Projects implemented under life cycle contracts have become increasingly common in recent years to ensure the quality of construction and maintenance of energy infrastructure facilities. A key parameter for energy facility construction projects implemented under life cycle contracts is their duration and deadlines. Therefore, the systematic identification, monitoring, and comprehensive assessment of risks affecting the timing of work on the design and construction is an urgent practical task. The purpose of this work is to study the strength of the influence of various risks on the duration of a project implemented on the terms of a life cycle contract. The use of the expert assessment method allows for identifying the most likely risks for the design and construction phases, as well as determining the ranges of deviations from the baseline indicator. Using the obtained expert evaluations, a model reflecting the range and the most probable duration of the design and construction works under the influence of risk events was built by the Monte-Carlo statistical method. The results obtained allow monitoring and promptly detecting deviations in the actual duration of work from the basic deadlines set in the life cycle contract. This will give an opportunity to accurately respond to emerging risks and build a mutually beneficial relationship between the parties to life cycle contracts.

The purpose of this work is to present the model of a Parabolic Trough Solar Collector (PTC) using the Finite Element Method to predict the thermal behavior of the working fluid along the collector receiver tube. The thermal efficiency is estimated based on the governing equations involved in the heat transfer processes. To validate the model results, a thermal simulation of the fluid was performed using Solidworks software. The maximum error obtained from the comparison of the modeling with the simulation was 7.6% at a flow rate of 1 L/min. According to the results obtained from the statistical errors, the method can effectively predict the fluid temperature at high flow rates. The developed model can be useful as a design tool, in the optimization of the time spent in the simulations generated by the software and in the minimization of the manufacturing costs related to Parabolic Trough Solar Collectors.

A large number of people of the fringe areas of Sundarban enter into the forests every year and encounter with the tigers simply for their livelihood. This study attempts to examine the extent and impact of human-animal conflicts in the Sundarban Reserve Forest (SRF) area in West Bengal, India. An intensive study of the data of the victims (both death and injury) between 1999 and 2014 reveals that, fishermen crab collector, honey collectors and woodcutters are generally victimized by the tiger attack. Pre monsoon period (April to June) and early winter period (Jan to March) are noted for the two-peak periods for casualties. Maximum casualty occurs between 8-10 am, and 2-4 pm. Jhilla (21.1%), Pirkhali (19.72 %), Chandkhali (11.72%), and Arbesi (9.35%) are the four most vulnerable forest blocks accounting more than 60 per cent occurrence of incidences. 67.24 per cent of the tiger attack victims were residents of Gosaba followed by Hingalganja (15%) and Basanti, (9.76%). The vulnerability rating puts the risk of tiger attack to 0.88 for every 10,000 residents of Gosaba block followed by 0.33 at Hingalganj Block and 0.11 at Bansanti Block. The majority of the victims (68%) were found to be males, aged between 30 and 50 years.

Mangrove forests are vital to coastal protection, biodiversity support, and climate regulation. In the Niger Delta, these ecosystems are increasingly threatened by oil spill incidents linked to intensive petroleum activities. This study investigates the extent of mangrove degradation between 1986 and 2022 in the lower Niger Delta, specifically the region between the San Bartolomeo and Imo Rivers, using remote sensing and machine learning. Landsat 5 TM (1986) and Landsat 8 OLI (2022) imagery were classified using the Support Vector Machine (SVM) algorithm. Classification accuracy was high, with overall accuracies of 98% (1986) and 99% (2022) and Kappa coefficients of 0.97 and 0.98. Healthy mangrove cover declined from 2804.37 km² (58%) to 2509.18 km² (52%), while degraded mangroves increased from 72.03 km² (1%) to 327.35 km² (7%), reflecting a 354.46% rise. Water bodies expanded by 101.17 km² (5.61%), potentially due to dredging, erosion, and sea-level rise. Built-up areas declined from 131.85 km² to 61.14 km², possibly reflecting socio-environmental displacement. Statistical analyses, including Chi-square (χ² = 1091.33, p < 0.001) and Kendall’s Tau (τ = 1, p < 0.001), showed strong correlations between oil spills and mangrove degradation. From 2012 to 2022, over 21,914 barrels of oil were spilled, with only 38% recovered. Although paired t-tests and ANOVA results indicated no statistically significant changes at broad scales, localized ecological shifts remain severe. These findings highlight the urgent need for integrated environmental policies and restoration efforts to mitigate mangrove loss and enhance sustainability in the Niger Delta.

Support through the corporate tax system is a very specific form of funding to promote the functioning of team sports. The basic idea of the mechanism is that profit-oriented companies can donate a larger part of their corporate tax to sports organisations. The scheme has been in operation in Hungary since 2011. Its introduction and fine-tuning required several legislative changes and EU approval. Its importance is reflected in the increase in the number of sports organisations in the respective sports. While funding is available to many sports organisations, in some cases it is quite concentrated. In our empirical research we sought to find out how the degree of concentration has changed over time. The degree of concentration has an impact on how balanced the competition is. One of the key values for sports services is the requirement of an uncertain output. The data reveal that over time the distribution has become more evenly balanced across all sport operators. The amount of funding for sports organisations has started to converge. According to these figures, there are several sports organisations with equivalent subsidies participating in the competition system. However, the majority of clubs with the highest subsidies tend to be the same from year to year. The allocation of grants is determined by the sports federation of the given sport according to the submitted applications. Decision-makers should pay particular attention to maintaining the balance of competition over a long period of time. To this end, the list of sporting organisations with the highest subsidies should be continuously assessed and revised.

The chemical reinforcement of sandy soils is usually carried out to improve their properties and meet specific engineering requirements. Nevertheless, conventional reinforcement agents are often expensive; the process is energy-intensive and causes serious environmental issues. Therefore, developing a cost-effective, room-temperature-based method that uses recyclable chemicals is necessary. In the current study, poly (styrene-co-methyl methacrylate) (PS-PMMA) is used as a stabilizer to reinforce sandy soil. The copolymer-reinforced sand samples were prepared using the one-step bulk polymerization method at room temperature. The mechanical strength of the copolymer-reinforced sand samples depends on the ratio of the PS-PMMA copolymer to the sand. The higher the copolymer-to-sand ratio, the higher the sample’s compressive strength. The sand (70 wt.%)-PS-PMMA (30 wt.%) sample exhibited the highest compressive strength of 1900 psi. The copolymer matrix enwraps the sand particles to form a stable structure with high compressive strengths.