scholarly journals How High Is the Recreation Value of Successional Forests Growing Spontaneously on Coal Mine Spoil Heaps?

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 160
Author(s):  
Markéta Braun Kohlová ◽  
Vojtěch Máca ◽  
Jan Melichar ◽  
Petr Pavelčík

Research highlights: Recreation value increases with the age of replanted as well as successional forests. Successional forests are not systematically less valuable for recreation than replanted forests. Succession may be used as a viable and low-cost reclamation practice of spoil heaps. Background and objectives: Afforestation has been a popular practice in post-mining land reclamation in the Czech Republic. To expand the current evidence on the recreation values of reclaimed forests, we conducted a valuation study for most typical reclaimed forests, as well as for successional forests spontaneously growing on surface coal mine deposit heaps. Using two distinct measurement methods, we also explore whether the estimated recreation value of forests is robust. Materials and Methods: An online survey was conducted in 2016 on a sample of residents living in the vicinity of coal mine deposit heaps, residents of the adjacent region of Karlovy Vary, and a control population from the central Bohemian region. Participants evaluated visual representations of forest stands typical for reclamation and succession, along with commercial spruce forest as a reference type. In the direct measurement, we measured the attractiveness of a respective forest for a walk using a 5-point scale. In the indirect measurement, a hypothetical choice between two forests for a walk was elicited in a discrete choice experiment. Results: Both direct and indirect measurements provide similar results. All reclaimed forests have a lower recreation value than the reference spruce forest. Successional forests are not systematically less valuable for recreation than replanted forests and the recreation value of both types increases with their age. The age, gender, and education of the participants did not affect the recreation value of a forest. Conclusions: We demonstrate that succession may be used as a viable and low-cost reclamation practice of spoil heaps emerging as a by-product of open-cast coal mining. With recreation as only one of many forest uses, our findings need to be interpreted vis-à-vis the objectives and expected results for individual sites and their habitat conditions.

2020 ◽  
Vol 17 (3) ◽  
pp. 318-324 ◽  
Author(s):  
Khadije Saket ◽  
Jalil T. Afshari ◽  
Ehsan Saburi ◽  
Mahdi Yousefi ◽  
Roshanak Salari

From ancient times, medicinal plants have been usually utilized to treat many disorders, but today, interest in these herbs is again aroused, because of their fewer side effects and low-cost. In traditional medicine, for many diseases, various medicinal herbs have been suggested so far. Drimia maritime, also named squill, is an important medicinal plant for the treatment of many diseases, especially respiratory diseases. In the current evidence-based study, we conducted a review of the general characteristics, ingredients, administration form, and side effects of squill in traditional medicine. For this purpose, traditional Persian medicine literatures and electronic databases were examined including PubMed, Scopus, and Google Scholar. Many compounds are isolated from D.maritima, including scillaren, scillirubroside, scillarenin, and bufadienolide glycosides. Oxymel is the most commonly used form of squill for various diseases, especially respiratory diseases. Besides, squill has been used in the treatment of cardiovascular, digestive, and dermatological disorders, it is also used against various cancer cells for its antioxidant and cytotoxic properties. Moreover, there is relatively reliable evidence of its benefits for bacterial and helminthic infections, rheumatism, edema, gout, abortion induction, healing of wounds and urine induction. It seems that supplementary studies are required to explore the bioactive agents and their effective mechanisms.


2014 ◽  
Vol 1073-1076 ◽  
pp. 2173-2176 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hui Chun Gao ◽  
Chao Jun Fan ◽  
Jun Wen Li ◽  
Ming Kun Luo

Aimed at the frequency gas accident of coal mine, we designed a coal mine gas monitoring system based on Arduino microcontroller. The MQ-4 gas sensor was used to collect gas concentration, wireless ZigBee was used to transfer data of gas concentration to PC. The system can display gas concentration real-timely by LCD and use SD card to store the data. The system will send out sound and light alarm when the gas concentration overruns. Industrial tests have been carried out in Wuyang coal mine. Results show that gas monitoring system can well adapt to environment of underground coal mine and the measurement is accurate. The system is real-time monitoring and early warning. It has the characteristics of low power consumption, low cost, wireless, good market prospect.


