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The article discusses a study on the publication pattern of physical research laboratory (PRL) scientists in Ahmedabad, India. The study used data about research papers published in journals, conference proceedings and invited talks. Results showed that the number of multiple and double authored papers surpassed the number of single authored papers during the period from 1997 to 2006. The study also determined types of collaborative papers in conference proceedings during the period.

India houses the third biggest Muslim population in the world but over the years it has experienced massive segregation of people based on their religious identities. This large-scale forced and systemic 'ghettoization' of Muslims is a recent trend largely ascribed to the frequent communal' violence and state's negligence towards minorities. In this backdrop, the paper discusses the communal ghettoization of Muslims and uses the Juhapura area of Ahmedabad as illustration to explain the same. This study is essentially based on field observations and literature to comprehend communal tone of ghettoization process. Muslims in India are a minority (15 percent of total population) and suffer most in case riots occur. In the last few decades, following the 1985, 1992 and 2002 riots, Gujarat emerged as a hotbed of communal tension, forcing the Muslim population to migrate from their original locations and seek refuge in other parts of the state. Residents of these newly populated ghettos such as Juhapura are forced to endure these conditions due to fear, lack of choice and state apathy. These localities are largely ignored and lack all forms of socio-economic and physical infrastructure for a decent living. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is very crucial liquid which has the potential to fluidly various materials along with biological and mineral substances. The condition of water usually indicates to the substance of water exist at the peak level for sufficient rise of plants and animals. The Bibi talav, Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India is situated at favela location. People discharge their domiciliary ravage unswervingly into the talav water forging environmental imperilment. The motive of this research paper is to establish the water quality index. Numerous physical and chemical parameters such as pH(BPH), Electrical Conductivity (BEC), Turbidity (BTD), Total dissolved solids (BTDS), Alkalinity (BAL), Total Hardness (BTH), Calcium(BCA), Chloride(BCL), Magnesium (BMG), Total dissolved Oxygen (BDO), Sodium (BSOD), Nitrates (BN) and Biochemical Oxygen demand (BBOD) of talav water is examined during three sessions such as monsoon, winter and summer. After calculating water quality index it shows that Bibi talav water is dangerous for drinking and survival of water borne species because the water quality index is above 75. This shows that water is unsuitable for drinking throughout the year. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amount raised: During 2017, funds from Chai for Cancer Addas totaled approximately US$ 28,000 (IRS 18 lacs). Background and context: Chai for Cancer (www.chaiforcancer.org) is in a sense, a satellite brand of Friends of Max (www.friendsofmax.info). Friends of Max is a registered Public Charitable Trust and the support group arm of The Max Foundation in India. In India chai or tea is a household drink. At its best in an informal setting, an Adda serves a dual purpose as a fund-raiser and advocacy platform. It is based on the concept of an informal gathering among well-wishers and caregivers supporting underserved cancer patients suffering from chronic myeloid leukemia (CML) and gastrointestinal stromal tumor (GIST). The chronic condition is made manageable by life-long treatment. Aim: Chai For Cancer is a dynamic fundraiser and advocacy model for CML/GIST patients and caregivers in India. Strategy/Tactics: In 4 years, now on the cusp of the 5th year, Chai for Cancer has built up a creditable legacy of trust and an extended family of volunteers that networks throughout the year with the ability to attract new segments of donors/well-wishers and patient/caregiver participants. Funds thus raised support patient group meetings which facilitate various patient-related activities and patient–physician interactions which form the bedrock of FOM's dictum "Together We Share And Learn". Potential donors are approached and educated informally about how to host an Adda. Once the host expresses interest, support is provided to the host in terms of tea bags and paper cups (from Society Tea), literature (printed leaflets, brochures elaborating the concept, newsletters) and receipts (U/s 80 G of the Indian Income Tax Act, 1961). Program process: An Adda is usually hosted by members/volunteers belonging to Friends of Max although it is not unusual for persons who have simply heard of Chai for Cancer to get in touch and express interest in hosting an Adda. The emergence of new hosts like D Y Patil University and IDEAL (Institute of Design Expression Art and Learning) in Ahmedabad, Jayanth Jayaprakash's India To Excellence 2020 in addition to long-time supporters Society Tea, Being Human-The Salman Khan Foundation, Manish Mandhana Retail Ventures, Mahotsaav Entertainment, Radio One and Red FM is testimony to the strength of the fundraising/advocacy model and a platform to encourage openness, empowering patients and caregivers. HNIs from various industries have also been donors. Costs and returns: The entire process is manned by senior, experienced people who volunteer their time and professional skills. Year-long publicity is generated through social media (FM radio stations, Web site www.chaiforcancer.org Twitter, Instagram and Facebook). What was learned: This is a personalised and intimate approach to raising funds for patient-related activity. This approach ensures known and accepted sources of funds within a growing family. It is different from crowd-funding techniques. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

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Head and neck cancer is a significant public health concern in India and globally, with substantial social and economic consequences for affected individuals and their families. The study aimed to assess the socioeconomic impact of head and neck cancer. This paper presents the results of a questionnaire-based study involving 178 head and neck cancer patients who were evaluated at least two years post-completion of their treatment. The questionnaire data collected data on various factors, including site of cancer, treatment modality, speech and diet impairment, changes in earning capacity, occupation, and salary. This was collected from all patients visiting our tertiary cancer care center outpatient department in Ahmedabad, India, between January 2023 and August 2023. The findings highlight the diverse and profound socioeconomic consequences of head and neck cancer. The findings emphasize the need for comprehensive support systems for affected individuals and their families. