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The study explored the effectiveness of differentiated instruction in enhancing positive attitude towards learning STEM subjects. It employed quantitative approach with purposive sampling method. A total of 102 students of grade IX participated in the study. The study found out the mean of the differences (pre-test and post-test) was 2.00 (SD = 1.9836) and the paired-samples t-test indicated that this mean of the differences is not significantly greater than zero. This indicated that the differentiated instruction was not effective in developing positive attitudes towards STEM learning. It is recommended to have an intensive study on the differentiated instruction in enhancing positive attitude towards learning STEM subjects by taking small sample size with one specific STEM subject. Further, the present study focused on only some students of grade IX, a study may be carried out across schools to get a deep understanding of the subject.

The study explored the effectiveness of peer mentoring program on academic performance of class VII Bhutanese students. It employed mixed method approach with purposive sampling method. A total of 62 students from grade VII participated in the study. The study found out the mean of the differences (pre-test and post-test) was 5.14 (SD = 3.42) and the paired-samples t-test indicated that this mean of the differences is significantly greater than zero (t = 8.36, p = .00, 95% CI[6.39, 3.88]). This indicated that the peer mentoring program had positive impact on academic performance of students. The peer mentoring program also helped students to enhance their communication skills. However, some mentor students mentioned that it was quite hectic when mentees do not cooperate with them. It is recommended that peer mentoring program should be carried out in schools to improve students’ academic performance as well as their communication skills. Further, the present study focused on only some students of grade VII, a study may be carried out across schools to get a deep understanding of the subject.

Floristic compositions and vegetative structures are key determinants for selecting nests and roosting habitats of Critically Endangered White-bellied Heron. However, none of the Bhutanese researchers had ever studied to date. Gradient-directed transect methods were adopted using systematic sampling. Vegetation surveys were carried out inside 10 x 10 m (trees), 5 x 5 m (shrubs), and 2 x 2 m (herbs) in 48 plots across the Pochu landscape. The result shows that the Phochu landscape recorded 10 trees species belonging to six families. Pinus roxburghii is the most dominant species with relative density [RD] (86.77%), relative frequency [RF] (37.50%), relative dominance [RD] (79.93%), and IVI (204.20). While, L. ovalifolia and A. lebbeck were the lowest (RD (0.53%), RF (6.25%), RD (0.07%), (0.83%), IVI (6.85), and 7.61 respectively. While shrub constitutes 19 species and belongs to 14 families. Chromolaena odorata (32.15%, n = 933) and Cymbopogon sp. (21.26%, n = 617) were the most dominant herbs, while, Galium aparine (0.03%, n = 1) were lowest with 38 herbs species belongs to 20 families. For vegetative structures, maximum trees (38.62%, n = 73) DBH ranges from the 11-15 cm, which are found in day roosting site 1 (34.25%, n = 25). While, lowest ((0.53%, n = 1) was DBH ranges of 51-55 cm, 61-65 cm, 66-70 cm and 71-72 cm respectively. Therefore, similar vegetation composition and structure studies are suggested in other core habitats across Bhutan to deduce its habitat ecology for the long-term conservation of Critically Endangered WBH in Bhutan.

Sweet potato (Ipomea batatas (L.) Lam) is an important root crop grown in the world. It provides carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins, fibre and essential minerals. With limited varieties available, and the crop being undocumented thus far, sweet potato production in Bhutan is insignificant and has not gained scope in agricultural food systems. For nutrient and crop diversification, three improved varieties from Japan, and a local variety as a check were evaluated under three different agro-ecological zones to ascertain their performance in terms of yield and other yield attributes. The experiment was laid out using Randomized Complete Block Design with four treatments each with three replications. There was no significant difference in yields between the varieties. Nonetheless, it was observed that orange flesh variety (Bajo kewa ngam II) outyielded (13.8t/ac) all other experimented varieties across all experimental sites. The variety orange flesh (Bajo kewa ngam II) followed by Beni Azumi (Bajo kewa ngam I) and Gorojima were the most preferred variety based on their yield potential, pests and diseases tolerance, organoleptic test (taste, texture and colour) and yield attributes. All the three varieties showed good yield stability.

