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This paper explores the social capital of an emergent beef quality brand in two valleys (Ansó and Hecho) in the Spanish Pyrenees through a combination of participatory approaches (focus groups) and Social Network Analysis. We organised three focus groups with stakeholders from the administration, tourism and commerce, and farming sectors to evaluate the interest for the initiative. In the Social Network Analysis, we surveyed 32 local stakeholders to construct an advisory network, including the surveyed actors and non-surveyed actors that they mentioned, and a trust network, including only the surveyed actors and their trust level in each other. The trust network was analysed using the Louvain's algorithm to identify potential internal communities and the exponential random graph model (ERGM) to infer the shaping effects of actors' attributes on the network's structure. Our results revealed a general interest of the stakeholders in the beef quality brand and a sparse network characterised by a propensity to mutual and open interactions with four clusters based on employment sectors/educational levels and connected by two prominent actors. Therefore, the social capital of the initiative showed both risks because a loss of these few prominent actors could inhibit the network, and opportunities, because their presence, along with the mutual and open interactions, would ensure efficient information exchange. The investigation revealed also two possible limiting factors: the absence of a coordinator and the actors' unwillingness to assume this role. The results confirmed the efficacy of the methodology used to investigate the social capital of emergent initiatives, but further research should be carried out including stakeholders' concerns on its economic implications. HIGHLIGHTS: Focus groups and Social Network Analysis allowed to explore the social capital of a beef production quality brand initiative. A sparse network with mutual interactions but few central actors emerged. The absence of a coordinator and unwillingness to cover the role are possible limiting factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In China, numerous cities are expanding into sloping land, yet the quantitative distribution patterns of urban built-up land density along the slope gradient remain unclear, limiting the understanding of sloping land urbanization. In this paper, a simple negative exponential function was presented to verify its applicability in 19 typical sloping urban areas in China. The function fits well for all case urban areas (R2≥0.951, p<0.001). The parameters of this function clearly describe two fundamental attributes: initial value a and decline rate b. Between 2000 and 2020, a tends to increase, while b tends to decrease in all urban areas, confirming the hypothesis of mutual promotion between flatland densification and sloping land expansion. Multiple regression analysis indicates that the built-up land density and the ruggedness of background land can explain 70.7% of a, while the average slope ratio of built-up land to background land, the built-up land density and the built-up land area can explain 82.1% of b. This work provides a quantitative investigative tool for distribution of urban built-up land density along slope gradient, aiding in the study of the globally increasing phenomenon of sloping land urbanization from a new perspective. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water environment quality is profoundly driven by a series of landscape characteristics. However, current knowledge is limited to the independent response of water quality to single landscape elements; this has led to poor knowledge of the potential role of structural coupling within landscapes in driving water quality changes, especially in those agroforestry-mixed mountainous watersheds with highly embedded forest-clustered landscapes and abundant headstreams. Given this fact, this study aims to evaluate whether and how the source–sink coupling structure of forest-clustered landscapes systematically drives headstream quality dynamics. We first systematically assessed the association pattern of source and sink structures within forest-clustered landscapes, and then innovatively proposed and constructed a functional framework of source–sink coupling structure of landscapes across 112 agroforestry-mixed mountainous sub-watersheds in Chongqing, China. On this basis, we further evaluated the driving pattern and predictive performance of the source–sink coupling structure of landscapes behind headstream quality dynamics. We report three findings: (1) headstream quality varied across agroforestry-mixed sub-watersheds, mapping out the source–sink structures and functions of landscapes; (2) there was significant functional coordination between source–sink structures of the forest-clustered landscapes, which significantly drove headstream quality dynamics; (3) the structural positioning and differences of the forest-clustered landscapes along the multivariate functional axes directly corresponded to and predicted headstream quality status. These findings together highlight a key logic that the response of water quality dynamics to landscapes is essentially that to the functional coupling between the source–sink structures of landscapes, rather than the simple combination of a single landscape contribution. This is the first study on the landscape–runoff association from the perspective of source–sink structural coupling, which helps to deepen understanding of the correlation mechanism between water dynamics and landscape systems, and provides a new functional dimension to the development of future landscape ecological management strategies from a local to a global scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Rockfalls pose a serious threat along the main road network, representing a major hazard in mountainous territory and causing damage and victims. Currently, susceptibility mapping represents a starting point to identify areas more susceptible to rockfall occurrence, a key approach in land use planning and risk management. Despite the extensive use of these maps by decision makers and administrators, the usability of such maps over time and their reliability represent a poorly discussed and examined feature. Methods: Here, we proposed a-posteriori analysis of a three-year-old rockfall susceptibility map, generated along the main road network of the Aosta Valley, an alpine region of north-western Italy. To verify map consistency over time, we implemented a dual-analysis in GIS-environment and by text mining, to respectively analyse the geocoded data and textual information derivable from the regional landslide inventory. The first one allowed us to extract rockfall events occurred after the susceptibility map generation. By this way, we operated to spatially and temporally verify the map consistency. Jointly, the textual information reported in the Event Description Form, linked to each geocoded event, are being exploited. This allowed us to derive relevant information about occurred damage and their degree, presence of protective measures or secondary roads, i.e. involvement of, farm or forestry, road. Results: The implemented approach allowed us to prove the quality of the previous map in terms of reliability, robustness and degree of fitting respect to the succession of rockfall occurrence over time. After only three years as many as 198 rockfall events have been occurred and collected since the map was generated. Particularly, 80% of rockfall fit with "high" and "very high" susceptibility classes, and pointed out large involvement of main roads in rockfall occurrence, representing the most affected target with damage to road pavement and vehicles, as well as a relevant involvement of existing rockfall barriers and of the dense network of forestry roads and footpaths that characterize this alpine region. Results: The proposed approach representing a starting point in landslide susceptibility