Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Available water holding capacity'

Bioreactor landfills offer a sustainable way to achieve increased waste degradation along with benefits such as enhanced landfill gas (LFG) recovery, reduction in leachate pollution potential and rapid increase in landfill volumetric capacity. It also offers significant reduction in post closure management activities as leachate treatment, LFG impact on the environment and improves the potential for land reuse. The regulatory 30 year post-closure period is believed to account for attenuation of organics, metals and trace pollutants of adverse environmental consequences. Methodologies to improve the degradation rate and process are refuse shredding, nutrient addition, pH buffering, and temperature control along with moisture enhancement. Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) settlement and field capacity are of significant beneficial interest to achieve maximum utility of landfill volume and compute water requirements for rapid degradation using bioreactor concepts. Physical and biochemical Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) characteristics were investigated with specific emphasis on the Bio-Chemical methane potential (BMP) test. The impact of waste characteristics on its compressibility and moisture retention capacity was evaluated on a laboratory scale. Traditional in-situ waste compression models from literature were used to compare with the obtained laboratory data.
Master of Science

Thesis (MScAgric)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Irrigation scheduling is one of the most important cultural practices in irrigated vineyards. Water holding capacity of soil is arguably therefore one of the most important characteristics of a soil as it determines how much water can be made available to the plant. The measurement of water holding capacity of soils is time consuming and costly. In situ determinations are often impractical to determine. For routine determinations, water holding capacity is therefore determined on disturbed samples. Such a method for example is the rubber ring method. A great deal of criticism surrounds this rubber ring method and results are often questioned. The objectives of this study were therefore to determine what the relationship was between undisturbed and disturbed samples and to determine whether compacted samples could give a more accurate representation of the water holding capacity of soil. Soil textural factors influencing the volumetric water content of undisturbed, rubber ring and compacted samples at 5, 10 and 100 kPa were investigated. In addition, soil textural properties influencing water holding capacity of the respective samples between 5 and 100 kPa and 10 and 100 kPa were investigated. The final objective of the study was to develop simple models to predict the volumetric water content and water holding capacity of soil. Undisturbed and disturbed soil samples were taken at various localities to ensure a wide range of textures. Water holding capacity of undisturbed and disturbed samples was determined at ARC Infruitec-Nietvoorbij using the standard air pressure and ceramic plate technique and the routine rubber ring method respectively. Soil samples were also compacted to a bulk density of approximately 1.5 g.cm-3 as a further treatment for determination of water holding capacity using the air pressure and ceramic plate technique. To investigate aspects of soil texture that could possibly influence volumetric water content of the soil, correlations were done between different texture components and volumetric water content of undisturbed, rubber ring and compacted samples at 5, 10 and 100 kPa. In order to determine the effect of texture on water holding capacity of the soil, correlations were drawn between texture components and water holding capacity of undisturbed, rubber ring and compacted samples between matric potential ranges 5 and 100 kPa and 10 and 100 kPa. The results from this study were used to develop models to predict volumetric soil water content and water holding capacity of soils for a range of soils. Volumetric water content of rubber ring samples at 5 kPa was more than the volumetric water content of undisturbed samples at 5 kPa. The volumetric water content of rubber ring samples at 5 kPa and the volumetric water content of undisturbed samples at 5 kPa was correlated by 87%. Volumetric water content of compacted samples at 5 kPa had a 85% degree of correlation with the volumetric water content of undisturbed samples. At 10 kPa, the correlation between volumetric water content determined using rubber ring samples and undisturbed samples was 77%. This was identical to the correlation between volumetric water content of compacted samples at 10 kPa and undisturbed samples. At 100 kPa, most of the rubber ring samples' volumetric water content fell below the 1:1 line of volumetric water content of undisturbed samples. The volumetric water content of all the compacted samples was higher than that of the undisturbed samples. Water holding capacity of all the rubber ring samples between 5 and 100 kPa was greater than the water holding capacity of the undisturbed samples between 5 and 100 kPa. Rubber ring samples therefore generally overestimated the water holding capacity of the soil. The water holding capacity of most of the rubber ring samples between 10 and 100 kPa was greater than the water holding capacity of the undisturbed samples. In contrast, the water holding capacity of compacted samples between 5 and 100 kPa was less than the water holding capacity of undisturbed samples between 5 and 100 kPa. Water holding capacity of compacted samples was therefore underestimated. The results from this study confirmed that the influence of clay and silt content on volumetric water content of undisturbed, rubber ring and compacted samples increased as the suction on the respective samples is increased. The influence of fine sand content on volumetric water content of undisturbed, rubber ring and compacted samples decreased with an increase in matric potential to 100 kPa. Medium sand content of undisturbed, rubber ring and compacted samples had the greatest influence of all the textural components on the volumetric water content of the respective samples at 5 kPa and 10 kPa. Water holding capacity of undisturbed, rubber ring and compacted samples between 5 and 100 kPa was greatly influenced by the fine sand content of the samples. Medium sand content of the samples also had an influence on the water holding capacity thereof. To predict the volumetric water content of undisturbed samples at 5, 10 and 100 kPa, the independent variables were fine sand content, square root of medium sand content and In of medium sand content. In the case of models to predict the volumetric water content of rubber ring samples at 5, 10 and 100 kPa, the same variables were used as independent variables. Additional variables such as silt content, the In of silt content, square root of clay plus silt content and the medium sand content. To predict the volumetric water content of compacted samples at 5, 10 and 100 kPa the terms used were silt content, clay plus silt content, the e-clay plus silt content. medium sand content and the square root of medium sand content. The models to predict volumetric water content of rubber ring samples gave the best correlation with the actual volumetric water content of rubber ring samples. The final models to predict the water holding capacity of all the samples between 5 and 100 kPa and 10 and 100 kPa used only fine and medium sand parameters as independent variables. Soil textural components do play an important role in determining the volumetric water content of undisturbed, rubber ring and compacted samples at 5, 10 and 100 kPa. The magnitude of the water holding capacity between 5 and 100 kPa and 10 and 100 kPa is also influenced by soil texture. The models developed to predict the volumetric water content of samples at 5, 10 and 100 kPa and the magnitude of the water holding capacity between 5 and 100 kPa and 10 and 100 kPa could be very useful. Both time and money can potentially be saved. Models that can be highly recommended are the models generated for the undisturbed samples. These are: At 5 kPa, VWCu = 0.47259 - 0.04712 medium sando.s At 10 kPa, VWCu = 0.41292 - 0.04221 medium sandos At 100 kPa, VWCu = 0.48080 - 0.00254 fine sand - 0.0865 In medium sand Between 5 and 100 kPa, WHCu = -29.523 + 3.394 fine sand Between 10 and 100 kPa, WHCu = -891.794 + 232.326 In fine sand + 38.006 In medium sand
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Besproeiingskedulering is een van die belangrikste wingerdverbouingspraktyke. Waterhouvermoë bepaal hoeveel water beskikbaar gestel kan word aan die plant en daarom is dit een van die belangrikste eienskappe van 'n grond. Die meting van waterhouvermoë van grond is tydsaam en duur. Boonop is in situ bepalings dikwels onprakties om te bepaal. Waterhouvermoë word dus bepaal op versteurde monsters vir roetine ontledings. 'n Voorbeeld van so 'n metode is die rubberring metode. Daar bestaan groot kritiek teenoor hierdie rubberring metode en resultate word dikwels betwyfel deur die landboubedryf. Die doel van hierdie studie was dus om te bepaal wat die verwantskap is tussen onversteurde monsters en rubberring monsters asook om te bepaal of gekompakteerde monsters 'n meer akkurate aanduiding sou gee as onversteurde monsters van die waterhouvermoë van die grond. Grondtekstuur faktore wat die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters by 5, 10 and 100 kPa beïnvloed, was ondersoek. Grondtekstuur faktore wat waterhouvermoë van die onderskeie monsters tussen 5 en 100 kPa en tussen 10 en 100 kPa beïnvloed, was ook ondersoek. Die finale doelwit van die studie was om eenvoudige modelle te ontwikkel vir die voorspelling van volumetriese waterinhoud en waterhouvermoë van grond. Onversteurde grond monsters en grond vir versteurde monsters is by verskeie lokaliteite geneem om 'n wye reeks teksture te verkry. Waterhouvermoë van onversteurde monsters is bepaal by LNR Infruitec- Nietvoorbij met die standaard drukplaat tegniek. Waterhouvermoë van versteurde grond is bepaal met die roetine rubberring metode van LNR Infruitec-Nietvoorbij. Grond was ook gekompakteer tot 'n bulkdigtheid van ongeveer 1.5 g.cm-3 en daarna is die waterhouvermoë bepaal by die LNR Infruitec- Nietvoorbij met die standaard drukplaat tegniek. Om aspekte van grondtekstuur, wat moontlik die volumetriese waterinhoud van grond kan beïnvloed te ondersoek, is korrelasies tussen verskeie tekstuur komponente en die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters by 5, 10 en 100 kPa bepaal. Om te bepaal watter tekstuur komponente waterhouvermoë van die grond kan bepaal, is korrelasies getrek tussen tekstuur komponente en waterhouvermoë van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters tussen 5 en 100 kPa en tussen 10 en 100 kPa. Die data is verwerk met die SAS uitgawe 6.12 (SAS, 1990) om modelle vir die voorspelling van volumetriese waterinhoud en waterhouvermoë van grond met behulp van maklik kwantifiseerbare grondtekstuur veranderlikes te ontwikkel. Die volumetriese waterinhoud van rubberring monsters by 5 kPa was meer as die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters by 5 kPa. Die volumetriese waterinhoud van rubberring monsters by 5 kPa en die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters by 5 kPa is gekorreleerd met 87%. Die volumetriese waterinhoud van gekompakteerde monsters by 5 kPa het 'n korrelasie van 85% met volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters getoon. By 10 kPa, was die graad van korrelasie tussen volumetriese waterinhoud bepaal met rubberring monsters en onversteurde monsters, 77%. Dit was omtrent dieselfde as die graad van korrelasie tussen volumetriese waterinhoud van gekompakteerde monsters en onversteurde monsters by 10 kPa. By 100 kPa het die meeste van die rubberring monsters se volumetriese waterinhoud onderkant die 1:1 lyn van die volumetriese waterinhoud by 100 kPa van al die onversteurde monsters. Die volumetriese waterinhoud van al die gekompakteerde monsters was hoër as die van die onversteurde monsters. Die waterhouvermoë van al die rubberring monsters tussen 5 en 100 kPa was groter as die van die onversteurde monsters tussen 5 en 100 kPa. Die rubberring monsters het dus oor die algemeen die grootte van die waterhouvermoë oorskry. Die waterhouvermoë van die meeste van die rubberring monsters tussen 10 en 100 kPa was groter as die waterhouvermoë van die onversteurde monsters. Die waterhouvermoë van gekompakteerde monsters tussen 5 en 100 kPa was minder as die waterhouvermoë van die onversteurde monsters tussen 5 en 100 kPa. Die waterhouvermoë van gekompakteerde grondmonsters is dus onderskat. Die resultate van hierdie studie het die invloed van klei- en slik- inhoud op die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters bevestig. Die invloed van klei en sand op die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters het toegeneem soos die matriks potensiaal op die onderskeie monsters toegeneem het. Die invloed van fynsand op die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters was die grootste by 5 kPa en het afgeneem tot by 100 kPa. Die mediumsand inhoud van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters het van al die tekstuur komponente die grootste invloed op die volumetriese waterinhoud van al die monsters by 5 kPa en 10 kPa gehad. Die waterhouvermoë van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters tussen 5 en 100 kPa is grootliks beinvloed deur die fynsand inhoud van die monsters. Die mediumsand inhoud van die monsters het ook 'n invloed gehad op die waterhouvermoë daarvan. Om die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters by 5, 10 en 100 kPa te voorspel, is onafhanklike veranderlikes soos fynsand inhoud, vierkantswortel van mediumsand inhoud en In van mediumsand inhoud bepaal. In die geval van modelle om die volumetriese waterinhoud van rubberring monsters by 5, 10 en 100 kPa te voorspel, is dieselfde veranderlikes gebruik as onafhanklike veranderlikes. Addisionele veranderlikes soos slik inhoud, In van slik inhoud, die vierkantswortel van die klei plus slik inhoud en die mediumsand inhoud is ook gebruik. Om die volumetriese waterinhoud van gekompakteerde monsters by 5, 10 en 100 kPa te voorspel, is die terme slik inhoud, klei plus slik inhoud, e-klei plus slik inhoud, mediumsand inhoud en vierkantswortel van mediumsand inhoud gebruik. Die modelle om volumetriese waterinhoud van rubberring samples te voorspel het die akkuraatste voorspellings gegee. Die finale modelle, om waterhouvermoë van alle monsters tussen 5 en 100 kPa en tussen 10 en 100 kPa te bepaal, het slegs fyn en mediumsand as onafhanklike veranderlikes gebruik. Grondtekstuur komponente speel dus 'n belangrike rol in die volumetriese waterinhoud van onversteurde monsters, rubberring monsters en gekompakteerde monsters by 5, 10 en 100 kPa. Die grootte van die waterhouvermoë tussen 5 en 100 kPa en tussen 10 en 100 kPa is ook beinvloed deur die grondtekstuur. Die modelle wat ontwikkel is om die volumetriese waterinhoud van monsters by 5, 10 en 100 kPa en die grootte van die waterhouvermoë tussen 5 en 100 kPa en tussen 10 and 100 kPa te voorspel, kan baie waardevol wees. Tyd en geld kan potensieel bespaar word. Die modelle wat hoogs aanbevole is, is die modelle vir onversteurde monsters. Die modele is: By 5 kPa, VWlo = 0.47259 - 0.04712 rnedlumsand?" By 10 kPa, VWlo = 0.41292 - 0.04221 mediumsando.s By 100 kPa, VWlo = 0.48080 - 0.00254 fynsand - 0.0865 In mediumsand Tussen 5 en 100 kPa, WHVo = -29.523 + 3.394 fynsand Tussen 10 en 100 kPa, WHVo = -891.794 + 232.326 In fynsand + 38.006 In mediumsand

