Nature conservation efforts set for specially protected areas of Turkey

Environmental pollution and degradation of ecosystems considerably affect the natural resources. The Turkish Government is aware of the importance of the preservation of natural ecology and thereby the environmental conservation of many species in their natural habitat. This paper provides critical assessments of the problems and possible solutions in the identification, implementation and management of the Specially Protected Areas (SPAs) system by giving basic information about stakeholders and their responsibilities that currently offer nature conservation in Turkey. The goals of the article are to analyze how the SPAs interface with the local people, especially the villagers who have dwelt there before SPA designation and how people-SPA conflicts resolved; to show how effective the SPA conservation objectives have been; to outline the significance of informing and empowering people in nature conservation for the protected area management and to show the importance of planning at all levels during protection of the natural, archeological and cultural values of the SPAs.     

Pulsed electromagnetic field therapy history,state of the art and future

Magnetic and electromagnetic fields are now recognized by the 21st century medicine as real physical entities that promise the healing of various health problems, even when conventional medicine has failed. Today magnetotherapy provides a non-invasive, safe, and easy method to directly treat the site of injury, the source of pain and inflammation, and other types of diseases and pathologies. Millions of people worldwide have received help in treatment of musculoskeletal system, as well as pain relief. Pulsed electromagnetic fields are one important modality in magnetotherapy and recent technological innovations, such as Curatron pulsed electromagnetic field devices, offer excellent, state of the art computer controlled therapy system. In this article the development, state of the art and future of pulsed electromagnetic field therapy are discussed.     

Pluralism,The Ethical Matrix,and Coming to Conclusions

The ethical matrix approach was developed by Prof Ben Mepham and his colleagues at the University of Nottingham in the early 1990s. Since then the approach has received increasing attention and has been used by several researchers in different projects related to assessing ethical impacts of different food production technologies and other policy options of societal concern. The ethical matrix is sometimes understood simply as a checklist of ethical concerns, but might also be seen as a guide to coming to conclusions on moral questions. The problem I discuss in this paper relates to how using the ethical matrix method as a decision guide can be combined with respecting pluralism. The aim of the paper is to suggest a framework making it possible to – at the same time – enhance public justification of judgments and respect pluralism. I argue that pluralism is fundamental to the ethical matrix approach; I distinguish between intuitionist principled pluralism and societal value pluralism; and I show how both kinds of pluralism imply restrictions on how conclusions can be made. No substantive moral decision principles can be allowed. Still, I argue, decision principles of a more epistemological or procedural character can be acceptable even within pluralism. The pragmatist principle of inquiry is defended as an account of moral problem solving compatible with both principled pluralism and value pluralism. When an ethical matrix is used within such a participatory inquiry process substantive conclusions can be drawn.     

A social–ecological analysis of ecosystem services in two different farming systems

In this exploratory study we use existing in situ qualitative and quantitative data on biophysical and social indicators to compare two contrasting Swedish farming systems (low intensity and high intensity) with regard to ecosystem service supply and demand of a broad suite of services. We show that the value (demand) placed on a service is not necessarily connected to the quantity (supply) of the service, most clearly shown for the services recreation, biodiversity, esthetic experience, identity, and cultural heritage. To better capture this complexity we argue for the need to develop portfolios of indicators for different ecosystem services and to further investigate the different aspects of supply and demand. The study indicates that available data are often ill-suited to answer questions about local delivery of services. If ecosystem services are to be included in policy, planning, and management, census data need to be formatted and scaled appropriately.     

Characterization and recycling of polymeric components present in cell phones

The cell phone market is developing at a rapid speed. Today there are more than 1.6 billion consumers in the world, and the lifetime of a cell phone is less than 2 years. As a consequence, there is an increase in the waste associated to this product, and many alternatives to the disposal of the cell phones are being studied, such as recycling which shows to be the most important. It is crucial to know what materials constitute the cell phone in order to carry out recycling and determine environmental and economical issues. This work presents an evaluation of the cell phone components, characterizing the raw materials and some properties of the recycled materials.     

Heavy metal contamination in sediments of an artificial reservoir impacted by long-term mining activity in the Almadén mercury district (Spain)

Sediments from the Castilseras reservoir, located downstream on the Valdeazogues River in the Almadén mercury district, were collected to assess the potential contamination status related to metals(oids) associated with river sediment inputs from several decommissioned mines. Metals(oids) concentrations in the reservoir sediments were investigated using different physical and chemical techniques. The results were analyzed by principal component analysis (PCA) to explain the correlations between the sets of variables. The degree of contamination was evaluated using the enrichment factor (EF) and the geoaccumulation index (Igeo). PCA revealed that the silty fraction is the main metals(oids) carrier in the sediments. Among the potentially harmful elements, there is a group (Al, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni, and Zn) that cannot be strictly correlated to the mining activity since their concentrations depend on the lithological and edaphological characteristics of the materials. In contrast, As, Co, Hg, Pb, and S showed significant enrichment and contamination, thus suggesting relevant contributions from the decommissioned mines through fluvial sediment inputs. As far as Hg and S are concerned, the high enrichment levels pose a question concerning the potential environmental risk of transfer of the organic forms of Hg (mainly methylmercury) from the bottom sediments to the aquatic food chain.     

