Laboratory Evaluation of the Theory of Catenary Irrigation Trail Tubes

Water shortage and high energy cost have promoted the concept of a trail tube irrigation system. Trail tubes are perforated polyethylene hoses, which can be used to replace sprinklers on a center pivot irrigation system for water and energy conservation. A theory on the hydraulics of catenary trail tubes was developed by Chu (1986). The purpose of this study was to evaluate the catenary trail tube theory under laboratory conditions. Perforation flow rate, elevation and pressure were measured on three trail tubes in the laboratory. Tube flow rate, velocity head and friction loss along the tube were calculated from measured data. Comparisons of laboratory data with theoretical values indicate that the theory is adequate for the design of catenary tube irrigation systems

GOVERNANCE UNDER UNCERTAINTY: TASK ASSIGNMENT IN PRODUCER CONTROLLED RESEARCH ORGANIZATIONS

In Canada, Australia, United States, and a number of other countries there are considerable number of producer controlled research organizations (PCROs) in the agricultural sector, charged with the task of investing hundreds of millions of dollars in research and development (R&D) projects. Given the impact of PCROs on productivity of agricultural sector and food security, the primary objective of this study is to improve the governance of PCROs by providing knowledge of the decision-making process and governance structure of these producer-led entities. The information related to the current governance structures and decision-making processes of PCROs is attained through analyzing a series of interviews with managers and directors of key PCROs in Australia, the U.S. and Canada. A great deal of similarity was observed across PCROs both in terms of the decision-making process and governance structure. In particular, PCROs do not tend to separate management and oversight tasks. The producers elected directors of these organizations are involved in management decisions. This observed practice is in contrast with most of the theories and empirical studies focusing on the governance structure of non-profit (NP) and for-profit (FP) organizations (Brown & Guo, 2010; Fama & Jensen, 1983; LeRoux & Langer, 2016; Miller-Millesen, 2003). Based on information gained from the interviews, observable characteristics of PCROs explained in the literature, and agency theory this dissertation develops a theoretical model to describe the unusual task assignment in the PCROs. The theoretical model suggests that because of the long investment horizons in the PCROs, the compensation of management teams based on their contributions to return on investments is not feasible. Therefore, the PCROs have to reward their executives on the basis of a measure of efforts exerted. Hence, the directors’ involvement reduces the volatility of managers’ compensation. Motivated by the theoretical model, a survey whose participants are the directors of Saskatchewan’s PCROs was conducted to examine the consistency of theoretical model’s implications and the task assignment practices of PCROs in the real world. The examination of the survey results suggests the presence of consistencies between the theoretical model’s implications and observed outcomes

The effect of training of information processing approach on self-confidence in girl students in vocational schools in Isfahan, Iran

BACKGROUND: Self-confidence is one of the main aspects of mental health during adolescence, which is essential for achieving goals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of training information processing approach on self-confidence in female students of vocational schools in Isfahan, Iran.METHODS: This randomized control trial study was conducted on 50 adolescent female students in Isfahan in academic year 2016-2017. The Eysenck self-esteem scale (ESES) was used to assess self-esteem among the students. Training the information processing approach was performed on the experimental group. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using paired sample t-test, independent t- test, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test.RESULTS: The scores of the students’ self-confidence in the experimental group increased compared to the control group (P ≤ 0.050).CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, training information processing approach is effective on self-confidence in female students of vocational schools in Isfahan. It is suggested to consider the training information processing approach along with other approaches

The Effect of Synchronous and Asynchronous Language Learning: A Study of Iranian EFL Intermediate Students’ Vocabulary Learning

Synchronous learning and asynchronous learning are the two main approaches to teaching available in distance education. The main objective of the study was to determine which approach to vocabulary learning, would facilitate vocabulary learning more for Iranian EFL learners. From among the targeted population of 82 intermediate students of an English institute in Isfahan, Iran, students between the ages of 12 to 18, a sample of 60 students were chosen based on their score on a quick placement test (QPT). The selected participants undertook a vocabulary pre-test and were divided into two groups of 30 who in terms of language proficiency and vocabulary knowledge were homogenized. Both synchronous and asynchronous groups were taught “Advanced Vocabulary and Idiom”, by the same teacher at one particular institute. In the period of 10 sessions of a semester, the synchronous groups were taught the vocabulary items in class synchronously and the asynchronous group was taught via email. After the post-test, the results with the t-test observed, indicated a significance difference between synchronous and asynchronous groups, p-value of .003, gender with the p-value of 0.027 and pre-test and post-test with the p-value of 0.047, but no significance was observed for age with the p-value of 0.127. The post-test results indicated that the synchronous group considerably outperformed the asynchronous group in the vocabulary knowledge they attained

The effect of training of information processing approach on self-confidence in girl students in vocational schools in Isfahan, Iran

