Search results for: solar cathodic protection station

Authors: Apra Sinha

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The inverted U-shaped Environmental Kuznets curve (EKC) demonstrates(pollution-income relationship)that initially the pollution and environmental degradation surpass the level of income per capita; however this trend reverses since at the higher income levels, economic growth initiates environmental upgrading. However, what effect does increased environmental degradation has on growth is the missing feedback link which has not been addressed in the EKC hypothesis. This paper examines the missing feedback link in EKC hypothesis in Indian context by examining the casual association between fossil fuel consumption, carbon dioxide emissions and economic growth for India. Fossil fuel consumption here has been taken as a proxy of driver of economic growth. The casual association between the aforementioned variables has been analyzed using five interventions namely 1) urban development for which urbanization has been taken proxy 2) industrial development for which industrial value added has been taken proxy 3) trade liberalization for which sum of exports and imports as a share of GDP has been taken as proxy 4)financial development for which a)domestic credit to private sector and b)net foreign assets has been taken as proxies. The choice of interventions for this study has been done keeping in view the economic liberalization perspective of India. The main aim of the paper is to investigate the missing feedback link for Environmental Kuznets Curve Hypothesis before and after incorporating the intervening variables. The period of study is from 1971 to 2011 as it covers pre and post liberalization era in India. All the data has been taken from World Bank country level indicators. The Johansen and Juselius cointegration testing methodology and Error Correction based Granger causality have been applied on all the variables. The results clearly show that out of five interventions, only in two interventions the missing feedback link is being addressed. This paper can put forward significant policy implications for environment protection and sustainable development.

Keywords: environmental Kuznets curve hypothesis, fossil fuel consumption, industrialization, trade liberalization, urbanization

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Authors: Azize Serap Tuncer

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Turkey is one of the most outstanding figures among the Mediterranean countries from the natural and historical point at view. It is relatively rich country as regards the flora and vegetation. But at the same time as a result of improper and unplanned usage of the land for centuries, its forests and fertile soils have been exposed to great damages. While rapid and uncontrolled urbanization has important effects on the environment, urban development legislations, have become very unsufficient for the protection of these areas. Some of them have been completely eradicated, and some others have lost their fertility. Besides Turkey has a high main land with a rough surface and its soils areas exposed to heavy erosion. On the other hand as a developing country, it is not willing to endanger the goals of industrialization and avoid foreign direct investment by implementing strict environmental policies. Although this kind of pressure on forestland resources threatens the stability of forest land and land use management, in recent years, there has been an obvious increase in public concern about environmental problems like over global warming, environmental pollution, deforestation and their potential effects on natural resources. To protect the ecological balance and prevention of naturel resources from the unplanned intervention of human-beıng is only possible establishing conservation areas wıth co-operation at the national and the internatıonal levels. This study was carried out to evaluate the relation between urbanization and forestry policies in Turkey. While it elaborates the normative arrangements resulting in power conflicts, it also addresses which shortages and discrepancies are responsible for the said conflicts. The present urban reconstruction and transformation practices and their aesthetic and functional aspects were studied with some examples in a country level and evaluated within the assistance of literature researches, analyses, and observations. Atatürk Forest Farm and ODTU Forest examples were negotiated as two famous cases. Obtained findings were supported by charts and photos.

Keywords: deforestration, environmental policies, metropolitan, pollution, urbanization

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Authors: Daniele Calvi, Loris Franchi, Sabrina Corpino

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Thanks to the latest Mars mission, the planetary exploration has made enormous strides over the past ten years increasing the interest of the scientific community and beyond. These missions aim to fulfill many complex operations which are of paramount importance to mission success. Among these, a special mention goes to the Entry, Descent and Landing (EDL) functions which require a dedicated system to overcome all the obstacles of these critical phases. The general objective of the system is to safely bring the spacecraft from orbital conditions to rest on the planet surface, following the designed mission profile. For this reason, this work aims to develop a simulation tool integrating the re-entry trajectory algorithm in order to support the EDL design during the preliminary phase of the mission. This tool was used on a reference unmanned mission, whose objective is finding bio-evidence and bio-hazards on Martian (sub)surface in order to support the future manned mission. Regarding the concept of operations (CONOPS) of the mission, it concerns the use of Space Penetrator Systems (SPS) that will descend on Mars surface following a ballistic fall and will penetrate the ground after the impact with the surface (around 50 and 300 cm of depth). Each SPS shall contain all the instrumentation required to sample and make the required analyses. Respecting the low-cost and low-mass requirements, as result of the tool, an Entry Descent and Impact (EDI) system based on inflatable structure has been designed. Hence, a solution could be the one chosen by Finnish Meteorological Institute in the Mars Met-Net mission, using an inflatable Thermal Protection System (TPS) called Inflatable Braking Unit (IBU) and an additional inflatable decelerator. Consequently, there are three configurations during the EDI: at altitude of 125 km the IBU is inflated at speed 5.5 km/s; at altitude of 16 km the IBU is jettisoned and an Additional Inflatable Braking Unit (AIBU) is inflated; Lastly at about 13 km, the SPS is ejected from AIBU and it impacts on the Martian surface. Since all parameters are evaluated, it is possible to confirm that the chosen EDI system and strategy verify the requirements of the mission.

Keywords: EDL, Mars, mission, SPS, TPS

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Authors: Katalin Gocze, Vanda A Nemes, Charlotte Briest

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Introduction: Premenstrual syndrome (PMS) is a psychoneuroendocrinological disorder adversely affecting life-quality for over 80% of hormonally active women. PMS has a negative impact on women’s daily life in terms of work, interpersonal relationships and leisure time activities. The aim of our study was to evaluate the effects of a yoga intervention focusing on the female pelvic area. Materials and methods: 34 women (ages 18-40) with PMS (Premenstrual Syndrome Screening Tool) and no previous experience in yoga were recruited and randomly assigned to either the yoga or the control group. The intervention consisted of 90’ yoga sessions twice a week and a daily 15’ self-practice module with carefully chosen yogic exercises addressing the reproductive organs by toning the pelvic floor and opening the hips as well as relieving stress and improving concentration. Severity of symptoms of PMS was assessed at the beginning and after the 8-week-long intervention. Pre- and post-program data collection included physical and psychological parameters and the evaluation of ACOQ PMS questionnaire and daily symptom diary. Results: Age and educational background were similar in the control and intervention group with an overall mean age of 29.11±4.78 years. PSST scores significantly improved in the yoga group (p=0.002), while difference in the control group’s pre and post-program values were non-significant (p=0.38). Perception and tolerance of anxiety and stress was significantly better after the intervention (p=0.008). As for changes in physical symptoms distinct improvement was registered for breast tenderness (p=0.028) and for meteorism (p=0.015). Discussion: Yoga’s success originates from the synergic positive effects of stress relief and regular physical activity. Benefits (both mental and physical) of strategically planned, focused yoga practice are apparent even after shorter time periods and can help women with PMS manage or eliminate symptoms in order to improve their life-quality.

