This study was to identify proper blowing velocity conditions to remove rice bran during milling. The milling characteristics were measured at four levels of blowing velocity 20, 25, 30, 35 m/s.
The rise of grain temperature of milled rice was the lowest, 16.9 °C at 35 m/s. The differences of cracked ratio and broken rice occurrence ratio between before and after milling were found to be slightly lower at 35 m/s than other blowing velocities. Turbidity was decreased at high blowing velocity, and showed the lowest value at 35 m/s.

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The main fluorescent compounds in Japanese dace fish (Tribolodon hakonensis) eye fluid associated with freshness were distinguished and their time-dependent changes with storage were observed. For this experiment 95 fish were stored at 20 °C for 36 h, meat from the dorsal part was sampled at different storage times and used to measure K value, a standard freshness index. At the same time eye fluid was collected from the fish for fluorescence spectra acquisition and biochemical analysis. K value results showed the fish remained fresh up until 18 h of storage, and then deteriorated quickly thereafter. While aromatic proteins and amino acids were confirmed to be the main fluorescent compounds in eye fluid, they showed a complicated change during storage. Fluorescent compounds of uric acid, closely associated with freshness, had low intensity values at the start of storage, with values raising sharply later in storage; showing an exponential increase during storage. Dityrosine was found to be present only at a very late stage of storage. These results indicate the connection between specific fluorescent compound changes and the progression of storage could be employed as a meaningful predictor of fish freshness.

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Nowadays, due to the shortage of oil-based storages and environmental problems, the tendency toward the use of alternative fuels such as biodiesel and ethanol has been increased. The objective of the current study was to evaluate the energy cycle of biodiesel production from rapeseed oil using transesterification method. The energy consumption in the purification stage of rapeseed oil for edible purposes was analyzed, and the results were then compared with those of biodiesel production. According to the Life Cycle Analysis model, it was found that the input and output energy in biodiesel production from rapeseed oil were 28293.28 MJ/ha and 54727.07 MJ/ha, respectively. Energy indexes involving specific energy, energy efficiency and pure energy were also calculated for biodiesel production (equal to 16.002 MJ/kg, 0.06 kg/MJ and 7986.89 MJ, respectively). The emission of greenhouse gasses was calculated in the cycle of biodiesel production. It was revealed that the maximum pollutant factor was related to diesel fuel in transferring stage of the product to the oil-extraction company followed by agricultural production stage having the shares of 100% and 40%, respectively. Results of the study indicated that the ANFIS model could predict the yield of the product with a high accuracy (R = 0.99, RMSE = 3.94).

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This paper studies the energy consumption and finding relationship between energy inputs and yield, per hectare production of melon farms in Khorasan Razavi province, Iran. To this end, the data were collected from 94 farmers which were selected based on random sampling method. Total energy inputs in all stages of melon production was estimated as 1069332.26 MJ ha⁻¹. Fuel (81.79%) was the most contributor to the energy consumption followed by Farmyard manure (13.34%). Energy use efficiency and energy productivity were gained 0.18 and 0.23 kg MJ⁻¹, respectively. 84.95% of the total energy input was non-renewable while 15.05% was renewable. The shares of direct and indirect energy inputs were 83.03% and 16.97%. Econometric estimation results revealed that diesel fuel (0.90) had the highest impact among the inputs in melon production. The contribution of machinery, fertilizers, farmyard manure and water for irrigation was significant at the 1% level.

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A computer program is developed in Visual Basic 6.0 to locate the virtual hitch point of tractor with respect to depth of operation and to optimize the three-point linkage parameters for matching the virtual hitch point with the line of pull. The concept of Cartesian coordinate geometry was used in the program development. The virtual hitch point was calculated by solving the straight line equations of lower and upper link of three-point hitching system at particular depth of operation. For determining the line of pull, draft was calculated from ASAE equation and coordinate of centre of resistance was assumed to the 2/3 of depth of operation in the line of centre of gravity of implement. The optimum depth of operation is the depth for which line of pull passes above and near to VHP which was calculated in the program through the iteration process. The locus of virtual hitch point with respect to depth of operation was observed as parabolic. The distance of virtual hitch point from the rear axle centre increases with increase in depth of operation in all cases. The optimum depth of operation for a test tractor was observed as 269 mm using the developed program. This depth depends substantially on lower link (length and link position) and implements parameters (weight and height of hitch point). Therefore, this program may be very useful in simulating the three-point linkage and implement parameters as per the requirement of depth of operation.

