Towards the Circular Soil Concept: Optimization of Engineered Soils for Green Infrastructure Application

At conventional construction sites, the removal of soil and other excavated materials causes enormous mass movement, with a significant climate impact and contribution to global CO2 release. This study aimed to generate a Circular Soil concept for reusing excavated materials by creating engineered soils for landscape construction at large building sites. Engineered soils act as a substitute for natural soils and fulfill vital technical and soil functions when installing an urban green infrastructure (GI). In a field study, the vegetation performance on engineered soils was evaluated to establish a methodological approach, to assess the applicability of the Circular Soil concept. First, the technical specifications (grain-size distribution) were modeled for intensive green roof and turfgrass applications. Then, the soil components were optimized, mixed, installed and tested for greenery purposes, focusing on plant growth performance indicators (vitality, projective cover ratio and grass-herb ratio) to assess the vegetation performance. The results showed that the engineered soils match the performance of the reference soil alternatives. In conclusion, the Circular Soil concept has a high potential to contribute considerably to sustainable on-site soil management and the circular economy. It can be applied on a larger scale for urban GI development and sustainable resources management in the landscaping and construction sector.

Ferrites and Nanocrystalline Alloys Applied to DC–DC Converters for Renewable Energies

The medium frequency transformer (MFT) with nanocrystalline alloys is quintessential in new DC–DC converters involved in various front-end applications. The center piece to achieve high-performance, efficient MFTs is the core. There are various options of core materials; however, no deep information is available about which material characteristics and design procedure combo are best to get high performance MFTs while operating at maximal power density. To provide new insights about interrelation between the selection of the core material with the compliance technical specifications, differently to other proposals, this research work aims to design and build, with the same methodology, two MFT prototypes at 20 kHz, with nanocrystalline and ferrite cores, to highlight power density, and overall performance and cost, as matching design criteria. As the experimental results show, a nanocrystalline core has the highest power density (36.91 kW/L), designed at 0.8 T to obtain low losses at 20 kHz, achieving an efficiency of 99.7%. The power density in the ferrite MFT is 56.4% lower than in the nanocrystalline MFT. However, regarding construction cost, the ferrite MFT is 46% lower, providing this a trend towards low-cost DC–DC converters. Finally, high power density in MFTs increases the power density of power DC–DC converters, which have relevant applications in fuel cell-supplied systems, renewable energies, electric vehicles, and solid-state transformers.

Locomotive Reliability Assessment Method

The authors describe the analysis of the current state of the problem under consideration. A definition of "averaged failure flow parameter" is given. The periods of traction rolling stock life cycle are considered. The assumption of event distribution laws exponentiality is introduced, which makes it possible to obtain expressions of the main reliability indices in the analytical form. The work of depot service locomotives to ensure the required reliability and readiness of the rolling stock during their normal operation has been assessed. The introduction of the term "readiness" into the modern practice of traction rolling stock reliability estimation is considered. The initial data for calculating the indexes of locomotive uptime and readiness are presented. Calculated values of readiness and no-failure indices of electric locomotives in operation are obtained. The calculated values of internal and technical availability coefficients are compared with similar indicators established by technical specifications. Control procedures were performed to determine the compliance of each set of locomotives (EP1, 2ES4K) with the uptime requirements. As a result of comparing the calculated values of internal and technical availability factors (for electric locomotives EP1 and 2ES4K with analogous values set by specifications (EP1 and 2ES4K) it was determined that the surveyed locomotives comply with the established availability requirements. As a result of control procedures to determine the compliance of each set of EP1 and 2ES4K locomotives with the uptime requirements, it was determined that the set of 2ES4K electric locomotives for the run in question does not fully comply with the uptime requirement. And the set of EP1 electric locomotives meets the reliability requirements, but the error value is higher than 20%. To clarify both events, it is necessary to increase the mileage interval of the locomotives and repeat the procedure for determining compliance with the uptime requirements. The method of assessing the uptime and readiness of locomotives during their normal operation makes it possible to identify existing shortcomings in the operation of rolling stock and to form measures to improve the quality of rolling stock operation.

OPERATIONAL STUDY OF DRONE SPRAYING APPLICATION OF PHYTOSANITARY PRODUCTS IN VINEYARDS

The use of drones in topics related to precision agriculture to improve the efficiency in the application of phytosanitary products to vineyards increases every day. Drones are especially productive in difficult orographic terrains, where other mechanical systems such as tractors cannot be used. This study shows the development and implementation of a methodology to determine key parameters to decide the suitability of a drone to a spraying task (i.e. spraying time for a certain parcel, number or tank refills required), taking into account the technical specifications of a certain commercial model. For the validation, the data of a vineyard belonging to the Rías Baixas appellation of origin (NW Spain) and the technical specifications of drones from three different manufacturers (i.e. DJI, Hylio and Yamaha) are used. Results show that the Hylio AD122 with a phytosanitary tank of 22 L provides the best performance, with a productivity around 6 minutes per hectare. Keywords: drone spraying; vineyard; precision agriculture; aerial works

Evaluation of the technical capacity of artisans to fabricate the animal-powered direct seeder super-eco in Sénégal.