map verification and usability as valid instrument for a reliable land planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Food waste is a generalized process that affects both the environment and resources (natural, financial, sanitary, etc.). The negative effects are felt both at the individual level (household budget) and at the society level, and they are, as a rule, difficult to combat. From the existing quantitative and qualitative analyses, it was observed that food waste at household level represents over 50% of its total volume, even if food waste is produced throughout the supply chain. It is also noted that some economic sectors, by the nature of their activities, have a greater predilection to waste food. This study carried out on agro-tourist guesthouses in the mountainous area of Romania shows that, at their level, food waste has reduced. This is due to the household spirit and the ethical and spiritual values passed down from generation to generation, reflecting consumers' affection and respect to Romania's mountains. Solutions aimed at reducing waste generation vary, encompassing everything from raising awareness about it to re-evaluating practices, advocating for good habits, implementing innovative packaging, and more. In light of this, this article seeks to enhance understanding of food waste and to pinpoint viable strategies for addressing it. Furthermore, it endeavors to estimate the volume of food waste in mountainous region of Romania, particularly within tourist establishments. Findings reveal that the highest levels of waste occur in mountain hotels, closely followed by agrotourism guesthouses. Thus, this article provides a concise overview of food waste in mountainous areas and underscores the importance of initiatives aimed at its direct or indirect reduction. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Promoting the consumption of mountain products could contribute to the sustainable development of mountain areas, as it enables the preservation of traditional production methods while yielding positive socioeconomic outcomes. Labeling is an important marketing tool that supports mountain food supply chains and sustainable mountain development, since it guarantees the origin and specific quality attributes of the mountain product to consumers and thereby supports producers in marketing mountain food products. The European Union (EU) quality term "mountain product" was created for these reasons. However, so far, using this new labeling scheme for wine has not been allowed. The aim of this study is to contribute to the ongoing debate surrounding the possible extension of the EU quality term to the wine sector from a consumer perspective. An online auction was conducted to identify whether Italian consumers are willing to pay more for a wine with an EU mountain product logo on the label. Furthermore, a cluster analysis was run to segment the market of potential customers of mountain wine based on the "greenness" of their lifestyle. While the results of the online experiment did not indicate any significant difference between the prices paid in presence or in absence of the mountain product logo, our findings revealed the existence of clusters of consumers characterized by a green lifestyle who value mountain wines and are willing to pay a price premium for the EU mountain product logo. This is an encouraging signal for wine growers in the mountains who have already started investing in wines that are produced in a more sustainable way and who want to stay competitive. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tatra National Park (TNP) is one of the most popular national parks in Poland. The purpose of this study was to examine changes in the number of tourists visiting the Park each year from 1993 with a special focus on the COVID-19 period. The main part of this study focused on tourist traffic data for the period from 1993 to 2023. Daily, monthly, and annual data were examined. The source of most of the data is park entry ticket sales. The largest number of tourists entering TNP in the period of 1993–2022 was recorded in 2021 at 4,788,788. Tourist traffic in TNP is concentrated on so-called long weekends in May and June. An examination of data from 2010, 2015, and 2021 shows that tourist volumes on the long weekend of 1–3 May be up to 40 times larger than those on other weekends in May. On the other hand, long weekends in June can attract eight times more tourists relative to the average other weekends in June. The number of tourists engaging in hiking, climbing, spelunking, and ski touring declined during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. However, the number of ski tourers in TNP in 2021 was about four times larger than the total between 2015–2022. Data on traffic patterns are key in designing, implementing, and measuring the efficiency of solutions for sustainable management for both the peak usage periods and future patterns in tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Journal of Wildland Fire Science is the property of Journal of Wildland Fire Science Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

In this paper it is compared the productive performances of two breeds of beef cattle exploited in the mountain area. The studied population was 143 heads belonging to the Aberdeen Angus and Charolaise breeds. Statistical processing and testing was done using the SAVC (Statistics Analysis of Variance and Covariance) computer programs, respectively SPSS 16.00 for WINDOWS. At birth, the weight was on average 30 kg in the Aberdeen Angus breed, and in the Charolaise breed body weight at birth was on average 40 Kg. The average daily weight gain at 365 days for the studied breeds was 828 g, respectively 1153 g for the Charolaise breed. The weight at the age of 365 days for studied cattles from the two farms was 322 kg for the Aberdeen Angus breed and 461 kg for the Charolaise breed. The Aberdeen Angus breed has a low birth weight of 25-28 kg which makes subsequent development slower compared to the Charolaise breed. Optimizing the exploiting conditions will ensure good results up to 365 days and, for the Charolaise breed, good results will be obtained up to 18 month of exploiting. The studied breeds are valuable under optimized exploiting conditions that allow the expression of the genetic potential of animals. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper explores the concept of the short food chain and its role in the sustainable development of mountain areas. The short food chain involves reducing the number of intermediaries between producers and consumers, thereby promoting the direct sale of local products. This approach brings multiple benefits to the local economy and the environment. Mountain areas, characterized by economic and social vulnerabilities, can benefit from short food chains by supporting small producers and conserving biodiversity. A key aspect of the paper is the analysis of how short food chains support the local economy. Farmers can obtain more advantageous prices by eliminating intermediaries, which improves their living conditions. Short food chains also stimulate rural tourism and attract consumers interested in authentic and sustainable products. The paper provides examples from mountain regions in Europe and Romania to illustrate the positive impact of these food chains. For example, in the Italian Alps and the French Pyrenees, local farmers have succeeded in capitalizing on their traditional products through local markets and cooperatives, thus contributing to the development of the rural economy and environmental protection. In Romania, regions such as Țara Moților and the Apuseni Mountains demonstrate how short food chains can support the local economy and agricultural traditions, providing farmers with a viable alternative to long commercial chains. With the support of public policies and community cooperation, short food chains have become a successful model for the sustainable development of mountain areas. This