ABSTRACT The goal of this research was to investigate the use of water holding capacity (WHC) and vis-spectroscopy to classify pork meat quality. This study was carried out in two stages. In the first part, the suitability of using different WHC measuring methods (bag method at 2 and 4 days, centrifuge, cotton-rayon material and filter paper methods) to classify the pork meat samples were studied. The methods were compared to see which method was able to discriminate pork meat samples according to their defined quality classes. The meat samples were grouped into 4 quality classes, namely PFN (pale, firm and non-exudative), PSE (pale, soft and exudative), RFN (red, firm, and non-exudative), and RSE (red, soft, and exudative). The discriminant analysis using stepdisc was used to separate the quality groups. Cotton-rayon material and filter paper methods were better than the other WHC measuring methods to classify FN (Firm, Non-exudative) and SE (Soft, Exudative) groups. In the second stage, the aim was to investigate visible spectroscopy for the classification of different pork meat quality classes. Discriminant procedure was performed for grouping quality classes and stepdisc was used to select the suitable wavelengths. The results showed that it was possible to separate the P (Pale) classes of pork meat samples from the R (Red) classes of pork meat samples with an accuracy of about 85 % and chosen wavelengths were 500, 430, 550, 570 and 510 nm.
RÉSUMÉ Cette étude a visé l'évaluation de la capacité de rétention d'eau (CRE) et la spectroscopie en spectre visible, pour l'évaluation de la qualité de la viande porcine. En premièr lieu, différentes méthodes pour mesurer la CRE (suspension et égouttement pour 2 ou 4 jours, centrifugation, absorption par matériau coton-rayone, ou par papier filtre), servant à classifier les échantillons de viande porcine selon des critères de qualité bien définis, furent comparées. Les échantillons de viande porcine furent regroupés en quatre classes de qualité: PFN (pâle, ferme et non-exudative), PSE (pâle, mol et exudative), et RFN (rouge, ferme et non-exu). Une analyse discriminante utilisant l'option STEPDISK servit à séparer ces quatre classes de qualité. Pour discriminer entre les viandes FN (ferme, non-exsudatif) et SE (mou, exsudatif), les méthodes de mesure de la CRE par absorption avec coton-rayone ou papier filtre furent les plus performantes. En deuxiéme lieu phase, une classification de la qualité de la viande porcine par spectroscopie en spectre visible fut visée. L'analyse discriminante servit à regrouper les échantillons en catégories de qualité, puis l'option STEPDISK a sélectionnée les longueurs d'ondes les plus appropriées. En choisissant des longueurs d'ondes de 500, 430, 550, 570, et 510 nm, il fut possible de distinguer, avec une exactitude de 85%, entre les classes P (pâle) et R (rouge) de viande porcine.

Lichens are poikilohydric and cannot control water uptake and loss, water relations could therefore impact their distribution. This study examines if morphological, anatomical, and water storage traits could explain distribution of epiphytic species in the lichen genus Usnea. Seven species from oceanic (Norway) and continental areas (Sweden) were studied. Total, internal, and external water holding capacity (WHC, mg H2O cm-2) along with relative water content (WC) were recorded by spraying the thalli with water and measuring mass after shaking and blotting. The specific thallus mass (STM, mg cm-2 - main driver of WHC) was calculated from images of wet thalli. Thickness of anatomical layers (cortex, medulla, and axis) was also measured. Pendent species had lower STM and water storage than shrubby species, most probably an adaptation to water uptake from humid air. Total, internal, and external WHC were higher in the shrubby species than in the pendent ones. The pendent species had the same internal WHC as earlier reports on Bryoria and Alectoria. External water storage decreased for all species as biomass increased. The ratio between total and internal water was twice as high as reported in foliose lichens. Variation in branch diameter was much higher in shrubby than in pendent species. The interspecific differences in water storage reflect regional differences in water sources – oceanic species had higher water storage than pendent continental species, but lower than the shrubby U. hirta. I conclude that both internal and external water storage help to explain distribution of Usnea in Norway and Sweden.

The aim with this study was to develop a method to estimate total area of hair lichens and to compare morphological traits and water storage in them. Hair lichens are an important component of the epiphytic flora in boreal forests. Their growth is primarily regulated by available water, and light when hydrated. Lichens have no active mechanism to regulate their water content and their water holding capacity (WHC, mg H2O/cm2) is thus an important factor for how long they remain wet and metabolically active. In this study, the water uptake and loss in five hair lichens (Alectoria sarmentosa, three Bryoria spp. and Usnea dasypoga) were compared. Their area were estimated by combining photography, scanning and a computer programme that estimates the area of objects. Total area overlap of individual branches was calculated for each species, to estimate total area of the lichen. WHC and specific thallus mass (STM) (mg DM/cm2) of the lichens were calculated. Bryoria spp. had a significantly lower STM compared to U. dasypoga and A. sarmentosa, due to its thinner branches and higher branch density. Bryoria also had a lower WHC compared to A. sarmentosa, promoting a rapid uptake and loss of water. All species had a significant relationship between STM and WHC, above a 1:1 line for all species except U. dasypoga. The lower relationship in U. dasypoga is explained by its less developed branching in combination with its thick branches.

Tumble marination strategies to improve pH, color, and water holding capacity of pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) broiler breast fillets Valerie A. Gorsuch, M.S. Virginia Polytechnic Institute and State University Advisor: Christine Z. Alvarado ABSTRACT: Recently, there has been an increase in the incidence of pale soft and exudative poultry meat. Pale, soft, and exudative (PSE) meat is caused by a decline in pH early postmortem while carcass temperatures are still high. This decrease in pH leads to protein denaturation attributing to the pale color and poor water holding capacity (WHC) that is characteristic of this lesser quality meat. Pale, soft, and exudative meat has economic implications for processors with losses ranging between $2-4 million each year. Marination with salt and phosphates has been shown to improve protein functionality, thereby reducing lost meat yield and improving meat color, WHC, and texture. However, there are few studies relating marination with phosphates to improvements in PSE meat. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to determine if color, WHC, and texture improvements could be obtained in PSE meat via marination with various phosphate and NaCl treatments without altering the quality and oxidative stability of normal or PSE meat. In Experiment 1, 12 phosphates were evaluated for improvements in pH, color, and WHC of PSE meat. From these, five phosphates were chosen based on pH, color, and WHC improvements for Experiment 2. The marinades used in Experiment 2 increased the pH, decreased the L* values of the pale fillets, and improved water holding capacity. Thiobarbituric acid-reactive substances, sensory, and microbial analysis studies concluded that marination with high pH phosphates can reduce the undesirable characteristics of PSE meat without increasing the development of oxidation, altering flavor, or reducing shelf-life.
Master of Science

Oats is a crop that contains a high amount of fiber, protein and fat, but like all other crops it contains mostly starch. In this study the focus has been oat flours and brans with different b-glucan content. The health benefits of b-glucan, a soluble fiber are well documented and a correlation between intake of b-glucan with high molecular weight and a low glycemic response has been observed. Food with a low glycemic index can lower the risk for diseases like type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases and obesity. Also a connection between intake of b-glucan with high molecular weight and a reduction of LDL-cholesterol has been observed. b-glucans from oat absorb water and build a viscous gel, which make them an interesting component when developing new products, as a fat replacer in for example meat products and pastries. To optimize the use of flours and brans with a modified b-glucan content in new applications, the water absorption was measured with a method called Solvent Retention Capacity and the viscosity with a Rapid Viscosity Analyzer (RVA). The results showed that a higher amount of b-glucan in the flour or bran, a higher water holding capacity (WHC) was observed. The WHC for oat flour with a b-glucan content at 2% was calculated to 73±7%, while the WHC for oat bran with a b-glucan content at 28%, was calculated to a WHC of 880±45%. A comparison of different flours and brans indicates that dietary fiber, where b-glucan have the greatest impact on the WHC. The result from the RVA indicates that a flour with a combination of a high b-glucan content (0.24g) and high starch content (3.72g) leads to a high viscosity 12700 cP, compared to other flours or brans with either a lower b-glucan content (0.12g) or lower starch content (0.12g) gives lower final viscosity, 5390 and 780 cP. The result also indicates that other factors such as a smaller particle size and a higher temperature during the heating step (95°C instead of 64°C) might give a higher viscosity.

The recycling of clean wastes, such as those from the treatment of drinking water, has gained importance on the environmental agenda due to rising costs of landfill disposal and movement towards a 'zero' waste economy. More than one third of the globe's soils are degraded and as such policies towards determining soil health parameters and reversing destruction of the globe's most valuable non-renewable source are at the forefront of environmental debate. This thesis questions the opportunity for water treatment residual (WTR) to be used as a beneficial material for the co-amendment of soil with compost to improve the soil's flood holding capacity (Kerr et al., 2016), which includes functions such as the water holding capacity, hydraulic conductivity, soil structure and shear strength. Currently, water treatment residual is typically sent to landfill for disposal, but this research shows that the reuse of WTR as a co-amendment is able to improve the flood holding capacity of soils. This research crosses the boundary between geotechnical and geoenvironmental and provides a holistic approach to quantifying a soil from both perspectives. Iron based water treatment residual from Northumbrian Water Ltd was used in both laboratory and field trials to establish the effect of single WTR and a compost and WTR co-amendment on the water holding capacity (the gravimetric water content, volumetric water content, volume change of samples i.e. swelling and shrinkage), and the effect of amendment on the erosional resistance, hydraulic conductivity and shear strength compared to a control soil. A series of four trials were conducted to develop and establish a novel method to determine the water holding capacity, supplemented by standard geotechnical methods to determine the flood holding capacity. The use of x-ray computed tomography has provided accompanying information on the morphology of dried WTR and changes in the internal characteristics of amended soil between a dry and wet state. The amendment application rate ranges from 10 - 50%. Experiments have shown that the single amendment of WTR, compared to a control soil, yields significant increases in the hydraulic conductivity (by up to a factor of 28), increases the shear strength of soils at low testing pressure (25 kPa) by 129%, increases the maximum gravimetric water content by up to 13.7%, and improves swelling by up to 12% (but only at the highest amendment rate, 30%), increases the maximum void ratio when saturated by 11%, and reduces shrinkage by maintaining porosity by 14%. However the application of WTR as a single amendment has implications for the chemical health of the soil as it is highly effective at immobilising phosphorous as and such cannot not effectively be used as a soil amendment. The single application of compost yielded significant improvement in the water holding capacity (improving gravimetric water content by up to 34.7%, increasing the sample volume by up to 83.3%, and increased the void ratio by 8.2%), however this application reduces the hydraulic conductivity by up to 84.5% and the shear strength by 3% compared to the control soil. Co-amendment using compost and WTR (in two forms, air dried 80% solids and wet at 20% solids, as produced from water treatment works) improved the flood holding capacity of soils by retaining the structural improvements of amendment using WTR and the water holding capacity improvements of compost. Compared to the control soil, for co-amended soils the gravimetric water content was improved by up to 25%, the volume increased by up to 51.7%, experienced 13% less shrinkage and an 11.5% increase in maximum void ratio. The hydraulic conductivity was also improved by up to 475%, and shear strength was increased at both low and high testing pressures by to 53.8%. Taking into account these effects of co-amendment on essential soil functions that determines a soil's flood holding capacity (maximum gravimetric water content, volume change, resistance against shrinkage, void ratio (porosity), hydraulic conductivity and shear strength), the economical and environmental sustainability issues, the co-amendment of soil using compost and WTR may provide a solution to both recycling clean waste product and improving the quality of soil.

The main objective of this study was to investigate the fibers and their effects and availability in ketchup (tomato fiber) and cake (wheat bran fiber) production. In order to this, rheological properties of ketchups with tomato fiber, and cake (100, 80, 60 g flour formulations) with wheat bran fiber in different concentrations were investigated. Tomato powder in ketchup and wheat bran in cake was used for comparison. The samples studied had pseudoplastic behavior having a definite yield stress with a good fit for the Herschel-Bulkley model. The viscosity and yield stress values increased as the percentage of fiber increased. Moreover the samples were found to be more elastic than viscous (G&rsquo
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G&rsquo
&rsquo
). Both G&rsquo
and G&rsquo
&rsquo
values increased with oscillatory frequency, percentage of fiber, and in cake samples decreased as the amount of flour decreased. Stability measurements of ketchups studied were done by using Lumisizer. The microstructure of tomato powder, wheat bran and fibers were investigated under SEM. It was seen that the fibers had branched, long and thin structure while the other two had lumy and thick structure. The pressure used, resulted in this structure with increased surface area and finally increased water holding capacity in fibers. Moreover, texture of cakes prepared was all investigated in terms of volume, outer surface, hardness, cohesiveness and gumminess. Finally it was found to be possible to produce healthier ketchups and cakes with fiber in a good quality by decreasing the other undesired ingredients.

