Grid-enabled Workflows for Industrial Product Design

This paper presents a generic approach for developing and using Grid-based workflow technology for enabling cross-organizational engineering applications. Using industrial product design examples from the automotive and aerospace industries we highlight the main requirements and challenges addressed by our approach and describe how it can be used for enabling interoperability between heterogeneous workflow engines

Energy-Momentum Distribution: Some Examples

In this paper, we elaborate the problem of energy-momentum in General Relativity with the help of some well-known solutions. In this connection, we use the prescriptions of Einstein, Landau-Lifshitz, Papapetrou and M\"{o}ller to compute the energy-momentum densities for four exact solutions of the Einstein field equations. We take the gravitational waves, special class of Ferrari-Ibanez degenerate solution, Senovilla-Vera dust solution and Wainwright-Marshman solution. It turns out that these prescriptions do provide consistent results for special class of Ferrari-Ibanez degenerate solution and Wainwright-Marshman solution but inconsistent results for gravitational waves and Senovilla-Vera dust solution.Comment: 20 pages, accepted for publication in Int. J. Mod. Phys.

An Approach to Screening for Resistance to Water and Heat Stress in Sorghum (Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench)

Sorghum (Sorglttrm bicolor (L.) hlocnchl is an important food crop of thc arid and scmiarrd tropics but average yields are s t i l l bclow 1.000 kilograms per hcctare. and under drought conditions these may fall below 100 kilogranls per hectare or there may evcn be total crop failure. Breeding for drought ,resistance in sorghum is a complex problem. Th e ohjec~ivco f thi s paper is to drscribc the developnicnt of a screening technique. based on a "physiological approach." Itiitially. a sample of gcnotypes ucrc selected from the sorghum genetic rcsources acccs5ions at the lntcrnational Crops Research I nsti tute for the Semi - Arid Tropics (ICKISAT) Ccntcr 10 rr'prc=,cnt material collected from many countries over a range of altitudes (0 to 2.000 rnetcrs) and nwan annual rainfall (250 to 2 .SO0 niillimcters). covering most of the taxonomic groups. Some advanced hrccding materials were also included in this sample of over 700 lines. They were scrccncd undcr suvcre drought conditions at ICRISAT in thc relatively rain-free summers from 1983 to 19S5. Considerable genetic variation was shown in the response of these genotypes to ~.atcarn d heat stress. Visually observcd dillercnces in "resistant" and "susceptible" genotypes in tcrnis of desiccation tolerance or avoidance. recovery resistance and ability to produce grain after the onwt of rains was thcn shown to be associatcd with spccilic physiological traits. Sc'lcctcd physiological data from a fc\v contrasting genotypes wcrc shown on relati\'e leaf-watcr content (RL\VC). leafwater potential and lcaf stoniatal conductance (gl). Thcse results vcrify that the visual "resi~- tance" traits identificd earlier were bascd on measurable physiological responses. In conclusion. i t is argued that thc approach described has proved to be succcsslul in idcntifying drought-mistant germplasni. With more basic research on the same contrasting genotyps. the problcm of idcntifying drought-rc%istant sorghums could be largely ovcrcome

Response of four sorghum lines to mid-season drought. II. Leaf characteristics

Four sorghum lines were visually selected on the basis of degree of leaf disiccation for resistance and susceptibility to mid-season drought stress. An association between leaf-rolling and degree of resistance based on this method of selection had previously been observed, prompting this study to identify the physiological contribution of characteristics at the leaf level to mid-season drought resistance. During the drought period, the resistant lines showed more leaf-rolling than the susceptible lines, reducing the effective area of the uppermost leaves by about 75%. Leaf-rolling in the resistant lines occurred over a very narrow range of leaf water-potentials (−2.0 to −2.2 MPa) compared to the susceptible lines. The strong correlation between the light-extinction coefficient k and leaf-rolling indicated that changes in k over the season were in part due to differing abilities of the lines to roll their leaves. However, expected differences in leaf temperature between lines due to radiation shedding were not found. Lines exhibiting leaf-rolling had higher leaf conductances, although transpiration rates per unit leaf area were similar. It is suggested that leaf-rolling may alter the leaf surface microclimate so that stomata may remain open and growth continue without associated high rates of water loss

The remittances behaviour of the second generation in Europe: altruism or self-interest?

Whereas most research on remittances focuses on first-generation migrants, the aim of this paper is to investigate the remitting behaviour of the host country-born children of migrants - the second generation - in various European cities. Some important studies found that migrant transnationalism is not only a phenomenon for the first generation, but also apply to the second and higher generations, through, among other things, family visits, elder care, and remittances. At the same time, the maintenance of a strong ethnic identity in the ‘host’ society does not necessarily mean that second-generation migrants have strong transnational ties to their ‘home’ country. The data used in this paper is from “The Integration of the European Second Generation” (TIES) project. The survey collected information on approximately 6,250 individuals aged 18-35 with at least one migrant parent from Morocco, Turkey or former Yugoslavia, in 15 European cities, regrouped in 8 ‘countries’. For the purpose of this paper, only analyses for Austria (Linz and Vienna); Switzerland (Basle and Zurich); Germany (Berlin and Frankfurt); France (Paris and Strasbourg); the Netherlands (Amsterdam and Rotterdam); Spain (Barcelona and Madrid); and Sweden (Stockholm) will be presented.

