Thermal processes in the stack of perishable cargo transported in the heated isothermal car

The article deals with the organization of heat exchange processes when using a new heating system for the cargo room of the isothermal car. Using the example of considering a stack formed from glass containers with fruit juices packed in cardboard boxes, the equivalent thermophysical characteristics of the cargo in the stack are formulated. Analytical methods are used to determine the main regularities of the regular thermal regime and the nature of thermo-gravitational flows in the cargo room of the car. The possibilities of improving the design of the heating system of the cargo room of isothermal rolling stock for the transportation of perishable cargo are considered. The possibilities of modernization of specialized equipment allowing optimization of the temperature regime in the cargo room of the car are presented. The article deals with the organization of heat exchange processes when using a new heating system for the cargo room of the isothermal car. Using the example of considering a stack formed from glass containers with fruit juices packed in cardboard boxes, the equivalent thermophysical characteristics of the cargo in the stack are formulated. Analytical methods are used to determine the main regularities of the regular thermal regime and the nature of thermo-gravitational flows in the cargo room of the car. The possibilities of improving the design of the heating system of the cargo room of isothermal rolling stock for the transportation of perishable cargo are considered. The possibilities of modernization of specialized equipment allowing optimization of the temperature regime in the cargo room of the car are presented.

Ability of dog owners to identify their dogs by smell

Several studies report that olfactory cues play an important role in human life; humans are essentially able to recognize other family members and friends by their odors. Moreover, recent studies report that humans are also able to identify odors of non-conspecifics. The aim of this study was to determine whether dog owners are able to identify their dogs by smell and distinguish the odor of their own dogs from those of other dogs. A total of 53 dog owners (40 females and 13 males of different ages) volunteered to take part in this study. A number of the participants (17) owned 2 dogs; these owners took part in the study twice (i.e., working with only one dog at a time). Sterile gauze pads were used to collect odor samples from the dogs. Each pad was placed in its own sterile glass jar (750 ml) with a twist off lid until the experiment commenced. Participants were asked to identify their own dog´s odor from a line-up of 6 glass containers. This experiment demonstrated that dog owners are capable of identifying their dogs by smell on a significant level. Results of this study additionally suggested that male owners outperformed their female counterparts in the identification process. Moreover, dog owners whose dogs were housed outside had a higher success rate in identification than did participants who kept their dogs indoors with them. The dog owners found it easier to identify dogs that had been neutered, fed dry dog food and bathed less frequently. In general, younger dog owners tended to have more success when attempting to identify their dogs than did their older counterparts.

Effect of Endectocides and Antibiotic Dung Poisoning on Mortality of Dung Beetle Species

We explored the effect of endectocides (deltamethrin and trichlorophenol) and antibiotics (enrofloxacin and oxytetracycline) on dung beetle species, 0nthophagus gazella and 0nitis excavatus under laboratory conditions. 0. gazella and 0. excavatus were collected from pastures and crop lands of Jhelum, Punjab, Pakistan. The selected endectocides and antibiotics were applied on dung pats placed over soil @ 0.25, 0.50, 0.75 and 1 ppm and kept in glass containers of 2' x 2' x 1.5' size. The laboratory bioassay was carried out at 28 ± 2 °C temperature and 65 ± 5 % RH with 12:12 of light to darkness ratio. Our results demonstrated that deltamethrin, trichlorophenol and oxytetracycline were toxic to both species, 0. gazella and 0. excavatus after two weeks of the exposure. Comparatively higher dung beetle mortality was recorded in both deltamethrin and trichlorophenol when applied @ 1 ppm as compared to 0.25, 0.50 and 0.75 ppm concentrations in 0. gazella and 0. excavatus showed significantly higher mortality against oxytetracycline (53.3 % and 93.3 %, respectively), trichlorophenol (80 % and 94 %, respectively) and deltamethrin (88% and 76 %, respectively) at 1 ppm concentrations, whereas no mortality was recorded in all concentrations of enrofloxacin. 0. gazella and 0. excavatus responded negatively to the presence of different concentrations of veterinary parasiticides. In addition to the hazardous effect of 0. gazella and 0. excavatus, the study reports that these dung beetle species can be exploited as bio-indicators for environmental assessment in ecosystem studies.

