Machine vision smart sprayer for spot-application of agrochemical in wild blueberry fields

An essential part of the wild blueberry cropping system is the proper management of agrochemical inputs including herbicides, fungicides and insecticides. A machine vision system was developed and mounted on the rear sprayer boom 0.18 m in front of the sprayer nozzles capable of targeting the agrochemical application on an as-needed basis. The three-point hitch mounted sprayer featured 27 nozzles over a 13.7 m boom width and a storage tank capacity of 1135 l. Nine digital color cameras continually take images in real-time while computer software processes the images in 0.15 s to determine the target locations where the nozzles open and spray at speeds up to 1.77 m s^?1. Two wild blueberry fields in central Nova Scotia were selected for smart sprayer performance testing with spot-application (SA) of agrochemical as compared to control and uniform application techniques. Chateau^® herbicide was applied in a field with an infestation of hair cap moss. Spray droplet comparison showed moss patches were properly targeted using the smart sprayer. SA provided the same coverage performance as compared to uniform on the moss targets with herbicide application savings of 78.5% using the smart sprayer. Harvestable yield results were similar for all application tracks. TruPhos Magnesium and ZincMax foliar fertilizers were tank mixed with Bravo^® and Proline^® fungicides and applied to compare the difference of SA, control and uniform application. Results showed SA of foliar fertilizer and fungicide led to less premature leaf drop and increased the blueberry stem height, number of branches, stem diameter and fruit buds. SA of foliar fertilizer and fungicide also increased the percent of healthy wild blueberry plants by 57.8% and the harvestable yield by 137.8%. Fungicide application savings using the smart sprayer for SA were 11.6%.     

Transcrytalline structures and crystallization kinetics of Polyarylate/Nylon6 Islands-in-a-Sea conjugate fibers for high performance thermoplastic composite applications

We report the isothermal and non-isothermal crystallization kinetics and associated transcrystalline morphological features of polyarylate(PAR)/nylon6 islands-in-a-sea fibers, where 74 PAR islands serve as reinforcing fibers and nylon6 sea component acts as a semicrystalline matrix in final thermoplastic composites. The temperature-dependent polarized optical microscopic images obtained during a cooling process exhibit that the melt-crystallization is dominated by the interfacial crystallization of nylon6 on the surface of PAR fibers, leading to developing a transcrystalline structure. From the isothermal and non-isothermal melt-crystallization analyses of the islands-in-a sea fiber by using differential scanning calorimetry and the Avrami equation, the overall crystallization rates of the nylon6 sea component in the islands-in-a-sea fiber are found to be highly accelerated by the heterogeneous nucleating effect of the PAR island fibers. In addition, it is revealed that the isothermal and non-isothermal melt-crystallization kinetics of the nylon6 in the islands-in-a-sea fibers consists of two different mechanisms of the primary crystallization owing to the interfacial crystallization and the secondary crystallization due to the bulk crystallization.     

Moisture and thermal permeability of the hollow textured PET imbedded woven fabrics for high emotional garments

This study examined the effects of the total porosity, pore size, and cover factor on the moisture and thermal permeability of woven fabrics made from DTY (draw textured yarns) and ATY (air jet textured yarns) composite yarns with hollow PET (polyethylene terephthalate) yarns. The wicking of the hollow composite yarn fabrics was found to be superior to that of the high twisted yarn fabrics, which may be due to the high porosity in the hollow composites yarns, but this was not related to the cover factor. The drying characteristics of the hollow composite yarn fabric with high porosity were inferior compared to the high twisted yarn fabrics due to the large amounts of liquid water in the large pores, which resulted in a longer drying time of the fabric. The thermal conductivity of the hollow composite yarn fabrics decreased with increasing measured pore diameter due to the bulky yarn structure. The effects of the hollowness of the yarn on the thermal conductivity were more dominant than those of the yarn structural parameters. The air permeability increased with increasing measured pore diameter but the effects of the cover factor on the air permeability were not observed in the hollow composite yarn fabrics. The effects of porosity on the moisture and thermal permeability of the woven fabrics made from the hollow composite filaments were found to be critical, i.e., wicking and air permeability increase with increasing porosity. In addition, the drying rate increased with increasing porosity and the thermal conductivity decreased with increasing pore diameter, but were independent of the cover factor.     

Pinnisterols A–C,New 9,11-Secosterols from a Gorgonian Pinnigorgia sp.

Three new 9,11-secosterols, pinnisterols A–C (1–3), were isolated from a gorgonian coral Pinnigorgia sp., collected off the waters of Taiwan. The structures of these compounds were elucidated on the basis of spectroscopic methods. The new sterols 1 and 3 displayed significant inhibitory effects on the generation of superoxide anions and the release of elastase by human neutrophils, and sterol 1 was found to show moderate cytotoxicity in hepatic stellate cells (HSCs).     

