Plant Species Distribution Along Topographic Gradients in Tallgrass Prairies of Eastern Nebraska.

Plant species composition was evaluated along a slope gradient in two native tallgrass prairies of eastern Nebraska. Forb cover differed significantly (P\u3c0.05) along the topographic gradient at both sites, however, grass covered differed only at one site (P\u3c0.05). A site-by-site comparison by topographic location indicates significant differences between lower slopes for grass and between upper slopes for forbs. Big bluestem (Andropogon gerardii Vitman) dominated all topographic locations at both sites (average cover = 64%) with no significant differences in the topographic distribution. Kentucky bluegrass (Poa pratensis L.), little bluestem (Andropogon scoparius Michx.), false boneset Kuhnia eupatorioides L.) prairie wild rose (Rosa arkansana Porter), prairie violet (Viola pedatifida G. Don), and sedge (Carex L. spp.) also show the no significant topographic preference at either site. Mid-slope locations contained the greatest number of species that differed significantly along the topographic gradient. Leadplant (Amorpha canescens Pursh) and indiangrass (Sorghastrum nutans (L.) Nash) were the two most common species showing high canopy cover values in mid-slope locations at both sites. Significant topographic distributions were also noted for scoring rush (Equisetum lawvigatum A. Br.) at both sites and for finger coreopsis (Coreopsis palmata Nutt.) found only at one site. Flowering spurge (Euphobia corollate L.) and sideoats grama (Bouteloua curtipendula (Michx.) Torr.) were significantly higher on the hilltop locations of one site

The Role of Fintech Payment Instruments in Improving Financial Inclusion

This study examines the role of Fintech payments instruments in evolving accounts ownership as- a master indicator of financial inclusion; to determine if their effectiveness differs according to the different income levels of countries. The sample of the study consists of a panel of twenty-two countries over the period 2010-2020. The database is gathered from the Global Findex; 2021 edition of World Bank. The account ownerships are regressed on Fintech instruments using (FMOLS) method. The results had shown a significant effect of digital remittances, debit and credit cards; and macroeconomic indicators on financial inclusion, in high and middle-income countries, indicating that Fintech payment instruments had been accelerated financial inclusion, but with different levels due to the variation in technological developments and low level of financial literacy. An insignificant effect of the S&P indicator across varying income countries had shown the need for more attention to Fintech and financial literacy to accelerate financial inclusion. In addition to that, countries should work to develop and strengthen of the communication and information infrastructure especially, in developing countries, in order to activate the role of financial technology

Genomic Prediction of Testcross Performance in Canola (Brassica napus)

The work was funded by Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (DFG) grant SN14/16-1 to RS and funding to RN, RS, and HJ from the European Union FP7 Marie Curie Initial Training Network INTERCROSSING

Influence du Procede de Fabrication sur la Conformite aux Normes des Produits d’une Boyauderie Industrielle au Centre du Maroc

L'industrie de boyauderie a connu un développement prodigieux ces derniers temps au Maroc. Cette situation exige une conformité des produits de boyauderie destinés à l'exportation, étant donné que les produits de charcuterie sont souvent soumis à de multiples sources de contamination liées à la longueur et à la complexité de leur cheminement, c'est-à-dire, de l'étable à la table. Afin d'évaluer la qualité hygiénique des boyaux, des analyses microbiologiques ont été réalisées sur 7 lots différents de boyaux, à des stades différents de traitement dans une unité de boyauderie, au centre du Maroc. Les résultats montrent que tous les échantillons analysés durant les étapes de mesurage, égouttage et salage ont été conformes. Cependant, les étapes du calibrage, tubage et conditionnement ont présenté un pourcentage de non- conformité de 28,6, 42,9 et 14,3 %, respectivement. La non-conformité des échantillons analysés a été liée principalement à la présence de coliformes totaux et fécaux. Cette contamination fécal a sans doute été causée par le non-respect des règles d'hygiène au niveau des ateliers de production et/ou par les manipulateurs et pourrait être à l'origine d'un risque sanitaire. L'évaluation du microbisme bactérien a révélé que le calibrage, le tubage et le conditionnement sont des étapes critiques, dont la maîtrise est nécessaire pour assurer la conformité du produit fini. Ce qui traduit la nécessité d'instaurer un système de contrôle qualité.Mots clés : Boyaux, qualité hygiénique, analyses, risque sanitaire, conformité, Maro

Effect of Harvesting Date and Variety of Date Palm on Antioxidant Capacity, Phenolic and Flavonoid Content of Date Palm (Phoenix Dactylifera)

