Rate Values Research Articles

Dephosphorization Kinetics of Hot Metal at Low Slag Basicity and Low Temperature under the Different Fe2O3 Addition Amounts

In this article, the influence of the Fe2O3 addition amount on the dephosphorization kinetics of hot metal at the low slag basicity (CaO/SiO2) of about 1.6 and low temperature of 1623 K is investigated with laboratorial experiments and the kinetic model. Si and P contents in the hot metal during the whole dephosphorization process, and the endpoint FeO content in the slag, show good agreements between the calculated results with the kinetic model and experimental results. The peak value of dephosphorization rate linearly increases from 8.35 × 10−5 to 4.52 × 10−4 mass% s−1 when the weight ratio of Fe2O3 is increased from 5 to 10/100 g hot metal. With the increase in Fe2O3 addition amount, the mass transfer coefficient in the hot metal phase (km) and that in the slag phase (ks) and dephosphorization rate constant (k) all increase. The value of km is found to be 4.34 times that of ks. During the dephosphorization process, the rate‐controlling step converts from the mass transfer in slag phase to the mass transfer in hot metal phase in less than 10 min. With the increase in Fe2O3 addition amount, the value of interfacial oxygen activity of increases from 0.0102 to 0.0201.

Interference Mitigation and Power Consumption Reduction for Cell Edge users in Future Generation Networks

In 5G heterogeneous networks (HetNets), a unique and promising option to address the growing demand for higher data rates is network densification of small cells (SCs) and macro cells (MCs). Unfortunately, the 5G HetNets are suffering severe issues due to the interference caused by these densely populated SCs and their high-power consumption. To lessen interference and boost network throughput, a New Soft Frequency Reuse (NSFR) technique is put forth in this work. The proposed scheme uses the Soft Frequency Reuse (SFR) for on/off switching of the SCs according to their Interference Contribution Rate (ICR) values. By splitting the cell region into edge and center zones, it resolves the interference issue caused by the densely packed SCs. Moreover, SC on/off switching addresses the issue of excessive power consumption and improves the 5G network's power efficiency. Furthermore, this work tackles the irregular shape nature problem of 5G HetNets and compares two different proposed shapes for the centre zone of the SC, existing irregular and proposed circular shapes. Additionally, the optimum radius of the centre zone, which maximizes the total system data rate, is obtained. A comparative analysis of power consumption, data rate and power efficiency was performed between the NSFR model, the SFR model and the proposed model. The results show that for 1000 number of equipment, the proposed model has a low power consumption of 1.72KW compared to 3.51KW for SFR and 3.73KW for NSFR. Data rate of 12.19kbps compared to 11.42kbps for SFR and 11.09kbps for NSFR. Also, power efficiency of 610kbps/W compared to 572kbps/W for SFR and 560kbps/W for NSFR. These results imply that the interference mitigation handled by the proposed scheme improves by approximately 22%.

Medical treatment selection and outcomes for hospitalized patients with severe ulcerative colitis as defined by the Japanese criteria.

Hospitalization for ulcerative colitis (UC) is potentially life-threatening. Severe disease in the Japanese criteria which modifies the Truelove-Witts' criteria might encompass more fulminant cases than the definition for acute severe UC. However, few studies have investigated the predictive factors for clinical remission (CR) after medical treatments for severe hospitalized patients by Japanese criteria. Medical treatment selection, CR rates, and factors contributing to CR on day 14 were assessed in severe patients by Japanese criteria. We also investigated whether the reduction rate in patient-reported outcome 2 (PRO2) on day 3 could predict short-term prognosis. Eighty-five severe hospitalized patients were selected. Corticosteroids, tacrolimus, and infliximab were mainly selected as first-line treatments (76/85; 89.4%). The CR rates on day 14 were 26.8%, 21.4%, and 33.3% in patients receiving corticosteroids, tacrolimus, and infliximab, respectively. Extensive disease (odds ratio [OR] 0.022; 95% confidence interval [CI] 0.002-0.198), higher PRO2 (OR 0.306; 95% CI 0.144-0.821), and higher reduction rate in PRO2 on day 3 (OR 1.047; 95% CI 1.019-1.075) were independent factors predicting CR on day 14. If the cutoff value for the reduction rate in PRO2 on day 3 was 18.3%, sensitivity was 0.714 and specificity was 0.731 to predict CR on day 14. A higher reduction rate in PRO2 on day 3 (OR 0.922; 95% CI 0.853-0.995) was a negative factor to predict surgery within 28days. Tacrolimus and infliximab in addition to corticosteroids were used as first-line treatment in severe hospitalized patients. PRO2 on day 3 is a useful marker for switching to second-line therapy or colectomy.

