Agricultural knowledge from academy to farming communities: The role of higher education in enhancing food security in Syria

The dynamics of the Syrian conflict present a complex set of challenges that led to considering more than 10.5 million people food insecure and in need of urgent agricultural and livelihood assistance. This article investigates the role of higher education (HE) in food security. It considers how universities, graduates, and appropriate curriculum and research engagement can address challenges and provide innovative solutions in Syria

Performance analysis of MPI approaches and PThread in multi-core system

Comparison among the HPC techniques has been made in order to address the highest and lowest performance of each in terms of execution time, speedup and efficiency when it is used with the HPc multicore system. The matrix multiplication in a variant size is used as a common complex task to examine the performance of each approach. FSKTM server has been used as an HPC multicore system to perform the approaches and tasks. Based on the results, it shows that Hybrid MPI/OpenMP approach is the best in terms of execution time, speed up and efficiency than other approaches when the matrix size is very high (>1024×1024 size). Furthermore, the results show that the compiler version has a significant impact over the performance of Pthread. With a new compiler, the performance becomes much better due to the improvement in code translation

Cover and lifting cuts for unconstrained quadratic 0-1 problems

International audienc

An exact solution for bivalent quadratic problems using semidefinite bound and fixing criterions

International audienc

Larvicidal and repellent effect of some Tribulus terrestris L., (Zygophyllaceae) extracts against the dengue fever mosquito, Aedes aegypti (Diptera: Culicidae)

Aedes aegypti transmits etiologic agents of yellow fever and dengue. Vaccine for dengue virus is not available and vector control is essential to minimize dengue incidence. The larvicidal and repellent effect of the crude ethanol, acetone and petroleum ether extract leaves of Tribulus terrestris, against 3rd instar larvae and adults of mosquito, Ae. aegypti the vector of dengue fever was evaluated. The efficacy of petroleum ether extract seemed to be more effective with LC50 64.6 ppm followed by acetone extract with LC50 173.2 ppm and finally ethanolic extract with LC50 376.4 ppm. Moreover, the acetone and petroleum ether extracts exerted a highly delayed toxic effect on the pupae and adults resulted from treated larvae, where the pupal mortality was 57.1% and 100% at concentrations 400 and 100 ppm, respectively. Also, the petroleum ether and acetone extracts showed reduction effects on adult emergence. The repellent action of the plant extracts tested was varied depending on the solvent used in extraction and the dose of the extract. The most effective plant extract that evoked 100% repellency or biting deterrence was petroleum ether extract at a dose of 1.5 mg/cm2 compared with 100% repellency for commercial formulation, N,N-diethyl-3-methylbenzamide (DEET) at the same dose. Hence, these extracts can be used as an effective alternative to the existing synthetic pesticides for the control of Ae. aegypti