Crowding as an Agronomic Factor Determining the Development of Plants and the Productivity of Linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.)

ABSTRACT

Nine sowing densities of linseed were compared in a two-year experiment. Self-regulation of the density of a linseed stand resulted in a differentiated branching of the plants. The number of capsules on a linseed shoot, as well as seeds in the capsule, and the number of seeds from the shoot were highly varied from year to year, and there is even a stronger differentiation in the weight of 1000 seeds. Linear relationships were noted between the mass of seeds from the linseed plant and the number of capsules. The yield of linseed was affected by both factors. An increasing sowing rate reduced the seed yield from the shoot and the plant. At lower seeding rates, the lateral shoots contributed in the seeds yield of the plant to a higher degree compared to the main ones.     

Synthesis of unsaturated polyesters of increased solubility in styrene

The present study presents the synthesis of unsaturated polyester resins using only one glycol i.e., ethylene glycol. Polyesters of inorganic solubility in styrene were prepared. Properties of the resins in the noncrosslinked state in the process of crosslinking and after curing were studied. © 2006 Wiley Periodicals, Inc. J Appl Polym Sci 101: 3143–3150, 2006     

Application of piece‐wise linear weight functions for 2D 8‐node quadrilateral element in contact problems

The present study is a continuation of our previous work with the aim to reduce problems caused by standard higher order elements in contact problems. The difficulties can be attributed to the inherent property of the Galerkin method which gives uneven distributions of nodal forces resulting in oscillating contact pressures. The proposed remedy is use of piece‐wise linear weight functions. The methods to establish stiffness and/or mass matrix for 8‐node quadrilateral element in 2D are presented, i.e. the condensing and direct procedures. The energy and nodal displacement error norms are also checked to establish the convergence ratio. Interpretation of calculated contact pressures is discussed. Two new 2D 8‐node quadrilateral elements, QUAD8C and QUAD8D, are derived and tested in many examples, which show their good performance in contact problems. Copyright © 2004 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Manufacturing method for monolithic dye-sensitised solar cells permitting long-term stable low-power modules

A manufacturing technique for monolithic dye-sensitised solar cells is presented. Encapsulated modules designed for indoor low-power applications have been prepared using industrial methods and equipment. Under certain conditions (light intensity <5000 lx, temperature between –10°C and 50°C, and relative humidity of appr. 50%), the modules have performed well and shown excellent long-term stability. Moreover, modules withstand illumination in combination with storage at 100% relative humidity. However, a certain degradation of the module performance takes place at illuminations exceeding 5000 lx and temperatures exceeding 50°C.     

Effects of uncontrollability on subsequent decision making: Testing the cognitive exhaustion hypothesis.

The cognitive exhaustion model of helplessness (predicting withdrawal from constructive effortful processing after uncontrollability) was applied to decision making. After unsolvable problems (or no preexposure), Ss requested information from a matrix with 5 alternatives (films)?×?10 attributes and then chose the best film. Films in a set were either similar (difficult decision) or dissimilar (easy decision) in attractiveness. As predicted, Ss with an uncontrollable preexposure spent less time on predecisional information search, disregarded their own importance criteria when asking for information, and had attention highly focused on a selected option for the easy decision condition but diffused across options for the difficult decision condition. The implications of these findings for understanding cognitive mechanisms of learned helplessness and depression are discussed. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Simulation of Temperature Distribution in Stored Wheat without Aeration

A neural-deterministic simulation model applied for calculating distributions of temperatures and moisture content in a bed of wheat stored in a steel silo without aeration is presented in the article. The model consists of differential equations of heat and moisture transfer, initial and boundary conditions, and three artificial neural networks used during simulated ambient air conditions. Experiments and computer simulations were carried out in order to determine temperature fields in wheat grain stored in a steel silo for two months. The computer simulations were carried using MATLAB and FEMLAB software. The difference between measured and simulated temperature in grain near the silo wall at a height of 2.5 m from the bottom was less than 3.0°C. On the basis of the analysis performed it was concluded that the temperature distributions obtained with the model were consistent with the measured results obtained for grain stored in a steel silo without aeration.     

Microprocessor debugging techniques and their application in debugger design

Every microprocessor-based system needs powerful debugging tools. Debugging power strongly depends on a mechanism of control exchange between the debugger and an application program. Several implementation methods of such a mechanism are briefly described and compared in this paper. It is shown that conditional breakpoints facilitate a semantics-oriented approach to program debugging. Some debugging techniques derived from elementary control-exchange mechanisms are proposed. Most of the techniques discussed are implemented in the MD-86 debugger designed for the Intel 8086 microprocessor. The debugger itself is also briefly described.     

The influence of biomass co-combustion on boiler fouling and efficiency

The paper presents an attempt to evaluate the influence of biomass co-combustion on the fouling of boiler convection surfaces. In order to show the influence of co-firing biomass with bituminous coal on boiler efficiency, the calculations of pulverized fuel (PF) OP 140 steam generator have been carried out. Typical Upper Silesian coal with medium fouling inclination has been chosen as a basic fuel. Three kinds of biomass have been taken into consideration: straw, wood and dried sewage sludge. The results confirm that the properties of additional fuels cause deterioration of the boiler efficiency as well as the changes in boilers operational parameters (amount of water injected in attemperators, ash stream, hot air temperature). The biomass during cofiring in fact replaces the coal, but always the additional fuel consumption is higher than that of the substituted coal. Therefore, the actual decrease of coal consumption is smaller than the thermal fraction of the biomass.