The article studies the influence of different fertilizing products on vigor and germinating ability of Scots pine and common spruce seeds. The research involved the following products: Humate+7, Potassium humate “Sufler”, Biohumus, Agrostimul VE, Emistim-R, Gibberellin, Etamon. The soaking of seeds in products leads to an increase in vigor, on average, between 31 and 37.0 % for Scots pine and between 5 and 13.0 % for common spruce. The germinating ability of Scots pine and common spruce seeds increases, on average, by 16.0 and 17.0 % correspondingly. Among all the products the least effective was “Etamon”. In its case, the germinating ability of seeds in laboratory conditions was 53.0 % which is 10.0 % lower than in control. The treatment by stimulators significantly influenced the development of a root system. The intensive root growth happens in the cases of “Gibberellin” and “Humate+7” – 4.4 and 5 cm corresponding to the variants of the experiment. The pre-sowing treatment positively increases the length of germs. In this case, the best results were achieved with “Gibberellin” and “Biohumus” products that gave the increase of 1.7 and 1.5 cm respectively.
Assessment of radioactive pollution of the Syrdarya river was carried out. A large number of water samples were collected over a twelve-year period from three zones: upstream of uranium mines; around uranium mines; and downstream of the mines. Samples were analyzed for gross α-, β-activity and radionuclide concentrations. Gross α-activity exceeded the permissible level in almost every water sample. Both gross α-and β-activity in Baigekum village and PV-1 mine significantly exceeded safe levels throughout entire monitoring period. Concentrations of 230 Th and 210 Pb surpassed the national intervention levels in almost all water samples. In a number of samples from Baigekum village excessive concentration of 226 Ra was observed. Furthermore, water samples collected from Tabakbulak in the spring of 2009 had extremely high levels of radionuclides. In general, elevated levels of radionuclides had been observed around the uranium mines and down the stream of Syrdarya since 2008-2009 when industrial-level production started at Zarechnoye, Khorasan and Irkol uranium deposits. The results suggest that radioactive pollution of Syrdarya in Kazakhstan is primarily caused by uranium mining activities. It is likely that the Syrdarya waters are not only unpalatable for human, but it may also not be suitable for household and agricultural use due to radioactive pollution.
Respiratory diseases, like asthma and other chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, claim over 50 thousand lives annually in Kazakhstan according to national statistics (The Agency of Statistics of the Republic of Kazakhstan, 2011). This study applies econometric methods to examine the relationship between the coal industry and the respiratory health in Kazakhstan during the country's independency period using annual national data. The study investigates long-term equilibrium and short-term dynamics of coal production and respiratory diseases in Kazakhstan by applying the Vector Error Correction Model (VECM). The empirical results show that the respiratory diseases appear to be elastic relative to the coal production, and the strong long-run and short-run Granger causality running from coal production to respiratory diseases. The presence of causal relationship could be useful to define effective policies to reduce the health effects of coal industry in Kazakhstan.
Inadequate electricity access limits human development and affects quality of life in Africa. Hence, the improvement of electricity access has become a cornerstone of the African energy policy. This study proposes the use of satellite derived data of nighttime lighting, population count and Index Decomposition Analysis (IDA) to identify the driving factors for changing in electricity consumption in Africa between 2000 and 2013. The results of decomposition analysis indicated that population growth throughout the continent resulted in increased electricity consumption, while other factors had different effects. The results of this study could contribute to the design of better energy policy to achieve sustainable development of the continent.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.