Values Of Components Research Articles

Assessment of the Nutritional Composition and Environmental Impact of Menus Served in a University Cafeteria During an Academic Year

Diets will likely play a crucial role in the Anthropocene to support the population’s health and safeguard environmental sustainability for future generations. Based on a cross-sectional–observational–descriptive design for evaluating an entire menu proposal, data on the type and composition of the menus offered by a university catering service during an academic year were collected. Each day during the meal service, 10 plates of the same option offered were weighed, and 10 photographs were taken. With these data, the nutritional value and carbon footprint were evaluated for all possible combinations of first and second courses, while including the average values of other components of the menu (garnishes, bread, desserts, and beverages). The annual menu proposal resulted in 6478 combinations of first and second courses plus the other components. The average caloric intake was 1194 kcal/menu with high consumption of proteins and lipids, and the average carbon footprint was 1.86 kg carbon dioxide equivalent (CO2eq)/menu, with the second course being the major contributor. Creating menus that consider these two essential parameters is the task of specialists. Achieving food consumption that balances nutrition and environmental sustainability is another issue of education and communication.

The tree-ring width and interval trend values as indicators of sensitivity to temperature and precipitation in different provenances of European larch

The study assessed the sensitivity of 20 provenances of European larch (Larix decidua Mill.) growing at provenance experimental trials located in lowland (Siemianice) and upland (Bliżyn) climate in Central Poland to air temperature and precipitation, including drought. The measure of the tree’ sensitivity was their radial growth reactions, i.e. changes in the radial growth in years 1971–2015. We found that rainwater supplies in a soil stored in autumn of the previous year, length of the growing season and thermal conditions in its beginning, as well as thermal and moisture conditions of the year of tree ring formation had a significant impact on the wood volume formed by the larches, regardless of their origin and climatic region in which they grew. The degree of homogeneity of tree’ radial growth reactions to precipitation deficit and high temperature was the lowest in a warmer and drier climate in the lowlands in Central Poland. Larch provenances with the lowest and the highest values of drought resilience components (resistance, recovery, resilience, relative resilience of radial growth) originated in different regions of Poland. Greater resistance to drought was observed in larch provenances growing at the trial located in the uplands. The relative resilience index seems to be the most helpful in predicting the future radial growth reactions of the studied provenances, and consequently their viability and survival, as this index showed the highest variability among trees of a given provenance and was most often significantly different between pairs of provenances.

Miniaturized Intermediate‐Frequency Filter for BeiDou Navigation Satellite System

ABSTRACTA new type of intermediate‐frequency (IF) filter based on LTCC multilayer technology for BeiDou navigation satellite system is presented in this letter. By reasonably selecting the equivalent circuit value of each passive component, and separating the effective area of each inductance and capacitance to reduce the influence of parasitic coupling, an IF bandpass filter with a center frequency of only 46 MHz can be realized in a ceramic surface mount package. Besides, the locations of the transmission zeros can be tuned individually by changing the LC value of each resonant cell, thus a deep suppression level and wide stopband could be obtained simultaneously. The IF filter has a compact size of 10 mm × 6 mm × 2 mm, which is very suitable for the portable BeiDou B3 system.

Invited Review: The impact of the dairy food matrix on digestion and absorption.

The nutritional value of any food product has historically been measured by the calorific value of individual components, harking back to the days of the development of the bomb calorimeter. A fuller understanding of nutrition later took into account the need for specific components, such as proteins, carbohydrates, vitamins and minerals, that ere known to be required for good human health and growth. In milk and milk products, these include casein and whey proteins, lactose, milk fat triacylglycerides, minor lipid components (both charged and neutral), calcium, and micronutrients. Whey proteins are known to be richer in essential amino acids, compared with casein, and also to contain branched chain amino acids for muscle growth. Calcium is found in the form of the calcium phosphate mineral and is dispersed, but largely insoluble in milk. All of this information does not take into account interactions between milk components, and therefore can be considered as a reductionist nutritional approach. This review takes a structural and physical chemical approach to understand how digestibility and nutritional delivery is impacted by microstructures and nutrient component interactions, with a focus on mechanistic explanations.

