Consumers’ and Stakeholders’ Acceptance of Indoor Agritecture in Shanghai (China)

During recent decades, there has been increasing awareness of the development of “agritecture” (“agri”culture + archi“tecture”) as a means to transform and revolutionize the food supply of future cities. The different forms of agritecture include building-integrated agricultural concepts such as vertical farms or indoor farms. In this way, urban food production could take place in proximity to consumers while employing so-called “urban waste” products (such as wastewater, waste heat, and organic waste) as valuable production inputs. Although scholars frequently highlight the potential of vertical farming and other agritecture approaches for Asian megacities, there is still a lack of academic research and completed projects related to this field in China. This study uses a mixed-methods approach, combining quantitative and qualitative research in the study location of Shanghai, to reveal the social acceptance of indoor agritecture among consumers and experts. First, to explore the perceptions of consumers, a survey of 713 potential consumers was conducted in Shanghai. Second, these surveys were complemented by 20 expert interviews with academics and practitioners from Shanghai to frame the quantitative research results. Our results revealed that the surveyed consumers’ social acceptance of indoor agritecture and the expectations of the experts are high. Additionally, there is already a high level of demand and a potential market for indoor agritecture in Shanghai. This has been confirmed by the ongoing construction of the first moderate-scale vertical farm and several indoor farms, in combination with the increasing existence of edible landscape approaches and rooftop farms. This development can be viewed as the rise of urban agritecture in Shanghai. The interviews revealed that experts raise more doubts about the economic dimension, whereas its social and ecological dimensions and the contextual framework of indoor agritecture are considered to be positive.Peer Reviewe

Frictional Drag Between Coupled 2D Hole Gases in GaAs/AlGaAs Heterostructures

We report on the first measurements of the drag effect between coupled 2D-hole gases. We investigate the coupling by changing the carrier densities in the quantum wells, the widths of the barriers between the gases and the perpendicular magnetic field. From the data we are able to attribute the frictional drag to phonon coupling, because the non-parabolicity allows to tune the Fermi wavevector and the Fermi velocity separately and, thereby, to distinguish between phonon- and plasmon-dominated coupling.Comment: 10 pages, 5 figure

Mentalizing techniques used by psychodynamic therapists working with children and early adolescents

The aim of this study was to identify, categorize, and develop a conceptual frame of mentalization-based interventions used by experienced child and adolescent psychodynamic therapists. Two experienced therapists selected 14 sessions that represented their work during the first year of treatment. Sessions were transcribed and segmented to identify interactional units for coding. QDA Miner software was used to facilitate data analysis. A systematic qualitative, inductive/deductive approach was followed starting from categories identified in the literature, but also including newly emerging categories and interventions. Seven sessions were double coded to stabilize the coding tree and a "member check" was completed where therapists rated their own transcripts. A total of 24 mentalization-based techniques were identified, including 17 additional techniques. A conceptual framework organizing all observed mentalization-based interventions is proposed. The findings of this study provide a framework for studying techniques that may enhance the capacity to mentalize, and that could be features of therapeutic practice across a range of modalities of psychotherapy

Cell wall chitosan is necessary for virulence in the opportunistic pathogen Cryptococcus neoformans

Cryptococcus neoformans is an opportunistic fungal pathogen that causes meningoencephalitis. Its cell wall is composed of glucans, proteins, chitin, and chitosan. Multiple genetic approaches have defined a chitosan-deficient syndrome that includes slow growth and decreased cell integrity. Here we demonstrate chitosan is necessary for virulence and persistence in the mammalian host

A nanoflare model for active region radiance: application of artificial neural networks

