Watch Points Research Articles

Effectiveness analysis of external heating system of gauge tank of pumping unit using exhaust piping of the IC engine

Introduction. The heating efficiency or regulation of the operating temperature of the fluid located in the gauge tank of a mobile pumping unit (PU) using the exhaust system of the internal combustion engine (ICE) is studied. The paper objective is to improve the design process and to reduce costs of field experiments. Materials and Methods . To solve this problem, numerical analysis methods were used when calculating the heating systems of the gauge tank with the external location of the pipeline from the ICE exhaust system by the example of the widely used installations (TsA-320, UNB, AChF, etc.). Siemens STAR-CCM+, a non-stationary non-linear solver of gas-dynamic processes, was used, which evaluates the correctness of the problem statement and reduces significantly the costs of full-scale field tests. Research Results. The study was conducted for the operating conditions of the cementing unit on the Kamaz-43118 chassis with the SIN-32 pump and a drive from the power take-off attachment on the gearbox of the chassis engine. In the calculation model, a convection-type heat transfer was applied between the body of the gauge tank and the surrounding air; between the body of the gauge tank and the liquid; between the chassis exhaust system duct and ambient air; between the exhaust system duct and exhaust gases. The following study results were obtained: characteristic curves of the temperature variation of the gauge tank liquid at the watch points; the distribution of the temperature field of the liquid in the gauge tank; the distribution of the ambient air temperature field; lines of flows and ambient air speed field and of the ICE exhaust gases. Discussion and Conclusions . The study has revealed poor effectiveness of the considered structure. The data analysis allows us to offer an improved design of the gauge tank heating. The results obtained in the work can be used in the calculations of such devices used in the hydraulic fracturing units and grout machines.

Short-toed snake eagles Circaetus gallicus (Gmelin, 1788) (Aves: Accipitridae) approaching a water barrier show reverse direction of migration

We investigated the directions of migration (reversed vs. expected) of raptors approaching a geographical strait in relation to local wind conditions, time of day, flock size and location of the observation post (coastal zone vs. inland zone). Fieldwork was conducted during autumn migration in 2011, 2012 and 2013 at a migratory bottleneck located in the southernmost part of the Italian Peninsula (Calabrian Apennines), using four watch points. In this area, migrating birds face the narrowest water surface between continental Italy and Sicily, the Strait of Messina. The only species showing substantial reverse migration was the short-toed snake eagle (Circaetus gallicus). In particular, eagles, mostly first calendar year (cy) birds, showed this behavior when passing closer to the coast (5 km inland of the Strait of Messina). Our results could reflect the reluctance of these birds to head south when approaching this relatively short stretch of sea, even before reaching the coastline. This behavior could be evidence of the strong selective pressure, which would have led to the evolution of the extremely detoured flight path of birds breeding in Italy.

Exposing hidden endemism in a Neotropical forest raptor using citizen science

Gaps in our knowledge of the geographical distribution of species represent a fundamental challenge to biogeographers and conservation biologists alike, and are particularly pervasive in the tropics. Here we highlight the case of the Rufous‐thighed KiteHarpagus diodon, a South American raptor commonly mapped as resident across half the continent. Recent observations at migration watch points have indicated it may be partially migratory in the southernmost parts of its range. To investigate this possibility, we collated contemporary and historical specimen records, published sight records and ‘digital vouchers’ – photographs and sound‐recordings archived online (from citizen science initiatives) – and explored the spatiotemporal distribution of records. We were unable to trace any documented records of this species from Amazonia during the austral summer (October–March), or records from the Atlantic Forest biome during the peak of the Austral winter (June–August), and all proven breeding records stem from the Atlantic Forest region. We compared this pattern with that of a ‘control’ species, the congeneric Double‐toothed KiteH. bidentatus, again using specimens and digital vouchers. For this species we found no evidence of seasonality between biomes and can disregard spatiotemporal variation in observer effort as a cause of seasonal biases. We consider that all populations of Rufous‐thighed Kites are fully migratory, wintering in Equatorial forests in the Amazonian basin. We provide evidence that this pattern was previously obscured by erroneous undocumented records and poor or erroneous specimen metadata, and its discovery was primarily facilitated by digital vouchers. This discovery requires a reassessment of the species’ global conservation status as an Atlantic Forest breeding endemic, threatened by habitat loss and degradation, as it was previously considered to be resident across large swathes of undisturbed Amazonian Forest on the Guiana Shield. The bulk of the digital voucher data used to elucidate this pattern were extracted from a Brazilian citizen science initiativeWikiAves,which may serve as a model for collating biodiversity data in megadiverse countries and help catalyse environmental awareness.

