Urban City Of India Research Articles

Self-Reported Anger: Vulnerability for Risky Behaviors in Two-Wheeler Riding Young Men.

Objectives:Aggressive driving and road accidents are major concerns in the public health sector. This study aimed to explore risk to aggressive and risky behaviors on the road in two-wheeler riding young men.Methods:The study comprised 433 young male two-wheeler riders from an urban city of India. A two-wheeler riding survey that captured subjective perception of difficulty in managing anger in general, easy provocability to anger, and aggressive and risky behaviors on the road, and Negative Mood Regulation (NMR) scale were administered.Results:Of the 433 participants, 83 (19%) reported experiencing problematic anger in general, whereas 175 (40.42%) did not endorse experiencing problematic anger. Based on this, two groups were formed, namely, problematic anger-present group and problematic anger-absent group. The problematic anger-present group reported high score on easy provocability to anger, difficulty in controlling anger, specific motives related to riding fast than usual, and severity of aggressive responses to frustrating situations while riding, and low score on NMR scale. Statistical analysis revealed a significant difference between the groups.Conclusion:This study highlights the relevance of assessing subjective perception of problematic anger in two-wheeler riding young men. This has implications for designing interventions for enhancing road safety.

Seasonal Characteristics of Black Carbon Aerosols over an Urban City in India: Source Analysis Using Concentration Weighted Trajectories

In this study year-round (2013) measurements of surface black carbon (BC) mass concentration recorded using a seven-channel Aethalometer (AE-31) over a tropical semi-urban site in Nagpur, in central India are presented. The annual mean BC during the studied period was 3.64 ± 1.81 μg m−3, which is comparable to that observed at few Indian and international sites. Seasonal variability in BC concentration with maximum values during the winter (4.86 ± 2.3 μgm-3) and minimum in the monsoon (2.3 ± 0.7 μg m−3) season and moderate (~3.7 μg m−3) during the pre and post monsoon seasons was observed. The diurnal variation of BC concentration shows two peaks, one in the morning (07:00–08:00 h local time (LT)) and other prominent peak in the evening hours (19:00–21:00 h LT), with a minimum peak in the afternoon (~16:00 h LT), which could be associated with diurnal variation in local sources, boundary-layer dynamics and synoptic meteorology. The relationship between measured BC concentration and the meteorological parameters for the study location reveals a positive (negative) correlation with the mean diurnal range of air temperature (relative humidity, wind speed and rainfall). The estimated monthly mean absorption Angstrom exponent values range from 0.87 to 1.13 suggesting the change in the sources from fossil-fuel burning in the monsoon and post-monsoon periods to biomass burning in the winter and pre-monsoon. The concentration weighted trajectories analysis suggests that the potential source regions contributing to the observed BC concentration change seasonally and are positioned in the north, northwest of the observational site and in central India.

Effects of Occupational Exposures on the Lung Functions and Quality of Life of Garbage Collectors in the Urban Area.

Background:The present study was aimed to investigate the lung functions and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of garbage collection workers of the urban cities in India.Study Setting:Urban city in India.Materials and Methods:The cross-sectional study encompassed 110 participants, 55 garbage collection workers in a garbage depot in the urban city of India and 55 age-matched control group volunteering to participate in the study. Assessment of the lung function was done by using computerized spirometry and HRQoL with the World Health Organization Quality of Life-BREF (WHOQOL-BREF) questionnaire.Statistical Analysis:Various statistical measures such as mean, standard deviations (SD), test of significance were utilized to analyze the data. Parametric data were analyzed by unpaired t-test and nonparametric data by Mann-Whitney U test.Results:A statistically significant difference was seen in the lung functions and quality of life in garbage collection workers except for the psychological component of WHOQoL-BREF questionnaire.Conclusion:The study concludes that there is a greater impairment in the lung functions of garbage collection workers as compared to that of normal individuals. Moreover, the quality of life is lower in garbage workers than that of normal individuals considering the physical, social, and environmental aspects.

Agent-based geosimulation for assessment of urban emergency response plans

The operational efficiency of an urban emergency response plan (UERP) is proportional to the magnitude of a rigorous assessment process. The core objective of the assessment process is to identify possible deficiencies, in particular, micro-deficiencies existing within the emergency plans. Most of the existing approaches rely on multi-criteria and emergency state for assessments. However, identification of micro-deficiencies requires developing a comprehensive microscopic model of the entire emergency system and simulating an emergency plan under various scenarios. Here, an assessment framework is proposed based on agent-based modeling and geosimulation and considering the urban features for general and microscopic assessment of urban emergency response plans. To enrich our claim, this framework is applied to assess the futuristic emergency infrastructure plan of upgrading overhead water tanks (OWT) to be used for recharging fire emergency vehicles in case of fire incidents to improve fire suppression time by the Fire Department of Allahabad City, an urban city of India.

