Production Circumstances Research Articles

Iron separation from iron-rich manganese ore leachate: Comprehensive optimization of operating parameters and economic viability

In the current electrolytic manganese industry, iron separation and reuse from iron-rich manganese ore leachate (IRMOL) has become one of the most pressing challenges. This study aimed to investigate the optimal conditions for iron separation from IRMOL and to assess the economic and practical advantages of iron separation or removal in industrial manufacturing. To identify more cost-effective and technologically advanced production circumstances, we examined five key elements that weaken Fe(OH)3 colloidal production conditions in enterprises: reaction temperature, pH, crystal species, aging and reaction time. The screening results showed that when the conditions were optimized, the efficiency of reducing manganese loss decreased from 6.15% to 4.69%. Additionally, the generation of iron-rich electrolytic manganese residue (IREMR) was decreased by 44.32%, and the filtration velocity of IREMR increased from 0.0030 to 0.0220 mL/(s·cm2) compared to the production conditions before optimization at the enterprises. Through multiphase equilibria modeling with Visual MINTEQ, we have determined that raising the temperature and pH levels increases the expenses associated with chemicals and energy usage and results in an elevation of Fe(OH)2+ concentration. This can lead to the creation of Fe(OH)3 colloidal, causing a high water content in IREMR, inefficient filtration, and significant loss of manganese. This strategy is highly significant for the production of electrolytic manganese and the reduction of electrolytic manganese residue.

The Discourse of Repression. Narrativity and Semantics Inside the Securitate Files of the Burning Bush from Antim Monastery

The archives of the political police during the Communist regime are documents whose circumstances of production make them different to interpret from other types of documents. They were generated by an instance of enunciation that was a repressive institution, directly interested in the repression of those perceived as political enemies. The present study starts from the story of a group of clergy and intellectuals known as the Burning Bush, who were part of a religious association (a cultural circle) in the second half of the 1940s. A decade later, several people connected to the initial group, their acquaintances as well as other younger students who gravitated around the older monks for spiritual formation were arrested during the 1958 repressive wave. An extensive surveillance had been developing prior to their arrest and their reunions and meetings in which they discussed religious and literary topics were interpreted in the archives as “hostile” and threatening towards the state. The paper inquires into how the documents create a coherent narrative of a group enemy that conspires against the Communist state, and also how semantics plays into the construction of the surveillance and the criminal files of the Burning Bush group.

Fusion Q-Learning Algorithm for Open Shop Scheduling Problem with AGVs

In accordance with the actual production circumstances of enterprises, a scheduling problem model is designed for open-shop environments, considering AGV transport time. A Q-learning-based method is proposed for the resolution of such problems. Based on the characteristics of the problem, a hybrid encoding approach combining process encoding and AGV encoding is applied. Three pairs of actions are constituted to form the action space. Decay factors and a greedy strategy are utilized to perturb the decision-making of the intelligent agent, preventing it from falling into local optima while simultaneously facilitating extensive exploration of the solution space. Finally, the proposed method proved to be effective in solving the open-shop scheduling problem considering AGV transport time through multiple comparative experiments.

Stochastic model to assess bioeconomic impact of PRRS on pig farms in Costa Rica.

