Nepalese Scholars’ Association at University of Alberta (NESA)
1st NESA Symposium - Knowledge Sharing and Transfer in Favor of Nepal
Edmonton, Canada
June 11, 2016
Session I – Social Sciences (Chair: Hemanta Joshi, PhD)
States and Citizens: Views on the Role of the State
Isha Sharma (PhD)
Associate Professor, Mount Royal University, Calgary, AB
[email protected]
Abstract
Sociologists have been interested in understanding the relationship between civil society and the
state since the inception of the discipline. The current study contributes to the ongoing
discussion. A qualitative study was conducted in Kathmandu Valley in the aftermath of the
earthquake in 2015. 19 Nepalese adults were interviewed between June 20 and July 20 2015.
From the study it becomes apparent that the majority of the interviewees did not expect much
from the state even in the times of crisis. The lack of expectations from the state was the
commonality that resonated throughout the study. The cooperation and assistance that was
received from the local community for majority of the interviewees can be juxtaposed with the
lack of state response. The study concludes with two major questions. One question is how the
state can maintain legitimacy when citizens have little trust or hope in the capability of its
functions? And secondly when the communities and people are exceptionally supportive and
share resources with each after the crisis, why is the democratically elected officials from similar
communities unable to retain this characteristic and instead turn out to be ineffective once in
office?
Author introduction:
Isha Sharma got both her Masters and Ph. D in Sociology from the University of Massachusetts at
Amherst. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Sociology & Anthropology at
Mount Royal University, Calgary, Canada. She came to the US on a Fulbright scholarship. After
getting her PhD form the University of Massachusetts, Amherst she taught in Kent State College, New
Hampshire for three years. She moved to Canada in 2006. She started working at Mount Royal
University since 2007 and got tenured in 2010. She teaches courses in Classical Sociological Theory,
Social Stratification and Inequality, Economic Sociology, Economic Development and Social Change,
Sociology of Food. Her research interest lies in the area of economic sociology.
Feminization of Rural Tourism in Nepal
Baikuntha Prasad Acharya, PhD Candidate,
Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation, University of Alberta, AB
[email protected]
Abstract
Rural tourism is being popular, for it adds natural, spatial and sociocultural richness to the
tourists’ expectations of authentic experiences. It is considered as a tool for elevating poverty
and advancing sociocultural transformations in many less developed countries. Nepal has been
also promoting rural tourism for long where tourism is often appreciated as a solid means for
empowering rural women. The impacts of rural tourism practices across Nepal on women are
mostly reported as rewarding to establish equality and equity and eliminating gender
discriminations. This study synthesizes the observations from various cases across four rural
destinations, Barpak, Ghalegaon, Ghandruk and Sirubari in western Nepal to see how tourism is
contributing to the sociocultural transformations of women. The data was collected through
multiple sources: 1) In-depth interviews with the locals including local tourism entrepreneurs, 2)
semi-structured interviews with tourism entrepreneurs, experts and policy makers, 3) group
discussions with local mother’s groups, minority castes and politicians, 4) observations (both
participant and non-participant). The study’s indicators of sociocultural transformations were
assessed using five broad categories: 1) Inclusivity; 2) Collaborative opportunities; 3)
Resiliency; 4) Modernizing impact; and, 5) Safeguarding. These categories were derived through
a collation of criteria theorized by tourism scholars regarding the characteristics of rural tourism
and its social and cultural impacts. The finding proposes that the tourism in rural Nepal is
feminized.
Author introduction:
Baikuntha Prasad Acharya is currently a doctoral student in the Faculty of Physical Education and Recreation at
the University of Alberta and is involved in teaching and conducting research, particularly in the areas of
sustainable tourism, tourism enterprises management, rural and community-based tourism. He possesses a decade
long experiences working on tourism planning and promotion with the Nepalese NTO. He holds an MBA in
organizational leadership from the Johnson & Wales University, USA, and MAs in Literature and Sociology from
the Tribhuvan University, Nepal.
Promoting Men’s Well-Being and Healthy Relationships: A Transformative Approach to Violence
Prevention
Liza Lorenzetti (Ph.D. (C), MSW, RSW, Lead Researcher ([email protected] 403-606-6949), Madan Nath,
MSW, RSW, Co-Researcher ([email protected] 587-707-1681), Vic Lantion, Co-Researcher
([email protected] 403-615-0903), Justin Otteson, Co-Researcher ([email protected])
Alberta Men Action Network
Abstract
Men’s experiences of oppression can contribute to negative masculinity standards, higher
victimization rates, health concerns and interpersonal violence. There is a gap in knowledge on
men’s well-being, and its impact on violence prevention. To further explore this issue, the
Alberta Men’s Survey [AMS] Leadership Team developed an online and in-person survey to
explore men’s well-being and views on healthy relationships, services and supports. AMS is
grounded in an intersectional understanding of domestic violence, which accounts for the impact
of classism, racism, and gender inequality in shaping social norms that contribute to violence.
The survey was guided by a theoretical framework based on three key theories:
Intersectionality, Anti- Oppressive Practice (AOP) and Social Justice. An intersectionality
approach to domestic violence accounts for the ways that race, class, gender, sexual orientation
and other socially constructed categories can be barriers to well-being and healthy positive
relationships. Barker (1999) defines social justice as a condition in which all members of a
society have the same basic rights, protections, opportunities, obligation and social benefits.
Anti-Oppressive Theory/Practice, is an approach to addressing oppression that focuses on
strategies towards minimizing power differences in society and minimizing the rights to which
all people are entitled (Dalrymoke & Burke, 1995; Dominelli, 2002a). The Survey Questions
included men’s experiences of social exclusion, and discrimination based on factors such as
economic and social status, ethnic background, sexual identity and masculinity roles. Over 2,000
Alberta men responded to the survey. A second phase of the project work is underway including
engaging men through community dialogues and creating research briefs.
This presentation will provide an overview of survey process and results, and discuss the
implications for social work practice and policy development in general as well as the
implications for Nepalese communities in Canada in particular. This study aligns with
transformative social work in its aim to alleviate oppression and promote social change. The
AMS Leadership Team believes that the survey results will increase awareness of the supports,
needs, perspectives and strengths of men in Alberta and promote healthy, respectful, and nonviolent relationships in the context of gender-based violence.
References
Bay, U., & Macfarlane, S. (2011). Teaching Critical Reflection: A Tool for Transformative Learning in Social
Work? Social Work Education, 30(7), 745-758. Retrieved from doi: 10.1080/02615479.2010.516429
Carawan, L. W., Knight, S., Wittman, P., Pokorny, M., & Velde, B. P. (2011). On Becoming a Qualitative
Researcher: A View Through the Lens of Transformative Learning. Journal Of Teaching In Social Work, 31(4),
387-399. Retrieved from doi: 10.1080/08841233.2011.597671
Desyllas, M. C., & Sinclair, A. (2014). Zine-Making as a Pedagogical Tool for Transformative Learning in Social
Work Education. Social Work Education, 33(3), 296-316. Retrieved from doi: 10.1080/02615479.2013.805194
Haegerich, T. M., & Hall, J. E. (2011). Violence and men’s health: Understanding the etiological underpinnings of
men’s experiences with interpersonal violence. American Journal of Lifestyle Medicine, 5 (5), 440-453.
