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The aim of the paper is to analyze the impact of natural disasters on the economic activity of companies by a modified DuPont model. The proposed modified DuPont model includes ratios for economic efficiency, profitability and financial autonomy. Usually the DuPont analysis model is used to evaluate the component parts of a company's return on equity (ROE). This allows an investor to determine what financial activities are contributing most to the changes in ROE. DuPont analysis divides ROE into its constituent co...

Despite the increase of awareness and government involvement, the potential of many European countries to develop bioeconomy is still at a low level. The concept of bioeconomy is rather abstract and largely untapped. Many factors, including insufficient involvement of stakeholders in developing bio-economics strategies, which probably stem from the lack of theoretical and practical knowledge that governs this concept, technological transfer and proper exploitation of current scientific research tools, contribute t...

In this study, the anomalous geomagnetic variation related to the moderate Vrancea earthquake (Mw=5.5) on 28 October 2018 was shown. This anomaly and its associated seismicity were analyzed and compared with a similar anomaly which occurred on October 2016- May 2017. To better distinguish the seismotectonic anomalies from external geomagnetic variations (geomagnetic storms), the datasets recorded at Muntele Rosu (MLR) located inside seismogenic zone were compared with datasets recorded at Surlari (SUA) located at ...

In Bulgaria, a promising method for creating underground gas storage is the use of aquifers. The main prerequisites are: the presence of reservoir systems with a favorable combination of permeable and shielding rocks; hydrogeological and thermobaric conditions marking the chemistry and dynamics of water, the phase state and the quantities of stored gas; the structural-tectonic conditions defining the type of the perspective traps and their architecture; Neo-Seismotectonic activity, determining the degree of seismi...

Integrating conventional well log interpretation with high-resolution borehole electrical image analysis enables a complex understanding of the geological formations intercepted by exploration wells. Whereas conventional geophysical well logs allow the determination of the main reservoir parameters and the fluids distribution, borehole imaging serves as a valuable tool in sedimentary features identification and interpretation, regional dip determination, structural and tectonic elements identification, as well as ...

The problem of intense water pollution by nitrogen and phosphorus compounds is very significant in the 21st century. The pollution is caused by the widespread application of traditional fertilizers in the cultivation of agricultural crops. Nowadays, the research is carried out and the compositions of fertilizers similar in structure with glassy phosphate materials are developed. Inorganic materials, such as carbon fibers, graphite [1], porous glass, silica gel, are widely used for soil, wastewater and air purifica...

Obtaining reliable data on the ongoing risky geo-processes and obtaining adequate and reliable information about them on the current state of the Earth's surface is a key factor in tracking the origin and dynamics of landslide processes as well as assessing the resulting threats to the population and infrastructure. According to information provided by the national authority responsible for the monitoring and keeping track of the landslides over the past two years their number has almost doubled. This is the main ...

The paper describes the results of 1D geomechanical modeling in the territory of Akan oilfield in the Republic of Tatarstan, the Russian Federation. The data of sonic and density logging, which are the basis in the construction of the geomechanical model, were analyzed. The velocity and density properties of carbonate rocks in the study area are stable both along the section and the strike. Sonic waveform logging data were processed for a number of reference wells. The results of processing were taken as the basis...

Portable Gauss meters or Tesla meters are popular, simple and non-expensive magnetometers, capable of measuring the strength and direction of magnetic field, expressed by magnetic flux density and magnetic vector. Gauss meters work on base of cable connected solenoid gauss probe and registered difference of electric potential (Hall effect). Instruments are able to measure both the intensity and direction of magnetic field, usually being applied in the electronical industry or mechanics. Due to the increasing techn...

The article assesses non-carcinogenic health risk of the population of the city of Rostov-on-Don based on observation at fixed stations of the Federal Service for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring of the Russian Federation environment, in particular, according to the Rostov Center for Hydrometeorology and Environmental Monitoring (CGMS-R, Rostov-on-Don) for 2015- 2017. Analysis of the received information shows that nitrogen dioxide, carbon monoxide, formaldehyde are currently making the greatest contr...

