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Intersecting Barriers: Gender, Religion and the Political Under-representation of Muslim Women in Local Governance in Bihar
Womens reservation policies have substantially expanded female political participation in India, yet the representation of Muslim women continues to remain disproportionately low across levels of governance. Drawing on detailed administrative data from the 2016 and 2021 Panchayat elections in Bihar, this study examines the institutional, structural and behavioural mechanisms that shape Muslim womens political inclusion. Using a supply-side framework, the analysis formalizes two key determinants of contest entry, past co-ethnic competitiveness and demographic potential, and shows how these factors jointly influence womens decisions to contest elections. The results highlight the central role of institutional design and strategic expectations in shaping minority womens political agency, even in communities where demographic conditions appear favourable for political representation. 2026 Lokniti, Centre For The Study Of Developing Societies -
Biomedical Waste Management: Legal and Regulatory Framework and Remedial Strategies
The present chapter begins with conceptual analysis of legal and regulatory framework from Indian as well as international perspectives. Follow through comparative analysis of Basel Convention on the Control of Trans-Boundary Movement of Hazardous Waste and Their Disposal, 1992; Convention on the Import into Africa and the Control of Trans-Boundary Movement and Management of Hazardous Wastes within Africa, Bamako, 1998; Convention on Persistent Organic Pollutants (POPs), Stockholm 2004; with Biomedical Waste Management Rules 2016 and (Amendment 2018) of India. The chapter also presents the legal and regulatory frameworks from the perspective of the United Kingdom, Indonesia, Kenya, and Sri Lanka as case studies. The chapter focuses on addressing SDG 3 (Good Health and Wellbeing), SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth), SDG 9 (Industry, Innovation, and Infrastructure), SDG 10 (Reduced Inequalities), SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities), SDG 12 (Responsible Consumption and Production), SDG 14 (Life Below Water), SDG 15 (Life on Land), SDG 16 (Peace, Justice, and Strong Institutions), and SDG 17 (Partnerships for the Goals). 2025 Moharana Choudhury, Ankur Rajpal, Srijan Goswami, Arghya Chakravorty and Vimala Raghavan. -
Linkage between enterpreneurial orientation and export performance of South Asian countries
Purpose: South Asian economies has witnessed export dependence over the past several years and the dependence has increased manifold. Export performance is the most preferred modes of internationalisation in developing economies as it is directly linked to getting access to international markets with limited resources and capabilities thereby contributing to the economic productivity of the country. This paper examines co-integration between the export performance and entrepreneurial orientation in South Asian nations explaining it as the main enabler of export. Entrepreneurial Orientation has been considered an important criterion for promoting export as EO requires innovation, proactiveness and risk taking which provides competitive advantage to enterprises. Design/Methodology/Approach: The research employed an econometric panel cointegration investigation to analyse the long run relationship of economic orientation and export performance among these nations. Findings: The research confirmed positive long run causality between the innovativeness, proactiveness and risk taking as three dimensions of entrepreneurial orientation and export concentration ratio as an indicator for export performance among South Asian nations. So, if these developing nations continue to diversify their product & market mix in exporting products and services the concentration ratio would improve that would result in growing further economic productivity. Practical implications: This research will serve as an aid to policy makers and entrepreneurs of South Asian nations to focus on the diverse mix of variety of products, services and markets to help South Asian nations prosper. Originality/Value: The policy makers and entrepreneurs of South Asian nations have accorded high priority to export performance. This research is one of the few studies that highlights access to EO as the basis for better export performance of South Asian nations. 2021, Allied Business Academies. All rights reserved. -
Economic growth and higher education in south asian countries: Evidence from econometrics
South Asian economies has witnessed very slow growth over the years and the gap has widened manifold between other nations of Asia particularly East Asian nations and South Asian nations. This paper examines co-integration between the economic growth and reach of higher education in South Asian nations explaining this disparity. The research employed an econometric panel co-integration investigation to analyse the long run relationship of higher education and economic growth among these nations. The research confirmed positive long run causality between the economic growth of the South Asian nations and gross enrolment ratio of higher education. So, if the South Asian nations continue with their existing pattern of paying less attention to higher education by allocating low share of investment on it, poor human capital formation would result in growing further economic disparity between developed and South Asian nations where rich nations would remain richer and poor nations would remain poor with the gap remaining unabridged. This research will serve as an aid to policy makers, educators and financers of South Asian nations to bridge the gap between high-and low-income nations. The focus on the quantum of spending on higher education by the government will help improve the reach of tertiary education and build economic prosperity in these nations. 2020, Sciedu Press. All rights reserved. -
