Preferensi Petani Terhadap Jagung Hibrida Berdasarkan Karakter Agronomik, Produktivitas, Dan Keuntungan Usahatani

Some hybrid maize varieties had been adopted by farmers, but farmers responded differently toward each variety. The objective of the present study was to know the farmers' responses to hybrid variety based on agronomic characters, productivity, and income among four hybrid maize, namely N-35, BISI-2, BIMA-3, and SHS-11 variety. The research was conducted in Takalar regency, South Sulawesi from March to November 2014. Sampling method was purposive, the number of respondents were 60 farmers. Information were derived from primary and secondary data. Primary data were obtained through survey and interview using structured questionaires. Technical analysis using R/C ratio was presented on tables then discussed in a descriptive-qualitative. Results showed that farmers planted BIMA-3 variety were able to obtain yield of 9.5 t/ha at 16% of moisture content, gaining the highest profit of Rp 15,875,000/ha. The superiority of BIMA-3 were its germination was better, the seed cost was cheaper, resistant to downey-mildew and stemborer, tolerant to drought stress, produced higher yields and its biomass stayed green, so that it was suitable for animal feeding. Variety N-35, BISI-2, and SHS-11 were not resistant to downey-mildew disease, the yields ranged from 6.9 t/ha to 7.9 t/ha, and their biomass were not stayed green. The highest R/C ratio was obtained from BIMA-3 (2.71), followed by BISI-2 (2.61), N-35 (2.53), SHS-11 (2.44) and OPVs (2.33). B/C Ratio of BIMA-3 was (1.71), BISI-2 (1.61), N-35 (1.53), SHS-11 (1.44), OPVs (1.33), and MBCR of BIMA-3 (2.13), BISI-2 (2.04), N-35 (1.86), and SHS-11(1.64). Therefore, BIMA-3 hybrid variety could be recommended for maize farming in South Sulawesi

Assessing the Severity of Color Vision Loss with Implications for Aviation and other Occupational Environments

Introduction: The Ishihara Test (IT) is arguably the most sensitive and commonly used color vision test within aviation and other occupational environments, but when no errors are allowed; 20% of normal trichromats fail the test. The number of allowed errors varies in different occupations and sometimes within the same environment (such as aviation) in order to reflect the difficulties of the color-related tasks. The implicit assumption is that the plates can be ranked in order of difficulty. The principal aim of this study was to investigate whether appropriate "weights" can be attached to each IT plate to reflect the likelihood of producing a correct response. A second aim was to justify the use of color thresholds for quantifying the loss of red-green (RG) and yellow-blue (YB) chromatic sensitivity. Methods: We investigated 742 subjects (236 normals, 340 deutans, and 166 protans) using the first 25 plates of the 38-plate IT and measured RG chromatic sensitivity using the Color Assessment and Diagnosis (CAD) test. The IT error scores provided platespecifi c "weights" which were used to calculate a Severity Index (SI) of color vision loss for each subject. Results: Error scores, SI values, and CAD thresholds were measured and compared in each of the three subject groups. Conclusions: Color thresholds can provide a good measure of the severity of both RG and YB color vision loss. Neither the number of IT plates failed nor the SI value computed in this way can be used to determine reliably the severity of color vision loss

Investigation of the skin contamination predictability by means of QForm UK extrusion code

The paper presents an innovative approach implemented in QForm UK Extrusion FEM software to analyse one of the core defects encountered in profile extrusion known as billet skin defect. The validation of the algorithm has been performed based on a number of experimental case studies taken from the literature [1,2]. Additionally, the sensitivity of the accuracy of the results to the variation in initial parameters has been analysed for both types of profile shapes: solid and hollow. Based on this, practical recommendations have been formalised for the successful industrial use of the presented algorithm

Prevalence, genetic diversity and antiretroviral drugs resistance-associated mutations among untreated HIV-1-infected pregnant women in Gabon, central Africa

