Challenges in establishing waste-to-energy projects in developing countries with a case study from India

Municipal solid waste (MSW) management and its scientific disposal is a major concern for the local municipal authorities of all major Indian cities. Under the "Clean India Mission", the Ministry of Urban Development (MoUD) of India is investing US $9 Billion to clean up 75 largest cities in India. Waste to Energy (WTE) plants will be a key to its implementation. Currently, open air burning and landfilling are the most common practices of wase disposal in India. Landfilling is considered the least favourable option for cities as these sites occupy significant land areas in already crowded urban areas. WTE plants or incinerators are considered the most viable solution for safe disposal of MSW all over the world. In India, however, WTE projects have had mixed results and outright failures. Currently, only eight such plants are operational in the country. This is due to several technical, economic, environmental, social and policy factors involved. This study investigates the feasibility of a proposed state-of-the art WTE plant in Delhi which will set an example for other cities to follow. It reviews the various challenges involved in the implementation of such a project and suggests mitigating solutions to overcome these challenges

Adolescents: A key pivotal in India’s Health Strategy

Adolescents constitute more than 20% of India’s population. There has been an increasing need of inculcating health practices in this age group through different channels to unleash their true potential. Reproductive, Maternal, Neonatal, Child Health and Adolescent strategy is a key program, already in progress in the health sector, under the aegis of National Health Mission. Through this article, the authors share brief statistics about the existing health and the disease spectrum among adolescents, the existing portfolio of health interventions within the ambit of reproductive and child health and the role that all of us could play in facilitating healthy sexual development of adolescents and leveraging their energy for the benefit of our fellow citizens and thus making them an active partner to reduce Maternal, Neonatal and Infant mortality

Determining the Effect of Zinc Fortification on Growth, Yield and Economics of Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) Under Irrigated Condition

The present study propose to explore the possibility of agronomic biofortification for enhancing the Zn content of wheat through ferti-fortification of wheat crops with Zn at appropriate dose and time during its growth. The productivity and nutritional value of wheat, as well as human health, are seriously hampered by zinc (Zn) deficiency in soil. A popular technological remedy for the issue is Zn fertilisation to increase its uptake in grains. Accordingly, the present field study was undertaken to assess the impacts of different Zn fertilization on growth, yield and economics returns of wheat at Regional Research Sub Center NARP, Saini, Kaushambi, UP during Rabi season of 2020-21. Five Zn treatments (control, 5 kg zinc/ha, 7 kg zinc/ha, 10 kg zinc/ha and 5 kg zinc/ha+2 two foliar spray @5%of Zn So4 at tillering and before flowering) were taken in randomized complete block design with three replication. Results showed that relative effectiveness of different Zn fertilization was varied for the crop attributes studied. Soil + foliar fertilization was superior in increasing grain yield (9.88% over the control). Moreover, for an optimum balance among all the tested attributes including Plant height, crop dry weight, yield attributes, yield, HI and returns and Zn content in grain were significantly higher under soil fertilization combined with foliar Zn fertilization (T5) over other treatments. The findings of this study can serve as guidelines for high-quality, sustainable wheat production, which will aid in the fight against malnutrition

Fine-scale population genetic structure of the Bengal tiger (Panthera tigris tigris) in a human-dominated western Terai Arc Landscape, India

AbstractDespite massive global conservation strategies, tiger populations continued to decline until recently, mainly due to habitat loss, human-animal conflicts, and poaching. These factors are known to affect the genetic characteristics of tiger populations and decrease local effective population sizes. The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) at the foothills of the Himalaya is one of the 42 source sites of tigers around the globe. Therefore, information on how landscape features and anthropogenic factors affect the fine-scale spatial genetic structure and variation of tigers in TAL is needed to develop proper management strategies for achieving longterm conservation goals. We document, for the first time, the genetic characteristics of this tiger population by genotyping 71 tiger samples using 13 microsatellite markers from the western region of TAL (WTAL) of 1800 km². Specifically, we aimed to estimate the genetic variability, population structure, and gene flow. The microsatellite markers indicated that the levels of allelic diversity (MNA = 6.6) and genetic variation (HO = 0.50, HE = 0.64) were slightly lower than those reported previously in other Bengal tiger populations. We observed moderate gene flow and significant genetic differentiation (FST= 0.060) and identified the presence of cryptic genetic structure using Bayesian and non-Bayesian approaches. There was low and significantly asymmetric migration between the two main subpopulations of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve and the Corbett Tiger Reserve in WTAL. Sibship relationships indicated that the functionality of the corridor between these subpopulations may be retained if the quality of the habitat does not deteriorate. However, we found that gene flow is not adequate in view of changing land use matrices. We discuss the need to maintain connectivity by implementing the measures that have been suggested previously to minimize the level of human disturbance, including relocation of villages and industries, prevention of encroachment, and banning sand and boulder mining in the corridors.Abstract Despite massive global conservation strategies, tiger populations continued to decline until recently, mainly due to habitat loss, human-animal conflicts, and poaching. These factors are known to affect the genetic characteristics of tiger populations and decrease local effective population sizes. The Terai Arc Landscape (TAL) at the foothills of the Himalaya is one of the 42 source sites of tigers around the globe. Therefore, information on how landscape features and anthropogenic factors affect the fine-scale spatial genetic structure and variation of tigers in TAL is needed to develop proper management strategies for achieving longterm conservation goals. We document, for the first time, the genetic characteristics of this tiger population by genotyping 71 tiger samples using 13 microsatellite markers from the western region of TAL (WTAL) of 1800 km². Specifically, we aimed to estimate the genetic variability, population structure, and gene flow. The microsatellite markers indicated that the levels of allelic diversity (MNA = 6.6) and genetic variation (HO = 0.50, HE = 0.64) were slightly lower than those reported previously in other Bengal tiger populations. We observed moderate gene flow and significant genetic differentiation (FST= 0.060) and identified the presence of cryptic genetic structure using Bayesian and non-Bayesian approaches. There was low and significantly asymmetric migration between the two main subpopulations of the Rajaji Tiger Reserve and the Corbett Tiger Reserve in WTAL. Sibship relationships indicated that the functionality of the corridor between these subpopulations may be retained if the quality of the habitat does not deteriorate. However, we found that gene flow is not adequate in view of changing land use matrices. We discuss the need to maintain connectivity by implementing the measures that have been suggested previously to minimize the level of human disturbance, including relocation of villages and industries, prevention of encroachment, and banning sand and boulder mining in the corridors