Globally, the largest source of atmospheric NH3 is domestic animal waste contributing 20-35 Tg of nitrogen per year. In North Carolina, hog waste accounts for 47% of all ammonia emissions in North Carolina. This is the result of a huge increase in hog population since the 1980?s from 3 million to 10 million. Currently swine waste is managed using Lagoon and Spray Technology (LST) also known as ?conventional? technology. A LST uses anaerobic lagoons to store the hog waste, and effluent from lagoons is sprayed on surrounding crops as a source of nutrients. This technology lead to a number sources of ammonia emissions, thus there are a number of environmental problems associated with swine facilities. The need for developing sustainable solutions for managing the hog waste problem is critical for shaping the future of hog farms in North Carolina. As a result of this, an agreement between the North Carolina Attorney General and several farming companies was reached to develop environmentally superior technologies (EST?s) for swine facilities. The objective of this study was to quantitatively compare the emissions from the water-holding structures at the two LST farms (Moore farm and Stokes farm) and the three EST farms, and to evaluate the effectiveness of each technology. The three potential EST?s were (1) EKOKAN: Up-flow Bio-filtration system, located at Brown?s of Carolina # 93, (2) BEST: Solids separation/gasification for energy and ash recovery centralized system, located at Corbett # 1,3,4 farms, and (3) Super Soils: Solids separation/nitrification-denitrification/soluble phosphorus removal/solids processing system, located at Goshen Ridge farm. Measurements of NH3 flux were limited to two, two-week long periods, representing warm and cold seasons. These were obtained by using a dynamic flow-through chamber system interfaced to a mobile laboratory containing the ammonia analyzer and the data acquisition system. During the sampling period, environmental parameters such as lagoon temperature, lagoon pH, and TAN were measured, as well as meteorological parameters such as wind speed, wind direction, air temperature, relative humidity, and solar radiation. In order to make a comparison of LST and EST?s, an adjustment for differing environmental conditions was needed. This was achieved by the development of a conventional observational statistical model, which was developed by multiple linear regression analysis based on continuous flux measurements from two conventional farms during a warm and cold season. Ammonia emissions from both conventional and EST farms were normalized to the nitrogen excretion (E) at the hog farms to express the emissions as % E. Potential reductions in ammonia were evaluated by comparing % EEST at EST farms with %ECONV at conventional farms. Overall, all three EST?s were found to be significant in reducing ammonia emissions. Super Soils was found to be the most effective, with NH3 emission reductions of 94.7% in the warm season, and 99% in the cold season. EKOKAN was found to be the next most effective, with reductions of 71.7 % and 42.7 % for the summer and spring sampling periods, respectively. The two BEST technologies were the least effective. There were large reductions for both Corbett # 1 and Corbett # 3,4 in the fall sampling period, 71.1% and 39.6% respectively. There were through extremely low reductions in the winter sampling period, with reductions of 13.6% for Corbett # 1 and 7.5% for Corbett # 3,4, respectively.

Irrigated agriculture is the primary consumer of limited worldwide freshwater resources. Drought, growing world populations, and environmental demands compete with irrigation for freshwater resources"”threatening sustainable global food, fuel, and fiber production. This escalating global crisis demands that agriculture produce more food using less water. Traditional irrigation management has used technology to apply uniform irrigation rates across landscapes"”ignoring natural environmental variation. This provides inherent inefficiencies of over- or under- irrigation within individual fields. Variable-rate irrigation (VRI) is modern technology that employs global positioning systems and geographic information systems to match irrigation to spatially variable crop water demands within a field. Although commercially available, VRI lacks scientifically validated decision support systems to determine spatially and temporally variable crop water demand. The purpose of this research is to explore spatial and temporal variations in crop water demand to inform growers utilizing VRI. This research consists of four seasons of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) production on a commercial farm in Idaho that employs a VRI system. In Chapter 1, the spatial variation of crop water productivity (CWP, the grain produced per unit of water consumed), is characterized for two seasons (2016-2017) and we propose a unique conceptual strategy for VRI management targeted at CWP. Observed CWP ranged from 4.1-21 kg ha-1 mm-1 with distinct spatial variation that, when considered together with grain yield, were shown to be useful for VRI management. During the 2017 growing season, VRI zones conserved 25% of irrigation compared to traditional uniform irrigation management. In the second chapter the spatial variation of soil water holding capacity (SWHC) was measured at 90 sampling points throughout the field. Then, during the 2016-2017 growing seasons, the spatial and temporal variation of soil moisture were modelled to characterize crop stress and its influence on grain yield. Soil within the field showed large spatial variation of SWHC, ranging from 147-369 mm. Under uniform irrigation in 2016, the natural variation of TAW created 21 day variation in the onset of crop stress throughout the field and under VRI in 2017 the onset of crop stress spanned 56 d. Surprisingly the variations in TAW did not statistically influence yield in 2016, and in 2017 the rate of irrigation predicted yield and TAW again did not statistically predict yield. This suggests that other environmental variables should be included when delineating irrigation zones and rates for VRI.

Un défi de la modélisation des cultures est de comprendre et de reproduire les hétérogénéités de développement de la végétation à l'échelle du pédon afin de prédire le rendement. Le but de ce travail est de proposer une méthode de spatialisation des modèles de culture par la spatialisation des données d'entrée, notamment de la réserve utile, pour reproduire les hétérogénéités observées au sein d'un petit sous-bassin versant. Ce travail a été mené en 3 étapes : (1) calage du modèle STICS au contexte local (2) spatialisation des entrées du modèle par une méthode dérivée desapproches SCORPAN et (3) évaluation des simulations spatialisées avec STICS. Préalablement à la spatialisation des données d'entrée du modèle STICS, il était nécessaire d'identifier quels étaient les déterminants des hétérogénéités de végétation observéesau sein du sous-bassin versant expérimental étudié. Pour cela un travail préliminaire a conduit à délimiter les situations pouvant être reproduites par le modèle et les variables pouvant être spatialisées ainsi que de définir une stratégie optimale pour spatialiser les entrées. Sur cette base, une méthodologie de travail a pu être définie pour évaluer et paramétrer le modèle sans spatialisation (approche locale) dans un contexte de sols ayant des propriétés vertiques. Cette particularité des sols locaux nécessite d'établir un nouveau domaine de validité du modèle, compte tenu des hypothèses indispensables (processus considérés comme négligeables) pour simuler dans ce contexte. Par ailleurs, le protocole utilisé pour déterminer la réserve utile a nécessité d'établir la manière dont l'incertitude de la mesure se propageait dans le modèle. Ainsi, grâce à ce travail de spatialisation statistique des mesures, le modèle STICS a pu être utilisé sur des mailles de 8 x 8 m pour simuler le développement de végétation sur tout le sous-bassin versant étudié
One of the challenges in crop modelling is to understand and be able to reproduce heterogeneities in crop development at intra-plot scale in order to better predict the yield. The aim of this work was to suggest a method for spatializing the input data of crop models, in particular the water stock accessible to plants, in order to reproduce the differences in crop development within a subwatershed. This work was carried out in 3 main steps: (1) adaptationof the STICS crop model to the local context, (2) spatialization of the inputs by the spatial correlation method (SCORPAN-like method) and (3) evaluation of the simulated spatialization with STICS model. Prior to spatialization step, it was necessary to identify the determinants of vegetation heterogeneities observed within the experimental subwatershed. A preliminary study led to delimit the situations that could be reproduced by the model and to identify variables that could be spatialized as well as to define an optimal strategy to spatialize the inputs. Based on this, a methodological work was established to evaluate and parameterize the model without spatialization (local approach) in a context of soils with vertisolic properties. Particularity of local soils properties underlined the need to define a new domain of model validity. Moreover, the protocol used to measure water holding capacity, implied a needful and important step that was to determine the propagation of measurement uncertainty in the model. Finally, thanks to statistical spatialization of measurements, STICS model was used on 8 x 8 m meshes to simulate vegetation development on the whole studied subwatershed

A moderna suinocultura vem nos últimos anos avançando no desenvolvimento e no emprego de tecnologias que visam o aumento da performance produtiva e econômica do segmento. As inovações associadas aos métodos de castração e modificadores metabólicos têm sido avaliadas, em particular o uso da imunocastração e dos repartidores de energia (ractopamina). Embora os ganhos zootécnicos e industriais destas tecnologias já estejam bem discutidos, o real impacto do emprego juntas ou isoladas sobre a qualidade tecnológica da carne pelo seu efeito na matriz bioquímica, necessita de estudos mais aprofundados. Desta forma, esta pesquisa científica foi direcionada para avaliar os efeitos, focando nas alterações dos perfis eletroforéticos da carne, advinda de animais produzidos comercialmente, utilizando concomitantemente ractopamina e imunocastração. Foram utilizados 48 suínos, criados comercialmente, sendo 8 suínos por tratamento (machos castrados cirurgicamente - CC, machos imunocastrados - IM, e fêmeas - F) recebendo dietas suplementadas com (CR) ou sem (SR) ractopamina na fase final da terminação. Avaliaram-se as características qualitativas da carne, tais como o pH, a cor objetiva, a capacidade de retenção de água (perda de água por gotejamento - drip loss, perda por cocção - PCOC, e perda por descongelamento - PDESC), maciez objetiva (força de cisalhamento) e perfil eletroforético. A utilização conjunta da imunocastração com a ractopamina influenciou o pH 24 horas do lombo suíno, a luminosidade (L*) e a força de cisalhamento, sendo que o pH e a força de cisalhamento foram maiores e a luminosidade menor em IC-CR na dieta. Porém, essa influência não foi verificada na análise eletroforética unidimensional. O perfil proteico foi significativamente influenciado pelo fornecimento do β-agonista adrenérgico. Diferenças na abundância de peptídeos foram verificadas para as variáveis qualitativas da carne maciez, capacidade de retenção de água (drip loss e descongelamento) e luminosidade. Aumento nos volumes normalizados dos peptídeos reduziu a PDESC e melhorou a maciez objetiva, enquanto que o drip loss aumentou quando não houve a suplementação com ractopamina na dieta. Os resultados demonstraram que somente o β-agonista adrenérgico foi o responsável pelas diferenças verificadas no perfil proteico. O efeito simultâneo imunocastração com a inclusão da ractopamina na dieta não propociou impactos na qualidade tecnológica da carne.
The modern swine industry has in recent years to advance the development and use of technologies aimed at increasing production and economic performance of the segment. Innovations associated methods of castration and metabolic modifiers have been evaluated, in special the use of immunocastration and feed additive (ractopamine). Although the production growth and industrial gains of these technologies are already well discussed, the real impact of employment together or isolated on the technological quality of meat by its effect on the biochemical matrix, requires further study. Therefore, this scientific research was directed to evaluate the effects, concentrating on changes in electrophoretic profiles of meat, resulting animals commercially produced concurrently using ractopamine and immunocastration. 48 animals were used commercially created, 8 per treatment (castrates - CC, immunocastrated - IM, and female - F) fed diets supplemented with (CR) or without (SR) ractopamine at the final stage of finishing. We evaluated the qualitative characteristics of meat, such as pH, color, water-holding capacity (drip loss, cooking loss - PCOC, and loss defrosting - PDESC) objective tenderness (shear force) and electrophoretic profile. The combined use of immunocastration with ractopamine influence pH 24h swine loin, the lightness (L*) and shear force, and pH, and shear force were higher and lower luminosity in IC-CR in the diet. However, this effect wasn\'t seen in the one-dimensional electrophoretic analysis. The protein profile was significantly influenced by the supply of β-adrenergic agonist. Differences in the abundance of peptides were checked for qualitative variables of meat tenderness, water retention capacity (drip loss and defrosting) and luminosity. The increase in the volume of standard peptides pDesc reduced and improved objective tenderness, while the drip loss increased when no supplementation with dietary ractopamine. The results demonstrate that only the β-adrenergic agonist was responsible for the observed differences in the protein profile. The effect simultaneously immunocastration with the addition of ractopamine in the diet not influence impacts on technological meat quality.

Orientador: Rosiane Lopes da Cunha
Dissertação (mestrado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos
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Resumo: Tendo em vista a necessidade do entendimento das interações entre ingredientes para o desenvolvimento de novos produtos lácteos e para o controle e manipulação de suas características de estabilidade e textura, este trabalho teve como objetivo elucidar as interações entre as proteínas do leite e a goma gelana. Foi estudado o efeito de diferentes concentrações de gelana, caseinato de sódio e concentrado protéico de soro de leite, assim como o estado conformacional do polissacarídeo, nas propriedades de textura, microestrutura e estabilidade em relação à perda de água dos sistemas formados. A transição conformacional da gelana em diversos valores de pH foi estudada por ensaios reológicos oscilatórios a baixas freqüências. Foi observado que a transição de estado desordenado ¿ ordenado do polissacarídeo é irreversível com a temperatura em pH 3,5, enquanto em maiores valores de pH os géis formados são termorreversíveis. Além disso, sistemas em pH 3,5 apresentaram viscosidade e caráter elástico mais pronunciados, enquanto que na faixa de pH de 5,3 a 7,0, não foram observadas mudanças significativas nas características reológicas do material. Em sistemas mistos proteínas-polissacarídeos, diferentes estruturas foram observadas de acordo com as concentrações de biopolímeros e o estado conformacional do polissacarídeo, resultando em alterações das propriedades mecânicas, de retenção de água e de solubilidade dos sistemas. Sistemas bipoliméricos caseinato de sódio ¿ gelana formaram coacervados em altas concentrações de proteína e apresentaram microestrutura compacta, refletindo em maiores valores de tensão de ruptura, elasticidade e baixa capacidade de retenção de água. Já nos sistemas tripoliméricos, não foram observados coacervados devido ao favorecimento das interações entre as proteínas que ocasionou um aumento dos valores de capacidade de retenção de água das amostras. A gelana e as proteínas do soro apresentaram incompatibilidade termodinâmica em altas concentrações poliméricas, confirmada pelos ensaios de solubilidade protéica em água, levando a formação de sistemas mais frágeis, menos deformáveis e com uma estrutura mais porosa, que contribuiu para o aumento da capacidade de retenção de água e redução da sinerese dos mesmos. O uso de gelana em estado desordenado no preparo das amostras com alta concentração protéica induziu a formação de complexos eletrostáticos entre as proteínas e as moléculas de gelana individuais, diminuindo a rigidez dos sistemas
Abstract: As the ingredient interactions are important for the development of new milk products and for the control and management of its stability and texture properties, the aim of this work was to elucidate the milk proteins and gellan gum interactions. The effect of different concentrations of gellan gum, sodium caseinate and whey protein concentrate, as well as the polysaccharide conformational transition on the systems texture properties, microstructure and water release were studied. The gellan gum conformational transition was studied in different pH values by oscillatory shear measurements at low frequencies. It was observed that the conformational polysaccharide transition (coil-helix) was thermoirreversible at pH 3.5 while at higher pH values the gels were temperature reversible. Moreover, systems at pH 3.5 showed higher viscosity and storage modulus, but at 5.3 ¿ 7.0 pH range it was not observed significant differences on the material rheological properties. Protein-polysaccharide systems showed different structures according to the polymers concentration and polysaccharide conformation, resulting on variations of its mechanical properties, water binding and solubility. Bi-polymeric systems composed of caseinate and gellan formed coacervates at high protein concentration leading to a compact structure which reflected in higher rupture stress, elasticity and water holding capacity. Nevertheless, on multipolymeric samples it was not observed coacervates probably due the enhance of protein-protein interactions that lead to increase on water holding capacity values. Gellan gum and whey proteins showed thermodynamic incompatibility at high polymer concentrations, confirmed by the solubility measurements, and induced the formation of weaker and less deformable gels, which had a porous structure with more ability to hold water. The use of coil gellan on the preparation of the samples with high protein concentration resulted on electrostatic complexes formation between the proteins and the individual gellan molecules, reducing the gels hardness
Mestrado
Mestre em Engenharia de Alimentos

