Drivers of Environmental Degradation in Turkey: Designing an SDG Framework Through Advanced Quantile Approaches

Turkey is a laggard in terms of the achievement of its Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and one of the primary issues it faces is environmental deterioration. Therefore, a policy-level reorientation may be needed to address this relevant issue. From this standpoint, this research assesses the impact of renewable energy (RE) use and financial development on the emissions of CO2 as well as the role of urbanization and agriculture, utilizing a dataset stretching between 1985 and 2019. By applying the innovative quantile-on-quantile regression (QQR) and non-parametric Granger causality in quantiles techniques, the study assesses the ways in which the quantiles of the independent variables affect the quantiles of CO2 emissions. The outcomes from the QQR show that in all quantiles, financial development, economic growth, urbanization, and agriculture impact CO2 emissions positively, while in the middle quantiles, the influence of renewable energy use on CO2 is negative. Furthermore, the outcomes from the non-parametric Granger causality test disclosed that in mean and variance, all the variables could predict CO2 emissions at different quantiles. A complete SDG-oriented policy framework has been proposed based on the research's findings so that Turkey may move toward reaching its SDG 13 and SDG 7 targets. © 2022 The Author(s).The author (Hossam M. Zawbaa) thanks the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and Enterprise Ireland for their support under the Marie Sk-odowska-Curie grant agreement No. 847402. The authors thank the support of the National Research and Development Agency of Chile (ANID), ANID/Fondap/15110019

Does information and communication technology impede environmental degradation? fresh insights from non-parametric approaches

Although ICT has played a critical role in the socio-economic growth of human cultures, it has also brought with it significant environmental risks. Nevertheless, scholars remain divided on this topic; some believe that ICT has had a positive influence on the quality of the environment, while others believe that ICT has created major environmental issues. Hence, this research is another effort to assess the effects of ICT on CO2 emissions in the top 10 ICT nations (Denmark, Japan, Luxemburg, South Korea, Netherlands, Iceland, Norway, Sweden, Switzerland, and the United Kingdom) using a dataset from the period between 1986Q1 and 2019Q4. All prior studies have established symmetric association between ICT and CO2. As a result, we applied the novel non-parametric approaches (quantile-on-quantile regression and Granger causality in quantile) to assess this association. The findings from the QQR uncovered that in the majority of the quantiles, for Denmark, Japan, Luxemburg, Netherland, Norway, Sweden, United Kingdom and Switzerland, the effect of ICT on CO2 emissions is negative, while in the majority of the quantiles, the effect of ICT on CO2 emissions is positive for the Netherlands, South Korea, and Iceland. Furthermore, we applied the novel Granger causality in the quantiles approach and the outcomes provided evidence of bidirectional causality between CO2 emissions and ICT in all the selected nations. The study proposes that sustainable ICT should be used to improve carbon reduction and energy savings potential by optimizing other industries, including managing and monitoring energy usage. © 2022 The Author(s)847402Hossam M. Zawbaa was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and Enterprise Ireland for their support under the Marie Skłodowska-Curie (grant agreement No. 847402 )

The Dynamic Impact of Biomass and Natural Resources on Ecological Footprint in BRICS Economies: A Quantile Regression Evidence

Many emerging economies, including the BRICS economies, are having difficulty meeting the Sustainable Development Goals’ (SDGs) objectives. Consequently, this research discusses the creation of an SDG framework for the BRICS economies, which can be utilized as a model for other blocs. To achieve this purpose, this research probes into the effect of biomass energy usage on ecological footprint in the BRICS economies between 1992 and 2018, considering the roles of gross capital formation, natural resources, and globalization. The novel Methods of Moments-Quantile-Regression (MMQR) approach with fixed effects is used, the outcomes of which reveal that in all quantiles (10th to 90th), globalization and biomass energy use mitigate environmental degradation, whereas economic growth, natural resources, and gross capital formation contribute to environmental degradation. The present research applied a series of techniques such as panel FMOLS, and DOLS, FE-OLS, the outcomes of which disclosed that globalization and biomass energy utilization help mitigate environmental degradation, while economic growth, natural resources, and gross capital formation improve environmental degradation. On the basis of the study's findings, we suggest a shift in energy policies away from fossil fuels toward renewable energy alternatives by taking measures regarding the innovation of biomass to improve conversion efficiency. © 2022 The Author(s).The author (Hossam M. Zawbaa) thanks the European Union's Horizon 2020 research and Enterprise Ireland for their support under the Marie Sk-odowska-Curie grant agreement No. 847402. The authors thank the support of the National Research and Development Agency of Chile (ANID), ANID/Fondap/15110019

The role of ITO resistivity on current spreading and leakage in InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes

The effect of a transparent ITO current spreading layer on electrical and light output properties of blue InGaN/GaN light emitting diodes (LEDs) is discussed. When finite conductivity of ITO is taken into account, unlike in previous models, the topology of LED die and contacts are shown to significantly affect current spreading and light output characteristics in top emitting devices. We propose an approach for calculating the current transfer length describing current spreading. We show that an inter-digitated electrode configuration with distance between the contact pad and the edge of p-n junction equal to transfer length in the current spreading ITO layer allows one to increase the optical area of LED chip, as compared to the physical area of the die, light output power, and therefore, the LED efficiency for a given current density. A detailed study of unpassivated LEDs also shows that current transfer lengths longer than the distance between the contact pad and the edge of p-n junction leads to increasing surface leakage that can only be remedied with proper passivation. © 2017 Elsevier Lt

Effects of Ethephon on the Hemolymph Metabolites of the Greater Wax Moth Galleria mellonella L. (Lepidoptera: Pyralidae)

Ethephon (ETF), one of the plant growth regulators, is used in agricultural systems as a valuable tool due to its property of regulating fruit maturation. Here, we aimed to investigate the toxic effects of ETF on the hemolymph metabolites of the greater wax moth, G. mellonella which is an experimental animal and a serious pest in wax. Different doses of ETF (250-390 μg/5 μl) were injected with force feeding method to the last instars and the effects of ETF on the level of hemolymph protein, lipid, and glucose were estimated spectrophotometrically at 24 and 48 h after treatments. The levels of protein, glucose, and lipid in hemolymph showed dose- and time-dependent changes. These results indicated that treatment with ETF may result in significant physiological changes in pests. Consequently, it is likely that ETF can be a promising agent for use in integrated pest management programs as ecofriendly biopesticides

Effects of antioxidants on mitomycin C- induced sister chromatid exchanges and micronuclei

Purpose: This study was designed to investigate the effects of antioxidants on mitomycin C (MMC) induced sister chromatid exchanges (SCE) and micronuclei (MN). Material and Methods: The action of vitamins C (10-4 M), E (10-6 M) and β-carotene (10-6 M) on the genotoxic activity of mitomycin C (10-7 M) was evaluated in cultured human lymphocytes of five donors with the help of SCE and MN frequencies. Results: It was found that SCE and MN levels were significantly increased by MMC. The presence of vitamins C, E and β-carotene caused a significant reduction in the numbers of SCE and MN induced by MMC when used separately, but no antioxidant effect of β-carotene was observed in MMC-induced MN frequency. On the other hand, in triple combinations of vitamins C, E and β-carotene and MMC. MMC-induced SCE and MN frequencies were reduced significantly (22.02% - 24.04% for SCEs and 31.91% - 57.55% for MN). Conclusion: These results indicated that the combinations of vitamins C, E and β-carotene can modify the DNA damaging effect of the carcinogens and act as biological antioxidants under in vitro conditions