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The present study aimed to understand microplastic (MP) ingestion by five fish species with different feeding habits namely, Schizothorax richardsonii and Crossocheilus latius (herbivore),Cyprinus carpio (omnivore), Tor chelenoid (herbi-omnivore), and Botia horii (carnivore). The fishes were sampled from River Alaknanda (one of the headwaters of River Ganga) patch at Srinagar, Garhwal, Uttarakhand. The fish gut samples were digested with 30% hydrogen peroxide and vacuum filtered through glass microfiber filter. Each filter paper was observed microscopically to count MPs, and then, selected MPs were chemically characterized using Attenuated Total Reflectance-Fourier Transform Infrared Spectroscopy (ATR-FTIR). The results revealed that all the species were contaminated with MPs and the rate of MP ingestion varied with feeding habits. The herbi-omnivore fish, Tor chelenoid, was observed to have the highest MP ingestion. Among the analyzed particles, fibers (66%) were the dominant type of MPs. The MPs were chemically characterized as High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polypropylene (PP), and Polyester. This study contributes as a reference for the forthcoming researches, as it is the pioneer work on the ingestion of MP by fishes of a Himalayan River. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Kashmir pashmina, sometimes referred to as "cashmere," in the West, is one of the most valuable cultural artifacts Kashmir has offered for centuries, and continues to be sought after. The fine pure pashmina has maintained its luxury status for centuries and is still a symbol of elegance in the international markets. The pashmina shawl is not just popular for its fiber, but also for the elegant embroidery stitched in myriad colors by skilled artisans. Despite this international acclaim, the pashmina artisans dwell in impoverished conditions and face the ever-growing challenges of power looms. This research article is a study of the social and economic barriers that contribute to the dire living conditions of the active Kashmiri pashmina artisans. Along with examining the deteriorating work condition of the artisans, this paper also looks at how these circumstances have a long-lasting impact on the pashmina shawl industry, thus leading to the degradation of an art form altogether. Finally, this paper studies the declining living conditions of the pashmina artisans by analyzing the data collected through a qualitative study incorporating cultural mapping tools like interviews, personal narratives, and literature review. The sample for the study was collected from Kashmir Haat, Srinagar, Kashmir by the researcher through interviews and discussions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the novel simultaneous observations of plasma blobs, MSTIDs and plasma depletions in OI 630 nm all sky airglow images over Srinagar, India (34.1 °N, 74.8 °E) during the night of July 29, 2019, obtained using an airglow imager. Notably, the MSTID bands that followed the plasma blob interacted with a plasma depletion structure and suddenly disappeared, resulting in a reduction in the intensity of the plasma depletion. The SWARM satellite observations during the airglow observations indicated the occurrence of the plasma blob event and showed the conjugate appearance of MSTIDs in both hemispheres. The ROTI maps indicated the absence of EPBs but the occurrence of irregularities near the transition zone just before the presence of plasma blobs in airglow images and at the time of plasma irregularity detection. These observations suggest potential interactions between these phenomena, indicating that the presence of one impacts the other. This paper discusses in detail the observed ionospheric features and time evolution of the occurrences of these events, in addition to their interactions.Utilizingthe satellite observations, including SABER, INSAT-3DR and AIRS, the presence of deep convective clouds and upward propagating gravity waves near the location of the plasma blob is demonstrated, suggesting that convective-generated gravity waves could possibly trigger the formation of plasma blobs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Social science researchers as well as legal practitioners in India are yet to explore how imprisonment of a person affects his or her entire familial set-up. The existing literature suggests myriad problems associated with the imprisonment of a family member, categorized under social, economic and psychological arenas. Methodologically, the present paper is based on ethnographic fieldwork conducted from March 2012 to February 2013 in Central Jail, Srinagar, with prisoners and their families. This paper primarily attempts to explore how imprisonment affects the families of prisoners? It also attempts to explore how families respond to the imprisonment of their family member, their coping patterns, their encounter with the wings of criminal justice system and other collateral damages. The study yielded multiple results ranging from disturbances in socio-economic affairs to disputes in inter-familial and intra-familial relationships and weakening of community ties besides other socio-economic disturbances. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a methodology and optimization using the artificial bee colony (ABC) algorithm for life cycle cost (LCC) assessment of photovoltaic (PV) system for some Indian smart cities have been presented. Smart cities are the urban areas that utilize solar power PV system with other advanced innovations. The life cycle cost with and without carbon credit earned due to solar power generation in particular smart city should be known. Smart cities aim to assist local bodies in assessing their present energy consumption and future demand. This paper also focuses on PV energy generation, savings, and efficiency with cost. Four smart cities have been selected for LCC estimation on different field condition basis. The results show that in Srinagar, energy production is maximum, i.e., 435MWh, and LCC is minimum INR4125 million with an 8.9% rate of return on it. Therefore, net carbon dioxide emission reduction per annum for smart PV system over a lifetime of 20 years is 76.5 tCO2e on the overall thermal energy and 17.7 tCO2e on the overall exergy gain. LCC of smart PV system for different years has been estimated and optimized using the ABC algorithm, and the results show a 50.24% reduction in LCC. With the proposed approach, future opportunities for smart cities with smart PV system can be revealed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper has used census data of 1901-2011 to examine and understand the process of urbanization in J&K UT and has laid its utmost emphasis on the urban morphology and degree of level urbanization. Attempts have also been made to assess the changes in workforce structure and food availability and consumption pattern in the UT over the years. The study also analyses the inter-district scenario of urban growth and its level and extent in to consideration. The annual exponential growth rate of urban population in India has gone down from 0.97 per cent during 1981-91 to 0.77 per cent during 1991-2001 and in Jammu and Kashmir during the same period it has reduced from 1.06 to 0.58. The study shows that city populace within the area has accelerated from 7.42 to 33.00 percentage as towards 10.84 to 38.70 at national level. During last two decades, developed districts based on per capita income such as Srinagar and Jammu have shown low growth in urban population. The study make a sound point that in the UT the up rise in urban population was not observed in old cities like Jammu and Srinagar but the less advanced districts like Kupwara, Kargil and Leh. The study further reveals that as income rises, expenditure on fruits, milk and milk-product, meat, eggs and fish increases and expenditure on cereals, pulses and other primary products decreases. The expenditure on meat, egg, fish and fruits and vegetables as a percentage of total food expenditure has increased. With regard to male cultivators in part of Srinagar has shown a substantial decline from -1.59 during 1981-2001 to -9.01 during 2001-11. But for female cultivators, the growth rate has remained almost same. From the results it can be observed that availability and production of essential food grains (per capita) decreased over the reference period substantially. On the basis of results drawn, this paper puts forward some policy suggestions on how to check the urbanization in the UT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper has used census data of 1901-2011 to examine and understand the process of urbanization in J&K UT and has laid its utmost emphasis on the urban morphology and degree of level urbanization. Attempts have also been made to assess the changes in workforce structure and food availability and consumption pattern in the UT over the years. The study also analyses the inter-district scenario of urban growth and its level and