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Mulcher seeder with mechanical seeding of seeds equipped with tine coulters do not fully ensure uniform distribution over the width of the opener. The best nutritional conditions of the plant are obtained with the subsoil-dispersive method of sowing. A scheme of a coulter with a two-plane grass seed spreader, which provides a subsurface-spread method of sowing is proposed. The movements of grain in the understock space of a plow coulter were described by the numerical methods in the Mathcad program. Theoretical studies determined the influence of various factors on the particle trajectory and established the laws of the seed distribution process. Laboratory studies have determined the main design parameters of a two-plane grass seed spreader. The results of scientific research served as the basis for the development of a two-plane grass seed spreader of a tine coulter. To confirm the reliability of theoretical and experimental study results conducted field tests. For field tests on the planter experimental tine coulters with a two-plane spreader are installed. After 100% of the emergence of seedlings in field conditions the uniform distribution of plants was determined. The uniform distribution of seedlings was determined by a frame with a size of 1000x1000 mm with cells measuring 50x50 mm. The frame was superimposed on the seedlings and counted the number of seedlings in each cell. As a result of the sowing analysis the uniform distribution over the width of the coulter and the feeding area was determined. The two-plane spreader for subsoil-free sowing is intended for the modernization of tine coulter stubble seeders with mechanical seeding of SZS-2.1M and SKP-2.1 type seeds. The coulter equipped with such a spreader ensures the sowing process with higher quality indicators of the uniform distribution of seeds, which allows to obtain a yield increase of 10 … 12%.

Purpose To analyse the feasibility of directional ablation using a multi-tine electrode. Methods A multi-tine electrode capable of operating in multipolar mode has been used to study the directional ablation. In addition to the basic design, similar to commercially available FDA approved multi-tine electrode, tines have been insulated from each other inside the probe base and tip using a thin insulating material of thickness 0.25 mm. A cylindrical single-compartment model of size 6 cm × 6 cm has been used to model normal liver tissue. The temperature-controlled radiofrequency ablation has been employed to maintain the tine-tips at different temperatures. Electro-thermal simulations have been performed by using a commercial multi-physics software package based on finite element methods. To make this study feasible a new approach to predict the ablations have been proposed and used in this study. Results Asymmetric ablation zone with up to 5 mm difference in ablation boundary between the intended and non-intended direction has been observed along the transverse direction. Reduction in ablation up to 5 mm along the axial direction in comparison to the monopolar mode has also been observed. Conclusion Multi-tine electrode modified to operate in multipolar mode can create directional ablations of different shapes and can be used to target position and shape specific tumours.

A vibrating subsoiler can effectively reduce the draft force compared to a rigid one. Several theoretical and experimental methods have been developed to study the interaction of soil and vibrating tools, enabling the exploration of the mechanism of a vibrating subsoiler to reduce the draft force. However, these methods are unable to predict the dynamic force of tools and soil behavior because of nonlinear soil properties. This paper employs the discrete element method (DEM) to simulate vibrating tillage. The aim is to clearly understand the dynamic force of vibrating tools and soil behavior. Three different types of representative vibrating subsoilers and one rigid one were selected for this study. These subsoilers varied in their tines and vibrating structures. The DEM model of soil and subsoilers was established. Results showed that the draft and vertical dynamic forces of the vibrating tines periodically changed and had distinct peak and valley phases in one period. The value of the draft and vertical forces in the valley phase of a vibrating subsoiler was much less than that of the rigid one, which led to the decrease of mean draft force. The soil disturbance widths, velocities, and horizontal and vertical forces of soil particles also periodically changed. Soil ruptures mainly occurred when a tine vibrated in the forward direction. Compared with a rigid tine, a vibrating tine had more time to disturb soil particles and thus to achieve better soil fracture. The DEM model was validated by comparing it with an actual soil bin test. The errors of the simulation model in predicting the soil disturbance and forces were less than 13.23% and 9.65%, respectively, indicating that the model is a useful tool to simulate the dynamic interaction of soil and a vibrating subsoiler.