Advanced Digital Signal Processing, Interpolation and Extrapolation Based Symmetrical Fault Assessment in Transmission Line

This article describes a novel method for locating and detecting triple line to ground (LLL-G) faults in 110 km of 132 kV transmission lines. To find the transmission line fault, the three phase system currents were first recorded at the appropriate sampling frequency. Then, the total harmonic distortion (THD) and direct current (DC) components were computed using the Fast Fourier transform (FFT). When compared to normal conditions, high values of THD and DC components have been seen in fault situations; fault has been identified as a result. The fault distance in the transmission line has been measured using spline extrapolation or linear interpolation. With this method, very encouraging outcomes have been obtained for fault assessment in transmission line.

Prediction of grading of ovarian endometrioid carcinoma using conventional MRI features.

The purpose of this study was to evaluate MRI findings of ovarian endometrioid carcinoma (OEC) as a predictor of histological grade. This study included 60 patients with histopathologically confirmed OEC (20, 30, and 10 with grades 1, 2, and 3, respectively). Clinical and MRI results were retrospectively reviewed. We compared the following parameters between the three grades: age, tumor markers, presence of uterine corpus cancer, bilaterality, configuration, peritoneal dissemination, abnormal ascites, signal intensities of cystic and solid components, tumor size, and apparent diffusion coefficient (ADC) values of solid components. T1-hyperintense cysts were more common in grade 1 than in grades 2-3 OEC (80% vs. 60%, vs. 40%, p < 0.05). The signal intensity ratio between the cystic components with the largest solid component and muscle (1.49 vs. 1.08 vs. 0.98, p < 0.05) was higher in grade 1 than in grades 2-3 OEC. Necrosis within solid components was less common in grade 1 than in grades 2-3 OEC (31% vs. 68% vs. 88%, p < 0.05), and the ADC values of solid components were higher in grade 1 than in grades 2-3 OEC (1.10 vs. 0.99 vs. 0.79 × 10-3mm2/sec, p < 0.05). There were no significant differences in other factors. On T1-weighted images, grade 1 OEC showed a higher signal intensity in the cystic components than grades 2-3 OEC. Necrosis and lower ADC values were more frequently observed in grades 2-3 than in grade 1 OEC.

Trends of Industrial Waste Generation in Manufacturing Enterprises in the Context of Waste Prevention—Shift-Share Analysis for European Union Countries

The problem of waste in the European Union is still present—from 2010 to 2022, the amount of hazardous waste generated increased by an average of 2.25% per year, while non-hazardous waste decreased by an average of 0.06% per year. The increase in the amount of hazardous waste and the very slight decrease in non-hazardous waste over the 13-year period testify to the ever-present problem of waste generation. To effectively address this issue, it is necessary to understand the trends that characterize the amount of waste generated. This study focuses on the amount of waste generated in manufacturing companies. Panel data from 27 European Union countries from 2010–2022 were analyzed to examine what factors contribute to the generation of hazardous and non-hazardous waste. For this purpose, a shift-share analysis was used. The research showed that, in comparison to 2010, the total amount of EU waste generated by manufacturing companies in 2022 was 3,632,096 tons lower for hazardous waste and 15,149,754 tons lower for non-hazardous waste. A shift-share analysis of hazardous waste suggests that companies in the manufacturing sectors should show an upward trend in the amount of waste generated in all the European Union countries. In fact, however, there has been a decline in the amount of this waste overall across the EU (though only in 15 countries), driven by both structural (industrial mix) and geographic (regional shift) factors. The dominance of the geographic component was particularly pronounced in countries with a decrease in hazardous waste (negative total effect). The situation was different for non-hazardous waste. Negative values of the national shift component for all the countries suggest a decline in non-hazardous waste at companies in the manufacturing sector. In reality, the decline occurred in only 16 countries, and in most, due to the regional shift component. The analysis shows that policies on hazardous and non-hazardous waste management in European Union countries vary. Positive changes in hazardous waste have taken place in 12 EU countries that differ in terms of levels of economic and social development, suggesting the need for further analysis of the reasons for these trends. In the case of non-hazardous waste, the largest number of countries have made positive changes related to their competitive potential, indicating that the decline in non-hazardous waste is mainly due to their macroeconomic situation. Thus, there is considerable regional heterogeneity in the spatial distribution of the waste change component. The research provides valuable insights for companies and institutions responsible for shaping waste management policies, helping them to recognize the regional advantages and disadvantages of waste reduction and strengthen regional cooperation in this regard.