Ensuring safety in a territory is one of the basics tasks public administration is engaged in. Safety for the residents living in a neighbourhood is an integral part of safety planning. Safety plans include measures for selected areas associated with risks that may appear in that area. The most significant documents for safety planning are emergency plans, crisis plans and all other related plans. Preparing a safety plan is very closely linked to area planning, which is generally separated into analytical planning...

Equipment designed for use in potentially explosive atmospheres must meet the requirements of ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU (be designed so as to avoid the ignition of the surrounding explosive atmosphere in which are intended to operate). In order to meet the requirements of the ATEX Directive 2014/34/EU, electrical equipment is usually associated to one (or more) type (s) of protection, according the EN 60079 series of standards. In case of electrical equipment that produce arcs or sparks in normal operation, the us...

Evaluation of explosion-proof protected electrical equipment in scope of certification is extremely important considering the risk of explosion that has to be minimized in order to ensure life safety and health of workers and to prevent damaging of property and the environment, as well as free movement of goods when they meet the essential safety requirements at European level. The standards SR EN 60079-0 (Explosive atmospheres. Part 0: Equipment. General requirements) and one or more of the standards containing t...

As a world heritage site Rila monastery is continuously monitored, including seismically, ensuring proper maintenance and preservation for future generations. Th? instrumental data is acquired by the monastery?s accelerograph stations that are local units of the National Strong Ground Motion (SGM) Network run by the NIGGG-BAN. Considering the seismic history of our lands, it is indispensable to assess periodically the characteristics of significant earthquake impacts on important sites as this one. The current sei...

This article is devoted to the assessment of cultural landscapes of the Cheboksary urban district. At present, with active urbanization, the problem of preserving landscapes and culture and the social space of the local community arises. In the course of writing the article, descriptive, analytical, mathematical and cartographic methods of research were used. The results in the article analyzed the existing theoretical and methodological issues in the field of cultural landscapes of their assessment. Classes of cu...

Qualitative assessment of the current nature protection efficiency of SPNA as forms of the animals, plants biodiversity conservation directly in habitats and unique landscapes for optimization of territorial conservation is necessary. It is especially relevant for the Volgograd region taking into account uniqueness of natural systems, the urgent necessity of natural systems preservation, the small area of SPNA (8.8% of the area of the region) and intensive economic development of the territory. Environmental effic...

From contaminated mining areas, contaminants can migrate to different components of the environment, being favored by physicochemical transfer mechanisms such as their transfer into water. The dispersion of metallic contaminants from closed mining sites in surface waters is favored by the topography, climate and lithology of the area. In the Brad mining area, activity has ceased for about 15 years. Properly unnamed tailings and coastal galleries are a diffuse source of surface water pollution. The paper aims to as...

The article presents the results of assessing the comfort of climatic conditions for the development of tourism in the Akmola region, including in the Shchuchinsk-Borovoye resort area. The climate is one of the resources, determining the spatial organization of recreation and tourism. Any tourism and recreational activity should be based on the results of the assessment of the tourism and recreational potential of the territory. The tourism and recreational potential of the climatic resources of the Akmola region ...

Nowadays, more and more society are thinking about environmental issues, such as global climate change, environmental pollution, degraded, abandoned territories and their revitalization. Degraded areas are found in the whole world, so the importance of this issue cannot be measured only within the national level, but on a global scale. Revitalization of brownfields is a time-consuming and financially expensive. Therefore, the aim of the research is to analyse investment attraction possibilities for revitalization ...

Au mineralizations of Jales and Gralheira, located in Tras-os-Montes, near Vila Pouca de Aguiar (northern Portugal), belong to the Jales Mining District, the main historic producer of gold in Portugal. Mineralizations are hosted by syn- to late-tectonic Variscan granites and by Palaeozoic metasediments ranging in age from Ediacaran to Devonian. The studies carried out consisted of the analysis of samples from drill cores (provided by the Consortium AM- Almada Mining, S.A. and EDM, Empresa de Desenvolvimento Mineir...