Context. Nanoflares are small impulsive bursts of energy that blend with and possibly make up much of the solar background emission. Determining their frequency and energy input is central to understanding the heating of the solar corona. One method is to extrapolate the energy frequency distribution of larger individually observed flares to lower energies. Only if the power law exponent is greater than 2, is it considered possible that nanoflares contribute significantly to the energy input. Aims. Time sequences of ultraviolet line radiances observed in the corona of an active region are modelled with the aim of determining the power law exponent of the nanoflare energy distribution. Methods. A simple nanoflare model based on three key parameters (the flare rate, the flare duration time, and the power law exponent of the flare energy frequency distribution) is used to simulate emission line radiances from the ions Fe XIX, Ca XIII, and Si iii, observed by SUMER in the corona of an active region as it rotates around the east limb of the Sun. Light curve pattern recognition by an Artificial Neural Network (ANN) scheme is used to determine the values. Results. The power law exponents, alpha 2.8, 2.8, and 2.6 for Fe XIX, Ca XIII, and Si iii respectively. Conclusions. The light curve simulations imply a power law exponent greater than the critical value of 2 for all ion species. This implies that if the energy of flare-like events is extrapolated to low energies, nanoflares could provide a significant contribution to the heating of active region coronae.Comment: 4 pages, 5 figure

Mechanical Behavior of Mushy Zone in DC casting using a Viscoplastic Material Model

Direct Chill (DC) casting is a semi-continuous metal manufacturing process for producing non-ferrous alloys such as aluminum and magnesium. During the solidification of the alloy, there exists a semi-solid state of material known as mushy zone which is more prone to hot tearing. Precise modeling of hot tearing is the most challenging task due to the interaction of many physical fields. The deformation of the partially coherent solid strongly influences the hot cracking. This work focuses on the material behavior of the mushy zone which is the prerequisite for the development of hot tearing criteria. The rate-dependent nature plays a crucial role at higher temperatures. Therefore, the viscoplastic material models with temperature-dependent coefficients are implemented for the characterization of the mushy zone. The numerical integration of the constitute equations are explained in detail. The liquid flow is neglected, and the momentum and energy equations are solved for the mushy and solid phases. With the help of a viscoplastic material models, the stress and strain evolution in the mushy zone is captured. It is found that the state of stress in mushy region is tensile in nature which is a favorable situation for the hot cracks. The influence of the casting speed and secondary cooling on the mushy stress state are analyzed in detail

Measurements of relative angular distributions for the 2H(γ,n)H reaction below 18 MeV

High-accuracy angular distribution measurements relative to that at 90° were performed for the 2(γ,n)H reaction throughout the energy range of 4–18 MeV and for reaction angles of 45°, 135°, and 155°. The results indicate a significant departure from existing theoretical calculations below a photon energy of 10 MeV

Soybean Yield, Evapotranspiration, Water Productivity, And Soil Water Extraction Response To Subsurface Drip Irrigation And Fertigation

