Water content in peanut seeds according to conditions of the storage environment

The conditions of the storage environment can influence the quality of seeds or grains in relation to commercial quality, deterioration and nutritional characteristics, mainly as a function of temperature and relative humidity. The objective of this study was to analyze the influence of temperature and relative humidity of storage on the water content of peanut seeds. The experiment was developed in a completely randomized design in factorial scheme 5 x 9, with five temperatures (5, 10, 15, 20 and 25 °C) and nine conditions of relative humidity, each condition had nine repetitions. The seeds were stored in airtight packaging with saturated solutions to maintain a constant condition. The water content in the seeds was evaluated in each condition. The data were subjected to analysis of variance, correlation, regression, multivariate analysis and adjustment with mathematical models. Relative humidity was more expressive in changing the equilibrium water content. The Chung-Pfost model was the most suitable to represent the sorption process in peanut seeds.

Experiencing Change: Rhythms of Everyday Life Between Continuities and Disruptions

Change is a constant condition of everyday life that we experience and transition through while often maintaining a sense of stability and continuity. But inevitably we come across disruptive changes that call into question the meanings we take for granted and thereby rupture life as we know it. How do those changes affect our rhythms of living? How do we make meaning of the changes and subsequently act upon them? How do individual, social, and environmental changes reciprocally influence one another? These are the guiding questions of this paper. The questions are explored by means of a sociocultural psychological approach to ruptures in the life-course coupled with Lefebvre’s rhythmanalysis. It is argued that those questions can be investigated within five interrelated analytical domains; time, space, the body, social others, and symbolic resources. Rather than primarily emphasizing adaptation to change, the analytical framework’s key focus is meaning-making, looking at how we integrate or resist new rhythms in our lives.

Reliability of test battery

After a brief review of methods for assessing the reliability of individual test, the article presents a method of obtaining reliability of a battery of tests where battery score could be defined as sum of weighted or unweighted scores of the component tests. Such battery reliability can be influenced significantly by method of selection of weights to arrive at the battery scores and methods of estimating reliability of component tests. Test reliability as per theoretical definition in terms of length of score vectors of two parallel tests and angle between such vectors in N-dimensional space also helps to find values of error score variance of the test fits well in estimation of battery reliability. Relationship between theoretically defined reliability rtt and split-half correlation rgh was established. For weighted battery score, a Lagrange multiplier-based solution for determination of weights is recommended with the use of reliability as per the theoretical definition. Weights found as above have the advantage that the battery score (Y) has minimum variance. Also, covariance between the battery score and the score of an individual test is a constant. Condition of battery score being equi-correlated with the standardized score of each constituent test was derived.

Effects of Cross-Section Type and Degree of Utilization on Failure Time and Temperature of Cold-Formed Steel Column under ISO Fire

An investigation into fire resistance subjected to the ISO fire standard was conducted on a cold-formed steel (CFS) column. The variables involved were the CFS sections with various cross-section types and service loadings known as the degree of utilization. Three types of cross-section, known as channel, back-to-back (BTB), and box-up (BU) sections, were studied. All supports for the column are in constant condition. To simulate the real fire situation, the column was preloaded at 30%, 50%, and 70% of its ultimate strength. After the load was static, the column was exposed to the ISO fire standard. The column was loaded at the centroid of the section. The temperature at the column surface and the time was recorded until the column became unstable. The results show that the shape did not have any significant effects on the critical temperature of the CFS columns. The higher the applied load—or as used in this study, the higher the degree of utilization of the CFS columns—the greater the negative linear effect on their critical temperature. It is concluded that the minimum limiting temperature is 400 °C and the minimum limiting time is four minutes for the CFS column.