Waste application, beneficial in terms of soil abundance in nutrients, cannot lead to soil contamination. The incubation experiment aimed at assessing the effect of applying sulfur pulp (waste material containing elemental sulfur) and ground phosphate rock on the availability of heavy metals in soils. The experiment was conducted on two soils with different soil category: medium and heavy, both of acid reaction and not contaminated with heavy metals. Doses of sulfur pulp and phosphate rock were set based on soil a...

The paper examines the environmental threats associated with the burning of household waste in open piles across rural communities with a focus on Neamt County (Romania) as a case study of uncontrolled waste disposal practice. This option derived from the lack of efficient municipal waste collection schemes, and on the other hand, it is a traditional disposal route for agricultural wastes besides open dumping on the surroundings. This study estimates the potential amounts of household waste uncollected by formal w...

The paper deals with the chlorine in sintering process overview. Chlorine penetrates to iron making process from raw charge already in the coke making from coal and sintering process. Beside it can causes corrosion problems in blast furnace facilities, it causes environmental problems too. It is know that sintering of iron ores is a industrial source of polychlorinated dibenzo ? p-dioxins and dibenzofurans (PCDD/Fs). The paper gives overview of how the municipal solid waste incineration (MSWI) fly ash effects on t...

Steel constructions and their structural elements are significantly vulnerable to high temperatures which may be caused, for example, by fire. For this reason, investigations of the thermal load of building structures bear indisputable social importance and considerable practical coverage in the security design of critical infrastructures, as well as in the protection of persons and members of intervening security forces. The application of new knowledge when dealing with emergency situations and investigating the...

The use of synthetic or natural zeolites in food processing and medical (drug or drug support systems, nutritive supplements) applications also depends on their behavior under digestive conditions. This study aims to investigate the changes in the crystalline structure of natural zeolites in simulated in vitro digestion conditions and the interaction with simulated body fluid (SBF, pH=7.40) and simulated gastric fluid (SGF, pH=1.20). The different pH of used simulated biological fluids may result in interactions b...

This paper is an overview of the main devices for wave and wind energy extraction and how they can be combined to extract as much green energy as possible. This idea can be done by upgrading existing wind turbines with wave energy systems as well as by creating a new system that will cover the wind energy and also the wave and even solar energy. The hybrid systems are presented as a combination of existing systems. The study continues with the evaluation of the renewable resources in the Western Black Sea and to s...

In the European context, storage and recycling of sludge from sewage treatment plants is a highly discussed and sometime a controversial subject. On the other hand, sludge production at the European level it can not to be neglected, being around 13.25 Mt/year. Even if for sewage sludge management there are many alternatives (including incineration or landfilling), its use in agriculture remains a preferred option in many countries due to the results obtained by farmers in terms of productivity levels achieved for ...

Two well-known regulatory constructions ? technological regulation based on Best Available Techniques (BAT) and greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions regulation ? aim at cleaning and greening industrial production. BAT-related legislation and practices have been applied in the UK and Sweden for over 30 years, while European Parliament passed the Integrated Pollution Prevention and Control (IPPC) Directive in 1996. In Russia, the ?BAT Law? was issued in 2014, and in 2019 first IPPC installations will receive Integrated ...

To improve the fuel characteristics, bio-oil is preceded to modernization which mainly includes hydrotreatment. This work is devoted to the study of the conversion of anisole, as one of the lignin monomers, in the presence of catalysts synthesized by the hydrothermal method. Platinum and palladium catalyst deposited on the polymer matrix of hypercrosslinked polystyrene allowed achieving about 90% of anisole conversion. It was shown that during the conversion of anisole, cyclohexane, methylcyclohexane, and phenol a...

The use of environmentally friendly and biodegradable fertilizers is an area of great interest throughout the world. One such fertilizer is biochar, obtained by the method of biomass pyrolysis (manures, green mass, and mushrooms). Biochar obtained from chicken manure is discussed relatively rarely in the literature; however, it seems to be a good fertilizer because of its significant nutrient content. Moreover, preparation of biochar from chicken manure solves another serious environmental problem: its utilization...