Keywords: life-quality, physical symptoms, premenstrual syndrome, psychological impact, yoga

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Authors: Shivalaxmi Arumugham

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Child sexual abuse (CSA) has taken several forms, particularly with the advent of internet technologies that provide pedophiles access to their targets anonymously at an affordable rate. To combat CSA which has far-reaching consequences on the physical and psychological health of the victims, a special act, the Protection of Children from Sexual Offences (POCSO) Act, was formulated amongst the existing laws. With its latest amendment criminalizing various online activities about child pornography also known as child sexual abuse materials in 2019, tremendous pressure is speculated on law enforcement to identify offenders online. Effective investigations of CSA cases help in not only to detect perpetrators but also in preventing the re-victimization of children. Understanding the vulnerability of the child population and that the offenders continue to develop stealthier strategies to operate, it is high time that traditional investigation, where the focus is on apprehending and prosecuting the offender, must make a paradigm shift to proactively investigate to prevent victimization at the first place. One of the proactive policing techniques involves understanding the psychology of the offenders and children and operating undercover to catch the criminals before a real child is victimized. With the fundamental descriptive approach to research, the article attempts to identify the multitude of issues associated with the investigation of child sexual abuse cases currently in practice in India. Then, the article contextualizes the various covert operations carried out by numerous law enforcement agencies across the globe. To provide this comprehensive overview, the paper examines various reports, websites, guidelines, protocols, judicial pronouncements, and research articles. Finally, the paper presents the challenges and ethical issues that are to be considered before getting into undercover operations either in the guise of a pedophile or as a child. The research hopes to contribute to the making of standard operating protocols for investigation officers and other relevant policymakers in this regard.

Keywords: child sexual abuse, cybercrime against children, covert police operations, investigation of CSA

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Authors: Ahmed Belgasem, Walid Ben Hussin, Emad Krekshi, Jamal Hashad

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Waxy crude oil, characterized by its high paraffin wax content, poses significant challenges in the oil & gas industry due to its increased viscosity and semi-solid state at reduced temperatures. The wax formation process, which includes precipitation, crystallization, and deposition, becomes problematic when crude oil temperatures fall below the wax appearance temperature (WAT) or cloud point. Addressing these issues, this paper introduces a technical solution designed to mitigate the wax appearance and enhance the oil production process in Abu-Attifil Field via a 30-inch crude oil pipeline. A comprehensive flow assurance study validates the feasibility and performance of this solution across various production rates, temperatures, and operational scenarios. The study's findings indicate that maintaining the crude oil's temperature above a minimum threshold of 63°C is achievable through the strategic placement of two heating stations along the pipeline route. This approach effectively prevents wax deposition, gelling, and subsequent mobility complications, thereby bolstering the overall efficiency, reliability, safety, and economic viability of the production process. Moreover, this solution significantly curtails the environmental repercussions traditionally associated with wax deposition, which can accumulate up to 7,500kg. The research methodology involves a comprehensive flow assurance study to validate the feasibility and performance of the proposed solution. The study considers various production rates, temperatures, and operational scenarios. It includes crude oil analysis to determine the wax appearance temperature (WAT), as well as the evaluation and comparison of operating options for the heating stations. The study's findings indicate that the proposed solution effectively prevents wax deposition, gelling, and subsequent mobility complications. By maintaining the crude oil's temperature above the specified threshold, the solution improves the overall efficiency, reliability, safety, and economic viability of the oil production process. Additionally, the solution contributes to reducing environmental repercussions associated with wax deposition. The research conclusion presents a technical solution that optimizes oil production in the Abu-Attifil Field by addressing wax formation problems through the strategic placement of two heating stations. The solution effectively prevents wax deposition, improves overall operational efficiency, and contributes to environmental sustainability. Further research is suggested for field data validation and cost-benefit analysis exploration.

Keywords: oil production, wax depositions, solar cells, heating stations

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Authors: Aneta Nitsch-Osuch, Sylwia Dyk, Izabela Gołebiak

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Background. Since 2014 the pertussis vaccine is recommended to Polish health care workers who have close contacts with infants. Although this recommendation is implemented into the National Immunization Programme, its realization has remained unknown. The Purpose: The aim of the study, conducted at the department of Social Medicine and Public Health (Medical University of Warsaw, Poland), was to describe a perception, knowledge and coverage rates regarding pertussis vaccination among nursing staff. According to the authors' knowledge, it was the first study related to this topic in our country. Material and Methods: A total number of 543 nurses who work at pediatric or neonatal wards was included into the study (501 women and 42 men), average age was 47 years. All nurses were asked to fulfill the anonymous survey, previously validated. Results: 1. Coverage rates: The analysis of results revealed that only 4% of responders reported they were vaccinated with Tdpa within past 10 years, while 8% declared they would plan the vaccine in the future. 35% of responders would consider the Tdpa vaccine whether there is some kind of the reimbursement. 2. Perception and knowledge of the disease and vaccination: The majority (82%) of nurses did not recognize pertussis as a re-emerging infectious disease. 54% of them believed that obligatory vaccinations in the childhood protect against the disease and the protection is a life-long one. Only 15% of nurses considered pertussis as a possible nosocomial infection. The current epidemiology of the disease was known to 6% of responders, while 24% of them were familiar with pertussis vaccination schedules for infants, children and adolescents, but only 9% of responders knew that adults older than 19 years are recommended to be vaccinated with Tdpa every 10 years. Many nurses (82%) would expect more educational activities related to pertussis and methods of its prophylaxis. Conclusions: The pertussis vaccine coverage rate among Polish nurses is extremely low. This is a result of not enough knowledge about the disease and its prevention. Educational activities addressed to health care workers and reimbursement of the pertussis vaccine are required to improve awareness and increase of vaccine coverage rates in the future.

Keywords: coverage, nurse, pertussis, vaccine

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Authors: Kevin T. Inks

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India’s Brahmaputra River Valley has, since independence, experienced consistent low-intensity guerrilla warfare between ethnic and religious groups. These groups are often organized around perceived ethnic territoriality, and target civilians, communities, and especially migrants belonging to other ethnic and religious groups. Intense flooding and erosion have led to widespread displacement, and disaster relief funds are largely tied to legal land tenure. Displaced residents of informal settlements receive little or no resettlement aid, and their subsequent migration strategies and risk from guerrilla violence are poorly understood. Semi-structured interviews and comprehensive surveys focused on perceptions of risk, efficacy of disaster relief, and migration and adaptation strategies were conducted with households identified as being ‘at-risk’ of catastrophic flooding and erosion in Majuli District, Assam. Interviews with policymakers and government workers were conducted to assess disaster relief efforts in informal settlements, and remote sensing methods were used to identify informal settlement and hydrogeomorphic change. The results show that various ethnic and religious groups have differential strategies and preferences for resettlement. However, these varying strategies are likely to lead to differential levels of risk from guerrilla violence. Members of certain ethnic groups residing in informal settlements, in the absence of resettlement assistance, are more likely to seek out unofficial settlement on land far from the protection of the state and experience greater risk of becoming victims of political violence. As climate change and deforestation are likely to increase the severity of the displacement crisis in the Brahmaputra River Valley, more comprehensive disaster relief and surveying efforts are vital for limiting migration and informal settlement in potential sites of guerrilla warfare.