approach helps reduce carbon emissions, conserve natural resources, and maintain cultural traditions, offering a sustainable solution to the economic and environmental challenges facing these regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Currently, the number of confirmed locations for Luscinia cyane during the breeding season is decreasing nationwide, while Emberiza variabilis is increasing. Both species are observed locally during the breeding season in the mountains of Shiga Prefecture, but their distribution is not fully understood. In order to confirm the distribution of these species, I conducted a survey of the number of singing males at 48 survey sites in 7 mountain ranges throughout Shiga Prefecture between May and July from 2020 to 2023. As a result, Luscinia cyane was confirmed in 23 survey sites on 5 mountain ranges, and Emberiza variabilis was confirmed in 8 survey sites on 3 mountain ranges. Regarding Luscinia cyane, there was no change in the distribution of mountain ranges compared to the records from the 2000s, but a decrease in habitat was suggested for two mountain ranges. Regarding Emberiza variabilis, there are no records of the breeding season before the 1990s, so it is thought that the distribution of the breeding season has expanded in recent years. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the paper is to present a model of good practices in sustainable rural tourism in the mountain area of Romania, exemplifying a well known tourist village. from the Sibiu County. At the beginning, there were described the stage of development of rural tourism in the mountain commune named "Marginimea Sibiului", in terms of the structure of the tourist accommodation and public food units, touristic and anthropological objectives, the promotion of the tourist offer. Then, there were calculated and interpreted some indicators of the tourist circulation The second stage of the research analyzes the expectations of 360 tourists from a vacation spent in the tourist village of Gura Râului, the selected case study, as a model of good practices in sustainable rural tourism. The survey was carried out based on a structured questionnaire including 13 questions, which was utilized as a working tool. The respondents' answers were collected, summarized and then the data were statistically processed using Excel, v. 365 Microsoft Corporation, Redmond, WA, USA. The results showed that Gura Râului becomes a more attractive destination for the rural tourism lovers and a real example of sustainable rural tourism to be followed by other mountain villages of Romania. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Split-foundation (SF) building structures, as a kind of hill-side buildings, are widely used in mountainous regions due to the scarcity of plain areas. In order to experimentally investigate the seismic responses of the SF structure, shaking table test was carried out on two 1/8-scale models: a split-foundation RC frame structure supported by foundations at two different levels and a conventional RC frame structure supported by foundations at one single level. The failure patterns, dynamic characteristics, acceleration responses, displacement responses, and torsion responses of the two models were assessed and compared under seismic ground motions. The test results indicate that the two models were severely damaged after the last intensity level excitation and showed an intermediate failure mechanism. The damage to the SF model was uneven and special with relatively severe damage of the upper grounded columns. The difference in natural frequencies between the two models resulted from the effect of the lower story on lateral stiffness, and the effect was relatively dramatic in the transverse direction. The difference in structural stiffness led to larger acceleration amplification factors of the SF model and smaller acceleration amplification factors in the longitudinal direction. Although the restriction at upper ground level created a certain effect on displacement responses of the SF model especially in the first story, the curve shapes of displacement responses of the two models were similar from the first floor to fourth floor. In addition, the torsion responses of the SF model, especially in the first story (upper ground story), were obviously much larger than those of the conventional model. The torsional effect cannot be ignored in the SF structure which is a torsionally sensitive structure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Qing History Journal is the property of Renmin University of China, Institute of Qing History and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The vegetation cover of forests and grasslands in mountain regions plays a crucial role in regulating climate at both regional and global scales. Thus, it is necessary to develop accurate methods for estimating and monitoring fractional vegetation cover (FVC) in mountain areas. However, the complex topographic and climate factors pose significant challenges to accurately estimating the FVC of mountain forests and grassland. Existing remote sensing products, FVC retrieval methods, and FVC samples may fail to meet the required accuracy standards. In this study, we propose a method based on spatio-temporal transfer learning for the retrieval of FVC in mountain forests and grasslands, using the mountain region of Huzhu County, Qinghai Province, as the study area. The method combines simulated FVC samples, Sentinel-2 images, and mountain topographic factor data to pre-train LSTM and 1DCNN models and subsequently transfer the models to HJ-2A/B remote sensing images. The results of the study indicated the following: (1) The FVC samples generated by the proposed method (R2 = 0.7536, RMSE = 0.0596) are more accurate than those generated by the dichotomy method (R2 = 0.4997, RMSE = 0.1060) based on validation with ground truth data. (2) The LSTM model performed better than the 1DCNN model: the average R2 of the two models was 0.9275 and 0.8955; the average RMSE was 0.0653 and 0.0735. (3) Topographic features have a significant impact on FVC retrieval results, particularly in relatively high-altitude mountain regions (DEM > 3000 m) or non-growing seasons (May and October). Therefore, the proposed method has better potential in FVC fine spatio-temporal retrieval of high-resolution mountainous remote sensing images. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The spatial restructuring of rural settlements is conducive to the realization of rural transition and development. This study constructed a "point-line-surface" framework for the spatial reconstruction of the homestead in a typical mountain village and used the weighted Voronoi diagram and buffer analysis method to analyze. The results are as follows. (1) The development capacity of rural homesteads in Longfeng Village was divided into three levels: high, medium, and low. Among them, the high-level homesteads clustered in the north and south of the village in the form of a "T" and a long strip, respectively; the medium-level homesteads are mostly aggregated in the middle of the village; the low-level homesteads are mainly distributed along the Fenghuang Mountain. (2) The layout of homesteads in Longfeng Village was axis-oriented, which is manifested by the number and scale being in a gradient-decreasing pattern with the main road axis as the centerline. (3) According to the principle of "maximum" development capacity of the homestead, nine reconstruction units are divided. By calculating the location entropy, it is found that the dominant functions of each reconstruction unit mainly include supporting life services, operational production, ecological agricultural production, and traditional agricultural production, and there are obvious differences in the development patterns of homesteads in different functional units. (4) Based on the "point-line-surface" characteristics of the homestead, four reconstruction modes, namely, modern community type, field and garden integration type, road-pointing type, and traditional residential type, are summarized, and the reconstruction strategies are proposed accordingly. The "point-line-surface" framework of rural settlements is of practical significance and theoretical value, which can provide a decision-making reference for the optimization and reorganization of residential land space in villages of the same type in mountain areas. Moreover, the integrated and innovative framework proposed in the paper has also international significance, thanks to the possibility of replicating the research strategy and methodological approach in other contexts. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Romania has a unique geographical position and gastronomic tradition, while being famous in the world for its native Romanian hospitality. The natural and anthropic heritage of the Romanian village is priceless. The beauty of people and places, traditions, customs unchanged for thousands of years, specific gastronomy, make the Romanian village an irresistible tourist attraction. Local Gastronomic Points are units represented by private kitchens in rural homes, where culinary products are prepared and served, according to recipes specific to the area, directly to the final consumer, for a maximum of 15 people; the culinary products must be prepared from raw materials coming mainly from primary production of the farm itself, as well as from local producers or from authorized/registered health, veterinary and food safety establishments. Local Gastronomic Points may be located and operate on the premises of farms, agricultural holdings, rockeries, fish farms, fish shelters, fish collection centers, hunting grounds, game collection centers, where one or more activities related to primary production are carried out: milk production, egg production, honey production, rearing of poultry/rabbits, slaughtering of poultry/rabbits on the farm, hunting of small game with feathers and fur (pheasants, partridges, ducks, geese, rabbits), fishing, aquaculture, and growing of vegetables and fruit. The menu of Local Gastronomic Points is different from the menu of other dining establishments. The daily menu includes a maximum number of prepared foods, 2 starters (hot or cold snacks/meals), 2 main courses (soups, broths, stews, etc.), 2 main courses (basic dishes) and 2 desserts. These cooked foods will be prepared and offered to consumers, fresh, on the same day. The methods of preparation of the menu will be as traditional as possible, respecting hygiene conditions at the time of preparation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Dornelor Depression occupies a mountainous geographical area with subalpine specifics, known as "Țara Dornelor". The geological, pedo-climatic, and floristic structure of this area represents the basis of the traditional agriculture development, which is mainly centered on the growth of some autochthonous cattle breeds (Transylvanian Pinzgau, Black Pinzgau/ Dorna Cow and Brown cow of Maramureș). This study aimed to analyse the current level of geological, pedological, climatic, and biodiversity conditions, as well as the need to preserve Pinzgau cow herds and the procedures for preparing traditional dairy products. The obtained results confirmed the location of Suceava county among the leading areas in domestic cattle breeding, Romanian Spotted Cattle being predominant. The analysis of the specific climate has revealed that it is directly influenced by the relief which is structured in altitude steps, the Dornelor land being a representative geographic area for the national and community heritage, through the protected natural areas of the "NATURA 2000" European Ecological Network. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A data set including information on macroinvertebrates identified to genus/species group/species level was created within the monitoring activities of several European and national projects. The data set includes 2111 macroinvertebrate records on temporal fragmentary data from lakes Paione (upper, middle, and lower lakes Paione), and 530 records on spatial data relative to eight other high-altitude lakes from the Ossola Valley (North-western Italy, Piedmont, Central Alps). The study area is included within the Lake Maggiore watershed. All records are georeferenced because, since the beginning of the studies, temporal data were taken in the same sampling sites over years. The temporal data span the period 1989-2020, the spatial data refer to the 2019-2020 sampling activity. The dataset is available for download in .csv format at the Global Biodiversity Information Facility (GBIF) data infrastructure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main objective of this study was to determine the content, mobility, and the variability of concentration of zinc, lead, and cadmium in soils from the Gorce Mountains (south Poland), located over 100 km south-east from the potential industrial sources of contamination—zinc-lead sulfide ore mine and smelter in Bukowno, as well as hard coal mines of Silesia region and Kraków Nowa-Huta steelwork. The abovementioned problem is crucial in the context of the traditional mountain farming still extant in the region, as well as intensively developing tourism. The geoaccumulation index and potential ecological risk index were adopted to evaluate soil pollution in the study area and the BCR sequential extraction technique to assess mobility of the abovementioned elements. The obtained results clearly show that the pollution from distant industrial sources in the mountains is detectable. Apart from the increased concentrations of the tested metals in the soil (especially available forms), there is also a strong correlation between the concentrations of lead, zinc, and cadmium, which proves their common source of origin. The main evidence is the fact that differences in the concentrations of the tested metals on the windward and leeward sides were statistically significant. This also means that the studied mountain area, despite relatively low altitudes (up to 1310 m above sea level), constitutes a measurable barrier to the spread of atmospheric pollutants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The European strategy "From Farm to Consumer", one of the key initiatives of the "Green Pact for Europe" is a new approach to the way consumers increasingly appreciate local food and direct sales. The Local Gastronomic Point (LGP) is a new approach that is developing in Romania, which meets these requirements, contributing to the creation and maintenance of jobs, to the sustainable development of rural communities and farms, being also the shortest sales chain, between producer and consumer. The Local Gastronomic Point is a concept that responds to the growing requirements in Romania, regarding the establishment of family catering units (farms), located in rural areas, that offer products and "cooking" specific to different geographical areas of Romania, following the rules and conditions of hygiene and food safety. Due to the LGP, farmers can enhance the value of their agri-food products, developing the complementary economic activity of serving local food/products, even "mountain products" and tourists/consumers can consume natural, traditional, specific and quality products from a particular region. This family-type activity is transferable to other mountain areas, to other rural localities, which may or may not have tourist potential. It can contribute to the development of rural tourism or to the creation of routes dedicated to gastronomic tourism. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aims to highlight the productive performance of the Pinzgau breed exploited in the Dornelor Basin, Suceava County. In this sense, a herd of 12 head of cattle, belonging to the Pinzgau breed, was studied, both the red variety and the black variety, which were followed by the productive performances at the ascendancy and descent of the nucleus from the farm. Also, the parameters regarding the quality of milk obtained from the studied cattle were analyzed. The ancestry of the studied herd is valuable with productions in the mother (M) of 5496 kg of milk, 4.22% fat and 3.39% protein, in the mother of the father (MT) of 5562 kg of milk, with 4.095% fat and 3.45% protein, and in the mother's mother (MM) of 5613 kg milk with 4.21% fat and 3.49% protein. The milk production in the offspring had an increasing evolution as follows: on total lactation 5922 Kg milk in lactation I and 6474 Kg milk in lactation II, and on normal lactation of 4820 Kg milk in lactation I and 4843 Kg milk in lactation II with average values of 4.26% fat and 3.24% protein in lactation I respectively 3.91% fat and 3.29% protein in lactation II. Regarding the quality of the milk, it had an average value of 86,000 thousand / ml milk in the total number of somatic cells (NCS) which shows us a quality milking, in hygienic conditions, respectively keeping the milk after milking in hygienic conditions, which shows the farmer's care for the cattle on the farm. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The remote North Patagonian region is a sparsely populated territory and a world famous tourist destination located on the leeward side of the Andes Mountains. Recent disasters triggered by various types of geoenvironmental hazards (including volcanic eruptions, mass-wasting processes and extreme weather events) heavily disrupted ground transport networks in a region with already limited territorial accessibilities. All these catastrophes prompted the need to evacuate or assist a number of secluded visitors, locals and livestock extemporaneously on board of coastguards and tourist passenger-ships from the shores of the many glacial lakes that make up part of the regional attraction. Despite the recurrence of these types of events, water evacuations in the region continue to be spontaneous, improvised and hazardous procedures. This contribution reconstructs and assesses a number of recent local-scale cases of lake evacuations and assistances from a number of Patagonian urban centers, rural areas and tourist sites. For each case study, we systematically elaborated on the prime components of an evacuation process, which enabled us to recognize key achievements, failures and conditioning factors for managing emergencies via water transport, most of them inherent to the studied region. Some of the complexities to emerge from case studies referred to: complex hazard-related scenarios; limited ground-based accessibilities and risk of isolation; various inter- and intra-organizational issues, incidental to natural reserves and tourist regions; a wide range of particular demographic features; and the availability and vulnerability of water transport resources. We suggested fundamental and replicable recommendations for developing water evacuation plans, also identifying forthcoming problems to solve in order to improve the management of emergencies through this alternative means of transport. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Railway Standard Design is the property of Railway Standard Design Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

There have been many different agricultural support tools varying by countries. These agricultural support tools are determined according to different indicators such as the policies, expectations, regions, and economic levels of the countries and may differ from each other. One of these agricultural support tools is Less Favoured Area (LFAs) that has been applied for a long time. Turkey has many geographically different regions and many different agricultural support tools like those in the other counties However, considering the EU full membership process policies, a specified support tool for the LFAs, which are widely used in the EU, has not been implemented in Turkey. Mersin province is one of the areas where that is an issue and so was selected for this study. The province has a dual structure, with high mountains (Taurus) and wide plains. People in the mountainous areas make a living from animal production, especially goat breeding. The study framework was based on the logistic regression model, which was compared farmers' descriptive statistics and socio-economic features in villages in the mountainous/semi-mountainous areas and on the plains of Mersin province. Farmers’ intentions for land allocation and livestock and their migration tendencies were analysed in different scenarios. Age, experience, number of small ruminants, land size and credit usage were found to have a statistically significant effect on farmers’ decisions about continuing farming. Their decisions changed across the policy scenarios provided, and a policy that considers regional differences was found to be significant in their decisions. The paper shows agricultural support policies should consider regional differences to compensate for income losses due to physical conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The development of mountain areas is achieved through specific policies. The Law of the Mountain and the subsequent laws elaborated, aim to support mountain producers, entrepreneurs and implicitly to lead to the development of mountain areas. In 2019, the Government Decision no. 332/2019 regarding the establishment of the composition, duties and responsibilities of the massive committee and the National Mountain Council. In order to apply the policies and strategies for the development and protection of the mountain environment, a massive committee is constituted at territorial level for each of the 9 mountain groups provided in the annex to the Mountain Law no. 197/2018, body without legal personality, with advisory role. And, at the national level, the National Council of the Mountain is constituted, with advisory role, which will ensure the cooperation between the Government and the representatives of the mountain area, for the implementation of its specific strategies and policies. At mountain territory level, there is a number of 7 mountain development regional centres and 32 mountain development offices, each of them operated by one Agency specialist. Each CRDM has a variable number of ODMs subordinated, in its activity range. Every ODM has a number of settlements assigned to it, for the most part corresponding to two mountain basins. The Regional Mountain Development Centres are structures of the National Agency for Mountain Areas, and the Mountain Committees are structures of different organizations, which have a consultative role in supporting public policies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At global level, the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic displays a general character affecting both humans and economies, under the current post-Covid conditions. At present, it is obvious that the effects of the crisis (either negative or positive, direct or indirect, on medium- and long term) are not well known. Thus, little is known yet about multiple other coordinates: time, magnitude, reactions at sectorial or territorial level, etc. In this mixture of unknown we find the individual regarded from the social (demographic-social) and economic (labor force resources) perspective. However, a series of obvious effects are identified by which the sanitary crises impact on the lives of people - from the personal one to the professional one. These changes might be considered as development opportunities but, at the same time, they might lead to increased socio-economic territorial disparities. Looking ahead, the pandemic accelerated the ongoing digital transformation of the UE economy, with teleworking and the use of digital technology becoming more prominent. Taking into account the fact that diminishing territorial disparities remains the strategic objective of the current territorial Cohesion Policy, the present paper attempts to provide an updated image on the effects of the pandemic crisis at regional level and regarding the state/existing trends on the labor force market. This article