Strategies for Survival: Charwomen in Rural Berkshire

Bidesiyā is a popular folk performance from Bihar and Uttar Pradesh in eastern India. Similar to other popular theatre genres, such as jātrā of Bengal and nauṭaṅkī theatre of Uttar Pradesh, bidesiyā incorporates dance, drama, music, acrobatics and other arts. Because of the prominence of lauṇḍā (female impersonator) actors, bidesiyā is often called lauṇḍā-nāc (the dance of female impersonators). The performance emerged as a cultural response to the British era colonial outmigration of the nineteenth and early twentieth as a text of tribulation of those who were left behind remembering those often forcefully migrated to bidesh (foreign land). Bidesiyā continues to be performed with similar echoes of labor and migration. During the time of my fieldwork in 2009–2011 in Patna, Vaishali, and Nalanda districts, there were more than two hundred such bidesiyā parties (troupes) estimated to be performing. This study gives an overview of bidesiyā theatre in Bihar in relation to the inseparable link between a performance and a marginalized community’s struggles for survival based on viewing forty performance by twelve groups and focused on the works of two popular troupes.

Since there is limited information concerning caffeine's metabolic effects on the human brain, the authors applied a rapid proton echo-planar spectroscopic imaging technique to dynamically measure regional brain metabolic responses to caffeine ingestion. They specifically measured changes in brain lactate due to the combined effects of caffeine's stimulation of glycolysis and reduction of cerebral blood flow. Nine heavy caffeine users and nine caffeine-intolerant individuals, who had previously discontinued or substantially curtailed use of caffeinated products because of associated anxiety and discomforting physiological arousal, were studied at baseline and then during 1 hour following ingestion of caffeine citrate (10 mg/kg). To assess state-trait contributions and the effects of caffeine tolerance, five of the caffeine users were restudied after a 1- to 2-month caffeine holiday. The caffeine-intolerant individuals, but not the regular caffeine users, experienced substantial psychological and physiological distress in response to caffeine ingestion. Significant increases in global and regionally specific brain lactate were observed only among the caffeine-intolerant subjects. Reexposure of the regular caffeine users to caffeine after a caffeine holiday resulted in little or no adverse clinical reaction but significant rises in brain lactate which were of a magnitude similar to that observed for the caffeine-intolerant group. These results provide direct evidence for the loss of caffeine tolerance in the human brain subsequent to caffeine discontinuation and suggest mechanisms for the phenomenon of caffeine intolerance other than its metabolic effects on elevating brain lactate.

Conduites addictives des enfants en situation de rue : interculturation et résilience

Background: In Middle East countries, including Saudi Arabia, 60%–70% of all marriages occur between first cousins, leading to uniquely common genetic disorders compared to Western countries. The primary objective of this study is to investigate differences between the attitudes of genetics professionals and patients toward incidental findings identified through whole-genome sequencing (WGS)/whole exome sequencing (WES). Methodology: A mixed qualitative and quantitative cross-sectional study was done to assess the ethical dilemmas and challenges faced in providing genetic information to Saudi patients attending a genetics clinic. A webbased survey was used to interview the participants. A total of 50 subjects were enrolled in this cross-sectional study, including 20 genetics professionals (MG: medical geneticists and GC: genetic counselors) and 30 patients who were interviewed before and after Next-Generation Sequencing tests. Results: Among the total, 55% of genetic professionals disagreed on patients being provided with their genetic results and raw data, and they preferred focusing on actionable results that yield benefits such as medical treatment and disease prevention. However, the majority of patients (73.3%) were interested in receiving all the raw genomic data for themselves and their children, while 26.7% felt opposite. Conclusion: This study identified differences in the attitudes of genetics professionals and patients toward the reporting of incidental findings from WES/WGS. Overall, the results suggested that GCand MGshould be aware of variations in individual preferences and should respect the beliefs and preferences of their patients.

PROTOCOL: The Impact of Land Property Rights Interventions on Agricultural Productivity in Developing Countries: A Systematic Review

On Credibility, Clarity, and Compliance

The VDSA panel dataset (vdsa.icrisat.ac.in) was generated by the International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT) in partnership with the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) Institutes and the International Rice Research Institute (IRRI). The VDSA has operated over a total period of 40 years from 1975 to 2015 but with discrete periods of data collection. In the most recent period (2009-2014), the period used for this analysis data were collected for a larger number of households and with vastly increased survey efforts focused on detailed data collection covering production information, GPS-measured plots, and 3-weekly household visits to record input and output data for each plot owned/leased by participants. The resultant data set covers the period 2009 and 2015 with 1,129 households participating from 30 villages in 9 states of India (vdsa.icrisat.ac.in/vdsa-map/vdsa-location-map.html). Study sites were selected using a stepwise purposive sampling strategy in order to cover the agro-ecological diversity of the region. The current dataset, based on the VDSA raw data, has been compiled to assess the relationship between farm size and agricultural productivity. The STATA program file (.do file) is also shared along with data. This program imports raw VDSA data and with necessary processing develops the variables needed to run the models to study the relationship between agricultural productivity and plot size. The raw data files for different modules can be downloaded from this dataset or can also be generated from vdsakb.icrisat.ac.in, raw data option, selecting all the available Indian states.

