Involvement of United Mission to Nepal for People’s Sustainable Livelihood and Methods Applied to Mitigate Challenges Krishna

Livelihood is the primary and the most significant human need and is the burning issue in the global south. Livelihood is both, the factor of poverty and the means to cope with it. However what kind of livelihood and how it considers the socio-cultural, economic and ecological aspects that directly involve with in it, determines whether the livelihood is sustainable or not. Sustainable livelihood approach is widely used approach to eliminate poverty that also interrelates and contributes achieving sustainable development and millennium development goals. Nepal as, one of the least development countries in global south is struggling against poverty. Sustainable livelihood approach is primarily applied to cope with poverty in the rural parts of the country for which international communities and development agencies have been working with the state and national governmental organizations. Among such organizations, United Mission to Nepal (UMN), a Christian faith based organization and recognized as an INGO by Nepal government, has been working in the overall needy areas in the country since its establishment in Nepal in 1954. Sustainable livelihood is one of the areas, UMN working, in order to support people living in extreme poverty. Being a Christian faith based organization working in a Hindu dominant country more than six decades, with the multi-lingual, multi-cultural, multi-religious societies, is a motivating fact of UMN to explore its diaconal works. Hence, the researcher has carried out the research to explore how UMN is promoting people's sustainable livelihood in Nepal. This research is designed applying the qualitative approach and the data are collected using qualitative research tools. The major findings are, UMN is promoting sustainable livelihood by supporting in the livelihood strategies and in livelihood assets as well as building capabilities of people. Nevertheless, the sustainability of the livelihood is not ensured due to the lack of livelihood assets, chaotic political and institutional situation and the high vulnerability context, for which UMN should furthermore strengthen its advocacy works and collaboration with the authorities to influence from policy level

Collective Action and Equity in Nepalese Community Forestry

This thesis critically analyses collective action processes and outcomes in Community Forestry through the concept of embeddedness. This research focuses on the questions of when people cooperate, how and why collective action emerges and evolves, and what leads or does not lead to equitable outcomes. The thesis makes a fundamental distinction between equality and equity. The research focuses specifically on the Nepalese experience with Community Forestry (CF), which is regarded as one of the most progressive CF programs being implemented in one of the poorest countries in the world. The thesis adopts an integrated research approach involving multiple actors, scales and methods with a focus on local level CF processes and forest users. This study considers the Forest Users Group (FUG) as a unit for analysis. Field work was conducted in three FUGs from the mid-hill region of Nepal over seven months between August 2001 and February 2002. The field research moves downwards to the household level and upward to the district, national and international level actors. It employs a combination of the process analysis and actor oriented approach and qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how CF is being driven, who is driving it and why CF is advancing in a certain direction. The study shows that the emergence, evolution and outcomes of collective action in CF are complex and varied due to specific and changing socio-cultural, economic, political and ecological contexts. Without understanding the complexities, in which peoples’ motivation and collective action are embedded, we cannot explain the emergence and evolution of collective action in CF. This thesis challenges the rational choice tradition and some key points of Common Property Regimes (CPR) theory and highlights the concept of embeddedness in participatory natural resource management. The thesis highlights the problem of decentralised CF policy and the forest bureaucracy. Decentralisation universally imposes a formal democratic system based on equality without acknowledging unequal societies. In Nepal, there has been little reorganisation of the forest bureaucracy. Despite being an international model for community forestry, in Nepal the existing bureaucracy has been unable or unwilling to transfer knowledge to forest users. The thesis concludes by stating the need to avoid the pitfalls of some democratic principles associated with standardisation and formalism. This means transforming bureaucratic norms and ideology. Context is central for the sustainable and equitable management of natural resources. It must be further researched and applied in decision-making if CF is going to achieve its potential to improve the condition of forests and the welfare of rural people

Pten Signaling in Regulatory T Cells and Inflammatory Disease

Regulatory T (Treg) cells suppress CD4+ T cell responses during homeostasis and inflammation to prevent autoimmunity and other immune disorders. Although the transcriptional and epigenetic programs impacting Treg cell function have been extensively studied, the signaling and metabolic pathways underlying Treg stability and function are not fully understood. In this study, we determined the role of the phosphatase PTEN in Treg cells. We found that specific depletion of PTEN in Treg cells results in excessive TH1 and T follicular helper cells (TFH) responses, associated with elevated germinal center (GC) B cells and spontaneous development of autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disease in vivo. Interestingly, the exaggerated TFH and GC responses and autoimmune symptoms are suppressed when IFN-γ expression is abrogated in mice containing Pten-deficient Treg cells. Thus, the uncontrolled TH1-mediated inflammation in these mice drives aberrant TFH responses and autoimmune and lymphoproliferative disease. Mechanistically, we linked PTEN to mTORC2-mediated control of transcriptional and metabolic programs that enforce Treg cell stability and function. Consistent with this notion, deletion of Rictor, the obligate component for mTORC2, restores Treg cell function and stability in the absence of Pten. Similarly, partially restoring the activity of Foxo1, a downstream transcription factor negatively regulated by mTORC2 signaling, also largely rectified the defects of PTEN-deficient Treg cells. Together, these results establish that Treg cells rely on the PTEN-mTORC2-Foxo1 axis to maintain their stability and suppressive activity in controlling TH1 and TFH cell responses

