Sensitivity analysis of four crop water stress indices to ambient environmental conditions and stomatal conductance

Crop water stress indices (CWSIs) quantify plant water status based on measurement of plant temperature. The goal of CWSI formulation is to normalize measured leaf temperatures based on reference temperatures to remove sensitivity to ambient environmental conditions (e.g., air temperature, humidity, radiation), while retaining sensitivity to plant water status as reflected by stomatal conductance. This study sought to better understand the sensitivity of these temperatures to ambient environmental conditions, and ultimately how they influence various CWSIs. The surface energy balance was modeled to simulate the impacts of input parameter variation on leaf temperature and reference surface temperatures used to calculate four different CWSIs. The performance of the CWSIs were assessed based on their ability to maximize sensitivity to stomatal conductance while minimizing the relative sensitivity to ambient environmental conditions. The sensitivity analyses indicated that all four CWSIs performed poorly in shaded conditions, as they had relatively low sensitivity to stomatal conductance and were sensitive to all environmental parameters. Two CWSIs had high sensitivity to stomatal conductance, and low sensitivity to all environmental parameters except wind speed. None of CWSIs could remove sensitivity to all environmental parameters while retaining sensitivity to stomatal conductance

The Past Has Ears (PHE): XR Explorations of Acoustic Spaces as Cultural Heritage

Hearing is one of our most pervasive senses. There is no equivalent to closing our eyes, or averting our gaze, for the ears. When we think about great architectural achievements in European history, such as ancient amphitheatres or Gothic cathedrals, their importance is strongly tied to their acoustic environment. The acoustics of a heritage site is an intangible consequence of the space's tangible construction and furnishings. Inspired by the project's namesake (Phe, for the constellation Phoenix), and the relatively recent res at Cathedrale de Notre Dame de Paris and Teatro La Fenice opera hall, the PHE project focuses on virtual reconstruction of heritage sites, bringing them back from the ashes. In addressing the intangible acoustic heritage of architectural sites, three main objectives have been identied for this research project: Documentation, Modelling, and Presentation. In parallel, three heritage sites are participating as case studies: Tindari Theatre (IT), Notre-Dame de Paris Cathedral (FR), and The Houses of Parliament (UK). The acoustics of a space is immersive, spatial, and due to the nature of auditory perception egocentric, in contrast to visual perception of an object, which can be observed from outside". Consequently, presentation methods for communicating acoustic heritage must represent the spatially immersive and listener-centric nature of acoustics. PHE will lead development of a museum grade hardware/software prototype for the presentation of immersive audio experiences adaptable to multiple platforms, from on-site immersive speaker installations, to mobile XR via smartphone applications

Contribution to fusion research from IAEA coordinated research projects and joint experiments

The paper presents objectives and activities of IAEA Coordinated Research Projects 'Conceptual development of steady-state compact fusion neutron sources' and 'Utilisation of a network of small magnetic confinement fusion devices for mainstream fusion research'. The background and main projects of the CRP on FNS are described in detail, as this is a new activity at IAEA. Recent activities of the second CRP, which continues activities of previous CRPs, are overviewed

Low-Latency Routing on Mesh-Like Backbones

Early in in the Internet's history, routing within a single provider's WAN centered on placing traffic on the shortest path. More recent traffic engineering efforts aim to reduce congestion and/or increase utilization within the status quo of greedy shortest-path first routing on a sparse topology. In this paper, we argue that this status quo of routing and topology is fundamentally at odds with placing traffic so as to minimize latency for users while avoiding congestion. We advocate instead provider backbone topologies that are more mesh-like, and hence better at providing multiple low-latency paths, and a routing system that directly considers latency minimization and congestion avoidance while dynamically placing traffic on multiple unequal-cost paths. We offer a research agenda for achieving this new low-latency approach to WAN topology design and routing

Ethno-veterinary practices amongst livestock farmers in Ngamiland district, Botswana

