Mechanical characterization of clay reinforced polypropylene nanocomposites at high temperature

This paper focuses on the influence of temperature conditions and the clay contents on enhancement of mechanical characterization of polypropylene (PP) nanocomposites. The nanocomposites were prepared using the melt mixing technique in a co-rotating intermeshing twin screw extruder followed by injection moulding. Nanocomposites properties such as impact strength and ultimate tensile strength, yield strength, failure strain, Young’s modulus and toughness are calculated. The addition of clay to PP matrix was showed remarkable enhancement in mechanical properties at the temperature of 25 oC and 120 °C. Nearly 36 % and 160 % increase in the Young’s modulus and about 45 % and 62 % increase in the impact strength were observed at both room temperature (RT) and high temperature (HT), respectively. But, the tensile strength was not affected much. The basal spacing of clay in the composites was measured by X-ray diffraction (XRD). Scanning electron microscopy (SEM) was used to assess the surface morphology of the fractured surfaces and dispersion of the nanoclay.     

A MATHEMATICAL RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN NITROGEN INPUT AND OUTPUT IN CUT GRASS SWARDS

The importance of predicting grass N yield lies in its controlling influence on grass DM output and thus on animal production. Results from 88 experiments studying the use of fertilizer N on cut grass swards show that the major part (97%) of the variation in grass N yield could be explained in terms of fertilizer N rate, an estimate of soil N and an interaction between the two. From this, it appears that high fertilizer N recovery is associated with a high uptake of soil N and vice versa.     

Quick-cooking beans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.): I. Investigations on quality

Soaking three beans cultivars (Phaseolus vulgaris L.: Great Northern, kidney, and pinto) in mixed salt solution (sodium chloride 2.5% + sodium bicarbonate 1.5% + sodium tripolyphosphate 1.0% + sodium carbonate 0.5%) resulted in 80%–85% reduction in cooking time over corresponding controls. Irradiation (-rays) at 500 krads of soaked and dehydrated beans caused a reduction of nearly 50% in cooking time. Water uptake and leaching losses for each treatment during soaking at 22°, 37°, and 45°C were investigated. High temperature (37° and 45°C) and pH (9.0) caused greater water imbibition and total solid loss than at room temperature (22°C). Organoleptic evaluation revealed that quick-cooking Great Northern beans appear to be more acceptable than kidney and pinto beans. Quick-cooking cooked beans had better in vitro protein digestibility than conventionally cooked beans. Phenolic content was found to be inversely related to in vitro digestibility.Utah Agricultural Experiment Station Journal article no. 2481.     

Multi-phase cross-correlation method for motion estimation of fertiliser granules during centrifugal spreading

Excessive fertiliser use has been a main contributor to the increasing environmental imbalance observed in the past 20 years. Better accuracy in spreading would limit excess fertiliser loss into the environment. Increased accuracy begins by understanding the fertiliser spreading process from the vane to the soil. Our work concentrates on the use of centrifugal spreaders, as these are most commonly used in Europe. Progress in imaging devices and image processing has resulted in the availability of new technologies to use when describing the behaviour of fertiliser granules during ejection from centrifugal spreaders. Fertiliser deposition on the soil can be predicted using a ballistic flight model, but this requires determination of the velocities and the directions of the granules when they leave the spinning disc. This paper presents improvements to the high speed imaging system that we had previously developed, i.e. enhancements to the illumination and the image processing. The illumination of the previous system, which used many separate flashes, did not give consistent illumination. We have improved it by using a stroboscope with power-LEDs, located at 1 m height around the digital camera and controlled by a Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) card. The image processing has been improved by development of a multi-phase method based on a cross-correlation algorithm. We have compared the cross-correlation method to the Markov Random Fields (MRF) method previously implemented. These tests, based on multi-exposure images, revealed that cross-correlation method gives more accurate results than the MRF technique, with guaranteed sub-pixel accuracy. Knowing that an error of one pixel can lead to a prediction error between 200 and 500 mm on the ground, the latter method gives an accuracy range between 0.1 and 0.4 pixels, whereas the MRFs technique is limited to 3 and 9 pixels for the vertical and horizontal components of the velocities, respectively. The sub-pixel accuracy of the new method was proven by applying it on simulated images with known displacements between the grains. By using a realistic spreading model, the simulated images are similar to those obtained with a high speed imaging system. This sub-pixel accuracy now makes it possible to decrease the resolution of the camera to that of a classical high-speed camera. These improvements have created an affordable and durable system appropriate for installation on a spreader. Farmers could use this system to both calibrate the spreader and verify the fertiliser distribution on the ground.     

