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Basic principles for a fire‐safe application of green façades on multi‐storey buildings. Green façades are in vogue. Fire spread along the façade is generally one of the most critical fire scenarios worldwide, and plants are additional combustible materials. The influence of green façades on fire propagation along the façade should therefore not be neglected. However, little research is available on this topic. The FireSafeGreen research project aims to change this. The main factor influencing the fire behaviour of plants is the moisture content. The plant species itself plays a subordinate role in terms of fire behaviour. A combination of wooden and green façade does not lead to an ignition of the wooden façade under consideration of some boundary conditions. In principle, appropriate care and maintenance are the key factors for fire‐safe green façades. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study is the first part of a larger investigation into the fire behaviour of green façades. In this study, the currently known international research status on this topic is presented and discussed. In addition, the flammability of green façades is investigated through 43 fire tests on a medium scale according to the SBI (Single Burning Item) test method EN 13823. The focus of the investigation was placed on climbing plants. A total of 25 different plant species were investigated. A comparison of the heat release rate of all the investigated vital plants shows similar behaviour. In the course of exposure, there are short peaks in the heat release rate. These peaks are "flare-ups" that occur when parts of the plants dry out due to exposure to the flame and then ignite. The plant species itself had no substantial influence on fire behaviour. Horizontal fire spread occurred to a very limited extent within the investigations of vital plants. They were self-extinguishing. The significant factor in the assessment of flammability is the moisture content of the plants. With dried plants, an abrupt heat release occurs at the beginning. Dried-out plants, as well as unmaintained plants with a high content of deadwood, represent the most critical case. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: Combining multiple features of UAV-based multispectral images with the stacking ensemble model, to improve the feasibility and accuracy of evaluating water stress in winter wheat. Methods: UAV-based multispectral images of winter wheat with different moisture treatments were acquired, from which the features such as spectrum, texture, and color moments were extracted. The soil moisture content (SMC) as well as fuel moisture content (FMC), plant moisture content (PMC), and above-ground biomass (AGB) were collected for charging the degree of water stress. The basic models were used to build ensemble models such as stacking and weighted stacking (WE-stacking), and we estimated SMC, FMC, PMC and AGB combined with multiple features. The performance of these models was evaluated. Results: The more severe the water stress, the lower values of SMC, FMC, PMC and AGB were obtained with estimation models. The performance of estimation models based on multi-feature fusion outperformed single feature in the evaluation of winter-wheat water stress. In the estimation of SMC, both stacking and WE-stacking models performed better than the basic models. Compared to the stacking model, the WE-stacking model had higher accuracy, with R2 increased between 1.98% and 3.62% at different soil depths. The WE-stacking model with multi-feature fusion still had sufficient stability and high accuracy in FMC, PMC and AGB estimation, with R2 of 0.866, 0.881 and 0.884, respectively. Conclusions: The multi-feature fusion of UAV multispectral images combined with WE-stacking model has great application potential and provides technical support in evaluating crop water stress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Characterized by soil moisture content and plant growth, agricultural drought occurs when the soil moisture content is lower than the water requirement of plants. Microwave remote sensing observation has the advantages of all-weather application and sensitivity to soil moisture change. However, microwave remote sensing can only invert 0~5 cm of soil surface moisture, so it cannot effectively reflect the drought situation of farmland. Therefore, this study took Henan Province as the study area, used soil moisture active and passive (SMAP) satellite soil moisture data, employed NDVI, LST, and ET as the independent variables, and took the drought grade on the sample as the dependent variable. Using the 2017–2019 data as the training set and the 2020 data as the testing set, a random forest drought monitoring model with comprehensive influence of multiple factors was constructed based on the training set data. In the process of model training, the cross-validation method was employed to establish and verify the model. This involved allocating 80% of the sample data for model construction and reserving 20% for model verification. The results demonstrated an 85% accuracy on the training set and an 87% accuracy on the testing set. Additionally, two drought events occurring during the winter wheat growing period in Henan Province were monitored, and the validity of these droughts was confirmed using on-site soil moisture and the vegetation supply water index (VSWI). The findings indicated a high incidence of agricultural drought in the southwestern part of Henan Province, while the central and northern regions experienced a lower incidence during the jointing to heading and filling stages. Subsequently, leveraging the results from the random forest drought monitoring, this study conducted a time series analysis using the Mann–Kendall test and a spatial analysis employing Moran's I index to examine the temporal and spatial distribution of agricultural drought in Henan Province. This analysis aimed to unveil trends in soil moisture changes affecting agricultural drought, as observed via the SMAP satellite (NASA). The results suggested a possible significant spatial auto-correlation in the occurrence of agricultural drought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A trial was conducted to investigate the growth and production characteristics of four plant species, marking the initiation of research on roadside revegetation processes in the southern region of Piauí state, Brazil. The trial was conducted in greenhouse conditions to evaluate the response of the species—two native legumes (Arachis pintoi and Stylosanthes macrocephala) and two grasses (Brachiaria humidicula—non-native and Paspalum notatum—native)—under different fertilization and irrigation treatments. Data were collected in two harvest operations, measuring the following variables: total plant height, population density per pot, number of live leaves, plant moisture content, total forage biomass, and root biomass. The results suggested that fertilization and irrigation caused no significant effect on the major species development characteristics that allay with the highway agency interests. Arachis pintoi showed the best results with the lowest height (24.1 cm in Experiment 1 and 19.2 cm in Experiment 2) and the greatest total forage biomass yield (6.4 g plant−1 in Experiment 1 and 4.1 g plant−1 in Experiment 2). Thus, we recommend that the results found in this study should be extended to field experiments and long-term research. Because our study did not explore mixed-species designs, adopting such evaluation could offer advantages in achieving more comprehensive and resilient revegetation outcomes and help decision-making regarding target species to compose the roadside revegetation operations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study was conducted during November, 2021 at Department of FMPE, CAET, OUAT, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India to investigate the torque requirement and ascertain optimum peripheral cutting velocity of rotary cutting disc based on varying stem diameter and moisture content of green gram. The cutting operation was simulated to find