Energy-power conditions for drawing bimetal blanks

A procedure for determining the optimal geometry of a drawing tool for drawing a bimetal blank is proposed. The optimum cone angles of the drawing tool, which offers the minimum drawing stress and minimum energy consumption during the manufacture of bimetal articles, were found from the condition of minimum of the drawing stress.     

Purification of undergound waters of manganese compounds using a natural sorbent-catalyst

Natural underground waters often contain manganese ions in such amount that the water becomes hazardous for human health. We have developed the technology of obtaining sorbent-catalyst based on oxide-carbonate ore of the Nikopol Deposit (Ukraine). We have also determined conditions for using the given material for purification of underground water with a high content of manganese.     

LEARNING TO FORGET: Architectural Recreation,Spatial Visualization and Imaging the Unseen

Children learn through play, through re-creating situations and events. While playing, children forget themselves, time is suspended, and mind, body and emotions work together simultaneously in the child's re-creations. This is a four-dimensional type of space, similar to the intuitive inner space that opens up during the spatial visualization of architectural recreation. The following discusses an architectural pedagogy that teaches students how to forget: how to leave behind the inherent symbolic and logic structures of the rational mind that would have them name things, so that they may develop the abilities of the metaphoric mind to visualize spatially and image the unseen.     

Obtaining of a finely dispersed powder of gadolinium hydroxide

Finely dispersed powders of gadolinium hydroxide are obtained by chemical deposition (dispersing). The influence of various factors on the powder characteristics such as dispersity, morphology, and chemical composition is investigated. The dependence that the mentioned characteristics have on the character of the anion of the gadolinium salt, the concentration and acidity of its solution, and the concentration of the precipitant and pH of precipitation, is established. The optimal results are observed with the use of diluted chloride solutions of gadolinium and a 5–10 wt % precipitant in the form of the NH₃ solution.     

The use of Nannochloropsis sp. as a source of omega‐3 fatty acids in dry pasta: chemical,technological and sensory evaluation

Nannochloropsis is a microalga characterised by having high amounts of eicosapentaenoic acid (EPA), a fatty acid known for its health benefits. The aim of this study was to elaborate dry pasta with a significant contribution of EPA using Nannochloropsis sp., without affecting the quality product and with good consumer acceptance. Technological quality was analysed in terms of cooking properties and texture profile. Cooked pasta was characterised through proximal composition, phenolic compound, fatty acid content and sensorial analysis. It was possible to replace up to 30% of wheat flour with microalgae without affecting the technological quality of pasta and with a significant contribution of EPA to the daily diet (0.237 g per 100 g pasta). The incorporation of 10% and 20% Nannochloropsis in pasta formulation allowed to decrease the n6:n3 ratio from 25:1 to 5:1 and 2:1, respectively. Therefore, the microalgae are an interesting ingredient to increase EPA consumption in products like pasta, while the sensory evaluation confirms the possibility towards a commercial approach.     

Formation of nanoporous anodic films on pure aluminum in sulfuric acid

The effect of the duration of electrochemical anodic oxidation on the formation of nanoporous anodic oxide films on high-purity aluminum (99.99%) in a sulfuric acid solution is studied. The resulting oxide film is analyzed using an atomic force microscope. The method of photoelectric polarization (PEP) and X-ray analysis revealed that these films are sesquioxides of aluminum with variable compositions, nonstoichiometry due to a metal deficiency, and p-type conductivity. The mechanism of the formation of a regular nanoporous oxide structure that results from the nonstoichiometry relation and the intrinsic formation of defects in the oxide is proposed.     

Ternary Gels of a Polymer Blend and a Recycled Oil: Their Use as Bitumen Modifiers

A blend of random ethylene‐vinyl acetate copolymer (EVA) and triblock styrene‐butadiene‐styrene copolymer (SBS) was dissolved in a recycled engine oil to obtain ternary thermoreversible gels. As the temperature was increased, first a network associated with EVA disappeared, and a second one associated with SBS dominated, maintaining the elastic response of the system. The principal advantage of these ternary systems is that their mechanical properties and thermal stability are better than that of binary gels. These gels, made from waste, can be used as bitumen modifiers to obtain binders of improved properties and good stability, which are useful for road surfacing.