2020 ◽  
Vol 87 (s1) ◽  
pp. s79-s84
Author(s):  
Qummar Zaman ◽  
Senan Alraho ◽  
Andreas König

AbstractThe conventional method for testing the performance of reconfigurable sensory electronics of industry 4.0 relies on the direct measurement methods. This approach gives higher accuracy but at the price of extremely high testing cost and does not utilize the new degrees of freedom for measurement methods enabled by industry 4.0. In order to reduce the test cost and use available resources more efficiently, a primary approach, called indirect measurements or alternative testing has been proposed using a non-intrusive sensor. Its basic principle consists in using the indirect measurements, in order to estimate the sensory electronics performance parameters without measuring directly. The non-intrusive property of the proposed method offers better performance of the sensing electronics and virtually applicable to any sensing electronics. Efficiency is evaluated in terms of model accuracy by using six different classical metrics. It uses an indirect current-feedback instrumentation amplifier (InAmp) as a test vehicle to evaluate the performance parameters of the circuit. The device is implemented using CMOS 0.35 μm technology. The achieved maximum value of average expected error metrics is 0.24, and the lowest value of correlation performance metrics is 0.91, which represent an excellent efficiency of InAmp performance predictor.


Stroke ◽  
2013 ◽  
Vol 44 (suppl_1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Janice Sandt ◽  
Sarah E Brown ◽  
Colleen Lechtenberg ◽  
Cherie Boxberger

Background and Purpose: Kansas is a rural state lacking geographically distributed Primary Stroke Centers. Of the 128 hospitals in the state, 88 are designated as Critical Access (< 25 beds). The IV r-tPA treatment rate in the state of Kansas is less than 2%. The pre-transport death rate for patients experiencing stroke is 55.4% .The Kansas Initiative for Stroke Survival (KISS) is a non-government task force with the goal of improving stroke survival among Kansans. The task force encourages hospitals to meet the criteria as Emergent Stroke Ready and based on this status engage with their individual communities, emphasizing the need to seek immediate assistance by EMS and arrive at the closest Emergent Stroke Ready hospital. Methods: The Kansas State Stroke Task force determined requirements for a facility to be considered Emergent Stroke Ready. This information was distributed to all acute care hospitals, asking them to attest to their current Emergent Stroke Ready status. Responding facilities were provided access to a 24 x 7 Stroke Support Line - providing access to stroke specialists for the purpose of guiding evaluation and treatment decisions for r-tPA administration or need to transfer to a higher level of care. Also provided is a community education kit. Data is reported through a monthly online survey or GWTG database. Results: In the first phase of the KISS project - forty-two hospitals attested as Emergent Stroke Ready Hospital or were certified Primary Stroke Centers representing an increase from 7% to 33% of hospitals in the state. The post-KISS implementation IV r-tPA treatment rate for the reporting Emergent Stroke Ready Hospitals was 48% compared with a pre-KISS treatment rate of 6%. The post-KISS implementation transfer rate was 26.7% compared with a pre-KISS transfer rate of 18%. Conclusions: The KISS program resulted in a significant increase in the number of Emergent Stroke Ready facilities, stroke patients reporting to their local hospitals, stroke specialist consultations and use of IV r-tPA. A low-cost, statewide program that provides standardized protocols and direct phone consultation can improve access to stroke specialists and approved stroke treatment while offering a cost effective, feasible alternative to telestroke.


