Developing new scenarios for water allocation negotiations: a case study of the Euphrates River Basin

Mismanagement and uneven distribution of water may lead to or increase conflict among countries. Allocation of water among trans-boundary river neighbours is a key issue in utilization of shared water resources. The bankruptcy theory is a cooperative Game Theory method which is used when the amount of demand of riparian states is larger than total available water. In this study, we survey the application of seven methods of Classical Bankruptcy Rules (CBRs) including Proportional (CBR-PRO), Adjusted Proportional (CBR-AP), Constrained Equal Awards (CBR-CEA), Constrained Equal Losses (CBR-CEL), Piniles (CBR-Piniles), Minimal Overlap (CBR-MO), Talmud (CBR-Talmud) and four Sequential Sharing Rules (SSRs) including Proportional (SSR-PRO), Constrained Equal Awards (SSR-CEA), Constrained Equal Losses (SSR-CEL) and Talmud (SSR-Talmud) methods in allocation of the Euphrates River among three riparian countries: Turkey, Syria and Iraq. However, there is not a certain documented method to find more equitable allocation rule. Therefore, in this paper, a new method is established for choosing the most appropriate allocating rule which seems to be more equitable than other allocation rules to satisfy the stakeholders. The results reveal that, based on the new propose model, the CBR-AP seems to be more equitable to allocate the Euphrates River water among Turkey, Syria and Iraq

Hydropolitics and Conflict Management in Transboundary River Basins

This thesis set out to develop methodologies that promote cooperation, peace and development instead of conflict and violence in transboundary water resources management. In particular, its objectives were the following: o To examine and understand the complexity of water systems and water conflict management o To investigate factors affecting resilience of water treaties o To develop methods for equitable water allocation in transboundary river basins using bankruptcy theory o To develop a risk-based Multi Attribute Decision Making method (RB-MADM) to select, rank and/or classify alternatives among a set of available options in negotiation and decision making processes over shared natural resources o To demonstrate the applicability of the developed methods in practice through some real cases: the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers and the Caspian Sea. This thesis starts with an in-depth discussion of the complexity of transboundary water systems and the nexus between resource scarcity and resource conflict. Water systems are complex coupled human-natural systems. This complexity can be exacerbated when water is shared between two or more riparian countries. Shared water resources can be a source of both conflict and cooperation among riparian countries. Conflict resolution in a complex system is also a complex task that cannot be managed by means of scientific methods or modelling approaches only. This thesis focuses on conflict resolution in transboundary river basins. Rather than looking at the issues just from a technical point of view, the research endeavours to recognize the complexity in conflict resolution in transboundary river basins. The nexus between resource scarcity and resource conflict is analyzed in terms of several schools of thought, including the Neo-Malthusians, Cornucopians, and the Distributionists. Furthermore, the missing link between water scarcity, as a main issue in international water resources management, and water crisis and conflict is examined. The evidence suggests that water scarcity can be both a cause and the result of conflict. Water systems have been affected by various human and natural perturbations and changes, such as global environmental and climate changes that are at least partly humanly induced. These disturbances can potentially affect conflict and cooperation between riparian countries. Water treaties should be resilient to cope with these changes and disturbances. Chapter three raises questions concerning main factors affecting non-resilience of water treaties as well as some reasons increasing the difficulty of implementation of treaties. Additional insights into these factors can help to enhance their resilience and reduce the risk of conflict among riparian countries. Among several factors affecting hydropolitical relationships, water quantity is the perhaps most conflictive issue. The principle of “equitable and reasonable utilization” is the main normative principle referred to for allocating internationally shared water resources. Despite this, a serious limitation of international water laws and conventions is that they have not introduced a generally accepted allocation mechanism to achieve an equitable and reasonable water allocation. Therefore, equitable water allocation among riparian countries is one of the main critical issues in water conflict management. Using bankruptcy theory, as a form of cooperative game theory method, novel flexible allocation methods have been developed in chapters four and five. The proposed rules have been applied to the Euphrates and Tigris Rivers, shared between Turkey, Syria, and Iraq, to illustrate the application of the rule to a real conflictive allocation problem. The results reveal that the proposed approaches may facilitate negotiation and have a great potential to help solving conflict and dispute over river resources allocation problems in transboundary river basins. A risk-based Multi Attribute Decision Making method was developed to support consensus-based decision making over several allocation mechanisms. This method was applied to help establish the legal status of the Caspian Sea, which is shared among five states: Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. To date, these nations have been unable to reach an allocation agreement. We apply a methodology to propose the most appropriate solution among a set of options under different risk attitudes of the states. The analyses show that the overall ranking of options varies even when the states slightly change their risk attitudes from pessimistic to fairly pessimistic.Water ManagementCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Heat fragmentation pattern of DNA treated with two different Furocoumarins isolated from Anethum Graveolens leaves

