Recently ionic liquids(ILs) are introduced as novel dual function gas hydrate inhibitors. However, no desired gas hydrate inhibition has been reported due to poor IL selection and/or tuning method. Trial & error a...Recently ionic liquids(ILs) are introduced as novel dual function gas hydrate inhibitors. However, no desired gas hydrate inhibition has been reported due to poor IL selection and/or tuning method. Trial & error as well as selection based on existing literature are the methods currently employed for selecting and/or tuning ILs. These methods are probabilistic, time consuming, expensive and may not result in selecting high performance ILs for gas hydrate mitigation. In this work, COSMO-RS is considered as a prescreening tool of ILs for gas hydrate mitigation by predicting the hydrogen bonding energies(E_(HB)) of studied IL inhibitors and comparing the predicted E_(HB) to the depression temperature(?) and induction time. Results show that, predicted EHBand chain length of ILs strongly relate and significantly affect the gas hydrate inhibition depression temperature but correlate moderately(R = 0.70) with average induction time in literature. It is deduced from the results that, ? increases with increasing IL EHBand/or decreases with increasing chain length. However, the cation–anion pairing of ILs also affects IL gas hydrate inhibition performance. Furthermore, a visual and better understanding of IL/water behavior for gas hydrate inhibition in terms of hydrogen bond donor and acceptor interaction analysis is also presented by determining the sigma profile and sigma potential of studied IL cations and anions used for gas hydrate mitigation for easy IL selection.展开更多
Public verification of data integrity is crucial for promoting the serviceability of cloud storage systems. Recently, Tan and Jia （2014） proposed an identity-based public verification （NaEPASC） protocol for cloud ...Public verification of data integrity is crucial for promoting the serviceability of cloud storage systems. Recently, Tan and Jia （2014） proposed an identity-based public verification （NaEPASC） protocol for cloud data to simplify key management and alleviate the burden of check tasks. They claimed that NaEPASC enables a third- party auditor （TPA） to verify the integrity of outsourced data with high efficiency and security in a cloud computing environment. However, in this paper, we pinpoint that NaEPASC is vulnerable to the signature forgery attack in the setup phase; i.e., a malicious cloud server can forge a valid signature for an arbitrary data block by using two correct signatures. Moreover, we demonstrate that NaEPASC is subject to data privacy threats in the challenge phase; i.e., an external attacker acting as a TPA can reveal the content of outsourced data. The analysis shows that NaEPASC is not secure in the data verification process. Therefore, our work is helpful for cryptographers and engineers to design and implement more secure and efficient identitv-based nublic alldit^n~ .~cheme~ far clnne] ~tnr^q~展开更多
This paper designs the thermal crystals composed of alloy materials with air holes and analyzes their properties of band structures,heat transmission,and flux spectra.Thermal crystals composed of Si-A(A=Ge,Sn,Pb)alloy...This paper designs the thermal crystals composed of alloy materials with air holes and analyzes their properties of band structures,heat transmission,and flux spectra.Thermal crystals composed of Si-A(A=Ge,Sn,Pb)alloys as background materials and air holes with square array are used to construct an elastic-constant periodic structure and their high-frequency phononic band is calculated by deploying finite element methods.Moreover,this paper investigates heat transmission through a finite array of thermally excited phonons and presents the thermal crystal with maximum heat transport.The results show that a wider bandgap could be achieved by increasing the air hole radius and decreasing the lattice constant.In the alloy materials,with increasing atomic radius and thus atomic mass(Ge,Sn,Pb),the frequency range(contributed to thermal conductivity)shifts towards lower frequency.Hence,the bandgap frequencies also shift toward low frequency,but this decreasing rate is not constant or in order,so former may have a faster or slower decreasing rate than the later.Thus,the frequency range for the contribution of heat transportation overlaps with the bandgap frequency range.The development of thermal crystals is promising for managing heat and controlling the propagation of the thermal wave.展开更多
