Abstract: During the last decade Panicum virgatum, known as
Switchgrass, has been broadly studied because of its remarkable
attributes as a substitute pasture and as a functional biofuel source.
The objective of this investigation was to establish soil suitability for
Switchgrass in the State of Mississippi. A linear weighted additive
model was developed to forecast soil suitability. Multicriteria
analysis and Sensitivity analysis were utilized to adjust and optimize
the model. The model was fit using seven years of field data
associated with soils characteristics collected from Natural Resources
Conservation System - United States Department of Agriculture
(NRCS-USDA). The best model was selected by correlating
calculated biomass yield with each model's soils-based output for
Switchgrass suitability. Coefficient of determination (r2) was the
decisive factor used to establish the 'best' soil suitability model.
Coefficients associated with the 'best' model were implemented
within a Geographic Information System (GIS) to create a map of
relative soil suitability for Switchgrass in Mississippi. A Geodatabase
associated with soil parameters was built and is available for future
Geographic Information System use.
Abstract: Geosynthetics have proved to be suitable for
reinforced soil retaining walls. Based on the increasing uses of
geosynthetic reinforced soil systems in the regions, which bear
frequent earthquakes, the study of dynamic behavior of structures
seems necessary. Determining the reinforcement forces is; therefore,
one of the most important and main points of discussions in
designing retaining walls, by which we prevent from conservative
planning. Thus, this paper intended to investigate the effects of such
parameters as wall height, acceleration type, vertical spacing of
reinforcement, type of reinforcement and soil type on forces and
deformation through numerical modeling of the geosynthetic
reinforced soil retaining walls (GRSRW) under dynamic loading with
finite difference method by using FLAC. The findings indicate rather
positive results with each parameter.
Abstract: Artemisinin is a potential antimalarial drug effective
against the multidrug resistant forms of Malarial Parasites. The
current production of artemisinin is insufficient to meet the global
demand. In the present study microbial biotransformation of
arteannuin B, a biogenetic precursor of artemisinin to the later has
been investigated. Screening studies carried out on several soil borne
microorganisms have yielded one novel species with the
bioconversion ability. Crude cell free extract of 72h old culture of the
isolate had shown the bioconversion activity. On incubation with the
substrate arteannuin B, crude cell free extract of the isolate had
shown a bioconversion of 18.54% to artemisinin on molar basis with
a specific activity of 0.18 units/mg.
Abstract: The High Voltage (HV) transmission mains into the community necessitate earthing design to ensure safety compliance of the system. Concrete poles are widely used within HV transmission mains; which could have an impact on the earth grid impedance and input impedance of the system from the fault point of view. This paper provides information on concrete pole earthing to enhance the split factor of the system; further, it discusses the deployment of concrete structures in high soil resistivity area to reduce the earth grid system of the plant. This paper introduces the cut off soil resistivity SC ρ when replacing timber poles with concrete ones.
Abstract: The flexible follower response of a translating cam with
four different profiles for rise-dwell-fall-dwell (RDFD) motion is
investigated. The cycloidal displacement motion, the modified
sinusoidal acceleration motion, the modified trapezoidal acceleration
motion, and the 3-4-5 polynomial motion are employed to describe the
rise and the fall motions of the follower and the associated four kinds of
cam profiles are studied. Since the follower flexibility is considered,
the contact point of the roller and the cam is an unknown. Two
geometric constraints formulated to restrain the unknown position are
substituted into Hamilton-s principle with Lagrange multipliers.
Applying the assumed mode method, one can obtain the governing
equations of motion as non-linear differential-algebraic equations. The
equations are solved using Runge-Kutta method. Then, the responses of
the flexible follower undergoing the four different motions are
investigated in time domain and in frequency domain.
Abstract: The textile industry produces highly coloured
effluents containing polar and non-polar compounds. The textile mill
run by the Assam Polyester Co-operative Society Limited (APOL) is
situated at Rangia, about 55 km from Guwahati (26011' N, 91047' E)
in the northern bank of the river Brahmaputra, Assam (India). This
unit was commissioned in June 1988 and started commercial
production in November 1988. The installed capacity of the weaving
unit was 8000 m/day and that of the processing unit was 20,000
m/day. The mill has its own dyeing unit with a capacity of 1500-2000
kg/day. The western side of the mill consists of vast agricultural land
and the far northern and southern side of the mill has scattered human
population. The eastern side of the mill has a major road for
thoroughfare. The mill releases its effluents into the agricultural land
in the western side of the mill. The present study was undertaken to
assess the impact of the textile mill on surface soil quality in and
around the mill with particular reference to Cr, Mn, Ni and Zn.