Master of Science
Department of Animal Sciences and Industry
Terry A. Houser
Two experiments were completed as a part of this study. The objective of the first experiment was to determine the differences in chemical characteristics of trimmings from hot processed and traditionally processed cull meat goats. Crossbred cull doe goats (n=18) were assigned to one of 3 kills days with 6 replications per day. The sides of each goat were randomly assigned to hot processed (HP) or traditionally processed (TP). HP sides were fabricated within 2 h of slaughter, ground with 2% salt and dry ice and then held at 2oC for 24h. TP sides were chilled at 2oC for 24 h prior to fabrication and grinding. After sampling, 2% salt was added to remaining trim yielding 2 treatments: traditionally processed with no salt added (TPNS) and traditionally processed with salt added (TPS). As expected, the HP treatment had a higher (P<0.0001) ultimate pH than TP and a higher water holding capacity (WHC) than TPS (P<0.002) and TPNS (P<0.001) treatments. HP and TPNS had significantly higher (P<0.0007 and P<0.0003, respectively) percent moisture than TPS. Percent fat was similar (P>0.19) for all treatments. However, TPNS had more protein (P<0.0001) than either the HP or TPS treatments. HP and TPS had decreasing L* values until d 6 when values increased significantly while TPNS decreased steadily by day. HP and TPS differed significantly from TPNS until d 6 when no significant differences were seen. For all treatments, a* values showed decreasing values until d 6. For all treatments, b* values increased until d 5. The objective of the second experiment was to investigate the viability of composting as a means for disposing of goat tissues resulting from the slaughter and fabrication process. By-products from the slaughter of cull meat goats (n=18) were assigned to 3 treatment piles: bones, offal + head (OH), and whole (bones, skull, and offal). Bones and OH piles increased in temperature, with peaks at wk 7 and wk 9, while whole piles had elevated temperatures from wk 5 to wk 9. Bone piles had statistically lower temperatures through wk 3, but were not statistically different than other treatments through the duration of the study. Whole piles had higher (P<0.0001) temperatures over the 8 wk composting period than OH and bone piles. Bone decomposition progressed over 90 d; at d 60, bones in whole piles had greater (P<0.05) decomposition than in bone piles. Similarly, skulls decomposition increased over the 90 d period. At d 60 and 90, skulls in whole piles had greater (P<0.05) decomposition than skulls in OH piles.

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Empresa Brasileira de Pesquisa Agropecu?ria - EMBRAPA; Empresa de Pesquisa Agropecu?ria do Estado do Rio de Janeiro - Pesagro.
The aim of this study was to identify the main properties of the green coconut shell fiber and conduct experiments with it. The fiber received different treatments in order to make it possible to give technical orientation for its use as substrate for lettuce seedlings growth. The green coconuts used in the experiments came from the selective collection of garbage produced by the consumption of green coconuts in natura at the beaches and other places where they are sold, as well as residues from agro-industries that bottle green coconut water. The green coconuts had their water consumed and were collected without any preservation or transportation criteria in order to repeat the habitual treatment given to solid residue of that sort in large urban centers. All the fruits used were kept in the shade at room temperature, for the maximum period of four (4) days after the consumption of the water. They were manually chopped and ground, while still green, in grass crushers. Eight (08) treatments were defined in order to carry out the study to be done with the green coconut fiber, as follows: treatment T1 - crushed green coconut fiber; treatment T2 - ground green coconut fiber; treatment T3 - crushed and ground green coconut fiber; treatment T4 - crushed and ground green coconut fiber + bovine manure; treatment T5 ? crushed green coconut fiber + bovine manure; treatment T6 - ground green coconut fiber + bovine manure; treatment T7 ? crushed green coconut fiber + limestone; treatment T8 ? crushed and washed green coconut fiber. In order to compare the different treatments, three commercial substrates were chosen to be used in the study, namely: substrate Plantmax HA, from Eucatex Agro, as treatment T9; substrate MP Horta 2, from Mecplant, as treatment T10; substrate MP FLORESTAL, from Mecplant, as treatment T11. Several chemical and physical analyses of the treatments were made in order to make decisions about the manipulation of treatments, looking for final results in lettuce seedlings production similar to those obtained with commercial substrates. All the green coconut shell fiber treatments presented physical characteristics which made it easy to manipulate them in its use as substrate in plant propagation, as well as high water-holding capacity, high carbon / nitrogen ratio, electric conductivity, and porosity. When the fiber was added to manure, the result was good for treatment T5. The electrical conductivity (EC) was reduced when the coconut shell fiber was washed with water.
O objetivo do presente trabalho foi identificar as principais caracter?sticas da fibra do coco verde e experimentar tratamentos com esta fibra de modo a possibilitar orienta??o t?cnica para sua utiliza??o como substrato para plantas em cultivo de alface. Foram utilizados frutos de coco verde oriundos da coleta seletiva de lixo produzido pelo consumo in natura de frutos na orla das praias e outros pontos de vendas, assim como de res?duos de agroind?strias envasadoras de ?gua de coco-verde. Os frutos de coco verde tiveram sua ?gua consumida, sendo coletados sem quaisquer crit?rios de preserva??o e transporte, de modo a repetirem uma situa??o habitual de trato dado a res?duos s?lidos desta natureza em grandes centros urbanos. Todos os frutos utilizados foram mantidos ? sombra, em temperatura ambiente, por no m?ximo quatro (04) dias ap?s terem sua ?gua consumida, sendo picados com ferramentas de corte manual e triturados em picadeiras de capim de uso em agropecu?ria ainda verde. Foram definidos oito (08) tratamentos com fibra de coco verde para a condu??o dos trabalhos com a fibra de coco, a saber: tratamento T1 - fibra de coco picada; tratamento T2 - fibra de coco mo?da; tratamento T3 - fibra de coco picada + mo?da; tratamento T4 - fibra de coco picada + mo?da + esterco bovino; tratamento T5 - fibra de coco picada + esterco bovino; tratamento T6 - fibra de coco mo?da + esterco bovino; tratamento T7 - fibra de coco picada + calc?rio; tratamento T8 - fibra de coco picada lavada. Comparativamente, foram escolhidos para uso nos estudos 03 (tr?s) substratos comerciais para plantas: substrato Plantmax HA, da empresa Eucatex Agro, como tratamento T9; substrato MP Horta 2, da empresa Mecplant, como tratamento T10; e substrato MP Florestal, da empresa Mecplant, como tratamento T11. In?meras an?lises qu?micas e f?sicas foram realizadas com os tratamentos de modo a permitirem tomadas de decis?es sobre o manejo dos mesmos, buscando resultados finais na produ??o de mudas de alface semelhantes aos obtidos com substratos comerciais. Todos os tratamentos ? base de fibra de coco apresentaram caracter?stica f?sica de f?cil manejo para seu uso como substrato para plantas, al?m de elevada capacidade de reten??o de ?gua, rela??o carbono/nitrog?nio, condutividade el?trica e porosidade. A adi??o de esterco bovino promoveu resultado positivo no tratamento T5. A lavagem da fibra com ?gua reduziu a condutividade el?trica (CE) da casca do coco-an?o verde.

Coordenação de Aperfeiçoamento de Pessoal de Nível Superior
The human being has always been and always will be dependent on water, like all forms of life on the planet earth. Considering this, hydrology becomes fundamental to all plans, either on urban or rural areas. Therefore it is necessary several studies on the various factors related to the hydrological cycle and its positions on time and space in order to plan for the various situations. Knowing the relationship between soil and environment is important to manage and preserve this natural resource and the various aspects related to it. This work aims to migrate the scale from 1:750.000 of the Soil Map to the Cachoeira Cinco Veados Watershed, Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil, through field observations as toposequence, landscape and soil cuts exposed on the road sides of the basin, creating a soil map for the basin, regionalizing and discriminating the different soils mapped to the level of Order (first Category Level). The work also aims to analyze this basin s soil map and classify it according to the different land uses in order to represent the Soil Available Water Capacity (CAD) and calculate the climatic water balance of the watershed. To do it so, the average temperatures throughout the year were analyzed to estimate the potential evapotranspiration by the Thornthwaite method as well as the rainfall of the basin throughout the year. The spreadsheet BHídrico V.3.2 was used to calculate the basin s water balance through the climatological balance method of Thornthwaite & Mather. All the months showed to have water availability for the Cachoeira Cinco Veados watershed, with the exception of December. The conclusion is that throughout the whole hydrological year, the potential evapotranspiration does not exceed the minimum rainfall of the watershed and there are the necessary conditions for the development of plants, with the exception of December only. For this reason, a more specific analysis was directed to the climatic water balance of this month. The resulting map of the climatic water balance for the month of December was analyzed within each one of the four Thiessen polygons created for this purpose. The use of the climatological water balance is efficient on the orientation for making decisions on watershed managing.
O ser humano sempre foi e sempre será dependente da água, como toda e qualquer forma de vida do planeta terra. Considerando isso, a hidrologia torna-se fundamental para todos os planejamentos, sendo estes em meio urbano ou em meio rural. Portanto se faz necessário diversos estudos sobre os vários fatores inerentes ao ciclo hidrológico e suas posições no tempo e no espaço, visando o planejamento para as mais adversas situações. Ter conhecimento sobre as relações entre o solo com o meio é muito importante para se manejar e preservar adequadamente este recurso natural, bem como os diversos elementos a ele relacionados. Este trabalho objetiva migrar a escala de 1:750.000 do mapa de solos para a bacia Cachoeira Cinco Veados, Rio Grande do Sul, Brasil, através de observações de campo como a toposequência, a paisagem e a visualização de perfis de solos expostos em cortes de estrada na bacia, gerando um mapa dos solos da bacia, regionalizando e discriminando os diferentes solos mapeados ao nível de Ordem (1º Nível Categórico). Objetiva-se também analisar este mapa dos solos da bacia e classificá-lo de acordo com os diferentes usos da terra com o propósito de representar a capacidade de água disponível (CAD) do solo e fazer o balanço hídrico climatológico da bacia. Para tal foram analisadas as temperaturas médias do ar ao longo do ano para se estimar a evapotranspiração potencial pelo método de Thornthwaite e analisado o regime de chuvas da bacia ao longo do ano. Utilizou-se a planilha eletrônica BHídrico V.3.2 para calcular o balanço hídrico da bacia pelo método do balanço climatológico de Thornthwaite & Mather. Todos os meses apresentaram disponibilidade hídrica para a bacia Cachoeira Cinco Veados, com exceção do mês de dezembro. Conclui-se que durante todo o ano hidrológico, a evapotranspiração potencial não supera a precipitação mínima da bacia e ocorrendo as condições hídricas necessárias ao desenvolvimento das plantas, com apenas a exceção do mês de dezembro. Devido a isso, direcionou-se uma análise mais específica do balanço hídrico climatológico deste mês. O mapa resultante do balanço hídrico climatológico para o mês de dezembro foi analisado dentro de cada um dos quatro polígonos de Thiessen criados para este fim. O uso do balanço hídrico climatológico demonstra-se eficaz no auxílio a tomadas de decisão para o manejo de bacias hidrográficas.