Immobilization of Dextranase Using Anionic Natural Polymer Alginate as a Matrix for the Degradation of a Long-Chain Biopolymer (Dextran)

Alginate is an inexpensive, nontoxic, valuable biopolymer utilized in the study for the immobilization of commercially applicable biocatalyst dextranase. Dextranase was immobilized by an entrapment method, and alginate hydrogel spheres were synthesized after optimizing several parameters. A sodium alginate concentration of 4.0% was noticed to be suitable along with a calcium chloride concentration of 0.2 molar after providing a curing time of 20 minutes. After comparing the characteristics of the entrapped enzyme with those of the soluble one, it was observed that the characteristics were more or less the same except for the change in reaction time which was noticed to be prolonged in the case of entrapped dextranase while the change in temperature and pH optima was not observed. The variation in Vmax and Km values of dextranase after entrapment was also noted. However, after extensive stability examination studies, it was found that dextranase became more stable after entrapment; as a result, it retained more than 50% of its original activity at elevated temperature even after exposure for about 2.0 hours. The reusability of dextranase was up to 7.0 cycles after performing catalytic activity under constant condition.

Homogeneous Einstein Manifolds with Vanishing Curvature

Infinitely many new Einstein Finsler metrics are constructed on several homogeneous spaces. By imposing certain conditions on the homogeneous spaces, it is shown that the Ricci constant condition becomes an ordinary differential equation. The regular solutions of this equation lead to a two parameter family of Einstein Finsler metrics with vanishing $S$ curvature.

Rheological Investigation of Semisolid AlSi7 Alloy by Means of Oscillation Experiments

Dynamic Mechanical Analysis (DMA) of semisolid aluminum alloys was performed in a rheometer of Searle type. DMA was applied on a binary AlSi7 alloy to demonstrate the advantages of the method for the investigation of the behavior of alloys in semi-solid state and it was compared to classical shear experiments. Frequency sweeps, amplitude sweeps as well as constant condition experiments (CCE) were performed. It became obvious that elastic properties are getting more dominant with increasing resting time without shearing. The shift from a more viscous to more elastic nature of the material can be quantified. Interestingly, it was found that the semi-empirically based Cox-Merz rule, usually applied for polymers, holds for the semisolid material as well. This allows investigating the shear viscosity under different relevant conditions - important to improve material models for die-filling simulation of semisolid alloys.

Interaction between the variety of negative stimuli and the type of go/no-go procedure.

Two experiments were carried out in order to compare the speed of acquisition of visual simple discriminations by pigeons depending on whether the negative stimuli could vary trial by trial (varied condition) or it was always the same stimulus (constant condition). In the first experiment, the subjects were randomly assigned to the conditions and then exposed to a go/no-go procedure in which “no-go” trials were also reinforced. Subsequently, the subjects changed from one condition to the other and were exposed to a new discrimination. In the second experiment, two discriminations were arranged in the same way as in the previous experiment, but, this time, “no-go” trials were not reinforced. In Experiment 1, the acquisition was slower in the varied condition. In Experiment 2, this effect was only observed when the subjects were exposed to the varied condition in the second discrimination. These results suggest, on one hand, that the variety of negative stimuli is an important variable to be considered. And, on the other hand, that the resulting effect on acquisition might be strongly sensitive to the kind of procedure that is used.

Development of a Semirigid Pavement Incorporating Ultrarapid Hardening Cement and Chemical Admixtures for Cement Grouts

Mechanical tests were carried out to evaluate the influence and effects of fluidity and compressive strength of cement grout on semirigid asphalt pavement. An open graded asphalt skeleton was designed in order to achieve target porosity in the range of 18~22%. In addition, four types of cement grout mixtures were produced with varying mix proportions with ultrarapid hardening cement and chemical admixtures, that is, accelerating and retarding agents. For the semirigid pavement specimens, mechanical experiments to measure properties such as porosity, flexural strength, Marshall stability, and wheel tracking resistance were carried out. The test results demonstrated that the flow time (fluidity) of cement grout is the most significant factor that determines the mechanical properties of semirigid asphalt specimens under constant condition of the open graded asphalt skeleton. For the semirigid pavement mixing proportion in the current study, it is recommended that the porosity of the open graded asphalt skeleton and flow time of cement grout should be 20% and within 12 seconds, respectively.