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The introduction of the underground cistern in South Asia, through Western India, offers a fascinating case study of knowledge migration and technological transfers between West and South Asia. It addresses the question of past hydraulic technologies used in the Western Indian cities and the modalities of a fundamental shift in the relationship to water during the 16th century. The present paper is based on my surveys and architectural studies of underground cisterns (tānkā) in Ahmedabad, urbs prima of Gujarat from 1411 onwards. It describes the tānkā system and its archaeological characteristics, with a special focus on the early reservoir of the Shāh Vajihudin Alvi khānqāh. This study, compared with evidences in other urban centres of Western India, brings to light the emergence of underground cisterns in the urban context from the late 16th century onwards. It also shows the pioneering role played by the large cistern built in the Shāh Vajihudin Alvi khānqāh. Beyond this archaeological work, the paper discusses the causes of this radical technological change, and addresses the issue of cultural and religious continuity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper analyses the impact of the various waves of COVID-19 on wages and employment. The government of India announced a strict nationwide lockdown on March 25, 2020, to contain the COVID-19 pandemic. People lost their jobs or faced wage cuts during the lockdown. Globally, women experienced a greater loss in employment and paid working hours than men. To understand the short-term and long-term impact of COVID-19 in Ahmedabad city, we conducted four rounds of surveys, online during March–April 2020 and March–April 2021, and offline in September 2021 and September–October 2022. We found that women and low-skilled workers were more likely to have received a wage cut during the lockdown period. During the pandemic year 2021, less than a tenth of respondents reported changing their jobs, while in the post-pandemic year, 2022, more than a quarter of the respondents reported change in economic activity. The logistic model showed that this churning of jobs post-pandemic was true for low skill and high skill occupations. Further, in the post-pandemic period, there was a shift from wage employment to self-employment, among both low- and high-skilled categories of occupations. Given the varying impact of COVID by gender and occupation, policies must be designed to address vulnerabilities and encourage businesses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Evaluation of the UNESCO World Heritage Sites (WHSs) in India has become a challenging activity for the tourism planners, policy makers and managers to create effective management strategies for them. In this paper, a combined application ofpreference ranking organization method for enrichment evaluation (PROMETHEE) and geometrical analysis for interactive aid (GAIA) is presented to appraise the performance of37 Indian UNESCO WHSs based on nine important criteria. It is observed that the Taj Mahal is the most attractive site for both domestic and foreign tourists, followed by the Historic City of Ahmadabad. On the other hand, Champaner-Pavagadh Archaeological Park is the least visited site. Number of citations for a specific site in https://www.google.com appears to be the most important evaluation criterion, followed by the number of good accommodations. The application of this combined methodology would help the decision-makers to visualize the strengths and weaknesses of each of the Indian UNESCO WHSs so as to formulate suitable recommendations and policies to increase their tourism attractiveness. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper aims at analysing the utilisation of biodiesel for the case of bus rapid transit system (BRTS) in Ahmedabad, India, through the social benefit cost analysis (SBCA) and life cycle cost analysis (LCCA) tools. The SBCA and the LCCA have been performed for diesel and biodiesel blends B0, B5, B10, B15, B20, B30, B50 and B100. The study reveals that the overall social benefit cost ratio is close to 0.7 for diesel-based transit and can be marginally improved to 0.77 by adding biodiesel in various proportions. Given the easy transition of diesel-based transit to biodiesel-based transit coupled with improvement in benefit cost ratio, it is suggested to transition from diesel to biodiesel blended fuel. However, since the benefit cost ratio is less than 1.0, a need for alternative financial model development is identified. It is also deducted that the fuel conversion is one way to sustainable development, however, looking to the nature of social benefits; the step to development of BRTS instead of conventional bus transport can also aid sustainable development in a major way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the techno‐economic assessment of different selected and proposed, CO2 booster configurations for supermarket applications. The mathematical model has been developed for eight different configurations and, analyzed for year‐round operations in five selected major cities of India having different climatic conditions. The performance of the configurations is evaluated in terms of annual energy saving, seasonal energy efficiency ratio, life cycle cost, and additional investment recovery time(AIRT). Subsequently, the performance of the systems are compared with the Basic Booster System (BBS). The results show, 357.4 MWh of maximum AES, and 51.2% of enhancement in SEER, for BBS with both low and medium temperature‐flooded evaporator integrated with the modified evaporative cooler (BBSM‐LT + MT) configuration over BBS in Ahmedabad, India, compared to the selected cities in India. The economic analysis reveals that BBSM‐LT + MT configuration has minimum AIRT of 1.2 years for Ahmedabad, India compared to selected cities in India. Hence, the performance of BBSM‐LT + MT is better compared to other investigated configurations, for all the selected cities. The proposed configurations can be considered as suitable option for supermarket application in terms of energy, environment, and economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cities around the world have marked differences in spatial form and structure. To some extent this can be attributed to cultural differences. However, the impact spatial form has on the interactions within and between residents of different neighbourhoods is unclear. This paper calls on empirical evidence collected in the Walled City of Ahmedabad, India, home to Hindu and Muslim residents in distinct neighbourhoods for centuries. Employing Space Syntax method, this paper reveals significant differences in how public spaces are spatially laid out by these two communities. Muslim neighbourhoods have a spatial structure typical of a naturally evolved settlement, where the most integrated spaces are clustered centrally. In contrast, Hindu neighbourhoods have an ‘inside-out’ pattern, with the most integrated spaces located at the neighbourhood edge. The cultural significance of these distinct forms is discussed alongside the relationship between the neighbourhoods and the rest of the city. These findings on spatial structure could have an important role in Ahmedabad’s urban planning . A better understanding of how public space relates to lifestyle and culture could contribute to improved community relations. It could also contribute to dealing successfully with communal conflict, economic development, social sustainability as part of Ahmedabad’s future urban planning strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• A detail study of rain fade at Ka band over tropical region has been done. • Performance comparison of experimental link at 20/30 GHz with ITU-R model done. • "s" parameter relating fade slope to filter characteristics is calculated. Dynamic characteristics of Ka band rain fade (or rain attenuation) over tropical region are relatively less studied, though they are essential for implementation of suitable fade mitigation techniques. In this paper, dynamic characteristics of rain fade at 20 GHz and 30 GHz from GSAT-14 satellite are reported with experimental measurements at Ahmedabad, India. ITU-R model for fade slope probability distribution has been analyzed in this paper and Ka band rain fade has been investigated based on this fade-slope analysis. The ITU-R model is found to closely match 20 GHz measurements, though differences increase at 30 GHz. Fade slopes are found to be within ±0.5 dB/s at both 20 and 30 GHz. Both positive and negative slopes of the fade slope distributions are quasi-similar. ITU-R model's s parameter, relating fade slope to filter characteristics, is found to be very close to the measured value for this region. Distributions of fade slopes are also found to be dependent on the standard