Lifestyle and Obesity in Canada-A Quantile Regression Approach

Objective: This study examines the relationship between BMI and some life-style variables, socio-economic status (SES) variables, and some socio-demographic variables related to behavior of individuals along different points of the BMI distribution by using quantile regression. Methods: A representative sample of 34,225 individuals of Canada form the Canadian Community Health survey 2014 is selected to conduct this study. Ordinary least squares (OLS) method is used at first to differentiate the results between conditional mean framework and conditional quantile framework. Quantile regression is estimated to analyze the heterogeneous relationship among fruits and vegetables, physical activity and BMI. Results: Analyses expose that fruits and vegetables intake and physical activities are negatively associated with BMI and statistically significant both for male and female. The estimates are larger in the higher quantiles for individuals. OLS overstates these associations at the lower quantile and understates at the higher quantile of the distribution. Conclusion: Findings of OLS that assumes equal responses may be misleading. The study finding suggest that effective dietary strategy and appropriate physical consciousness strategy may be helpful to reduce the risk of obesity and overweight

Concrete Embodied Carbon Study

Generally, in concrete, cement contains a significant amount of embodied carbon. For this reason, designers are looking for different mixtures and .sources for the replacement of cement in concrete. Which can provide the optimum strength by using a minimum amount of cement.https://pdxscholar.library.pdx.edu/research_based_design/1098/thumbnail.jp

Toe clearance and velocity profiles of young and elderly during walking on sloped surfaces

Background Most falls in older adults are reported during locomotion and tripping has been identified as a major cause of falls. Challenging environments (e.g., walking on slopes) are potential interventions for maintaining balance and gait skills. The aims of this study were: 1) to investigate whether or not distributions of two important gait variables [minimum toe clearance (MTC) and foot velocity at MTC (VelMTC)] and locomotor control strategies are altered during walking on sloped surfaces, and 2) if altered, are they maintained at two groups (young and elderly female groups). Methods MTC and VelMTC data during walking on a treadmill at sloped surfaces (+3°, 0° and -3°) were analysed for 9 young (Y) and 8 elderly (E) female subjects. Results MTC distributions were found to be positively skewed whereas VelMTC distributions were negatively skewed for both groups on all slopes. Median MTC values increased (Y = 33%, E = 7%) at negative slope but decreased (Y = 25%, E = 15%) while walking on the positive slope surface compared to their MTC values at the flat surface (0°). Analysis of VelMTC distributions also indicated significantly (p < 0.05) lower minimum and 25th percentile (Q1) values in the elderly at all slopes. Conclusion The young displayed a strong positive correlation between MTC median changes and IQR (interquartile range) changes due to walking on both slopes; however, such correlation was weak in the older adults suggesting differences in control strategies being employed to minimize the risk of tripping

Urban development and livelihoods of the poor in Dhaka

Urban services development can result in many improvements to the lives of city dwellers, but benefits are not always realised by everyone equally.This paper is based on field-based research undertaken in Bangladesh designed to understand the socio-economic impact of the Dhaka Urban Transport Project (DUTP) on the poor. Research focused on two components of the project: the exclusion of non-motorised vehicles from parts of Mirpur Road; and the construction of a flyover over the busy Mohakhali Junction. These initiatives have significantly impacted many groups including cycle-rickshaw drivers, hawkers, shopkeepers and road users. This paper draws heavily on qualitative data collected from (mostly poor) stakeholders. It shows how damaging some aspects of urban development can be, as well as the clear benefits for others. In the light of research findings the authors consider what could have been done to avoid, mitigate or compensate for adverse impact on the poor. The paper identifies the need for ensuring livelihoods are understood unprotected in urban development, and ends with recommendations for urban development planners, policy-makers and practitioners

Development of a universal spot weld model for automotive FEM crash simulations

This thesis deals with the finite element simulation of spot welded joint in crash analysis. Spot welding is a very common joining process in the automotive industry. It is cost effective and it provides a very fast production rate of automotive body components. Despite this advantage, spot welds are very susceptible to various types of loading conditions. Therefore they are prone to failure, if not designed properly, during their service life time. Therefore it is very important to understand the behaviour of spot welds and their failure characteristics. Generally, before the manufacturing stage, most of the automotive structural components are designed and tested in a virtual design environment. It is important to examine the crashworthiness of these body-in-white structures. To asses the crashworthiness of these structures they need to be represented correctly in virtual simulations, which necessitate the development of spot welded joint models to be included in crash analysis. Usually the models for the body-in-white structures are complicated and huge, which contains thousands of spot welded joints. Therefore a simple model for spot welded joints is desirable. Six different spot welded joint models were developed in this thesis to serve the above mentioned purpose. At the same time the simplicity issue of these developed spot weld models were also addressed, so that they can be integrated easily in a large assembly system, which consists of thousands of spot welded joints. Moreover for an effective modelling strategy, the computational costs incurred by the adopted spot weld models need also to be taken into consideration. Therefore the approach undertaken in this thesis was to study the characteristics of only one spot welded joint on a test coupon with the developed suitable spot weld nugget modelling configurations

