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The construction of nuclear power plants (NPPs) involves complex and long-duration projects where schedule delays critically affect project performance. To overcome this challenge, Advanced Work Packaging (AWP) has emerged as a promising alternative approach. It offers a more integrated and structured way to plan and execute projects, aiming to improve efficiency and reduce the risk of delays. To evaluate the potential benefits, this preliminary study developed and compared a traditional phase-based schedule and two AWP-based schedules. Delay simulations and productivity adjustments were conducted to analyze schedule resilience and mitigation performance. The results show that AWP-based schedules enhance traceability, expand work package granularity, and improve recovery against engineering delays through structured segmentation and Workface Planning (WFP). These findings quantitatively demonstrate the potential of AWP to improve scheduling efficiency not only in NPP projects but also mega construction projects while also identifying gaps in maturity, boundary definition, and integration practices that must be addressed for broader adoption.

The era of the green revolution has significantly improved rice yield productivity. However, with the growing population and decreasing arable land, rice scientists must find new ways to improve rice productivity. Although hundreds of rice yield-related QTLs were already mapped and some of them were cloned, only a few were utilized for actual systematic introgression breeding programs. In this study, the major yield QTLs Grain Number 1a (Gn1a) and Wealthy Farmer’s Panicle (WFP) were introgressed and stacked in selected NERICA cultivars by marker-assisted backcross breeding (MABB). The DNA markers RM3360, RM3452, and RM5493 were used for foreground selection. At BC3F4 and BC3F5 generation, a combination of marker-assisted selection and phenotypic evaluation were carried out to select lines with target alleles and traits. Further, genotyping-by-sequencing (GBS) was conducted to validate the introgression and determine the recurrent parent genome recovery (RPGR) of the selected lines. The Gn1a and/or WFP introgression lines showed significantly higher numbers of spikelets per panicle and primary branching compared to the recurrent parents. In addition, lines with Gn1a and/or WFP alleles were comparatively similar to the recurrent parents (RP) in most yield-related traits. This study demonstrates the success of utilizing yield QTLs and marker-assisted selection to develop and improve rice cultivars.

The world, at present, is witnessing a serious scarcity of fresh water resource whereas, sub-optimum utilization and mismanagement of water resources are equally contributing towards worsening of the problem. Currently, access to fresh water resources has become a daunting challenge for meeting the increased demand of water. The criticality level has intensified by several-folds due to flawed industrial demand and uncontrolled population growth, which is not only contributed to the pollution of much needed water resource but also, equally, threatened human health. Therefore, the deliberation of water managers, policy makers, and academicians were shifted from the supply management to demand management after 2000’s United Nations ministerial declaration. In the present study, an attempt has been made to fill research gap regarding accounting of water footprint (WFP) at district level in Purvanchal, Uttar Pradesh (U. P.). It offers a comprehensive understanding of WFP including blue, green and grey components. The paper also contributes to extension of calculating sub-components of grey WFP, which has not been reported anywhere in the literature so far. Purvanchal, one of the political regions of U. P. state, was considered for spatial assessment of WFPs in wheat cultivation at field of its 17 districts. The data for this study was collected from statistical abstract—U. P., state agricultural directorate, national bureau of soil survey and land use planning (NBSS & LUP), published reports and the field survey. The WFP for each component was estimated by a set of frameworks proposed by Chapagain and Hoekstra et al. 2003 and, further elaborated by Aldaya and Llamas et al. 2008. The results show that the blue WFP has highest share, which contributes about 92% to WFP, i.e., it presents an average of 1332 cubic meter per ton in wheat cultivation. In contrast, the average grey and green WFPs have been estimated at 26 and 97 cubic meters per ton, respectively, of WFP. However, spatial variability was also been reported from the selected districts. Therefore, a rational approach is being recommended to ensure sustainability and efficiency in wheat cultivation.

This article identifies the existence of a previously unknown but important type of self-directed political behavior by International Organizations (IOs) that I term intervention. Intervention occurs when an IO secretariat acts with the intention of altering an anticipated decision at a partially-overlapping IO in a regime complex. Intervention is a distinct type of behavior by IOs that differs from either bureaucratic competition among IOs for mandates, resources and policy influence, or cooperation to achieve joint regulatory goals and enhance performance. I probe the plausibility of intervention through an analysis of three illustrative case studies in the regime complex for food security showing self-directed political actions by the secretariats of the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO), World Food Programme (WFP) and Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) directed at altering decision-making by states at the World Trade Organization (WTO). I identify three distinct intervention strategies – mobilizing states, public shaming and invoking alternative legal frameworks – in which IOs utilize their material, ideational and symbolic capabilities to influence decision-making not within their own institutions, but at other, overlapping organizations in a regime complex over which they have no direct control.