Prolonged local consumption of Anethum graveolens leaves, as an antihyperlipimic and antihypercholesterolemic agent, has been associated in some patients with skin disorders such as darkening and pigmentation mainly in the exposed areas such as face and hands.Anethum graveolens belongs to the umbelliferae family which is belived to be rich in photoactive furocoumarins. An oraganic extract of the powdered leaves was analysed for the photosensitive compounds. Al least six different photosensitive compounds.Al least six different photosensitive components were detected in the TLC chromatogram of the extract. Two of the most photosensitive components were purified compounds into two different purifed plasmid DNAs were observed. In addition, photoreacted DNA samples were easily fragmented by heat treatment in comparision to control samples not treated with the furocoumarins

The Effects of Two Species of Daphne, Betulin and Betulinic Acid on Alkaline Phosphatase Activity in Two Human Cancer Cell lines, K562 and MCF-7

Abstract Background & aim: Changes of alkaline phosphatase activity is one of the symptoms of many diseases. The aim of this study was to evaluate the effect of two types of Daphne, Betulin and Betulinic acid, on alkaline phosphatase activity in K562 and MCF-7 cell lines, respectively. Methods: In this study, 106 cancer cell lines of K562 and MCF-7 were cultured in presence of 5% carbon dioxide at 37 ° C. at doses near the IC50. The viability of cells, inside and outside alkaline phosphatase activity and the amount of total protein in each treatment were studied. The collected data was analyzed with a multivariate analysis of variance (Nested Design) and Dunnett test. Results: The intracellular alkaline phosphatase activity of the cells showed different behavior compared to the extracellular alkaline phosphatase activity (p< 0.01). The highest increase of alkaline phosphatase activity in two cell lines (K562 and MCF-7) were 339% and 236% which was related to the treatment by macronata daphne. Conclusion: Unexpected increase in intracellular alkaline phosphatase activity in D. mucronata, D. oleides, Betulin, and Betulinic acid treatment may be due to changes in the composition of plasma membrane component and an increase the non-connected membrane of the protein which is due to the creation of more active proteins. Keywords: Daphne mucronata, Daphne oleoides, Alkaline Phosphatase, Betulinic Acid, Betuli

Weighted Bankruptcy Rules and Transboundary Water Resources Allocation

One significant problem of transboundary river basins causing various challenges and disputes throughout the world is that because of increasing water resource variability and consumption, the water demand often exceeds water availability. Hence, one of the main challenges in transboundary river basin management is how to allocate the available water among the riparian states equitably and reasonably. In this study, we propose a novel weighted bankruptcy solution method to cope with the problem of demands or “claims” exceeding resources or “assets”. Certain desirable key properties of the proposed method are provided. Furthermore, we investigate its application to the Tigris River, a shared river among Turkey, Syria and Iraq, as a real case. The available water is allocated under two different situations: homogeneous and heterogeneous group. We use the Shapley Value and compare the solution with other allocation methods applied in this study. The results suggest that this new rule may facilitate negotiation in solving conflict over the allocation of water in transboundary river basins.Water ManagementCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Application of multi attribute decision making methods to resources allocation problems

Operation of over shared resources (water, gas, oil, and mineral reserves) has been one the most significant challenges of states. “Fair” and “efficient” national resources reallocation among stakeholders and states is a complex conflict problem that faces this fundamental question: which criteria and mechanisms should be taken into account for this reallocation? In this paper, we propose a risk-based Multi Attribute Decision Making (MADM) methodology to select the most appropriate mechanism for reallocation of the reserves of the Caspian Sea with respect to several quantitative and qualitative criteria. Caspian Sea is a sea with five claimants that border it, Azerbaijan, Iran, Kazakhstan, Russia, and Turkmenistan. The ordered weighted averaging (OWA) method is used to evaluate the effects of risk attitude of the decision makers on the final outcome in resources reallocation. Results indicate that risk-based MADM methods are well suited tools to resolve conflicts in natural resources reallocation problemsWater ManagementCivil Engineering and Geoscience

Using Bankruptcy Rules to Allocate CO2 Emission Permits

LNICST, volume 277The global growth of technologies and production affects the climate through emissions of greenhouse gases. The total amount of countries’ demands of CO2 emissions permits is higher than what the planet can sustain. This situation can be considered as a bankruptcy problem, where the sum of players’ claims exceeds the endowment of the resource. In this paper, we use an approach based on bankruptcy solutions (in particular, on the Weighted Constrained Equal Awards rule) in order to propose a more efficient and fair allocation protocol for sharing CO2 emissions permits among the EU-28 countries