Despite the economic importance of PRRS and its high prevalence in Costa Rica, there are no studies on the bioeconomic impact of the disease in the country or, even, in Central America. Such studies are essential in finding cost-effective preventive measures tailored for different production circumstances. Therefore, the objective of this study was to evaluate economic and production parameters of a PRRSV-infection for a medium-sized farrow-to-finish pig farm system in Costa Rica with a farm-level stochastic Monte Carlo simulation model. The effect of PRRS was assessed by scenario analysis, in which a baseline PRRS-free situation was compared against three alternative scenarios that assumed low, medium and high PRRS effects. The PRRS effects were based on data from local farms, scientific literature and expert opinion. Sensitivity analyses were performed to assess the impact of key input parameters on output variables. Results show that at the animal level, changes between the baseline and the PRRS-high scenario were estimated as: +25 d in age to slaughter, -9.9 pigs to slaughter (per breeding sow/yr), +6% annual replacement rate, -255 d in sow productive lifetime, - 6.9 mo in age at culling of sows, and +24 non- productive days. For a medium size local farm (n=588 sows), a reduction of 5826 fat pigs to slaughter per farm/yr from baseline compared to PRRS-high scenario was observed. PRRS-induced loss per farm per year was estimated at -US $142,542, US $180,109 and -US $524,719 for PRRS-low, medium and high scenarios, respectively. Revenues/costs ratio changed from 1.12 in the baseline to 0.89 in the PRRS-high scenario. The production cost per kg carcass weight increased from US $2.63 for the baseline to US $3.35 in the PRRS-high scenario. PRRS-induced loss was estimated at US $77.1 per slaughtered pig/yr and US $892 per breeding sow/yr for the PRRS-high scenario. Results from the model indicate that pig farms with medium to high prevalence of PRRS will require optimal market conditions in order to have positive economic outcomes. These results can be helpful in the design of better control strategies for PRRS.

Reliability of multi-story buildings with load-bearing structures of cast reinforced concrete during the construction period

Reinforced concrete is considered to be one of the most reliable structural materials. For this reason, it is widely used for mass construction of buildings and structures in Russia and other countries. In particular, reinforced concrete is predominantly used in the construction of multi-story buildings of any design in all Russian regions at any time of the year. Improvements in technologies, construction management and mechanical aids increase the industrialization of construction. Although this fact is generally regarded as extremely positive, it reduces the time allowed for concrete to gain the required strength characteristics. Sometimes, loads from upper structures of buildings are applied to fresh, immature concrete. Obviously, specific technical decisions are required to intensify the concrete hardening process and create favorable temperature and humidity conditions for its curing. Russian science and practical experience have a large arsenal of effective technical means for solving these problems. However, these means are reluctantly applied in practice, since this entails a rise in construction costs, even though slight. This creates a situation when unacceptable loads from the higher floors are applied to the lower floors of the building. The structures perceive static loads rather than dynamic ones, including seismic loads, with an inertial mass of tens of tons, thereby causing a risky situation at the site. This happens en masse. The problem is even more complicated in winter time. During the period of concrete thawing in spring, the entire facility can be classified as being in a metastable state. The paper considers the production circumstances associated with the above situations and proposes recommendations for their prevention.

Evaluating the differences in irrigation methods for winter wheat under limited irrigation quotas in the water-food-economy nexus in the North China Plain

Quantitatively evaluating the effects of multiple factors on the performance levels of different irrigation methods under a limited water supply in the water-food-economy nexus at the regional scale is of great significance; such evaluations can facilitate the selection of appropriate irrigation methods and schemes to reduce the contradiction between the water shortage and grain production circumstances. In this study, the distributed SWAP-WOFOST (Soil-Water-Atmosphere-Plant-WOrld FOod STudy) model was applied to a typical area of severe deep groundwater overexploitation in the North China Plain. This model was used to simulate various scenarios of sprinkler irrigation (SI) and limited surface irrigation (LSI) under the three limited irrigation quotas (i.e., 75 mm, 150 mm and 225 mm) and to further quantify the differences in crop yield, evapotranspiration and water productivity (WP) between the two irrigation methods by considering three rainfall levels and 66 soil texture profile (STP) types. Then, the impacts of irrigation methods on farmers’ net income were analyzed; the increasing extents of SI implementation scale and workday wage to improve farmers’ net income were estimated according to irrigation, rainfall and soil conditions. Under a specific limited irrigation quota, the yield and WP of winter wheat under LSI were greater than those under SI without fertigation in more than 92% of the 66 STP types under the three rainfall levels, with yield differences mainly in the range of 200–1600 kg hm−2 and WP differences mainly in the range of 0–0.5 kg m−3. In no more than five STP types (e.g., sandy or loamy sandy soil in the five layers), the yield and WP under LSI were lower than those under SI. Relative to the evapotranspiration under LSI, the evapotranspiration under SI did not show the same trend, while the ratio of transpiration to evapotranspiration under SI decreased in more than 98% of the STP types. For different irrigation quotas and rainfall levels, the farmers’ net incomes under SI were 374–1517 yuan hm−2 greater than those under LSI for up to five STP types, and they were 0–3000 yuan hm−2 lower than those under LSI for the other 92% of the STP types. When labor could be saved by more than 8 d hm−2 by improving the implementation scale of SI and the workday wage could increase to more than 100 yuan d−1, SI was recommended to obtain higher farmers’ net income in more STP types in the study area.

