Mechanized construction of micro-catchments for water harvesting （WH） was successfully tested in the Badia （dry rangeland） areas in Syria and Jordan, using the ＂Vallerani＂ plow, model Delfino （50 MI/CM）, manuf...Mechanized construction of micro-catchments for water harvesting （WH） was successfully tested in the Badia （dry rangeland） areas in Syria and Jordan, using the ＂Vallerani＂ plow, model Delfino （50 MI/CM）, manufactured by Nardi, Italy. The plow was able to construct intermittent and continuous contour ridges, and could potentially be used to rehabilitate degraded rangelands. However, one major issue for large-scale implementation is the high cost and time required to manually identify contours for the plow to follow. Most existing auto-guiding systems, as usually used in road construction and agricultural land leveling, were expensive or impractical. The objective, therefore, was to add, adapt, and evaluate an auto-guiding system to enable a tractor to follow contours without demarcation through conventional surveying. A low-cost Contour Laser Guiding （CLG） system, with specifications that suit the contour ridging in undulating topographic conditions of dry rangelands, was chosen, adapted, mounted, and tested, under actual field conditions. The system consisted mainly of a portable laser transmitter and a tractor-mounted receiver, connected to a guidance display panel. The system was field-tested on 95 ha of land where the system capacity was determined under different terrains, slopes （1-8%）, and ridge spacings （4-12 m）. The easy adaptation and implementation of the CLG to the ＂Vallerani＂ unit tripled the system capacity, improved efficiency and precision, and substantially reduced the cost of constructing micro-catchments for WH. The system is recommended for large-scale rangeland rehabilitation projects in the dry areas, not only in West Asia, but worldwide.展开更多
Incorporating modem and advanced technology （various electronic devices） to excavational machinery led to become more efficient, better quality and cost effective. The continuous development of equipment is also ver...Incorporating modem and advanced technology （various electronic devices） to excavational machinery led to become more efficient, better quality and cost effective. The continuous development of equipment is also very important in the earth moving procedures which require significant time and expense to achieve the so-called ＂precision agriculture＂ or rather ＂precise management of agricultural inputs＂. One of the ＂precision agricultural＂ works is the land leveling. In recent years, land leveling is done with the use of a scraper （blade） mounted on the agricultural tractor. An electronic system controls the height of the blade automatically, without any operator intervention. In this paper, the field efficiency of the tractor MF6290, of 135 Hp horsepower, is calculated with a leveling blade of 4 m width, in the land leveling of rice cultivation, and in the rotation of different crops in different land preparation conditions （initial and final slope） in the area of Thessaloniki, northern Greece. The raw data revealed that the performance of the tractor ranged from 0.402 to 0.82 lha/h, on a slope 0%, while for surfaces with different initial and final slope, it ranged from 0.107 to 0.118 ha/h.展开更多
The publication of Out of Africa in 1937 won Baroness K. Blixen-Finecke worldwide fame because the novel caused wide public concern among both critics and readers. The story unfolds a poetic picture which reveals the ...The publication of Out of Africa in 1937 won Baroness K. Blixen-Finecke worldwide fame because the novel caused wide public concern among both critics and readers. The story unfolds a poetic picture which reveals the natural peace and harmony in Africa through the narrative angle of the heroine--Karen Blixen. In Out of Africa, the author, from multipoint viepoints, knits the legendary plot to display a picture of a community with the features of spiritual utopia, which is an ideal place for men to escape from the outside disturbance. The present paper, first, gives a brief introduction to the plot of the story. Then, it discusses the characteristics of spiritual utopian community on the African land from the following three perspectives： Karen Blixen is a pursuer to go after self-integrity so as to protect the harmony of spiritual utopian land in Africa; Africans are the paragons of self-integrity to pursue freedom on their homeland; and the western settlers are the dominators who have lost self-integrity in the spiritual utopian community because they have almost destroyed the ecological and social banlance on African land.展开更多
文摘Mechanized construction of micro-catchments for water harvesting （WH） was successfully tested in the Badia （dry rangeland） areas in Syria and Jordan, using the ＂Vallerani＂ plow, model Delfino （50 MI/CM）, manufactured by Nardi, Italy. The plow was able to construct intermittent and continuous contour ridges, and could potentially be used to rehabilitate degraded rangelands. However, one major issue for large-scale implementation is the high cost and time required to manually identify contours for the plow to follow. Most existing auto-guiding systems, as usually used in road construction and agricultural land leveling, were expensive or impractical. The objective, therefore, was to add, adapt, and evaluate an auto-guiding system to enable a tractor to follow contours without demarcation through conventional surveying. A low-cost Contour Laser Guiding （CLG） system, with specifications that suit the contour ridging in undulating topographic conditions of dry rangelands, was chosen, adapted, mounted, and tested, under actual field conditions. The system consisted mainly of a portable laser transmitter and a tractor-mounted receiver, connected to a guidance display panel. The system was field-tested on 95 ha of land where the system capacity was determined under different terrains, slopes （1-8%）, and ridge spacings （4-12 m）. The easy adaptation and implementation of the CLG to the ＂Vallerani＂ unit tripled the system capacity, improved efficiency and precision, and substantially reduced the cost of constructing micro-catchments for WH. The system is recommended for large-scale rangeland rehabilitation projects in the dry areas, not only in West Asia, but worldwide.
文摘Incorporating modem and advanced technology （various electronic devices） to excavational machinery led to become more efficient, better quality and cost effective. The continuous development of equipment is also very important in the earth moving procedures which require significant time and expense to achieve the so-called ＂precision agriculture＂ or rather ＂precise management of agricultural inputs＂. One of the ＂precision agricultural＂ works is the land leveling. In recent years, land leveling is done with the use of a scraper （blade） mounted on the agricultural tractor. An electronic system controls the height of the blade automatically, without any operator intervention. In this paper, the field efficiency of the tractor MF6290, of 135 Hp horsepower, is calculated with a leveling blade of 4 m width, in the land leveling of rice cultivation, and in the rotation of different crops in different land preparation conditions （initial and final slope） in the area of Thessaloniki, northern Greece. The raw data revealed that the performance of the tractor ranged from 0.402 to 0.82 lha/h, on a slope 0%, while for surfaces with different initial and final slope, it ranged from 0.107 to 0.118 ha/h.
文摘The publication of Out of Africa in 1937 won Baroness K. Blixen-Finecke worldwide fame because the novel caused wide public concern among both critics and readers. The story unfolds a poetic picture which reveals the natural peace and harmony in Africa through the narrative angle of the heroine--Karen Blixen. In Out of Africa, the author, from multipoint viepoints, knits the legendary plot to display a picture of a community with the features of spiritual utopia, which is an ideal place for men to escape from the outside disturbance. The present paper, first, gives a brief introduction to the plot of the story. Then, it discusses the characteristics of spiritual utopian community on the African land from the following three perspectives： Karen Blixen is a pursuer to go after self-integrity so as to protect the harmony of spiritual utopian land in Africa; Africans are the paragons of self-integrity to pursue freedom on their homeland; and the western settlers are the dominators who have lost self-integrity in the spiritual utopian community because they have almost destroyed the ecological and social banlance on African land.