On Scott’s Russian Shadow: Historicity in The Bride of Lammermoor and Dead Souls

The international reach and degree of influence that sir Walter Scott's Caledonian corpus exerted on the nineteenth-century novel extended not only beyond the Scottish border to Europe and America, but as far as the Russian steppe. A scene from Dead Souls even offers us Scott-ish hint to reading Nikolai Gogol's enigmatic Russian novel. Chichikov, Gogol's protagonist, is purchasing serfs officially registered as living, according to census roster. Since these tabulations of peasant inventories take place only once every seventy years, serfs who die in the meantime nominally count as alive until the next census. Chichikov plans to offer the owners of these chance to unload the tax burden they represent by selling them to him for nominal fee. Owning them will inflate social status and, eventually, he can use them as collateral for an enormous loan that will make him wealthy landowner. After shopping spree, Chichikov peruses the lists of the dead souls he has acquired and is suddenly stopped by their discrete voices. Involuntarily, this soon-to-be-official landowner grows into intimate familiarity with subjects (DS 142). (1) know you, I know you, my fine fellow, he exclaims to the serf Maxim Telyatnikov, you like, I shall relate the whole of your life-story (DS 143). As Chichikov continues to summon the dead by reimagining their individual lives, Telyatnikov, along with Pyotr Saveliev Blast-the-Trough, Stepan Probka, Elizavet Vorobey, and other colorful names materialize into distinct voices that then acquire representative qualities as part of chant ... as endless as Russia herself (DS 146). Like Walter Scott's antiquary Jonathan Oldbuck, whose research nurtured in him a delight in building theories out of premises which were often far from affording sufficient ground for them, Chichikov unabashedly begets national historical epic. (2) At this point, watch points to midday, and Chichikov recalls pressing obligations. He cuts reverie short, and exchanging his Scottish costume [for] European one, is transformed back into petty clerk (DS 146-47; my emphasis). This scene illustrates historiography in the making, as the historian, Chichikov, inspects materials, the lists of serfs compiled by their owners: Each of the scrawls seemed to have special character of its own and in this way the peasants themselves acquired character of their own. Those belonging to Korobochka had almost all of them character sketches and nicknames. Plyushkin's list was distinguished by its brevity of expression: quite often only the initial letters of their names appeared, followed by dots. Sobakievich's register was astonishing for its extraordinary completeness and detail: not one of the peasants' qualities was omitted.... This variety of detail made it all very animated: it seemed as if the peasants were alive but yesterday. (DS 142) Already product of historiography of sorts (penned by the landowners), the lists communicate misgivings about history-making. The connective narrative of proverbs and calligraphy refuses to hold together the serfs' names and the stories they engender. Beginning with confident assertions, Chichikov's effort to blend the voices of shoe-maker, bogatyr, thief, and barge-hauler into single song of an imagined community, and to conjecture one national narrative, ends with question of Why have I got stuck? (DS 146). As it does so, we get good laugh. But with little interpretative push, this question easily reformulates itself into set of different, more serious, questions. Can narrative thus construed achieve intimacy with the past? What is the relationship between an individual record and the larger narrative that contains it? Does the past shape the present, or vice versa? How do the annals of historiography translate the singular and individual into the plural and collective? …

The 2012 Murray-Darling Basin Plan – issues to watch

The Murray-Darling Basin Plan is now in place, marking a further significant step in water policy development and water reform in Australia's Murray-Darling Basin (MDB). While it is an important planning and regulatory framework in its own right, and one that should further enhance the efficiency and effectiveness of water markets in the MDB, implementation and enforcement of the plan and continued action by governments, communities and stakeholders on key reform commitments are required to ensure much-needed improvement in economic, social and environmental sustainability. This article outlines seven watch points that will affect whether the desired outcomes are achieved.

The Calabrian Apennines: Important Bird Area (IBA) for the Autumn migration of Raptors

Observations on the autumn migration of raptors were carried out on the Calabrian Appennines in the area where the Italian peninsula is only 30 km wide. We used three different watch points at the same time between 24 August and 12 September 2005 and 2006. We observed 4,842 raptors in 2005 and 5,324 in 2006; most of these were Honey Buzzards, Black Kites, Marsh Harriers and Montagu’s Harriers.

