Automated in-season rice crop mapping using Sentinel time-series data and Google Earth Engine: A case study in climate-risk prone Bangladesh.

High-resolution mapping of rice fields is crucial for understanding and managing rice cultivation in countries like Bangladesh, particularly in the face of climate change. Rice is a vital crop, cultivated in small scale farms that contributes significantly to the economy and food security in Bangladesh. Accurate mapping can facilitate improved rice production, the development of sustainable agricultural management policies, and formulation of strategies for adapting to climatic risks. To address the need for timely and accurate rice mapping, we developed a framework specifically designed for the diverse environmental conditions in Bangladesh. We utilized Sentinel-1 and Sentinel-2 time-series data to identify transplantation and peak seasons and employed the multi-Otsu automatic thresholding approach to map rice during the peak season (April-May). We also compared the performance of a random forest (RF) classifier with the multi-Otsu approach using two different data combinations: D1, which utilizes data from the transplantation and peak seasons (D1 RF) and D2, which utilizes data from the transplantation to the harvest seasons (D2 RF). Our results demonstrated that the multi-Otsu approach achieved an overall classification accuracy (OCA) ranging from 61.18% to 94.43% across all crop zones. The D2 RF showed the highest mean OCA (92.15%) among the fourteen crop zones, followed by D1 RF (89.47%) and multi-Otsu (85.27%). Although the multi-Otsu approach had relatively lower OCA, it proved effective in accurately mapping rice areas prior to harvest, eliminating the need for training samples that can be challenging to obtain during the growing season. In-season rice area maps generated through this framework are crucial for timely decision-making regarding adaptive management in response to climatic stresses and forecasting area-wide productivity. The scalability of our framework across space and time makes it particularly suitable for addressing field data scarcity challenges in countries like Bangladesh and offers the potential for future operationalization.

Development and Validation of a Quantitative LC-MS/MS Method for CDK4/6 Inhibitors Palbociclib, Ribociclib, Abemaciclib, and Abemaciclib-M2 in Human Plasma.

BACKGROUND: The cyclin-dependent kinase 4 and 6 (CDK4/6) inhibitors, palbociclib, ribociclib, and abemaciclib, are standard-of-care agents for patients with hormone receptor-positive human epidermal growth factor receptor 2-negative metastatic breast cancer. In support of therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical pharmacokinetic studies, a liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry assay for the simultaneous quantitation of CDK4/6 inhibitors and the major active metabolite M2 of abemaciclib in human plasma has been developed. METHODS: Analytes were extracted from 50 µL of human plasma by precipitating proteins with methanol and then collecting the supernatant. Reversed-phase high-performance liquid chromatography was performed for analyte separation using a biphasic gradient at a flow rate of 0.25-0.5 mL/min. The total run time was 9.5 minutes. The analytes were detected using MS/MS with electrospray ionization operating in positive ion mode. RESULTS: Validation according to the US Food and Drug Administration's guidance showed that the new assay produced accurate (94.7%-107%) and precise (within-run: 1.2%-8.2%; between-run: 0.6%-7.5%) measurements of all analytes over a concentration range of 5-2000 ng/mL. Overall, analyte recoveries were consistent (mean values: 110%-129%). The analytes were also stable in human plasma and the final extract under various storage conditions. Finally, the clinical applicability of the assay was confirmed by quantitation of all analytes in plasma samples obtained from patients treated with CDK4/6 inhibitors. Reproducibility of the measured analyte concentrations in study samples was confirmed successfully by incurred sample reanalysis. CONCLUSIONS: A sensitive liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry method to measure CDK4/6 inhibitors was developed and validated according to the Food and Drug Administration criteria. Quantitation of all analytes in clinical plasma samples confirmed that the assay is suitable for therapeutic drug monitoring and clinical pharmacokinetic studies of CDK4/6 inhibitors.

Large-Diameter TiO2 Nanotubes Enable Wall Engineering with Conformal Hierarchical Decoration and Blocking Layers for Enhanced Efficiency in Dye-Sensitized Solar Cells (DSSC).

