The effect of the price of gold on its production: a time-series analysis

Production of gold in Australia has grown strongly in recent years. Australia is ranked the world's third largest gold producer, only South Africa and the US produce more than Australia. Most of the Australian gold production comes from one of its states, Western Australia. In this paper, we use recent developments in econometric time series analysis to present an analysis of gold production and prices during the period 1948–1994. The results show that if the price of gold (relative to costs) increases by 10% and the price (in levels) remain the same for the next 5 years, then in the first year gold production will rise by 0.3%; in the second year by 2.2%; in the third year by 7.4%; in the fourth year by 8.9% and in the fifth year by 10.7%.     

Development of electrochemical based sandwich enzyme linked immunosensor for Cryptosporidium parvum detection in drinking water

Cryptosporidium parvum is one of the most important biological contaminants in drinking water and generates significant risks to public health. Due to low infectious dose of C. parvum, remarkably sensitive detection methods are required for water and food industry analysis. This present study describes a simple, sensitive, enzyme amplified sandwich form of an electrochemical immunosensor using dual labeled gold nanoparticles (alkaline phosphatase and anti-oocysts monoclonal antibody) in indium tin oxide (ITO) as an electrode to detect C. parvum. The biosensor was fabricated by immobilizing the anti-oocysts McAb on a gold nanoparticle functionalized ITO electrode, followed by the corresponding capture of analytes and dual labeled gold nanoparticle probe to detect the C. parvum target. The outcome shows the sensitivity of electrochemical immune sensor enhanced by gold nanoparticles with a limit of detection of 3 oocysts/mL in a minimal processing period. Our results demonstrated the sensitivity of the new approach compared to the customary method and the immunosensors showed acceptable precision, reproducibility, stability, and could be readily applied to multi analyte determination for environmental monitoring.     

Assessment of petroleum hydrocarbon in a tropical brackish water lagoon: Chilika,India

Assessment of petroleum hydrocarbon (PHC) in the Chilika Lagoon, India, revealed a significant spatio-temporal variation in surface water (analysis of variance: n?=?120, p?相似文献   

Physical Land Suitability Assessment for the Large Cardamom Amomum subulatum Roxb. Cultivation in Hills of Kathmandu Valley

Nepal is one of the top three exporters of larger cardamom （Amomum subulatum Roxb.） in the world market contributing largely to the Nepalese economy. Sub-Himalayan range of hilly area of eastern Nepal is popular for large cardamom cultivation. Being similar phytogeographical and ecological setting, cultivation has begun in hills of Kathmandu Valley however land suitability needs to be evaluated with reference to specific need of the crop. Kathmandu is a valley with alluvial bottom and altitudinal range between 1200 and 2730m above sea level having cool to warm temperate climatic range. Varieties of aspects and slope gradient have potentiality for the large cardamom cultivation. Aim of the study was set to categorize available land area in the range of suitability for large cardamon cultivation on the basis of physical characteristics of the land and ecological need of crop. Land evaluation methodology has been designed along with site specific amendment in FAO framework （1976）. Land use map in scale of 1：25 000 was used in geographic information system environment. Suitability was done through map overlaying methods. Aim of the study was set to categorize available land area in the range of suitability categories for large cardamom cultivation based on physical characteristics of the land matching with ecological need of crop. Analysis of data shows that altitudinal range at uplands of Kathmandu Valley and annual average rainfall and temperature are found to be within suitability range for Amomum subulaturn cultivation. Sandy loam soil, slightly acidic in nature with gentle sloping land of about 5-8° provides highly suitable condition. Result showed that more than one-third of total land area above 1800 m of altitude is suitable. Selectively, of the total area, 5% are north facing slope, 13% gentle slopes are highly suitable. 16% lands with north east orientation are moderately suitable. Most of the land areas which are marginaly suitabile for vegetable and cereal crops are highly suitable for large cardamom. Hills of northern boundary hills found to be suitable due to more rainfall distribution pattern compared to southern boundary hills. Therefore, land evaluation also identifies limitations and input requirements for sustainable production.     

Linking climate policy across economic sectors: A case for green growth in Nepal

While the energy sector is the largest global contributor to greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions, the agriculture, forestry, and other land use (AFOLU) sector account for up to 80% of GHG emissions in the least developed countries (LDCs). Despite this, the nationally determined contributions (NDCs) of LDCs, including Nepal, focus primarily on climate mitigation in the energy sector. This paper introduces green growth—a way to foster economic growth while ensuring access to resources and environmental services—as an approach to improving climate policy coherence across sectors. Using Nepal as a case country, this study models the anticipated changes in resource use and GHG emissions between 2015 and 2030, that would result from implementing climate mitigation actions in Nepal's NDC. The model uses four different scenarios. They link NDC and policies across economic sectors and offer policy insights regarding (1) energy losses that could cost up to 10% of gross domestic product (GDP) by 2030, (2) protection of forest resources by reducing the use of biomass fuels from 465 million gigajoules (GJ) in 2015 to 195 million GJ in 2030, and (3) a significant reduction in GHG emissions by 2030 relative to the business-as-usual (BAU) case by greater use of electricity from hydropower rather than biomass. These policy insights are significant for Nepal and other LDCs as they seek an energy transition towards using more renewable energy and electricity.