Role of non-timber forest products in sustaining forest-based livelihoods and rural households' resilience capacity in and around protected area- a Bangladesh study

People in developing world derive a significant part of their livelihoods from various forest products, particularly non-timber forest products. This article attempts to explore the contribution of NTFPs in sustaining forest-based rural livelihood in and around a protected area of Bangladesh, and their potential role in enhancing households resilience capacity. Based on empirical investigation our study revealed that, local communities gather a substantial amount of NTFPs from national park despite the official restrictions. 27 percent households of the area received at least some cash benefit from the collection, processing and selling of NTFPs, and NTFPs contribute as HHs primary, supplementary and emergency sources of income. NTFPs also constituted an estimated 19 percent of HHs net annual income, and were the primary occupation for about 18 percent of the HHs. HHs dependency on nearby forests for various NTFPs varied vis-a-vis their socio-economic condition as well as with their location from the park. Based on our case study the article also offers some clues for improving the situation in PA.Comment: To appear in Journal of Environmental Planning and Management, 201

Hydrophobicity properties of graphite and reduced graphene oxide of the polysulfone (PSf) mixed matrix membrane

Hydrophobicity properties of graphite and reduced graphene oxide (rGO) (from exfoliated graphite/rGO) towards PSf polymer membrane characteristic and properties at different additives weight concentrations (1, 2, 3, 4 and 5 wt. %) were investigated. Both PSF/graphite and PSf/rGO membranes were characterized in term of hydrophobicity, surface bonding, surface roughness and porosity. FTIR peaks revealed that membrane with graphite and reduced graphene oxide nearly diminished their O-H bonding which was opposite to the graphene oxide peak that shows a strong O-H bonding as increased exfoliated times. These results were in line with the contact angle results that showed strong hydrophobicity of graphite and reduced graphene oxide membranes as increased these additives concentration. The effect of strong hydrophobicity in these membranes also has resulted in smoother surface roughness compared to pristine PSf membrane. Further investigation of the performance of water flux also proved that both above membranes have strong hydrophobic effect, with the lowest pure water flux rate (L/m2h) was given by PSf/rGO 3% membrane at 19.2437 L/m2h

Pakistan human resources for health assessment, 2009

Pakistan faces a human resources for health (HRH) crisis. A cross-sectional survey was conducted to overview frontline health workers. A total of 750 health facilities were surveyed across Pakistan. The median estimate of public sector health care workers in the district health system in Pakistan is 417 288, including 46 153 estimate of public sector health care workers in the district health system in Pakistan is 417 288, including 46 153 doctors and 41 032 nurses. Another estimated 20 000 doctors work in public sector tertiary care hospitals across the country. A total of 3549 health care workers were interviewed regarding job satisfaction and work environment. The private sector had better work environment scores compared with the public sector. Policy dimensions showed an absence of robust policies in practice. The public sector is inadequately staffed and job satisfaction and work environment need improvement. HRH crisis countries should share experiences, and developmental partners should support them in overcoming the HRH crisis

Characteristics of butt welding imperfections joint using co-occurrence matrix

1164-1169The goal of this paper is to study the characteristics of the butt joint imperfections with different types of joint shapes (curve, straight and tooth saw work piece) according to their class categories (good welds, excess welds, insufficient welds and no welds). The work piece is placed in a center position on the workbench. The distance between camera and workpiece is set as 300 mm during welding imperfections process and the entire work piece image is taken from the same distance to maintain the accuracy. The input feature vector is determined by feature co-occurrence matrix consisting of energy, correlation, homogeneity and contrast both no scaled and scaled by 0.5. Results show that no welds class categories exhibit higher homogeneity compared to the other class categories. This is because the homogeneity value depends on bright and dark parts of a certain size and also include some changes from dark to bright. Meanwhile, insufficient welds class categories produced larger contrast value, but good weld class categories recorded higher contrast value

Commercial cultivation by farmers of medicinal plants in Northern Bangladesh

Medicinal plants (MPs) are an important component of non-timber forest products (NTFPs), which are traditionally used in healthcare and source of livelihood all over the world. In an over-populated country like Bangladesh, the pressure on natural forests is immense; thus the cultivation of MPs can significantly contribute towards improving the livelihood of poor people, reducing the pressure on natural forests and enhancing biological diversity. Notwithstanding the growing recognition of its importance and economic and ecological potential, there has been little research on MPs, especially the cultivation, management and marketing aspects, in Bangladesh. Based on extensive fieldwork in a northern district of Bangladesh, this study explores various aspects of the cultivation, management and marketing of MPs. How collective efforts have brought economic and social benefits to communities was also examined in this study. It assesses the major processes and elements of management, identifies key problems and challenges and indicates ways of maximizing the potential of this important sector. The issues covered in this research include: farmers ’ perceptions and experiences; existing research and policy-making processes related to the MP sector; constraining factors (such as lack of processing technology, inadequate transportation, logistics, financial and storage infrastructure, lack of institutional capacity); markets, finance and networking; land use; pattern of livelihood and value chain issue

