In regions with intense solar radiation it is common the use of aluminated covers in greenhouses, with the aim of reducing the inside temperature. However, the use of these covers reduces photosynthetic active radiation (PAR) transmitted into the greenhouse. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the influence of different covers on microclimate in greenhouses cultivated with cherry...

BACKGROUND There are different materials and principles used in the construction of bed encasings. Although these covers claim to have antimite properties, they might not be mite proof. OBJECTIVE This study evaluated the effectiveness of mite penetration of these covers by using the Siriraj chamber method. METHODS Thirty-two covers collected from 9 different countries were categorized accor...

Cooling greenhouses is essential to provide a suitable environment for plant growth in arid regions characterized by brackish water resources. However, using conventional cooling methods are facing many challenges. Filtering out near infra-red radiation (NIR) at the greenhouse cover can significantly reduce the heating load and can solve the overheating problem of the greenhouse air. This paper...

The aim of this study was to evaluate the effects of different covers (oil, plastic film, perforated polystyrene float, peat and zeolites) on slurry settling characteristics and ammonia emission during storage and following surface application in the field. Laboratory trials were carried out for 15 days using a pilot scale device. Samples of 5 kg slurry were used. At the end of the storage peri...

We report visible light and X-ray imagers on lightweight and mechanically flexible plastic substrates. The process involves solution processing of organic photodetectors on top of an active-matrix backplane consisting of carbon nanotube thin-film transistors. The system takes advantage of the high mobility of nanotube transistors for low operating voltages and efficient light absorption of orga...

Film mulch has gradually been popularized to increase water availability to crops for improving and stabilizing agricultural production in the semiarid areas of Northwest China. To find more sustainable and economic film mulch methods for alleviating drought stress in semiarid region, it is necessary to test optimum planting methods in same cultivation conditions. A field experiment was conduct...

Plastic zone evolution in Al–2 wt% Si metal films on silicon and sapphire substrates was studied using nanoindentation and atomic force microscopy (AFM). AFM was used to measure the extent of plastic pileup, which is a measure of the plastic zone radius in the film. It was found that the plastic zone size develops in a self-similar fashion with increasing indenter penetration when normalized by...

A cohesive zone model is proposed and analyzed for steady-state peeling of a thin rate-independent, elastic-plastic film bonded to an elastic substrate. A traction-separation description of the interface is embedded within continuum characterizations of the film and substrate. The primary parameters characterizing the tractionseparation relation are the work of adhesion and the peak separation ...