Case study of augmenting livelihood of fishing community at Sagar Island,India, through solar thermal dryer technology

Environment, Development and Sustainability - Drying of fish at the Sagar Island (21.7269° N, 88.1096° E) is generally carried out in open sun on the seashore on plastic sheets or mat of...     

Developmental Processes, Changing Lifestyle and Traditional Wisdom: Analyses from Western Himalaya

Traditional knowledge and practices are important in prudent resource use and biodiversity conservation. The implications of modernization and changing lifestyle are discussed in the context of agriculture and resource use, the two sectors in which maximum modernization has occurred. The information was gathered through observations and structured interviews over three years (July 1996 to July 1999) of field work in the western Himalaya. It was observed that forest based subsistence agriculture has given way to the market dependant cash crop cultivation. That apart from loss of genetic diversity, has also resulted in the degradation of forests. The use of wild plants in the day-to-day activities has also declined and dependence on high value market products has increased. Currently, wild plants are used only if no other cheap substitute is available in the market or if the use is economically beneficial to the people. Thus, the knowledge gathered through ages of experience is eroding because of the activities geared for short-term economic benefits which, in long run, may not be sustainable.     

Life cycle energy impacts of automotive liftgate inner

This paper compares the life cycle energy use of a cast-aluminum, rear liftgate inner and a conventional, stamped steel liftgate inner used in a minivan. Using the best available aggregate life cycle inventory data and a simple spreadsheet-level analysis, energy comparisons were made at both the single-vehicle and vehicle-fleet levels. Since the product manufacture and use are distributed over long periods of time that, in a fleet, are not simple linear combinations of single product life cycles. Thus, it is all the products in use over a period of time, rather than a single product, that are more appropriate for the life cycle analysis. Using a set of consistent data, analyses also examine sensitivity to the level of analysis and the assumptions to determine the most favorable materials with respect to life cycle energy benefits.As expected, life cycle energy impacts of aluminum are lower than steel at a single-vehicle level – energy savings are determined to be 1.8 GJ/vehicle. Most energy savings occur at the vehicle operation phase due to improved fuel economy from lightweighting. The energy benefits are realized only very close to the average vehicle life of 14 years. With the incremental growth of the vehicle fleet, it takes longer – about 21 years – for aluminum to achieve life cycle equivalence with steel. The number of years aluminum needs to achieve equivalence with steel was found to be quite sensitive to aluminum manufacturing energy and fuel economy. As the steel industry races to compete with other materials for automotive lightweighting, a systems approach, instead of part-to-part comparison, is more appropriate in the determination of viability of aluminum substitution from an energy perspective.     

Delineation of potential ground water-bearing zones in the Barind tract of West Bengal,India

The Barind tract of West Bengal is an area of tropical sub-humid region composed of old alluvial soil. The area has high water demand due to growing population pressure and intensification in agricultural activity. These create huge stress on surface and ground water availability. Continuous withdrawal of ground water has become an alternative source of irrigation water which has also again made the condition critical. Ground water level has been lowered down drastically in many parts in this region. Under this circumstance, it is necessary to delineate potential ground water-bearing layers. Therefore, the present study attempts to identify potential ground water-bearing zones to manage ground water effectively. Instead of usually used parameters for ground water potentiality delineation here only some particular litholog parameters like breadth of water-bearing layer, depth of water-bearing layer, presence of clay layer above or below major water-bearing layer have been considered for delimiting the same. The result shows that out of total area, 60% area (405,382.2 ha) falls under very low to low potential ground water-bearing zone and only 8.19% area (55,634.97 ha) is potential. Considering this spatial pattern of ground water availability, harvesting structure and magnitude of water withdrawing should be designed.     

Lead and cadmium exposure network in children in a periurban area in India: susceptibility and health risk

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - To investigate the complex Pb-Cd exposure network in school-going children, a thorough investigation of the probable exposure means (diet, water, and...     

The relationship between corporate social responsibility disclosures and financial performance: a mediating role of employee productivity

This study is trying to explore the relationship between corporate social responsibility (CSR) disclosures and financial performances (FP) through mediating role of the employee productivity (EP). This study classifies the CSR performances into four contexts, for instance, environment social governance (ESG), environmental improvement activity scores of CSR, social welfare activity score, and governance structure improvement score. The banking performance is classified into three different aspects such as returns on assets (ROA), returns on equity (ROE), and nominal interest margin profit (NIMP). The study covers the data set start from 2008 to 2019 regarding thirty commercial banks of China. The study uses the linear, non-linear, and quadratic techniques to explore the association between CSR disclosures and banking performances. The linear model result shows that the governance score is significant influencing the banking performance. Moreover, the employee productivities are also positive significant affecting the baking performances. The non-linear results of model show that composite score of ESG with employee productivity has significant influence on financial performance.

     

Proteomic insights into Lysinibacillus sp.-mediated biosolubilization of manganese

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - There has been alarming depletion of manganese (Mn) reserves owing to the ongoing extensive mining operations for catering the massive industrial...     

Microalgal bio-flocculation: present scenario and prospects for commercialization

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The need for sustainable production of renewable biofuel has been a global concern in the recent times. Overcoming the tailbacks of the first- and...     

Laboratory and field evaluation of crystallized DOW 704 oil on the performance of the Well Impactor Ninety-Six fFine particulate matter fractionator

Subsequent to the 1997 promulgation of the Federal Reference Method (FRM) for monitoring fine particulate matter (PM2.5) in ambient air, U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) received reports that the DOW 704 diffusion oil used in the method's Well Impactor Ninety-Six (WINS) fractionator would occasionally crystallize during field use, particularly under wintertime conditions. Although the frequency of occurrence on a nationwide basis was low, uncertainties existed as to whether crystallization of the DOW 704 oil may adversely affect a sampling event's data quality. In response to these concerns, EPA and the State of Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection jointly conducted a series of specialized tests to determine whether crystallized oil adversely affected the performance of the WINS fractionator. In the laboratory, an experimental setup used dry ice to artificially induce crystallization of the diffusion oil under controlled conditions. Using primary polystyrene latex calibration aerosols, standard size-selective performance tests of the WINS fractionator showed that neither the position nor the shape of the WINS particle size fractionation curve was substantially influenced by the crystallization of the DOW 704 oil. No large particle bounce from the crystallized impaction surface was observed. During wintertime field tests, crystallization of the DOW 704 oil did not adversely affect measured PM2.5 concentrations. Regression of measurements with crystallized DOW 704 versus liquid dioctyl sebacate (DOS) oil produced slope, intercept, and R2 values of 0.98, 0.1, and 0.997 microg/m3, respectively. Additional field tests validated the use of DOS as an effective impaction substrate. As a result of these laboratory and field tests, DOS oil has been approved by EPA as a substitute for DOW 704 oil. Since the field deployment of DOS oil in 2001, users of this alternative oil have not reported any operational problems associated with its use in the PM2.5 FRM. Limited field evaluation of the BGI very sharp cut cyclone indicates that it provides a viable alternative to the WINS fractionator.