Assessment of power plant emission and its health impact in Gaza

The aim of study was to investigate the concentrations of the ambient air pollutants (i.e PM2.5, CO, CO2) and to examine the health impacts on the residentials living surrounding the power plant in Gaza City-Palestine.The pollutants were monitored several distance surrounding the plant for a period of four months during both summer and winter seasons using a portable laser particle counter and gaseous monitor. A public health questionnaire was also distributed on the residents living around the power plant in order to assess the impact of air pollution on their health status.The results showed that the concentration of particulate matter exceeded the WHO standard where the highest level was 79 ?g/m3 and the lowest level was 49?g/m3. However the concentration of carbon monoxide was lower than the WHO standards where the highest level was 2.18 ppm and lowest level was 0.1 ppm. Moreover, the concentration of carbon dioxide oscillated from 254 ppm to 514 ppm. The health assessment results showed that 50% of the study sample suffered of breathing difficulties.This study concluded that the concentration of particulate matter and carbon dioxide were high, while the level of carbon monoxide was low, furthermore the level of public awareness was good. Meanwhile 40% of population sample visited the hospital because of a disease that infects the respiratory tract

Síntesis de ésteres de acetato hexilo, mediante transesterificación química a partir de palma como base sintética de fluidos para sondeos

In the present study the synthesis of a palm based ethylhexyl ester was examined through a transesterification reaction of palm oil methyl ester (POME) with 2-ethylhexanol (EH). A sodium methoxide in methanol solution was used as a catalyst. The reaction was carried out at a fixed pressure of 1.5 mbar by varying the temperature (80–140 °C), POME/2EH molar ratio (1:1.5–1:2.2), reaction time (0.5–4 h) and catalyst concentration (1–2% w/w). The reaction with 2-ethylhexanol involved a single step reversible reaction, thus, the reaction was completed in a very short time. The optimum conditions were obtained in less than 30 minutes with 1.5 mbar pressure, 70 °C, and 1:2 molar ratio of POME to 2EH. The analysis of the final product (ethylhexyl ester) was performed using gas chromatography which exhibited 98% of ethyl hexyl ester yield. The gas chromatography analysis of ethyl hexyl ester revealed two major esters peaks i.e. ethyl hexyl palmitate and ethylhexyl oleate.En el presente estudio se analizó la síntesis de ésteres de acetato de hexilo de palma mediante reacción de transesterificación de los ésteres metílicos de aceite de palma (PME) con 2-etilhexanol (EH). Como catalizador se utiliza una solución de metóxido de sodio en metanol. La reacción se lleva a cabo a presión fija de 1,5 mbar mediante la variación de temperatura (80–140 °C), relación molar POME/2EH (1:1.5–1:2.2), tiempo de reacción (0,5–4 h) y concentración de catalizador (1–2% w / w). La reacción con 2-etilhexanol implica un solo paso de una reacción reversible, por lo tanto, ésta se completa en un tiempo muy corto. Las condiciones óptimas se obtuvieron en menos de 30 min a 1,5 mbar, 70 °C y una relación molar de 1:2 de POME al 2EH. El análisis del producto final se realizó usando cromatografía de gases que mostró un rendimiento del 98% del etilhexil éster. El análisis de la cromatografía de gases del etilhexil éster muestra dos grandes picos correspondientes a los ésteres palmitato y oleato de etilhexilo

Phylogenic analysis of serotype Asia1 foot-and-mouth disease virus from Sulaimani/Iraq using VP1 protein: heterogeneity with vaccine strain As1/Shamir/89

Foot-and-mouth disease virus (FMDV) serotypes O, A and Asia1 are responsible for a significant number of disease outbreaks in Iraq. The current study can be considered as the first molecular characterization of serotype Asia1 in Iraq. The present investigation reports the detection of serotype FMDV Asia1 from local farms in Sulaimani districts in 2012 and 2014 outbreaks. Phylogenetic analysis of the complete VP1 gene has shown that FMDV Asia1 field isolates were under genetic novel variant Sindh-08 (group VII) including PAK/iso/11 and TUR/13 strains. The VP1 protein sequence of circulatory FMDV Asia1 genotype showed heterogeneity of nine amino acid substitutions within the G-H loop with the vaccine strain As1/Shamir/89 (JF739177) that is currently used in vaccination program in Iraq. Our result indicated that differences in VP1 protein at G-H loop of the locally circulated FMDV serotype Asia1 strain may be a reason for current vaccination failure

SEROPREVALENCE OF BRUCELLOSIS IN ANIMALS AT GOVERNMENT AND PRIVATE LIVESTOCK FARMS IN PUNJAB

Seroprevalence of brucellosis in 1473 cattle and 481 buffaloes from various Government and 286 cattle and 223 buffaloes from different private livestock farms was carried out by performing Rose Bengal plate test (RBPT) and serum agglutination test (SAT). RBPT recorded the seroprevalence as 14.70% in cattle and 15.38% in buffaloes at Government and 18.53% in cattle and 35.40% in buffaloes at various private livestock farms. Out of these RBPT positive animals, 7.19% cattle and 2.91% buffaloes at Government whereas 9.00% cattle and 23.70% buffaloes at private livestock farms were found sero- positive when applied SAT