Keywords: climate, displacement, flooding, India, violence

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Authors: S. P. Singh, Priya, Komal Sajwan

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With the increasing spread of organic farming in India, costs, returns, efficiency, and social and environmental sustainability of organic vis-a-vis conventional farming systems have become topics of interest among agriculture scientists, economists, and policy analysts. A study on technical efficiency estimation under these farming systems, particularly in the Ganga River Basin, where the promotion of organic farming is incentivized, can help to understand whether the inputs are utilized to their maximum possible level and what measures can be taken to improve the efficiency. This paper, therefore, analyses the technical efficiency of wheat farms operating under organic and conventional farming systems. The study is based on a primary survey of 600 farms (300 organic ad 300 conventional) conducted in 2021 in two districts located in the Middle Ganga River Basin, India. Technical, managerial, and scale efficiencies of individual farms are estimated by applying the data envelopment analysis (DEA) methodology. The per hectare value of wheat production is taken as an output variable, and values of seeds, human labour, machine cost, plant nutrients, farm yard manure (FYM), plant protection, and irrigation charges are considered input variables for estimating the farm-level efficiencies. The post-DEA analysis is conducted using the Tobit regression model to know the efficiency determining factors. The results show that technical efficiency is significantly higher in conventional than organic farming systems due to a higher gap in scale efficiency than managerial efficiency. Further, 9.8% conventional and only 1.0% organic farms are found operating at the most productive scale size (MPSS), and 99% organic and 81% conventional farms at IRS. Organic farms perform well in managerial efficiency, but their technical efficiency is lower than conventional farms, mainly due to their relatively lower scale size. The paper suggests that technical efficiency in organic wheat can be increased by upscaling the farm size by incentivizing group/collective farming in clusters.

Keywords: organic, conventional, technical efficiency, determinants, DEA, Tobit regression

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Authors: Yung-Chung Chuang

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The cultural layers of archaeological sites are mainly affected by surface land use, land cover, and root system of surface vegetation. For this reason, continuous monitoring of land use and land cover change is important for archaeological sites protection and management. However, in actual operation, on-site investigation and orthogonal photograph interpretation require a lot of time and manpower. For this reason, it is necessary to perform a good alternative for surface vegetation survey in an automated or semi-automated manner. In this study, we applied semi-automatic digital aerial survey technology and canopy characters classification with very high-resolution aerial photographs for surface vegetation interpretation of archaeological sites. The main idea is based on different landscape or forest type can easily be distinguished with canopy characters (e.g., specific texture distribution, shadow effects and gap characters) extracted by semi-automatic image classification. A novel methodology to classify the shape of canopy characters using landscape indices and multivariate statistics was also proposed. Non-hierarchical cluster analysis was used to assess the optimal number of canopy character clusters and canonical discriminant analysis was used to generate the discriminant functions for canopy character classification (seven categories). Therefore, people could easily predict the forest type and vegetation land cover by corresponding to the specific canopy character category. The results showed that the semi-automatic classification could effectively extract the canopy characters of forest and vegetation land cover. As for forest type and vegetation type prediction, the average prediction accuracy reached 80.3%~91.7% with different sizes of test frame. It represented this technology is useful for archaeological site survey, and can improve the classification efficiency and data update rate.

Keywords: digital aerial survey, canopy characters classification, archaeological sites, multivariate statistics

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Authors: Noemia Bessa Vilela, Jose Caramelo Gomes

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All law student are familiarized, in the first years of their bachelor of laws with the concepts of “public goods” and “ private goods”; often, such legal concept does not exactly match such economic concept, and there are consequences are some sort of confusion being created. The list of goods that follow under each category is not exhaustive, nor are students given proper mechanisms to acknowledge that some legal fields can, on its own, be considered as a “public good”; this is the case of Competition. Legal authors consider that “competition law is used to promote public interest” and, as such, it is a “public good”; in economics theory, Competition is the first public good in a market economy, as the enabler of allocation efficiency. Competition law is the legal tool to support the proper functioning of the market economy and democracy itself. It is fact that Competition Law only applies to economic activities, still, competition is object of private litigation as an integral part of Public Law. Still, regardless of the importance of Competition Law in the economic activity and market regulation, most student complete their studies in law, join the Bar Associations and engage in their professional activities never having been given sufficient tools to deal with the increasing demands of a globalized world. The lack of knowledge of economics, market functioning and the mechanisms at their reach in order to ensure proper realization of their duties as lawyers/ attorneys-at-law would be tackled if Competition Law would be included as part of the curricula of Law Schools. Proper teaching of Competition Law would combine the foundations of Competition Law, doctrine, case solving and Case Law study. Students should to understand and apply the analytical model. Special emphasis should be given to EU Competition Law, namely the TFEU Articles 101 to 106. Damages Directive should also be part of the curriculum. Students must in the first place acquire and master the economic rationale as competition and the world of competition law are the cornerstone of sound and efficient market. The teaching of Competition Law in undergraduate programs in Law would contribute to fulfill the potential of the students who will deal with matters related to consumer protection, economic and commercial law issues both in private practice and as in-house lawyers for companies.

Keywords: higher education, competition law, legal education, law, market economy, industrial economics

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Authors: Dalma Varga, Nora Hubayne H.

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Nowadays, among the measures taken to offset the consequences of climate change, water resources management is one of the key tools, which can include excess water management. As a result of climate change’s effects and as a result of the frequent inappropriate landuse, more and more areas are affected by the excess water inundation. Hungary is located in the deepest part of the Pannonian Basin, which is exposed to water damage – especially lowland areas that are endangered by floods or excess waters. The periodical presence of excess water creates specific habitats in a given area, which have ecological, functional, and aesthetic values. Excess water inundation affects approximately 74% of Hungary’s lowland areas, of which about 46% is also under nature protection (such as national parks, protected landscape areas, nature conservation areas, Natura 2000 sites, etc.). These data prove that areas exposed to excess water inundation – which are predominantly characterized by agricultural land uses – have an important ecological role. Other research works have confirmed the presence of numerous rare and endangered plant species in drainage canals, on grasslands exposed to excess water, and on special agricultural fields with mud vegetation. The goal of this research is to define and analyze ecosystem services of areas exposed to excess water inundation. In addition to this, it is also important to determine the quantified indicators of these areas’ natural and landscape values besides the presence of protected species and the naturalness of habitats, so all in all, to analyze the various nature protections related to excess water. As a result, a practice-orientated assessment method has been developed that provides the ecological water demand, assimilates to ecological and habitat aspects, contributes to adaptive excess water management, and last but not least, increases or maintains the share of the green infrastructure network. In this way, it also contributes to reduce and mitigate the negative effects of climate change.

