Mixed cropping systems for control of weeds and pests in organic oilseed crops

Agricultural advantages of mixed cropping are gained from biological effects like light competition offering weed-suppressing capacities, or by diversification of plant covers to break development cycles of pests. These effects were measured in a two-year project on mixed cropping with organic oilseed crops. It was found that weeds can be efficiently suppressed in organic linseed (Linum usitatissivum) grown in combination with wheat (Triticum aestivum) or false flax (Camelina sativa). Linseed growth was, however, impaired. In organic pea production (Pisum sativum) also, growing the crop as a mixture with false flax led to a significant decrease of weed population. Either culture showed a balanced plant development. In winter rape (Brassica napus) there were suggestions that infestation by insect pests can be directly reduced in mixtures with cereals or legumes and that parasitoids of insect pests are supported

Robust Source Localization in Reverberant Environments Based on Weighted Fuzzy Clustering

Successful localization of sound sources in reverberant enclosures is an important prerequisite for many spatial signal processing algorithms. We investigate the use of a weighted fuzzy-means cluster algorithm for robust source localization using location cues extracted from a microphone array. In orderto increase the algorithm's robustness against sound reflections, we incorporate observation weights to emphasize reliable cues over unreliable ones. The weights are computed from local feature statistics around sound onsets because it is known that these regions are least affected by reverberation. Experimental results illustrate the superiority of the method when compared with standard fuzzy clustering. The proposed algorithm successfully located two speech sources for a range of angular separations in room environments with reverberation times of up to 600 ms

Fibre Optic Sensors for the Structural Health Monitoring of Building Structures

AbstractIn this work different fibre optic sensors for the structural health monitoring of civil engineering structures are reported. A fibre optic crack sensor and two different fibre optic moisture sensors have been designed to detect the moisture ingress in concrete based building structures. Moreover, the degeneration of the mechanical properties of optical glass fibre sensors and hence their long-term stability and reliability due to the mechanical and chemical impact of the concrete environment is discussed as well as the advantage of applying a fibre optic sensor system for the structural health monitoring of sewerage tunnels is demonstrated

Ultrafast lithium diffusion in bilayer graphene

Solids that simultaneously conduct electrons and ions are key elements for the mass transfer and storage required in battery electrodes. Single-phase materials with a high electronic and high ionic conductivity at room temperature are hard to come by, and therefore multiphase systems with separate ion and electron channels have been put forward instead. Here we report on bilayer graphene as a single-phase mixed conductor that demonstrates Li diffusion faster than in graphite and even surpassing the diffusion of sodium chloride in liquid water. To measure Li diffusion, we have developed an on-chip electrochemical cell architecture in which the redox reaction that forces Li intercalation is localized only at a protrusion of the device so that the graphene bilayer remains unperturbed from the electrolyte during operation. We performed time-dependent Hall measurements across spatially displaced Hall probes to monitor the in-plane Li diffusion kinetics within the graphene bilayer and measured a diffusion coefficient as high as 7 × 10 -5 â €...cm 2 s -1

Reviews

Reviews Carolyn E. Hill. Token Professionals and Master Critics: A Critique of Orthodoxy in Literary Studies. (James Sosnoski, 1994). Michael Kuhne. Releasing the Imagination: Essays on Education, the Arts, and Social Change. (Maxine Greene, 1995). Felicia M. Briscoe. Artwork of the Mind: An Interdisciplinary Description of Insight and the Search for it in Student Writing. (Mary M. Murray, 1996). Hanna Berger. If You Want to Write: A Book about Art, Independence and Spirit. (Brenda Ueland, 1997). Candace Walworth. The Rag and Bone Shop of the Heart: Poems for Men. (Robert Bly, James Hillman, Michael Meade, Eds., 1992)

Textile carbon reinforcement structures with integrated optical fibre sensors designed for SHM applications

An optical fibre-based strain sensor embroidered to a functionalised carbon structure (FCS) that can be used for structural health monitoring (SHM) is introduced. The aim of the design is not only to monitor strain, but also to act as a structural strengthening mechanism in the target application. The integration of optical fibres on the FCS is achieved by "interweaving" the two elements on a polymer textile infstrate in a grid formation using a specialised fabrication process. The thus obtained sensor was then characterised using a fibre optic Mach-Zehnder (MZ) interferometric setup where a variation in the fibre length, i.e. resulting from strain, would induce a variation in the interference pattern. To do so, two different functionalised skein samples (incorporating optical fibres) were infjected to varying elongation using a tensile testing machine by carefully incrementing the applied force. A good correlation between the applied force and measured length change was observed, showing the value of the dual-achievement of the proposed optical fibre-based mechanism in obtaining strain measurement while being utilised as a strengthening agent. © 2017 SPIE.BMBF/03ZZ034

e-Health as the Enabler of Primary Care for Children

Information and communication technologies can transform how services can be and are delivered as has already happened in other arenas, such as civil aviation, financial services and retailing. Most modern health care is heavily dependent on e-health, including record keeping, targeted information sharing and digital diagnostic and imaging techniques. However, there remains little scientific knowledge base for optimal system content and function in primary health care, particularly for children. Models of Child Health Appraised (MOCHA) aimed to establish the current e-health situation in children’s primary care services. Electronic health records (EHRs) are in regular use in much of northern and western Europe and in some newer European Union Member States, but other countries lag behind. MOCHA investigated the use of unique identifiers, the use of case-based public health EHRs and the capability of record linkage, linkage of information with school health data and monitoring of social media influences, such as health websites and health apps. A widespread lack of standards underlined a lack of research enquiry into this issue in terms of children’s health data and health knowledge. Health websites and apps are a growing area of healthcare delivery, but there is a worrying lack of safeguards in place. The challenge for policy-makers and practitioners is to be aware and to lead on the innovative harnessing of new technologies, while protecting child users against new harms

The ATPase mechanism of myosin and actomyosin

Myosins are a large family of molecular motors that use the common P-loop, Switch 1 and Switch 2 nucleotide binding motifs to recognize ATP, to create a catalytic site than can efficiently hydrolyze ATP and to communicate the state of the nucleotide pocket to other allosteric binding sites on myosin. The energy of ATP hydrolysis is used to do work against an external load. In this short review I will outline current thinking on the mechanism of ATP hydrolysis and how the energy of ATP hydrolysis is coupled to a series of protein conformational changes that allow a myosin, with the cytoskeleton track actin, to operate as a molecular motor of distinct types; fast movers, processive motors or strain sensors. This article is protected by copyright. All rights reserved