Introduction of a New Interesting Walnut Cultivar “Leto”

Ιn an effort to create walnut cultivars (Juglans regia) with high productivity, fruit quality and lateral bearing, a new cultivar, named “Leto”, was created by the cross “Gustine” × “Pedro”. Its main phenological and pomological characteristics were assessed according to the criteria of IPGR (1994) and UPOV-TG/125/6 (1999), for 10 consecutive years and compared with its maternal cultivars and “Chandler”. Observations showed that “Leto” has high lateral bearing habit (90%) and presents satisfactory yield at the full production age. The tree size is smaller than that of its parents and “Chandler”, female flowers bloom from 11 to 22 of April and male from 3 to 6 of April. “Leto” nuts are harvested at the end of September, present easy hull dehiscence and high kernel percentage. Other positive nut characteristics of “Leto” are light kernel color, well kernel filling and easy removal of the kernel halves. “Leto” is a mid-early cultivar of great interest due to its high- quality nuts, suitable for dense plantings, in regions where the last spring frosts occur in late March to early April, thus, making it a promising cultivar for Greece, but also for other regions with similar geomorphological and climatic conditions.

New branch of poultry breeding in the Tyumen region

In many regions of the Russian Federation, the turkey breeding industry is just beginning to develop, which determines the relevance of research at the regional level. The purpose of the research was to analyze the production activity of a new branch of turkey breeding in the Tyumen region. The technology of keeping turkeys of the cross Hybrid Converter under the conditions of LLC “Absolut-Agro” at the Yurginskaya poultry farm has been analyzed in the paper. LLC “Absolut-Agro” is a large and promising poultry enterprise that has a closed production cycle. The cross Hybrid Converter was obtained as a result of crossbreeding two breeds: Bronze broad-chested and White Dutch. The analysis of the rearing of young turkeys from the daily age to slaughter has been carried out. In order to conduct the research 3 groups of turkeys have been formed by the years of rearing – 2017, 2018 and 2019. The dynamics of the growth of young turkeys has been presented, the effectiveness of feed use, the livability of poultry has been analyzed, and the economic effectiveness of rearing has been calculated. In order to determine the effectiveness of feed use, we studied the growth dynamics of young turkeys. During the rearing periods, observations were made on the livability of poultry, the state of health, and the feed consumption. The change in live weight has been determined by weighing the young turkeys every seven days during the rearing period. The group of rearing turkeys in 2019 surpassed the groups of 2017 and 2018 in all indicators, which were due to the enterprise reaching full production capacity in 2018. The poultry raised in 2019 showed the highest production effect. Feed consumption per 1 kg of live weight gain during the rearing period amounted to 2,25 kg in 2017, 2,19 kg in 2018, the lowest feed consumption was in 2019 and amounted to 2,16 kg. Thus, the current state of the turkey breeding industry has just begun its activity in the Tyumen region. In the company LLC “Absolut Agro” the most modern equipment has been installed and created conditions for turkey rearing, which allow improving the production indicators of the enterprise every year and developing the new poultry industry in the region.

Coffee (Coffea arabica L.): Methods, Objectives, and Future Strategies of Breeding in Ethiopia—Review

Coffea arabica L. belongs to the Rubiaceae family, and the genus Coffea is believed to have a primary center of origin and genetic variability in the highlands of southwestern Ethiopia. It is a vital beverage commodity across the world and a valuable export product, ranking second in international trade after petroleum. Ethiopia is among the top five major coffee-producing countries and is Africa’s leading producer. However, its full production capacity has not yet been exploited, and research efforts to reduce biotic and abiotic factors through reproduction have been extremely limited. Hence, improvement through different breeding methods is essential to overcome the constraints in its production. Thus, the objective of this study is to review the different breeding methods applied for different traits in Ethiopia. Breeding methods depend on the type and the source of traits and the final breeding objectives. The main breeding objectives are production, resistance/tolerance to diseases, and cup quality. The commonly applied breeding methods are selected and intra-specific hybridization, germplasm enhancement, and the development of improved varieties with wider adaptability. There is also a practice of crossing parental lines selected for certain desirable traits for the development of hybrid varieties. Accordingly, some promising success has been obtained. Forty-one coffee varieties have been released so far. Because conventional breeding methods are time-consuming, integrating conventional breeding methods with biotechnological techniques could have an instrumental role in the rapid development of suitable varieties for the changing climate.

