Water Connection: Everyday Religion and Environments in Kathmandu Valley

This case study aims to explore the relationship between ‘everyday religion’ and prospects for urban sustainability in the context of on-going changes -in Kathmandu. It argues that everyday religion plays a role in furnishing the incentive for urban residents to sustainably manage ‘culturalized nature’ in the city. In particular, I examine water, the practices surrounding its use, and how these practices connect various social realms. I suggest that water in Kathmandu valley plays an important role as a connector encompassing life and death, religion and environment, as well as politics and development

Predicting the Health Impacts of Commuting Using EEG Signal Based on Intelligent Approach

Commuting to work is an everyday activity for many which can have a significant effect on our health. Commuting on regular basis can be a cause of chronic stress which is linked to poor mental health, high blood pressure, heart rate, and exhaustion. This research investigates the neurophysiological and psychological impact of commuting in real-time, by analyzing brain waves and applying machine learning. The participants were healthy volunteers with mean age of 30 years. Portable electroencephalogram (EEG) data were acquired as a measure of stress level. EEG data were acquired from each participant using non-invasive NeuroSky MindWave headset for 5 continuous activities during their commute to work. This approach allowed effects to be measured during and following the period of commuting. The results indicate that whether the duration of commute was low or large, when participants were in a calm or relaxed state the bio-signal alpha band exceeded beta band whereas beta band was higher than alpha band when participants were stressed due to their commute. Very promising results have been achieved with an accuracy of 97.5% using Feed-forward neural network. This work focuses on the development of an intelligent model that helps to predict the impact of commuting on participants. In addition, the result obtained from the Positive and Negative Affect Schedule also suggests that participants experience a considerable rise in stress after their commute. For modelling of cognitive and semantic processes underlying social behavior, the most of the recent research projects are still based on individuals, while our research focuses on approaches addressing groups as a complete cohort. This study recorded the experience of commuters with a special focus on the use and limitation of emerging computing technologies in telehealth sensors

Joining of Cu to SS304 by microwave hybrid heating with Ni as interlayer

[EN] Joining of dissimilar pure Copper (Cu) to Stainless Steel (SS304) is necessitated in many industrial applications such as heat exchangers and electrical contacts. Advantages of both the materials such as high electrical conductivity of copper and better corrosion resistance of SS304 can be harnessed by way of joining both the metals. However, joining to Cu to itself or other materials is a challenge since the input heat is dissipated rapidly. Most of the conventional welding methods such as arc and gas are incompetent and unconventional methods such as Explosion Welding, EBW, and Diffusion Bonding are very expensive. In this study a new economical process of joining of dissimilar metals i.e. Cu to SS304 by microwave hybrid heating is investigated. Microwave joining is made possible by applying a powder (in this work, Nickel metal powder) as an interlayer and exposing to microwave surrounding the interlayer with a susceptor. The interlayer of Ni powder having average size 200nm and 45μm was used. The microstructure of the joint was studied by optical microscope and scanning electron microscope. The joints formed with 200nm Ni powder were observed to have a defect free microstructure. The EDS and XRD analysis determine the formation of solid solution between Cu-Ni interface and an intermetallic compound at Fe-Ni interface. The diffusion of elements across the joint was further analyzed by EDS line scan. The hardness variation was studied by Vickers’ micro-hardness. It can be concluded that smaller size Ni heats up faster in microwave and produce stronger joint of Cu to SS304 by microwave hybrid heatingTamang, S.; Aravindan, S. (2019). Joining of Cu to SS304 by microwave hybrid heating with Ni as interlayer. En AMPERE 2019. 17th International Conference on Microwave and High Frequency Heating. Editorial Universitat Politècnica de València. 98-104. https://doi.org/10.4995/AMPERE2019.2019.9813OCS9810