Optimizing Western Flower Thrips Management on French Beans by Combined Use of Beneficials and Imidacloprid

Western flower thrips (WFT), Frankliniella occidentalis (Pergande), is an important pest of vegetable crops worldwide and has developed resistance to many insecticides. The predatory mites Neoseiulus (=Amblyseius) cucumeris (Oudemans), the entomopathogenic fungus Metarhizium anisopliae (Metsch.), and an insecticide (imidacloprid) were tested for their efficacy to reduce WFT population density and damage to French bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) pods under field conditions in two planting periods. Metarhizium anisopliae was applied as a foliar spray weekly at a rate of one litre spray volume per plot while imidacloprid was applied as a soil drench every two weeks at a rate of two litres of a mixture of water and imidacloprid per m(2). Neoseiulus cucumeris was released every two weeks on plant foliage at a rate of three mites per plant. Single and combined treatment applications reduced WFT population density by at least three times and WFT damage to French bean pods by at least 1.7 times compared with untreated plots. The benefit-cost ratios in management of WFT were profitable with highest returns realized on imidacloprid treated plots. The results indicate that M. anisopliae, N. cucumeris, and imidacloprid have the potential for use in developing an integrated pest management program against WFT on French beans.

Revestimentos a base de Ta/Al2O3 produzidos por aspersão térmica sobre substrato metálico

Metal substrates were coated by thermal spraying plasma torch, they were positioned at a distance of 4 and 5 cm from the nozzle exit of the plasma jet. The starting materials were used for deposition of tantalum oxide powder and aluminium. These two materials were mixed and ground into high-energy mill, then immersed in the torch for the production of alumina coating infused with particles of tantalum with nano and micrometric size. The spraying equipment used is a plasma torch arc not transferred, which operating in the range of 250 A and 80 V, was able to produce enough heat to ignite aluminothermic between Ta2O5 and aluminum. Upon reaching the plasma jet, the mixing powders react with the heat of the blaze, which provides sufficient energy for melting aluminum particles. This energy is transferred through mechanisms of self-propagating to the oxide, beginning a reduction reaction, which then hits on the surface of the substrate and forms a coating on which a composite is formed by a junction metal - ceramic (Ta +Al2O3). The phases and quantification of each were obtained respectively by X-ray diffraction and the Rietveld method. Morphology by scanning electron microscopy and chemical analysis by energy dispersive spectroscopy EDS. It was also performed measurements of the substrate roughness, Vickers microhardness measurements in sprays and determination of the electron temperature of the plasma jet by optical emission spectroscopy EEO. The results confirmed the expectation generated around the end product of spraying the mixture Ta2O5 + Al, both in the formation of nano-sized particles and in their final form. The electron excitation temperature was consistent with the purpose of work, in addition, the thermodynamic temperature was efficient for the reduction process of Ta2O5. The electron excitation temperature showed values of 3000, 4500 and 8000 K for flows10, 20 and 30 l / min respectively, these values were taken at the nozzle exit of the plasma jet. The thermodynamic temperature around 1200 ° C, was effective in the reduction process of Ta2O5

Regimes of spray vaporization and combustion in counterflow configurations

This article addresses the problem of spray vaporization and combustion in axisymmetric opposed-jet configurations involving a stream of hot air counterflowing against a stream of nitrogen carrying a spray of fuel droplets. The Reynolds numbers of the jets are assumed to be large, so that mixing of the two streams is restricted to a thin mixing layer that separates the counterflowing streams. The evolution of the droplets in their feed stream from the injection location is seen to depend fundamentally on the value of the droplet Stokes number, St, defined as the ratio of the droplet acceleration time to the mixing layer strain time close to the stagnation point. Two different regimes of spray vaporization and combustion can be identified depending on the value of St. For values of St below a critical value, equal to 1/4 for dilute sprays with small values of the spray liquid mass loading ratio, the droplets decelerate to approach the gas stagnation plane with a vanishing axial velocity. In this case, the droplets located initially near the axis reach the mixing layer, where they can vaporize due to the heat received from the hot air, producing fuel vapor that can burn with the oxygen in a diffusion flame located on the air side of the mixing layer. The character of the spray combustion is different for values of St of order unity, because the droplets cross the stagnation plane and move into the opposing air stream, reaching distances that are much larger than the mixing layer thickness before they turn around. The vaporization of these crossing droplets, and also the combustion of the fuel vapor generated by them, occur in the hot air stream, without significant effects of molecular diffusion, generating a vaporization-assisted nonpremixed flame that stands on the air side outside the mixing layer. Separate formulations will be given below for these two regimes of combustion, with attention restricted to the near-stagnation-point region, where the solution is self-similar and all variables are only dependent on the distance to the stagnation plane. The resulting formulations display a reduced number of controlling parameters that effectively embody dependences of the structure of the spray flame on spray dilution, droplet inertia, and fuel preferential diffusion. Sample solutions are given for the limiting cases of pure vaporization and of infinitely fast chemistry, with the latter limit formulated in terms of chemistry-free coupling functions that allow for general nonunity Lewis numbers of the fuel vapor.

