Win-win strategies in directing low-carbon resilient development path

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Masui, Toshihiko; Kainuma, Mikiko

2015-01-01

This section explores big win-win strategies in directing low carbon resilient development path. There are lots of “leapfrog” development possibilities in developing countries, which go directly from a status of under-development through to efficient and environmentally benign lifestyle. To achieve low carbon resilient paths, not only technology development but also institutional and behavioral changes are required. Science-policy nexus is also discussed.

Who wins olympic bids?

OpenAIRE

Maennig, Wolfgang; Vierhaus, Christopher

2014-01-01

The prospect of hosting the Olympic Games is attractive to many cities around the world. This article examines 147 variables’ potential to discriminate successful from unsuccessful Olympic bids. Our stepwise, rank-ordered logistic regression model includes 10 determinants supporting the contention that economic, political and sports/Olympic factors are important for winning the host city election. IOC members favor cities if more than 2/3 of the population support the bid, but disfavor biddin...

Win-Win-Win: Reflections from a Work-Integrated Learning Project in a Non-Profit Organization

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dale C MacKrell

2016-05-01

Full Text Available This paper reports on the educational aspects of an information systems work-integrated learning (WIL capstone project for an organization which operates to alleviate homelessness in the Australian non-profit sector. The methodology adopted for the study is Action Design Research (ADR which draws on action research and design research as a means for framing a project's progress. Reflective insights by the project stakeholders, namely, students, academics, and the non-profit client, reveal a curriculum at work through internal features of the organization; personal features of the participants and features of the external environment. Preliminary findings suggest that students in a WIL project for a non-profit are highly engaged, especially when they become aware of the project’s social value. As well, the improvement of professional skills and emotional intelligence by students is more likely in real-life practice settings than in other less authentic WIL activities, equipping graduates for the workforce with both strong disciplinary and generic skills. Win-win-win synergies through project collaboration represent worthwhile outcomes to education, industry and research.

Can a near win kindle motivation? The impact of nearly winning on motivation for unrelated rewards.

Science.gov (United States)

Wadhwa, Monica; Kim, JeeHye Christine

2015-06-01

Common intuition and research suggest that winning is more motivating than losing. However, we propose that just failing to obtain a reward (i.e., nearly winning it) in one task leads to broader, positive motivational effects on subsequent unrelated tasks relative to clearly losing or actually obtaining the reward. We manipulated a near-win experience using a game app in Experiments 1 through 3 and a lottery in Experiment 4. Our findings showed that nearly winning in one task subsequently led participants to walk faster to get to a chocolate bar (Experiment 1), salivate more for money (Experiment 2), and increase their effort to earn money in a card-sorting task (Experiment 3). A field study (Experiment 4) demonstrated that nearly winning led people to subsequently spend more money on desirable consumer products. Finally, our findings showed that when the activated motivational state was dampened in an intervening task, the nearly-winning effect was attenuated. © The Author(s) 2015.

Ag-to-urban water transfer in California: Win-win solutions

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Jacobi, L.A.; Carley, R.L.

1993-01-01

The current long-term drought in California has generated interest in water transfers. Water transfers from farms to the cities are widely viewed as the next major source of supply to urban California. Ag-to-Urban permanent water transfers may have negative consequences to the agricultural sector and to the environment. This paper presents agricultural water use statistics, discusses sources of water for transfer, and suggests sources of water for win-win transfers

Continuous improvement: A win... win process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawrence, T.; Wichert, A.

1993-01-01

Implementing a continuous improvement (CI) process within PanCanadian's oil and gas production operations might have been a simple assignment if one were not also trying to capture the hearts and imaginations of the people in a changing work environment. Meeting the challenge is resulting in big payoffs to both the organization and its people. The plan used within the Company's Production Division to successfully introduce the CI process is discussed. A brief insight is provided on the process philosophy, with emphasis placed on planning, training and coaching used to launch the process. Also reviewed at length are the impediments to change and the challenges faced when changing an organization's culture. In a CI work environment, the supervisor's traditional role changes from one of monitoring and controlling to one of inspiring, motivating and leading people by communicating a clear vision. Employees at all levels in the work environment are organized into teams and armed with a good working knowledge of the problem solving tools which allow them to pursue and implement improvement initiatives. The outcome of the process is an ongoing 'win-win' situation for both the Company and its people. Employees are gaining more trust, eliminating job irritants and enjoying their work more in a team environment. The Company is winning through increased production, improved safety and reduced operating expenses, thanks to many innovative ideas which the employees have implemented. 4 refs

