What are the operational challenges and costs for forestry forwarders under different site conditions in Southern Bahia, Northeastern Brazil?

The Brazilian forestry sector comprises 9.94 million hectares of plantations, with eucalyptus dominating 75% of this area for pulp production. Technological advances have enhanced machinery performance, with the cut-to-length system being the primary method for pulpwood production. This study aimed to optimize the operational cycle of the log loader by evaluating productivity, operational cycles, and loading costs. Data were collected in Bahia, northeastern Brazil, from a forestry company operating under varying productivity scenarios and forest rotations. Time and motion studies were conducted to assess the log loader’s cycles, while productivity and cost analyses were performed. The results indicated that predictive models effectively explained productivity variations. The log loader’s productivity increased with the average volume per tree (AVT) and decreased with the number of movements, which consumed 68% of the cycle time due to wood adjustment and stack organization. Stages such as personal breaks, truck movements, crane adjustments, and cleaning of fallen material showed no significant statistical differences. Loading costs rose by up to 154% with increased movements and decreased with a higher AVT. Additionally, loading tri-train trucks significantly influenced transportation efficiency, emphasizing the importance of optimizing the log loader’s cycle to balance costs and enhance transportation operations.

The objective of this study was to assess the performance of a feller buncher as a function of forest yields. The feller buncher productivity and production costs were evaluated in a eucalyptus forest with different mean tree volume (MTV) classes. The technical analysis included time and motion study, productivity, mechanical availability, and operational efficiency. The economic analysis was based on fixed and variable costs, which resulted in the feller buncher's total operating cost. Production costs were calculated by the ratio of operating costs to wood volume harvested per working hour, which varied according to the forest yield levels (low, medium, and high) determined based on MTV classes. The results showed a total operating cost of US$157.76 h-1 for the feller buncher, 83.52% attributed to variable costs. The highest operational performance and, consequently, lower production cost were found for the highest MTV, with a tendency for productivity stabilization as the forest yield increases. The time and motion study of the feller buncher operating cycle for the three forest yield levels showed a statistically significant difference by Tukey’s test (5% significance). A significant difference was found in the tree felling and bunching phase among the three forest yield levels, as the feller buncher operating time in low-yield forests was 46.59% greater than that in high-yield forests.

The lack of quantitative data relating initial investment to long-term costs has raised concerns about green buildings’ long-term economic effectiveness. This study analyzed the operating, maintenance, rehabilitation, and total costs of 10 conventional, 20 energy-retrofitted, and three green Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design Toronto schools over 8 years. Although green schools’ operating, maintenance, rehabilitation, and total costs were 17, 20, 32, and 25% lower than conventional schools’ costs, respectively, the statistical analysis showed no statistically significant difference in these costs between conventional, energy-retrofitted, and green schools. There was a strong negative linear relationship between schools’ operating costs and age and a strong positive relationship between schools’ maintenance and rehabilitation costs. Results also showed statistically significant linear increases in maintenance and rehabilitation costs over time in conventional and energy-retrofitted schoo...

Towards environmental Sustainability: Devolving the influence of carbon dioxide emission to population growth, climate change, Forestry, livestock and crops production in Pakistan

The aim of this paper is to evaluate the compatibility between the Holocene relative sea-level (RSL) curves proposed for the Brazilian littoral and mangrove dynamics along a fluvial valley in the state of southern Bahia. This was done integrating geomorphological, sedimentological, palynological, and stable isotopic data from two cores collected at the mouth of the Jucuruçu River and at a site 23 km inland, near the city of Prado, northeastern Brazil. Core PR07, sampled from a fluvial plain at about 4.5±1 m above the RSL, reveals mangrove pollen (5–20%) and estuarine/terrestrial organic matter (δ13C=~–25‰, C/N=7.3–67) between 4.5 m (~7400 cal yr BP) and 1.75 m depth (~5350 cal yr BP). Core PR11, sampled from a mangrove tidal flat, also revealed mangrove pollen taxa (5-28%) since 660 cal yr BP. Core PR07 indicated absence of mangrove pollen and increase of sedimentary organic matter sourced from terrestrial C3 plants (δ13C=~–27‰, C/N=22–159) during the last 5350 cal yr BP. Probably, the changes in vegetation and sedimentary organic matter identified in core PR07 were caused by the combined effects of the RSL fluctuations, with a highstand at about 5350 cal yr BP of 2.7±1.35 m, and changes in fluvial discharge.

