Experimental clean combustor program, phase 2

The alternate fuels investigation objective was to experimentally determine the impacts, if any, on exhaust emissions, performance, and durability characteristics of the hybrid and vorbix low pollution combustor concepts when operated on test fuels which simulate composition and property changes which might result from future broadened aviation turbine fuel specifications or use of synthetically derived crude feedstocks. Results of the program indicate a significant increase in CO and small NOX increase in emissions at idle for both combustor concepts, and an increase in THC for the vorbix concept. Minimal impact was observed on gaseous emissions at high power. The vorbix concept exhibited significant increase in exhaust smoke with increasing fuel aromatic content. Altitude stability was not affected for the vorbix combustor, but was substantially reduced for the hybrid concept. Severe carbon deposition was observed in both combustors following limited endurance testing with No. 2 home heat fuel. Liner temperature levels were insensitive to variations in aromatic content over the range of conditions investigated

Experimental clean combustor program, phase 1

A program of screening three low emission combustors for conventional takeoff and landing, by testing and analyzing thirty-two configurations is presented. Configurations were tested that met the emission goals at idle operating conditions for carbon monoxide and for unburned hydrocarbons (emission index values of 20 and 4, respectively). Configurations were also tested that met a smoke number goal of 15 at sea-level take-off conditions. None of the configurations met the goal for oxides of nitrogen emissions at sea-level take-off conditions. The best configurations demonstrated oxide of nitrogen emission levels that were approximately 61 percent lower than those produced by the JT9D-7 engine, but these levels were still approximately 24 percent above the goal of an emission index level of 10. Additional combustor performance characteristics, including lean blowout, exit temperature pattern factor and radial profile, pressure loss, altitude stability, and altitude relight characteristics were documented. The results indicate the need for significant improvement in the altitude stability and relight characteristics. In addition to the basic program for current aircraft engine combustors, seventeen combustor configurations were evaluated for advanced supersonic technology applications. The configurations were tested at cruise conditions, and a conceptual design was evolved

IDENTIFYING TIME PATTERNS AT THE FIELD SCALE FOR RETRIEVING SUPERFICIAL SOIL MOISTURE ON AN AGRICULTURAL AREA WITH A CHANGE DETECTION METHOD: A PRELIMINARY ANALYSIS

Abstract. A preliminary analysis based on the application of a change detection method for remote sensed soil moisture retrieval at high resolution is presented. Sentinel-1 SAR images are used for studying agricultural areas in Spain, where in situ soil moisture data are available through the International Soil Moisture Network. The total backscattered SAR signal is modelled as the sum of vegetation and soil contributions. At first, the relationship between soil moisture and the co-polarized band of Sentinel-1 was analyzed for all the measurement stations of the area, and the ones with stronger relation were selected. Time series analyses were then conducted at the field scale for studying the interactions between some SAR parameters and the in situ data. The two polarizations and the polarization ratio were analyzed with respect to in situ soil moisture observations and precipitation data in order to identify homogeneous time domains in which the method can be applied in a consistent manner. Analyses show that the main driver of wide range SAR signal variations is the presence of precipitation events. Moreover, SAR coherence and polarization rate manifest specific behaviors that can be exploited either for deepening the knowledge on the role of model parameters and identifying suitable time and space extends in which operate separate estimations of vegetation, soil moisture and soil roughness parameters. Identification and isolation of precipitation driven patterns, as long as the selection of homogeneous time spans and space regions is the basis for improving the capability of satellite based soil moisture retrieval models

Desempenho de novilhos Canchim alimentados com guandu (Cajanus cajan (L) Millsp) em confinamento.

O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar a viabilidade da utilização do guandu na engorda de bovinos em confinamento. Foram utilizados bovinos da raça Canchim, não castrados.198

Produção e estado nutricional do milho em cultivo intercalar com adubos verdes.

O presente trabalho teve por objetivo avaliar o estado nutricional e a produção do milho quando submetido ao cultivo intercalar com adubos verdes

Thyroid ultrasonography reporting: consensus of Italian Thyroid Association (AIT), Italian Society of Endocrinology (SIE), Italian Society of Ultrasonography in Medicine and Biology (SIUMB) and Ultrasound Chapter of Italian Society of Medical Radiology (SIRM)

Thyroid ultrasonography (US) is the gold standard for thyroid imaging and its widespread use is due to an optimal spatial resolution for superficial anatomic structures, a low cost and the lack of health risks. Thyroid US is a pivotal tool for the diagnosis and follow-up of autoimmune thyroid diseases, for assessing nodule size and echostructure and defining the risk of malignancy in thyroid nodules. The main limitation of US is the poor reproducibility, due to the variable experience of the operators and the different performance and settings of the equipments. Aim of this consensus statement is to standardize the report of thyroid US through the definition of common minimum requirements and a correct terminology. US patterns of autoimmune thyroid diseases are defined. US signs of malignancy in thyroid nodules are classified and scored in each nodule. We also propose a simplified nodule risk stratification, based on the predictive value of each US sign, classified and scored according to the strength of association with malignancy, but also to the estimated reproducibility among different operators

Resposta de Panicum maximum cv. Tanzânia a fontes e doses de fósforo no estabelecimento.

