Improving indoor air quality for poor families : a controlled experiment in Bangladesh

The World Health Organization's 2004 Global and Regional Burden of Disease Report estimates that acute respiratory infections from indoor air pollution (pollution from burning wood, animal dung, and other bio-fuels) kill a million children annually in developing countries, inflicting a particularly heavy toll on poor families in South Asia and Africa. This paper reports on an experiment that studied the use of construction materials, space configurations, cooking locations, and household ventilation practices (use of doors and windows) as potentially-important determinants of indoor air pollution. Results from controlled experiments in Bangladesh are analyzed to test whether changes in these determinants can have significant effects on indoor air pollution. Analysis of the data shows, for example, that pollution from the cooking area diffuses into living spaces rapidly and completely. Furthermore, it is important to factor in the interaction between outdoor and indoor air pollution. Among fuels, seasonal conditions seem to affect the relative severity of pollution from wood, dung, and other biomass fuels. However, there is no ambiguity about their collective impact. All are far dirtier than clean fuels. The analysis concludes that if cooking with clean fuels is not possible, then building the kitchen with porous construction material and providing proper ventilation in cooking areas will yield a better indoor health environment.Renewable Energy,Energy Production and Transportation,Air Quality&Clean Air,Pollution Management&Control,Sanitation and Sewerage

Who suffers from indoor air pollution? evidence from Bangladesh

In this paper the authors investigate individuals'exposure to indoor air pollution. Using new survey data from Bangladesh, they analyze exposure at two levels-differences within households attributable to family roles, and differences across households attributable to income and education. Within households, they relate individuals'exposure to pollution in different locations during their daily round of activity. The authors find high levels of exposure for children and adolescents of both sexes, with particularly serious exposure for children under 5. Among prime-age adults, they find that men have half the exposure of women (whose exposure is similar to that of children and adolescents). They also find that elderly men have significantly lower exposure than elderly women. Across households, they draw on results from their previous paper (Dasgupta et al, 2004), which relate pollution variation across households to choices of cooking fuel, cooking locations, construction materials, and ventilation practices. They find that these choices are significantly affected by family income and adult education levels (particularly for women). Overall, the authors find that the poorest, least-educated households have twice the pollution levels of relatively high-income households with highly-educated adults. For children in a typical household, pollutionexposure can be halved by adopting two simple measures-increasing their outdoor time from 3 to 5 or 6 hours a day, and concentrating outdoor time during peak cooking periods. The authors recognize that weather and other factors may intervene occasionally, and that child supervision outdoors may be difficult for some households. However, the potential benefits are so great that neighbors might well agree to pool outdoor supervision once they became aware of the implications for their children's health.Environmental Economics&Policies,Public Health Promotion,Population&Development,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Water and Industry,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Water and Industry,Environmental Economics&Policies,Population&Development,TF030632-DANISH CTF - FY05 (DAC PART COUNTRIES GNP PER CAPITA BELOW USD 2,500/AL

Indoor air quality for poor families: new evidence from Bangladesh

Indoor air pollution (IAP) from cooking and heating is estimated to kill a million children annually in developing countries. To promote a better understanding of IAP, the authors investigate the determinants of IAP in Bangladesh using the latest air monitoring technology and a national household survey. The study concludes that IAP is dangerously high for many poor families in Bangladesh. Concentrations of respirable airborne particulates(PM10) 300 ug/m3 or greater are common in the sample, implying widespread exposure to a serious health hazard. Poor households in Bangladesh depend heavily on wood, dung, and other biomass fuels. The econometric results indicate that fuel choice significantly affects indoor pollution levels: Natural gas and kerosene are significantly cleaner than biomass fuels. However, household-specific factors apparently matter more than fuel choice in determining PM10 concentrations. In some biomass-burning households, concentrations are scarcely higher than in households that use natural gas. The results suggest that cross-household variation is strongly affected by structural arrangements-cooking locations, construction materials, and ventilation practices. The authors'analysis also suggests that poor families may not have to wait for clean fuels or clean stoves to enjoy significantly cleaner air. Within their sample household population, some arrangements are already producing relatively clean conditions, even when"dirty"biomass fuels are used. Since these arrangements are already within the means of poor families, the scope for cost-effective improvements may be larger than is commonly believed.Sanitation and Sewerage,Public Health Promotion,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,Montreal Protocol,Construction Industry,Montreal Protocol,Transport and Environment,Health Monitoring&Evaluation,TF030632-DANISH CTF - FY05 (DAC PART COUNTRIES GNP PER CAPITA BELOW USD 2,500/AL,Sanitation and Sewerage