BACKGROUND: In Africa, the wide genetic diversity of HIV has resulted in emergence of new strains, rapid spread of this virus in sub-Saharan populations and therefore spread of the HIV epidemic throughout the continent. METHODS: To determine the prevalence of antibodies to HIV among a high-risk population in Gabon, 1098 and 2916 samples were collected from pregnant women in 2005 and 2008, respectively. HIV genotypes were evaluated in 107 HIV-1-positive samples to determine the circulating subtypes of strains and their resistance to antiretroviral drugs (ARVs). RESULTS: The seroprevalences were 6.3% in 2005 and 6.0% in 2008. The main subtype was recombinant CRF02_AG (46.7%), followed by the subtypes A (19.6%), G (10.3%), F (4.7%), H (1.9%) and D (0.9%) and the complex recombinants CRF06_cpx (1.9%) and CRF11_cpx (1.9%); 12.1% of subtypes could not be characterized. Analysis of ARVs resistance to the protease and reverse transcriptase coding regions showed mutations associated with extensive subtype polymorphism. In the present study, the HIV strains showed reduced susceptibility to ARVs (2.8%), particularly to protease inhibitors (1.9%) and nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors (0.9%). CONCLUSIONS: The evolving genetic diversity of HIV calls for continuous monitoring of its molecular epidemiology in Gabon and in other central African countries

A particle swarm optimization approach using adaptive entropy-based fitness quantification of expert knowledge for high-level, real-time cognitive robotic control

Abstract: High-level, real-time mission control of semi-autonomous robots, deployed in remote and dynamic environments, remains a challenge. Control models, learnt from a knowledgebase, quickly become obsolete when the environment or the knowledgebase changes. This research study introduces a cognitive reasoning process, to select the optimal action, using the most relevant knowledge from the knowledgebase, subject to observed evidence. The approach in this study introduces an adaptive entropy-based set-based particle swarm algorithm (AE-SPSO) and a novel, adaptive entropy-based fitness quantification (AEFQ) algorithm for evidence-based optimization of the knowledge. The performance of the AE-SPSO and AEFQ algorithms are experimentally evaluated with two unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) benchmark missions: (1) relocating the UAV to a charging station and (2) collecting and delivering a package. Performance is measured by inspecting the success and completeness of the mission and the accuracy of autonomous flight control. The results show that the AE-SPSO/AEFQ approach successfully finds the optimal state-transition for each mission task and that autonomous flight control is successfully achieved

Anomalies in the review process and interpretation of the evidence in the NICE guideline for chronic fatigue syndrome and myalgic encephalomyelitis

Chronic fatigue syndrome/myalgic encephalomyelitis (CFS/ME) is a disabling long-term condition of unknown cause. The National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) published a guideline in 2021 that highlighted the seriousness of the condition, but also recommended that graded exercise therapy (GET) should not be used and cognitive-behavioural therapy should only be used to manage symptoms and reduce distress, not to aid recovery. This U-turn in recommendations from the previous 2007 guideline is controversial.We suggest that the controversy stems from anomalies in both processing and interpretation of the evidence by the NICE committee. The committee: (1) created a new definition of CFS/ME, which 'downgraded' the certainty of trial evidence; (2) omitted data from standard trial end points used to assess efficacy; (3) discounted trial data when assessing treatment harm in favour of lower quality surveys and qualitative studies; (4) minimised the importance of fatigue as an outcome; (5) did not use accepted practices to synthesise trial evidence adequately using GRADE (Grading of Recommendations, Assessment, Development and Evaluations trial evidence); (6) interpreted GET as mandating fixed increments of change when trials defined it as collaborative, negotiated and symptom dependent; (7) deviated from NICE recommendations of rehabilitation for related conditions, such as chronic primary pain and (8) recommended an energy management approach in the absence of supportive research evidence.We conclude that the dissonance between this and the previous guideline was the result of deviating from usual scientific standards of the NICE process. The consequences of this are that patients may be denied helpful treatments and therefore risk persistent ill health and disability