This study was conducted to evaluate the factors contributing to the spatial distribution of European hazelnut (Corylus avellane L.) in Bhutan and determine the suitable areas for cultivation of the crop in the near future (2040-2060) and distant future (2060-2080) under different climate scenarios of Representative Concentration Pathway (RCP) 2.6 and RCP 4.5 in Bhutan. The environmental layers were obtained from WorldClim and processed in ArcGIS and R software prior to running the model in MaxENT. The multicollinearity test showed six bioclimatic factors and three topographical factors contributing to the distribution of European hazelnut in Bhutan. The findings indicated that approximately 10,744.8 sq. km is potential for hazelnut crop cultivation in Bhutan, with Wangduephodrang District harboring the highest area of 1,227.9 sq. km (11.4%) and Gasa district the least at 130 sq. km. The primary factors affecting climate suitability of European hazelnut were elevation, contributing 87.9%, followed by Bio3 (3.7%), BIO2 (3%), and Bio1 (2.5%), and the least factors were Bio15 and aspect at 0.1% each. The model showed that the most suitable elevation for the growth of hazelnut ranges from 1500-1900 masl. The suitability area for the crop projected under the RCP 2.6 and RCP 4.5 scenarios showed a decline in the near future (2040-2060) in the southern part of the country and a slight increase in the distant future (2061-2080) in Central, Eastern, and Western Bhutan. Therefore, there is an urgent need for climate risk assessment, community-based mitigation measures, and spatial monitoring techniques on agriculture crops in Bhutan.

Fall Armyworm (Spodoptera frugiperda), which began to spread in Bhutan in recent years, is a highly destructive pest of maize that is native to the Americas. Due to the limited information available for developing sustainable management options for the new pest, current management practices are largely chemical-dependent. For use as a biological control option, we present a preliminary list of native natural enemies associated with Fall Armyworm that is collected from infested maize fields in west-central Bhutan. Visual observation, sweep net collection, and rearing of different Fall Armyworm stages were used for detection of the natural enemies. We identified 48 natural enemy species associ- ated with the Fall Armyworm infested maize fields. Parasitism was noted for Chelonus formosanus, Trichogramma sp., Winthemia trinitatis, Linnaemya sp. and Campoletis sonorensis while predation was observed by Polistes olivaceus, Stenodynerus smilibaronii, Tetraponera allaborans, Crematogaster rogennhoferi and Dolichoderus thoracicus on the Fall Armyworm.

Crossing Bhutan is one of the shortest transits, and Bhutan holds the main breeding refuge/habitats for many Central Asian migratory birds. Our study assessed the community structure of waterbirds along the Punatsangchhu River basin, located towards the western part of Bhutan. The study determined the species composition, habitat use and preference of waterbirds, together with the different habitats present. Furthermore, the study examined the potential drivers of habitat fragmentation along the river. The entire study area was classified into five different habitats: dam, dredged area, farmland, urban, and pristine. The Cummings method of habitat assessment for high gradient river and streams was used to assess the habitat variables such as bank stability, vegetative protection and the riparian vegetation zone along the river and the association with the diversity of aquatic birds. A questionnaire survey was also used to evaluate the degree of threats caused by human disturbances. Among the five habitats, the dam area recorded the highest diversity (H` = 2.13) against their total count of 103 (8.7%) and the least diversity was recorded from farmland area (H` = 1.1) against their total count of 282 (23.8%) birds. Most waterbirds preferred an open area with shallow river depth. Habitats with emergent vegetation negatively correlated with the waterbird species composition. The study also recorded one Vulnerable species Aythya ferina, one Near Threatened species Vanellus duvaucelii, and one Endangered species Haliaeetus leucoryphus. Punatsangchhu is a major habitat to both resident and migratory waterbirds which stop here enroute from the Palaearctic and Indo-Malayan Region corroborating the need for habitat conservation and management regimes in the basin.

Bhutan is no exception to the rising global threat of drug resistance tuberculosis (TB), particularly multidrug-resistant (MDR) TB. Although drug resistance surveillance has been carried out in Bhutan since 2010, limited analysis reports are available. Therefore, we looked at data from 2015-2019 to understand patient characteristics.To obtain data for MDR-TB from the past 5 years, we looked at manual registers and laboratory worksheets for all samples received at National TB Reference Laboratory. Epidemiological factors and laboratory variables were analyzed using descriptive statistics.Among 304 patients with MDR-TB, 85.20% (n=259) are new cases with no previous history of treatment. Those aged 16-25 years from both genders are affected more (46.05%, n=140) than other age groups. The majority (94.62%, n=264) of rifampicin resistance was found in theA high number of MDR-TB cases among new patients and little variation in the resistance band pattern over 5 years could indicate uncontrolled ongoing transmission. Whole-genome sequencing for the samples is required to further understand the epidemiology of the resistance pattern.