English and German pop song lyrics: Towards a contrastive textology

The present contribution offers a contrastive corpus-based analysis of English and German pop lyrics. It conceptualizes lyrics as a specific text type/register and tries to identify cross-linguistic commonalities and differences. As empirical base, it uses corpora that represent the lyrics of commercially highly successful pop songs in Anglophone and German contexts. Given the similar sociocultural functions and production circumstances of English and German lyrics, the study starts from the assumption that a large-scale linguistic overlap can be traced. While indeed cross-linguistic convergence is found especially for lexical patterns in terms of topic choice, the analysis also reveals a common property of conveying a conversational feel through lexicogrammatical means. However, given the differing typological make-up of the languages contrasted, fine-grained differences emerge as regards the ways conversationality/informality is established in pop lyrics as a performed text type.

Managing digital transformation of business in modern companies: problems and instruments of decision-making

The object of the present article is new approaches to decision-making in management of a company’s business digital transformation. These new approaches are based on three components: system economics, specific of managerial style and phenomenological modeling. The third component is the most important one because it integrates the previous two. This kind of modeling is being used for a long period already in nature studying and technics for designing production circumstances of particular materials. And then integrating such models forms a base for creating model which describes long-term laws of the relative materials’ behavior. We offer to accept this experience to arena provided with management of modern companies’ business digital transformation. In the similar way, here phenomenological models are the base of managerial decisions for particular situations which are accompanied by lack of information, but demand decision in the shortest period.

Rubber stamp impressions: A study of defects and their significance in questioned document examination

The sole objective of a forensic document examiner is to assist in discovering and proving the facts in any investigation or legal inquiry involving genuineness of a document or any part thereof. A document is usually questioned because its origin, content, or the circumstances and story of its production arouse serious suspicion as to its genuineness. It may also be adversely scrutinized simply because it displeases someone with its unexpected provisions, and a careful examination may show conclusively that the document is indeed genuine. The increasing use of many kinds of documents is among the characteristics of civilization. Taking into account the opportunities for fraud this offers and the imperfection of human nature, it is not strange that now and then a document appears which does not belong in the genuine class.
 As it relates to document examination, rubber stamp identification is closely akin to handwriting and typewriting analysis. Identifying a particular stamp, type-, or handwriting and determining when it was performed, its possible source, and circumstances of production – these are the chief aims of any initial examination. Rubber stamps may be individualized at any stage of the manufacturing process, even back-tracking to imperfections in the metal typefaces, but more commonly, unique characteristics are the effect of use, misuse, wear, and even age of the stamp. The present study discusses the steps in manufacturing a rubber stamp and the causes of defects leading to its identification, as well as attempts to examine the stamp impressions on the basis of the defects induced by these factors.

Influencing mechanism of coal miners’ safety compliance in the de-overcapacity circumstances of coal production: Role of emotional exhaustion and mind wandering

Recent years, the large-scale wave of coal mine closures directly caused by the de-overcapacity initiative has increased concerns among China’s coal miners in relation to the continuity and stability of their jobs. In this circumstances of coal production in China, based on the strength model of self-control and conservation of resources theory, a chain mediating model was constructed to determine the relationships between job insecurity, emotional exhaustion, mind wandering, and safety compliance among coal miners in China. The sample consisted of 449 miners from three coal mines in Henan Pingdingshan Coal Industry Group. The results showed that job insecurity negatively predicted safety compliance, and emotional exhaustion and mind wandering played a chain mediation effect in the relationship between job insecurity and safety compliance. These findings help to deepen the understanding of the internal mechanism of job insecurity affecting individual safety performance, and provide an empirical basis for managers to intervene effectively in the safety performance of coal miners.