Orientadores: Rosiane Lopes da Cunha, Miriam Dupas Hubinger
Tese (doutorado) - Universidade Estadual de Campinas, Faculdade de Engenharia de Alimentos
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Resumo: Foram estudadas as interações entre as proteínas do leite e a carragena em sistemas acidificados com glucona-delta-lactona (GDL) contendo ou não co-solutos, como açúcar (sacarose) e a mistura salina KCl/NaCl, na formação/obtenção de géis. Foi possível avaliar o efeito das variáveis de composição (concentrações de caseinato de sódio, concentrado protéico do soro, carragena, sacarose ou mistura salina KCl/NaCl) e condições de processo (temperatura de mistura dos componentes, tempo de aquecimento e velocidade de agitação) nas propriedades mecânicas e da capacidade de retenção de água dos géis protéicos acidificados, utilizando a metodologia de planejamento experimental fatorial. Essas análises foram complementadas com microscopia eletrônica de varredura e calorimetria diferencial de varredura. Nos géis obtidos com adição de sacarose verificou-se que a concentração de carragena foi a variável de maior contribuição ao aumento da dureza, deformabilidade e firmeza dos géis. Através dos ensaios de relaxação de tensões, verificou-se que o módulo elástico foi fortemente influenciado pelas interações entre a carragena e o caseinato de sódio, na presença do açúcar. O gel mais forte foi obtido em altas concentrações de biopolímeros, sendo o efeito da sacarose associado à diminuição das interações polissacarídeo-solvente. Na análise dos ensaios de ruptura e de relaxação de tensões constatou-se que os géis com a adição da mistura salina (KCl/NaCl), comportaram-se de maneira diferente dos com e sem sacarose. Foram estruturalmente muito mais frágeis e, em certas formulações, não se formou gel, sendo a força iônica e a temperatura de processo, as variáveis que definiram as características reológicas do sistema com sal. Pode-se observar o efeito negativo da concentração do concentrado protéico do soro (CPS) nas propriedades mecânicas do gel lácteo. Na avaliação da capacidade de retenção de água nos sistemas contendo sal, o comportamento foi totalmente diferente do da sacarose. A adição do açúcar promoveu o fortalecimento da rede do gel, com uma malha mais firme e coesa ao contrário do observado para os géis com adição da mistura salina KCL/NaCl
Abstract: Gel formation due to interactions between milk proteins and carrageenan in systems acidified by glucono-delta-lactona (GDL) with or without co-solutes like sugar (sucrose) and KCl/NaCl, were studied. A factorial experimental design was used to determine the effect of several variables, such as: the composition of the system (concentrations of sodium caseinate, whey protein concentrate, carrageenan and sucrose or a KCl/NaCl mixture); the process conditions (temperature of the mixture, heating time and stirring speed), on the mechanical properties of the acidified gels, as well as their water holding capacity. Scanning Electronic Microscopy and Differential Scanning Calorimetry were also used to complement the studies. In the gels containing sucrose, the concentration of carrageen was the more important variable with respect to the increase in hardness, rigidity and consistence of the gels. Using the stress relaxation experiments, it was observed that the elastic modulus was highly affected by the interactions between the carrageenan and sodium caseinate if sucrose was present. The strongest gel was obtained with the higher concentrations of the biopolymers, and this can be attributed to a decrease in the interactions between the polysaccharides and the water. In the presence of salts (KCl/NaCl) the stress relaxation and rupture experiments showed that the gels obtained were different from those obtained with the addition of sucrose or without a solute. The gels containing salts were much weaker and in some cases failed to form a gel. For these gels, the ionic strength and the temperature were the more important variables affecting the rheological properties of the gels. On the other hand, a negative effect of the concentration of whey protein concentrate on the mechanical properties of the lacteous gels could also be observed, due to strong interactions between the sodium caseinate and carrageenan. In terms of the water holding capacity, the behaviors of the gels containing salts and sucrose were again completely different. In the presence of sucrose, the molecular structure of the gel became stronger and cohesive, the opposite effect being observed in gels containing salts (KCl/NaCl)
Doutorado
Doutor em Engenharia de Alimentos

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Capes
It is necessary to acknowledge the retention and availability of water in the soil, they are agricultural production factors, which can be measured directly or estimated by pedotranfers. Some studies about retention and availability of water in the soil were initiated in the State of Santa Catarina, but these need to continue, mainly in the study of specific surface area (SSA) and limits of soil consistency, in the expansion of areas/regions of study, as well as use of other techniques beyond the linear multiple regression, such as artificial neural networks and regression trees. So the aim of this study was to estimate the field capacity, permanent wilting point and water available through multiple linear regressions, artificial neural networks and regression trees, in soils of the State of Santa Catarina, more efficient than the current pedotransfer functions. For this, samples of horizons of soil profiles 70 were collected for determination of physical, chemical and mineralogical properties. The soil properties were submitted to simple regression analysis and path analysis, to assess the relationship between the properties and clearly define which properties should be included in the models. They were also carried out cluster analysis by textural classes, classes of soil, lithology and classification according IN 2/2008. Eight models were defined for the estimation of field capacity (FC), permanent wilting point (PWP) and available water (AD). Linear multiple regressions were generated by the stepwise procedure, artificial neural networks and regression trees in the WEKA software. The database presented high variability, where sand acts negatively, and clay, the limits of consistency, organic carbon and specific surface area has a positive effect on water retention in the soil. For the availability of water to grain size was the property the most influential. When they were grouped by textural classes of clay soils showed the highest retention, and sandy to smaller. Already the water availability was higher in silty soils. As for lithology, the largest water retention happens in soils derived from igneous and sedimentary rocks with finer texture, and the smaller occurred in soils derived rock or sedimentary deposits with a particle size of greater diameter. For availability is the largest in derivative siltstones soils, and is lower in soils derived mainly granite and current alluvial deposits. When grouped according to their classification Cambissolos, Nitossolos and Brunos soil (suborder) showed greater water retention, and the Neossolos Quartzarênicos the lower retention and availability of water, mainly influenced by the particle size and soil organic carbon content. The normative instruction n. 2/2008 MAP (BRAZIL, 2008), is not appropriate to classify soils Santa Catarina as the availability of water, because the available water capacity did not differ between the classes, and most indicated that the classification happens directly through the available water capacity. In study estimates of the regression trees estimated better field capacity, the permanent wilting point and the availability of water than artificial neural networks and multiple linear regression. The best models to estimate the water retention were those who used the microporosity. The simplest model (content of clay, silt and organic carbon), also is an alternative for the estimation of field capacity, permanent wilting point and the availability of water in the soil
É necessário o conhecimento da retenção e disponibilidade de água no solo, pois são fatores de produção agrícola, os quais podem ser medidos diretamente ou estimados por pedofunções. Alguns trabalhos de retenção e disponibilidade de água no solo foram iniciados no Estado de Santa Catarina, mas estes necessitam de sequência, sobretudo no estudo da área superficial específica (ASE) e limites de consistência do solo, e na ampliação das áreas/regiões de estudo, assim como uso de outras técnicas além das regressões múltiplas lineares, tais como redes neurais artificiais e árvores de regressão. Assim o objetivo deste trabalho foi estimar a capacidade de campo, ponto de murcha permanente e água disponível através de regressões múltiplas lineares, redes neurais artificiais e árvores de regressão, em solos do Estado de Santa Catarina, de forma mais eficiente do que às atuais funções de pedotransferência. Para isso, amostras dos horizontes de 70 perfis de solo foram coletadas para determinação de propriedades físicas, químicas e mineralógicas. As propriedades do solo foram submetidas à análise de regressão simples e análise de trilha, para avaliar a relação entre as propriedades, e definir quais devem ser incluídas nos modelos. Também foram realizadas análises de agrupamento por classes texturais, classes de solos, litologia e classificação segundo a instrução normativa IN 2/2008. Foram definidos oito modelos para a estimativa da capacidade de campo (CC), ponto de murcha permanente (PMP) e água disponível (AD). As regressões múltiplas lineares foram geradas pelo procedimento stepwise, e as redes neurais artificiais e as árvores de regressão no software WEKA. O banco de dados apresentou alta variabilidade, onde areia atua negativamente, e a argila, os limites de consistência, carbono orgânico e área superficial específica atuam positivamente sobre a retenção de água no solo. Para à disponibilidade de água a granulometria foi a propriedade com maior influência. Quando foram agrupados por classes texturais, os solos argilosos foram os que apresentaram maior retenção, e os arenosos a menor. Já a disponibilidade de água foi maior em solos siltosos. Quanto à litologia, a maior retenção de água aconteceu em solos derivados de rochas ígneas e sedimentares com textura mais fina, e os menores aconteceram em solos derivados de rochas ou depósitos sedimentares com granulometria de maior diâmetro. A maior disponibilidade ocorre em solos derivados de siltitos, e menor em solos derivados, principalmente, de granito e de depósitos aluvionares atuais. Quando agrupados pela classificação taxonômica os Cambissolos, Nitossolos e solos Brunos (Subordem) apresentaram maior retenção de água, e os Neossolos Quartzarênicos menor retenção e disponibilidade de água, influenciados principalmente pela granulometria e teor de carbono orgânico do solo. A instrução normativa n. 2/2008 do MAPA (BRASIL, 2008) não é adequada para classificar os solos catarinenses quanto a disponibilidade de água, pois a capacidade de água disponível não diferiu entre as classes, sendo mais indicado que a classificação aconteça diretamente através da determinação da capacidade de água disponível. No estudo das estimativas as árvores de regressão estimaram melhor a capacidade de campo, o ponto de murcha permanente e a disponibilidade de água do que as redes neurais artificiais e a regressão múltipla linear. O modelo mais simples (teor de argila, silte e carbono orgânico), pode ser utilizado para estimar a capacidade de campo, ponto de murcha permanente e disponibilidade de água no solo. Mas os melhores modelos para estimar a retenção de água foram os que incluíram a microporosidade

Com o objetivo de desenvolver um produto saudável e pronto a consumir com características semelhantes às de um fiambre de porco, entre as quais a textura, prepararamse fiambres de pescado com incorporação de fibras vegetais e aplicação de duas tecnologias de gelificação. Neste sentido, foi estudado o efeito da espécie (dourada, robalo e corvina, de aquacultura), época de captura (verão e inverno), adição de transglutaminase microbiana (MTGase) e glucomanano de konjac (KGM) e gelificação térmica (pasteurização) ou processamento por altas pressões (HPP), nas propriedades texturais e na cor dos fiambres. O produto preparado com corvina capturada no inverno e 0,5 % de MTGase apresentou as características que mais se assemelhavam às do fiambre de porco. A substituição de KGM por fibra de chicória e a adição de isolado de proteína de ervilha permitiram otimizar as propriedades físicas e melhorar as propriedades funcionais deste fiambre. A preferência do consumidor, relativamente à cor de fiambre de peixe e avaliada por um inquérito “on line”, foi para um fiambre preparado com 0,0005 % de cochonilha, cuja cor era muito semelhante à do fiambre de corvina sem corante. Os fiambres de corvina submetidos às combinações 350 MPa/10 min ou 20 min/30 °C e 500 MPa/10 min/30 °C apresentaram a textura mais próxima da do fiambre pasteurizado. Sob estas últimas condições de HPP, estudou-se o efeito da MTGase (0,25 % - 0,5 %) como potenciador da gelificação, tendo os resultados evidenciado a necessidade do uso de, pelo menos, 0,25 % de MTGase, para não comprometer as propriedades texturais. O tratamento térmico foi mais eficaz na inativação microbiana que o HPP a 500 MPa/10 min/30 °C, e os fiambres, pasteurizados ou submetidos ao HPP, apresentaram-se próprios para consumo até ao 35.º e 21.º dia de armazenagem em refrigeração, respetivamente; ABSTRACT: In order to develop a healthy and ready to eat product with similar characteristics to those of a commercial cooked pork ham, namely texture, fish hams were prepared with the incorporation of vegetable fibers and the application of two gelation technologies. Thus, the effect of the species (farmed gilthead sea bream, sea bass and meagre), harvesting seasons (summer and winter), addition of microbial transglutaminase (MTGase) and konjac glucomannan (KGM), as well as thermal gelation (pasteurization) or high pressure processing (HPP), were studied on the textural properties and color of fish ham. The characteristics of the ham prepared with winter meagre and 0.5% MTGase were the most similar to those of cooked pork ham. The replacement of KGM by chicory fiber and the addition of pea protein isolate allowed to optimize the physical properties and to improve the functional properties of this ham. Consumer preference for fish ham color an assessed by an on-line survey was for a ham prepared with 0.0005% cochineal, whose color was very similar to that of the dye-free meagre. The meagre hams submitted to the combinations 350 MPa/10 min or 20 min/30 °C and 500 MPa/10 min/30 °C had a texture closer to that of pasteurized ham. Under these HPP conditions, the effect of MTGase (0.25 % - 0.5 %) as a gelation enhancer was studied, and the results showed that at least 0.25 % MTGase is needed, for not compromising the textural properties. The heat treatment was more effective on the microbial inactivation than HPP at 500 MPa/10 min/30 °C, and the pasteurized or HPP cooked hams were fit for consumption up to the 35th and 21st storage days in refrigeration, respectively.

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Common bean is produced in the entire territory of Brazil and it is the staple food of many Brazilians. In spite of being cultivated in a variety of meteorological conditions, common bean is a plant sensitive to environmental stresses, mainly water stress. To appropriately provide the plant with water, it is necessary to study the climate of the region and the sowing times. Such information will be helpful to decide if the irrigation is recommended or not, and when recommended, its best planning. The objective of this study was to determine the most probable value of the duration of the cycle and the developmental phases, the irrigation requirements and the number of irrigations necessary for common bean cultivated during different sowing dates, considering the storage capacity of available water (CAD) of some of the main soils of the Central Region of the Rio Grande do Sul State, Brazil. The simulation of the developmental cycle was performed using thermal time units, in ten sowing dates (ES) and in each year of the meteorological database, from 1968 to 2006. Meteorological data were collected in the main meteorological station (MS) at Santa Maria - RS Irrigation was simulated for 13 soils in the surroundings of the MS, organized in six groups according to CAD and texture. In simulating the irrigation it were used four managements: 0.8, 0.7, 0.6 and 0.5 which correspond to the maximum uptake of 20%, 30%, 40% and 50% of CAD, respectively. The variation of the amount of water in the soil was calculated through daily water balance, considering the irrigation. Data obtained, such as the entire cycle duration and developmental phases, and the amount and number of irrigations, was submitted to analysis variance, tests of means comparison and analysis of probability distribution. The normal probability density function (fdp) was used to study the developmental cycle and the duration of the developmental phases. For the irrigation requirements and the number of irrigations, the gamma fdp was used in most cases, because of a best fit of the data. When it was not possible to adjust any fdp the empirical distribution was used. The developmental cycle has a variable duration with average values between 81 and 121 days, being shorter at the end of the spring growing season. The irrigation requirement and the number of irrigations were influenced by ES and soil type. The largest demand of water supply takes place at the end of the spring growing season and the smallest one in the beginning of the spring growing season and during the autumn growing season. For a likelihood of 90% the irrigation requirement varied between 32 and 143 mm and the number of irrigations between 3 and 20 times during the growing season.
O feijão é uma leguminosa bastante cultivada no Brasil, sendo o principal alimento de muitos brasileiros. Apesar de ser cultivado em diferentes condições climáticas, o feijoeiro é uma planta bastante sensível a estresses ambientais, notadamente a deficiência hídrica. Para suprir adequadamente a planta com água é necessário estudar o clima da região e das épocas de cultivo. As informações obtidas irão ajudar na tomada de decisões da adoção ou não da irrigação e, quando recomendada, seu melhor planejamento. O objetivo desse estudo foi determinar os valores mais prováveis de duração do ciclo e subperíodos, de lâmina de irrigação e do número de irrigações necessários para o feijão semeado em diferentes épocas, considerando-se a capacidade de armazenamento de água disponível (CAD) dos principais solos da região Central do Rio Grande do Sul. A simulação do ciclo foi realizada utilizando-se a soma térmica, em dez épocas de semeadura (ES) e em cada ano da séria histórica de dados meteorológicos, para o período entre 1968 e 2006. Os dados meteorológicos foram coletados na estação meteorológica principal de Santa Maria RS (EMPSM). A irrigação foi simulada para 13 solos da região de abrangência da EMPSM, que foram reunidos em seis grupos, de acordo com sua CAD e sua textura. Para simular a irrigação, utilizaram-se quatro manejos: 0,8; 0,7; 0,6 e 0,5 os quais correspondem ao esgotamento máximo de 20%, 30%, 40% e 50% da CAD, respectivamente. A variação do conteúdo de água no solo foi determinada pelo balanço hídrico diário do solo, considerando-se a irrigação. Os dados de duração do ciclo e dos subperíodos, assim como a lâmina e o número de irrigações foram submetidos à análise de variância, teste de comparação de médias e análise de distribuição de probabilidade. A função de distribuição de probabilidades (fdp) normal foi utilizada para estudar a distribuição da duração do ciclo e de suas etapas. Para a lâmina de irrigação e o número de irrigações utilizou-se a fdp gamma, na maioria dos casos, por apresentar melhor ajuste aos dados. Quando não foi possível ajustar nenhuma fdp, utilizou-se a distribuição empírica. Verificou-se que o ciclo tem duração variável conforme a ES com médias entre 81 e 121 dias, sendo mais curto no final do período de safra. A lâmina e o número de irrigações foram influenciados pela ES e tipo de solo. A maior exigência de suplementação hídrica acontece nas últimas ES do período da safra e a menor no início da safra e na safrinha. Para a probabilidade de 90% de ocorrência a lâmina de irrigação variou entre 32 e 143 mm e o número de irrigações entre três e 20 vezes no ciclo de cultivo.