Retrieved from doi: 10.1177/1559827611410263
Mezirow, J. (1997). Transformative learning: Theory to practice. New Directions For Adult & Continuing
Education, 1997(74), 5.
Mezirow, J. (2003). Transformative learning as discourse. Journal of Transformative Education, 1, 58–63. Retrieved
from doi: 10.1177/1541344603252172
Wells, L., Lorenzetti, L., Carolo, H., Dinner, T., Jones, C., Minerson, T., & Esina, E. (2013). Engaging men and
boys in domestic violence prevention: Opportunities and promising approaches. Calgary, AB: The University of
Calgary,
Shift:
The
Project
to
End
Domestic
Violence.
Retrieved
from
http://preventdomesticviolence.ca/research/engaging-men-and-boys-domestic-violence-preventionopportunities-and-promising-approaches
Wells, L., Dozois, E., Exner-Cortens, D., Cooper, M., Esina, E., Froese, K., & Boutillier, S. (2015). Men and boys
violence prevention project: Informing a Government of Alberta action plan to engage men and boys to stop
violence against women. Calgary, AB: The University of Calgary, Shift: The Project to End Domestic Violence.
Retrieved
from
http://preventdomesticviolence.ca/research/men-and-boys-violence-prevention-projectinforming-government-alberta-action-plan
Author introduction:
Madan Nath obtained his Master of Social Work (MSW) Degree from University of Calgary in 2014. He is a
registered Social Worker (RSW) with the Alberta College of Social Workers. He has also Master of Education
(M.Ed.) in English Education from Tribhuvan University and Master of Philosophy (M.Phil.) in Educational
Leadership from Kathmandu University, Nepal. In addition, he possesses Post-Graduate Diploma in Teaching
English to Speakers of other Languages from UK. Currently, he is contributing as a co-researcher and an
organizer of Alberta Men Action Network: Engaging Men and Boys in Violence Prevention, which is a research
initiative from University of Calgary that aims to build the capacity of male leaders to work with other men to
create healthy families and communities. Before immigrating to Canada, he worked for the Ministry of Education,
Nepal as a Training Officer. In collaboration with UNICEF, UNESCO, Save the Children US, Norway and Japan,
he was not only involved in the design of training curricula and materials for School Teachers and Educational
Personnel, but also in the delivery of a series of teacher training programs relating to corporal punishment,
bullying, peace education and non-violent teaching techniques in Nepalese schools. He developed the communitybased teacher training program that taught teachers, caregivers, parents and community stakeholders, especially
to implement violence prevention skills for themselves and for their children. These skills included anger
management, effective discipline, conflict resolution, and wise media consumption. All of these themes of the
program taught adults how to be positive, non-violent role models for the children in their lives.
Nepalese Scholars’ Association at University of Alberta (NESA)
1st NESA Symposium - Knowledge Sharing and Transfer in Favor of Nepal
Edmonton, Canada
June 11, 2016
Session II – Science and Engineering (Chair: Arbind Mainali, PhD, PEng)
Beyond Technological Advancement, Issues to Improve Water Quality of Bagmati River in
Kathmandu Valley
Kusumakar Sharma, PhD, PEng
Alberta Environment, Government of Alberta, Edmonton
Abstract
Bagmati River flows through holy site, Pashupatinath, of Hindu religion in Kathmandu Valley. The quality of the
water flowing in Bagmati River is such that it is unsafe for human health as well as aquatic ecosystem cannot
survive. Numerous studies have been conducted to establish reasons for water quality problem and many
recommendations have been suggested. Government of Nepal gave a high priority to improve water quality of
Bagmati River by establishing High Powered Agency. Despite all the efforts for the past decade, water quality of
Bagmati River has not improved to a level where ecosystem could rebound and sustain.
This paper will summarize current status of the effort made to improve water quality of Bagmati River in
Kathmandu valley. An assessment is presented whether it is a technological issue or other pressing issues that hinder
the water quality improvement. The assessment pointed not only the lack of efficient wastewater treatment systems,
but also lack of environmental management system is responsible for deterioration of water quality of Bagmati
River. An environmental management system that includes identifying water quality objective, environmental
quality monitoring, enforcement of water quality objectives is very important to effectively improve water quality of
Bagmati River in Kathmandu valley.
Author introduction
Kusumakar Sharma is an expert in Wastewater Treatment Systems, with an experience of more than
25 years in the field. After completion of Ph. D. degree, Dr. Sharma started working with Alberta
Environment as a scientist to tackle treatment of oil sands tailings water. Before coming to Canada,
Dr. Sharma was a researcher at Asian Institute of Technology, where he obtained his M. Eng. degree.
After undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering from Regional Engineering College, Rourkela, India,
Dr. Sharma worked as an engineer in the Department of Water Supply and Sewerage, Government of
Nepal for about a decade. During his tenure with the Government of Nepal, he was involved in
developing National Sanitation Policy (1994). More than a dozen scientific journal articles and
numerous conference/symposia papers are credited to him. Kusumakar Sharma lives in Edmonton and
loves to give time to the community. He was recently honoured with Everest Award by Nepalese Canadian Society
of Edmonton for his visionary leadership, long term dedication and exemplary contribution to the society.
Sustainable Energy Development: A Case of Micro-hydro Project in Nepal
Arjun KC (Ph.D., P. Eng, LEED GA, CMVP)
Senior Analyst, Alberta Energy, Edmonton
[email protected]
1. Background
Energy is considered to be one of the vital inputs to socio-economic development of any country. Due to the
insufficient supply of energy for industrial and transportation requirements, Nepal’s economic development is
severely hampered. Nepal's per capita energy consumption is approximately 15 GJ/year, one of the lowest in the
world and significantly lower than the world average per capita energy consumption is 76.6 GJ/year. To see at a
context, the United States has an average per capita energy consumption of 314.1 GJ/year, Japan has 162.5 GJ/year,
and United Kingdom has 142.4 GJ/year.
According to recent report (MOF, 2006), the share of overall consumption is dominated by the traditional fuel (77%)
followed by commercial (20%) and renewable (3%). Of the total traditional fuel sources used, over 74% energy is
supplied by fuel wood, 7% by animal dung and 5% by residues by agricultural residues. Similarly, WECS (2010)
report revealed that 89.1 % of energy consumed in domestic sector, 3.3% in industrial sector and 1.3 % in
commercial sector, 5.2 % in transportation sector, 0.9 % agriculture and rest 0.2 % in other sectors. Approximately
33% of the Nepalese population currently has access to electricity from the national grid (in urban and semi-urban
areas) and about 7% from non-grid (micro-hydropower and solar).