We carried out a study to determine ethno-veterinary knowledge used to treat and prevent livestock diseases in Toteng Village in Ngamiland District, northwestern Botswana. Primary data were collected through simple random sampling of 45 households in Toteng. Respondents were either livestock owners or cattle herders. Respondents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire which had both open and closed-ended questions. Cattle ownership or herdership in Toteng is an inter-generational occupation with people ranging from 15 to 94 years old. Cattle wereacquired either through inheritance, buying, mafisa (reciprocal exchange) system or government scheme. Women in the study area were more involved in livestock farming activities. Eleven livestock diseases were reported to be prevalent in the study area. The top six diseases were tlhako le molomo -foot and mouth disease (FMD), matlho - eye infections, letshololo-diarrhea, madi -pasteurollosis, mokokomalo - aphosphorisis and pholoso- contagious abortion. At least nine medicinal plant species having ethno-veterinary applications were recorded in the study area. Single plants are mostly used rather than a combination of plants. A number of social strategies were mentioned such as ‘go fetola mafudiso’ - to change grazing areas, and ‘go thaa lesaka’ – to ritualistically ‘protect a kraal’ or livestock against evil spells and predators (lions). Although the intervention of conventional veterinary medicine is pervasive in Toteng,and many livestock owners are resorting to it, there is evidence, however, of generalized ethno-veterinary knowledge used to treat and prevent livestock diseases. Local farmers and their herders in Ngamiland are not only knowledgeable and experienced in treating a range of livestock diseases, but also in performing other veterinary tasks such as assisting in births, treating fractures and range management strategies to mitigate particular threats from their local environment. The efficacy of ethno-veterinary knowledge for preventing and treating livestock diseases andrange management strategies identified in this study need to be fully investigated and integrated in veterinary extension services.Key words: Okavango Delta, ethnoveterinary medicine, livestock diseases, indigenous Knowledge, traditional medicinal Plants, ethnodiagnostic skills

Phenotypic trait association studies in brinjal upon drought stress

Eggplant is popularly known as poor man’s vegetable. With respect to present situation of climatic challenges, fruit yield of eggplant is reduced due to drought or moisture stresses. In view of this condition, an experiment was aimed to study character association between yield and yield components in eggplant. The resultant outcome from correlation analysis computed among nine eggplant characters indicated that traits like plant height and total plant length at harvesting, fruit length and number of fruits per plant significantly correlated with fruit yield per plant. Whereas, traits like plant height and total plant length observed at harvesting stage, number of days for flower initiation, number of primary branches, fruit length and average fruit weight were significantly associated with fruit yield per plant under moisture stressed condition

Generalized Riemann sums

The primary aim of this chapter is, commemorating the 150th anniversary of Riemann's death, to explain how the idea of {\it Riemann sum} is linked to other branches of mathematics. The materials I treat are more or less classical and elementary, thus available to the "common mathematician in the streets." However one may still see here interesting inter-connection and cohesiveness in mathematics

Universality in Systems with Power-Law Memory and Fractional Dynamics

There are a few different ways to extend regular nonlinear dynamical systems by introducing power-law memory or considering fractional differential/difference equations instead of integer ones. This extension allows the introduction of families of nonlinear dynamical systems converging to regular systems in the case of an integer power-law memory or an integer order of derivatives/differences. The examples considered in this review include the logistic family of maps (converging in the case of the first order difference to the regular logistic map), the universal family of maps, and the standard family of maps (the latter two converging, in the case of the second difference, to the regular universal and standard maps). Correspondingly, the phenomenon of transition to chaos through a period doubling cascade of bifurcations in regular nonlinear systems, known as "universality", can be extended to fractional maps, which are maps with power-/asymptotically power-law memory. The new features of universality, including cascades of bifurcations on single trajectories, which appear in fractional (with memory) nonlinear dynamical systems are the main subject of this review.Comment: 23 pages 7 Figures, to appear Oct 28 201

Signaling Cascades Modulate the Speed of Signal Propagation through Space

Cells are not mixed bags of signaling molecules. As a consequence, signals must travel from their origin to distal locations. Much is understood about the purely diffusive propagation of signals through space. Many signals, however, propagate via signaling cascades. Here, we show that, depending on their kinetics, cascades speed up or slow down the propagation of signals through space, relative to pure diffusion.We modeled simple cascades operating under different limits of Michaelis-Menten kinetics using deterministic reaction-diffusion equations. Cascades operating far from enzyme saturation speed up signal propagation; the second mobile species moves more quickly than the first through space, on average. The enhanced speed is due to more efficient serial activation of a downstream signaling module (by the signaling molecule immediately upstream in the cascade) at points distal from the signaling origin, compared to locations closer to the source. Conversely, cascades operating under saturated kinetics, which exhibit zero-order ultrasensitivity, can slow down signals, ultimately localizing them to regions around the origin.Signal speed modulation may be a fundamental function of cascades, affecting the ability of signals to penetrate within a cell, to cross-react with other signals, and to activate distant targets. In particular, enhanced speeds provide a way to increase signal penetration into a cell without needing to flood the cell with large numbers of active signaling molecules; conversely, diminished speeds in zero-order ultrasensitive cascades facilitate strong, but localized, signaling