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The paper traces water-related social concern, or hydro-anxiety, on Delhi’s rural periphery. It follows Matthew Gandy’s assertion that ‘the history of cities can be read as a history of water’, even as it expands the urban to encompass its extensions, including the surrounding rural belt. Building on community-engaged research, the paper describes the persistent anxieties around water since the 1950s, even as their specific articulations have changed in terms of both abundance and sensory qualities. Relating the shifts with local responses to the state’s civil works since the mid-1960s, it argues that as these villages become incorporated into urban systems, historical relations with water are brought within the patchy and uncertain ones that characterise engineered hydrologies of the Global South. The paper contributes to the debate on urban change in the metropolitan shadow by empirically underlining the agrarian entanglements of peri-urban experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

How do organized economic interests affect the governance of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic? We investigate whether the structural and instrumental power of employer organizations and unions impact upon the stringency of containment measures implemented by governing authorities to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, focusing on Italy during the first Covid-19 wave of early 2020 as a crucial case. Using Hausman–Taylor panel regression models and original indicators of regional stringency and of unions and employers' organizations' efforts to exercise instrumental power via public pressure on social media, we find that the intensity of public pressure by employer organizations is negatively correlated with the stringency of the policy responses implemented by regional authorities to tackle the Covid-19 pandemic, whilst union pressures only show a limited effect. Our findings demonstrate that business pressure and the interplay of economic and class interests are constitutive of the governance of a crucial social and public health phenomenon such as the Covid-19 pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The centrality of home equity to the balance sheets of American households, and the oppressive legacy of racial exclusion from mortgage markets, compel the design of intentionally anti-racist housing policy capable of building lasting wealth for Black families. In this study, we compare the home-mortgage terms offered to middle-income Whites in the New Deal era, with a contemporary New York City policy offered in formerly redlined districts. The city's Housing Development Fund Corporation policy is for limited-income households but does not limit down payments nor qualify for federal home loans. Using mined listing data and the 2017 Panel Study of Income Dynamics, we find more than 80% of income-eligible urban Black households lack the wealth to purchase the median listing, versus 51% of Whites. Moreover, the policy's market exclusions preclude access to what is now substantial accumulated equity. Unit owners face wide-scale housing-code violations and property seizure, highlighting the limitations of "limited equity" ownership, which counteracts wealth creation. We draw two primary lessons. First, anti-racist policy cannot demand substantial financial assets. Second, financing schemes for building improvement or climate-responsive adaptation, in addition to initial purchase, should be well-tailored to family budgets and designed to deliver equity to the formerly excluded. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objective Study objectives are to detect small airways disease in asthma and to study T2 inflammatory markers (eosinophil count, IgE, phenotyping) in association with small airways disease. Methods and patients The retrospective study at OPC at Al Qassimi Hospital of EHS included 83 patients with confirmed asthma diagnosis. Based on their ACT scores, patients were divided into two groups. An assessment of demographic data, blood eosinophils, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, IgE, PFE25-75, FEV1%, R5-20, X5 and AX was carried out. Analyzing and collecting data. Results In this study, a significant correlation was found between the R5-20, X5, and AX values of the small airway and the asthma control test. Uncontrolled asthmatics had a higher fractional exhaled nitric oxide level and blood eosinophilic count. Conclusion In asthma management, small airways clinical impact should be investigated actively. Impulse oscillometry is an excellent marker for asthma control.

ABSTRACTUrban regeneration of previously developed, or brownfield, land requires a host of competing factors to ‘fall into place’ at the same time. This includes private finance to develop and deliver a vision for how an area will develop and integrate with the existing urban fabric. Governmental support is also essential to enable the development to take place. This paper focuses on the urban regeneration of Gloucester Quays by Peel Holdings, in the south-west of the UK, and uses a combined practice theory and systems of provision approach created by Williams et al. in 2019 to explore the factors that enabled the regeneration to occur. The paper explores each level of the governance structure and the practices that influence planning and development. It demonstrates that many different factors need to fall into place to enable regeneration to take place, and the system of provision model enables the identification of these factors.