Collective Action and Equity in Nepalese Community Forestry

This thesis critically analyses collective action processes and outcomes in Community Forestry through the concept of embeddedness. This research focuses on the questions of when people cooperate, how and why collective action emerges and evolves, and what leads or does not lead to equitable outcomes. The thesis makes a fundamental distinction between equality and equity. The research focuses specifically on the Nepalese experience with Community Forestry (CF), which is regarded as one of the most progressive CF programs being implemented in one of the poorest countries in the world. The thesis adopts an integrated research approach involving multiple actors, scales and methods with a focus on local level CF processes and forest users. This study considers the Forest Users Group (FUG) as a unit for analysis. Field work was conducted in three FUGs from the mid-hill region of Nepal over seven months between August 2001 and February 2002. The field research moves downwards to the household level and upward to the district, national and international level actors. It employs a combination of the process analysis and actor oriented approach and qualitative and quantitative methods to understand how CF is being driven, who is driving it and why CF is advancing in a certain direction. The study shows that the emergence, evolution and outcomes of collective action in CF are complex and varied due to specific and changing socio-cultural, economic, political and ecological contexts. Without understanding the complexities, in which peoples’ motivation and collective action are embedded, we cannot explain the emergence and evolution of collective action in CF. This thesis challenges the rational choice tradition and some key points of Common Property Regimes (CPR) theory and highlights the concept of embeddedness in participatory natural resource management. The thesis highlights the problem of decentralised CF policy and the forest bureaucracy. Decentralisation universally imposes a formal democratic system based on equality without acknowledging unequal societies. In Nepal, there has been little reorganisation of the forest bureaucracy. Despite being an international model for community forestry, in Nepal the existing bureaucracy has been unable or unwilling to transfer knowledge to forest users. The thesis concludes by stating the need to avoid the pitfalls of some democratic principles associated with standardisation and formalism. This means transforming bureaucratic norms and ideology. Context is central for the sustainable and equitable management of natural resources. It must be further researched and applied in decision-making if CF is going to achieve its potential to improve the condition of forests and the welfare of rural people

Religious Ethics and Socially Responsible Behaviors of Small Firms in Nepal

Exploration on moral or ethical managerial behavior has become imperative to generate discussion on solving social and economic problems of the society while encouraging business people to make profit from their businesses. This study explored the extent of fulfillment of responsibilities as prescribed by religious values in the consumptions, business practices and uses of wealth using Hindu’s and Buddhist\u27s principles of business ethics by small firm owners. The research began with review of literature on Hindu (Vedic) and Buddhist principles. A survey on 300 respondents found that owners of small firms have positive attitude towards pursuing the religious principles of modest consumptions and religiously accepted business practices. However, they were found to be inclined to crave for wealth maximization especially when they grow larger through promoting materialistic values on customers. They use their wealth to nurture self and their family, but give fewer priorities in contributing to employee welfare and environment conservation. This research has managerial implications on promotion of business ethics and social responsibilities in Nepal

Experimental Study of the Static and Dynamic Characteristics of a Long (L/D=0.75) Labyrinth Annular Seal Operating Under Two-Phase (Liquid/Gas) Conditions

Wet-gas compression has become an important technology to focus on, requiring a concentrated effort to predict the behavior of compressors when exposed to wet gas conditions. The compressor’s stability is highly influenced by the rotordynamic behavior of seals. Labyrinth seals are widely used in compressors to reduce leakage. There have been many studies of labyrinth seals operating under mainly-air conditions. However, there are very few studies on labyrinth seals operating under wet gas conditions. A 2 phase annular-seal stand (2PASS) at Turbomachinery Laboratory of Texas A&M University is utilized to experimentally investigate a labyrinth seal operating under 2- phase flow conditions (a mixture of silicone oil and air). A long labyrinth seal (L/D = 0.75) is tested at supply pressure of 70 bar-a with gas volume fraction (GVF) ranging from 90% -100%. Tests were conducted at pressure ratios of 0.3, 0.4 and 0.5, three rotating speeds of 5, 10 and 15 krpm, and three preswirl ratios at a radial clearance of 2mm (8 mils). The results show that the direct stiffness and cross coupled stiffness of the labyrinth seal are frequency dependent for all three preswirls. Also, direct stiffness is negative. As inlet GVF decreases (more liquid), direct stiffness becomes more negative for zero preswirl, causing the seal’s centering force and direct stiffness to decrease. The effect of GVF on direct stiffness for medium and high preswirl is not as defined as for zero preswirl. Similarly, for zero preswirl, as inlet GVF decreases cross-coupled stiffness increases. Hence, decreasing GVF promotes instability by developing a transverse (to the eccentricity vector) reaction force in the direction of rotor precession. On the other hand, for high preswirl, cross-coupled stiffness decreases as GVF decreases. Hence, decreasing GVF enhances the stability of the seals. The increase of liquid in the flow stream increases the direct damping of the system. When the GVF increases, cross-coupled damping increases; however it remains small. Also, for zero preswirl, decreasing GVF from 100% to 90% makes effective damping negative at low frequencies; however effective damping converges to almost the same positive value for frequencies higher than Ωc (the frequency at which Ceff changes from negative to positive), indicating a stable system at higher frequencies. However, for medium and high preswirl, as GVF decreases, Ceff becomes less negative and eventually becomes positive for frequencies higher than Ωc. This result indicates that the presence of some liquid in air flow can make the labyrinth seals more stable at higher frequencies. For a compressor running at 15 krpm and PR 0.5 with the first critical speed of 7500 rpm (125 Hz), decrease in GVF increases the stability for medium and high preswirl. Similarly, leakage rate m increases with decreases in GVF for all three preswirls