Can Natural Speech Prosody Distinguish Autism Spectrum Disorders? A Meta-Analysis.

Natural speech plays a pivotal role in communication and interactions between human beings. The prosody of natural speech, due to its high ecological validity and sensitivity, has been acoustically analyzed and more recently utilized in machine learning to identify individuals with autism spectrum disorders (ASDs). In this meta-analysis, we evaluated the findings of empirical studies on acoustic analysis and machine learning techniques to provide statistically supporting evidence for adopting natural speech prosody for ASD detection. Using a random-effects model, the results observed moderate-to-large pooled effect sizes for pitch-related parameters in distinguishing individuals with ASD from their typically developing (TD) counterparts. Specifically, the standardized mean difference (SMD) values for pitch mean, pitch range, pitch standard deviation, and pitch variability were 0.3528, 0.6744, 0.5735, and 0.5137, respectively. However, the differences between the two groups in temporal features could be unreliable, as the SMD values for duration and speech rate were only 0.0738 and -0.0547. Moderator analysis indicated task types were unlikely to influence the final results, whereas age groups showed a moderating role in pooling pitch range differences. Furthermore, promising accuracy rates on ASD identification were shown in our analysis of multivariate machine learning studies, indicating averaged sensitivity and specificity of 75.51% and 80.31%, respectively. In conclusion, these findings shed light on the efficacy of natural prosody in identifying ASD and offer insights for future investigations in this line of research.

Modeling of slip rate-dependent traversability for path planning of wheeled mobile robot in sandy terrain

A planetary exploration rover has been employed for scientific endeavors or as a precursor for upcoming manned missions. Predicting rover traversability from its wheel slip ensures safe and efficient autonomous operations of rovers on deformable planetary surfaces; path planning algorithms that reduce slips by considering wheel-soil interaction or terrain data can minimize the risk of the rover becoming immobilized. Understanding wheel-soil interaction in transient states is vital for developing a more precise slip ratio prediction model, while path planning in the past assumes that slips generated at the path is a series of slip ratio in steady state. In this paper, we focus on the transient slip, or slip rate the time derivative of slip ratio, to explicitly address it into the cost function of path planning algorithm. We elaborated a regression model that takes slip rate and traction force as inputs and outputs slip ratio, which is employed in the cost function to minimize the rover slip in path planning phase. Experiments using a single wheel testbed revealed that even with the same wheel traction force, the slip ratio varies with different slip rates; we confirmed that the smaller the absolute value of the slip rate, the larger the slip ratio for the same traction force. The statistical analysis of the regression model confirms that the model can estimate the slip ratio within an accuracy of 85% in average. The path planning simulation with the regression model confirmed a reduction of 58% slip experienced by the rover when driving through rough terrain environments. The dynamics simulation results insisted that the proposed method can reduce the slip rate in rough terrain environments.

A Comparison of the Immediate Effects of Chiropractic Thoracic High-Velocity Low-Amplitude Manipulation Applied Supine and Prone on the Autonomic Nervous System

Thoracic manipulation is one of the spinal manipulative treatment methods frequently used by clinicians. However, when carrying out this task, several methods could be preferred. This study aimed to compare the immediate effects of supine and prone thoracic high-velocity-low-amplitude chiropractic manipulations on the autonomic nervous system. The study included 62 healthy and volunteer participants aged 18-45 years. Participants were randomly assigned to supine and prone manipulation groups. Both groups, heart rate variability data were obtained with the Elite HRV CorSense device for 1 minute before the application, systolic and diastolic blood pressures were measured, pulse and saturation values were recorded. After the measurement, supine chiropractic manipulation was applied to the mid-thoracic region and the same measurements were repeated. Heart rate variability data were analyzed with Elite HRV application, pulse rate, saturation, systolic and diastolic blood pressure values were recorded, and the results were statistically evaluated. In the intra-group comparison, LF/HF ratio increased in the prone group (p=0.025). When the difference between the groups was analyzed, the change in LF/HF ratio was found to be statistically significant between the two groups (p=0.008). The effect of prone application on the autonomic nervous system was found to be higher than supine application. This study revealed that prone and supine thoracic chiropractic HVLA application was effective on OSS in healthy individuals and that the efficiency of prone manipulation was significantly higher.

