This thesis explores patterns of access and experiences of meaningful access under India’s Right of Children to Free and Compulsory Education Act, 2009 (RTE Act) from a critical gender perspective (Fraser, 1997; Jackson, 1999). Within the RTE Act, special attention is given to Section 12(1)(c), the free private school seats provision. The argument is that in order to fully analyze education progress, research must advance beyond focusing on physical access to exploring indicators of meaningful access. This thesis discusses the construction of a quantitative variable, ‘silent exclusion’, as a composite drawn from wider qualitative research. The first available data from the Insights into Education household survey in Delhi are analyzed using statistical and econometric techniques. It was found that private unaided recognized schools remain inaccessible for the most marginalized households. Child’s sex was not found to have a significant effect on school management choice, and both boys and girls attended privately and publically managed elementary schools in the sample. Four access issues pertaining to the free seat provision were identified: public awareness; reaching intended beneficiaries; low success rates for applicants; and continuing financial challenges for households accessing a free seat. In terms of children’s schooling experiences, low levels of silent exclusion were reported overall. Explicit displays of discrimination and exclusion were not found in the sample; however, less visible displays of exclusion were noted, such as a lack of leadership opportunities for children from lower income households, scheduled castes/tribes, and children attending government-managed schools. A lack of political and social pressure to fully implement the RTE Act at the local level is evident, which raises the question of how much a law in itself can bring about social change in the education sector.

No description available.

Oceans cover 71% Oceans cover 71% surface of the earth and are rich in oil and gas resources, marine living resources, renewable energy, mineral resources. The depths of the oceans are often thought of as a silent world, but that was never the case, and oceans have become noisier as human technologies have advanced. Humans have not only added noise to the ocean; they have also eliminated natural sounds. One of the primary noise sources is sonar. Sonar technology is widely used in fish detection, ocean floor mapping, and vehicle navigation. The noise in the ocean dramatically affects the animal’s survival and breaks marine ecological balance. Herein, underwater wireless optical communication (UWOC) and fiber communication and sensing (FC&S) technologies are proposed to minimize the acoustic noise in the ocean. Compared to noisy, powerful acoustic communication technology, UWOC has the merit of silence and takes advantage of high bandwidth, high transmission speed, and power efficiency. Multi-functions FC&S system turns the submarine telecommunication cable network into sensor network. UWOC and underwater FC&S technology can boost the development of Underwater Internet of things (UIoT) by establish large-scale underwater sensor networks. This dissertation aims to investigate and address noisy ocean issues and build large-scale underwater sensor networks by optical communication and sensing technology. The dissertation proposes using UWOC and FC&S technology to replace the conventional acoustic communication technology and reduce the noise in the ocean. UWOC helps achieve high-speed wireless communications between sensors, vehicles, and even humans for UIoT. The significant challenges of developing UWOC systems are the complex underwater environment's attenuation, scattering, and turbulence effects. This dissertation studied the turbulence effects on the UWOC system’s performance and addressed the pointing-acquisition-and-tracking issues. The diffuse-line-of-sight configuration and scintillating-fiber-based detector help the mobile UWOC systems relieve the strict requirements on PAT. FC&S technology is proposed to build underwater communication and sensor networks. Studies pave the way for UIoT and keep ocean silent. Such modality is much sought-after for implementing robust UWOC links in a complex oceanic environment, building large-scale sensor networks across the oceans, and minimizing noise pollution in the ocean.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

No description available.

Yes / Purpose: To demonstrate that silent substitution stimuli can be used to generate electroretinograms (ERGs) that effectively isolate rod photoreceptor function in humans without the need for dark adaptation, and that this approach constitutes a viable alternative to current clinical standard testing protocols. Methods: Rod-isolating and non-isolating sinusoidal flicker stimuli were generated on a 4 primary light-emitting diode (LED) Ganzfeld stimulator to elicit ERGs from participants with normal and compromised rod function who had not undergone dark-adaptation. Responses were subjected to Fourier analysis, and the amplitude and phase of the fundamental were used to examine temporal frequency and retinal illuminance response characteristics. Results: Electroretinograms elicited by rod-isolating silent substitution stimuli exhibit low-pass temporal frequency response characteristics with an upper response limit of 30 Hz. Responses are optimal between 5 and 8 Hz and between 10 and 100 photopic trolands (Td). There is a significant correlation between the response amplitudes obtained with the silent substitution method and current standard clinical protocols. Analysis of signal-to-noise ratios reveals significant differences between subjects with normal and compromised rod function. Conclusions: Silent substitution provides an effective method for the isolation of human rod photoreceptor function in subjects with normal as well as compromised rod function when stimuli are used within appropriate parameter ranges. Translational Relevance: This method of generating rod-mediated ERGs can be achieved without time-consuming periods of dark adaptation, provides improved isolation of rod- from cone-based activity, and will lead to the development of faster clinical electrophysiologic testing protocols with improved selectivity.