deviation values similar to ITU-R recommendation at 20 GHz, but significant deviation is observed at 30 GHz. This observed frequency dependency might be due to increase in cloud attenuation at high frequencies or may be due to limited data set. Results indicate needs of further experimental data at high frequencies from other tropical regions to gain further insight into the fade slope characteristics. This will ultimately help in designing a better prediction model in future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Through a case study of a private developer of housing in India, this paper critically examines the policy advice of enabling markets and market-based actors to provide affordable housing in developing countries. In this case, after receiving public sector help, the developer stopped constructing housing for low-income groups. The paper argues for a more cautious, circumspect and varied approach because enabling strategies focused on market actors can produce highly uncertain outcomes. In addition, it emphasises that policy-makers need a better understanding of how the informal and formal sectors can overlap. Enabling informal developers can be even trickier because public support can reduce their flexibility and incentives, as well as impacting on the expectations and opportunities of the home-buyers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The diffusion-absorption refrigerator (DAR) is a cooling technology that can be driven entirely by thermal energy. With solar-thermal collectors as the heat source, this technology can provide a zero-emissions solution for essential cold-chain provision in the world's poorest regions. In the accompanying paper, a system model of a solar-driven DAR system was developed for simulating operation under variable solar conditions. In Part II of this study, we apply this model to assess the predicted performance of the system in its intended application: for on-farm refrigeration of harvested crops in rural India. The roles of the working-fluid charge pressure and collector array area for maximum cooling are investigated. A charge pressure of 16 bar is found to be optimal for ambient conditions during the October harvest season in Ahmedabad, with a collector-array area of 1.5 m2 found to be most appropriate for the nominal 70 W cooling-capacity system. However, the time taken to reach the required solar collector temperature for bubble pump activation results in a daily operating period of less than 5 h and a predicted overall solar-to-cooling efficiency of less than 1%. To address these limitations, modifications to various components are considered based on simple assumptions for improving performance. • An assessment is performed of a solar diffusion absorption refrigeration system. • Off-grid cooling operation is simulated for the target region of Ahmedabad, India. • A cooling output of 170 kJ/day is predicted with a solar collector area of 1.5 m 2. • An optimal charge pressure of 16 bar is determined for maximum cooling output. • Modifications to key system components are recommended based on the results. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine how social structures of gender, caste, and religion, within which children in India operate, inform their engagements with media technologies/narratives. We demonstrate our approach using the case of three villages in the Ahmedabad district of Gujarat, India. We examine children's media cultures using ethnographic methods which occasion long-term immersion and paying attention to children's narratives. We also argue that children experience and enact their agency while engaging with media from within the limitations or norms imposed by the social structures. This is evident in the simple negotiation strategies they have developed to challenge social structures and norms prevalent in their societies. Based on empirical evidence we conclude that the children's exposure to and consumption of media narratives under adult management allow the families and communities to reinforce the dominant rationality of patriarchy, caste hierarchy, and religious prejudice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background Malaria is a serious public health problem in India, accounting for sizeable morbidity, mortality and economic loss1,2. A Revised National Drug Policy on Malaria adopted and the guidelines have been prepared for healthcare personnel including clinicians involved in the treatment of malaria ². Aim: 1) To study adherence to the protocol in diagnosis & management of malaria cases by private medical practitioners and Urban Health Centres (UHC) of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation (AMC). Methodology- This was a qualitative study in which 29 UHCs and 97 private practitioners of three zones of Ahmedabad Municipal Corporation were visited. Case papers of last 2 months and all malaria related registers maintained at UHCs were evaluated and home visit of 115 malaria cases was carried out. Observation & Discussion- 93.7% of patient with confirmed vivax malaria were prescribed Chloroquine and 99.1% patient with confirmed malaria prescribed Primaquine with correct dose as per age & schedule. Only 78.8% private practitioner was following the guideline dose. 20.2% of private practitioner were not prescribing Primaquine at all. Conclusion & Recommendation There was lack of sensitization in some M.O. of U.H.C & private practitioners (other than M.D. Medicine) regarding prescribing treatment as per National Drug Policy for treatment of Malaria especially primaquine. Sensitization & involvement of private doctors for rational prescription through the Indian / Ahmedabad Medical Association must be carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Industrial developments and consumption of massive amount of fossil fuels, vehicle pollution, and other calamities upsurges the AQI (Air Quality Index) of major cities in a drastic manner. Owing to these factors, it is important to take proactive measures for reducing the air pollution in order to avoid life- threatening consequence. Therefore, prediction of air quality is significant for improving the health of living beings as highly polluted regions have a higher concentration of pollutants mixed in the air, affecting the respiratory system and reducing the lifetime. To control pollution, AQI is used as a measure for estimating the pollutant content in the air. Even though many existing techniques have predicted AQI, enhancement is required in prediction algorithms with minimized loss. To address the challenges in traditional algorithms, the proposed smart cities-based AQI prediction intends to utilize the proposed regression algorithm in the dataset, namely Air- Quality-Data, which collected harmful pollutants on an hourly and daily basis from multiple cities in India between 2015 to 2020. To achieve prediction efficiency with reduced loss, pre-processing of input data is being performed using Deep GAN (Generative Adversarial Network). It performs the imputation of data in place of missing values to improve accurate prediction. Additionally, feature scaling normalizes independent real-data features to a fixed scale. With the processed data, regression is done through modified Stacked Attention GRU with KL divergence, which predicts Ernakulam, Chennai and Ahmedabad cities with higher, medium, and low levels of AQI in India. The performance of the proposed regression algorithm is measured using metrics such as MAE (Mean Absolute Error), MSE (Mean Square Error), R2 (Coefficient of determination), MAPE (Mean Absolute Percentage Error), and RMSE (Root Mean Square Error) and better MAE, MSE, R2, MAPE and RMSE obtained by the model is 0.1013, 0.0134, 0.9479, 0.1152 and 0.1156. Internal assessment and comparative analysis performed with existing regression algorithms exhibit lower loss values obtained from the present research, which determines the efficacy of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The consumer