The present and future groundwater availability and exploitation were evaluated for an intermountain basin (Kohat Sub basin) of Northwest Himalayan Fold & thrust belt Pakistan by developing a 3D numerical groundwater flow model. The groundwater models attempt to represent an actual groundwater system with a mathematical counterpart. The conventional groundwater flow modeling procedure was followed to characterize complex hydrogeological system and predict future of fresh water resources in response to pumping and potential withdrawal.

A very unusual dust plume generated from dust-storm activities over the Arabian Peninsula and Southwest Asia affected the north-west region of India between March 20 and 23, 2012, causing significant reductions in air quality and consequently changes in meteorological parameters. Ground based measurements of aerosol optical depth at 500 nm reached 1.015 ± 0.24 and 0.837 ± 0.042 at Jodhpur while Angstrom exponent dropped to -0.030 and -0.065 on March 20 and 21, 2012 respectively. The AOD reached 0.959 in Delhi while Angstrom exponent dropped to 0.006 on March 21, 2012.

Theoretically, population growth is believed to increase greenhouse gas emissions, particularly CO2 emissions through the increase in human activities. Accordingly, this study aimed to investigate this assertion in Nigeria using an autoregressive distributed lag model covering periods from 1971-2000, 1971-2005, and 1971-2010 recursively. The results indicated that population was not a determinant of CO2 emissions in all the three periods in the long run.

Original Source

How large are the benefits of transportation infrastructure projects, and what explains these benefits? This paper uses archival data from colonial India to investigate the impact of India’s vast railroad network.

Human-elephant Conflict (HEC) is a significant problem in Nepal, with approximately two-thirds of households being impacted by elephants (Elephas maximus), particularly during the winter. In addition to elephant casualties, more than 10% of the households surveyed have had human casualties (injury or death) during the past 5 years. This study evaluates the economic viability of elephant conservation in Nepal within the context of current and proposed HEC mitigation scenarios.

The study aimed to document and assess local knowledge on the use of insecticidal and insect repellent plants to manage disease-transmitting, nuisance and crop pests in Raya-Azebo district of Tigray region of Ethiopia. Ethnobotanical data were collected through semi-structured interviews conducted with purposively selected informants. Simple preference ranking exercises were conducted by ten informants to identify the most important insect repellent plants in the district. Samples of reported plants were collected, identified and deposited at the National Herbarium, Addis Ababa University.

A study was conducted to understand trends in the conservation of the locally adapted critically endangered radish landrace ‘Newar ’ (Raphanus jaunpurensis sp. nova.), conventionally grown in certain saline areas of Jaunpur city, Uttar Pradesh for use in salads, and for other traditional household uses, as well as the sale of fresh roots and seeds. An exploratory research design was adopted to collect data from 40 respondents, including 5 key informants.

Drought is one of the major abiotic stresses affecting world agriculture. Breeding drought-resistant crops is one of the most important challenges for plant biologists. PYR1/PYL/RCARs, which encode the abscisic acid (ABA) receptors, play pivotal roles in ABA signaling, but how these genes function in crop drought response remains largely unknown. Here we identified 13 PYL family members in maize (ZmPYL1-13). Changes in expression of these genes under different stresses indicated that ZmPYLs played important roles in responding to multiple abiotic stresses.

Melamine and phthalate, mainly di-(2-ethylhexyl) phthalate (DEHP), are ubiquitously present in the general environment. We investigated whether urine melamine levels can modify the relationship between DEHP exposure and markers of early renal damage in children.

Original Source

Household air pollution (HAP) is the eighth leading risk factor for global disease burden, contributing to 2.9 million yearly premature deaths. Nearly 80% of the sub-Saharan population and about 90 million households in Nigeria use biomass as their primary fuel for cooking and energy needs, which can adversely impact their health. Exposure to air pollution has been linked to adverse pregnancy outcomes like stillbirth, preeclampsia, preterm birth, low birth weight, reduced fetal head circumference, miscarriage, and intra-uterine fetal growth retardation (IUGR).