Vibrating subsoilers with flexible tines exhibit effective obstacle avoidance and soil loosening. However, undesired depths, much less than target value, are observed for subsoilers using springs as excitation elements. Therefore, we studied electric–hydraulic control technology to improve the adaptability of the vibrating subsoiler to various soil conditions by adjusting the working pressure of the excitation element. Based on a previous study of the electric–hydraulic control system that was designed for single flexible tine (Wang et al., 2018), we improved it to allow it to be applied to various rows of subsoilers in this study. Additionally, the effect of the improved electric–hydraulic control system on the subsoil quality (tillage depth, inter-row and in-row variations of tillage depth, soil bulk density, and cone index) and tool operation (draft force and power consumption) in field conditions was investigated and compared with the classical spring system. Field tests showed that the improved electric–hydraulic control system exhibited more qualified operation results compared with the classical spring system. The excitation element for each flexible tine were adjusted independently, thereby reducing the variation of the inter-row and in-row tillage depth. The variation coefficients of the electric–hydraulic system decreased by 17.59% and 34.1% when the operating speed increased from 4.2 km/h to 5.3 and 6.2 km/h, respectively, relative to spring system. Moreover, the electric–hydraulic control system yielded better soil loosening. The soil bulk density decreased by 4.55%, 3.87%, 4.59, and 4.81% at depths of 25, 30, 35, and 40 cm, respectively. However, due to the power requirement of the tractor due to the hydraulic output, the total power of the electric–hydraulic control system slightly increased by within 6.5% compared with the rigid system. Therefore, further research is needed to achieve power saving through hydraulic system optimization.

The draught of tillage tines using the existing mathematical prediction models have been reported on different soils by several researchers. However, theoretical analysis and comparison of the performances of the existing mathematical models have not yet been studied in the main agricultural soils in Borno State, Nigeria. This study examined the theoretical analysis of the existing models and was used to calculate the draught of tines in two soils to determine those which get the closest fitting to those measured in a laboratory soil bin. Results showed that the models suggested by McKyes (1985) and Zhang and Kushwaha (1995) over predicted the draught values in the two soils considered. Soil failure angles decreased with increases in rake angles. Rake angle of 90° produced the highest values of predicted and laboratory draught values. The least values of N were obtained at different values of rake angle. The differences in the predicted and measured values of draught were however, not statistically significant. This implies that the models could be used to predict the draught and dimensionless coefficients of the two soils with reasonable degrees of acceptability.

Handling crop residue during planting operations is a challenge to conservation agriculture (CA) farmers worldwide. It remains unclear which tools are most effective in which conditions. Canola (Brassica napus L.), an oilseed crop widely used in rotation with cereals, is particularly sensitive to seedbed conditions, and thus may be influenced by residue loads and the choice of seed-drill openers. To identify optimal planting practices, this study compared the performance of disc and tine openers on canola establishment, growth, and yield under differing residue loads in a Mediterranean-type climate region. First, soil disturbance caused by disc and tine openers was evaluated to assess their effect on seedbed conditions; and second, the interacting effects of the openers with different residue loads was investigated. Tine openers and low crop residue loads resulted in the best (P < 0.05) canola establishment. However, canola at reduced plant populations compensated in both biomass and grain yield, so that no yield differences resulted from different opener types, and only small yield differences occurred between residue loads (P > 0.05).

The Discrete Elements Method has been used for several years in the simulation of agricultural tillage operations. Topics are for example the calculation of resulting tool forces, resulting furrow shapes or mixing effects. This contribution gives an example for the applicability and the quality of the results by means of current software and common model approaches. The evaluation takes place on the basis of real measurement results of a measuring tine. The validation is not only based on the total forces acting on the tool, but also on the measured load profile on the tool surface.

This thesis deals with the differences of various types of working tools of the Kverneland CLC Pro cultivator. Under specific conditions of the agricultural enterprise in the Czech Republic, it compares ordinary turning tine, carbide tine, Knock-on tine and renovated tine. In the introduction, there is a general overview of the properties of the soil, followed by an overview of various methods of soil cultivation, which are also related to various methods of founding plants. Furthermore, I summarized the types of cultivators and tillers, followed by an overview of the types of wear tines with their advantages and disadvantages. In the practical part of the work there is the monitoring of the lifetime of the compared technologies, the time required for their replacement, the cost of their acquisition and the overall economic evaluation.

The present in vitro study aims at comparing the ablation volume obtained with commercially available RITA’s StarBurst® XL (dry type) and StarBurst® Xli-e (wet type) multi-tine electrodes during radiofrequency ablation (RFA) procedure. The experiments have been conducted on polyacrylamide based tissue-mimicking phantom gel whose thermo-electric properties are similar to that of the soft tissues. A temperature-controlled RFA has been performed utilizing AngioDynamics RITA 1500X® radiofrequency generator. The maximal longitudinal and maximal transverse dimensions of the coagulated phantom gels have been measured from which the derived ablation volume has been calculated. Further, the temperature distribution and power delivered with the dry type and wet type electrodes have been compared. The in vitro study revealed that the efficacy of wet type electrode is more pronounced as compared to the dry type electrode. Moreover, it has been found that both the electrodes are capable enough of producing ablation volume up to 5 cm in diameter.

