Effects of planting density on the productivity and water use of tea (Camellia sinensis L.) clones: I. Measurement of water use in young tea using sap flow meters with a stem heat balance method

Sap flow meters based on the stem heat balance method were used to measure the mass flow rates or water use in young potted tea (Camellia sinensis L.) plants of clones AHP S15/10 and BBK35. The meters were constructed on site and installed onto the stem or branch sections of field growing plants in an experiment originally designed to study the effects of plant population density and drought on the productivity and water use of young tea clones. The objective of the study was to use the SHB method as a first attempt to use sap flow meters for determining the water use of young tea growing in the field under well watered conditions in Tanzania. The results are reported and recommendation made for further work on using the technique.     

热泵式节能烘干机的设计

热泵是一种使热量从低温介质流向高温介质,以对高温物体进行供热的装置.为此,利用热泵原理研究设计了一种小型高效节能烘干机,并介绍了该机的主要特点、总体结构等,尤其对热泵、烘干床进行了详细介绍.该机具有结构简单新颖、造价低廉、使用寿命长、高效节能等优点,不仅可以烘干多种农产品,还可以烘干茶叶、蘑菇等多种农副产品.     

基于径向基神经网络的叶轮轴面投影图优化

为了提高余热排出泵的效率,采用拉丁超立方试验设计方法对叶轮轴面投影图上的前盖板圆弧半径、后盖板圆弧半径、前盖板倾角和后盖板倾角4个几何变量进行35组叶轮方案设计,应用ANSYS CFX 14.5软件对余热排出泵进行定常数值模拟,得到设计工况下的效率,应用径向基神经网络建立效率与轴面投影图的4个几何变量之间的近似模型,最后采用遗传算法对近似模型进行极值寻优,获得最优的轴面投影图几何参数组合。研究结果表明:对比原始泵的数值模拟性能曲线和试验外特性能曲线,两者吻合较好;径向基神经网络能较好地预测泵设计点效率;优化的轴面投影图使得余热排出泵的水力效率提高了6.18个百分点,改善了叶轮内流场特性。因此,叶轮轴面投影图的优化设计方法是可行的。     

退火对304不锈钢拉伸坯料力学性能的影响

研究了不同退火处理工艺对304不锈钢板材拉伸坯料的硬度、抗拉强度和延伸率等力学性能的影响，为拉伸坯料获得较高的可加工性能提供了参考数据。     

添加纳米粒子的塑料包装材料在杨梅保鲜中的作用

纳米技术应用在杨梅保鲜包装上是一个新的尝试,它采用了交互性实验设计方案,将银纳米材料添加进塑料制成包装材料,可观测其保鲜效果.结果表明,纳米塑料包装材料和纳米奇冰石在提高杨梅好果率和延长货架期方面有正面效果;同时,在抑制VC分解方面具有一定的作用.     

螺旋弯管内流动与传热特性的数值模拟

针对螺旋弯管内的流动与传热特性,以螺旋弯管传热试验中试验件模型为研究对象,基于Realizable k-ε湍流模型、第一类热边界条件下的薄壁热阻模型,对不同进口来流条件下,采用Fluent对螺旋弯管内水的流动与换热进行数值模拟.计算得到了螺旋弯管内速度场与温度场的分布,通过数值模拟结果与试验结果的比较,验证了数值模拟方法的正确性.结果表明:随着进口来流雷诺数的增大,螺旋弯管内的二次流迪恩涡核心向弯管管壁扩张;在螺旋弯管小曲率比、来流雷诺数2 280~6 000内,螺旋弯管的强化换热综合性能最佳;对模拟结果数据利用多元线性回归法,推导出螺旋弯管内换热努赛尔数、进出口压力降的准则关系式.研究结果可为螺旋管式换热器设计与优化提供一定的参考依据.     

