The Effect of High Day and Low Night Temperature on Pollen Production, Pollen Germination and Postharvest Quality of Tomatoes

Temperature integration where high day temperatures are compensated by lower night temperatures is one strategy that can be used to reduce energy consumption in greenhouses. Crop tolerance to temperature variation is a prerequisite for using such a strategy. Greenhouse experiments were conducted on tomatoes cvs, Capricia, Mecano and Cederico in order to investigate the effect of different day/night temperature regimes (24/17, 27/14 and 30/11℃) where the same mean temperature was maintained for the production and germination of pollen. In addition, fruit quality as determined by fruit firmness, dry matter content, soluble solids, titratable acids, and pH was examined at harvest and after seven and 14 days of storage. The 30/11℃ treatment significantly increased pollen production and germination compared to the 24/17℃ treatment, while the 27/14℃ treatment was generally in between the other two treatments. Fruits grown at the 27/14℃ treatment were significantly firmer, while fruits grown at 24/17℃ had higher dry matter content, soluble solids, and titratable acids compared to the other treatments. There were significant differences between cultivars with respect to firmness, dry matter, titratable acidity, and pH. The quality of the fruits changed during storage, but the storability of the tomatoes was not affected by preharvest temperature treatments. The overall conclusion was that the 27/14℃ treatment was superior to the other two temperature treatments with respect to the studied parameters.

60 GHz SIW Steerable Antenna Array in LTCC

In this paper, we present a 60 GHz substrate-integrated waveguide fed-steerable low-temperature cofired ceramics array. The antenna is suitable for transmitting and receiving on the 60 GHz wireless personal area network frequency band. The wireless system can be used for HDTV, high-data-rate networking up to 4.5 GBit/s, security and surveillance, and similar applications.

Comparative Study on Methods for Computing Soil Heat Storage and Energy Balance in Arid and Semi-Arid Areas

Observations collected in the Badan Jaran desert hinterland and edge during 19-23 August 2009 and in the Jinta Oasis during 12-16 June 2005 are used to assess three methods for calculating the heat storage of the5-20-cm soil layer.The methods evaluated include the harmonic method,the conduction-convection method,and the temperature integral method.Soil heat storage calculated using the harmonic method provides the closest match with measured values.The conduction-convection method underestimates nighttime soil heat storage.The temperature integral method best captures fluctuations in soil heat storage on sub-diurnal timescales,but overestimates the amplitude and peak values of the diurnal cycle.The relative performance of each method varies with the underlying land surface.The land surface energy balance is evaluated using observations of soil heat flux at 5-cm depth and estimates of ground heat flux adjusted to account for soil heat storage.The energy balance closure rate increases and energy balance is improved when the ground heat flux is adjusted to account for soil heat storage.The results achieved using the harmonic and temperature integral methods are superior to those achieved using the conduction-convection method.