2835 research outputs found
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Looking at Exploratory Paradigms of Explainability in Creative Computing
No full textThe debate on creative computing revolves around two important questions: Can creative artifacts generated by machines be explained and can they be measured and distinguished? In all these scenarios, explainability and evaluation pose significant challenges for researchers. Evaluating creativity remains challenging whether it involves combinations and variants crafted through connectionist networks or a fusion of genetic algorithms and deep neural networks. This book chapter endeavors to illuminate the evaluation and explainability aspects of creative computing. Real-life creative environments are dynamic and only partially observable. Additionally, creativity is contextual and highly temporally significant. Something deemed profoundly creative at a particular instant may be subject to debate with a minor contextual change. This context-sensitive behavior renders generalized fitness functions irrelevant. Moreover, typical reinforcement learning operates on rewards and penalties, shaping the overall direction of knowledge augmentation. Assessing creativity vis-a-vis the environment necessitates practical approaches. However, unidirectional control may constrain the freedom and flexibility essential for creativity. Multi-directional semi-supervised reinforcement, incorporating multiple context-driven fitness functions presents a promising avenue. Deliberating evaluation and explainability, event-based temporal measurements or episodic responses can offer insights. This book chapter navigates these complexities to strike a balance between evaluation and explainability, unveiling numerous possibilities
Evaluation of Energy Transition Readiness in the Residential Cooking Sector among the Low and Medium-Income Households in Bengaluru
No full textA surge in the energy demand attributable to India’s rising population and economic growth has led to
concerns regarding the country’s energy security and carbon footprint. There is an urgent need to enhance the
efficiency of residential energy use and to shift progressively toward energy sources with a low-carbon footprint.
Currently, one of the major residential energy demands comes from cooking. District-level household surveys
have shown that liquid petroleum gas (LPG) is the dominant source catering to the energy demands for household
cooking. There is also a substantial presence of solid biomass in the residential cooking energy mix. Since biomass
burning has been widely recognized as a major source of household air pollution (HAP) and the country is
dependent on imports for sourcing LPG, there is an urgent need to formulate a national strategy that addresses the
issues of energy security, air pollution, and decarbonization simultaneously in an integrated and synergistic
manner. This study examines the readiness of the inhabitants of Bengaluru, a metropolitan city located in the state
of Karnataka in India, to shift to electricity-based residential cooking. The study also touches upon the critical
knowledge gaps regarding the energy transition from an established LPG-based ecosystem to the new electric
cooking ecosystem. Based on a household survey conducted in Bengaluru focusing on low-income and mediumincome
households, the study briefly discusses the complex interplay between culinary habits and sustainable
practices that would dictate the transition readiness in the residential cooking sector on a mass scale. It is
interesting to note that about 27% of the survey respondents mentioned experiencing power cuts every day, and
40% of the respondents indicated experiencing an hour-long load-shedding quite often. Also, about 42% of the
respondents mentioned hearing the sound of a transformer bursting before the power cuts. Such evidence
necessitates a relook into the sub-distribution infrastructure in the respective localities to examine the extent of
overloading and assess the need for infrastructure strengthening. A country-wide large-scale transition to
electricity-based cooking provides an opportunity to provide access to reliable electricity for low-to-mediumincome
households, ensuring a better quality of life for a large population in the country
Does Mining Escalate Human-Wildlife Conflict?: Insights from Human-Rhesus Macaque Conflict in a Coal-Mining Region in Southern India
No full textLocal wildlife respond to mining-induced environmental disruptions through a variety of adaptations, such as changes in habitat selection and diet, modifications in ranging patterns, avoidance behaviours, and disruptions in vocal communication, some of which precipitate human-wildlife conflict. We evaluated how landscape characteristics shaped by mining activities influence the forms and magnitude of human-primate conflict in a coal mining area in southern India. We employed household-level questionnaire surveys to evaluate occurrence and intensity of human-primate conflict and geospatial analysis to ascertain historical changes in the landscape. Our results revealed that in contrast to most rural regions experiencing human-primate conflict, house-raiding was the most frequent form of the conflict in the study area, while instances of crop damage were restricted. Primates avoided areas closer to mines and both occurrence and intensity of conflict incidents increased further away from mines. Landscape elements like monospecific plantations that have resulted from mining activities shaped the occurrence and intensity of conflict. Plantations were associated with decreased likelihood of crop damage, and strongly associated with occurrence and intensity of house-raiding. An overview of long-term land cover changes indicated that the movement of rhesus macaques towards human settlements and resulting conflict interactions are associated with the considerable increase in built-up area over the years. This study is the first systematic assessment of direct linkages between mining and human-primate conflict and provides strong evidence for the impacts of anthropogenically-shaped landscape structure on the nature on human-wildlife conflict
