Crop raiding and livestock predation are major conservation problems throughout most protected areas in Nepal, including the Khaptad National Park (KNP). However, no information exists on the extent of crop raiding, livestock predation, and animal attacks among villages surrounding KNP. We conducted a survey of 304 households in 30 villages in four districts (Bajhang, Bajura, Doti, and Achham) in the buffer zone of KNP between 24 May and 20 June 2019, using the snowball sampling technique. All households experienced numerous major incidents of crop raiding between April 2017 and May 2019. Major wildlife involved were Wild Boar Sus scrofa, Himalayan Black Bear Ursus thibetanus, Rhesus Macaque Macaca mulatta, Barking Deer Muntiacus vaginalis, Common Leopard Panthera pardus, Golden Jackal Canis aureus, and Porcupine Hystrix spp. Of the 304 households, all had their crops raided over the past two years, 55.5% (n = 169) faced livestock predation, and 2% (n = 6) attacks resulting in death or injury. Over 40% of households reported taking mitigation measures to minimize crop raiding. Common measures such as night guarding, noise making, use of scarecrows, watch dogs, and fencing were practiced. More than half of respondents had negative opinions towards wildlife but they still believed that wildlife should be conserved. There was no or negligible correlation between general opinion of respondents towards wildlife and wildlife conservation with their education, sex, or involvement in natural resources management group. We established baseline information on crop raiding and livestock predation in villages surrounding KNP. Gathered information will be transmitted to relevant authorities to design and implement measures to mitigate such conflicts.

Gas flotation for oily wastewater treatment is based on the attachment of gas bubbles to oil droplets to produce lighter aggregates that rise to the wastewater surface. It is a feasible, promising, and effective method for oily wastewater treatment due to its high separation efficiency with no secondary contamination, cost-effectiveness, and simple operation. This review focuses on separating oil from emulsions by gas flotation using microbubbles and nanobubbles which offer the advantages of small bubble size, large specific surface area, and slow rising velocity. The properties of different types of gas bubbles and their generation methods were discussed. Different gas flotation system designs and operational parameters were summarized for dissolved gas flotation, induced gas flotation, and electrolytic flotation. The review illustrated that oil removal efficiency in microbubble and nanobubble-based gas flotation was affected by various factors including initial oil concentration, pH, temperature, flotation time, and oil droplet size.

This study investigated the preparation of stable conventional heavy crude oil-in-water (O/W) emulsions by mechanical homogenization with the addition of a non-ionic surfactant, Tween-20. A four-factor, five-level central composite design was carried out to investigate the effects of four independent variables, including mixing intensity (4,000–10,000 rpm), mixing duration (5–45 min), water salinity (0–40 g/L), and the concentration of emulsifier (0.1–2.1 wt%) on the emulsion stability. Emulsion stability was determined by quantification of creaming index, turbidity change rate, and average oil droplet size. The results demonstrated that the salinity of 30 g/L, mixing intensity of 8,500 rpm, mixing duration of 35 min, and emulsifier concentration of 1.6 wt% led to the formation of the most stable emulsion.

Tourism is growing rapidly and is one of the most important industry in many developing countries. The tourism sector has become major factor of importance in the world GDP because of its rapid growth and development. It is a power force of change in the economy. So, development of tourism influences the development of other sector such as agriculture, food processing, handicraft etc. which can contribute to the well-being of the entire community. Tourism development is strongly related to local communities. Local people are a key element that helps in the development of tourism. They are the important component that influence the future development of tourism destination. The development of certain area or place is impossible without the help of people living in that area. Therefore, the involvement and participation of local people is very important for the development of any sector. Tourism development is one of the important components for the economic growth of the country. In this respect, the perception and attitude of local people plays the most important role. So, the present study provides an idea about the tourism development by the local people perception and explore the need of the tourist by identifying their problems and study the involvement of local people for its development. Based on the survey, the analysis revealed that the facilities like internet, parking facilities, information center, sanitation, safety and security, good food, pure drinking water are the most needed facilities. This study also analyzed that government sector plays a significant role and is required in the development of tourism through infrastructure and hospitality. The infrastructure like road and transport, electricity, water and hospitality like communication, accommodation, and food and beverages. This study also explains that the involvement of local people through various activities like trade and business, maintaining good environment, hospitality, cultural program. The major problems like lack of sanitation, information center, shops in every place in unmanaged way, lack of infrastructure was also revealed by this study.