The effect of low ground pressure and controlled traffic farming systems on soil properties and crop development for three tillage systems

Soil management is an integral part of agricultural systems, yet soil degradation from processes such as erosion, loss of organic matter and compaction, as a result of agriculture, is a worldwide environmental problem that threatens future crop yields. Modern crop production systems require increasingly more powerful and heavier machinery and consequential soil compaction is now a major problem, responsible for soil degradation of an area of 33 million ha in Europe. This research examined the effect of differing soil managementstrategies (three traffic systems: Random Traffic Farming with standard tyre inflation pressure, Random Traffic Farming with low tyre inflation pressure and Controlled Traffic Farming on a sandy loam soil cultivated with three tillage systems: deep (250 mm), shallow (100 mm) and no-till),on crop growth and yield and the corresponding effect on soil physical properties using the innovative technique of X-ray Computed Tomography.There was no significant difference in crop yield between deep and shallow tillage but deep tillage significantly (P=0.030) reduced the soil shear strength, leaving soils prone to compaction by subsequent field traffic. Using shallow rather than deep tillage provides an opportunity to reduce fuel costs associated with the reduction in draft force required for the tillage operations. Zero tillage significantly (P<0.001) reduced crop yields compared to shallow tillage by up to 15%.As part of this study anovel technique was developed, for determining the totalporosity that allowed a comparison of soil porosities derived from bulk density measurements and X-ray CT measured porosities and found that a constant of 31% could be added to the X-ray CT porosities to give the total physical soil porosit

The Cockburn Sound Fishery Management Plan. Summary of submission and final recommendations for management.

Identifiable unit fisheries in Cockburn Sound are: Beach bait fishing netting Fish set netting Crab netting Mussel diving Line fishing and pot fishing This report recommends measures for the longer term management of these fisheries In particular, that they be managed as limited entry fisheries under Section 32 of the Fisheries Act 1905. Strict entry criteria are proposed for continued access to these fisheries. Rules are proposed for boat replacement. Licence transferability is considered in detail. No decisions to be made on the policy for licence transfers until the final number of participants in each fishery is determined. Owner operation, gear controls and seasons are also recommended. Long term future of these fisheries, their relationship with the recreational fishing sector must be subject of ongoing review once the participants in each fishery is determined

How Changes in Technology and Automation will Affect the Labour Market in Africa

Estimates of how many jobs are vulnerable to being replaced by machine vary but it is clear that developing countries are more susceptible to automation compared to high-income countries. Traditionally, blue-collar routine jobs have been automated but with the emergence of greatly improved computing power, artificial intelligence and robotics, a much larger scope of occupations are at risk. Vulnerability to automation is now based on whether jobs or tasks are codifiable and whether they are routine or not. Highly-trained and skilled jobs can be more at risk than more varied, lesser skilled jobs. This rapid literature review found that whilst there is evidence, information and discussion of the impact of automation on the labour market in industrialised nations, there is much less on the potential impact in developing countries. The World Development Report 2016 Digital Dividends (World Bank 2016) was an excellent source of data and many of the figures presented are from this report. Whether you are a “techno-optimist” or a “techno-pessimist”, the impact of automation on the labour market will require long-term adjustment and policy changes to ensure the future of work is inclusive and sustainable and addresses increasing income inequality (Gelb and Khan December 2016) in an ever more automated and digital economy

Ending Tuberculosis

This report examines the challenges facing ending tuberculosis (TB). TB is preventable and curable, and yet it continues to affect over 10 million people a year and is the world’s deadliest infectious disease. TB affects those most vulnerable and threatens livelihoods, perpetuating poverty and undermining economic development. The spread of drug-resistant TB, against which we are ill-equipped to respond to, threatens global health security. Current global efforts in tackling TB means that the 2015 Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) Three to end TB by 2030 will not be met for over a century. Optimising use and implementation of current and new tools emerging from the pipeline in the provision of equitable TB care and prevention within the broader context of universal health coverage (UHC) and social protection can be done now to accelerate progress. New tools will need to be available by 2025 to accelerate progress further but investment needs to happen now to ensure a vaccine, point-of-care diagnostic and new drugs are ready. Partnerships and reaching out to all key populations vulnerable to TB will help to find and treat the four million people with TB missed by the health system each year. The United Nations General Assembly High Level Meeting (UN HLM) on TB on 26 September 2018 offers a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity for the global TB community led by heads of state and government to prioritise, invest, partner and reach out to all to cure and prevent TB contributing to the good health and well-being of people, eliminating poverty and enabling work and economic growth. Substantial investment will not only deliver a world free of TB but will also strengthen health systems to respond to diseases beyond TB, help move towards UHC, widen social protection and address social and economic determinants of poverty

Assessing the climate impacts of Chinese dietary choices using a telecoupled global food trade and local land use framework

Global emissions trajectories developed to meet the 2⁰C temperature target are likely to rely on the widespread deployment of negative emissions technologies and/or the implementation of substantial terrestrial carbon sinks. Such technologies include afforestation, carbon capture and storage (CCS) and bioenergy with carbon capture and storage (BECCS), but mitigation options for agriculture appear limited. For example, using the Global Calculator tool (http://www.globalcalculator.org/), under a 2⁰C pathway, the ‘forests and other land use’ sector is projected to become a major carbon sink, reaching -15 GtCO2e yr-1 by 2050, compared to fossil emissions of 21 GtCO2e yr-1. At the same time, rates of agricultural emissions remain static at about 6 GtCO2e yr-1, despite increasing demands for crop and livestock production to meet the forecast dietary demands of the growing and increasingly wealthy global population. Emissions in the Global Calculator are sensitive to the assumed global diet, and particularly to the level and type of meat consumption, which in turn drive global land use patterns and agricultural emissions. Here we assess the potential to use a modified down-scaled Global Calculator methodology embedded within the telecoupled global food trade framework, to estimate the agricultural emissions and terrestrial carbon stock impacts in China and Brazil, arising from a plausible range of dietary choices in China. These dietary choices are linked via telecoupling mechanisms to Brazilian crop production (e.g. Brazilian soy for Chinese animal feed provision) and drive land and global market dynamics. ‘Spill-over’ impacts will also be assessed using the EU and Malawi as case studies

A simple explanation for 66.7% limiting values in tetrad analysis

Simple explanation for 66.7% limiting values in tetrad analysi

Towards agent-based crowd simulation in airports using games technology

We adapt popular video games technology for an agent-based crowd simulation in an airport terminal. To achieve this, we investigate the unique traits of airports and implement a virtual crowd by exploiting a scalable layered intelligence technique in combination with physics middleware and a socialforces approach. Our experiments show that the framework runs at interactive frame-rate and evaluate the scalability with increasing number of agents demonstrating navigation behaviour