Optimal Intercity Transportation Services With Heterogeneous Demand and Variable Fuel Price

In December 2019, the World Health Organization (WHO) was alerted to an increase in cases of pneumonia in the city of Wuhan in China, confirming that it was a respiratory infection caused by a new strain of coronavirus, previously unknown in humans. COVID-19, a disease caused by the coronavirus-SARS-CoV2, was declared pandemic by the WHO in March 2020, due to its rapid worldwide spread. The form of transmission of the disease occurs through droplets disseminated in the air, orally-fecally or by fomites. Studies show that the nosocomial spread of the virus may be responsible for the increase in the number of cases in some countries, which makes the use of individual protection equipment the measure of greater control of nosocomial infection. However, the increase in the consumption of these inputs in an indiscriminate manner can cause an unsustainable financial impact for hospital institutions. The purpose of this study is to show the partial results of the analysis of the costs of Personal Protective Equipment (PPE) in a philanthropic hospital in the inland city of Bahia, after the beginning of the COVID-19 Pandemic. The results drew attention to the 33.13% increase in the hospital cost with personal protective equipment in the first quarter of 2020, which raises a concern regarding the institution's financial difficulty in maintaining the supply of these supplies.KeywordsCoronavirusCovid19CostsCost analysis

The aim of this study was to determine the presence of species of the genus Eimeria species in naturally infected bovines in Southern Bahia, Northeast Brazil. The study population comprised 117 Zebu crossbred cattle that belonged to 10 dairy herds with extensive or semi-extensive production systems. The modified Gordon and Whitlock technique was used to determine positive samples and number of oocysts per gram of feces. Statistical analyses were performed using the chi-square test with Yates correction and a 95% confidence interval. Thirty-nine cattle (33.33%) were positive, and ten different species were identified in infected animals: E. bovis (24.79%); E. canadensis (8.55%); E. zuernii (6.83%); E. ellipsoidalis (5.99%); E. cylindrica (3.42%); E. auburnensis (3.42%); E. brasiliensis (2.56%); E. bukidnonensis (1.71%); E. alabamensis (0.85%), and E. subspherica (0.85%). Higher parasitism was observed in animals up to one year of age (p = 0.005), but no animal presented clinical signs of the disease. As the presence of clinical eimeriosis was not evidenced and all animals were Zebu crossbred cattle from extensive or semi-extensive production systems, further studies should be conducted to investigate the effects of these factors on disease development.

The use of technologies that automate handling goods and loading units in warehouses and depots is not new. Yet, the purchase process of these technologies issues troubles and the estimation of the economic advantages brought by one or another technology to the entire chain of operations in logistics are not always known. Faults or not documented decisions put pressure on managers and prices for services. They can cause a drop in the competitiveness of warehouse operators, particularly in uncertain conditions. Academia documented the cost of warehouse storage well. Yet, little research has looked into the economic justification of implementing automatic systems for loading or unloading activities and the impact on complementary operations. For this reason, a model is needed to calculate the cost of operations when different technical equipment is used. This research further investigates the cost categories that must be considered when purchasing automated loading/unloading technologies. The model includes the purchase and operational loading costs that new technologies generate and the cost of adjacent operations to loading activity. The case study uses forklifts as the reference scenario and provides an overview of the return on investment and a break-even period when other technologies are in use. The calculation model shows that increasing cargo volume leads to a better RoI. The same observation is also made regarding the rise in labour costs. For the latter, using human operators to handle pallets on a one-by-one basis generates an exponential increase in operational cost due to delays and faults. On the other side, the cost of implementing automated loading/unloading technologies and the consideration of technology risk determine the low economic advantages. An in-depth cost and benefit analysis shows in which situation a technology generates greater benefits. Further results of this paper show that better use of trucks' loading capacity can positively impact the financial performance of automated loading technologies, as a higher volume of cargo is moved (at once) without human intervention.

