Recreation and Radial Growth of Pine Forests of the Natural Monument “Lake Turgoyak”, Southern Urals

Russian Journal of Ecology - The study presents results of the influence of recreational impact on the radial growth of Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) in old-growth stands at the sites with the V...     

VALUE OF WATER IN IRRIGATED CROP PRODUCTION USING DERIVED DEMAND FUNCTIONS: A CASE STUDY OF SOUTH SASKATCHEWAN RIVER IRRIGATION DISTRICT1

ABSTRACT: Water abundance has led most North American societies to use water freely without priorizing its use. As water scarcity becomes reality in the southern part of Saskatchewan, planners and managers of water require information about the value of water in irrigation, as well as in alternative uses. In this study, the value of water to the producer in irrigation is developed both for the short and long run. The basis of this imputation is a derived demand function for water using linear programming. Water demand was bound to be inelastic at lower prices, and highly elastic at higher prices. The short-run value of water varied between $0.44 and $127.82 (1986 dollars) per acre-foot for different levels of product prices. However, the long-run value was estimated between zero and $1.59 per acre-foot of water.     

Passive air sampling of organochlorine pesticides in a northeastern state of India, Manipur

Thirty-six polyurethane foam disk passive air samplers (PUF-PAS) were deployed over a year during January to December, 2009 at three locations, i.e., Imphal (urban site), Thoubal (rural site) and Waithou (alpine site) of Manipur, to assess the seasonal local atmospheric emission of selected organochlorine pesticides (OCPs). The average concentration of HCHs monitored at mountain site during hot season (Mar, Apr, and May) and rainy seasons (Jun, Jul, Aug, and Sep) were 403 and 349 pg/m3, respectively. DDTs had a high concentration with 384 pg/m3 at rural site and 379 pg/m3 at urban site during hot seasons. Endosulfans and chlordane were found high in concentration during hot seasons (260 pg/m3) and low during retreating monsoon seasons (44 pg/m3) at rural site. Most of the OCPs concentrations were high during cultivation period. The OCP concentrations of rainy season were highly correlated (p < 0.01) with OCPs of hot seasons. Further, positive correlation (p < 0.05) was also obtained between cold seasons and retreating monsoon. Principal component analysis showed a significant correlation among the four seasons and distribution pattern of OCPs in air. Back trajectory analysis by using HYPSLIT model showed a long range air transport of OCPs to the present study area. Present OCP levels at Manipur is an outcome of both local emission and also movement of air mass by long range atmospheric transport.     

Effects of paint particles inhalation on superoxide dismutase and glutathione peroxidase activities in industrial painters

The aim of this study was to examine effects of lead (Pb)-based paints on malondialdehyde (MDA) levels as an indicator for lipid peroxidation; and on activities of serum antioxidant enzymes activities such as superoxide dismutase (SOD) and glutathione peroxidase (GPx) in industrial painters. A total of 67 male painters and 50 age-matched and gender-matched controls were included in this cross-sectional study. There were 19 smokers and 48 non-smokers in the paint-exposed group and 20 smokers and 30 non-smokers in the control group. Hemoglobin concentrations were lower in painters’ blood compared to controls. The blood Pb concentrations were higher in painters compared to controls. SOD and GPx activities were significantly lower in painters compared to controls. MDA concentration was found to be significantly elevated. Smoking was found to be a major confounder. Data suggest that Pb-based paints affect oxidant parameters in occupationally exposed workers.     

Phytoconstituents evaluation and antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effects of Mahonia leschenaultia Takeda in streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats

Hyperlipidemia is an associated complication of diabetes mellitus. Many spices and herbs are known to be hypoglycemic. Mahonia leschenaultia Takeda (Berberidaceae) (MLT) is a traditional medicinal plant that is commonly used against diseases in India and other Asian countries. The aim of this study is to identify the phytoconstituents by gas chromatography–mass spectrography (GC–MS) and evaluate the antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effects of the ethanol extract of MLT on streptozotocin (STZ)-induced diabetic rats. Phytoconstituents like oleicacid, 9,12-octadecadienoic acid (Z, Z)-n-hexadecanoic acid were identified as high % peak when compared with other compounds by GC–MS. STZ-induced diabetic animals were fed with plant extracts at different doses (250 or 500 mg kg^?1 body wt) of ethanol extract of MLT. The results of the study revealed a significant increase in total hemoglobin and glycosylated hemoglobin along with the reduction in hyperglycemia and hyperlipidemia effects in MLT-treated STZ-induced diabetic rats compared to diabetic only rats. Further, ethanol extracts of MLT-treated animals at 500 mg kg^?1 showed that shrinkage of β cells of islets of Langerhans was restored as evidenced by histological studies of pancreas of diabetic animals. Thus the ethanol extract of MLT might serve as a reliable adjuvant for antihyperglycemic and antihyperlipidemic effects of STZ, and may be promising for development of phytomedicines for diabetes mellitus.     

Insular Pine Forests of the Southern Urals and Ribbon Pine Forests of the Altai as Objects of Dendroclimatic Research

Russian Journal of Ecology - It has recently become a matter of discussion whether it is correct to use regional tree-ring chronologies in spatiotemporal climate reconstructions, since natural and...     

Quantifying the connections—linkages between land-use and water in the Kathmandu Valley,Nepal

Land development without thoughtful water supply planning can lead to unsustainability. In practice, management of our lands and waters is often unintegrated. We present new land-use, ecological stream health, water quality, and streamflow data from nine perennial watersheds in the Kathmandu Valley, Nepal, in the 2016 monsoon (i.e., August and September) and 2017 pre-monsoon (i.e., April and May) periods. Our goal was to improve understanding of the longitudinal linkages between land-use and water. At a total of 38 locations, the Rapid Stream Assessment (RSA) protocol was used to characterize stream ecology, basic water quality parameters were collected with a handheld WTW multi-parameter meter, and stream flow was measured with a SonTek FlowTracker Acoustic Doppler Velocimeter. A pixel-based supervised classification method was used to create a 30-m gridded land use coverage from a Landsat 8 image scene captured in the fall of 2015. Our results indicated that land-use had a statistically significant impact on water quality, with built land-uses (high and low) having the greatest influence. Upstream locations of six of the nine watersheds investigated had near natural status (i.e., river quality class (RQC) 1) and water could be used for all purposes (after standard treatments as required). However, downstream RSA measurements for all nine watersheds had RQC 5 (i.e., most highly impaired). Generally, water quality deteriorated from monsoon 2016 to pre-monsoon 2017. Our findings reinforce the importance of integrated land and water management and highlight the urgency of addressing waste management issues in the Kathmandu Valley.     

Optimal power flow model incorporating wind,solar, and bundled solar-thermal power in the restructured Indian power system

A new optimal power flow model for wind, solar, and solar-thermal bundled power scheduling and dispatch is proposed, incorporating the deviation incentive/penalty charges for renewable energy introduced in India. The multiobjective function is solved using the flower pollination algorithm; the scheme is successfully tested on the IEEE 30-bus and Indian utility 30-bus systems. The forecasting error constraints introduced in renewable energy scheduling and dispatch are demonstrated to be beneficial in several aspects. Solar-thermal bundling is shown to create win-win situations for thermal and solar generators. The effectiveness of the flower pollination algorithm in solving optimal power flow models is proved.