BACKGROUND: Self-confidence is one of the main aspects of mental health during adolescence, which is essential for achieving goals. The purpose of this study is to investigate the effectiveness of training information processing approach on self-confidence in female students of vocational schools in Isfahan, Iran. METHODS: This randomized control trial study was conducted on 50 adolescent female students in Isfahan in academic year 2016-2017. The Eysenck self-esteem scale (ESES) was used to assess self-esteem among the students. Training the information processing approach was performed on the experimental group. Data were analyzed by SPSS software using paired sample t-test, independent t- test, and Kolmogorov-Smirnov (K-S) test. RESULTS: The scores of the students’ self-confidence in the experimental group increased compared to the control group (P ≤ 0.050). CONCLUSION: According to the results of this study, training information processing approach is effective on self-confidence in female students of vocational schools in Isfahan. It is suggested to consider the training information processing approach along with other approaches

Online) An Open Access

ABSTRACT The effect of nanosilver was investigated on protein pattern changes, silver accumulation, alterations in antioxidant capacity and reduced sugars in canola (Brassica napus L.) cultivar Ocapy under in vitro conditions. The grown seedlings on MS medium were subjected to MS medium containing 0, 0.5, 1, 1.5 and 2 ppm concentrations of silver nanoparticles for four weeks. Application of different concentrations of nanosilver had not significant effect on the total soluble protein in shoot but decreased protein content in 1.5 ppm concentration in root. The study of shoot and root protein patterns using one dimension gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and consequence analysis of bands by ImageJ program showed some remarkable changes. Relative expression of three proteins in shoot and five proteins in root were changes in response to nanosilver treatment. Silver accumulation was detected in shoot tissue only. There were some changes in antioxidant enzymes activity. The reduced sugars were increased in 1.5 ppm of nanosilver comparing with the control plants in shoot. It seems that the nanosilver at 1.5 ppm concentration is the best treatment of nanosilver as an ethylene action inhibitor under in vitro condition for B. napus L. cultivar Ocapy in this study

Improving the reliability of optimised link state routing in a smart grid neighbour area network based wireless mesh network using multiple metrics

© 2017 by the authors; licensee MDPI. Reliable communication is the backbone of advanced metering infrastructure (AMI). Within the AMI, the neighbourhood area network (NAN) transports a multitude of traffic, each with unique requirements. In order to deliver an acceptable level of reliability and latency, the underlying network, such as the wireless mesh network (WMN), must provide or guarantee the quality-of-service (QoS) level required by the respective application traffic. Existing WMN routing protocols, such as optimised link state routing (OLSR), typically utilise a single metric and do not consider the requirements of individual traffic; hence, packets are delivered on a best-effort basis. This paper presents a QoS-aware WMN routing technique that employs multiple metrics in OLSR optimal path selection for AMI applications. The problems arising from this approach are non deterministic polynomial time (NP)-complete in nature, which were solved through the combined use of the analytical hierarchy process (AHP) algorithm and pruning techniques. For smart meters transmitting Internet Protocol (IP) packets of varying sizes at different intervals, the proposed technique considers the constraints of NAN and the applications' traffic characteristics. The technique was developed by combining multiple OLSR path selection metrics with the AHP algorithm in ns-2. Compared with the conventional link metric in OLSR, the results show improvements of about 23% and 45% in latency and Packet Delivery Ratio (PDR), respectively, in a 25-node grid NAN

Utilizing visible and near infrared spectroscopy based on multi-class support vector machines classification to characterize olive oil adulteration

Rapid and non-destructive adulteration detection is of particular importance to oil industries. This paper presents an application of visible and near-infrared spectroscopy (VNIR) for detection of adulteration levels in olive oil. Sunflower oil was used as an adulterant to olive oil and adulteration samples with different levels ranging from 0 to 40% were prepared and used for the experiments. The spectra were first considered in the range of 500-900 nm and then smoothened and normalized to reduce the light scattering effects. Principal component analysis (PCA) was performed on the spectra to have a primary data visualization and feature extraction. The extracted PCA scores were used to calculate the Mahalanobis distances of the adulterated samples from the pure sample. Further, the PCA scores were fed to the multi-class support vector machine (SVM) model to perform classification on the basis of different adulteration levels. The results showed that the spectral normalization highlighted different regions over the spectrum affected due to the adulteration. The PCA score biplots showed differences in the samples based on the different amounts of the adulteration. Moreover, the Mahalanobis distance provided a quantitative measure of the differences between the adulterated oil and the pure oil samples. The SVM modelling further supported the classification of the different levels of the adulteration. Consequently, the VNIRS in combination with the SVM could support the development of the classification protocols for detection of adulteration in olive oils

UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines 2013

Facilities & Campus Services, Sustainable UMass and Campus Planning support sustainability and energy conservation initiatives by providing in-house resources to campus staff as well as designers and contractors working with the University. The UMass Amherst Green Building Guidelines provide a framework for approaching new construction and major renovation projects at UMass Amherst that are undergoing LEED certification by focusing the conversation on green building aspects that are most important to the campus. They are intended to be the beginning of a dynamic conversation between designers, environmental consultants and constructors, university stakeholders, and users of new high performance buildings