LiDAR-based reference aboveground biomass maps for tropical forests of South Asia and Central Africa
No full textAccurate mapping and monitoring of tropical forests aboveground biomass (AGB) is crucial to design effective carbon emission reduction strategies and improving our understanding of Earth’s carbon cycle. However, existing large-scale maps of tropical forest AGB generated through combinations of Earth Observation (EO) and forest inventory data show markedly divergent estimates, even after accounting for reported uncertainties. To address this, a network of high-quality reference data is needed to calibrate and validate mapping algorithms. This study aims to generate reference AGB datasets using field inventory plots and airborne LiDAR data for eight sites in Central Africa and five sites in South Asia, two regions largely underrepresented in global reference AGB datasets. The study provides access to these reference AGB maps, including uncertainty maps, at 100 m and 40 m spatial resolutions covering a total LiDAR footprint of 1,11,650 ha [ranging from 150 to 40,000 ha at site level]. These maps serve as calibration/validation datasets to improve the accuracy and reliability of AGB mapping for current and upcoming EO missions (viz., GEDI, BIOMASS, and NISAR)
Indigenous knowledge of healing among the tribes of Nilambur valley: A study of cross cultural landscape across ethnic boundaries
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Assessing Landslide-Driven Deforestation and Its Ecological Impact in the Western Ghats: A Multi-Source Data Approach
No full textThe influence of landslides (LS) on forest structure, composition, and functionality has gained limited scientific attention compared to socioeconomic aspects. This study aims to fill this gap by investigating the dynamics of pre- and post-LS occurrences in and around the Kali Tiger Reserve (KTR), Western Ghats. Our approach integrates multi-source, multi-temporal earth observation data, vegetation indices, field observations, and machine learning techniques. This study identified 245-LS caused due to a catastrophic rainfall event in July 2021 the most severe over a century that impacted the tropical dense forests. The present study highlights the emergence of invasive alien species (IAS), particularly Chromolaena odorata, following these landslide incidents. Field observations revealed a significant loss of large trees, which corroborated with the Global Ecosystem Dynamics Investigation (GEDI) based Canopy Height Model (CHM) and very high-resolution (VHR) data. The affected areas witnessed a significant rise in land surface temperature (LST) and a decrease in vegetation moisture. A comparative analysis with operational tree loss monitoring using optical (30-m Landsat based Global Forest Watch (GFW), and microwave (L-band Synthetic Aperture Radar (SAR) JICA-JAXA (ALOS-2) Forest Early Warning System) revealed improved performance in mapping small landslides with current approach. These results emphasize the necessity of conducting local and large scale investigations of forest dynamics before and after landslides to meet environmental commitments at various levels. The landslide events will likely induce significant alterations in the forest's microclimate. Our research recommends an immediate action plan to restore affected sites, remove IAS, and encourage the planting of native vegetation for biodiversity conservation
Inequality and Intervention: Autonomous adaptation to climate change Vol.6 (NIAS/SSc/IHD/U/RR/10/2024)
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The Metaphysical Integration of Upāya in the Trika Philosophy and Bhoja’s Model Based on Triguṇa-Puruṣārtha to Understand the Concepts of Śivatva, Self-Realisation and Consciousness
No full textThe Trika school, which is popularly known as Pratyabhijñā-darśana or Kashmir Śaivism is an absolutist and theistic school of Śaivism in the 9th Century. For the Trika school, the self is synonymous with pure consciousness, equated with Śiva. The path elaborated by the school is from self-ignorance to the realisation of pure consciousness. The Trika philosophy strives to answer two fundamental and interrelated questions. Firstly, understanding oneself as a reduced form of Śiva? Secondly, how does an individual attain “Śivatva”? In this study, we explicate answers to these queries by resorting to the metaphysics of the Trika school along with interpretative textual analysis and present a model proposed by Bhoja Raja based on the three guṇas. This model attributed to Sāṅkhya philosophy and puruṣārtha could help to place the metaphysics of upāya in Trika philosophy in the context of the question of attaining “Śivatva”