A route efficiency analysis using Shannon entropy-based modified DEA method and route characteristics investigation for urban bus transport in India

ABSTRACTIn the context of urban bus transport, the efficiency study of the bus routes, the impact of the contextual factors on the efficiency, and environmental performance measurement have not been paid enough attention. For performance evaluation, scholars mostly apply conventional data envelopment analysis (DEA) model whose limitation regarding handling the undesirable parameter limits its usefulness in the presence of undesirable outputs. Here, we propose a Shannon entropy-based output-oriented consolidated DEA model for the holistic performance measurements of the bus routes. Apart from operational and financial performance measurement, we introduce a novel ‘emission metric’ for environmental performance assessment of the bus routes. We show the context-specific implementation of several modified DEA models for measuring the efficiencies of the bus routes and integrate the efficiencies from different models into a single score using Shannon entropy approach. We apply the proposed method on 21 bus routes of Kolkata, an urban city in India. Our method facilitates consistent and more improved score in case of profit-making and loss-making routes, respectively. According to our analysis, route length, route overlapping, number of intermediate stoppages, and cost structure play a crucial role in the performance. We provide several route-specific as well as policy-level recommendations.

Impact of urbanization coupled with drought situations on groundwater quality in shallow (basalt) and deeper (granite) aquifers with special reference to fluoride in Nanded-Waghala Municipal Corporation, Nanded District, Maharashtra (India).

Rapid expansion in urbanization and industrialization coupled with recent drought conditions has triggered unplanned groundwater development leading to severe stress on groundwater resources in many urban cities of India, particularly cities like Nanded, Maharashtra. In the quest of tapping drinking water requirement, due to recent drought conditions, people from the city are piercing through entire thickness of shallow basalt aquifers to reach productive deeper granite aquifers. Earlier reports from Nanded and surrounding districts suggest that deeper granite aquifer is contaminated with fluoride (geogenic). The study aimed to find out variations in fluoride concentration in shallow basalt (10-167m) and deeper granite aquifers (below 167m) and to find out the relationship between fluoride and other ions. Study suggests that concentration of fluoride in shallow basalt aquifer is within maximum permissible limits of Bureau of Indian Standards and deeper granite aquifer contains as high as 4.9mg/l of fluoride and all samples from granite aquifers are unfit for human consumption. The groundwater from basalt aquifer is mainly Ca-HCO3-Cl type, and from granite aquifer, it is Ca-Na-Cl type. The correlation plot between F- vs. pH, Na+ and HCO3- shows a positive correlation and an inverse relationship with Ca2+ in both aquifers. As recommendations, it is suggested that granite aquifers should not be tapped for drinking purposes; however, in drought situations, water from this aquifer should be blended with treated surface water before supplying for drinking purposes. Efforts may be made to utilize 1.35 MCM of rainwater from available rooftop, which is sufficient to cater for the needs of ~40,800 people annually. Most effective defluoridation techniques like electrolytic de-fluoridation (EDF), ion exchange and reverse osmosis may be adopted along with integrated fluorosis mitigation measures.

Reproductive Autonomy and Sexual Health: Experiences and Representations of Young Women Attending College and University in Mumbai, India

The modernization of large urban cities in India is transforming cultural norms and is allowing more women to access higher education (Chasles, 2008; Manier, 2015). These social changes affect female identity, as marriage and pregnancy are two important constituents of Indian female identity (Abraham et Kumar, 1999, Unnithan, 2010; Widge, 2002). Does empowering women from educational and career standpoints translate to a greater reproductive autonomy? Does it empower them to pursue better overall sexual health? Few empirical data using a feminist theoretical frame are available on the sexual and reproductive health of young college and university women in India, limiting our understanding of the obstacles and difficulties they may encounter. This qualitative exploratory research was conducted from September to November 2016 in Mumbai. Ten female college and university students, aged between 20 and 25 years old, sexually active in the last twelve months, took part in individual semi-directive interviews. Preliminary analysis demonstrates that sexuality is an important part of their intimate relationships, for pleasure as much as commitment. However, because social norms dictate that premarital sexuality is inadmissible, young women face challenges such as being judged for having multiple sexual partners or being reluctant to inquire about or get proper contraception. Indeed, it is difficult for them to openly discuss with their relatives or health professionals about their sexuality and their contraceptive needs. Participants relied on limited and uneven contraceptive uses when having sexual relationships. The dynamics surrounding patriarchal social norms aforementioned seem to have created a line of misinformation and lack of control of contraception on the women’s part thus complicating and inhibiting their reproductive autonomy. Tensions between patriarchal and liberal norms (Manier, 2015) need to be addressed by promoting the concept of reproductive autonomy amongst Indian women’s movements working on reproductive health.