This study focused on the ability of local Senegalese artisans to fabricate the animal-powered no-till (NT) direct seeder Super-Eco to reduce the expensive import of seeders. Technical specifications and design of the animal-powered direct seeder Super-Eco were first given to 90 heads of artisanal workshops in three regions of the Southern Peanut Basin for them to reproduce the machine. Detailed information on their workshop equipment was collected in advance. A principal component analysis (PCA) was then used to classify artisan workshops. The results showed that Class 3 was very well equipped and was able to fabricate the direct seeder. It was followed by Class 2 which was fairly well equipped, but was only able to develop 90% of the seeder parts. Because of a low level of equipment, the third class of artisans was only capable of fabricating very few pieces of the seeder. Artisans from Class 3 were able to fully construct the animal-powered direct seeder. However, it was noted that the other classes of artisans were able to reproduce some parts of the animal-powered direct seeder Super-Eco but they could not make the seeder box with its nested seed metering device due to their low level of equipment. They instead buy it from the Sahelian Industrial Company of Mechanics, Agricultural Materials and Representations or from traders. The need to evaluate the performance of the seeders developed by local artisans is also noted.

Trans-AI: How to Build True AI or Real Machine Intelligence and Learning

We are at the edge of colossal changes. This is a critical moment of historical choice and opportunity. It could be the best 5 years ahead of us that we have ever had in human history or one of the worst, because we have all the power, technology and knowledge to create the most fundamental general-purpose technology (GPT), which could completely upend the whole human history. The most im-portant GPTs were fire, the wheel, language, writing, the printing press, the steam engine, electric power, information and telecommunications technology, all to be topped by real artificial intelligence technology. Our study refers to Why and How the Real Machine Intelligence or True AI or Real Su-perintelligence (RSI) could be designed and developed, deployed and distributed in the next 5 years. The whole idea of RSI took about three decades in three phases. The first conceptual model of Trans-AI was published in 1989. It covered all possible physical phenomena, effects and processes. The more extended model of Real AI was developed in 1999. A complete theory of superintelligence, with its reality model, global knowledge base, NL programing language, and master algorithm, was presented in 2008. The RSI project has been finally completed in 2020, with some key findings and discoveries being published on the EU AI Alliance/Futurium site in 20+ articles. The RSI features a unifying World Metamodel (Global Ontology), with a General Intelligence Framework (Master Algo-rithm), Standard Data Type Hierarchy, NL Programming Language, to effectively interact with the world by intelligent processing of its data, from the web data to the real-world data. The basic results with technical specifications, classifications, formulas, algorithms, designs and patterns, were kept as a trade secret and documented as the Corporate Confidential Report: How to Engineer Man-Machine Superintelligence 2025. As a member of EU AI Alliance, the author has proposed the Man-Machine RSI Platform as a key part of Transnational EU-Russia Project. To shape a smart and sustainable fu-ture, the world should invest into the RSI Science and Technology, for the Trans-AI paradigm is the way to an inclusive, instrumented, interconnected and intelligent world.

Ultrawideband Antennas: Growth and Evolution

Narrowband antennas fail to radiate short pulses of nano- or picosecond length over the broader band of frequencies. Therefore, Ultrawideband (UWB) technology has gained momentum over the past couple of years as it utilizes a wide range of frequencies, typically between 3.1–10.6 GHz. UWB antennas have been utilized for various applications such as ground-penetrating radars, disaster management through detection of unexploded mines, medical diagnostics, and commercial applications ranging from USB dongles to detection of cracks in highways and bridges. In the first section of the manuscript, UWB technology is detailed with its importance for future wireless communications systems. In the next section various types of UWB antennas and their design methodology are reviewed, and their important characteristics are highlighted. In section four the concept of a UWB notch antenna is presented. Here various methods to obtain the notch, such as slots, parasitic resonators, metamaterials, and filters are discussed in detail. In addition, various types of important notch antenna design with their technical specifications, advantages, and disadvantages are presented. Finally, the need of reconfigurable UWB notch antennas is discussed in the next section. Here various insight to the design of frequency reconfigurable notch antennas is discussed and presented. Overall, this article aims to showcase the beginnings of UWB technology, the reason for the emergence of notching in specific frequency bands, and ultimately the need for reconfiguring UWB antennas along with their usage.

The Basic Layout of a Denim Textile Industry: A Basic Review

Denim was produced in the city of Nîmes in France and was originally called the serge de Nîmes. The word denim is an English colloquialism of the French term: “denim.” Day by day Bangladesh denim sector very much developed and helps to increase productivity. Bangladesh have seen a significant increase in investing in denim fabric manufacturing, increasing the country’s production performance by reducing fabric dependence on imports. It is important due to its aspects of durability, and not easily torn which benefited physical laborers much. The government also plays a vital role in denim textile industry. This paper shows different section of denim textile industry such as: sewing section, cutting section, washing, IE and finishing department. The main aim of this paper is how to role all the section of denim textile industry. Textile education is insufficient without industry attachment, which bridges the gap between theoretical and practical aspects and acclimates students to the industrial world. We can gain about theoretical development on an industrial level from this attachment. We can understand more about the machines used in various departments, their technical specifications, characteristics, operating system, and so on, and we believe that without this type of industrial connection, it is impossible to obtain industry-based information about textile engineering adequately. The Industrial Attachment on Denim Manufacturing Technology was used to organize this study (sewing section, cutting, IE, washing section, CAD Section, and finishing department. Various operating procedures for the production of denim in the industry are presented in this paper. The technique and process of several procedures and processes are presented here such as machine specifications, manpower, maintenance, layout of the different section, dye processes and wet processes.