The advancements in the wind turbine technology specially associated with Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT), has been improved for last couple of years. This is due to extensive use of computational techniques. This ...The advancements in the wind turbine technology specially associated with Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT), has been improved for last couple of years. This is due to extensive use of computational techniques. This paper investigates dependency of torque on aerofoil geometry by performing numerical simulation on Darrieustype VAWT with fix pitch blades. Coordinate points for aerofoil was generated using Java Foil software. Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) turbulence modelling was used for predicting the flow and efficiency of the three blades VAWT. The unsteady flow condition was considered to make simulation as realistic as possible. In order to visualize high strain flow and separation, we used two equation models i.e. k-ε with RNG. NACA 0012 aerofoil was used and camber variations were carried out for developing samples of aerofoil to check the enhancement in performance of VAWT. Results demonstrate the torque and power along with its coefficients. It has been investigated that the performance efficiency was significantly improved by changing the aerofoil camber, demonstrating highest torque with camber (C3) aerofoil and the least performance was observed using camber (C0).展开更多
Glass-ceramic samples, having composition of SiO<sub>2</sub>-35, CaO-45, Na<sub>2</sub>O-10 and P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>-10 in weight ratio were prepared through sinte...Glass-ceramic samples, having composition of SiO<sub>2</sub>-35, CaO-45, Na<sub>2</sub>O-10 and P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>-10 in weight ratio were prepared through sintering route. Glass powder was reinforced by Al powder. The strength of glass-ceramic composite was found to be temperature dependent, and it varies with the addition of Al powder. Flexural strength increases with the increase of powder addition and sintering temperature, however, decreases with the increase of sintering time. There is an optimum temperature (>1100℃) above which flexural strength of all samples decreases. Bulk density changes to a higher value as the addition of Al-powder increases up to 3% by weight above which density decreases slowly. On the other hand, apparent porosity and water absorption decrease with the increase of percentage of Al powder added. Porosity and water absorption also showed a dependent characteristic on sintering time and sintering temperature.展开更多
Er^(3+)-Tm^(3+)-Pr^(3+)triply-doped graphene-glass-graphene(GGG) nanosheet waveguide amplifier, which is a promising candidate for integrated photonic devices, is modelled and numerically analyzed. The designed wavegu...Er^(3+)-Tm^(3+)-Pr^(3+)triply-doped graphene-glass-graphene(GGG) nanosheet waveguide amplifier, which is a promising candidate for integrated photonic devices, is modelled and numerically analyzed. The designed waveguide is composed of a triply-doped tellurite glass core. The core is sandwiched between two graphene layers.The rate and power propagation equations of a heterogeneous multi-level laser medium are set up and solved numerically to study the effects of waveguide length and active ion concentrations on amplifier performance at five different input signal wavelengths(1.310, 1.470, 1.530, 1.600 and 1.650 μm). The analytical results show that rareearth ion dopant concentrations at an order of 10^(26) ion/m^3, waveguide length at 0.1 m and pump power at 100 m W can amplify 1.530 and 1.600 μm input signals with 1 μW power up to approximately 20.0 and 24.0 dB respectively.Finite-difference time-domain(FDTD) simulation results show that mode field radius of GGG waveguide is smaller than that of silicon waveguide. Consequently, GGG waveguide with the same pump and signal power and the same gain-medium length can produce higher gain than silicon waveguide.展开更多
Background: South Asian populations are vulnerable to poor health outcomes associated with climate due to the region’s complex topography, poverty, lack of education, and population density. Physicians, being highly ...Background: South Asian populations are vulnerable to poor health outcomes associated with climate due to the region’s complex topography, poverty, lack of education, and population density. Physicians, being highly trusted members of society, can help mitigate climate change effects in their countries. Objectives: The present study assessed perceptions of physicians from four South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Pakistan). We hypothesized that physicians from these countries will be aware and knowledgeable about health effects of climate change. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of physicians between March and July 2022. Data of 201 physicians was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn’s post hoc method. Results: Physicians from four South Asian countries were attuned to the health risks associated with climate change. A majority of physicians (86.6%) believed that climate change would make health conditions in their countries more severe or frequent (Bangladesh 83.3%;Bhutan 70%;India 91% and Pakistan 90.8%). The most common health effect related to climate change was illnesses related to reduced outdoor air quality (54.3%). Common barriers to discuss climate change with patients from all four countries were physicians’ lack of knowledge (strongly agree, 13.8%;agree 47.7%) in how to approach the issue with patients, lack of time (strongly agree, 12%;agree, 48%) and their perception that patients were not interested in knowing about climate change (strongly agree, 8.6%;agree, 42.6%). More than half (56.2%) of the physicians reported no training (Bangladesh, 51.7%;Bhutan, 80%;India, 44.6%;Pakistan, 63.1%) and approximately 30% reported less than 20 hours of training (Bangladesh, 28.3%;Bhutan, 15.0%;India, 39.3%;Pakistan, 27.7%) in climate-change-related health effects. Conclusion: While additional large-scale research is needed to understand the trends observed in our pilot study, our findings identify the need to introduce interventions to improve physicians’ 展开更多
Water borne ailments are of serious public health concern in Gilgit Baltistan’s (GB) region of Pakistan. The pollution load on the glacio-fluvial streams and surface water resources of the Chapurson Valley in the Hun...Water borne ailments are of serious public health concern in Gilgit Baltistan’s (GB) region of Pakistan. The pollution load on the glacio-fluvial streams and surface water resources of the Chapurson Valley in the Hunza Nagar area of the GB is increasing as a result of anthropogenic activities and tourism. The present study focuses on the public health quality of drinking water of Chapurson valley. The study addressed the fundamental drinking water quality criteria in order to understand the state of the public health in the valley. To ascertain the current status of physico-chemical, metals, and bacteriological parameters, 25 water samples were collected through deterministic sampling strategy and examined accordingly. The physico-chemical parameters of the water samples collected from the valley were found to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of drinking water. The water samples showed a pattern of mean metal concentrations in order of Arsenic (As) > Lead (Pb) > Iron (Fe) > Zinc (Zn) > Copper (Cu) > Magnesium (Mg) > Calcium (Ca). As, Cu, Zn, Ca and Mg concentration were under the WHO guidelines range. However, results showed that Pb and Fe are present at much higher concentrations than recommended WHO guidelines. Similarly, the results of the bacteriological analysis indicate that the water samples are heavily contaminated with the organisms of public health importance (including total coliforms (TCC), total faecal coliforms (TFC) and total fecal streptococci (TFS) are more than 3 MPN/100mL). Three principal components, accounting for 48.44% of the total variance, were revealed using principal component analysis (PCA). Bacteriological parameters were shown to be the main determinants of the water quality as depicted by the PCA analysis. The dendrogram of Cluster analysis using the Ward’s method validated the same traits of the sampling locations that were found to be contaminated during geospatial analysis using the Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) method. Based on these findings, it is most l展开更多
A field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of organic mulches and tillage practices on growth, yield of cluster bean and soil physical properties. Experiment was comprised of two factors: A (Tillage), B (Mulch...A field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of organic mulches and tillage practices on growth, yield of cluster bean and soil physical properties. Experiment was comprised of two factors: A (Tillage), B (Mulches). Factor A was assigned to main plot and consisted of two treatments (Minimum tillage and Conventional tillage). Factor B was assigned to sub plot and consisted of four treatments (no mulch, wheat straw mulch, grass clipping mulch and saw dust mulch). The mulching materials were partially incorporated in the field after germination of crop. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement having three replications. Control treatment was kept for comparison. All other agronomic practices were kept standardized and consistent for all the treatments. Data regarding growth and yield components were collected and analyzed statistically by fisher analysis of variance and treatment significance was measured by significant difference test at 5% probability level. The factors, tillage and mulches significantly affected growth, yield, yield parameters and soil physical properties. Maximum plant population (31.7 m<sup>2</sup>), plant height (159 cm), branches per plant (18.9), cluster per plant (15.88), grains per pod (7.3), 1000-grain weight (34.6 g), grain yield (1.9 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>), biological yield (9.91 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>) and harvest index (19.15) was recorded in conventional tillage comparative to minimum tillage. Mulches also affected grain yield, and maximum grain yield was recorded in wheat straw mulch (1.88 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>) followed by grass clipping mulch (1.81 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>) and saw dust mulch (1.76 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>) while minimum grain yield was recorded in control without mulch application (1.67 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>). Tillage and mulches interactively affect pH, soil organic matter contents, electrical conductivity and soil bulk density. Mulches and minimum tillage improved soil physical properties. Highest B展开更多
