Uniformity Index Values Research Articles

STRUKTUR KOMUNITAS FITOPLANKTON DI PERAIRAN PESISIR PULAU SIANTAN KABUPATEN KEPULAUAN ANAMBAS PROVINSI KEPULAUAN RIAU

Phytoplankton as a producers and natural food for fish have an important role in aquatic ecosystems, thus indirectly affecting the availability of fish catches. The research was conducted at Siantan Island Coastal Area Anambas Islands District Riau Islands Province. This coastal area is one of the fishing grounds in Anambas Island. This study aims to analyze the community structure of phytoplankton at Siantan Island Coastal Area Anambas Islands District Riau Islands Province. Sampling was conducted during March and April 2012. Community structure parameters analyzed include Species Diversity Level, Species Uniformity Level, and Species Dominance Level. Data were analyzed spatially and temporally. Similarity between the sampling locations was conduted by Multivariate Analysis - Cluster. Results of data analysis showed that the phytoplankton of Bacillariophyceae Class found in the most abundant amount. Diversity Index Value indicates that the level of phytoplankton plankton community in a state of moderate. Species Uniformity Index Value and Species Dominance Index Value indicates that phytoplankton in the three sampling locations are generally in a state of uniform and no one dominates. All three sampling locations have relatively the same condition and between sampling times (morning, afternoon, and evening) are also not very different condition.

PERBANDINGAN KOMPOSISI JENIS FITOPLANKTON ANTARA LAUT JAWA DAN BANDA

Pytoplankton in the waters has role as primary. Generally, the existence of phytoplankton in waters is supported by availability of light, nutrients, and other marine environment parameters. Java Sea is a sea that has shallow depth and Banda Sea has depth until more than 2000 meters. Many differences of characteristics, certainly organisms including phytoplankton, which are owned both the sea have different composition of phytoplankton, because of many factors influence it. The purpose of this research is study of comparison of phytoplankton spatial distribution horizontally between Java Sea and Banda Sea based on composition.Research was conducted in off shore of Java and Banda Sea. Data was collected with Research vessel of Baruna Jaya III was managed by BPPT (Balai Pengkajian dan Penerapan Teknologi) on 31th August – 9th September 2012. Methods used descriptive explorative. Phytoplankton was collected by plankton net passively that has mashes was 5 μm, lenght 65 cm, and diameter of meshes was 30 cm. Water was filtered as much as 30 l. result of filtering then stored in the bottle (200 ml). Station was collected as many as 14 stations. This Research was found 3 class of Phytoplankton, there were Bacillariophyceae (15 genera), Dinophyceae (4 genera), and Cyanophyceae (1 genera). The average abundance of Java Sea was 139 x 103 cells/m3 (range 115-189 x 103 cells/m3). Banda Sea had abundance range between 89-209 cells/m3 with average 146 x 103 cells/m3. Genera that had the highest of abundance was Rhizosolenia. The diversity index (H’) with range from 0,88 – 2,15 (very low – moderate). Uniformity index (e) values was with 0,67-0,88 (moderate-high), dominance index (D) was ranged from 0,12-0,51, just on station 17 that indicates dominating genus. Java and Banda Sea had identity community index (S) value was 76,47% (high category). Kruskal Wallis test (H) had values was 0,017 that lower than tabulated value of 6,63 at α = 0,01. It means accept H1 conclude that there is no significant difference of phytoplankton abundance between Java Sea and Banda Sea.

Struktur Komunitas Gastropoda Di Perairan Pesisir Kecamatan Genuk Kota Semarang

Gastropods have an important role in aquatic environments, especially in food and energy cycles. This aim of study determine the abundance and structure community of gastropods and physical parameters of the water, the type of substrate sediments and organic matter content in sediments that serve to optimize the utilization analysis and estimation of the abundance of gastropods conditions contained in the Genuk Coastal Waters, the city of Semarang. The method used in this research descriptive method by means of sampling stations gastropods includes 6 points. The study results for all sampling points had 260 individuals, that comprise of 10 species, namely Turricula javana, Thaislacera, Murex trapa, Bufonaria rana linnaeus, Nassarius sp, Natica tigrina, Babylonia spirata, Turritella terebra, Pseudoneptunea varicosa, and Conus sp. Sum abundance of species ranging between 0,08 to 2,37 individu/m2. Value index of diversity (H') ranged from 0,000 to 2,026 in the category of low and moderate, and values of uniformity index (e) ranged from 0,000 to 1,461 are included in the high category and the dominance index (c) between 0,255 to 1 in the category of not no dominance (TAD) and no dominance (AD), and for the distribution patterns are dominated by the uniform distribution pattern from the clumped distribution patterns whereas community similarity (S) category was up to the height ranges between 44,44% - 88,89%.

