Asia

Environmental concerns arising from the over-dredging of sand have led to restrictions on its extraction across India, with direct economic impacts on concrete construction. A suitable environmentally friendly alternative to sand must be found to match the huge demand from the concrete construction industry. At the same time, waste plastic is rarely recycled in India, with as much as 40% left in landfill. The dumping of such materials which degrade at extremely low rates meaning they persist in the environment is a long-term environmental concern.
Supporting Goal 11. China's import ban on plastic waste will increase demand for virgin resin, causing a rise in utilisation rates for plants.
This study was conducted to investigate how the legal framework governing the Bangladeshi fishery sector can be reformed through measures such as governance reform, increasing coordination between administrative bodies and educating key stakeholders, including fishermen. In doing so, this paper evaluates how Bangladeshi fishery laws can facilitate sustainable development and improved environmental outcomes for coastal and marine living resources.
Non-vascular plants such as mosses, lichens and especially microalgae are widespread in terrestrial ecosystems, but their contribution in the nutrient cycling and energy budget of soil food webs is generally neglected. Despite a relatively low total biomass, soil microalgae can be very productive and contribute to the diet of many soil decomposers such as Collembola. Using 15N/14N ratios we showed that phycophagy is of particular importance for Collembola in extreme habitats like rock surfaces, or seasonally during the wintertime.
ICIS,

ICIS Chemical Business, 12 January 2018

President Xi’s environmental drive prioritises air quality over GDP growth
Supporting Goal 11. China’s campaign to clean-up its environment. spurs record profits in chemicals value chains.
The main street in 1950s (left) and now (right).
Increasing attention has been given to historically and culturally significant traditional villages in China in the past five years. Two key themes have been protection and usage. Rural tourism has been recognized as a key approach to rural development and poverty alleviation. Through a systematic knowledge review, this paper proposes an integrative and sustainable Rural Tourism-based Traditional Village Revitalization model to better understand the relationship between rural tourism and village revitalization.
HIV Rapid Test being administered (Equality Michigan viaWikimedia Commons)
Background Multistage, stepwise HIV testing and treatment procedures can result in lost opportunities to provide timely antiretroviral therapy (ART). Incomplete engagement of patients along the care cascade translates into high preventable mortality. We aimed to identify whether a structural intervention to streamline testing and linkage to HIV health care would improve testing completeness, ART initiation, and viral suppression and reduce mortality. Methods We did a cluster-randomised, controlled trial in 12 hospitals in Guangxi, China.
Framed in feminist political ecology, this paper presents an intersectional analysis of the gender-water-tourism nexus. Based in an emergent tourism destination, Labuan Bajo, Indonesia, it goes beyond an analysis of how women bear the brunt of burdens related to water scarcity, and examines which women and why and how it affects their daily lives.
Background Gender differences in child development have been extensively studied in high-income countries, but few data are available from low-income and middle-income countries. Our objective was to assess gender disparities in child development that might arise from differential investment in child health, nutrition, and education in six countries across the east Asia-Pacific region.
In this study, we explore the role of telemedicine in reducing gender-based barriers women and girls in rural areas of Nepal are facing to access healthcare services. Data were collected through a mixed method consisting of questionnaires survey, in-depth interviews, and focus group discussions with mobile phone and video conference-based telemedicine users. Data were analysed through descriptive and thematic analysis. Results revealed that telemedicine reduced travel restrictions, treatment expenses, and apprehension regarding sexual and reproductive health consultation.

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