Keywords: ecosystem services, landscape architecture, excess water management, green infrastructure planning

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Authors: A. Abdulkadir, A. A. Okhimamhe, Y. M. Bello, H. Ibrahim, D. H. Makun, M. T. Usman

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Household waste form a larger proportion of waste generated across the state, accumulation of organic waste is an apparent problem and the existing dump sites could be overstressed. Niger state has abundant arable land and water resources thus should be one of the highest producers of agricultural crops in the country. However, the major challenge to agricultural sector today is the loss of soil nutrient coupled with high cost of fertilizer. These have continued to increase the use of fertilizer and decomposed solid waste for enhancing agricultural yield, which have varying effects on the soil as well a threat to human livelihood. Consequently, vegetable yield samples from poultry droppings decomposed household waste manure, NPK treatments and control from each replication were subjected to proximate analysis to determine the nutritional and anti-nutritional component as well as heavy metal concentration. Data collected was analyzed using SPSS software and Randomized complete Block Design means were compared. The result shows that the treatments do not devoid the concentrations of any nutritional components while the anti-nutritional analysis proved that NPK had higher oxalate content than control and organic treats. The concentration of lead and cadmium are within safe permissible level while the mercury level exceeded the FAO/WHO maximum permissible limit for the entire treatments depicts the need for urgent intervention to minimize mercury levels in soil and manure in order to mitigate its toxic effect. Thus, eco-agriculture should be widely accepted and promoted by the stakeholders for soil amendment, higher yield, strategies for sustainable environmental protection, food security, poverty eradication, attainment of sustainable development and healthy livelihood.

Keywords: anti-nutritional, healthy livelihood, nutritional waste, organic waste

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Authors: Guillermo E. Quintero, Edwin G. Perez, Oriel Sanchez, Christian Espinosa-Bustos, Denis Fuentealba, Margarita E. Aliaga

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Bisulfite ion (HSO3-) has been used as a preservative in food, drinks, and medication. However, it is well-known that HSO3- can cause health problems like asthma and allergic reactions in people. Due to the above, the development of analytical methods for detecting this ion has gained great interest. In line with the above, the current use of colorimetric and/or fluorescent probes as a detection technique has acquired great relevance due to their high sensitivity and accuracy. In this context, 2-quinolinone derivatives have been found to possess promising activity as antiviral agents, sensitizers in solar cells, antifungals, antioxidants, and sensors. In particular, 7-(diethylamino)-2-quinolinone derivatives have attracted attention in recent years since their suitable photophysical properties become promising fluorescent probes. In Addition, there is evidence that photophysical properties and reactivity can be affected by the study medium, such as micellar media. Based on the above background, 7-(diethylamino)-2-quinolinone derivatives based chalcone will be able to be incorporated into a cationic micellar environment (Cetyltrimethylammonium bromide, CTAB). Furthermore, the supramolecular control induced by the micellar environment will increase the reactivity of these derivatives towards nucleophilic analytes such as HSO3- (Michael-type addition reaction), leading to the generation of new colorimetric and/or fluorescent probes. In the present study, two derivatives of 7-(diethylamino)-2-quinolinone based chalcone DQD1-2 were synthesized according to the method reported by the literature. These derivatives were structurally characterized by 1H, 13C NMR, and HRMS-ESI. In addition, UV-VIS and fluorescence studies determined absorption bands near 450 nm, emission bands near 600 nm, fluorescence quantum yields near 0.01, and fluorescence lifetimes of 5 ps. In line with the foregoing, these photophysical properties aforementioned were improved in the presence of a cationic micellar medium using CTAB thanks to the formation of adducts presenting association constants of the order of 2,5x105 M-1, increasing the quantum yields to 0.12 and the fluorescence lifetimes corresponding to two lifetimes near to 120 and 400 ps for DQD1 and DQD2. Besides, thanks to the presence of the micellar medium, the reactivity of these derivatives with nucleophilic analytes, such as HSO3-, was increased. This was achieved through kinetic studies, which demonstrated an increase in the bimolecular rate constants in the presence of a micellar medium. Finally, probe DQD1 was chosen as the best sensor since it was assessed to detect HSO3- with excellent results.

Keywords: bisulfite detection, cationic micelle, colorimetric probes, quinolinone derivatives

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Authors: Meriem Abid, Erika Oliveria-Jardim, Andres Fullana, Joaquin Silvestre-Albero

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The rapid industrial development associated with the increase of volatile organic compounds (VOCs) has seriously impacted the environment. Among VOCs, hydrogen sulfide (H₂S) is known as a highly toxic, malodorous, flammable, and corrosive gas, which is emitted from diverse chemical processes, including industrial waste-gas streams, natural gas processing, and biogas purification. The high toxicity, corrosively, and very characteristic odor threshold of H2S call for urgent development of efficient desulfurization processes from the viewpoint of environmental protection and resource regeneration. In order to reduce H₂S emissions, effective technologies for have been performed. The general method of H₂S removal included amine aqueous solution, adsorption process, biological methods, and fixed-bed solid catalytic oxidation processes. Ecologically and economically, low-temperature direct oxidation of H₂S to elemental sulfur using catalytic oxidation is the preferred approach for removing H₂S-containing gas streams. A large number of catalysts made from carbon, metal oxides, clay, and others, have been studied extensively for this application. In this sense, activated carbon (AC) is an attractive catalyst for H₂S removal because it features a high specific surface area, diverse functional groups, low cost, durability, and high efficiency. It is interesting to stand out that AC is modified using metal oxides to promote the efficiency of H₂S removal and to enhance the catalytic performance. Based on these premises, the main goal of the present study is the evaluation of the H₂S adsorption performance in carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles obtained from an olive mill, thermally treated at 600, 800 and 1000 ºC temperatures under anaerobic conditions. These results anticipate that carbon-encapsulated iron nanoparticles exhibit a promising performance for the H₂S removal up to 360 mg/g.

Keywords: H₂S removal, catalytic oxidation, carbon encapsulated iron, olive mill wastewater

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Authors: Baikunthanath Sahoo, Santosh Kumar Sahu, Krishna Malakar

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With the essence of global environmental sustainability and green business management, the wind of business research moved towards Corporate Social Responsibility. In addition to international and national treaties, businesses have also started realising environmental protection and energy efficiency through CSR as part of business strategy in response to climate change. Considering the ambitious emission reduction target and rapid economic development of India, this study is an attempt to explore the effect of CSR on the energy efficiency management of manufacturing firms in India. By using firm-level data, the panel fixed effect model shows that the CSR dummy variable is negatively influencing the energy intensity or technically, they are energy efficient. The result demonstrates that in the presence of CSR, all the production economic variables are significant. The result also shows that doing environmental expenditure does not improve energy efficiency might be because very few firms are motivated to do such expenditure and also not common to all sectors. The interactive effect model result conforms that without considering CSR dummy as an intervening variable only Manufacturers of Chemical and Chemical products, Manufacturers of Pharmaceutical, medical chemical, and botanical products firms energy intensity low but after considering CSR in their business practices all six sub-sector firms become energy efficient. The empirical result also validate that firms are continuously engaged in CSR activities they are highly energy efficient. It is an important motivational factor for firms to become economically and environmentally sustainable in the corporate world. This analysis would help business practitioners to know how to manage today’s profitability and tomorrow’s sustainability to achieve a comparative advantage in the emerging market economy. The paper concludes that reducing energy consumption as part of their social responsibility to care for the environment, will need collaborative efforts of business society and policy bodies.

