Centre Commissioned External Review (CCER) of the IWMI-TATA Water Policy Research Program

Agricultural research / Research projects / Project appraisal / Financing / Institutional development / Evaluation / Water policy / Water management / Irrigation management / Groundwater

Balancing Paid Work and Unpaid Care Work to Achieve Women’s Economic Empowerment

It is widely known that women’s economic empowerment can lead to economic growth. However, it is important to understand women’s economic empowerment as not simply about labour force participation, but also about the choice to work, the choice of sector, location and working hours. This Policy Briefing looks at the interactions between the market and the household and the consequences of unpaid care work on the type, location and nature of paid work that women and girls can undertake, thereby impacting their economic empowerment. Further, it outlines policy actions that can help prevent women from being forced into making choices that have negative social, economic and political outcomes.UK Department for International Developmen

Thermal design improvements for 30kWe arcjet engine

Two thermal design improvements for 30 kWe arcjet engines are described. A ZrB2 high temperature coating was used to increase the surface emissivity of the nozzle radiating surface, enabling lower temperature operation, which should lead to longer nozzle life. The ZrB2-coated engine operated 120 C cooler than the uncoated baseline engine indicating a 30 percent increase in the surface emissivity. An engine design which has fewer active seals than previous designs and operates at lower overall component temperatures is described. The nozzle on the engine operated at 1950 C at 30 kWe while the baseline engine nozzle reached 2000 C at 23 kWe. The back of the engine was more than a factor of two cooler when compared to the baseline engine

Growth monitoring is it a task worth doing in South Africa?

No Abstract

The 30-kW ammonia arcjet technology

The technical results are summarized of a 30 kW class ammonia propellant arcjet technology program. Evaluation of previous arcjet thruster performance, including materials analysis of used thruster components, led to the design of an arcjet with improved performance and thermal characteristics. Tests of the new engine demonstrated that engine performance is relatively insensitive to cathode tip geometry. Other data suggested a maximum sustainable arc length for a given thruster configuration, beyond which the arc may reconfigure in a destructive manner. A flow controller calibration error was identified. This error caused previously reported values of specific impulse and thrust efficiency to be 20 percent higher than the real values. Corrected arcjet performance data are given. Duration tests of 413 and 252 hours, and several tests 100 hours in duration, were performed. The cathode tip erosion rate increased with increasing arc current. Elimination of power source ripple did not affect cathode tip whisker growth. Results of arcjet modeling, diagnostic development and mission analyses are also discussed. The 30 kW ammonia arcjet may now be considered ready for development for a flight demonstration, but widespread application of 30 kW class arcjet will require improved efficiency and lifetime

Magnetoresistance of atomic-sized contacts: an ab-initio study

The magnetoresistance (MR) effect in metallic atomic-sized contacts is studied theoretically by means of first-principle electronic structure calculations. We consider three-atom chains formed from Co, Cu, Si, and Al atoms suspended between semi-infinite Co leads. We employ the screened Korringa-Kohn-Rostoker Green's function method for the electronic structure calculation and evaluate the conductance in the ballistic limit using the Landauer approach. The conductance through the constrictions reflects the spin-splitting of the Co bands and causes high MR ratios, up to 50%. The influence of the structural changes on the conductance is studied by considering different geometrical arrangements of atoms forming the chains. Our results show that the conductance through s-like states is robust against geometrical changes, whereas the transmission is strongly influenced by the atomic arrangement if p or d states contribute to the current.Comment: Revised version, presentation of results is improved, figure 2 is splitted to two figure

‘Who Cares’: Reflections on the International-level Advocacy Work of the Unpaid Care Work Programme (2012–2015)

At the end of September 2015, the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) will be launched. Building on the eight Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), which were officially established in 2000, the SDGs will potentially have 17 goals – one of which was explicitly absent from the MDGs: the unpaid care work of women and girls. The inclusion of unpaid care work in the final outcome document of the Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals, which was made possible through the collective efforts of researchers, women’s rights organisations, activists and supportive policymakers, reveals just one of the ways in which unpaid care work is increasingly, albeit slowly, being recognised in development discourse, programmes and policies (United Nations General Assembly 2014b). In this Evidence Report we outline the global-level advocacy work undertaken by the Institute of Development Studies (IDS) and our partner, ActionAid International, over the course of a four-year programme to make care visible.UK Department for International Developmen

Epidemic shigella dysentery in children in northern KwaZulu-Natal

Objectives. To describe the epidemiology, clinical features, management and outcome of children with Shigella dysenteriae type I infection admitted to a rural district hospital. Design. Prospective cohort study. Setting. Hlabisa Hospital, KwaZulu-Natal. Subjects. Children aged under 12 years admitted with a history of bloody mucoid diarrhoea between February and December 1995. Main outcome measures. Number of admissions, age, sex, clinical features, complications and outcome. Results. Between February and December 1995, 158 cases of bloody diarrhoea were admitted, compared with 6 the previous year. Shigella dysenteriae type I, resistant to ampicillin, tetracycline, chloramphenicol, trimethoprim and sulphamethoxazole, but susceptible to nalidixic acid and ceftriaxone, was isolated. The mean age of patients was 30 months. Patients typically presented with frequent bloody mucoid diarrhoea, fever, abdominal pain and dehydration. One hundred and sixteen (73%) recovered, 17 (11%) were transferred for tertiary care, 4 (3%) absconded, and 21 died (case fatality rate = 13%; 95% confidence interval (CI) 8 - 20). Seventeen (11%) developed haemolytic uraemic syndrome and 4 (3%) a protein-losing enteropathy. The malnourished (adjusted relative risk (RR) 3.3, 95% CI 1.6 - 7.1; P < 0.01) and those aged less than 2 years (adjusted RR 4.2; 95% CI 1.0 - 17.2; P = 0.05) were more likely to die. Dysentery deaths accounted for 19% of total paediatric hospital mortality. Conclusion. A serious epidemic of shigella dysentery has established itself and is having a significant impact in this area. The virulence and drug resistance of the organism has resulted in high levels of morbidity and mortality Broad public health measures will be needed to contain the epidemic. Further community-based surveillance is urgently needed, as is research to determine modes and risk factors for transmission.4 page(s