文摘Recently ionic liquids(ILs) are introduced as novel dual function gas hydrate inhibitors. However, no desired gas hydrate inhibition has been reported due to poor IL selection and/or tuning method. Trial & error as well as selection based on existing literature are the methods currently employed for selecting and/or tuning ILs. These methods are probabilistic, time consuming, expensive and may not result in selecting high performance ILs for gas hydrate mitigation. In this work, COSMO-RS is considered as a prescreening tool of ILs for gas hydrate mitigation by predicting the hydrogen bonding energies(E_(HB)) of studied IL inhibitors and comparing the predicted E_(HB) to the depression temperature(?) and induction time. Results show that, predicted EHBand chain length of ILs strongly relate and significantly affect the gas hydrate inhibition depression temperature but correlate moderately(R = 0.70) with average induction time in literature. It is deduced from the results that, ? increases with increasing IL EHBand/or decreases with increasing chain length. However, the cation–anion pairing of ILs also affects IL gas hydrate inhibition performance. Furthermore, a visual and better understanding of IL/water behavior for gas hydrate inhibition in terms of hydrogen bond donor and acceptor interaction analysis is also presented by determining the sigma profile and sigma potential of studied IL cations and anions used for gas hydrate mitigation for easy IL selection.
基金Project supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China （Nos. 61472287, 61501333, 61572379, and 61772377）, the Natural Science Foundation of Hubei Province, China （Nos. 2015CFA068 and 2017CFA007）, the Wuhan Science and Tech- nology Plan Project （No. 2016060101010047）, and the Deanship of Scientific Research at King Saud University, Saudi Arabia （No. PRG-1436-16）
文摘Public verification of data integrity is crucial for promoting the serviceability of cloud storage systems. Recently, Tan and Jia （2014） proposed an identity-based public verification （NaEPASC） protocol for cloud data to simplify key management and alleviate the burden of check tasks. They claimed that NaEPASC enables a third- party auditor （TPA） to verify the integrity of outsourced data with high efficiency and security in a cloud computing environment. However, in this paper, we pinpoint that NaEPASC is vulnerable to the signature forgery attack in the setup phase; i.e., a malicious cloud server can forge a valid signature for an arbitrary data block by using two correct signatures. Moreover, we demonstrate that NaEPASC is subject to data privacy threats in the challenge phase; i.e., an external attacker acting as a TPA can reveal the content of outsourced data. The analysis shows that NaEPASC is not secure in the data verification process. Therefore, our work is helpful for cryptographers and engineers to design and implement more secure and efficient identitv-based nublic alldit^n~ .~cheme~ far clnne] ~tnr^q~
基金National Natural Science Foundation of China(No.61975119)。
文摘This paper designs the thermal crystals composed of alloy materials with air holes and analyzes their properties of band structures,heat transmission,and flux spectra.Thermal crystals composed of Si-A(A=Ge,Sn,Pb)alloys as background materials and air holes with square array are used to construct an elastic-constant periodic structure and their high-frequency phononic band is calculated by deploying finite element methods.Moreover,this paper investigates heat transmission through a finite array of thermally excited phonons and presents the thermal crystal with maximum heat transport.The results show that a wider bandgap could be achieved by increasing the air hole radius and decreasing the lattice constant.In the alloy materials,with increasing atomic radius and thus atomic mass(Ge,Sn,Pb),the frequency range(contributed to thermal conductivity)shifts towards lower frequency.Hence,the bandgap frequencies also shift toward low frequency,but this decreasing rate is not constant or in order,so former may have a faster or slower decreasing rate than the later.Thus,the frequency range for the contribution of heat transportation overlaps with the bandgap frequency range.The development of thermal crystals is promising for managing heat and controlling the propagation of the thermal wave.