Application of Lidocaine Spray for Tracheal Intubation in Neonates - A Clinical Trial Study

Background: Tracheal intubation is extremely distressing, painful, and may influence heart rate and blood pressure. Sedatives, analgesics, and muscle relaxants are not commonly used for intubation in neonates. Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the effects of lidocaine spray as a non-intravenous drug before neonatal intubation on blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation and time of intubation. Patients and Methods: In a randomized, controlled study each neonate was randomly assigned to one of the two study groups by staffs who were not involved in the infant's care. The allocation concealment was kept in an opaque sealed envelope, and the investigators, the patient care team, and the assessors were blinded to the treatment allocation. The selected setting was NICU unit of a teaching hospital in Ilam city, Iran and participants were 60 neonates with indication of tracheal intubation with gestational age >30 weeks. Patients in the treatment group received lidocaine spray and the placebo group received spray of normal saline prior to intubation. Main outcome measurements were the mean rates of blood pressure, heart rate, oxygen saturation, intubation time and lidocaine side effects were measured before and after intubation. Results: Totally 60 newborns including 31 boys and 29 girls were entered into the study (drug group n = 30; placebo group n = 30). Boy/girl ratio in treatment and placebo groups were 1.3 and 0.88, respectively. Mean age ± SD of participants was 34.1 ± 24.8 hours (treatment: 35.3 ± 25.7; placebo: 32.9 ± 24.3; P < 0.0001). Mean weight ± SD of neonates was 2012.5 ± 969 g. Application of lidocaine spray caused a significant reduction of mean intubation time among treatment group compared with placebo group (treatment: 15.03 ± 2.2 seconds; placebo: 18.3 ± 2.3 seconds; P < 0.0001). Mean blood pressure, heart rate and oxygen saturation rate, among neonates in treatment group was reduced after intubation compared with their relevant figures before intubation; however, their differences were not statistically significant except for mean oxygen saturation rate that was reduced significantly in placebo group. No side effects were observed during study. Conclusions: Though the current study revealed some promising results in the application of lidocaine spray during neonatal intubation without any considerable side effects; however, the current investigation could only be considered as a pilot study for further attempts in different locations with higher sample sizes and in different situations.

Current Legal Rules Benefit Spray Applicators When It Comes to Pesticide Drift

Homeowners, landowners, pesticide applicators, and farmers are concerned about pesticide drift. It may injure a homeowner’s garden or flowers or ruin a neighboring farmer’s crop. While no Maryland court has considered the issue of liability from pesticide drift, courts in other states have. These decisions provide some guidance on how a Maryland court might handle the issue. Depending on the facts of the drift case, pesticide applicators and farmers could owe damages for nuisance or trespass case, or for uses inconsistent with the pesticide label.

Validation of neurobehavioral studies for evaluating the perinatal effects of single and mixture exposure to pesticides.

2009

The Effects of Instrumental Touching on Infant Pain Perception and the Effects of Eutectic Mixture of Local Anesthetics (EMLA) on the Reduction of Pain