landscape is changing very fast. Consumers today see an exciting explosion of choices, new categories and new shopping options to fulfill their aspirations. They have become information seekers and highly selective in their decision making. Consumers also increasingly want shopping experience to be enjoyable. Shopping is no longer seen as a mundane chore, but it is now much more exciting and an engaging prospect. Because of this noticeable change in consumer behavior, shopping malls are all emerging rapidly to fulfill the need of consumers, which has given new shape to the retail sector. Entry of many players in the industry has challenged retailers to retain the consumers and this necessitates understanding of their needs from their angle. Keeping tune with the market requirements, this paper highlights change in consumer behavior due to emergence of organized retail formats and its strategic implications to the marketers to take a lead in the market. It gives insights into consumers' expectations towards organized retail format to provide enlighting shopping experience along with entertainment. The paper also throws lights on the market potential of 24/7 concept along with consumers' requirements for the acceptance of the service. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Management Education in India is going through a very important stage of defining its future sustainability; on one hand there is an increasing number of campuses of quality institutions like IIM, ISB, IMT, S.P. Jain that have been opening their new campuses in India and also other countries. On another hand there are a growing number of management institutions to fill the second and third layer demand. Under this complex background this research paper is an attempt to study the various rankings of management institutions in India along with a perception study of key stakeholders towards such rankings. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The post-colonial state is held to be a weak state whose ease of capture reduces its capacity to suppress violence. The focus on the state, however, risks neglecting the ways in which violence is deployed to render the state weak in popular perception. This perception in turn legitimates claims for a foundational shift in the basis of power. In this paper, the concept of “repertoire” as first used by Charles Tilly, is used to analyze continuities and discontinuities in the development of the “ethnic riot” in urban, western India. As an “extreme” case in which riots have shown considerable durability over time, it highlights a key point, namely, that riots can form part of a strategy of power by simultaneously projecting themselves as popular insurrection and constructing a perception of the state as weak. The persistence of this repertoire, it is further argued, derives from the historical specificities of colonial state formation which promoted an ethnically imagined and hierarchized polity, as well as political struggles which weakened alternative forms of community. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the determination of the number of simultaneous users of an institutional knowledge repository (IKR) at the Institute of Chartered Financial Analysts of India (ICFAI) Business School in Ahmedabad, India. Its aim is to describe a simulation on the IKR test bed at the Business School using a performance and load testing tool to be able to determine the number of users that the IKR can support on the institute intranet on a minimal server configuration. It is found out that the simulation exercises helped determine that about 10-15 simultaneous users with transaction failures of less that five could be supported on the institute intranet in the minimal configuration that the IKR test bed was built on.

The city has been eulogized as a liberating space of anonymity where identities of caste and creed dissolve before the might of economic capital. This paper examines how the role of caste is both masked and intensified in the formation of new neighbourhoods in the backdrop of city-remaking projects. Our ethnographic study of Dalit-dominated neighbourhoods in Ahmedabad shows that the emergence of a middle-class neighbourhood in Ahmedabad’s periphery must be seen as a ‘post-liberalization Dalit ghetto’ that is distinct from the pre-liberalization Dalit neighbourhoods in the industrial centre of the city. The new Dalit middle-class neighbourhood of Chandkheda is a result of greater economic mobility among Dalits which continues to be marked by the three exclusionary mechanisms: ‘moving up’ and into segregation;caste vigilantism; andprotean forms of intra-Dalit exclusion. The collusion of caste and capital produces unexpected forms of space politics that tend to enhance rather than dissolve distinctions based on micro-caste identities in middle-class residential spaces, all the while hiding new forms of exclusion behind the rhetoric of secularized urban development. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Introduction/Purpose: The outbreak of methanol poisoning described in this paper occurred in Ahmedabad, Gujarat, India in July 2009. Our intention is to share the experience of clinical features, laboratory investigations and their relation during this tragedy. Materials and Methods: Single center, retrospective study of clinical features and laboratory parameters of 178 cases of methanol toxicity treated at tertiary care hospital in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Results: Maximum patients (39.8%, n = 45) were received in 48 h; Mean age of presentation was 41.9 ± 10.2 years. Most of them were men (175 out of 178). On presentation, 83% patients had gastro-intestinal symptoms, 46% had neurological symptoms, 73% had visual symptoms and 32% had dyspnoea. 62% had blurred vision, 10.5% had blindness. Patients with visual symptoms had high mean level of methanol (120.12 ± 23.12 vs. 55.43 ± 29.24, P = 0.014). On fundus examination 52.8% (n = 62) had bilateral hyperaemia of discs, 8.4% (n = 12) had bilateral disc pallor and 4.5% had papilledema (n = 5). Patients with hyperaemia of discs, discs pallor or papilledema, had higher mean methanol level (121.1 ± 32.2 mg% v/s 70.1 ± 23.2 mg%, P = 0.032). Mean of pH values was 7.17 ± 0.22 and bicarbonate was 12.3 ± 7.3 mmol/L. Both pH and bicarbonate levels correlated well with mortality and serum methanol level. Mean serum methanol level was 87.1 mg/dL, and correlated significantly with the mortality (53.1 ± 41 mg/dL v/s 121 ± 92 mg/dL, P value < 0.05). Conclusion: GI symptoms, neurological symptoms and breathlessness are important clue to ED physician for diagnose methanol poisoning. Visual symptoms and fundus findings correlate well with the methanol level. Arterial Blood Gas derived pH and bicarbonate levels correlate significantly with the methanol level and mortality. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Survey data collected from participants in the Ahmedabad Slum Networking Project (SNP) is analysed to examine the importance of community participation in explaining respondent complaints about the project overall and with the specific public services provided. Logistic regression results suggest that community involvement matters when asking about overall SNP satisfaction, but is less important in explaining negative comments concerning water, sewerage and street lighting. For these specific services, contact with NGOs and municipalities and community characteristics matter more. The paper identifies policy implications and suggests further research questions based on these findings. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

Information about the 22nd National Conference of Indian Society for Dental Research (ISDR) which was held on December 5-6, 2009 at the Government Dental College and Hospital in Ahmedabad, India. It notes that the event was themed "Oral Cancer and Precancer and Recent Advances in Dental Research." It was attended by 415 delegates from all over the country.