Tigers of Sundarbans in India: Is the Population a Separate Conservation Unit?

The Sundarbans tiger inhabits a unique mangrove habitat and are morphologically distinct from the recognized tiger subspecies in terms of skull morphometrics and body size. Thus, there is an urgent need to assess their ecological and genetic distinctiveness and determine if Sundarbans tigers should be defined and managed as separate conservation unit. We utilized nine microsatellites and 3 kb from four mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) genes to estimate genetic variability, population structure, demographic parameters and visualize historic and contemporary connectivity among tiger populations from Sundarbans and mainland India. We also evaluated the traits that determine exchangeability or adaptive differences among tiger populations. Data from both markers suggest that Sundarbans tiger is not a separate tiger subspecies and should be regarded as Bengal tiger (P. t. tigris) subspecies. Maximum likelihood phylogenetic analyses of the mtDNA data revealed reciprocal monophyly. Genetic differentiation was found stronger for mtDNA than nuclear DNA. Microsatellite markers indicated low genetic variation in Sundarbans tigers (He= 0.58) as compared to other mainland populations, such as northern and Peninsular (Hebetween 0.67- 0.70). Molecular data supports migration between mainland and Sundarbans populations until very recent times. We attribute this reduction in gene flow to accelerated fragmentation and habitat alteration in the landscape over the past few centuries. Demographic analyses suggest that Sundarbans tigers have diverged recently from peninsular tiger population within last 2000 years. Sundarbans tigers are the most divergent group of Bengal tigers, and ecologically non-exchangeable with other tiger populations, and thus should be managed as a separate "evolutionarily significant unit" (ESU) following the adaptive evolutionary conservation (AEC) concept.Wildlife Institute of India, Dehra Dun (India)

Measuring the robustness of resource allocations for distributed domputer systems in a stochastic dynamic environment

Heterogeneous distributed computing systems often must function in an environment where system parameters are subject to variations during operation. Robustness can be defined as the degree to which a system can function correctly in the presence of parameter values different from those assumed. We present a methodology for quantifying the robustness of resource allocations in a dynamic environment where task execution times vary within predictable ranges and tasks arrive randomly. The methodology is evaluated through measuring the robustness of three different resource allocation heuristics within the context of the stochastically modeled dynamic environment. A Bayesian regression model is fit to the combined results of the three heuristics to demonstrate the correlation between the stochastic robustness metric and the presented performance metric. The correlation results demonstrated the significant potential of the stochastic robustness metric to predict the relative performance of the three heuristics given a common objective function

Risk of secondhand smoke exposure and severity of COVID-19 infection: multicenter case–control study

IntroductionExposure to secondhand smoke (SHS) is an established causal risk factor for cardiovascular disease (CVD) and chronic lung disease. Numerous studies have evaluated the role of tobacco in COVID-19 infection, severity, and mortality but missed the opportunity to assess the role of SHS. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine whether SHS is an independent risk factor for COVID-19 infection, severity, mortality, and other co-morbidities.MethodologyMulticentric case–control study was conducted across six states in India. Severe COVID-19 patients were chosen as our study cases, and mild and moderate COVID-19 as control were evaluated for exposure to SHS. The sample size was calculated using Epi-info version 7. A neighborhood-matching technique was utilized to address ecological variability and enhance comparability between cases and controls, considering age and sex as additional matching criteria. The binary logistic regression model was used to measure the association, and the results were presented using an adjusted odds ratio. The data were analyzed using SPSS version 24 (SPSS Inc., Chicago, IL, USA).ResultsA total of 672 cases of severe COVID-19 and 681 controls of mild and moderate COVID-19 were recruited in this study. The adjusted odds ratio (AOR) for SHS exposure at home was 3.03 (CI 95%: 2.29–4.02) compared to mild/moderate COVID-19, while SHS exposure at the workplace had odds of 2.19 (CI 95%: 1.43–3.35). Other factors significantly related to the severity of COVID-19 were a history of COVID-19 vaccination before illness, body mass index (BMI), and attached kitchen at home.DiscussionThe results of this study suggest that cumulative exposure to secondhand cigarette smoke is an independent risk factor for severe COVID-19 illness. More studies with the use of biomarkers and quantification of SHS exposure in the future are needed

Nonstandard Errors

In statistics, samples are drawn from a population in a data-generating process (DGP). Standard errors measure the uncertainty in estimates of population parameters. In science, evidence is generated to test hypotheses in an evidence-generating process (EGP). We claim that EGP variation across researchers adds uncertainty-nonstandard errors (NSEs). We study NSEs by letting 164 teams test the same hypotheses on the same data. NSEs turn out to be sizable, but smaller for more reproducible or higher rated research. Adding peer-review stages reduces NSEs. We further find that this type of uncertainty is underestimated by participants