ProHits: integrated software for mass spectrometry–based interaction proteomics

Detecting a broader spectrum of cardiac pathologies in electrocardiogram data by applying a deep neural network designed to detect a specific cardiac disease

The largest number of foreign teachers in South Africa come from Zimbabwe and there is some literature on their experiences. The purpose of this article was to explore the survival strategies used by Zimbabwean migrant teachers located in rural schools in one South African province. The current literature does fleetingly reveal that they have experienced discrimination in South Africa but there is a dearth of literature on the survival strategies utilized by Zimbabwean migrant teachers in discriminatory and xenophobic spaces, such as the workplace, in South Africa. This paper was guided by social capital theory and social network theory. The paper is distilled from a teacher migration study which was interpretive and qualitative in nature, adopting a case study research design. In-depth semi-structured interviews and WhatsApp social networking were utilized to generate data from a snowball sample of fifteen Zimbabwean migrant teachers in one province of South Africa where there had been xenophobic outbreaks since 2008. The findings indicated that Zimbabwean migrant teachers survived by excelling in their work but they attempted, where possible, to avoid an acknowledgement of their efforts thus hoping to be inconspicuous in the profession and community, out of fear. They additionally behaved with humility at schools to avoid the germination and spread of jealous tendencies from their local African colleagues which made them prone to risk if and when xenophobia erupted in their communities.

High speed X-ray tomography is a promising tool to visualize the time-resolved gas distribution for fluidized beds. The tomography unit at Delft University of Technology is composed of three X-ray tubes and three double-layer detector arrays. The X-ray tubes are places at 120? around the fluidized bed. The detector arrays are placed opposite to the X-ray tubes. The full angle scanning can be done simultaneously, without mechanically rotating the X-ray tube as in traditional medical CT. The temporal resolution can be up to 2500 fps. By using this high speed X-ray tomographic system in my dissertation, we study tomographic reconstruction algorithms and measure different gas jets in the fluidized beds. To evaluate the performance of the novel reconstruction algorithms for high speed X-ray tomography, Simultaneous Algebraic Reconstruction Technique (SART) and Adaptive Genetic Algorithm (AGA) are compared in Chapter 3. The reconstruction quality of AGA is better than SART at low resolutions, but SART performs better at high resolution in finding the right shape. The system noise influences AGA less than SART. SART is much faster and does not have reproducibility problems; poor reproducibility influences the reliability of AGA. The features of the reconstruction quality for SART and AGA are further discussed in Chapter 4. AGA is better than SART in distinguishing small phantoms and small distance between phantoms. SART, on the other hand, is better at reconstructing the shapes than AGA. We developed a hybrid approach to combine the advantages of AGA and SART. The result of AGA is used as initial guess for SART in this hybrid algorithm, by which the reconstruction accuracy is indeed improved. A flat-base spouted bed is studied with the high speed X-ray tomography system in Chapter 5. We focus on the spout diameter and position. The hybrid algorithm is used to visualize the spout in the cross sectional area of the spouted bed. For a more accurate quantitative study, we developed a method to process the raw data directly. The time-averaged results of the spout diameters are validated with the literature. A simple model for the particle circulation is developed based on the time-averaged spout diameter. The model is also validated by measurement of the fountain height. The time-resolved results of the spout diameter are analyzed by the Power Spectral Density (PSD). The stability of the spout diameter is discussed for different measurement heights and gas flowrates by comparing the average PSD. We find that the most stable spout diameter happens at U/Ums ? 1.3 in the middle part of the spout. The time-resolved spout position is plotted by polar coordinates. We found that the spout position is more stable when the diameter is less stable, and vice versa. Another gas jet, i.e. the gas distribution below a downward facing micro-nozzle in a fluidized bed, is also measured using the high speed X-ray tomography in Chapter 6. The improved SART method is used for the reconstruction because we need to consider the transition area between the gas voids and bulk phase. Time-averaged 3-D images of the gas distribution below the nozzle are obtained. The results are compared with direct analysis of the raw data. A bubbling area, a diluted area, and a compacted area are found. We analyzed the dynamics of the gas voids by employing a cross-correlation technique and inspecting the reconstructed pseudo 3-D image. The cross-correlation estimates the direction of bubble motion, and also helps to calculate the bubble velocity and bubble size. The pseudo 3-D image shows the pattern of the gas voids. We found that single bubbles are regularly formed by the nozzle, and move upwards. The expansion, splitting and coalescence of the bubbles were also observed. The gas injected from the nozzle mainly ends up in bubbles. We compared the fluidized bed results with those obtained for a similar nozzle in a gas-water system, and found a similar flow pattern and penetration depth. In summary, we improved the accuracy of high speed X-ray tomography by developing novel data processing approaches, such as the hybrid algorithm and raw data processing. We evaluated the dynamics of the spout in a flat-base spouted bed from the tomographic measurements, and developed a model for particle circulation based on these measurements. We also measured the time-resolved gas distribution below the downward facing micro-nozzle using the high speed X-ray tomography. The obtained results illustrate that X-ray tomography is a valuable tool to study gas-solids distribution – both time-averaged and time-resolved in fluidized beds.