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A half-tracked tractor equipped with an oscillating crawler system has better stability on uneven ground than wheel type tractors, which respond directly to a concavo-convex surface. However, the crawler tension fluctuates according to the variation in the perimeter of the crawler unit, since the hitch point of the oscillating frame is set separately from the drive axis of the drive sprocket. It is suggested that this fluctuation of the crawler tension would influence the driving performance. This study aims to evaluate the relationship between the crawler tension and the driving performance of the oscillating crawler unit using kinematics simulation. The ultimate objective is to achieve traveling control with fluctuation in the crawler tension. This paper introduces a rubber crawler model that is able to simulate the fluctuation in the crawler tension. In the driving simulation, the effect of the elastic parameters of the crawler and support spring on the driving performance of the oscillating crawler unit was examined. It was observed that the driving performance of the oscillating crawler unit is affected by the parameters of the rubber crawler and the support spring of the idle roller.

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Existing agricultural detection algorithms mainly detect a single object category (class) under specific conditions which restricts the farmer's ability to utilize them in different conditions and for different classes. What is needed are generic algorithms that can learn to detect objects from examples, thereby reducing the technical burden required to adapt to local circumstances. Among generic algorithms, deep learning methods recently are beginning to outperform other generic algorithms. In this study, we investigate the possibility of using a deep learning algorithm for recognition of two classes (mature and immature strawberry) of agricultural product using a deep convolutional neural network (DCNN) and greenhouse images taken under natural lighting conditions. To the best of our knowledge, this is the first application of deep learning to the detection of mature and immature strawberries as two classes. We evaluated the results using the following parameters: average precision (AP), a parameter that combines detection success and confidence of detection; and bounding box overlap (BBOL) which measures localization accuracy. The developed deep learning model achieved an AP of 88.03% and 77.21%, and a BBOL of 0.7394 and 0.7045 respectively for mature and immature classes.

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At present, farmers who own a sugarcane harvester are becoming more interested in purchasing a sugarcane billet planter. However, the planting consistency of this type of planter is still low. Thus, its metering device should be improved. The objective of this study is to develop the shape and arrangement of the metering device of the billet planter and study its effect to the discharge consistency. The original billet metering device consists of a rubber conveyor belt with flat steel cleats that have a length equal to the conveyor width, while the developed metering device uses 20-degree inclined-edge cleats. The cleats were shortened to 2/3 of the conveyor width and aligned in left-right alternation. The developed metering device was evaluated compared with the original device, considering the precision of billet discharging during the stationary tests. The linear speed of the conveyor was controlled at 0.189 m/s. The test results showed that developed metering devices gave a precision index of 50.67%, which is 9.66% higher compared with that of the original. The developed metering device had higher torque than the first metering device and higher fluctuation.

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Polyhydroxybutyrate (PHB), a biodegradable polymer (an intracellular product) was produced using Bacillus safensis EBT1. A kinetic model that describes microbial growth, biopolymer production and substrate consumption was used to predict the performance of batch fermentation of Bacillus safensis EBT1. The experimental data were fitted with modified logistic equation. The specific growth rate (μ_max) and half saturation constant (K_s) values for the models such as Monod, Contois and Herbert were found to be 0.16, 0.15, 0.13 h⁻¹ and 79.51, 68.19, 43.39 g/L respectively. Leudeking-Piret kinetics indicated that PHB formation in this study as growth associated. The recovered polymer was characterized using Transmission Electron Microscopy, Differential Scanning Calorimetry, Thermogravimetry analysis and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance. The PHB produced was used to synthesize nanoparticles using modified nano-precipitation method.

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Wastes from Merluccius hubbsi processing were used for biological silage elaborated with Lactobacillus arizonensis and for chemical silage performed with 0.18M sulfuric acid and 0.22M formic acid. Mice BALB/c were fed with isoenergetic diets, EFBS and EFCS, containing 36.3% (wt/wt) biological fish silage and 36.3% (wt/wt) chemical fish silage respectively. Promisingly, after 30 day consumption both additives did not provoke lesions in the gut, thinner wall, distension or abnormal vascularization. The higher concentration of lactic acid bacteria (LAB) in the gut of mice fed with EFBS (2.51 × 10⁴ cfu LAB/g EFBS vs. 3.98 × 10³ cfu LAB/g EFCS), together with the weight gain (23.8 ± 3.8 g vs. 16.7 ± 3.7 g), feed conversion ratio (4.12 vs. 6.71), protein efficiency rate (0.69 vs. 0.63), villi height (455 μm vs. 418 μm) for EFBS and EFCS respectively, support the probiotic effect of L. arizonensis. Nevertheless, both preparations are interesting options to envisage a promising outcome for recycling fish wastes.

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