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This paper aims to study and assess residual strengths of concrete specimen exposed to elevated temperatures by core recovery tests.

The appraisal of concrete structures is typically carried out by means of partially destructive tests such as tests on concrete cores taken from the structure and non-destructive testing.

This paper presents results associated with determination of residual compressive strengths of plain and reinforced concrete elements exposed to elevated temperatures by core recovery test. Physical observations and results of compressive strengths of cores extracted from plain cement concrete, as well as from reinforced concrete beam elements exposed to elevated temperatures, have been presented.

The empirical relations have been proposed between standard cube and core extracted for compressive strength of concretes exposed to elevated temperatures are useful for damage diagnosis.

Concrete is found to undergo degradation when subjected to elevated temperatures during an accidental event, such as fire and lose substantial amount of its original strength. The loss of strength in concrete is mainly attributed to the decomposition of Calcium Silicate Hydrate (C-S-H) and release of chemically bound water, which begins when the exposure temperature exceeds 500°C. When such a concrete is supplied with water and allowed to recure, it is found to recover substantial amount of its lost strength. This work is carried out to investigate the effect of recuring on strength recovery of un-blended and blended concrete specimen (100 mm cubes) subjected to elevated temperatures from 400°C to 700°C, in steps of 100°C, for a retention period of two hours at the designated temperatures. The concrete cubes immediately after exposure were subjected to thermal shock by quenching them in water, and then temperature of thermally shocked concrete is allowed to cool to room temperature. The cooled specimen were then recured in water for 1, 3, 7, 14, 21, 28, 56 days and tested for compressive strength recovery. These studies were carried out for Portland Cement (PC) based concrete and Portland & Granulated Blast Furnace Slag (70% PC + 30% GGBS) based concrete (blended concrete), and some interesting results are presented and discussed in this paper.

Concrete in structures is likely to be exposed to high temperatures during fire. The probability of its exposure to elevated temperatures is high due to natural hazards, accidents and sabotages. Therefore, the performance of concrete during and after exposure to elevated temperature is a subject of great importance and interest to the designer. Popular normal strength grades of concrete produced by Ready Mix Concrete (RMC) India, Mangalore have been used in production of test specimens (150 mm cubes), cured and tested by destructive method for gathering data on strength characteristics. Later, these test samples were subjected to elevated temperatures ranging from 100°C to 800°C, in steps of 100°C with a retention period of 2 hours. After exposure, weight losses and the residual compressive strength retention characteristics are studied. Test results indicated that weight and strength significantly reduces with an increase in temperature. Residual compressive strength prediction equations are proposed for normal strength concretes subjected to elevated temperatures.

The paper aims to find out how far the size of household landholding directs patriarchal traits and thus influence women's autonomy.

The study used a two-part methodology. The first part provides theoretical background based on existing literature on women's autonomy and related information in formulating the “landholding-patriarchy hypotheses”. The second part of this study evaluates the empirical evidences of the association between the size of household landholding and women's autonomy.

Results indicate considerable variation in women's autonomy with the size of their household landholding: women's autonomy decreases with increasing size of household landholding. Evidence suggests that landholding directs patriarchal traits, as manifested in a reasonable influence on women's autonomy in rural India.

The paper innovates a means to understand the contributing factors to lowering women's autonomy, thus explore the relevance of “landholding-patriarchy hypothesis”.

In spite of the growing evidence of intimate partner violence (IPV) against men, limited scholarly work exists on this topic. To date, few studies have explored the motivations and socio-cultural underpinnings of violence against men in Kenya and sub-Saharan Africa in general. Using the Kenya Demographic and Health Survey and employing logit models, we examined associations between women's controlling behaviours and IPV among 3,262 Kenyan men aged 15–54 years. Over 60% of the Kenyan men surveyed reported their female partners were controlling. Compared with those who did not, men who reported controlling behaviours were significantly more likely to have experienced three types of violence (physical, sexual and emotional). Educated Kenyan men had higher odds of experiencing physical and emotional violence than the uneducated, and they reported higher levels of control by their female partners. Our findings suggest that IPV against men may be goal-oriented, but there is also evidence that it may be a reaction to male-perpetrated abuse.

Urban tourism in megacities is a rather recent research topic. There is a dearth of literature on urban tourism in Indian megacities, especially Mumbai. Though much research has looked into slum tourism activities, other urban tourism aspects have been kept aside. The chapter aims to present a different perspective of leisure tourism in Mumbai. After introducing some contextual background information on the city, the chapter examines critically official tourism communication and policies by tackling the spatiality of tourism and the geographical clusters in the city. It attempts to understand the consumption patterns of various tourists' groups and looks into recent tourism developments.

The purpose of this paper is to investigate if women’s exposure to mass media, i.e. television, radio, and print media, is a determinant of female empowerment in India. Indicators of empowerment include female autonomy in domestic decision-making, freedom of movement, financial knowledge and independence, attitudes regarding acceptability of violence against women, actual and desired fertility and use and decisions about contraception.

Data for the analysis come from two rounds of the National Family and Health Survey, a large-scale nationally representative household survey. First, ordinary least squares estimation is used to obtain the parameter estimates. To overcome endogeneity concerns, instrumental variables estimation is also used.

The results reveal a strong positive effect of exposure to mass media on women’s status in India.

These findings highlight the effectiveness of mass media in influencing women positively.

This paper captures the cumulative effects of three types of media: television, radio and print media. It also takes advantage of the most recent data available together with using instrumental variables estimation to overcome endogeneity concerns.

This paper aims to identify the role of internet of things (IoT) in water supply chain management and helps to understand its future path from the junction of computer science and resource management.

The current research was studied through bibliometric review and content analysis, and various contributors and linkages were found. Also, the possible directions and implications of the field were analyzed.

The paper’s key findings include the role of modern computer science in water resource management through sensor technology, big data analytics, IoT, machine learning and cloud computing. This, in turn, helps in understanding future implications of IoT resource management.

A more extensive database can add up to more combinations of linkages and ideas about the future direction. The implications and understanding gained by the research can be used by governments and firms dealing with water management of smart cities. It can also help find ways for optimizing water resources using IoT and modern-day computer science.

This study is one of the very few investigations that highlighted IoT’s role in water supply management. Thus, this study helps to assess the scope and the trend of the case area.