Why some community forests are performing better than others: a case of forest user groups in Nepal

Management of many Nepalese forests has been devolved to local communities. Forest products, which are used by the community and which may also be traded, are essential contributors to community well-being. Forests are also important contributors of ecosystem services, such as flood protection and wildlife habitat. Nepalese communities were surveyed to measure flows of forest products from their community forests. A stochastic frontier analysis shows that communities are not producing forest products efficiently and there is potential for improvement. The results shows that forest products benefit and environmental performance are associated products. In addition, analysis reveals that factors such as social capital, support from government and knowledge in management contributes positively to the production efficiency. It is anticipated that these findings will contribute to community forest policy redesign and consequently to the welfare of communities.Community forestry, stochastic frontier, production efficiency, Nepal, Community/Rural/Urban Development, Environmental Economics and Policy, Farm Management, Productivity Analysis,

Research Notes: Potential of exotic soybeans in the sub-montane region of Himachal Pradesh (India)

Himachal Pradesh is a hilly state of Northern India , with its global location between 75°45\u27 - 79°04 \u27 E longitude and 30°22\u27 - 33°12\u27 N latitude. In this part of the country, soybean is indigenously grown as a rainy season crop up to an altitude of 1800 m above mean sea level . The indigenous soybean comprise small seeded, twining type low- yielding varieties

A face - off - classical and heuristic - based path planning approaches

Robot path planning is a computational problem to find a valid sequence of configurations to move a robot from an initial to a final destination. Several classical and heuristic-based methods exist that can be used to solve the problem. This paper compares the performance of a classical method based on potential field, Lyapunov-based Control Scheme, with those of the standard and stepping ahead Firefly Algorithms. The performance comparison is based on the optimal path distance and time. The results show that the stepping ahead Firefly algorithm finds a shorter path in lesser duration when compared with the Lyapunov-based method. The LbCS also inherently faces the local minima problem when the start, target, and obstacle’s center coordinates are collinear. This problem is solved using the firefly algorithm where the diversification of the fireflies helps escape local minima

The adsorptive removal of a cationic drug from aqueous solution using poly (methacrylic acid) hydrogels

This study describes adsorptive removal of the antibiotic drug ciprofloxacin hydrochloride from simulated water using poly(methacrylic acid) (PMAA) as adsorbent. The adsorbent was characterised by various instrumental techniques such as X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), and Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy. The adsorption equilibrium data, as studied at 3 temperatures, namely, 15, 25 and 37°C, were best interpreted by the Langmuir adsorption isotherm model.  Moreover, an increase in temperature reduces drug uptake. A pH of the adsorption system in the range of 5.0 to 8.0 causes maximum adsorption of the drug. The presence of drug molecules in the adsorbent particles was shown by various techniques: X-ray diffraction (XRD), differential scanning calorimetry (DSC), Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscopy and  scanning electron microscopy (SEM) analysis. Antibacterial studies also  reveal the adsorption of the drug from solution.Keywords: Adsorption, ciprofloxacin, Langmuir isotherm, X-ray diffraction, Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectroscop

What is India speaking? Exploring the "Hinglish" invasion

© 2016 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved. Language competition models help understand language shift dynamics, and have effectively captured how English has outcompeted various local languages, such as Scottish Gaelic in Scotland, and Mandarin in Singapore. India, with a 125 million English speakers boasts the second largest number of English speakers in the world, after the United States. The 1961-2001 Indian censuses report a sharp increase in Hindi/English Bilinguals, suggesting that English is on the rise in India. To the contrary, we claim supported by field evidence, that these statistics are inaccurate, ignoring an emerging class who do not have full bilingual competence and switch between Hindi and English, communicating via a code popularly known as "Hinglish". Since current language competition models oc clude hybrid practices and detailed local ecological factors, they are inappropriate to capture the current language dynamics in India. Expanding predator-prey and sociolinguistic theories, we draw on local Indian ecological factors to develop a novel three-species model of interaction between Monolingual Hindi speakers, Hindi/English Bilinguals and Hinglish speakers, and explore the long time dynamics it predicts. The model also exhibits Turing instability, which is the first pattern formation result in language dynamics. These results challenge traditional assumptions of English encroachment in India. More broadly, the three-species model introduced here is a first step towards modeling the dynamics of hybrid language scenarios in other settings across the world

Evaluation of antioxidant properties in thirteen Fijian medicinal plants used in Alzheimer’s disease and related illness

Objective: The present study aims to evaluate antioxidant properties of decoction and ethanol extracts of Fijian medicinal plants using 2,2-diphenyl-1-picryl-hydrazyl (DPPH) scavenging assay. Method: Thirteen plant species belonging to Melastomataceae, Asteraceae, Apiaceae, Rutaceae, Goodeniaceae, Loganiaceae, Araliaceae, Solanaceae, Polygonaceae, Zingiberaceae and Anacardiaceae families were tested at 0.2 mg/mL, 0.4 mg/mL, 0.6 mg/mL, 0.8 mg/mL, 1.0 mg/mL, 1.5 mg/mL and 2.0 mg/mL concentrations for antioxidant properties. The antioxidant capabilities were compared with ascorbic acid standard. Results and Discussions: Among the decoction and ethanol extracts tested, all plants showed DPPH scavenging activity. The most potent antioxidant activity was seen in C. hirta with an IC50 value of 0.64 mg/mL. The activity of C. hirta was twofold more potent than the standard ascorbic acid (IC50 = 1.33 mg/mL) indicating that polar extracts of C. hirta contains compounds with relatively better antioxidant properties than ascorbic acid. Conclusion: The plant extracts used in this study were crude extracts, as it is envisaged that if the phytochemicals were isolated and purified from these plants, more prominent results could be expected. These plants could prove leads to safer and better candidates for the future selection of antioxidant. Key words: DPPH, Reactive Oxygen Species, Radical scavenging activity, Antioxidants, C. hirta, Ethanolic extracts, Decoction. Key Message: Polar extracts from medicinal plants have antioxidant properties apart from its traditional use. These plants can be investigated to understand the full potential of these plants

Price and Competition Regulation for Fijian Economy

The use of price controls is widespread across developing economies, including controls on basic food items, utility services and key imported commodities. Price control has been in Fiji for nearly 50 years. It is used as a tool for social policy and this can dampen investment and growth but can also incur heavy fiscal burdens. Price controls are efficient when used with competition law and policy. A new model of competition is presented to promote effective investment and competition together linking its outputs to consumer protection. Two institutions merged in the year 2010, namely the Prices and Incomes Board (PIB) and Commerce Commission (CC) into a newly formed Commission named as Fijian Commerce Commission (FCC). The collected data so far from the year 2010-2016 reveals that business traders are violating the price control legislation in terms of overcharging consumers and using misleading conduct to hide prices. The trend on average has decreased by 57% in 2016. The other variable of interest was cyclone WINSTON data in the year 2016, out of 680 inspections that were done, 81.1% of business traders were non-compliant. 34.5% of business traders were fined on the spot and through complaints respectively

Prediction and management of natural disasters through indigenous Technical Knowledge, with special reference to fisheries

Traditional Indigenous knowledge has over the years played a significant role in solving several major social-ecological problems including those related to climate change and variability. People living close to nature often observe the circumstances around them and are the often the first to identify and adapt to any changes. The appearance of certain birds, mating of certain animals and flowering of certain plants are all seen as important signals of change with respect to timing and seasonality of natural phenomena that are well understood in traditional knowledge systems. Indigenous and local peoples have relied on biodiversity as a buffer against environmental variation, change and catastrophe