A field experiment was conducted to evaluate the combined or individual effects of biochar and nitrapyrin (a nitrification inhibitor) on N2O and NO emissions from a sandy loam soil cropped to maize. The study included nine treatments: addition of urea alone or combined with nitrapyrin to soils that had been amended with biochar at 0, 3, 6, and 12 t ha−1 in the preceding year, and a control without the addition of N fertilizer. Peaks in N2O and NO flux occurred simultaneously following fertilizer application and intense rainfall events, and the peak of NO flux was much higher than that of N2O following application of basal fertilizer. Mean emission ratios of NO/N2O ranged from 1.11 to 1.72, suggesting that N2O was primarily derived from nitrification. Cumulative N2O and NO emissions were 1.00 kg N2O-N ha−1 and 1.39 kg NO-N ha−1 in the N treatment, respectively, decreasing to 0.81–0.85 kg N2O-N ha−1 and 1.31–1.35 kg NO-N ha−1 in the biochar amended soils, respectively, while there was no significant difference among the treatments. NO emissions were significantly lower in the nitrapyrin treatments than in the N fertilization-alone treatments (P < 0.05), but there was no effect on N2O emissions. Neither biochar nor nitrapyrin amendment affected maize yield or N uptake. Overall, our results showed that biochar amendment in the preceding year had little effect on N2O and NO emissions in the following year, while the nitrapyrin decreased NO, but not N2O emissions, probably due to suppression of denitrification caused by the low soil moisture content.

As disasters become progressively more frequent and complex, better collaboration through partnerships with private business becomes more important. This research aimed to understand how platforms support the engagement of the private sector—especially logistics businesses—in humanitarian relief operations. The study was based on a literature review and on an investigation of an emblematic case of the cross-sector platform, recognized at a global level in logistics and supply chain management, between the United Nations World Food Programme and the Logistics Emergency Teams (WFP/LET), composed of four global leading logistics providers. The insights resulting from this paper may be of particular interest to both academics and professionals regarding the two sectors, profit and non-profit. This is because the implementation of the platform reflects the concrete benefit for people in need reached by the humanitarian relief operations. It may also constitute a useful tool for building an agile supply chain capable of being resilient in responding to sudden and unexpected changes in the context, both in humanitarian and commercial supply chains.

The export expansion of wood forest products (WFPs) generates substantial socio-economic benefits. Unfortunately, the WFP manufacturing industry frequently experiences challenges in accessing finance and high financing costs. Since profit scramble between financial sector and real economy sectors has become a critical global concern, it is worth investigating how banking sector profits (BSPs) impact WFPs’ export margins, and whether a “financial concession” policy can mitigate or amplify this effect. Drawing on over four million trade records from China’s Customs Database and the United Nations Trade and Business Database, this study quantifies the WFPs’ export margins of 31 provinces in Mainland China to 184 countries during 2007–2022. Then it assesses the effects of regional BSP on the WFPs’ export margins. The results indicate that the extensive, intensive, and quantity margins of WFPs’ export exhibit an overall upward trend with fluctuations, while the price margin has shown steady growth since 2016. Regional BSP has significant negative effects on the extensive, intensive, and quantity margins. The observed upward trend of WFPs’ export margins implies that low BSP may facilitate export growth of WFPs. Further heterogeneity analysis indicates that the BSPs’ negative impact is more pronounced for labor-intensive WFPs’ exports. China’s “financial concession” policy effectively mitigates the BSPs’ adverse effects. Moderation effect analysis demonstrates that a larger number of bank institution outlets, a higher share of rural bank institution outlets, and the development of digital finance significantly reduce the BSPs’ negative effects.

Garbage or waste is basically a residual material resulting from human activities and natural processes that have no economic value anymore. The volume of waste in Malang City and Malang Regency every year always increases, so the existing waste final processing site will no longer be able to accommodate the pile of garbage. Therefore the Malang City Government plans to collaborate with the Malang Regency Government in making an integrated regional waste landfill and processing site. In this study, an analysis of the determination of the appropriate location for regional waste final processing for Malang City and Malang Regency was carried out using the Simple Additive Weighting (SAW) method. The SAW method is a weighted summation method, which can make a more precise assessment, based on the predetermined criteria and preference weights. Preference weights were determined by pairwise comparison method. The criteria used are geological hazardous areas, distance from drinking water sources, land slope level, distance from settlements, protected areas and distance from airports. The final result in this study is a map of the appropriate location for a regional waste final processing site and an analysis of the location for the best regional final processing site. The location map is classified into three, namely: not feasible with a total area of 54,774.33 ha, less feasible with a total area of 170,846.49 ha and feasible with a total area of 130,096.63 ha.