Weed management is one of the tedious operations in vegetable production. Because of labor costs, time and tedium, manual weeding is unfavorable. The introduction of chemical weed control methods has alleviated these undesirable factors. However, the emergence of herbicide-resistant weeds, environmental impact and increasing demand for chemical free foods has led to investigations of alternative methods of weed control. Most implements employing mechanical cultivation cannot perform weed control close to the crops, and existing intra-row weeders have limitations. A mechanical weeding actuation system was designed, and a prototype was constructed. This actuator was developed to mechanically control intra-row weed plants. The mechanical weeding actuator consisted of a belt drive system powered by an integrated servo motor and a rotating tine weeding mechanism powered by a brushless dc motor. One of the major challenges in this project was to properly design the actuator and its weeding mechanism for effective intra-row weed control. A prototype actuator was manufactured and a series of tests was conducted to determine actuator efficacy and the corresponding force and speed requirements of the actuator. The actuator would be combined with a machine vision system for detecting crop plant locations and guiding the weeding actuator to execute mechanical weeding operations without damaging crops. In the first field experiment, the performance of the first version of the intra-row weeder was investigated across three factors: working depth, travel speed and tine mechanism rotational speed. There was evidence of differences in weed control efficacy across travel speeds. Using least square means, the slowest travel speed of 0.8 km/h had an average reduction in weed canopy area of 58.2% with standard error of 2.7% compared with the medium travel speed of 1.6 km/h with an average reduction in weed canopy area of 52.6% with standard error of 2.7%. The fastest travel speed of 2.4 km/h had an average reduction in weed canopy area of 42.4% with standard error of 2.7%.There was no statistical evidence of differences in power consumption across working depth, travel speed, or rotational speed. With increasing working depths, reduction in weed canopy area and power consumption tended to increase. With a revised version of the rotating tine weeding mechanism, a second field experiment was also conducted using three factors; tine shape, travel speed and rotational speeds. The results showed that there was no significant difference in reduction in weed canopy area across tine shapes. However, there was some indication that weed control efficacy decreased as travel speed increased. There was evidence of differences in power consumption across rotational speeds. The fastest rotation speed, 536 rpm, had a mean power consumption of 182 W and standard error of 9.4 W. The lowest rotation speed, 350 rpm, had the lowest mean power consumption of 123.5 W and a standard error of 9.4W.

The present study aims at evaluating the efficacy of commercially available RITA’s StarBurst® XL multi-tine electrode in attaining large size coagulation volumes (≥3 cm in diameter) during radiofrequency ablation (RFA) application. In vitro studies have been conducted on the cylindrical shaped polyacrylamide based tissue-mimicking phantom gels utilizing different active lengths of the multi-tine electrode, viz., 2 cm, 3 cm, 4 cm and 5 cm. A temperature-controlled RFA has been performed at a target tip temperature of 95 °C for 5 min. The variations in the power supply, the target tip temperature and the size of coagulation volume have been reported for different active lengths of the multi-tine electrode. The study revealed that the increase in active length of the multi-tine electrode results in more energy deposition and consequent rise in the coagulation volume during RFA procedure. Further, a simplified novel statistical correlation between the coagulation volume and active length of the multi-tine electrode has been proposed.

Goal: The purpose of this paper was to evaluate a nitinol tine fixation design for a transcatheter pacemaker in order to determine if the tines could be easily deployed and safely removed from the myocardium, enable low, stable pacing thresholds, and minimize the potential for dislodgment. Methods: The penetration properties of 13 human hearts were compared to the deployment and fixation energy of the tines to determine if the tines could be easily deployed and removed from the myocardium. The safety factor for dislodgement was calculated by comparing the kinetic energy of the device to the fixation energy of the tines. The fixation stability was tested in 113 chronic implants across 89 animals via pacing threshold measurements or evidence of dislodgement at necropsy. Results: Based on the tine fixation and tissue energy analysis, the tines can easily penetrate the heart. The tines can be safely removed from the myocardium based on the increased tine surface area during retraction. There were no dislodgements observed in the animals and the mean pacing threshold at implant was 0.59 +/− 0.21 V and at termination was 0.65 +/− 0.36 V. The safety factor for dislodgement was determined to be 15X during simulated exercise conditions. Conclusion: The nitinol tine fixation design enabled the implant of a self-contained pacemaker within the right ventricle and was effective in meeting the design requirements. Significance: This fixation technology provides a novel solution to enable the attachment of a transcatheter pacemaker directly within the heart.