Background: Premature infants, who have to spend the first week of their lives in neonatal intensive care units (NICUs), experience pain and stress in numerous cases, and they are exposed to many invasive interventions. The studies have shown that uncontrolled pain experienced during early life has negative and long-term side effects, such as distress, and such experiences negatively affect the development of the central nervous system Objectives: The purpose of the study was to examine the effects of touching on infant pain perception and the effects of eutectic mixture of local anesthetic (EMLA) on the reduction of pain. Patients and Methods: Data for the study were collected between March and August 2012 from the neonatal clinic of a university hospital located in eastern Turkey. The population of the study consisted of premature infants who were undergoing treatment, completed the first month and who were approved for Hepatitis B vaccine. The study consisted of two experimental groups and one control group. Information forms, intervention follow-up forms, and Premature Infant Pain Profile (PIPP) were used to collect the data. EMLA cream was applied on the vastus lateralis muscles of the first experimental group before the vaccination. The second experimental group was vaccinated by imitation (placebo), without a needle tip or medicine. Vaccination was carried out using instrumental touch in this group. A routine vaccination was applied in the control group. Results: Mean pain scores of the group to which EMLA was applied were lower in a statistically significant way (P < 0.05) compared to the pain scores of the other groups. Moreover, it was determined that even though invasive intervention was not applied to the newborns, the touching caused them to feel pain just as in the placebo group (P < 0.005). Conclusions: The results demonstrated that EMLA was an effective method for reducing pain in premature newborns, and the use of instrumental touch for invasive intervention stimulated the pain perception in the newborns.

Tin Oxide Based Composites Derived Using Electrostatic Spray Deposition Technique as Anodes for Li-Ion Batteries

Recent advances in the electric & hybrid electric vehicles and rapid developments in the electronic devices have increased the demand for high power and high energy density lithium ion batteries. Graphite (theoretical specific capacity: 372 mAh/g) used in commercial anodes cannot meet these demands. Amorphous SnO2 anodes (theoretical specific capacity: 781 mAh/g) have been proposed as alternative anode materials. But these materials have poor conductivity, undergo a large volume change during charging and discharging, large irreversible capacity loss leading to poor cycle performances. To solve the issues related to SnO2 anodes, we propose to synthesize porous SnO2 composites using electrostatic spray deposition technique. First, porous SnO2/CNT composites were fabricated and the effects of the deposition temperature (200,250, 300 oC) & CNT content (10, 20, 30, 40 wt %) on the electrochemical performance of the anodes were studied. Compared to pure SnO2 and pure CNT, the composite materials as anodes showed better discharge capacity and cyclability. 30 wt% CNT content and 250 oC deposition temperature were found to be the optimal conditions with regard to energy capacity whereas the sample with 20% CNT deposited at 250 oC exhibited good capacity retention. This can be ascribed to the porous nature of the anodes and the improvement in the conductivity by the addition of CNT. Electrochemical impedance spectroscopy studies were carried out to study in detail the change in the surface film resistance with cycling. By fitting EIS data to an equivalent circuit model, the values of the circuit components, which represent surface film resistance, were obtained. The higher the CNT content in the composite, lower the change in surface film resistance at certain voltage upon cycling. The surface resistance increased with the depth of discharge and decreased slightly at fully lithiated state. Graphene was also added to improve the performance of pure SnO2 anodes. The composites heated at 280 oC showed better energy capacity and energy density. The specific capacities of as deposited and post heat-treated samples were 534 and 737 mAh/g after 70 cycles. At the 70th cycle, the energy density of the composites at 195 °C and 280 °C were 1240 and 1760 Wh/kg, respectively, which are much higher than the commercially used graphite electrodes (37.2-74.4 Wh/kg). Both SnO2/CNTand SnO2/grapheme based composites with improved energy densities and capacities than pure SnO2 can make a significant impact on the development of new batteries for electric vehicles and portable electronics applications.

Application of Mixture Models to Survival Data

Survival models are being widely applied to the engineering field to model time-to-event data once censored data is here a common issue. Using parametric models or not, for the case of heterogeneous data, they may not always represent a good fit. The present study relays on critical pumps survival data where traditional parametric regression might be improved in order to obtain better approaches. Considering censored data and using an empiric method to split the data into two subgroups to give the possibility to fit separated models to our censored data, we’ve mixture two distinct distributions according a mixture-models approach. We have concluded that it is a good method to fit data that does not fit to a usual parametric distribution and achieve reliable parameters. A constant cumulative hazard rate policy was used as well to check optimum inspection times using the obtained model from the mixture-model, which could be a plus when comparing with the actual maintenance policies to check whether changes should be introduced or not.

Humified fraction of organic matter due to plant mixture cultivation.