Contemporary Nigerian Artists' Response to Postmodernist Trends and Its Implications for Effective Artistic Growth

The arguably retrogressive development of infrastructures, socio-political systems and technology in most African states casts a shadow of doubt on Africa’s claim to modernity and by extension, postmodernity. Within the context of the arts, the argument of this paper is premised on two questions: Why do some Nigerian artists claim to be post-modern? What is the viability of such a claim, in a country that, one is wondering whether it is even a modern society? To proffer answers to these questions, the paper enunciates a historical overview of contemporary African art and artists vis-à-vis the generalized concept of post-modernity, from the subjective view that its conceptualization and understanding, have a direct influence on contemporary artistic practice and expression. The paper then interrogates certain arts, within the context of their postmodern trend. The paper's conceptual framework is premised on Peroziosi’s (2009) postulation that artworks are reflective of their original time, place, and production circumstances. The authors conclude that contemporary artists’ responses to and their manifestation of postmodernist trends are such that can be categorised into three: Those who aspire faithfully to postmodernist principles; those who are inspired by postmodernism but want to progress their society by socio-political and economic reflections, criticism and advocacies as well as those who ordinarily would not have been artists perhaps, if not for the freedom provided by postmodernism.

Influencing mechanism of coal miners' safety compliance: A chain mediating model.

The influence that job insecurity has on employees' safety psychology and behavior has been identified in many empirical studies, but few of these examine the influencing mechanism of job insecurity on coal miners' safety behaviors. In the de-overcapacity circumstances of coal production in China, using the strength model of self-control and conservation of resources theories, a chain mediating model was constructed to determine the relationships between job insecurity, emotional exhaustion, mind wandering, and safety compliance among coal miners. Data were collected from 447 coal miners working in three coal mines of Henan Pingdingshan Coal Industry Group. It was found that job insecurity negatively affected safety compliance, and emotional exhaustion and mind wandering played a chain mediating effect in the relationship between job insecurity and miners' safety compliance, along three specific paths. This study helps advance the understanding of the internal mechanisms of coal miners' job insecurity and how this affects individual safety performance. It also provides empirical evidence that managers can use effectively intervene in coal miners' safety performance.

PSXVI-4 Modelling Response to Heat Stress in a Northeastern USA Dairy Facility Using Robotic Voluntary Milking System Data

Abstract Heat stress represents a major concern in the US dairy industry. It negatively affects profitability by reducing production and reproductive efficiency. One efficient way to study heat stress is to associate production losses with weather data. The objective of this study is to use data from a voluntary milking system and a local weather station to study the impact of heat stress on a dairy facility in the Northeast. Data from 124 Holsteins and Jersey cows, with daily milking records from June of 2020 to February of 2022 at the Kellogg Dairy Center at the University of Connecticut, in Storrs, CT, were used. The first approach consisted in fitting a heat load function to model the daily changes in milk production. Additionally, the total milk production and number of days under potential heat stress per lactation were associated. Finally, the residuals of a nonlinear model for lactation curve computed using the Wilmink equations were modeled as a function of the heat load values. Results suggested that a temperature-humidity index above 60 may reduce milk production significantly (p < 0.05). In addition, a better fit was obtained when the heat load was calculated as the average between the day of the heat event and the day before. The correlations between the days under potential heat stress and total milk yield were not significant. Finally, the effect of heat load on daily yield was significant and negative (p < 0.05). Taken together, the results suggest that milk yield of cows in the Northeast is affected by heat stress. Moreover, the voluntary milking system provides appropriate data for evaluating response to weather events in dairy cattle production. Such an approach evaluates animals under normal production circumstances and does not limit the number of individuals to be studied.