Nepal spent about 40% of its total commodity export earnings to import fossil fuels in 2002-2003 and 51% in 20042005 which provided little over 11% of total energy consumed in the country (MOF, 2007). Not much has changed
since then.
2. Problem Definition:
With an increase in population and rapid urbanization, the consumption of petroleum products is found to increase
significantly. It is reported that the demand of petroleum products is sharply growing in Nepal at a rate of 12% each
year, which is one of the highest in South Asia (NOC, 2007). Nepal currently imports 100% of its needed petroleum
products from India. Nepal imported 287 million liters of petrol, 921 million liters of diesel, 141 million liters of
turbine fuel, 19 million liters of kerosene 883 thousand liters of furnace oil and 258 thousand metric tonnes of
liquefied petroleum gas.
While the dependence on fossil fuel is sharply increasing, the issue of lessening the Nepal's reliant on foreign oil
import and sustainable energy development has been more important than ever. Despite having a huge hydropower
potential, the development so far has not been much encouraging. Nepal's capacity to develop large hydro power
plants is still in question but the number of issues emerged in Kali Gandaki-A, middle Marshyangdi and other larger
projects have been great been lessons. While Nepal need large hydropower development to meet its industrial and
commercial needs, but making a sustainable transition from externally funded large hydropowers to local built
small, mini and micro hydro projects (MHP). Nepal has a proven capacity to develop mini, small and micro hydro
projects and are not too destructive to the environment as well. Also there are a number of barriers that require to
remove in order for the development of energy sector in Nepal.
3. Methodology
The sustainability of MHP was examined based on multiple criteria such and environmental, economical and social
input and output. This process is not only the realization of strong sustainability criteria, but a manifestation of
environmentally, technically, socially, economically as well as politically feasible energy system in Nepal. Actual
house data were used to analyze the energy consumption as well environmental and socio economic data using input
output model. This research for the first time evaluates sustainability quantitatively at project level taking into
account the Environmental Condition (dCnt/dt ≥ 0), Economic Condition (dCet/dt ≥ 0) and Social Condition
(dCst/dt ≥ 0). This theory can be applied to evaluate any projects beyond energy projects to evaluate sustainability
at project level.
4. Results of Analysis
Environmental, economic and social benefits outweigh the negative impacts in the project's life and beyond.
Technological as well as institutional sustainability are also very important parameters to evaluate sustainability in
project level. The analysis showed that community based micro hydro projects are en-route to sustainability in
Nepal.
5. Conclusions
In this study, different aspects of MHPs were analyzed in the small-scale, which were managed and operated by the
local community. Micro hydro power systems fulfil environmental, economical and social criteria of sustainability.
While considering energy systems in the context of climate change, carrying capacity of ecological environment,
inter- and intra generational equity aspects of developmental benefits, MHP system can be taken as a reference
example for any plans, programs, and policies of future sustainable energy development in Nepal or elsewhere.
Maintaining the strong sustainability criteria supported by appropriate policy measures, availability of energy
resources - especially water resources, could be utilised for the alleviation of poverty and enhancement of optimum
scale of socio-economic activities in Nepal. This small effort may lead to the development toward strong
sustainability - at least in the rural energy sector.
Author introduction
Arjun KC currently serves as a senior policy analyst in the Ministry of Energy in Alberta where he
provides support in alternative and sustainable energy policy, climate change as well as value added
resource development of Alberta’s energy resources. Before joining to the Government of Alberta, he
served as a project analyst for Municipal Climate Change Action Centre to design and implement
energy efficiency program to Alberta municipalities He also worked as Carbon and Energy Specialist
in Golder Associates Ltd, in Victoria BC. Arjun KC Received his Ph.D. in Sustainable Energy
Development from Dalhousie University in 2013. He received his Master of Engineering Degree in
Renewable Energy Technology from Asian Institute of Engineering, Bangkok Thailand in 1997. His
undergraduate degree in Civil Engineering is from Institute of Engineering, Tribhuvan University,
Nepal. Dr. KC led Polytechnic Division of Council for Technical as a coordinator since early 2000.
He also served as Energy Advisor to the United Nations Development Program (UNDP) in Nepal
where is led a team of engineers and social mobilizers to develop a number of micro hydro projects in
remote communities in Sindhupalchowk. He taught “Technology, Environment and Society” for
undergraduate students in two colleges under Tribhuvan University for five years. Dr. KC is a
professional Engineer registered in the Association of Professional Engineers and Geoscientists of
Alberta (APEGA). He is also a life member of Nepal Engineering Council as well as Nepal Engineers
Association. He is certified as LEED Green Associate from Green Building Certification Institute
(USA), as well as Certified Measurement and Verification Professional (CMVP) from Association of
Energy Engineers (AEE), USA. Dr. KC has published over 3 dozens of papers in international peer
reviewed journals, over a dozen of papers in international conferences. He has also published five
books, three from the US and two from Nepal. Dr. KC also serves as a member of Editorial Board for
the Journal of Sustainable Bioenergy Systems as well as Journal of Global Ecology and Environment.
Watching biomolecules fold and unfold
Krishna Neupane
Research Associate, Department of Physics, University of Alberta, Edmonton AB, Canada
[email protected]
Abstract
Understanding how biomolecules such as proteins and nucleic acids fold is a complex problem. A protein chain of
hundreds of amino acids finds its way quickly and reliably to a specific three-dimensional shape. Understanding
folding of biomolecules is important because biomolecules perform specific physiological role, and on the other
hand, when folding goes wrong, they case many devastating diseases. Studies so far have focused on characterizing
the unfolded and folded states, thereby inferring, based on theoretical and computational models, how they actually
proceed through the transition paths that contain the critical information about how biomolecules form structures. It
is because the duration of actual folding transition is very brief, thereby making it very challenging to measure the
transition paths experimentally. Using high-resolution optical tweezers that apply controlled tension to the end of a
single molecule, we measured directly the transition paths for the first time when the molecule folded and unfolded,
opening exciting new avenues for investigating folding phenomenon. Here, I present the proof-of-principle
experiments in a simple DNA molecule and a prion protein that is associated with prion diseases.
Author introduction
Krishna Neupane is from Gulmi, Nepal. He completed his MSc in Physics from Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur,
Nepal, and PhD degree in Physics from Kent State University, Kent, OH, USA. He is currently working as a
Research Associate in Department of Physics at the University of Alberta and National Institute for
Nanotechnology. Previously in Nepal, he was a Lecturer in Physics at Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus
(Tribhuvan University), APEX college (Purbanchal University), Trichandra College, Amrit Science Campus,
Pennweood Academy (O and A level, affiliated to Cambridge University UK), and Mahendra Bhawan Higher
Secondary School.