De nombreuses recherches se focalisent sur l'étude des aires de distribution des espèces qui se décalent vers des conditions plus adaptées à leurs besoins physiologiques sous l'effet du changement climatique. Le choix des indices utilisés pour caractériser l'écologie des espèces et définir leur vulnérabilité au réchauffement en cours est souvent conditionné par leur disponibilité, alors qu'il devrait être basé sur les connaissances en écophysiologie qui les concernent. D'autre part, la résolution spatiale parfois grossière utilisée n'est pas toujours pertinente au regard de l'échelle à laquelle les processus biologiques se déroulent. Dans ce cadre, l'objectif de ce travail est de cartographier à fine résolution spatiale les bilans en eau des sols et leurs différentes composantes à l'échelle des forêts de France, et d'évaluer leur intérêt pour modéliser la distribution ou la productivité des espèces au regard des indices traditionnellement utilisés. Dans un premier temps, nous avons modélisé et cartographié les différentes composantes du bilan en eau des sols, et tout particulièrement le rayonnement solaire et la réserve utile maximale en eau (RUM) des sols forestiers à partir des relevés de l'Inventaire Forestier National (IFN). Ces données ont été combinées avec des températures et des précipitations pour spatialiser le bilan en eau des sols forestiers de France. Les principaux résultats montrent l'importance de la nébulosité dans la prise en compte du calcul du rayonnement solaire, et l'inefficacité des indices dérivés de l'exposition pour en simuler les valeurs à l'échelle de la France. Nous avons également déterminé qu'il est possible de réaliser avec des informations simples à collecter une carte des RUM des sols forestiers de France. Elle permet de prédire la croissance des essences avec une efficacité comparable aux valeurs relevées sur des placettes et d'améliorer la modélisation de la distribution de certaines essences. Enfin, nous démontrons que les calculs de bilans en eau qui prennent en compte la réserve en eau des sols sont plus efficaces que les bilans hydriques climatiques ou les pluies, particulièrement pour ce qui concerne les espèces hygrophiles ou xérophiles. Ces résultats laissent penser que l'importance de l'eau a été sous-estimée dans l'analyse de la distribution des espèces et l'étude des conséquences du changement climatique sur les plantes. Les données produites permettent de progresser dans la connaissance de l'écologie des espèces et de mieux caractériser la vulnérabilité des espèces, ouvrant la porte à la création d'outils plus fonctionnels pour aider les gestionnaires à évaluer les impacts du changement de climat et à s'y adapter.

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Studies on the retention and availability of water are scarce for humid subtropical and temperate regions in the Southern Hemisphere. The objectives of this study were to evaluate, generate and validate some pedotransfer functions (PTFs) to estimate the retention and the availability of water in soils of Santa Catarina. Were sampled 44 profiles, in areas under different vegetal coverings, to determine the water retention at suctions from zero to 1.500 kPa, the particles size distribution (7 classes), the organic matter content, the bulck density and particle density of soil, the conductivity hydraulic, and the aggregate stability. Regarding the attributes, soils with finer texture and / or more organic matter retain higher water content, where the organic matter is the main attribute that governs the availability of water, mainly in the surface horizons. Some classes of sand, mainly very fine sand, fine and coarse fractions, have greater effects on water availability than the silt fraction. The soils with contrasting textural classes, with high contents of clay or sand, have the same content of water available, although the sand soils have very low field capacity. Increased water availability occurs in soils with textural class loam, with higher content of organic matter and the lower availability occurs in sand class soils. In relation to lithology, there is a higher retention in soils derived from igneous extrusive rocks of the Serra Geral Formation, metamorphic, intrusive igneous, and sedimentary with fine texture, and a lower retention in those derived from rocks or sedimentary deposits rich in quartz. Increased availability of water occurs in soils derived from siltstone and less in soils derived from granite and recent alluvial deposits. Regarding soil classes (suborders), the water retention is higher in Cambisols, Ferralsols and Nitosols, and lower in Quartzarenic Neosols. In relation the regions, the soils of the Midwest and West, Serrano Highlands and Valley of Itajaí have high water retention, the intermediary are the Eastern Sierra, and lower in the coast. Humic Cambisols and Entisols, located in the Serrano Highlands has increased availability of water, mainly because of high contents of organic matter. In relation to soil types in the normative instruction n. 2/2008 of the MAPA (BRAZIL, 2008), which classifies the soils as a function of clay and sand, it is observed that is not adequate to classify the soils of Santa Catarina in terms of availability of water, although, the hydraulic conductivity of the unsaturated soil is lower in Type 1 soils. In relation the pedotransfer functions of literature, they better estimate the retention than water availability and with greater precision by the functions originated from climate regions subtropical and for the subsurface horizons of the soil. Most functions evaluated underestimates the water retention, with greater deviations in soils with 20-60 % clay. About the functions generated for the soils of Santa Catarina, the estimation of retention and availability of water was better in those adjusted separately for surface and subsurface horizons. To estimate the water retention, the point PTFs must be used including data of the texture, organic matter and their interactions. To estimate the availability, the point PTFs should include the five classes of sand, silt, clay, organic matter, soil bulk density, soil particles density, total porosity and their interactions. The parametrics PTFs estimate properly the water retention curve for most of the textural classes of the soil, when data of texture, organic matter, soil bulk density, soil particles density, total porosity and their interactions are included as predictors. The class PTFs estimate properly the water retention curve for most of the soil textural classes of Santa Catarina
Estudos sobre a retenção e disponibilidade de água são escassos para as regiões de clima subtropical ou temperado úmido do hemisfério sul. Os objetivos deste estudo foram avaliar, gerar e validar funções de pedotransferência (FPTs) para estimar a retenção e a disponibilidade de água em solos de Santa Catarina. Foram amostrados 44 perfis, em áreas sob diferentes coberturas vegetais, para determinar a retenção de água nas sucções de zero até 1.500 kPa, a distribuição do tamanho de partículas (7 classes), o teor de matéria orgânica, a densidade do solo e de partículas, a condutividade hidráulica e a estabilidade de agregados. Em relação aos atributos, solos com textura mais fina e/ou com maior teor de MO retêm maior conteúdo de água, sendo a MO é o principal atributo que governa a disponibilidade de água, principalmente nos horizontes superficiais. Algumas classes de areia, principalmente as areias muito fina, fina e grossa, possuem maiores efeitos sobre disponibilidade de água do que a fração silte. Os solos com classes texturais contrastantes, com elevados teores de argila ou de areia, disponibilizam o mesmo conteúdo de água disponível, embora os arenosos tenham baixa capacidade de campo. Maior conteúdo de água disponível ocorre em solos das classes com textura franca e com maior teor de MO, enquanto que a menor disponibilidade ocorre em solos da classe areia. Em relação à litologia, ocorre uma maior retenção em solos derivados de rochas ígneas extrusivas da Formação Serra Geral, e de rochas metamórficas, ígneas intrusivas e sedimentares de textura fina, e menor nos derivados de rochas ou depósitos sedimentares ricos em quartzo. Maior disponibilidade de água ocorre em solos derivados de siltitos e o menor em solos derivados de granito e de depósitos aluvionares recentes. Em relação às classes de solos (subordens), a retenção de água é maior nos Cambissolos, Nitossolos e Latossolos e menor nos Neossolos Quartzarênicos. Em relação às regiões, os solos do Meio Oeste e Oeste, Planalto Serrano e Vale do Itajaí possuem elevada retenção de água, euquanto que, nos da Serra Leste é intermediária e os do Litoral é baixa. Os Cambissolos Húmicos e os Neossolos Litólicos, localizados no Planalto Serrano, têm maior disponibilidade de água, principalmente devido aos elevados teores de matéria orgânica. Em relação aos tipos de solos da instrução normativa n. 2/2008 do MAPA (BRASIL, 2008), que classifica os solos em função do teor de argila e areia, observa-se que a mesma não é adequada para classificar os solos catarinenses quanto a disponibilidade de água. Entretanto, a condutividade hidráulica não saturada é menor nos solos do Tipo 1. Em relação às funções de pedotransferência (FPTs) publicadas na literatura, elas estimam melhor a retenção do que a disponibilidade de água, com maior precisão pelas funções originadas de regiões de clima subtropical e para os horizontes subsuperficiais do solo. A maioria das funções avaliadas subestima a retenção de água, com erros maiores nos solos com 20 a 60% de argila. Quanto às funções geradas para os solos de Santa Catarina, as que melhor estimam a retenção e disponibilidade de água são aquelas ajustadas separadamente para os horizontes superficiais e subsuperficiais. Para estimar a retenção de água devem ser utilizadas as FPTs pontuais que incluem dados de textura, matéria orgânica do solo e suas interações. Para estimar a disponibilidade de água devem ser utilizadas as FPTs pontuais que utilizam as cinco classes de areia, silte, argila, matéria orgânica, densidade do solo e de partículas, porosidade total e suas interações. As FPTs paramétricas estimam adequadamente a curva de retenção de umidade do solo para a maioria das classes texturais, quando são incluídos dados de textura, matéria orgânica, densidade do solo e de partículas, porosidade total e suas interações como variáveis preditoras. As FPTs de classe estimam adequadamente a curva de retenção de água do solo para a maioria das classes texturais dos solos de Santa Catarina

Les marais de l'Ouest ont été gagnés sur les sédiments fluvio-marins par poldérisation débutée dès le moyen âge. Les aménagements hydrauliques avaient, initialement, des objectifs sanitaires et d'élevage. A partir des endiguements, ils ont divisé les territoires en marais mouillés et marais desséchés. Depuis les années 1970 le développement des cultures intensives de céréales a nécessité un rabaissement complémentaire de la nappe par drainage en partie pour augmenter la désalinisation de surface et limiter l’engorgement des sols. Néanmoins, ces territoires restent caractérisés par des nappes proches de la surface. En conséquence les profils hydriques vont être gouvernés par les conditions météorologiques y compris l'évapotranspiration, la pluviométrie, mais également par les remontées capillaires issues d'une nappe salée. D'autre par la nature argileuse des sols et ses propriétés de retrait conditionnent énormément le fonctionnement hydrodynamique et les évolutions de structure.La première partie du travail a été de suivre les évolutions des profils hydriques et de salinité en parcelles non drainées (prairies) et en parcelles drainées (Maïs, Blé, Tournesol). Ces suivis ont été complétés par les mesures des niveaux de nappes et par des mesures tensiométriques via des bougies poreuses implantées à différentes profondeurs. L'objectif final a été de calculer et modéliser les profils de réserve utile (RU) et de RU "résiduelle" utilisable par les plantes. Dans ces systèmes alimentés par les remontées capillaires, le réseau racinaire puise l'eau dans la zone non saturée de surface (vadose) puis dans la zone saturée sous-jacente. La teneur en eau caractéristique de l'interface zone non saturée - zone saturée a été déterminée par analogie entre les chemins d'état de la matrice argileuse le long de sa courbe de retrait et du sol le long de sa courbe de compaction. Les profils de RU résiduelle utilisable par les plantes ont été calculés à partir des profils de teneurs en eau puis comparés aux profils de RU obtenus via les données de station météorologique. Ces profils de RU résiduelle ont pu être écrits sous forme d'équation polynomiale du second degré puis modélisés. Dans cet environnement alimenté par les remontées capillaires, ces profils de RU résiduelles peuvent être modélisés à partir d'un paramètre facilement mesurable en surface qui prend en compte la structure du sol et les conditions météorologique : soit la teneur en eau à 10 cm de profondeur. Cette modélisation reste suffisamment réaliste pour être utilisée comme un outil prédictif face à la pédodiversité et/ou les rendements de culture.A ce travail s'ajoute deux études préliminaires : - les mesures des conductivités thermiques effectives de ces sols par la méthode du fil chaud et leurs modélisations dans les systèmes biphasés : eau - argile et air - argile, mais également pour les systèmes triphasés non saturés : eau - air - argile. Les perspectives sont la modélisation des transferts thermiques et hydriques dans le sol à partir de la surface, - et l'élaboration d'un protocole d'imprégnation-polymérisation des sols argileux humides par des résines de type HEMA. Cette imprégnation permet d'envisager la confection de lames minces dans le matériau argileux induré avec conservation de sa structure initiale humide. Les perspectives sont la pétrographie quantitative à l'interface racine - sol le long de profils verticaux dans les environnements argileux à degrés de saturation et structure évolutives
The coastal marshlands are territories generally reclaimed on primary fluvio-marine sediments. They result from hydraulic managements and/or polderization which may date from the Middle Ages. Historically these hydraulic managements were built for goals of wholesomeness, breeding and farming. They isolate two territories: the dried marshes and the wet marshes. For the intensive cereal crops the slow drying caused by land reclamation was recently improved by the drainage, in part for increase the depth of desalinization and decrease waterlogging. Nevertheless, these territories remain characterized by shallow ground water of initial salt water. Consequently, the hydric profiles are governed by the meteoric conditions including the Evapotranspiration, the rainfall, but also the capillarity rises from the salt groundwater. Moreover, the clay dominated nature of the soils and their drastic shrinkage properties govern the hydrodynamic functioning and the soil structure behavior.The first part of the work was the monitoring of the water content and salinity profiles in drained cereal crops and in undrained grasslands. These measurements have been completed by the ground water level and tensiometric monitoring. The final goal was the calculation and modeling of the available water capacity (AWC) and plant available water (PAW) profiles. In these systems mainly supplied by the capillarity rises, the root network gets water in the subsurface vadose zone and then in the deeper saturated groundwater zone. The water content characteristic of the interface between the vadose and saturated zone was determined by comparison between the clay material state paths along its shrinkage curve and along its compaction curve. The PAW profiles were calculated from the water content profiles and then compared to the AWC profiles. The PAW profiles have been equated as polynomial second degree equations. In these shallow groundwater environments the PAW profiles have been modeled taking into account an easy measurable surface parameter which includes the soil structure behavior and the meteoric conditions: i.e. the water content measured at 10 cm depth. The PAW modelling remains sufficiently realistic to be used as a tool for farming management. Two preliminary studies were added to this work: - the measurement of effective thermal conductivity of the clayey soils by the transient hot wire method, and the modeling of the effective thermal conductivity of biphasic air-clay and water-clay media, but also triphasic unsaturated air-water-clay media. The prospect is the modeling of thermal and hydric transfer from the surface to the depth. - and the elaboration of a protocol of impregnation - hardening for wet clay dominated soils by HEMA resins. This impregnation allows the making of thin sections in these clay materials with conservation of their initial wet structures. The prospective is the quantitative petrography at the root - clay matrix interface along vertical profiles in clayey soils at different degrees of saturation and different structures

