Designing machines and equipment for post-harvest operations of agricultural products requires information about their physical properties. The aim of the work was to evaluate the possibility of introducing a new approach to predict the moisture content in bean and corn seeds based on measuring their dimensions using image analysis using artificial neural networks (ANN). Experimental tests were carried out at three levels of wet basis moisture content of seeds: 9, 13 and 17%. The analysis of the results showed a direct relationship between the wet basis moisture content and the main dimensions of the seeds. Based on the statistical analysis of the seed material, it was shown that the characteristics examined have a normal or close to normal distribution, and the seed material used in the investigation is representative. Furthermore, the use of artificial neural networks to predict the wet basis moisture content of seeds based on changes in their dimensions has an efficiency of 82%. The results obtained from the method used in this work are very promising for predicting the moisture content.
The current report dealt with the effect of pesticides on the ecosystem through their impact on soil, water, and microorganisms and their impact on human health. As well as this study dealt with the biodegradation process of pesticides and the organisms involved in this process, even some previous studies proved that Bacillus spp. And Pseudomonas sp. Bacteria is the most efficient in the biodegradation of pesticides, at the same time, other previous studies dealt with the environmental factors that affect the biodegradation process of pesticides. It proved that each of the incubation periods, pH, and temperature have different effects on biodegradation. Most of the studies indicated that the best incubation period for biodegradation is 7-8
... Show MoreNatural fibers and particles reinforced composites are being broadly used due to their bio and specific properties such as low density and easy to machine and production with low cost. In this work, water absorption and mechanical properties such as tensile strength, flexural strength and impact strength of recycled jute fibers reinforced epoxy resin were enhanced by treating these fibers with alkaline solution. The recycled jute fibers were treated with different concentration of (NaOH) solution at (25 0C) for a period of (24) hours. From the obtained results, it was found that all these properties are improved when fibers treated with (7.5wt% NaOH) related to untreated fibers. Conversely, the mentioned properties of composit
... Show MoreAbstract: The increased interest in developing new photonic devices that can support high data rates, high sensitivity and fast processing capabilities for all optical communications, motivates a pre stage pulse compressor research. The pre-stage research was based on cascading single mode fiber and polarization maintaining fiber to get pulse compression with compression factor of 1.105. The demand for obtaining more précised photonic devices; this work experimentally studied the behavior of Polarization maintaining fiber PMF that is sandwiched between two cascaded singe mode fiber SMF and fiber Bragg gratings FBG. Therefore; the introduced interferometer performed hybrid interference of both Mach-Zehnder
... Show MoreFunctionally graded materials (FGMs), with ceramic –ceramic constituents are fabricated using powder technology techniques. In this work three different sets of FGMs samples were designed in to 3 layers, 5 layers and 7 layers. The ceramic constituents were represented by hard ferrite (Barium ferrite) and soft ferrite (lithium ferrite). All samples sintered at constant temperature at 1100oC for 2 hrs. and characterized by FESEM. Some physical properties were measured for fabricated FGMs include apparent density, bulk density, porosity, shrinkage and hardness. The results indicated that the density increase with the increase the number of layer. Lateral shrinkage is one of the important parameter f
... Show MoreUnsaturated polyester was used as a matrix which was filled with different percentages of cobalt ferrite using hand lay-up method. Cobalt ferrite was synthesized using solid state ceramic method with reagent of CoO and Fe2O3. Mechanical properties such tensile strength, Young's modulus and shore D hardness of the composite have been studied. All these properties have increased by 10% with increasing cobalt ferrite contents. Also the thermal properties such thermal conductivity and specific heat capacity are highly increased as the ferrite content increased, while the thermal diffusivity increased by 22 %. On the other hand dielectric strength of composite has been measured which increased by 50% by increasing the cobalt ferrite content.&
... Show MoreEngineered geopolymer composite (EGC) is a high-performance material with enhanced mechanical and durability capabilities. Ground granulated blast furnace slag (GGBFS) and silica fume (SF) are common binder materials in producing EGC. However, due to the scarcity and high cost of these materials in some countries, sustainable alternatives are needed. This research focused on producing eco-friendly EGC made of cheaper and more common pozzolanic waste materials that are rich in aluminum and silicon. Rice husk ash (RHA), granite waste powder (GWP), and volcanic pumice powder (VPP) were used as partial substitutions (10–50%) of GGBFS in EGC. The effects of these wastes on workability, unit weight, compressive strength, tensile strengt
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