Teesta Hydro-Electricity Projects and Livelihood Security in the Sikkim Himalaya: Issues and Challenges

Energy is crucial for any nation's economic growth and development, as well as poverty eradication and livelihood security. However, hydropower projects require significant expanses of land for construction and also affects people's lives and social structures.  Sikkim is a growing economy that is pursuing modernization through economic growth. In Sikkim, the forest department administers 82.31% of the land, while agricultural accounts for 11.1% of the overall geographical area, with agriculture employing 65% of the population. People's livelihoods are adversely affected when agricultural and forest land is diverted for project-related activities. This paper studies the post-project livelihood situations of the affected people of Teesta hydro power project. Field study has been carried out in six affected villages. Total of 334 sample household has been surveyed through pre-structured questionnaire. To assess the levels of various livelihood capital assets, all the five capitals i.e., natural, physical, financial, human and social capitals has been studied at household level by grouping the calculated data into three class intervals (i.e., high, medium and low). Index has been prepared to evaluate livelihood security and the livelihood diversification (Simpson Diversification Index) of the affected villages

How to tackle complexity in urban climate resilience? Negotiating climate science, adaptation and multi-level governance in India

As the world’s population is expected to be over 2/3rd urban by 2050, climate action in cities is a growing area of interest in the inter-disciplines of development policy, disaster mitigation and environmental governance. The climate impacts are expected to be quite severe in the developing world, given its urban societies are densely packed, vastly exposed to natural elements while possessing limited capabilities. There is a notable ambiguity and complexity that inhibits a methodical approach in identifying urban resilience measures. The complexity is due to intersection of large number of distinct variables in climate geoscience (precipitation and temperature anomalies at different locations, RCPs, timeline), adaptation alternatives (approach, priority, intervention level) and urban governance (functional mandate, institutional capacity, and plans & policies). This research examines how disparate and complex knowledge and information in these inter-disciplines can be processed for systematic ‘negotiation’ to situate, ground and operationalize resilience in cities. With India as a case, we test this by simulating mid-term and long-run climate scenarios (2050 & 2080) to map regional climate impacts that shows escalation in the intensity of climate events like heat waves, urban flooding, landslides and sea level rise. We draw on suitable adaptation measures for five key urban sectors- water, infrastructure (including energy), building, urban planning, health and conclude a sleuth of climate resilience building measures for policy application through national/ state policies, local urban plans and preparation of city resilience strategy, as well as advance the research on ‘negotiated resilience’ in urban areasDFG, 414044773, Open Access Publizieren 2021 - 2022 / Technische Universität Berli

Prospective comparison of the Pediatric Appendicitis Score and Alvarado score for clinical diagnosis of acute appendicitis in children

Background: In the Alvarado score and the pediatric appendicitis scoring systems, there is a reference score above which surgery is recommended while only observation is warranted below the specific score. The present study was conducted among children presented in surgical emergency with right lower abdominal pain having sign and symptoms of acute appendicitis at Gouri Devi institute of medical sciences and hospital, Rajbandh Durgapur-12 From November 2020 to October 2021. Material and methods: The present study was conducted among children presented in surgical emergency with right lower abdominal pain having sign and symptoms of acute appendicitis at Gouri Devi institute of medical sciences and hospital Rajbandh Durgapur-12 From November 2020 to November 2021. Each enrolled patient was awarded clinical scores according to both the Alvarado scoring system and the pediatric appendicitis scoring system. The statistical values were calculated for both scoring systems at cutoff score 7. Results: 100 patients were included in the study. Of the enrolled patients, 70 were males and 30 were females. 47 patients were included in the operated group (seven or more than seven group) and 53 patients were included in the observational group (less than seven group). Out of those 53 patients classified as the observational group, 39(73.58%) patients got settled during observation without any complication while 14 (26.41%) had to be proceeded with surgery because of an increase in their score (PAS/Alvarado) values during their observational period. Out of total 100 patients, 61 got operated i.e. 47 patients were included in the operated group (seven or more than seven group) and 14 patients (less than seven group) were operated. Out of 61 got operated and according to histopathology report 50 were confirmed as acute appendicitis while 11 were declared as negative appendectomies. According to the Alvarado scoring system, 43 patients were in the “seven or more than seven” group while 18 patients were in the “less than seven” group. According to histopathology at cutoff value 7, the Alvarado score resulted in 39 correct diagnoses of appendicitis and 4 innocent appendectomies. According to the pediatric appendicitis scoring system, 47 patients were in the “seven or more than seven” group while 14 patients were in the “less than seven” group. According to histopathology cutoff value 7, the pediatric appendicitis score resulted in 43 correct diagnoses of appendicitis and 4 innocent appendectomies. Conclusion: The pediatric appendicitis score (PAS) was superior in diagnosing acute appendicitis in the pediatric population than the Alvarado score as indicated by the values of diagnostic accuracy

Investigation and Fabrication of Thermo-mechanical Properties of Ceiba Pentandra Bark Fiber/Poly (Vinyl) Alcohol Composites for Automobile Dash Board and Door Panel Applications