The effect of date palm variety and harvesting date on total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant capacity of seven varieties of date palm fruits collected at different maturation stages obtained from date palm farms located in the Jericho area of the Jordan valley was investigated in this study. During different harvesting times (from June to September 2011), total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, and antioxidant capacity varied between 13.75-231.40 mg gallic acid equivalents (GAE), 1.72-9.6 mg catechin equivalents, and 142.0-719.3 μmol Trolox equivalents per 100 g dry weight sample for the seven varieties of date palm, respectively. Pearson correlation indicated that there is a strong significant correlation between antioxidant capacity and total phenolic content, as well as between antioxidant capacity and total flavonoid content for all date palm varieties investigated in this study. It is expected that these results will be useful to farmers particularly in their selection of harvesting time of the date palm fruits with high content of the bioactive compounds to meet the increasing demand on such healthy products.We are grateful to Beit Jala pharmaceutical company for performing HPLC analyses in their laboratories

Separation and identification of phenolics and flavonoids from wild Pistacia palaestina extract and its antioxidant activity

An in-vitro evaluation of the antioxidant activities of wild Palestinian Pistacia palaestina extracts was done. In parallel, the total phenolic content (TPC) and the total flavonoids content (TFC) were measured. The antioxidant activities were determined spectrophotometrically by DPPH, FRAP, CUPRAC and the ABTS methods. The phenolic and flavonoid contents were separated and identified using LC-PDA-MS. The P. palaestina extract was found to contain many phenolic and flavonoids that enhance its reducing activity and free radical scavenging ability. Total phenolic content, and total flavonoids contents were found to be 66.5 ± 2.2 mg Gallic acid/g, and 20.3 ± 1.1 mg catechin/g, respectively. Antioxidant activity represented as FRAP, CUPRAC, DPPH and ABTS was found to be 23.5± 1.2 mmol Fe+2/g, 4562 ± 63 μmol Trolox/g, 344 ± 11 μmol/g, 53.1 ± 6.6 μmol/g, respectively. The aim of the study is therefore to employ different antioxidant tests to evaluate the antioxidant activities of crude ethanol leaf extracts of P. palaestina, and to determine its phenolic and flavonoids content

Collided path replanning in dynamic environments using RRT and Cell decomposition algorithms

The motion planning is an important part of robots’ models. It is responsible for robot’s movements. In this work, the cell decomposition algorithm is used to find a spatial path on preliminary static workspaces, and then, the rapidly exploring random tree algorithm (RRT) is used to validate this path on the actual workspace. Two methods have been proposed to enhance the omnidirectional robot’s navigation on partially changed workspace. First, the planner creates a RRT tree and biases its growth toward the path’s points in ordered form. The planner reduces the probability of choosing the next point when a collision is detected, which in turn increases the RRT’s expansion on the free space. The second method uses a straight planner to connect path’s points. If a collision is detected, the planner places RRTs on both sides of the collided segment. The proposed methods are compared with the others approaches, and the simulation shows better results in term of efficiency and completeness.Plánování pohybu robota je důležitou součástí modelování funkcí robotů. Plán řídí pohyby robota. V této práci se algoritmus rozkladu na buňky používá k nalezení cesty pracovní plochou a algoritmus prozkoumání náhodného stromu (RRT) k ověření cesty skutečným prostorem. Byly navrženy dvě metody ke zlepšení navigace všesměrové pohyblivého robota částečně změněnou pracovní plochou. Za prvé, plánovač vytvoří RRT strom a vychyluje jeho růst směrem k bodu na cestě. Plánovač snižuje pravděpodobnost výběru dalšího bodu, když je detekována kolize, což zase zvyšuje expanzi RRT na volném prostoru. Druhá metoda používá shodný plánovač pro napojení bodů cesty. Pokud je detekována kolize, plánovač upravuje RRT na obou stranách kolizního segmentu. Navrhované metody jsou porovnávány s dalšími používanými přístupy, přečemž simulace ukazuje lepší výsledky z hlediska účinnosti a úplnosti plánování cesty.The motion planning is an important part of robots’ models. It is responsible for robot’s movements. In this work, the cell decomposition algorithm is used to find a spatial path on preliminary static workspaces, and then, the rapidly exploring random tree algorithm (RRT) is used to validate this path on the actual workspace. Two methods have been proposed to enhance the omnidirectional robot’s navigation on partially changed workspace. First, the planner creates a RRT tree and biases its growth toward the path’s points in ordered form. The planner reduces the probability of choosing the next point when a collision is detected, which in turn increases the RRT’s expansion on the free space. The second method uses a straight planner to connect path’s points. If a collision is detected, the planner places RRTs on both sides of the collided segment. The proposed methods are compared with the others approaches, and the simulation shows better results in term of efficiency and completeness

The Influence of People Shadowing on the Modelling of 60 GHz Band Propagation

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