Keywords: CSR, Energy Efficiency, Indian manufacturing Sector, Business strategy

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Authors: Mohammad Ranjbar, Mohammad Bazyar, Blake Angell, Thomas Lung, Yibeltal Assefa

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Background: Current health insurance programs in Iran suffer from low enrolment and are not sufficient to attain the country to universal health coverage (UHC). We hypothesize that improving the enrollment rate and moving towards a more sustainable UHC can be achieved by improving the benefits package and providing new incentives. The objective of this study is to assess public preferences and willingness to pay (WTP) for social health insurance (SHI) in Iran. Methods: A discrete choice experiment (DCE) was conducted in 2021, using a self-administered questionnaire on 500 participants to estimate WTP and determine individual preferences for the SHI in Yazd, Iran. Respondents were presented with an eight-choice set and asked to select their preferred one. In each choice set, scenarios were described by eight attributes with varying levels. The conditional logit regression model was used to analyze the participants' preferences. Willingness to pay for each attribute was also calculated. Results: Most included attributes were significant predictors of the choice of a health insurance package. The maximum coverage of hospitalization costs in the private sector, ancillary services such as glasses, canes, etc., as well as coverage for hospitalization costs in the public sector and drug costs, were the most important determining factors for this choice. Coverage of preventive dental care did not significantly influence respondent choices. Estimating WTP showed that individuals are willing to pay more for higher financial protection, particularly against private sector costs; the WTP to increase the coverage of hospitalization costs in the private sector from 50% to 90% is estimated at 362,068 IR, Rials per month. Conclusion: This study identifies the key factors that the population value with regard to health insurance and the tradeoffs they are willing to make between them. Hospitalization, drugs, and ancillary services were the most important determining factors for their choice. The data suggest that additional resources coming into the Iranian health system might best be prioritized to cover hospitalization and drug costs and those associated with ancillary services.

Keywords: social health insurance, preferences, discrete choice experiment, willingness to pay

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Authors: Berker Bayazit, Gulgun Kayakutlu

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The World Energy Outlook shows that energy markets will substantially change within a few forthcoming decades. First, determined action plans according to COP21 and aim of CO₂ emission reduction have already impact on policies of countries. Secondly, swiftly changed technological developments in the field of renewable energy will be influential upon medium and long-term energy generation and consumption behaviors of countries. Furthermore, share of electricity on global energy consumption is to be expected as high as 40 percent in 2040. Electrical vehicles, heat pumps, new electronical devices and digital improvements will be outstanding technologies and innovations will be the testimony of the market modifications. In order to meet highly increasing electricity demand caused by technologies, countries have to make new investments in the field of electricity production, transmission and distribution. Specifically, electricity generation mix becomes vital for both prevention of CO₂ emission and reduction of power prices. Majority of the research and development investments are made in the field of electricity generation. Hence, the prime source diversity and source planning of electricity generation are crucial for improving the wealth of citizen life. Approaches considering the CO₂ emission and total cost of generation, are necessary but not sufficient to evaluate and construct the product mix. On the other hand, employment and positive contribution to macroeconomic values are important factors that have to be taken into consideration. This study aims to constitute new investments in renewable energies (solar, wind, geothermal, biogas and hydropower) between 2018-2023 under 4 different goals. Therefore, a multi-objective programming model is proposed to optimize the goals of minimizing the CO₂ emission, investment amount and electricity sales price while maximizing the total employment and positive contribution to current deficit. In order to avoid the user preference among the goals, Dinkelbach’s algorithm and Guzel’s approach have been combined. The achievements are discussed with comparison to the current policies. Our study shows that new policies like huge capacity allotment might be discussible although obligation for local production is positive. The improvements in grid infrastructure and re-design support for the biogas and geothermal can be recommended.

Keywords: energy generation policies, multi-objective linear programming, portfolio planning, renewable energy

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Authors: Shalini Saini, Sharmila Ahuja

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Anaesthesia for caesarean section poses challenges unique to the obstetric patient due to changes in the airway and respiratory system. The choice of anaesthesia for caesarean section depends on various factors however general anaesthesia (GA) is necessary for certain situations. Supraglottic airway devices are an emerging method to secure airway, especially in difficult situations. Of these devices, proseal –LMA (PLMA) is designed to provide better protection of the airway. The use of PLMA has been reported successfully as a rescue device in difficult intubation situations and in patients undergoing elective caesarean section without any complications. The study was prospective and randomised and was designed to compare PLMA in patients undergoing elective lower segment caesarean section (LSCS) with the endotracheal tube (ETT). Patients undergoing LSCS under GA belonging to ASA grade 1 and 2 were included. Patients with the history of fewer than 6 hrs of fasting, known/predicted difficult airway, obesity, gastroesophageal reflux disease, hypertensive disorder were excluded. A standard anaesthesia protocol was followed. All patients received aspiration prophylaxis. The airway was secured with either PLMA or ETT. Parameters noted were- ease of insertion, adequacy of ventilation, hemodynamic changes at insertion and removal of device, incidence of regurgitation and aspiration. Data was analysed by unpaired t- test, Chi-square /Fisher’s test. The findings of our study indicated that PLMA was easy to insert (20.67±6.835 sec) with comparable insertion time to TT (18.33 ± 4.971, p 0.136) and adequate ventilation was achieved with very minimal hemodynamic changes seen with PLMA as compared to ETT at insertion and removal of devices (p 0.01). There was no incidence of regurgitation with the use of PLMA. The incidence of a postoperative sore throat was minimal (6.7%) with PLMA (p<0.05). PLMA appears to be a safe alternative to ETT for selected obstetric patients undergoing elective LSCS. Further study with a larger group of patients is required to establish the safety of PLMA in obstetric patients.

