Computational analysis of turbulence enhancement in a compression ignition engine with modified inlet design

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - This study aims to enhance the turbulence of direct injection (DI) diesel engine by modifying the inlet manifold design with an inclined nozzle-like...     

Adaptive Capacity and Social-Environmental Change: Theoretical and Operational Modeling of Smallholder Coffee Systems Response in Mesoamerican Pacific Rim

Communities who rely directly on the natural environment for their survival typically have developed risk management strategies to enable them to avoid dangerous thresholds of change to their livelihoods. Development policy appropriate for natural resource-based communities requires an understanding of the primary drivers of social-ecological change, the ways in which affected households autonomously respond to such drivers, and the appropriate avenues for intervention to reduce vulnerability. Coffee has been, and still remains, one of the most important commodities of the Mesoamerican region, and hundreds of thousands of smallholder households in the region are dependent in some way on the coffee industry for their livelihood stability. We used the Analytical Network Process to synthesize expert knowledge on the primary drivers of livelihood change in the region as well as the most common household strategies and associated capacities necessary for effective response. The assessment identified both gradual systemic processes as well as specific environmental and market shocks as significant drivers of livelihood change across the region. Agronomic adjustments and new forms of social organization were among the more significant responses of farmers to these changes. The assessment indicates that public interventions in support of adaptation should focus on enhancing farmers’ access to market and technical information and finance, as well as on increasing the viability of farmers’ organizations and cooperatives.     

Materials Exchanges: An exploratory US survey

We characterise US materials exchanges by means of an exploratory survey, with 63 respondents classified by materials handled, organisation type and implementation strategy. Few respondents handle hazardous materials; instead, most focus on pre-consumer items such as building materials or post-consumer durable goods such as furniture. Non-profit organisations and state/local government agencies predominate in this niche, which fills a gap between ubiquitous for-profit scrap recyclers and used-merchandise stores. There are three distinct implementation strategies: passive listers of materials; active brokers, who become involved in each transaction; and those who take possession of materials for storage and display in a warehouse. Warehouse operations typically have a local focus and a loyal customer base, whereas passive listing services serve larger areas and are undergoing consolidation. Passive listing services appear to be relatively marginal enterprises, although the adoption of Internet technology is improving their viability.     

Core self‐evaluations in Japan: relative effects on job satisfaction,life satisfaction,and happiness

The present study tested, in a non‐Western culture (Japan), the relative validity in predicting job satisfaction, life satisfaction, and happiness of core self‐evaluations (CSE), positive and negative affectivity (PA/NA), and the Neutral Objects Satisfaction Questionnaire (NOSQ). Consistent with previous results in primarily Western cultures, the four lower‐order traits that comprise CSE—self‐esteem, generalized self‐efficacy, locus of control, and neuroticism—indicated a higher‐order factor. While each lower‐order trait was itself related to the study's criteria, the CSE concept displayed in general, higher correlations with the dependent variables, and explained incremental variance in two of the study's three outcomes beyond PA, NA, and the NOSQ. These results indicate initial support for the generalizability of CSE in a culture that differs in many respects from Western cultures, and suggest that judgments of satisfaction and happiness in a non‐Western culture have a dispositional source. Copyright © 2005 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Impact of time since collection on avian eggshell color: a comparison of museum and fresh egg specimens

Studies of avian eggshell coloration have been a long-standing research focus in behavioral evolutionary ecology. Museum collections have provided a widely used resource because they allow efficient sampling across broad temporal, geographical, and taxonomic ranges, even for species that are rare and for which sampling in the wild is ethically or practically unwarranted. We used reflectance spectrophotometry across the avian visual spectrum to compare eggshell color of specimens of the song thrush (Turdus philomelos) in two museums (Natural History Museum, UK and Auckland Museum, New Zealand) with each other and with eggshells collected fresh in New Zealand. These data enabled us to test the effects of source and storage in different museums, as well as time since collection, across four metrics of eggshell coloration: blue-green and ultraviolet chroma, overall brightness, and the spectral coefficient of variation. Variation within an egg, within a clutch, and among clutches, was similar between the two museum datasets but different from those of fresh eggs. We found significant differences in all four metrics between the collections, and that fresh eggshells reflected stronger in the blue-green wavelength than in museum eggs. This difference is most likely due to different preservation techniques and storage histories. Furthermore, an effect of time since collection was only apparent in the blue-green chroma and was higher in more recent museum eggshell samples. Our results support the use of historic museum samples in intraspecific studies of shell coloration providing that efforts are made to compare specimens, which were collected during similar periods.     

Acute toxicity of chlorpyrifos to embryo and larvae of banded gourami Trichogaster fasciata

This study elucidated the acute toxicity of chlorpyrifos on the early life stages of banded gourami (Trichogaster fasciata). To determine the acute effects of chlorpyrifos on their survival and development, we exposedthe embryos and two-day-old larvae to six concentrations (0, 0.01, 0.10, 1.0, 10 and 100 µg L^?1) of chlorpyrifos in plastic bowls. Log-logistic regression was used to calculate LC10 and LC50 values. Results showed that embryo mortality significantly increased with increasing chlorpyrifos concentrations. The 24-h LC10 and LC50 values (with 95% confidence limits) of chlorpyrifos for embryos were 0.89 (0.50–1.58) and 11.8 (9.12–15.4) µg L^?1, respectively. Hatching success decreased and mortality of larvae significantly increased with increasing concentrations of chlorpyrifos. The 24-h LC10 and LC50 values (with 95% confidence limits) of chlorpyrifos for larvae were 0.53 (0.27–1.06) and 21.7 (15.9–29.4) µg L^?1, respectively; the 48-h LC10 and LC50 for larvae were 0.04 (0.02–0.09) and 5.47 (3.77–7.94) µg L^?1, respectively. The results of this study suggest that 1 µg L^?1 of chlorpyrifos in the aquatic environment may adversely affect the development and the reproduction of banded gourami. Our study also suggests that banded gourami fish can serve as an ideal model species for evaluating developmental toxicity of environmental contaminants.     

Recycle of plastic residues in cellular phones through catalytic hydrocracking to liquid fuels

Plastics from cellular phones, an important contribution to electronic waste, have been studied for catalytic recycling to liquid fuels through hydrocracking. High impact polystyrene and polybutadiene, a component of high impact polystyrene and acrylonitrile–butadiene–styrene terpolymer, majority components in these residues according to literature, have been also studied in the process, using a bifunctional Pt/Hβ catalyst and under kinetic control. The results show a high yield to liquid fuels in the gasoline range with high impact polystyrene and polybutadiene, with a high content of naphthenics and isoparaffins in the catalytic process. Plastics from cellular phones, with a complex composition, require a previous removal of silicone, to prevent to formation of solids. Once silicone is removed, these residues, with a majority yield to liquids, could be treated together with other plastic wastes in catalytic hydrocracking.