Traditional cocoa agroforests of southern Bahia in Brazil, locally known as “cabrucas”, are highly relevant for sheltering forest species, being thus recognized as a biodiversity-friendly agricultural system. However, despite their role in biodiversity conservation, little is known about the ability of cocoa agroforests to maintain social wasp assemblages in human-modified landscapes. Here, we present the first list of social wasp species recorded in shaded cocoa agroforests in southern Bahia. In total, we collected 25 species of social wasps belonging to nine genera, representing 20% of the known species richness for the entire northeastern region of Brazil. In particular, Angiopolybia pallens (Lepeletier), Agelaia angulata (Fabricius), and Agelaia centralis (Cameron) were the most abundant species, with 186, 70, and 36 individuals, respectively. Notably, we report six previously unrecorded species from Bahia state: Agelaia flavipennis (Ducke), Polybia emaciata Lucas, Polybia quadricincta (Saussure), Agelaia angulicollis (Spinola), Parachartegus smithii (Saussure) and Protopolybia acutiscutis (Cameron). Of these six species, three are recorded for the first time in the Northeast region of Brazil and two for the Atlantic Forest biome. Based on our findings, we emphasize that cocoa agroforests can contribute to maintaining the diversity of social wasps in human-modified landscapes.

In early 2016, oil price has fallen to its lowest level (30.32 US$/bbl) over the last 12 years. Since then, petroleum exploration and exploitation activities are decreasing worldwide due to high production cost and low oil prices. As of December 2017, there were 431 Projects or PODs approved by government of Indonesia and the 327 of them were PODs that located in onshore area. This paper will evaluate and analyze the distribution of commercial reserves per projects and the operating cost to help Contractors to find the onshore area in Indonesia that has the highest commercial reserves and the lowest operating cost. The purpose of this paper is, to divide the geographical areas of Indonesia into 5 different areas (Sumatera, Java, Kalimantan, Sulawesi and Papua)). Then, to collect the data that related with number & location of Projects (POD), commercial reserves and operating cost and then the project reserves (MMBOE/project) and project operating costs (US$/boe) are calculated and distributed to those aforementioned areas. Based on the analysis and mapping of Petroleum Operating Cost and Commercial Reserves of 327 onshore Projects (POD), Sulawesi had the highest commercial reserves (64.00 MMBOE per Project) and Sumatera had the lowest commercial reserves (7.20 MMBOE per Project). As for the operating cost, Papua had the lowest operating cost (2.50 US$/BOE) and Kalimantan had the highest operating cost (10.10 US$/BOE) which remained lower than the current oil price (49.52 US$/BBL, average oil price January – July 2017). These analyses showed that the onshore area in eastern of Indonesia tends to have low operating cost and the high commercial reserves, which consequently mean that the onshore petroleum exploration and exploitation activity should be done by contractors in eastern area of Indonesia. Finally, this paper is expected to provide contractors a quick look at oil and gas industry in Indonesia especially at onshore area and guide them to choose which onshore area of Indonesia to explored and also help them create their petroleum exploration strategy in Indonesia by considering on this information.

The condition of the ambient air must be continuously checked to detect hazardous gas leakage and ensure the safety of employees in hazardous gas production and storage areas. Detection and elimination of hazardous gas leaks can be done with various complex measurement, safety, and disposal systems. These measurement systems consist of different types of sensor and require control and monitoring system. This leads to high investment and operating costs. In this study, semi-continuous measurement system automation with a single set of sensors working by taking air samples from different points over specific periods has been designed to reduce investment, operation, and maintenance repair costs. In the design, the measurement points are divided into zones and codes in the automation system. Thus, it is aimed to keep a constant record of what the air sample is coming from and what its content is. As a result, it has been determined that it is possible to establish a measurement and automation system similar to existing hazardous gas measurement systems with less investment and operating costs. The proposed automation system has been applied in the industrial storage area. In addition, a cost analysis has been performed and compared with conventional systems.

