Central University of Kerala

Foreign direct investment (FDI) plays a pivotal role in driving economic growth, yet its environmental consequences demand scrutiny as nations strive for sustainable development. This study investigates how environmental policies mediate the relationship between inward and outward FDI and natural resource availability, focusing on biocapacity in 41 high-income countries over a 22-year period. Using a mediation effects methodology, supported by Sobel-Goodman-Aroian and bootstrap resampling tests, we find that environmental policies significantly reduce the negative impact of FDI on biocapacity. Specifically, burden policies, such as taxes and fees, are more effective than subsidies in mitigating FDI's detrimental effects, particularly in democratic contexts. However, both policy types contribute to curbing negative spillovers. A key policy recommendation is to implement strategic environmental assessments to evaluate FDI projects, ensuring alignment with sustainable practices without discouraging investment.

The costs and benefits associated with reproduction differ between males and females, potentially leading to sex-specific movement patterns during spawning. In Hiroshima Bay, black sea bream Acanthopagrus schlegelii predominantly spawns in oyster farming areas (OFAs), where feeding and spawning sites spatially overlap. Because this species is likely an income breeder, males and females are expected to differ in their movement patterns within OFAs, reflecting sex-specific reproductive trade-offs during the spawning season. To examine this expectation, we used ultrasonic biotelemetry to track reproductively active individuals and analyse their horizontal and vertical movements. Males showed broader space use and more frequent vertical movements, especially in the evening, whereas females tended to stay near particular rafts with more localised movement and lower vertical activity. These sex-related differences in horizontal and vertical movement suggest more active mate-searching behaviour and higher spawning-related activity in males, whereas females show more spatially restricted movement while allocating energy to reproduction. Our findings provide the first field-based evidence of sex differences in reproductive behaviour among a typical broadcast-spawning sparid.

Perovskite oxides are known as promising materials for various catalytic redox processes due to their structural flexibility and tunable electronic properties. In this study, the A-site of the SrFe1−xCuxO3−δ, perovskite lattice was systematically modified to investigate the influence of lanthanum substitution on catalytic performance. Three perovskite materials with the compositions of SrFe0.7Cu0.3O3−δ, La0.5Sr0.5Fe0.7Cu0.3O3−δ and LaFe0.7Cu0.3O3−δ, were synthesized by the combustion method using hexamine as fuel and subsequently evaluated for the catalytic hydroxylation of anisole. Powder XRD pattern indicated that LFC crystallized to form orthorhombic perovskite structure. The presence of Fe4+, Fe3+, Cu2+ and Cu1+ in the LFC sample was confirmed by XPS analysis. Oxygen-TPD showed peaks corresponding to O2 desorption from oxygen vacancies, and a high concentration of oxygen vacancies was observed in strontium-containing perovskite. The developed catalyst system showed similar catalytic activity, with anisole conversion of 64

Conventional theories of postwar peace emphasize inclusion, negotiation, and institutional reform, yet the persistence of stability in authoritarian contexts demands alternative explanations. This paper examines how the Russian Federation achieved durable postwar stability in Chechnya through Delegated Coercive Governance (DCG), a model of authoritarian peacebuilding based on the strategic delegation of coercive, administrative, and symbolic authority to a loyal local proxy. Challenging liberal peace theories that associate stability with inclusivity and institutional reform, the Chechenization model demonstrates how autocratic regimes secure order through coercive delegation and exclusionary governance. DCG functions through three interrelated mechanisms: delegated violence, patronage-based stabilization, and micro-level coercive control. Using process-tracing within a single-case design, the study shows how these mechanisms produced Chechnya’s quasi-autonomous “internal foreign” status, a stable yet deeply illiberal political order. The findings reveal that authoritarian peace can be maintained not through consent or legitimacy, but through institutionalized fear, dependency, and hierarchical control, offering a theoretical framework for understanding how coercive delegation enables durable yet fragile post-conflict stability in authoritarian regimes.

Agriculture is considered as one of the indirect sustainable development goals leading towards life on land and zero hunger. To obtain better yields from agriculture, it is important to maintain soil conditioning. The most important soil conditioning is the manuring of the field well before cultivation. Hyperspectral remote sensing images, which has several applications in agriculture domain, can be utilized for the classification of manure usage. A set of features must be extracted from hyperspectral images including derived spectral indices (such as vegetation indices) and then to be passed through machine learning algorithms for classification. Although several hyperspectral indices are available, they are not well suited for all types of classification, including manure usage. Hence, in this paper a hyperspectral index is evolved using a ternary particle swarm optimization for the manure usage classification. The results of manure usage classification in pasture fields with the evolved hyperspectral index using convolutional neural network are promising when compared to those of other hyperspectral indices.