INTRODUCTI ON : Cerebellopontine angle tumors are a surgical challenge to many neurosurgeons who want to operate in this space. Although most of these tumors are benign, they are a challenge because of the complex anatomy and important neurovascular structures that traver se this space. Most common cerebellopontine angle tumor is vestibular schwannoma. The management of these cases is essentially surgical. There has been a change in the surgical strategy over the years from simple intratumoral decompression to complete micr osurgical excision, to facial nerve preservation and hearing preservation. AIMS AND OBJECTIVES: To study the clinical and radiological characteristics, know the pathological types and determine the surgical resectability and outcome of cerebellopontine ang le tumor. MATERIALS AND METHOD : It is a prospective study done in the department of Neurosurgery, King George Hospital, Visakhapatnam, Andhra Pradesh. It is a Tertiary Care Hospital. 50 patients diagnosed with cerebellopontine angle tumor were recruited in to the study and were managed. RESULTS : 50 cases of cerebellopontine angle tumors accounting for 11% of all intracranial space occupying lesions, of which vestibular schwannoma alone constituted 10%. Most of the tumors were large or giant tumors. Total resection was done in 74% of vestibular sch wannoma and 50% of meningiomas. Anatomical preservation of facial nerve was achieved in 67% of patients. CONCLUSION : C erebellopontine angle tumors show high incidence from 3 rd to 5 th decade with common symptoms being hearing loss and ataxia. Most of the pa tients presented at a delayed stage with large to giant tumors with no useful hearing. Complete excision of tumor preserving facial and lower cranial nerve function is the goal. Postoperative cerebrospinal fluid leak can be managed effectively with conserv ative therapy

Turfgrass aeration involves the removal of small soil plugs or cores out of turfgrass. Most aeration is done mechanically with a machine having hollow tines or spoons mounted on a disk or drum. The objective of this study is to development, evaluation and manufactures an aeration machine for turfgrass. The evaluation study focused on measurements of soil bulk density, void ratio, soil porosity and energy consumption. The first three parameters were measured before and after turfgrass aeration with three tine diameters (1.27, 1.9 and 2.54 cm) under two depths (5 and 8 cm ) with three working forward speeds (1.5 , 2 and 2.7 km/h.). Results showed that reduction in bulk densities in all treatments and the effective treatment was 0.78 at 8 cm depth, tine diameter 1.27 cm and forward speed 1.5 km/h. The void ratio increased for all treatments, while the highest increase value was 1.95 at 8 cm depth, tine diameter 1.27 cm and forward speed 1.5 km/h. and Soil porosity increased for all treatments, and the effective treatment from variance analysis was 66.09 % with same treatment.it noticed that The highest values of field capacity was 0.687 fed/h with third diameter 2.54 cm at 5 cm depth with 2.7 km/h. It was found that the higher treatment in consumed fuel was the third diameter (2.54 cm) at 8 cm depth and 2.7 km/h (5.78 L/h). It was found that (tine diameter 1.27 cm, depth 5 cm and forward speed 2.7 km /h) had the lower value energy consumption 22.84 kW.h./fed.

The aim of no-tillage farming is to minimize mechanical soil disruption for soil and water (irrigation, rainfall) conservation, which includes adequate year-round crop residue cover. Furrow opening in this mechanization system is therefore of great importance being the only soil loosening operation performed to create optimum seed zone conditions for germination and subsequent crop establishment. The goals of no-tillage furrow opener design are minimal soil disturbance, and low draft and vertical force requirements. The design should also be able to support other components of the seeding system so as to retain adequate on-row residue cover, ensure accurate and uniform depth of seed placement, and plant spacing. This review highlights how these goals are affected by opener type and geometry, opener and seeder settings, and operating conditions. Conventional tine openers cause greater soil disturbance than narrow tine openers. Winged openers reduce residue interference with seed placement, and cause subsurface soil shattering, which helps conserve soil moisture. An increase in rake angle, tine width, and operating depth leads to increased soil disturbance and draft. Concave cutting edge allows for reduced soil disturbance and satisfactory clearance of crop residue. Increasing forward speed reduces residue interference with sowing and decreases seeding depth. Soils with high clay content (e.g., >35%) are likely to have lower soil disturbance. Bentleg openers cause less soil disturbance at high speeds, up to 16 km/h with lower draft force requirement and 100% seed coverage. Further research is needed on tine openers with concave cutting edge to establish and improve their ability to reduce soil disturbance and facilitate residue removal. There is a need for bentleg furrow openers to be evaluated in cohesive and adhesive soils to assist design optimization for such soils.

Non-chemical weed control methods need to be directed towards a site-specific weeding approach, in order to be able to compete the conventional herbicide equivalents. A system for online weed control was developed. It automatically adjusts the tine angle of a harrow and creates different levels of intensity: from gentle to aggressive. Two experimental plots in a maize field were harrowed with two consecutive passes. The plots presented from low to high weed infestation levels. Discriminant capabilities of an ultrasonic sensor were used to determine the crop and weed variability of the field. A controlling unit used ultrasonic readings to adjust the tine angle, producing an appropriate harrowing intensity. Thus, areas with high crop and weed densities were more aggressively harrowed, while areas with lower densities were cultivated with a gentler treatment, areas with very low densities or without weeds were not treated. Although the weed development was relatively advanced and the soil surface was hard, the weed control achieved by the system reached an average of 51% (20%–91%), without causing significant crop damage as a result of harrowing. This system is proposed as a relatively low cost, online, and real-time automatic harrow that improves the weed control efficacy, reduces energy consumption, and avoids the usage of herbicide.

