Electroweak phase transition in the economical 3-3-1 model

We consider the EWPT in the economical 3-3-1 (E331) model. Our analysis shows that the EWPT in the model is a sequence of two first-order phase transitions, $SU(3) \rightarrow SU(2)$ at the TeV scale and $SU(2) \rightarrow U(1)$ at the $100$ GeV scale. The EWPT $SU(3) \rightarrow SU(2)$ is triggered by the new bosons and the exotic quarks; its strength is about $1 - 13$ if the mass ranges of these new particles are $10^2 \,\mathrm{GeV} - 10^3 \,\mathrm{GeV}$. The EWPT $SU(2) \rightarrow U(1)$ is strengthened by only the new bosons; its strength is about $1 - 1.15$ if the mass parts of $H^0_1$, $H^\pm_2$ and $Y^\pm$ are in the ranges $10 \,\mathrm{GeV} - 10^2 \,\mathrm{GeV}$. The contributions of $H^0_1$ and $H^{\pm}_2$ to the strengths of both EWPTs may make them sufficiently strong to provide large deviations from thermal equilibrium and B violation necessary for baryogenesis.Comment: 17 pages, 9 figure

Ecological Engineering and Restoration of Eroded Muddy Coasts in South East Asia: Knowledge Gaps and Recommendations

Ecological engineering (EE) was employed for developing strategies for stabilizing eroded muddy coasts (EMCs). However, there was a limited analysis of these EE strategies with respect to design, performance, and lessons learned. This study employed a critical review for addressing the limitations. There were four EE models designed with different restoration interventions for stabilizing EMCs. The models using active interventions have not been cost-effective in controlling erosion because the interventions failed to achieve their goals or were costly and unnecessary. Of the two passive intervention models, the one with structures constructed from onshore proved to be more cost-effective in terms of construction costs, the survival rate of transplanted seedlings, and levels of sea mud accumulation. Interventions with adequate consideration of the muddy coastal ecological processes and the ecological reasoning for the positioning of these interventions play a crucial role in stabilizing EMCs. A passive restoration model using gradually expanded interventions should be promoted in order to ensure sustainable management of EMCs in the future

Organisational Baseline Study: Overview report for Tra Hat CSV, Vietnam (VN03)

This report covers the Organisational Baseline Study (OBS) for the CCAFS Climate-Smart Village Tra Hat in the South Viet Nam. During October 2014 interviews were conducted with local stakeholders at ten organisations who are working or collaborating with farmers and/or the community in Vinh Loi district, Bac Lieu province. The Tra Hat CSV is located near the coastal area, at tail end of a primary canal of Quan Lo Phung Hiep system (QLPH), the Mekong Delta of Vietnam, it usually causes lack of fresh water in from QLPH in dry season. There are two distinct dry season (December to April) and rainy season (May to November) which typhoon happens seldom in rainy season. Protected by dyke and sluice system of QLPH in Bac Lieu province, Tra Hat has not been affected by saline intrusion for last 15 years. The main farming systems in the village comprise two or three rice crops per year, small livestock as pig, chicken and ducks. Besides, mixed fruit garden and cash crop are often blended in residential area. Ground water and water in ponds is popular in household to provide domestic water, raising fish or garden irrigation and livestock, especially in dry season. The objectives of the OBS study are to: Provide indicators to monitor changes in behaviours and practices of locally relevant organisations that have climate change related activities in Bac Lieu over time Understand the provision of information/services at the local level that informs farmers’ decision making about their livelihood strategies in response to climate change This OBS report also supplements to the quantitative Household Baseline Survey (HBS) and the qualitative Village Baseline Studies (VBS) in Tra Hat CSV and surrounding villages

EmbryosFormer: Deformable Transformer and Collaborative Encoding-Decoding for Embryos Stage Development Classification

The timing of cell divisions in early embryos during the In-Vitro Fertilization (IVF) process is a key predictor of embryo viability. However, observing cell divisions in Time-Lapse Monitoring (TLM) is a time-consuming process and highly depends on experts. In this paper, we propose EmbryosFormer, a computational model to automatically detect and classify cell divisions from original time-lapse images. Our proposed network is designed as an encoder-decoder deformable transformer with collaborative heads. The transformer contracting path predicts per-image labels and is optimized by a classification head. The transformer expanding path models the temporal coherency between embryo images to ensure monotonic non-decreasing constraint and is optimized by a segmentation head. Both contracting and expanding paths are synergetically learned by a collaboration head. We have benchmarked our proposed EmbryosFormer on two datasets: a public dataset with mouse embryos with 8-cell stage and an in-house dataset with human embryos with 4-cell stage. Source code: https://github.com/UARK-AICV/Embryos.Comment: Accepted at WACV 202

