Determining the influence of pre-preparation of blueberries (Vaccinium corymbosum L.) on the total duration of drying

Comprehensive studies into the influence of various types of preliminary preparation of blueberry berries for drying have established the amount of wax coating, color, and the total duration of dehydration of raw materials. A comparison of 2 types of preliminary preparation was made: hygrothermal treatment and infrared radiation treatment directly during drying. It was established that after treatment with infrared radiation, 53 times more wax plaque came off the berries than after hygrothermal treatment. Microscopic studies of sections of the parenchymal part of berries recorded the state of the cell membranes and the color of the raw materials without prior processing, with pretreatment, and after drying. It was found that berries dried without pretreatment (mode parameters of heat carrier: t=70 °C, v=2 m/s, d=10 g/kg dry air. Win=85 %, ) have partially destroyed cell membranes but the color of the dried material is preserved to the maximum. It was observed that the berries after hygrothermal treatment have partially destroyed parts of the cell membrane, which makes it possible to more intensively release moisture from the material after drying, the maximum color of the product is also preserved. In berries, after treatment with infrared radiation of 100 W for 10 minutes, the cells remain convex with partial destruction of the shell of some cells but, after pretreatment, the intensity of color decreases. Studies into the kinetics of drying blueberry berries have confirmed that the use of infrared radiation with a capacity of 100 W for 10 minutes with simultaneous drying under the regime parameters of the heat carrier t=60 °C, v=3 m/s, d=10 g/kg dry air. makes it possible to reduce wax coating on blueberry berries and to intensify thermal moisture exchange during drying of berries better than using hygrothermal treatmen

Evaluation of the orderliness of the road safety provision systems in Russian cities

Ministry of Education and Science of the Russian Federation, Minobrnauka: 0825-2020-0014, 2020-2022This research was funded by the Russian Ministry of Education and Science [Grant No. 0825-2020-0014, 2020-2022 (new patterns and solutions for the functioning of urban transport systems in the paradigm “Transition from owning a personal car to mobility as a service”)

Обоснование конструктивной схемы плуга для снижения энергозатрат основной обработки почвы

Sharp fluctuation in the traction resistance of a moldboard plow arising when changing working conditions can be decreased by improving the plow design. (Research purpose) To reduce or eliminate changes in the traction resistance of a plow using automatic tillage depth regulators, which will reduce the energy consumption of the unit and, therefore, increase its productivity. (Materials and methods) The authors considered two different groups of moldboard plows differing in the type of the frame fastening to the tractor suspension axis, and examined their advantages and disadvantages. To determine the rational design parameters of a plow, they estimated the influence of the relative position of working bodies on the traction resistance and tillage depth, as well as on the change in the shape and transverse area of a soil layer. (Results and discussion) The paper presents the established relationships, which show that when the angle of a working body is set in the transverse plane upward, there is a jump in traction resistance depending on the overlap amount of the working bodies. The study has revealed the relationship between traction resistance and the position of the plow rotation axis: the less the plow deviates from its rotation axis, the more intensively traction resistance decreases. Three structural designs of plows used on the soil with a resistivity of 0.8 kilograms per square centimeter have been analyzed and the most appropriate design has been chosen. It was determined that the change in traction resistance per unit of change in the average depth of plowing for the first plow scheme 146 kilograms per centimeter, for the second – 128, for the third – 210 kilograms per centimeter. (Conclusions) It has been revealed that the best structural design is that of a semi-mounted plow having a hinge-joint connection with a tractor in the transverse plane and support wheels resting on the field surface. Plows with this structural design have shown high technological reliability in tests, as well as a significant increase in productivity (with draft control of up to 10-11 percent) without deteriorating the working conditions of a tractor driver and field performance indicators.Колебание тягового сопротивления лемешно-отвального плуга при смене условий работы можно уменьшить, усовершенствовав конструктивную схему орудия. (Цель исследования) Снизить или исключить изменения тягового сопротивления плуга при помощи автоматических регуляторов глубины вспашки, что позволит уменьшить энергозатраты агрегата и, следовательно, повысить его производительность. (Материалы и методы) Рассмотрели две группы лемешно-отвальных плугов, отличающихся способом соединения рамы с осью подвеса трактора. Изучили их достоинства и недостатки. Для определения рациональных конструктивных параметров плуга оценили влияние взаимного расположения рабочих органов (корпусов) на тяговое сопротивление и глубину обработки почвы, а также на изменение формы и поперечной площади почвенного пласта. (Результаты и обсуждение) Представили расчетные зависимости, по которым видно, что при увеличении угла постановки рабочего органа в поперечной плоскости происходит скачок тягового сопротивления, зависящий от величины перекрытия рабочих органов. Выявили зависимость тягового сопротивления от положения оси вращения плуга: чем меньше величина отклонения положения плуга от оси вращения, тем интенсивнее падает тяговое сопротивление. Проанализировали три схемы плугов на почве с удельным сопротивлением 0,8 килограмма на сантиметр квадратный и выбрали предпочтительную. Определили, что изменение тягового сопротивления на единицу изменения средней глубины вспашки составляет для плуга первой схемы 146 килограммов на сантиметр, для второй – 128, для третьей – 210 килограммов на сантиметр. (Выводы) Выявили, что наилучшая конструктивная схема – у полунавесного плуга, имеющего шарнирное соединение с трактором в поперечной плоскости и опорные колеса, установленные на поверхности поля. На испытаниях плуг с данной схемой показал высокую технологическую надежность, существенное увеличение производительности (при силовом регулировании до 10-11 процентов) без ухудшения условий труда тракториста и агротехнических показателей

Fashion or Science? How Can Orthodox Biomedicine Explain the Body's Function and Regulation?