extent in to consideration. The annual exponential growth rate of urban population in India has gone down from 0.97 per cent during 1981-91 to 0.77 per cent during 1991-2001 and in Jammu and Kashmir during the same period it has reduced from 1.06 to 0.58. The study shows that city populace within the area has accelerated from 7.42 to 33.00 percentage as towards 10.84 to 38.70 at national level. During last two decades, developed districts based on per capita income such as Srinagar and Jammu have shown low growth in urban population. The study make a sound point that in the UT the up rise in urban population was not observed in old cities like Jammu and Srinagar but the less advanced districts like Kupwara, Kargil and Leh. The study further reveals that as income rises, expenditure on fruits, milk and milk-product, meat, eggs and fish increases and expenditure on cereals, pulses and other primary products decreases. The expenditure on meat, egg, fish and fruits and vegetables as a percentage of total food expenditure has increased. With regard to male cultivators in part of Srinagar has shown a substantial decline from -1.59 during 1981-2001 to -9.01 during 2001-11. But for female cultivators, the growth rate has remained almost same. From the results it can be observed that availability and production of essential food grains (per capita) decreased over the reference period substantially. On the basis of results drawn, this paper puts forward some policy suggestions on how to check the urbanization in the UT. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the present paper, the main objective is to derive an analytical expression for water temperature of a solar water heater integrated with N-aluminum (Al)/Cu photovoltaic thermal-module (PVT-M) water collectors connected in series. Further, an improved instantaneous thermal (Hottle-Williams-Bliss equation) and electrical efficiency of the solar cell (SC) for nth Al/Cu PVT-M water collectors based on energy balance have also been derived with a correction factor (CF), which has not been done earlier. Numerical computations have been performed using MATLAB to analyze various characteristics of the a PVT-M collector for the climate of Srinagar, India. The effect of the number of PVT-M water collectors, mass flow rate, and packing factors (β) on PVT-M water collector performance has also been investigated in terms of thermal and electrical power. Based on numerical calculations, it has been observed that (i) the electrical efficiency of SCs in the proposed water heating system decreases and (ii) the overall exergy increases with the increase of nth Al/Cu PVT-M water collectors due to increase in SC/water temperature. The results for the n=1 of the Al/Cu PVT-M water heating system have also been experimentally validated with the results of other researchers. A better agreement has been found between the theoretical results and others' experimental results, with a correlation coefficient of 0.98. An error bar analysis has also been carried out. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic tested the vulnerability, effectiveness and resilience of the governance institutions worldwide in mitigating the unprecedented challenges of the healthcare sector, personal safety and facilitating uninterrupted delivery of public services. The need for social distancing, rapid testing and vaccination became top priorities of every nation, including India. The vulnerability has been witnessed most in cities and towns due to congested population, increased threat of community transmission of the virus and loss of livelihood to daily waged earners due to economic shutdown. The response strategies of urban administration varied across regions, depending upon the level of socioeconomic development and adapted governance mechanisms to ensure essential urban services like drinking water, electricity, and waste management. The paper analyzes the effectiveness and challenges of governance in the Srinagar city of Jammu & Kashmir, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on governance mechanisms in the region and the mitigation strategies adapted by the Srinagar City Administration to steer the governance during such times. This paper is based on data analysis collected from journalists, academicians, Non-Government Organizations (NGOs) using Focused Group Discussion (FGD) and interview techniques. It revealed public dissatisfaction about basic urban services, poor socio-economic infrastructure, lack of institutional coordination and bureaucratic rigidity as vital governance challenges in the Srinagar city. It also provides suggestions to augment governance approaches to ensure responsive administration and prepare for unforeseen future challenges. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Lakes throughout the globe have been gravely altered or degraded at a pace much more significant than their restoration. In the heart of Srinagar, the summer capital of Jammu and Kashmir, Dal Lake, has witnessed extreme loss in water quality during the last four decades because of anthropogenic pressures. The lake is unique in that over 50,000 people inhabit the lake itself in houseboats, dongas, or islands within the lake. These people derive their livelihood from the lake in terms of tourism, agriculture, fishing, and vegetable farming. The countless ways people use the lake have led to an extreme load of pollution in the lake. Encroachment in and around the lake has led to the loss of volume of water in the lake and consequently increased the concentration of pollutants. Discharge of untreated sewage, agricultural runoff, and sediments from adjoining catchments have further degraded the lake water quality. The changes in water quality are clear from the physio-chemical properties of the lake waters. While transparency and dissolved oxygen in the lake have decreased drastically during the last 40 years, the concentration of harmful substances like phosphates, nitrates, and chlorides has increased. The hardness of water has also increased due to higher levels of carbonates and bicarbonates in the lake. This paper details the changes in the water quality of Dal Lake over the recent past. The paper analyses the strategies that can be implemented to manage the lake and restore its quality if appropriately implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we examine the role of gravity waves (GWs) generated from tropospheric convection in initiating multiple nighttime ionospheric anomalies over Srinagar, located at 34.1°N, 74.8°E, and 25.91°N MLAT. Optical airglow observations during a geomagnetic quiet night (Ap = 4) of 29–30 June 2021, show the presence of plasma depletion tilted by an angle of ∼14.9° from the geographic North, quasi-periodic south eastward moving wave (QPSEMW), onset of two electrified MSTIDs and generation of plasma depletion channel between two MSTID phase fronts at ∼250 km altitude. GWs originating from deep convection in troposphere are detected at ∼85 and ∼97 km altitudes in OH and 557 nm filters respectively. The GWs in both the filters are propagating northward with almost similar characteristics. The intrinsic time period and vertical wavelength of GWs is estimated to be ∼11 min and ∼53 km respectively. We also present the observational indications of localised upliftment of F-layer ionosphere by ∼38 km, possibly initiated by polarization electric field generated through secondary GWs. The penetration of secondary GWs, generated by the dissipation of convective GWs, beyond the altitude of 500 km is also seen. FORMOSAT-7/COSMIC-2 RO data and SAMI3 model electron density suggest the occurrence of Sporadic-E (Es) layer at around 100 km altitude, caused by the negative gradient in eastward wind. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper addresses a sustainable cement supply chain network problem for an Indian city (Srinagar). The major problem addressed in this research is the dilemma of several sites and selecting sites to set up distribution centers and retail centers for cement supply chain networks. The primary goal of this research work is to focus on sustainable product delivery to clients, which leads us to the topic of facility site selection. The quality of a facility's location has a direct impact on the company's output and operations. As a result, businesses need to develop scientific and effective methodologies for assessing facility location issues and making informed decisions. The conundrum of several sites and picking places to set up distribution centers and retail centers for cement supply chain networks is the key challenge addressed in this research. This research focuses on the current state of the location problem, with an emphasis on the mathematical model and a genetic algorithm in the analysis and analytical approach of the location problem. In this regard, a sustainable supply chain network model has been developed. A real-coded genetic algorithm-based solution approach has been developed for optimizing the sustainable supply chain network design for Srinagar city. Using the input data as a search space for the solving procedure, the resulting solution will provide us with the ideal site selection points. A model for a long-term supply chain network has been established in this regard. For optimizing the sustainable supply chain network architecture for Srinagar city, a real-coded genetic algorithm-based solution strategy has been created. A real-life case study of a cement supply chain network has been considered for validation of the proposed model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Most literature on Mumbai-based Muslim tele-Islamicist Zakir Naik offers an organizational, biographical and ideological profile. This approach has concealed the symbolic significance attached to Naik by his audiences. This paper attempts to explore not only who and what Naik is, but how and where he is located. By incorporating ethnographic and cultural studies approaches, this paper offers fresh insight into Naik and his methods of communicating religion. Taking Srinagar, a city in the Indian state of Jammu and Kashmir, as an ethnographic site, this paper explores how Muslim individuals or groups interpret Naik in relation to their religious worldviews. The articulation of Islam by Zakir Naik through media platforms such as television and social media has contributed to a religious trend in Kashmir, in which people have discovered new ways to think about themselves and to participate in discourses about religion that would have been unthinkable a few decades ago. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper introduces a novel free space optics (FSO) communication system for future-generation high-speed networks. The proposed system integrates orbital angular momentum (OAM) modes with an optical code division multiple access (OCDMA) technique. Two OAM beams are used ( L G 0 , 0 and L G 0 , 10 ), each of which is used for transmitting three independent channels. Each channel is assigned by fixed right shift (FRS) codes and carries 10 Gbps of information data. The performance of the proposed model is evaluated under different foggy and dust storm conditions. Furthermore, the performance of two cities with different geographical locations, Alexandria city in Egypt and Srinagar city in India, is investigated to demonstrate its ability to be implemented in future generations. Bit error rate (BER), eye diagrams, received optical power (ROP), and channel capacity are used for studying the performance of the proposed system. The observed simulation results show successful transmission of 60 Gbps overall capacity with the longest propagation FSO range for Alexandria city, which is 1400 m. Because dust storms have a large attenuation when compared to different foggy conditions, the proposed model had the shortest propagation range of 315 m under low dust (LD), 105 m under moderate dust (MD), and 40 m under heavy dust (HD). Furthermore, the cloudy weather conditions that affect Srinagar city, which is considered a hilly area, make our suggested model achieve 1000 m. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper studied the factors determining the performance of tourism infrastructure at tourism destinations in Kashmir Valley. Poor infrastructure performance is a stern obstacle to the development of the tourism sector. It requires a scientific move to wipe out hindrances. The factors determining the infrastructure performance may differ among the destinations. Accordingly, destination specific analysis is suitable for analyzing the significant factors. Data had collected from five popular tourism destinations through the pre-tested interview schedule, and perceptions were converted into the weights to test the hypothesis. A Multiple Linear Regression Model is adopted to study the significant factors and to verify the results. It is inferred that the factors of soft infrastructure have a strong influence on each destination, followed by sports infrastructure and security establishments, environment infrastructure, public utilities, and typical tourism infrastructure, respectively. The coefficient of determination is noticeably higher in the case of Yusmarg, followed by Srinagar, Pahalgam, Kokernag and Gulmarg. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapid urban growth in mid-sized cities of developing nations has induced conflict between development and the environment, often leading to urban sprawl. However, studies focusing on the assessment of urban sprawl in mid-sized cities are comparatively rare. Therefore, this paper assesses the spatio-temporal urban sprawl characteristics of three typical mid-sized Indian cities, such as Patna Urban Agglomeration (UA), Ranchi UA, and Srinagar UA, from 1991 to 2018 using Landsat images. The population density, landscape metrics, and urban expansion index were employed to detect and assess urban sprawl characteristics. A multivariable integrated urban sprawl index was computed using Z-score to examine the intensity of urban sprawl. The results revealed robust evidence of the built-up growth in all three cities. The rise in built-up was observed due to the conversion of fallow and agriculture land covers in Patna UA and Ranchi UA, while water body and fallow land covers in Srinagar UA. Despite an increase in the total population and built-up, population density declined in all three cities. The analysis using landscape metrics exhibited continuous outward expansion with an increase in shape irregularity of built-up patches. The urban expansion index indicated the prevalence of edge expansion typology of urban sprawl. Patna UA exhibited the highest intensity of urban sprawl as per the multivariable integrated urban sprawl index. The obtained results will benefit the urban planners and officials to promote urban sustenance by preparing relevant strategies under the Smart City Mission. This study demonstrated an effective utilization of scientific approaches to assess urban sprawl characteristics in mid-sized cities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The 2014 Kashmir floods caused widespread damage in the valley of Kashmir, particularly in the city of Srinagar, and had a significant socioeconomic impact. Around 175,000 residential houses were damaged in the valley. Recent studies focusing on the flood–hazard that the Jhelum river poses have shown that a flood event with a return period of five or more years is likely to cause overflowing in the river. As such, policy decisions regarding flood safety are rather important. This paper seeks to inform such future policy decisions from a structural engineering point of view by presenting results from a survey of damaged houses in an area of Srinagar city. The surveyed houses are classified based on construction type and material, exposure level, and age for an adequate interpretation of results. A rational and easy-to-use method of quantifying damage using a damage index scale is proposed and used in this study. Damage index values evaluated using the proposed method are found to correlate well with actual damage in surveyed structures. 80% of the surveyed houses were submerged to more than half of their heights and nearly 20% were found to be completely collapsed. Houses with mud mortar, and timber as the material for beams, slabs and plinth were the found to be most damaged, while houses with cement mortar having a damp proof course and reinforced cement concrete beams and slabs were found to have performed well. It is emphasized that structural design in Kashmir has to account for seismic forces as well, and that any guideline thereof needs to take into account both hazards–floods as well as earthquakes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The current examination has been done as a fundamental advance to contemplate the general groundwater - surface water interaction along River Jhelum in Valley of Kashmir. Generally, water table occurs at relatively deeper levels in plateau lands and at shallower depths in low-lying areas. The precise sampling has been carried out throughout the River Jhelum and its tributaries in the months of January and February in Srinagar and other districts, with a view to understand the source of major ions (Ca2+, Mg2+, Na+, HCO3-, Cl, So2-4) in the groundwater of the territory under examination. About nineteen 4 representative wells (bore wells, dug wells, springs) were selected for a baseline study to comprehend the groundwater - surface interaction along River Jhelum and to assess the overall hydro-geochemical characteristics and suitability of groundwater for drinking and agricultural purposes. The predominant chemical character of groundwater and surface water as well as relative abundance of major ions has been evaluated on Piper Tri-linear diagram and three water groups were identified. The concentrations of major ions in the groundwater and surface water of the area under study are well within the maximum permissible limits as per the specifications of the World Health Organization for drinking purposes. The low sodium hazard and slightly high