Village Baseline Study: Site Analysis Report for Tra Hat Village, Vinh Loi, Bac Lieu, Viet Nam (VNM 03)

This report presents data collected from the Village Baseline Study conducted on 2-4 October 2014 at the Tra Hat village, Vinh Loi district, Bac Lieu, Vietnam. Data were collected through focus group discussions and participatory resource mapping with community members in the village. The Village Baseline Study is part of the baseline activities conducted under the CGIAR Research Program on Climate Change, Agriculture, and Food Security (CCAFS) in South East Asia. The purpose is to collect data for indicators that will allow site comparability and monitoring to assess changes in terms of food security and natural resource management across time. Results show that the men and women in Tra Hat village consider farmland, rivers and canals as important natural resources. The quality, however, of land, water and wildlife habitats has declined in the last decade along with the improvement of farming techniques and intensive use of chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Infrastructures such as roads, internal canals, hospitals, schools, water supply station and electricity transformer station have improved. The future is envisioned to have improved internal canals in farmlands and a developed irrigation system, dykes and sluices to support high agriculture production. Home garden diversification was also believed to enhance food security and improve livelihood resilience. To turn the vision into reality, the community expects support from the different organizations working in the area considering current impacts of salinity intrusion and sea level rise, the need interventions of CCAFS and its partners. Strengthening the irrigation system, improving local rice variety, and introducing modern farming techniques taking into account negative impacts of climate change are major recommendation for future intervention

Participatory prioritization of climate-smart agriculture techniques: Case study of processes and outcomes from the Tra Hat Climate-Smart Village in Vietnam

Participatory research allows groups and individuals to reflect and decide on their societal issues together. Such research was employed in Tra Hat Climate-Smart Village (CSV) in Vietnam to see if specific climate-smart agriculture (CSA) techniques could be adopted in the village. In line with the adoptability of CSA techniques, their scaling potential in the nearby areas of Tra Hat CSV was examined as well. Results showed that farmers deemed the CSA techniques related to rice production as priorities, which included laser land levelling, alternate wetting and drying, straw baler and rice root cutter, and Phosphorous fertilizer reduction, among others. Alongside CSA techniques on rice production, multiple crop and livestock practices were prioritized by the farmers due to their economic and environmental benefits. These CSA techniques could then be integrated into the “1M5R” or the “1Must-5Reductions” package, one of the current agricultural extension supports provided by the government. Gendered differences also emerged from the study, showing the preferred CSA techniques of male and female farmers and the factors that influenced them for their decisions. Regardless, they all believed that the CSA techniques they identified as priorities could increase incomes, ensure food security, and protect their environment. Results of this study exhibit the critical role of participation in empowering communities and the scaling potential of specific CSA techniques

Key informant analysis for climate smart agriculture practices in Tra Hat Village, Vietnam

This paper presents the results of key informant interviews conducted in Tra Hat Climate-Smart Village (CSV) in Vietnam. The interviews aimed to further assess the climate-smart agriculture (CSA) practices that farmers wanted to adopt on their farms, as well as the factors and barriers for adoption. Results of the household surveys conducted in Tra Hat CSV were considered on this paper as well. Altogether, the results of the interviews and surveys would serve as a guide to implement the prioritized CSA practices and out-scale them in Bac Lieu Province. Majority of key informants stated that rice production must be prioritized because it is the main livelihood of farmers in Tra Hat CSV. Rice production could be complemented with animal husbandry, provided that its market is stable and the focus points on sanitation treatment. Home gardens emerged as another CSA practice that farmers preferred on their farms. Farmers considered economic and environmental benefits for prioritizing these CSA practices. In contrast, farmers did not prioritize leaf color charts and salt-tolerant rice varieties for their perceived unsuitability in their village. In terms of CSA technologies, farmers expressed their willingness to undergo trainings and attend demonstration trials to learn them. The technologies and practices prioritized by the farmers can be integrated into a CSA portfolio to foster farmer uptake and adoption. Participation of local government authorities, farmer cooperatives, and the private sector could then boost the portfolio’s scaling potential