Institutional quality,financial development and sustainable economic growth among lower income countries

This article postulates strong endogenous relationships in lower income countries between institutional quality, financial development and sustained economic growth. These associations were investigated using the vector-error correction model (VECM) and Granger causality method for a sample of 79 countries from 2005 to 2022. The findings show that (1) these variables reinforce each other in the short run. (2) In the long run, both institutional quality and financial development can fuel economic growth. (3) The positive effect of institutional quality on economic growth is greater than that of financial development. Policy implications of these findings are that careful attention should be paid to co-development policies to enhance the institutional quality and the financial system in these economies. Policies should also consider economic growth strategies to enable sustainable economic growth rates.     

Dynamic effects of fiscal and monetary policy instruments on environmental pollution in ASEAN

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aims to re-examine the impacts of monetary and fiscal policy on environmental quality in ASEAN countries from 1990 to 2019. We utilized the...     

Mainstreaming human and large carnivore coexistence through institutional collaboration

Achieving coexistence between large carnivores and humans in human-dominated landscapes (HDLs) is a key challenge for societies globally. This challenge cannot be adequately met with the current sectoral approaches to HDL governance and an academic community largely dominated by disciplinary sectors. Academia (universities and other research institutions and organizations) should take a more active role in embracing societal challenges around conservation of large carnivores in HDLs by facilitating cross-sectoral cooperation to mainstream coexistence of humans and large carnivores. Drawing on lessons from populated regions of Europe, Asia, and South America with substantial densities of large carnivores, we suggest academia should better embrace the principles and methods of sustainability sciences and create institutional spaces for the implementation of transdisciplinary curricula and projects; reflect on research approaches (i.e., disciplinary, interdisciplinary, or transdisciplinary) they apply and how their outcomes could aid leveraging institutional transformations for mainstreaming; and engage with various institutions and stakeholder groups to create novel institutional structures that can respond to multiple challenges of HDL management and human–large carnivore coexistence. Success in mainstreaming this coexistence in HDL will rest on the ability to think and act cooperatively. Such a conservation achievement, if realized, stands to have far-reaching benefits for people and biodiversity.     

Introduced and cryptogenic species in Port Phillip Bay, Victoria, Australia

Port Phillip Bay (PPB) is a large (1,930 km²), temperate embayment in southern Victoria, Australia. Extensive bay-wide surveys of PPB have occurred since 1840. In 1995/1996 the Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organization (CSIRO) Centre for Research on Introduced Marine Pests (CRIMP) undertook an intensive evaluation of the region with the aims of developing a comprehensive species list of native and introduced biota and contrasting previous bay-wide assessments with a current field survey in order to detect new incursions and discern alterations to native communities. Two methods were used to meet these aims: a re-evaluation of regional museum collections and published research in PPB to identify and determine the timing of introductions; and field surveys for benthic (infauna, epifauna and encrusting) organisms between September 1995 to March 1996. One hundred and sixty introduced (99) and cryptogenic (61) species were identified representing over 13% of the recorded species of PPB. As expected, the majority of these are concentrated around the shipping ports of Geelong and Melbourne. Invasions within PPB appear to be increasing, possibly due to an increase in modern shipping traffic and an increase in aquaculture (historically associated with incidental introductions); however the records of extensive biological surveys suggest that this may, in part, be an artefact of sampling effort. In contrast to Northern Hemisphere studies, PPB (and Southern Hemisphere introductions in general) have significantly different suites of successfully invading taxa. PPB is presented as one of the most invaded marine ecosystems in the Southern Hemisphere.Communicated by M.S. Johnson, Crawley     

Images of war: using satellite images for human rights monitoring in Turkish Kurdistan

In areas of war and armed conflict it is difficult to get trustworthy and coherent information. Civil society and human rights groups often face problems of dealing with fragmented witness reports, disinformation of war propaganda, and difficult direct access to these areas. Turkish Kurdistan was used as a case study of armed conflict to evaluate the potential use of satellite images for verification of witness reports collected by human rights groups. The Turkish army was reported to be burning forests, fields and villages as a strategy in the conflict against guerrilla uprising. This paper concludes that satellite images are useful to validate witness reports of forest fires. Even though the use of this technology for human rights groups will depend on some feasibility factors such as prices, access and expertise, the images proved to be key for analysis of spatial aspects of conflict and valuable for reconstructing a more trustworthy picture.     