Light Use, Water Uptake and Performance of Individual Components of a Sorghum/Groundnut Intercrop

The productivity of each component of a sorghum/groundnut intercrop and its constituent sole crops is determined in terms of a ‘Crop Performance Ratio’ (CPR) defined as the productivity of an intercrop per unit area of ground compared with that expected from sole crops sown in the same proportions. The CPR allows productivity, intercepted radiation and seasonal transpiration to be compared so that conversion coefficients for radiation (e; g MJ−1) and dry matter/water ratios (q; g kg−1) can be calculated for each intercrop component and its constituent sole crops. In this experiment, CPR for total dry weight in the intercrop was 1.08 and that for reproductive yield was 1.27. These advantages in overall productivity and yield were typical of those reported elsewhere for sorghum/groundnut intercrops. The proportional increase in total dry matter in the intercrop was largely a result of its greater interception of radiation. The further advantage in reproductive yield was a consequence of an improved harvest index in the sorghum component of the intercrop (0.64) compared with that of its sole crop counterpart (0.55)

Reductions in negative automatic thoughts in students attending mindfulness tutorials predicts increased life satisfaction

University education confronts students with stressful developmental challenges that can lead to mental health problems. Innovative programs must address an increasing prevalence of these problems but are impeded by the high costs involved. In this study, thirty-nine undergraduate students attended weekly one hour mindfulness meditation tutorials during a single (14 week) semester. Tutorials involved 40 minutes of guided meditation, followed by open-ended discussions on mindfulness and related scientific research. Multiple regression analysis tested associations between self-reported changes in mindfulness, in negative automatic thoughts and in satisfaction with life.Reductions in automatic thoughts accounted for a significant proportion of variance in life satisfaction and decreases in automatic thoughts were associated with an increased life satisfaction. This finding suggests guided meditation tutorials merit consideration in promoting student mental health on university campuses.Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC

Guidelines for consideration of bats in lighting projects.

Eighty percent of the world’s population are currently exposed to light-polluted skies, and the Milky Way is no longer visible to more than a third of humanity. The pace the light pollution is increasing is faster than global population growth and economic development. While environmental conditions at night are being dramatically and rapidly altered, circadian rhythms, behaviour and ecology of plants and animals are imminently influenced. In the same time, effects of artificial lighting, various illumination schemes and spectra on biodiversity, including bats, are currently insufficiently understood, whereas only a vague notion of required mitigation and compensation activities exists among decision-makers and other parties involved in lighting projects. Although the bats are almost exclusively nocturnal and extremely sensitive to multiple effects of light pollution, its negative impact on bats alongside essential measures needed to preserve unfragmented nightscapes for these animals are often disregarded during impact assessments, planning and operation. In this volume, we tried to compile available evidence related to the effect of artificial light at night on the European bats. Based on the current state of knowledge, solutions are proposed concerning possible ways to avoid, mitigate and compensate the adverse effects which lighting projects may have on bats and their functional habitats. We also outlined research priorities for future studies, required for in-depth understanding of the problem and assessing efficiency of proposed mitigative measures

A review of ransomware families and detection methods

Ransomware has become a significant problem and its impact is getting worse. It has now become a lucrative business as it is being offered as a service. Unlike other security issues, the effect of ransomware is irreversible and difficult to stop. This research has analysed existing ransomware classifications and its detection and prevention methods. Due to the difficulty in categorizing the steps none of the existing methods can stop ransomware. Ransomware families are identified and classified from the year 1989 to 2017 and surprisingly there are not much difference in the pattern. This paper concludes with a brief discussion about the findings and future work of this research

Response of four sorghum lines to mid-season drought. I. Growth, water use and yield

Four sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) lines were visually selected to represent the most resistant and most susceptible in terms of desiccation tolerance and ability to produce new leaves and grain after release from drought. The lines, representing early- and late-maturing lines in both classes, were grown during the summer and part of the monsoon season at Patancheru, Central India, in a study to investigate the physiological basis of the visual assessments. A control treatment was irrigated throughout, while a stress treatment had water withheld from 20 to 84 days sowing. During early growth in both irrigation treatments, the resistant lines had slower shoot and root growth rates, slower soil water-extraction rates, but higher root: shoot ratios than the susceptible lines, which may have been responsible for their higher leaf water-potentials in the stress treatment. Dry-matter production per unit of water transpired was also lower in the resistant lines. As drought became more severe, there was greater leaf death in the susceptible lines. In all lines, panicle initiation was delayed by mid-season drought stress, but once it did start, the length of the reproductive period was increased in the resistant lines but decreased in the susceptible. In both treatments, the resistant lines within each maturity group had higher grain-yield than the susceptible lines; in the stress treatment this was largely due to better grain-set and tillering