Remote Heart Rate Estimation Based on Transformer with Multi-Skip Connection Decoder: Method and Evaluation in the Wild.

Heart rate is an essential vital sign to evaluate human health. Remote heart monitoring using cheaply available devices has become a necessity in the twenty-first century to prevent any unfortunate situation caused by the hectic pace of life. In this paper, we propose a new method based on the transformer architecture with a multi-skip connection biLSTM decoder to estimate heart rate remotely from videos. Our method is based on the skin color variation caused by the change in blood volume in its surface. The presented heart rate estimation framework consists of three main steps: (1) the segmentation of the facial region of interest (ROI) based on the landmarks obtained by 3DDFA; (2) the extraction of the spatial and global features; and (3) the estimation of the heart rate value from the obtained features based on the proposed method. This paper investigates which feature extractor performs better by captioning the change in skin color related to the heart rate as well as the optimal number of frames needed to achieve better accuracy. Experiments were conducted using two publicly available datasets (LGI-PPGI and Vision for Vitals) and our own in-the-wild dataset (12 videos collected by four drivers). The experiments showed that our approach achieved better results than the previously published methods, making it the new state of the art on these datasets.

Dietary tributyrin supplementation promotes the growth by improving intestinal digestive and antioxidant capacity and the abundance of intestinal beneficial bacteria for swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus)

This study aimed to evaluate the effects of tributyrin (TB) supplementation on the growth, digestive enzyme activity, lipid metabolism, and intestinal health of swimming crab (Portunus trituberculatus) with an initial weight of 12.50 ± 0.02 g. Six experimental diets were formulated, which containing 0%, 0.025%, 0.05%, 0.10%, 0.20%, and 0.40% of TB, respectively. Results showed that crabs fed the diet containing 0.10% TB had significantly higher values of percent weight gain (PWG) and specific growth rate (SGR) than those in other treatments. Crabs fed the diet without TB supplementation showed dramatically higher contents of T-CHO, TG, and MDA in serum than those in other treatments, opposite patterns were recorded for the activities of T-SOD, PPO, NO, ACP, and AKP. The activities of antioxidant enzyme including T-AOC, T-SOD, ACP, AKP and GSH-Px in hepatopancreas were significantly affected by dietary TB levels. Meanwhile, crabs fed the diet without TB supplementation had significantly lower activities of trypsin, lipase, and amylase in the intestine than those in other treatments. The relative expression levels of genes related to antioxidant capacity in the hepatopancreas and intestine were markedly decreased when crabs fed the diet without TB supplementation; however, crabs fed the diet without TB supplementation exhibited the highest expression of genes linked to inflammation among treatments, and the expression levels of crustin and lyso in the intestine were significantly affected by dietary TB levels. The expression levels of genes related to energy metabolism and intestinal immune barrier in the intestine were also influenced by dietary TB levels. Dietary TB supplementation could reduce lipid accumulation in hepatopancreas by upregulating lipid catabolism related genes expression levels and decreasing lipid anabolism related gene expression levels. Muscularis thickness, fold width, and fold height in the intestine were significantly increased with dietary TB increasing from 0% to 0.10%; moreover, lipid droplets, the diameter of R cells and the area of R cells in the hepatopancreas significantly decreased with an increase of dietary TB levels. Additionally, the number of Actinobacteria and Bacteroides significantly increased with an increase of dietary TB levels. To sum up, the TB requirement of swimming crab was 0.089% based on two slope broken-line analysis of PWG. The findings of the current study indicate that TB is an effective growth promoter that can serve as a nutritional supplement to improve the growth performance, promote health and regulate lipid metabolism of swimming crab.

