128 research outputs found
Entrepreneurial marketing in subsistence marketplaces
Full text linkThere are more than a billion poverty-stricken entrepreneurs in the world who run micro-enterprises to meet basic consumption needs. This pervasive phenomenon presents an interesting theoretical conundrum - that of consumer-entrepreneur duality. This duality blurs the boundaries between consumption and entrepreneurship, which have traditionally been distinct domains of scholarly inquiry. The research reported in this dissertation aims to a) provide a theoretical foundation for the notion of consumer-entrepreneur duality and b) test the implications of the aforementioned duality empirically. A key insight flowing from the investigations is that factors in the consumption domain impact important outcomes in the entrepreneurial domain and vice versa.Submission published under a 24 month embargo labeled 'Closed Access', the embargo will last until 2018-05-01The student, Srinivas Venugopal, accepted the attached license on 2016-04-18 at 08:47.The student, Srinivas Venugopal, submitted this Dissertation for approval on 2016-04-18 at 09:04.This Dissertation was approved for publication on 2016-04-19 at 08:14.DSpace SAF Submission Ingestion Package generated from Vireo submission #9286 on 2016-07-07 at 14:17:05Made available in DSpace on 2016-07-07T21:17:37Z (GMT). No. of bitstreams: 4
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Estimates of multidimensional poverty for India using NSSO-71 and -75
No full textWe measure multidimensional poverty in India using National Sample Survey Organization data from 2014-15 to 2017-18. We use income, health, education, and standard of living to measure the MPI. The MPI headcount declined from 26.9 to 13.75 per cent over the study period. The all-India estimates indicate that 144 million people were lifted from poverty during this period. We include different health dimensions, factoring in insurance, institutional coverage, antenatal care, and chronic conditions. Income is the dominant instrument with the highest contribution to the MPI, followed by insurance. Cooking, sanitation, and education also have significant weights. The decline in deprivation is steeper in rural areas than urban areas. Our state-level estimates reveal that 20 states report less than 10 per cent headcount poverty, up from six states. COVID-19 may lead to reversals of these gains, with poverty rising to pre-2014-15 levels, rising more steeply in rural areas
Seven principles for mobilizing open data to power India's Agri Stack
No full textDigitalization is transforming existing agricultural business processes and services and enabling new means to deploy innovative services and products at scale. At the core of these services and innovations is open data. In India, Central and State Governments, academic, research institutions, and the private sector have done critical work in conceptualizing different approaches and aspects of an AgriStack to digitally transform agriculture. Recognizing the need to integrate these efforts and incorporate use cases, CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation, in partnership with The Agri Collaboratory (TAC), organized a consultation workshop in Delhi in November 2022. Participated by 70 stakeholders representing 54 organizations, the workshop enabled in-depth discussion on the design principles of thematic use cases and facilitated a broader debate on the specific building blocks needed. This document summarizes key principles discussed throughout the workshop
Seven Principles for Mobilizing Open Data to Power India's Agri-Stack
No full textDigitalization is transforming existing agricultural business processes and services and enabling new means to deploy innovative services and products at scale. At the core of these services and innovations is open data. In India, a lot of work has been done by the Central and State Governments, academic, research institutions, and the private sector in conceptualizing different approaches and aspects of an "Agri-Stack" to digitally transform agriculture. Recognizing the need to integrate these efforts and incorporate use cases, CGIAR Research Initiative on Digital Innovation, in partnership with The Agri Collaboratory (TAC), organized a consultation workshop in Delhi in November 2022. Participated by 70 stakeholders representing 54 organizations, the workshop enabled in-depth discussion on the design principles of thematic use cases and facilitated a broader debate on the specific building blocks needed. This document summarizes key principles discussed throughout the workshop
Aggregate breakdown of nanoparticulate titania
No full textSix nanosized titanium dioxide powders synthesized from a sulfate process were investigated. The targeted end-use of this powder was for a de-NOx catalyst honeycomb monolith. Alteration of synthesis parameters had resulted principally in differences in soluble ion level and specific surface area of the powders. The goal of this investigation was to understand the role of synthesis parameters in the aggregation behavior of these powders. Investigation via scanning electron microscopy of the powders revealed three different aggregation iterations at specific length scales.
Secondary and higher order aggregate strength was investigated via oscillatory stress rheometry as a means of simulating shear conditions encountered during extrusion. G' and G'' were measured as a function of the applied oscillatory stress. Oscillatory rheometry indicated a strong variation as a function of the sulfate level of the particles in the viscoelastic yield strengths. Powder yield stresses ranged from 3.0 Pa to 24.0 Pa of oscillatory stress. Compaction curves to 750 MPa found strong similarities in extrapolated yield point of stage I and II compaction for each of the powders (at approximately 500 MPa) suggesting that the variation in sulfate was greatest above the primary aggregate level. Scanning electron microscopy of samples at different states of shear in oscillatory rheometry confirmed the variation in the linear elastic region and the viscous flow regime.
