Attempts to improve engine performance are often accompanied by increased emissions. An effective approach to reduce emissions without necessarily a significant penalty in fuel economy is through operating S.I. engines on a range of gaseous fuels, and either leaning the operating mixture or diluting it with some exhaust gases. The emission characteristics of an engine operated in turn on CH4, H2, CO and some of their mixtures are examined experimentally. The role of changes in some key factors affecting the production of the pollutants CO, NOx and unburned hydrocarbons were investigated. Guidelines for reducing the undesirable emissions are outlined. 相似文献
Wildlife health assessments help identify populations at risk of starvation, disease, and decline from anthropogenic impacts on natural habitats. We conducted an overview of available health assessment studies in noncaptive vertebrates and devised a framework to strategically integrate health assessments in population monitoring. Using a systematic approach, we performed a thorough assessment of studies examining multiple health parameters of noncaptive vertebrate species from 1982 to 2020 (n = 261 studies). We quantified trends in study design and diagnostic methods across taxa with generalized linear models, bibliometric analyses, and visual representations of study location versus biodiversity hotspots. Only 35% of studies involved international or cross-border collaboration. Countries with both high and threatened biodiversity were greatly underrepresented. Species that were not listed as threatened on the International Union for Conservation of Nature Red List represented 49% of assessed species, a trend likely associated with the regional focus of most studies. We strongly suggest following wildlife health assessment protocols when planning a study and using statistically adequate sample sizes for studies establishing reference ranges. Across all taxa blood analysis (89%), body composition assessments (81%), physical examination (72%), and fecal analyses (24% of studies) were the most common methods. A conceptual framework to improve design and standardize wildlife health assessments includes guidelines on the experimental design, data acquisition and analysis, and species conservation planning and management implications. Integrating a physiological and ecological understanding of species resilience toward threatening processes will enable informed decision making regarding the conservation of threatened species. 相似文献
The National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH) and the Mine Safety and Health Administration (MSHA) conducted a joint survey to determine the range of coal particle sizes found in dust samples collected from intake airways of US coal mines. The last comprehensive survey of this type was performed in the 1920s. The size of the coal dust is relevant to the amount of rock dust required to inert the coal dust, with more rock dust needed to inert finer sizes of coal dust.
Dust samples were collected by MSHA inspectors from several mines in each of MSHA's 10 bituminous Coal Mine Safety and Health Districts. Samples were normally collected in several intakes at each mine. The laboratory analysis procedures included acid leaching of the sample to remove the limestone rock dust, sonic sieving to determine the dust size, and low-temperature ashing of the sieved fractions to correct for any remaining incombustible matter. The results indicate that particle sizes of mine coal dust in intake airways are finer than those measured in the 1920s. This finer size coal dust in intake airways would require more incombustible matter to be effectively inerted than the 65% incombustible specified in current regulations. 相似文献
Only two river basins in which the European pearl mussel has survived to date are known in Arkhangelsk oblast. These are the Solza and Kozha basins. The northeastern boundary of the European range of this species passes along the watershed between the basins of the Solza and the Shirshema (the Onega Peninsula) and then along the Onega-Northern Dvina watershed. The population density and the proportion of juveniles widely vary in different parts of the Solza Basin, and, therefore, the previously conclusion concerning the ageing of the population in the Kazanka River (Bolotov and Semushin, 2003) applies only to certain parts of this river. The highest density of the pearl mussel in the Solza Basin is 68 ind./m2. Fish cultivation contributes to the conservation of this pearl mussel population, as the release of Atlantic salmon juveniles ensures reproduction of the mollusk under conditions of regulated river flow. 相似文献