Government and Private Primary Schooling in Rural Sikkim: Understanding Perceptions and Problems

Private school enrollment has been increasing across India, and there is evidence that poor government school quality is the impetus for this trend. Generally, wealthier states have lower levels of private school enrollment due to higher quality government schools. However, in the small, relatively higher-income Himalayan state of Sikkim, almost one third of primary level children from rural areas are enrolled in private schools, and government school enrollment at the primary level is falling year by year. This study explores community perceptions surrounding the relative quality of one government and one private school located in Lingmoo, a rural village in Sikkim’s South district. Qualitative data on school atmosphere was derived from multiple classroom observations at each school, and structured guardian and teacher interviews. Overall quality of classroom instruction was found to be similar for both schools, but integration of English was much higher at the private school. Guardians universally favored the private school, citing beliefs that private school teachers work harder. There appears to be no association between level of guardian schooling and value placed on education. Greater communication and cooperation between the schools and the community is recommended. It is hoped that the information presented here will be put to good use by both private and government educational institutions

Characterization of geohazards via seismic and acoustic waves

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023Earth processes, such as large landslides and volcanic eruptions, occur globally and can be hazardous to life and property. Geophysics -- the quantitative study of Earth processes and properties -- is used to monitor and rapidly respond to these geohazards. In particular, seismoacoustics, which is the joint study of seismic waves in the solid Earth and acoustic waves in Earth's atmosphere, has been proven effective for a variety of geophysical monitoring tasks. Typically, the acoustic waves studied are infrasonic: They have frequencies less than 20 hertz, which is below the threshold of human hearing. In this dissertation, we use seismic and acoustic waves and techniques to characterize geohazards, and we examine the propagation of the waves themselves to better understand how seismoacoustic energy is transformed on its path from a given source to the measurement location. Chapter 1 provides a broad overview of seismoacoustics tailored to this dissertation. In Chapter 2, we use seismic and acoustic waves to reconstruct the dynamics of two very large, and highly similar, ice and rock avalanches occurring in 2016 and 2019 on Iliamna Volcano (Alaska). We determine their trajectories using seismic data from distant stations, demonstrating the feasibility of remote seismic landslide characterization. Chapter 3 details the application of machine learning to a rich volcano infrasound dataset consisting of thousands of explosions recorded at Yasur Volcano (Vanuatu) over six days in 2016. We automatically generate a labeled catalog of infrasound waveforms associated to two different locations in Yasur's summit crater, and use this catalog to test different strategies for transforming the waveforms prior to classification model input. In Chapter 4, we use the coupling of atmospheric waves into the Earth to leverage a dense network of about 900 seismometers around Mount Saint Helens volcano (Washington state) as a quasi-infrasound network. We use buried explosions from a 2014 experiment as sources of infrasound. The dense spatial wavefield measurements permit detailed examination of the effects of wind and topography on infrasound propagation. Finally, in Chapter 5 we conclude with some discussion of future work and additional seismoacoustic topics

Search and you will find: detecting extended-spectrum β-lactamase-producing Klebsiella pneumoniae from a patient\u27s immediate environment.

Contamination of inanimate surfaces contribute to the transmission of healthcare-associated infection which is well documented for methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin-resistant enterococci VRE (3, 5, 10). The high rate of skin colonisation with these bacteria among healthcare workers increases the risk of cross-contamination of high-touch surfaces (6). Since Gram-negative bacteria survive poorly on surfaces, their role in transmission of infection has not been as widely investigated. Extended spectrum beta-lactamase-producing enterobacteriaciae (ESBL-PE) are now widespread and endemic in nosocomial settings (2, 4) and given the increasing prevalence of infections involving ESBL-PE, the role of the environment in ESBL-PE transmission should be explored. This study reports the evaluation of two ESBL-PE recovery methods from typical hospital surface materials and their application for recovery of ESBL-PE adjacent to an ESBL-positive patient

Triptycene as a supramolecular additive in PTB7:PCBM blends and its influence on photovoltaic properties

We acknowledge support from EPSRC (grant number EP/L012294/1) and the European Research Council (grant number 321305). I. D. W. S. also acknowledges a Royal Society Wolfson Research Merit Award.Additives play an important role in modifying the morphology and phase separation of donor and acceptor molecules in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. Here, we report triptycene (TPC) as a small-molecule additive for supramolecular control of phase separation and concomitant improvement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PTB7 donor and fullerene acceptor-based BHJ polymer solar cells. An overall 60% improvement in PCE is observed for both PTB7:PC61BM and PTB7:PC71BM blends. The improved photovoltaic (PV) performance can be attributed to three factors: (a) TPC-induced supramolecular interactions with donor:acceptor components in the blends to realize a nanoscale phase-separated morphology; (b) an increase in the charge transfer state energy that lowers the driving force for electron transfer from donor to acceptor molecules; and (c) an increase in the charge carrier mobility. An improvement in efficiency using TPC as a supramolecular additive has also been demonstrated for other BHJ blends such as PBDB-T:PC71BM and P3HT:PCBM, implying the wide applicability of this new additive molecule. A comparison of the photostability of TPC as an additive for PTB7:PCBM solar cells to that of the widely used 1,8-diiodooctane additive shows ∼30% higher retention of PV performance for the TPC-added solar cells after 34 h of AM 1.5G illumination. The results obtained suggest that the approach of using additives that can promote supramolecular interactions to modify the length scale of phase separation between donor and acceptor is very promising and can lead to the development of highly efficient and stable organic photovoltaics.PostprintPostprintPeer reviewe

