Fighting Odds in Domestic Sphere: Mothers’ Role to Alter Cultural Values Governing Daughters’ Rights in Pakistan

Feminism begins at home. To test this question this article is based on findings of a survey and discussion with three generations of mothers, who had struggled for ensuring rights of their daughters in particular. They represent diverse ethnic groups of Pakistan. True, in an overall patriarchal environment, mothers are blamed for perpetuating son preference and socializing the daughters to a submissive role, but it is also true that mothers of somewhat different inclination have been continuously resisting the odds put in their daughters’ ways to enjoy and progress in life. Even in rural areas, illiterate mothers’ have been asserting for daughter’s education, mobility, cultural participation and choice in marriage. Mothers have been promoting daughters’ rights, a struggle which can be labeled as ‘activism in domestic space’, which is transmitted and reinforced down the generations of mothers. Thus the role of mothers in changing cultural values and gender stereotypes is essential to be studied. They have the agency for taking initiatives in a domain which instills feminism very successfully in an unnoticeable way. The study proves that even mothers can be corrosive for patriarchy. Selection of three generations of mothers from rural and urban areas and different ethnic groups provides a good cross-section and shows the trend in various sociological regions.

Soft Computing Methodologies for Hybrid Renewable Energy Sources in Smart Grid Adaptive Control

Soft Computing Methodologies for Hybrid Renewable Energy Sources in Smart Grid Adaptive Control Owing to the evolution of the smart grid, the emergence of hybrid renewable energy system (HRES) and the proliferation of plug-in-hybrid electric vehicles (PHEVs), the development of efficient and robust maximum power point tracking (MPPT) algorithms for renewable energy sources due to their inherent intermittent nature has overwhelmed the power industry. The HRES is a looming power generation scheme due to the plentiful availability of renewable energy sources (RESs). The renewable energy sources are intermittent in nature due to uncertain meteorological conditions. The residential and charging station loads behave in an erratic manner. In this scenario, to maintain the balancebetweengenerationanddemand, thedevelopmentofanintelligentandadaptive control algorithm has preoccupied power engineers and researchers. This research work presents the indirect adaptive tracking control of renewable energy sources in a grid-connected hybrid renewable energy system. The instantaneous nonlineardynamicsneedtobecapturedonlinetoharvestthemaximumpowerefficientlyfrom renewable energy sources. An adaptive Chebyshev-wavelet embedded NeuroFuzzy indirect MPPT control (ACWNF-MPPT) paradigm is proposed for variable speed wind energy conversion system (VS-WECS). An adaptive feedback linearization-based NeuroFuzzy MPPT (AFBLNF-MPPT) algorithm for a photovoltaic energy conversion system(PVECS)andanadaptiveHermite-waveletincorporatedNeuroFuzzyindirecttracking control (AHWNF) scheme for Solid Oxide Fuel Cell (SOFC) are developed. The charging infrastructure plays a vital role in the healthy and rapid development of electric vehicles industry. The charging station (CS) which consists of five different PHEVs and a battery storage system (BSS) is integrated to a grid-connected HRES having wind turbineMPPTcontrolledsubsystem, photovoltaicMPPTcontrolledsubsystemandcontrolled SOFC with electrolyzer subsystem which are characterized as renewable energy sources. Adaptive PID (AdapPID) control paradigm is used for non-renewable energy source (micro-turbine), storage system (battery and super-capacitor), grid side inverter and the charging station (CS converter, battery storage system (BSS), PHEVs). A comprehensive simulation test-bed for a grid-connected HRES is developed in Matlab/Simulink. The performance of the stated indirect adaptive control paradigms are evaluated through simulation results by comparison with conventional and intelligent control schemes. The simulation results prove the effectiveness of the proposed control paradigms.