文摘The advancements in the wind turbine technology specially associated with Vertical Axis Wind Turbines (VAWT), has been improved for last couple of years. This is due to extensive use of computational techniques. This paper investigates dependency of torque on aerofoil geometry by performing numerical simulation on Darrieustype VAWT with fix pitch blades. Coordinate points for aerofoil was generated using Java Foil software. Reynolds-Averaged Navier Stokes (RANS) turbulence modelling was used for predicting the flow and efficiency of the three blades VAWT. The unsteady flow condition was considered to make simulation as realistic as possible. In order to visualize high strain flow and separation, we used two equation models i.e. k-ε with RNG. NACA 0012 aerofoil was used and camber variations were carried out for developing samples of aerofoil to check the enhancement in performance of VAWT. Results demonstrate the torque and power along with its coefficients. It has been investigated that the performance efficiency was significantly improved by changing the aerofoil camber, demonstrating highest torque with camber (C3) aerofoil and the least performance was observed using camber (C0).
文摘Glass-ceramic samples, having composition of SiO<sub>2</sub>-35, CaO-45, Na<sub>2</sub>O-10 and P<sub>2</sub>O<sub>5</sub>-10 in weight ratio were prepared through sintering route. Glass powder was reinforced by Al powder. The strength of glass-ceramic composite was found to be temperature dependent, and it varies with the addition of Al powder. Flexural strength increases with the increase of powder addition and sintering temperature, however, decreases with the increase of sintering time. There is an optimum temperature (>1100℃) above which flexural strength of all samples decreases. Bulk density changes to a higher value as the addition of Al-powder increases up to 3% by weight above which density decreases slowly. On the other hand, apparent porosity and water absorption decrease with the increase of percentage of Al powder added. Porosity and water absorption also showed a dependent characteristic on sintering time and sintering temperature.
基金the National Natural Science Foundation of China(Nos.60377023 and 60672017)the Program for New Century Excellent Talents in Universities(NCET)the Shanghai Optical Science and Technology Project(No.05DZ22009)
文摘Er^(3+)-Tm^(3+)-Pr^(3+)triply-doped graphene-glass-graphene(GGG) nanosheet waveguide amplifier, which is a promising candidate for integrated photonic devices, is modelled and numerically analyzed. The designed waveguide is composed of a triply-doped tellurite glass core. The core is sandwiched between two graphene layers.The rate and power propagation equations of a heterogeneous multi-level laser medium are set up and solved numerically to study the effects of waveguide length and active ion concentrations on amplifier performance at five different input signal wavelengths(1.310, 1.470, 1.530, 1.600 and 1.650 μm). The analytical results show that rareearth ion dopant concentrations at an order of 10^(26) ion/m^3, waveguide length at 0.1 m and pump power at 100 m W can amplify 1.530 and 1.600 μm input signals with 1 μW power up to approximately 20.0 and 24.0 dB respectively.Finite-difference time-domain(FDTD) simulation results show that mode field radius of GGG waveguide is smaller than that of silicon waveguide. Consequently, GGG waveguide with the same pump and signal power and the same gain-medium length can produce higher gain than silicon waveguide.
文摘Background: South Asian populations are vulnerable to poor health outcomes associated with climate due to the region’s complex topography, poverty, lack of education, and population density. Physicians, being highly trusted members of society, can help mitigate climate change effects in their countries. Objectives: The present study assessed perceptions of physicians from four South Asian countries (Bangladesh, Bhutan, India, and Pakistan). We hypothesized that physicians from these countries will be aware and knowledgeable about health effects of climate change. Methods: We conducted a cross-sectional online survey of physicians between March and July 2022. Data of 201 physicians was analyzed using the Kruskal-Wallis test and Dunn’s post hoc method. Results: Physicians from four South Asian countries were attuned to the health risks associated with climate change. A majority of physicians (86.6%) believed that climate change would make health conditions in their countries more severe or frequent (Bangladesh 83.3%;Bhutan 70%;India 91% and Pakistan 90.8%). The most common health effect related to climate change was illnesses related to reduced outdoor air quality (54.3%). Common barriers to discuss climate change with patients from all four countries were physicians’ lack of knowledge (strongly agree, 13.8%;agree 47.7%) in how to approach the issue with patients, lack of time (strongly agree, 12%;agree, 48%) and their perception that patients were not interested in knowing about climate change (strongly agree, 8.6%;agree, 42.6%). More than half (56.2%) of the physicians reported no training (Bangladesh, 51.7%;Bhutan, 80%;India, 44.6%;Pakistan, 63.1%) and approximately 30% reported less than 20 hours of training (Bangladesh, 28.3%;Bhutan, 15.0%;India, 39.3%;Pakistan, 27.7%) in climate-change-related health effects. Conclusion: While additional large-scale research is needed to understand the trends observed in our pilot study, our findings identify the need to introduce interventions to improve physicians’
