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A study was conducted to identify and assess the major food safety violations in low grown orthodox black tea manufacturing process while assessing impact of HACCP based food safety management system (FSMS) in tea industry. Stratified random sampling was used where qualitative data was weighted averaged against GMP requirements and converted in to quantitative values to be used in statistical analyses. The impact of HACCP based FSMS in improving food safety was evaluated using representative sample. Organization and management responsibility was strongly correlated with establishment design and facilities while quality assurance had a strong or moderate correlation with all the factors. Pest control and personal hygiene was not satisfactorily developed according to the results. Establishment design and facilities (ED&F) was the major root cause for the food hygiene problems identified where continuous attention and top management commitment as well as additional capital investments were needed to improve design and facilities of manufacturing plants in the sector. Similarly, Quality assurance systems were not in complete compliance with food safety, mostly due to the incomplete system developments, lack of expert knowledge in the industry as well as inappropriate practices. However, HACCP based FSMS have created enabling environment to improve GMP requirements while increasing food safety implementation in tea industry. Nevertheless, factories with HACCP based FSMS had better infrastructure and systematic operations with trained operators rather than factories without any HACCP based FSMS. The efficacy of processing, recording and personnel hygiene were satisfactorily improved in factories which had implemented HACCP based FSMS.

Abstract Chemical contamination has impaired ecosystems, reducing biodiversity and the provisioning of functions and services. This has spurred a movement to restore contaminated ecosystems and develop and implement national and international regulations that require it. Nevertheless, ecological restoration remains a young and rapidly growing discipline and its intersection with toxicology is even more nascent and underdeveloped. Consequently, we provide guidance to scientists and practitioners on when, where, and how to restore contaminated ecosystems. Although restoration has many benefits, it also can be expensive, and in many cases systems can recover without human intervention. Hence, the first question we address is: “When should we restore contaminated ecosystems?” Second, we provide suggestions on what to restore—biodiversity, functions, services, all 3, or something else—and where to restore given expected changes to habitats driven by global climate change. Finally, we provide guidance on how to restore contaminated ecosystems. To do this, we analyze critical aspects of the literature dealing with the ecology of restoring contaminated ecosystems. Additionally, we review approaches for translating the science of restoration to on-the-ground actions, which includes discussions of market incentives and the finances of restoration, stakeholder outreach and governance models for ecosystem restoration, and working with contractors to implement restoration plans. By explicitly considering the mechanisms and strategies that maximize the success of the restoration of contaminated sites, we hope that our synthesis serves to increase and improve collaborations between restoration ecologists and ecotoxicologists and set a roadmap for the restoration of contaminated ecosystems. Integr Environ Assess Manag 2016;12:273–283. © 2015 The Authors. Integrated Environmental Assessment and Management published by Wiley Periodicals, Inc. on behalf of SETAC Key Points We merge insights from ecological and economic theory and on-the-ground restoration activities to provide guidance on what endpoints should be targeted for restoration in contaminated ecosystems and when, where, and how to restore ecosystems degraded by contaminants. We encourage practitioners to consider restoration as early as possible (i.e., before injury or before remediation) and to restore both structural and functional endpoints. We also promote consideration of broader landscape and seascape contexts and new ideas and approaches that can overcome the scientific and financial limitations of restoration. We urge more reciprocal transfer of knowledge among theorist and practitioners and academics, industry, government, tribal organizations, NGOs and the public to improve the science of restoration.

Brazil uses taxes, subsidies, and blending mandates as policy instruments to manage and stabilize its transportation fuel markets. The fuel sector has been very dynamic in recent years due to frequent policy adjustments and variable market conditions. In this paper, we use a price endogenous economic simulation model to analyze the impacts of such policy adjustments under various challenging conditions in the global ethanol and sugar markets. Our analysis specifically focuses on Brazilian producers' supply responses, consumers' driving demand and fuel choice, ethanol trade, land use, greenhouse gas emissions, and social welfare. The model results show that (i) under a low ethanol blending rate, conventional vehicles would be driven significantly less while flex-fuel and ethanol-dedicated vehicles would not be affected significantly; (ii) lowering the fuel taxes adversely affects the competitiveness of sugarcane ethanol against gasoline blends, thus lowering producers' surplus; and (iii) while a reduction in fuel taxes is advantageous in terms of overall social welfare, it has serious environmental impacts by increasing the GHG emissions from transportation fuels consumed in Brazil.

Sustainability is important to Las Vegas hospitality organizations because they operate in an environment with constrained resources. Water supply is one such constrained resource and Lake Mead is and has been far below its normal level. This lake provides the potable water supply for Southern Nevada. Southern Nevada, which is anchored by Las Vegas, worked to reduce their water consumption by 32 billion gallons between 2002 & 2014 (Southern Nevada Water Authority, 2015). This pattern tells me that Las Vegas is aware of the footprint they leave on the environment and look for ways to reduce said footprint. This is where sustainability comes into play; efforts like the water reduction are led by hospitality organizations that not only participate, but educate their team members to do the same. As the years pass, operators will need to strategize on how the choices they make not only affect their bottom line, but what effects they have on society and our local environment. This study will attempt to clarify what sustainable decisions organizations have made in the past, what their impact has been, what drives change in terms of sustainability, and then what dictates their ability to make future decisions based on those prior practices. As Las Vegas is considered a leader in the hospitality industry, the broader hospitality market can apply practices shown to have relevant benefits.

