Agroecological analysis and economic benefit of organic resources and fertiliser in till and no-till sorghum production after a 6-year fallow in semi-arid West Africa

A field experiment was conducted in Gampela (Burkina Faso) in 2000 and 2001 to assess the impact of organic and mineral sources of nutrients and combinations thereof in optimising crop production in till and no-till systems and to assess the economic benefit of these options. The study showed that under conditions of rainfall deficiency, the use of a single organic resource at an equivalent dose of 40 kg N ha⁻¹ better secured crop yield than the application of an equivalent amount as urea-N, while a combination of organic resources and fertiliser was better in increasing crop yield than the application of the same N amount in the form of urea. In a year of rainfall deficiency, a mix of organic resources and fertiliser in both till and no-till systems increased crop water use efficiency, with the result that the farmer was able to purchase only half of the normal quantity of N fertiliser to obtain a higher yield that he would have done when all of the N was supplied in the form of urea. Under conditions where soil N is deficient, an economic benefit was achieved when urea was combined with easily decomposable organic material (e.g. sheep dung); mixing the urea at a dose of 40 kg N ha⁻¹ with maize straw was not sufficient in alleviating the negative interaction due to the enhanced N immobilisation. The results demonstrate that the use of N fertiliser alone was risky and that a higher yield, with the accompanying economic benefit, was scarcely achieved under the prevailing rainfall conditions. The application of soil and water conservation measures can contribute greatly to increasing the economic benefit of mineral, organic or combined organic and mineral-derived nutrient application under semi-arid conditions.     

Experimental design to evaluate properties of electrospun fibers of zein/poly (ethylene oxide) for biomaterial applications

The production of polymer fibers from the combination of zein and PEO might have great potential in the field of biomaterial. Zein/PEO fibers were obtained in this work through solution electrospinning. An experimental design, 2^4-1, was used for evaluating the influences of PEO content in the blend, distance from the needle tip to the collector, applied electric voltage and solution flow for average fiber diameter and relative-yield process. Beyond this, the relationship between PEO content in the blend and the fiber properties were evaluated through FTIR, DSC, TG, tensile tests, and cytotoxic tests. The factor that exerts the greatest effect on the average fiber diameter response was the electrical voltage. The increase in PEO content in the blend decreased the thermal stability and increased the degree of the fibers' crystallinity. The mechanical tests showed that fibers with higher elongation were obtained at richer PEO blends. The fibers presented cytocompatible characteristics.     

Signage Versus Environmental Affordances: Is the Explicit Information Strong Enough to Guide Human Behavior During a Wayfinding Task?

This study aims to explore how people behave when they have to find a location within a complex building and are confronted with situations where directional signage (i.e., explicit information) is in opposition to environmental affordances that naturally direct users towards a specific path, creating a situation with conflicting information (e.g., a brighter corridor vs. a darker corridor but with a directional sign indicating to follow the darker one). A virtual reality–based methodology was used and a between‐subject design was considered. Thus, participants were given the tasks of finding three publicly accessible central points in a virtual hotel and confronted with a two forced‐choice task of local scenes in which environmental variables (i.e., corridor width and brightness) and signage varied systematically, in two experimental conditions (i.e., neutral and signage). For the signage condition, signs were inserted to explicitly point in the opposite direction than that implicitly suggested by the environmental affordances, creating situations with conflicting information. Results indicate that environmental variables were able to direct people indoors acting as environmental affordances. Users preferred to follow the wider and brighter paths. However, when directional signage pointed in the opposite direction of the paths preferred by the participants, most of them complied with signage.     

Electrostatic Adsorption of a Colloidal Sintering Agent on Silicon Nitride Particles

Pressureless sintering of silicon nitride requires addition of sintering agents. The main part of this study was done in order to homogenize the distribution of sintering agents, in this case Y₂O₃, in a silicon nitride matrix. Colloidal 10-nm Y₂O₃ Particles were electrostatically adsorbed on Si₃N₄ particle surfaces. The adsorption was studied by X-ray fluorescence analysis and electrophoretic measurements. Addition of Y₂O₃ sol to a Si₃N₄ suspension decreased the viscosity of the suspension. The slip casting properties of Si₃N₄ suspensions with added Y₂O₃ sol were examined, and the homogeneity of Y₂O₃ in the green compacts was compared with conventionally prepared samples. An improved microstructural homogeneity was obtained when Y₂O₃ sol particles were adsorbed on the Si₃N₄ particle surfaces.     