Keywords: caesarean section, general anaesthesia, proseal LMA, endotracheal tube

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Authors: María José Patiño-Ropero, Manuel Alcamí, Al Mokhtar Lamsabhi, José Luis Alonso-Prados, Pilar Sandín-España

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Tralkoxydim, commercialized under different trade names, among them Splendor® (25% active ingredient), is a cyclohexanedione herbicide used in wheat and barley fields for the post-emergence control of annual winter grass weeds. Due to their physicochemical properties, herbicides belonging to this family are known to be susceptible to reaching natural waters, where different degradation pathways can take place. Photolysis represents one of the main routes of abiotic degradation of these herbicides in water. This transformation pathway can lead to the formation of unknown by-products, which could be more toxic and/or persistent than the active substances themselves. Therefore, there is a growing need to understand the science behind such dissipation routes, which is key to estimating the persistence of these compounds and ensuring the accurate assessment of environmental behavior. However, to our best knowledge, any information regarding the photochemical behavior of tralkoxydim under natural conditions in an aqueous environment has not been available till now in the literature. This work has focused on investigating the photochemical behavior of tralkoxydim herbicide and its commercial formulation (Splendor®) in the ultrapure, river and spring water using simulated solar radiation. Besides, the evolution of detected degradation products formed in the samples has been studied. A reversed-phase HPLC-DAD (high-performance liquid chromatography with diode array detector) method was developed to evaluate the kinetic evolution and to obtain the half-lives. In both cases, the degradation rates of active ingredient tralkoxydim in natural waters were lower than in ultrapure water following the order; river water < spring water < ultrapure water, and with first-order half-life values of 5.1 h, 2.7 h and 1.1 h, respectively. These findings indicate that the photolytical behavior of active ingredients is largely affected by the water composition, and these components can exert an internal filter effect. In addition, tralkoxydim herbicide and its formulation showed the same half-lives for each one of the types of water studied, showing that the presence of adjuvants in the commercial formulation has not any effect on the degradation rates of the active ingredient. HPLC-MS (high-performance liquid chromatography with mass spectrometry) experiments were performed to study the by-products deriving from the photodegradation of tralkoxydim in water. Accordingly, three compounds were tentatively identified. These results provide a better understanding of the tralkoxydim herbicide behavior in natural waters and its fate in the environment.

Keywords: by-products, natural waters, photodegradation, tralkoxydim herbicide

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Authors: Junaid Jibran Jawed, Prasanta Saini, Subrata Majumdar

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Background: Leishmania donovani infection causes severe host immune-suppression through the modulation of pathogen recognition receptors. Apart from TLRs (Toll Like Receptor), recent studies focus on the important contribution of NLR (NOD-Like Receptor) family member NOD1 and NOD2 as these receptors are capable of triggering host innate immunity. The aim of this study was to decipher the role of NOD1/NOD2 receptors during experimental visceral leishmaniasis (VL) and the important link between host failure and parasite evasion strategy. Method: The status of NOD1 and NOD2 receptors were analysed in uninfected and infected cells through western blotting and RT-PCR. The active contributions of these receptors in reducing parasite burden were confirmed by siRNA mediated silencing, and over-expression studies and the parasite numbers were calculated through microscopic examination of the Giemsa-stained slides. In-vivo studies were done by using non-toxic dose of Mw (Mycobacterium indicus pranii), Ara-LAM(Arabinoasylated lipoarabinomannan) along with MDP (Muramyl dipeptide) administration. Result: Leishmania donovani infection of the macrophages reduced the expression of NOD2 receptors whereas NOD1 remain unaffected. MDP, a NOD2-ligand, treatment during over-expression of NOD2, reduced the parasite burden effectively which was associated with increased pro-inflammatory cytokine generation and NO production. In experimental mouse model, Ara-LAM treatment increased the expression of NOD2 and in combination with MDP it showed active therapeutic potential against VL and found to be more effective than Mw which was already reported to be involved in NOD2 modulation. Conclusion: This work explores the essential contribution of NOD2 during experimental VL and mechanistic understanding of Ara-LAM + MDP combination therapy to work against this disease and highlighted NOD2 as an essential therapeutic target.

Keywords: Ara-LAM (Arabinoacylated Lipoarabinomannan), NOD2 (nucleotide binding oligomerization receptor 2), MDP (muramyl di peptide), visceral Leishmaniasis

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Authors: Ignatius Madu

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The study aims at assessing the environmental and socioeconomic determinants of climate change resilience in rural Nigeria. This is necessary because researches and development efforts on building climate change resilience of rural areas in developing countries are usually made without the knowledge of the impacts of the inherent rural characteristics that determine resilient capacities of the households. This has, in many cases, led to costly mistakes, delayed responses, inaccurate outcomes, and other difficulties. Consequently, this assessment becomes crucial not only to policymakers and people living in risk-prone environments in rural areas but also to fill the research gap. To achieve the aim, secondary data were obtained from the Annual Abstract of Statistics 2017, LSMS-Integrated Surveys on Agriculture and General Household Survey Panel 2015/2016, and National Agriculture Sample Survey (NASS), 2010/2011.Resilience was calculated by weighting and adding the adaptive, absorptive and anticipatory measures of households variables aggregated at state levels and then regressed against rural environmental and socioeconomic characteristics influencing it. From the regression, the coefficients of the variables were used to compute the impacts of the variables using the Stochastic Regression of Impacts on Population, Affluence and Technology (STIRPAT) Model. The results showed that the northern States are generally low in resilient indices and are impacted less by the development indicators. The major determining factors are percentage of non-poor, environmental protection, road transport development, landholding, agricultural input, population density, dependency ratio (inverse), household asserts, education and maternal care. The paper concludes that any effort to a successful resilient building in rural areas of the country should first address these key factors that enhance rural development and wellbeing since it is better to take action before shocks take place.

Keywords: climate change resilience; spatial impacts; STIRPAT model; Nigeria

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Authors: Miroslav Dumbrovsky

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The paper deals with positive impacts of land consolidation on decreasing soil degradation with the main emphasis on soil and water conservation in the landscape. The importance of land degradation is very high because of its impact on crop productivity and many other adverse effects. Soil degradation through soil erosion is causing losses in crop productivity and quality of the environment, through decreasing quality of soil and water (especially water resources). Negative effects of conventional farming practices are increased water erosion, as well as crusting and compaction of the topsoil and subsoil. Soil erosion caused by water destructs the soil’s structure, reduces crop productivity due to deterioration in soil physical and chemical properties such as infiltration rate, water holding capacity, loss of nutrients needed for crop production, and loss of soil carbon. Recently, a new process of complex land consolidation in the Czech Republic has provided a unique opportunity for improving the quality of the environment and sustainability of the crop production by means a better soil and water conservation. The present process of the complex land consolidation is not only a reallocation of plots, but this system consists of a new layout of plots within a certain territory, aimed at establishing the integrated land-use economic units, based on the needs of individual landowners and land users. On the other hand, the interests of the general public and the environmental protection have to be solved, too. From the general point of view, a large part of the Czech landscape shall be reconstructed in the course of complex land consolidation projects. These projects will be based on new integrated soil-economic units, spatially arranged in a designed multifunctional system of soil and water conservation measures, such as path network and a territorial system of ecological stability, according to structural changes in agriculture. This new approach will be the basis of a rational economic utilization of the region which will comply with the present ecological and aesthetic demands at present.