Water is a fundamental resource and for millions of people living in the Himalayas, springs are their only source of water for household and farming. To meet the water requirements, the communities depend on rain-fed springs which are highly sensitive to climate change. Rural communities in developing countries would be the most affected among other communities around the world as they have limited resources at their disposal. The objective of this study is to document the local people's awareness of climate change and their knowledge of water source dynamics constrained by climate change impacts in Phobjikha and Gangtey Gewogs, one of the Ramsar sites in Bhutan. A total of 248 households were interviewed using structured questionnaires employing simple random sampling techniques. Chi-Square test of independence was conducted. Results indicate that education is associated with awareness and water source dynamics. However, the majority of the residents do not have a clear understanding of how climate change affects water sources and how those sources should be protected. We recommend the relevant agency provide education and awareness on climate change impacts and training on water sources protection and management to local people. This would not only help local people enhance their resilience against climate change impacts but also protect their local resources for sustainable livelihoods. Also, Phobjikha and Gangtey are important locations to study climate change impacts in high altitude areas concerning both local peoples' adaptation strategies and dynamics of water as vital natural resources.

Three fish species (Schizothorax richardsonii, Salmo trutta and Neolissochilus hexagonolepis) were collected from Punatsang Chhu river and sample tissues of muscles and gills were analyzed for Al, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Mo, Ni, Pb, Se, Sr and Zn using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES). Principal Component Analysis (PCA) for each species grouped elements with higher concentration in gills compared to muscle tissues. The Man-Whitney test revealed significant difference between tissues sources and concentrations of Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Fe, K, Mn, Mo, Ni, Sr and Zn in S. richardsonii, Al, Ba, Co, Fe, K, Mn, Ni, Sr and Zn in S. trutta and Al, Ba, Co, Cr, Fe, K, Mn, Sr and Zn in N. hexagonolepis. The Kruskal-Wallis test for inter-species variation revealed significant difference in concentration of As, Cr, Cu, Fe, Mn, Ni and Zn in muscle tissues and Ba, Cr, Cu, Mn, Sr and Zn concentrations in gills of three species. Spearman correlation between levels of elements and fish size (weight and length) revealed positive and negative relationships for concentrations of As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Fe, K, Mn, Ni, Pb, Sr, and Zn and concentrations of Al, Ba, Cd, Co, Fe, K, Mn, Mo, Ni, Sr and Zn respectively, both at p < 0.001 and p < 0.005.

Design thinking is a human-centric, iterative, and collaborative approach to solve complex problems. Current study has made an attempt to implement design thinking (DT) as one of the pedagogical means to respond to the need for teaching, learning, and assessment and specifically, the study was intended to explore strategies to implement DT in designing and delivering lessons in the classrooms of a higher secondary school at Samtse. The study was conducted through a participatory design approach which involved co-designing lessons using DT between the researchers and teacher participants. The data for this study was obtained from observations, semi-structured interviews, focus group discussions, and reflections. Eventually, for data analysis thematic analysis and narrative descriptions were used. As such, this study provides information that broadens the understanding of the integration of the DT approach in the classroom in the Bhutanese context, and its impact on the development of skills in students. The findings of the study unveiled that using DT empowers teachers to be innovative in planning learning activities that enable lessons to become more engaging and exciting. Further, the finding also revealed that DT assists students to develop problem-solving skills and creativity.

Virtual Water Trade is the product of Specific Water Demand and quantity of a commodity traded in tons. The water availability, water utility patterns, attributes of agricultural products imports, and quantity of 4 selected crops traded were collected through a questionnaire survey with a systematic circular design. The Specific Water Demand of crops was collected from published FAO guidelines and data was analyzed using MS-Excel and Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). The Net Virtual Water Trade was calculated using MS Excel. The study showed positive NVWT with higher virtual water export than an import for the study area. The independent sample t-test showed a significant difference between NVWT of farmers that has and that do not have enough water for agriculture t¬ (88) =3.129, p=0.002. The Pearson Chi-Square test showed no significance in the relationship between attributes of import of agri-products and availability of water resources in the Gewog; X2 (4, N=90) = 63.68, p=0.000. The study revealed a strong correlation between household size and VWI of apple and rice and VWE of apple, potato, chilli, and rice at p