An investigation of the structure of certain light nuclei using nucleon transfer reactions

Studies on (d,d);(3He,3He); (d,3He);(3He,d) and (d,n) reactions are reported in this work. The (d,d) angular distributions were measured at an incident energy of 12.0 MeV on 45Sc, 40Ca and at 13.0 MeV on 37Cl, 35Cl, 27A1 and 23Na. The (3He,3He) angular distributions were measured at an incident energy of 14.0 MeV on 29Si and 25Mg. The results of elastic scattering studies were analysed to extract optical potential parameters for the analysis of the transfer reaction experiments. The (d,3He) angular distributions were measured on targets 45Sc, 40Ca at an incident energy of 12.0 MeV and on 37Ck, 35Cl, 27Al and 23Na at 13.0 MeV. The (3He,d) angular distributions were measured on targets of 29Si and 25Mg at an incident energy of 14.0 MeV. The reaction 29Si(d,n)30P was studied at 3.0 MeV. The results of transfer reaction studies were analysed using DWBA and Hauser-Feshbach theories and discussed in the light of the structure of the nuclear states involved. It has been possible in some cases to assign spins and parities to nuclear levels from these studies. Implications of reaction mechanism in some cases have also been considered. The problem of absolute normalization of DWBA calculations has been investigated using the results from some (d, 3He) studies,<p

Sustainable governance in smart cities and use of supervised learning based opinion mining

Evaluation is an analytical and organized process to figure out the present positive influences, favourable future prospects, existing shortcomings and ulterior complexities of any plan, program, practice or a policy. Evaluation of policy is an essential and vital process required to measure the performance or progression of the scheme. The main purpose of policy evaluation is to empower various stakeholders and enhance their socio-economic environment. A large number of policies or schemes in different areas are launched by government in view of citizen welfare. Although, the governmental policies intend to better shape up the life quality of people but may also impact their every day’s life. A latest governmental scheme Saubhagya launched by Indian government in 2017 has been selected for evaluation by applying opinion mining techniques. The data set of public opinion associated with this scheme has been captured by Twitter. The primary intent is to offer opinion mining as a smart city technology that harness the user-generated big data and analyse it to offer a sustainable governance model

Does Gender Difference Impact Investment Decisions? Evidence from Oman

Humans are believed to be rational decision makers and documentary evidence proves a significant heterogeneity across individuals when it comes to investment decision making and risk bearing. The study is an attempt to explore and understand the heterogeneity of investment decision when it comes to gender behavior with focus on women. The aim of this research is to explore role of gender in investment decision making and to identify the points of difference between the two genders with respect to their vulnerability towards various behavioral bias in their pursuit for prospective financial gains. The research attempts to understand the susceptibility of genders to normative influences and herd tendencies in the context of Oman. Keywords: Behavioral finance, prospect theory, risk, herd behavior JEL Classifications: G02, G21, G2

A Study of the Entrepreneurial Constrains in the Indian Manufacturing Sector

Promotion of entrepreneurship has been recognized world over as key to accelerate the economic development of a region. India also continues to take steps to directly or indirectly promote entrepreneurship. This paper attempts to find out the constraints being faced by entrepreneurs in the Indian manufacturing sector. For this study the entrepreneurs have been classified as per their gender, region, age and education. This study also highlights the steps that can be taken to overcome the various types of constraints being faced by such entrepreneurs. Keywords: Entrepreneurship; Economic Development; Manufacturing sector. JEL Classification: E66; L26; L60

Private Equity and its Role in the Development of the Indian Manufacturing Sector