Surface soil samples, collected along different directions at 200, 500
and 1000 m were digested and the metals were estimated with
Atomic Absorption Spectrophotometer. The metals were found in the
range of: Cr 50.9 – 105.0 mg kg-1, Mn 19.2- 78.6 mg kg-1, Ni 41.9 –
50.6 mg kg-1 and Zn 187.8 – 1095.8 mg kg-1. The study reveals
enrichment of Cr, Mn, Ni and Zn in the soil near the textile mill.
Abstract: Most parts of the world such as Iran are facing the excessive consumption of fertilizers, that are used to achieve high yield, but increase the cost of production of fertilizer and degradation of soil and water resources. This experiment was carried out to study the effect of PGPR and planting pattern on yield and yield components of rice (Oryza sativa L.) using split plot based on randomized complete block design with three replications in Ilam province, Iran. Bio-fertilizer including Azotobacter, Nitroxin and control treatment (without consumption) were designed as a main plot and planting pattern including 15 × 10, 15 × 15 and 15 × 20 and the number of plant in hill including 3, 4 and 5 plants in hill were considered as a sub-plots. The results showed that the effect of bio-fertilizers, planting pattern and the number of plants in hill were significant affect on yield and yield components. Interaction effect between bio-fertilizer and planting pattern had important difference on the number spikelet of panicle and harvest index. Interaction effect between bio-fertilizer and the number of plants in hill were significant affect on the number of spikelet per panicle. The maximum grain yield was obtained by inoculation with Nitroxin, planting pattern of 15 × 15 and 4 plants in hill with mean of 1110.6 g.m-2, 959.9 g.m-2 and 928.4 g.m-2, respectively.
Abstract: Trace element speciation of an integrated soil
amendment matrix was studied with a modified BCR sequential
extraction procedure. The analysis included pseudo-total
concentration determinations according to USEPA 3051A and
relevant physicochemical properties by standardized methods. Based
on the results, the soil amendment matrix possessed neutralization
capacity comparable to commercial fertilizers. Additionally, the
pseudo-total concentrations of all trace elements included in the
Finnish regulation for agricultural fertilizers were lower than the
respective statutory limit values. According to chemical speciation,
the lability of trace elements increased in the following order: Hg <
Cr < Co < Cu < As < Zn < Ni < Pb < Cd < V < Mo < Ba. The
validity of the BCR approach as a tool for chemical speciation was
confirmed by the additional acid digestion phase. Recovery of trace
elements during the procedure assured the validity of the approach
and indicated good quality of the analytical work.
Abstract: The task of strategic information technology
management is to focus on adapting technology to ensure
competitiveness. A key factor for success in this sector is awareness
and readiness to deploy new technologies and exploit the services
they offer. Recently, the need for more flexible and dynamic user
interfaces (UIs) has been recognized, especially in mobile
applications. An ongoing research project (MOP), initiated by TUT
in Finland, is looking at how mobile device UIs can be adapted for
different needs and contexts. It focuses on examining the possibilities
to develop adapter software for solving the challenges related to the
UI and its flexibility in mobile devices. This approach has great
potential for enhancing information transfer in mobile devices, and
consequently for improving information management. The
technology presented here could be one of the key emerging
technologies in the information technology sector in relation to
mobile devices and telecommunications.
Abstract: Macrophomina phaseolina is a devastating soil-borne
fungal plant pathogen that causes charcoal rot disease in many
economically important crops worldwide. So far, no registered
fungicide is available against this plant pathogen. This study was
planned to examine the antifungal activity of an allelopathic grass
Cenchrus pennisetiformis (Hochst. & Steud.) Wipff. for the
management of M. phaseolina isolated from cowpea [Vigna
unguiculata (L.) Walp.] plants suffering from charcoal rot disease.
Different parts of the plants viz. inflorescence, shoot and root were
extracted in methanol. Laboratory bioassays were carried out using
different concentrations (0, 0.5, 1.0, …, 3.0 g mL-1) of methanolic
extracts of the test allelopathic grass species to assess the antifungal
activity against the pathogen. In general, extracts of all parts of the
grass exhibited antifungal activity. All the concentrations of
methanolic extracts of shoot and root significantly reduced fungal
biomass by 20–73% and 40–80%, respectively. Methanolic shoot
extract was fractionated using n-hexane, chloroform, ethyl acetate
and n-butanol. Different concentrations of these fractions (3.125,
6.25, …, 200 mg mL-1) were analyzed for their antifungal activity.
All the concentrations of n-hexane fraction significantly reduced
fungal biomass by 15–96% over corresponding control treatments.
Higher concentrations (12.5–200 mg mL-1) of chloroform, ethyl
acetate and n-butanol also reduced the fungal biomass significantly
by 29–100%, 46–100% and 24–100%, respectively.
