UNLABELLED BACKGROUND AND AIMS The negative logarithmic relationship between orthodox seed longevity and moisture content in hermetic storage is subject to a low-moisture-content limit (m(c)), but is m(c) affected by temperature? METHODS Red clover (Trifolium pratense) and alfalfa (Medicago sativa) seeds were stored hermetically at 12 moisture contents (2-15 %) and five temperatures (-20, 30,...

an understanding of the strength of rice grains as affected by moisture content and temperature is important for analysis and prediction of cracking and/or breakage behavior during handling and processing. further, the magnitude of these properties at various moisture contents and temperatures is needed for the accurate design of milling machinery so that grain damage is minimized. to determine...

The effect of moisture content and loading rate on mechanical strength of 12 brown rice grain varieties was determined. The results showed that the rupture force of brown rice grain decreased by increasing the moisture content and loading rate. The highest rupture force values was obtained at the moisture content of 8% (w.b.) and loading rate of 10 mm/min; while the lowest rupture force corresp...

This study evaluated the effect of coarse or fine grinding of three forms of corn on the performance of lactating cows. Six diets, fed as total mixed rations, were identical except for the corn portion of the diet. Corn treatments were dry shelled corn, high moisture ensiled ear corn, and high moisture ensiled shelled corn, either coarsely or finely ground. The experimental design was a 6 x 6 L...

A long term data acquisition effort of profile soil moisture is under way in southwestern France at 13 automated weather stations. This ground network was developed in order to validate remote sensing and model soil moisture estimates. In this paper, both those in situ observations and a synthetic data set covering continental France are used to test a simple method to retrieve root zone soil m...

Transpiration is the process by which fresh fruits and vegetables lose moisture. This process includes the transport of moisture through the skin of the commodity, the evaporation of this moisture from the commodity surface and the convective mass transport of the moisture to the surroundings. This paper discusses the pertinent factors which affect transpiration and identifies mathematical mode...

The test panels obtained from Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris L.) and Eastern beech (Fagus orientalis L.) were initially adjusted to have 8%, 10%, and 12% moisture content in this study. One-component semimatte and two-component water borne varnishes were applied on the surfaces in order to investigate the effect of the type and the moisture content of the wood on the hardness and the gloss values...

The dynamics and large-scale drivers of heat wave (HW) events in Australia are well documented. However, the influence of soil moisture in modulating HWs is largely unexplored. We focus here on a recent significant HW event in southeast Australia that preceded the Black Saturday bushfires (3–7 February 2009). During this period, the southeast of Australia experienced unprecedented warm conditio...

The objective of this paper is to present the contribution of a new dielectric constant characterisation for the modelling of radar backscattering behaviour. Our analysis is based on a large number of radar measurements acquired during different experimental campaigns (Orgeval'94, Pays de Caux'98, 99). We propose a dielectric constant model, based on the combination of contributions from both s...