A primate model for the origin of flake technology

When and how human ancestors first used tools remains unknown, despite intense research into the origins of technology. It has been hypothesized that the evolutionary roots of stone flake technology has its origin in percussive behavior. Before intentional stone flaking, hominins potentially engaged in various percussive behaviors resulting in accidental flake detachments. We refer to this scenario as the ‘by-product hypothesis.’ In this scenario, repeated detachments of sharp stone fragments eventually resulted in intentional flake production. Here, we tested the circumstances of accidental flake production as a by-product of percussive foraging in wild capuchin monkeys (Sapajus libidinosus) from Brazil, the only nonhuman primate known to habitually produce sharp-edged flakes through a percussive behavior. We conducted field experiments where we tested the potential for accidental flake production during nut cracking. We provided three different types of stone with varied material properties as anvils to assess the circumstances in which accidental production of sharp-edged flakes occurs during nut cracking. A further freehand knapping experiment, with the raw material that exhibited accidental flake detachments, allows a direct comparison of flakes that have been intentionally produced by an experienced knapper and flakes produced during nut cracking by capuchin monkeys. Our results show that raw material quality and morphology significantly affect the rate of sharp-edged flake production as well as the resulting lithic signature of this behavior. In addition, accidental flakes produced during capuchin nut cracking on highly isotropic raw material are similar in many respects to intentionally produced flakes by a human knapper. Our field experiments highlight the fact that nut-cracking behavior can lead to the unintentional production of substantial quantities of sharp-edged flakes and therefore supports the ‘by-product hypothesis’ as a potential mechanism for the emergence of hominin flake technology.

Illuminated History Books in the Anglo-Norman World, 1066–1272

Illuminated History Books in the Anglo-Norman World, 1066–1272

How to Cure a Horse, or, the Experience of Knowledge and the Knowledge of Experience

How to Cure a Horse, or, the Experience of Knowledge and the Knowledge of Experience

A Methodological Approach to the Study of Arabic Inscriptions in Castilian-Aragonese Kingdoms

Re-using Arabic inscriptions on the objects and monuments of the medieval Hispanic kingdoms (11th–15th centuries) bears witness to the valorization, selection, and reinterpretation of the al-Andalus heritage by the Christians. The aim of this article is to propose a methodological approach for a global study of these inscriptions, which will be based on the constitution of an exhaustive corpus on the scale of the peninsula. This will allow us to have an overview of these inscriptions, to identify a typology and the different stages of their evolution. Then, a comparison with the inscriptions of al-Andalus will highlight the heritage of the various traditions and the dynamics resulting from this appropriation. Finally, a focus on the actors as well as the different historical circumstances of the epigraphic production will lead to a better understanding of their symbolic value and the complex intention behind certain inscriptions. It will also help to better understand the mechanisms of their reception, in line with a reflection on the role and status of ornamental writing.

‘Change the narrative’: The Affair, conceptual evolution and television authorship

This article assesses the narrative developments of the Showtime series The Affair (2014–19) alongside the production circumstances reported in the media following its conclusion. Through this, it is argued that actor Ruth Wilson’s objections to the direction of her character positively impacted the series, freeing it from the restrictions of its concept and resulting in a more culturally relevant conclusion than could otherwise have been achieved. Sarah Treem’s position as showrunner, and the accusations levelled at her by the reports around Wilson’s departure, are also investigated, asserting the importance of recognizing the other figures that hold responsibility for a multi-season drama’s production environment. Wilson’s influence on the trajectory of the series is used to argue against auteur theory, the assumptions of which are identified as attributing sole blame for Wilson’s objections to Treem. As it remains unusual for the position of drama showrunner to be held by a woman, the potential harm of such auteurist assumptions is made clear by the example of The Affair.

ЛЕКСИКО-ГРАММАТИЧЕСКИЕ ОСОБЕННОСТИ КОММУНИКАЦИИ В НЕМЕЦКОЯЗЫЧНЫХ ЧАТАХ И ФОРУМАХ

The paper addresses language variation in German language electronic communication. Rate of occurrence of ellipsis, abbreviations and inflektives in chat room and forum messages is shown to be correlated to situational characteristics of the genres. The authors maintain that type of communicative purpose, production circumstances, frequency of role switching, relations among participants are each associated with certain pragmatic functions of lexical and grammatical units, including the function of compression, demarcation, depiction, regulation and emotional expression.

The Sacred Art of Reading: Spirituality, Performance, and Power in Afro-Diasporic Literature

The Sacred Art of Reading: Spirituality, Performance, and Power in Afro-Diasporic Literature