Influence of protectant for encapsulation by freeze-drying and spray-drying techniques, and packaging environments on the stability of the probiotic Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis strain KMP-H9-01 during storage

The process of drying probiotic bacteria to enhance their storage stability is important for the food industry. This study aimed to assess the efficacy of various drying techniques and food-grade protectants in preserving the viability of Bifidobacterium animalis subsp. lactis KMP H9-01 during drying and under prolonged storage conditions. Among the four protectants tested (skim milk, trehalose, sucrose, and maltodextrin), trehalose and skim milk at 5% (w/v) were selected for freeze- and spray-drying, each conducted at different temperatures. This evaluation encompasses survivability and the observation of the shelf life of probiotic powders. The results demonstrated that spray-drying at 160 °C/80 °C, with either skim milk or trehalose as a protectant, yielded the highest viable cell counts (>log 7 CFU/g) even after 6 months of storage at room temperature in the range of 25–30 °C, regardless of the use of vacuum and nonvacuum packaging. Notably, the calculated inactivation rate values (KRT) demonstrated remarkable stability, ranging from 5.36 × 10−2 to 5.82 × 10−2 day−1. Furthermore, the decimal reduction time (DRT) values predicted that a 90% reduction in probiotic cell number would require approximately 1.3 to 1.4 months at room temperature.

Does the superfluous killing exhibited by spiders mask the functional response parameters? A case study from the perspective of biological control

AbstractThe meadow spittlebug Philaenus spumarius L. (Hemiptera: Aphrophoridae) is a xylem‐sap feeder and the most abundant and widespread vector of Xylella fastidiosa (Xanthomonadales: Xanthomonadaceae) throughout Europe. Control strategies for the disease are based on containment and eradication measures regulated by the European Union. Within the context of biological control, the use of natural enemies aims at limiting the insect vector population in agroecosystems. Spiders are generalist predators with potential as biological control agents occupying all the habitats within crops. Crab spiders (Thomisidae) could be potential natural enemies against P. spumarius. The functional response (FR) of a predator represents the intake rate as a function of food availability and allows estimating feeding behaviour parameters such as the prey handling time and attack rate. However, spiders often kill more prey than they consume, unveiling their capacity as natural enemies. We assessed and compared the FR of Xysticus acerbus (Thomisidae) fed on P. spumarius in the laboratory considering (1) the total number of dead individuals and (2) only the consumed ones. We found that although both FRs were of type‐II, they significantly differed. The values of attack rate and handling time for consumed were 0.1 and 3.6, respectively, while for dead, the attack rate was 0.3 and 1.1, being both significantly different. Moreover, the number of overkilled individuals reached a plateau at the highest prey densities. Xysticus acerbus could be a potential natural enemy of P. spumarius. Nevertheless, we suggest that the effect of including the killed but not consumed prey individuals in FR studies using wasteful killing predators should be considered and further studied.

Optimized Design of Pipe Elbows for Erosion Wear

Multiphase flows are widely used to transport solid–liquid mixtures in oil and gas fields. The pipeline structures used can suffer damage from the high-pressure sand-carrying fracturing fluid, causing erosion and wear failures in the engineering field. In this work, an erosion model that considers particle turbulent kinetic energy and the effect of the design’s structural parameters on the erosion wear of spatial pipe structures is established using computational fluid dynamics (CFD). Structural parameters such as the bending diameter ratio, bending angle and spatial angle are discussed, and the location and degree of each parameter with regard to the erosion rate are obtained. The results show that the included angle of the pipe elbow has the greatest influence on erosion wear among the structural parameters. Several typical anti-erosion optimization models are compared and analysed, and a corrugated anti-erosion structure based on a bionic structure is further proposed. It is found that the anti-erosion performance of the T-type blind long header pipe is better in terms of the numerical value of the erosion rate, while for the erosion cloud diagram, the anti-erosion performance of the corrugated structure is superior. Finally, some suggestions for the application of the anti-erosion structure in the engineering field are given, and technical support is provided for the anti-erosion structure design and practical application of space pipeline systems in the future.

Blockchain-Assisted Access Control with Shuffled Shepherd Fire Hawk Optimisation-Key Generation for Privacy Protection in Cloud

Cloud is a model of computing providing on-demand availability of computer system resources, mainly data storage and computing power, without the user’s active management. This provides sharing and reduces user computing and storage costs. With the development of cloud scale and intensification, cloud security is becoming a vital issue in the cloud computing field. Here, a newly optimised hybridisation algorithm, namely, Shuffled Shepherd Fire Hawk Optimization (SSFHO) algorithm is proposed for key generation to initiate privacy protection in the cloud. The different entities involved in this approach are Data Owner (DO), Data User (DU), blockchain, and Cloud Service Provider (CSP). Here, the access control process includes seven categories, such as initialisation, registration, generation of key, data access control, authorisation, authorisation revocation and data protection. Also, registration is done in three phases, like registration of cloud, registration of user and resource publishing. Moreover, SSFHO is the integration among Shuffled Shepherd Optimization Algorithm (SSOA) and Fire Hawk Optimization (FHO) algorithm. The performance of the model is done with various performance metrics like, authorisation time, privacy rate, and memory. These revealed high values of privacy rate of 0.93, low values of authorisation time and memory of 0.559 and 0.843 GHz.