Perceptions of student self-injury: A survey of school and college teachers in an urban city in India

Perceptions of student self-injury: A survey of school and college teachers in an urban city in India

‘Power positions are embedded in our minds’: focus group discussions on psychotherapy ethics in India

ABSTRACTBackground: Ethical issues are ubiquitous during therapeutic work, despite the presence of professional ethics codes that guide ethical decision making. This exploratory research looks at how mental health trainees and practitioners, across various mental health disciplines, perceive and experience ethical dilemmas in the therapy space.Method: The sample included 12 mental health practitioners from varied mental health disciplines (clinical psychology, psychiatry and psychiatric social work), and practising counsellors, from an urban city in India. Three focus group discussions were conducted, where participants expressed the ethical issues and challenges encountered during their sessions with clients.Results: Content analysis of the narratives of the focus group discussions highlighted prominent ethical dilemmas in these domains: negotiation of boundaries or frames of the interaction; involvement of family in therapeutic decisions; negotiation of issues of gender and power in therapy; value confl...

P088 - Cancer incidence and mortality trends in urban cities of India

P088 - Cancer incidence and mortality trends in urban cities of India

Disability-adjusted life years and economic cost assessment of the health effects related to PM2.5 and PM10 pollution in Mumbai and Delhi, in India from 1991 to 2015.

Particulate air pollution is becoming a serious public health concern in urban cities in India due to air pollution-related health effects associated with disability-adjusted life years (DALYs) and economic loss. To obtain the quantitative result of health impact of particulate matter (PM) in most populated Mumbai City and most polluted Delhi City in India, an epidemiology-based exposure-response function has been used to calculate the attributable number of mortality and morbidity cases from 1991 to 2015 in a 5-year interval and the subsequent DALYs, and economic cost is estimated of the health damage based on unit values of the health outcomes. Here, we report the attributable number of mortality due to PM10 in Mumbai and Delhi increased to 32,014 and 48,651 in 2015 compared with 19,291 and 19,716 in year 1995. And annual average mortality due to PM2.5 in Mumbai and Delhi was 10,880 and 10,900. Premature cerebrovascular disease (CEV), ischemic heart disease (IHD), and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) causes are about 35.3, 33.3, and 22.9% of PM2.5-attributable mortalities. Total DALYs due to PM10 increased from 0.34 million to 0.51 million in Mumbai and 0.34 million to 0.75 million in Delhi from average year 1995 to 2015. Among all health outcomes, mortality and chronic bronchitis shared about 95% of the total DALYs. Due to PM10, the estimated total economic cost at constant price year 2005 US$ increased from 2680.87 million to 4269.60 million for Mumbai City and 2714.10 million to 6394.74 million for Delhi City, from 1995 to 2015, and the total amount accounting about 1.01% of India's gross domestic product (GDP). A crucial presumption is that in 2030, PM10 levels would have to decline by 44% (Mumbai) and 67% (Delhi) absolutely to maintain the same health outcomes in year 2015 levels. The results will help policy makers from pollution control board for further cost-benefit analyses of air pollution management programs in Mumbai and Delhi.

Consuming wellness, producing difference: The case of a wellness center in India

Over the past decade, there has been a discernible rise in the number of wellness centers and fitness studios in urban cities in India. These centers are spatial manifestations of the rise in a particular type of “self-care” regimes and “body projects” in modern social imaginary prevalent in urban India, predominantly enabled by the rise of middle-class consumer culture. While the literature on fitness spaces and wellness clubs in Western contexts is instructive to a very large extent, the local particularities of consumption experiences in non-Western contexts require contextualized empirical research in order to better inform modern theories of consumption. This article is a study of a wellness center in the South Indian city of Chennai. Using ethnographic methods, I attempt to unpack the experience of consuming wellness in a space that ostensibly claims to remedy the ills of modern living while doing so in a culturally traditional and “Indian” manner. I show how the experiences of predominantly middle-class consumers here are dictated not by a sentimental attachment to tradition or locality, but by a vocabulary of speaking that primarily favors a language of consumer choice and rational decision-making. Whether or not that is the case, the way in which consumption of an “Indian” brand of wellness occurs demonstrates the stronghold of the language of consumer choice making the space at the wellness center a performative arena for self-identity formation to occur.