This study examines the practicality and application of a customer-based brand equity model in Indian mobile handset market. Hence, the important attributes to make any mobile handset brand successful in Indian market will be disclosed. The study is based on Aaker's conceptual framework of brand equity. Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) is used to investigate the causal relationships between the four brand equity dimensions and overall brand equity in the mobile handset market. The study used a sample of 105 customers from Ahmedabad city. Strong support was found for brand loyalty dimension which is the influential dimension of brand equity, while perceived quality, brand awareness and brand association dimensions represent weak support. The paper shows that mobile handset brand managers and marketing planners should consider the relative importance of brand loyalty in their evaluation of overall brand equity. They should concentrate primarily on building brand loyalty. Future research needs to be done if the results are to be expanded to other regional cities of Indian market in the light of significant gaps between different cities. Further research by adding performance measurement into the model could also strengthen this analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Indian Institute of Management Ahmedabad (IIMA) is one of the oldest institutes of management and generally accepted as one of the leading business schools in India. Established in 1961, IIMA is frequented by the industry, local and global, to recruit its future leaders. An inherently academic institution of excellence, IIMA has unfortunately not been known for traditional research output in the form of papers in journals, as is the case with many international research institutions. It is in this context that the present study aims to review the research performance of IIMA based on the papers published in journals that have been indexed in Web of Science and Scopus for the past twelve years. The authors attempt to identify the trends in research output over the period 1999 to 2010 that includes types of publications, most preferred journals, most prolific authors from IIMA, authorship pattern, and the journals most cited by the researchers from IIMA. The findings throw interesting facts like increase in number of papers being published by IIMA over the years 1999 to 2010, increase in collaborations among authors, decrease in single author publications and multi disciplinary nature of research undertaken at the Institute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In January 2011, human cases with hemorrhagic manifestations in the hospital staff were reported from a tertiary care hospital in Ahmadabad, India. This paper reports a detailed epidemiological investigation of nosocomial outbreak from the affected area of Ahmadabad, Gujarat, India. Principal Findings: Samples from 3 suspected cases, 83 contacts, Hyalomma ticks and livestock were screened for Crimean-Congo hemorrhagic fever (CCHF) virus by qRT-PCR of which samples of two medical professionals (case C and E) and the husband of the index case (case D) were positive for CCHFV. The sensitivity and specificity of indigenous developed IgM ELISA to screen CCHFV specific antibodies in human serum was 75.0% and 97.5% respectively as compared to commercial kit. About 17.0% domestic animals from Kolat, Ahmadabad were positive for IgG antibodies while only two cattle and a goat showed positivity by qRT-PCR. Surprisingly, 43.0% domestic animals (Buffalo, cattle, sheep and goat) showed IgG antibodies in the adjoining village Jivanpara but only one of the buffalo was positive for CCHFV. The Hyalomma anatolicum anatolicum ticks were positive in PCR and virus isolation. CCHFV was isolated from the blood sample of case C, E in Vero E-6 cells and Swiss albino mice. In partial nucleocapsid gene phylogeny from CCHFV positive human samples of the years 2010 and 2011, livestock and ticks showed this virus was similar to Tajikistan (strain TAJ/H08966), which belongs in the Asian/middle east genetic lineage IV. Conclusions: The likely source of CCHFV was identified as virus infected Hyalomma ticks and livestock at the rural village residence of the primary case (case A). In addition, retrospective sample analysis revealed the existence of CCHFV in Gujarat and Rajasthan states before this outbreak. An indigenous developed IgM ELISA kit will be of great use for screening this virus in India. Author Summary: A nosocomial outbreak of CCHFV occurred in January 2011, in a tertiary care hospital in Ahmadabad, Gujarat State in western India. Out of a total five cases reported, contact transmission occurred to three treating medical professionals, all of whom succumbed to the disease. The only survivor was the husband of the index case. These results highlight the importance of considering CCHFV as a potential aetiology for Hemorrhagic fever (HF) cases in India. This also underlines the need for strict barrier nursing and patient isolation while managing these patients. During the investigation presence of CCHFV RNA in Hyalomma anatolicum ticks and livestock were detected in the village from where the primary case (case A) was reported. Further retrospective investigation confirmed two CCHF human cases in Rajkot village 20 kilometres to the west of Ahmadabad in 2010, and CCHFV presence in the livestock 200 kilometres to the north in the neighbouring State Rajasthan. This report shows the presence of CCHFV in human, ticks and animals in Gujarat, India. The fact of concern is the spread of this disease from one state to another due to trading of livestock. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The ‘new urban politics’ literature highlights local entrepreneurialism as the basis of neo-liberal urbanism; this article adds to this literature by demonstrating how entrepreneurial neo-liberalism and ethno-religiosity are inflected in governance. Two concepts are proposed: ‘governance as performed’ (practice of ethno-religious entrepreneurialism) and ‘governance as inscribed’ (documenting policy through scientific planning). The dialectical interplay between ‘performance’ and ‘inscription’ defines the terrain of ‘new urban governance’ in its global/local entirety. Using examples from Ahmedabad city, India, this paper explicates how ‘governance as performed’ and ‘governance as inscribed’, produce dual narratives of the ‘lived’ and the ‘inscribed’ city. The narrative of abstract and objective Ahmedabad inscribed in planning documents directly contradicts the ‘grubby practices’ of entrepreneurial, ethno-religious neo-liberalism performed in the city. By simultaneously analysing both narratives, this article proposes to demystify the contexts of exclusion, thus exposing injustice embedded in ‘new urban politics’. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