Keywords: soil degradation, land consolidation, soil erosion, soil conservation

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Authors: Mark McGuire, Eric Shannon, John Parmigiani

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Timber harvesting increasingly involves mechanized equipment. This has increased the efficiency of harvesting, but has also introduced worker-safety concerns. One such concern arises from the use of harvesters. During operation, harvesters subject saw chain to large dynamic mechanical stresses. These stresses can, under certain conditions, cause the saw chain to fracture. The high speed of harvester saw chain can cause the resulting open chain loop to fracture a second time due to the dynamic loads placed upon it as it travels through space. If a second fracture occurs, it can result in a projectile consisting of one-to-several chain links. This projectile is referred to as a chain shot. It has speeds similar to a bullet but typically has greater mass and is a significant safety concern. Numerous examples exist of chain shots penetrating bullet-proof barriers and causing severe injury and death. Improved harvester-cab barriers can help prevent injury however a comprehensive scientific understanding of chain shot is required to consistently reduce or prevent it. Obtaining this understanding requires a test machine with the capability to cause chain shot to occur under carefully controlled conditions and accurately measure the response. Worldwide few such test machine exist. Those that do focus on validating the ability of barriers to withstand a chain shot impact rather than obtaining a scientific understanding of the chain shot event itself. The purpose of this paper is to describe the design, fabrication, and use of a test machine capable of a comprehensive scientific investigation of chain shot. The capabilities of this machine are to test all commercially-available saw chains and bars at chain tensions and speeds meeting and exceeding those typically encountered in harvester use and accurately measure the corresponding key technical parameters. The test machine was constructed inside of a standard shipping container. This provides space for both an operator station and a test chamber. In order to contain the chain shot under any possible test conditions, the test chamber was lined with a base layer of AR500 steel followed by an overlay of HDPE. To accommodate varying bar orientations and fracture-initiation sites, the entire saw chain drive unit and bar mounting system is modular and capable of being located anywhere in the test chamber. The drive unit consists of a high-speed electric motor with a flywheel. Standard Ponsse harvester head components are used to bar mounting and chain tensioning. Chain lubrication is provided by a separate peristaltic pump. Chain fracture is initiated through ISO standard 11837. Measure parameters include shaft speed, motor vibration, bearing temperatures, motor temperature, motor current draw, hydraulic fluid pressure, chain force at fracture, and high-speed camera images. Results show that the machine is capable of consistently causing chain shot. Measurement output shows fracture location and the force associated with fracture as a function of saw chain speed and tension. Use of this machine will result in a scientific understanding of chain shot and consequently improved products and greater harvester operator safety.

Keywords: chain shot, safety, testing, timber harvesters

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Authors: Karlygash Tulendieva

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Presently vaccination is the most effective method of prevention of flu and its complications. The purpose of this study was to analyze the impact of the increase of coverage of the population of South Kazakhstan region with flu vaccination and decrease of the ARVI morbidity. The analysis was performed on the data of flu vaccination of risk groups, including children under one year and pregnant women. Data on ARVI morbidity during 2010-2015 and data on vaccination were taken from the reports of the Epidemiological Surveillance Unit of Department of Consumers’ Rights Protection of South Kazakhstan region. Coverage with flu vaccination of the risk groups was annually increasing and in 2015 it reached 16% (450,000/2,800,682) from the total population. The ARVI morbidity rate in the entire population in 2010 was 2,010.4 per 100,000 of the population and decreased 3.2 times to 609.9 per 100,000 of the population in 2015. Annual growth was observed from 2010 to 2015 of specific weight of the vaccinated main risk groups: healthcare workers by 51% (from 17,331 in 2010 to 33,538 in 2015), children with chronic pulmonary and cardio-vascular diseases, immune deficiency, weak and sickly children above six months by 39% (from 63,122 in 2010 to 158,023 in 2015), adults with chronic co-morbidities by 27% (from 44,271 in 2010 to 162,595 in 2015), persons above 65 by 17% (from 10,276 in 2010 to 57,875 in 2015), and annual coverage of pregnant women on second or third trimester from 34,443 in 2010 to 37,969 in 2015. Starting from 2013 and until 2015 vaccination was performed in the region with coverage of at least 90% of children from 6 months to one year. The ARVI morbidity in this age group decreased 3.3 times from 8,687.8 per 100,000 of the population in 2010 to 2,585.8 per 100,000 of the population in 2015. Vaccination of pregnant women on 2-3 trimester was started in the region in 2012. Annual increase of vaccination coverage of pregnant women from 86.1% (34,443/40,000) in 2012 to 95% (37,969/40,000) in 2015 decreased the morbidity 1.5 times from 4,828.8 per 100,000 of population in 2012 to 3,022.7 per 100,000 of population in 2015. Following the increase of vaccination coverage of the population in South Kazakhstan region, the trend was observed of decrease of ARVI morbidity rates among the population and main risk groups, among pregnant women and children under one year.

Keywords: acute respiratory viral infections, flu, risk groups, vaccination

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Authors: Qin Yang, Fan Zhang, Juan Du, Chongkui Sun, Krishna Kota, Yun-Ling Zheng

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Telomeres are specialized structures at chromosome ends consisting of tandem repetitive DNA sequences [(TTAGGG)n in humans] and associated proteins, which are necessary for telomere function. Telomere lengths are tightly regulated within a narrow range in normal human somatic cells, the basis of cellular senescence and aging. Previous studies have extensively focused on how short telomeres are extended and have demonstrated that telomerase plays a central role in telomere maintenance through elongating the short telomeres. However, the molecular mechanisms of regulating excessively long telomeres are unknown. Here, we found that telomerase enzymatic component hTERT plays a dual role in the regulation of telomeres length. We analyzed single telomere alterations at each chromosomal end led to the discoveries that hTERT shortens excessively long telomeres and elongates short telomeres simultaneously, thus maintaining the optimal telomere length at each chromosomal end for an efficient protection. The hTERT-mediated telomere shortening removes large segments of telomere DNA rapidly without inducing telomere dysfunction foci or affecting cell proliferation, thus it is mechanistically distinct from rapid telomere deletion. We found that expression of hTERT generates telomeric circular DNA, suggesting that telomere homologous recombination may be involved in this telomere shortening process. Moreover, the hTERT-mediated telomere shortening is required its enzymatic activity, but telomerase RNA component hTR is not involved in it. Furthermore, shelterin protein TPP1 interacts with hTERT and recruits it on telomeres to mediate telomere shortening. In addition, telomere-associated proteins, DKC1 and TCAB1 also play roles in this process. This novel hTERT-mediated telomere shortening mechanism not only exists in cancer cells, but also in primary human cells. Thus, the hTERT-mediated telomere shortening is expected to shift the paradigm on current molecular models of telomere length maintenance, with wide-reaching consequences in cancer and aging fields.