is focusing on resilience of labor at European regional level. The results of the analysis indicated the potential and the importance of labor forces in the context of territorial resilience and post pandemic Covid crisis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the period 2015-2019, the beef cattle farming sector (beef cows, beef bulls, crossbred cows with beef breeds, young male and female beef cattle and crossbreeds of young male or female young cattle with beef breeds) benefited from a total amount of 52 million euros as VCS, which represented 7.8% of the total value of coupled support for the livestock sector. The increase in the number of beef cattle, from 8 thousand heads in 2015 to 53 thousand heads in 2019, led to the decrease of the VCS value/head from 1312 euros/head in 2015 to 237.4 euros/head in the year 2019. The comparative analysis (2019 versus 2016) of the coupled support distribution by farm size classes reveals a relatively similar situation. Most beef cattle approved for coupled support, both in 2016 and in 2019, are found on the farms from the size class 101-250 heads, 31.1% and 33.5% respectively, representing 7.6% and 5.8% of beneficiaries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mountain protected areas are characterized by high biodiversity, which makes it a great challenge for managers to maintain a balance between their use and the stability of natural ecosystems. Maintaining that balance is particularly difficult in areas with high tourism pressure. The expected volume of tourist traffic should be considered at the planning stage of the tourist infrastructure development process. Insufficient capacity of tourist infrastructure can lead to environmental degradation, which is hard, or at times impossible, to repair. In our research, we identified patterns of tourist footpath and road functioning in an environmentally protected area with high volumes of tourist traffic. Data from geomorphologic mapping was analyzed in order to identify tourist footpath and road structures in the Tatra National Park (TNP). Fieldwork was conducted in several stages between 1995 and 2019. Orthophotomaps from the years 1977, 2009, 2017 and 2019 were used to identify and compare degraded zones along selected tourist footpaths. Degraded zones were defined as areas surrounding a footpath or tourist road with a mean width larger than or equal to 10 meters, with heavily damaged or completely removed vegetation and exposed, weathered cover, where geomorphic processes that would not take place under normal conditions are readily observable. The examined tourist footpaths and roads vary in terms of their morphometric parameters. Research has shown important differences between mean and maximum footpath width as well as maximum incision depth for the forest zone versus the subalpine and alpine zones. A lack of differences in these parameters was noted between the alpine and subalpine zones. Research has shown that an increase in the surface area of degraded zones found adjacent to tourist footpaths occurred in all the studied geo-ecological zones in the study period. However, the largest increase occurred atop wide ridgelines found in the alpine zone. Degraded zones may be an indication of exceeding the tourist carrying capacity of a mountain tourist area. Mass tourism in TNP contributes to the formation of degraded zones adjacent to footpaths, whose continuous evolution may lead to irreversible changes in local relief. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil erosion is a global environmental and economic problem that is significantly related to land-use changes. Over the last decades, several mountain areas in Serbia were exposed to strong human pressure caused by winter tourism development. The largest ski center in Serbia is situated on Kopaonik Mountain within the boundaries of Kopaonik National Park, where the conflict between economic and conservation goals is rapidly growing. In this study, we calculated the sedimentation and surface runoff in three sub-basins in the area of Kopaonik ski resort for two years (1984 and 2018) using the Soil and Water Assessment Tool (SWAT) and analyzed the changes that occurred during the observed period. The results show an increase in surface runoff and sediment yield in sub-basins 1 and 3 and a decrease in sub-basin 2. The analysis of land cover change shows an expansion of evergreen forests, appearance of barren soil and urban areas, reduction of mixed forests and pastures, and the appearance of deciduous forests. These findings indicate that in the area studied, the dominant processes are the development of tourism and natural revegetation of abandoned agricultural land. Application of remote sensing techniques and SWAT contributes to identifying and monitoring land degradation problems and improving conservation and management practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revue d'Économie Régionale & urbaine is the property of Librairie Armand Colin and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Rainfall in mountainous areas is an important part of the water cycle and energy cycle. Ensuring accurate weather and widespread rainfall information is essential for studying the climate, environment, water, and wind forecasting process in the region. The mountainous area is one of the areas in China where the rainy season is more complicated and disaster-prone and is related to hurricanes. Due to the combination of severe weather and rainy climate, climate change and rainfall in mountainous areas reach the estimated value of rainfall in a specific area, which is also one of the main reasons for growth and water resource utilization. First, select rainy places from various remote sensing satellite images to determine which area is most suitable as the research area; then, select appropriate highlight points to create a low-resolution model, and after calibration, obtain high-resolution. In the end, the result metrics of different reduction models were compared, and the rainwater meter measurement of the forecast center was used to verify it. Among them, the environmental system in this area is a complex system. The main difference is that the links between the different components of the environmental system are not close enough. Unilateral investigation is not enough to consider certain indicators and other indicators. The most important thing to manage the increased risks of the entire structure is to establish an economic model that only analyzes the actual situation in the real world. The actual situation consists of a variety of very complex basic and advanced variables. Therefore, unless the second point is excluded, it is impossible to conduct a thorough analysis or make the analysis more complicated. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

At present, most of the leakage diffusion analysis of product oil pipelines is only for flat buried pipelines, and the research on product oil pipeline leakage in complex mountainous environments is extremely lacking, which makes the oil and gas pipeline leakage accident handling schemes unreasonable. Selecting a high-impact area of the mountainous product oil pipeline, and combining the surrounding environment, topography, geography and geographical location of the pipeline, the leakage and diffusion of the buried pipeline in the mountain was established, through the finite volume method and the computational fluid analysis software. A three-dimensional model of phase flow (VOF) simulates the process of diffusion and migration of oil pollutants from mountainous pipelines on the surface of mountains. Through the simulation calculation, the general shape and diffusion area of the leakage and diffusion of product oil along the sur face of the mountain are obtained. The research results have guiding significance for the disaster relief work after the oil spill in the complex mountainous environment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main reason that hinders early treatment of ACS patients is delayed patient decision-making (PD). In order to explore the delay factors of patients with ACS, this paper builds a machine learning-based analysis model of delay factors for patients with acute coronary syndrome based on machine learning. Moreover, this paper combines structural equations to analyze the factors affecting accidents, and uses the generalized ordered logit model in statistics and the popular random forest model in machine learning to establish the analysis models of the delay factors of acute coronary syndromes, and analyze the functional structure of the models. In addition, this paper obtains data through actual survey methods, and analyzes the data through the model constructed in this paper to explore the risk factors that affect the delay in seeking medical treatment, which is presented through charts. The research results show that the model constructed in this paper is more reliable and can be applied in practice. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Veterinaria is the property of University of Sarajevo, Veterinary Faculty and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The Nepal government introduced Technical Vocational Education to secondary schools nationwide in 2014 as part of its School Sector Reform Plan (running from 2009 through to 2015). The purpose of agricultural education in secondary schools is to develop a workforce to support the nation's agricultural development and alleviate poverty. This case study analyzes the current status of and issues with agricultural education at a secondary school in epal's Mustang District. First, the curriculum and syllabi of the Plant Science Stream program were reviewed. Second, the school's teaching activities were analyzed and compared with the teaching methods in use at a Japanese agricultural high school in the Nagano Prefecture. The head of the school and a teacher of agriculture conducted observations and interviews regarding the Japanese high school's teaching practices in September 2017. After observing the Japanese high school, focus group discussions were conducted with five other agriculture teachers at the targeted school in Nepal. The discussions found that the content of the lectures did not adequately explain local farming practices. It was determined that the study program should conduct cultivation trials of local products in the school farm. Students could interview local farmers and observe their crop production, agro-processing, livestock rearing, and natural resource managements. Students could practice farming to use the products for their own consumption or sales at school and local markets. These activities can strengthen students' understanding of agricultural information and techniques. The suggested activities would also allow the teachers to learn what information to include in the lectures and practices to support students' knowledge of farming practices relevant to the local area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Biotechnology in Animal Husbandry is the property of Institute for Animal Husbandry and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Land use changes associated with urbanization may increase ecological risk and subsequent geohazard risk. Africa is particularly vulnerable at preset as, since 2005, the highest rates of rapid urbanization-associated forest degradation have occurred there. On August 14, 2017, a compound geohazard in Freetown, Sierra Leone, caused thousands of fatalities and destroyed hundreds of houses. Land use change is considered the main factor contributing to geohazard initiation. Here, we use Freetown as a case study to quantitatively assess the magnitude of the increase in ecological risk associated with land use changes. To achieve the aim, satellite images are used in the case study area from 2007 to 2017, the data are integrated into a geographic information system. A series of indices are then used based on the processed images to describe land use and ecological risk, including dynamic index, trend and state index, and ecological risk index. The results show that Freetown experienced a rapid urbanization process, together with an unbalanced increase in urban land and complex conversion of bare and grass land, from 2007 to 2017. Significantly degenerated forest was converted into urban land (2.77%), bare land (6.47%), and grassland (10.27%), while the ecological risk level increased from low to high. The ecological risk in the affected area of geohazard is found higher than that of the surrounding mountainous area. It indicates that vegetation may reduce the risk of disaster. This result is helpful for the trade-off between urban development and ecological protection and rational urban planning. For disaster resilience and sustainable development of Freetown, and also other rapidly urbanizing cities in mountainous areas, ecological protection must be incorporated into development planning. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper presents natural honey market conjuncture, accentuating the contribution of EU28 (European Union 28) and BRICS countries (Brazil, Russian Federation, India, China and South Africa) to the world market competitiveness. The presented countries hold more than a half of natural honey world production, being considered major players of the global market. Some of them are emergent countries and occupy an increasingly better place in the current structure of world trade. In the current pandemic crisis, the market of natural honey does not decline in trade value, quantity and some related indices, but increases. The analyzed indices regarding natural honey and countries competitiveness are Export Value, Revealed Comparative Advantage (RCA) for Agricultural Raw Materials (covering natural honey), Herfindahl-Hirschman Index (HHI), Export Market Penetration (EMP). The paper presents evidences regarding mountain natural honey - manna honey, conifer honey and mountain multiflora honey, and how natural honey market is influenced by the indices presented above. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Turkish Journal of Geographical Sciences / Coğrafi Bilimler Dergisi is the property of Cografi Bilimler Dergisi and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Deforestation affects environmental systems worldwide by increasing disaster risk and carbon emissions and also by reducing soil fertility rejuvenation and biodiversity. Here, we inspected the patterns and processes of deforestation in Zhejiang Province of China since 2000 under a background of national forest restoration. By integrating the Hansen high‐resolution forest cover change products and a field study, the relationship between forest loss dynamics and topography and also the proximity to settlement and rivers, were evaluated. The results show that the total forest loss in Zhejiang Province was 266,984 ha in 2001–2018. Forest loss magnitude reached a maximum in 2008 and has maintained a high level of annual loss about 17,000 ha since. While forest loss patches are mainly located on the mountaintops, the slope and altitude of the deforested patches reached maximal values in 2008, and both of them decreased since then even though the amount of forest loss remains high. The most significant forest loss was recorded at the south of Zhejiang Province around Lishui City and the least forest loss was in the area of Jiaxing city near Hangzhou, the capital city of Zhejiang Province. The area of deforestation decreases while the distance to settlements increases. We analyze the spatiotemporal characteristics and potential factors that affect deforestation in Zhejiang Province and highlight the role of market and policy, which transformed land use. This study further enriches the forest transition theory and provides a basis for the future decision making on clearing forest for compensating farmland loss. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The mountain area of Suceava county presents real opportunities for tourism development, having many unique and well-preserved tourism, valued in terms of age, originality and accessibility, a large number of traditional rural househods and a generous number of accommodation places. The data of the National Institute of Statistics from 2019 about the capacity of tourist accommodation, places Suceava county on the third place, after Constanța and Brașov counties. The present study follows the perception of the host community vis-à-vis rural tourism and its development in the mountain region of Suceava county. The research highlights the role of the county and local authorities in the development of rural tourism and its promotion from the point of view of the host community. The methodology is based on the survey based on the questionnaire using the gender and age quotas method, respecting the proportional geographical dispersion of the reference population in the mountain region of Suceava county. It is confirmed the hypothesis that the gap between the aspirations of the population to the development of rural tourism is large, and its diminution requires the preparation of the host population. In conclusion, following the analysis of the results it is found that the rural population must be trained through courses in order to learn how to capitalize on their existing resources and to become a good host for the potential tourists. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper aimed to present the situation of dairy products that benefited from the optional quality mention "mountain product" in the mountain area of Romania, during the period 2017-2020. This paper is based on statistical data provided by the National Sanitary-Veterinary Authority and for Food Safety and also by the National Institute of Statistics and the National Agency for Mountain Area, data from the National Register of Mountain Products. These were processed within the National Agency of the Mountain Area in the following indicators: number of counties with mountain area, number of Administrative-Territorial Units in the mountain area, total area of the mountain area (Km2), area of pastures and hayfields in the mountain area (ha), the herds of animals from the mountain area (cattle, sheep, goats, pigs), number of dairy products that benefited from the optional quality mention "mountain product". Compared to 2017, the herds of animals, in 2019, have significant decreases, leading to negative effects on the maintenance of permanent grassland areas in the mountain area, milk and meat production obtained from animals, milk and meat processing activities and, consequently, reduced development opportunities of farms in the mountain area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The PRT (Personal Rapid Transit) refers to a traffic system in which small vehicles automatically travel on a dedicated rail network or road network. It is a branch of monorail traffic and dedicated road traffic. It can change the situation of high energy consumption of traditional mountain transportation. It can reduce the amount of machinery used in the construction process to reduce carbon emissions. It is completely powered by electricity and reduces the friction of the cableway to reduce energy consumption. Its construction process uses small amount of traditional building materials such as concrete and steel. It has little damage to the ecological environment of the mountain, and can not damage the carbon sequestration ability of the plant community. It could serve as a means of transporting goods over long distance, reducing the need for big trucks and thus reducing the consumption of fossil fuels. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Remote sensing data plays an important role in classifying land use/land cover (LULC) information from various sensors having different spectral, spatial and temporal resolutions. The fusion of an optical image and a synthetic aperture radar (SAR) image is significant for the study of LULC change and simulation in cloudy mountain areas. This paper proposes a novel feature-level fusion framework, in which the Landsat operational land imager (OLI) images with different cloud covers, and a fully polarized Advanced Land Observing Satellite-2 (ALOS-2) image are selected to conduct LULC classification experiments. We take the karst mountain in Chongqing as a study area, following which the features of the spectrum, texture, and space of the optical and SAR images are extracted, respectively, supplemented by the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI), elevation, slope and other relevant information. Furthermore, the fused feature image is subjected to object-oriented multi-scale segmentation, subsequently, an improved support vector machine (SVM) model is used to conduct the experiment. The results showed that the proposed framework has the advantages of multi-source data feature fusion, high classification performance and can be applied in mountain areas. The overall accuracy (OA) was more than 85%, with the Kappa coefficient values of 0.845. In terms of forest, gardenland, water, and artificial surfaces, the precision of fusion image was higher compared to single data source. In addition, ALOS-2 data have a comparative advantage in the extraction of shrubland, water, and artificial surfaces. This work aims to provide a reference for selecting the suitable data and methods for LULC classification in cloudy mountain areas. When in cloudy mountain areas, the fusion features of images should be preferred, during the period of low cloudiness, the Landsat OLI data should be selected, when no optical remote sensing data are available, and the fully polarized ALOS-2 data are an appropriate substitute. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Transactions of the Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering is the property of Chinese Society of Agricultural Engineering and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Romania's mountain area constitutes a defined geographic, economic and social entity, with specific climate, relief, natural and socio-cultural heritage, an identity recognized in Europe and all over the world. The paper aims to analyze the main normative acts for the mountain area in Romania developed after 1990, focusing on the specific legislation of the last 7 years. The aim was to create the legislative framework created, starting with the delimitation of the mountain area - to which this legislation is addressed, the public institutions established for the mountain area, as well as the main provisions to support the mountain population, producers and entrepreneurs in this area. The study of documents was used as research methods: laws, government decisions, ministerial orders, as well as content observation or analysis. The data were collected and interpreted. Results obtained: The 3 official delimitations of the existing mountain area during the studied period were identified and presented, the normative acts by which they were legislated as well as the main criteria that were the basis of each of these delimitations. It should be noted that the delimitation has undergone changes over time, depending on the instruments, policies and legislation existing at each of the times when they were developed. The main public institutions, with a role in the development of mountain areas and the application of public policies, were also identified. The development of mountain areas is achieved through specific policies. The Law of the Mountain and the subsequent laws elaborated, aim to support mountain producers, entrepreneurs and implicitly to lead to the development of mountain areas. By acquiring the right to use the optional quality mention "mountain product", at the level of the mountain area in Romania a Register and a national logo were created and a number of 580 "certified" products were obtained on the end of April 2020. Another 5 laws that provide for investments in this area are being drafted and are waiting to be implemented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]