Breeding Evaluation of Alfalfa (Medicago sativa L.) Polycross Progenies by Multivariate Analysis Based on Agro-morphological Traits

The alfalfa varieties are mostly synthetic populations of wide genetic base and a number of breeding schemes have been proposed for their creation. The progeny testing plays an important role in new alfalfa variety development because it gives information about the genetic value of the parental components based on the values established in their progeny.From 2018 to 2021 nine polycross progenies (23-M, S11-17, S11-34, S12-1/8, 9K11, 8K7, AI17, 9P17 and 3P17) originated in a polycross nursery were tested at the experimental field of the Institute of Agriculture and Seed Science “Obraztsov chiflik” – Rousse. The field experiment was performed in a randomized block design in four replicates and harvesting plot size of 10 m2. The objective of the study was to evaluate the alfalfa polycross progenies based on main agro-morphological traits performance and to predict their genetic potential as a source of parental material for new alfalfa variety breeding. 9K11 and 8K7 progenies showed superior scores regarding green mass and dry matter yield, plant height, stem producing ability and regrowth rate, while S11-34 and 3P17 progenies distinguished with high phenotypic expression of crude protein content and leaf/stem ratio. These progenies are valuable germplasm source to be used in a further breeding programme for new alfalfa variety development.

Soybean Yield and Yield Components Depending on Sowing Rate and Sowing Date

A research on the influence of a sowing date on the soybean yield and the yield of its components was carried out at the Experimental Site of the Faculty of Agriculture of the University of Zagreb during 2019 and 2020. The study involved two soybean varieties, the AFZG Ana (maturity group 0) and Gabriela (maturity group 00-0), sown on the two sowing dates (i.e., an optimal and a late one) and three sowing rates: 40, 65, and 90 germinating seeds m-2. The sowing time did not have a significant effect on the soybean seeds’ yield and the yield of their components. In both research years, the Gabriela variety achieved a higher seed yield when compared to the AFZG Ana variety, which is a result of a higher number of nodes on the main stem, number of fertile nodes on the main stem, number of pods, number of seeds, and the seed weight per plant. The Gabriela variety achieved a significantly higher harvest index in both years. The seed yield increased with an increasing sowing density up to 65 seeds m-2. However, the differences were statistically significant only in 2019. The values of the yield components decreased with an increasing sowing density.

Complex relationship between response rate and preference in pigeons: Williams (1992) revisited.

A decrease in the rate of reinforcement associated with one component of a multiple schedule is typically associated with a decrease in responding in that component as well as with an increase in responding in the unchanged component. This increase in responding, referred to as positive contrast, is thought to result from an increase in the subjective value associated with the unchanged component. Williams Animal Learning & Behavior, 19, 337-344, (1991) challenged this hypothesis in an experiment with pigeons in which Stimulus A, associated with a variable interval schedule, was always followed by Stimulus X, associated with extinction, while Stimulus B, associated with the same variable interval schedule, was always followed by Stimulus Y, also associated with a variable interval schedule. Although Williams found that most of the pigeons pecked more at Stimulus A than at Stimulus B (behavioral contrast), when the pigeons were given a choice between Stimulus A and B, they showed a preference for Stimulus B. In the present experiment (a slight modification from Williams's), we confirmed this finding. Although our pigeons pecked more at Stimulus A than at Stimulus B, they generally preferred Stimulus B, the stimulus that was not followed by extinction. This result suggests that positive contrast may not result from an increase in the subjective value of the unchanged component. Instead, it suggests that this version of positive contrast may result at least in part from the pigeons' attempt to get all of the reinforcers possible in the presence of Stimulus A before the extinction schedule begins.