This paper analyses trends in evolution of the urban spatial structure (or urban form) of the city of Ahmedabad, with two key objectives in mind: to generate a quantitative understanding of the evolution of the spatial structure and use such a quantitative understanding to inform the formulation of alternative planning policies for the future. Time-series population data from the Census of India over three decades have been used, which are usually available in most developing countries. In the case of Ahmedabad, the city exhibits a gradual tendency of dispersal, although compared with some other mid-sized metropolitan areas of the world, it is relatively compact. A discussion on the application of the spatial structure analysis to the formulation of alternative planning policies is included. Such analyses for similar cities in India and the developing world in general could be carried out to produce a useful catalogue of cities. However, this is not the objective of the paper, but in due course such literature could be built up. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this paper is to promote understanding of types of consumers in India in organized retail sector. The main objective of the study was to identify and categorize the types of consumers visiting the organized retail stores. For collecting the primary data, at each store 30 samples were selected for this purpose based on convenience. The data collection method was an informal interview and discussions with consumers for about 15 to 20 minutes at the exit door of the three identified organized retail stores operating in Ahmadabad .The original identity of the respondents and store is disguised by coding. The findings of the consumers' categories were identified through the conversational interviews. The consumers were then finally categorized based on findings are described as, Economic Consumers, Hedonist Consumers, Moralistic Consumers, Active (Involved) and Inactive Consumers, Definite and Indefinite Consumers, Individualistic Consumers, Recreational Consumers. There was an implicit recognition of qualitative data management as an iterative process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding violence is a major pre-occupation in social sciences and approaches to violence range from neoclassical perspectives, to regression models, to pure cultural analysis of difference. This paper attempts to understand violence by examining how class and identity positions are variously juxtaposed in different socio-spatial settings to produce contestations over the human condition. Through a comparative understanding of recent violence in two places-the riots of 2005 in Paris, France, and of 2002 in Ahmedabad, India-I indicate how class and identity overlap to produce fused realms of othering and violation. Through comparative analysis, I argue that in a globalizing world, class and identity will overlap in multifarious ways depending on the socio-spatial particularities of systemic exclusion. Therefore, studies of violence must move away from purely economistic and mathematical model building and instead move towards combining economic and cultural analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper critically reviews the city plan-making process in Ahmedabad, India. The aim is to review the process to establish its strengths and weaknesses. It is shown that the Ahmedabad Development Plan lacks analytical rigour and transparency and there is lack of clarity on how the final plan was finally decided. The mismatch between objectives and the means to achieve it is also shown. It is believed that such a critical review will be of interest to planners in India and other developing countries. In addition, it is intended to promote and formulate a more analytical and scientific approach to planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cumulative sum procedure is an effective statistical process control tool that can be used to monitor the quality of ready mixed concrete during its production process. In this paper, an attempt has been made to design and apply a new cumulative sum procedure for the ready mixed concrete industry, which takes care of the risks involved in and associated with the production of concrete. This new procedure can be termed as risk adjusted cumulative sum. The 28-day characteristic cube compressive strengths of the various grades of concrete and detailed information regarding the production process and the risks associated with production were collected from the operational ready mixed concrete plants in and around Ahmedabad and Delhi, two important cities in India. The risks were quantified using a likelihood-based scoring method. Finally, a risk adjusted cumulative sum model was developed by imposing the weighted score of the estimated risks on the conventional cumulative sum plot. This model is a more effective and realistic tool for monitoring the strength of ready mixed concrete. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to apply five models of conflict negotiation (power-based, interests-based, needs-based, dignity model and comprehensive systemic) to Hindu-Muslim religious conflict in Ahmedabad city, India and assess their relative applicability. Design/methodology/approach – The general principles of each of the five models of conflict negotiation are first laid out from literature review. The principles are then hypothetically applied to resolve the contextual particularities of the Hindu-Muslim conflict that occurred in 2002 in Ahmedabad city, India. Findings – The comprehensive systemic approach is a good model to be used as a diagnostic tool for assessing the Ahmedabad conflict. Following that diagnosis, however, a combination of the need-based and dignity model is useful in effectively negotiating the conflict. Practical implications – This article creates awareness about the advantages and drawbacks of popular models of negotiation; this will enable negotiators to adopt a more realistic approach while negotiating conflicts in the field. The paper recommends that, while trauma, emotions and fears are real, so are destruction of property, livelihood and resources – peace cannot be long-term unless negotiation addresses questions of subjective as well as material violations by raising questions of distributive justice. Originality/value – This article indicates that conflicts are complex processes rooted in particular places and hence negotiation should be contextual and experiential. Through a comparative evaluation of different approaches the paper provides a tool kit. However, it also elucidates how reality may require negotiators to be more spontaneous and hence adopt mix-models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper describes how Knowledge Exchange and Information Centre (KEIC) of Mudra Institute of Communications, Ahmedabad makes the newspapers clippings accessible for its target audiences (users). The bibliographic information (title, author, newspaper's name, date, product category, brand name, and company name, etc.) as well as full text (down-loading from website of concerned newspaper) of the article is recorded in the newspaper module. The whole procedure is done in WINISIS software and then the data is converted/up-loaded in GENISIS software to make accessible the web-catalogue of newspaper clippings for its end-users. Over the period of time using CDS/ISIS software (DOS, windows, GENISlS versions) which type problems were faced and resolved, the merits and demerits of every version, etc., have been discussed in this paper. In the age of information technology, the IT professionals and other organisations are designing effective but very costly software. The small libraries don't have capacity to carry too much financial burden by purchasing these types of software. However they wish to get their libraries automated and make the resources available to their users by applying very cost-effective software. This paper describes how the CDS/ISIS software will become a boon for these types of information providers (libraries/information centres) and information receiver (users/clients). This paper focuses on every stage of evolution of CDS/ISIS and it's successful implication in KEIC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the assumption that redevelopment of slum settlements results in improved housing quality, by conducting a longitudinal study of an in-situ redevelopment policy in Ahmedabad, India. Under an in-situ redevelopment policy, apartment-style housing is built on the same site of original slum settlements. This paper examines housing quality in the same settlement, pre- and post-redevelopment, in comparison to a wait-listed slum that did not undergo redevelopment, to ascertain redevelopment impact on housing quality. It further compares housing quality of a resettled community at