1,058 research outputs found
Association between architectural parameters and burden of tuberculosis in three resettlement colonies of M-East Ward, Mumbai, India
Architecture and site planning play an important role in ensuring houses receive good light and ventilation and in turn have a healthy and livable environment. To investigate the strength of association between structural factors of slum resettlement colonies buildings and the burden of tuberculosis (TB), a questionnaire-based semi-quantitative survey of 4080 households was carried out in three resettlement colonies (Lallubhai Compound, Natwar Parekh Compound and PMG colony) with questions on architectural patterns, socioeconomic details as well as occurrence of TB in any member of the household. Computational modelling for Sky View Factor, Daylight Autonomy and Natural Ventilation in the houses of all three colonies was also performed. The results show that lower floors do not have access to sufficient light and ventilation in the living area. All colonies had poor Sky View Factors, Daylight Autonomy and ventilation. Occurrence of TB was strongly associated with lower floor of the house, closed or only partially openable windows, lack of exhaust fans as well as the built environment of the houses. The study also traced back the poor conditions of light and ventilation to the relaxations in development control regulations (DCR 1991 and modifications) given to rehabilitation and slum redevelopment buildings. The study recommends better planning and architecture measures to be taken by the city government to bring improvements in housing and avert a public health crisi
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Adults' self-directed learning of an artificial lexicon: The dynamics of neighborhood reorganization
Optomagnetic composite medium with conducting nanoelements
A new type of metal-dielectric composites has been proposed that is
characterised by a resonance-like behaviour of the effective permeability in
the infrared and visible spectral ranges. This material can be referred to as
optomagnetic medium. The analytical formalism developed is based on solving the
scattering problem for considered inclusions with impedance boundary condition,
which yields the current and charge distributions within the inclusions. The
presence of the effective magnetic permeability and its resonant properties
lead to novel optical effects and open new possible applications.Comment: 48 pages, 13 figures. accepted to Phys. Rev. B; to appear vol. 66,
200
Nonlinear DC-response in Composites: a Percolative Study
The DC-response, namely the - and - charateristics, of a variety
of composite materials are in general found to be nonlinear. We attempt to
understand the generic nature of the response charactersistics and study the
peculiarities associated with them. Our approach is based on a simple and
minimal model bond percolative network. We do simulate the resistor network
with appropritate linear and nonlinear bonds and obtain macroscopic nonlinear
response characteristics. We discuss the associated physics. An effective
medium approximation (EMA) of the corresponding resistor network is also given.Comment: Text written in RevTEX, 15 pages (20 postscript figures included),
submitted to Phys. Rev. E. Some minor corrections made in the text, corrected
one reference, the format changed (from 32 pages preprint to 15 pages
Refractive-index sensing with ultra-thin plasmonic nanotubes
We study the refractive-index sensing properties of plasmonic nanotubes with
a dielectric core and ultra-thin metal shell. The few-nm thin metal shell is
described by both the usual Drude model and the nonlocal hydrodynamic model to
investigate the effects of nonlocality. We derive an analytical expression for
the extinction cross section and show how sensing of the refractive index of
the surrounding medium and the figure-of-merit are affected by the shape and
size of the nanotubes. Comparison with other localized surface plasmon
resonance sensors reveals that the nanotube exhibits superior sensitivity and
comparable figure-of-merit
Resistance and Resistance Fluctuations in Random Resistor Networks Under Biased Percolation
We consider a two-dimensional random resistor network (RRN) in the presence
of two competing biased percolations consisting of the breaking and recovering
of elementary resistors. These two processes are driven by the joint effects of
an electrical bias and of the heat exchange with a thermal bath. The electrical
bias is set up by applying a constant voltage or, alternatively, a constant
current. Monte Carlo simulations are performed to analyze the network evolution
in the full range of bias values. Depending on the bias strength, electrical
failure or steady state are achieved. Here we investigate the steady-state of
the RRN focusing on the properties of the non-Ohmic regime. In constant voltage
conditions, a scaling relation is found between and , where
is the average network resistance, the linear regime resistance
and the threshold value for the onset of nonlinearity. A similar relation
is found in constant current conditions. The relative variance of resistance
fluctuations also exhibits a strong nonlinearity whose properties are
investigated. The power spectral density of resistance fluctuations presents a
Lorentzian spectrum and the amplitude of fluctuations shows a significant
non-Gaussian behavior in the pre-breakdown region. These results compare well
with electrical breakdown measurements in thin films of composites and of other
conducting materials.Comment: 15 figures, 23 page
Quantum Size Effect transition in percolating nanocomposite films
We report on unique electronic properties in Fe-SiO2 nanocomposite thin films
in the vicinity of the percolation threshold. The electronic transport is
dominated by quantum corrections to the metallic conduction of the Infinite
Cluster (IC). At low temperature, mesoscopic effects revealed on the
conductivity, Hall effect experiments and low frequency electrical noise
(random telegraph noise and 1/f noise) strongly support the existence of a
temperature-induced Quantum Size Effect (QSE) transition in the metallic
conduction path. Below a critical temperature related to the geometrical
constriction sizes of the IC, the electronic conductivity is mainly governed by
active tunnel conductance across barriers in the metallic network. The high 1/f
noise level and the random telegraph noise are consistently explained by random
potential modulation of the barriers transmittance due to local Coulomb
charges. Our results provide evidence that a lowering of the temperature is
somehow equivalent to a decrease of the metal fraction in the vicinity of the
percolation limit.Comment: 21 pages, 8 figure
Rural poverty reduction strategy for South Asia
Roughly 40 percent of the worlds poor live in South Asia, where poverty is basically a rural problem. Therefore, a significant gain in rural poverty reduction in this sub-region will be crucial to reach the international poverty reduction target. Based on the analysis and experience of the International Fund for Agricultural Development (IFAD), this paper argues that to be successful, poverty reduction policies in South Asia must focus on the less-favoured rural areas and on most disadvantaged sections of the rural poor (mainly women, the landless and indigenous peoples). In order to overcome disadvantages arising from remoteness, lack of social services, insecure and unproductive jobs, and discrimination as women or ethnic minorities, the rural poor need legally secure access to productive assets (mainly land, forests and water); sustainable or regenerating agricultural technology; access to markets; opportunities to participate in decentralized resource management; and access to financial services
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