the cutting torque in the instrumented soil bin, which comprises of test trolley, processing trolley and vertical rotor assembly with vertical shaft having serrated cutting disc. Sample plant stems of green gram were firmly fixed in the plant stem holder, and buried beneath the soil to simulate the natural standing of the crop as in the actual field condition. The cutting torque required to cut the stem of green gram at different crop moisture content (39.2, 41.4 and 42.9% (wb)), peripheral cutting velocity (20, 25, 30, and 35 ms-1) and plant stem diameter (2.95, 3.97 and 4.96 mm) was measured. It has been observed that peripheral cutting velocity of disc, stem diameter and moisture content of plant affected cutting torque at 1% level of significance. The cutting torque increased with decrease in moisture content and increase in diameter of plant stem of green gram. The cutting torque increased with an increase in peripheral cutting velocity up to the critical velocity of 30 ms-1, but the value decreased after critical peripheral velocity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was to explore effect of different mulching materials on growth characters and yield of silage maize in northwest China. A field experiment was conducted in Liaojia Jiacou, Zhongchuan Town, Yongdeng County, central Gansu Province. The green storage maize variety 'Long Silage No.1' was used as material and four treatments were set up, which were common white mulch (M1), black ground cloth (M2), biodegradable film (M3), liquid mulch (M4). Plant height, stem diameter, leaf area, post-anther dry matter accumulation, ear yield, ear rate, grain moisture content, whole plant moisture content, fresh grass yield and hay yield were measured. The results showed that during mature stage, the height of M1 plants was 0.7%, 7.7% and 14.2% higher than that of M2, M3 and M4, respectively. M1, M2, M3 and M4 showed significant differences in stem diameter and plant height during jointing stage (P<0.05). During mature stage, the leaf area of a single plant showed M4>M2>M1>M3. Compared with M2, M3 and M4 treatments, the dry matter accumulation after flowering in M1 was 122.2%, 68.7% and 68.3% higher, the ear yield was 26.6%, 24.7% and 57.8% higher, the fresh grass yield was 6.5%, 9.0% and 10.2% higher, and the dry grass yield was 20.4%, 25.2%, and 36.9% higher, respectively. The ear rate and grain moisture content were shown as M4>M2>M3>M1 and the whole plant moisture content were shown as M4>M3>M2>M1. The study indicates that liquid mulch is not conducive to silage corn planting in northwest China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Understanding the variability of microbial niches and their interaction with abiotic and biotic factors in the Arctic can provide valuable insights into microbial adaptations to extreme environments. This study investigates the structure and diversity of soil bacterial communities obtained from sites with varying vegetation coverage and soil biogeochemical properties in the low Arctic tundra and explores how bacteria interact under different environmental parameters. Our findings reveal differences in bacterial composition and abundance among three bacterial niche breadths (specialists, common taxa, and generalists). Co-occurrence network analysis revealed Rhizobiales and Ktedonobacterales as keystone taxa that connect and support other microbes in the habitat. Low-elevation indicators, such as vascular plants and moisture content, were correlated with two out of three generalist modular hubs and were linked to a large proportion of generalists' distribution (18%). Structural equation modeling revealed that generalists' distribution, which influenced the remaining microbial communities, was mainly regulated by vegetation coverage as well as other abiotic and biotic factors. These results suggest that elevation-dependent environmental factors directly influence microbial community structure and module formation through the regulation of generalists' distribution. Furthermore, the distribution of generalists was mainly affected by macroenvironment filtering, whereas the distribution of specialists was mainly affected by microenvironment filtering (species-engineered microbial niche construction). In summary, our findings highlight the strong top–down control exerted by vegetation on generalists' distribution, which in turn shapes the overall microbial community structure in the low Arctic tundra. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moisture and temperature are the main factors that affect the life expectancy of liquid-immersed power transformers. These factors speed up the aging process of cellulose insulation, worsening its physio-chemical properties and increasing the risk of faults in the transformer. Recently, a multi-physical modeling approach was reported aimed at estimating the temperature and moisture dynamics of transformer insulation for different loading conditions. The model objective was to evaluate how the moisture dynamics between oil and paper insulation might affect the loading capability of the transformer. Although the model is based on the representation and analysis of concrete regions of the oil–paper insulation, it could also be useful for the estimation of the moisture content of the solid insulation in moisture monitoring systems; however, the modeling had not been experimentally validated due to the difficulty of measuring the moisture in cellulose insulation during transformer operation. In this work, an experiment was designed and developed to carry out the experimental validation of the model and to evaluate the possibility of applying it for moisture monitoring purposes. Moisture dynamics experiments were carried out in an experimental test plant; the evolution of the moisture content throughout the experiment was assessed by direct measure and with dielectric response measurements. The experimental conditions were simulated with the model, and the estimated and measured moisture contents were compared. A detailed analysis was carried out to evaluate the precision of the model and to identify possible sources of error and improvements that may be implemented to improve its accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The experiment was conducted in the fields of Al-Hilla - Babylon province, with loam soil, during the autumn season of 2021, to study the effect of different irrigation methods and levels of depletions on the growth and yield of corn (Zea mays L.). The Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) was an as complete split plot with three replications, the main plot included the treatment of depletion levels and subplot irrigation systems, and the treatments were distributed on the experimental plots randomly. Irrigation systems included three levels of subsurface drip irrigation - surface drip irrigation - surface irrigation with furrows, and the levels of depletion for each treatment were 20%, 40%, and 60%. The result showed that the subsurface drip irrigation treatment with 40% depletion achieved the highest plant height (206.92). While there was no significant difference with the surface drip treatment. The furrows irrigation system has the lowest plant height, which reached (174.14). There are significant differences between the treatment and the level of depletion in the area of the leaves of the plant. Also, the irrigation methods used did not significantly affect the weight and depth of the roots, while there were significant differences in the values of yield weight for the treatments and water depletion rates. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to evaluate the quality of Tanzania grass (Panicum maximum) haylage with varying contents of dry matter (DM) and stored for 90 days. The quality of this grass was evaluated through the lens of a variety of physiochemical properties (e.g., chemical composition, aerobic stability, pH, microbial profile, etc.). A completely randomized design was used with four treatments (in natura, 400, 500, and 600 g kg-1 DM) and five replicates. Treatment with 600 g kg-1 DM yielded the highest DM haylage (p < 0.01) and soluble carbohydrate content (p < 0.01). Treatment in natura resulted in the highest O2 concentration inside the bales (p < 0.01), whereas treatments with 500 and 600 g kg-1 DM resulted in the highest CO2 values. The highest acetic acid concentrations of 36.4 ± 1.6, 38.2±1.6, and 48.9 ± 1.6 g kg-1 DM (p < 0.01) were observed post the in natura, 500 g kg-1 DM, and 600 g kg-1 DM treatments, respectively. Treatment with 600 g kg-1 DM yielded the highest pH value at hour zero (p < 0.01). Tanzania grass with 500 and 600 g kg-1 DM produced the highest quality haylage. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Keywords: Erythrina variegata; mechanical properties; thermal properties; chemical constituent; cellulose fiber; scanning electronic microscopy; ; ; ; ; ; EN Erythrina variegata mechanical properties thermal properties chemical constituent cellulose fiber scanning electronic microscopy ZH 8246 8265 20 11/21/22 20221220 NES 221220 Introduction Rapid changes in the climate and environment has necessitated the use of eco-friendly materials in all applications of mankind. Higher lignin content makes EVF rigid and protects the fiber from biological attack by holding water in the fiber (Madhu et al. [32]).The hemicelluloses content in EVFs (37.38%) is comparatively higher than most of the plant fibers. The chemical analysis revealed existence of cellulose, hemicellulose, and lignin in composition such as 50.64 wt.%, 37.38 wt.%, and 17.44 wt.%. The presence of both cellulose and lignin in larger quantity makes the fiber stronger and stable compared to other bast fibers. Some of the recently explored bark fibers which were used for making polymer composites include I Cissus Populnea i (Azeez et al. [4]), I Cordia-Dichotoma i (Madhusudhan et al. [33]), I Sterculia urens i (Hemachandra et al. [14]), I Grewia optiva i (Kumar et al. [27]), I Abutilon Indicum i (Mohana, Sreeramulu, and Venkateshwar Reddy [40]), I Cyperus pangorei i (Rajini et al. [53]), Azadirachtaindica (Manimaran et al. [38]), Mikaniamicrantha and Chromolaenaodorata (Vijayan and Joy [72]), Salago (Pouriman et al. [50]), Raffia Vinifera (Rodrigue et al. [55]), Urena lobata (Njoku et al. [44]), Pigeon Pea (Kulandaivel, Muralikannan, and KalyanaSundaram [25]), Bauhinia Vahlii (Patel et al. [48]), I Calotropis procera i (Yoganandam et al. [74]) and I Carica Papaya i (Saravana Kumar et al. [58]), I Erythina variegata i is one such novel species from the bark of which good quality fibers can be obtained. [Extracted from the article]

This study is part of the ongoing environmental monitoring program of the abandoned Mecsek uranium mine. On the mine's recultivated spoil deposit No. I, anomalies that refer to possible migration alongside the slope were detected. The present study was conducted to supplement the ongoing monitoring study with a sampling strategy and analytical methods that can characterize the mobility of potentially toxic elements and radionuclides. A sampling strategy was developed: the vegetation and soil core samples were collected from the slope from top to bottom of the deposit, and nearby this spoil deposit, water samples were collected. Elemental analyses were conducted: the pseudo-total analysis, a total concentration of uranium in water, and the BCR sequential extraction analysis. The radionuclides were determined by gamma spectrometry and alphaGUARD. Additionally, the soil and plant moisture content, soil organic matter, pH, and cation exchange capacity (CEC) were determined. The Pearson correlation analysis and the principal component analysis, considering all possible influencing factors, verified that the elemental concentration increase from the top to the bottom direction of the deposit is strongly influenced by the soil pH, CEC, and Ca content. The mobility of Cd, Co, Mn, Pb, and U is relatively high and significantly migrates down the slope. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The reserves of non-renewable energy sources such as coal, crude oil and natural gas are not limitless, they gradually get exhausted and their price continually increases. In this work, we explored the use of a bomb calorimeter to determine the calorific values of coconut branches as an alternative source of energy. In this work, we explored the use of bomb calorimeter to determine the calorific values of coconut branches as a source of renewable energy. The calorific values of dried coconut branches were determined by using the bomb calorimeter along with the data of moisture content. The calorific values were noticed to be indirectly proportional to the moisture content. The calorific values (kJ kg-1 ) of the sample as a function of the moisture content is correlated with correlation coefficient (R² ) was 0.96. Ten out of fifteen samples collected were observed to have moisture content in the range of 10% to 30%. With these moisture contents, the amount of calorific values found were in the range of 14-16 MJ kg-1 which show its importance and practicality as a source of renewable energy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article examines drought-induced changes in soil microbial communities along a plant species richness gradient. It also assesses interactions between past drought and subsequent drought on plant diversity-productivity relationships. Topics discussed include bacterial and fungal richness, net biodiversity effects, and complementarity/selection effects.

In Hawaii, the commercial papaya industry is based on cultivars that segregate as females or hermaphrodites. Multiple seedlings are planted and then thinned at flowering to single hermaphrodites at each site. The aim of this study was to increase propagation efficiency by improving our procedure for micropropagation of hermaphrodite plants only. Initially, shoots were multiplied in vented jars on M2 medium, a Murashige and Skoog formulation containing 0.25 lM 6-benzyladenine (BA) and 0.1 lM a-naphthalene acetic acid (NAA). At weekly intervals, micropropagated shoots were either incubated for 4 to 7 days in IBA2 medium containing 20 lM indole-3-butyric acid (IBA) or were dipped in autoclaved rooting powder containing 0.8% IBA (DIP); then, they were placed in M2 until root initials or small roots were visible. After root induction in both treatments, plants were transferred to an in vitro medium containing 1=2 MSO and 30 g-L21 sucrose in vermiculite (VER). The IBA2 treatment produced 467 potted plants compared to 475 produced by the DIP treatment; however, the average number of days that each treatment required from root induction to potting of rooted plants was not significantly different (IBA2: 52.42 ± 5.65 days; DIP: 51.94 ± 3.61 days). Plants from both treatments were grown in either wet potting medium (500 mL water/300 g potting medium) or damp potting medium (120 mL water/300 g potting medium) to test the effect of moisture content on plant survival and growth after potting. Use of damp rather than wet potting medium resulted in significantly higher plant survival and growth. These results could facilitate more efficient commercial practice for papaya growers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rising demand for food production and an intensified usage of hazardous substances on the farmland are the driving force behind the emergence of green nanotechnology. Eco-friendly nanomaterials synthesised using plant sources and microorganisms are expected to catalyse a revolution in the agricultural sector by introducing nano-enabled smart sensors for metals along with organic toxins, supplying micronutrients; balancing the plant hormones, soil quality, and moisture content; stimulating plant growth; and minimising the usage of toxic chemicals by nanofertilizers and nanopesticides. As no single nanocompound has proved to be completely sustainable, this review discusses a wide variety of sustainable routes to implement nanomaterials to increase productivity, protect, and monitor crops through innovative nano-aided agricultural practices. Nevertheless, as the progress of research and commercialization in this area is still marginal, an understanding of complex dynamic behaviour, careful evaluation with targeted delivery of these compounds in the environment, and strong governmental regulatory norms are necessary to realize the effectiveness of green nanotechnology for sustainable agriculture. This article outlines some major advancements in recent years related to the implementation of eco-friendly nanomaterials in the agricultural sector. A systematic and comprehensive approach to adopting green nanotechnology would certainly promote a sustainable movement resulting in a beneficial economic and ecological impact. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study characterized the water outflow dynamics during artificial drying of plantain (Plantago major L.) and linden (Justicia pectoralis J. var. ‘Pectoralis’). The trials were conducted at 40 °C temperature and 50 % relative humidity. The post-harvest flow and the determination of the initial moisture content of each plant were initially established by the gravimetric method. The kinetic characterization was carried out based on the determination of the drying constants and diffusion coefficients of each species. The drying constants were obtained from the mathematical adjustment of five models and the diffusion coefficient was obtained through the analytical solution of Fick’s second law. The best fitting equation was the Henderson and Pabis equation. That model characterized the moisture loss over time when using a technology with 40 °C temperature and 50 % relative humidity and described the diffusion mechanism occurring in the leaves of the species under study. The drying time of linden in 45 h as opposed to plantain, which takes 77 h, is associated with the few adsorption points with relatively strong bonds that the plant presents. The results constitute a contribution to the knowledge that allows optimizing the drying processes of the species under study in the technological conditions of Cuba. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil salinization exerts a severe impact on environmental degradation that threatens the structure and ecological functions of lake wetland. To study the characteristics of soil water-salt in the typical plant communities in the ecological buffer zone of the arid lake wetland, three zones were selected lakeshore as the starting point in Stone House, Bird Island, and Duck Bay management stations of Lake Ebinur wetland, August 2016 and 2017. These zones, including the waterward radiation zone, the water level variation zone, and the landward radiation zone, to investigate the variation patterns of soil water-salt in different zones and soil depths (0–5, 5–10, 10–20, 20–40, 40–60 cm). The results showed that: the soil pH in different plant communities in zones were all alkaline with weak varianbility. Soil moisture and total salt content were moderately variable. According to the Xinjiang saline-alkali classification standards, soils in the three zones were classified as non-salinized soil to mildly salinized soil, heavily salinized soil to saline soil, and non-salinized soil to heavily salinized soil, respectively; soil pH and moisture content in different plant communities of the zones tended to increase along with soil deepens and salt content decreased. The differences in soil pH and moisture between different soil profiles in the same zone were not so significant, but the differences in total salt content were bigger. The soil moisture and total salt content among different zones within the same soil profile remained prominent. The relationship between soil pH, moisture content, and total salt content in waterward radiation zone and water level variation zone was complex, showing an unclear pattern. In the landward radiation zone, soil pH and total salt content were negatively correlated with moisture, while soil pH was positively correlated with total salt content. The study demonstrated that the changes in soil water-salt in Lake Ebinur Wetlands were mainly influenced by structural factors (microtopography, soil characteristics, vegetation, parent material, hydrology), followed by random factors (irrigation, soil improvement, cultivation practices, and human activities). [Display omitted] • Surface soil salts aggregation, deep pH and moisture aggregation in lake ecological buffer zones. • Increasing salts and decreasing trends in pH and moisture in watershed to land transition soils. • Soil water-salt in ecological buffer zones in arid regions is influenced by structural factors. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was conducted to assess whether application of potassium sulfate, sodium metasilicate or Sal-Wax®Ca can ameliorate the adverse effects of salinity stress on germination of sunflower plant variety Sakha 53 grown in sand culture. The salinity levels were 0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 mM NaCl and mitigation treatments were control, 89.7 ppm potassium sulfate, 3 mM sodium metasilicate and 1.8 ppm Sal-Wax®Ca. Plants were grown in plastic pot containing 500 g pre-washed sand and irrigated three times weekly by 100 mL per pot of one-tenth modified Hoagland and Arnon nutrient solution containing the salt level and mitigation treatment. After three weeks from sowing, the plants were collected. The results referred that increasing salinity stress decreased the growth parameters at all mitigation treatments. On the other hand, fresh and dry shoot/root ratio, whole plant and root moisture content, electrolyte leakage, and chlorophyll content index were increased with increasing salinity stress at all mitigation treatments. Soil application of potassium sulfate with irrigation solution lead to improve the studied growth parameters of sunflower plants under salinity stress, compared to sodium silicate and Sal-Wax®Ca. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) system is an emerging remote sensing tool for profiling crop phenotypic characteristics, as it distinctly captures crop real-time information on field scales. For optimizing UAV agro-monitoring schemes, this study investigated the performance of single-source and multi-source UAV data on maize phenotyping (leaf area index, above-ground biomass, crop height, leaf chlorophyll concentration, and plant moisture content). Four UAV systems [i.e., hyperspectral, thermal, RGB, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR)] were used to conduct flight missions above two long-term experimental fields involving multi-level treatments of fertilization and irrigation. For reducing the effects of algorithm characteristics on maize parameter estimation and ensuring the reliability of estimates, multi-variable linear regression, backpropagation neural network, random forest, and support vector machine were used for modeling. Highly correlated UAV variables were filtered, and optimal UAV inputs were determined using a recursive feature elimination procedure. Major conclusions are (1) for single-source UAV data, LiDAR and RGB texture were suitable for leaf area index, above-ground biomass, and crop height estimation; hyperspectral outperformed on leaf chlorophyll concentration estimation; thermal worked for plant moisture content estimation; (2) model performance was slightly boosted via the fusion of multi-source UAV datasets regarding leaf area index, above-ground biomass, and crop height estimation, while single-source thermal and hyperspectral data outperformed multi-source data for the estimation of plant moisture and leaf chlorophyll concentration, respectively; (3) the optimal UAV scheme for leaf area index, above-ground biomass, and crop height estimation was LiDAR + RGB + hyperspectral, while considering practical agro-applications, optical Structure from Motion + customer-defined multispectral system was recommended owing to its cost-effectiveness. This study contributes to the optimization of UAV agro-monitoring schemes designed for field-scale crop phenotyping and further extends the applications of UAV technologies in precision agriculture. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Biochar is a material with high carbon content produced as a result of thermochemical transformation processes of organic material. In addition to the industrial and environmental uses of biochar, it is used as a soil conditioner in problematic soils in the agricultural sector. In this study, the effects of biochar on some soil physical properties, moisture changes in soil and plants, and soil temperature were investigated. In detailed literature reviews, it was determined that biochar application has positive effects at the some of the soil physical properties such as; soil bulk density, porosity, hydraulic conductivity, aggregate stability, shear and tensile strength, moisture content of the plant and soil. In these studies, concluded that the effects of biochar on soil properties vary depending on the production technology of biochar and some physical properties of biochar. The factors such as pyrolysis temperature, raw material type, aggregate diameter used in the production phase have changed the effect levels of biochar on the soil. In addition, it was determined that most of the studies on the subject were carried out in a laboratory or greenhouse for a maximum of 2 years. Therefore, it was concluded that field experiments should be conducted that determine the long-term effects of biochar on the soil. It is also an important subject in researching the effectiveness of the methods to be used to mix biochar with soil. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Spray drying is a rapid, continuous, cost-effective, reproducible, and scalable process for reducing the moisture content of a fluid material into a solid powder. To improve this process in juice powder production, automation can be applied to increase efficiency and productivity. Hence, fuzzy logic is used in this study as a control system in the spray-drying process of concentrated liquid bignay juice into juice powder, where the inlet temperature and carrier agent concentrations affecting the properties of the juice powder, such as moisture content and product yield, are considered. The proposed fuzzy system can provide feedback to the control variables, inlet temperature, and carrier agent concentration based on the moisture content and product yield of the juice powder. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The characteristics of the precious traditional Chinese medicine Fritillaria cirrhosa (FC) like humidity and fear high humidity have become the difficulty of artificial irrigation. The intelligent precision irrigation system can realize water-saving irrigation on demand. With the idea of partition variable irrigation, the partition variable irrigation system of FC was developed based on the wireless sensor network. In the process of artificial cultivation between April 2018 and December 2020, the impact of the growth age, planting season, soil and planting density on the required irrigation water of FC was investigated. The data of water demand for FC growth and irrigation water in planting soil was obtained with the help of capacitance method and soil moisture content analyzer. The better soil moisture content model for the FC growth and the suitable soil moisture content model of irrigation were established. The results showed that in addition to the factor of growth age of FC, the required soil moisture content of FC growth was related to the planting density. The required soil moisture content would rise with the increase of the planting density. The fuzzy control strategy model was established in order to achieve the application of partition variable irrigation of FC. The double-input and simple-output structure was adopted for the fuzzy controller. The input variables were the difference value which is the difference between the required soil moisture content for FC growth and the planting soil moisture content, as well as the planting density. The output variable was the increment of the irrigation soil moisture content. The fuzzy control quantification factors, the scale factor, the fuzzy control rules as well as the membership function were optimized through genetic algorithm so as to achieve the accurate decision on the irrigation water of FC. Different irrigation water was applied under conditions of different planting density, season and growth age to achieve partition variable irrigation of FC. The irrigation process was executed according to certain strategy by using the increment of irrigation soil moisture content u. The partition variable irrigation technology and system was applied in the greenhouse of FC. The experimental results showed that certain water-saving effect has been achieved through the application of fuzzy control irrigation. Based on the fuzzy control optimized by genetic algorithm, the data of irrigation water was mainly distributed between 5% to 7% and the consumption of irrigation water decreased significantly. The irrigation water under specific planting density of FC showed that error of the optimized variable irrigation was around ±5%, which satisfied irrigation demand as required water amount of FC growth. With the increase of planting density of FC, the required irrigation water also increased linearly. Evident effect has been achieved in partition variable irrigation and it was necessary for FC to adopt the strategy of partition variable irrigation. There is a parabolic relationship between water-saving rate of partition variable irrigation and the planting density ratio of FC. The optimum water-saving rate can be achieved around the standard planting density and the annual water-saving rate can reach more than 27.6%. This research can provide reference and technical support for the strategy of planting density and water-saving irrigation of FC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Moroccan Spiny-tailed lizard Uromastyx nigriventris is a desert agamid species distributed from western Algeria to Morocco northeast to southwest of the Atlas range. In spite of a few studies investigating its dietary habits information regarding the daily food intake rate of this non-drinking desert species under natural conditions is lacking. Our study aimed at assessing the daily food consumption in spring and autumn calculated as dry matter intake (DMI), using calibrated faecal and nitrogenous waste outputs collected during 12 days from unfed wild-caught adult lizards originating from a desert area in southeastern Morocco. We used microhistological analyses to identify plant fragments in faecal pellets. Percentages of dry weights of individual plant species in individual diets were estimated from their fragment density, using the Sparks and Macheleck's conversion method. The obtained results indicate that these herbivorous lizards fed on a total of 18 different plant species belonging to 17 genera and nine plant families depending on the season. The total faecal and nitrogenous waste outputs were significantly correlated to the DMI of captive lizards. The combination of the two methods along with the moisture content of the plant species consumed allowed estimating the lizards' daily water intake rate (WIR). Estimated values of both DMI and WIR were compared to those predicted from body weight using allometric (or scaling) equations derived from isotopic measurements of field metabolic rate and water influx in free-ranging herbivorous lizards. The obtained results have important implications for conservation such as captive-breeding programmes and habitat restoration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Sodicity is a major soil constraint in many arid and semi-arid regions worldwide, including Australia, which adversely affects the ability of crops to take up water and nutrients from the soil, reducing yield. Reliable methods and tools are required for appropriate selection of traits, may provide a better understanding of crop responses to multiple stresses, especially in sodic soil. A novel strategy was developed using unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV)-thermal imaging and agglomerative hierarchical clustering-based techniques to evaluate and rank the physiological performance of 18 contrasting wheat genotypes grown on a moderately sodic and a highly sodic soil in north-eastern Australia. We obtained UAV-thermal imaging data at different times of the day (9:30, 12:00, and 15:00 hrs) close to flowering stage. Crop biophysical parameters (Leaf potassium