salinity along with safe to moderate category of water in terms of left over sodiumcarbonate (RSC) document the suitability of groundwater for agricultural purposes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Disc herniation is considered as a very common spine abnormality resulting in severe pain in back and legs. Besides it has great impact on economy of suffering patients also there is a concern about the shortage of radiologists and hence demand for computer aided diagnosis system. In this paper statistical texture features have been used for the classification of a normal intervertebral disc and a herniated intervertebral disc from MRI sequences acquired in sagittal plane. The main objective of this work was to appraise about the capability of texture features obtained from the intervertebral disc MR images and distinguish between normal intervertebral disc and herniated intervertebral disc using three different classifiers, namely, BPNN, KNN and SVM. The regions of interest (ROI) from patients with herniated discs were extracted by experienced radiologist from SKIMS institute, Srinagar. Three techniques where applied to each ROI to obtain texture features, which are, grey level run length matrix (GLRLM), grey level co-occurrence matrix (GLCM), and grey level difference method (GLDM). The results obtained show that GLRLM texture features ascertain a good discrimination capability to differentiate between a normal intervertebral disc and a herniated disc when SVM was used. Texture features extracted from GLCM present a good discrimination ability to differentiate between a normal intervertebral disc and a herniated disc when K-NN and BPNN classifiers were used. It is found that the selected set of features of the GLCM can discriminate a normal intervertebral disc from a herniated one, much accurately, on using K-NN and BPNN classifiers. On comparing the classification accuracies of K-NN and BPNN it is found that BPNN gives better results. K-NN is a simple algorithm to understand and implement but is slower because it starts learning from the testing data. As far as SVM is considered, selected set of features of GLRLM discriminates a normal intervertebral disc from a herniated one with good classification accuracy as compared to the others. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

These field notes present personal reflections and observations from the author's visit to Srinagar in June 2017, where he was working as an intern with the Association of Parents of Disappeared Persons. The author's nascent understanding of India's attempts to assimilate the Kashmir Valley into the Indian Union was heavily influenced by the 2016 uprising in the Valley following the death of the Hizbul Mujahideen commander, Burhan Muzzafar Wani. The paper argues that the spatial manifestations of Indian occupation stimulate resistance among Kashmiris rather than engendering submission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The irrigation systems require modernization and management by evaluating water system prerequisites precisely. A study was carried out at Srinagar during kharif 2022 to determine the crop water demands, irrigation scheduling and simulation of moisture movement under different irrigation regimes on tomato crop in open field conditions using CROPWAT and HYDRUS-1D models. The results revealed that the average crop water requirement at 100% ETC per plant per day was 0.24 l plant-1 day-1 during the initial stage, 0.37 l plant-1 day-1 during development stage, 0.85 l plant-1 day-1 during mid-stage and 0.74 l plant-1 day-1 during the end stage. Soil water content was simulated by HYDRUS-1D model in 0 to 30 cm of soil profile. Higher values (0.86 to 0.95) of coefficient of determination (R² ) indicated that observed and simulated values of moisture content are highly correlated and the model predicts that lower values of mean absolute error (MAE) and root mean square error (RMSE) indicates that the HYDRUS-1D model is more accurate at simulating the movement of moisture under different irrigation regimes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Buying is both rational and irrational in nature and there are reasons why some people possess rational and irrational behaviour. But irrational behaviour takes place when customer's emotional power over comes his cognitive power, his logical thinking is over shadowed by his emotional component which is why he is forced to go into such kind of buying which are not socially desirable and not even desirable to a rational person. This paper is based on study conducted in Srinagar city on youth of the age group of 12-30. This paper tries to explain how people differ in compulsive buying and also tries to explain few reasons why such type of behavior occurs like TV Watching habits and having opposite gender friendship. Overall people differ in compulsive buying irrationality and compulsive buying is high when people watch TV for long hours and it is also high for people being involved in opposite gender relationship. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper describes and analyses the pattern of word stress found in the standard dialect of Koshur (Kashmiri) spoken in Srinagar. The significance of Koshur for studies of stress lies in that taken together, its pattern of stress assignment and a pervasive pattern of syncope conspire to produce a four-way syllable weight distinction that has sometimes been expressed as the scale CVːC>CVː>CVC>CV. The interesting feature of this type of scale is that closed syllables, CVːC and CVC are preferred as stress peaks over open syllables with vowels of the same length. Other researchers have noted that in languages with this scale, or the abbreviated ternary version CVː>CVC>CV, CVC syllables behave ambiguously with respect to stress. They seem to be heavy in relation to CV when CVː syllables are absent. In a stress clash context however, CVC defers to CVː. ‘Mora-only’ accounts of other languages with this scale have interpreted the ambiguous behaviour of CVC as evidence that CVC syllables are bimoraic where their behaviour seems to group them with CVː but monomoraic elsewhere (e.g. Rosenthall & van der Hulst 1999, Morén 2000). To account for the CVːC>CVː effect, mora-only accounts have been forced to assume that CVːC are trimoraic. We show that a mora-only analysis does not offer a satisfying account of the Koshur facts, and we argue instead that the origin of the CVC>CV and CVːC>CVː effects is the presence of a coda that branches from the final mora of a syllable, making the closed syllables more harmonic as prosodic heads. Under this view, branchingness emerges as another dimension of the mora, along with moraic quantity and the quality of segments linked to moras, which contributes to syllable prominence. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We report some interesting medium scale travelling ionospheric disturbances (MSTIDs) observed during the night of September 20, 2020 through an all sky CCD imager installed in Kashmir University (KU), Srinagar, India (34.08° N geographic latitude, 74.79° E and 25.91° N geomagnetic latitude). Three different MSTID events including a post-sunset MSTID, a mid-night MSTID and a pre-dawn MSTID are recorded in the airglow images during this night. The post-sunset and pre-dawn MSTIDs are seen to propagate northward while the MSTID observed near midnight time propagates towards west. As the MSTIDs during the night times over the northern hemisphere generally propagate southwestward, the northward propagation of nighttime MSTIDs over Srinagar makes this result an interesting one. More importantly, three different MSTIDs are observed at different times during the single night whose directions of propagation are not same either. We provide the detailed characteristics and evolution processes of these MSTIDs in this paper. The unusual northward motion of the MSTIDs over the Srinagar region is also addressed. The upward propagation of atmospheric gravity waves during this night is believed to be the responsible candidates for such unusual propagation direction of nighttime MSTIDs over the northern hemisphere. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective: This research endeavours to elucidate the ramifications of the communication blockade on women entrepreneurs operating within the Kashmir Valley in the wake of the protracted imposition of communication blockade in the region of Jammu and Kashmir following the unanticipated abrogation of Article 370 of the Constitution of India. Participants: The study assembled a cohort of 20 women entrepreneurs hailing from Srinagar and Ganderbal districts in Kashmir, utilising a combination of purposive and snowball sampling methodologies to ensure a comprehensive representation of participants. Data acquisition was carried out through a series of direct, semi-structured, and in-depth personal interviews. Method: Employing an interpretive phenomenological approach, this qualitative inquiry transcribed the rich narratives gleaned from these interviews, elucidating a confluence of recurrent themes. Results: The protracted absence of communication channels, extending indefinitely, precipitated a multifaceted crisis encompassing economic, social, and psychological dimensions, thereby significantly impacting the well-being of residents of the erstwhile state of Jammu and Kashmir. Conclusion: The recurring themes encompass anger and frustration, loss of livelihood, helplessness and dehumanisation stemming from total communication blackouts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This research paper tries to identify and address issues related to efficiency of sewage treatment plants (STPs) and their implications on the Dal Lake ecosystem in Srinagar city, Kashmir, India. Fluidized aerobic bioreactor (FAB) and sequential batch reactor (SBR) technologies having been recently installed along the periphery of Dal Lake were evaluated for efficiency for a continuous period of 24 months from December 2016 to November 2018. Apart from chemical quality, total coliform(TC), fecal coliform (FC), and fecal streptococci (FS) analyses were also carried out. Major highlights of our work using oneway ANOVA (analysis of variance) revealed significant variations (p<0.05) in total suspended solids (TSS), biochemical oxygen demand (BOD), chemical oxygen demand (COD), ammonia (NH3-N), total phosphorus (TP), TC, FC, and FS. Our findings indicate that both technologies are struggling for removal efficiency, which is very low, especially in FAB during three to four months of winter season where a very high drop in the working efficiency of the STP was observed. The treatment facilities did not meet the prescribed standards in respect of TSS, BOD, NH3-N, TP, TC, FC, and FS thereby having the potential to compromise public health and trophic status of Dal Lake. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose -- The research world is full of women who have explored the scientific world and given their best to humanity. Kashmir, known for its conflict rather than its beauty now, has also given birth to a number of women researchers who have excelled in their respective fields. The study attempts to explore the contributions to the scientific world of women from the University of Kashmir, one of the leading institutions of Kashmir. The research contributions of women from a conflict zone, Kashmir, have been taken into account in the study. Methodology -- The data related to the women researchers of Kashmir were extracted from the largest citation and abstract database of peer-reviewed literature, Elsevier's Scopus, which features smart tools that track, analyse and visualise research from varied dimensions. Findings -- The study reveals the effect of conflict on women in the scientific world. The findings show that there are significant differences by gender in terms of research productivity in a conflict region. Furthermore, in the present context, a changing trend is seen as women researchers also show involvement in the scientific world which, if taken seriously, can help in developing a better and more promising feminist research world. Practical Implications -- The study can help in laying down the real picture and status of women researchers in a conflict zone. The study urges that governments in conflict zones should take steps to popularise investment in women's education and research programmes to better equip and motivate women researchers. Originality/value -- Further research can be carried out to discover the problems faced by women researchers in a conflict zone. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change and global warming surge the frequency and severity of extreme weather events like heatwaves, cyclones, floods, etc. This study assesses future heatwave events in four Indian cities, i.e., Srinagar, Jaipur, Guwahati, and Visakhapatnam. It uses CMIP 6 projections with four SSP scenarios, i.e., SSP 126, 245, 370, and 585. The yearly value of the heatwave magnitude index is used to classify the events in cities. The forthcoming forecast is distributed into three identical periods of 27 years each, i.e., near- (2020–2046), mid- (2047–2073), and long-term periods (2074–2100). The outcomes from the study showed that heatwave events would increase across the cities for all periods under SSP 370 and 585 scenarios. It is computed that 104 extreme events are probable to be observed across these four cities. This study highlights the importance of adaptive techniques in dealing with the negative implications of predicted heatwave weather events. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Please cite this paper as: Bali NK et al. (2012) Knowledge, attitude, and practices about the seasonal influenza vaccination among healthcare workers in Srinagar, India. Influenza and Other Respiratory Viruses 7(4), 540-545. Background Healthcare workers (HCWs) universally have a poor uptake of influenza vaccination. However, no data are available from India. Objective To explore knowledge, attitudes, and practices associated with influenza vaccination in HCWs in a temperate climate area in northern India. Patients and Methods A self-administered questionnaire was offered to all HCWs in three major hospitals of Srinagar and information sought on motivations, perceptions, preferences and practices regarding influenza vaccination. Results Of the 1750 questionnaires received, 1421 (81%) were returned. Only 62 (4·4%) HCWs had ever received influenza vaccination even as 1348 (95%) believed that influenza poses adverse potential consequences for themselves or their contacts; 1144 (81%) were aware of a vaccine against influenza and 830 (58%) of its local availability. Reasons cited by 1359 participants for not being vaccinated included ignorance about vaccine availability (435; 32%), skepticism about efficacy (248; 18%), busy schedule (166; 12%), fear of side effects (70; 4%), and a perception of not being-at-risk (82; 6%). Sixty-one percent (865) believed that vaccine programs are motivated by profit. Eighty-eight percent opined for mandatory vaccination for HCWs caring for the high-risk patients, as a part of 'employee health program'. Most of the participants intended to get vaccinated in the current year even as 684 (48%) held that vaccines could cause unknown illness and 444 (31%) believed their adverse effects to be underreported. Conclusion Influenza vaccination coverage among HCWs is dismally low in Srinagar; poor knowledge of vaccine availability and misperceptions about vaccine effectiveness, fear of adverse effects and obliviousness to being-at-risk being important barriers. Multifaceted, adaptable measures need to be invoked urgently to increase the coverage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

With the intensification of global warming and anthropogenic activities, warming or drying episodes with respect to water deficit has brought severe challenges across the globe. It becomes imperative to understand the drought characteristics as well as water resource availability in such regions. In this paper, we employ trend analysis to investigate the tendency of Potential Evapotranspiration (PET) and Climatic Water Balance (CWB) from 1979 to 2017 in the Jhelum river basin. We applied Thornthwaite parameterization which is based on latitude and monthly mean temperature for the computation of PET. The results showed that annual PET of Srinagar and Quazigund stations has increasing tendency while annual CWB has decreasing tendency for all the selected stations in the basin. The trend test applied to monthly PET and CWB indicate that monthly PET has increasing tendency in most of the months while monthly CWB has decreasing tendency in most of the months for all the selected stations in the basin. In addition to this, the drought events were characterized using Standardized Precipitation Evaporation Index (SPEI) based on 3, 6 and 12-month time scales. The SPEI was also applied to investigate the spatio-temporal characteristics of drought during the study period in the basin. The spatial patterns of drought severity were derived based on the Average Recurrence Interval (ARI). The temporal analysis revealed that an average of 65 long term, 69 intermediate term and 74 short term drought events were observed across the basin. However the spatial characteristics indicated that drought becomes more severe with long return periods in the western part of the basin. This study also investigated the influence of large scale climatic variables on 3 month SPEI over the basin using cross wavelet analysis. The results show that the drought characteristics are significantly influenced by both the ENSO and ENSO-M events throughout the Jhelum basin. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper deciphers the late stress systems involved in the development of kink bands in the perspective of thrust regime. In kink bands, the correlation coefficient for α- β plots is positive near thrusts and negative away from thrusts. The plots show nearly linear relationship near thrusts and non-linear relationship away from thrusts. The rotation was prominent mechanism of kink band formation near thrusts and rotation coupled with shearing, along the kink planes away from thrusts. Along thrusts σ is horizontal E-W trend and it rotates to horizontal N-S trend away from the thrust. The proposed model establishes that (1) the shearing along kink planes led to angular relationship, β < α and (2) the kink planes of conjugate kinks could be used for paleostress analysis even in those cases where shearing along these planes has occurred. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Accurate measurement of soil wetting pattern from the point source of drip irrigation system plays an important role for designing of the irrigation system. The study evaluated a novel empirical method for predicting soil wetted dimensions surrounding a drip emitter. The study conducted at Sher-e-Kashmir University of Agricultural Sciences and Technology of Kashmir, Srinagar, in a high-density apple orchard during 2018–2020. The field data were used to evaluate the five different semi-empirical models, namely, Al-Ogaidi (A-O), Malek and Peters (M–P), Amin and Ekhmaj (A–E), Jiusheng Li (J-L) and Schwartzman and Zur (S–Z). The model's results were compared with field data for predicting the wetted pattern. The soil wetting front was measured using three different capacity emitters (2, 4, 8 lph) under a point source of a drip irrigation system. The results were evaluated on the basis of statistical comparisons [mean absolute error (MAE), root mean square error (RMSE), Nash–Sutcliffe efficiency (NSE) and coefficient of determination (R2)] between model-predicted and field-observed data. The newly developed empirical model has shown close agreement as compared to other models with MAE, RMSE, NSE and R2 for wetted soil width 0.205 (cm), 0.246 (cm), 0.996 and 0.997, respectively, and for wetted soil depth 0.421 (cm), 0.522 (cm), 0.992 and 0.993, respectively. The developed model accurately predicts the whole wetting pattern and performs well in reproducing from known experimental data. The study revealed that the higher the emitter discharge capacity, the more were the vertical soil wetting front advances with increased time duration of irrigation. The information of accurate wetting pattern of drip from a point source will be useful for the optimal design of drip irrigation systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Black carbon (BC) concentrations were measured over a semi-urban location in Srinagar (Garhwal) in the central Himalaya from October 2019 to September 2020. The BC ranged between 0.7 and 3.4 µg m−3 in different months. The highest BC concentration was observed in the post-monsoon season. The long-range transport and biomass burning (BB) were found to be the major reason for BC over the region. The k values over the region ranged between − 0.004 and 0.004 in different months and indicate that aged BC was present during monsoon periods because of long-range transport. However, fresh BC was present during November, December and February (relatively fresh BC in other months). The BB contribution was up to 58%. Brown carbon (BrC) showed a similar seasonal pattern as black carbon. The BC values in the COVID-19 lockdown period were analyzed and were low compared to very high values in the same season a year before. The influence of long-range transport and forest fire incidents on BC mass concentrations is illustrated in detail. Hence, this study provides an insight into the amount of BC production due to human activity. The BC of anthropogenic origin over this region should be controlled because of its proximity to adjacent glaciers to avoid excessive BC transport to these vulnerable regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

More than a yearlong investigation (2008-2009) was carried in Srinagar, in the North-Western folds of Himalayas, involving the estimation of Total Suspended Particulate Matter (TSPM) and different carbonaceous fractions associated with it namely, Total carbon (TC), Elemental carbon (EC), Black Carbon (BC) Organic carbon (OC), no such direct estimates were available at that time for the valley and neither have they been updated till date. The samples collected on quartz filter using high volume sampler in a time series sequence and analyzed reflected marked seasonal dependence. The variability observed in carbonaceous contents of ambient aerosols was found to be similar as generally observed from other urban areas, however the relief along with prevalent meteorology was found to have a profound impact on the concentration of TSPM as well its constituent carbonaceous fractions. The higher values of TSPM were observed during summer months and the contribution of OC to TC as well. The contribution of EC to Tc was higher during colder months, EC arising from combustion sources attributed largely to petrogenic sources (fossil fuel) could be distinctly seen to be augmented by the biomass burning during autumn and winter; also increase in the OC content mainly starting in spring and continuing through to summer can be to attributed to active biogenic sources. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The rapidly growing urbanization and the consequent land use/land cover (LULC) changes have resulted in unsustainable growth of cities in Indian subcontinent especially in Himalayan region which are highly sensitivity to condition like climate change. Using multi-temporal and multi-spectral satellite datasets, this study analyzes the impact of LULC changes on land surface temperature (LST) in the Himalayan city of Srinagar from 1992 to 2020. For LULC classification, the maximum likelihood classifier technique was utilized, and to extract LST from Landsat 5 (TM) and Landsat 8 (TM) (OLI), spectral radiance was employed. The results show that, among various LULC classes, built-up area has seen a maximum increase of 14% while agriculture has decreased by about 21%. On the whole, Srinagar city has witnessed an increase in LST by 4.5 °C with maximum increase of 5.35 °C especially over marshes and a minimum increase of 4 °C on agriculture landscape. Other LULC categories of built-up, water bodies, and plantation saw an increase in LST by 4.19 °C, 4.47 °C, and 5.07 °C, respectively. The transformation of marshes into built-up saw a maximum increase in LST by 7.18 °C followed by water body to built-up (6.96 °C) and water body to agriculture (6.18 °C) while minimum increase was seen in the conversion of agriculture to marshes by about 2.42 °C followed by agriculture to plantation (3.84 °C) and plantation to marshes (3.86 °C). The findings may be useful to urban planners and policymakers in terms of land use planning and city thermal environment control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study investigates the earthquake vulnerability of buildings in Srinagar, an urban city in the Kashmir Himalaya, India. The city, covering an area of around 246 km 2 and divided into 69 municipal wards, is situated in the tectonically active and densely populated mountain ecosystem. Given the haphazard development and high earthquake vulnerability of the city, it is critical to assess the vulnerability of the built environment to inform policy-making for developing effective earthquake risk reduction strategies. Integrating various parameters in a geographic information system (GIS) using the analytical hierarchical process (AHP) and technique for order preference by similarity to an ideal solution (TOPSIS) approaches, the ward-wise vulnerability of the buildings revealed that a total of ∼ 17 km 2 area (∼ 7 % area; 23 wards) has very high to high vulnerability, moderate vulnerability affects ∼ 69 km 2 of the city area (28 % area; 19 wards), and ∼ 160 km 2 area (∼ 65 % area; 27 wards) has vulnerability ranging from very low to low. Overall, the downtown wards are most vulnerable to earthquake damage due to the high risk of pounding, high building density, and narrower roads with little or no open spaces. The modern uptown wards, on the other hand, have lower earthquake vulnerability due to the relatively wider roads and low building density. To build a safe and resilient city for its 1.5 million citizens, the knowledge generated in this study would inform action plans for developing earthquake risk reduction measures, which should include strict implementation of the building codes, retrofitting of the vulnerable buildings, and creating a disaster consciousness among its citizenry. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study was conducted to examine: how the internet affected consumer food purchase behaviour and the consumer indifference; and customer concerns regarding information on food security for online foods. The study was conducted in Srinagar the capital of Kashmir, the time period of data collection was October to February 2020. The selection was randomly conducted on two hundred sixteen (216) clients online via Google forms and collected through email and whatsapp. Most interviewees claimed they were looking for nutritious products via the internet (68.3 percent). About a third of the people surveyed select products based on accurate food safety or food facts. The majority of respondents (51.6%) concerned the date of expiry and most of the information on brand names (9.8%) and food licenses (11.3%) was ignored. People with a serious internet connection and difficulty with normal duties were more likely to seek for online food products. These results give customers meaningful recommendations in the online purchasing of chosen food items. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Srinagar city experienced significant expansion especially during the last four decades, which has negatively impacted its aquatic resources and their functioning. The present study aims to assess the impact of the urban growth on the natural drainage network of the Srinagar city from 1971 to 2020. The changes in the morphometry of natural drainage and urban morphology were quantified through the selected indicators. Four sample sites were selected from the study area for detailed ground validation of the quantified changes. Our results reveal that there has been almost a fourfold increase in the built-up area, taking place in all the directions, primarily in the form of edge expansion that has largely encroahed the urban streams. The findings further indicate that on the whole drainage system of the city has lost almost 15% of its total capacity. The effects of increasing built-up warrant immediate attention to initiate conservation measures for the natural drainage network of the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Probabilistic seismic hazard assessment (PSHA) for the Kashmir region located in the northwestern Himalayas has been performed to quantitatively estimate the probability of exceedance of various ground-shaking levels. An updated earthquake catalog composed of 7826 events was prepared by combining historical events (from 1250 BC) and instrumental events (1900–2020). Kijko's maximum likelihood technique yielded seismicity parameter b-value 0.92–1.05 and mmax ~ 7.98 for the entire Kashmir region. A comparison of three seismicity delustering methods has been presented based on the resulting seismicity parameters. PSHA computations were conducted using RCRISIS software based on a logic tree approach to account for the model uncertainties in attenuation models and epistemic uncertainties due to declustering methods. Seismic hazard maps at bedrock for four return periods of 475, 950, 2475, and 4950 years were prepared using peak ground accelerations (PGA) as well as short- (0.2 s) and long-period (1 s) spectral accelerations (Sa). Sensitivity analysis of the computed hazard revealed the substantial effect of attenuation relationships as well as declustering methods on the outcomes. Furthermore, hazard curves and uniform hazard response spectra at each of the 1228 grid points were developed. The southwestern, northwestern, and northern regions of the valley including Pulwama, Shopian, Kulgam, and Budgam were found to have the highest hazard as opposed to the central regions like Ganderbal and parts of Baramula. Kashmir region was divided into five zones (ZA-ZE) of high to low seismicity with mean PGA values of 0.175, 0.258, 0.379, 0.456, and 0.514 g, respectively, for the 2475-year return period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study simulates the devastating floods in Kashmir that caused widespread damage in the valley from September 2-6 2014. The study used NCEP-NCAR FNL data for the initialization and simulation of the WRF ARW model. Statistical analysis of temperature over four places namely Anantnag, Srinagar, Pulwama, and Baramulla taking RMSE and MBIAS at 24, 48, 72, and 96 hours was also done against observed ECMWF-ERA5 temperature data. Further analysis of RMSE and MBIAS showed a minimum value at 48, 72, and 96 h indicating the improvement of prediction after 6 hours. Rainfall amount was under-predicted by the model with a time lag of 4 h while temperature time series over four districts were significantly closer to observation. Furthermore, the Model was able to capture the strong vertical velocities along with sufficient moisture content up to 600 hPa at the time of observed rainfall. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Although primary abdominal tumors are rare but their diagnosis, high-cost treatment and psychological instability among both patients and parents are challenging. There are several types of abdominal tumors in pediatric age group which include neuroblastoma, Wilm's tumor, hepatoblastoma, lymphomas, soft-tissue sarcomas, and germ cell tumors. Aims and Objectives: The present study was objectively conducted to identify Hodgkin lymphoma (HL) and non-Hodgkin lymphoma (NHL) tumors among all patients presented with abdominal tumors. In addition to this, histopatological profile, clinical profile and disease prognosis among such patients has also been analyzed. Materials and Methods: A total of 64 pediatric patients presented with primary abdominal tumors were included in the study but only 20 patients with lymphoma were identified. The study was conducted at the Department of Pediatric Division, SMHS Hospital Srinagar with effect from 2005 to 2008. Results: The Majority of NHL patients were found to have Stage II and Stage IV. Moreover, all the four cases of Hodkins lymphoma had Stage IV. Out of the 20 patients with lymphoma six died, of them five had NHL and one patient had HL, thus placing the overall survival rate as 70%. Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that both NHL and HL tumors may develop to advanced stage and even patient may die if the timely diagnosis and proper management is not there. We recommend collective team work of medicos from various departments for the precise diagnosis and optimal management of such patients. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Carpal tunnel syndrome (CTS) is the prevalent cause of pain, numbness, tingling, and weakness. It is known that whenever the median nerve, a major peripheral nerve of the upper limb, originating from the forearm into the palm of the hand, becomes pressed or squeezed at the wrist, it leads to a condition commonly known as CTS. Aims and Objectives: The present study has been objectively conducted to assess the role of grey scale and power Doppler ultrasound of the median nerve at the wrist in evaluating CTS. The comparative analysis between USG findings and surgical findings of median nerve in CTS will also be made. Materials and Methods: The present prospective study has been conducted at the SKIMS-MC, Srinagar for a period of 6 months from January 2022 to June 2022 in the Department of Radio diagnosis and Imaging in association with the Department of Orthopedics. A total of 30 patients have been included in the study. The cases were referred from Department of Orthopedics with clinically characterized CTS. Results: Out of total 30 patients; 03 (10%) were males and 27 (90%) were females with a male to female ratio of 1:9. We observe that vascularity of median nerve was present in (56.7%) and absent in (43.3%) patients. The median nerve thinning and indentation were reflected by (80%) patients and the same was absent among (20%) patients, we did not find any agreement between surgical and sonographic parameters with the mean difference of 2.527 mm between sonographic and intraoperative perimeters, the difference was statistically significant (P<0.001, CI 95%). Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that ultrasonography aided with power Doppler precisely detected CTS cases. Evidently, we find a significant difference between surgical and sonographic parameters with the mean difference of 2.527 mm between sonographic and intraoperative perimeters. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Globally an enormous amount of sewage and sludge is being generated which has turned out to be a major environmental threat due to the associated risks arising from heavy metals. In this context the present study aimed to assess the concentration of heavy metals in sewage and sludge from wastewater treatment plants located around Dal Lake of Srinagar city. Aluminum, iron, zinc, lead, copper, mercury, arsenic, cadmium and chromium were determined using atomic absorption spectrophotometer. Certain key physico-chemical characteristics of sewage in raw and effluent were also evaluated. Health risk assessment using non-carcinogenic and carcinogenic risk revealed suitability of sludge in agriculture which till now remain a neglected resource in the city. Principal component analysis showed that the maximum variability in the data was reflected from sludge samples, whereas correlation among physico-chemical parameters and heavy metals revealed influence of ionic properties of wastewater on heavy metal distribution. While concentration of heavy metals was within the discharge standards, physico-chemical parameters like total suspended solids, ammonia, biochemical oxygen demand and total phosphorus were exceeding the standards meant for effluent disposal. This is one of the unique situations wherein the waste water from the entire city is discharged into Dal Lake without subjecting to advanced treatment. Since the lake is directly linked with supply chain of food and water, continuous discharge of heavy metals have the potential to build up toxicity and cause harm to the lake biota and public health thereof. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Despite of not being a gender specific disease, females in Srinagar are found to be more susceptible to Diabetes Mellitus (DM) as compared to their male counterparts. It may be due to the fact that physical work, which once constituted a considerable part of their house hold work, has reduced substantially. This change in lifestyle has emerged as a paramount cause for the rise of this disease in contemporary society. Present study was conducted with a sample size of thirty three respondents at Sher-e-Kashmir Institute of medical Sciences, Soura (SKIMS) by means of purposive random sampling technique. Main objective of the paper in hand is to study and analyse dependency of females on their male counterparts for their treatment; to study the relation between their education level and awareness of the disease; and the burden of disease on them. It was observed that their awareness level about the disease was very low and it was a social as well as economic burden for them. More than half of the respondents had to face the stress of one disease or another in addition to Diabetes. Results of the study showed that majority of the women were dependent on one or another male member of their family with regard to deciding for the course of the treatment. Despite of having very low literacy level, majority of the respondents wanted that children should be taught about the disease from a tender age in order to make them aware of the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim. This empirical study aims to conceptualise the prevalence of Informal Vocational Training (IVT) in India. It also explores the missing link at accreditation level between IVTs and other formal vocational, technical and professional courses and depicts their implications in the occupational, economic, social and cultural lives of people. Methods. This study was conducted in the Srinagar city of the Union Territory of Jammu and Kashmir in India. Both the survey method and the case method were used for collecting the primary data and applying triangulation methodologically. Results. This study reveals that elites generally dominate in the prestigious technical and professional courses because of better accessibility and affordability, and that the vulnerable sections miss many of these opportunities. The vulnerable sections very often get the benefits of IVTs learnt outside the formal system in finding some employment, but such employment attracts lower prestige and income than what they get through formal technical and professional courses. IVTs find no academic recognition in the existing accreditation system, and so people culturally and socially associated with these IVTs continue to remain deprived. Conclusion. There is a need to develop a credit-based link between IVTs and formal vocational, technical and professional courses so that the skills learnt thro ugh IVTs could get transferred to the formal system and attract better occupational and economic rewards. The findings are relevant for both developing and developed societies, but more particularly for societies having a considerable presence of informal economy because IVTs exist more within these economies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Landslides are critical natural disasters characterized by a downward movement of land masses. As one of the deadliest types of disasters worldwide, they have a high death toll every year and cause a large amount of economic damage. The transition between urban and rural areas is characterized by highways, which, in rugged Himalayan terrain, have to be constructed by cutting into the mountains, thereby destabilizing them and making them prone to landslides. This study was conducted landslide-prone regions of the entire Himalayan belt, i.e., National Highway NH-44 (the Jammu–Srinagar stretch). The main objectives of this study are to understand the causes behind the regular recurrence of the landslides in this region and propose a landslide early warning system (LEWS) based on the most suitable machine learning algorithms among the four selected, i.e., multiple linear regression, adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS), random forest, and decision tree. It was found that ANFIS and random forest outperformed the other proposed methods with a substantial increase in overall accuracy. The LEWS model was developed using the land system parameters that govern landslide occurrence, such as rainfall, soil moisture, distance to the road and river, slope, land surface temperature (LST), and the built-up area (BUA) near the landslide site. The developed LEWS was validated using various statistical error assessment tools such as the root mean square error (RMSE), mean square error (MSE), confusion matrix, out-of-bag (OOB) error estimation, and area under the receiver operating characteristic (ROC) curve (AUC). The outcomes of this study can help to manage landslide hazards in the Himalayan urban–rural transition zones and serve as a sample study for similar mountainous regions of the world. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Srinagar region of Kashmir Valley in North West Himalayas, covers more than 2 million inhabitants and is exposed to high seismic risk. In order to gain insight on potential site effects and subsurface structure of the region, we carried out an extensive high-resolution microtremor ambient noise survey at 429 locations. The acquired dataset was processed using the Horizontal to Vertical Spectral Ratio (HVSR) technique to map the resonance frequency, the thickness of sedimentary cover, and to identify areas prone to seismic amplification. We provide a spatial classification of the obtained HVSR curves in four types: (1) clear peak H/V curves relating the strong impedance contrast in the subsurface; (2) multiple peaks (or Broad) H/V curves corresponding to sloping internal stratification of sediments; (3) two peaks H/V curves related to two different impedance contrast existing in the subsurface; (4) flat H/V curves around and over hard rock outcroppings. The HVSR curves show the peaks in the range of 0.22 Hz to 9.96 Hz indicating heterogeneous and complex sedimentary cover in the region. Inversion of the HVSR curves gives the shear waves velocity distribution which highlights two distinct reflective surfaces in most of the areas. In addition, we also used the estimated fundamental frequency of various types of houses/buildings located in Srinagar city to assess the possibility of resonance in case of occurrence of any earthquake. This study adds a value to the region in earthquake engineering, seismic hazard and risk evaluation purpose for Srinagar and its suburbs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 is the repugnant but the most searched word since its outbreak in November 2019 across the globe. The world has to battle with it until an effective solution is developed. Due to the advancement in mobile and sensor technology, it is possible to come up with Internet of things-based healthcare systems. These novel healthcare systems can be proactive and preventive rather than traditional reactive healthcare systems. This article proposes a real-time IoT-enabled framework for the detection and prediction of COVID-19 suspects in early stages, by collecting symptomatic data and analyzing the nature of the virus in a better manner. The framework computes the presence of COVID-19 virus by mining the health parameters collected in real time from sensors and other IoT devices. The framework is comprised of four main components: user system or data collection center, data analytic center, diagnostic system, and cloud system. To point out and detect the COVID-19 suspected in real time, this work proposes the five machine learning techniques, namely support vector machine (SVM), decision tree, naïve Bayes, logistic regression, and neural network. In our proposed framework, the real and primary dataset collected from SKIMS, Srinagar, is used to validate our work. The experiment on the primary dataset was conducted using different machine learning techniques on selected symptoms. The efficiency of algorithms is calculated by computing the results of performance metrics such as accuracy, precision, recall, F1 score, root-mean-square error, and area under the curve score. The employed machine learning techniques have shown the accuracy of above 95% on the primary symptomatic data. Based on the experiment conducted, the proposed framework would be effective in the early identification and prediction of COVID-19 suspect realizing the nature of the disease in better way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]