Long-term effects of stocking density on survival,growth performance and marketable production of the sea urchin <Emphasis Type="Italic">Strongylocentrotus intermedius</Emphasis>

Sea urchins were stocked at a density of 15 (D15), 30 (D30), 45 (D45) and 60 (D60) urchins/cage (0.3 m long × 0.2 m wide × 0.4 m high) in a laboratory culture environment for 16 months. The wet body weight (BW) and test diameter growth were monitored at 2-month intervals during the experiment. At the conclusion of the experiment, the surviving sea urchins were counted and the gonad wet weight (GW) and gonad color were measured. Specific growth rate (SGR) of body weight, survival rate (SR), gonad index (GI), gonad color difference (ΔE ₀₀), coefficients of variation (CV) of BW, GW, GI and ΔE ₀₀, total biomass yield (TY) and total gonad yield (TGY) per cage were calculated. Two marketable yield variables, graded according to gonad index, i.e., marketable biomass yield (MY) and marketable gonad yield (MGY), were also calculated. Coefficient of variation of final body weight (FW) and final test diameter (FTD) of sea urchins increased as the stocking density increased, indicating the existence of adverse social interactions. These adverse social interactions detrimentally affected FW, FTD, SGR, GW and GI (P < 0.01). Although SR decreased with the increasing densities, no statistical significant difference was detected. Sea urchins at D15 had the lowest gonad color difference (ΔE ₀₀) (P < 0.05). However, statistically equal CV of ΔE ₀₀ indicates this density effect was not a result of adverse social interactions. TY and TGY increased with increased density and can be described by the following equations: TY = 84.18X ^0.64, R ² = 0.999 and TGY = 24.16X ^0.38, R ² = 0.979. However, the MY and MGY were not significantly different among stocking densities. The results of this study demonstrate that in intensive culture S. intermedius at low stocking density can achieve high growth rate, gonad index and desirable color without decreasing the marketable yield. Farmers should choose to culture S. intermedius at low stocking densities.     

基于高光谱和BP神经网络的玉米叶片SPAD值遥感估算

为了进一步提高玉米叶绿素含量的高光谱估算精度,该文测定了西北地区玉米乳熟期叶片的光谱反射率及其对应的叶绿素相对含量（soil and plant analyzer development,SPAD）值,分析了一阶微分光谱、高光谱特征参数与 SPAD的相关关系,构建了基于一阶微分光谱、高光谱特征参数和 BP 神经网络的 SPAD 估算模型,并对模型进行验证;再结合主成分回归（principal component regression,PCR）、偏最小二乘回归（partial least squares regression,PLSR）以及传统回归模型与 BP 神经网络模型进行比较。结果表明：SPAD 值与一阶微分光谱在763nm 处具有最大相关系数（R=0.901）;以763 nm 处的一阶微分值、蓝边内最大一阶微分为自变量建立的传统回归模型可用于玉米叶片 SPAD 估算;将构建传统回归模型时筛选到的光谱参数作为输入,实测 SPAD 值作为输出,构建 BP 神经网络模型,其建模与验模 R2分别为0.887和0.896,RMSE 为2.782,RE 为4.59%,与其他回归模型相比,BP 神经网络模型预测精度最高,研究表明 BP 神经网络对叶绿素具有较好的预测能力,是估算玉米叶片 SPAD 值的一种实时高效的方法。     

3ZSP-2型甘蔗中耕施肥培土机刮板式排肥装置参数优化

为提高3ZSP-2型甘蔗中耕施肥培土机的排肥均匀度和稳定性,通过单因素及中心组合试验研究了其结构和性能参数对排肥均匀度的影响。以前进速度、刮板宽度和刮板角度为主要影响因素,采用Box-Behnken中心组合试验设计方法,建立了3ZSP-2型甘蔗中耕施肥培土机排肥均匀度的数学模型,通过回归统计方差、响应面和等高线分析了各机构参数对排肥均匀度的影响规律。结果表明:在刮板宽度30~50 mm,刮板角度15°~19°,前进速度为0.7~1.1 m/s试验参数范围内,各因素对排肥均匀度影响程度从高到低依次为刮板宽度、刮板角度、前进速度,排肥均匀度随各因素参数的增加呈先增大后减小的趋势。当刮板宽度为48.4 mm、刮板角度为16.5°、前进速度为1.09 m/s的参数条件下,施肥均匀度由原来的90.1%提高到92.97%,排肥稳定性提高,开沟深度稳定性达92.9%,肥料覆盖率达100%。研究结果为3ZSP-2型甘蔗中耕施肥培土机的设计和改进提供了理论依据。