Coffee Bean Heating Uniformity and Quality as Influenced by Radio Frequency Treatments for Postharvest Disinfestations

Developing effective and economically viable treatments that replace chemical phytosanitary and quarantine practices is urgently needed for the coffee bean industry to maintain competitiveness in domestic and international markets. The objective of this study was to determine coffee bean heating uniformity and quality as influenced by radio frequency (RF) treatments for postharvest disinfestations. A pilot-scale, 27 MHz, 6 kW RF unit was used to study RF heating uniformity, develop a treatment protocol, and evaluate quality attributes in treated coffee beans. After comparing three selected electrode gaps, an appropriate gap of 14 cm was obtained to raise the central temperature of 2.75 kg samples to 48C using RF energy by 4.6 min, compared to more than 237 min for samples to reach only 45C when using forced hot air at 48C. RF heating uniformity in bean samples was improved by adding forced hot air and back and forth movements on the conveyor at 0.89 m min-1. The final temperatures reached 50.4C in the interior of the sample and 50.6C on the sample surface, resulting in small uniformity index values of 0.023 to 0.060 for the interior temperature and 0.073 for surface temperature distributions. RF treatments combined with forced hot air at 48C to hold the target temperature for 10min followed by forced room air cooling through a 3 cm product layer provided good bean quality. No significant differences in weight loss, moisture content, and color were observed between RF treatments and unheated controls.

Developing postharvest disinfestation treatments for legumes using radio frequency energy

There is an urgent need to develop technically effective and environmentally sound phytosanitary and quarantine treatments for the legume industry to replace chemical fumigation. The goal of this study was to develop practical non-chemical treatments for postharvest disinfestations of legumes using radio frequency (RF) energy. A pilot-scale 27 MHz, 6 kW RF unit was used to investigate RF heating and consequent quality attributes in treated chickpea, green pea, and lentil samples. Only 5–7 min were needed to raise the central temperature of 3 kg legume samples to 60 °C using RF energy, compared to more than 275 min when using forced hot air at 60 °C. RF heating uniformity in legume samples was improved by adding forced hot air, and back and forth movements on the conveyor at 0.56 m min−1. The final temperatures exceeded 55.8 °C in the interior of the sample container and 57.3 °C on the surface for all three legumes, resulting in low uniformity index values of 0.014–0.016 (ratio of standard deviation to the average temperature rise) for the interior temperature distributions and 0.061–0.078 for surface temperature distributions. RF treatments combined with forced hot air at 60 °C to maintain the target treatment temperature for 10 min followed by forced room air cooling through a 1 cm product layer provided good product quality. No significant differences in weight loss, moisture content, colour or germination were observed between RF treatments and unheated controls.

Effects of ozone fumigation on cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L .) morphology, anatomy, physiology, yield and qualitative characteristics of fibers

This experiment was conducted to study the effect of high ozone concentrations on two cotton ( Gossypium hirsutum L.) cultivars. Two cotton cultivars (Romanos and Allegria) were exposed to control (CF < 4 ppb O 3) and 100 ppb O 3. Plant exposure to ozone began eight days after emergence and was interrupted one day before removing the leaves, to calculate the leaf area. Plants were exposed to ozone 7 h/day, in closed and controlled-environment chambers, during their illumination with artificial visible light. In comparison to control plants, plants exposed to O 3 showed chlorotic and necrotic patches on their leaves, increased stomatal or epidermal cell density and yellowness of cotton fibers. Elevated ozone concentration did not have a significant effect on stomatal width, total leaf thickness and thickness of histological components of leaves. Exposure to ozone concentration reduced non-glandular hair density of main leaf veins, plant height, mainstem internode length, chlorophyll content, net photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and length and area of bracts and petals. Elevated ozone treatment reduced the maximum length of staminal tube, anther number, pollen grain germination, leaf area, leaf dry weight, boll number, raw cotton weight, total branch length, dry weight of the mainstem–branches–bracts–carpophylls and of root dry weight. Furthermore, exposure to O 3 reduced the seed weight, the lint weight, the yield, the ratio of lint weight to seed weight, the fiber strength, the micronaire, the maturity index and the fiber uniformity index values. This study shows that the exposure to high ozone concentrations mainly affected the rate of photosynthesis, raw cotton weight and strength of cotton fibers.