Three sides of a triangle: gender disadvantage, resilience and psychological distress in a sample of adolescent girls from India

ABSTRACTGender disadvantage is a known risk factor for common mental disorders, especially in low- and middle-income countries. Gender disadvantage and its associations with perceived psychological distress and resilience was examined in a sample of adolescent girls from a low-income urban city in India. A sample of 452 young women (M = 17.64; SD = 1.15) were administered the CAGED for gender disadvantage, the K-10 for psychological distress and CD-RISC to assess resilience. The three gender disadvantage items endorsed the most were: financial difficulties being a hindrance to opportunities (297/452; 65.7%); being criticized and ridiculed for gender-related issues (267/452; 59%); and emotional distress related to gender disadvantage (322/452; 71.3%). Of the sample, 66% (298/452) endorsed at least five gender disadvantage items. The least endorsed item in the checklist was an experience of sexual abuse 36 (7.9%). Findings from one-way ANOVA indicated higher scores on the CAGED domains and the total score w...

Tobacco Use and its Correlates among Youth in a Northern Urban City of India

Tobacco Use and its Correlates among Youth in a Northern Urban City of India

Challenges Posed by Alien Culture Diffusion for Employees of Call Centers in Mumbai

Since the last decade, there has been a tremendous growth in the call center businesses in several metropolitan and urban cities in India. Mumbai city is no exception to this sudden boom. The call center businesses employ over 500,000 nascent employees in the age group of 18 – 28 yrs in Mumbai. The nature of outsourced work along with the odd working hours in this industry leads to high employee attrition in the call centers. Job satisfaction, high levels of stress, health issues, employee safety and career prospects are some of the reasons cited by industry experts as some of the factors leading to absenteeism and high employee turnover. This study facilitates the understanding of the extent of impact of call center job profile and the related challenges that its poses to the employees of call centers.

Awareness regarding body and organ donation amongst the population of an urban city in India

Abstract Purpose : Bodies for purpose of dissection and organs for transplantation surgeries are needed for education of medical students and treatment of cases of end-stage organ failure. However deceased organ donation rate in India is very dismal. In the present study the authors assess the knowledge and attitude of the people living in an urban city in India towards organ and body donation. Materials/Methods : A questionnaire was distributed amongst all willing patients and their relatives attending the out-patient Department at our Hospital. This was followed by an awareness session wherein the researchers discussed body and organ donation and its need in India. Information sheet was handed to all and the willing respondents were given eye and body donation forms, and donor cards. Result: 41/65 people consented to participate. 41.5%, 31.7%, 12.2% and 12.2% had obtained knowledge regarding organ donation from newspaper, television, family members and internet respectively. 26.8% claimed that they were imparted knowledge by health care professionals. 78%, 53.7% and 19.5% were aware about eye, kidney and liver donations respectively. 17.1% were aware of body and lung donation each. Awareness of donation of other organs was found to be in the range between 4.9% to 14.6%. 43.9% were willing to be organ donors and 3 persons filled the body donation forms. Conclusion: Newspapers, healthcare professionals could be utilized to further the awareness regarding body and organ donation. Carrying out awareness programmes will help to reach information to each individual, clarifying any myths and increasing understanding and motivation levels among

Mediating role of opinion seeking in explaining the relationship between antecedents and organic food purchase intention

