Delineating key determinants of domestic fuelwood consumption of rural households in western Himalaya-policy implications

A study was carried out in district Samba of Western Himalayan province of Jammu and Kashmir of India.The data were collected in an interview schedule in personal interview with 180 household heads.The association between the level of fuelwood consumption（low versus high consumption） and different factors,each individually,was investigated using chi-square test of association at 0.001 level of significance.It was found that out of 25 socio-economic,biophysical and alternate fuel factors,15 factors（each individually） significantly influenced the domestic fuelwood consumption.Logistic regression models of alternate fuel use,social,economic and biophysical factors were developed to identify key variables influencing fuelwood consumption levels within each respective category.A composite model was also developed to identify key factors when all variables in all the pre-said categories were considered simultaneously.Surprisingly,in contrast to expectation the model with alternate fuel use did not provide a good fit.The biophysical model also did not provide a good fit.The economic and composite models were the same with equal level of accuracy of predication.This implies that economic aspects,rather than the availability of alternate fuels,dominate fuelwood consumption levels of rural households.Strategies to increase the exposure of the head of household to outside world needs to formulated to reduce the domestic fuelwood consumption levels.Households nearer to state forests are to be educated about efficient use of fuelwood and be encouraged to intensify use of Liquified Petroleum Gas.The wider implications of study are：the availability of alternate fuels is not a necessary condition to decrease household level domestic fuelwood consumption.Economic factors needs to be considered in designing strategies to reduce fuelwood consumption.Increased employment opportunities would increase the opportunity cost of fuelwood collection and this would reduce its use.     

A Diatom Model of Dust in the Trapezium Nebula

Measurements are reported of the 5–35 μm infrared spectrum of a mixed diatom culture dispersed in a CsI disc. These data are used to compute the flux from a diatom model of dust in the Trapezium nebula, where dust grain temperatures are assumed to be distributed in the range 230–130 K. Good agreement with the observational data is found for the model. This revised version was published online in July 2006 with corrections to the Cover Date.     

Exploring Placer Gold Deposits through Integrated Geophysical and Geochemical Techniques at the Confluence of the Indus and Kabul Rivers, NW Pakistan

Analysis of the anomalous magnetic mineral intensities and geochemistry for placer gold deposits are presented for those of the Attock area at the confluence of the Indus and Kabul rivers in northwestern Pakistan. Two grids covering an area of 10x18 m2 and 8x10 m2 were analyzed using a G-858 Cesium Vapor Magnetometer. The anomalous zones obtained were plotted on contour maps, 2D and 3D magnetic intensity maps. Based on the magnetic anomalies, grid-1 of the study area was sampled at three different anomalous zones for geochemical analysis. These zones contain gold concentrations, ranging from 2.11 ppm to 6.109 ppm with an average of 4.01 ppm. Increase in gold concentration in the subsurface within the anomalous zones indicates that magnetometer survey followed by a geochemical analysis can potentially narrow down the gold-bearing anomalous zones.