The recent explosion of high throughput experimental technologies for characterizing protein interactions has generated large amounts of data describing interactions between thousands of proteins and producing genome scale views of protein assemblies. The systems level views afforded by these data hold great promise of leading to new knowledge but also involve many challenges. Deriving meaningful biological conclusions from these views crucially depends on our understanding of the approximation and biases that enter into deriving and interpreting the data. The challenges and rewards of interaction proteomics are reviewed here using as an example the latest comprehensive high throughput analyses of protein interactions in yeast.

Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) is an important factor in the economic development of developing countries, since it plays important roles in the transfer of technology knowledge, employment, and human resources development, and in turn the investors can receive significant revenues from the lower production costs. Many studies of FDI have examined these FDI-related transfers from developed to developing countries, and even between developed ones. This study mainly focuses on Outward Foreign Direct Investment (OFDI) from Japan and the explanatory variables which affect it. Since the author’s home country is Indonesia, this work aims to explore OFDI from Japan in Indonesia, and its correlation with the real exchange rate volatility of Indonesian rupiah against American dollars, Japanese yen and the average labor wage, as well as to present brief explanation of Indonesia’s economic policy. The research methodology is split into two major parts. The first stage calculates the real exchange rate volatility for which the mathematical formula is taken from Kiyota and Urata (2004). Afterwards, in order to find the correlation between the three of affecting variables and FDI from Japan manufacturing firms invested in Indonesia, both of the variables are analyzed using a multiple regressions with OLS (Ordinary Least Square) method. This work is a form of empirical research with secondary data source, or quantitative study since the raw data are obtained from several open source statistical time series of data. Last but not the least, the author hoped that this study can enrich the literature on FDI and have valuable contributions to the work of both scholars and practitioners, particularly to the development of the future research from the framework of this study.

This rapid literature review summarises evidence and key lessons that exist regarding previous refugee and mixed migration displacement from Afghanistan to surrounding countries. The review identified a diverse literature that explored past refugee and mixed migration, with a range of quantitative and qualitative studies identified. A complex and fluid picture is presented with waves of mixed migration (both outflow and inflow) associated with key events including the: Soviet–Afghan War (1979–1989); Afghan Civil War (1992–96); Taliban Rule (1996–2001); War in Afghanistan (2001–2021). A contextual picture emerges of Afghans having a long history of using mobility as a survival strategy or as social, economic and political insurance for improving livelihoods or to escape conflict and natural disasters. Whilst violence has been a principal driver of population movements among Afghans, it is not the only cause. Migration has also been associated with natural disasters (primarily drought) which is considered a particular issue across much of the country – this is associated primarily with internal displacement. Further to this, COVID-19 is impacting upon and prompting migration to and from Afghanistan. Data on refugee and mixed migration movement is diverse and at times contradictory given the fluidity and the blurring of boundaries between types of movements. Various estimates exist for numbers of Afghanistan refugees globally. It is also important to note that migratory flows are often fluid involving settlement in neighbouring countries, return to Afghanistan. In many countries, Afghani migrants and refugees face uncertain political situations and have, in recent years, been ‘coerced’ into returning to Afghanistan with much discussion of a ‘return bias’ being evident in official policies. The literature identified in this report (a mix of academic, humanitarian agency and NGO) is predominantly focused on Pakistan and Iran with a less established evidence base on the scale of Afghan refugee and migrant communities in other countries in the region. . Whilst conflict has been a primary driver of displacement, it has intersected with drought conditions and poor adherence to COVID-19 mitigation protocols. Past efforts to address displacement internationally have affirmed return as the primary objective in relation to durable solutions; practically, efforts promoted improved programming interventions towards creating conditions for sustainable return and achieving improved reintegration prospects for those already returned to Afghanistan.

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