Field reconnaissance after the April 25, 2015 Mw 7.8 Gorkha earthquake
Keshab Sharma, PhD student,
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, University of Alberta
[email protected]
1.
Introduction
The Gorkha Nepal earthquake of moment magnitude Mw 7.8 occurred at 06:11 UTC on April 25, 2015, with the
epicenter about 77 km northwest of Kathmandu at a focal depth of approximately 15 km [1]. Tremor was felt in
Nepal, India, Bhutan, Bangladesh, and China. Two aftershocks of Mw 6.7 and 6.3 struck Nepal within 25 hours of
the main shock. Another big aftershock of Mw 7.3 shook the region on May 12, having the epicentral location in the
northeast of Kathmandu, and caused additional damage to rural towns and villages in the northern part of central
Nepal. The spatial distribution of aftershocks, which extended 150 km to the east of the epicenter, suggests that the
rupture propagated from west to east, thus producing severe destruction in Kathmandu, at approximately 80 km
southeast of the epicenter. These seismic events in the central Himalaya were the strongest after the 1934 earthquake
that was located northeast of Kathmandu. Field reconnaissance was carried out in the Kathmandu Valley and regions
near the main shock and May 12 aftershock epicenter by the authors immediately after the main shock.
2. Plate tectonics
The Himalaya was formed by the collision of Indian plate and Eurasian plate starting from 40 million years ago. The
Himalayan arc, which marks an active boundary between Indian and Eurasian plates, has caused numerous major
earthquakes of moment magnitude 7.5 or greater in past centuries [2]. The 2015 Gorkha earthquake were the result
of thrust faulting between the subducting India plate and the Eurasia plate to the north, where the Indian plate
converges with the Eurasian plate at a rate of approximately 45 mm/year towards the north-northeast, driving the
uplift of the Himalayas and the Tibetan Plateau [3]. The Gorkha 2015 earthquake released large amount of energy
accumulated along the main fault under Kathmandu Valley. The fault segment to the east is the one that ruptured in
1934, and the probability of another great earthquake there is therefore relatively low. The segment to the west and
close to the 2015 rupture is the gap that has not ruptured since 1505, and the recent quake should increase the
probability of the next great earthquake rupture there.
3. Ground motion
The peak ground acceleration (PGA) of the recorded ground motions was 150-170 cm/s2 and 70-80 cm/s2 for the
Mw 7.8 main shock and the Mw 7.3 aftershock, respectively [1]. It is seen that the acceleration records are
broadband and contain the long-period components at 5 sec, which may be resulted from the effects of the deep soft
sediment in the valley on the duration and amplification of shaking. However, due to the lack of rock outcrop
recordings, comparison between the outcrop and ground surface responses are not readily available.
4. Engineering aspect of the earthquake
4.1 Mass movements
About 4000 landslides of small to mega scales were induced within about 200 km stretch causing enormous
economic and socio-environmental loss. This earthquake caused numerous ground fissures. Ground fissures were
surficial in nature and were not directly associated with the earthquake rupture.
4.2 Damages to Monuments and Buildings
Historical monuments as well as religious structures associated with Hinduism and Buddhism suffered tremendous
damage induced by the 2015 Gorkha earthquake. Most of these structures are of masonry type using bricks and
earth-mortar as a bonding-agent. Very old structured lack of regular maintenance leads to severe damage.
A post-earthquake reconnaissance showed that damages in reinforced concrete (RC) buildings in urban areas were
mostly due to soft storey, pounding, shear failure, poor construction quality, low concrete strength, non-seismic
detailing in beam–column joints, and local site effects [4].
For masonry constructions, age, the structural integrity, heavy load accumulation due to thick wall, lack of bracing
and pounding were the major cause of complete collapse or out of plane failure. Similarly, in the remote area
random rubble construction and adobe constructions were collapsed due poor binding, lack of structural integrity,
lack of tying members, heavy gable and roof construction [4].
4.3 Damages to bridges and other lifeline services
Though most of bridges in Nepal are old and in dilapidated condition, there is no report yet about the severe damage
to bridges. Most bridges have suffered minor damage on expansion joints, beams and slabs while some have slightly
been deviated from their original position due to tremors. All lifeline services were revived within couple of days
after April 25 earthquake.
4.4 Liquefaction
Liquefaction was not extensively triggered in the Kathmandu Valley possibly due to the low shake intensities and
the plasticity of the valley soils. The low liquefaction occurrence in the valley may be attributed to low peak ground
acceleration the shake. In addition, the low groundwater table because the Kathmandu Valley was at the dry season
from March to June and rapidly sinking water table as a result of groundwater withdrawal may reduce the
liquefaction potentials of the valley soils [5].
4.5 Damages to road, embankments and dams
The roadway embankments in Kathmandu City suffered some damage in the form of subsidence and lateral
spreading. Larger fissures and settlements were found in Lokanthali (along 6 lanes highway) and Sinamangal, near
international airport. No severe damage was found at other road, embankments and dams.
4.6 Local site effects
Building damage in Kathmandu Valley and nearby villages was caused not only by the poor quality of nonengineered buildings but also by local site effects induced by soft alluvial soil deposits, e.g. amplification of ground
shaking, basin edge effect and ridge effect. The effect of loose fill was evident from the extensive damages in
Gongabu, Balaju, Machha Pokhari, Ramkot, Naikap and the surrounding areas in Kathmandu city.
It was found that out of 15 newly constructed high-rise apartment buildings in Kathmandu Valley, 11 were severely
affected by the earthquake. Causes of the major damage in well-engineered high-rise in Kathmandu Valley may be
attributed to the long-period ground motions [5].
5. Conclusion
It is imperative to point out that there was only nominal damage due to main shock to roads, bridges, retaining wall,
life line services (i.e. electric poles, sewer line) etc. However, the big aftershock Mw 7.3 caused numerous
landslides; had blocked the Araniko Highway (only one highway to China from Kathmandu) for a couple of months.
A post-earthquake reconnaissance showed that damages in reinforced concrete buildings in urban areas were mostly
due to poor construction quality, low concrete strength, non-seismic detailing in beam-column joints, and local site
effects. Most of the masonry buildings in the villages nearby main shock epicenter were also affected. The causes of
the damage of masonry buildings were observed to be poor construction detailing, poor masonry material properties,
irregularly shaped stones having smooth surfaces, weak structural walls, unconfined gable walls, and cracks at the
corners of windows and doors.
The damage patterns revealed strong influence of local site conditions on the severity of the damage at many places.
High-rise buildings with longer predominant periods are expected to be vulnerable to such long-period ground
motions, while shorter buildings with lower predominant periods are expected to have less damage.
Reference
[1] United States Geological Survey (USGS). http://earthquake.usgs.gov/realtime/product /finitefault/
us20002926/us/1429969841288/20002926.html (accessed on 10 June 2015).
