Indigenous territories and tropical forest management in Latin America

Using data from Latin America, the authors argue that fundamental changes must take place in the legal recognition and demarcation of indigenous territories if indigenous peoples are to fulfill their potential as resource managers for threatened tropical forest ecosystems. The authors compare different national land tenure models for forest-dwelling indigenous peoples (contained in national Indian, agrarian, and protected-area laws in Latin America) and a model proposed by indigenous organizations in Latin America. The conventional models emerged during an era when most governments were more concerned with the rapid occupation and exploitation of frontier zones and the assimilation of indigenous peoples. Recent attention to the environmental degradation of these areas and the need to create alternative models of land use and development have directed attention to the potential contribution of indigenous peoples to the conservation and management of the vast tropical forests of Latin America. The authors find that indigenous peoples must be given some degree of control over their territories and resources. They contend that for successful management of tropical forests there must be a new type of partnership between indigenous peoples, the scientific community, national governments, and international development agencies. This relationship should be a contractual one, in which indigenous peoples are provided with juridical recognition and control over large areas of forest in exchange for a commitment to conserve the ecosystem and preserve biodiversity.Municipal Financial Management,Agricultural Knowledge&Information Systems,Forestry,Environmental Economics&Policies,Banks&Banking Reform

Metric Theory of Gravity with Torsion in an Extra Dimension

We consider a theory of gravity with a hidden extra dimension and metric-dependent torsion. A set of physically motivated constraints are imposed on the geometry so that the torsion stays confined to the extra dimension and the extra dimension stays hidden at the level of four-dimensional geodesic motion. At the kinematic level, the theory maps onto general relativity, but the dynamical field equations that follow from the action principle deviate markedly from the standard Einstein equations. We study static spherically symmetric vacuum solutions and homogeneous-isotropic cosmological solutions that emerge from the field equations. In both cases, we find solutions of significant physical interest. Most notably, we find positive mass solutions with naked singularity that match the well-known Schwarzschild solution at large distances but lack an event horizon. In the cosmological context, we find an oscillatory scenario, in contrast to the inevitable singular big bang of the standard cosmology

Metric Theory of Gravity with Torsion in an Extra Dimension

We consider a theory of gravity with a hidden extra dimension and metric-dependent torsion. A set of physically motivated constraints are imposed on the geometry so that the torsion stays confined to the extra dimension and the extra dimension stays hidden at the level of four-dimensional geodesic motion. At the kinematic level, the theory maps onto general relativity, but the dynamical field equations that follow from the action principle deviate markedly from the standard Einstein equations. We study static spherically symmetric vacuum solutions and homogeneous-isotropic cosmological solutions that emerge from the field equations. In both cases, we find solutions of significant physical interest. Most notably, we find positive mass solutions with naked singularity that match the well-known Schwarzschild solution at large distances but lack an event horizon. In the cosmological context, we find an oscillatory scenario, in contrast to the inevitable singular big bang of the standard cosmology

Pengaruh Arus terhadap Sebaran Material Padatan Tersuspensi di PT. Pertamina Ru VI Perairan Balongan, Kabupaten Indramayu, Jawa Barat

Aktivitas pada pelabuhan khusus PT. Pertamina RU VI Balongan Indramayu menyebabkan kondisi perairan di sekitar lokasi pelabuhan menjadi dinamis. Proses hidro-oseanografi memberikan pengaruh terhadap tingginya suatu nilai padatan tersuspensi di suatu lokasi. Dalam hal ini perlu dilakukan penelitian mengenai pola arus laut terhadap sebaran material padatan tersuspensi di PT. Pertamina RU VI Perairan Balongan Indramayu, Jawa Barat. Tujuan dilakukannya penelitian ini adalah untuk mengetahui pengaruh arus laut terhadap sebaran MPT di PT. Pertamina RU VI Perairan Balongan Indramayu. Penelitian dimulai dari tahap pengambilan data di lapangan pada tanggal 8-15 November 2014 di PT. Pertamina RU VI Perairan Balongan Indramayu dan tahap pengolahan data serta analisis data hasil pengukuran lapangan. Materi yang digunakan meliputi data primer berupa arus dan sampel air sedangkan data sekunder berupa data pasut dan peta batimetri Tanjungpriok hingga Cirebon. Penelitian ini menggunakan metode deskriptif yang bersifat eksploratif, penentuan lokasi pengambilan sampel air menggunakan metode sampling purposive, pengambilan data arus menggunakan metode lagrange. Model matematik yang digunakan adalah model ADCIRC untuk pola arus dan ArcGIS untuk sebaran MPT. Berdasarkan hasil sebaran MPT di PT. Pertamina RU VI Perairan Balongan mempunyai nilai konsentrasi rerata MPT pada saat menuju pasang sebesar 122 mg/l dan saat menuju surut sebesar 89 mg/l. Dalam proses penyebaran nilai konsentrasi di perairan tidak hanya dipengaruhi oleh arus melainkan ada faktor lain, yaitu faktor kedalaman dan aktivitas kapal

Protective role of nanoemulsion containing roman chamomile oil against mitomycin C-induced toxicity in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing mice