Integrating AI into Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) for Ethical and Sustainable Business Practices
The rapid advancement of artificial intelligence (AI) technologies has significantly transformed various facets of business operations, including corporate social responsibility (CSR). As businesses strive to align their growth strategies with ethical, social, and environmental responsibilities, AI emerges as a powerful tool to enhance the effectiveness of CSR initiatives. This research investigates the integration of AI into CSR, exploring its potential to drive more sustainable business practices, improve transparency, and foster ethical decision-making within organizations. By employing a combination of qualitative and quantitative research methods, this study examines how AI-powered analytics, automation, and decision-making frameworks can optimize CSR efforts. Key areas of exploration include AI's role in enhancing supply chain sustainability, optimizing resource allocation, detecting unethical business practices, and enabling real-time monitoring and reporting of CSR initiatives. 2026, IGI Global Scientific Publishing. -
Scaling new heights: personal transformation through high altitude trekking in the Himalayas
In recent times, the human-nature continuum is being explored and studies have shown different kinds of terrains and nature evoke different emotional responses in individuals. Trekking in high-altitude mountains is one kind of nature and is special in terms of the height, the extent of naturalness and the experience of living in the wilderness that is involved. The current study focuses on understanding the experience of high-altitude trekking for novice Indian trekkers. The semi-structured interview data from eight participants who had gone on four different treks in the Himalayas was analysed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. The following themes- motivational factors, preparation, environmental shift, social relationships, psychological impact and physical impact- emerged with personal transformation being the essence of the experience. The themes bring forth the various psychological benefits of interacting with nature whilst facilitating social connection. The research emphasises the psychosocial benefits of the trekking experience and paves the way for a holistic approach towards health and well-being in theoretical and therapeutic approaches in the Indian scenario. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to Outdoor Education Australia 2025. -
Next generation employability andcareer sustainability inthehospitality industry 5.0
Purpose: With an industry 5.0 revolution taking place in the hospitality industry, a shift from manual to cognitive labor is anticipated, characterized by greater sustainability, resilience and a human-centric approach. In this regard, hospitality educators' ability and willingness to teach novel topics such as automation at work, upskilling of employees, man-machine interaction and service robots have become more important than ever. This study aims to interpret the perspectives of hospitality educators about bridging the gap in the employability skills of (next-gen) hospitality graduates and the concerns relating to career sustainability in times of transition. Design/methodology/approach: A case study method was used given the novelty of the topic in a developing country like India. A qualitative survey with open-ended questions, is employed to understand the viewpoints of Indian hospitality educators, including those with more than 15years of teaching experience. In-depth interviews were conducted with 23 hospitality educators to reach the theoretical saturation point. MAXQDA software was used to analyze the qualitative data collected in the study. Findings: The findings reveal the challenges and motivations of hospitality educators in adapting to frequently changing business environments. In doing so, it sheds light on the methods employed to create a generation of hospitality graduates aligned with the changing dynamics of the industry. Originality/value: The paper presents the viewpoints of hospitality educators in India in relation to a futuristic approach to next-gen employability and career sustainability. Whilst numerous studies have focused on the role of robots and artificial intelligence in replacing the human component of the service environment, the concept of people working alongside advanced technologies is fairly new and needs to be fully explored. 2023, Emerald Publishing Limited. -
An Improved and Efficient YOLOv4 Method for Object Detection in Video Streaming
As object detection has gained popularity in recent years, there are many object detection algorithms available in today's world. Yet the algorithm with better accuracy and better speed is considered vital for critical applications. Therefore, in this article, the use of the YOLOV4 object detection algorithm is combined with improved and efficient inference methods. The YOLOV4 state-of-the-art algorithm is 12% faster compared to its previous version, YOLOV3, and twice as faster compared to the EfficientDet algorithm in the Tesla V100 GPU. However, the algorithm has lacked performance on an average machine and on single-board machines like Jetson Nano and Jetson TX2. In this research, we examine the performance of inferencing in several frameworks and propose a framework that effectively uses hardware to optimize the network while consuming less than 30% of the hardware of other frameworks. 2022, The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. -