Bhutan is located between the two zoogeographic regions which are assumed to be rich in diversity of water beetles. The study aimed to determine the diversity and distribution pattern of water beetles in different freshwater habitats in Namgaychholing under Samtse district, Bhutan. The study also analysed the association of water beetles with the physico-chemical parameters. The data were collected from four different habitats with sample plot of 3 m × 1 m for a standard time of 1 hour in every plot. A total of 30 species belonging to 7 families were recorded of which Dytiscidae (n=626, RA=51) was the most abundant family and Lacconectus basalis (n=416, RA=34.13) was the most abundant species. The overall Shannon diversity index of the study area was H ′=2.48. Amongst the different habitats, marshy area had the highest Shannon diversity index (H ′=2.45) and stream had the lowest (H ′=1.82). A Kruskal Wallis test on diversity among different habitats showed no significant difference (p

The impact of urine diversion on the biological treatment processes at a decentralized wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was investigated. BioWin software was used for the simulations, and the model was firstly validated with data from a real WWTP. The simulations showed that upto 82 % N, 30 % P, 6% chemical oxygen demand (COD) load to the WWTP can be reduced by complete urine diversion but effluent N reduction was notable up to 75 % urine diversion. Under the current WWTP operating conditions, the simulations suggest that 33 % of aeration energy can be saved by 90 % urine diversion. Direct N2O and CO2 emissions in the treatment processes can also be reduced by 98 % and 25 % respectively. Indirect green house gas emissions can also be reduced by 20 %. Overall, the reduction in the discharge of nutrients and in the operation of blowers was found to contribute to a 22 % reduction in the operating costs (on energy consumption and nutrient discharge).

This study explores an improved alternative on-site treatment for unsewered urban Bhutan. The system combines up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket for blackwater treatment and anaerobic biofilter for a mixture of up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket effluent and greywater. Shredded waste plastic bottles are used as novel biofilter media that provides a large surface area for attached growth while addressing waste plastic problems. A bench-scale up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (operated at hydraulic retention time or HRT of 1–10 days) and anaerobic biofilter (HRT of 0.25–3 days) study were conducted for 188 days. At 2-d HRT, up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket removed 70–80 % of chemical oxygen demand (COD) while anaerobic biofilter achieved 90–98 % COD removal at eight-hour HRT. Combined up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket and anaerobic biofilter achieved final effluent with COD less than 50 mg/L and turbidity of less than 3 NTU that meets the discharge standard of Bhutan. The study shows that shredded waste plastic bottles can be an effective biofilter support medium for low-cost on-site treatment while helping address waste plastic problems.

Common bean is an important vegetable which provides carbohydrates, proteins, vitamins and minerals for human nutrition, and is often used as a meat alternative in poor countries. Demand for beans for the domestic market in Bhutan is huge which results in increased imports annually. The ban on bean imports citing pesticide residues further led to imbalance in the market (supply-demand) equilibrium. To diversify the choice of cultivars for increased production and to help stabilize market imbalance, two improved cultivars from Japan were evaluated for yield stability, yield potential, length of growing season, pest/disease tolerance, and market and agronomic traits. Grey pole bean was used as a check variety for the study. The variety Prime Green, followed by Brown Pole is preferred over Grey Pole on a range of crop characteristics such as yield potential, disease/pest tolerance, marketable traits (fibrous [stringy] and fleshiness of the pods), and agronomic traits (germination rate, and days to maturity). All three cultivars evaluated show yield stability.

Natural saltlicks are used by mammal species mainly to supplement mineral deficiency playing critical role in animal ecology. There is information gap on the use of natural saltlicks by mammals in Bhutan. Nine natural saltlicks from Jomotsangkha Wildlife Sanctuary were purposively selected to fill this gap of information. The study aimed to assess mineral composition and ecological behaviour of mammals at natural saltlicks. Nine composite soil samples were randomly collected and nine camera traps were set up at nine saltlicks for a duration of 56 days from 2 January to 28 February, 2019. Data management and analysis were carried out using camerabase and R software. Potassium, phosphorus and sodium elements were found in the saltlicks. Camera traps yielded 419 independent events of 12 species under 10 families. Herbivores were most common (n = 390) and non-herbivores the least (n = 12). Wild dog was also captured licking salts (n = 1) which is least reported across the world. Mineral composition (r = 0.70, p < .05) and anthropogenic activities (r = 0.60, p < .05) were key factors affecting the visitation rate and ecological behaviour of mammal species. Disturbed saltlicks from Samdrupcholing Range revealed fewer individuals of mammals (n = 71) with disturbed ecological behaviour while undisturbed saltlicks from Jomotsangkha Range revealed higher individuals of mammals (n = 340) with undisturbed ecological behaviour. Therefore, anthropogenic activities at disturbed saltlicks call for planned monitoring.