A technique of this investigation was to approach aggregation via a novel perspective: aggregates are distinguished as being loose open structures that are highly disordered and stochastic in nature. The methodology used was to investigate the shear stresses required to rupture the various aggregation stages encountered and investigate the attempt to realign the now free-flowing constituents comprising the aggregate into a denser configuration. Mercury porosimetry was utilized to measure the pore size of the compact resulting from compaction via dry pressing and tape casting secondary scale aggregates. Mercury porosimetry of tapes cast at 0.85 and 9.09 cm/sec exhibited pore sizes ranging from 200-500 nm suggesting packing of intact micron-sized primary aggregates. Porosimetry further showed that this peak was absent in pressed pellets corroborating arguments of ruptured primary aggregates during compaction to 750 MPa.Ph.D.Includes bibliographical references (p. 166-170)
Parallelizing Unstructured Sparse Matrix Computations on Large-Scale Multiprocessors
No full textProblems in the class of unstructured sparse matrix computations are characterized by highly irregular dependencies and communication patterns that are not known at compile-time, but can be completely determined at run-time before the computations are actually performed. For this class of problems, current parallelizing compilers are unable to produce efficient code on large-scale distributed memory MIMD multiprocessors, and manual techniques are inflexible and too ad hoc to be generally effective.
In this thesis, we propose a run-time automatic partitioning and scheduling methodology for unstructured sparse matrix computations on large-scale multiprocessors. Our methodology is based on extracting information from the problem instance by preprocessing its symbolic structure, and using this information to achieve high performance in repeated iterations of the computations during which the symbolic structure is unchanged. We present efficient software tools to help users build their parallelization system by following this methodology.
We demonstrate the efficacy of our methodology on sparse Cholesky factorization, which has historically proven to be hard to parallelize. The highlight of our approach is a new two-dimensional block partitioning scheme. We build a run-time parallel system for block sparse Cholesky factorization called Sparse Hybrid Automatic Parallelization Environment (SHAPE), consisting of a parallel partitioner, a parallel scheduler and a parallel communication optimization algorithm. These are modular tools tied together by an explicit representation for block-based unstructured computations. We employ SHAPE to carry out an extensive experimental study of sparse Cholesky factorization on the iPSC/860. The experimental results show that with a judicious choice of partitioning parameters, our block-based partitioning and scheduling method outperforms a well-known column-based method in delivering high performance on a variety of structured and unstructured matrices. The preprocessing itself is shown to be very efficient, its cost being recovered in a small number of iterations of the factorization.
Our methodology and tools may be used to parallelize other unstructured sparse matrix computations for which the same symbolic structure is used in several iterations of the computations. Such computations include sparse triangular solution and sparse
matrix-vector multiplication.Technical report DCS-TR-30
SHAPE: A Parallelization Tool for Sparse Matrix Computations
No full textWe describe the design, implementation and performance of a Sparse Hybrid Automatic Parallelization Environment (SHAPE). SHAPE partitions and schedules sparse matrix computations for Cholesky factorization with the goal of achieving good performance at low cost, while providing flexibility for use as an experimental tool. It employs efficient parallelization algorithms which reduce the communication cost without adversely affecting the load balance by using a hybrid mixture of column and block partitions. Through several parameters, SHAPE aims for portability across a diverse range of sparse matrix structures and message-passing multiprocessors with different communication cost parameters. We present preliminary timing results on the iPSC/860 and compare the performance of SHAPE with that of a commonly used column-based method. The results show that SHAPE significantly reduces computation time, number of messages, and overall communication time for a variety of test matrices.Technical report dcs-tr-29
Supplementation of (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) Fenugreek Leaves Stimulates the Insulin Action in Streptozotocin- Induced Diabetic Rats
Full text linkTrigonella foenum-graecum (Fenugreek) leaves exhibit antidiabetic and antioxidant properties. The present study was designed to elucidate the insulin stimulatory effect on supplementation of fenugreek leaves in streptozotocin-induced diabetes in rats. Supplementation of fenugreek leaves mixed with diet at doses of 0.5g and 1.0g/kg of body weight twice daily to diabetic rats for a period of 45days resulted in change in bodyweight, increase in weight of pancreas, enhances the insulin levels and a significant decrease in fasting blood glucose levels. Histopathological observations showed marked changes of the pancreas in treatment with the fenugreek leaves improved the functional state of the pancreatic β-cells and partially retained the damage caused by streptozotocin to the pancreatic islets. These findings of our study clearly indicate the insulin stimulatory effect of fenugreek leaves. The effect observed with the fenugreek leaves was better than that of glibenclamide (600 µg/kg bodyweight). ----------------------------------------------------------------------------------1Reader, Department of Biochemistry, Sathyabama University Dental College and Hospital, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India2Director of Research, Ex-Dean of Science, Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, Annamalai University, Chidambaram*Corresponding author, Email: [email protected], Ph: +91-44- 24503064, Mob: +91-9244488676Cite This Article As:Annida Balakrishnan and Venugopal. P. Menon. 2010. Supplementation of (Trigonella foenum-graecum L.) Fenugreek Leaves Stimulates the Insulin Action in Streptozotocin- Induced Diabetic Rats. J. Ecobiotechnol. 2(3): 26-32