O objetivo deste estudo foi verificar a resposta do Capim Tanzânia a fontes e doses de fósforo (P) no estabelecimento

The Blake-Zisserman model for digital surface models segmentation

The Blake-Zisserman functional is a second-order variational model for data segmentation. The model is build up of several terms, the nature and the interaction of them allow to obtain a smooth approximation of the data that preserves the constant-gradient areas morphology, which are explicitly detected by partitioning the data with the graph of two special functions: the edge-detector function, which detects discontinuities of the datum, and the edge/crease-detector function, which also detects discontinuities of the gradient. First, the main features of the model are presented to justify the sense of the application of the model to DSMs. It is stressed the fact that the model can yield an almost piecewise-linear approximation of the data. This result is certainly of some interest for the specific application of the model to urban DSMs. Then, an example of its application is presented and the results are discussed to highlight how the features of the model affect the model outputs. The smooth approximation of the data produced by the model is thought to be a better candidate for further processing. In this sense, the application of the Blake-Zisserman model can be seen as a useful preprocessing step in the chain of DSMs processing. Eventually, some perspectives are presented to show some promising applications and developments of the Blake-Zisserman model.

Root Morphology, Allometric Relations and Rhizosheath of Ancient and Modern Tetraploid Wheats (Triticum durum Desf.) in Response to Inoculation with Trichoderma harzianum T-22

Early root traits and allometrics of wheat are important for competition and use of resources. They are under-utilized in research and un-explored in many ancient wheats. This is especially true for the rhizosheath emerging from root-soil interactions. We investigated root morphology, root/shoot relations and the amount of rhizosheath of four tetrapoid wheat seedlings (30 days after emergence): the italian landrace Saragolle Lucana and modern varieties Creso, Simeto and Ciclope, and tested the hypothesis that inoculation with Trichoderma harzianum T-22 (T-22) enhances rhizosheath formation and affects wheat varieties differently. Overall growth of non-inoculated plants showed different patterns in wheat varieties, with Saragolle and Ciclope at the two extremes: Saragolle invests in shoot rather than root mass, and in the occupation of space with highest (p < 0.05) shoot height to the uppermost internode (5.02 cm) and length-to-mass shoot (97.8 cm g−1) and root (more than 140 m g−1) ratios. This may be interpreted as maximizing competition for light but also as a compensation for low shoot efficiency due to the lowest (p < 0.05) recorded values of optically-measured chlorophyll content index (22.8). Ciclope invests in biomass with highest shoot (0.06 g) and root (0.04 g) mass and a thicker root system (average diameter 0.34 mm vs. 0.29 in Saragolle) as well as a highest root/shoot ratio (0.95 g g−1 vs. 0.54 in Saragolle). Rhizosheath mass ranged between 22.14 times that of shoot mass in Ciclope and 43.40 in Saragolle (different for p < 0.05). Inoculation with Trichoderma increased the amount of rhizosheath from 9.4% in Ciclope to 36.1% in Simeto and modified root architecture in this variety more than in others. Ours are the first data on roots and seedling shoot traits of Saragolle Lucana and of Trichoderma inoculation effects on rhizosheath. This opens to new unreported interpretations of effects of Trichoderma inoculation on improving plant growth

Trichoderma-Induced Resistance to Botrytis cinerea in Solanum Species: A Meta-Analysis

With the idea of summarizing the outcomes of studies focusing on the resistance induced by Trichoderma spp. against Botrytis cinerea in tomato, the present paper shows, for the first time, results of a meta-analysis performed on studies published from 2010 to 2021 concerning the cross-talk occurring in the tomato–Trichoderma-B. cinerea system. Starting from an initial set of 40 papers, the analysis was performed on 15 works and included nine parameters, as a result of a stringent selection mainly based on the availability of more than one article including the same indicator. The resulting work not only emphasizes the beneficial effects of Trichoderma in the control of grey mold in tomato leaves (reduction in disease intensity, severity and incidence and modulation of resistance genes in the host), but carefully drives the readers to reply to two questions: (i) What are the overall effects of Trichoderma on B. cinerea infection in tomato? (ii) Do the main effects of Trichoderma differ based on the tomato species, Trichoderma species, amount, type and duration of treatment? At the same time, this meta-analysis highlights some weak points of the available literature and should be seen as an invitation to improve future works to better the conceptualization and measure