In this study, the impact of urine diversion on the treatment capacity, treatment process, and capital costs of a decentralised wastewater treatment plant (WWTP) was simulated using BioWin. The data for simulation including for economic analysis were obtained from a real decentralised WWTP at Sydney. Simulation was conducted for two alternative process design scenarios of a WWTP: membrane bioreactor (MBR) without denitrification and anaerobic MBR in place of aerobic MBR and compared to existing process design. The simulation shows that with about 75% urine diversion (through source separation), the treatment capacity of the existing WWTP can be doubled although above 40% urine diversion, the impact appears less rapid. When the urine diversion exceeds 75%, it was found that the anoxic tank for biological denitrification becomes redundant and the current wastewater treatment process could be replaced with a simpler and much less aeration intensive membrane bioreactor (MBR) producing similar effluent quality with a 24% reduction in capital expenditure (footprint) cost. Anaerobic MBR can be a potential alternative to aerobic MBR although pre-treatment becomes essential before reverse osmosis treatment for water reuse applications. Sensitivity analysis has revealed that by operating the bioreactor at higher mixed liquor suspended solids concentrations (9 g/L instead of 5 g/L) could help increase the WWTP treatment capacity by about 3.5 times at 75% urine diversion. Hence, urine diversion (until nitrogen-limiting conditions occur above 75% urine diversion) can increase the treatment capacity of an existing WWTP and reduce the capital expenses due to reduced plant footprint.

This study reviews the current wastewater management practices and their challenges in urban Bhutan. The study data was collected from the local authorities of 35 classified towns, and the field survey was conducted for the two representative towns of Thimphu City and Khuruthang town. The study observed that only eight of the 35 classified towns (22.8%) have public sewerage systems, with an average coverage of 19.7% of Bhutan’s total urban population, or 7.4% of Bhutan’s entire population. The imported modular wastewater treatment technology was significantly more expensive than alternative options; however, approximately six towns have already adopted this technology, due to a lack of space for a much cheaper waste stabilisation ponds. Currently, over 80% of Bhutan’s urban population depends on the on-site sanitation system for their domestic wastewater disposal; however, over 40% of these properties lacked a soak-pit system for the safe disposal of septic tank effluent. Therefore, this study indicates that urban settlements in Bhutan are potentially subjected to overflow of significant amount of hazardous septic tank effluents directly into the environment posing significant risk to public and the environment. A critical urban plot space analysis indicates that the current system of on-site sanitation is inadequate and unsuitable for the current urban settings. Since it is impractical for the government to provide public sewerage system to all the towns, a low-cost public sewerage system, or an alternative and improved on-site treatment system, needs to be explored and promoted to achieve long-term environmental objectives.

In this study, granular activated carbon (GAC) was examined for the removal of five of the most commonly detected pharmaceuticals (naproxen, carbamazepine, acetaminophen, ibuprofen and metronidazole) from a nitrified urine to make the urine-derived fertiliser nutrient safe for food crops. Batch experiments were conducted to investigate the adsorption kinetics that described the removal of micropollutants (equal concentrations of 0.2 mM) from the synthetic nitrified urine at different GAC dosages (10–3000 mg/L). Artificial neural network modelling was also used to predict and simulate the removal of pharmaceuticals from nitrified urine. Langmuir and Freundlich isotherm models described the equilibrium data, with the Langmuir model providing slightly higher correlations. At the highest dose of 3000 mg/L GAC, all the pharmaceuticals showed a removal rates of over 90% after 1 h of adsorption time and 99% removal rates after 6 h of adsorption time. This study concludes that GAC is able to remove the targeted xenobiotics without affecting the concentration of N and P in the urine, suggesting that nitrified urine could be safely used as a nutrient product in future.

