Forest-to-rubber plantation conversion is an important land-use change in the tropical region, for which the impacts on soil carbon stocks have hardly been studied. In montane mainland southeast ...Asia, monoculture rubber plantations cover 1.5 million ha and the conversion from secondary forests to rubber plantations is predicted to cause a fourfold expansion by 2050. Our study, conducted in southern Yunnan province, China, aimed to quantify the changes in soil carbon stocks following the conversion from secondary forests to rubber plantations. We sampled 11 rubber plantations ranging in age from 5 to 46 years and seven secondary forest plots using a space-for-time substitution approach. We found that forest-to-rubber plantation conversion resulted in losses of soil carbon stocks by an average of 37.4±4.7 (SE) Mg C ha(-1) in the entire 1.2-m depth over a time period of 46 years, which was equal to 19.3±2.7% of the initial soil carbon stocks in the secondary forests. This decline in soil carbon stocks was much larger than differences between published aboveground carbon stocks of rubber plantations and secondary forests, which range from a loss of 18 Mg C ha(-1) to an increase of 8 Mg C ha(-1). In the topsoil, carbon stocks declined exponentially with years since deforestation and reached a steady state at around 20 years. Although the IPCC tier 1 method assumes that soil carbon changes from forest-to-rubber plantation conversions are zero, our findings show that they need to be included to avoid errors in estimating overall ecosystem carbon fluxes.
Rubber composites deliver unsatisfactory mechanical performance if the rubber matrices, such as natural rubber, lack appropriate dispersion of fillers such as silica. This study explored the ...dispersion and reinforcement performance of binary fillers in natural rubber. Graphite powder was used as a solid lubricating silica filler in the rubber matrix, and shear force was applied using a conventional two-roll mixing mill. The curing, mechanical, and morphological properties were studied to evaluate the mechanism of binary filler dispersion in the rubber matrix. Binary fillers comprising silica and graphite offered better mutual dispersion, which was observed by scanning electron microscopy and mechanical testing and confirmed by atomic force microscopy. Better filler dispersion in natural rubber improved the mechanical and age resistance properties. The modulus at 100% strain and stress at break of unfilled rubber were increased by nearly 110% and 15%, respectively, when 20 phr (per hundred gram of rubber) of binary filler in a 1:1 weight ratio was used, and the composite exhibited better aging resistance and mechanical properties, compared to those of composites with single-filler systems, which may be attributable to the excellent filler dispersion in the rubber matrix.
Research on the spatial patterns of human-wildlife conflict is fundamental to understanding the mechanisms underlying it and to identifying opportunities for mitigation. In the state of ...Xishuangbanna, containing China's largest tropical forest, an imbalance between nature conservation and economic development has led to increasing conflicts between humans and Asian elephants (Elephas maximus), as both elephant numbers and conversion of habitable land to rubber plantations have increased over the last several decades. We analyzed government data on the compensation costs of elephant-caused damage in Xishuangbanna between 2008 and 2012 to understand the spatial and temporal patterns of conflict, in terms of their occurrence, frequency and distribution. More than 18,261 incidents were reported, including episodes involving damage to rubber trees (n = 10,999), damage to crops such as paddy, upland rice, corn, bananas and sugarcane (n = 11,020), property loss (n = 689) and attacks on humans (n = 19). The conflict data reconfirmed the presence of elephants in areas which have lacked records since the late 1990s. Zero Altered Negative Binomial models revealed that the risk of damage to crops and plantations increased with proximity to protected areas, increasing distance from roads, and lower settlement density. The patterns were constant across seasons and types of crop damaged. Damage to rubber trees was essentially incidental as elephants searched for crops to eat. A predictive map of risks revealed hotspots of conflict within and around protected areas, the last refuges for elephants in the region, and along habitat corridors connecting them. Additionally, we analyzed how mitigation efforts can best diminish the risk of conflict while minimizing financial costs and adverse biological impacts. Our analytical approach can be adopted, adjusted and expanded to other areas with historical records of human-wildlife conflict.
One of the industries that produces toxic and hazardous waste is rubber industry. This study was conducted in PT. Famili Raya. The problem was toxic and hazardous waste placed in an irregular ...placement and no follow the government regulations for storing and managing. This aims of this study were to redesign temporary storage area for hazardous waste based on 5S (Seiri, Seiton, Seiso, Seiketsu, Shitsuke) and the regulation, Minister of Environment and Forestry No. 12/2020. The object of this study was temporary storage area for toxic and hazardous waste in PT. Famili Raya. The data used were current condition, actual dimensions of temporary storage area, dimensions of waste, input and output data, and dimensions of a forklift. The results obtained were the proposed layout using the 5S approach could be used to redesign the storage layout in the temporary storage area. Space utility could be reduced by 32,67%. The decrease in space utility did not reduce the maximum storage capacity for used batteries, used tubular lamp, used oil waste, and turpentine oil waste.