Greenhouse Gas Emission Mitigation And Agriculture, Trade-off Or Win-win Situation: Bioeconomic Farm Modelling In The Sudanian Area of Burkina Faso

Science.gov (United States)

Some, T. E.; Barbier, B.

2015-12-01

Climate changes talks regularly underline that developing countries' agriculture could play a stronger role in GHGs mitigation strategies and benefit from the Kyoto Protocol program of subsidies. Scientists explain that agriculture can contribute to carbon mitigation by storing more carbon in the soil through greener cropping systems. In this context, a growing number of research projects have started to investigate how developing countries agriculture can contribute to these objectives. The clean development mechanism (CDM) proposed in the Kyoto protocol is one particular policy instrument that can incite farmers to mitigate the GHG balance towards more sequestration and less emission. Some economists such as Michael Porter think that environmental regulation lead to a win-win outcome, in which case subsidies are not necessary. If it is a trade-off between incomes and the environment, subsidies are required. CDM can be mobilized to support the mitigation strategy. Agriculture implies the use of inputs. Reducing the emission implies the reduction of those inputs which will in turn imply a yield decrease. The study aims to assess whether this measure will imply a trade-off between environmental and economic objectives or a win-win situation. I apply this study to the case of small farmers in Burkina Faso through environmental instruments such as the emissions limits and agroforestry using a bioeconomic model, in which the farmers maximize their utility subject to constraints. The study finds that the limitation of emissions in annual crops production involves a trade-off. by impacting negatively their net cash come. By integrating perennial crops in the farming system, the farmers' utility increases. Around 6,118 kg are sequestrated individually. By computing the value on this carbon balance, farmers' net cash incomes go better. Then practicing agroforestry is a win-win situation, as they reach a higher level of income, and reduce emissions. Policymakers must

Bayesian modeling using WinBUGS

CERN Document Server

Ntzoufras, Ioannis

2009-01-01

A hands-on introduction to the principles of Bayesian modeling using WinBUGS Bayesian Modeling Using WinBUGS provides an easily accessible introduction to the use of WinBUGS programming techniques in a variety of Bayesian modeling settings. The author provides an accessible treatment of the topic, offering readers a smooth introduction to the principles of Bayesian modeling with detailed guidance on the practical implementation of key principles. The book begins with a basic introduction to Bayesian inference and the WinBUGS software and goes on to cover key topics, including: Markov Chain Monte Carlo algorithms in Bayesian inference Generalized linear models Bayesian hierarchical models Predictive distribution and model checking Bayesian model and variable evaluation Computational notes and screen captures illustrate the use of both WinBUGS as well as R software to apply the discussed techniques. Exercises at the end of each chapter allow readers to test their understanding of the presented concepts and all ...

Optimizing rice yields while minimizing yield-scaled global warming potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Pittelkow, Cameron M; Adviento-Borbe, Maria A; van Kessel, Chris; Hill, James E; Linquist, Bruce A

