Essays in Applied Microeconomics

This thesis explores critical aspects of women's health in low and middle-income countries (LMICs) through three distinct essays, employing rigorous quasi-experimental and experimental methodologies. The research focuses on how cultural norms, financial barriers, and policy interventions shape health-related behaviors and decisions, particularly for women. The first essay examines the impact of son preference on child health and household consumption in rural Bangladesh. Using a linear regression model and difference-in-differences-in-differences (DDD) framework, it reveals that the presence of a second-born female child positively affects the first-born's health outcomes but negatively impacts household dietary diversity. The second essay investigates the effect of reaching the legal marriage age on women's health investments in India. Utilizing a regression discontinuity design (RDD), the study finds significant improvements in health indicators, such as BMI and dietary patterns, when women turn 18, suggesting increased health investments in anticipation of marriage. The third essay addresses antimicrobial resistance and self-medication practices in rural Bangladesh through a randomized control trial (RCT). It evaluates the effectiveness of information interventions, combined with behavioral nudges or transport subsidies, in reducing unnecessary antibiotic use and increasing visits to qualified healthcare providers. Collectively, these studies contribute to our understanding of health capital formation and its socio-economic determinants in developing countries, highlighting the complex interplay between gender, age, and healthcare decision-making in building human capital. The findings offer valuable insights for policymakers and stakeholders committed to improving women's health and reducing gender disparities in LMICs

Study on the level of service (LOS) and performance of the Jelapang- Seri Iskandar route (a section of the Ipoh-Lumut highway)

Traffic engineering studies were carry outto find the level of service (LOS) for the propose section ofthe Ipoh-Lumut highway. Spot speed studies, volume studies, traffic flow andtravel time anddelay studies were established forthe analysis. Twosections of the highway were studied for speed trend analysis that represents different traffic conditions for basic data collection. Three intersections were also studied for performance measure. The result of thestudy concluded theLOS of the section of thehighway and intersections. Proposal was madefor solution to improve the LOS

Development of an intelligent dynamic modelling system for the diagnosis of wastewater treatment processes

In the 21st Century, water is already a limited and valuable resource, in particular the limited availability of fresh water sources. The projected increase in global population from 6 billion people in 2010 to 9 billion in 2050 will only increase the need for additional water sources to be identified and used. This situation is common in many countries and is frequently exacerbated by drought conditions. Water management planning requires both the efficient use of water sources and, increasingly, the re-use of domestic and industrial wastewaters. A large body of published research spanning several decades is available, and this research study looks specifically at ways of improving the operation of wastewater treatment processes.Process fault diagnosis is a major challenge for the chemical and process industries, and is also important for wastewater treatment processes. Significant economic and environmental losses can be attributed to inappropriate Abnormal Event Management (AEM) in a chemical/processing operation, and this has been the focus of many researchers. Many researchers are now focusing on the application of several fault diagnosis techniques simultaneously in order to improve and overcome the limitations experienced by the individual techniques. This approach requires resolution of the conflicts ascribed to the individual methods, and incurs additional costs and resources when employing more than one technique. The research study presented in this thesis details a new method of using the available techniques. The proposal is to use different techniques in different roles within the diagnostic approach based upon their inherent individual strengths. The techniques that are excellent for the detection of a fault should be employed in the fault detection, and those best applied to diagnosis are used in the diagnosis section of a diagnostic system.Two different techniques are used here, namely a mathematical model and data mining are used for detection and diagnosis respectively. A mathematical model is used which is based upon the principal of analytical redundancy in order to establish the presence of a fault in a process (the fault detection), and data mining is used to produce production rules derived from the historical data for the diagnosis. A dataset from an industrial wastewater treatment facility is used in this study.A diagnostic algorithm has been developed that employs the techniques identified above. An application in Java was constructed which allows the algorithm to be applied, eventually producing an intelligent modelling agent. Thus the focus of this research work was to develop an intelligent dynamic modelling system (using components such as mathematical model, data mining, diagnostic algorithm, and the dataset) for simulation of, and diagnosis of faults in, a wastewater treatment process where different techniques will be assigned different roles in the diagnostic system.Results presented in Chapter 5 (section 5.5) show that the application of this combined technique yields better results for detection and diagnosis of faults in a process. Furthermore, the dynamic update of the set value for any process variable (presented in Chapter 5, section 5.2.1) makes possible the detection of any process disturbance for the algorithm, thereby mitigating the issue of false alarms. The successful embedding of both a detection and a diagnostic technique in a single algorithm is a key achievement of this work, thus reducing the time taken to detect and diagnose a fault. In addition, the implementation of the algorithm in the purposebuilt software platform proved its practical application and potential to be used in the chemical and processing industries

Developing World Is Not the Only Custodian of Child Labor

The study attempts to look into the menace of the child labor around the contemporary world while also tracing its history. The study endeavors to find traces of child labor in the developing as well as developed world. The worst forms of child labor including armed conflict, trafficking, slavery, sexual exploitation, and hazardous work which absorb three-forth (3/4th) of the total child labor force. Menace of child labor continued either under inappropriate laws or unwilling implementers. The facts reveal that children’s having ages 7-14 years is 145,000 in Italy. Approximately 1.5 million child labor force is estimated in Italy. Although, unpleasant but child labor was considered desirable, at times.  Child labor is an established fact in Europe. Reasonable extent of child labor in Europe is not documented; however, 50% of rural child labor worked under 3 hours a day with only 18% worked more than 8 hours. Child labor is fundamentally dangerous as it adversely affects the child’s productive age. Keywords: Child labor; Developing countries; Developed world