Environmental life cycle assessment on CNTRENE® 1030 material and CNT based sensors

This report details a study investigating the environmental impacts associated with the development and manufacturing of carbon nanotube (CNT)–based ink (called CNTRENE 1030 material) and novel CNT temperature, flex, and moisture sensors. Undertaken by a private-public partnership involving Brewer Science (Rolla, Missouri), Jordan Valley Innovation Center of Missouri State University (Springfield, Missouri), and the US Army Engineer Research and Development Center (Vicksburg, Mississippi), this work demonstrates the environmental life cycle assessment (ELCA) methodology as a diagnostic tool to pinpoint the particular processes and materials posing the greatest environmental impact associated with the manufacture of the CNTRENE material and CNT-based sensor devices. Additionally, ELCA tracked the degree to which optimizing the device manufacturing process for full production also changed its predicted marginal environmental impacts.

Mental Workload of Local vs Remote Operator in Human-Machine Interaction Case Study

Since late 2019, a novel Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has spread globally. As a result, businesses were forced to send their workforce into remote working, wherever possible. While research in this area has seen an increase in studying and developing technologies that allow and support such remote working style, not every sector is currently prepared for such a transition. Especially the manufacturing sector has faced challenges in this regard. In this paper, the mental workload of two groups of participants is studied during a human-robot interaction task. Participants were asked to bring a robotised cell used in a dispensing task to full production by tuning system parameters. After the experiment, a self-assessment of the participants’ perceived mental workload using the NASA Task Load Index (NASA-TLX) was used. The results show that remote participants tend to have lower perceived workload compared to the local participants.

Talvivaara Sotkamo Mine – Bioleaching of a polymetallic nickel ore in subarctic climate

The main activity of the Talvivaara Mining Company Plc. is the development and exploitation ofthe Talvivaara deposits in Sotkamo, Finland using bioheapleaching. The Talvivaara deposits comprise one of the largest known sulphide nickel resources in Europe with 1004 million tonnes of ore, sufficient to support anticipated production for a minimum of 45 years. The mine started in late 2008 and will have an annual nickel output of approximately 50,000 tons when it reaches full production. In addition, the mine will also produce zinc (approximately 90,000 tpa), copper (approximately 15,000 tpa) and cobalt (approximately 1,800 tpa) as by-products of the process. The viability of bioheapleaching technology for the extraction of nickel has been demonstrated in a large on-site pilot trial using Talvivaara ore. The three year pilot has shown that the leaching process also works well in the subarctic climatic conditions of Eastern Finland.

High Production Well Operating Plant in a Traditional Design: Piping & Instrumentation Challenges

During the exploration design phase of recent pre-salt development in Santos Basin, it was identified great potential for the production of some wells, generating great expectation by how it would perform in the production phase, above the average of 30,000 bpd. The Subsea and Topside design were developed based on this expectation and therefore, diameters were limited considering the premises of 45,000 bpd production from the well to the FPSO. As a result of first oil production the expectation not only became a reality but also was largely supersede, confirming a very high production potential of up to 65,000 bpd per well, some of which are at the world top list of highest production wells for deep and ultra-deep waters. Despite the outstanding high potential of the well, full production was then, not able to be achieved due to limitations considered in the design's premises of 45,000 bpd per well, what overcome the already great expectation. In this scenario, there was intense effort to make the real production potential of the wells viable. To fit the design to the new dynamic flow conditions, a multidisciplinary technical assessment team was mobilized involving several disciplines such as: Subsea Equipment, Wells, Risers, Process, Piping, Instrumentation and Automation, in addition to Operational Safety, a non-negotiable value. After technical discussions between those different disciplines, alternative proposals were raised that could make possible a safe operation under this new challenging condition. The defined actions were implemented and currently the wells already operate on high levels of production. On the FPSO with those high production wells, due to this individual increase in the production, whose potentials exceed by 45% the design capacity, generating a significant increase in the profitability of the asset, contributing to revenues anticipation in the company's cash flow. This article presents the piping and instrumentation study to deal with a high flow velocity issue. The methodology adopted to overcome the challenges in vibration and erosion considered an unusual design approach, leading to some field test to check the effectiveness of the solution. This alternative approach allowed this increment in production rate per well piping branch.