Thermally managed and fireproof composite aerogels for safer and year-round energy saving

Seasonable and spontaneous replacement approach of daytime radiative cooling to solar thermal conversion is challenging yet imperative for year-round thermal management materials. Meanwhile, the fire safety of thermal management materials is extremely important but often overlooked. Herein, we report a bio-inspired and fireproof aerogel presenting dynamically self-switchable ability of daytime radiative cooling and solar thermal conversion, composed of thermochromic microcapsules (TC), boron nitride nanosheets (BN), and bio-based materials (alginate and phytate). In hot environments, TC/BN composite aerogel shows solar reflectivity of 91.8 % and IR emissivity of 84.3 %, promoting heat radiation to outer space and achieving an average temperature drop of ∼5.62 °C. Attributed to the thermochromic mechanism, TC/BN composite aerogel can harvest visible light of 87 % in the solar spectrum to increase the material temperature by 28.3 °C, under an environment of −8.8 °C. Based on the EnergyPlus simulation, the employment of TC/BN composite aerogel contributes to decreasing the energy consumption of buildings in both hot and cold regions, including Cairo, Singapore, Alaska, Yakutsk, and so on. Besides, the peak values of heat release rate and total heat release during the combustion of TC/BN composite aerogels are significantly decreased by 70.6 % and 58.4 %, compared to those of TC composite aerogel. The produced protective char layer enhanced by BN nanosheets is capable of isolating the fire and suppressing the fire propagation, improving the fire safety of composite aerogels designed. The TC/BN composite aerogels provide a smart thermal regulation mode for radiative cooling and solar heating, overcome the problems from changing weather and environment, and significantly promote the practical application by enhanced fire safety.

Vertical distribution of intraseasonal variation signals in the Kuroshio Current source area during 2018–2020

In the Kuroshio Current (KC) source area, intraseasonal variation (ISV) plays a significant role in dynamic oceanic processes. This study used data collected from three moorings (122.7°E, 123°E, 123.3°E) along 18°N from January 2018 to May 2020 to investigate the ISVs of meridional velocities. Notably, our findings reveal that the ISV above 200 m has a period of approximately 56 days and its intensity exhibits a gradual increase toward the west. For the 500–800 m depth interval, the ISV period is 73 days at 122.7°E/18°N and 60 days at 123.3°E/18°N. This discrepancy indicates that the ISVs have different vertical structures and frequencies at 122.7°E and 123.3°E along 18°N. In particular, at 122.7°E/18°N, the distinctiveness of two different periods of ISVs in surface and subsurface layers was more pronounced in 2018 than in 2019. The analyses of eddy kinetic energy distribution and eddy tracking indicate a connection between ISV in stratification and locally generated mesoscale eddies in the KC source area. Specifically, the stronger eddy activity in 2018, in contrast with that in 2019, correlates with a more pronounced ISV. Energy analysis demonstrates a distinct positivity in the baroclinic conversion rate (BC) in the surface layer (upper 200 m) of the KC source region, surpassing the absolute value of the barotropic conversion rate (BT). This finding indicates a notable shift of energy from eddy available potential energy to eddy kinetic energy, strengthening the high-frequency ISV signals in this area. In the subsurface layer, a strong negative BT is observed west of 122.8°E, with its absolute value exceeding the BC. This finding indicates that the energy is converted from eddy kinetic energy into mean kinetic energy, resulting in the appearance of the Luzon Undercurrent (LUC) at mooring station 122.7°E/18°N, characterized by a low frequency of ISV. Contrastingly, a positive BT plays a dominant role at 123.3°E/18°N, leading to the disappearance of the LUC amid an apparent presence of high-frequency ISV.

