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A common challenge shared across cities of the Global South is the seemingly impossible task of drawing a consensus on the right interventions and regulatory framework for street hawkers. This impediment, for many countries, originates from not only the pervasive nature of how this sector is characterized, but also the fluidity associated with their perceptions among urban planners and policy makers. This study highlights that while urban planners and state authorities perceive street hawking as a nuisance and try to forcefully evict them from spaces they occupy, some enterprises have modified traditional street hawking to develop what we term "corporate street hawking" in Accra, Ghana. This article presents findings drawing upon semistructured interviews with 47 street hawkers in Accra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The construct of intrinsic capacity (IC) in the context of integrated care for older adults emphasizes functional assessment from a holistic perspective. It provides reliable and comparable insights on subsequent functioning and disability. Given the paucity of research on IC and health outcomes in low- and middle-income countries (LMICs), the present study examined the association of IC with geriatric conditions of functional limitations and multiple fall outcomes among older adults in India. The data used for analysis come from the first wave of the Longitudinal Aging Study in India (LASI), 2017–2018. The final sample size contains 24,136 older adults (11,871 males and 12,265 females) age 60 years or above. Multivariable binary logistic regression is employed to examine the association of IC and other explanatory factors with outcome variables of difficulty in activities of daily living (ADL) and instrumental activities of daily living (IADL), falls, fall injury, and multiple falls. Of the total sample, 24.56% of older adults were observed to be in the high IC category. The prevalence of ADL difficulty, IADL difficulty, falls, multiple falls and fall-related injury is estimated to be 19.89%, 45.00%, 12.36%, 5.49% and 5.57%, respectively. Older adults who reported high IC had a significantly lower prevalence of ADL difficulty (12.26% vs 22.38%) and IADL difficulty (31.13% vs 49.52%) than those who reported low IC. Similarly, a lower prevalence of falls (9.42% vs 13.34%), fall-related injury (4.10% vs 6.06%) and multiple falls (3.46% vs 6.16%) were reported among those who had high IC. After adjusting for a large number of confounders such as age, sex, health-related attributes and lifestyle behaviors, older adults with high IC had significantly lower odds of ADL difficulty [aOR: 0.63, CI: 0.52–0.76], IADL difficulty [aOR: 0.71, CI: 0.60–0.83], falls [aOR: 0.80, CI: 0.67–0.96], multiple falls [aOR: 0.73, CI: 0.58–0.96] and fall-related injury [aOR: 0.78, CI: 0.61–0.99]. That a high IC was independently associated with a lower risk of functional difficulty and fall outcomes in later life is of enormous value in predicting subsequent functional care needs. More specifically, the findings here imply that because regular IC monitoring can predict poor health outcomes in older adults, improvements in IC should be prioritized while formulating disability and fall prevention strategies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

PurposeMethodsResultsConclusionsThe aim of the study was to estimate the prevalence of diagnosed vision problems and to examine the association of single and multiple chronic conditions with vision problems among middle-aged and older adults in India.The study utilized data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India (LASI) Wave 1, (2017–18). Descriptive statistics along with bivariate and multivariable analyses were conducted to achieve the study objectives.The prevalence of diagnosed vision problems in the sampled population was 48.2%. The older adults (60+ years) (55.3%) had shown a greater prevalence of vision problems than the middle-aged individuals (41%). Among chronic conditions, hypertension, diabetes, chronic lung diseases, chronic heart diseases, bone related diseases, psychiatric disorders, and high cholesterol were significantly associated with vision problems in the case of both middle-aged and older adults. Furthermore, odds of experiencing vision problems according to the presence of multimorbidity were higher in the middle-aged population [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 1.986; confidence interval (CI):1.855–2.126] than in the older population [AOR = 1.746; CI:1.644–1.854].Middle-aged and older adults with chronic illnesses and multimorbidity were at greater risk of vision problems. Due to the high prevalence of vision problem, interventions aimed at prevention or early detection are warranted. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Dialectical materialism, we argue is a philosophical praxis that guided Marx's critique of capitalist political economy. In this article, we have attempted a self-critique of human geography by explicating that dialectical materialism has been largely used as a metaphor within the discipline. The article has been inspired by the over-whelming use of the terms 'dialectics' and 'dialectical' in human geography. The purpose has been to lay down some of the basic tenets of dialectical materialism in Marx's work, and then lay down some human geography research that engages with dialectical materialism. We believe that philosophical introspection on methodology, particularly within the Marxist circles, is scarce. We argue that to develop a truly dialectical materialist human geography we must push dialectal materialism from metaphor to methodology. We also think that methodology and philosophy are inseparably tied and therefore, choice of research methodology is a reflector of the researcher's philosophy about reality and hence research praxis should be an important matter of discussion and introspection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

