77 research outputs found
The externality cost of environmental (dis)amenities in the urban housing market: an emerging evidence from Pakistan
No full textRising urbanization on abiotic environmental conditions in housing units is one of the most severe difficulties that city municipality authorities face, all over the world. Waste production has increased as a result of households failing to implement waste management strategies that ensure sustainability. Thus, property values in the housing market have regularly deteriorated as a result of environmental (dis)amenities. The study examines the impact of a waste dump site on proximate property values in Pakistan’s twin cities. Using a systematic random sampling technique, questionnaires were distributed to 849 households. 35 dump sites were chosen from 100 metres to 500 metres. The dump sites were chosen based on their size and proximity to residential homes in the study area. The empirical results show that the distance between a residential property and a waste dump site significantly impacts rental values. Moreover, rents exhibit a negative relationship with increasing distance from the dump sites. Based on applied findings, more proactive enforcement of sanitary laws and regulations, such as removing all irregular dump sites from residential areas, is recommended
Assessing Household’s Municipal Waste Segregation Intentions in Metropolitan Cities of Pakistan: A Structural Equation Modeling Approach
No full textThere is a growing concern about inappropriate waste disposal and its negative impact on human health and the environment. The objective of this study is to understand household waste segregation intention considering psychological, institutional, and situational factors simultaneously. Insights into the motivations of household waste segregation drivers may assist in a better knowledge of how to pursue the most efficient and effective initiatives. For this purpose, data from a representative sample comprising 849 households is obtained from the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi (Pakistan). The empirical analysis employs a Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) approach, showing that policy instruments have significant direct and indirect impacts on households’ segregation intentions. The results highlight that government policy instruments strengthen personal and perceived norms for waste segregation intentions, resulting in an external intervention that would encourage intrinsic motivation. Therefore, policy actions become the main entry point for initiating waste segregation behavior. Public policy must continue to emphasize waste segregation since it may help resource recovery. This is imperative because the environment is a shared resource, and its conservation increases social welfare
A review: Modeling and optimizing diffractive optical elements for enhanced pollutant detection in LiDAR systems
No full textLiDAR's shorter wavelength allows high-resolution imaging, making it preferable for environmental pollutant monitoring. By detecting and tracking aerosols and various pollutants in the air, sources of pollution and pollution levels can be determined in real-time. However, conventional optics based LiDAR systems face several challenges that result in LiDAR systems being very expansive. It is essential to overcome these challenges before widespread adoption can be achieved for large scale environmental monitoring using LiDAR. This review paper presents diffractive optical elements (DOEs) as a key enabler to overcome them. By manipulating laser beam characteristics and achieving tailored LiDAR beam profiles using DOEs, the sensitivity, the spatial resolution, and pollutant discrimination capability of LiDAR system is improved
Sustainable Entrepreneurship in the Agriculture Sector: The Nexus of the Triple Bottom Line Measurement Approach
No full textThe field of entrepreneurship is considered essential for the economy, and many researchers around the world have studied it from diverse perspectives. The outcomes of this research are not yet consensual. Today, it is gaining attention and consensus due to the increasing pressure of sustainable development, so there is a need for academic research to examine this field by incorporating sustainability value creation practices and the efforts of current entrepreneurs towards said goal, especially in the case of the agricultural sector. Accordingly, this study aims to address the problem of what drives students to incorporate sustainable agriculture in their entrepreneurial ventures. Moreover, we aim to determine whether the value placed in the triple bottom line affects the intention to establish sustainable businesses. The study is based on five antecedents of the Theory of Planned Behavior (TBP) and was designed to explore the mechanism underlying the intention to promote sustainable entrepreneurship in agriculture. The primary objective was to collect and analyze the data using the partial least square structural equation model (PLS-SEM) to test the determinants. The results revealed that the indicators of a favorable sustainable attitude, supportive subjective norms, control behaviors, adequate opportunity recognitions, and encouraging