[2] Bilham R, Gaur VK, Molnar P. Himalayan Seismic Hazard. Science 2001;293:1442-4.
[3] Copeland P. The when and where of the growth of the Himalaya and the Tibetan Plateau. In: Ruddiman, W.F.
(Ed.), Tectonic Up lift and Climate Change. Plenum Press, New York, 1997;19–40.
[4] Sharma, K., Deng, L. and Cruz-Noguez, C. Field investigation on the performance of building structures during
the April 25, 2015, Gorkha earthquake in Nepal. Engineering Structures, 2016; 121; 61-74.
[5] Sharma, K. and Deng, L. Geotechnical Engineering Aspect of the April 25, 2015, Gorkha, Nepal earthquake.
Soil Dynamic and Earthquake Engineering (Submitted: submission number: SOILDYN-D-15-00413).
Author introduction
He completed BE in Civil Engineering from Institute of Engineering, Pulchowk Campus, Nepal and Master degree in
Civil Engineering from University of Tokyo, Tokyo Japan as a ADB scholar. He is currently a doctoral student in
Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of Alberta and is involved in teaching and
conducting research in geotechnical and earthquake engineering. He is also columnist in Nepal’s National Daily
wherein he writes about socio-technical issues. Previously in Nepal, he was a lecturer at Kathmandu Engineering
College (KEC) and Institute of Engineering (part time). He worked as a project engineer at Save the Children
International. He also served government of Nepal for the short period.
Nepalese Scholars’ Association at University of Alberta (NESA)
1st NESA Symposium - Knowledge Sharing and Transfer in Favor of Nepal
Edmonton, Canada
June 11, 2016
Session III – Public Health and Nutrition (Chair: Arun Pokharel, PhD)
Arsenic Contamination of Groundwater in Ghazni and Maidan Wardak Provinces,
Afghanistan
Betman Bhandari (PhD, PEng)
WASH Specialist, ABST Calgary,
[email protected]
M. H Saffi
Hydrologist, DACAAR, Afghanistan
Abstract
In Afghanistan, Arsenic (As) and Fluoride (F) contamination are an issue of current drinking
water supply systems where users have been using groundwater sources. Arsenic contamination
is the major environmental health management concerns especially in Ghazni and Maidan
Wardak provinces in WASH sector. Increasing human activities and haphazard urbanization
have modified the cycle of heavy metal, non-metal and metalloids. The traces of both ground
water pollutants arsenic are ubiquitous in the potential water sources of Afghanistan.
The water quality study with 746 sample water from different water points have been carried in
Khwaja Omari district and center of Ghazni province and Jaghato district of Maydan Wardak
province..Results show that 61% of drinking water points samples exceeded the value of the
WHO guideline of 0.01 mg/L of As, and 38% of analyzed water samples exceeded the
Afghanistan drinking water quality standard (DWQS) of 0.05 mg/L of As.
Author introduction:
Betman Bhandari is living in Calgary and originally from Nepal. He did his Master and PhD in rural
water supply from Asian Institute of Technology, Thailand (1999-2001). He did Post Doc (2-year)
from University of Calgary (2003-2005). He worked with Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation
Technology (CAWST Calgary) 2006-2013. Currently he is working for ABST Engineering Consultant
for different international organization in Nepal, Cambodia, Laos and Afghanistan (2014- present).
‘A report on descriptive analysis of demographics and prevalence of selected health related
conditions among government sponsored resettled refugee population in Edmonton’, and
‘An exploration of the adoption of evidence-based clinical guidelines for refugees in
Alberta’
Dr. Sanjaya Dhakal (MBBS, MPH)
School of Public Health, University of Alberta
Policy Analyst & Implementation Advisor, Primary Health Care Branch, Government of Alberta
[email protected]
Introduction to Problem:
Canada has gained an enviable reputation of being a world leader in protecting refugees after
signing the Refugee Convention relating to the Status of Refugees on 4 June 1969. All
immigrants to Canada, including refugees, undergo an Immigrant Medical Examination (IME) as
a routine part of an immigration process as an immigration and departmental policy of
Citizenship and Immigration Canada. The IME is to identify diseases that could put the Canadian
residents at risk or place an excess burden on Canadian health care system, but does not focus on
therapeutic or preventive services that could be provided/make useful to them as they arrive in
Canada.
On the other hand, although the Canadian Task Force on Preventive Health Care has produced
many high-quality clinical preventive recommendations, these guidelines have not explicitly
considered the unique preventive needs and implementation issues for the refugee population.
The Canadian Collaboration for Immigrant and Refugee Health (CCIRH), in collaboration with
primary care practitioners, has identified issues of importance to refugee health, including burden
of illness, health inequities, and gaps in current knowledge. Using the evidence-based GRADE
approach (Grading of Recommendations Assessment, Development and Evaluation), in 2011
CCIRH developed clinical preventative recommendations for immigrants and refugees. Unlike
the IME guidelines, these guidelines focus broadly on clinical preventative care that addresses
the diverse health needs of refugee populations to enable healthier lifestyles.
Part A: Quantitative Study (2012)
Objective: To review operation of the New Canadians’ Health Centre (NCHC) clinic in order
to establish future direction for the clinic and enhance the quality of healthcare services provided
to the refugees in New Canadian’s Health Clinic by studying demographic distribution and
prevalence of diseases among them.
Methodology: A retrospective chart review was done on 322 consecutive post-immigration
refugee clients who were received for services at NCHC from January 2011 to December 2011.
Key findings and implications: This retrospective study showed that majority (83.6%) of
refugees are from physically and sexually active group of population which is a clear indication
of increased vulnerability to various health hazards and clinical conditions. This study also
showed higher prevalence of TB, chronic hepatitis B, syphilis, Malaria, Strongyloids, intestinal
parasitosis among government sponsored refugees than among other Canadian residents. An
absence of vaccination service in the clinic showed clinical gaps in the service being provided to
the government sponsored refugees which put unimmunized clients and Canadian residents at
risk of acquiring vaccine preventable diseases.
Recommendations: This study highlights the need for a more comprehensive health services
and clinical preventive guidelines for caring government sponsored refugees.
Part B: Qualitative Study (2013)
Objective: The goal of this research project was to serve as a guiding tool for the Office of
Chief Medical Officer of Health (OCMOH) with specific objectives to identify if the refugee
health clinics and practitioners in Alberta: are familiar with evidence-based clinical guidelines
for refugee health care (e.g. Pottie et al., 2011), follow the evidence-based clinical guidelines by
Pottie et al. (2011), and experience barriers in following the guidelines, and if so, in what areas.
Methodology: Qualitative, Data collection – interview (semi-structured), Data analysis –
content analysis, Interview participants – pre-identified (no sampling).
