Institutions as key drivers of collective action in WUAs [Water User Associations] of Uzbekistan

This paper presents a multifactor approach for performance assessment of Water Users Associations (WUAs) in Uzbekistan in order to identify the drivers for improved and effi cient performance of WUAs. The study was carried out in the Fergana Valley where the WUAs were created along the South Fergana Main Canal during the last 10 years. The farmers and the employees of 20 WUAs were questioned about the WUAs’ activities and the quantitative and qualitative data were obtained. This became a base for the calculation of 36 indicators divided into 6 groups: Water supply, technical conditions, economic conditions, social and cultural conditions, organizational conditions and information conditions. All the indicators assessed with a differentiated point system adjusted for subjectivity of several of them give the total maximal result for the associations of 250 point. The WUAs of the Fergana Valley showed the score between 145 and 219 points, what refl ects a highly diverse level of the WUAs performance in the region. The analysis of the indicators revealed that the key points of the WUA’s success are the organizational and institutional conditions including the participatory factors and awareness of both the farmers and employees about the work of WUA. The research showed that the low performance of the WUAs is always explained by the low technical and economic conditions along with weak organization and information dissemination conditions. It is clear that it is complicated to improve technical and economic conditions immediately because they are cost-based and cost-induced. However, it is possible to improve the organizational conditions and to strengthen the institutional basis via formal and information institutions which will gradually lead to improvement of economic and technical conditions of WUAs. Farmers should be involved into the WUA Governance and into the process of making common decisions and solving common problems together via proper institutions. Their awareness can also be improved by leading additional trainings for increasing farmers’ agronomic and irrigation knowledge, teaching them water saving technologies and acquainting them with the use of water measuring equipment so it can bring reliable water supply, transparent budgeting and adequate as well as equitable water allocation to the water users.

Men, Women, Microblogging: Where Do We Stand?

With millions of users worldwide, microblogging has developed into a powerful tool for interaction and information dissemination. While both men and women readily use this technology, there are significant differences in how they embrace it. Understanding these differences is important to ensure gender parity, provide advertisers with actionable insights on the marketing potential of both groups, and to inform current theories on how microblogging affordances shape gender roles. So far, existing research has not provided a unified framework for such analysis, with gender insights scattered across multiple studies. To fill this gap, our study conducts a comprehensive meta-review of existing research. We find that current discourse offers a solid body of knowledge on gender differences in adoption, shared content, stylistic presentation, and a rather convoluted picture of female and male interaction. Together, our structured findings offer a deeper insight into the underlying dynamics of gender differences in microblogging.

Overview of literature and information on "khat-related" mortality: a call for recognition of the issue and further research

During the past 20 years or so, more has become known about the properties of khat, its pharmacology, physiological and psychological effects on humans. However, at the same time its reputation of social and recreational use in traditional contexts has hindered the dissemination of knowledge about its detrimental effects in terms of mortality. This paper focuses on this particular deficit and adds to the knowledge-base by reviewing the scant literature that does exist on mortality associated with the trade and use of khat. We sought all peer-reviewed papers relating to deaths associated with khat. From an initial list of 111, we identified 15 items meeting our selection criteria. Examination of these revealed 61 further relevant items. These were supplemented with published reports, newspaper and other media reports. A conceptual framework was then developed for classifying mortality associated with each stage of the plant's journey from its cultivation, transportation, consumption, to its effects on the human body. The model is demonstrated with concrete examples drawn from the above sources. These highlight a number of issues for which more substantive statistical data are needed, including population-based studies of the physiological and psychological determinants of khat-related fatalities. Khat-consuming communities, and health professionals charged with their care should be more aware of the physiological and psychological effects of khat, together with the risks for morbidity and mortality associated with its use. There is also a need for information to be collected at international and national levels on other causes of death associated with khat cultivation, transportation, and trade. Both these dimensions need to be understood.

Energy Efficiency Issues in Information-Centric Networking

In this paper we address energy efficiency issues of Information Centric Networking (ICN) architectures. In the proposed framework, we investigate the impact of ICN architectures on energy consumption of networking hardware devices and compare them with the energy consumption of other content dissemination methods. In particular, we investigate the consequences of caching in ICN from the energy efficiency perspective, taking into account the energy consumption of different hardware components in the ICN architectures. Based on the results of the analysis, we address the practical issues regarding the possible deployment and evolution of ICN from an energy-efficiency perspective. Finally, we summarize our findings and discuss the outlook/future perspectives on the energy efficiency of Information-Centric Networks.

Opportunistic Routing for Multi-flow Video Dissemination over Flying Ad-Hoc Networks

A reliable and robust routing service for Flying Ad-Hoc Networks (FANETs) must be able to adapt to topology changes. User experience on watching live video sequences must also be satisfactory even in scenarios with buffer overflow and high packet loss ratio. In this paper, we introduce a Cross-layer Link quality and Geographical-aware beaconless opportunistic routing protocol (XLinGO). It enhances the transmission of simultaneous multiple video flows over FANETs by creating and keeping reliable persistent multi-hop routes. XLinGO considers a set of cross-layer and human-related information for routing decisions, as performance metrics and Quality of Experience (QoE). Performance evaluation shows that XLinGO achieves multimedia dissemination with QoE support and robustness in a multi-hop, multi-flow, and mobile network environments.

Context-aware Adaptation Mechanism for Video Dissemination over Flying Ad-Hoc Networks

The user experience on watching live video se- quences transmitted over a Flying Ad-Hoc Networks (FANETs) must be considered to drop packets in overloaded queues, in scenarios with high buffer overflow and packet loss rate. In this paper, we introduce a context-aware adaptation mechanism to manage overloaded buffers. More specifically, we propose a utility function to compute the dropping probability of each packet in overloaded queues based on video context information, such as frame importance, packet deadline, and sensing relevance. In this way, the proposed mechanism drops the packet that adds the minimum video distortion. Simulation evaluation shows that the proposed adaptation mechanism provides real-time multimedia dissemination with QoE support in a multi-hop, multi-flow, and mobile network environments.

Strategies of Active Dissemination of Workplace Health Promotion

Purpose – A growing body of literature provides evidence for the efficacy of workplace health promotion (WHP). However, little is known about effective dissemination strategies for WHP interventions. The purpose of this paper is to describe how a WHP agency in Zurich, Switzerland, used bulk mailings, information events, telephone marketing and free initial consultations for the large-scale geographic marketing of WHP services, with a focus on tobacco prevention (TP). Design/methodology/approach – To analyze the number of companies responding positively to solicitation, examine the predictors of positive responses and explore the reasons for negative responses, the authors used both quantitative (e.g. a standardized questionnaire) and qualitative (telephone interviews) methods. Findings – The results show that except for telephone marketing (69 percent), the success rates of dissemination activities were very low (3-9 percent). Predictors for a positive response were institutionalization of WHP, the representative’s personal concern about TP, and problems with environmental tobacco smoke within the company. The most prominent reason for a negative Response was that the companies had already implemented TP measures by themselves and needed no further external support. Practical implications – It is suggested that TP was the wrong emphasis for a WHP program to be disseminated at that particular time, because a law on protection from passive smoking was introduced in Switzerland shortly afterwards. Originality/value – The study examines dissemination strategies under real-life Consulting conditions. It builds on on a large sample of companies and uses both quantitative and qualitative research methods. It reports specific numbers and success rates of marketing activities and thereby contributes to the knowledge about an important issue for intervention planning in the field of WHP.