In the present study, Ceiba pentandra bark (CP) fibers, owing to their low weight-to-high strength ratio and recyclable features have been selected as reinforcement in thermoplastic polymer. i.e., poly (vinyl) alcohol (PVA) for fabrication of composites to find its application in automobile dash board and door panel. The bark fibers were chemically modified with NaOH to enhance its bonding property with hydrophobic polymer. The mechanical properties increases at the early stage with the increase in fiber content till optimum (20 wt% of fiber) fiber loading following that it declines. The mechanical properties obtained at optimum fiber loading are 98.49 MPa of flexural strength, 32.01 kJ/m2 of impact strength, 85.92 MPa of tensile strength and 98.49 MPa of flexural strength. The composites were further characterized by thermogravimetric analysis (TGA), dynamic mechanical analysis, and scanning electron microscopy for analysis. The thermal stability of the composites increased as compared to neat PVA matrix which was concluded by TGA. 20 wt% fiber content composites were found to be highly suitable for making dash board and door panels by automotive industries as it reveals better mechanical as well as thermal properties compared with other fabricated composites

Characterization of natural fiber extracted from Bauhinia vahlii bast subjected to different surface treatments: A potential reinforcement in polymer composite

Bauhinia vahlii (BV) is a great source of cellulosic biomass, and it is gaining popularity as a renewable resource. BV bast fiber is proposed to have the potential to replace synthetic fibers in biopolymer composites as a reinforcing material. This investigation deals with the extraction, surface modification and comprehensive characterization of BV bast fibers which could be used for the production of sustainable fiber-reinforced polymer composites. The extracted fibers were chemically treated with sodium hydroxide, sodium chlorite, and benzoyl chloride. Then, the chemical properties, mechanical properties, surface morphology and thermal properties were investigated. An improvement in chemical and mechanical properties was observed after surface modification of fibers. Benzoylation treated BV bast fibers revealed highest tensile strength of 128.56 MPa and Young’s modulus of 8.34 GPa. In addition, after treatment, the fibers had rougher surface as seen from SEM images. The surface treatments removed a specific quantity of hemicelluloses, lignin, and pectin from the natural fiber surface, according to FTIR analysis. The surface treatments had a good impact on the crystallinity index of the natural fibers, according to XRD analysis. The characterization results confirmed that BV bast fibers could be used for the production of sustainable fiber reinforced polymer composites

Enhancement of Mechanical, Thermal and Morphological Properties of Eleusine Indica Grass Fiber Reinforced Epoxy Composites

This research focuses on developing a new material by reinforcing chemically treated Eleusine Indica (EI) fiber with epoxy resin as matrix. Composites using varying wt% of treated EI fibers were fabricated taking epoxy as matrix. The effect of chemical treatment and fiber loading on various mechanical properties, thermal, and morphology using a scanning electron microscope (SEM) was investigated. From the results obtained, it is obvious that the mechanical and thermal properties of composites reinforced with chemically treated fibers were enhanced due to fiber surface modification which helps in better bonding with matrix. Moreover, the composites with 20 wt% fiber concentration shows good tensile strength, Young’s modulus, impact strength and was found to be 79.31MPa, 3.84 GPa, 32.24 KJ/m2 respectively. At this fiber loading the composites were characterized by Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FTIR), X-ray diffraction (XRD), and thermogravimetric (TGA) and compared with untreated fiber reinforced composites and neat epoxy. Finally, the failure analysis of fracture surface due to delimitation, pull-out of the fibers, percentage of voids, and composite fracture has been verified using scanning electron microscope. The findings provide manufacturers and engineers with a general concept of how to employ the composites to make low-weight automotive parts for improved fuel efficiency

Health system factors related to COVID-19 mortality in Eastern India: Hospital-based cross-sectional study

Introduction: Mortality from coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic has left footprints across all ages and socio-economic strata. The deaths because of COVID-19 are usually multi-factorial. The study aimed to assess the health system factors related to COVID-19-related deaths. Materials and Methods: A hospital-based retrospective study was conducted at a tertiary care hospital of eastern India. A total of 272 COVID-19 deaths that occurred between April and November 2020 were investigated. Data were extracted from Medical Record Department, and telephonic interviews were conducted to assess the different delays related to death. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences. Travel time, travel distance, delay in testing, and delay in receiving quality care were presented as median with inter-quartile range. Results: Complete information could be collected from 243 COVID deaths of the 272 deaths (89.3%). The duration of hospital stay was 1–7 days for 42% of the deceased. The median travel time was 120 min, and the median distance travelled was 60 km. The median time to receive first attention of health care workers was 10 minutes. There was hardly any delay in reporting of test results, whereas the median time from symptoms to test and the median time from symptoms to admission were 4 days each. Conclusion: Health system factors related to death of COVID-19 need to be addressed to avoid the avoidable deaths during the pandemic situation. The resilience of the health system can be helpful in reducing death toll in a low-resource country like India

Transforming knowledge systems for life on Earth : Visions of future systems and how to get there

Formalised knowledge systems, including universities and research institutes, are important for contemporary societies. They are, however, also arguably failing humanity when their impact is measured against the level of progress being made in stimulating the societal changes needed to address challenges like climate change. In this research we used a novel futures-oriented and participatory approach that asked what future envisioned knowledge systems might need to look like and how we might get there. Findings suggest that envisioned future systems will need to be much more collaborative, open, diverse, egalitarian, and able to work with values and systemic issues. They will also need to go beyond producing knowledge about our world to generating wisdom about how to act within it. To get to envisioned systems we will need to rapidly scale methodological innovations, connect innovators, and creatively accelerate learning about working with intractable challenges. We will also need to create new funding schemes, a global knowledge commons, and challenge deeply held assumptions. To genuinely be a creative force in supporting longevity of human and non-human life on our planet, the shift in knowledge systems will probably need to be at the scale of the enlightenment and speed of the scientific and technological revolution accompanying the second World War. This will require bold and strategic action from governments, scientists, civic society and sustained transformational intent.Peer reviewe