Seguimiento estival e invernal de lobos en los Ancares lucenses

We present the results of wolf surveys in summer 2006/2007 and winter 2006/07 in Los Ancares Hunting Reserve, Lugo, north-western Spain. The 2006 study area covered the Los Ancares Hunting Reserve, and in 2007 the study area was extended further northwards and southwards. To locate wolf packs and estimate the summer population, we surveyed transects in search of wolf signs (scat and scratches) and used howling points and watch points. A kilometric abundance index (KAI) was used as potentially indicative of pack presence. Winter estimates were obtained by means of simultaneous surveys of transects in snow. The transects (n=16 in 2006, n=24 in 2007) were sampled in August, September and October, and covered a total of 191 km and 298.38 km, in 2006 and 2007, respectively. There were 21 howling points and 12 watch points in 2006, and 74 howling points and 20 watch points in 2007. A snow census in December 2006 and another in March 2007 involved 13 simultaneous transects. In 2006, two wolf packs were found, and the presence of pups in both packs was confirmed by means of chorus howling and direct observation. The average KAI value for each pack in August was more than 2 signs/km. The summer population was estimated at 16-22 individuals in the study area. Snow census results indicated 21-24 wolves in December 2006 and 20-22 in March 2007. In 2007, three packs with pups were located by chorus listening, and the presence of a fourth pack was deemed likely. All KAI averages for August for the 4 packs were above 0.5 signs/km, 3 being over 1 sign/km. We estimate that there were 27-39 wolves in the study area in summer

The Trade-offs between Security and Civil Liberties in Russia's War on Terror: The Regional Dimension

Abstract: This article focuses on Russia's antiterrorist campaign in 2000-04 to discern and analyze dynamics in the trade-offs between security (1) and liberties. An analysis of these trade-offs in four separate regions of the Russian Federation demonstrates that enhancing the powers of the security apparatus at the expense of liberties may help reduce the threat of terrorism in the short-term, as local agents of terror divert part of their operations to freer regions. However, such a strategy eventually backfires at the local level, as suppression of liberties generates political resentment, one of the root causes of terrorism. (2) The repressive laws and practices presented by the authorities as the price the public has to pay in the war on terror can bring only limited short-term gains in this war, while producing a lasting detrimental effect on freedoms and civil liberties in Russia. Moreover, given the fact that Russia is in a state of transition, the intended and unintended effects of the authorities' antiterror policies in the researched period, and beyond, could determine the course of Russia's political development. Key words: civil liberties, political violence, Putin, regions, Russia, terrorism ********** This article begins by outlining our methodology, including an explanation of the criteria used to select the research period and the regions (3) to be studied, as well as a list of the watch points used to evaluate the scale of terrorist threats, the effectiveness of authorities' responses to these threats, and the impact on civil liberties. This article has an overview of the horizontal escalation of the terrorist threat in Russia, the authorities' responses to this escalation, and the impact of their responses on liberties in 2000-04. The empirical data covering the regions in question--the Chechen Republic (Chechnya), the Republic of Dagestan, Moscow, and St. Petersburg--came not only from open sources, but also from interviews with experts and officials, inquiries with relevant government agencies, and extensive field research. This article explains why official antiterrorist efforts largely failed in three of the four regions over the researched period, and has policy recommendations on what authorities should do to break the vicious circle of suppression and resentment. The recommendations are followed by appendixes that list and describe the most significant terrorist attacks in the Chechen Republic, the Republic of Dagestan, Moscow, and St. Petersburg in 2000-04. Methodology Definition of Terrorist Attack There are differences in the expert and academic communities as to what constitutes a terrorist attack. This article uses the definition that is common among experts on this subject: an act of political violence that inflicts harm on noncombatants, but is designed to intimidate broader audiences, including official authorities, and is an instrument of achieving certain political or other goals. Researched Period The terrorism threat in Russia made a qualitative leap in 1999, when a wave of apartment building bombings rocked three Russian cities, including the capital. We chose, however, to analyze the period of 2000-04, because it coincides with President Vladimir Putin's first term in office. (4) Although Putin formulated the executive branch's antiterror policy after becoming director of the Federal Security Service (FSB) in 1998, he did not have the opportunity to implement his vision until he was elected president in the spring of 2000. During his first term, Putin slowly reversed the policies of his predecessor, Boris Yeltsin. Yeltsin preferred a decentralized administrative model for ruling the country, giving broad powers to the regions, while largely avoiding the suppression of civil liberties--except in Chechnya--even during the first Chechen war. Putin, by contrast, believes that only a highly centralized government can prevent the disintegration of Russia at the hands of North Caucasian separatists and terrorists. …

Points to watch.

Points to watch.