Objective Study objectives are to detect small airways disease in asthma and to study T2 inflammatory markers (eosinophil count, IgE, phenotyping) in association with small airways disease. Methods and patients The retrospective study at OPC at Al Qassimi Hospital of EHS included 83 patients with confirmed asthma diagnosis. Based on their ACT scores, patients were divided into two groups. An assessment of demographic data, blood eosinophils, fractional exhaled nitric oxide, IgE, PFE25-75, FEV1%, R5-20, X5 and AX was carried out. Analyzing and collecting data. Results In this study, a significant correlation was found between the R5-20, X5, and AX values of the small airway and the asthma control test. Uncontrolled asthmatics had a higher fractional exhaled nitric oxide level and blood eosinophilic count. Conclusion In asthma management, small airways clinical impact should be investigated actively. Impulse oscillometry is an excellent marker for asthma control. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The global economy is currently experiencing unprecedented changes as the BRICS nations establish themselves as a signifi cant power center and a crucial factor in the transformation of the international economic framework. Following China’s chairmanship of BRICS, which culminated in the BRICS+ meetings with a diverse range of emerging market economies, these and other countries have expressed their desire to join the BRICS group. The expansion process was largely catalyzed by the openness exhibited by BRICS through the BRICS+ format. The main question at this juncture is how the BRICS+ format will develop and whether it can enhance the position of BRICS in the global arena and among the Global South. This paper explores some of the opportunities presented by the BRICS+ concept in the creation of new global governance, particularly through the establishment of platforms – including those in the real sector and fi nancial platforms aimed at promoting greater cooperation among the sovereign wealth funds and regional development banks of the Global South. Another critical area is the launch of a new reserve currency that could serve as the foundation for greater economic integration across the broad platform of the developing world.

We analyse whether and to what extent the quality of regional institutions has a differential effect on firms' growth driven by heterogeneity in firm value chain positioning. We analyse turnover growth during the period 2010–2013 for a sample of manufacturing firms located in four European countries—France, Germany, Italy and Spain. We distinguish final firms serving end markets from suppliers serving other firms. Our instrumental variable estimates point to high-quality regional institutions enhancing the growth performance of only locally embedded suppliers with operations confined to the own regional market—that is, the 'weakest' node of the value chain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Saponins are natural surfactants that are readily biodegradable, generally non-toxic to humans and environmentally friendly. In this work, the surface properties, coffee ring effect and characterisation of the extract of Albizia procera pod were studied. It showed good washing power and good soil or dirt dispersion and cleaned effectively at low surface tension. The extract is equivalent to commercial detergents, making it a viable biosurfactant. In addition to the critical micelle concentration, there is a lower concentration atwhich the surface tension curves flatten out. We have named this concentration "Minor Critical Micelle Concentration". The surfactant also reduces the coffee ring effect of a drying droplet and provides a reasonably uniform distribution of suspended particles. This effect can be used to estimate the critical micelle concentration. The Fourier transform infrared spectrum of the extract shows the presence of the functional groups -OH, C-H, C=C and C-O-C, which are also found in saponins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using housing transaction data from Beijing during 2013–16, this paper evaluates the education premium for good primary schools and its changes. We use the regression discontinuity method to estimate the average education premium and its variation year by year. We take advantage of differences in the right to school enrollment between homeowners and renters to determine the discontinuity boundaries. Furthermore, the difference-in-differences method is applied to investigate the changes in housing prices triggered by changes in the school attendance zones. We find that the average education premium for the top 59 high-quality primary schools in Beijing was about 11% and increased each year. During the sample period, the increase accumulated to more than 50%. The changes in the school attendance zones led to a significant 1.5%–3.5% rise in housing prices. This shows that it would be better to increase the supply of quality education rather than only guiding the demand for it to promote educational equity.

Research background: The search for stable factors affecting latent variables that reflect the assessment of quality of life in three areas of an individual’s functioning is the background of the study. In the analysis was assumed the existence of the relationships between QoL assessment and subjective factors related to socio-economic aspects.

Research background: The search for factors influencing the evaluation of the quality of life in terms of subjective and objective socio-economic aspects was the background of the study. The search for perfect multivariate statistical methods in the describing of the assessments made by respondents in variable groups, as well as the categories was carried out.