Impacts of climate change-induced natural hazards on women and their human rights implications: A study in the southwest coast of Bangladesh.

Women in coastal areas are particularly vulnerable to climate change impacts due to existing gender inequality and socio-cultural norms in Bangladesh. This research aims to explore the vulnerability of women to climate change-induced natural hazards, the challenges they face due to the chain impacts of climate change, and the resulting violation of women's rights. Quantitative and qualitative data were used in this study, where 260 structured questionnaire surveys and 15 Focus Group Discussions were performed at Mongla and Shyamnagar Upazilas in Bagerhat and Satkhira districts, respectively. The quantitative data were analyzed using SPSS 26.0 software, and qualitative data was analyzed thematically. The results disclose that most respondents in Mongla and Shyamnagar reported an increase in the occurrence rate of climate change-induced natural hazards, with cyclones, salinity, and riverbank erosion being the most devastating in Mongla and cyclones, salinity, and storm surges in Shyamnagar. It affects the lives and livelihoods of people, with women being particularly vulnerable due to limited access to education, healthcare, and economic opportunities, and women's rights are violated in these areas. Half of the study area's population has been suffering from infections or inflammation in reproductive organs, especially among fisherwomen. The findings of this study recommend that provisions for alternative livelihoods should be made for women, and all women must be brought under the umbrella of fair social safety net programs.

Distributed Fibre Optic Sensor-Based Continuous Strain Measurement along Semicircular Paths Using Strain Transformation Approach.

Distributed fibre optic sensors (DFOS) are popular for structural health monitoring applications in large engineering infrastructure because of their ability to provide spatial strain measurements continuously along their lengths. Curved paths, particularly semicircular paths, are quite common for optical fibre placement in large structures in addition to straight paths. Optical fibre sensors embedded in a curved path configuration typically measure a component of strain, which often cannot be validated using traditional approaches. Thus, for most applications, strain measured along curved paths is ignored as there is no proper validation tool to ensure the accuracy of the measured strains. To overcome this, an analytical strain transformation equation has been developed and is presented here. This equation transforms the horizontal and vertical strain components obtained along a curved semicircular path into a strain component, which acts tangentially as it travels along the curved fibre path. This approach is validated numerically and experimentally for a DFOS installed on a steel specimen with straight and curved paths. Under tensile and flexural loading scenarios, the horizontal and vertical strain components were obtained numerically using finite element analysis and experimentally using strain rosettes and then, substituted into the proposed strain transformation equation for deriving the transformed strain values. Subsequently, the derived strain values obtained from the proposed transformation equation were validated by comparing them with the experimentally measured DFOS strains in the curved region. Additionally, this study has also shown that a localised damage to the DFOS coating will not impact the functionality of the sensor at the remaining locations along its length. In summary, this paper presents a valid strain transformation equation, which can be used for transforming the numerical simulation results into the DFOS measurements along a semicircular path. This would allow for a larger scope of spatial strains measurements, which would otherwise be ignored in practice.