Probing the soft state evolution of 4U 1543-47 during its 2021 outburst using AstroSat
4U 1543-47 underwent its brightest outburst in 2021 after two decades of inactivity. During its decay phase, AstroSat conducted nine observations of the source spanning from 2021 July 1 to September 26. The first three observations were performed with an offset of 40 arcmin with AstroSat/LAXPC, while the remaining six were on-axis observations. In this report, we present a comprehensive spectral analysis of the source as it was in the High/Soft state during the entire observation period. The source exhibited a disc-dominated spectra with a weak high-energy tail (power-law index ?2.5) and a high inner disc temperature (?0.84 keV). Modelling the disc continuum with non-relativistic and relativistic models, we find inner radius to be significantly truncated at >10 Rg. Alternatively, to model the spectral evolution with the assumption that the inner disc is at the innermost stable circular orbit, it is necessary to introduce variation in the spectral hardening in the range ?1.5-1.9. 2023 The Author(s). -
On the secure vertex cover pebbling number
A new graph invariant called the secure vertex cover pebbling number, which is a combination of two graph invariants, namely, secure vertex cover and cover pebbling number, is introduced in this paper. The secure vertex cover pebbling number of a graph, G, is the minimum number m so that every distribution of m pebbles can reach some secure vertex cover of G by a sequence of pebbling moves. In this paper, the complexity of the secure vertex cover problem and secure vertex cover pebbling problem are discussed. Also, we obtain some basic results and the secure vertex cover pebbling number for complete r-partite graphs, paths, Friendship graphs, and wheel graphs. 2023 World Scientific Publishing Co. Pte Ltd. All rights reserved. -
Animal-Assisted Therapy : Effect on Neuropsychological Functioning, Depression and Emotion Regulation
The mere presence of a dog in a therapeutic setup is known to bring about positive newlineoutcomes, so when incorporated into therapy, dogs can bring multifarious benefits that are not entirely tapped upon. There also exist cultural differences in the perception towards and acceptance of animals which limits the generalisability of western literature. This research aimed to study the effect of animal-assisted therapy, with therapy dogs, on depression, emotional newlineregulation and neuropsychological functioning of individuals. A pretest-posttest experimental research design was used wherein 42 participants were matched and randomly divided into experimental and control groups. Both the groups received therapeutic interventions once a week, for 45 minutes, over a period of 2 months, however, only the experimental group received animal-assisted therapy. Beck Depression Inventory-II, Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale newlineand NIMHANS Neuropsychology Battery were used to gauge the level of depression, emotion newlineregulation and neuropsychological functioning before and after the intervention. The findings reveal that both the experimental and control group saw a significant improvement in their level of depression and emotion regulation, however, only the experimental group showed a significant improvement in all the measured domains of neuropsychological functioning. No newlinesignificant changes were observed in the domains of neuropsychological functioning of the control group. The results help validate the animal-assisted therapy interventions provided to improve the individuals neuropsychological functioning, and emotion regulation and alleviate depression. Further implications are identified and discussed as per the results. -
EFFECT OF ANIMAL-ASSISTED THERAPY ON DEPRESSION, MEMORY, ATTENTION, AND EMOTION REGULATION
Introduction: The mere presence of a dog in a therapeutic setup is known to bring about more positive outcomes when incorporated in therapy, dogs can bring about multifarious benefits which are not entirely tapped upon. Aim: This research aimed to study the effect of animal-assisted therapy (AAT), with therapy dogs, on depressive symptoms, emotional regulation, memory and attention of individuals. Method: A pretest-posttest quasi-experimental research design was used. Psychology Experiment Building Language (PEBL) for memory and attention, Difficulty in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) were used for pre and post-testing 1 week before and post the intervention. Results: The findings reveal a positive impact of AAT on the given domains of memory, attention, emotion regulation and depressive symptoms, in the experimental group. No significant changes were obtained for the control group. Discussion: The results help validate the module of AAT to improve an individuals cognitive functioning and alleviate depressive and emotional dysregulations. Further implications are discussed. 2023, Institute for Human Rehabilitation. All rights reserved. -
Psychoneuroimmunological Perspective of Animal - Assisted Therapy