Expanding cellular coverage via cell-edge deployment in heterogeneous networks: spectral efficiency and backhaul power consumption perspectives

Heterogeneous small-cell networks (HetNets) are considered to be a standard part of future mobile networks where operator/consumer deployed small-cells, such as femtocells, relays, and distributed antennas (DAs), complement the existing macrocell infrastructure. This article proposes the need-oriented deployment of smallcells and device-to-device (D2D) communication around the edge of the macrocell such that the small-cell base stations (SBSs) and D2D communication serve the cell-edge mobile users, thereby expanding the network coverage and capacity. In this context, we present competitive network configurations, namely, femto-on-edge, DA-onedge, relay-on-edge, and D2D-communication on- edge, where femto base stations, DA elements, relay base stations, and D2D communication, respectively, are deployed around the edge of the macrocell. The proposed deployments ensure performance gains in the network in terms of spectral efficiency and power consumption by facilitating the cell-edge mobile users with small-cells and D2D communication. In order to calibrate the impact of power consumption on system performance and network topology, this article discusses the detailed breakdown of the end-to-end power consumption, which includes backhaul, access, and aggregation network power consumptions. Several comparative simulation results quantify the improvements in spectral efficiency and power consumption of the D2D-communication-onedge configuration to establish a greener network over the other competitive configurations

A welder with pneumosiderosis: a case report

Pneumosiderosis or Welder's lung is an occupational lung disease which is usually seen after chronic exposure to iron dust. We present a case of a 64-year-old welder in whom the diagnosis of pneumosiderosis was made by lung biopsies. We also briefly review the literature regarding the disease, its prognosis and association with development of lung cancer. Avoidance of iron dust exposure and implementing prevention strategies in people at risk are the mainstay of therapy

Extended Version of Human Development Index with Millennium Development Goals: A Case Study of Pakistan

The objective of the study is to extend the United Nation’s Human Development Index (HDI) with Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) -2015 and construct the new extended version of HDI, called Millennium Development Index (MDI), by considering a case study of Pakistan. The actual values of Pakistan’s data set is assessed by the progress towards MDGs and constructed the comprehensive index score, which is based upon 7 quantitative goals as assigned by the United Nations up to 2015. The MDI score for each goal is calculated as follows, i.e., Poverty index value is 0.128, educational index value is 0.421, empowerment index value is 0.458, life expectancy is 0.729, HIV/AIDS value is 0.10, maternal index value is 0.200, and clean water index value is 0.744. The stated index values indicate that Pakistan’s economy weakly perform in 5 out of 7 goals, where the index value is less than the 0.50 threshold, while in the case of life expectancy and clean water access, the index value is more than the threshold values and correspond that the economy is progressing efficiently in both of the dimension factors. The overall MDI value is 0.444, which is less than the threshold value as designated by the United Nation’s HDI and conclude that Pakistan’s economy was low progress to MDGs that need significant economic reforms to combat poverty, hunger, and other socio-economic and environmental factors for sustained growth. The calculated MDI score value is the first initiative to extend the HDI score values with MDGS, which should be consider for food-of-thoughts to the policy makers to rank the economies on the basis of MDI instead of existing HDI values.&nbsp

Impact of Knowledge Management on Organizational Performance: A Case Study of Selected Universities in Southern Punjab-Pakistan

Knowledge management is an important issue in the business organization. The business firms which is able to manage knowledge will secure competitive advantage and sustainable growth. The objective of this research paper is analyze the impact of knowledge management on organizational performance with respect to selected Universities in Southern Punjab. For this purpose, two Public Universities: Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan and Islamia University of Bahawalpur were selected as a sample of the study. Four variables such as knowledge acquisition, knowledge conversion, knowledge application, and knowledge protection were taken as independent variables while firm performance was taken as dependent variable. Primary data was collected from 200 respondents that include selected Universities’ academic and non-academic staff. The response rate was about 90 and 71 percent among academic and non-academic staff respectively. Five estimation techniques such as Likert scale, Correlation technique, Score Card, Ration and Regression Analysis were used to draw the results. A comparison was also carried out to measure the performance of Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan and Islamia University of Bahawalpur. The results were robust and signification, showing close relationship between knowledge management and organizational performance. The comparative analysis shows that Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan has performed well in managing knowledge vis-à-vis Islamia University of Bahawalpur. The Bahauddin Zakariya University Multan is ahead of Islamia University Multan in terms of faculty, class performance, and research work and admission criteria. Though this study is specific to two big public Universities of Southern Punjab, yet its results can be generalized to other Universities of Pakistan as well as of the Universities in other countries. Keywords: Knowledge creation, knowledge management, knowledge protection, intellectual capital.

Study on the level of service (LOS) and performance of the Jelapang- Seri Iskandar route (a section of the Ipoh-Lumut highway)

Traffic engineering studies were carry outto find the level of service (LOS) for the propose section ofthe Ipoh-Lumut highway. Spot speed studies, volume studies, traffic flow andtravel time anddelay studies were established forthe analysis. Twosections of the highway were studied for speed trend analysis that represents different traffic conditions for basic data collection. Three intersections were also studied for performance measure. The result of thestudy concluded theLOS of the section of thehighway and intersections. Proposal was madefor solution to improve the LOS