Abstract: In this article, various models of surface tension force (CSF, CSS and PCIL) for interfacial flows have been applied to dynamic case and the results were compared. We studied the Kelvin- Helmholtz instabilities, which are produced by shear at the interface between two fluids with different physical properties. The velocity inlet is defined as a sinusoidal perturbation. When gravity and surface tension are taking into account, we observe the development of the Instability for a critic value of the difference of velocity of the both fluids. The VOF Model enables to simulate Kelvin-Helmholtz Instability as dynamic case.
Abstract: The selection for plantation of a particular type of
mustard plant depending on its productivity (pod yield) at the stage
of maturity. The growth of mustard plant dependent on some
parameters of that plant, these are shoot length, number of leaves,
number of roots and roots length etc. As the plant is growing, some
leaves may be fall down and some new leaves may come, so it can
not gives the idea to develop the relationship with the seeds weight at
mature stage of that plant. It is not possible to find the number of
roots and root length of mustard plant at growing stage that will be
harmful of this plant as roots goes deeper to deeper inside the land.
Only the value of shoot length which increases in course of time can
be measured at different time instances. Weather parameters are
maximum and minimum humidity, rain fall, maximum and minimum
temperature may effect the growth of the plant. The parameters of
pollution, water, soil, distance and crop management may be
dominant factors of growth of plant and its productivity. Considering
all parameters, the growth of the plant is very uncertain, fuzzy
environment can be considered for the prediction of shoot length at
maturity of the plant. Fuzzification plays a greater role for
fuzzification of data, which is based on certain membership
functions. Here an effort has been made to fuzzify the original data
based on gaussian function, triangular function, s-function,
Trapezoidal and L –function. After that all fuzzified data are
defuzzified to get normal form. Finally the error analysis
(calculation of forecasting error and average error) indicates the
membership function appropriate for fuzzification of data and use to
predict the shoot length at maturity. The result is also verified using
residual (Absolute Residual, Maximum of Absolute Residual, Mean
Absolute Residual, Mean of Mean Absolute Residual, Median of
Absolute Residual and Standard Deviation) analysis.
Abstract: The research was set up on chernozem soil at the Látókép AGTC MÉK research area of the University of Debrecen in Hungary. We examined the yield, the yield production per 1kg NPK fertilizer and the water and nutrient utilization of hybrid PR37N01 and PR37M81 in 2013. We found that PR37N01 produced the most yield at the level of N120+P (17,476kg ha-1) while PR37M81 reached the highest yield at level N150+PK (16,754kg ha-1). Studies related to yield production per 1kg NPK indicated that the best results were achieved at level N30+PK compared to the control treatment. Yield production per 1kg NPK was17.6kg kg-1 by P37N01 and 44.2kg kg-1 by PR37M81. By comparing the water utilization of hybrids we found that the worst water utilization results were reached in the control treatment (PR37N01: 26.2kg mm-1, PR37M81: 19.5kg mm-1). The best water utilization values were produced at level N120+PK in the case of hybrid PR37N01 (32.1kg mm-1) and at N150+PK in the case of hybrid PR37M81 (30.8kg mm-1). We established the values of the nutrient reaction and the fertilizer optimum of hybrids. We discovered a strong relationship between the amount of fertilizer applied and the yield produced (r2= 0.8228–0.9515). The best nutrient response was induced by hybrid PR37N01, while the weakest results were reached by hybrid PR37M81.
Abstract: Saturated hydraulic conductivity is one of the soil
hydraulic properties which is widely used in environmental studies
especially subsurface ground water. Since, its direct measurement is
time consuming and therefore costly, indirect methods such as
pedotransfer functions have been developed based on multiple linear
regression equations and neural networks model in order to estimate
saturated hydraulic conductivity from readily available soil
properties e.g. sand, silt, and clay contents, bulk density, and organic
matter. The objective of this study was to develop neural networks
(NNs) model to estimate saturated hydraulic conductivity from
available parameters such as sand and clay contents, bulk density,
van Genuchten retention model parameters (i.e. r
θ , α , and n) as well
as effective porosity. We used two methods to calculate effective
porosity: : (1) eff s FC φ =θ -θ , and (2) inf φ =θ -θ eff s , in which s
θ is
saturated water content, FC θ is water content retained at -33 kPa
matric potential, and inf θ is water content at the inflection point.
Total of 311 soil samples from the UNSODA database was divided
into three groups as 187 for the training, 62 for the validation (to
avoid over training), and 62 for the test of NNs model. A commercial
neural network toolbox of MATLAB software with a multi-layer
perceptron model and back propagation algorithm were used for the
training procedure. The statistical parameters such as correlation
coefficient (R2), and mean square error (MSE) were also used to
evaluate the developed NNs model. The best number of neurons in
the middle layer of NNs model for methods (1) and (2) were
calculated 44 and 6, respectively. The R2 and MSE values of the test
phase were determined for method (1), 0.94 and 0.0016, and for
method (2), 0.98 and 0.00065, respectively, which shows that method
(2) estimates saturated hydraulic conductivity better than method (1).