Natural coarse textured soils comprise a significant portion (approximately 20%) of the area to be mined at Suncor, Syncrude (aurora mine), Albian/Shell, and CNRL mines in the Alberta’s oil sands (Macyk, 2006). Although similar in soil textural classifications, the undisturbed areas support a range of ecosite types which exhibit different moisture regimes, suggesting that there are natural mechanisms controlling the plant available water sufficient for forest development. The global objective of this study was to evaluate the potential for textural variability to enhance water storage in coarse textured soil. The observations of the infiltration and drainage behaviour of natural and reclaimed coarse-texture soils in this study have demonstrated that this potential exists and can be applied in reclamation design to achieve the ranges of soil water storage needed to establish different ecosites. Field based infiltration and drainage testing, pit excavation and sampling have been completed on 14 sites (7 natural and 7 reclaimed). Bulk saturated hydraulic conductivity and field capacity were estimated for each of the 14 sites based on the field test results. The observed transient water dynamics give an indication of the effect of layering on these material properties. Laboratory analysis of water content (650 samples), particle size (650 samples), water retention (35 samples), organic carbon (100 samples) as well as calibration of field instrumentation were completed on a large number of samples (approximate values shown in brackets above) across all sites. The laboratory analysis was used to characterize textural variability (mean and standard deviation of the particle diameter) for the layered sites and estimate the soil water retention curve (SWRC) relationships for the range of soil textures encountered at the study sites. Pedotransfer functions (PTFs) were used to investigate if there were significant differences in the residual sum of squares between estimated and measured SWRCs. The measured organic carbon was used to aid in estimating permanent wilting point (WP) used in the calculation of the available water holding capacity (AWHC) of all profiles. An investigation into the calibration of the moisture capacitance probe (MCP) was undertaken as part of a comparison of the measured and simulated volumetric water content (VWC) profiles. Water storage at the cessation of drainage was related to the soil texture and textural variability as measured in the laboratory. Sites with more textural variability generally stored more water for plant use. There appeared to be a limit to what can be considered ‘useful’ textural variability. If adjacent soil layers had too extreme a contrast in texture and therefore hydraulic conductivity, unstable/preferential flow (i.e. bypassing of some of the water and nutrients from plant roots) occurred. The total porosity calculated from field samples was often higher than the maximum measured VWC in each layer which may be indicative of one or more factors that resulted in less than full saturation being attained within the targeted 1 m depth of saturation during the test. Some of these factors include: errors in sampling leading to an overestimate of total porosity; lateral flow along textural interfaces; air entrapment within the rapidly advancing wetting front; unstable/preferential flow as a result of the high contrast in hydraulic conductivity (fine over coarse) between adjacent layers (i.e. Ks Ratio >20) or where tests were conducted on slopes (i.e. funnel flow). This latter case was common at the reclaimed sites. A modelling study of one uniform (SV10) and one layered (NLFH1) natural site was conducted. The models were built by incorporating soil properties of the layers in the various soil profiles as estimated from field and/or laboratory testing. This study offers a comparison between various PTFs and their ability to capture the soil-water storage/dynamics during infiltration and drainage testing. The Arya PTF gave a better estimation of the laboratory measured SWRCs. However, when modeling the measured infiltration and drainage testing for the relatively uniform site SV10, the Arya PTF and Modified Kovacs (MK) PTF performed similarly. The Arya PTF performing slightly better for the infiltration phase and the MK PTF performing slightly better for the drainage phase. Both PTFs gave a reasonable estimation of water storage but the MK PTF gave a better estimation of the water storage with time as compared to the Arya PTF. For the highly layered site NLFH1, neither model performed well. The Arya PTF gave a substantially better estimation of the infiltration phase and gave the better estimation of the magnitude of water storage with time, the MK PTF performed marginally better for the drainage phase and gave a better estimation of the shape of the water storage with time. Generally, the study showed that the replication of the profile water storage requirements for the layered natural ecosites (‘b’ and ‘d’ ecosites) has been achieved and can be achieved by layering (or even mixing) available coarse textured reclamation materials. This study has indicated that replicating the highly uniform ecosites (‘a’ ecosites) is where the bigger challenge lies in reclamation. Reclaiming with a diversity of target ecosites is essential to achieving the pre-disturbance land capability standard that the mine operators are bound by. The temptation may exist to simply condone reclamation that has met or exceeded the pre-exisiting land capability. However, problems with ground water recharge and regional water distribution are likely to arise if large areas of lower functioning ecosites are replaced with higher functioning ecosites.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
畜產學系研究所
86
In this study, to apply coagulable fibrinogen of porcine blood with plasma protein and calcium chloride to be edible gel. And wishing to advance the value of porcine blood from slaughter house. The freeze-thaw precipitation and glycine salting-out porcine plasma used to extract fibrinogen, and its yield was 40.5±4.6ｇ per liter plasma. In this experiment, gel water-holding capacity was indicated to water-holding ability, and defined as percentage of the pellet weight (after centrifugation) to the original gel weight. By the reactive condition test, to find the best reactive condition was 9 mg/ml fibrinogen reacting with 8 % plasma protein and 0.015 M calcium chloride in pH 7 at 25 ℃. There was higher gel water-holding ability above pH 7 than below pH 7 (P<0.05). When reaction was processed at 12.5 and 50 ℃, water-holding ability would obviously descend that compared with processing at 25 and 37.5 ℃ (P<0.05). In heat treatment test, to compare with the control that heated at 25 ℃ with the same reactive condition, water- holding ability was increased with heating gel at 90 ℃ for 10 minutes and at 75 ℃ for 30 minutes. To compare with the control that had the same reactive condition without adding any factor, addition of ferrous, copper, magnesium, zinc, and potassium ions couldn't improve gel water-holding ability in any pH or heating condition (P < 0.05), and addition of zinc chloride even decreased gel water-holding ability; addition of sodium dihydrogenphosphate, sodium pyrophosphate, and sodium tripolyphosphate had no significant changes of gel water-holding ability in any pH (P<0.05), but addition of sodium dihydrogen- phosphate could be risen gel water - holding ability with heating gel at 60 ℃ for 10 minutes and at 75 ℃ for 30 minutes (P<0.05). Addition of glucose, sucrose and glycerol would advance to gel water-holding ability above pH 7, and were also advantageous to increase gel water-holding ability with heat treatment beside gel heating at 70 ℃ for 10 minutes (P<0.05). To be replaced plasma powder with whey powder could improve gel water-holding ability above pH 7 and was helpful to increase gel water-holding ability with heating gel at 60 ℃ for 10 minutes (P<0.05).

Protein isolates made from low quality muscle foods can be an efficient method to increase the water holding capacity of muscle foods. Increased water holding capacity may improve the sensory values of muscle foods after cooking. Protein isolates from various sources can be utilized to add value and increase water holding of muscle foods. In this study we focused on the mechanism of increasing the water holding of muscle foods after the injection of protein isolate suspensions. Cook yields of muscle samples increased after the injection of these suspensions. Addition of buffering salts and increasing the amount of NaCl in the suspensions increased cook yields further more. Injection material containing protein isolates increased the retention of injected material in the muscle when compared to the injection solutions that did not contain the protein isolate. To reach a certain level of injection, a larger amount of injection solution has to be injected as part of this solution may leak out of the muscle once the injection is complete. When the suspension containing protein isolate is injected into the muscle, retention of the injected material is greater than in the case without the isolate and the injected suspensions stay in the muscle after injection. The increased retention may be due to the suspension having a consistency sufficiently high to resist the pressure of the muscle to force it out. Injected protein isolate suspensions form pockets inside the muscle by deforming the muscle structure and the deformed muscle does not go back to its initial form even after the suspension is removed from the pockets. The injected material flows along the muscle fibers but not through connective tissue. Cuts of muscles with all fibers oriented in parallel fashion will have a better distribution of the injected material than muscle cuts with complex fiber orientation. The consistencies of protein isolate suspensions showed similarities with their solubilities. Both of these properties increased with increase of pH and stayed at a higher level when the pH decreased back to initial pH values from the alkaline side. Solubility and consistency of protein isolate suspensions increased over time.

碩士
國立臺灣大學
化學工程學研究所
105
Bacterial Cellulose (BC) of unique nano-fibers structure and strong hydrophilicity is noted for its high water holding capacity (WHC). In this study WHC was measured by a draining method proposed by Chen (2015) with a slight modification. Experimental results suggested that a convenient set of draining criteria: time interval between draining droplets (∆T) = 6 min and the size of BC (A) = 16 cm2 to measure. WHC would satisfactorily result in less than 5 % coefficient of variation, and evaporation loss is less than 1.5 % within 30 mins. Furthermore, GHC (glycerol holding capacity) of gly/BC membrane was measured via this draining method by soaking BC memebrane in glycerol solution of various concentrations. The results showed that as the concentration of glycerol solution increased, GHC of gly/BC increased. Meanwhile, as the concentration of glycerol solution increased, up to 12 % swelling effect was noted. As to WRC (water rehydration capability) of BC dried by hot air, the experimental results showed that the WRC of gly/BC (glycerol concentration 10 wt % or more) could retain at least 90 % of capability compared to only 5 % by hot-air dried BC and 20~40% by freeze-dried BC. The porosity of rehydrated gly/BC was higher than 99.3 % and the permeability was about 6*10-6 ~6.5*10-6 cm2/sec, which were slightly lower than never-dried BC, but far greater than the hot-air dried BC and freeze-dried BC.

碩士
國立成功大學
土木工程學系碩博士班
95
Reservoir sludge and rice husk, which can be burned at higher temperatures, are utilized to manufacture various porous spherical media with dual layers. By using different shell ratio, core ratio and furnace temperature in manufacturing, spherical media with high water holding capacity and sufficient strength were produced. The physical properties of the spherical media with dual layers were measured to verify if they can be regarded as ideal growing media. Also, the effects of shell ratio, core ratio and furnace temperature on the physical properties of spherical media are evaluated and compares to those of LECA and perlite. The physical properties of ideal growing media are: the air-filled porosity is 10% to 50%, the container capacity is 20% to 60%, and the bulk density is 0.3 g/cm3 to 0.75 g/cm3. Based on the experimental results conducted here, it is found that the physical properties of the spherical media manufactured in this study are: the air-filled porosity is 37% to 41% , the container capacity is 3% to 28% , and the bulk density is 0.4 g/cm3 to 0.9 g/cm3. Hence, two of the twenty-seven spherical media produced in this study, S05-C01-T900 and S05-C01-T1000, whose container capacity and strength are higher than LEAC and perlite, can be regarded as ideal growing media because of their promising physical properties.