Herein, we grew anodic TiO2 nanotube layer with a tube diameter >500 nm and an open tube mouth. We use this morphology in dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) and show that these tubes allow the construction of hybrid hierarchical photoanode structures of nanotubes with a defined and wall-conformal TiO2 nanoparticle decoration. At the same time, the large diameter allows the successful establishment of an additional (insulating) blocking layer of SiO2 or Al2 O3 on the tube wall. We showed that this combination of hierarchical structure and blocking layer significantly enhances the solar-cell efficiency by suppressing recombination reactions. In such a DSSC structure, the solar-cell efficiency under back side illumination with AM1.5 illumination was enhanced from 3 % for the neat tube to 5 % for the hierarchical structure to 7 % when additionally a blocking layer was attached.

Frequency of color blindness in pre-employment screening in a tertiary health care center in Pakistan.

OBJECTIVE: To describe the frequency of color vision deficiency among Pakistani adults presenting for pre-employment health screening in a tertiary care hospital. METHODS: The cross-sectional study was carried out at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, and the data was collected for color vision deficiency, age, gender, and job applied for from pre-employment examination during 2013-2014. IBM SPSS 20 was used for statistical analysis. RESULTS: Three thousand four hundred and thirty seven persons underwent pre-employment screening during 2013 and 2014; 1837 (53.44%) were males and 1600 (46.65%) females. The mean age was 29.01 (±6.53) years. A total of 0.9% (32/3437) persons had color vision deficiency with male being 1.4% and female 0.4%. CONCLUSION: Color vision deficiency was observed in 0.9% of candidates screened for pre-employment health check up in a tertiary care hospital. The color vision deficiency was predominantly present in male individuals.

Metal complexes of isonicotinylhydrazide and their antitubercular activity.

The development and spreading of Multi Drug Resistant TB strains is hampering endeavours for the control and administration of tuberculosis (TB). The expansion episodes of multi-medication safe strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis against first and second line antituberculosis drugs on one side and the unfavourable effects of these drugs on the other side has led the enthusiasm of researcher towards the synthesis of metal complexes of various medication. This approach is born with the expectation of finding new antituberculous operators without or least reactions as well as being active against the resistant strains of Mycobacterium tuberculosis. This study concentrates on the screening of five metal complexes of isoniazid (INH) against five Mycobacterium tuberculosis strains. These strains have been confirmed by WHO being active and even proliferating safely even in the presence of pyrazinamide, isoniazid (INH), ethambutol and rifampicin. In this work INH was taken as reference medication. All synthesized complexes and INH were subjected for a month and a half in BACTEC MGIT 960 technique. INH and its Fe (II) complex restrained the development of all bacterial strains for merely two weeks, while the Fe(III), Cu(II), Co (II) and Mn (II) complexes repressed the development five strains for three weeks. Conclusively, the strains utilized in this study were discovered to be more susceptible to the later four complexes than the ligand (INH) drug and its Fe (II) complex. Furthermore, elemental analysis and atomic absorption of all complexes were conducted for the determination of metal to ligand ratio.

Bile acids and bile alcohols from Muraenesox bagio, Pomadasys argenteus and Lobeo rohita.

Gallbladders bile of three well known commercial fish of South Asia region named Muraenesox bagio (locally called bam), Pomadasys argenteus (dother) and Lobeo rohita (rohu) were analysed on GC-MS, after derivatising the bile alcohols and bile acids as trimethylsilyl ether and trimethylsilyl-methyl ester, respectively. Cholic acid (1) and chenodeoxycholic acid (2) were found as major bile acids in all three species. Major bile alcohol in these fish was cholesterol (4), which was not detected in freshwater specie (L. rohita). M. bagio was also found to contain 3αα,7α,12α-trihydroxy-23-cholesten-26-oic acid (3). Other bile acids and bile alcohols identified in L. rohita were allo deoxycholic acid (5), 12-oxo-3α-hydroxycholanic acid (6), 3α,7α,12α-trihydroxy-24-cholesten-26-oic acid (7), 5α- and 5ß-anhydrocyprinol (8 and 9, respectively) and 5ß-homocholane-3α,7α,12α-25-tetrol (10). Besides acting as emulsifying agent in the digestion process, in non-mammalian vertebrates, e.g., fish, reptiles, etc. the analytical and elucidative studies on the bile contents disclose the diversity in metabolic pathways of cholesterol and indicate the existence of molecular evolution in the basic C27 skeleton of cholesterol.

