Use of Combined Economic Threshold Level to Control Insect Pests

The economic threshold level (ETL) is a key factor to be studied for insect pests control. It is difficult to monitor cotton insect pests separately, and it is not reasonable to base decision-making for spraying on an ETL of individual insects and ignore sub-levels of other cotton insect pests. So, we want to use a combined ETL in a way of insect units, to put all major insect pests to consideration as an insect pests‘ complex. This means delaying the first spray to give a chance for natural enemies to develop and then lower the number of sprays and consequently reduce the cost of production

Normality and smoothness of simple linear group compactifications

If G is a complex semisimple algebraic group, we characterize the normality and the smoothness of its simple linear compactifications, namely those equivariant GxG-compactifications which possess a unique closed orbit and which arise in a projective space of the shape P(End(V)), where V is finite dimensional rational G-module. Both the characterizations are purely combinatorial and are expressed in terms of the highest weights of V. In particular, we show that Sp(2r) (with r > 0) is the unique non-adjoint simple group which admits a simple smooth compactification.Comment: v2: minor changes, final version. To appear in Math.

Detection of Landmine Signature using SAW-based Polymer-coated Chemical Sensor

The explosive charge within a landmine is the source for a mixture of chemical vapours that form a distinctive chemical signature indicative of a landmine. The concentrations of these compounds in the air over landmines is extremely low (parts-per-trillion or lower), well below the minimum detection limits of most field-portable chemical sensors. This paper describes a portable  surface acoustic wave-based polymer-coated sensor for the detection of hidden explosives. The sensitivity and selectivity of polymer-based sensors depend on several factors including the chemo-selective coating used, the physical properties of the vapour(s) of interest, the selected transducers, and the operating conditions. The polymer-based sensor was calibrated in the  laboratory using the explosive vapour generator. The preliminary results indicated that the carbowax 1000 could be a very good chemical interface to sense low levels of chemical signature of explosive material. Response for 50 ppb of TNT vapours was observed to be 400 Hz for an exposure of 2 min

Screening of some sorghum genotypes for resistance to sorghum midge, Stenodiplosis (= Contarinia) sorghicola Coqillet (diptera: Cecidomyiidae) under gedarif rainfed conditions

Preliminary experiments were conducted at Northern area, Gedarif State during seasons of 2002-03, 2006-07.Where as advanced trials during 2008/2009 to 2012/2013 at northern and Southern areas. The objective was to evaluate selected sorghum genotypes for sorghum midge resistance. A total of 3000 accessions were obtained from Gene Bank Resources. Resistant genotype, DJ 6514 (Resistant Check already released in 2007) was obtained from International Crops Research Institute for the Semi-Arid Tropics (ICRISAT). Result showed that the midge damage rating was significantly different among genotypes. The midge damage rating scores ranged between, 1.3- 8.6; 1.1- 9.2; 1.4- 9.0; 1.1 – 9.4; and 1.2- 9.2 for all seasons (2008/09; 2009/10; 2010/11; 2011/12 and 2012/13). However, the lowest midge damage rating was recorded by DJ 6514 (Resistant check), followed by P₁ 570162 (Hag Abbakar); GBM 30 (Early Feterita); Wad Baco; and Safra (1.4; 1.5; 1.5, 1.6 and 1.7), respectively. Genotypes, P₁ 570162 (Hag Abbakar); GBM 30 (Early Feterita); Wad Baco; Safra and Harerai showed lowest % yield loss and performed similar to the resistant check (14.2; 14.5; 14.5; 17.0 and 17.3%), respectively. The combined analysis showed that a significant difference was observed between genotypes. The genotypes were significantly different in panicle types, compact and semi-compact headed genotypes showed lower % glumes coverage (1.3- 4.5%), while semi-compact headed genotypes ranged between 5.5 – 7.8%. Genotypes, Wad Baco; P₁ 570162 (Hag Abbakar); GBM 30 (Early Feterita); Safra; Wad Ahmed; Harerai and Wad Akar showed the shortest glumes coverage (1.3; 1.3; 1.5; 1.5; 1.6; 1.7 and 1.8 %). Compact headed genotypes recorded lowest midge density (6.5 adults/ 5 heads), while the semi-compact headed genotypes were recorded 15.7 adults/ 5 heads compared with others types of heads

Sensitivity, specificity of biochemical markers for early prediction of endothelial dysfunction in atherosclerotic obese subjects

Background: The obesity increased incidence of diabetes, hypertension and atherosclerosis and rate of morbidity and mortality. The main cause of atherosclerosis is endothelial dysfunction and formation of foam cells and macrophage that lead to unfavorable complications. This study evaluated specific biomarkers for endothelial dysfunction as sensitive indices for early predication of atherosclerosis in obese subjects. Study Design: One hundred fifty male age and sex matching were included in the current study divided into three groups according to body mass index (BMI): Control (BMI ≤ 22), obese (BMI> 28) and obese with atherosclerosis (BMI> 28). Fasting serum was subjected for determination of adhesion molecules, sICAM-1, sVCAM-1, E-selectin, oxo-LDL and 8-iso-PGF2α by ELISA technique. Results: Data obtained showed that, a significant elevation of serum inflammatory markers CRP, IL-6 and TNF-α and adhesion molecules sICAM-1 (p<0.001) with sensitivity 96%, sVCAM-1 (p <0.01) with sensitivity 92%, E-selectin (p<0.001) with sensitivity 94%, oxo-LDL (p <0.05) and 8-iso-PGF2α (p < 0.001) with sensitivity 97% in obese with atherosclerosis compared with obese and control. Conclusion: The levels of serum adhesion molecules contributed in the pathogenesis of endothelial dysfunction can be used as sensitive biomarkers for early prediction of atherosclerosis in obese subjects. Keywords: Obesity; atherosclerosis; endothelial dysfunction