碩士
國立成功大學
土木工程學系碩博士班
96
Different fractions of reservoir sludge and rice hull were first mixed and then sintered at high temperatures to produce spherical media with various size and water holding capacity. The physical properties of the spherical media, including air-filled porosity, container capacity, bulk density, particle crushing strength, pH value and electrical conductivity, were measured and compared to each other to suggest some candidate spherical media for plants. At the same time, the effects of rice hull length, sphere size and rice hull content on the physical properties of spherical media are evaluated and compared to those of commercially available LECA and perlite. The required physical properties of candidate spherical media for plants are: air-filled porosity 5-50%, container capacity 20-60%, particle crushing strength 0.5MPa and bulk density 0.3-0.75g/cm3. The physical properties of the spherical media with single size manufactured here are measured experimentally: air-filled porosity 40-43%, container capacity 13-39%, bulk density 0.409-1.096g/cm3, particle crushing strength 1.55-68.9kgf/cm2. Also, air-filled porosity 33-43%, maximum container capacity 44% are found for the spherical media with dual size. Five of the 21 different spherical media produced in the study satisfy the required physical properties of candidate spherical media for plants. Especially, the particle crushing strength of the spherical medium with the highest container capacity, 4 times of LECA, is still higher than that of LECA and perlite. The heights of Bermuda grasses planted on the spherical medium produced here, soil and LECA are approximately the same after 12 weeks. In addition, it is found that the height and coverage rate of Taipei grasses planted on a spherical medium with a higher container capacity is superior to those with a lower container capacity.

abstract: Aboveground net primary production (ANPP) is an important ecosystem process that, in drylands, is most frequently limited by water availability. Water availability for plants is in part controlled by the water holding capacity of soils. Available water holding capacity (AWHC) of soils is strongly influenced by soil texture and depth. This study drew upon localized rain gauge data and four data-sets of cover-line and biomass data to estimate ANPP and to determine annual precipitation (PPT). I measured soil depth to caliche and texture by layer of 112 plots across the four landscape units for which estimation of ANPP were available. A pedotransfer function was used to estimate AWHC from soil depth increments to depth of caliche measurements and texture analysis. These data were analyzed using simple and multivariate regression to test the effect of annual precipitation and available water holding capacity on aboveground net primary production. Soil texture remained constant among all plots (sandy loam) and depth to caliche varied from 15.16 cm to 189 cm. AWHC and the interaction term (PPT*AWHC) were insignificant (p=0.142, p=0.838) and annual PPT accounted for 18.4% of the variation in ANPP. The y-intercept was significantly different for ANPP ~ annual PPT when considering AWHC values either above or below 3 cm. Shrub ANPP was insensitive to precipitation regardless of AWHC (R2=-0.012, R2=0.014). Results from this study indicate that a model incorporating annual PPT and AWHC may not serve as a good predictor for ANPP at a site level where there is little variation in soil texture.
Dissertation/Thesis
Masters Thesis Sustainability 2019

The pH of beef muscle affected water-holding capacity (WHC) and tenderness. When the pH was brought to 4.0 and below by immersion in citric acid or lactic acid or brought to ∼7.0 after base immersion, WHC and tenderness of beef muscle increased. When the pH was brought back to the isoelectric point of the major myofibrillar proteins after either acid or alkaline treatment (e.g. from ∼3.7 or 7.0 to ∼5.5), most of the weight gained from prior acidic or basic treatment was lost. The Warner-Bratzler shear force values (WBSF) returned at least to the level of the WBSF of the controls after the readjustment of pH to 5.5. This reversibility strongly suggests that tenderization is not caused primarily by proteolysis. It is proposed that myofibrillar structures could swell and disrupt at acid/neutral pH due to electrostatic repulsion. When the pH was brought back near the isoelectric point, the myofibrillar structure might collapse and/or aggregate. Less water could be held with the aggregated proteins than in the initial myofibrillar structure of raw beef. Lactic acid and citric acid produced essentially the same shear force if WBSF values after marination were compared at a similar pH value. CaCl 2 showed a synergistic effect and negative effect, respectively, on the tenderization induced by citric acid and lactic acid. The solubility of beef myofibrillar proteins increased steeply from pH 4.27 to 4.03, where a significant decrease in WBSF was often observed. The solubility of beef muscle protein was below 20% between pH 6.9 and 7.6. The relation of protein solubilization to tenderization observed at acid pH was not seen in the tenderization induced by base treatment. Elastic gels from washed chicken breast muscle with a moisture content of 88% were formed at an acid pH (∼3.7 and lower) and low ionic strength. A decrease of pH from 4.1 to 3.7 or below increased gel elasticity and decreased water loss under pressure. In the presence of NaCl, gels made at pH ∼3.7 had decreased elasticity and increased water loss under pressure compared to those prepared without salt.

Sasol biological sludge, coal fine and gasification ash were the three waste streams involved in this study. The main concern is that on their own they are not suitable as growth mediums, the ash is alkaline (pH>12) with high salinity (total dissolved solids of 8000 mg ℓ-1). Fine ash is microporous (particle size diameter <250 μm) and forms cemented layers that can restrict root growth while, gasification ash in macroporous (most particle size diameter ranged between 1 and 75 mm) and has a low water holding capacity. Sludge is unstable and can inhibit gaseous exchange. However, these wastes potentially, have physical, biological and chemical attributes that make them suitable as hospitable growth medium. Sludge can promote micro-fauna activity and, provide plant available nitrogen (N) as well as phosphorus (P) the ash is poor in. On a short term bases and in the long term it can also contribute to cation exchange capacity (CEC). Fine ash can increase water holding capacity and gasification ash can improve gaseous exchange. It was hypothesized that if the ash was treated with sludge, pH will be reduced to between 5.5 and 8, and weathering will reduce salinity to less than 400 mSm-1, increase CEC and increase plant available N and P. Therefore, the main purpose of this laboratory column study was to establish combinations of these waste streams that hold promise as plant growth media, based on various chemical and physical criteria link to hospitable plant growth media, as well as the influence of weathering on the release of essential plant nutrients. A total of 51 mixtures (each weighing 2.6 kg) were formulated based on wet mass basis and divided into 6 groups based on sludge content (0, 10, 20, 30, 40 and 50%) and packed into columns, subjected to wetting and drying for 1 year (10 wetting and drying cycles) by passing through deionized water equivalent to the pore volume and allowing the mixtures to dry in between. The leachates were analysed using Inductively Coupled Plasma Optical Emission Spectrometry (ICP-OES) and Kjeldahl procedures (for N release). Total elemental analysis was done using X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy (XRF) and acid digestion method. Particle size distribution was done using the sieve method. Cation exchange properties were assessed using ammonium acetate (NH4OAc), lithium chloride (LiCl) and potassium chloride (KCl) methods. Results indicated that sludge was critical for these mixtures,at a minimal content of 10% it increased the water holding capacity of the mixtures. In the mineralization of inorganic N at a lower limit of 20% sludgeenabled the production of plant available NH4+ and NO3- and less NO2-. Increasing sludge to 50% further reduced the production of NO2- in the mixtures. In terms of elemental release, mixtures without sludge were dominated by Na and the order of abundance was as follows; Na>K>Ca>Mg>P on mmol kg-1 but the introduction of sludge at a lower content limit of 10% changed the abundance of the elements as follows; P>Mg>Ca>Na>K on mmol kg-1. Sludge content as low as 10% reduced the pH of the mixtures to between 7.6 and 8 and EC to less than 400 mSm-1. However, increasing sludge to 50% increased the leachate EC dramatically and kept the EC high (415 mSm-1) till the end. Introduction of sludge at a low limit of 10 % content increased the CEC above 8 cmolc kg-1. The effects of fine ash on the water holding capacity of the mixtures were seen at the 10 % level, for example, mixture 13 with 10% fine ash had 0.3 mg kg-1, while mixture 12 with 0% fine ash had 0.27 mg kg-1. Increasing fine ash content above 40% increased pozzalanic properties, pH (>8), EC (>400 mSm-1), Na release and reduced CEC.Gasification ash is the biggest waste stream and utilizing these wastes as growth media will mean that it realistically will always dominate these mixtures. This study showed that on its own it will be a challenging environment. However, the amendent with sludge and fine ash resulted in some chemically and physically favourable changes in these media. It can be concluded that the main objective has been achieved and bio assay evalution of theses mixtures is recommended Copyright
Dissertation (MSc(Agric))--University of Pretoria, 2012.
Plant Production and Soil Science
unrestricted

博士
國立屏東科技大學
熱帶農業暨國際合作系所
95
Water scarcity and low soil nutrient availability constitute the main limiting factors for plant growth in tropical arid and semi-arid regions. Therefore, irrigation water use constitutes the most important input in improving crop productivity and restoring the environment. Enhancing water productivity supposedly leads to increasing yield and better water resource management at the plant, field, and agroclimatic level. Studies were carried out to investigate the effect of compost and irrigation regimes on water savings by assessing the irrigation interval based on soil available water capacity and rice water productivity. Experiments were conducted in greenhouse at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology (NPUST-Taiwan) during spring 2004 and 2005. The treatments were compost at 5, 10, 15, 20, 45, 135 t ha-1 and chemical fertilizer N-P2O5-K2O (120-70-70) kg ha-1 and irrigation regimes were shallow (SI), moderate (MI), low (LI) and very low (VLI). Using long-term climatological data from NPUST and Taiwan National Weather Bureau (TNWB), the monthly potential evapotranspiration was studied by comparing the Penman-Monteith and Makkink methods with Pan Evaporation method. Penman-Monteith method appeared to be a reliable tool in estimating evapotranspiration. Hence, CROPWAT software (1992) performed base on this method was used to evaluate water balance in this research. Results indicated that compost application significantly increased irrigation interval by 50% and 37.5%, which decreased following the increasing compost application rates in humid and semi-arid regions. Water use in compost treatments was low during panicle initiation and late stage of ripening compared to that of chemical fertilizer treatments. Consequently, water productivity ranged from 0.23 to 0.82 kg m-3 and 0.15 to 1.22 kg m-3 under irrigation and compost applications, respectively. Moreover, the soil available water capacity was a quadratic function of field capacity simplifying irrigation scheduling. The periods between field capacity and permanent wilting point were about 1.5 times higher in the chemical fertilizer treatments. Water stored by the compost amended soil was higher indicated that the release of some predominant chemical attributes improved the soil available water capacity and extended the rice life duration. Consequently, soil allowable water reserves exhausted 4 days earlier in chemical fertilizer than in compost treatments, hence decreased the number of irrigation applications. In tropical humid (Taiwan) regions, the total water saved was estimated at 15.4%, 54.7%; it was 14.5%, 34.9% of the total water need without and with rainfall in semi-arid (Chad) region, which accounted for about 1.6% in average of the total Lake-Chad annual inflow. In addition, the chemical properties of compost amended soils mainly pH (r = 0.83***), electrical conductivity (r = 0.93***), organic matter (r = 0.91***), nitrate (r = 0.83***), exchangeable phosphorus (r = 0.82***), potassium (r = 0.87***), iron (r = 0.85***) and magnesium (r = 0.79***) significantly influenced the soil available water capacity, cause of the increase in irrigation intervals. The predominant and slow release of NO3−, H2PO4− and Ca+2 ions in the soil solution by the compost mineralization continuously produces water or hydrated components that may be the main source of high soil available water capacity. These results can be use as guidance for optimal irrigation water-compost combination for agricultural production in tropical arid and semi-arid regions.

碩士
國立成功大學
建築學系專班
90
Elementary and junior high schools are the best targets for promoting the green building design, seeing that their constructions are legion and school grounds are broad enough for student ecological education. However, data regarding school green building in the past was scant to make it unable to evaluate if the green building levels at current elementary and junior high schools comply with the standards of modern green building. Therefore, it is an important task to do the basic ecological environment surveys on those elementary and junior high schools for the propagation of green building in Taiwan. To understand greening work, the ground water-holding capacity, water consumption and electricity consumption at elementary and junior high schools, the study carried out a hands-on research on 52 elementary and junior high schools in Taiwan, and the utilizing water and electricity consumption data obtained from 35 elementary schools and 17 junior schools in Tainan City for analyzing current consumption levels and critical factors, which greatly influence current conditions. The study applies those critical factors as bases for analyzing the evaluation differences of greening and the ground water-holding capacity between elementary and junior high schools and other kinds of constructions, and proposes follow-up antidotes as the references to future construction works of elementary and junior high schools. The results of our survey show that correlative coefficients of determination R2 of the area of school ground and the number of students of elementary/junior high schools are 0.1561 and 0.0155, respectively. It illustrates that general elementary and junior high schools do not enroll students based on their school ground sizes to lead to disparity in student densities among those schools and further affect the effect of greening work and the ground water-holding capacity of each school. To assure that those schools provide with sufficient playgrounds for student activities, the study suggests that the playground factor of a elementary or a junior high school should be considered as an calculation indicator for its greening work and the ground water-holding capacity. That is, the building greening indicator of a elementary or a junior high school should be calculated using the area of the school ground to deduct the area of playground; the standard value of the building coverage rate to be a fixed 50%; the standard value of the ground water-holding capacity to be a fixed 0.5. The study, in the aspect of water consumption of elementary and junior high schools, utilizes three variables, which are the number of students, the area of school ground and the possession of swimming pool, for carrying out multiple-regression analysis on the number of consumed water units and coming out correlative coefficients of determination R2 of elementary schools and the junior high schools are 0.638 and 0.712, respectively; the results show that there is a close relationship among the number of students, the area of school ground and the possession of swimming pool to the number of consumed water units. As for the aspect of electricity consumption of elementary and junior high schools, the study comes out correlative coefficients of determination R2 of the number of consumed electricity units and the number of students at elementary schools and at junior high schools are 0.808 and 0.916, respectively; whereas correlative coefficients of determination R2 of the number of consumed electricity units and the number of classes at elementary schools and at junior high schools are 0.798 and 0.928, respectively. The results show that there is a close relationship between the number of students and the number of classes to the number of consumed electricity units. However, considering that activities at both elementary schools and the junior high schools are carried out with team play and small-scale schools usually fail to reach the standard number of students in each class, it is appropriate for applying the number of classes to be the indicator for estimating the variable of electricity consumption. In addition, the gaps between the highest and lowest consumed electricity units of each month reach to 60% and above on average among those schools with considerable frequency of using air-conditioning or with high utilization of central air-conditioners, it means that air-condition consumption is also one of the critical factors to influence electricity consumption at elementary and junior high schools. At last, the study proposes suggestions and antidotes for those critical factors, which have impacts on current condition, including the greening levels of the greening area, the kinds of growing plants and ecological forestation; the levels of the ground water-holding capacity of the permeating plane ratio, the garden area of the artificial land and the storage design of play ground; the water consumption levels of the number of students(water consumed by students), the area of the school ground (irrigative water) and swimming pool consumption; and the class electricity consumption levels(lighting and ventilation) and the electricity load decrease in air-conditioning.