This document is the final report of work on a project concerned with the fragmentation of char particles during pulverized coal combustion that was conducted at the High Temperature Gasdynamics Laboratory at Stanford University, Stanford, California. The project is intended to satisfy, in part, PETC`s research efforts to understand the chemical and physical processes that govern coal combustion. The overall objectives of the project were: (1) to characterize the fragmentation events as a function of combustion environment, (2) to characterize fragmentation with respect to particle porosity and mineral loadings, (3) to assess overall mass loss rates with respect to particle fragmentation, and (4) to quantify the impact of fragmentation on unburned carbon in ash. The knowledge obtained during the course of this project can be used to predict accurately the overall mass loss rates of coals based on both the physical and chemical characteristics of their chars. The work provides a means of assessing reasons for unburned carbon in the ash of coal fired boilers and furnaces.

Tremendous growth in the number of automobiles in developed and developing global economies has exorbitantly boosted competition for petroleum products. Petroleum products derived from fossil fuels are predominantly responsible for environmental pollution as unburnt hydrocarbon (HC), carbon monoxide (CO), oxides of nitrogen (NOx) & carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions are released from the fossil fuel combustion. In the view of increasing environmental pollution and stringent emission norms, the present study is concentrated on using Jatropha biodiesel as an alternate fuel source to run variable compression ratio (VCR) diesel engine. The characteristics of VCR diesel engine emission have been evaluated under different compression ratio (CR), operating conditions of load & pressure of fuel injection. In this research work, Jatropha biodiesel diesel blend B30 (30% biodiesel and 70% diesel) and B0 (100% diesel) have been taken as fuel to run the engine. For conducting experiments, load has been varied from 0 to 12 Kg, CR from 14 to 18 and FIP from 180 to 270 bar as per the model of Response Surface Methodology experiments. The experimental investigation showed that the use of the B30 blend reduces HC & CO emissions by about 16.7% and 24% correspondingly in comparison to diesel. However noteworthy rise in NOx & CO2 emissions rate recorded by using the B30 blend as that of diesel. It has been shown that with enhancing in load & CR, HC&CO emissions decreased significantly however increase in CO2 and NOx observed. Advancing FIP, significantly decreases HC & CO emissions as well as tends to increase NOx and CO2 emissions.

As a new form of regional multilateralism, the Belt and Road Initiative is China’s most significant strategic move for external engagement in international economic law, following its World Trade Organization accession. This paper analyses China’s approach towards the Belt and Road Initiative from a legal perspective, focusing on three questions: first, what is the proper scope of the Belt and Road Initiative? Second, is there an identifiable approach that China adopts in the Belt and Road Initiative context, and, if so, what is its key legal characteristic? Third, is China’s Belt and Road Initiative approach sustainable? Employing a functional approach in defining the Belt and Road Initiative, the article identifies three qualities to China’s approach to the Belt and Road Initiative: (i) that it is a hub-and-spoke network, (ii) it adopts a three-track institutional and mechanism approach, and (iii) a dual- track normative approach. Compared with the US trade approach (particularly the US–Mexico–Canada Agreement), these qualities reveal the key characteristic underpinning China’s Belt and Road Initiative approach: maximised flexibility regarding institutions and norms to address uncertainties and challenges in the Belt and Road Initiative. Such flexibility will likely assist in ensuring that China’s Belt and Road Initiative approach is sustainable by enabling trial-and-error, if properly managed. However, it also gives rise to concerns around China’s Belt and Road Initiative approach, especially as to its predictability, coherence, and transparency.

Accurate modelling of agricultural management impacts on greenhouse gas emissions and the cycling of carbon and nitrogen is complicated due to interactions between various processes and the disturbance caused by field management. In this study, a process-based model, the Soil-Plant-Atmosphere Continuum System (SPACSYS), was used to simulate the effects of different fertilisation regimes on crop yields, the dynamics of soil organic carbon (SOC) and total nitrogen (SN) stocks from 1990 to 2010, and soil CO2 (2007-2010) and N2O (2007-2008) emissions based on a long-term fertilisation experiment with a winter-wheat (Triticum Aestivum L.) and summer-maize (Zea mays L.) intercropping system in Eutric Cambisol (FAO) soil in southern China. Three fertilisation treatments were 1) unfertilised (Control), 2) chemical nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium (NPK), and 3) NPK plus pig manure (NPKM). Statistical analyses indicated that the SPACSYS model can reasonably simulate the yields of wheat and maize, the evolution of SOC and SN stocks and soil CO2 and N2O emissions. The simulations showed that the NPKM treatment had the highest values of crop yields, SOC and SN stocks, and soil CO2 and N2O emissions were the lowest from the Control treatment. Furthermore, the simulated results showed that manure amendment along with chemical fertiliser applications led to both C (1017 ± 470 kg C ha(-1) yr(-1)) and N gains (91.7 ± 15.1 kg N ha(-1) yr(-1)) in the plant-soil system, while the Control treatment caused a slight loss in C and N. In conclusion, the SPACSYS model can accurately simulate the processes of C and N as affected by various fertilisation treatments in the red soil. Furthermore, application of chemical fertilisers plus manure could be a suitable management for ensuring crop yield and sustaining soil fertility in the red soil region, but the ratio of chemical fertilisers to manure should be optimized to reduce C and N losses to the environment.