concentration, normalized difference vegetation index, crop water uptake, stomatal conductance, plant moisture content, and aboveground biomass) were measured at close to flowering by destructive plant sampling and ground-based proximal sensing and yield was machine harvested at maturity. Canopy temperatures derived from thermal imagery between 28.9 and 35.4 °C were observed at the moderately sodic site, and between 36.2 and 41.0 °C at the highly sodic site from 9:30 to 15:00 hrs. Canopy temperature was consistently higher than corresponding ambient air temperatures indicating plant water stress at both sites. While the air temperature was not significantly different (p > 0.05) between the two sites, canopy temperature was significantly higher (p < 0.01) on highly sodic soil compared to moderately sodic soil, indicating greater water stress at the highly sodic site. This difference was most likely due to the adverse impacts of sodic soil constraints and not primarily due to environmental variations. Hence, our study revealed that sodic soil constraints can intensify plant water stress. Statistical analysis between canopy temperature (9:30, 12:00, and 15:00 hrs) and crop biophysical parameters showed close negative correlations at both moderately sodic (R2 = 0.54 to 0.83) and highly sodic (R2 = 0.30 to 0.89) sites. A closer correlation was observed at 15:00 hrs for both sites. Thus, high-resolution UAV-thermal imaging has potential to detect water-stressed plants on sodic soil. Agglomerative hierarchical clustering was used as an unsupervised machine learning tool for ranking of physiological performance of wheat genotypes. Results suggest that UAV-thermal imaging and AHC techniques can discriminate cultivars tolerant to sodicity. The study improves our understanding of crop physiological behaviour and can assist farmers in selection of water stress tolerant genotypes to sustain food security in sodic soil under water-limited environments. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Water is indispensable for plant growth, and water shortage will affect the yield, growth, and quality of plants. The rapid and non-destructive detection of water content in plants is of great significance to scientific guidance of irrigation and to improve crop yield. There are many methods to detect and estimate moisture content in plants. The image processing by using the projected area and color space of plant leaves in two-dimensional images is widely applied to detect water content. With the development of 3D point cloud technology, it has become an inevitable trend to use 3D information to study crop growth status. In this study, the monitoring models of strawberry leaf moisture content based on 3D geometric parameters were used to predict the leaf moisture content. The water content of 49 pots of strawberry “Ningyu” with different water treatments was measured. Geometric parameters of strawberry leaves were extracted by using real-time on-line 3D modeling to analyze the relations between water content and these parameters. Firstly, a binocular camera was set to capture the depth maps of strawberry leaves, which were converted into 3D point cloud images. Secondly, the strawberry leaves were segmented by using the 3D-SIS instance segmentation method. Thirdly, the random sampling consensus algorithm plus the global least-squares method was used to fit planes with the segmented 3D leaves to obtain the leaf inclination angle and corresponding cosine value. The blade spherical surface fitting method based on algebra was used to obtain the sphere radius to indicate the bending of leaves due to lack of water. Finally, the relation between water content and geometry parameters was analyzed quantitatively by using univariate and multivariate linear regression. In the univariate linear regression analysis, leaf inclination angle, cosine value, sphere radius, and leaf moisture content were linearly correlated, and the determination coefficients were 0.842 9, 0.854 6, and 0.880 8 respectively. In multiple linear regression analysis, the relation between water content and sphere radius plus leaf angle, and sphere radius plus cosine value was analyzed. The results showed that there was a significant correlation between the spherical radius, the leaf inclination angle, and the water content, and the modified coefficient of determination was 0.914 3. The prediction models were tested on the validation set and the results showed that among the above-said models, the one established by spherical radius and leaf inclination angle was best. The root mean square error was merely 0.015 8, and the determination coefficient was as high as 0.953 4. The proposed method could quickly detect the water content of strawberry leaves, providing an effective method for non-contact measurement of strawberry water content and technical support for the accurate acquisition of agricultural situation information. With the help of 3D geometric parameters of leaves, there was a prospect for the early application of plant water deficit control. The prediction model of leaf water content established by regression should have a certain application value in the field of ecology and crop protection. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A study was conducted at Etay Elbaroud Research Station, Agriculture Research Center, MALR, Egypt, to investigate the effect of magnetic saline irrigation water on growth of two groundnut genotypes. The experiment was carried out in randomized complete block design in a splitsplit-plot arrangement with three replicates. The main plot represented by four salt concentrations (0, 25, 50 and 100 mM NaCl), the sub-plot was two groundnut genotypes (Giza 6 and N.C.) and the sub-subplot was two treatments (with or without magnetized irrigation solution). Seeds were sown in pots containing 0.5 Kg pre-washed quartz sand and irrigated three times per week by adding 100 mL of irrigation solution consisting of base nutrient solution and the salt level exposed to with or without a magnetic field, to each pot. After three weeks from sowing the whole plants were collected. The results indicated that increasing salt stress decreased the all growth parameters and shoot/root ratio on fresh and dry weight basis of the two groundnut genotype. However, moisture content of whole plant, shoots and roots were increased with increasing salt stress. Electrolytes leakage generally decreased with increasing salt stress. Chlorophyll a, b and total chlorophyll content increased at high level of salt stress (100 mM NaCl). The N.C. genotype was more sensitive to salinity than the Giza 6 genotype for most growth attributes. The magnetized saline irrigation water had no significant effect on alleviation of salt stress to the two groundnut genotypes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The main aim of this study is to investigate the possibility of drying the basil plants under different conditions. Fresh basil was dried using different systems: sun-drying, shadow-drying, room-drying, solar-drying and oven-drying systems. Weight losses, moisture content and oil content were recorded. Drying parameters were studied to determine the equilibrium moisture contents (EMC) using different models. The obtained results indicated that the accumulated weight loss of basil plants increased from 3.57 to 83.76, 2.12 to 70.48, 0.72 to 82.07, 0.44 to 84.34 and 1.29 to 84.90 %, for sun-drying system, shadow-drying system, room-drying system, solar-drying system and oven-drying system, respectively. The moisture content of basil plants decreased from 515.95 to 6.91, 490.18 to 6.59, 479.97 to 4.66, 538.02 to 0.93 and 565.40 to 5.40 % d.b. for sun-drying system, shadow-drying system, room-drying system, solar-drying system and oven-drying system, respectively. The highest value of equilibrium moisture contents were 13.25 and 35.16 % at 10 and 90 % equilibrium relative humidity was found from Modified Chung-Pfost equation under room system. The lowest value of equilibrium moisture contents were 0.91 and 16.58 % at 10 and 90 % equilibrium relative humidity was found for modified Oswin equation for oven system. The basil oil content values