Key findings and implications: The participants were familiar with one or more clinical
guidelines for the refugee population. There was a difference in the utilisation of clinical
guidelines and the delivery of clinical services between clinics potentially creating regional
disparity in providing clinical care. Participants raised their concern over the lack of services and
uneven distribution of resources. In addition to inadequate health policy pertaining to the
services provided for the refugee population, the participants mentioned the issues of inadequate
financial and human resource to provide evidence-based clinical services for the refugee
population.
Recommendations: The Office of the Chief Medical Officer of Health to take a lead to
develop a task force to implement these evidence-based clinical guidelines for the refugee
population to standardize and improve the consistency of refugee health practice in Alberta.
Author introduction:
Dr. Dhakal is a physician by training and worked a number of years in Nepal in the field of Emergency
& Critical Care Medicine and Department of Surgery. He also has in depth experience working with
vulnerable groups in Nepal implementing large population health initiatives before joining University
of Alberta School of Public Health in 2011. In University of Alberta, his research focus was mostly
around global health issues with academic work focusing in refugee population. He graduated with a
Master’s degree in Public Health with specialization in Global Health. He worked for Alberta
Research Centre for Health Evidence synthesizing evidence for clinical practice with funding from US
National Institute of Health and Canadian Institute of Health Research.
He is currently working for Primary Health Care branch of Government of Alberta as a Policy and
Implementation Advisor analyzing, developing and implementing provincial primary health care
policies. His areas of interest are global justice, health and social advocacy, health inequity and health
policy. Dr. Dhakal provides pro-bono consulting services, sits in a not-for-profit board, is a peer
reviewer for Annals of Internal Medicine, External Grant Reviewer for Canadian Institute of Health
Research and University of Toronto Grand Challenges Canada.
“A Discourse Analysis of United Nations Policy Documents Related to Homelessness”
Aparajita Pyakuryal (BScN, MN)
Faculty of Nursing, University of Alberta
Clinical Research Associate
PRA Health Science, The Americas Merck Research Laboratories
[email protected]
Background and Introduction
Homelessness is considered an increasingly widespread social phenomenon in the world
(Kovacs Burns & Ritcher, 2011). It has been estimated that approximately one billion people
around the world reside in poor housing condition. Homelessness is embedded and deeply
connected to various aspects of life, including: poor economic status, mental health, substance
use, poor health status, lack of education, and an unstable government. Homelessness has been
described as a consequence of the failure to ensure that the housing supplies system, support and
funding are in place so that people have access to housing even in the crisis situation (Clapham,
2003). This link between markets, governments and people is significant and shifts the focus
away from individual responsibilities.
According to estimates ascertained by the Centre on Housing Rights and Evictions in Geneva,
one million populations are absolutely homeless (Homelessness Partnering Strategy, 2012),
which means that sleep on the streets, in parks, also referred to as sleeping rough. The estimated
number increases to 1000 million people, if it included those people who live in insecure and
poor quality housing. The current statistics show that the number of people who are homeless is
anticipated to surpass 1,000 million if we include all population who lack adequate housing,
which is housing with secure tenure as well as the most basic facilities (Homelessness Partnering
Strategy, 2012).
Many definitions exist both nationally and globally to describe people who are precariously
housed. These definitions vary according to the specific geographic, political and social contexts.
Homelessness is an issue that prevails in high, middle and low income countries and can affect
anyone, at any age, any time (Kovacs Burns & Richter, 2011). One common definition within
the Canadian context is that “Homelessness describes the situation of an individual or family
without stable, permanent, appropriate housing, or the immediate prospect, means and ability of
acquiring it. It is the result of systemic or societal barriers, a lack of affordable and appropriate
housing, the individual/household’s financial, mental, cognitive, behavioral or physical
challenges, and /or racism and discrimination. Most people do not choose to be homeless, and
the experience is generally negative, unpleasant, stressful and distressing” (Gaetz, 2014, p. 26).
Aspects of structural factors related to homelessness continue to shape and re-shape society and
are acknowledged in almost all definitions of homelessness. These structural factors are part of
the social, economic and political environment (Ritcher & Botha, 2012). With increasing shifts
towards a neoliberal agenda globally, increasing gaps between the wealthy and poor have
become visible and more people are in precarious housing situations. What differs most
profoundly between countries is the response to homelessness. Countries, such as South Africa
have a strong focus on policy development, while in Canada there is no national policy
addressing homelessness, rather programs and initiatives have predominated the responses of
governments. In Germany a strong history of social welfare policies has located the issue of
homelessness in close relationship to employment policies and a focus on families. Interestingly,
institutions such as the United Nations (UN) develop policy documents that shape the response
within and across countries to homelessness globally. Understanding the assumptions and
discourses underlying UN documents is therefore critical in understanding global and country
specific responses to the increasing phenomena of people who are precariously housed.
Discourse Analysis, Research in Discourse, Discourse and Homelessness
Over the past three decades, critical discourse analysis (CDA) has emerged as an
interdisciplinary approach to the academic study of texts and contexts in the public sphere (Carta
& Wodak, 2015). CDA focuses on those ideologies and attitudes which are produced,
disseminated and naturalized through discourse. What become visible in the different linguistic
techniques are people’s ideas, values and aspirations. CDA has emerged as a multidisciplinary
approach to the study of texts and contexts over the past two decades. Most recently CDA has
become popular in various studies of inequality, critical pedagogy, and ethics (Franceschi, 2013;
Wall, Stahl & Salam, 2015). The goal of CDA is to identify how individuals describe the power
relations within society and construct meaning in texts within the constructs of their topic
(Fairclough, 2010). Fairclough’s paradigm of CDA has been utilized to address the important
shifts related to discourses embedded in policy documents. Careful consideration has been given
to how particular discourses operate within the policy texts to define the parameters of particular
problem, to set rules of practice and to formulate agendas. CDA can provide the methodological
tools to explore the dialectal relationship between discursive and social responsibility of people
involved in pluralistic forms of governance (Zhang, 2014; Fairclough & Fairclough, 2012). This
can be achieved by integrating the ideas put forward by Fairclough’s paradigm of discourse
analysis, which has three distinctive areas of focus: textual analysis, analysis of discursive
practices, and analysis of socio-political practices. A number of studies on homelessness have
been conducted with different perspectives, aims and objectives (Horsell, 2006). Some
researchers have focused on the process of homelessness in relation to social policy. It has been
identified that social policy is one of the main factors in the prevention and resolution of the
current situations of homelessness (Arapoglou, 2004; Horsell, 2006; Schneider, 2014). The
social and public policy differences between different countries have been pointed in many
research studies related to homelessness. The discourses that structure social and public policy
differ between countries as the framework of addressing homelessness would be relevant to
specific countries (Arapoglou, 2004).
There is a growing concern that currently existing progressive homelessness policies or
programs are not working effectively, although various universal discourses such as human
rights, sustainable health, social services, aspects of criminal justice system are promoted in
policies strategies related to homelessness (Chaney, 2013; Carta & Wodak, 2015; Forchuk et al.,
2015). One of the challenges is that deeply assumptions are rarely made visible in policy or
public documents. Therefore in this capstone project I will further explore the discourses of two
UN documents relevant to homelessness.