Acid Distribution and Durability of HT-PEM Fuel Cells with Different Electrode Supports

The durability of high-temperature polymer electrolyte membrane fuel cells (HT-PEMFCs) was studied with phosphoric acid doped membranes of polybenzimidazole (PBI). One of the challenges for this technology is the loss and instability of phosphoric acid resulting in performance degradation after long-term operation. The effect of the gas diffusion layers (GDL) on acid loss was studied. Four different commercially available GDLs were subjected to passive ex situ acid uptake by capillary forces and the acid distribution mapped over the cross-section. Materials with an apparent fine structure made from carbon black took up much more acid than materials with a more coarse apparent structure made from graphitized carbon. The same trend was evident from thermally accelerated fuel cell tests at 180 °C under constant load where degradation rates depended strongly on the choice of GDL material, especially on the cathode side. Acid was collected from the fuel cell exhaust at rates clearly correlated to the fuel cell degradation rates, but amounted to less than 6% of the total acid content in the cell even after significant degradation. Long-term durability of more than 5,500 h with a degradation rate of 12 µV h−1 at 180 °C and 200 mA cm−2 was demonstrated with the GDL that retained acid most efficiently

Remarks on the KLS conjecture and Hardy-type inequalities

We generalize the classical Hardy and Faber-Krahn inequalities to arbitrary functions on a convex body $\Omega \subset \mathbb{R}^n$, not necessarily vanishing on the boundary $\partial \Omega$. This reduces the study of the Neumann Poincar\'e constant on $\Omega$ to that of the cone and Lebesgue measures on $\partial \Omega$; these may be bounded via the curvature of $\partial \Omega$. A second reduction is obtained to the class of harmonic functions on $\Omega$. We also study the relation between the Poincar\'e constant of a log-concave measure $\mu$ and its associated K. Ball body $K_\mu$. In particular, we obtain a simple proof of a conjecture of Kannan--Lov\'asz--Simonovits for unit-balls of $\ell^n_p$, originally due to Sodin and Lata{\l}a--Wojtaszczyk.Comment: 18 pages. Numbering of propositions, theorems, etc.. as appeared in final form in GAFA seminar note

Does economic growth reduce childhood stunting? A multicountry analysis of 89 Demographic and Health Surveys in sub-Saharan Africa

Background: There is mixed evidence and lack of consensus on the impact of economic development on stunting, and likewise there is a dearth of empirical studies on this relationship in the case of sub-Saharan Africa. Thus, this paper examines whether economic growth is associated with childhood stunting in low-income and middle-income sub-Saharan African countries. Methods: We analysed data from 89 Demographic and Health Surveys conducted between 1987 and 2016 available as of October 2018 using multivariable multilevel logistic regression models to show the association between gross domestic product (GDP) per capita and stunting. We adjusted the models for child's age, survey year, child's sex, birth order and country random effect, and presented adjusted and unadjusted ORs. Results: We included data from 490 526 children. We found that the prevalence of stunting decreased with increasing GDP per capita (correlation coefficient=-0.606, p<0.0001). In the unadjusted model for full sample, for every US$1000 increase in GDP per capita, the odds of stunting decreased by 23$1000 increase in GDP per capita, the odds of stunting decreased by 12% (OR=0.88, 95% CI 0.87 to 0.90). Conclusion: There was no significant association between economic growth and child nutritional status. The prevalence of stunting decreased with increasing GDP per capita. This was more pronounced among children from the richest quintile. The magnitude of the association was higher among children from low-income countries, suggesting that households in the poorest quintile were typically the least likely to benefit from economic gains. The findings could serve as a building block needed to modify current policy as per child nutrition-related programmes in Africa

Solving the Shortest Vector Problem in Lattices Faster Using Quantum Search

By applying Grover's quantum search algorithm to the lattice algorithms of Micciancio and Voulgaris, Nguyen and Vidick, Wang et al., and Pujol and Stehl\'{e}, we obtain improved asymptotic quantum results for solving the shortest vector problem. With quantum computers we can provably find a shortest vector in time $2^{1.799n + o(n)}$, improving upon the classical time complexity of $2^{2.465n + o(n)}$ of Pujol and Stehl\'{e} and the $2^{2n + o(n)}$ of Micciancio and Voulgaris, while heuristically we expect to find a shortest vector in time $2^{0.312n + o(n)}$, improving upon the classical time complexity of $2^{0.384n + o(n)}$ of Wang et al. These quantum complexities will be an important guide for the selection of parameters for post-quantum cryptosystems based on the hardness of the shortest vector problem.Comment: 19 page

Multivalued SK-contractions with respect to b-generalized pseudodistances

A new class of multivalued non-self-mappings, called SK-contractions with respect to b-generalized pseudodistances, is introduced and used to investigate the existence of best proximity points by using an appropriate geometric property. Some new fixed point results in b-metric spaces are also obtained. Examples are given to support the usability of our main result