Animal-assisted therapy is a new and upcoming form of therapy that has shown multifarious benefits to participants. It is a goal-oriented therapeutic process with the incorporation of a qualified therapy animal in the therapeutic activities and conversations. This paper explores these benefits from a psychoneuroimmunological lens, wherein the interplay of and impact on an individual's psychological, neurological and immune systems are discussed. Positive physical interaction with therapy animals reduces undesirable symptoms and ailments such as stress, anxiety, depressive symptoms, aggressive tendencies, harmful behaviours, cardiovascular issues and unhealthy tendencies amongst others. It further promotes a healthier lifestyle, promoting quality of life, better heart health, cognitive functioning and overall well-being. The biological basis of these benefits is discussed. 2024 Oriental Scientific Publishing Company. All rights reserved. -
Enhancing Low-Power VLSI Design through AI-Based Simulation and Optimization
AI and ML techniques have dramatically influenced rapid developments in low-power VLSI design with fast advancements in device simulations and power optimization strategies. AI-based simulation tools are now used for accurate modeling of power consumption, improving thermal analysis, and quickening design iterations through the detection of inefficiencies and optimization of energy consumption. In fact, this work focuses on some AI-enabled methods of power reduction techniques such as voltage scaling, clock gating, and leakage current minimization with respect to a sustainable VLSI design. Moreover, a synthetic dataset is created to mimic the actual power consumption trend in VLSI circuits so that predictive modeling and regression techniques can be used for power estimation. Different regression models are used to check the predictive accuracy, and it was found that the highest R2 score was 0.85 by Linear Regression, while the worst was achieved by Decision Tree Regression at 0.50. Results of the correlation analysis and models by machine learning clearly indicate that the frequency and operating voltage are the major contributors to consumption power, while gate counts have a relatively insignificant contribution. Introduction of AI in VLSI simulation enables the enhancement of power efficiency while maintaining sustainability outcomes by optimizing energy usage and cost reduction in terms of computation. 2025 IEEE. -
Effective Methods of Waste Management Practices in Green Hotels Toward Green Brand Image: An Empirical Study
The changes in consumer tastes are a significant motivating factor for hotels to adopt environmentally friendly practices. Recently, there has been a significant focus on the perils of climate change and the significance of adopting sustainable practices. As a result, environmentalism now influences almost every consumer decision. With the increasing awareness of environmental sustainability in the hospitality industry, the options for eco-friendly hotels are expanding, providing a wider range of choices for potential customers. Thus, this study seeks to examine the efficient strategies employed by green hotels for trash management to enhance their green brand image. Customer data from hotels was gathered and examined using SPSS 25 software. The findings suggest that implementing energy efficiency measures, promoting water conservation, and adopting sustainable and environmentally conscious building practices are effective approaches to waste management that can improve a companys brand image. The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2025. -
Transforming potential into performance: harnessing AI-driven competency frameworks to nurture talent in higher education
The Indian Higher Education System is the backbone for economic expansion, creativity and innovation resulting in the progress of the nation. With a huge network of universities, colleges, and institutes, India's higher education system is one of the world's largest, serving millions of students. Despite its rapid growth the Higher Education System in India is witnessing issues like lower research output in comparison with global benchmarks, shortage of qualified academic staff and inadequate quality. Considering the available store house of literature and need gap analysis this paper aims to investigate how competence frameworks powered by artificial intelligence might help to turn promise into performance, to examine the changing talent needs in Higher Education by looking at how the demands of academia, industry, and research are always changing and also to investigate AI's function in Competency-Based Talent Management. Based on the discussions of multiple spectrums namely, Academic excellence, Students employability and Industry readiness, Research Innovation, Teaching effectiveness, Global and National Rankings and Faculty Satisfaction, the paper has suggested the implementation of AI to all pervasively enable the academic Institutions to grow, diversify and enrich the talent acquisition and retention. The paper also focussed on the significance of the inclusion of AI driven automation process to tide over the mundane difficulties of administrative work, to enrich the collaborative research initiatives, to benefit the teaching community to concentrate on modern andragogies, to upscale the Global and National Rankings, to gain academic excellence, to strengthen the employability skills among the students and ultimately to promote the overall satisfaction of the educators and educates. The paper concluded that well trained Higher Education Institutions can optimize their workload judiciously by incorporating AI tools and in turn can contribute to a better learning environment. 2026 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved. -