Providing Anesthesia Care in Resource-limited Settings: A 6-year Analysis of Anesthesia Services Provided at Médecins Sans Frontières Facilities.

BACKGROUND: Anesthesia is integral to improving surgical care in low-resource settings. Anesthesia providers who work in these areas should be familiar with the particularities associated with providing care in these settings, including the types and outcomes of commonly performed anesthetic procedures. METHODS: The authors conducted a retrospective analysis of anesthetic procedures performed at Médecins Sans Frontières facilities from July 2008 to June 2014. The authors collected data on patient demographics, procedural characteristics, and patient outcome. The factors associated with perioperative mortality were analyzed. RESULTS: Over the 6-yr period, 75,536 anesthetics were provided to adult patients. The most common anesthesia techniques were spinal anesthesia (45.56%) and general anesthesia without intubation (33.85%). Overall perioperative mortality was 0.25%. Emergent procedures (0.41%; adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 15.86; 95% CI, 2.14 to 115.58), specialized surgeries (2.74%; AOR, 3.82; 95% CI, 1.27 to 11.47), and surgical duration more than 6 h (9.76%; AOR, 4.02; 95% CI, 1.09 to 14.88) were associated with higher odds of mortality than elective surgeries, minor surgeries, and surgical duration less than 1 h, respectively. Compared with general anesthesia with intubation, spinal anesthesia, regional anesthesia, and general anesthesia without intubation were associated with lower perioperative mortality rates of 0.04% (AOR, 0.10; 95% CI, 0.05 to 0.18), 0.06% (AOR, 0.26; 95% CI, 0.08 to 0.92), and 0.14% (AOR, 0.29; 95% CI, 0.18 to 0.45), respectively. CONCLUSIONS: A wide range of anesthetics can be carried out safely in resource-limited settings. Providers need to be aware of the potential risks and the outcomes associated with anesthesia administration in these settings.

A 10-year review of indications for penetrating keratoplasty in a tertiary care setting in Karachi Pakistan.

The retrospective study was conducted to determine the indications and outomes of penetrating keratoplasty(PKP) in a tertiary care setting in Pakistan. All eyes that had undergone PKP between January 2005 and December 2014 at the Aga Khan University Hospital, Karachi, were included.Data were collected on the indications of PKP, graft survival (graft clarity at final follow-up), andbest corrected visual acuity (BCVA).Kaplan-Meier\'s method was usedto analyse graft survival.Out of 437 eyes, 383(87%) were for visual purpose. Trauma-related corneal scarring 113(26.2%) was the leading cause of PKP, followed by keratoconus 74(17.1%), redo graft 56(13%), infection-related corneal opacity 46(10.6%), corneal dystrophy 44(10.2%) and bullous keratopathy 36(8.3%). The probability of graft survival at 30 months was 90% for keratoconusversus 75% for the non-keratoconus grafts. Most of the PKPs in this case series were due to preventable causes. Our long-term PKP results were favourable, with a graft survival ratecomparable to those of other centres.

Effect of half adult dose of oral Rifampicin (300mg) in patients with idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy.

OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the effect of half adult dose of oral Rifampicin on mean change in best corrected visual acuity and central macular thickness in patients with central serous chorioretinopathy. METHODS: Thirty-eight eyes of 31 patients with idiopathic central serous chorioretinopathy (CSCR) were registered. Unaided Visual acuity, best corrected visual acuity was documented and detailed slit lamp examination along with dilated ophthalmoscopy was performed. All subjects were treated with oral Rifampicin 300 mg (half adult dose) daily for 03 months. Patients underwent a complete ocular and systemic examination as well as central macular thickness (CMT) measurement by optical coherence tomography (OCT) every month after starting treatment until four months. Fundus fluorescein angiography (FFA) was performed in recurrent cases. Liver function tests were carried out prior to the treatment and during follow up period. RESULTS: A total of 38 eyes of 31 patients (24 males, 07 females) were included in the study. Mean age of patients was 36.16±3.19 years (range 30-44). Mean best corrected visual acuity (BCVA) before treatment was 0.56±0.11 and improved to 0.47±0.14 at 04 weeks (P<0.001) of treatment. The mean CMT at the time of presentation was 494.39±96.29 um and was decreased to 306.90±50.71 um after 04 weeks of treatment (P<0.001). The mean induced reduction in CMT was 187.48±122 um (P<0.001) while that in BCVA 0.41±0.16 at 04 weeks of treatment (P<0.001). Liver function tests were within normal range before and after the treatment. CONCLUSION: Half adult dose rifampicin (300mg) is effective and safe in treatment of central serous chorioretinopathy without causing any systemic imbalance.

