Gender Inequalities in the Allocation of Time to Household Production in Nepal

The thesis examines factors that may explain gender (working age group, married men and women, 15-60 years) inequalities in the allocation of time to household production in Nepal. Gender disparities in the allocation of unpaid care and domestic labor (home production) are a major and prevalent element of inequalities between men and women. I presume that each spouse\u27s time spent is influenced by personal and household factors. Furthermore, I argue that state can play substantial role in pursuing province level employment program (Karnali Province) in line with federal level employment program, namely Job Guarantee to uplift women\u27s economic empowerment by establishing respectable jobs in the care industry and elsewhere

Motivation of temporary employees

Employees are often considered a company's greatest asset to be viewed as a competitive advantage. For this reason it is important for companies to attract and retain the best employees; and; provide them with encouragement, stimulus, and make them feel that they are an integral part of the company's mission. Employees who believe that management is concerned about them as a whole person - not just an employee - are more productive, more satisfied, and more fulfilled. A satisfied workforce is likely to lead to more satisfied customers, which in turn will improve to profitability. This research examines the motivation levels of temporary employees working for companies operating in Finland in the Helsinki region. The research was conducted through face to face interview with HR personnel of Staffpoint oy and surveys conducted using questionnaire. The author’s personal experience of working as a temporary worker motivated the research on this particular topic. The subject of this thesis is the motivation of temporary employees working for a staff rental business, who have different workplaces and different tasks to do. The research examines the factors that keep such employees motivated to continue their work and satisfy the needs of their customers. The research addresses the question whether staff rental businesses are doing enough to keep their employees motivated. Both quantitative and qualitative methods of research were used to answer the questions and clarify the motivation levels of employees. The survey as quantitative method was distributed among the workers who work for the staff rental business. The survey consisted of questions such as why the employees are motivated to work as temporary employees and the factors that keep them motivated. The purpose of the survey was to collect information from 26 workers to show what the majority of people think and improve the reliability of the conclusion that could be drawn. A Face to face interview with Katri Hietakangas of Staffpoint oy as part of qualitative method was done with a recruiter who was asked a series of questions related to the motivation level of their employees and the part they played in keeping the motivation level of employees high. The conducted surveys showed the majority of the workers are somewhat satisfied with their current working conditions. They are motivated because of the factors such as money, work flexibility and extra work. However, from the interview the conclusion drawn was there was no major issue of de-motivation among the employees of Staffpoint oy and it is difficult to determine whether the employees are satisfied or no unless their customers or the workers call them and tell them about the issues at work

Standards-based sensor web for wide area monitoring of power systems

The balance of supply and demand of energy is the key factor in the stability of power systems. A small disturbance in the supply demand relationship, if not properly handled, can cascade into a major outage, costing millions of dollars to the stakeholders. Proper monitoring and exchange of critical information in real time is the only solution to prevent the instability in this vulnerable system. But, the disparity in the protocols used by power utilities and the lack of infrastructure for information exchange are proving to be hindrance to obtaining a reliable de-regularized power industry. In this thesis, an emerging Sensor Web Enablement (SWE) has been adapted for the wide area monitoring of power systems. SWE and CIM provide a solution to both problems; the heterogeneity of data and the lack of central repository of the data for proper action. The sensor data from utilities that are published in CIM were modeled thorough a SensorML and exposed via a Sensor Observation Service (SOS). This provides a standard method for discovering and accessing the sensor data between utilities and facilitates rapid response functionality to handle contingences

A transport study of high density helicon plasma discharges in the Prototype Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment

The Prototype Material Plasma Exposure eXperiment (Proto-MPEX) at Oak Ridge National Laboratory is instrumental in demonstrating the plasma source capability for the steady-state MPEX facility to study plasma-material interactions (PMIs). Proto-MPEX has justified MPEX by examining the efficiency of the helicon source, and auxiliary electron Bernstein wave (EBW) heating and ion cyclotron heating (ICH). This thesis aims to address the particle transport from the source toward the target in Proto-MPEX. The governing transport phenomenon in Proto-MPEX is identified using the electron temperature and density, Mach number, and other derived quantities. Extensive diagnostics coverage along the axial length of the device provided various plasma parameters. The upgraded Thomson scattering system and Mach-Double Langmuir probe were used for the study.A small variation in the axial temperature for both helicon-only and helicon with an auxiliary heating system indicates that Proto-MPEX operates in the sheath-limited regime. The presence of strong parallel convective heat along the axis, except near the source, was experimentally measured and predicted using a data-constrained B2.5 Eirene model. With EBW, the conductive heat flux increased around the launcher but was not found to be significant in comparison. With a small temperature gradient and highly conductive flux, Proto-MPEX plasma transport is suggested to be sheath-limited. Increasing collisionality and density at the target can induce conduction-limited regime in Proto-MPEX. During the efficiency study of the transport with EBW heating, a flat or downhill magnetic field from the heating location to the target was found to be preferential to deposit higher heat flux on to the target.The presence of various plasma sources creates a complex magnetic field geometry in Proto-MPEX. Such field variations create magnetic mirrors, which manifests Gas-dynamic trap for low energy and adiabatic-kinetic trapping for high energy plasmas. Experimentally, a linear increase in trapped density was observed with the mirror ratio for the low temperature population. Temporal profiles from flow measurement with ICH show plasma slow-down and the possibility of flow reversal upstream of the ICH resonance location. Discussions on some of the implication for the MPEX user facility is also presented

Antenna Selection And MIMO Capacity Estimation For Vehicular Communication Systems

Vehicular communication is one of the promising prospects of wireless communication capable of addressing the issues related to road safety, providing the framework for smart or intelligent cars. To provide a reliable wireless link for vehicular communication extensive channel modeling and measurements are required. In this thesis a novel cost-effective implementation of vehicular channel capacity measuring system using off-the-shelf devices is proposed. Then using the proposed system, various channel measurements are performed. The measurement results are utilized to examine multi-antenna systems for vehicular communication. The challenge in developing an efficient network between cars is to understand the nature of random channels that changes with the location of antenna, surroundings and obstacles between the transmitting and receiving vehicles. In addition to measurements, in this thesis, the channel behavior has been studied through simulation. Wireless InSite from Remcom was used as a simulation tool to study different vehicular channels in environments with different structures to see the impact of obstacles and surroundings in the performance of the vehicular network. In particular, the behavior of different antenna locations on channel capacity of 2Ã2 Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO) systems is investigated. Channel capacities that are obtained from simulation and measurements provide the information about the changing nature of the channel and outline the essential considerations while choosing the antenna positions on the transmitting or receiving vehicles

Biochar Reduces the Pupation and Eclosion of a Specialist (Manduca sexta) and a Generalist Pest (Spodoptera frugiperda)

Chapter 1: This chapter incorporates detailed information about the biochar concept, its production, composition, and properties, harmful arthropods and their damage, the effect of soil on the arthropod community, and the application of biochar on arthropod control. Chapter 2: The comprehensive lab experiment was conducted with modified pupation media enriched with walnut shell biochar (Chapter II) to evaluate the effects of biochar on the pupation and eclosion success rates of a specialist (Manduca sexta) and a generalist pest (Spodoptera frugiperda). We found that the biochar treatment led to a significant reduction in pupal mass, adult mass, adult wingspan, body length, and length of survival compared to the control. This was vital to understanding the direct impact of biochar on pupation and eclosion stages of pest development and serves as the foundation for future research of biochar on the soil to assess the effect of biochar on different stages of herbivores. Chapter 3: This chapter provides an overview of my major findings and possible future directions for research to understand the biochar effect on arthropod’s control and potential solutions to incorporate different types of biochar on herbivores’ control and suggesting the biochar as a potential alternative against chemical insecticides for future references

From Intentional Awareness to Environmental Action: The Relationship Between Mindfulness and Pro-Environmental Behaviors