自走式多功能开沟施肥机的设计与实验

In orchard management, trenching operations are labor-intensive and have low efficiency, and mechanization is of crucial importance for the development of the fruit industry in China. In view of the many deficiencies of the existing chain-type and disc-type trenching machinery, this paper designs a self-propelled multifunctional orchard trenching machine. Its core component, the double-disc trenching disc, is an innovative design. Compared with the traditional single-disc trenching disc, it effectively reduces the trenching power consumption while ensuring the trenching depth and width, and significantly improves the operation efficiency. The trenching machine is composed of a frame, a gearbox, a double-disc trenching disc, a trenching knife, a soil retaining plate, etc. Field tests show that the operation speed reaches 1.2 kilometers per hour, the trenching depth is 31.2 cm, the width is 30.5 cm, and the stability coefficient of the trenching depth is 97.2%. Its power consumption is in a relatively good parameter group. When the cutter roller speed is 400 r/min, the forward speed is 0.8 km/s, and the trenching depth is 0.3 m, the average power consumption value of the trenching component is measured to be approximately 7.63 kW, with an 11.18% reduction in power consumption compared with the current trenching machines. And it meets the requirements of orchard agronomy and industry standards. In terms of improving productivity, its high-efficiency operation performance can greatly shorten the trenching operation time in the orchard, enabling fruit growers to arrange production more reasonably and increase fruit output. In reducing labor costs, mechanization replaces manpower, reduces manpower input, reduces labor cost expenditures, and at the same time avoids the instability of manpower operations. For the sustainability of orchard operations, the precise and stable trenching operation helps to optimize the utilization of land resources, ensure the quality of orchard agronomy, maintain the long-term production capacity of the orchard, promote the sustainable development of the orchard, and inject new impetus into the mechanization process of the fruit industry.

DEFORMATION OF A THIN FILM AFTER CONTACT LOSS WITH A CYLINDRICAL BASE, WITH ACCOUNTING FOR THE INFLUENCE OF ITS CURVATURE, COMPLIANCE, AND ACTION OF TRANSVERSE FORCES; DELAMINATION LOCATED IN THE CIRCUMFERENTIAL DIRECTION

Delamination of a coating from a cylindrical substrate under compressive stresses is considered. The solution of the problem was obtained within the theory of cylindrical shells. The Mushtari-Donnell-Vlasov equations were used as the equilibrium equations, and the conditions of the generalized elastic clamped type were used as the boundary conditions. Expressions are obtained for the coating displacement components and the energy release rate during delamination along the rectilinear and curvilinear delamination boundaries. The profiles of the exfoliated section of the coating were obtained. The role of the substrate compliance and its curvature on the values of the energy release rate and the angle of rotation at the clamping point, as well as in the change in the shape of the coating profile, is revealed. It is shown that with an increase in the compliance of the substrate, as well as the value of (positive) curvature, the value of the energy release rate and the value of the normal component of the displacement of the coating increase significantly. It has been found that at sufficiently large values of the substrate curvature, a corrugation effect occurs in the profile of the delaminated section of the coating, which results in the local extrema in the graph of the dependence of the energy release rate on the delamination length. This effect was not observed in the delamination located in the longitudinal direction [1]. It is also shown that for sufficiently compliant substrates there is a certain critical delamination width, for which it becomes energetically more favorable for delamination to develop in the circumferential direction than in the axial one. As the positive curvature and compliance of the substrate increase, the value of the critical width decreases. An alternative criterion for the critical delamination width is also considered, which consists in studying the value of the angle of rotation at the embedding point, which corresponds to the overlap of the coating and substrate surfaces at an angle value of zero.

Study on Fire Characteristics of Flame-Retardant Polycarbonate Under Low Pressure

This work presents experimental and numerical research on the pyrolysis and combustion characteristics of flame-retardant polycarbonate under low ambient pressure. A novel experimental low-pressure combustion platform was constructed to determine the heat release rate, a key combustion parameter of polycarbonate. The ignition process of polycarbonate under external radiation was analyzed, and an ignition time prediction model was developed. In addition, theoretical calculations of the main gas components and concentrations during the pyrolysis stage of polycarbonate and estimations of the calorific values of the combustible gas components produced during pyrolysis were carried out, providing a new explanation for the phenomenon of advancing ignition time in low-pressure environments.