How to Avoid the Detachment of Threads of Varnish during Production, through Cutting and Drawing, in the Manufacture of Lids with a ‘Twist-Off’ Mechanism Used for the Closure of Glass Containers

The lids of glass containers which have a ‘twist-off’ mechanism are manufactured from tinplate through a process of cutting and drawing. Previously, the tinplate was protected with a double layer of a certain epoxy-phenolic varnish. During cutting, the detachment of threads of varnish is produced, and these may reach more than 150 microns in diameter. These threads stick to the equipment, thus hindering the shaping process. After manufacturing thousands of lids, stops must inevitably be made in production in order to clean machinery. Through the application of a fractioned design of experiment (DoE) application, carried out on an industrial scale, the effect of a number of factors on the detachment of threads of varnish was studied. Some to these factors refer to coating, others to the substratum and others to the process of cutting and drawing. It is concluded that the detachment is greater in the disk areas which are parallel to the forward direction of the production line. This problem could be substantially reduced, and even eliminated, if the direction of the rolling of the sheet metal were perpendicular to that of the forward direction of the production line, if the blank-holder is situated at 4 bar, if the time between the curing process and cutting is no more than 3threedays, if the clearance in the cutting is situated at 0.06 mm, and if the grammage of the varnish and the grammage of the layer of tin are increased.

Detection of nanostructures in solutions of Zincum metallicum and the vehicle lactose

Background: Nanoparticles (NP), because of their size (< 1μm) and high relative surface area, are highly reactive forms of their source material with biological, chemical, optical, electromagnetic, and thermal properties different from larger bulk forms of the same material. It has been speculated that NPs can occur in homeopathic products as a function of trituration and shaking into glass containers. Moreover, the presence of sugars additives like lactose and of silicates leaked from the glassware are reported to stabilize the nanoparticles.1 Up to now some authors observed nanoparticles in highly diluted samples2, 3, but further studies are needed to know the nature of the NPs. Actually, nanostructures in the solutions may derive from the source materials but also from stuff contaminations and also may be constituted by nano-bubbles.4, 5 Moreover, the mechanism by which the nanostructures can be formed and the effect of serial dilution/succussions of the NPs suspension should be studied.6 Many tools are available to analyze the nanostructures both in solutions or in dried samples and these give complementary information about the concentration, stability, structure and chemical nature of the NPs. In the present report we describe preliminary observations obtained by the nanoparticle tracking analysis (NTA) in Zincum metallicum (Zinc met.) solutions at low-grade dilution/dynamization and their lactose controls. This study is part of a formal Brazilian-Italian inter-university collaboration.

Biodiversity of Parasitoids Present in Agroforestry in Brazil

The aim of this study is to report the parasitoids collected on many substrates in the agroforestry area in Brazil. The experimental study was carried out in an agroforestry area in the south of Goiás, Brazil. Traps made of metal containers. They served as baits to attract flies: fish, bovine kidneys, human feces and chicken viscera deposited inside metal containers, on a layer of sand. This sand was sieved after the pupae were extracted and subsequently placed individually in small glass containers to obtain flies and parasitoids. From 745 pupae of dipteran collected 684 parasitoids emerged from 111 pupae. The most frequent species in this study was Aphaereta sp. (Hymenoptera: Braconidae: Alysiinae) 52.6%. The total percentage of parasitism obtained at work was 14.9%. Brachymeria podagrica Fabricius (Hymenoptera: Chalcididae) was the species that presented the highest percentage of parasitism with 55.0%, parasitizing Ophyra aenescens L. (Diptera: Muscidae) on human feces substrate