A Computer-based System for the Management of Field Crop Pests

This article describes an expert system, COT-XPERT, developed for controlling pests and diseases affecting cotton crop as well as a system for Rice Stem Borers (RSB) simulation. The system works in two parts: The first part addresses the issues of efficient use of knowledge for RSB problem and predicts the population build-up of RSB after a certain period of time by taking into consideration weather factor, number of larvae per square metre present earlier, fecundity of female and dispersal pattern, etc. The second part is an expert system for the management of cotton pests which diagnoses the pest problem by using information about the damage inflicted to the crop or based on its morphology and displays all technical information about the pests as well as efficient control measures for a particular pest. The paper concludes with a mention of some of the limitations and future research directions for enhancing the qualities of the system

A Computer-based System for the Management of Field Crop Pests

This article describes an expert system, COT-XPERT, developed for controlling pests and diseases affecting cotton crop as well as a system for Rice Stem Borers (RSB) simulation. The system works in two parts: The first part addresses the issues of efficient use of knowledge for RSB problem and predicts the population build-up of RSB after a certain period of time by taking into consideration weather factor, number of larvae per square metre present earlier, fecundity of female and dispersal pattern, etc. The second part is an expert system for the management of cotton pests which diagnoses the pest problem by using information about the damage inflicted to the crop or based on its morphology and displays all technical information about the pests as well as efficient control measures for a particular pest. The paper concludes with a mention of some of the limitations and future research directions for enhancing the qualities of the system

Reflectivity, Reflexivity, Reflexivism: IR's 'Reflexive Turn' - and Beyond

The notion of ‘reflexivity’ has been so intimately tied to the critique of positivism and empiricism in International Relations (IR) that the emergence of post-positivism has naturally produced the anticipation of a ‘reflexive turn’ in IR theory. Three decades after the launch of the post-positivist critique, however, reflexive IR has failed to impose itself as either a clear or serious contender to mainstream scholarship. Reasons for this failure include: the proliferation of different understandings of ‘reflexivity’ in IR theory that entail significantly different projects and concerns for IR scholarship; the equation of ‘reflexive theory’ with ‘critical’ and ‘emancipatory theory’ and the consequent confusion of ethical/normative issues with strictly epistemic/theoretical ones; and the refusal to consider reflexive IR as a ‘research programme’ concerned with empirical knowledge, not just meta-explanation. The development of reflexivity in IR theory as a sustainable cognitive and praxeological effort is nonetheless possible — and still needed. This article suggests what taking the ‘reflexive turn’ would really entail for IR.</jats:p

Whose domain and whose ontology?:Preserving human radical reflexivity over the efficiency of automatically generated feedback alone

In this chapter, we challenge an increase in the uncritical application of algorithmic processes for providing automatically generated feedback for students, within a neoliberal framing of contemporary higher education. Initially, we discuss our concerns alongside networked learning principles, which developed as a critical pedagogical response to new online learning programmes and platforms. These principles now overlap too, with the notion that we are living in ‘postdigital’ times, where automatically generated feedback never stands alone, but is contested and supplemented by physical encounters and human feedback. First, we make observations on the e-marking platform Turnitin, alongside other rapidly developing artificial intelligence (AI) systems. When generic (but power-laden) maps are incorporated into both student and staff ‘perceived’ spaces through AI, we surface the aspects of feedback that risk being lost. Second, we draw on autoethnographic understandings of our own lived experience of performing radically reflexive feedback within a Master’s in Education programme. A radically reflexive form of feedback may not follow a pre-defined map, but it does offer a vehicle to restore individual student and staff voices and critical self-navigation of both physical and virtual learning spaces. This needs to be preserved in the ongoing shaping of the contemporary ‘postdigital’ university

Ageing impairs the regenerative capacity of regulatory T cells in mouse central nervous system remyelination

Myelin regeneration (remyelination) is essential to prevent neurodegeneration in demyelinating diseases such as Multiple Sclerosis, however, its efficiency declines with age. Regulatory T cells (Treg) recently emerged as critical players in tissue regeneration, including remyelination. However, the effect of ageing on Treg-mediated regenerative processes is poorly understood. Here, we show that expansion of aged Treg does not rescue age-associated remyelination impairment due to an intrinsically diminished capacity of aged Treg to promote oligodendrocyte differentiation and myelination in male and female mice. This decline in regenerative Treg functions can be rescued by a young environment. We identified Melanoma Cell Adhesion Molecule 1 (MCAM1) and Integrin alpha 2 (ITGA2) as candidates of Treg-mediated oligodendrocyte differentiation that decrease with age. Our findings demonstrate that ageing limits the neuroregenerative capacity of Treg, likely limiting their remyelinating therapeutic potential in aged patients, and describe two mechanisms implicated in Treg-driven remyelination that may be targetable to overcome this limitation