were 2.3, 2.5, 2.9, 2.7 and 2.0 % for the sun-drying, shadow-drying, room-drying, solar-drying and oven-drying, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The vast tree trash from date palm is generally burnt or dumped. However, recycling date palm biomass has attained great attention in recent years. The present study was, therefore, designed to produce biochar through pyrolysis using leaf and stem feedstocks of date palm and to find out its suitability as a soil conditioner under glasshouse conditions. The pot experiment was laid out according to a completely randomized design having three soil media (1) sandy loam soil, (2) sandy loam soil + 2.5% date palm leaf biochar and (3) sandy loam soil + 2.5% date palm stem biochar with five replicates in each treatment. The recommended dose of NPK (300:130:270 kg. ha-1) was applied to all replicates. Results showed that the date palm leaf and stem biochar significantly (P≤0.05) improved cucumber vine length, stem diameter, leaf number, leaf area, number of fruits per vine, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit volume, fruit fresh and dry weight, stem dry weight, leaf fresh and dry weight, fruit circumference, fruit surface area and yield per plant, fruit pH, total soluble solids, intercepted radiation, chlorophyll content, net photosynthesis, stomatal conductance, transpiration rate and water use efficiency. While the intercellular CO2 concentration was reduced with leaf and stem biochar treatments. However, there was a non-significant response of cucumber plants to any of the treatments regarding plant spread, leaf area index, days to flower, fruit setting, fruit maturity, stem fresh weight and fruit, stem, leaf and whole plant moisture content. In conclusion, the application of 2.5% of leaf and stem biochar mixed with sandy loam soil medium is recommended to get improved soil water holding capacity, plant growth, plant yield and physiological traits of cucumber under glasshouse conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper provides a short review of the techniques that can be used to make flexible wood-based products. It also describes preliminary experiments on the potential of radial compression of French grown Poplar (Populus spp.) for the manufacture of highly flexible products. A 50% uniaxial compression strain was applied to wood blocks with an average moisture content of 15.5%. The blocks were then glued together to make larger panels from which small beams (nominally 10 x 10 x 150 mm³. After conditioning, the bending properties were measured. None of the flexibilized beams broke during testing and their stiffness was found to be less than 10% of the control beams. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Highlights • Comprehensive Stress Indicator and stem water potential were reasonably correlated. • Comprehensive Stress Indicator is derived from energy balance of a leaf. • Comprehensive Stress Indicator does not depend on a lower baseline. Abstract This study evaluated a comprehensive plant water stress indicator that integrates the leaf temperature and the environmental conditions that can provide feedback on the plant response to irrigation scheduling. This quantity—Comprehensive Stress Indicator (CSI)—is based on the reformulation of the leaf energy balance equation. Specifically, CSI is the ratio of the temperature difference between a dry leaf (i.e., a leaf with a broken stem) and a live leaf (on the same tree) [i.e., T dry -T leaf ] and the difference between the vapor pressure inside the stomatal cavity at saturation and the vapor pressure of the air at ambient temperature [i.e., e s (T L)-e(T A)]. The required measurements to compute CSI include dry leaf temperature, live leaf temperature, relative humidity, and air temperature at the tree being monitored. In this study, all measurements were obtained using a sensor suite called the leaf monitor. Leaf monitors were connected to a wireless mesh network to communicate the data to a website. The leaf monitor included two thermal infrared sensors, one for the dry leaf and one for the live leaf, both of which were housed in the same unit with almost identical environmental conditions due to a diffusing hemispherical dome that enclosed these sensors. The CSI is a dynamic indicator with a value for every data sample collected. For a single indicator representing each day, the CSI was evaluated in two ways. First, the CSI was integrated with respect to time from 10 A.M. to 6 P.M. to obtain the Integrated Comprehensive Stress Indicator (ICSI). Second, the CSI was averaged from 1 P.M. to 3 P.M. to obtain the Average Comprehensive Stress Indicator (ACSI). Both ICSI and ACSI were compared to other stress indicators, including the existing Crop Water Stress Index (CWSI) and Integrated Degrees Above Non-Stressed (IDANS). Results show that ICSI and ACSI are satisfactorily correlated with midday stem water potential (SWP). The ICSI and ACSI indicators may be more convenient than other stress indicators because they require measurements only at the tree being monitored. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Controlled application of drought can increase secondary metabolite concentrations in some essential oil-producing crops. To evaluate the effects of drought on cannabis (Cannabis sativa L.) inflorescence dry weight and cannabinoid content, drought stress was applied to container-grown cannabis plants through gradual growing substrate drying under controlled environment. Fertigation was withheld during week 7 in the flowering stage until midday plant water potential (WP) was approximately L1.5 MPa (drought stress threshold). This occurred after 11 days without fertigation. A well-irrigated control was used for comparison. Leaf net photosynthetic rate (Pn), plant WP, wilting (leaf angle), and volumetric moisture content (VMC) were monitored throughout the drying period until the day after the drought group was fertigated. At the drought stress threshold, Pn was 42% lower and plant WP was 50% lower in the drought group than the control. Upon harvest, drought-stressed plants had increased concentrations of major cannabinoids tetrahydrocannabinol acid (THCA) and cannabidiolic acid (CBDA) by 12% and 13%, respectively, compared with the control. Further, yield per unit growing area of THCA was 43% higher than the control, CBDA yield was 47% higher, Δ9-tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) yield was 50% higher, and cannabidiol (CBD) yield was 67% higher. Controlled drought stress may therefore be an effective horticultural management technique to maximize both inflorescence dry weight and cannabinoid yield in cannabis, although results may differ by cannabis cultivar or chemotype. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The influence of the addition of Refined Liquid Smoke (RLS) (1% w/w) to a sugar-based Osmotic Solution (OS) (42 °Brix) on the osmotic dehydration (OD) kinetics and microstructure of apple cubes was evaluated. Cubes of 10 mm were cut from peeled apples and subjected to OD at the incubation temperature of 50 °C and over a range of OD duration (5–240 min). Influence of addition of RLS was evaluated for selected OD kinetic variables: solid gain (SG), water loss (WL), dry matter (DM), soluble solid content (SSC), and moisture content. Results showed that addition of RLS significantly increased SG, DM, and SSC in apple cubes compared to pure sugar solution-based OD. As a result of RLS addition, the sugar concentration in apple cubes increased from 9.90 °Brix to 33.8 °Brix whereas it was 31.02 °Brix for the pure sugar solution-based OD. Further kinetic analysis showed that the effective diffusion coefficient for SG was same (4.40 × 10−10 m2/s) irrespective of the addition of RLS; however, the effective diffusion coefficients for WL were different (2.94 × 10−10 m2/s for pure sugar-based OD and 4.40 × 10−10 m2/s for RLS-added OD). Microstructural visualization of the dried apples revealed that the addition of the RLS might have prevented the collapse of cell wall up to the first hour of OD. Highlights • Osmotic dehydration (OD) of apple cubes significantly reduces moisture content by 53%. • Addition