A new type of meteoritic diamond in the enstatite chondrite abee

Diamonds with delta(13)C values of -2 per mil and less than 50 parts per million (by mass) nitrogen have been isolated from the Abee enstatite chondrite by the same procedure used for concentrating Cdelta, the putative interstellar diamond found ubiquitously in primitive meteorites and characterized by delta(13)C values of -32 to -38 per mil, nitrogen concentrations of 2,000 to 12,500 parts per million, and delta(15)N values of -340 per mil. Because the Abee diamonds have typical solar system isotopic compositions for carbon, nitrogen, and xenon, they are presumably nebular in origin rather than presolar. Their discovery in an unshocked meteorite eliminates the possibility of origins normally invoked to account for diamonds in ureilites and iron meteorites and suggests a low-pressure synthesis. The diamond crystals are approximately 100 nanometers in size, are of an unusual lath shape, and represent approximately 100 parts per million of Abee by mass.     

Assessment of Negative Training on the Use of Cubicle Beds by Heifers

40 in-calf heifers were observed to examine the effect of timbers placing in passage area on their use of cubicle beds. Prior to the experiment preliminary observation was taken on these 40 heifers and they were divided into two even groups (cubicle user(or control) group versus cubicle refusal (or experimental) group by whether they properly used the cubicle beds or not. The timbers were placed in passage and feeding areas for the cubicle refusal group to force the animls to lie in the cubicle beds. The results of this experiment showed that feeding behaviour was unaffected by the presence of the timbers, but lying acitvity was about 8% higher for the experimental group, which led to a mean of almost 2 hours longer lying time over 24 h. After the timbers were removed, there was a significant decline in lying by the experimental group. The diurnal pattern of lying behaviour in cubicles indicated that the major effect on lying activity exerted by the presence of the timbers was seen during midnight to 10:00 a     

Voyager 1 in the foreshock, termination shock, and heliosheath

Voyager 1 (V1) began measuring precursor energetic ions and electrons from the heliospheric termination shock (TS) in July 2002. During the ensuing 2.5 years, average particle intensities rose as V1 penetrated deeper into the energetic particle foreshock of the TS. Throughout 2004, V1 observed even larger, fluctuating intensities of ions from 40 kiloelectron volts (keV) to >/=50 megaelectron volts per nucleon and of electrons from >26 keV to >/=350 keV. On day 350 of 2004 (2004/350), V1 observed an intensity spike of ions and electrons that was followed by a sustained factor of 10 increase at the lowest energies and lesser increases at higher energies, larger than any intensities since V1 was at 15 astronomical units in 1982. The estimated solar wind radial flow speed was positive (outward) at approximately +100 kilometers per second (km s(-1)) from 2004/352 until 2005/018, when the radial flows became predominantly negative (sunward) and fluctuated between approximately -50 and 0 km s(-1) until about 2005/110; they then became more positive, with recent values (2005/179) of approximately +50 km s(-1). The energetic proton spectrum averaged over the postshock period is apparently dominated by strongly heated interstellar pickup ions. We interpret these observations as evidence that V1 was crossed by the TS on 2004/351 (during a tracking gap) at 94.0 astronomical units, evidently as the shock was moving radially inward in response to decreasing solar wind ram pressure, and that V1 has remained in the heliosheath until at least mid-2005.     

Role of land-surface changes in arctic summer warming

A major challenge in predicting Earth's future climate state is to understand feedbacks that alter greenhouse-gas forcing. Here we synthesize field data from arctic Alaska, showing that terrestrial changes in summer albedo contribute substantially to recent high-latitude warming trends. Pronounced terrestrial summer warming in arctic Alaska correlates with a lengthening of the snow-free season that has increased atmospheric heating locally by about 3 watts per square meter per decade (similar in magnitude to the regional heating expected over multiple decades from a doubling of atmospheric CO2). The continuation of current trends in shrub and tree expansion could further amplify this atmospheric heating by two to seven times.