Integration of the official and private informal practices in solid waste management

Solid waste management in low income developing countries is generally the responsibility of the official sector, such as municipal corporations. However, there are extensive inputs from the from the private informal sector in waste collection, separation and recycling. Four different activities in the private informal sector have been studied to identify the potential of their integration with the official system. Where integration means that the official sector accepts those practices and incorporates them into existing practices and future plans. All the cases have been selected from the city of Karachi, Pakistan. A multiple case study approach was adopted to assess the potential for integration, constraints to integration, attitudes, relationships and dependencies. It has been concluded that under the present circumstances, the private informal activities in solid waste management cannot be integrated formally with the official system. The main constraints to integration are public and municipal attitudes, the interrelationships and dependencies, interference by politicians and the lack of understanding on the wide range benefits of integration. Future models must be developed on the private informal practices within the official systems, such as primary collection of waste through municipal sweepers. A number of benefits of the private informal practices were also highlighted by the research which may be considered as opportunities once integration takes place. The recommendations include a number of actions and potential policy changes which could be done to promote integration and a better partnership between the private informal and the public sector

Efficient list manipulation in combinator-based functional languages on parallel architectures

A set of new combinator families and a new list representation are proposed in this dissertation. Each of the proposed combinators expresses certain commonly occurring combinations of lists as functions of those lists or elements of lists. Most of these combinators reshape the structure of the input list so that its elements can be manipulated concurrently. The reduction semantics and proofs of correctness for these combinators are given in the form of strings of already known combinators. It has been shown that the proposed combinators and list structure make the execution of functional programs faster on both sequential and parallel architectures

Oxidation of aliphatic alcohols by triethylammonium chlorochromate in non-aqueous medium – A kinetic and mechanistic study

AbstractThe oxidation of some aliphatic alcohols by triethylammonium chlorochromate (TriEACC) in dimethyl sulfoxide leads to the formation of the corresponding carbonyl compounds. The reaction is first order with respect to TriEACC. The reaction exhibited Michaelis–Menten type kinetics with respect to alcohol. The reaction is catalyzed by hydrogen ions. The hydrogen-ion dependence has the form: kobs=a+b[H+]. The oxidation of [1,1-2H2] ethanol (MeCD2OH) exhibits a substantial primary kinetic isotope effect. Oxidation of aliphatic alcohol was studied in 19 different organic solvents. The solvent effect has been analysed using Kamlet’s and Swain’s multi-parametric equation. A suitable mechanism has been proposed

Perceptions, knowledge and attitudes towards the concept and approach of palliative care amongst caregivers: A cross-sectional survey in Karachi, Pakistan

Background: Limited comprehension of the concept of palliative care and misconceptions about it are barriers to meaningful utilisation of palliative care programs. As caregivers play an integral role for patients with terminal illness, it is necessary to assess their perceptions and attitudes towards the palliative care approach.Method: A cross-sectional survey was conducted. Data was collected from the Aga Khan Hospital in-patient and out-patient departments and home-based palliative care services. All adult caregivers who met the inclusion criteria and consented, completed a questionnaire till the sample size was reached. Univariate and multivariate multivariable analysis was done and results were reported as crude prevalence\u27s, crude and adjusted prevalence ratios with 95% confidence intervals using Cox-proportional hazard algorithm. Mean difference of knowledge and attitude scores by caregiver variables were assessed using one-way ANOVA. SPSS version 18 was used and a p-value of less than 5% was treated as significant.Results: Out of 250 caregivers more than 60% were 40 years or less, majority were males and at least graduates. Approximately 70% of the respondents agreed with the statement that the person suffering from cancer should be informed about the diagnosis and disease progression. About 45% (95% C.I.: 39.03, 51.37%) of the study respondents had enhanced understanding about palliative care. Individuals under 40 years old, those with an education level of at least grade 10, children or relatives were found to have significantly more enhanced knowledge about palliative care. The majority believed that the patient should be informed about the diagnosis and should be facilitated to carry out routine activities and fulfill their wishes.Conclusion: Nearly half of the caregivers had enhanced understanding of the palliative care approach. They showed consistent understanding of two foundational aspects indicating correct knowledge across age groups, gender, education level, and relationship with the patient. Firstly, that palliative care should be offered to everyone suffering from a terminal illness and, secondly, that this approach encompasses not just physical, but also psychological and social needs of the patient and the family. These findings will help inform the establishment of a palliative care program that fills the gaps in comprehension and knowledge of caregivers