the triple bottom line had strong influences on the intention of promoting sustainability in entrepreneurship. Besides, the attitudes, subjective norms, opportunity recognition, and sustainability values can also predict students’ significant positive intentions toward sustainable agriculture in entrepreneurship. The research findings contribute to the literature by providing an empirical basis for the formulation of policies to encourage students to start an agribusiness, thereby improving the effectiveness of entrepreneurship education development programs and bridging the gap between sustainable entrepreneurial intentions and actions. Therefore, the insight into the determinants of sustainable entrepreneurship can be an essential step toward designing a practical and durable policy mechanism for the implementation of the triple bottom line when developing entrepreneurial agriculture education programs
Beneficial Effects of Trillium govanianum Rhizomes in Pain and Inflammation
No full textTrillium govanianum rhizome is used as an analgesic and anti-inflammatory remedy in traditional medicine in northern Pakistan. In an attempt to establish its medicinal value, the present research evaluated the analgesic and anti-inflammatory potential of T. govanianum. The in vivo anti-inflammatory activity of extract and fractions was investigated in the carrageenan induced paw edema assay. The in vitro suppression of oxidative burst of extract, fractions and isolated compounds was assessed through luminol-enhanced chemiluminescence assay. The in vivo analgesic activity was assayed in chemical and thermal induced nociceptive pain models. The crude methanol extract and its solvent fractions showed anti-inflammatory and analgesic responses, exhibited by significant amelioration of paw edema and relieve of the tonic visceral chemical and acute phasic thermal nociception. In the oxidative burst assay, based on IC50, the crude methanol extract and n-butanol soluble fraction produced a significant inhibition, followed by chloroform and hexane soluble fractions as compared to ibuprofen. Similarly, the isolated compounds pennogenin and borassoside E exhibited significant level of oxidative burst suppressive activity. The in vivo anti-inflammatory and analgesic activities as well as the in vitro inhibition of oxidative burst validated the traditional use of T. govanianum rhizomes as a phytotherapeutic remedy for both inflammatory conditions and pain. The observed activities might be attributed to the presence of steroids and steroid-based compounds. Therefore, the rhizomes of this plant species could serve as potential novel source of compounds effective for alleviating pain and inflammation
Smart Energy Meters for Smart Grids, an Internet of Things Perspective
No full textSmart energy has evolved over the years to include multiple domains integrated across multiple technology themes, such as electricity, smart grid, and logistics, linked through communication technology and processed in the cloud in a holistic way to deliver on global challenges. Advances in sensing, communication, and computation technologies have been made that enable better smart system implementations. In smart energy systems, sensing technologies have spanned multiple domains with newer techniques that are more accurate, have greater dynamic ranges, and are more reliable. Similarly, communication techniques have now evolved into very high-speed, flexible, and dynamic systems. Computation techniques have seen a quantum leap with greater integration, powerful computing engines, and versatile software stacks that are easily available and modifiable. Finally, the system integration has also seen advances in the form of management, automation, and analytics paradigms. Consequently, smart energy systems have witnessed a revolutionary transformation. The complexity has correspondingly grown exponentially. With regard to smart meters, the measurement component has to scale up to meet the demands of the evolved energy eco-system by relying on the advancements offered. The internet of things (IoT) is a key technology enabler in this scenario, and the smart meter is a key component. In recent years, metering technology has evolved in both complexity and functionality. Therefore, it must use the advances offered by IoT to deliver a new role. The internet of things (IoT) is a key technology enabler in this scenario and the smart meter a key component. In recent years, metering technology has evolved in both complexity and functionality. To deliver on its new role, it must use the advances offered by IoT. In this review, we analyze the smart meter as a combination of sensing, computing, and communication nodes for flexible and complex design paradigms. The components are, in turn, reviewed vis-à-vis the advances offered by IoT. The resultant gaps are reported for future design challenges in the conclusion. The identified gaps are the lack of usage of the full spectrum of the available technology and the lack of an inter-disciplinary approach to smart meter design
Comparison of Essential Oil Yield, Chemical Composition and Biological Activities of Eucalyptus camaldulensis Leaf: Conventional Distillation versus Emerging Superheated Steam Distillation