Investigation of interlayer toughening of carbon fiber composites using non-woven polyamide veils under different curing pressures

Carbon fiber-reinforced composites have become increasingly favored in the aerospace and automotive sectors for their remarkable performance attributes. Nonetheless, their broader adoption is hindered by the concern of delamination. To address this limitation, our study delved into the influence of incorporating a thermoplastic toughening agent on the interlaminar fracture toughness (ILFT) of woven carbon fiber composites. Our investigation focused on the impact of diverse curing pressures on these composites, analyzing configurations both with and without an integrated non-woven polyamide (PA) veil. The PA veil was meticulously positioned within the central layer of a composite, combining benzoxazine and carbon fiber constituents. Our primary objective entailed optimizing curing conditions to enhance ILFT across both Mode-I and Mode-II fracture modes. Our findings unveiled that elevating curing pressure had a limited effect on ILFT in non-interleaved composites while interleaved samples exhibited substantial ILFT reductions under heightened curing pressure. Raising pressure from 1 atm to 3.5 atm caused approximately a 27% drop in the Mode-I strain energy release rate (GIC) value, and this reduction deepened to 42% at 7 atm. This highlighted the inverse relationship between increased curing pressure and GIC values in interleaved specimens, while non-interleaved counterparts experienced less pronounced changes. A parallel trend manifested in Mode-II ILFT, where escalated curing pressure correlated with diminished Mode-II strain energy release rate (GIIC) values. Interleaved samples suffered a notably more significant decline, attributed to resin content reduction caused by heightened pressure. This, in turn, compromised the bond between the PA veil and the matrix, facilitating the propagation of cracks within the composite. This ultimately culminated in significantly reduced GIC and GIIC values. Our study contributes valuable insights into optimizing the interlaminar fracture toughness of carbon fiber composites, shedding light on the complex interplay of curing conditions and material configurations.

Effects of Stacking Breathing Techniques on Respiratory Efficiency of Post COVID-19 Patients

Background: Long COVID is a term used to describe persistent symptoms and complications experienced byindividuals after recovering from acute COVID-19 infection. Respiratory impairment, defined by diminishedlung function, exercise intolerance, and diminished respiratory muscle strength, is one of the frequent longtermconsequences of COVID-19 which can significantly impact the quality of life. Hence, exploring effectiveinterventions to improve respiratory efficiency in this population is crucial.Purpose: The purpose is to evaluate the effectiveness of stacking breathing techniques on respiratory efficiency inpost COVID-19 patients.Material and Method: This is an experimental study done using convenient sampling technique with inclusioncriteria of age between 18 to 60 taken from siva physiotherapy clinic. Patients having SPO2 level of 95. History ofPost Covid Patients with secondary disease and irregular heartbeat were excluded. The sampling size of the studyis (n=60) subjects for a period of 4 weeks. The entire process was conducted from November 2022 to March 2023.Results: According to the statistical analysis, Deep Breathing Techniques are successful in improving respiratoryrate among Post Covid-19 Patients. The statistical analysis of both the groups with respect to the post-test values(mean ± SD) for respiratory rate 17.1700 ± 1.2600 and 15.47± 1.07 and showed that the p value is statisticallysignificant <0.0001. Post intervention (mean ± SD) for post Covid -19 functional status scale(PCFS) 0.83 ± 0.75 and1.40± 0.77and showed that the p value is statistically significant <0.0001.Conclusion: This study finally concluded that deep breathing techniques have a high impact in improvingRespiratory rate and Post Covid 19 functional status scale (PCFS) among Post Covid-19 Patients

Electromagnetic fields effects on microbial growth in cocoa fermentation: A controlled experimental approach using established growth models

Understanding the effects of electromagnetic fields is crucial in the fermentation of cocoa beans, since through precise control of fermentation conditions the sensory and nutritional properties of cocoa beans could be improved. This study aimed to evaluate the effect of oscillating magnetic fields (OMF) on the kinetic growth of the core microbial communities of the Collections Castro Naranjal (CCN 51) cocoa bean. The data was obtained by three different models: Gompertz, Baranyi, and Logistic. The cocoa beans were subjected to different OMF strengths ranging from 0 mT to 80 mT for 1 h using the Helmholtz coil electromagnetic device. The viable microbial populations of lactic acid bacteria (LAB), acetic acid bacteria (AAB), and yeast (Y) were quantified using the colony-forming unit (CFU) counting method. The logistic model appropriately described the growth of LAB and Y under magnetic field exposure. Whereas the Baranyi model was suitable for describing AAB growth. The microbial populations in cocoa beans exposed to magnetic fields showed lower (maximum specific growth rate (μmax), values than untreated controls, with AAB exhibiting the highest average growth rate value at 5 mT and Y having the lowest average maximum growth rate value at 80 mT. The lower maximum specific growth rates and longer lag phases when exposed to magnetic fields compared to controls demonstrate the influence of magnetic fields on microbial growth kinetics.