2017 ◽  
Vol 10 (1) ◽  
pp. 52-61 ◽  
Author(s):  
Julie Bury ◽  
Chris Littlewood

Background Shoulder pain is a common musculoskeletal presentation, with disorders of the rotator cuff (RC) regarded as the most frequent cause. Conservative treatment is often the initial management; however, findings from a previous survey showed considerable variations in clinical practice, including the use of modalities that are not supported in the literature, suggesting that research is not impacting on practice. The present study aimed to survey current UK physiotherapy practice for the management of RC disorders and to determine whether this has changed over the 5-year period since the last survey was conducted. Methods A cross-sectional online survey of UK physiotherapists was conducted. Results One hundred and ninety-one respondents completed the survey which showed that advice/education and some form of exercise therapy are most commonly used as a management strategy for RC disorders. There is a lack of agreement however regarding exercise prescription. The survey suggests less use of passive modalities, indicating that practice has advanced over the last 5 years in line with the current evidence. Conclusions The present study has highlighted that the clinical practice of the survey respondents was in line with current recommendations from research. Hence, in contrast to the survey conducted 5 years previously, research appears to be impacting on practice, which is a positive finding.


Author(s):  
Gensheng LI ◽  
Jianxuan Shang ◽  
Zhenqi Hu ◽  
Dongzhu Yuan ◽  
Pengyu Li ◽  
...  

Underground coal mining will inevitably cause land ponding in high groundwater table, which will affect the land sustainable development. However, the traditional reclamation (TR) is poor in land rate. Thus, finding a suitable reclamation approach is crucial to alleviate the conflicts between coal exploitation and land protection. In this paper, taking Guqiao Coal Mine of China was seriously affected by mining-induced ponding as an example. Firstly, dynamic distribution of surface subsidence and land damage from 2007 to 2017 was revealed base on concurrent mining and reclamation (CMR). Second, the land-water layout of five reclamation schemes (no reclamation, TR, CMR I, CMR II and CMR III) were simulated. Then, and the dynamic filling elevation model and filling thickness model were constructed. Finally, the sequence of earthwork allocation was optimized. The results revealed that: 1) reclaimed land area: CMR III > CMR II > CMR I > TR > no reclamation; 2) The digging depth is directly proportional to earthwork volume and land area, and inversely proportional to water area, but with increase of digging depth, the increase in the reclaimed land area relatively slowed down; 3) CMRs had reclaimed 426.31~637.82 ha and 259.62~471.13 ha more than the no reclamation and TR respectively. Compared with the no reclamation and TR, CMRs can increase the proportion of reclaimed land by 33.77~50.52% and 20.57~37.32% respectively. The research results provide a reference to increase the reclamation rate of mining areas in the high phreatic table.


2006 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Carla Abreu-Ellis ◽  
Jason Brent Ellis

This paper provides an overview of adaptive technologies currently being used in Ontario Universities. Results of this study may help disability service providers in Ontario in understanding the current challenges of training students with disabilities in using adaptive technologies as well as improving service delivery methods. Participants were recruited through a listserv and asked to answer an online survey. Data were analyzed using descriptive statistics and anecdotal narratives. Results indicated that students with learning disabilities are not familiar with adaptive technologies that would best suit their academic needs and that training in adaptive technology occurred on an individual basis or in small group settings as opposed to large groups. Participants indicated that they use low-cost equivalents and adaptive technologies housed in open laboratories in order to serve students with financial needs. Challenges faced by Assistive technologists included: consistency in assistive technology use by the students they serve, effective training while semester coursework is in progress, and fitting individuals with very unique needs to the available technology. A series of best practices and accomplishments were identified by the participants.


2019 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 70-74
Author(s):  
Viktória Mikita ◽  
Balázs Kovács

In this study we investigated the hydrogeological problems of an open-pit brown coal mine in the Borsod coal basin with Processing Modflow software. The coal mine is located in the valley of the Sajó-river with high transmissivity overburden layer where the traditional dewatering solutions were not encouraging due to inrush risks and low cost-efficiency. A new way of barrier forming was found out and numerically simulated to prove the efficiency of the solution. Since there are several contaminated sites in the surroundings it was a key factor to assure that the new mine dewatering technique has only a negligible effect on the groundwater regime that undisturbs the known contaminant plumes nearby.


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