33-44Mitomycin-C (MC), an anticancer agent, induces oxidative stress in normal tissues causing severe toxicity. The present study aimed to evaluate whether the side effects of MC may be diminished by the incorporation of MC into nanoemulsion containing Roman chamomile oil (RCM-NE). Fifty mice were equally divided into five groups. The first and second groups were the control and the untreated Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing mice (EAC), respectively, while the other three groups were EAC-bearing mice treated once intraperitoneally with a dose of 200 µL of RCM-NE, 1 mg/kg−1 MC/200 µL normal saline, and 1 mg/kg−1 MC/200 µL RCM-NE. The protective effect of the RCM-NE was examined by measuring the alterations in complete blood count, organs weight indices, and levels of serum biochemical parameters. The oxidative stress was assessed by measuring lipid peroxidation and enzyme activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase, and thioredoxin reductase-1. MC-RCM-NE has significantly reduced the toxicity of MC on the white blood cells and platelets. It improved the renal and cardiac biomarker levels and the antioxidants of the kidney, heart, and thymus. The protective effect of the RCM-NE on the blood and organs against MC toxicity was associated with the decreasing of oxidative stress and maintaining the activity of the antioxidants

Protective role of nanoemulsion containing roman chamomile oil against mitomycin C-induced toxicity in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing mice

Mitomycin-C (MC), an anticancer agent, induces oxidative stress in normal tissues causing severe toxicity. The present study aimed to evaluate whether the side effects of MC may be diminished by the incorporation of MC into nanoemulsion containing Roman chamomile oil (RCM-NE). Fifty mice were equally divided into five groups. The first and second groups were the control and the untreated Ehrlich ascites carcinoma bearing mice (EAC), respectively, while the other three groups were EAC-bearing mice treated once intraperitoneally with a dose of 200 µL of RCM-NE, 1 mg/kg−1 MC/200 µL normal saline, and 1 mg/kg−1 MC/200 µL RCM-NE. The protective effect of the RCM-NE was examined by measuring the alterations in complete blood count, organs weight indices, and levels of serum biochemical parameters. The oxidative stress was assessed by measuring lipid peroxidation and enzyme activities of catalase, superoxide dismutase, glutathione reductase, and thioredoxin reductase-1. MC-RCM-NE has significantly reduced the toxicity of MC on the white blood cells and platelets. It improved the renal and cardiac biomarker levels and the antioxidants of the kidney, heart, and thymus. The protective effect of the RCM-NE on the blood and organs against MC toxicity was associated with the decreasing of oxidative stress and maintaining the activity of the antioxidants

Hybrid non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm with adaptive operators selection

Multiobjective optimization entails minimizing or maximizing multiple objective functions subject to a set of constraints. Many real world applications can be formulated as multi-objective optimization problems (MOPs), which often involve multiple conflicting objectives to be optimized simultaneously. Recently, a number of multi-objective evolutionary algorithms (MOEAs) were developed suggested for these MOPs as they do not require problem specific information. They find a set of non-dominated solutions in a single run. The evolutionary process on which they are based, typically relies on a single genetic operator. Here, we suggest an algorithm which uses a basket of search operators. This is because it is never easy to choose the most suitable operator for a given problem. The novel hybrid non-dominated sorting genetic algorithm (HNSGA) introduced here in this paper and tested on the ZDT (Zitzler-Deb-Thiele) and CEC’09 (2009 IEEE Conference on Evolutionary Computations) benchmark problems specifically formulated for MOEAs. Numerical results prove that the proposed algorithm is competitive with state-of-the-art MOEAs

Facies and geochemistry of non-marine gypsum, EMISAL, Egypt

Diverse gypsum facies in terms of crystal size and morphology are deposited in a shallow, non-marine, sulfate-enriched, semi-closed, perennial evaporite basin. These gypsum facies were deposited in intimate association with cyanobacterial mats. Facies analyses and geochemistry revealed two distinct primary facies, based on gypsum fabric; massive selenite, and laminated gypsum varieties. The massive selenite facies is composed of clusters of single and twinned crystals along (100), with upward pointing re-entrant angle. The laminated gypsum varies from rhythmically laminated grass-like selenite to gypsum microbialite (stromatolite). The change from massive selenite to laminated gypsum facies implies fluctuation in lateral and vertical salinity profiles, seasonal brine concentrations and wind action. Post-depositional changes in the form of dissolution, slight to moderate crystal deformation and recrystallization to anhydrite are evaluated. We develop a qualitative model for the depositional basin and facies distribution in order to simulate ancient analogues

Synthesis of New Series of Pyrazoline, and Study their Kinetics and Reaction Mechanism

A new series of novel pyrazoline compounds were synthesized by addition of thiosemicarbazide to the 2,6-dibenzylidenecyclohexanone (Chalcone) and its para substituted derivatives. This study was conducted for four purposes. Firstly, a series of five membered ring pyrazoline compounds were synthesized and the structure of all new products obtained are supported by spectral data (1H-NMR, 13CNMR, IR and UV-Vis.), and the effect of substituents were studied. Secondly, the reaction kinetics of the new synthesized compounds were studied to investigate the reaction mechanism pathway and order of the reaction; it was found that, the reaction undergoes via Claisen route of mechanism with first-order reaction. Thirdly, the thermodynamics of the reaction were studied, the rate of the reaction, Arrhenius parameters (A), and thermodynamic parameters for activation includes (free energies (Ea), entropies (ΔS#), and Gibbs free energy (ΔG#) were estimated. Finally, the compensation effect was also studied, and found the same pathway for all of the synthesized pyrazoline compounds