Soybean [Glycine max (L.) Merr.] yield, irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE), crop water use efficiency (CWUE), evapotranspiration water use efficiency (ETWUE), and soil water extraction response to eleven treatments of full, limited, or delayed irrigation versus a rainfed control were investigated using a subsurface drip irrigation (SDI) system at a research site in south-central Nebraska. The SDI system laterals were 0.40 m deep in every other row middle of 0.76 m spaced plant rows. Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) was quantified in all treatments and used to schedule irrigation events on a 100% ETa replacement basis in all but three of the eleven treatments (i.e., 75% ETa replacement was used in two, and 60% ETa replacement was used in one). The irrigation amount (Ia) applied at each event was 100% of the ETa amount, except for two 100% ETa treatments in which only 65% or 50% of the water needed to cover the treatment plot area was applied to enable a test of a partial surface area-based irrigation approach. The first irrigation event was delayed until soybean stage R3 (begin pod) in two 100% Ia treatments, but thereafter they were irrigated with either 100% or 75% ETa replacement. Two 100% ETa and 100% Ia treatments also were used to evaluate soybean response to nitrogen (N) application methods (i.e., a preplant method versus N injection using the SDI system). Soybean ETa varied from 452 mm for the rainfed treatment to 600 mm (30% greater) for the fully irrigated treatment (100% ETa and 100% Ia) in 2007, and from 473 to 579 mm (20% greater) for the same treatments, respectively, in 2008. Among the irrigated treatments, 100% ETa and 65% Ia had the lowest 2007 ETa value (557 mm), whereas 100% ETa and 50% Ia had the lowest 2008 ETa (498 mm). The 100%, 75%, and 60% ETa treatments with 100% Ia had respective actual ETa values that declined linearly in 2008 (i.e., 579, 538, and 498 mm), but not in 2007. Seasonal totals for ETa versus Ia exhibited a linear relationship (R2 = 0.68 in 2007 and R2 = 0.67 in 2008). Irrigation enhanced soybean yields from rainfed yield baselines of 4.04 ton ha-1 in 2007 and 4.82 ton ha-1 in 2008) to a maximum of 4.94 ton ha-1 attained in 2007 with the delay to R3 irrigation treatment (its yield was significantly greater, p \u3c 0.05, than that of the seven other treatments) and 4.97 ton ha-1 attained in 2008 with the 100% ETa and 100% Ia preplant N treatment. Seed yield had a quadratic relationship with irrigation water applied and a linear relationship with ETa that was stronger in the drier year of 2007. Each 25.4 mm incremental increase in seasonal irrigation water applied increased soybean yield by 0.323 ton ha-1 (beyond the intercept) in 2007 and by 0.037 ton ha-1 in 2008. Each 25.4 mm increase in ETa generated a yield increase of 0.114 ton ha-1 (beyond the intercept) in 2007, but only 0.02 ton ha-1 in the wetter year of 2008. This research demonstrated that delaying the onset of irrigation until the R3 stage and practicing full irrigation thereafter for soybean grown on silt loam soils resulted in yields (and crop water productivity) that were similar to full-season irrigation scheduling strategies, and this result may be applicable in other regions with edaphic and climatic characteristics similar to those in south-central Nebraska

Robust Stimulation of Humoral and Cellular Immune Responses following Vaccination with Antigen-Loaded beta-Glucan Particles

beta-Glucan particles (GPs) are purified Saccharomyces cerevisiae cell walls treated so that they are primarily beta1,3-d-glucans and free of mannans and proteins. GPs are phagocytosed by dendritic cells (DCs) via the Dectin-1 receptor, and this interaction stimulates proinflammatory cytokine secretion by DCs. As the hollow, porous GP structure allows for high antigen loading, we hypothesized that antigen-loaded GPs could be exploited as a receptor-targeted vaccine delivery system. Ovalbumin (OVA) was electrostatically complexed inside the hollow GP shells (GP-OVA). Incubation of C57BL/6J mouse bone marrow-derived DCs with GP-OVA resulted in phagocytosis, upregulation of maturation markers, and rapid proteolysis of OVA. Compared with free OVA, GP-OVA was \u3e100-fold more potent at stimulating the proliferation of OVA-reactive transgenic CD8(+) OT-I and CD4(+) OT-II T cells, as measured by in vitro [(3)H]thymidine incorporation using DCs as antigen-presenting cells. Next, immune responses in C57BL/6J mice following subcutaneous immunizations with GP-OVA were compared with those in C57BL/6J mice following subcutaneous immunizations with OVA absorbed onto the adjuvant alum (Alum/OVA). Vaccination with GP-OVA stimulated substantially higher antigen-specific CD4(+) T-cell lymphoproliferative and enzyme-linked immunospot (ELISPOT) responses than that with Alum/OVA. Moreover, the T-cell responses induced by GP-OVA were Th1 biased (determined by gamma interferon [IFN-gamma] ELISPOT assay) and Th17 biased (determined by interleukin-17a [IL-17a] ELISPOT assay). Finally, both the GP-OVA and Alum/OVA formulations induced strong secretions of IgG1 subclass anti-OVA antibodies, although only GP-OVA induced secretion of Th1-associated IgG2c antibodies. Thus, the GP-based vaccine platform combines adjuvanticity and antigen delivery to induce strong humoral and Th1- and Th17-biased CD4(+) T-cell responses