In this study, a 1000 L/d capacity one-off on-site wastewater treatment system was operated for over a year as a pilot alternative to the conventional on-site treatment as currently used in urban Bhutan. An up-flow anaerobic sludge blanket (UASB) was used for blackwater treatment (to replace “septic tank followed by an anaerobic biofilter (ABF) (to replace soak pits) for the treatment of a mixture of greywater and UASB effluent. Shredded waste plastic bottles were used as the novel biofilter media in the ABF. During a yearlong operation, the pilot system produced a final treated effluent from ABF with average BOD5 28 mg/L, COD 38 mg/L, TSS 85 mg/L and 5 log units of Escherichia coli. These effluents met three out of four of the national effluent discharge limits of Bhutan, but unsuccessful to meet the Escherichia coli standard over a yearlong operation. Further, process optimisation may enable more significant Escherichia coli removal. An economic analysis indicates that the total unit cost (capital and operating expenditures) of this alternative wastewater treatment system for more than 50 users range between USD 0.27–0.37/person/month comparable to USD 0.29–0.42/person/month for the current predominant on-site system, i.e., “septic tanks”. This pilot study, therefore, indicates that this wastewater treatment system using shredded waste plastic biofilter media has high potential to replace the current conventional treatment, i.e., “septic tanks”, which are often overloaded with greywater and discharging effluents which does not meet the national standards.

Bhutan is known for its approach to high-value, low-volume tourism development. Bhutan has been cited as an example of a best case approach to sustainable tourism. However, like other landlocked countries, Bhutan relies heavily on imported goods from neighbouring countries such as India and Thailand, leading to significant economic leakages. This raises the question of how economically sustainable Bhutan's tourism is. This research employs a mixed microeconomic and macroeconomic analysis of linkages and leakages between different sectors in the Bhutanese tourism industry, in particular hotels and agriculture to ascertain the volume and value of these leakages.

This paper investigated the membrane fouling mitigation efficacy and performance of a home-made submerged module containing outer selective hollow fiber thin film composite forward osmosis (OSHF TFC FO) membrane in osmosis membrane bioreactor (OMBR) system treating municipal wastewater for desalination. Initial tests, optimization of draw solution flowrate and pumping mode for the submerged module were carried out before it was applied into the OMBR system. Overall, the OMBR system exhibited an initial water flux of approximately 6.3 LMH using 35 g/L NaCl as draw solution, and high removal efficiencies of bulk organic matter and nutrients. Moreover, membrane fouling was effectively mitigated with slow rate of flux decline during 33-day operation of the OMBR system. These results indicated that the submerged membrane module of OSHF TFC FO membrane has stable and reliable performances making it suitable for OMBR supplication without the need of air scouring to prevent membrane fouling. - Qatar National Research Fund (QNRF) - grant #NPRP 9-052-2-020. - Australian Research Council (ARC) - grant #IH170100009. - Bhutan Trust Fund for Environmental Conservation (BTFEC) - grant #MB0167Y16.

Merak–Sakteng is a remote area of Bhutan, which is targeted for development of tourism owing to the unique culture and way of life of the semi-nomadic local ‘Brokpa’ people, whose livelihoods depend on herding yaks and sheep. These livestock enter forests where local residents and government see their grazing as threatening their crops and causing environmental degradation. The semi-nomadic life centred on livestock, which has long been essential to Brokpa culture and economy, thus comes under threat. The opening of Merak–Sakteng to tourism is intended to address this conflict by lessening the Brokpas' economic dependence on livestock. This paper reports on research into the potential of tourism to transform this ethnic minority's economic way of life through the introduction of tourism into the local livelihood mix. Sustainable livelihoods issues are investigated through a consideration of both economic and socio-cultural aspects of the local way of life, based on observation, and the findings of a survey of local people, semi-structured interviews with village leaders and government officials concerning development of the area. The survey found that despite land-use conflicts and limited grazing land, Brokpas still aspired to spend money gained from tourism on purchasing more yaks, which may escalate land-use conflicts and threaten environmental sustainability. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The Himalayan nation of Bhutan is known to embrace Gross National Happiness rather than Gross National Product as the measure of its people's well-being. Happiness, spirituality and cultural authenticity are prominent factors in Bhutan's tourism image, and these attributes are most clearly exhibited in the traditional festivals that are among the most popular attractions for many foreign tourists. This paper introduces the cultural practice of religious festivals in Bhutan and investigates how tourism may be affecting these festivals. Within this context, this paper reports on the findings of a survey of Bhutanese monks and lay people, regarding their impressions of the effects of tourists on one particular event – the Tsechu festival. With the Bhutanese government's aim to increase the number of annual tourists more than fourfold to 200,000 by 2018, this research provides a baseline study of the perceived impact of tourism on religious festivals and addresses the issue of whether such an increase in volu...