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to understand the effect of antecedents like environmental consciousness and cosmopolitanism (COS) on organic food purchase intention (OFPI) with the possible mediation of opinion seeking (OS) and opinion leadership (OL). Design/methodology/approach – A model drawn largely from environmental value–attitude–system model (Dembkowski and Hanmer-Lloyd, 1994) has been proposed and tested. Primary data from four cities across India were collected using a survey. Findings – COS was the primary factor determining purchase intention. A full mediation of OS behaviour was observed between environmental consciousness and OFPI. No effect of OL on OFPI could be established. Research limitations/implications – Because COS is positively affecting the organic food patronage and cosmopolitans are more likely to be socially responsible consumers, the organic food (OF) manufacturers should target brick and mortar stores in more cosmopolitan cities like Bangalore, Delhi, etc. The mediating role of OS has wider implications for marketers and advertisers both. In line with both theoretical underpinning (theory of planned behaviour), empirical studies (Chakrabarti and Baisya, 2009) and ours, it seems that the customer seeks credible information before purchasing organic food. The word-of-mouth and social media are recommended channels for similar reasons. The websites are a must for OF manufacturers because retailers may not provide adequate promotion/information of the products to the consumers. Practical implications – This study enables marketers in the field of OF domain to target the customers better. It also guides them to have a good integrated marketing communication to cater to the opinion-seeking phenomenon of consumers. Originality/value – The paper investigates the OFPI model better suited to urban cities in India. COS construct usage is a novelty of the paper as well as the mediation of opinion-seeking behaviour. Findings have value both for researchers and practitioners in the OF domain.

Product Attributes as Purchase Determinants of Imported Fruits in Indian Consumers

ABSTRACTThis study aims to investigate the consumer perceptions and purchase determinants of imported fruits in an emerging economy such as India. A consumer survey was conducted in one of the major urban cities of India. Item measures were related to consumer perceptions, purchase determinants, and consumer-reported willingness to pay price premiums. The data analysis was undertaken using techniques like exploratory factor analysis, logistic regression, and analysis of variance. Consumers associate imported fruits with health, safety, taste, and free from chemicals, whereas extrinsic factors such as storage conditions, store image, appearance, label, country of origin, and price also influence the willingness to purchase imported fruits. The demographic factors having the most impact on consumers’ attribute ratings for imported fruits are age, gender, income, and education. This study highlights the significant purchase determinants that can help marketers of imported fruits to gain higher share in Indian markets.

Sun-Sky Radiometer Synthesis of Interplay Between Aerosols and Monsoon Activity Over Pune, India

Besides several thematic campaigns, utilizing a variety of platforms including satellites, ground-based networks have been established to improve our understanding of the role of aerosols in the changing monsoon climate. Two such widely known networks over the globe are ‘SKYNET’ and ‘AERONET’ with sun-sky radiometers as the principal equipment that characterizes aerosols and gases over different geographical locations under varied air mass conditions. Pune (18°43′N, 73°51′E, 559 m above mean sea level), a fast growing low-latitude, urban city in India, is one of the sites where Prede (POM-01L, SKYNET) and Cimel (CE-318, AERONET) Sun-sky radiometers have been in operation since 2004. These radiometers have been extensively used in several studies related to stand-alone and coupled aerosol-cloud-climate processes. The Prede instrument at this site is being augmented for the network of the Global Atmospheric Watch program of the World Meteorological Organization to facilitate data coordination through the World Data Center for Aerosols. The present study envisages understanding the response of atmospheric constituents, through simultaneous operation of the radiometers amongst others, for the rainfall activity over Pune during two contrasting monsoon years of 2008 (active, 98 % of long period average (LPA) rainfall over the whole country) and 2009 (weak, 78 % of LPA). The synthesis of data indicates that, apart from excellent agreement between the direct Sun observations, both radiometers capture well the monsoon features within the instrument density and efficacy of data retrieval algorithms involved. The meteorological fields from the ECMWF re-analysis and NOAA-HYSPLIT air-mass back-trajectory analysis during the study period have been utilized to explain the variations observed in the radiometer products.

Temporal variations in surface air temperature anomaly in urban cities of India

Persistence in surface air temperature anomaly (SATA) time series over 1901–2010 observed at four cities: Nagpur, Pune, Mumbai and Delhi of India is examined using rescaled-range and predictability index. A gap of 40 years is observed in predictability maxima, which is linked with the short-range correlations. Seasonal analysis showed unpredictability of SATA during four seasons at Nagpur, during summers at Pune and Mumbai, and during monsoon and post-monsoon at Mumbai and Delhi. Significant change is observed after 1991 at Delhi, Nagpur and Mumbai with a respective increase of 1.7, 2.2 and 3.3 °C in surface air temperature (SAT) during 1901–2010. The spatial and temporal variations in the SAT in four cities are attributed to their geographic and climatic conditions. The results suggest the utility of the rescaled-range analysis and predictability index in exploring the changes in the climatic variables.