The influence of the scale of mining activity and mine site remediation on the contamination legacy of historical metal mining activity

Globally, thousands of kilometres of rivers are degraded due to the presence of elevated concentrations of potentially harmful elements (PHEs) sourced from historical metal mining activity. In many countries, the presence of contaminated water and river sediment creates a legal requirement to address such problems. Remediation of mining-associated point sources has often been focused upon improving river water quality; however, this study evaluates the contaminant legacy present within river sediments and attempts to assess the influence of the scale of mining activity and post-mining remediation upon the magnitude of PHE contamination found within contemporary river sediments. Data collected from four exemplar catchments indicates a strong relationship between the scale of historical mining, as measured by ore output, and maximum PHE enrichment factors, calculated versus environmental quality guidelines. The use of channel slope as a proxy measure for the degree of channel-floodplain coupling indicates that enrichment factors for PHEs in contemporary river sediments may also be the highest where channel-floodplain coupling is the greatest. Calculation of a metric score for mine remediation activity indicates no clear influence of the scale of remediation activity and PHE enrichment factors for river sediments. It is suggested that whilst exemplars of significant successes at improving post-remediation river water quality can be identified; river sediment quality is a much more long-lasting environmental problem. In addition, it is suggested that improvements to river sediment quality do not occur quickly or easily as a result of remediation actions focused a specific mining point sources. Data indicate that PHEs continue to be episodically dispersed through river catchments hundreds of years after the cessation of mining activity, especially during flood flows. The high PHE loads of flood sediments in mining-affected river catchments and the predicted changes to flood frequency, especially, in many river catchments, provides further evidence of the need to enact effective mine remediation strategies and to fully consider the role of river sediments in prolonging the environmental legacy of historical mine sites.     

Towards a sustainable energy future—exploring current barriers and potential solutions in Thailand

Renewable energy is considered an indispensable basis of sustainable energy systems as electricity generation from renewable sources results in low emissions of greenhouse gases compared to fossil fuel based electricity and contributes to sustainable development. However, effective strategies and conducive institutional settings are needed for advancement of such clean electricity systems. Although Thailand, as a nation, has a huge potential for renewable energy utilization, its total amount of electricity generation from renewables is relatively small and could be enlarged substantially. Lack of policy mechanisms, institutional development and financing exist as major barriers for Thailand in this regard. Investigation of the nation’s current energy strategy implementation shows that relevant energy and development policies are at different stages of implementation and institutional settings are continuously evolving. This paper argues that further significant efforts could be made towards advancement of renewable electricity and thus achievement of energy sustainability in Thailand. Resource planning, effective policy and institutions, focussed planning for energy sustainability and implementation of the Clean Development Mechanism (CDM) under the Kyoto Protocol could facilitate further advancement of renewables for the nation.     

Urinary levels of phthalate metabolites and associations with demographic characteristics in Korean adults

The objective of this study is to assess human exposure to phthalates and its associations with demographic characteristics of the subjects in the Korean National Human Biomonitoring Survey. The subjects aged between 18 and 69 were selected through nationwide stratified sampling. A total of 1874 urine samples were collected and stored at ?20 °C until measurement for ten selected metabolites of phthalates (MnBP, MiBP, MBzP, MCHP, MnOP, MEHP, MEOHP, MEHHP, MiNP, and MiDP) using high-performance liquid chromatography-tandem mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS). The difference in the level of urinary phthalate metabolites by the characteristics of the subjects was tested for statistical significance using SAS Surveyreg procedure. The coefficients and standard errors from multiple linear regressions were exponentiated to estimate the adjusted proportional change (APC) and 95% CIs compared with a referent level. The proportion of data above LOQ was less than 20% for MCHP, MnOP, MiNP, and MiDP. Geometric means of creatinine-adjusted concentrations (unit: μg/g creatinine) of six other phthalate metabolites among Korean adults were 41.7 (95% CI 39.6–43.9) for MnBP, 17.1 (95% CI 16.1–18.1) for MiBP, 15.7 (95% CI 14.4–17.1) for MBzP, 8.65 (95% CI 8.10–9.22) for MEHP, 17.5 (95% CI 16.8–18.3) for MEOHP, and 38.1 (95% CI 36.2–40.2) for MEHHP. Urinary level of phthalates tended to be higher among subjects with older age, females, and those with vigorous daily physical activity and tended to be lower among drinkers and those with higher income. Our results suggest that the level of phthalate exposure is significant among Korean adults and thus warrants further studies to identify major source and route of exposure to phthalates.