many parts of the world including Australia, the disposal of animal waste has become a pressing environmental problem. Frequently the wastes generated at IAI are conveniently, favourably, and cost-effectively applied to the nearby agricultural fields to recycle manure nutrients. However, excessive application of wastes in the nearby fields without due consideration of site-specific factors (eg. slope, soil, and watercourses) has resulted in the run-off and leaching losses of manure nutrients causing agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution (He and Shi, 1998). The agricultural NPS pollution has contributed significantly to the eutrophication and toxic blue green algae blooms in many river systems including Murray-Darling, where world's largest toxic riverine algal bloom was recorded in 1991 (Kuhn, 1993). Hence it has become crucial to develop an animal waste application guide (i.e. a site suitability map) by considering biophysical and socio-economic factors to minimise the environmental hazards. Developing such a map requires consideration of many factors and their spatial variability. Geographic information system (GIS)offers site suitability analysis techniques that are capable of processing large volumes of spatial data (Davis, 1996). The objective of this study is to develop a suitability map using a vector GIS, and to evaluate the factor sensitivity and aptness of this technique in selecting suitable sites for animal waste application

Towards portable muography with small-area, gas-tight glass Resistive Plate Chambers

Imaging techniques that use atmospheric muons, collectively named under the neologism "muography", have seen a tremendous growth in recent times, mainly due to their diverse range of applications. The most well-known ones include but are not limited to: volcanology, archaeology, civil engineering, nuclear reactor monitoring, nuclear waste characterization, underground mapping, etc. These methods are based on the attenuation or deviation of muons to image large and/or dense objects where conventional techniques cannot work or their use becomes challenging. In this context, we have constructed a muography telescope based on "mini glass-RPC planes" following a design similar to the glass-RPC detectors developed by the CALICE Collaboration and used by the TOMUVOL experiment in the context of volcano radiography, but with smaller active area (16 $\times$ 16 cm$^{2}$). The compact size makes it an attractive choice with respect to other detectors previously employed for imaging on similar scales. An important innovation in this design is that the detectors are sealed. This makes the detector more portable and solves the usual safety and logistic issues for gas detectors operated underground and/or inside small rooms. This paper provides an overview on our guiding principles, the detector development and our operational experiences. Drawing on the lessons learnt from the first prototype, we also discuss our future direction for an improved second prototype, focusing primarily on a recently adopted serigraphy technique for the resistive coating of the glass plates.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, XV Workshop on Resistive Plate Chambers and Related Detectors (RPC2020

Knowledge about preventive dentistry versus self-reported competence in providing preventive oral healthcare – a study among Nepalese dentists

Source at https://dx.doi.org/10.1186/2Fs12903-017-0366-5 Background: Dentists ’ and dental healthcare providers ’ professional knowledge and attitude towards the prevention of oral diseases may have an impact on the oral health of the general population. The aim of this study was to describe Nepalese dentists ’ competency in giving preventive education and treatment to their patients, and to assess their level of knowledge about preventive dental health. Methods: This was a cross-sectional study of 195 dentists (71 males and 124 females). Knowledge of preventive oral healthcare and self-reported aspects of preventive oral healthcare were assessed using a close-ended multiple- choice questionnaire. Statistical evaluation was done using chi-squared test, independent sample t-test and factor analysis as appropriate. Results: More than 90% of dentists self-reported to be competent in providing preventive treatment and oral hygiene education to their patients. Female dentists reported being more competent in giving oral hygiene education than their male counterparts ( p = 0.045). Dentists scored a mean of 24.06 ± 3.8 [range (15 – 33)] out of 56 on knowledge based on self-reported awareness of seven different aspects of preventive dentistry. More than 70% of the dentists had relatively good knowledge regarding the use of fluoride, whereas the preventive knowledge in other aspects of dental health such as frequency of sugar consumption, xylitol use, dental visits, sealant, gingival health, dental and general health was found to be limited. Conclusions: The majority of participating dentists reported a high level of general competency in providing preventive treatment and oral health education to their patients, whereas their knowledge was found to be limited in some aspects of preventive dentistry

Line tension and structure of smectic liquid crystal multilayers at the air-water interface

At the air/water interface, 4,-8-alkyl[1,1,-biphenyl]-4-carbonitrile (8CB) domains with different thicknesses coexist in the same Langmuir film, as multiple bilayers on a monolayer. The edge dislocation at the domain boundary leads to line tension, which determines the domain shape and dynamics. By observing the domain relaxation process starting from small distortions, we find that the line tension is linearly dependent on the thickness difference between the coexisting phases in the film. Comparisons with theoretical treatments in the literature suggest that the edge dislocation at the boundary locates near the center of the film, which means that the 8CB multilayers are almost symmetric with respect to the air/water interface.Comment: 21 pages, 6 figure

A Novel Secure Patient Data Transmission through Wireless Body Area Network: Health Tele-Monitoring

The security of sensitive data obtained from a patient has not been implemented properly because of energy issues of sensor nodes in Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) and constrained resources such as computational power and low battery life. The main of this paper is to enhance the security level of data transmission between patient and health service provider by considering the availability of energy at sensor nodes. The proposed system consists of a hybrid Advanced Encryption Standard (AES) and Elliptic Curve Cryptography (ECC), which provides simple, fast and high cryptographic strength of data security. ECC is used for securing AES encryption keys, and AES algorithm is used for encrypting/decrypting text. A scenario where sensor nodes are continuously supplied energy from solar power is considered and based upon the energy availability; respective encryption technique is implemented. The result shows that the proposed EEHEE algorithm increases the encryption of the data file by more than 19% compared to the State of Art's solution. The proposed EEHEE system is 11% faster in encrypting data file and reduces the energy consumption by 34 % compared to the current best solution.  The proposed system concentrates on reducing the energy consumption in WBAN and increasing cryptographic strength to the system by using the hybrid symmetric and asymmetric algorithm. Thus, this study provides an efficient scheme to enhance security for real-time data transmission in telemedicine

The association of childhood pneumonia with household air pollution in Nepal: evidence from Nepal demographic health surveys.

INTRODUCTION: Childhood pneumonia is a major cause of mortality worldwide while household air pollution (HAP) is a major contributor to childhood pneumonia in low and middle-income countries. This paper presents the prevalence trend of childhood pneumonia in Nepal and assesses its association with household air pollution. METHODS: The study analysed data from the 2006, 2011 and 2016 Nepal Demographic Health Surveys (NDHS). It calculated the prevalence of childhood pneumonia and the factors that cause household air pollution. The association of childhood pneumonia and HAP was assessed using univariate and multi-variate analysis. The population attributable fraction (PAF) of indoor pollution for causing pneumonia was calculated using 2016 NDHS data to assess the burden of pneumonia attributable to HAP factors. RESULTS: The prevalence of childhood pneumonia decreased in Nepal between 2006 and 2016 and was higher among households using polluting cooking fuels. There was a higher risk of childhood pneumonia among children who lived in households with no separate kitchens in 2011 [Adjusted risk ratio (ARR) 1.40, 95% CI 1.01-1.97] and in 2016 (ARR 1.93, 95% CI 1.14-3.28). In 2016, the risk of children contracting pneumonia in households using polluting fuels was double (ARR 1.98, 95% CI 1.01-3.92) that of children from households using clean fuels. Based on the 2016 data, the PAF for pneumonia was calculated as 30.9% for not having a separate kitchen room and 39.8% for using polluting cooking fuel. DISCUSSION FOR PRACTICE: Although the occurrence of childhood pneumonia in Nepal has decreased, the level of its association with HAP remained high