Triptycene as a Supramolecular Additive in PTB7: PCBM blends and its Influence on Photovoltaic Properties

Additives play an important role in modifying the morphology and phase separation of donor and acceptor molecules in bulk heterojunction (BHJ) solar cells. Here, we report triptycene (TPC) as a small-molecule additive for supramolecular control of phase separation and concomitant improvement of the power conversion efficiency (PCE) of PTB7 donor and fullerene acceptor-based BHJ polymer solar cells. An overall 60% improvement in PCE is observed for both PTB7:PC61BM and PTB7:PC71BM blends. The improved photovoltaic (PV) performance can be attributed to three factors: (a) TPC-induced supramolecular interactions with donor:acceptor components in the blends to realize a nanoscale phase-separated morphology; (b) an increase in the charge transfer state energy that lowers the driving force for electron transfer from donor to acceptor molecules; and (c) an increase in the charge carrier mobility. An improvement in efficiency using TPC as a supramolecular additive has also been demonstrated for other BHJ blends such as PBDB-T:PC71BM and P3HT:PCBM, implying the wide applicability of this new additive molecule. A comparison of the photostability of TPC as an additive for PTB7:PCBM solar cells to that of the widely used 1,8-diiodooctane additive shows ∼30% higher retention of PV performance for the TPC-added solar cells after 34 h of AM 1.5G illumination. The results obtained suggest that the approach of using additives that can promote supramolecular interactions to modify the length scale of phase separation between donor and acceptor is very promising and can lead to the development of highly efficient and stable organic photovoltaics

Local Explosion Detection and Infrasound Localization by Reverse Time Migration Using 3-D Finite-Difference Wave Propagation

Infrasound data are routinely used to detect and locate volcanic and other explosions, using both arrays and single sensor networks. However, at local distances (<15 km) topography often complicates acoustic propagation, resulting in inaccurate acoustic travel times leading to biased source locations when assuming straight-line propagation. Here we present a new method, termed Reverse Time Migration-Finite-Difference Time Domain (RTM-FDTD), that integrates numerical modeling into the standard RTM back-projection process. Travel time information is computed across the entire potential source grid via FDTD modeling to incorporate the effects of topography. The waveforms are then back-projected and stacked at each grid point, with the stack maximum corresponding to the likely source. We apply our method to three volcanoes with different network configurations, source-receiver distances, and topography. At Yasur Volcano, Vanuatu, RTM-FDTD locates explosions within ∼20 m of the source and differentiates between multiple vents. RTM-FDTD produces a more accurate location for the two Yasur subcraters than standard RTM and doubles the number of detected events. At Sakurajima Volcano, Japan, RTM-FDTD locates the source within 50 m of the active vent despite notable topographic blocking. The RTM-FDTD location is similar to that from the Time Reversal Mirror method, but is more computationally efficient. Lastly, at Shishaldin Volcano, Alaska, RTM and RTM-FDTD both produce realistic source locations (<50 m) for ground-coupled airwaves recorded on a four-station seismic network. We show that RTM is an effective method to detect and locate infrasonic sources across a variety of scenarios, and by integrating numerical modeling, RTM-FDTD produces more accurate source locations and increases the detection capability

Atmospheric waves and global seismoacoustic observations of the January 2022 Hunga eruption, Tonga

The 15 January 2022 climactic eruption of Hunga volcano, Tonga, produced an explosion in the atmosphere of a size that has not been documented in the modern geophysical record. The event generated a broad range of atmospheric waves observed globally by various ground-based and spaceborne instrumentation networks. Most prominent is the surface-guided Lamb wave (≲0.01 Hz), which we observed propagating for four (+three antipodal) passages around the Earth over six days. Based on Lamb wave amplitudes, the climactic Hunga explosion was comparable in size to that of the 1883 Krakatau eruption. The Hunga eruption produced remarkable globally-detected infrasound (0.01–20 Hz), long-range (~10,000 km) audible sound, and ionospheric perturbations. Seismometers worldwide recorded pure seismic and air-to-ground coupled waves. Air-to-sea coupling likely contributed to fast-arriving tsunamis. We highlight exceptional observations of the atmospheric waves