Impacts of physical calibration of a spectral wave model and effects of using different temporal wind inputs
No full textSpectral wave modelling can reduce uncertainties in the estimation of wave energy resource assessment, converter design, extreme value analysis, etc. In spectral models, wave growth is represented with different approaches, resulting in wave resource assessments having large differences especially at high wave values. In this paper a modified version of the North Sea Wave Database is used to quantify the impact of wind temporal fidelity on the wind growth components. The Simulating WAves Nearshore (SWAN) model has been modified, with two different wind inputs used from the European Centre for Medium-Range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF). Results are compared with in-situ measurements an inter-comparison for 20 years (1980-1999). Differences are found on mean and maxima values of wave parameters, with little changes in directionality. However, higher temporal resolution of the wind does not mean always a better hindcast, in fact attention to the calibration of wind-wave growth interactions and whitecaps leads to similar results. Finally, the high fidelity hindcasts are compared, identifying limitations and opportunities for improvements in wave energy assessments.Green Open Access added to TU Delft Institutional Repository 'You share, we take care!' - Taverne project https://www.openaccess.nl/en/you-share-we-take-care Otherwise as indicated in the copyright section: the publisher is the copyright holder of this work and the author uses the Dutch legislation to make this work public.Offshore Engineerin
The Submerged Floating Tunnel: An experimental study on the hydrodynamics and kinematics of a submerged rectangular cylinder in a wave-current environment
No full textThis study presents the results of small scale flume experiments on a submerged rectangular cylinder subjected to a current, regular wave and combined wave-current environment. The objective of the study is to gain more knowledge about the hydrodynamics around and the kinematics of a submerged structure, to give a contribute to the research field of the submerged floating tunnel. For this study a rectangular cylinder with an aspect ratio (breadth-depth) of 2.5 is used. Two relative submergence depths (flume depth/model submergence) of 2.75 and 1.63 are tested. For all tests a still water depth of 0.7 m is applied. Waves resulting in very low KC numbers of <1 for regular waves and KC[1+U_c/U_m ]<2 for combined waves-current are generated. To create a combined wave-current environment, a current is created in the flume, to which waves are added by the wave generator. The water velocity is measured in front of the model. To approximate the water velocity at the model, a time/phase shift is added to the velocity signal. Linear wave theory is applied to approximate the amplitudes of the orbital velocities at the depth of the model. For the first part of the study, on the hydrodynamic forces, the cylinder is rigidly fixed in the flume. Due to the inertia dominance for low KC numbers, the relationship between the wave parameters and the hydrodynamic forces is well described by the relationship between the wave parameters and the water particle accelerations. The vertical hydrodynamic forces are found to be larger than the horizontal hydrodynamic forces. The force coefficients from this study are compared to coefficient found in previous studies. The drag coefficients for the only current tests agree well with the results from (Courchesne & Laneville, 1979), (Bearman & Trueman, 1972), (Nakaguchi, 1968) and (Venugopal, 2006). For the regular wave and combined wave-current conditions comparable results are found to those by Venugopal for a rectangular cylinder towed through a wave field (Venugopal, 2008). The drag coefficients in the present study show a similar trend in magnitude as in the study by Venugopal. However, the magnitudes have an opposite sign due to the velocity phase shift method applied in the present study. Nevertheless, the effect of this difference on the total force prediction is insignificant, because of inertia dominance. In general, the Morison equation predicts the measured horizontal force well for regular waves. Adding a current component to the waves results in a larger error between the computed Morison forces and the measured force. However, an increase in the magnitude of the added velocity does not lead to a significant increase of this error. The second part of the study focuses on the same cylinder, only not fixed but held in place by 4 tethers. For these tests a buoyancy to weight ratio of 1.5 is applied. The used tested angles between the tethers and the flume bottom are 30˚ and 70 ̊. The water depth, the wave types and model submergence depths are remained equal to the first part of the study. By comparing the kinematics found in three different configurations, a 30˚ tether angle combined with the largest submergence depth of ds=035 m are found to gives the smallest displacements and accelerations. To reduce the kinematics more, it is recommended to add vertical tethers to limit the vertical movement. In general, dynamic features are seen in the tethered model, influencing the magnitude of the kinematics. To predict the magnitude of the tether forces it is recommended to integrated these features in a structural dynamic model.Civil Engineerin
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