Medium optimization for the production of amylase by Bacillus subtilis RM16 in Shake-flask fermentation.

This study was carried out in shaking incubator and covers the optimization of culture conditions of Bacillus subtilis for the maximum production of amylase. Optimal activity was found to be 350 U ml(-1) when soluble starch was used as a substrate. Parameters taken into consideration to observe their effect on the optimum production of amylase include incubation time, incubation temperature, pH, inoculum size, carbon source, nitrogen source and metallic ions. All parameters were monitored in order to obtain high level of the enzyme units in cell-free broth. The established optimized conditions for Bacillus subtiliss train RM16 were found to be: incubation time 24 hours, temperature 40°C and pH 8.0. Inoculum size was 5%, starch (1%) as a carbon source while yeast extract (1.5%) as a nitrogen source. Magnesium ions (0.1%) exerted maximum stimulating effect for the production of amylase which can be further used at large scale applications.

Analyses of bile from gallbladders of Arius platystomus, Arius tenuispinis, Pomadasys commersonni and Kishinoella tonggol.

Bile from gallbladders of Arius platystomus (Singhara), Arius tenuispinis (Khagga), Pomadasys commersonni (Holoola) and Kishinoella tonggol (Dawan) were derivatised and analysed by GC-MS for identification of bile acids and bile alcohols. Cholic acid and Chenodeoxycholic acid were found as major bile acids in Arius platystomus, Arius tenuispinis and Pomadasys commersonni. Other bile acids identified in Arius platystomus were allochenodeoxycholic acid, allodeoxycholic acid, 3α,7α,12α-trihydroxy-24-methyl-5ß-cholestane-26-oic acid, and 3α,7α,12α, 24-tetrahydroxy-5α-cholestane-26-oic acid. Cholesterol was found as major bile alcohol in Arius platystomus, Arius tenuispinis and Pomadasys commersonni. Cholic acid was the major bile acid identified in the bile of Kishinoella tonggol while other bile acids included 3α,7α,12α-tridydroxy-5α-cholestanoic acid and 3α,7α,12α-tridydroxy-5ß-cholestanoic acid. Bile alcohol 5ß-cyprinol was present in significant amounts with 5ß-cholestane-3α,7α,12α,24-tetrol being the other contributors in the bile of Kishinoella tonggol.

Improved estimation of population distribution function using twofold auxiliary information under simple random sampling.

In this article, our main aim is to suggest enhanced families of estimators for estimating the population distribution function (DF) using twofold auxiliary evidence within the framework of simple random sampling. Numerical analysis is performed on four different actual data sets. The precision of the estimators is further investigated exhausting a simulation study. As equated with existing estimators, the suggested families of estimators have minimum mean square error (MSE) and higher percentage relative efficiency (PRE). The succeeding recommended family of estimators outperforms the first family of estimators across all data sets. These are positive indicators of its performance. The theoretical result shows that the recommended family of estimators performs better than the existing estimators. The extent of improvement in efficiency is noteworthy, indicating the superiority of the suggested estimators in terms of minimum MSE.

Asymmetric role of green energy, innovation, and technology in mitigating greenhouse gas emissions: evidence from India.