Displacement Analysis of Rigid Retaining Walls in Rocking

The paper presents a simple approach for computing rotational displacements of rigid retaining walls during an earthquake, an aspect that had not been considered so far (1981). The values of rotational displacements using the proposed method for various combinations of wall geometry, backfill material and ground motion parameters have been worked out. The values of rotational displacements have been compared with the values obtained by using available approaches for displacement analysis (sliding or overall) for rigid retaining walls and it is shown that the contribution of rotation to the overall displacement of the retaining wall may be quite significant in some cases and should therefore, be accounted for. The necessity to develop a rational displacement analysis considering combined rocking and sliding is stressed

Songs of Deviance and Defiance: Subjectivity, emotions and authenticity in Bhawaiya Folk Songs of North Bengal

Bhawaiya is one of the most popular folk song genres to Bengalis. While all Bangla folk songs express the emotions and the stories of the most marginal people, Bhawaiya is significant for expressing the female passion grounded in day to day material reality through the stories of the female subject of the songs. The passionate lyrics of Bhawaiya, when expressing love and desire for a woman’s lover, are not always bound to marital or ‘legitimate’ sexual relations. In this research, through the lens of these songs, I wanted to locate those emotions that are often seems deviant but at the same time can defy the normative control, to construct the female subversive subjectivities. To situate Bhawaiya, I reexamined the generic borders between Bhawaiya and other main Bangla folks song genres that were constructed through the rise of Bengali nationalism to see how Bhawaiya existed in the margins with subversive emotions connected to those identities. Through my ethnographical research of the ‘Bhawaiya people’, such as singers, producers, researchers in the main Bhawaiya areas, I see how those emotions are evoked through performances and how they made connections between the performers and the listeners. Since the contemporary reproduction of folk songs genres is difficult to compare with the original traditional forms due to the technological changes and appropriation by artists and their different interests, I also examined how these changes create an emotional atmosphere that affects the singers and the listeners. The appropriation of folk songs by contemporary singers has also raised heated debate about authenticity. I analysed how, without having the authority over authenticating the folk songs, the marginal singers and folk song producers create a vast market for the songs that are often considered deviant. These songs, despite being considered deviant by the authorities of Bangla folk songs, can challenge the authorities of authenticity debate. Through these aspects, I examined the subversive possibilities within Bangla folk songs for the people on the margins tracing the construction of the perils and pleasures of sexual subjectivity through a variety of Bangla social-cultural fields

Songs of Deviance and Defiance: Subjectivity, emotions and authenticity in Bhawaiya Folk Songs of North Bengal

Bhawaiya is one of the most popular folk song genres to Bengalis. While all Bangla folk songs express the emotions and the stories of the most marginal people, Bhawaiya is significant for expressing the female passion grounded in day to day material reality through the stories of the female subject of the songs. The passionate lyrics of Bhawaiya, when expressing love and desire for a woman’s lover, are not always bound to marital or ‘legitimate’ sexual relations. In this research, through the lens of these songs, I wanted to locate those emotions that are often seems deviant but at the same time can defy the normative control, to construct the female subversive subjectivities. To situate Bhawaiya, I reexamined the generic borders between Bhawaiya and other main Bangla folks song genres that were constructed through the rise of Bengali nationalism to see how Bhawaiya existed in the margins with subversive emotions connected to those identities. Through my ethnographical research of the ‘Bhawaiya people’, such as singers, producers, researchers in the main Bhawaiya areas, I see how those emotions are evoked through performances and how they made connections between the performers and the listeners. Since the contemporary reproduction of folk songs genres is difficult to compare with the original traditional forms due to the technological changes and appropriation by artists and their different interests, I also examined how these changes create an emotional atmosphere that affects the singers and the listeners. The appropriation of folk songs by contemporary singers has also raised heated debate about authenticity. I analysed how, without having the authority over authenticating the folk songs, the marginal singers and folk song producers create a vast market for the songs that are often considered deviant. These songs, despite being considered deviant by the authorities of Bangla folk songs, can challenge the authorities of authenticity debate. Through these aspects, I examined the subversive possibilities within Bangla folk songs for the people on the margins tracing the construction of the perils and pleasures of sexual subjectivity through a variety of Bangla social-cultural fields