The overall goal of this research was to study the application of a machine vision system for classification of vegetable seeds. Specific objectives were to (1) design an automated classification system by using machine vision, (2) test the operation of the automated machine vision system with an algorithm for classification of seeds using color feature, and (3) to determine the germination rate in percentage. The seeds of three vegetables were classified by color features. These were Tomato (Lycopersicon esculentum Mill.), Cabbage (Brassica oleracea), and Broccoli (Lactuca sativa). An automated machine vision system using Factorial Vision FAV-500 (Yamatake Honeywell S/C) for classification of seeds was developed. On-line testing, including image acquisition and processing times, and classification of color feature required about 0.08 and 0.10s. The vegetable seeds were classified in different fractions by color features representing different germination rates.

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Wastes of pig, chicken and cow were sampled during composting process under the conditions of high temperature and forced aeration. Water-extracted solutions of the sampled composts were added to the agar culture solution of Solanum and Stewartia pollen to see the elongation reaction of the cultivated pollen tubes.
Contents of total nitrogen in naturally wind dried matters of pig and chicken were high (2.09 to 3.43%), while that of cattle was about 1.73%. Correlation coefficients between the lengths of the cultivated pollen of both sources and concentrations of NH₄-N were negatively high (R²=0.59 to 0.80). NH₄-N contents in the cow composts increased gradually with the progressing of composting. The fact that pH values of composts were all above 7.57, proved few amount of acids produced. There existed a positive high correlation coefficient between EC and NH₄-N of the composts, showing that most of salts were NH₄-N ions.
Therefore, it can be said that the gradual tone of suppression on the elongation of the cultivated pollen tubes was mainly due to the tendency of NH₄-N in the composts. It proved that bioassay of pollen tube is useful for the evaluation of compost maturity.

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This paper presents a wind tunnel investigation of the temperature distributions in a naturally ventilated, multi-span Venlo greenhouse. The tests were carried using a model of 1:12 scale with simulated tomato vegetations 0, 1 and 2m high at full scale, simulated ground heating and external wind speeds of 0 to 3.9m·s^-1. Similarity conditions were applied for conservation of the Archimedes number.
The air temperatures, measured by thermocouples, with no canopy were higher on the windward side of the greenhouse than on the leeward side for all wind speeds. The results showed that a re-circulating air flow occurred, even when the wind speed was zero. One of the causes may be a very small difference in the floor temperatures.
At wind speeds below 1m·s^-1 the spatial average air temperature inside the greenhouse, except near floor, wall and roof, was almost independent of wind speed. As the wind speeds increased above 1m·s^-1 the average internal air temperature decreased. The highest air temperatures occurred when the wind speed was around 1m·s^-1.
The air temperatures at the mid-height of the greenhouse with a simulated 1m-high canopy were lower than without the vegetation, however, the air temperatures below 1m were higher. In the free space above the canopy a large weak re-circulating flow existed, similar to that which occurred in the whole house when no plants were present.
Heat release from the 2m-high plants into the free space above the canopy seemed to be less than that with a 1m high canopy. However, the heat release to the paths was greater. The upper space was less homogeneous with the 2m-high canopy than with 1m canopy.

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Fresh soybean samples were subjected to either an accelerated storage regime at 30°C and 79% relative humidity, or soaking in calcium chloride solution to induce the hard-to-cook (HTC) defect. The stored samples registered a five-fold increase in hardness after three months. This was attributed mainly to the alteration in the nature and bonding interactions of cell wall structural polymers. These structural polymer interactions whose thermal degradations lead to softening (or decrease in cotyledon hardness) were referred to as ‘softening substrates’. Four such softening substrates were identified on the graph of peak compressive force versus cooking time using a stepwise degradation model, and these substrates were characterized in terms of their apparent activation energies. Two of these substrates could be directly linked to β-eliminative reactions of pectic substances. Therefore, storage-induced factors influencing pectic β-degradation reactions may be one way that directly leads to the development of the HTC defect in soybean cotyledons.

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In this study, we examined the construction costs of livestock building in cold snowy regions based on the current “Design Standards for livestock buildings.” When designing a domestic livestock buildings in a cold snowy region, consideration must be given to the external force of snow load on the roof and to the frost depth in the foundation, which are very different to those in other regions. The effects that these differences in snow load on the roof and frost depth have on the construction costs of typical one-story gabled steel structures in Hokkaido were investigated. Simulation was conducted in which the snow load on the roof was increased in increments of 50kgf/m² up to a maximum of 400kgf/m² and the frost depth was increased from 400 to 1, 200mm in increments of 200mm. The construction costs for these different conditions of snow load on the roof and frost depth were calculated on the basis of the design plants. Construction costs were divided into earth work, reinforcing work, form work, concrete work and steel work.
The following results were obtained.
1. If the frost depth is held constant (600mm), construction costs in a cold snowy region increase by about 8% with an increase in snow load on the roof of 100kgf/m².
2. If the snow load on the roof is held constant (200kgf/m²), construction costs in a cold snowy region increase by about 6% with an increase in frost depth of 200mm.
3. In either case, the costs of earth work, steel work, form work and concrete work involved in the foundation construction account for more than 50% of the total construction costs, and this precentage increases even more the greater the frost depth is.
These results suggest that the current construction standards related to the frost depth and the foundation of livestock buildings must be relaxed in order to reduce construction costs.

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The entropy theory is applied to determine the development state of a small scale CELSS (Closed Ecological Life Support System) and the extended Lotka-Volterra ecological model to test its development process. The change of exergy was found to be correlated with the developmental state of CELSS. In addition, two different kinds of asymptotical steady state are obtained from the simulated results and discussed mathematically. The simulation model is considered appropriate for the study of the developmental state and processes for the formulation of CELSS.

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Fresh soybeans were stored at 30°C and 79%RH to induce the hard-to-cook (HTC) defect. Viscoelastic characterization of stored cotyledons was done using stress relaxation and by Alfrey's approximation for the distribution of relaxation times. The relaxation behavior of raw or soaked soybean cotyledons conformed to three-element generalized Maxwell models, except for the soaked/control sample for which a single element was required. Relaxation times associated with each Maxwell element decreased progressively with storage time for non-soaked samples but increased for soaked ones, implying different operating relaxation mechanisms. A superposition of three normally distributed relaxation spectra was obtained for all but the soaked/control sample using Alfrey's approximation. For non-soaked samples, stress relaxation occurred mainly via the mechanism characterized by the relaxation time τ₁, the spread of the distribution of which progressively decreased and shifted to the left along the time axis with storage time. Relaxation in soaked samples was principally by τ₂ whose spread of the distribution decreased with storage time and shifted to the right along the time axis. The relaxation mechanism characterized by τ₁ in soaked cotyledons increased in prominence as storage progressed since its distribution extended beyond the experimental time in the case of the sample stored for five months. This may indicate storage-induced proliferation of the structural species responsible for relaxation via this mechanism. The influence of HTC on the viscoelastic parameters of soybean cotyledons indicates that the development of the defect is associated with structural changes in the cotyledon cell walls, and that stress relaxation can be used to study the phenomenon in the raw state.

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