Bisphenol AF, an analogue of Bisphenol A, is an important raw material used in the production of plastic and rubber substances like plastic bottles and containers, toys, and medical supplies. ...Increased contamination of air, water, dust, and food with BPA/BPAF, poses an enormous threat to humans, globally. BPAF/BPA are endocrine-disrupting chemicals that mimic estrogen hormone, thus increasing the risks of various metabolic and chronic disorders. Exposure of human blood cells to BPA/BPAF induces oxidative stress and genotoxicity. However, its effects on platelets, which play central roles in hemostasis and thrombosis, are not well-documented. In this study, we demonstrate that BPAF induces RIPK1-inflammasome axis-mediated necroptosis in platelets, increasing procoagulant platelet levels in vivo and in vitro. We also show that BPAF-induced rise in procoagulant platelets worsens pulmonary thromboembolism in vivo. The elevated procoagulant platelets are shown to increase platelet-neutrophil/monocyte aggregates that mediate pathogenesis of CVD, thrombosis, and chronic inflammatory diseases. Our results demonstrate the toxic effects of BPAF on platelets and how it propagates the clinical complications by elevating procoagulant platelet numbers. Altogether, our study sends a cautionary message against extensive use of BPAF in the plastic and rubber industries, resulting in frequent human exposure to it, thus endangering platelet functions.
Rare earths, scandium, yttrium, and the fifteen lanthanoids from lanthanum to lutetium, are classified as critical metals because of their ubiquity in daily life. They are present in magnets in cars, ...especially electric cars; green electricity generating systems and computers; in steel manufacturing; in glass and light emission materials especially for safety lighting and lasers; in exhaust emission catalysts and supports; catalysts in artificial rubber production; in agriculture and animal husbandry; in health and especially cancer diagnosis and treatment; and in a variety of materials and electronic products essential to modern living. They have the potential to replace toxic chromates for corrosion inhibition, in magnetic refrigeration, a variety of new materials, and their role in agriculture may expand. This review examines their role in sustainability, the environment, recycling, corrosion inhibition, crop production, animal feedstocks, catalysis, health, and materials, as well as considering future uses.
•Processes and the associated wastes of radial tyre manufacturing are investigated using lean manufacturing principles.•Lean wastes of an Indian radial tyre manufacturing firm are assessed using a ...system dynamics model.•Linkage is established between the lean wastes and green wastes and a lean-green performance index is developed.•Impact of manpower and machine availability, and employee skills on lean-green performance are studied.•Wastes having substantial and subordinate impact on improving the lean-green performance were identified and prioritized.
Even though tyre sector within rubber industry has been recognised to be the major contributor towards environmental pollution, hardly any study has been done to assess the processes involved and its associated wastes to reduce the detrimental impact on the environment. In addition, with the challenges and competitions existing in Indian manufacturing system, domestic tyre manufacturers are struggling for their competitive sustenance. This situation is particularly severe in the radial tyre manufacturing unit, which involves very complex manufacturing process, thereby increasing the volume of wasteful activities. Therefore, tyre manufacturing units are struggling for both their economic and environmental sustainability. Using the well accepted lean manufacturing principles, this paper investigates the processes and the associated wastes of radial tyre manufacturing. The paper presents a novel approach for assessing the wastes using a system dynamics model and validates the model in a radial tyre manufacturing case organisation in India. Scenario analysis by varying the level of employee skills, manpower availability, and machine availability is conducted. The model in addition to showing the overall performance of the radial tyre manufacturing unit assessed, throws light on the amount of greenness attainable by the organisation through the implementation of lean thinking. Wastes which had a substantial impact and subordinate impact on improving the lean and green performance are identified. The study is unique in studying the highly polluting sector which has received the least attention in both OM researcher's and practitioner's literature. The study is also novel in adopting system dynamics modelling to answer the research questions raised and provide implications for theory and practice.
Benzene is the typical volatile organic compound (VOC) of indoor and outdoor air pollution, which harms human health and the environment. Due to the stability of their aromatic structure, the ...catalytic oxidation of benzene rings in an environment without an external energy input is difficult. In this study, the efficient degradation of benzene at room temperature was achieved by constructing Ag and Ni bimetallic active site catalysts (AgNi/BCN) supported on boron-carbon-nitrogen aerogel. The atomic-scale Ag and Ni are uniformly dispersed on the catalyst surface and form Ag/Ni-C/N bonds with C and N, which were conducive to the catalytic oxidation of benzene at room temperature. Further catalytic reaction mechanisms indicate that benzene reacted with ·OH to produce R·, which reacted with O
to regenerate ·OH. Under the strong oxidation of ·OH, benzene was oxidized to form alcohols, carboxylic acids, and eventually CO
and H
O. This study not only significantly reduces the energy consumption of VOC catalytic oxidation, but also improves the safety of VOC treatment, providing new ideas for the low energy consumption and green development of VOC treatment.
An analysis of the political and ecological consequences of
charting the Amazon River basin in narrative fiction, Mapping
the Amazon examines how widely read novels from
twentieth-century South ...America attempted to map the region for
readers. Authors such as José Eustasio Rivera, Rómulo Gallegos,
Mario Vargas Llosa, César Calvo, Márcio Souza, and Mário de Andrade
travelled to the Amazonian regions of their respective countries
and encountered firsthand a forest divided and despoiled by the
spatial logic of extractivism. Writing against that logic, they fill
their novels with geographic, human, and ecological realities
omitted from official accounts of the region. Though the plots
unfold after the height of the Amazon rubber boom (1850-1920), the
authors construct landscapes marked by that first large-scale
exploitation of Amazonian biodiversity. The material practices of
rubber extraction resurface in the stories told about the removal
of other plants, seeds, and minerals from the forest as well as its
conversion into farmland. Smith places the counter-discursive
impulses of each novel in dialogue with various modernizing
projects that carve Amazonia into cultural and economic spaces:
border commissions, extractive infrastructure, school geography
manuals, Indigenous education programs, and touristic propaganda.
Even the "novel maps" studied, however, have blind spots, and
Mapping the Amazon considers the legacy of such
unintentional omissions today.
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