This study examines the effect of bad debts, market capitalization, operation cost, capital adequacy ratio and cash reserve ratio on the profitability of Nepalese commercial banks. Return on asset and return on equity are selected as the dependent variables. Similarly, non-performing loan, market capitalization, operation cost, capital adequacy ratio, cash reserve ratio and leverage are selected as the independent variables. This study is based on secondary data of 15 commercial banks with 120 observations for the study period from 2014/15 to 2021/22. The data were collected from Banking and Financial Statistics published by Nepal Rastra Bank, annual reports of the selected commercial banks and reports published by Ministry of Finance. The correlation coefficients and regression models are estimated to test the significance and importance of bad debts (NPL), market capitalization, operation cost, capital adequacy ratio and cash reserve ratio on the profitability of Nepalese commercial banks. The study showed that non-performing loan has a negative impact on return on assets and return on equity. It indicates that increase in non-performing leads to decrease in return on assets and return on equity. In addition, operation cost has a negative impact on return on assets. It means that increase in operation cost leads to decrease in return on assets. Likewise, capital adequacy ratio has a positive impact on return on assets. It indicates that increase in capital adequacy ratio leads to increase in return on assets. Moreover, leverage ratio has a negative impact on return on assets. It indicates that increase in leverage leads to decrease in return in assets of Nepalese commercial banks. Similarly, market capitalization has a positive impact on return on equity. It indicates that increase in market capitalization leads to increase in return on equity. In addition, operation cost has a negative relationship with return on assets and return on equity. It means that increase in operation cost leads to decrease in return on assets and return on equity.

Multi-objective optimized operation of integrated energy system with hydrogen storage

In Indonesia, Building Maintenance Guidelines have been stipulated in the Regulation of the Minister of Public Works No. 24/PRT/M/2008 concerning Guidelines for Building Maintenance and Care. The construction of the office building of the KARHUTLA workshop of UPTD KPHP Berau Barat is certain to increase every year, of course it must be followed by good and planned management, not only construction costs but there are important costs that need to be considered as a reference for managers to run and operate the building, namely planning the future costs of the building itself including operational costs, maintenance costs and replacement. The Life Cycle Cost (LCC) method is one part of the building management and maintenance strategy. From the background of the problem, a study was conducted entitled Analysis of Maintenance Based on Life Cycle Cost in the Office Building of the KARHUTLA Workshop of UPTD KPHP Berau Barat. The solution method in this calculation is for Investment Feasibility Analysis using Initial Cost Analysis, Operational Cost Analysis, Maintenance and Care Cost Analysis, Demolition Cost Analysis. From the results of the analysis, it was obtained that there were three groups that compiled the Life Cycle Cost analysis plan for the UPTD Berau Barat workshop building, namely, initial construction costs, operational costs, maintenance costs and demolition costs. The initial construction cost of the UPTD Berau Barat workshop building cost Rp2,515,780,000.00 (48%), operational costs of Rp870,000,000.00 (17%), maintenance and care costs of Rp1,601,275,363.86 (30%), demolition costs of Rp251,178,000.00 (5%). The total Life Cycle Cost of the UPTD Berau Barat workshop building for 25 years is Rp5,234,233,363.86. In operational costs, the largest cost is the utility cost of Rp540,000,000.00 (62%) followed by employee salary costs of Rp330,000,000.00 (38%). In terms of maintenance costs, the largest costs are architectural costs of Rp. 1,433,035,692.66 (92%), followed by mechanical & electrical costs of Rp. 123,719,815.22 (8%).