Diversification of rural resources in Poland has the potential to create great opportunities for innovation, development and of renewable energy sources and the development of non-agricultural activities. Over 90% of the territory of Poland is a rural area characterized by specific conditions. The potential of biomass that is usefoul for energy purposes in Poland is among the highest ones in the European Union. This creates the possibility of the use of biomass for the production of liquid fuels (bioethanol, biodi...

Plant diseases are one of the central reasons causing serious problems of food security in the world, affecting the quality and quantity of crops. Recently more and more attention is paid to alternative eco-friendly methods of plant disease control. One of such methods is the use of special microorganisms (so called biological control agents, BCA) that exhibit antagonistic activity towards phytopathogens. Since many microbes, which are suppressive towards plant pathogens are present in the nature, it is important ...

The calcareous nannoplankton represents a group of major components of the oceanic phytoplankton, situated at the base of the trophic chain. The evolution pattern of these organisms is relevant in the past geological record and nowadays, for several research fields, such as: marine biology, marine geology, biogeochemistry, micropaleontology, biostratigraphy as well as paleogeographic and paleoclimatic reconstructions, including the paleoenvironmental ones. Taking into account that the calcareous nannoplankton spec...

In today?s world, with high demanding of energy, heavy oil and bitumen are important hydrocarbon resources that play progressively significant roles in the worldwide economy. Due to the diminishing of conventional oil resources, getting energy from unconventional resources becomes a tremendously outstanding process. Recently, metal oxide catalysts have shown promising applications and effects in different thermal enhanced oil recovery processes. These metal oxide catalysts have been chosen due to their exclusive p...

The recovery of heavy, extra heavy oils and bitumens has been challenging for the world oil industry. In-situ combustion (ISC) has been proved to be effective method for the enhanced oil recovery (EOR) of these heavy crudes. However, the wide application of ISC is still limited due to the difficulty in ignition and unstable combustion front, etc. In order to address these difficulties, catalysts have been proposed for improving the combustion behavior of crude oils in ISC process. This study is aimed to identify t...

The problem of oil spills during the marine transportation of oil products is still urgent today. The pollution fate and self-purification of the local ecosystem rates are still insufficiently studied. The article presents data on concentration of chloroform-extractable substances, oil hydrocarbons and the number of anaerobic bacteria in the sea bottom sediments of the Kerch Strait after the vessel?s accident in November 2007 for period of 2007 ? 2009. Chloroform-extractable substances concentration in the bottom ...

The gigantic fragmentation of land ownership in Slovakia is a consequence of historical development. The application and compliance of the Hungarian inheritance system principles up to present caused that in Slovakia at the end of the year 2018 was more than 8.4 million property plots, over 4.4 million land owners, 100.7 million co-owner relations. The average number of co-owners per plot is 11.93 and the average number of plots per owner is 22.74. This is a fact which increasingly creates problems that are also c...

Ratei Cave, with its 7,224 m length, provides a good opportunity to investigate the geology and tectonics of Leaota Mountains, the eastern end of the South Carpathians. The geological observations reveal that Ratei Cave is mainly developed in Upper Jurassic limestones, but siliciclastic and metamorphic rocks are encountered in different locations along the cave passages. The stratigraphic succession on the 69 m elevation range, which represents the positive vertical extent between the entrance and the cave end, co...

Cement is the second most-consumed resource in the world, with more than 4 billion tonnes of the material produced globally every year. The cement production is considered to be one of major polluters regulated by Best Available Techniques (BAT) both in Europe and the Russian Federation. At the same time, cement industry generates greenhouse gases (GHG) emissions both of the ?energy? and ?process? origin. In Russia, climate legislation is just being formed, but operators of cement installations have already begun ...

Radiation factors in the areas of mineral deposit extraction are often rather intense, and they require a detailed study. One of such areas is the Taimyr Dolgan-Nenets District of the Krasnoyarsk Region, Russia, the administrative center of which is located in the town of Dudinka where at present the water supply system is being upgraded. This study is focused on investigation of the radiation factors on the territory under upgrade. In the framework of engineering and environmental surveys the gamma background and...