Temperature sweeps of elastic modulus performed at a frequency of 1 Hz.     

The Effect of Potassium Phosphate on the Corrosion of АМг6 Alloy in Water-Acetate Solutions

Corrosion-electrochemical investigation of an 6 type alloy was carried out in aqueous solutions of potassium acetate and phosphate. The corroded surface was examined by IR spectroscopy. The alloy is shown to corrode in the passive state at a rate of no more than 0.0002 mm/year. A small addition of potassium phosphate (1%) noticeably impedes, and a large (10%)—accelerates the alloy's corrosion. An explanation of these effects was suggested.     

Validation of MERIS LAI and FAPAR products for winter wheat-sown test fields in North-East Bulgaria

Progress in deriving land surface biophysical parameters in a spatially explicit manner using remotely sensed data has greatly enhanced our ability to model ecosystem processes and monitor crop development. A multitude of satellite sensors and algorithms have been used to generate ready-to-use maps of various biophysical parameters. Validation of these products for different vegetation types is needed to assess their reliability and consistency. While most of the current satellite biophysical products have spatial resolution of one kilometre, a recent effort utilizing data from the Medium Resolution Imaging Spectrometer (MERIS) provided leaf area index (LAI), Fraction of Absorbed Photosynthetically Active Radiation (FAPAR), and other canopy parameters in a resolution as fine as 300 m over the European continent. This resolution would be more appropriate for application at the regional scale, particularly for crop monitoring. This higher-resolution MERIS product has been evaluated in a limited number of studies to date. This article aims to validate LAI and FAPAR from the MERIS 10-day composite BioPar BP-10 product over winter wheat fields in northeast Bulgaria. The ground measurements of LAI and FAPAR were up-scaled and 30 m resolution reference raster layers were created using empirical relationships with Landsat TM (RMSE = 0.06 and RMSE = 0.22 for FAPAR and LAI, respectively). MERIS FAPAR and LAI were found to have significant correlation with FAPAR and LAI from the reference raster layers (R² = 0.84 and R² = 0.78, respectively). When MERIS Green LAI was calculated (incorporating the fraction of vegetation and brown vegetation cover from the BioPar BP-10 product), better correspondence with LAI values from the reference raster layer was achieved, with RMSE and bias reduced by 30–35%. The results from this study confirm the findings of previous validations showing that MERIS Green LAI tends to overestimate LAI values lower than 1. As a conclusion of the study, the BioPar BP-10 product was found to provide reliable estimates of FAPAR and acceptably accurate estimates of LAI for winter wheat crops in North-East Bulgaria.     

Validation of LAI and assessment of winter wheat status using spectral data and vegetation indices from SPOT VEGETATION and simulated PROBA-V images

Due to the information gap between the VEGETATION sensors and Sentinel-3 mission, the Belgian state decided to build a small satellite, Project for Onboard Autonomy-Vegetation (PROBA-V), to ensure the continuity of the data record for vegetation studies. In this study, simulated PROBA-V data generated by the Landsat Thematic Mapper (TM) were used to evaluate the potential of this mission to assess winter wheat status. The root mean square error (RMSE) of PROBA-V's leaf area index (LAI), which was generated using the exponential method and the interpolation method, is 0.33 and 0.96 for March 2011 and 1.40 and 3.33 for May 2011, respectively. Système Pour l'Observation de la Terre (SPOT) VEGETATION's LAI does not show a significant relationship with the reference LAI values except for the LAI values during the stem elongation 100% phenological stage generated using the exponential method (correlation coefficient, r = 0.91; p = 0.01). For the tillering and stem elongation 100% phenological stages, linear regression models for the fraction of absorbed photosynthetically active radiation (FAPAR) with PROBA-V's normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) were developed (coefficient of determination, R ², of 0.94 and 0.88). Exponential models for LAI (R ² of 0.91 and 0.93) and fresh weight of above-ground biomass (AGBf) (R ² of 0.90 and 0.93) with PROBA-V's near-infrared (NIR) and visible and near-infrared bands (VNIR B2) were developed accordingly. The assessment of winter wheat status showed that the highest and the lowest values of PROBA-V's simulated data (SD), i.e. NDVI, normalized difference water index (NDWI), and LAI of Field 2 and Field 4, correspond to the ground-measured biometric parameters.