Optimizing combustion and emissions in natural gas/diesel dual-fuel engine with pilot injection strategy

For the clean and efficient operation of agricultural power, a non-road common-rail engine was modified to achieve natural gas/diesel dual-fuel (NDDF) combustion mode. Under low load conditions, NDDF combustion deteriorates and fuel economy decreases due to lower pressure and temperature inside the cylinder. Therefore, effects of injection pressure, pilot injection timing (SOIpilot) and pilot injection quantity (Qpilot) on in-cylinder combustion, emission characteristics and fuel economy of NDDF engine with pilot injection strategy were investigated at low load. Results show that with the increment of injection pressure, the diesel fuel beam penetration distance increased, prompting the diesel more quickly and fully mixed with fresh charge. The maximum in-cylinder pressure increased, the combustion center (CA50) moved forward, the ignition delay period was shortened, and soot, HC, C2H4 and C3H6 emissions were reduced, while BTE was improved. When SOIpilot moved forward, the pilot injected diesel and natural gas were more fully mixed, which promoted the generation of activation radicals and combustion intensity of main injected diesel. Pmax first increased and then decreased, the peak value of first heat release rate (HRRP1) gradually decreased, the peak value of second heat release rate (HRRP2) continuously increased, the combustion duration decreased, and the soot, CO and HC emissions decreased. At SOIpilot = −30 °CA ATDC, unregulated emissions reached the lowest level, while BTE was 35.55 %. With the increment of Qpilot, both Pmax and HRRP1 increased, CA05 and CA50 moved forward, combustion duration was extended, COV decreased significantly, and all emissions except NOx decreased, especially aldehyde emissions.

Plant Leaf Disease Identification and Classification using Deep Learning Technique

In countries like India, whose important occupation is agriculture, face a huge loss when the crops get affected by any type of disease. These diseases attack the crops in various stages and can destroy the entire production. Since most diseases are transmitted from one crop to another there is an essential requirement to detect the type of disease in the early stage so that farmers can take the required action to “save the crops” and production. However, detection of the kind of disease in a huge amount of crops is very difficult for farmers, and sometimes it becomes more difficult due to lake of knowledge about the disease since there are various kinds of diseases. The automated detection of crop disease with images has been done using many classification techniques, such as k- Nearest Neighbor Classifier, Probabilistic Neural Network, Genetic Algorithm, Support Vector Machine, and Main Component Analysis, Artificial Neural Network, and Fuzzy Logic. In this paper to improve detection capability, CNN has been used with an available database having sufficient knowledge of the disease. In this simulation, analysis of CNN-based leaf disease detection has been done for different values of learning rate and with different training algorithms. K-fold cross-validation has been used for the validation of the classifier. With this configuration, ~90% accuracy has been achieved

The Effects of Mycorrhiza and Seaweed Applications on Seedling Growth Parameters: Tomato and Pepper

ABSTRACT The use of mycorrhiza and seaweed are becoming significant and complementary applications in different production systems because organisms increased quality of seedlings and crop yield. This study has been conducted under growth chamber conditions to determine some of the seedling growth parameters (length (cm), stem diameter (mm), fresh weight (g plant −1), dry weight (g plant −1), root fresh weight (g plant −1), root dry weight (g plant −1), leaf area (cm2 plant−1), SPAD, photosynthesis rate (%) and color parameters). As a plant material, Cuma F1 and Mert F1 genotype seeds were sown. Endo Roots Soluble (Mycorrhiza (ERS)) and MC-Extra (Seaweed) were applied in different doses (0, 250 and 500 mg kg−1) to seedling growing vessels at a rate of 10 ml per plant. Treatment effects in tomato were found statistically significant (p ≤.01**) on stem diameter, fresh weight, dry weight. Seedling length, leaf area and SPAD results were also statistically significant (p ≤.01**), and the results of these parameters were higher in ERS. ERS increases the leaf area and SPAD measurements in tomato seedlings. The results of pepper measurements were found to be statistically significant at p ≤.05* on root fresh weight, SPAD and photosynthesis rate. The highest values of root fresh weight, SPAD were obtained from 250 mg kg−1 doses of ERS; the highest value of photosynthesis rate was measured from 500 mg kg−1 doses of ERS on pepper. The effect of 500 mg kg−1 ERS on seedling growth was found statistically significant in pepper.