Fuel models for forest soil cover plant

Abstract This study presents the development and application of forest fuel models to predict fire behaviour in different forest habitats, focusing on biomass distribution, moisture variability and the calorific value of soil cover components. On analysing forest fire data from 2007 to 2013, we identified high-risk habitats, especially in younger stands and in stands dominated by Scots pine. The variability of moisture in the different soil cover components, including litter and deadwood, was statistically analysed; it revealed significant dependencies on litter moisture and rain-free intervals. These dependencies allowed the creation of equations to accurately predict fuel load and moisture content based on stand age, habitat type and environmental conditions. Using the calorific value measurements with an average calorific value of 18,920 kJ/kg for dry soil cover materials, fuel models were developed to estimate the potential intensity of fires. The models categorise the biomass into decayed, dead and live components and take into account key variables such as bulk density and moisture content that influence fire spread. Data-driven categorisation enables fire risk assessments at the compartment level, which increases accuracy compared to more comprehensive district-level assessments. Applications of fuel models include mapping the spatial distribution of biomass by fuel type, creating fire hazard maps and optimising firefighting infrastructure. These models support planning and operations by enabling forest managers to visualise high-risk areas and predict fire behaviour based on real-time meteorological data. The models are a critical step towards a more effective firefighting system that provides fine-grained, actionable insights into fire risk at the local level.

Eliminating Inrush Current in Three-Phase Transformer using Artificial Neural Network

Transformers are important parts of an electrical power system. When a power transformer is connected to the grid, usually inrush current increases substantially with a high value of harmonic components with a duration up to many cycles. The amount of flux in the core increases causing the magnetic circuit to saturate due to the increasing in the load. This paper describes a technique to accurately predict the inrush current and third harmonic of three phase transformer. A shallow neural network was created. The input parameters of the artificial neural network were the magnetization resistance Rm, the initial flux of phase A and the switching angle q. The number of neurons has been changed in the code to see the best performance value. The best validation performance was at epoch 71 with a value of 5.3641e-05. A good prediction results were obtained using this ANN. The simulation of the inrush current was done using the MATLAB Simulink software.

Simulation of Neural signal by solving coupled differential equation of the FitzHugh-Nagumo model using electronic circuits

Abstract Implementation of neural signals in electronic circuits is indispensable for studying the function of neurons, developing therapies, designing brain-computer interfaces, and artificial intelligence. This paper presents an electronic circuit implementation of neural signal modelling using operational amplifier-based analog computation. The coupled differential equation of the FitzHugh-Nagumo (FHN) model is solved by implementing the circuit in LT Spice software and analysed. The results show that the neural membrane potential can be generated using suitable values of the circuit components and bears close resemblance to the actual. Neural signals in the frequency range 7.29mHz-2.46 Hz are obtained by changing the circuit parameters. This approach provides valuable insight into the simulation of neuronal signalling and offers a basis for hardware implementation for signal generation for various applications.

Circuit models for thermoviscous acoustics in waveguides of various cross sections via continued fractions.

Thermal and viscous losses are crucial for accurate representation of wave propagation in small conduits. Analytical expressions exist for the series and shunt immitances representing the transmission line characteristics of thermoviscous acoustics in one-dimensional tubes of certain cross sections, and for a subset of these cases, circuit models with constant and positive component values can approximate these generally nonrational solutions. A continued fraction approach introduced previously for the circular cross section has been applied, here, to the slit and equilateral triangular cross-section cases with the same canonical forms and constant and positive component values for the series and shunt immitances. The resulting networks can be used for steady-state and time-dependent calculations due to their passivity and rational nature and are easily expanded to cover any desired frequency range.