高压静电预处理技术对番茄保鲜的影响

研究了高压静电预处理后的番茄在保鲜过程中的呼吸强度、抗压强度以及失重情况的变化规律。结果表明，利用电场强度为150kV/m的高压静电场预处理番茄45min后，可使自然条件下番茄的呼吸高峰推迟4d后出现，并发现高压静电预处理能有效地保持番茄较高的表面抗压强度和较低的失重率，延长番茄的贮藏保鲜时间。     

Main stem movement of Atlantic salmon parr in response to high river temperature

Atlantic salmon become thermally stressed when water temperatures exceed 23 °C. To alleviate this stress, they behaviourally thermoregulate by moving to patches of cold water, often forming large aggregations. These patches are known as thermal refuges. Given the consensus that climate change will increase temperatures in Atlantic salmon catchments, thermal refuges will become increasingly important in minimising summer mortalities. While the behaviour of salmonids within thermal refuges is fairly well understood, less is known about their main stem movement in search of thermal refuges or its thermal and temporal cues. We detail the results of a PIT telemetry study to investigate the main stem movement behaviour of thermally stressed Atlantic salmon parr in a temperature‐impacted river. PIT antennas placed around two thermal refuges and at the upstream and downstream limits of their surrounding reach were used to record the movement of salmonids during a heatwave. We observed parr movement at the upstream and downstream antennas 135 min prior to the occurrence of the midpoint of aggregations in the thermal refuges, indicating that Atlantic salmon parr make reach‐scale movements in search of cool water prior to aggregating. Logistic regression showed that the number of degree hours >28 °C predicted the occurrence of main stem movement with a good degree of accuracy, indicating that this temperature represents a fundamental threshold causing Atlantic salmon parr to move towards cool water. Such data could be instrumental in allowing river managers to place limits on human activity within rivers, allowing salmon populations time to recover following heat stress events.     

Determination of Moisture Deficit and Heat Stress Tolerance in Corn Using Physiological Measurements and a Low‐Cost Microcontroller‐Based Monitoring System

In the southern United States, corn production encounters moisture deficit coupled with high‐temperature stress, particularly during the reproductive stage of the plant. In evaluating plants for environmental stress tolerance, it is important to monitor changes in their physical environment under natural conditions, especially when there are multiple stress factors, and integrate this information with their physiological responses. A low‐cost microcontroller‐based monitoring system was developed to automate measurement of canopy, soil and air temperatures, and soil moisture status in field plots. The purpose of this study was to examine how this system, in combination with physiological measurements, could assist in detecting differences among corn genotypes in response to moisture deficit and heat stress. Three commercial hybrids and two inbred germplasm lines were grown in the field under irrigated and non‐irrigated conditions. Leaf water potential, photosynthetic pigments, cell membrane thermostability (CMT) and maximum quantum efficiency of photosystem II (Fv/Fm) were determined on these genotypes under field and greenhouse conditions. Variations observed in air and soil temperatures, and soil moisture in plots of the individual corn genotypes helped explain their differences in canopy temperature (CT), and these variations were reflected in the physiological responses. One of the commercial hybrids, having the lowest CT and the highest CMT, was the most tolerant among the genotypes under moisture deficit and heat stress conditions. These results demonstrated that the low‐cost microcontroller‐based monitoring system, in combination with physiological measurements, was effective in evaluating corn genotypes for drought and heat stress tolerance.     

Mechanisms of Reproductive Thermotolerance in Gossypium hirsutum: The Effect of Genotype and Exogenous Calcium Application

Although photosynthetic thermotolerance has been investigated extensively in cotton leaves, reports on the biochemical influence of the pistil in promoting fertilization thermostability are limited. To evaluate the effect of temperature, genotype, and exogenous calcium application on fertilization and pistil biochemistry in cotton, thermosensitive (cv. ST4554 B2RF) and thermotolerant (cv. VH260) plants were grown under control (30/20 °C) or high‐temperature (38/20 °C) conditions during flowering, and exogenous CaCl₂ was applied to flowers 1 day prior to anthesis. Measured pistil parameters included fertilization efficiency; protein concentration; glutathione reductase, superoxide dismutase (SOD) and NADPH oxidase activities; and ATP and calcium levels. Exogenous calcium had no effect on reproductive thermostability due to poor calcium uptake under high temperature. High temperature resulted in a 19.2 % decline in fertilization efficiency for ST4554 but no change in fertilization efficiency for VH260 relative to optimal temperature conditions. Pre‐stress glutathione reductase and SOD activities were higher in VH260 than ST4554 pistils, and calcium and ATP content were higher in VH260 than ST4554 pistils. It was concluded that pre‐stress antioxidant enzyme activity, ATP and calcium content of the pistil may be associated with reproductive thermotolerance in cotton. These findings should be confirmed in future experiments with a larger number of cultivars.