Method
For this capstone project, I searched Health and Social Science databases (PubMed, Medline,
EBSCO, EMBASE) along with searches in the official document systems of the UN database.
The keywords homeless*, policy*, discourse* and United Nation* were used as search criteria.
In total, 36 research articles and 14 UN documents that referenced homelessness policy were
extracted. I analyzed the reference lists for further documents on homelessness policy strategies.
The articles were identified based on a search of computer databases accessible through the
University of Alberta’s online library service. The inclusion criteria for the 14 selected UN
documents included: a) documents that were published in English from 1990 to 2015; b) search
terms sometimes included in combination, or with slight variations in wording, namely:
homelessness, critical discourse, resettlement, housing readiness program, supportive housing,
United Nation, and policy. For this capstone project I choose the documents written about
programs in Canada. I picked two United Nations documents based on the inclusion criteria and
critically examined the discourse underlying two UN policy documents related to homelessness
that were published in April 2006 and February 2009. The two UN documents are:
1. Implementation of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and
Cultural Rights consideration of reports submitted by states parties in accordance with
article 16 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights.
Replies of the Government of Canada to the List of issues to be taken up in connection
with the consideration of fourth periodic report of Canada concerning the rights referred
to in articles 1-15 of the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural
Rights, United Nations. [I will refer to this as a]
2. Promotion and protection of all Human Rights, Civil, Political, Economic,
Social and Cultural Rights, including the Right to development; Report of the Special
rapporteur on adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate standard of
living, and on the right to non-discrimination in this context. [I will refer to this as b].
Research Findings
The two documents selected focused on prevention programs for homelessness from a
Canadian perspective. The first documents focused on the human rights for the development of
various populations in terms of adequate housing. This document presented the secure and
adequate housing as the basic human rights for women and aboriginal. The findings from the
second documents have examined adequate housing as a component of the right to an adequate
standard of living and the right to non-discrimination. Focusing specifically on women it is
interesting that women’s right to adequate housing and adequate housing as the right to nondiscrimination have been discussed in three ways in the UN documents: shifting paradigms;
political strategies; and the public sector.
Shifting Paradigms on Homelessness
Underlying the perspective of homelessness policies and services is the idea that
homelessness is a natural or pre-given situation of life (Toft, 2014; Pascale, 2005). At the same
time, the literature reveals that “homelessness” itself is a relatively new concept (Huckin, 2002).
In the UN document [a] I reviewed, the concept of homelessness is understood as the destitution
that people experience. Here homeless is conceptualized using notions such deprivation and
pauperism. In the context of wider social, economic and political changes less emphasis has
been placed on individual explanations of homelessness, placing greater emphasis on
explanations of homelessness with consideration of issues such as poverty, unemployment,
housing affordability and availability, discrimination, women rights to adequate housing,
domestic violence and economic inequality.
Women and their rights to adequate housing
The homeless population has been described as heterogeneous; reflecting diverse gender,
sexual orientation, and ethnic background – although some groups, such as Aboriginal people or
transgender people are overrepresented (Homelessness Partnering Strategy, 2012). Homeless
women are anticipated to have children and that their lack of secure housing is related to family
conflicts (Montgomery, McCauley &Bailey, 2009). A number of studies have identified women
who are homelessness as a distinct and higher functioning group of the overall homelessness
population (Schneider, 2014). As noted by UN (2006 [a]), in comparison to homeless men, the
lack of secure and adequate housing has impacted particularly women who are disproportionally
affected by mental health problem, difficulties accessing affordable housing, and family
violence. Homeless women have unique needs for service that understand the right to secure and
affordable housing. In face of these needs, a number of critiques have been identified that point
to a lack of current policy and program responses to women homelessness from a rights
perspective. Fortunately, in the last two decades, the notions of human rights have reshaped the
political landscapes of country, Canada.
Discursive Political Strategies
Women and their rights to adequate housing
The Universal Declaration on Human Rights represents rights that apply to all of humanity. In
addition the International Bill of Rights requires nations or states to have human rights
instruments, as they are responsible for implementing the rights contained in the Universal
Declaration. Governments can and must be held accountable for compliance with international
human rights treaties. Nations responsibilities continue towards ensuring that individual’s rights
are not infringed (Kothari, 2009). It is important to clarify that human rights in relation to
adequate housing involves understanding the implications of discrimination and inequality for
women’s right to housing (Fernandes, 2004). The UN document (2009 [b]) states “Human rights
legislation in Canada affirms that equality for disadvantaged groups often requires governments
or private actors to adopt positive measures to address the needs of disadvantaged groups; this
principle offers important potential for providing effective remedies with respect to the right to
adequate housing in Canada”.
The UN document (2006 [a]) offers more detailed and explicit directions to guide housing
policies towards social justice for women. Furthermore, governmental obligations to facilitate
social justice are critical. The UN documents state [a and b] that the Federal government of
Canada designates “social justice” as one of the nation’s objective and says each citizen has the
right to adequate housing. Understanding women rights and a commitment to acknowledging
and enforcing housing rights however does not compromise a commitment to sustainable and
adequate housing for women. Interestingly the UN documents do not elaborate on the seven
elements of “adequacy”, which include: availability of services, materials, facilities and
infrastructure; location; habitability; affordability; accessibility; cultural adequacy and legal
security of tenure. Many of these essential features are exceptionally important and deeply
impact women. To illustrate this, single mothers or women leaving violent relationship have
been suffering from unreasonable burden due to unaffordable housing, particularly when they are
on income assistance.
Adequate housing as the right to non-discrimination
For the past decade, homelessness and housing insecurity has been shown to impacts
particularly marginalized women of Canada (Reitmanova, Gustafson &Ahmed, 2015). Women
living in poverty, particularly immigrant women, single mother, women living violent
relationship, aboriginal women and women on social assistance are more likely to encounter
discrimination (Caballero, 2015; Lancione, 2013). The UN document (2009 [a]) states that the
“homelessness and inadequate housing in Canada can be addressed by reinstating or increasing,
where necessary, social housing programmes for those in need, improving and properly
enforcing antidiscrimination legislation in the field of housing, increasing shelter allowances and
social assistance rates to realistic levels, and providing adequate support services for person with
disabilities and victims”. In both UN documents [a and b], violence against women is presented
as a historically accepted phenomena leading the unequal power relations between men and
women. The problem of violence against women, especially domestic violence and women’s
right to adequate housing often arise as an emergency problem. Women make up the majority of
low income earners and single women along with female lone parents have fewer options than
men in accessing the housing market; they are more likely to a greater percentage of their income
on housing (Kothari, 2009). In some of the cities in Canada, women often wait for several
months in a shelter to access subsidized housing as they do not have any alternative housing
availability (United Nations, 2006 [a]). These circumstance force women to continue to live in
abusive relationship.