We compared the displacement sensitivity between the first two symmetrical flexural resonant modes of a tuning fork crystal oscillator. An optical chopping method was employed to detect the vibrational modes of the tuning fork. Displacement sensitivities for the first two modes were extracted by applying a sinusoidal excitation voltage to the tuning fork crystal oscillator and detecting the oscillating amplitude of the focused laser beam chopped by the vibrating tine of the oscillator. We found that the ratio of the second mode sensitivity to the first one was 0.0113, in reasonable agreement with the theoretical value of 0.0131.

Intensive cultivation in organic peanut is partially effective, but in-row weed control remains problematic. In an attempt to improve in-row weed control, irrigated trials were conducted from 2011 to 2013 near Ty Ty, GA to determine the feasibility of early-season cultivation perpendicular to row direction using a tine weeder when integrated with other weed-control practices. Combinations of perpendicular cultivation (cultivation perpendicular to row direction), parallel cultivation (cultivation in the same direction of the rows), and banded applications of herbicides derived from natural sources were compared. Perpendicular cultivation improved overall weed control and peanut yield (two years of three), but this benefit was independent of weed control from any form of parallel cultivation. Additionally, tractor tire tracks from perpendicular cultivation across the rows repeatedly crushed peanut seedlings. Parallel cultivation with the tine weeder was generally more effective than parallel cultivation with sweeps, particularly for southern crabgrass and Texas millet. Herbicides derived from natural products were inconsistent in controlling dicot weeds, ineffective in controlling annual grasses, and did not protect peanut yield from weed interference.

The experimental studies on aero thermodynamic environments of the interaction area between the wing and its baseboard (the arc board) were conducted in the arc wind tunnel. In the experiments, the angle between the fluid from the nozzle and the board- wing was 15 degrees and the coming Mach numbers were5.1 and 5.8. Some cold wall heat fluxes on the board near the wing foot and the forepart of the wing tine were measured. The results showed, for the board near the wing foot, the cold wall heat fluxes first increased and then reduced after increasing to the biggest along the flow field as the attack angle increased; For the forepart of the wing tine, the cold wall heat flux was smaller whether the attack angle increased, which meant that the down dream wing had no influence on the cold wall heat flux. Meanwhile, the cold wall fluxes on the board near the wing foot increased along with the increase of the attack angle of the board-wing. That is to say that the interaction area was more close to the wing root. In addition, the heat flux suddenly decreased and then increased when the total enthalpy was less than 6000 kJ/kg.

The demanded drawbar pull by a subsoiler fitted with wing and chisel tines was determined when the item-item distance varies of 80 to 160 cm. The obtained equations in both kinds of tine in the two soil textures can be used to assess the delivery power of the tractor engine to select it. The field experiment was carried up in two plots, having clay soil and clay loam soil textures. According to the accomplished measures, for the subsoiler with wing tinethe best item-item distance is 120 cm with a demanded drawbar pull of 26.20 kN on the clay soil and 27.58 kN on the clay loam soil. When the subsoiler is fitted with chisel tines, the required drawbar pull does not vary with the item-item distance varying, being the drawbar force of 20.37 kN on the clay soil and increased the 7 % on the clay loam soil.

Hepatic cancer can be treated by microwave ablation, a therapy in which the goal is to increase the tissue temperature in order to induce necrosis. For the application of microwave ablation interstitial antenna have been developed with the objective of delivering and focusing energy deposition on the tissue in an effective manner. In this study, microwave ablation analyses using 2.45 GHz Two-Tine (2T) antenna for hepatic cancer tissue. This research is designed for a 2T-Conductor back-choke (2T-CBC) and 2T-Dielectrics Back-choke antenna (2T-DBC) and modeled using finite element method to obtain their heating patterns, compare them and analyze the effects of the back-choke to treat by microwave ablation. A preliminary study was first carried out with regard to the specific absorption rates (SAR) along the 2T antenna insertion depths and the ablation zone (heating pattern and lesion volume) inside the hepatic cancer models with 5 cm-in-diameter tumor. All scenarios were simulated under temperature-controlled mode (90°C) and the initial power was set at 50 W. Based on the preliminary results, the result shows that the maximum SAR and lesion volume is higher than when using a 2T-DBC antenna for microwave ablation (97.31 cm3). The conductor tine and bake-choke of the antenna has effect to heating pattern and lesion volume.