Effect of nitrogen fertilizer application on growing season soil carbon dioxide emission in a corn-soybean rotation

Nitrogen application can have a significant effect on soil carbon (C) pools, plant biomass production, and microbial biomass C processing. The focus of this study was to investigate the short-term effect of N fertilization on soil CO(2) emission and microbial biomass C. The study was conducted from 2001 to 2003 at four field sites in Iowa representing major soil associations and with a corn (Zea mays L.)-soybean (Glycine max L. Merr.) rotation. The experimental design was a randomized complete block with four replications of four N rates (0, 90, 180, and 225 kg ha(-1)). In the corn year, season-long cumulative soil CO(2) emission was greatest with the zero N application. There was no effect of N applied in the prior year on CO(2) emission in the soybean year, except at one of three sites, where greater applied N decreased CO(2) emission. Soil microbial biomass C (MBC) and net mineralization in soil collected during the corn year was not significantly increased with increase in N rate in two out of three sites. At all sites, soil CO(2) emission from aerobically incubated soil showed a more consistent declining trend with increase in N rate than found in the field. Nitrogen fertilization of corn reduced the soil CO(2) emission rate and seasonal cumulative loss in two out of three sites, and increased MBC at only one site with the highest N rate. Nitrogen application resulted in a reduction of both emission rate and season-long cumulative emission of CO(2)-C from soil.     

Investigations of ash fouling with cattle wastes as reburn fuel in a small-scale boiler burner under transient conditions

Fouling behavior under reburn conditions was investigated with cattle wastes (termed as feedlot biomass [FB]) and coal as reburn fuels under a transient condition and short-time operation. A small-scale (30 kW or 100,000 Btu/hr) boiler burner research facility was used for the reburn experiments. The fuels considered for these experiments were natural gas (NG) for the ashless case, pure coal, pure FB, and blends of coal and FB. Two parameters that were used to characterize the ash "fouling" were (1) the overall heat-transfer coefficient (OHTC) when burning NG and solid fuels as reburn fuels, and (2) the combustible loss through ash deposited on the surfaces of heat exchanger tubes and the bottom ash in the ash port. A new methodology is presented for determining ash-fouling behavior under transient conditions. Results on the OHTCs for solid reburn fuels are compared with the OHTCs for NG. It was found that the growth of the layer of ash depositions over longer periods typically lowers OHTC, and the increased concentration of ash in gas phase promotes radiation in high-temperature zones during initial periods while decreasing the heat transfer in low-temperature zones. The ash analyses indicated that the bottom ash in the ash port contained a smaller percentage of combustibles with a higher FB percentage in the fuels, indicating better performance compared with coal because small particles in FB burn faster and the FB has higher volatile matter on a dry ash-free basis promoting more burn out.     

A synchronized amphibian metamorphosis assay as an improved tool to detect thyroid hormone disturbance by endocrine disruptors and apolar sediment extracts

Amphibian metamorphosis assays are used to evaluate potential effects of endocrine disrupting compounds on the thyroid hormone axis. In this study, Xenopus laevis tadpoles are kept in a solution of 0.2% thiourea (TU) to arrest and synchronise them in their development. The advantage of this synchronized amphibian metamorphosis assays is that synchronised tadpoles are available at any time to start metamorphosis experiments, and experimental groups are much more homogenous at the start of experimental exposure compared with groups selected from an untreated pool of animals. The water volume per animal was kept constant throughout the experimental period to overcome the influence of declining numbers of animals per aquarium due to metamorphosis and mortality on the density dependent development of the remaining tadpoles. Clophen A50 (a technical PCB mixture), the single congener 3,3',4,4'-tetrachlorobiphenyl (PCB 77) and apolar sediment extracts that were previously tested positive in the T-Screen, an in vitro proliferation assay for thyroid hormone disruption, were tested in the Synchronized Amphibian Metamorphosis Assay. Endpoints studied were mortality, malformations, body weight, and percentage of metamorphosed froglets at the end of the 60-day experimental period, percentage of tadpoles in different developmental stages, and developmental stage-dependent awarded penalty points. Dietary exposure to Clophen A50 (0.2-50mg/kg food) resulted in a significant increased percentage of tadpoles that did not pass metamorphosis at concentrations higher than 2mg/kg food. Time until metamorphosis in those animals that were able to metamorphose after the 60-days experimental period was significantly decreased. Dietary exposure to PCB 77, a congener that can be readily metabolised, did not result in significant effects in any exposure group (2-500 microg/kg food). Apolar sediment extracts from two of the three sites that are contaminated with a wide variety of chemicals significantly decreased the percentage of metamorphosed animals and significantly increased the number of tadpoles that remained in early and late metamorphic stages. These effects already occurred when the extracts where diluted more than 1000 times (on an organic carbon base) compared to environmental concentrations. The rank of potency was comparable to results obtained with the T-screen. This suggests the presence of thyroid hormone disrupting compounds in the aquatic environment and possible effects of such compounds on animal development in the wild.