Manufacturing sector accounts for only 16% of GDP in India, while in China it is around one third of its GDP. Also the share of Indian manufacturing in the worldwide markets is dismal at 1.4%, while China it is now 13% from just 2.9% in 1990s. India also aspires to have such growth in its manufacturing sector. Growth of manufacturing sector is vital due to its multiplier effect on economy and employment. Every job created in the manufacturing sector creates two-three additional jobs in related activities. The aim of the Indian National Manufacturing Policy (2011) is to create to 100 million jobs and increase the share of manufacturing in GDP to 25% by 2022. Private Equity as financial intermediaries improves the allocation of resources from the investors and also provides various types of managerial assistance to industry enabling make them to be more competitive. This paper emphasizes the role that can be played by Private equity in the development of Indian manufacturing sector. Also the paper highlights the various types of assistance and problems in private equity. Keyword: manufacturing, private equity, development, India JEL Classification: E66, G20, G23, L26, L60

Transforming the Capabilities of Artificial Intelligence in GCC Financial Sector: A Systematic Literature Review

Identity and access management is a business process framework that makes it easier to maintain genuine user identities and regulate access to sensitive assets. The word "access control"refers to an organization's policy for authorizing access procedures, the mechanisms that implement and enforce the policy, and the model that the policy and procedures are built on. Adopting new technology may give rise to specific cyber threats that decrease or degrade business operations. The paper has designed to discuss the artificial intelligence-based access control system as a necessary component of governing and safeguarding the financial sector's information assets in the Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) region. Due to the dynamic and complicated nature of security rules for access control, organizations that employ web-enabled remote access in conjunction with applications access deployed over several networks face various obstacles, including increased operational complexity and monitoring concerns. Organizations spend a vast budget on securing their business. As the industry trend has shifted to intelligent internet-based companies on the same side, the cyber threat has become a challenge for the researcher to find the solution. A systematic research is conducted to fill the gaps in the existing literature by picking the most relevant research papers (126) from the four most reputable online repositories based on the four research questions specified. These research topics aim to evaluate the current situation from many perspectives and provide new avenues for future study to be studied soon to maintain high security and authenticity inside financial sectors of the GCC's countries

A Model for Solving the Optimal Water Allocation Problem in River Basins with Network Flow Programming When Introducing Non-Linearities

[EN] The allocation of water resources between different users is a traditional problem in many river basins. The objective is to obtain the optimal resource distribution and the associated circulating flows through the system. Network flow programming is a common technique for solving this problem. This optimisation procedure has been used many times for developing applications for concrete water systems, as well as for developing complete decision support systems. As long as many aspects of a river basin are not purely linear, the study of non-linearities will also be of great importance in water resources systems optimisation. This paper presents a generalised model for solving the optimal allocation of water resources in schemes where the objectives are minimising the demand deficits, complying with the required flows in the river and storing water in reservoirs. Evaporation from reservoirs and returns from demands are considered, and an iterative methodology is followed to solve these two non-network constraints. The model was applied to the Duero River basin (Spain). Three different network flow algorithms (Out-of-Kilter, RELAX-IVand NETFLO) were used to solve the allocation problem. Certain convergence issues were detected during the iterative process. There is a need to relate the data from the studied systems with the convergence criterion to be able to find the convergence criterion which yields the best results possible without requiring a long calculation time.We thank the Spanish Ministry of Economy and Competitivity (Comision Interministerial de Ciencia y Tecnologia, CICYT) for funding the projects INTEGRAME (contract CGL2009-11798) and SCARCE (program Consolider-Ingenio 2010, project CSD2009-00065). We also thank the European Commission (Directorate-General for Research & Innovation) for funding the project DROUGHT-R&SPI (program FP7-ENV-2011, project 282769). And last, but not least, to the Fundacion Instituto Euromediterraneo del Agua with the project "Estudio de Adaptaciones varias del modelo de optimizacion de gestiones de recursos hidricos Optiges".Haro Monteagudo, D.; Paredes Arquiola, J.; Solera Solera, A.; Andreu Álvarez, J. (2012). A Model for Solving the Optimal Water Allocation Problem in River Basins with Network Flow Programming When Introducing Non-Linearities. Water Resources Management. 26(14):4059-4071. https://doi.org/10.1007/s11269-012-0129-7S405940712614Ahuja R, Magnanti T, Orlin J (1993) Network flows: theory, algorithms and applications. Prentice Hall, New YorkAndreu J, Capilla J, Sanchís E (1996) AQUATOOL, a generalized decision-support system for water resources planning and operational management. 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