Assessment of the methods for determining net radiation at different time-scales of meteorological variables

When modeling the soil/atmosphere interaction, it is of paramount importance to determine the net radiation flux. There are two common calculation methods for this purpose. Method 1 relies on use of air temperature, while Method 2 relies on use of both air and soil temperatures. Nowadays, there has been no consensus on the application of these two methods. In this study, the half-hourly data of solar radiation recorded at an experimental embankment are used to calculate the net radiation and long-wave radiation at different time-scales (half-hourly, hourly, and daily) using the two methods. The results show that, compared with Method 2 which has been widely adopted in agronomical, geotechnical and geo-environmental applications, Method 1 is more feasible for its simplicity and accuracy at shorter time-scale. Moreover, in case of longer time-scale, daily for instance, less variations of net radiation and long-wave radiation are obtained, suggesting that no detailed soil temperature variations can be obtained. In other words, shorter time-scales are preferred in determining net radiation flux.     

Fabrication of photochromic,hydrophobic, antibacterial,and ultraviolet-blocking cotton fabric using silica nanoparticles functionalized with a photochromic dye

The aim of this work was the fabrication of cotton fabric with multifunctional properties such as photochromic, hydrophobicity, antibacterial, and ultraviolet (UV) blocking. In this regard, a mixture of silica nanoparticles with spirooxazine as a photochromic dye first applied on the cotton fabric, and then, the fabric surface was coated with an alkylsilane compound. The homogenous distribution of silica and silica/spirooxazine hybrid on the cotton fibers was established by field emission scanning electron microscopy, energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy, and X-ray mapping. X-ray diffraction patterns confirmed the amorphous nature of the hybrid on the treated cotton fabric. The photochromic effect of the fabrics was measured after 5-min sunlight irradiation. Other characteristics of treated fabrics, such as antibacterial activity, hydrophobic properties, and UV-blocking activity, were also assessed. The results indicated that adding silica nanoparticles to spirooxazine had a tangible effect on photochromic activity of treated cotton fabrics and its photochromic performance was higher than that of the photochromic dye. The fabric showed stable hydrophobicity with static water contact angle values of 141.2° ± 1°. Moreover, the coated cotton fabric demonstrated proper antibacterial properties and UV-blocking activity.     

Analysis of the effect of UV radiation on the recovery properties of pile carpet after static loading through analytical and viscoelastic modeling

Different combinations of spring and dashpot systems are usually considered to model the mechanical behavior of textile materials. In this work, Jeffery’s mechanical model, which is a combination of spring and dashpot components, was used to model the recovery behavior of the pile carpet after static loading. The carpet samples were exposed to different levels of UV radiation. The short-term static loading was applied to the samples. The recovery response or thickness vs. time was then measured. By analyzing this model and using the best curve fitting based on the least square method, the viscoelastic parameters in each UV exposure time were calculated. Four attributes of compression were then studied. The results showed that the thickness loss and the maximum compression under a constant load were mainly dominated by the deterioration of the dashpot elements (Plastic part of deformation). The thickness loss and the maximum compression were both higher at longer UV exposure times. The thickness loss showed a good linear correlation with the inverse of the first dashpot constant, 1/η₁. In contrast, the speed of recovery and the potential stored energy were mainly dominated by the parameters of the Voigt–Kelvin body, i.e. the elastic part of the compression.     

Tricalcium phosphate and tricalcium phosphate/polycaprolactone particulate composite for controlled release of protein

β-Tricalcium phosphate (β-TCP) with three different particle size ranges was used to study the effects of particle size and surface area on protein adsorption and release. Polycaprolactone (PCL) coating was applied on the particle systems to investigate its effect on particulate system properties from both structural and application aspects. The maximum loading of 27 mg/g was achieved for 100 nm particles. Bovine serum albumin (BSA) loading amount was controlled by varying the BSA loading solution concentration, as well as the sample powder's surface area. Increasing the surface area of the delivery powder significantly increased loading and release yield. Unlike the samples with low surface area, the lowest particle size samples showed sigmoidal release profile. This indicated that release was governed by different mechanisms for particles with different sizes. While the majority of samples showed no more than 50% release, the 550 nm particles demonstrated 100% release. PCL coating showed no significant ability to attenuate burst release in PBS. However, it led to a steadier release profile as compared to the bare TCP particles. FTIR analysis also proved that the secondary structure of BSA did not change significantly during the adsorption; however, minor denaturation was found during the release. The same results were found when PCL coating was applied on the TCP particles. We envision potential use of TCP and TCP + PCL systems in bone growth factor or orthopedic drug delivery applications in future bone tissue engineering application.     