The primary cause of environmental degradation, which poses a danger to the long-term viability of the ecosystem, is the emission of greenhouse gases (GHG). For this reason, the Glasgow Climate Pact (COP26) established a decarbonization goal in response to this ecological concern, for which all economic players have a responsibility. India is among the participants who have a target set for them to decarbonize their economies by the year 2060 via the use of green energy and the advancement of science and innovation. Nevertheless, the asymmetrical effect of green energy, technology, and innovation on India's decarbonization program was not sufficiently explored in the prior study; hence, this research aims to fill this literature vacuum by considering India's GHG emissions from 1990 to 2020 by leveraging the non-linear autoregressive distributed lag (NARDL) model. The findings reveal the asymmetric influences of variables of interest on GHG emissions during the short and long term and under positive and negative shocks. Regarding the positive shock, long-term findings demonstrate that innovation and technical know-how grow GHG emissions and accelerate environmental degradation. However, a negative shock in innovations and technological know-how is opposed to a positive shock and improving environmental conditions. Further, positive shocks in green energy boost environmental effectiveness by reducing GHG secretions in India. In contrast, the negative shock in green energy deteriorates the environment by triggering GHG releases. These factual findings compel the Indian government to prioritize green technologies in addition to green energy generation to decouple economic growth from greenhouse gas emissions and meet rising energy demands.

Moving towards food security in South Asian region: Assessing the role of agricultural trade openness, production and employment.

Despite several accomplishments in addressing malnutrition, the issue of food scarcity remains a persistent concern all over the globe, particularly in the South Asian region. One recommended solution to address this situation involves advocating for further liberalization of global food trading and opening employment opportunities. In this context, using panel data spanning 2000-2019, this study makes a novel attempt to quantify the impact of agricultural trade openness and agricultural employment on food security in countries belonging to the South Asian region while controlling the tariff and agricultural production. Using "Fully Modified Ordinary Least Square (FMOLS)" and "Dynamic Ordinary Least Square (DOLS)" modeling, this article concludes that increased agricultural trade openness hinders food security in this region. Because, the member countries of South Asia are heavily reliant on food imports to meet their domestic needs, implying that the expenses of food imports exceed the potential benefits of increasing exports. Moreover, tariffs have a detrimental impact on food security in this region. However, production and employment in the agricultural industry augment earnings, strengthen the capacity to buy food, and ensure adequate nutrition intake over the long term. The study's findings suggest that these nations should prioritize food self-sufficiency to expand agricultural exports and lessen their reliance on imported food. More than that, economies should provide rewards to broaden their agricultural production locally, which aids in reducing hunger and uplifting food security.

Alarming multidrug resistance in Staphylococcus aureus isolated from raw milk of cows with subclinical mastitis: Antibiotic resistance patterns and occurrence of selected resistance genes.

Bovine mastitis is a widespread and costly disease that affects dairy farming globally, characterized by mammary gland inflammation. Bovine intramammary gland infection has been associated with more than 135 different pathogens of which Staphylococcus aureus is the main etiology of sub-clinical mastitis (SCM). The current study was designed to investigate the prevalence, antibiotic resistance pattern, and the presence of antibiotic resistance genes (mecA, tetK, aacA-aphD and blaZ) in S. aureus isolated from the raw milk of cows with subclinical mastitis. A total of 543 milk samples were collected from lactating cows such as Holstein Friesian (n = 79), Sahiwal (n = 175), Cholistani (n = 107), and Red Sindhi (n = 182) from different dairy farms in Pakistan. From the milk samples microscopic slides were prepared and the somatic cell count was assessed to find SCM. To isolate and identify S. aureus, milk was streaked on mannitol salt agar (MSA) plates. Further confirmation was done based on biochemical assays, including gram staining (+ coccus), catalase test (+), and coagulase test (+). All the biochemically confirmed S. aureus isolates were molecularly identified using the thermonuclease (nuc) gene. The antibiotic resistance pattern of all the S. aureus isolates was evaluated through the disc diffusion method. Out of 543 milk samples, 310 (57.09%) were positive for SCM. Among the SCM-positive samples, S. aureus was detected in 30.32% (94/310) samples. Out of 94 isolates, 47 (50%) were determined to be multidrug resistant (MDR). Among these MDR isolates, 11 exhibited resistance to Cefoxitin, and hence were classified as methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). The S. aureus isolates showed the highest resistance to Lincomycin (84.04%) followed by Ampicillin (45.74%), while the least resistance was shown to Sulfamethoxazole/Trimethoprim (3.19%) and Gentamycin (6.38%). Polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis revealed that 55.31% of the isolates carried blaZ gene, 46.80% carried tetK gene, 17.02% harbored the mecA gene, whereas, aacA-aphD gene was found in 13.82% samples. Our findings revealed a significant level of contamination of milk with S. aureus and half (50%) of the isolates were MDR. The isolated S. aureus harbored various antibiotic resistance genes responsible for the absorbed phenotypic resistance. The alarmingly high prevalence of MDR S. aureus isolates and MRSA strains in these cases possess a serious risk to public health, emphasizes the urgent need to address this issue to protect both human and animal health in Pakistan.