High efficiency and low-cost Static Frequency Changer (SFC) converters are widely used in electronic industry. SFC known as cycloconverter is installed to obtain variable output AC voltage or frequency. Fast dynamic response and slight size made these converters to occupy the potential space in switching world. Cycloconverter generates harmonics when connected to different types of loads. These harmonics pollute the purity of sinusoidal waveform and affect the quality of power system. Harmonic current is produced when an electrical device draws current in a nonsinusoidal manner. The harmonic voltage develops as harmonic current traverses the electrical system. Harmonic and current orders are inversely proportional to each other, respectively. These harmonics affect the execution of switching devices and causes breakdown of cable insulation, circuit breaker tripping, power transformer failures, limits on generator efficiency and UPS capacity. This paper comprises of odd harmonics that takes place in different load contiguous with cycloconverter. The 3rd, 5th, 7th and higher order harmonics are diagnosed by employing MATLAB platform. Simulation studies are depicted and proved the importance of single phase step down bridge - cycloconverter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the initiation of the New Economic Policy in 1991, India's power policy illustrates the crystallization of a form of situated rationality that relies on capitalist competitiveness and foreign investment for growth and development. This paper, using critical discourse analysis, examines the resettlement of the Enron/Dabhol Power Project to highlight how this situated rationality represents power/knowledge that "legitimizes" prioritization of international capital, erosion of national sovereignty, and facilitates capitalist exploitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study aimed to evaluate the effect of chronic lung diseases, namely chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD) and asthma, on angina pectoris in individuals aged 45 years and above. Identifying vulnerable subpopulations suffering from COPD and asthma at higher risk of future cardiovascular events using the rose angina questionnaire is imperative for tailored primary and secondary prevention approaches. The present study utilizes the data from the Longitudinal Ageing Study in India, wave 1, conducted during 2017-2018. The sample size included 58,830 individuals aged 45 years and above. Angina was measured based on seven questions from Rose's questionnaires. Descriptive statistics and bivariate analysis were employed to examine the prevalence of angina among individuals with COPD and asthma. Further, multivariable logistic regression and propensity score matching (PSM) methods were used to assess the independent effect of COPD and asthma on angina after controlling the selected background characteristics. We employed PSM in two different models and included various additional factors in model 2, such as smoking, chewing tobacco, alcohol use, ADL, IADL, body mass index, physical activity, high cholesterol, hypertension, diabetes, and chronic heart disease. The current study shows that the prevalence of angina pectoris, COPD and asthma was 6.0%, 2.3% and 4.7%, respectively, among individuals aged 45 years and above in India. The prevalence of angina pectoris was higher among individuals with COPD (9.6% vs. 5.8%) and asthma (9.9% vs. 5.7%) than those without COPD and asthma, respectively. Additionally, angina pectoris was more prevalent among females and rural respondents with COPD (10.8% and 11.0%) and asthma (10.3% and 10.3%) compared to males and urban respondents with COPD (8.0% and 5.7%) and asthma (8.9% and 7.9%). Moreover, in the adjusted model, individuals with COPD (AOR 1.43, 95% CI 1.03 1.98) and asthma (AOR 1.44, 95% CI 1.17 1.77) had nearly 1.5-fold higher odds of having angina pectoris than those without COPD and asthma. The PSM estimates showed that individuals with COPD had 8.4% and 5.0% increased risk of angina pectoris compared to those without COPD in model 1 and model 2, respectively. We observed that, after adjusting to lifestyle, health-related and morbidity factors in model 2, both average treatment effect on untreated (ATU) and average treatment effect (ATE) values decreased by nearly 3.5%. Additionally, the PSM estimates demonstrated that individuals with asthma had a 3.4% and 2.9% increased risk of angina pectoris compared to those without asthma in model 1 and model 2, respectively. The study suggests that COPD and asthma are significantly associated with angina pectoris, and individuals with COPD and asthma have a higher risk of developing angina pectoris. Additionally, angina pectoris was more prevalent among females, rural respondents and adults aged 45-54 with COPD compared to males, urban respondents and those aged 65 and above, respectively, with COPD. Moreover, the findings of our study underscore the targeted primary and secondary interventions and team-based care approach among individuals with COPD and asthma to reduce the risk of CVD events in future., (© 2024. The Author(s).)