The cost of diagnosing and treating disease continues to rise inexorably. Almost every new test adds to the complexity and cost of healthcare. There is a need for better and less expensive screening, diagnostic and scanning techniques. Medical scanning technologies are based upon the body's response to an external stimulus e.g. heat, ultrasound, X-rays, magnetic resonance, etc. Biomarker and histopathology tests have inherent limitations because diseases are often polygenic and/or influence the function of multiple physiological systems. The results are compared with expected norms. This makes it difficult to diagnose the onset of disease. Such techniques measure only what the clinician wants or expects to see. A technique which can provide more information, regarding the influence of a medical condition upon the body's whole function, may be invaluable to the clinician. There is not yet a clear understanding of how the body regulates its function. A greater understanding of how the body responds to sensory input, in particular to light, has been incorporated into a mathematical model of the physiological systems developed by I.G. Grakov. This has been incorporated into a cognitive technology which improves the understanding of how the body regulates its function and has led to the development of a better method for the diagnosis and treatment of disease(s). This technique, virtual scanning, appears able to diagnose at different levels of physiological significance i.e. as systems, organs, cells (as morphologies) and molecular (as pathologies). It may be a major scientific development, conceivably more advanced than biomarker techniques, with the potential to provide far more information about a patient's health. It may have the potential to significantly reduce the complexity and cost of healthcare. This article reviews the available literature

EFFICIENCY OF COLLECTIVE MOOSE HUNTING IN A FOREST-TAIGA ZONE OF RUSSIA

We discuss results of hunting moose by coordinated drives by various-sized hunting groups in the Kirov region. We report the optimum size of a hunting brigade, its advantages over hunting by individuals or by small groups, and the opportunity for selective harvest by sex and age classes

A Study of the Stability Characteristics of the Intelligent Robotic Vehicle Movement

Unmanned vehicles have been developed at a rapid pace worldwide. However, despite the significant sophistication of these technologies, there arises a broad list of problems related to the IRV (intelligent robotic vehicle) movement. One of the most important problems is to ensure the stability characteristics of the IRV movement. To this end, we developed a methodology for calculating the angular parameters, the radius of the trajectory curvature, and the coordinates of the IRV position during its movement. We created a 3-D model of the IRV, which allowed us to provide the most complete insight into its movement, placement of new sensors, monitoring, and calibration. The experimental studies have shown that the minimum deviation of the trajectory is observed at the IRV movement speed of 7 km/h

Sensitivity Enhancement in Plasma Polymer Films for Surface Acoustic Wave Based Sensor Applications

Plasma polymer films (PPF), widely used as sensing layers in surface acoustic wave (SAW) based gas and liquid phase sensors, have a major drawback: high concentrations of the sensed analytes easily drive these films into saturation, where accurate measurements are no longer possible. This work suggests a solution to this problem by modifying the PPF with the sensed chemical compound to improve the overall sorption properties and sensor dynamic range. Thin polymer films were synthesized from hexamethyldisiloxane (HMDSO) and triethylsilane (TES) monomers in a plasma-enhanced chemical vapor deposition (PECVD) process using a RF plasma reactor. We used these Si-containing compounds because they are known for their excellent sensing properties. In this work, the layers were deposited onto the active surface of high-Q 438 MHz Rayleigh SAW two-port resonators, used as mass sensitive sensor elements. We call these devices quartz surface microbalances (QSM). In a second step, ammonia plasma modification was applied to the HMDSO and TES films, in order to achieve a higher sensitivity to NH3. The sensors were probed at different NH3 gas concentrations in a computer controlled gas probing setup. A comparison with unmodified films revealed a 74% to 85% improvement in both the sensitivity and sorption ability of the HMDSO sensing layers, and of about 8% for the TES films

Determining the Structural Design of a Plow to Reduce Energy Costs of Basic Soil Tillage

Sharp fluctuation in the traction resistance of a moldboard plow arising when changing working conditions can be decreased by improving the plow design. (Research purpose) To reduce or eliminate changes in the traction resistance of a plow using automatic tillage depth regulators, which will reduce the energy consumption of the unit and, therefore, increase its productivity. (Materials and methods) The authors considered two different groups of moldboard plows differing in the type of the frame fastening to the tractor suspension axis, and examined their advantages and disadvantages. To determine the rational design parameters of a plow, they estimated the influence of the relative position of working bodies on the traction resistance and tillage depth, as well as on the change in the shape and transverse area of a soil layer. (Results and discussion) The paper presents the established relationships, which show that when the angle of a working body is set in the transverse plane upward, there is a jump in traction resistance depending on the overlap amount of the working bodies. The study has revealed the relationship between traction resistance and the position of the plow rotation axis: the less the plow deviates from its rotation axis, the more intensively traction resistance decreases. Three structural designs of plows used on the soil with a resistivity of 0.8 kilograms per square centimeter have been analyzed and the most appropriate design has been chosen. It was determined that the change in traction resistance per unit of change in the average depth of plowing for the first plow scheme 146 kilograms per centimeter, for the second – 128, for the third – 210 kilograms per centimeter. (Conclusions) It has been revealed that the best structural design is that of a semi-mounted plow having a hinge-joint connection with a tractor in the transverse plane and support wheels resting on the field surface. Plows with this structural design have shown high technological reliability in tests, as well as a significant increase in productivity (with draft control of up to 10-11 percent) without deteriorating the working conditions of a tractor driver and field performance indicators