Landscape structure is the result of a process that continually taking place in the landscape during of historical development. The city of Kezmarok has held a very significant position in terms of settlement structure of the Poprad basin or the greater region beneath the High Tatras from the very beginnings of its development. The area demarcated by the current cadaster limits was witness to many changes to the landscape structure conditioned by a wide range of factors and conditions, out of which human involveme...

In millions of years, nature has created huge energy reserves in the form of fossil fuels, consumption of which is constantly increasing. The depletion of energy reserves stored in fossil fuels is becoming real. For this reason, as well as for the protection of the environment, it is necessary to look for and utilize the renewable energy sources that we encounter in everyday life. Such a source of energy is, for example, biomass, which has been used as a fuel by many generations before us. The combustion of biomas...

Magnesium-based materials are very attractive as hydrogen storage media, due to their high hydrogen absorption capacity (theoretically, 7.6 wt.% H2) and low price. Some drawbacks of these materials, like slow hydrogen sorption kinetics and high absorption-desorption temperatures, can be overcome using different additives and high energy ball milling. In this study, the hydrogen sorption characteristics of the Mg-Ni-C composites, prepared by ball milling under Ar atmosphere, are investigated. Polyolefin wax (POW, a...

Thermal analysis is the sum of investigation methods in which the physical or chemical properties of a substance or mixture of substances are measured as a function of temperature or time. In order to perform these determinations, the temperature of the product is changed after a well-established and controlled program. Fourier Transform Infrared Spectrometry (FT-IR) is a non-destructive technique that involves low analytical costs and fast responses. Thus, some physical phenomena such as melting, boiling, sublima...

Mushroom production generates a considerable amount of spent mushroom substrate, difficult to utilize at the site of production. The high amount of organic matter and nutrients in the waste justifies its environmental use. However, waste entering the environment undergoes transformations, the direction and intensity of which depend on, among other things, environmental conditions. Extreme environmental conditions (such as very low or high pH) can significantly change the properties of introduced material and, as a...

Static electricity as a result of friction and induction loading mechanisms is a phenomenon that occurs frequently in the industry, most of the time accidentally and unwanted. The electrostatic charges accumulated by workers during various activities may lead to electrostatic discharges, which, in the presence of an explosive atmosphere, cause explosion and / or fire risk. Theoretical and practical studies regarding the occurrence, formation and accumulation of electrostatic charges in the charging process with el...

Chromium spinel is identified as macrocrystals and rock-forming mineral of groundmass in kimberlites, composing the Manchary and the Aprelskaya pipes of the Khompu-May kimberlite field (Central Yakutia). Spinel assemblage of every pipe is individual. Chromospinellides of mesostasis of the Manbchary pipe crystallized in two stages. At the first stage, groundmass spinel crystallized until phlogopite was formed, at the second stage ? at the same time with mica, removing aluminum and magnesium form the melt. Kimberlit...

The modern world is characterized by significant economic and environmental inequality. Income inequality of population and the predominance of rich people in the consumption over others cause certain ecological and economic problems with negative impact to sustainable development. One of the main global problems according to Sustainable Development Goals is poverty. And the most challenging kind of poverty from an economic and ecological point of view is chronic poverty. It is reproduced systematically in several...

In 2050 more than 66% of the world?s population will live in urban areas. Some cities feature an extremely high growth rate, dense population and often a low level of management and economic development. Traditional economic theory fails to consider the positive and negative externalities arising from the interaction of economic, ecological and social city spheres. Externalities arise at interaction of economic and ecological, economic and social, and ecological and social components. The choice between environmen...

The article presents methods for determination of technically recoverable resources from unconventional reservoirs in shale rocks. The gas flow in low-permeable unconventional deposits is a complex process, depending on rock parameters but also on the method of well stimulation. Significantly higher complexity of parameters affecting the operation process requires the construction of complex numerical reservoir models taking into account various gas flow mechanisms: flow according to the Darcy equation in fracture...