of liquid smoke in OD results in significant increase in SG, SSC, and DM. • Refined Liquid Smoke prevented collapse of the apple cells for the first hour of osmotic dehydration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract Challenge tests with eight brands of fresh ricotta showed rapid growth of Listeria monocytogenes and significant variability in physical-chemical characteristics. Thus, two cardinal parameters models were developed for the growth of L. monocytogenes in ricotta including, respectively, terms for temperature (Model 1) and temperature and pH (Model 2). Also an extensive, existing growth model including the effect of organic acids (Model 3) was product recalibrated to predict growth of L. monocytogenes in ricotta. Interestingly, a lack of anti-listerial effect of organic acids in ricotta was observed in this study. The range of applicability of Models 1 and 2 in ricotta (characterized by absence of competitive microbiota) included storage at temperatures from 4.1 to 20.6 °C, pH from 5.5 to 6.6, moisture contents from 72% to 82%, NaCl from 0.38% to 0.60%, concentrations of acetic acid from 579 to 1559 ppm in the water phase, citric acid from 14,774 to 46,116 ppm in the water phase, and lactic acid from 0 to 4146 ppm in the water phase. Comparing observed and predicted maximum specific growth rates of L. monocytogenes in ricotta showed a bias-factor significantly above 1, for existing models developed for broth and these models were thus fail-safe with predicted growth being faster than observed, while typically below 1 for models developed for other food types. The models developed in the present study showed bias-factors of 1.10, 1.06 and 0.78, respectively, for Model 1, 2, and 3. In particular, Model 1 and 2 developed and successfully validated could allow an easy determination of safe shelf-life of ricotta and facilitated the reformulation the product with the aim to increase shelf-life or safety. Highlights • Eighteen challenge tests showed evident growth of Listeria monocytogenes in fresh ricotta. • A new product specific model predicted with good performance the growth of L. monocytogenes in ricotta (Bf = 1.10). • Temperature and pH models facilitated product reformulation to prevent growth of L. monocytogenes in ricotta. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stem diameter is an important parameter in the process of plant growth which can indicate the growth state and moisture content of the plant, its automatic detection is necessary. Traditional devices have many drawbacks that limit their practical uses in general case. To solve those problems, a stem diameter inspection spherical robot was developed in this study. The particular mechanism of the robot has turned out to be suitable for performing monitoring tasks in greenhouse mainly due to its spherical shape, small size, low weight and traction system that do not produce soil compacting or erosion. The mechanical structure and hardware architecture of the spherical robot were described, the algorithm based on binocular stereo vision was developed to measure the stem diameter of the plant. The effectiveness of the prototype robot was confirmed by field experiments in a tomato greenhouse. The results showed that the machine measurement data was linearly correlated with the manual measurement data with R² of 0.9503. There was no significant difference for each attribute between machine measurement data and manual measurement data (sig>0.05). The results showed that this method was feasible for nondestructive testing of the stem diameter of greenhouse plants. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mechanical properties of hulless barley stems with different moisture contents (10.23%–43.14%) were investigated by using temperature sweep, frequency sweep, stress relaxation and creep tests of dynamic mechanical analyzer (DMA) in this study. Results showed a significant dependence of storage modulus, loss modulus and tan delta on moisture content. The data from stress relaxation and creep was fitted by using generalized Maxwell model and Burgers model. 5-element Maxwell model was better for describing relaxation behaviors of hulless barely stem compared with the 3-element Maxwell model. The peak values of loss modulus and tan delta both occurred at a low temperature when moisture content increased. The dynamic mechanical properties can provide useful information for the harvesting and processing of huless barely stem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Oil palm fresh fruit bunch (OPFFB) is the main export product of the oil palm industry. A good oil palm is between 17 to 18 weeks of age with full fruitless maturity. An automated detection system should be implemented to determine the OPFFB's maturity and expedite the harvesting process. Various automated detection methods have been proposed for conventional method replacement. In a preliminary study, a new oil palm fruit sensor was proposed for detecting the maturity of OPFFB, and a microstrip ring resonator was designed for determining the moisture content in oil palm fruit. The coaxial feeder of the microstrip ring was a Sub-Miniature A (SMA) stub contact panel with outer and inner conductors of 4.1 mm and 1.3 mm, respectively. The measurement system consisted of a sensor and a PC controlled network analyzer. This system was tested successfully on seeds and fruits of oil palm with various degrees of maturity. The microstrip ring resonator operated between 2.2 and 3 GHz and required low frequency that enabled the electromagnetic field in the first half of the ring resonator to be transferred to the second half and subsequently cause the collinearity of the maximum field points in the feed lines and resonator. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Static stress of granular materials stored in silos is important for the security of materials during storage. Janssen equation was commonly used to calculate the static stress of grains in silos, but later researchers found the equation underestimated loads in storage bins. In this paper, the modified Cam-clay model was applied to study the stress distribution of wheat piles at four moisture levels, stored in a circular flat bottom silo, at different grain depth and radius of silos. The results showed that as the grains depth increased, the vertical stress of wheat piles increased except the wall-bottom of silos, and the lateral stress increased except the center of silos near bin bottom. Moreover, it was found that as the radius increased, the vertical stress of wheat piles decreased at the same depth and moisture content, and the lateral stress decreased but increased near the bin bottom in the same case. When the mean stress of a layer of grains were observed, it was found that the lateral stress was negatively correlated with moisture content when the vertical stress had no concern with it at the same grain depth and all of them approached the maximum at the same moisture content. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this research was to study the effect of temperature and relative humidity on the equilibrium moisture content of cassava pulp. In experiments, cassava pulp was tested with a static method that controlled the temperature at 30, 50 and 70°C and controlled relative humidity in a range 10-90% with standard saturated salt solutions as LiCl, MgCl2, NaBr, NaCl and KNO3. Five equations of equilibrium moisture isotherm were analysed to predict the equilibrium moisture content, which was a guideline to develop a new isotherm equation. The experimental results showed that the equilibrium moisture content was increased with increased relative humidity whereas it decreased with increased drying temperature. Therefore, the drying process and storage method of cassava pulp must control temperature and relative humidity of no more than 50°C and 60%, respectively. The analysis of isotherm equations revealed that the new isotherm equation has high accuracy to predict the equilibrium moisture content of cassava pulp and higher R2 correlation with the experimental data than five isotherm equations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]