Keywords: aging, hTERT, telomerase, telomeres, human cells

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Authors: Bessy Thuranira

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Buildings, as they are designed and used, may contribute to serious environmental problems because of excessive consumption of energy and other natural resources. Buildings in the informal settlements particularly, due to their unplanned physical structure and design, have significantly contributed the global energy problematic scenario typified by high-level inefficiencies. Energy used in buildings in Africa is estimated to be the highest of the total national electricity consumption. Over the last decade, assessments of energy consumption and efficiency/inefficiency has focused on formal and modern buildings. This study seeks to go off the beaten path, by focusing on energy use in informal settlements. Operationally, it sought to establish the contribution of informal buildings in the overall energy consumption in the city and the country at large. This study was carried out in Mukuru kwa Reuben informal settlement where there is distinct manifestation of different settlement morphologies within a small locality. The research narrowed down to three villages (Mombasa, Kosovo and Railway villages) within the settlement, that were representative of the different slum housing typologies. Due to the unpredictability nature and informality in slums, this study takes a multi-methodology approach. Detailed energy audits and measurements are carried out to predict total building consumption, and document building design and envelope, typology, materials and occupancy levels. Moreover, the study uses semi-structured interviews and to access energy supply, cost, access and consumption patterns. Observations and photographs are also used to shed more light on these parameters. The study reveals the high energy inefficiencies in slum buildings mainly related to sub-standard equipment and appliances, building design and settlement layout, poor access and utilization/consumption patterns of energy. The impacts of this inefficiency are high economic burden to the poor, high levels of pollution, lack of thermal comfort and emissions to the environment. The study highlights a set of urban planning and building design principles that can be used to retrofit slums into more energy efficient settlements. The study explores principles of responsive settlement layouts/plans and appropriate building designs that use the beneficial elements of nature to achieve natural lighting, natural ventilation, and solar control to create thermally comfortable, energy efficient, and environmentally responsive buildings/settlements. As energy efficiency in informal settlements is a relatively less explored area of efficiency, it requires further research and policy recommendations, for which this paper will set a background.

Keywords: energy efficiency, informal settlements, renewable energy, settlement layout

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Authors: Hassan Abbas, Rehmat Ali, Muhammad Akbar

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This study has been conducted in Sassi-Haramosh conservancy District Gilgit, Gilgit-Baltistan of Pakistan, under the Conservation Leadership Programme of Fauna and Flora International. The main objectives of the study were to assess the socio-economic impact of community-based conservation in Sassi-Haramosh conservancy and identify effects of trophy hunting on the conservation of wildlife in the area. The first trophy hunting program of Astor Markhor was held in year February 21, 2015, and the second on February 21, 2016. The community received a share of 49200 USD and 52400 USD from the first and second hunting, and the total earning was 101600 USD which are Rs. 10,871,200 in Pak Rs. The amounts from the trophy hunting are being managed by the Wildlife Conservation and Social Development Organization (WCSDO) Sassi. The village-based organization WCSDO is spending 50% of the trophy hunting amount in the protection of wildlife, its habitat and other natural resources, 30% in developmental sectors of the village and 20% of the amount in the office expenses. Several developmental projects, like construction of 300 KVA hydropower stations, purchase of 8 acres of land for agriculture, potable water supply project, construction of treks, and other social welfare activities have been carried in the village utilizing the trophy hunting grant. These developmental activities have uplifted the socio-economic conditions of the conservancy. Furthermore, trophy hunting program has positive impacts on the wildlife in the area, as the population of Markhor and Ibex has been increased, results in increasing number of other carnivores in the area. The WCSDO has banned any illegal activities in the habitat of wildlife and grazing of livestock in the core habitats. The program raised the level of awareness in communities and reduced poaching, illegal hunting, cutting of shrubs and extraction of Artemisia species from the pastures.

Keywords: Markhor, trophy hunting, Sassi-Haramosh, Gilgit

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Authors: Sarthak Kumar Jena, Chandra Sekhar Mishra, Prabina Rajib

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Purpose: This paper aims to derive undervaluation signal from the insiders trading of Indian companies where the ownership is complex and concentrated, investors protection is weak, and the insider rules and regulations are not stringent like developed country. This study examines the relationship between insider trading with short term and long term abnormal return. The study also examines the relationship between insider trading and the actual share repurchase by the firm. Methodology: A sample of 78 companies over the period 2008-2013 are analyzed in the study due to not availability of insider data in Indian context. For preliminary analysis T-test and Wilcoxon rank sum test is used to find the difference between the insider trading before and after the share repurchase announcement. Tobit model is used to find out whether insider trading influence shares repurchase decisions or not. Return on the basis of market model and buy hold are calculated in the previous year and the following year of share repurchase announcement. Findings: The paper finds that insider trading around share repurchase is more than control firms and there is positive and significant difference in insider buying between the previous year of share buyback announcement and the following year of buyback announcement. Insider buying before share repurchase announcement has a positive influence on share repurchase decisions. We find insider buying has a positive and significant relationship with announcement return, whereas insider selling has a negative significant relationship with announcement return. Actual share repurchase and program completion also depend on insider trading before share repurchase. Research limitation: The study is constrained by the small sample size, so the results should be viewed by keeping this limitation in mind. Originality: The paper is to our best knowledge the first study based on Indian context to extend the insider trading literature to share repurchase event and examine insider trading to find out undervaluation signal associated with insider buying.

Keywords: insider trading, buyback, open market share repurchase, signalling

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Authors: Hi̇lal Surat

Abstract:

People who want to get rid of stress and intensive working tempo for a while head for recreation operations in order to get rest and have fun. Therefore, planning recreation operation makes contributions to social, physiological, economic and psychological development of an individual and the community in a way that the needs of people meet regularly and constantly. The rapid increase of world population rate makes necessary of benefit from natural or man-made resources in a multiple way. Dams and reservoirs which are built near urban area with the aim of electrical energy conversion and agricultural irrigation are considered as natural area providing various opportunities such as recreation operations. Dams have a great importance regarding to protection and improvement of water resources and coming into service of community. There should be a priority to protect these water resources, which are essential for nature and living organisms. It should be taken into consideration that these water resources are the most important input in the area and have high nature value to make sustainability of recreation effectiveness. The Deriner reservoir that has been built yet near the province of Artvin with natural and cultural properties is considered as an alternative option for meeting the needs of people for sportive and recreation activities and as a potential for planning of water-based recreation activities. Hence, in this study, activities that meet the expectations of people who get benefit from the area considering to natural, cultural and sportive recreation opportunities will be developed. In the first place, planning criteria for some sportive and water-based recreation operations will be defined in order to use the area for recreation and sportive activities and these criteria will be a base for a macro planning work within the holistic perspective of natural, cultural, and economical structure of the area. After this time, necessities of local people and evaluation of reservoir recreational potential will be determined, end then different socio-economic groups according to their in-come, age groups will be chosen and the questionnaire which has already prepared will be done these groups, as a result of these questionnaire recreational activities in water necessities will determine and we are going to develop different suggestion for this reservoir.

Keywords: dam, dam lakes, Deriner, recreation, water based activities

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