Design a capacitive sensor for rapid monitoring of seed rate of sugarcane planter

A capacitive sensor method for measuring billet spacing uniformity with sugarcane (Saccharum officinarm L.) billet planter is investigated in this paper.  Therefore, an electronic device based on capacitive sensor was designed and developed to predict the planting spacing of sugarcane billets.  It consisted of four components: a rectangular parallel plate capacitor, electronic circuitry, microcontroller, and display unit.  Accordingly, a prototype of the precision metering device for sugarcane billets was developed.  After calibrating the monitoring system, the results were verified with calibrated curve by means of linear regression and paired T-test.  The performance of the device, including quality of feed index (QFI), multiple index and miss index was investigated under laboratory conditions using a capacitive sensor and a test stand with camera system.  The results revealed that the forward speed had a significant effect on these variables.  The coefficient of variation was less than 3%, which indicated that billet spacing calculated via capacitive sensing method has no significant difference with the computed billet spacing via image processing method.   Keywords: capacitive system, sugarcane, compare monitoring, performance indices, precision plantin

Models of mechanical cutting parameters in terms of moisture content and cross section area of sugarcane stalks

The objective of this study was to find optimizing moisture content and cutting area of sugarcane stalk cutting parameters using multiple regressions and to verify the optimum levels of the variables.  The effect of moisture content and cutting section area on mechanical cutting properties of sugarcane stalks was studied using a linear blade cutting and UTM (Universal Testing Machine) size reduction device.  Data obtained in the laboratory were divided into four different groups in order to determine the peak force, cutting energy, ultimate stress and specific energy.  Additional criterions were also proposed and used as an indicator of the cutting performance.  These were the marginal cutting parameter (MCP) and return to scale (RTS).  The data obtained in the laboratory were then used to develop functions in polynomial form that allowed the calculation of the optimum level of each independent variable considered in the study.  Moisture content had the highest effect on peak force, ultimate stress and specific energy with an impact of -15.936, -0.147 and -0.179, respectively.  Also cutting energy affected with cutting section area with a 36.06 coefficient.  The high moisture content level compared to low moisture content level produced a significant reduction in the peak force, ultimate stress and specific energy.  Cutting parameters were relatively insensitive to moisture content of sugarcane stalk more than cutting section area of that.   Keywords: mechanical cutting, moisture content, sugarcane stalk, cutting energy&nbsp

Instrumented undriven steering wheel to illustrate dynamic behavior of vehicles

In this paper, a low-cost dynamometer for undriven, steered wheels is described.  The dynamometer was produced to determine whether such an instrumented mechanism is practical.  Four S-beam load cells and two opto-counters were used to obtain all moments, forces, and points of their application.  Overturning, aligning, and rolling resistance moments besides vertical force are directly measured by the load cells.  The opto-counters detect wheel angular velocity and steering angle.  The dynamometer evaluation results showed significant correlation between expected values and measured data with high accuracy.  Wheel dynamic behavior can be defined according to dynamic and kinematic analysis in which relative calculations have minimum simplifying assumptions.   Keywords: dynamometer, wheel forces and moments, point of force application, load cell, opto-counte

Design and Simulation of a Vision-Based Automatic Trout Fish-Processing Robot

Today, industrial automation is being applied in a wide range of fields. The initial modeling of robots and mechanical systems together with simulation results in optimal systems. In this study, the designed system is simulated to obtain the required velocities, accelerations and torques of the actuating arms in a vision-based automatic system. Due to the slippery skin of fish and the low friction coefficient, it is not easy to design an optimal tool to handle fish. Since the fish-processing operation is undertaken step by step and provides fish stability, it is essential that the gripper enables different processing operations along the system. The proposed system performs belly-cutting, beheading, gutting, and cleaning stages for different fish sizes, based on the extracted dimensions of the vision system. In the head-cutting section, the average speed of the actuator jack was considered as 500 mm s−1. Under these conditions, the maximum required force to provide this speed was 332.45 N. In the belly-cutting subsystem, the required torque for the stepper motor resulted in 1.79-2.15 N m. Finally, the maximum required torque for the gutting stepper motor was calculated as 0.69 N m in the tested processing capacitie

AN ASSESSMENT ON STABILIZATION OF EOLIAN FINE-GRAINED SOILS USING WIND TUNNEL

ABSTRACT: Control of soils wind erosion particularly in arid and semi-arid regions has been seriously paid into attention due to several causes including to prevent the destruction natural resources, reducing air pollution, reducing aerosol transmission and the problems it causes in transportation. Measurement of factors affecting on wind erosion in field conditions is difficult and uncontrollable. Hence, use of wind tunnel device is addressed as one of feasible methods. In fixed wind tunnels, in order to measure soil erosion, trays containing soil shall be placed in the tunnel floor and the wind blows with a given specification. Tray weight difference between the two times of weighing indicates erosion rate of a given level. In present research, wind tunnel was manufactured and launched in laboratory. Wind speed in the tunnel is in 0-40 km/h range. Experimental results showed that the rate of soil erosion and loss is reduced with increased other soil particles versus wind erosion. General and localized erosion phenomena on soil surface were investigated according to soil particles size and uniformity of the samples coating surface

Detection of Extraintestinal Pathogenic Escherichia coli among Normal Stool Flora of Young, Healthy, Unmarried Males & Females as Predisposing Factor to Extraintestinal Infections:A Comparison Study