Relationships among feed efficiency traits across production segments and production cycles in cattle

Understanding the relationships between feed efficiency traits measured in different stages of production is necessary to improve feed efficiency across the beef value chain. The objective of this study was to evaluate relationships among feed efficiency traits measured as growing heifers and breeding females and in their progeny in three full production cycles, and relationships of dam residual feed intake (RFI) with lifetime and lifecycle cow efficiency traits. Data were collected on 160 mixed-breed heifers from 240 d of age to weaning of their third progeny, and postweaning performance of progeny until harvest in experiments initiated in 1953, 1954, 1959, 1964, 1969, and 1974. Individual feed offered was recorded daily, and feed refusals measured every 28 d. Milk yield was measured at 14-d intervals throughout lactation by machine or hand milking. Females and progeny were weighed at 28-d intervals and progeny were harvested at a constant endpoint of live grade or age depending upon the experiment. Feed efficiency traits of RFI and residual BW gain (RG) were computed as the residual from linear regression for developing heifers, dams (RFI and residual energy-corrected milk (RECM)), and postweaning progeny. Feed:gain ratio (FCR) was computed for developing heifers and postweaning progeny, and feed:milk energy ratio (FME) was computed for dams. Various measures of cow efficiency were calculated on either a life cycle or lifetime basis using ratios of progeny and dam weight outputs to progeny and dam feed inputs. Pearson correlations were computed among traits adjusted for a random year-breed-diet group effect. Heifer RFI (0.74) and RG (-0.32) were correlated (P ≤ 0.05) with dam RFI in parity 1 only, but were not correlated (P > 0.05) with dam RECM in any parity. Heifer RFI was correlated (P ≤ 0.05) with progeny RFI (0.17) in parity 3 only. Heifer FCR was not correlated with dam FME or progeny FCR in any parity. Dam RFI was weakly correlated (r = 0.25 to 0.36; P ≤ 0.05) among parities, whereas dam FME and RECM were strongly correlated (r = 0.49 to 0.72; P ≤ 0.05) among parities. Dam RFI in parity 1 and 2 was weakly correlated (r = -0.20 to -0.33; P ≤ 0.05) with cow efficiency ratios that included dam weight as an output, whereas dam RFI in parity 3 was not correlated with any cow efficiency ratio. In conclusion, feed efficiency traits were poorly correlated across production segments, but moderately repeatable across production cycles.

INNOVATIONS IN ENTERPRISES: INTRODUCTION OF THE CONCEPT OF LEAN PRODUCTION AT A HIGH-TECH ENTERPRISE WITH A FULL PRODUCTION CYCLE ON THE EXAMPLE OF JSC "SORBENT"

The article considers the process of implementing an innovative production model at an industrial enterprise with a full production cycle. The key features of the existing models of innovation implementation in the production process are identified, their advantages and disadvantages are evaluated. Using the example of JSC "Sorbent", the process of introducing innovations in real production conditions is studied, and the impact of the innovation process on the overall economic efficiency of the enterprise is assessed. Based on the obtained data, a general model of innovative transformations at a high-tech industrial enterprise with a full production cycle is proposed. The main elements of the proposed three-dimensional model include the basic processes of changes, projects and innovations management. Additionally, the model includes the processes of increasing innovation potential, improving internal and external communications through the introduction of digital technologies, increasing the efficiency of production process by improving the production system.