The primary features of an effective and efficient furrow opener include controlled soil disturbance and low draught and vertical force requirements. When integrated in a no-tillage seeding system, furrow openers should also have the ability to assist, and not hinder, the functions of seeding system components – such as maintaining adequate surface residue distribution, accurate and uniform placement of seeds and fertiliser, and regular inter-plant spacing. This review highlights how these goals are affected by opener type, geometry and settings, and soil and residue conditions. Typically, tine openers cause greater soil disturbance than disc openers whereas disc openers are likely to cause residue hairpinning. Winged tine openers reduce residue interference with seed placement and support greater lateral seed spread. Inverted-T openers can achieve subsurface soil shattering, which helps conserve moisture and provides good seed–soil contact. A tine opener with concave cutting edge reduces soil disturbance relative to straight and convex cutting edges. Increasing rake angle, tine width and operating depth increase degree of soil disturbance and draught requirement. Increasing forward speed reduces residue interference with sowing but might decrease the accuracy and uniformity of depth and separation of seed and fertiliser placement. Relative to common openers, bentleg openers have lower draught and penetration force requirements while combining minimal lateral soil throw with high furrow backfill, even at speeds of up to 16 km h–1. The performance of bentleg openers need to be evaluated under residue conditions and in cohesive and adhesive soils. Recommendations for future research are presented. Refereed/Peer-reviewed

Previous research has shown that mechanical cultivation is the most effective and affordable method of weed control in organic peanut production. However, growers are in need of more information on specific integrated cultivation regimes for effective season-long weed control with minimal hand-weeding requirements. Therefore, field trials were conducted in 2010–2012 to evaluate the effects of various tine and sweep cultivation treatments combined with or without hand-weeding on season-long weed control, stand establishment, and yield and grade of an organically-managed peanut crop. Tine cultivation treatments consisted of no cultivation or weekly cultivations for 5 wks after planting (WAP). Sweep treatments consisted of no cultivation, weekly cultivations (for 5 WAP), cultivations at 2 and 5 WAP only, or cultivation at 5 WAP only. Hand-weeding treatments were no hand-weeding or hand-weeding of the entire plot. There were numerous significant interactions among tine and sweep treatments on weed control. Initial weed species composition greatly affected cultivation effects on overall weed control. Tine cultivation was most effective at controlling annual grass weeds. Sweep cultivation was effective at reducing weeds (Amaranthus spp., southern crabgrass, and Florida pusley), but primarily when tine cultivation was absent. Hand-weeding significantly improved weed control for every weed species every year. Additionally, inclusion of certain cultivation regimes significantly reduced the hand-weeding time requirement over the control. However, cultivation treatments did not improve pod yield or grade in any year. The most significant benefit in cultivation from these data is in the reduction in hand-weeding requirements. Based on this research, a regime consisting of weekly tine cultivations for 5 WAP, combined with two timely sweep cultivations provided the best overall balance of weed control and minimization of hand-weeding. Hand-weeding is the most critical weed control method, followed by tine cultivation, and finally sweep cultivation, which primarily served as an aid in the event of missed tine cultivations or failure.

This paper presents a method to calculate the theoretical stress concentration factor of spatial helix gears, combined with the numerical method by ANSYS FEA package and analytic method. The formula of theoretical stress concentration factor of driving tine is fitted numerically, which suits for the general application situation. Effects of the main parameters on theoretical stress concentration factor are analyzed respectively.

In this study, the ability of adaptive neuro-fuzzy inference system (ANFIS) and response surface methodology (RSM) approaches for predicting the draft force of subsoiling tines was assessed. Results of ANFIS and RSM approaches were compared with the results of regression models, too. The draft force was evaluated as affected by the tines at three levels (subsoiler, paraplow, and bentleg), forward speed at four levels (1.8, 2.3, 2.9 and 3.5 km/h), depth at three levels (30, 40 and 50 cm) and wing width at two levels (with wing = 30 cm and no-wing = 0 cm) at four replications. Test results show that tine types, speed, depth, and wing width were significant on the draft force but quadruplet interaction effect of them. Moreover, the increment of forwarding speed, tillage depth and adding wing increased the draft force of all tine types. Field data were applied for the development of the regression, ANFIS and RSM models. The results of ANFIS part showed that Gaussian membership function (gaussmf) configuration was found to denote MSE of 0.0156 and R 2 of 0.998, consequently, it was the best ANFIS model. The RSM and best regression models had a high correlation (R 2 = 0.9927 and 0.9968, respectively), too while ANFIS model was the better than them to predict the draft force of subsoiling tines with higher accuracy. The RSM graphs showed the changes of the output variable (draft force) caused by changes of input variables (tine type, speed, depth and wing width) better than ANFIS graphs for their surfaces with higher pixels. Moreover, the optimization process for prediction of the draft force was obtained 4.22 kN for depth of 35.19 cm, the forward speed of 1.9 km/h and wing width of 26.97 cm using the RSM approach.