Effects of competing environmental variables and signage on route-choices in simulated everyday and emergency wayfinding situations

This study examined the relative influence of environmental variables (corridor width and brightness) and signage (directional and exit signs), when presented in competition, on participants' route-choices in two situational variables (everyday vs. emergency), during indoor wayfinding in virtual environments. A virtual reality-based methodology was used. Thus, participants attempted to find a room (everyday situation) in a virtual hotel, followed by a fire-related emergency egress (emergency situation). Different behaviours were observed. In the everyday situation, for no-signs condition, participants choose mostly the wider and brighter corridors, suggesting a heavy reliance on the environmental affordances. Conversely, for signs condition, participants mostly complied with signage, suggesting a greater reliance on the signs rather than on the environmental cues. During emergency, without signage, reliance on environmental affordances seems to be affected by the intersection type. In the sign condition, the reliance on environmental affordances that started strong decreases along the egress route.     

New cellular ceramics from high alkane phase emulsified suspensions (HAPES)

Open porous mechanically stable ceramic foams are developed by a simple direct foaming process. The new processing route is based on the transition of a surfactant stabilized highly concentrated alkane phase homogeneously distributed in a stabilized aqueous ceramic powder suspension into high performance ceramic foams with porosities up to 90% and cell sizes ranging from 3 to 200 μm. The droplet size distribution of the high alkane phase emulsified suspensions (HAPES) is efficiently controlled by the stirring velocity during emulsification experimentally investigated for varying powder particle contents. Stable foams with tailored structural features can be prepared by adjusting the rheological characteristics of HAPES being dependent on the system and process parameters. The influence of the emulsification stirring velocity on the resulting HAPES droplet size is analysed on the basis of the Taylor model of mechanical shearing describing the stresses responsible for the fragmentation of the droplets.     

SUPERCRITICAL EXTRACTION OF LINSEED OIL: ECONOMICAL VIABILITY AND MODELING EXTRACTION CURVES

The aim of the present study was to use supercritical technology to recover linseed oil (Linum usitatissimum L.) using carbon dioxide (alone or modified with ethanol as solvent) to determine the influence of the technique on the chemical composition of the oil obtained, model the kinetic curves of extraction, and estimate the manufacturing cost of the process. The experiments were conducted at 323 K, pressure of 25 MPa, constant solvent flow of 1.7 × 10^?5 kg/s, and extraction time of 5 h. The highest yield was obtained with the addition of cosolvent (28.8%). The SFE process of linseed oil manufacture proved to be economically viable, resulting in a product with a specific cost of 13.21 US$/kg_oil. As to oil composition, the main fatty acids detected were linolenic and oleic acid.     

Stabilization of alumina with polyelectrolyte and comb copolymer in solvent mixtures of water and alcohols

Solvent mixtures of water and ethanol and water and isopropanol have been evaluated for processing of concentrated alumina suspensions. The addition of alcohols may increase the long-term stability of suspensions with soluble ceramic species such as magnesia, which is added as a sintering aid. A poly(acrylic acid) and a hydrophilic comb copolymer were used as dispersants for the different solvent mixtures. The aim was to compare the stabilization efficiency at normal processing conditions, pH 9–10, through rheological measurements and to develop a robust system including magnesia with long-term stability. The electrostatic stabilization of the dispersants in the different solvent mixtures was studied by zeta potential measurements. Highly negative zeta potentials were observed for the poly(acrylic acid) at pH 9–10 in the solvent mixtures. A charge contribution was also seen from the adsorbed comb copolymer, however smaller than for the poly(acrylic acid). Low viscosity was obtained for suspensions stabilized with poly(acrylic acid) in solvent mixtures with either 25 vol% ethanol or isopropanol. Higher alcohol to water ratio led to flocculation of the suspension when poly(acrylic acid) was used as dispersant. Alumina suspensions with added magnesia in isopropanol:water 25:75 and poly(acrylic acid) as dispersant showed long-term stability. The viscosity remained almost constant during 4 days of aging. Suspensions stabilized with the comb copolymer dispersant gave stable systems with ethanol and isopropanol concentrations between 25 and 75 vol%. The superior dispersing efficiency of the comb copolymer at alcohol contents above 25 vol% was believed to originate from steric stabilization in combination with low effective particle size, giving low viscosity through lower apparent solid contents of the suspension.     

Rapid sintering of silicon nitride foams decorated with one-dimensional nanostructures by intense thermal radiation

Silicon nitride foams were prepared by direct foaming and subsequent rapid sintering at 1600 °C. The intense thermal radiation generated under the pressureless spark plasma sintering condition facilitated necking of Si₃N₄ grains. The prepared foams possessed a porosity of ～80 vol% and a compressive strength of ～10 MPa, which required only ～30 min for the entire sintering processes. Rapid growth of one-dimensional SiC nanowires from the cell walls was also observed. Thermodynamic calculations indicated that the vapor–liquid–solid model is applicable to the formation of SiC nanowires under vacuum.