Public Sector Discourse
The growing public discourse is reflected in the range of homelessness topics covered by the
media. The public discourse around homelessness began to take a critical view of homeless
services system as well as people who use it (Reitmanova, Gustafson &Ahmed, 2015).
Women and their rights to adequate housing
A secure and protected place to live is necessary to maintain human dignity and to maintain
physical and mental health, which can only be attainable through access to adequate housing
(Kothari, 2009). However, there is still a lack of understanding and recognition that adequate
housing is one of the fundamental requisites of human rights. In recent years, there has been
much discussion between the right to adequate housing and economically driven development.
Currently the public discourse on women rights to adequate housing and development ignores
the relationship between the two. It is very important to be careful about the language that the
public sector uses to refer the homelessness people, in reality is that homelessness people
continue to experience violations of rights to non-discrimination, security of person privacy and
of course adequate housing (Kothari, 2009; UN, 2006). Furthermore, it is important to know that
the development of national policies or norms relies on the strength on what is happening in the
public at the community level.
Adequate housing as the right to non-discrimination
In the past Canada`s equality rights jurisprudence has acknowledged that discrimination arises
from the systems and established practices that disproportionately support the dominant groups
(UN, 2006 [a]). The UN document (2009 [b]) affirms that “ In view of the issues faced by
women in regard to discrimination and inadequate housing living conditions as well as income
disparity between men and women, the Special Rapporteur recommends that the mandate and
funding of the status of women Canada (SWC) be fully reinstated including funding for
advocacy for women’s equality”. This understanding of discrimination has been developed in
previous decades recognizing that the benefits enjoyed by groups in the community are not
natural and instead that all discrimination is socially constructed. The role of the public sector in
Canada is to supplement or restrain the land and property market in a way that the allocation of
the resources is seen to be fair in public interest (Kothari, 2009; UN, 2006). Housing
discrimination in Canada is related to income inequality. Some public policy analysts assert that
there is an income problem, not a housing problem and this income problem is leading to
homelessness. The public discourse in regards to housing discrimination suggests racial
discrimination exists in Canada, this can be seen in landlords who are often unwilling to rent to
visible racial minorities such as immigrants, Aboriginal, or refugees. In other instances, people
living in large public and social housing complexes are being unable to obtain insurance; the
people who live in public housing or emergency shelters are also subjected to discrimination and
stigmatization (Kothari, 2009).
Conclusion
The overarching domains I identified in my analysis are: creating political and public policies
strategies for women who experience homelessness would help alleviate homelessness; however,
it would not be a single solution. The study on the prevention and protection of homelessness is
in a beginning stage. The prevention programs and political and public policies that have already
been implemented must be evaluated. Evaluating existing emergency and systems prevention
programs would be a good place to start as many provinces and actions plans to end
homelessness are implementing such strategies. Furthermore, analysis priorities should include
evaluating different supportive models for effectiveness among subpopulation such as single
mother, women living violent relationship, Aboriginal women, and immigrants.
Reference
Please find the reference on original paper attached with this compiled document.
Author introduction:
Aparajita Pyakuryal is a Nurse by profession and has worked in various therapeutic areas, including
oncology, hematology, psychology, and gastroenterology. As a young and determined girl, Aparajita
obtained Master of Nursing with a specialization in Aging in Research Stream from the University of
Alberta. She has considerable expertise in patient care management, health and social psychology,
including the health consequences of women’s multiple roles and social supports. A long commitment
to working in research had led Aparajita to be appointed as a Clinical Research Coordinator in the
Clinical trial research at the Alberta Health Services. Aparajita leveraged her diverse clinical
research background quickly excel at monitoring, and became Clinical Research Associate at PRA
Health Science, the Americas Merck Research Laboratories. She helps in the preparation, design,
implementation, planning and reviews of clinical trial.
Functional adaptation of gut microbiome towards dietary fiber
Nami Baskota
Graduate Research Assistant (Masters), Human Nutrition and Metabolism
University of Alberta
[email protected]
Abstract
The gastrointestinal tract of humans, like other mammals, harbors a complex microbial
community composed of trillions of microorganisms, most of which are bacteria, and is referred
to as the gut microbiota. This microbial consortium has been shaped throughout evolution to
improve host fitness, for example by providing both energy and beneficial metabolic compounds
from dietary compounds that cannot be digested by the host. Dietary fibers, which are not
digested by the host, constitute a critical substrate for bacterial fermentation in the
gastrointestinal tract, which results in short chain fatty acids (SCFA) production that has
numerous benefits to the host. Studies in animal models have revealed SCFA to confer antiinflammatory properties [Vinolo et al., 2009], improve insulin sensitivity [Gao et al., 2009], and
regulate immune homeostasis [Smith et al., 2013]. However, little is known on the ability of the
human gut microbiota to adapt to fiber consumption and the consequences of such an adaptation.
The Walter Lab is currently conducting the Alberta FYBER Study, a human nutritional trial in
which 3 chemically distinct dietary fibers, resistant starch (RS), Arabinoxylan (AX), Acacia gum
(AG), and a control with limited fermentation capacity (microcrystalline cellulose; MC) are
being tested for their capacity to improve systemic inflammation and other metabolic phenotypes
in overweight to mildly obese humans. The FYBER study provides me with an opportunity to
characterize the potential of the human gut microbiome to adapt towards dietary fiber.
Specifically, I hypothesize that long-term fiber consumption leads to bacterial adaptation that
enhance the metabolism of these substrates, and consequently increases SCFA fermentation of
the human gut microbiome, even for a non-soluble fiber that is poorly fermented by the human
gut microbiome (cellulose). To test this hypothesis, I have the following Specific aims:
Aim 1: Determine associations between fiber fermentation of the human gut microbiome
with human long-term dietary patterns. An in-depth characterization of dietary habits of
participants over the last year will be performed with the Canadian DHQ II and fiber
consumption will be correlated with SCFA production during in vitro fecal fermentation of the
particular fibers.
Aim 2: Determine adaptability of the human gut microbiome to ferment specific fibers
during a nutritional intervention. To exactly test how the human gut microbiome adapts
towards a fiber, fermentation potential (SCFA levels) will be compared with in vitro fecal
fermentations, using the fibers of the FYBER study and the fecal samples collected before and
after the fiber intervention of the FYBER study.
Author introduction:
Nami Baskota is a Graduate Research Assistant (Masters) in Human Nutrition and Metabolism at the Department
of Agriculture, Food and Nutritional Sciences, University of Alberta since July 2015. She worked as a Teaching
Assistant at the College of Applied Food and Dairy Technology, Kathmandu, Nepal from April 2013 to March
2014 prior to joining the University of Alberta. She worked as a Nutritionist at VLCC Health Care Limited,
Kathmandu, Nepal from November 2010 to January 2014.