Determining the speed of soil particles during the covering of set onion with a disk-type working element featuring a soil guide

In Russia, the major share of vegetable products is produced during the period of March to August. This is due to the inadequate volumes of vegetables fit for long-term storage, and the use of technologies of early production of vegetable cultures. Apart from the above, vegetable farming is highly dependent on imported seed stock. In view of the above, import phaseout and improvement of competitiveness of vegetable cultures in Russia should focus on the development of technologies of production of storable products, as well as on methods of early harvesting of vegetables (during the period of May to July). With regards to the production of bulb vegetables, this problem may be solved by expanding industrial cultivation of onions from set onions, as well as planting of both seeds and seedlings during the autumn season. In particular, techniques of production of set onion, bulb onion from seedlings, and of blackseed onion have poor scientific and methodological background. This deficiency results in a gap between domestic and international process and engineering aspects. This calls for the development and introduction of machines designed for production of onion from seedlings that would be in line with the modern level of development of farm machinery industry for vegetable production

MATRIX METALLOPROTEINASES AND ACUTE PHASE PROTEINS IN INFLAMMATORY PROCESSES OF THE LUNGS IN CHILDREN

Система протеолиза рассматривается, как особая форма биологического контроля, занимающая центральное место в реализации воспалительных реакций. Цель работы. Исследовать активность матриксных металлопротеиназ: ММП-1, ММП-2, ММП-7, ММП-9, ТИМП-1 у детей с неосложнёнными и осложнёнными пневмониями. Сопоставить характер изменений активности матриксных металлопротеиназ с активностью воспалительного процесса у детей с внебольничной пневмонией. Материалы и методы исследования. В первую группу вошли дети с диагнозом пневмония неосложнённая (n=61). Во вторую группу были включены 100 пациентов, с легочно-плевральными осложнениями пневмонии. Было проведено: 1) Клинический анализ крови; 2) Скорость оседания эритроцитов (СОЭ); 3) Уровень С – реактивного белка (С-РБ); 4) концентрация фибриногена; 5) Оценка уровня матриксных металлопротеиназ (ММП) 1, 2, 7, 9, ТИМП-1. Полученные результаты свидетельствовали о том, что у детей с пневмониями отмечалось повышение уровня ММП -7 и -9, а также тканевого ингибитора матриксных металлопротеиназ (ТИМП) – 1. Выявлена реакция ММП-1, ММП-2, ММП-7, ММП-9, ТИМП-1 на развитие деструкции легочной ткани и тяжесть воспалительного процесса при осложненных пневмониях. Полученные данные могут свидетельствовать возможности использования уровней матриксных металлопротеиназ для оценки активности системного воспалительного ответа при пневмониях у детей и характеристики степени выраженности деструктивных процессов. Комплексное исследование активности ММП с уровнем лейкоцитов крови, СОЭ и белками острой фазы позволяет оценить активность воспаления, тяжесть, а также степень развития легочно-плеврального осложнения.Proteolysis system is seen as a special form of biological control is central to the realization of inflammatory reactions. Objective. To investigate the activity of matrix metalloproteinases: MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, TIMP-1 in children with uncomplicated and complicated by pneumonia. Compare the nature of changes in the activity of matrix metalloproteinases with the activity of the inflammatory process in children with community-acquired pneumonia. Materials and methods. The first group included children with a diagnosis of uncomplicated pneumonia (n = 61). The second group included 100 patients with lung and pleural complications of pneumonia. There have been: 1) Complete blood count; 2) The erythrocyte sedimentation rate (ESR); 3) Level C – reactive protein (CRP); 4) the concentration of fibrinogen; 5) Evaluation of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), 1, 2, 7, 9, TIMP-1. The results showed that in children with pneumonia was an increase in the level of MMP -7 and -9 and tissue inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (TIMP) – 1 revealed the reaction of MMP-1, MMP-2, MMP-7, MMP-9, TIMP-1 in the development of lung tissue destruction and severity of the inflammatory process with complicated pneumonia. The data may indicate the possibility of using levels of matrix metalloproteinases to evaluate the activity of the systemic inflammatory response in pneumonia in children and the characteristics of the severity of the destructive processes. Complex research of MMP activity level of white blood cells, erythrocyte sedimentation rate and acute phase proteins to evaluate the activity of inflammation, the severity and the extent of lung and pleural complications

Results of Laboratory Studies of the Automated Sorting System for Root and Onion Crops

The roller and sieve machines most commonly used in Russia for the post-harvest processing of root and tuber crops and onions have a number of disadvantages, the main one being a decrease in the quality of sorting due to the contamination of working bodies, which increases the quantity of losses during sorting and storage. To obtain high-quality competitive production, it is necessary to combine a number of technological operations during the sorting process, such as dividing the material into classes and fractions by quality and size, as well as identifying and removing damaged products. In order to improve the quality of sorting of root tubers and onions by size, it is necessary to ensure the development of an automatic control system for operating and technological parameters, the use of which will eliminate manual sorting on bulkhead tables in post-harvest processing. To fulfill these conditions, the developed automatic control system must have the ability to identify the material on the sorting surface, taking into account external damage and ensuring the automatic removal of impurities. In this study, the highest sorting accuracy of tubers (of more than 91%) was achieved with a forward speed of 1.2 m/s for the conveyor of the sorting table, with damage to 2.2% of the tubers, which meets the agrotechnical requirements for post-harvest processing. This feature distinguishes the developed device from similar ones

The Results of Studies on the Assessment of the Destruction of Soil Clods during Combine Harvesting of Potatoes

