Nepali Domestic Workers in New Delhi: Strategies and Agency

Scholars have noted deplorable conditions of female migrant workers who suffer several types of citizenship disabilities as most countries do not extend equal citizenship rights and protections to migrant workers. In addition to this, they are unable to take full advantage of the rights available to them in the host countries because of low cultural and social capital. Further, studies have emphasized how the breakdown of the traditional economy and the penetration of the market in developing societies have forced people, especially from rural areas, to seek low-paying dead-end jobs in the global labor market. Examining Nepali domestic workers in New Delhi, while this research agrees with the existing studies, we also bring to notice the fact that migrant female workers are not always passive victims and that they exercise considerable choice and agency. The case of Nepali domestic workers in New Delhi offers fresh insight into the ways in which migrant women attempt to actively influence and control the work conditions and immediate labour market outcomes. This paper also shows that even if Nepali migrant workers gain in a limited way, they actively collude with their employers to marginalize native domestic workers. In the end, traditional power relations and inequality are reproduced unchallenged

Towards portable muography with small-area, gas-tight glass Resistive Plate Chambers

Imaging techniques that use atmospheric muons, collectively named under the neologism "muography", have seen a tremendous growth in recent times, mainly due to their diverse range of applications. The most well-known ones include but are not limited to: volcanology, archaeology, civil engineering, nuclear reactor monitoring, nuclear waste characterization, underground mapping, etc. These methods are based on the attenuation or deviation of muons to image large and/or dense objects where conventional techniques cannot work or their use becomes challenging. In this context, we have constructed a muography telescope based on "mini glass-RPC planes" following a design similar to the glass-RPC detectors developed by the CALICE Collaboration and used by the TOMUVOL experiment in the context of volcano radiography, but with smaller active area (16 $\times$ 16 cm$^{2}$). The compact size makes it an attractive choice with respect to other detectors previously employed for imaging on similar scales. An important innovation in this design is that the detectors are sealed. This makes the detector more portable and solves the usual safety and logistic issues for gas detectors operated underground and/or inside small rooms. This paper provides an overview on our guiding principles, the detector development and our operational experiences. Drawing on the lessons learnt from the first prototype, we also discuss our future direction for an improved second prototype, focusing primarily on a recently adopted serigraphy technique for the resistive coating of the glass plates.Comment: 8 pages, 7 figures, XV Workshop on Resistive Plate Chambers and Related Detectors (RPC2020

Selecting Site Suitable for Animal Waste Application using a Vector GIS

Due to the increase in the number and size of intensive animal industries (IAI) in many parts of the world including Australia, the disposal of animal waste has become a pressing environmental problem. Frequently the wastes generated at IAI are conveniently, favourably, and cost-effectively applied to the nearby agricultural fields to recycle manure nutrients. However, excessive application of wastes in the nearby fields without due consideration of site-specific factors (eg. slope, soil, and watercourses) has resulted in the run-off and leaching losses of manure nutrients causing agricultural non-point source (NPS) pollution (He and Shi, 1998). The agricultural NPS pollution has contributed significantly to the eutrophication and toxic blue green algae blooms in many river systems including Murray-Darling, where world's largest toxic riverine algal bloom was recorded in 1991 (Kuhn, 1993). Hence it has become crucial to develop an animal waste application guide (i.e. a site suitability map) by considering biophysical and socio-economic factors to minimise the environmental hazards. Developing such a map requires consideration of many factors and their spatial variability. Geographic information system (GIS)offers site suitability analysis techniques that are capable of processing large volumes of spatial data (Davis, 1996). The objective of this study is to develop a suitability map using a vector GIS, and to evaluate the factor sensitivity and aptness of this technique in selecting suitable sites for animal waste application

Opportunistic Access to PAL Channel for Multi-RAT GAA Transmission in Spectrum Access System

