Second Law Viewed as Ban over Perpetuum Mobile

It is proven that under boundedness, the efficiency of a non-mechanical engine never exceeds the efficiency of the corresponding Carnot engine where the engine is free from necessity of a physical coupling to two heat reservoirs. The proof is free from the condition for entropy maximization viewed as condition for reaching equilibrium. Thus the proof substantiates the most ubiquitous formulation of the Second Law to be ban over perpetuum mobile. Further, the ban over the information perpetuum mobile appears a consequence of the most general formulation of the Second Law which asserts that it is impossible to build a non-mechanical “engine,” which works steadily in a cyclic regime without exerting any functional changes of its homeostasis during the working cycle.

Evaluation of Container Media and Cyclic Irrigation on Ilex ×meserveae Growth and Nutrient Concentration in Leachates

Ilex ×meserveae `Blue Princess' plants were grown in a pot-in-pot using container media consisting of pine bark-peat-sand at 90:0:10, 75:15:10, and 60:30:10 by volume. During the summer season, plants were irrigated using a cyclic irrigation regime consisting of two and three irrigation applications and were compared to a traditional irrigation regime with one irrigation application that equaled the total volume applied in the cyclic regime. Nitrate concentrations in leachates were three times lower, whereas ortho-phosphate levels were two times lower in three irrigation application than those in one irrigation application. Increasing the percentage of bark in container media increased nitrate levels and reduced orhto-phosphate levels in leachates. There was no significant difference in growth index among treatments.