Water intake in sheeps fed different levles of prickly pear (Opuntia Ficus Indica) in Brazil

En 45 ovinos machos Santa Inés (peso vivo medio de 27,50 ± 0, 48 kg) se evaluó el consumo de agua, al consumir raciones con niveles crecientes (0, 25, 50, 75, 100%) de nopal (Opuntia fícus indica Mill) en sustitución al maíz molido. El diseño fue en bloques al azar con nueve repeticiones. El consumo de materia seca respondió de modo cuadrático, perjudicando el peso final, que disminuyó, con el aumento del nopal en la dieta. Aumentó el consumo de materia natural disminuyendo el de agua, el consumo total de agua aumentó en el tratamiento con mayor cantidad de nopal. La relación de consumos: agua voluntaria/ materia seca, disminuyó al aumentar el nopal. El nopal constituye una reserva de agua para ovinos Santa Inés en condiciones semiáridas de Brasil.The water intake in 45 male (27.50 ± 0.48 kg of mena body weight) Santa Ines sheep fed with increasing levels (0, 25, 50, 75, 100% DM basis) of prickly pear (Opuntia ficus indica Mill) to replace corn was studied. A completely randomized block design with nine replications per treatment was used. Quadratic behavior was observed for the intake of dry matter, hitting the final weight, which decreased with increasing the cactus in the diet. There was an increase in the intake of natural material and a decrease in voluntary water intake; total water intake increased, and the ratio of intakes: water/dry matter, decreased in the treatment with larger cactus proportion. The pryckly pear constitues a water reservoir for Santa Inês sheep in Brazilian semiarid conditions

An approach to Sustainable Product Lifecycle Management (Green PLM)

Sustainable development has been, is and will be one of the worldwide main issues. Many initiatives have been launched to drive global conscientiousness to the problem of the impact of manufactured products. In order to become a green company , ecobrands and recycling are well understood but many initiatives are in silos and the unintended wasteful impact to other activities in the company is not always noticed. The key of sustainability also covers all the in-between activities and it depends on a real commitment of society, research and manufacturing firms. The factory of the future must have a Green Product Lifecycle Management strategy sharing responsibilities within the whole supply chain that must be achieved through committed people. The present work describes an approach to green product lifecycle involving mainstay phases: design, manufacturing and service, including usability and renewal. The contribution suggests a framework for sustainable product development that takes the whole product lifecycle into accountVila, C.; Abellán Nebot, JV.; Albiñana, J.; Hernandez, G. (2015). An approach to Sustainable Product Lifecycle Management (Green PLM). Procedia Engineering. 132:585-592. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.proeng.2015.12.608S58559213

Ignition and combustion development for high speed direct injection diesel engines under low temperature cold start conditions

Diesel engine cold start is an important issue for current technology at low (below 0 °C) temperatures and for future applications. The aim of this work is to develop a description of how, when and where does fuel spray ignition occur in a glow-plug assisted engine under simulated low temperature cold start conditions. In-cylinder pressure analysis is combined with high speed visualization in an optical engine. A pilot plus main injection strategy is used. Visualization results show that pilot ignition occurs in the vicinity of the glow plug, and strongly influences main combustion initiation. Main combustion starts from the pilot flame, and propagates to the rest of the combustion chamber showing a strong visible reaction zone. After end of main injection, the rapid leaning of the mixture suppresses the strong radiation, and OH radiation is observed to progress to the rest of the combustion chamber. The combustion process shows a strong scattering, which has been quantified by combustion parameters. At higher rail pressures scattering increases, which eventually inhibits combustion initiation. However, if ignition occurs at higher rail pressures, cycle performance is better.Authors thank the Spanish Ministry of Innovation and Science for the financial support through the project OPTICOMB (reference code: TRA2007-67961-C03-C01). Authors also thank Daniel Lerida Sanchez de las Heras for his outstanding work in the facility set-up and adaptation and for his support during the tests.Pastor Soriano, JV.; García Oliver, JM.; Pastor Enguídanos, JM.; Ramírez Hernández, JG. (2011). Ignition and combustion development for high speed direct injection diesel engines under low temperature cold start conditions. Fuel. 90(4):1556-1566. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.fuel.2011.01.008S1556156690

Quantum nucleation in ferromagnets with tetragonal and hexagonal symmetries

The phenomenon of quantum nucleation is studied in a ferromagnet in the presence of a magnetic field at an arbitrary angle. We consider the magnetocrystalline anisotropy with tetragonal symmetry and that with hexagonal symmetry, respectively. By applying the instanton method in the spin-coherent-state path-integral representation, we calculate the dependence of the rate of quantum nucleation and the crossover temperature on the orientation and strength of the field for a thin film and for a bulk solid. Our results show that the rate of quantum nucleation and the crossover temperature depend on the orientation of the external magnetic field distinctly, which provides a possible experimental test for quantum nucleation in nanometer-scale ferromagnets.Comment: 19 pages and 3 figures, Final version and accepted by Phys. Rev. B (Feb. B1 2001