At present, the efficiency of the automatic foam extinguishing systems is less than 60% due to the low expansion rate of the produced foam. In order to solve this problem the influence of the geometric parameters of the sprinkler frame arm and deflector on the foam expansion rate was studied. A collapsible sprinkler design with the ability to replace its elements was developed to reduce the cost of the research. For the manufacture of elements of such sprinkler the optimal 3D printing technological parameters (FDM) were determined in order to provide the necessary strength and stiffness of the design. The obtained experimental dependences of the foam expansion rate on the frame arm length, the outer deflector diameter, the inner deflector diameter, the deflector tine spacing angle, the deflector ledges height and the deflector taper angle are also presented in the article. Moreover, the model for predicting the foam expansion rate values depending on the geometrical parameters of the sprinkler was developed. Using the «Desirability profiles » module in STATISTICA the sprinkler design was optimized to produce the foam with the highest expansion rate value.

The article presents results of theoretical studies on the determination rational parameters of placement tines on the frame interrow cultivator for differential tillage of potato field. Differential tillage means depth adjustments of tines according soil condition and their placement on the cultivator frame. The main goals of differential tillage by inter row cultivators are the elimination of soil compaction between ridges, formed by potato planters, as well as loosening of the zone of location of the potato tubers. Deep loosening after planting provides good conditions for the complete assimilation of water by soil after rain or irrigation, protects the top soil layer from erosion and also eliminates the over moistening in the autumn. Loosening the soil in the zone of the tuber placement ensures the obtaining of a fine-grained soil structure, which helps to create best conditions for the growth of plants and development their root system, as well as to ensure favorable conditions for soil separation during harvesting. The substantiation of rational parameters for tine placement on the frame of row cultivator was carried out on the base of the regularities of soil rheology, the heterogeneity of soil composition in different layers of arable and subsoil horizons, as well as the variability of their physic-mechanical properties. These regularities influence the development of deformation and cracked zones during the interaction ripper tines with the soil. As a result of the theoretical studies was developed a method for calculating the rational placement of ripper tines on the frame of the row cultivator for fulfil differential tillage on the potato based on the rheological state and heterogeneous structure of the soil horizons. Using of this method allow ensure high quality structure of tilled soil.

Active magnetic bearing (AMB) system is a complex integrated system including mechanics, electronic and magnetism. In order to research for the basic dynamic characteristic of rotor supported by AMB, it is necessary to present mathematics method. The dynamics formula of AMB is established using theory means of dynamics of rotator and mechanics of vibrations. At the same tine, the running stability of rotor is analyzed and the example is presented in detail.

Slurry injection into grassland has advantages as it decreases ammonia losses, but may harm grassland plants. In two field experiments, four different types of knife/tine equipment were tested on three different grassland species (monocultures of red clover, perennial ryegrass and red fescue), with or without added mineral nitrogen (N), but without slurry application. During 2 years, in two separate experiments, the injection treatments were applied in spring or in summer to different plots. Crop damage was assessed by a range of methods. It was concluded that both the timing and the design of the knife/injector equipment had a significant influence on yield when used in grassland, with the greatest decrease in yield after spring use. Mean total yield over 2 years (no treatment = 100) for timing and species, with N added, was 94 (vertical knife), 92 (vertical and horizontal knife), 96 (double disc tine) and 94 (tubulator tine). With no N added, the relative yield decrease caused by equipment was less. Red fescue seemed to be a little more sensitive than the other species at spring treatment in one of the 2 years. Leaf area index could be useful for measuring crop damage.

We carried out four replicated field experiments to measure the impacts of immediate incorporation of solid manures on emissions of ammonia (NH 3 ) and nitrous oxide (N 2 O). Four manures: cattle farmyard manure (FYM); pig FYM; layer manure and broiler manure were applied to the soil surface or immediately incorporated by mouldboard plough, disc or tine. Two of the experiments were carried out on a clay soil and two on a sandy soil to find out whether soil type interacted with incorporation technique to influence emissions of NH 3 or N 2 O. Ammonia emissions were measured for 1 or 2 weeks while N 2 O emissions were measured for 60 days in one experiment and for a complete year in the other three experiments. Immediate incorporation by plough reduced NH 3 emissions by c . 90% and by c . 60% by disc and tine ( P 3 abatement efficiency by plough or tine but the disc was less effective on the coarse sandy soil. Cross-site analysis indicated no effect of incorporation by disc or tine on emissions of N 2 O–N after 60 days but incorporation by plough increased direct emissions of N 2 O–N compared with surface application of manure ( P 2 O–N, at c . 0.67% of total N applied, were substantially greater at the coarse-textured site than at the heavy clay site (0.04% of total N applied; P 2 O–N differed in the three experiments where emissions were measured for a full year. There was no effect of incorporation on N 2 O–N emissions in the first experiment on the clay soil, and in the second experiment at this site incorporation by plough or disc, but not tine, reduced direct emissions of N 2 O ( P = 0.006). However on the sandy soil direct emissions of N 2 O–N were increased when manures were incorporated by plough ( P = 0.002) but not when incorporated by disc or tine. These results confirm that immediate incorporation of solid manures by plough is the most effective means of reducing NH 3 emissions following the application of solid manures. The results also indicate that immediate incorporation of solid manures to reduce NH 3 emissions does not necessarily increase emissions of N 2 O. However, the impacts of immediate incorporation on emissions of N 2 O may be related to soil type with a greater possibility of emission increases on coarse sandy soils.