In this study we surveyed the dominant normal stool flora of randomly selected healthy, young (18-23 years old), unmarried (doctrinal) Iraqi college students (males and females) for the carriage of extraintestinal pathogenic E. coli (ExPEC). ExPEC virulence was detected phenotypically by mannose resistant hemagglutination of human red blood cells (MRHA) and mannose sensitive (MS) agglutination of Bakers' yeast (Saccharomyces cerevisceae). From 88 college students, 264 E. coli isolates were obtained (3 isolates per person): 123 from 41 females and 141 from 47 males. Of these isolates, 56% (149/264) caused MS agglutination of yeast cells and 4.16% (11/264) showed MRHA. Eighty two percent (9/11) of the isolates with MRHA also caused MS agglutination of yeast cells. Statistically the difference is not significant (P < 0.05) among males and females regarding the MS agglutination of yeast cells: 59% (72/123) of females' isolates vs. 55% (77/141) of males' isolates. Conversely, the difference is clear regarding the carriage of isolates with MRHA. All the isolates with MRHA were distributed among females' dominant stool flora (11/123: 8.94%) whereas none of the males' dominant stool flora showed MRHA (0/141: 0%). Five females out of 41 (12.19%) had isolates with MRHA. All the three isolates in 2 of these 5 females showed MRHA, 2 isolates in another 2 showed MRHA, and only one isolate in 1 female caused MRHA. Therefore we can say that the difference among males and females in fecal carriage of E. coli ,with characteristics of ExPEC, can be a predisposing factor of females to ExPEC infections more than males

The state of ambient air quality in Pakistan—a review

Background and purpose: Pakistan, during the last decade, has seen an extensive escalation in population growth, urbanization, and industrialization, together with a great increase in motorization and energy use. As a result, a substantial rise has taken place in the types and number of emission sources of various air pollutants. However, due to the lack of air quality management capabilities, the country is suffering from deterioration of air quality. Evidence from various governmental organizations and international bodies has indicated that air pollution is a significant risk to the environment, quality of life, and health of the population. The Government has taken positive steps toward air quality management in the form of the Pakistan Clean Air Program and has recently established a small number of continuous monitoring stations. However, ambient air quality standards have not yet been established. This paper reviews the data being available on the criteria air pollutants: particulate matter (PM), sulfur dioxide, ozone, carbon monoxide, nitrogen dioxide, and lead. Methods: Air pollution studies in Pakistan published in both scientific journals and by the Government have been reviewed and the reported concentrations of PM, SO2, O3, CO, NO2, and Pb collated. A comparison of the levels of these air pollutants with the World Health Organization air quality guidelines was carried out. Results: Particulate matter was the most serious air pollutant in the country. NO2 has emerged as the second high-risk pollutant. The reported levels of PM, SO2, CO, NO2, and Pb were many times higher than the World Health Organization air quality guidelines. Only O3 concentrations were below the guidelines. Conclusions: The current state of air quality calls for immediate action to tackle the poor air quality. The establishment of ambient air quality standards, an extension of the continuous monitoring sites, and the development of emission control strategies are essential. © Springer-Verlag 2009

Participative Leadership and Organizational Identification in SMEs in the MENA Region: Testing the Roles of CSR Perceptions and Pride in Membership

The aim of this research is to explore the process linking participative leadership to organizational identification. The study examines the relationship between participative leadership and internal CSR perceptions of employees and also investigates the role that pride in membership plays in the affiliation of CSR perceptions with organizational identification. By studying these relationships, the paper aspires to contemplate new presumed mediators in the association of participative leadership with organizational identification as well as determine a possible novel antecedent of employee CSR perceptions. Empirical evidence is provided from data that was collected through a survey distributed to employees working for small- and medium-sized enterprises in three countries in the Middle East and North Africa regions, particularly the United Arab Emirates, Lebanon, and Tunisia. Findings show that participative leadership leads to positive internal CSR perceptions of employees and that these CSR perceptions lead to pride in membership which, in turn, results in organizational identification. Implications of these findings are also discussed

www.pjms.com.pk 107 Pak

Manuscripts from any country can have deficiencies. Those received from Iran have had their share of discrepancies. These discrepancies have ranged from problems with poor English, to inconsistency of format and quality of references and disregard for the &apos;instruction to authors&apos;. Significant delays occur in the processing of articles due to too much time taken by the authors to give the feedback to the queries of reviewers and the return of proof-read articles, amongst many other elements. Conclusions: We feel that online edition of a journal not only helps to increase the visibility of the journal but also proves to be a great source of manuscripts, even without indexing by Medline, provided the regularity and standard of the journal is maintained. In addition, it is an important potential source of coordination between the regional countries to work together for the training of writers, reviewers and editors to improve the standard of medical journalism, and thus improve the standards of medical journals in the region

Study on the multiplicity of result and comparing it with the multiplicity of crime

The multiplicity of result is a situation that several results can be achieved from one criminal behavior. Is the multiplicity of result an example of the spiritual or physical multiplicity of crimes? There are different opinions among lawyers. Formerly, it has been considered as multiplicity of crime by judicial president and equal to criminal behavior with various titles. In 1392 (Hijri Shamsi), Iranian Parliament with providing a criminal legislative policy and enacting article 134:1, determined the multiplicity of result as physical (material) multiplicity and ended these dissensions. The multiplicity of result could be realized within the multiplicity of victim of an offence and subject of crime and this condition is different with the situation that is resulted several implications from one criminal behavior. Although, the multiplicity of result is similar to spiritual (moral) or physical (material) multiplicity in different ways, but is a different conception from those two. The purpose of this research is description and analyzation of this subject and its constituent elements, investigation of its real position and implications and expression of its differences and similarities with the multiplicity of crime such as spiritual (moral) or physical (material(, that would be studied by descriptive and analytic method