No full textEucalyptus essential oil (EO) has significance economically since it is used in the medicinal and fragrance industries. The main objective of this study was to investigate the differences in yield, composition, antioxidant capacity, and antibacterial effectiveness of the EO extracted from Eucalyptus camaldulensis leaves. To achieve this, three distinct extraction techniques, namely steam distillation (SD), hydro distillation (HD), and superheated steam distillation (SHSD), were utilized to isolate the EO. The study aimed to analyze and compare these parameters among the three extraction methods. Based on the findings from the experiments, it has been found that using SHSD resulted in a higher EO yield than conventional techniques, and this SHSD produced a greater amount of EO in a shorter time. The EOs extracted using all three techniques have 1,8 cineole as the main constituent, according to gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (GC-MS) analysis results. All of the EOs demonstrated significant antioxidant capacities when tested in vitro using a variety of antioxidant assays. The EOs extracted through HD showed greater antibacterial activity among the other extraction processes, as evaluated by agar well diffusion and resazurin microtitre-plate assays. In conclusion, SHSD is more efficient for extracting EOs and antioxidant activity than traditional HD and SD
Factors influencing hybrid maize farmers' risk attitudes and their perceptions in Punjab Province, Pakistan
No full textHybrid maize farmers have to face diverse kinds of climate, biological, price and financial risks. Farmers' risk perceptions and risk attitudes are essential elements influencing farm operations and management decisions. However, this important issue has been overlooked in the contemporary studies and therefore there is a dearth of literature on this important issue. The present research is therefore, an attempt to fill this gap. This study aims to quantify hybrid maize farmers' perceptions of disastrous risks, their attitudes towards risk and to explore the impacts of various farm and farm household factors on farmers' risk attitudes and risk perceptions. The present study is conducted in four hybrid maize growing districts of Punjab Province, Pakistan, using cross-sectional data of 400 hybrid maize farmers. Risk matrix and equally likely certainty equivalent (ELCE) method are used to rank farmers' perceptions of four catastrophic risk sources including climate, biological, price and financial risks and to investigate farmers' risk aversion attitudes, respectively. Furthermore, probit regression is used to analyze the determinants affecting farmers' risk attitudes and risk perceptions. The results of the study showed that majority of farmers are risk averse in nature and perceive price, biological and climate to be potential sources of risks to their farm enterprise. In addition, analysis divulges that distance from farm to main market, off-farm income, location dummies for Sahiwal and Okara, age, maize farming experience, access to extension agent, significantly (either negatively or positively) influence farmers' risk attitudes and risk perceptions. The study delivers valuable insights for farmers, agricultural insurance sector, extension services researchers and agricultural policy makers about the local understanding of risks to hybrid maize crop in developing countries, like Pakistan, and have implications for research on farmers' adaptation to exposed risks
Environmental and Health Impacts of Crop Residue Burning: Scope of Sustainable Crop Residue Management Practices
No full textThe burning of crop residue in the open field has become a significant concern for climate change mitigation efforts worldwide. This practice has led to air quality impairment, smog, haze, heat waves, and different health problems. These could be avoided by adopting sustainable crop residue management practices (SCRMPs) and enabling farmers to engage in SCRMPs. Assessing the health effects at the household level is critical for understanding this problem and finding a solution. Using the primary dataset of 420 farmers from Punjab, Pakistan, we estimated the incurred impacts and costs of crop residue burning. We calculated the health and environmental benefits associated with adopting SCRMPs by comparing the two groups of farmers (adopters and non-adopters). Furthermore, we used a propensity score matching technique to measure the causal impact of SCRMPs adoption on health costs. The findings showed that a surprisingly large number of farmers are all aware of the adverse effects of residue burning, and many do not burn crop residues and instead use SCRMPs. This study found that households with chronic and non-chronic diseases become acute, and the severity increases during the burning period. They spend USD 13.37 to USD 8.79 on chronic and non-chronic diseases during the burning season, respectively. Consequently, the use of SCRMPs has a positive effect on healthcare costs. Our study findings highlight the meaningful implications for developing a new policy to promote the sustainable utilization of crop residues and enhance their adoption in Pakistan
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