Mathematical modelling of heating uniformity for in-shell walnuts subjected to radio frequency treatments with intermittent stirrings

Non-uniform heating caused by the different orientations and locations of in-shell walnuts may be a major problem in developing a large-scale radio frequency (RF) treatment for postharvest phytosanitary and quarantine regulations in international trade. A mathematical model was developed based on normal distributions of walnut temperatures against frequency to study the influence of the number of RF units and intermittent stirrings on heating uniformity. The model was validated by experiments with a good accuracy. It was determined by experiments that the rise in standard deviation of walnut temperatures at any time during RF heating increased linearly with the rise in mean temperature. The ratio, defined as uniformity index, depends upon the design of a RF unit, and has a significant influence on the number of stirrings needed to achieve the desired insect mortality. For a uniformity index value of 0.165, a minimum of two stirrings was needed to meet the different desired temperature distributions for insect controls, such as the lowest temperature of 48 °C and mean temperature of 67 °C for a 99.9968% mortality or the lowest temperature of 50 °C and mean temperature of 64 °C for a 99.9% mortality.

The Influence of Defoliation Timing on Yields and Quality of Two Cotton Cultivars

The timing of certain cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) management practices varies according to the yield potential and quality characteristics associated with a variety. A defoliation timing study was performed to (i) determine if certain cultivars respond differently to defoliation timings and (ii) compare the use of the open boll percentage at defoliation (OBPD), nodes above cracked boll (NACB), and micronaire readings at defoliation for their effectiveness in timing defoliation. The study was conducted in 1999, 2000, and 2001. Treatments consisted of two proprietary cultivars (ST 474 and DP 5409), each defoliated on the basis of OBPD measurements. At the time of defoliation, NACB was recorded and lint samples were retained for later high volume instrumentation (HVI) analysis. Neither variety produced consistently higher yields than the other in this study. In 2000, delaying defoliation from 40 to 60 OBPD would have resulted in a significant addition of approximately 75 kg lint ha−1 for either variety. Stoneville 474 micronaire was highest in all years suggesting that timely defoliation is more critical to ST 474 cotton compared with DP 5409 in years when overall conditions are favorable for high micronaire. DP 5409 fiber length (UHM) values were consistently higher than ST 474 and UHM was unaffected by changes in OBPD values regardless of variety. Stoneville 474 had higher uniformity index (UI) values in all three years and delaying defoliation produced mixed results. The data demonstrate that proper defoliation timing strategies aimed at optimizing quality can vary across varieties. Proper defoliation timing in the two varieties examined in this study varied little with respect to yields. Both NACB and micronaire readings taken at defoliation were more effective for timing defoliation to optimize micronaire readings than OBPD.

The Influence of Defoliation Timing on Yields and Quality of Two Cotton Cultivars

The timing of certain cotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) management practices varies according to the yield potential and quality characteristics associated with a variety. A defoliation timing study was performed to (i) determine if certain cultivars respond differently to defoliation timings and (ii) compare the use of the open boll percentage at defoliation (OBPD), nodes above cracked boll (NACB), and micronaire readings at defoliation for their effectiveness in timing defoliation. The study was conducted in 1999, 2000, and 2001. Treatments consisted of two proprietary cultivars (ST 474 and DP 5409), each defoliated on the basis of OBPD measurements. At the time of defoliation, NACB was recorded and lint samples were retained for later high volume instrumentation (HVI) analysis. Neither variety produced consistently higher yields than the other in this study. In 2000, delaying defoliation from 40 to 60 OBPD would have resulted in a significant addition of approximately 75 kg lint ha−1 for either variety. Stoneville 474 micronaire was highest in all years suggesting that timely defoliation is more critical to ST 474 cotton compared with DP 5409 in years when overall conditions are favorable for high micronaire. DP 5409 fiber length (UHM) values were consistently higher than ST 474 and UHM was unaffected by changes in OBPD values regardless of variety. Stoneville 474 had higher uniformity index (UI) values in all three years and delaying defoliation produced mixed results. The data demonstrate that proper defoliation timing strategies aimed at optimizing quality can vary across varieties. Proper defoliation timing in the two varieties examined in this study varied little with respect to yields. Both NACB and micronaire readings taken at defoliation were more effective for timing defoliation to optimize micronaire readings than OBPD.