Efficacy of Gatifloxacin in Acute Bacterial Corneal ulcer.

UNLABELLED: Objective : To assess the efficacy of Gatifloxacin 0.3% ophthalmic solution in infective corneal ulcer. Methods : This observational (non comparative) clinical analysis was done at the Department of ophthalmology unit-II, Liaquat University Eye hospital Hyderabad of Liaquat University of Medical and Health Sciences Jamshoro / Sindh, Pakistan from April 2010 to March 2012. All the subjects who fulfilled the inclusion criteria were registered. Anterior segment examination was performed. Corneal staining and sensitivity test was done to exclude viral and paralytic element. Corneal samples were collected for gram's staining and culture sensitivity tests. After getting the preliminary laboratory results, Gatifloxacin 0.3% ophthalmic solution was used in bacterial corneal ulcer every 30 minutes for first twenty four hours, and every one hour till three days. On obtaining better response the drops were used every two hours up to 7 days. The treatment was continued with tapering of dosage for three weeks. After total recovery (re-epithelialization of corneal epithelium) the drops were used two times a day for one more week. Results : The total of 170 patients (male=68.8%; female=31.2%) were recruited. Culture sensitivity examination revealed staphylococcus (36.5%), followed by fungi (24.1%). Pseudomonas thus detected were 10%. Gatifloxacin showed highest sensitivity and lowest resistance i.e. 87.65% and 12.35% respectively against gram positive and gram negative isolates. CONCLUSION: Gatifloxacin 0.3% ophthalmic solution due to its strong activity against various gram-positive and gram-negative microbes is strongly effective in the treatment of acute bacterial keratitis.

A hybrid deep leaning model for prediction and parametric sensitivity analysis of noise annoyance.

Noise annoyance is recognized as an expression of physiological and psychological strain in acoustical environment. The studies on prediction of noise annoyance and parametric sensitivity analysis of factors affecting it have been rarely reported in India. A hybrid ConvLSTM technique was developed in the study to predict traffic-induced noise annoyance in 484 people based on ambient noise levels, as well as survey information. Ambient noise levels were obtained at different locations of Dhanbad city using sound level meter at varying intervals, viz. 09AM-12PM, 03PM-06PM, and 08PM-11PM. The proposed method was compared with some well-known neural network techniques such as K-nearest neighbors (KNN), artificial neural network (ANN), recurrent neural network (RNN), and long-short-term memory (LSTM). The experimental results indicate that the proposed method outperforms other techniques and can be a reliable approach for prediction of noise annoyance with an accuracy of 93.8%. It can be concluded from noise maps that the noise levels in all locations of the Dhanbad city were higher than 70 dB(A) and noise sensitivity is the most important input variable of traffic-induced noise annoyance, followed by honking noise, education, exposure hours, LAeq, sleeping disorder, and chronic disease. The study shall facilitate in developing a decision support tool for prediction of noise annoyance and promoting implementation of suitable public policy in urban cities.

Investigating the nexus between trade policy uncertainty and environmental quality in the USA: empirical evidence from aggregate and disaggregate level analysis.

