Cabs, male drivers and midnight commuting: manufacturing respectability of the unmarried women agents of call centers in India

The present paper discusses the role of cabs and the presence of other men in the cab in manufacturing respectability for the unmarried women agents of call centers in India. The night shift, an intrinsic part of work, at call centers in India demands mobility and access to public space during nights for its women employees. The paper elaborates how the relation between gender and space is evolving in the backdrop of the presence of someone trusted, through a shift from private patriarchy to public patriarchy for the women agents while accessing the public space. The paper is based on a total of sixty-one qualitative interviews conducted with unmarried women call center employees and parents based in Gurgaon, India.     

Robust and minimum norm partial quadratic eigenvalue assignment in vibrating systems: A new optimization approach

The partial quadratic eigenvalue assignment problem (PQEVAP) concerns reassigning a few undesired eigenvalues of a quadratic matrix pencil to suitably chosen locations and keeping the other large number of eigenvalues and eigenvectors unchanged (no spill-over). The problem naturally arises in controlling dangerous vibrations in structures by means of active feedback control design. For practical viability, the design must be robust, which requires that the norms of the feedback matrices and the condition number of the closed-loop eigenvectors are as small as possible. The problem of computing feedback matrices that satisfy the above two practical requirements is known as the Robust Partial Quadratic Eigenvalue Assignment Problem (RPQEVAP). In this paper, we formulate the RPQEVAP as an unconstrained minimization problem with the cost function involving the condition number of the closed-loop eigenvector matrix and two feedback norms. Since only a small number of eigenvalues of the open-loop quadratic pencil are computable using the state-of-the-art matrix computational techniques and/or measurable in a vibration laboratory, it is imperative that the problem is solved using these small number of eigenvalues and the corresponding eigenvectors. To this end, a class of the feedback matrices are obtained in parametric form, parameterized by a single parametric matrix, and the cost function and the required gradient formulas for the optimization problem are developed in terms of the small number of eigenvalues that are reassigned and their corresponding eigenvectors. The problem is solved directly in quadratic setting without transforming it to a standard first-order control problem and most importantly, the significant “no spill-over property” of the closed-loop eigenvalues and eigenvectors is established by means of a mathematical result. These features make the proposed method practically applicable even for very large structures. Results on numerical experiments show that the proposed method considerably reduces both feedback norms and the sensitivity of the closed-loop eigenvalues. A study on robustness of the system responses of the method under small perturbations show that the responses of the perturbed closed-loop system are compatible with perturbations.     

Nutritional status of rural women in relation to their participation in mixed farming in the Tafresh area of Iran

This study was conducted in the Tafresh area of Iran to assess the dietary patterns, time allocation, and nutritional status of rural women in relation to their participation in mixed farming activities. We selected 75 women from 40 villages by applying a stratified random-sampling technique. Cereals and grains were the major source of energy intake. According to the recommended dietary allowance (RDA) tables of India, the United States, the United Kingdom, and the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), the respondents seemed to have no micronutrient and energy deficiencies during the spring season. They spent most of their time and energy on household, animal husbandry, and crop farming activities. According to measurements of body mass index (BMI), the respondents were well nourished. However, despite the high level of BMI, analysis suggested a negative energy balance. Nevertheless, analysis indicated that rural women with negative energy balance spent more time and energy in mixed farming and had a higher level of participation in related activities. Hence, it is evident from the results that the physical contribution of rural women in mixed farming activities has a detrimental effect on their nutritional status, at least during some parts of the year (e.g., spring or summer). Therefore, there is a need to adjust nutritional interventions to improve the sustainability of their food intake and to develop appropriate technologies in mixed farming to alleviate their work burdens.     

Characterization of laser and laser/thermal annealed semiconducting iron silicide thin films

-FeSi₂ is an important semiconducting silicide which is being studied extensively. In this paper, we report our results of the effect of laser and laser-thermal annealing on the properties of -FeSi₂. 5N purity Fe was deposited on Si substrate and was subsequently irradiated by CW and pulsed laser separately followed by thermal annealing to reduce the laser induced damage. The samples were then characterized by sheet resistance, X-ray diffraction (XRD), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), optical reflectance and absorption studies. Lastly, -FeSi₂/n-Si heterojunctions were fabricated and the effect of laser treatment on the junction ideality factor was investigated. All these characterizations indicated the formation of good quality -FeSi₂, particularly after pulsed laser followed by thermal treatment.     

Characterization of information improvement due to N revisions and its generalization by a functional equation

The idea of information improvement was introduced by Thiel [3]. This idea was further extended by the first author to information improvement due to 2 and N revisions and specifically states that different experimenters (a finite number) are required to proceed with given distributions P and U and are permitted to choose a suitable revision. We attempted to provide a measure of information corresponding to Theil's measure which reflected the effect of all revisions. In this paper, the authors have studied a joint characterization of information improvement of N revisions and its generalization by considering a suitable functional equation.     

Label-free biosensing by surface plasmon resonance of nanoparticles on glass: optimization of nanoparticle size

The unique optical properties of noble metal nanoparticles have been used to design a label-free biosensor in a chip format. In this paper, we demonstrate that the size of gold nanoparticles significantly affects the sensitivity of the biosensor. Gold nanoparticles with diameters in the range of 12-48 nm were synthesized in solution and sensor chips were fabricated by chemisorption of these nanoparticles on amine-functionalized glass. Sensors fabricated from 39-nm-diameter gold nanoparticles exhibited maximum sensitivity to the change of the bulk refractive index and the largest "analytical volume", defined as the region around the nanoparticle within which a change in refractive index causes a change in the optical properties of the immobilized nanoparticles. The detection limit for streptavidin-biotin binding of a sensor fabricated from 39-nm-diameter nanoparticles was 20-fold better than a previously reported sensor fabricated from 13-nm-diameter gold nanoparticles. We also discuss several other factors that could improve the performance of the next generation of these immobilized metal nanoparticle sensors.     

A neutron dosemeter for nuclear criticality accidents

A neutron dosemeter which offers instant read-out has been developed for nuclear criticality accidents. The system is based on gels containing emulsions of superheated dichlorodifluoromethane droplets, which vaporise into bubbles upon neutron irradiation. The expansion of these bubbles displaces an equivalent volume of gel into a graduated pipette, providing an immediate measure of the dose. Instant read-out is achieved using an array of transmissive optical sensors which consist of coupled LED emitters and phototransistor receivers. When the gel displaced in the pipette crosses the sensing region of the photomicrosensors, it generates a signal collected on a computer through a dedicated acquisition board. The performance of the device was tested during the 2002 International Accident Dosimetry Intercomparison in Valduc, France. The dosemeter was able to follow the initial dose gradient of a simulated accident, providing accurate values of neutron kerma; however, the emulsion was rapidly depleted of all its drops. A model of the depletion effects was developed and it indicates that an adequate dynamic range of the dose response can be achieved by using emulsions of smaller droplets.     

Comparison of finite element and lumped parameter methods for oceanic cables

The purpose of this work is to examine the basic foundations, similarities and fundamental differences between the finite element methods (FEM) and the lumped parameter methods (LPM) of analysis for oceanic cables under hydrodynamic load conditions. The continuum method (CM) is presented as a ‘ground truth’ prior to presenting each aspect of the approximate method derivations.