Cation-controlled wetting properties of vermiculite membranes and its promise for fouling resistant oilwater separation
Manipulating the surface energy, and thereby the wetting properties of solids, has promise for various physical, chemical, biological and industrial processes. Typically, this is achieved by either chemical modification or by controlling the hierarchical structures of surfaces. Here we report a phenomenon whereby the wetting properties of vermiculite laminates are controlled by the hydrated cations on the surface and in the interlamellar space. We find that vermiculite laminates can be tuned from superhydrophilic to hydrophobic simply by exchanging the cations; hydrophilicity decreases with increasing cation hydration free energy, except for lithium. The lithium-exchanged vermiculite laminate is found to provide a superhydrophilic surface due to its anomalous hydrated structure at the vermiculite surface. Building on these findings, we demonstrate the potential application of superhydrophilic lithium exchanged vermiculite as a thin coating layer on microfiltration membranes to resist fouling, and thus, we address a major challenge for oilwater separation technology. 2020, The Author(s). -
Determinants of renewable stock returns: The role of global supply chain pressure
This study investigates the determinants of the global renewable stocks index returns from November 2003 to August 2022. The explanatory variables include global supply chain pressure measures, climate policy uncertainty, global economic activity, and crude oil prices. The long-run panel dynamic Autoregressive Distributed Lag estimations show that the global supply chain pressure, climate policy uncertainty, and global economic activity redound renewable stock returns. These results are robust enough to utilise different long-run estimation techniques. Potential policy implications are also discussed. 2023 The Authors -
pH-dependent water permeability switching and its memory in MoS2 membranes
Intelligent transport of molecular species across different barriers is critical for various biological functions and is achieved through the unique properties of biological membranes14. Two essential features of intelligent transport are the ability to (1) adapt to different external and internal conditions and (2) memorize the previous state5. In biological systems, the most common form of such intelligence is expressed as hysteresis6. Despite numerous advances made over previous decades on smart membranes, it remains a challenge to create a synthetic membrane with stable hysteretic behaviour for molecular transport711. Here we demonstrate the memory effects and stimuli-regulated transport of molecules through an intelligent, phase-changing MoS2 membrane in response to external pH. We show that water and ion permeation through 1T? MoS2 membranes follows a pH-dependent hysteresis with a permeation rate that switches by a few orders of magnitude. We establish that this phenomenon is unique to the 1T? phase of MoS2, due to the presence of surface charge and exchangeable ions on the surface. We further demonstrate the potential application of this phenomenon in autonomous wound infection monitoring and pH-dependent nanofiltration. Our work deepens understanding of the mechanism of water transport at the nanoscale and opens an avenue for the development of intelligent membranes. 2023, The Author(s), under exclusive licence to Springer Nature Limited. -
Design and Implementation of a Single Phase Resonant Converter with Natural Power Factor Correction for Onboard Electric Vehicle Charging Applications
The proposed converter introduces a dual inductor dual capacitor (LCLC) resonant configuration by integrating the series inductance as the transformers leakage inductance and adding a parallel capacitor to the magnetizing inductance, enhancing power density and efficiency. Dual inductor capacitor (LLC) resonant converters used for alternating current to direct current (AC/DC) conversion are highly suitable for electric vehicle (EV) chargers due to their superior efficiency, high power density, and soft switching capabilities. This work increases power density by minimizing the size of the series inductor typically required in LLC converters through integration with the transformers leakage inductance. To control the output DC voltage, switching frequency control is utilized. However, the power factor of AC/DC resonant converters is generally poor. To improve the power factor, the proposed converter uses a boost converter at the front end, operating in discontinuous conduction mode (DCM) to achieve a unity displacement power factor. By sharing the same switches for both the power factor correction (PFC) and resonant stages, the converter is made more compact and cost effective. Furthermore, a bridgeless rectification technique is implemented to minimize the count of switching devices. The proposed topology and control strategy have been verified through hardware results on a 1500W LCLC AC/DC resonant converter with a 48 V, 30Ah lithium-ion (Li-ion) battery pack. This topology achieves high efficiency with zero voltage switching (ZVS), improved power factor, reduced component count, and a compact, cost effective design by sharing switches between PFC and resonant stages. The Author(s) under exclusive licence to The Korean Institute of Electrical Engineers 2026.