Worldwide, environmental sustainability is a hot topic, particularly in industrialized countries due to their higher emission intensity. Environmental conservation and equitable economic growth have been prioritized in economic debate and policy development. Over the past three decades, the USA's emissions of carbon dioxide (CO2e) have risen exponentially, as trade policy uncertainty (TPU). In this circumstance, this paper aims to contribute to the existing literature by exploring the effect of TPU on environmental quality by controlling the energy consumption, economic growth, and population in the USA over the period 1985M1 to 2022M3 employing the augmented ARDL and NARDL procedures in the presence of structural breaks. From our analysis, the results revealed that TPU affects negatively CO2e in the residential sector, and negative changes in TPU positively affect CO2e in the commercial sector both in the long and short run. On the other side, the outcomes show that energy consumption is a crucial key determinant factor in environmental degradation at the aggregate level and in all sectors. Furthermore, our findings clarify that economic growth upsurges the CO2e at the aggregate level precisely in the industrial and residential sectors. Juxtaposing, in the long run, the results indicate that population growth could make additional pressure on environmental quality at the aggregate level, especially in commercial, power generation, and residential sectors. Accordingly, it is clear from our results that the regulations put in place to encourage Americans to buy locally created goods instead of those imported, especially in light of the high levels of TPU, maybe the best option to decrease the long-term impact of international trade on the environment to achieve sustainable development goals (SDGs).

Analyzing asymmetric ecological performance under structural change, technological innovation, and trade diversification: fresh insights from the USA.

The present research scrutinizes the influences of trade diversification, air transportation, technological innovation, and economic complexity on ecological footprint from 1990 to 2019. The findings of the both time series unit root (with and without structural break) tests confirm that none of a single variable is stationary more than the first difference. Furthermore, the Wald and nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag bound methods check asymmetry and long-term cointegration relationship between the intended variables, respectively. Moreover, this study uses the nonlinear autoregressive distributed lag model to estimate the short-run and long-run coefficients/elasticity of the ecological footprint function. Following the empirical evidence, the findings revealed that positive (negative) components in trade diversification curtail the ecological footprint in the long-run. In addition, a positive shock in air transportation leads to an increase in ecological footprint in the long-run. Nevertheless, a negative shock in air transportation exerts a significant and adverse influence on the level of ecological footprint in the long-run. Furthermore, a positive (negative) shock in technological developments significantly reduces environmental pollution in the US economy in the long-run. Besides, the outcomes from economic complexity discovered a positive shock will significantly overcome the pressure on the environment in the long-run. However, in the short-run, it is observed that negative shock in trade diversification will lead to increase the ecological footprint level in USA. Similarly, a positive shock in air transportation will lead to increase the pollution level in the short-run. In contrast, a negative shock in air transportation will lead to reduce the pressure on the environment in the short-run. Besides, in terms of policy realization, the present research recommends adopting trade synchronization, harmonic trade strategies, and investment in technological innovations to diminish the existing level of ecological footprint in the region. For sustainable development, this study put forward for instantaneously encouraging the expansion of the digital economy and reducing air pollution, accelerating the green transformation, and impelling the industrial agglomeration process in the USA.

Demystifying the association between economic development, transportation, tourism, renewable energy, and ecological footprint in Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation region during globalization mode.

The Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation (BIMSTEC) economies have yet to meaningfully contribute to accomplishing Sustainable Development Goals (SDG 7) affordable and clean energy, (SDG 8) decent work and economic growth, and (SDG 13) climate action. Dealing with this issue might require a shift or alteration of policy framework that is the major theme of this study. Consequently, this present research inspects the influence of economic growth, transportation, tourism sector development, and renewable energy on ecological footprint using panel time series from 1990 and 2019 for the BIMSTEC region. To evaluate this dynamic nexus between the mentioned environmental pollution drivers of ecological footprint, this study employed the augumented mean group (AMG) and common correlated effect mean group (CCEMG) regression estimators after detection of cross-sectional dependency. The empirical outcomes denote that economic growth and transportation sector of BIMSTEC countries increase the levels of ecological footprint. Conversely, tourism sector development, globalization, and renewable energy protect the ecological excellence in the region. Moreover, it is observed that a unidirectional causality exists from economic growth to ecological footprint, ecological footprint to transportation, tourism to ecological footprint, and globalization to ecological footprint, while bidirectional causality exists between renewable energy and ecological footprint. By observing the positive function of tourism, green energy, and globalization on sustainable environment progress, central authorities are capable to redesign policies concerning supportable efficient technologies and regulate globalization towards green programs and agenda to reduce global warming.