two time periods, 2.5- and 8.5-years post-redevelopment to determine durability of housing quality changes over medium-term. I use a mixed-methods protocol employing a standardized observer-based housing quality assessment tool with subscales, to identify specific aspects of housing quality that improved/deteriorated and gathered qualitative data from interviews and focus groups. The analyses reveal an improvement in overall housing conditions post-redevelopment, in the short term, though this improvement is not uniform across subscales. However, this improvement does not sustain as redeveloped settlement shows severe levels of deterioration over mid-term. The qualitative findings suggest that in redeveloped settlements, residents feel a diminished sense of control and ownership that precludes them from investing in structural improvements and maintenance of settlements. • In-situ slum redevelopment improves overall housing quality but basic services and crowding need further improvement. • Housing issues of structural quality, cleanliness and maintenance increase over medium-term in redeveloped settlements. • Mid- and long-term impact assessments of redevelopment policies are critical to identify sustainable housing solutions. • Comprehensive housing quality appraisals need to include quantitative and qualitative accounts to evaluate efficacy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

India, a country with a population of more than 1.3 billion individuals, houses the world’s second largest educational system. Despite this, 100 of millions of individuals in India are still illiterate. As English medium education sweeps the country, many are forced to learn in a language which is foreign to them. Those living in poverty further struggle to learn English as it tends to be a language which they have no prior exposure to and no support at home for. Low-quality schools and poor instructional methods further exacerbate the problem. Without access to quality education, these individuals continue to struggle and are ultimately never given the chance to break the cycle of poverty. The aim of this study was to determine whether GraphoLearn, a computer-assisted reading tool, could be used to support the English reading skills of struggling readers in India. Participants were 7-year-old, grade 3 students (N = 30), who were attending an English-medium public school in Ahmedabad, India. English was not a native language for any of the students and all were reading at a level below that of Grade 1 despite having attended school for 2 years. Half of the students played GraphoLearn (n = 16) while the other half played a control math game (n = 14) for 20–30 min a day, over a period of 8 weeks. GraphoLearn led to significant improvements in children’s letter-sound knowledge, a critical factor in early reading development. Overall, the study opens doors for GraphoLearn as a potential intervention to support struggling readers of English in India, including those who are learning a non-native language and coming from at-risk backgrounds. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explores the impact of liberalization in India on formal sector employment in the cotton textile industry. It draws upon the results of field-work carried out primarily in Ahmedabad but also in Bombay, Delhi and Coimbatore between September and November 1996. This field-work included a survey of 101 employed mill workers in 16 mills in Ahmedabad, covering issues such as wages, job security and health and safety. The findings indicate that restructuring has led to a decline in employment levels in composite mills in the cotton textile industry in India through closure, downsizing and the shift towards more capital-intensive technologies. As wages are determined within an institutional setting, it was found that there was no significant variation across mills nor over time. Additionally, since many of the conditions of employment are determined by legislation, they apply uniformly across companies and have not altered in the post-liberalization context. However, the increased capital-intensity of production has resulted in an improvement in health and safety conditions within the mills, at least with respect to occupational hazards which have typified this industry in the past. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reports on a research study about the organizational cultures of a number of textile manufacturing plants from both the public and the private sector in Ahmedabad, India. These plants were shown to vary along one aspect of their work-group behaviour, namely the rate of 'loitering' among loomshed workers. The concept of 'culture' is defined in terms of the shared beliefs, values, norms and traditions within the organizations. Methods of observation and informal open-ended interviews were used to identify elements and/or dimensions of organizational culture, which were subsequently measured through structured interviews with loomshed workers. The study shows a definite relationship between 'culture' and 'loitering'; however, the critical elements of culture influencing loitering behaviour vary from public to private sector plants. The implications of the findings of the study for the plants under reference, for production organizations in general as well as for organization theory are discussed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction: Medical education in India is evolving/changing in view of implementation of new curriculum in undergraduate schools. Dundee Ready Educational Environment Measure (DREEM) is one of the tools developed specifically to assess the educational environment of medical institutions as perceived by the students. DREEM-12, an abridged version of DREEM-50 had been developed which retains its factors structure, validity, reliability and at the same time avoids respondent fatigue. We used the DREEM-12 questionnaire to assess final M.B.B.S students' perception about their learning environment at our institute. Materials and Methods: A cross-sectional study was done including 215 undergraduate students from the final MBBS. The DREEM-12 questionnaire was shared with all the participants as Google form. The mean score for each variable was calculated. Variable scores were summed up to get each domain score and interpreted. Results: We received responses from 60% of students. The highest score was given to faculty's encouragement towards learning with a mean score of 3.1. Least score - 2.1 was given to the stress support system for students. In the cumulative score, students' perception of teacher (SPOT) was 8.8 which is interpreted as "model course organizers," while student's social self-perceptions was 4.7 which infers "not too bad." The overall DREEM-12 score of our study is 33.1, which is indicative of a "More Positive than Negative" educational environment. Conclusion: The stress support system has the lowest score which suggests that efforts should be made to provide continuous psychological support to students may be in the form of periodical assessment by psychologists to find vulnerable ones early and provide them timely help. Items in SPOT are scored highest, pertaining to faculty's knowledge about the subject and their encouragement to students about their learning. As this was the first-ever study done at this institute using DREEM-12 it can serve as a baseline to monitor the effects of changes made over a period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Severe underutilization of healthcare facilities and lack of timely, affordable and effective access to healthcare services in resource-constrained, bottom of pyramid (BoP) settings are well-known issues, which foster a negative cycle of poor health outcomes, catastrophic health expenditures and poverty. Understanding BoP patients' healthcare choices is vital to inform policymakers' effective