The aim of this study was to assess the organic matter changes in quantity and quality, particularly of the humic fraction in the surface layer (0?20 cm), of a Typic Plinthustalf soil under different management of plant mixtures used as green manure for mango (Mangifera indica L.) crops. The plant mixtures, which were seeded between rows of mango trees, were formed by two groups of leguminous and non -leguminous plants. Prior to sowing, seeds were combined in different proportions and compositions constituting the following treatments: 100% non-leguminous species (NL); 100% leguminous species (L); 75% L and 25% NL; 50% L and 50% NL; 25% L and 75% NL; and 100% spontaneous vegetation, considered a control. The plant mixtures that grew between rows of mango trees caused changes in the chemical composition of the soil organic matter, especially for the treatments 50% L and 50% NL and 25% L and 75% NL, which increased the content of humic substances in the soil organic matter. However, the treatment 25% L and 75% NL was best at minimising loss of total organic carbon from the soil. The humic acids studied have mostly aliphatic characteristics, showing large amounts of carboxylic and nitrogen groups and indicating that most of the organic carbon was formed by humic substances, with fulvic acid dominating among the alkali soluble fractions.

Numerical assessment of the water injection application to GDI engines

A possible future scenario for the water injection (WI) application has been explored as an advanced strategy for modern GDI engines. The aim is to verify whether the PWI (Port Water Injection) and DWI (Direct Water Injection) architectures can replace current fuel enrichment strategies to limit turbine inlet temperatures (TiT) and knock engine attitude. In this way, it might be possible to extend the stoichiometric mixture condition over the entire engine map, meeting possible future restrictions in the use of AES (Auxiliary Emission Strategies) and future emission limitations. The research was first addressed through a comprehensive assessment of the state-of-the-art of the technology and the main effects of the chemical-physical water properties. Then, detailed chemical kinetics simulations were performed in order to compute the effects of WI on combustion development and auto-ignition. The latter represents an important methodology step for accurate numerical combustion simulations. The water injection was then analysed in detail for a PWI system, through an experimental campaign for macroscopic and microscopic injector characterization inside a test chamber. The collected data were used to perform a numerical validation of the spray models, obtaining an excellent matching in terms of particle size and droplet velocity distributions. Finally, a wide range of three-dimensional CFD simulations of a virtual high-bmep engine were realized and compared, exploring also different engine designs and water/fuel injection strategies under non-reacting and reacting flow conditions. According to the latter, it was found that thanks to the introduction of water, for both PWI and DWI systems, it could be possible to obtain an increase of the target performance and an optimization of the bsfc (Break Specific Fuel Consumption), lowering the engine knock risk at the same time, while the TiT target has been achieved hardly only for one DWI configuration.

Development of numerical methodologies to predict the liquid fuel sprays - wall interaction to optimize the mixing process of direct injection spark ignition engines

Nowadays the development of new Internal Combustion Engines is mainly driven by the need to reduce tailpipe emissions of pollutants, Green-House Gases and avoid the fossil fuels wasting. The design of dimension and shape of the combustion chamber together with the implementation of different injection strategies e.g., injection timing, spray targeting, higher injection pressure, play a key role in the accomplishment of the aforementioned targets. As far as the match between the fuel injection and evaporation and the combustion chamber shape is concerned, the assessment of the interaction between the liquid fuel spray and the engine walls in gasoline direct injection engines is crucial. The use of numerical simulations is an acknowledged technique to support the study of new technological solutions such as the design of new gasoline blends and of tailored injection strategies to pursue the target mixture formation. The current simulation framework lacks a well-defined best practice for the liquid fuel spray interaction simulation, which is a complex multi-physics problem. This thesis deals with the development of robust methodologies to approach the numerical simulation of the liquid fuel spray interaction with walls and lubricants. The accomplishment of this task was divided into three tasks: i) setup and validation of spray-wall impingement three-dimensional CFD spray simulations; ii) development of a one-dimensional model describing the liquid fuel – lubricant oil interaction; iii) development of a machine learning based algorithm aimed to define which mixture of known pure components mimics the physical behaviour of the real gasoline for the simulation of the liquid fuel spray interaction.

Validazione di metodologie di simulazione dell’impatto a parete di spray di combustibile iniettati ad alta pressione

Il presente lavoro di tesi, svolto in collaborazione con una azienda del settore automotive, tratta lo studio di impatto di sprays combustibili su pareti calde adottando un approccio numerico CFD-3D. Viene effettuata la validazione di alcuni tra i più utilizzati modelli di interazione goccia-parete implementati nel software commerciale STAR-CD. Lo scopo principale del lavoro svolto è quello di indirizzare il lettore verso una corretta implementazione della simulazione di uno spray impattante, comprendere pregi e limiti dei modelli applicati e fornire dei criteri per effettuare la scelta tra uno di essi in funzione di condizioni di interesse motoristico.