(1) Background: Nitrogen (N) fertilization on drained tropical peatland will likely stimulate peat decomposition and mineralization, enhancing N2O emission from the peat soil. (2) Methods: A field experiment was conducted to quantify the N2O emissions from soil in an oil palm plantation (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) located in a tropical peatland in Sarawak, Malaysia, under different rates of N fertilizers. The study was conducted from January 2010 to December 2013 and resumed from January 2016 to December 2017. Nitrous oxide (N2O) flux was measured every month using a closed chamber method for four different N rates; control—without N (T1), 31.1 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (T2), 62.2 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (T3), and 124.3 kg N ha−1 yr−1 (T4); (3) Results: Application of the N fertilizer significantly increased annual cumulative N2O emissions for T4 only in the years 2010 (p = 0.017), 2011 (p = 0.012), 2012 (p = 0.007), and 2016 (p = 0.048). The highest average annual cumulative N2O emissions were recorded for T4 (41.5 ± 28.7 kg N ha−1 yr−1), followed by T3 (35.1 ± 25.7 kg N ha−1 yr−1), T1 (25.2 ± 17.8 kg N ha−1 yr−1), and T2 (25.1 ± 15.4 kg N ha−1 yr−1), indicating that the N rates of 62.2 kg N ha−1 yr−1 and 124.3 kg N ha−1 yr−1 increased the average annual cumulative N2O emissions by 39% and 65%, respectively, as compared to the control. The N fertilization had no significant effect on annual oil palm yield (p = 0.994). Alternating between low (deeper than −60 cm) and high groundwater level (GWL) (shallower than −60 cm) enhanced nitrification during low GWL, further supplying NO3− for denitrification in the high GWL, and contributing to higher N2O emissions in high GWL. The emissions of N2O ranged from 17 µg N m−2 hr−1 to 2447 µg N m−2 hr−1 and decreased when the water-filled pore space (WFPS) was between 70% and 96%, suggesting the occurrence of complete denitrification. A positive correlation between N2O emissions and NO3− at 70–96% WFPS indicated that denitrification increased with increased NO3− availability. Based on their standardized regression coefficients, the effect of GWL on N2O emissions increased with increased N rate (p < 0.001). Furthermore, it was found that annual oil palm yields negatively correlated with annual N2O emission and NO3− for all treatments. Both nitrification and denitrification increased with increased N availability, making both processes important sources of N2O in oil palm cultivation on tropical peatland.; and (4) Conclusions: To improve understanding of N2O mitigation strategies, further studies should consider plant N uptake on N2O emissions, at least until the completion of the planting.

Among the mitigation strategies to prevent nitrogen (N) losses from ureic fertilizers, urease inhibitors (UIs) have been demonstrated to promote high N use efficiency by reducing ammonia (NH 3 ) volatilization. In the last few years, some field experiments have also shown its effectiveness in reducing nitrous oxide (N 2 O) losses from fertilized soils under conditions of low soil moisture. An incubation experiment was carried out with the aim of assessing the main biotic mechanisms behind N 2 O emissions once that the UIs N-(n-butyl) thiophosphoric triamid (NBPT) and phenil phosphorodiamidate (PPDA) were applied with Urea (U) under different soil moisture conditions (40, 60 and 80 % water-filled pore space, WFPS). In the same study we tried to analyze to what extent soil WFPS regulates the effect of these inhibitors on N 2 O emissions. The use of PPDA in our study allowed us to compare the effect of NBPT with that of another commercially available urease inhibitor, aiming to see if the results were inhibitor-specific or not. Based on the results from this experiment, a WFPS (i.e. 60 %) was chosen for a second study (i.e. mesocosm experiment) aiming to assess the efficiency of the UIs to indirectly affect N 2 O emissions through influencing the pool of soil mineral N. The N 2 O emissions at 40 % WFPS were almost negligible, being significantly lower from all fertilized treatments than that produced at 60 and 80 % WFPS. When compared to U alone, NBPT+U reduced the N 2 O emissions at 60 % WFPS but had no effect at 80 % WFPS. The application of PPDA significantly increased the emissions with respect to U at 80 % WFPS whereas no significant effect was found at 60 %. At 80 % WFPS, denitrification was the main source of N 2 O emissions for all treatments. In the mesocosm study, the application of NBPT+U was an effective strategy to reduce N 2 O emissions (75 % reduction compared to U alone), due to a lower soil ammonium (NH 4 + ) content induced by the inhibitor. These results suggest that adequate management of the UI NBPT could provide, under certain soil conditions, an opportunity for mitigation of N 2 O emissions from fertilized soils.