A trial was conducted in a private field at Al-Hartha township, Al-Basrah Governorate, Iraq on autumn season 2012 to investigate the effect of using combined subsoiler with a moldboard plow to make furrows of different depths and spacings immediately after harvest of barley crop for winter season without tillage of the whole field. The study included also plow performance in treating hard subsoil layer and improvement of some physical properties of soil (apparent density, total porosity and soil penetration resistance) and effect on the yield of corn crop var. Bohoth (Researches) 106. The plow used to make furrows represented by combinations of sex double treatments for subsoiler and moldboard plows (S30 M­20 , S40 M­20 , S40 M­30 , S50 M­20 , S50 M­30 and S50 M­40) where S denotes subsoiler and M moldboard plows, while the ancillary number denotes the depth of tine for both plows. Two spacings, i.e. 75 and 100 cm were used between furrows. Control treatment consisted of tillage with moldboard plow at depth of 25 cm using furrow opener to open furrows at 25 cm depth. The field soil was silty clay containing a hard pan of 10 cm thickness at 30-40 cm depth. Randomized complete block design (RCBD)was used with three replicates. Differences between means wre tested by RLSD at p = 0.05. The results indicated the significant superiority of furrow depth treatments using combined subsoiler plow comparing with control treatment in all studied properties. The increase in furrow depth within study ranges resulted in reducing apparent density and soil penetration resistance with increase in soil total porosity, which reflected positively in increased row and seed numbers in corn ear. Plant seed yield improved also, which contributed in significant increases in corn seeds (Mg. h-1). Distances between furrows did not show a significant effect on the studied properties. The treatment S­50 M40 of interaction between furrow depth and 75 cm distance between furrows gave the best results and achieved the highest seed yield of 4.928 Mg. h-1.

In this paper, a new type of skew gear mechanism named as space curve meshing skew gear mechanism (SCMSGM) is proposed. Fundamental design equations are deduced for SCMSGM with an arbitrary alternate angle within 0°–180°. Space curve meshing equations of SCMSGM are established firstly. Then the equations of the driving contact curve and driven contact curve are deduced. And the equations of the driving tine center curve and driven tine center curve are subsequently derived. According to these fundamental design equations, an example is illustrated in detail and simulated in Pro/E software. The prototype samples with a 135° alternate angle were fabricated of 316L stainless steel by selective laser melting technology and an experiment was carried out to test their kinematic performance. The experimental result shows that the SCMSGM designed by the deduced fundamental equations in this paper is capable of committing a transmission with a precise transmission ratio between two skew axes at an arbitrary alternate angle.

Bone mineralization of antlers and the depth of the antler seal (the basal surface of the cast antlers) are positively related to testosterone concentrations. Pampas deer males that are in permanent contact with females have greater, heavier, and darker antlers than males that are isolated from them. The objectives were to determine if antler compact/spongy bone ratio, antler seal depth, and compact bone darkness are greater in pampas deer males permanently allocated with females than those in males isolated from them. Antlers from males permanently allocated with or without females were cut transversally in seven points and scanned, and the compact/spongy ratio was calculated. The pixel intensity of each image was determined with a software for image analysis. The coronet of the antler was cut longitudinally, and the height of the most prominent protrusion was measured. The compact/spongy ratio was greater in antlers from males that were in contact with females in the second tine (P = 0.02) and tended to be great in the two other tines (P = 0.06 and P = 0.1, respectively). Compact bone pixel color was darker in males in contact with females than that in males isolated from females in two points (P = 0.02 and P = 0.05, respectively) and tended to do so in two more (P = 0.055 and P = 0.1, respectively). Antler seal convexity was also greater in antlers from males in contact with females (P = 0.006). We concluded that permanent contact with females stimulated pampas deer males increasing compact bone portion of the antler tines, the seal depth size, and the darkness of the compact bone.