文摘Water borne ailments are of serious public health concern in Gilgit Baltistan’s (GB) region of Pakistan. The pollution load on the glacio-fluvial streams and surface water resources of the Chapurson Valley in the Hunza Nagar area of the GB is increasing as a result of anthropogenic activities and tourism. The present study focuses on the public health quality of drinking water of Chapurson valley. The study addressed the fundamental drinking water quality criteria in order to understand the state of the public health in the valley. To ascertain the current status of physico-chemical, metals, and bacteriological parameters, 25 water samples were collected through deterministic sampling strategy and examined accordingly. The physico-chemical parameters of the water samples collected from the valley were found to meet the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines of drinking water. The water samples showed a pattern of mean metal concentrations in order of Arsenic (As) > Lead (Pb) > Iron (Fe) > Zinc (Zn) > Copper (Cu) > Magnesium (Mg) > Calcium (Ca). As, Cu, Zn, Ca and Mg concentration were under the WHO guidelines range. However, results showed that Pb and Fe are present at much higher concentrations than recommended WHO guidelines. Similarly, the results of the bacteriological analysis indicate that the water samples are heavily contaminated with the organisms of public health importance (including total coliforms (TCC), total faecal coliforms (TFC) and total fecal streptococci (TFS) are more than 3 MPN/100mL). Three principal components, accounting for 48.44% of the total variance, were revealed using principal component analysis (PCA). Bacteriological parameters were shown to be the main determinants of the water quality as depicted by the PCA analysis. The dendrogram of Cluster analysis using the Ward’s method validated the same traits of the sampling locations that were found to be contaminated during geospatial analysis using the Inverse Distance Weight (IDW) method. Based on these findings, it is most l
基金supported by the National Key Research and Development Project of China(2017YFE0121800)the National Natural Science Foundation of China(31871556,81573530,81973412)+1 种基金the Fujian-Taiwan Joint Innovative Center for Germplasm Resources and Cultivation of Crop(FJ 2011 Program,No.2015-75)the Foundation for the Science and Technology Innovation of Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University(CXZX2018042,CXZX2017309).
文摘A field study was conducted to evaluate the effect of organic mulches and tillage practices on growth, yield of cluster bean and soil physical properties. Experiment was comprised of two factors: A (Tillage), B (Mulches). Factor A was assigned to main plot and consisted of two treatments (Minimum tillage and Conventional tillage). Factor B was assigned to sub plot and consisted of four treatments (no mulch, wheat straw mulch, grass clipping mulch and saw dust mulch). The mulching materials were partially incorporated in the field after germination of crop. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with split plot arrangement having three replications. Control treatment was kept for comparison. All other agronomic practices were kept standardized and consistent for all the treatments. Data regarding growth and yield components were collected and analyzed statistically by fisher analysis of variance and treatment significance was measured by significant difference test at 5% probability level. The factors, tillage and mulches significantly affected growth, yield, yield parameters and soil physical properties. Maximum plant population (31.7 m<sup>2</sup>), plant height (159 cm), branches per plant (18.9), cluster per plant (15.88), grains per pod (7.3), 1000-grain weight (34.6 g), grain yield (1.9 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>), biological yield (9.91 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>) and harvest index (19.15) was recorded in conventional tillage comparative to minimum tillage. Mulches also affected grain yield, and maximum grain yield was recorded in wheat straw mulch (1.88 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>) followed by grass clipping mulch (1.81 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>) and saw dust mulch (1.76 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>) while minimum grain yield was recorded in control without mulch application (1.67 t•ha<sup>-1</sup>). Tillage and mulches interactively affect pH, soil organic matter contents, electrical conductivity and soil bulk density. Mulches and minimum tillage improved soil physical properties. Highest B