A hybrid particle swarm optimisation for scheduling just-in-time single machine with preemption,machine idle time and unequal release times

This paper addresses preemption in just-in-time (JIT) single–machine-scheduling problem with unequal release times and allowable unforced machine idle time as realistic assumptions occur in the manufacturing environments aiming to minimise the total weighted earliness and tardiness costs. Delay in production systems is a vital item to be focussed to counteract lost sale and back order. Thus, JIT concept is targeted including the elements required such as machine preemption, machine idle time and unequal release times. We proposed a new mathematical model and as the problem is proven to be NP-hard, three meta-heuristic approaches namely hybrid particle swarm optimisation (HPSO), genetic algorithm and imperialist competitive algorithm are employed to solve the problem in larger sizes. In HPSO, cloud theory-based simulated annealing is employed with a certain probability to avoid being trapped in a local optimum. Taguchi method is applied to calibrate the parameters of the proposed algorithms. A number of numerical examples are solved to demonstrate the effectiveness of the proposed approach. The performance of the proposed algorithms is evaluated in terms of relative percent deviation and computational time where the computational results clarify better performance of HPSO than other algorithms in quality of solutions and computational time.     

Horizontal nutrient flows and balances in irrigated urban gardens of Khartoum, Sudan

The role of urban agriculture (UA) for the supply of fresh vegetables, fruits and meat for local markets is well known. The periodically flooded Gerif soils on the River Nile banks in the core of Khartoum city harbour vegetable gardens that supply perishable leafy vegetables with a short life cycle. In an effort to assess their sustainability and possible negative environmental impact we used a horizontal balance approach to determine the nutrient use efficiency of four intensively cropped UA gardens. Two of the gardens were located in downstream lowlands (L1 and L2) and the other two belonged to the upstream highlands (H1 and H2). The river sediments contributed on average 873 kg nitrogen (N), 6.5 kg phosphorus (P), 6.8 kg potassium (K) and 8,317 kg carbon (C) per hectare in lowland gardens, while only 289, 1.6, 2.5 and 1,938 kg N, P, K and C ha⁻¹ reached the highlands. The farmers’ management in all four gardens resulted in horizontal N and C surpluses of 75–342 kg N ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and 798–6,412 kg C ha⁻¹ year⁻¹, in contrast to P and K for which negative balances up to −45 kg P ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ and −583 kg K ha⁻¹ year⁻¹ were recorded. While the River Nile floods as important N and C source contribute significantly to soil fertility maintenance, the negative P and K balances call for a better integration of UA gardening with livestock husbandry and the regular addition of animal manure in these cropping systems.     

Physicochemical properties of leftover egg yolk after livetins removal

Isolation of immunoglobulin Y (IgY) from egg yolk using water-dilution method generates large quantities of leftover pellet as the co-product. Although egg yolk is well known for its great emulsion property, there is a lack of understanding on how livetins removal would affect the emulsion and rheological properties of the pellet. Therefore, the objective of this study was to determine the effect of soluble protein removal on emulsifying and rheological characteristics of the leftover egg yolk. Egg yolk pellet exhibited distinct structural and physicochemical properties after soluble protein removal. Emulsions prepared from pellet were more vulnerable to coalescence instability than that of egg yolk, although both had a similar oil droplet size. Egg yolk displayed a Newtonian behaviour, compared to a shear-thinning behaviour of pellet. Pellet showed a higher apparent viscosity as well as higher viscoelastic moduli than those of egg yolk, probably due to increased hydrogen bond and hydrophobic interactions in the pellet. Therefore, the changes on the emulsion stability and the rheological properties of egg yolk after soluble proteins removal should be considered in food formulation and processing. Further study is needed to improve the emulsion property of pellet for uses in the food industry.     

Analysis of the effect of traffic exposure on the recovery properties of cut pile carpet using analytical and viscoelastic modeling

Viscoelastic models composing of different combination of spring and dashpot are usually used to explain the mechanical behavior of textile materials. In this work, a viscoelastic model was presented to analyze the effect of traffic exposure on the compression and recovery performance of the pile carpet. Wear test, performed by a Hexapod tumbling machine, was conducted to simulate the traffic exposure. Using a tensile tester, adjusted in compression mode, one cycle of compression–decompression was applied to the samples. The standard nonlinear model was presented to fit the experimental data. Best curve fitting based on the least square method was then used to fit the model to the experimental curve. Different attributions of compression were then analyzed and discussed. The results showed that the standard nonlinear model was fitted to the experimental curves with an acceptable coefficient of regression (R²). The district model parameters, i.e. the spring and dashpot constants, were both decreased as the wear cycles increased. At the higher level of wear cycles, the model parameters showed some increment. The initial compression modulus showed the same trend. This may be explained by the more compactness of the carpet at higher wear cycles. The decompression modulus, compression and the decompression work also decreased with the increase of wear cycles. However, no significant increase of the formers was observed at the higher wear cycles.