Existing potato harvesters cause damage to marketable products as a result of the interaction of potato tubers with each other, with working bodies and soil clods, given the wide variety of soil and climatic conditions in which the harvesting process takes place. In addition, under homogeneous soil and climatic conditions within the same accounting area, there is a large deviation from the average values of the main physical soil constants—moisture and hardness. Field studies were carried out to determine the fractional composition of soil clods, size-mass parameters, as well as their physical and mechanical properties with the identification of the greatest force for their destruction. The article presents a methodology for conducting research to assess the influence of working bodies on the magnitude of the force impact on potato tubers and soil clods during harvesting, a methodology for assessing the dynamic destruction of soil clods. The results of comparative studies of the force impact of the working bodies of modern potato harvesters, which affect the destruction of soil clods, causing damage to potato tubers as a result of their interaction with soil clods are presented

The Results of Studies on the Assessment of the Destruction of Soil Clods during Combine Harvesting of Potatoes

Existing potato harvesters cause damage to marketable products as a result of the interaction of potato tubers with each other, with working bodies and soil clods, given the wide variety of soil and climatic conditions in which the harvesting process takes place. In addition, under homogeneous soil and climatic conditions within the same accounting area, there is a large deviation from the average values of the main physical soil constants—moisture and hardness. Field studies were carried out to determine the fractional composition of soil clods, size-mass parameters, as well as their physical and mechanical properties with the identification of the greatest force for their destruction. The article presents a methodology for conducting research to assess the influence of working bodies on the magnitude of the force impact on potato tubers and soil clods during harvesting, a methodology for assessing the dynamic destruction of soil clods. The results of comparative studies of the force impact of the working bodies of modern potato harvesters, which affect the destruction of soil clods, causing damage to potato tubers as a result of their interaction with soil clods are presented

Development of an Optical System with an Orientation Module to Detect Surface Damage to Potato Tubers

This method is a variant of non-destructive multiparametric surface analysis and includes the implementation of hyperspectral and RGB image processing approaches from different angles. This work is based on a fundamental hyperspectral survey system for obtaining data on scanned biological objects in many spectral ranges and with several possible variants of assembling a system with different types of surface illumination with point light and diffuse illumination. The implementation of the technology through the use of a diffused light source provides the diffuse illumination of a biological object with pronounced symptoms of rarefaction on the surface of a biological object—in this case, potato tubers, due to the presence of signs of disease on the potato peel, as well as their deformation. Using broadband lamps, a short-pass filter is located between the source and the object (λ ≤ 400 nm, λ may vary depending on the excitation length), and a long-pass filter (λ ≥ 400 nm) between the root or onion and the chamber. The use of a vision system with a created database containing models of real defects in potato tubers showed a high sorting efficiency, providing an accuracy of sorting by size of 95.4%, and an accuracy by the presence of defects of 93.1%

The Results of Experimental Studies of the Physical and Mechanical Properties of an Elastic-Plastic Material for Tribological Properties during Separation

The obtained results of experimental studies on the influence of the physical and mechanical properties of an elastoplastic material (clods of soil and potato tubers) on the factors of its destruction when interacting with an absolutely solid body (separating working body) established that an increase in the density of a soil clod leads to an increase in the effort expended on dynamic destruction, regardless of the size fraction. Within one fractional group, the increase in force from the minimum value necessary for the destruction of the soil clod in the density range from 1300 to 1700 kg/m3 is on average 56–67 N. However, there is a tendency to increase the effort to destroy the soil clod with an increase in the size fraction, including identical density, by 7–8 N, which is 4–5% of the initial value of the destruction force of a given density. The greatest destruction of soil clods is provided at a moisture content of 22–24%, which should be explained by the formation of the physical ripeness of the leached chernozem. In addition, a decrease in soil moisture leads to a more intense adhesion of soil particles to each other and, consequently, to an increase in the force on the soil clod to destroy it

The Results of Laboratory Studies of the Device for Evaluation of Suitability of Potato Tubers for Mechanized Harvesting

The purpose of this study is to substantiate the concept of a device for the evaluation of the suitability of varieties and hybrids of potato tubers for mechanical harvesting from the earliest stages of the selection process and to perform quantitative and structural assessment of damage to potato varieties and hybrids inflicted by the device, simulating the process of the harvester’s separating element operation depending on the machine type and harvesting conditions. The structural and operating diagram of the device for the evaluation of suitability of varieties and hybrids for mechanized harvesting has been developed, and the procedure and results of the study to determine the force action of the separating surface of the developed device on the potato tubers are presented. The device developed in accordance with the proposed conceptual scheme, further calibrated to account for modern potato harvesters would make it possible to conduct targeted selection of varieties suitable for mechanized cultivation, as well as to assess the degree of resistance of potato varieties to mechanized harvesting at early stages of selective and seed production works

RAMAN and Fluorimetric Scattering Lidar Facilitated to Detect Damaged Potatoes by Determination of Spectra

The purpose of this study is to substantiate the concept of express assessment of potato tubers for mechanized harvesting using fluorimetric and RAMAN lidar, as well as to conduct a quantitative and structural assessment of damage to potato varieties and hybrids, using a device that simulates the process of operation of the combine separator, depending on the type of machine and harvesting conditions. In addition, calibration of the lidar was undertaken to assess the magnitude of the physical impact of the drum to assess the damage. A structural–functional diagram of a device for assessing the suitability of varieties and hybrids for mechanized harvesting has been developed. The methodology and results of this study are presented to determine the assessment of damage to potato tubers by a RAMAN lidar when fixing their force impact of the separating surface of the developed device on a potato tuber. The device developed in accordance with the proposed conceptual scheme, additionally calibrated taking into account modern potato harvesters and tested on a RAMAN lidar, will allow targeted selection of varieties suitable for mechanized harvesting, as well as assessing the degree of resistance of potato varieties to mechanized harvesting at early stages of selection and seed works