Data analytics and visualization for enhanced highway construction cost indexes and as-built schedules

A considerable amount of digital data is being collected by State Highway Agencies (SHAs) to aid project-planning activities, support various project level decision-making processes, and effectively maintain and operate constructed highway assets. However, the highway construction industry has been significantly lagging behind utilizing the growing digital data to support business decisions compared to other industry sectors such as health care and energy. The significant lack of understanding on the linkage between raw data collected and various decisions, proper computational methodologies, and effective guidance is considered as major barriers to the full utilization of the digital data. This study uses digital datasets that are now commonly available in SHAs, to demonstrate the smart utilization of existing digital data to support and enhance decision-making processes using data analytics and visualization methods. This study will a) develop an advanced computational methodology to generate multidimensional highway construction cost indexes (HCCIs) using two new concepts of i) dynamic item basket and ii) multidimensional HCCI, b) develop an enhanced framework for collection and utilization of digital Daily work Report (DWR) data, c) develop an automated methodology to generate as-built schedules using data collected from existing DWR systems, and d) analyze as-built schedules to develop a knowledge base of frequent precedence relationships of activities. The study achieves those objectives by utilizing three digital datasets: bid data, DWR data, and project characteristics data. Further, two standalone prototype systems, namely, Dyna-Mu-HCCI and ABSS are developed to automate computational methodologies for multidimensional HCCI calculation and as-built schedule development respectively. This study will aid SHAs to utilize currently unused datasets for informed budgeting and project control decisions. It demonstrates the importance of data analytics and visualization to obtain more value from the investment made in collecting construction data. Overall, this study serves as a step in making a transition from experience driven to data driven decision making in the construction industry

Collaborative planning & sustainability: exploring ecosystems as common-pool resources in the Lockyer Catchment

This chapter examines the current planning and management of natural resources in the Lockyer Catchment in Queensland, Australia, and explores potentials for planning and management informed by the concept of ‘commons’ or ‘common-pool resources’ (CPR), which emphasise bottom-up, collaborative planning and management by community groups

Planning for sustainable development: 'wicked problems' at Sydney's Malabar Headland

This chapter explores a set of wicked problems in the Malabar Headland in Sydney, Australia. By employing a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods, it was found that wicked problems were produced, reproduced and perpetuated in the Malabar Headland due mainly to two principal reasons: a) operational – relating to the complex and conflicting valuesets among stakeholders and multiple uses; and b) structural – relating to the institutional and interest group politics inherent within the layered federal system of government in Australia

Q-Fever, an undermined zoonotic threat

With upto 75% of all human disease being zoonotic in origin, proper study of the diseases is necessary to prevent any outbreak or human loss. More studies are required for developing countries like Nepal where there are no appropriate provisions for situations after breakouts. One such little known sporadic zoonosis is Q-fever. Q-fever (Coxiellosis) is caused by Gram-negative bacterium Coxiella burnetii that infect cattle and other ruminants with serious concerns for developing reproductive disorders and flu-like symptoms in human. There have been reports of undifferentiated febrile illness of Rickettsial cause in human and seroprevalence of Coxiella antibodies in goats of Chitwan and dairy cattle of Rupandehi for the first time. Low infectious dose and high resistivity to environment makes the disease more potent. Q-fever continues to be unexplored in Nepal despite its identification in neighboring countries like India. Thus, this paper after reviewing related articles from various journals, proceedings and magazines from online sources like Google Scholar, Mendeley, NCBI and PubMed is aimed to evaluate current status of disease, its epidemiology, zoonotic potential and preventive measures that can be adopted to minimize the threat of the disease as much as possible