Active control of the growth trajectory of broiler chickens based on online animal responses

The objective of the research reported here was to control the growth trajectory of broiler chickens during the production process based on an adaptive compact dynamic process model. More specifically, the daily feed supply was calculated, based on a model-based control algorithm, with the aim of following a previously defined target growth trajectory as close as possible. For the modeling of the dynamic growth response of broiler chickens to the control input, feed supply, an online parameter estimation was used. The developed control algorithm was able to grow the birds according to different target trajectories ranging from restricted (final BW of 1,800 g and 1,945 g in experiments 1 and 3, respectively) to compensatory growth trajectories (final BW of 2,400 g and 2,100 g in experiments 2 and 4, respectively). The mean relative error (MRE) between the different predefined target growth trajectories and the realized growth trajectories ranged from 3.7% to 6.0%. With a few exceptions, the numerical values of feed conversion ratio and mortality after wk 1 were lower and the values of uniformity index were higher in the controlled groups compared with animals fed ad libitum. As a conclusion, it can be stated that integration of dynamic data-based modeling approaches with new hardware and sensing techniques to measure information from the animals should make it possible to control broiler growth trajectories.

Size Guide Number and Rosin–Rammler Approaches to describe Particle Size Distribution of Granular Organic-based Fertilisers

The physical properties of organic-based fertilisers are not well known. The main objective of this study was to evaluate the range of granule size distributions of organic-based fertilisers and compare five approaches used to describe their size distribution: (1) the size guide number N SG and uniformity index; (2) the size range variation coefficient; (3) the uniformity coefficient; (4) the geometric standard deviation of the particle size diameter; and (5) the Rosin–Rammler function. Six mineral (MF), four bulk-blended organic-based (BOF), and ten compound organic-based fertilisers (COF) were studied. Standard N SG boxes and Tyler sieves were used to measure their granule size distribution. The size guide number ranged from 200 to 246 for MF, from 204 to 216 for BOF and from 99 to 255 for COF. The uniformity index was higher for slow release MF and for COF with N SG >210. All five distribution parameters separated the fertilisers into similar groups. The coefficient of uniformity was the least discriminating approach in grouping the fertilisers, while the geometric standard deviation and size range variation provided similar results and the Rosin–Rammler approach was the most discriminating. The N SG and uniformity index were estimated with the Rosin–Rammler function. Comparisons between estimated and measured size guide numbers indicated that the Rosin–Rammler function performs better for MF and for spherical granule shapes. Differences between the uniformity index values were greater for BOF, COF, and for cylindrical-shaped granules. The Rosin–Rammler function was not accurate for homogeneous and binomial particle size distributions, or for cylindrical granule shapes. However, in all other cases, this function was more precise and presented many advantages over the other methods, including the fact that it covers the entire range of particle sizes and can be used to estimate other parameters.

Evaluation of relationships among refractive and topographic parameters

Purpose To examine the relationships among several refractive and topographic parameters. Setting Cullen Eye Institute Department of Ophthalmology, Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, USA. Methods Using computerized videokeratography (EyeSys Corneal Analysis System™), 287 corneas of 150 patients were retrospectively analyzed. The Holladay Diagnostic Summary (HDS) refractive maps were used to evaluate relationships among variables of the HDS and refractive error. Results Myopic spherical equivalent refraction ( P = .0003) and more negative asphericity (Q-values) ( P = .0119) were correlated with steeper corneas. The Q-values were less negative in eyes with moderate myopia (2.0 to 6.0 diopters [D]) than in those with hyperopia (1.0 D or greater). The Q-values below −0.3 were correlated with less favorable values for predicted corneal acuity and corneal uniformity index values. Mean corneal curvature measurements obtained by computerized videokeratography and standard keratometry showed a strong degree of correlation ( P = .0001). Conclusion As the degree of myopia and negative asphericity increased, the corneal radius of curvature decreased. Corneal Q-values less than −0.3 were associated with reduced optical performance of the cornea.