Forage lucerne for grazing dairy cows: effects on milk yield, milk urea and fatty acid composition

Context The value of milk components is increasingly recognised for human health benefits (e.g. omega-3 fatty acids, FA), or indicators of nutrient-use efficiency for both animal and environmental benefits (e.g. milk urea, MU). Aims The study explored whether inclusion of lucerne (Medicago sativa L.) in a perennial ryegrass and white clover (Lolium perenne L. and Trifolium repens L, PRW)-based diet affects milk production, MU concentration, and milk FA composition of dairy cows during mid-lactation. Methods Thirty-two cows, balanced for milk production (26.1 ± 3.03 kg/cow), MU (16.6 ± 2.84 mg/dL), and days in milk (94 ± 7 days), were evenly allocated into eight groups of four. Groups were then randomly assigned one of two dietary treatments, namely, PRW only (control), and PRW plus lucerne (lucerne). During an 8-day adaptation, control cows were fed a fresh allocation after each milking at 08:30 hours and 16:00 hours to provide 25 kg/cow.day DM of fresh PRW herbage above a target post-grazing height of 4.5 cm height. Cows on lucerne were allocated 10 kg DM of fresh lucerne at 08:30 hours, and 15 kg DM of fresh PRW at 16:00 hours. Apparent nutrient intakes and milk composition were determined on Days 9 and 10 of the study. Key results Diet treatment did not significantly alter DM or metabolisable energy intake, milk production, or milk fat and protein percentage. However, compared with control cows, nitrogen and linoleic acid (LA) intake increased, and soluble carbohydrate, neutral detergent fibre, and alpha linoleic acid (ALA) intake decreased for cows fed lucerne. Milk urea increased by 43% for lucerne compared with control cows (22.4 vs 15.7 ± 1.43 mg/dL, P &lt; 0.001). Cows grazing lucerne produced milk with a higher concentration of LA and ALA than did the control cows. Increases in milk LA from grazing lucerne were congruent with improvement in intake of the FA from the diet, whereas increases in ALA occurred despite the corresponding lower dietary intake. Conclusion Supplementing a pasture diet with lucerne increased MU and FA. Implications Lucerne has the potential to enhance dietary protein supply during periods of deficiency and increase the supply of functional FA in the milk of grazing dairy cattle.

The Effect of Mn3+ Substitution on the Electric Field Gradient in a HoFe1−xMnxO3 (x = 0–0.7) System

The effect of the Mn3+ ion on the local distortions of FeO6 octahedra in orthoferrite samples was investigated. Mössbauer spectroscopy measurements for a series of HoFe1−xMnxO3 (x = 0–0.7) orthoferrite samples with the space group Pnma were carried out at temperatures above the Néel point (700 K). The electric field gradient (EFG) tensor on Fe ions for these compounds was found using first-principle calculations. The concentration dependence of quadrupole splitting was obtained using experimental and theoretical data. Mn3+ cations were found to affect the Mössbauer spectra mainly due to distortions of the crystal lattice. Theoretical calculations show that the values of all electric field gradient components increase significantly with the manganese concentration in the system, and the eigenvectors exx and eyy of the electric field gradient tensor sharply change their direction at concentrations of x &gt; 0.1.

Optical Second‐ and Third‐Order Nonlinearities in Plasma‐Enhanced Chemical Vapor Deposition‐Grown Silicon Oxides and Silicon Nitrides

Optical second‐ and third‐order nonlinearities ( and ) in nonstoichiometric silicon oxides and silicon nitrides grown by plasma‐enhanced chemical vapor deposition are investigated by second‐harmonic generation (SHG) and electric field‐induced second‐harmonic (EFISH) measurements. The free‐space SHG measurements with a fundamental wavelength of 1030 nm allow us to determine the bulk values of both material platforms for various material compositions. It is demonstrated that the bulk values can be strongly enhanced by increasing the silicon content, reaching maximum values of the main tensor component of for silicon‐rich nitrides and for silicon‐rich oxides. EFISH measurements demonstrate that the values can be pushed even further by adding a static electric field to the materials. Similar to the values, the values are strongly enhanced by increasing the silicon content, leading to a maximum value of m2 V−2 for the silicon‐rich nitrides and m2 V−2 for the silicon‐rich oxides.