Energy consumption and conservation is one of the important topics in Energy Education, whereby students are required to understand the factors of energy consumption leading to promote students’ awareness on saving energy in residence. Moreover, inquiry-based learning strategy can be used to encourage students’ learning in the topic. Although, several researchers studied on how to use digital games to improve understand the topic. However, a few studies have been conducted to investigate what the gender differences in playing and learning energy game-based learning are. In this vein, this paper address this issue by investigating the gender differences in learning achievement and energy-saving awareness through a digital game based on inquiry-based learning called Residence Energy Saving Battle (RES-battle). An experiment has been conducted on a secondary school physics course. The experimental results from 129 students indicate that the RES-battle can decrease the difference between female and male learning achievements reasonably and energy-saving awareness. This suggests a need to develop the game that can provide the opportunities for interaction on game screen and also with other students.

Climate change due to global warming has incredibly contributed potential risk to the agricultural farming system. The collective responsibility to advocate food security and sustaining the farming system is a key issue. While the conventional farming techniques have combated to meet global food demands, however sustaining food security to provide access to safe and nutritious food is at probable risk to the growing population. At present, people are concerned more on the importance of diet and health since easily available inorganic farm products give threats to people's health by triggering unsolicited diseases. Organic farming is an approach that would guarantee environmental friendly, sustainable and safe nutritious foods with low impact to the soil biodiversity. One of the main challenging dispute of organic farming is the low yield as compared to rapid inorganic farming methods. To increase organic farm produce yield, monitoring soil organic abundance plays a key role in organic farming system. To uncover this issue, a real time smart electronic system was designed to monitor soil organic richness online in the farm to support farmers in making informed decision. The system was capable of archiving real time soil data based on soil organic volatile. Software application were integrated to analyze soil data and display soil information online including weather parameters in line with the soil status. Base station installed in the farm transmitted soil data to the control station for analysis and uploading data into a cloud database for end user's information. Data were analyzed by principal component analysis to grade organic abundance in soil and linear discriminate analysis to segregate soil volatile variation.

The association of change in the pattern of volatile organic compounds released from the human body with a person's health has proved effective in screening and diagnosing diseases. And with smart devices getting integrated into our living environment, a smart toilet that could monitor the change in urine odor to indicate the health status through analysis of urine would be of great importance. For this reason, we have developed an electronic nose based on eight metal oxide gas sensors in this work to functional as a system that can analyze urine odor. To evaluate the performance of gas sensors, we have performed tests from three groups of urine obtained from healthy, diabetic and alcohol-drinking volunteers. Representatively, the highest sensing response was found to be demonstrated by the sensor TGS2603 and the lowest by MQ8. Overall, all the gas sensors have shown excellent sensitivity to the changes in the urine odor. The discrimination ability of the e-nose evaluated by principal component analysis (PCA) could successfully group and discriminate urine odors based on the volatile organic compounds presented in its head-space.

Notwithstandingly, soil nutrients testing methodologies are still a concern as most of them are time consuming and require laborious sampling which is expensive. In this work, electronic nose (e-nose) based wireless sensor network is designed particularly to solve this issue. Soil sensing stations installed in a precision agriculture farm can generate real time soil data online to keep track of soil status based on volatile organic compounds (VOCs). Portable e-nose was also deployed for discrimination of soil VOCs formerly treated with organic fertilizer and NPK compound fertilizers. Principal component analysis (PCA) has successfully classified VOCs indicating different level of soil fertility based on soil organic matter (SOM). VOCs pattern obtained from our e-nose is in accordance with the laboratory soil test report on total organic matter thus confirming the potential of e-nose technology to identify the soil VOCs fingerprint that will be useful for soil nutrient management in precision agriculture.

Turbine failure not only increases the plant down-time and brings about revenue losses but also poses a serious threat to the life of the operational and maintenance personnel especially when the power house is underground. There are basically four main failure modes identified in open literature. The current article presents an overview of these four hydro turbine failure modes based on an extensive literature review and also field observation from the Tala Hydropower Plant, Bhutan. Moreover, the report provides information about different turbine parts that are more likely to be liable to damage under these failure modes. It also attempts to elucidate some recommended methods to prevent/mitigate against these failure modes.