Abstract: Earthquakes are natural phenomena that occur with influence of a lot of parameters such as seismic activity, changing in the ground waters' motion, changing in the water-s temperature, etc. On the other hand, the radon gas concentrations in soil vary as nonlinear generally with earthquakes. Continuous measurement of the soil radon gas is very important for determination of characteristic of the seismic activity. The radon gas changes as continuous with strain occurring within the Earth-s surface during an earthquake and effects from the physical and the chemical processes such as soil structure, soil permeability, soil temperature, the barometric pressure, etc. Therefore, at the modeling researches are notsufficient to knowthe concentration ofradon gas. In this research, we determined relationships between radon emissions based on the environmental parameters and earthquakes occurring along the East Anatolian Fault Zone (EAFZ), Turkiye and predicted magnitudes of some earthquakes with the artificial neural network (ANN) model.
Abstract: Land with low pH soil spread widely in Indonesia
can be used for soybean (Glycine max) cultivation, however the
production is low. The use of acid tolerant soybean and acidaluminium
tolerant nitrogen-fixing bacteria formula was an
alternative way to increase soybean productivity on acid soils.
Bradyrhizobium japonicum is one of the nitrogen fixing bacteria
which can symbiose with soybean plants through root nodule
formation. Most of the nitrogen source required by soybean plants
can be provided by this symbiosis. This research was conducted to
study the influence of acid-aluminium tolerant B. japonicum strain
BJ 11 formula using peat as carrier on growth of Tanggamus and
Anjasmoro cultivar soybean planted on acid soil fields (pH 5.0-
5.5). The results showed that the inoculant was able to increase the
growth and production of soybean which were grown on fields acid
soil at Sukadana (Lampung) and Tanah Laut (South Kalimantan),
Indonesia.
Abstract: Soil mechanics is a traditional course in any
university. Management of lab classes is one of the main issues to
deliver a proper outline. In Curtin University, different methods
applied to check the efficiency of these methods. One of them was
mainly rely on demonstration and the other one mainly on involving
students in running tests. Comparison between these delivery
methods also are outlined in summary section. The recommendation
also made that the more satisfaction is reachable while the students
engaged.
Abstract: This work presents the first results from the long-term experiment, which is focused on the impact of intensive rainfall and long period of drought on microbial activities in soil. Fifteen lysimeters were prepared in the area of our interest. This area is a protection zone of underground source of drinking water. These lysimeters were filed with topsoil and subsoil collected in this area and divided into two groups. These groups differ in fertilization and amount of water received during the growing season. Amount of microbial biomass and leaching of mineral nitrogen and phosphates were chosen as main indicators of microbial activities in soil. Content of mineral nitrogen and phosphates was measured in soil solution, which was collected from each lysimeters. Amount of microbial biomass was determined in soil samples that were taken from the lysimeters before and after the long period of drought and intensive rainfall.
Abstract: Investigation of soil properties like Cation Exchange
Capacity (CEC) plays important roles in study of environmental
reaserches as the spatial and temporal variability of this property
have been led to development of indirect methods in estimation of
this soil characteristic. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) provide an
alternative by estimating soil parameters from more readily available
soil data. 70 soil samples were collected from different horizons of
15 soil profiles located in the Ziaran region, Qazvin province, Iran.
Then, multivariate regression and neural network model (feedforward
back propagation network) were employed to develop a
pedotransfer function for predicting soil parameter using easily
measurable characteristics of clay and organic carbon. The
performance of the multivariate regression and neural network model
was evaluated using a test data set. In order to evaluate the models,
root mean square error (RMSE) was used. The value of RMSE and
R2 derived by ANN model for CEC were 0.47 and 0.94 respectively,
while these parameters for multivariate regression model were 0.65
and 0.88 respectively. Results showed that artificial neural network
with seven neurons in hidden layer had better performance in
predicting soil cation exchange capacity than multivariate regression.
Abstract: The study of soil for agriculture purposes has
remained the main focus of research since the beginning of civilization as humans- food related requirements remained closely linked with the soil. The study of soil has generated an interest
among the researchers for very similar other reasons including transmission, reflection and refraction of signals for deploying
wireless underground sensor networks or for the monitoring of objects on (or in ) soil in the form of better understanding of soil
electromagnetic characteristics properties. The moisture content has
been very instrumental in such studies as it decides on the resistance of the soil, and hence the attenuation on signals traveling through soil
or the attenuation the signals may suffer upon their impact on soil. This work is related testing and characterizing a measurement circuit
meant for the detection of moisture level content in soil.