© 2017 IEEE. Spectrum Access System (SAS) is a three tier spectrum sharing framework proposed by the FCC. In this framework the aggregate interference of tier-3 General Authorised Access (GAA) users should be below a predetermined threshold anywhere within the tier-2 Priority Access Licensee (PAL) exclusion zone. GAA are expected to use a diverse range of Radio Access Technologies (RATs) with different levels of loading. We propose an optimal transmit power and probability of spectrum utilisation allocation scheme for GAA users that meets the average aggregate interference constraint within the GAA network. Most of the capacity maximisation studies consider the instantaneous aggregated interference from secondary users. In this paper we present an average aggregated interference method to optimise the capacity of GAA users in a single channel. Simulation results suggest that we can significantly increase the capacity of the channel by considering the probability spectrum utilisation of GAA users

Cutaneous Adverse Drug reactions: A Four-Year Study from Western Nepal

Background: Cutaneous adverse drug reactions (CADRs) range from minor reactions to several life threatening complications. Objectives: To study the clinical spectrum of cutaneous adverse drug reactions, determine the causative drugs responsible for the reactions and to assess the preventability. Methods: The study was carried out in the Department of Dermatology of Gandaki Medical College Teaching Hospital from June 2011 to June 2015. All the patients attending the Dermatology Outpatient Department and the patients admitted in the wards with suspected cutaneous adverse drug reactions to systemic drugs were included in the study. A detailed clinical history, including the history of drug intake was noted. Each case was assessed for its causality by using the WHO definitions. Data analysis was done using SPSS software. Results: There were 102 patients in total. The mean age of the patient was 32 ±15.7 years. Maximum patients belonged to the 21 to 30 years age group. There were 59 female patients and 43 male patients. Severe type of cutaneous adverse drug reactions was noted in 7.8% of patients. Antibiotics were responsible for most of the cutaneous adverse drug reactions. Cefixime was the most commonly incriminated drug. Exanthematous drug reaction was the most common type seen in 45%. Stevens-Johnson syndrome was the commonest type noted among the serious adverse drug reactions. Drug preventability was noted in 6% of patients. Conclusions: The commonest type of CADR noted was exanthematous type. Antibiotics were the commonest drug group involved in CADR. Six percent of CADR were preventable. J-GMC-N | Volume 11 | Issue 01 | January-June 2018, Page: 21-2

UC-204 Locovents! Events in your Location.

Locovents is the name of our android app-based project that will display to our users an interactive list detailing the local events going on in their area. Our goal for this project was to create a custom web scraper to display the any cool events that might be occurring in their respective area. This project was build using java and python along with android studios. With in the past 3 months we have worked rigorously to create a fully functional android app that scrapes the web and appropriately provides the user with relative information. This way our users will not have to look up any concerts or events that might be happening, all they would have to do is plug in their relative location

Developing a scalable training model in global mental health: pilot study of a video-assisted training Program for Generalist Clinicians in Rural Nepal.

BackgroundIn low- and middle-income countries, mental health training often includes sending few generalist clinicians to specialist-led programs for several weeks. Our objective is to develop and test a video-assisted training model addressing the shortcomings of traditional programs that affect scalability: failing to train all clinicians, disrupting clinical services, and depending on specialists.MethodsWe implemented the program -video lectures and on-site skills training- for all clinicians at a rural Nepali hospital. We used Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to evaluate pre- and post-test change in knowledge (diagnostic criteria, differential diagnosis, and appropriate treatment). We used a series of 'Yes' or 'No' questions to assess attitudes about mental illness, and utilized exact McNemar's test to analyze the proportions of participants who held a specific belief before and after the training. We assessed acceptability and feasibility through key informant interviews and structured feedback.ResultsFor each topic except depression, there was a statistically significant increase (Δ) in median scores on knowledge questionnaires: Acute Stress Reaction (Δ = 20, p = 0.03), Depression (Δ = 11, p = 0.12), Grief (Δ = 40, p < 0.01), Psychosis (Δ = 22, p = 0.01), and post-traumatic stress disorder (Δ = 20, p = 0.01). The training received high ratings; key informants shared examples and views about the training's positive impact and complementary nature of the program's components.ConclusionVideo lectures and on-site skills training can address the limitations of a conventional training model while being acceptable, feasible, and impactful toward improving knowledge and attitudes of the participants