resource allocation and improve population health and livelihood in these areas. This paper examines the factors affecting the choice of health care provider in low-income settings, specifically the urban slums in India.Method: A discrete choice experiment was carried out to elicit stated preferences of BoP populations. A total of 100 respondents were sampled using a multi-stage systemic random sampling of urban slums. Attributes were selected based on previous studies in developing countries, findings of a previous exploratory study in the study setting and qualitative interviews. Provider type and cost, distance to the facility, attitude of doctor and staff, appropriateness of care and familiarity with doctor were the attributes included in the study. A random effects logit regression was used to perform the analysis. Interaction effects were included to control for individual characteristics.Results: The relatively most valued attribute is appropriateness of care (β=3.4213, p = 0.00), followed by familiarity with the doctor (β=2.8497, p = 0.00) and attitude of the doctor and staff towards the patient (β=1.8132, p = 0.00). As expected, respondents prefer shorter distance (β= - 0.0722, p = 0.00) but the relatively low importance of the attribute distance to the facility indicate that respondents are willing to travel longer if any of the other statistically significant attributes are present. Also, significant socioeconomic differences in preferences were observed, especially with regard to the type of provider.Conclusion: The analyses did not reveal universal preferences for a provider type, but overall the traditional provider type is not well accepted. It also became evident that respondents valued appropriateness of care above other attributes. Despite the study limitations, the results have broader policy implications in the context of Indian government's attempts to reduce high healthcare out-of-pocket expenditures and provide universal health coverage for its population. The government's attempt to emphasize the focus on traditional providers should be carefully reconsidered. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urban expansion of the Indian metropolitan cities has reached the rural peripheries. There have been social, economic, and environmental consequences of this process of peri-urbanization on villages surrounding the big cities. In such situations, it becomes crucial to understand whether the peri-urban areas present opportunities for women emerging out of the processes of development or they expose rural women to previously unavailable challenges or not observed in other regions. This study analyses Female Work Participation (FWP) with related parameters in 712 villages surrounding the Ahmedabad city of Gujarat state. The analysis is based on village-level secondary data derived from the Office of the Registrar General, Census of India for 2001 and 2011. FWP is calculated using the standard formula provided by the Census of India. For the graphical presentation and urban proximity analysis, a geospatial mapping of all villages is performed with the help of Geographic Information System. To understand the association of urban proximity and other covariates with FWP, Ordinary Least Square regression is applied for 2001 and 2011. FWP reached 23 percent in 2011 from 38 percent in 2001. FWP has an inverse relationship with urban proximity, which means as the distance from the main city increases, there is an increase in FWP of villages. More than 40 percent of women are still working as marginal workers. Moreover, within the main worker category, a huge proportion of female is engaged as agricultural laborers. The findings suggest a pressing need for women-centric policies in the region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: Although reinforced concrete structures are designed as per codes/standards but enough care is not always taken during construction process. As a result, the structures start showing signs of distress, some times less than 10 years of service life, requiring early repair and rehabilitation work. In this paper, a case study of 3 no. (G+8) multi-storeyed buildings badly damaged due to corrosion and Bhuj (India) earthquake of 2001, rehabilitated in 2003 has been presented. Repair strategy involved removal of delaminated carbonated concrete cover, application of rust remover, anti-corrosion coating, polymer bond coat, polymer modified mortar, injection of low viscosity epoxy grout to beam-column junctions and cracks, repair of masonry cracks with polymer modified mortar & grouting with SBR modified cement grout and jacketing of columns at the ground floor. Extensive material testing was carried out and specifications for acrylic and SBR polymer modified mortar were selected for durable repairs. Strict quality control and assurance both in material and workmanship was adopted. After nine years of successful rehabilitation and functioning, some signs of distress in the form of cracks and spalls due to rebar corrosion have been noted at some locations, requiring rehabilitation again. Some recommendations/conclusions have been given for durable concrete constructions and rehabilitation work. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: The new era of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) enables people to communicate and interact with each other in new and different manners, changing the way they conduct their daily lives. This change inevitably has significant implications for physical travel in the age of electronic communication (e-communication). This paper aims to provide greater insight into people’s travel behavior based on their e-Communication to Travel balance (C/T balance). This balance represents the ratio between an individual’s e-communication and physical travel. The analysis studies the relevance of social ties in Ahmedabad, India, as a source of explanation of social activity, thus travel, undertaken by individuals. It is hypothesized that the C/T balance emerges from an individual’s social network characteristics. The ability of an individual to engage in social activities not only depends on the individual’s socioeconomic and lifestyle attributes, but also on the ‘modality’ of such interactions (e.g. physical travel or e-communication). The different modalities create different social networks. Each network represents a particular flow of potential activity travel generated by interaction between the individuals. These networks have been clustered on the basis of their C/T balance to get distinct people’s profiles that can be used to target transport and ICT policies better. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The article offers information on various refresher courses on subjects related to sciences. It says that a referesher course on experimental physics will be hosted by three Indian academies at St. Xavier's College in Ahmedabadon, India on February 15 to March 1, 2012. It mentions that a refresher course in image processing and computer vision will be hosted in Coimbatore, India on January 23 to February 4, 2012. Furthermore, a call for submission of papers related to mathematics is presented.

BSTRACT This article follows a municipal councillor in Ahmedabad (Gujarat, India) on his daily routine in order to explore the various ways in which politicians in India operate as mediators between state institutions and citizens. Political mediation is deeply entrenched in the procedures, policies and habits that guide the daily functioning of Gujarat's state institutions. This article argues that this institutionalization of political mediation is the outcome of a dialectic between the limited capacity of the state to provide public services and the strategies that local politicians employ to win elections. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]