Mindfulness is defined as the ‘awareness that arises through paying attention to the present moment, on purpose, non-judgmentally’. Despite ample empirical evidence of its efficacy in inducing positive behavior change, almost no work has investigated the viability of using mindfulness-based interventions (MBIs) to promote pro-environmental behavior. Some recent studies have demonstrated consistent correlational relationships between mindfulness levels and pro-environmental attitudes (e.g., connectedness to nature), intentions, and some pro-environmental behaviors (e.g., recycling, “green” purchasing decisions), but no past work has explicitly examined mindfulness in the context of energy saving behaviors. Results from both quantitative and qualitative research conducted as part of this project add to existing evidence of a link between engagement in mindfulness practices and pro-environmental engagement, including, but not limited to, household energy use behaviors. Results from a couple of quantitative studies that were a part of this project show that dispositional facets Observe and Non-React were significant predictors of self-reported household energy behaviors, along with frequent engagement with mindfulness practices such as meditation, yoga, and breathing exercises. The results from the qualitative study present mindfulness to be a complex, multidimensional concept that is understood and experienced differently by different people. Unlike usually value-neutral academic and corporate conceptualizations, long-term practitioners who engage with the concept report their practice to have strong ethical dimensions. Engagement with mindfulness as a practice impacts practitioners\u27 perceived connectedness to nature and supports their environmental behaviors. The study provides conceptual models that attempt to explain the relationship between mindfulness practice, connectedness to nature, and pro-environmental behaviors. Results from these studies suggest the possibility that mindfulness-based interventions could provide a novel approach to improving environmental behaviors though further research is needed to determine whether this is indeed the case. Implications and limitations of the study are discussed

Controlling Microbial Multicellular Behaviors With Saccharide Derivatives

Microbial multicellular behaviors like biofilm formation and swarming motility are known to increase their tolerance against antimicrobials. From microbial standpoint, nonmicrobicidal agents that do not impede growth are tolerable and therefore, there is a lower propensity to develop resistance against such agents as compared to microbicidal ones (antibiotics). This study describes a new antibiofilm approach of using nonmicrobicidal saccharide derivatives for controlling the multicellular behaviors of gram-negative bacteria, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and fungus, Candida albicans. Pseudomonas aeruginosa is known to secrete rhamnolipids, a class of biosurfactants that plays an important role in maintaining the architecture of its biofilm and promoting its swarming motility. Here we show the ability of certain synthetic nonmicrobicidal disaccharide derivatives (DSDs) to mimic the biofunctions of rhamnolipids. The rhlA mutant of P. aeruginosa is incapable of synthesizing rhamnolipids and also unable to swarm on semi-solid agar gel. When the natural ligands, rhamnolipids were externally added into the semi-solid agar gel in a concentration dependent manner, the swarming of the rhlA mutant reactivated at lower concentrations (10 μM) and then at relatively higher concentrations (15 μM), the swarming reactivation was reversed. When some active synthetic DSDs were tested on the rhlA mutant, the bacterial swarming first reactivated and then the activation reversed at higher DSD concentrations, similar to the effect of externally added rhamnolipids. Previously, a known bacterial signalling molecule has been shown to exhibit a similar concentration dependent activation and then activation reversal for light simulation by Vibrio fischeri. Some DSDs having disaccharide stereochemistries (cellobiose or maltose) and a bulky aliphatic tail (3, 7, 11-trimethyl-dodecanyl) caused swarming reactivation of the rhlA mutant at concentrations lower than that caused by the externally added rhamnolipids. The synthetic nonmicrobicidal DSDs were also very effective at inhibiting the adhesion of P. aeruginosa to polystyrene surface, and at inhibiting the bacterial biofilm formation. These DSDs were also potent dispersers of pre-formed biofilm of P. aeruginosa. The potent antibiofilm (inhibition and dispersion) activities were observed for those DSDs that possessed a disaccharide (cellobiose or maltose) stereochemistry and a bulky aliphatic chain such as 3, 7, 11-trimethyl-dodecanyl. These potent DSDs had half-maximal inhibitory concentrations for biofilm inhibition (IC50) and dispersion (DC50) comparable to those of known potent antibiofilm agents against P. aeruginosa. Gene-reporting assays indicate that the mechanism of action of such DSDs is not via the known las or rhl quorum sensing systems of P. aeruginosa but that the adhesin potein, pilin maybe a likely target of such molecules. Biofilms formed under natural settings are usually formed by both bacteria and fungus that co-reside in the same microenvironment. Therefore, agents that can prevent mixed biofilms are desirable from a therapeutic standpoint. Despite being nonmicrobicidal to both fungal blastospores and hyphae, the synthetic DSDs were able to inhibit the biofilm formation of fungus Candida albicans. Microscopic evaluation showed that most DSDs did not prevent the blastospores-to-hyphae morphogenesis. The DSDs were effective at inhibiting biofilm formation of Candida albicans when applied within five minutes of seeding the test surface with fungal cells. Using a surface based assay it was shown that one DSD dramatically reduced the surface adhesion of Candida albicans hyphae. The antibiofilm activity of such DSDs against Candida albicans is probably due to their ability to prevent hyphae surface adhesion