The study examined the socio-demographic factors affecting access to and utilization of social welfare services in Yenagoa Local Government Area of Bayelsa State, Nigeria. Quantitative and qualitative approaches were adopted to select 570 respondents from the study area. Probability and non-probability sampling techniques were adopted in the selection of communities, and respondents. The quantitative data were analyzed using frequency distribution tables and percentages, while chi-square statistic was used to determine the relationship between socio-demographic variables and access to and utilization of social welfare services. The qualitative data were analyzed in themes as a complement to the quantitative data. This study reveals that although all the respondents reported knowing available social welfare services, 44.3% reported not having access to existing social services due to factors connected to serendipity variables, such as terrain condition, ethnicity and knowing someone in government. Therefore, the study recommends that the government and other stakeholders should push for the massive delivery of much-needed social welfare services to address the issue of welfare service deficit across the nation, irrespective of the ethnic group and whether the community is connected to the government of the day or not, primarily in rural areas.

Root turnover is a key process of terrestrial ecosystem carbon cycle, which is of great significance to the study of soil carbon pool changes and global climate change. However, because there are many measurement and calculation methods of root turnover, the results obtained by different methods are quite different, and the current research on root turnover of forest ecosystem on the global regional scale is not sufficient, so the change law of root turnover of global forest ecosystem is still unclear. By collecting literature data and unifying the calculation method of turnover rate, this study integrates the spatial pattern of fine root turnover of five forest types in the world, and obtains the factors affecting fine root turnover of forest ecosystem in combination with soil physical and chemical properties and climate data. The results showed that there were significant differences in fine root turnover rate among different forest types, and it gradually decreased with the increase of latitude; the turnover rate of fine roots in forest ecosystem is positively correlated with annual average temperature and annual average precipitation; fine root turnover rate of forest ecosystem is positively correlated with soil organic carbon content, but negatively correlated with soil pH value. This study provides a scientific basis for revealing the law and mechanism of fine root turnover in forest ecosystem.

In this study, the enrichment of the major oxide, trace element/heavy metal and rare earth element contents of the rocks outcropping in Kısacık and its vicinity (Ayvacık-Çanakkale/Türkiye) were investigated. The rocks in the field were handled in 5 groups, and whole rock analyses were carried out for 22 samples collected representing these rock groups and Element Enrichment Factor (EEF) of the major oxide, trace element/heavy metal and rare earth element contents of the rocks were calculated. As a result, it was determined that the Kısacık volcanics were enriched in SiO₂, Fe₂O₃, K₂O, Be, Co, Cs, Th, U, W, La, Eu, Tm, Yb, Lu, Mo, As, Cd, Sb, Bi and Hg elements at a rate of >1 to >150 according to the upper crust values, and the Fe₂O₃, MgO, CaO, TiO₂, P₂O₅, MnO, Cr, Sc, Co, Nb, Sr, Mo, Cu, Ni, Cad, Sb, Bi, V, Cu and Cd concentrations of the Ophiolitic Mélange were enriched in ratios ranging from >1 to >36 according to the upper crust values. It has been also observed that the listvenitic rocks in the Ophiolitic Mélange are enriched in Cr, Co, Ni, As and Hg elements compared to the upper crust. As to Kazdağ Group, MgO, CaO, K₂O, MnO, Cr, Co, Ta, U, W, Mo, Cu, Ni, As and Cd were enriched. Listvenite were enriched in SiO₂, Fe₂O₃, MgO, Mn, Cr, Co, Ni, As, Sb and Hg at a rate of >1 to >32 according to the upper crust values. When the rocks in the area were evaluated together, some oxides (e.g., CaO, MgO, Fe₂O₃, TiO₂) and elements (e.g., Cr, Ni, Co) were enriched due to parental rock, while some oxides (e.g., SiO₂, K₂O and MnO) and elements (As, Sb, Hg) were enriched due to epigenic processes such as hydrothermal alteration and weathering.

The PPP scholarly work has effectively explored the material values attached to PPPs such as efficiency of services, value for money and productivity, but little attention has been paid to procedural public values. This paper aims to address this gap by exploring how Enfidha Airport in Tunisia failed to achieve both financial and procedural values that were expected from delivering the airport via the PPP route, and what coping strategies the public and private sectors deployed to ameliorate any resultant value conflicts. Based on the analysis of Enfidha Airport, it is argued that PPP projects are likely to fail to deliver financial and procedural values when the broader institutional context is not supportive of PPP arrangements, and when political and security risks are not adequately counted for during the bidding process.

The paper examines the underlying science determining the performance of hybrid engines. It scrutinizes a full range of orthodox gasoline engine performance data, drawn from two sources, and how it would be modified by hybrid gasoline vehicle engine operation. The most significant change would be the elimination of the negative consequences of urban congestion, stop-start, and engine driving, in favour of a hybrid electric motor drive. At intermediate speeds there can be other instances where electric motors might give a more efficient drive than an engine. Hybrid operation is scrutinised and the electrical losses estimated. There also remains scope for improvements in engine combustion.