2014-05-01

To meet growing global food demand with limited land and reduced environmental impact, agricultural greenhouse gas (GHG) emissions are increasingly evaluated with respect to crop productivity, i.e., on a yield-scaled as opposed to area basis. Here, we compiled available field data on CH4 and N2 O emissions from rice production systems to test the hypothesis that in response to fertilizer nitrogen (N) addition, yield-scaled global warming potential (GWP) will be minimized at N rates that maximize yields. Within each study, yield N surplus was calculated to estimate deficit or excess N application rates with respect to the optimal N rate (defined as the N rate at which maximum yield was achieved). Relationships between yield N surplus and GHG emissions were assessed using linear and nonlinear mixed-effects models. Results indicate that yields increased in response to increasing N surplus when moving from deficit to optimal N rates. At N rates contributing to a yield N surplus, N2 O and yield-scaled N2 O emissions increased exponentially. In contrast, CH4 emissions were not impacted by N inputs. Accordingly, yield-scaled CH4 emissions decreased with N addition. Overall, yield-scaled GWP was minimized at optimal N rates, decreasing by 21% compared to treatments without N addition. These results are unique compared to aerobic cropping systems in which N2 O emissions are the primary contributor to GWP, meaning yield-scaled GWP may not necessarily decrease for aerobic crops when yields are optimized by N fertilizer addition. Balancing gains in agricultural productivity with climate change concerns, this work supports the concept that high rice yields can be achieved with minimal yield-scaled GWP through optimal N application rates. Moreover, additional improvements in N use efficiency may further reduce yield-scaled GWP, thereby strengthening the economic and environmental sustainability of rice systems. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Creating a winning organizational culture.

Science.gov (United States)

Campbell, Robert James

2009-01-01

This article explores the idea of how to create a winning organizational culture. By definition, a winning organizational culture is one that is able to make current innovations stick, while continuously changing based on the demands of the marketplace. More importantly, the article explores the notion that a winning organizational culture can have a profound impact on the conscious of the workforce, helping each individual to become a better, more productive person, who provides important services and products to the community. To form a basis toward defining the structure of what a winning organization culture looks like, 4 experts were asked 12 questions related to the development of an organizational culture. Three of the experts have worked intimately within the health care industry, while a fourth has been charged with turning around an organization that has had a losing culture for 17 years. The article provides insight into the role that values, norms, goals, leadership style, familiarity, and hiring practices play in developing a winning organizational culture. The article also emphasizes the important role that leaders perform in developing an organizational culture.

The quick wins paradox.

Science.gov (United States)

Van Buren, Mark E; Safferstone, Todd

2009-01-01

Many leaders taking on new roles try to prove themselves early on by going after quick wins--fresh, visible contributions to the business. But in the pursuit of early results, those leaders often fall into traps that prevent them from benefiting from their achievements. To succeed in their new positions, leaders must realize that the teams they have inherited are also experiencing change. Instead of focusing on an individual accomplishment, leaders need to work with team members on a collective quick win. In a study of more than 5,400 new leaders, the authors found that those who were struggling tended to exhibit five behaviors characteristic of people overly intent on securing a quick win. They focused too much on details, reacted negatively to criticism, intimidated others, jumped to conclusions, and micromanaged their direct reports. Some managed to eke out a win anyway, but the fallout was often toxic. The leaders who were thriving in their new roles, by contrast, shared not only a strong focus on results--necessary for early successes--but also excellent change-management skills. They communicated a clear vision, developed constructive relationships, and built team capabilities. They seemed to realize that the lasting value of their accomplishment would be the way they managed their teams through the transition. Collective quick wins established credibility and prepared them to lead their teams to harder-won victories. The authors provide a diagnostic tool for identifying opportunities for collective quick wins, and they share some advice for organizations: When grooming new leaders, don't just shore up their domain knowledge and technical skills; help them develop the change-management skills they will need as they settle in with their new teams.

Win at Work! The Everybody Wins Approach to Conflict Resolution

CERN Document Server

Katz, Diane

2010-01-01

Proven techniques for resolving workplace conflicts. After years of seeing clients struggling and their businesses suffering with destructive conflicts, Diane Katz developed The Working Circle, a step-by-step process that helps everyone in business resolve conflict in a non-confrontational, creative, collaborative way. Win at Work! provides you with a no-nonsense guide based on real-life examples of people at pivotal points in their careers. Filled with practical wisdom, it reveals how you can move around the roadblocks that, if left unattanded, can stop you in your tracks. Win at Work! also h

Making biodiversity-friendly cocoa pay: combining yield, certification, and REDD for shade management.

Science.gov (United States)

Waldron, A; Justicia, R; Smith, L E

2015-03-01

The twin United Nations' Millennium Development Goals of biodiversity preservation and poverty reduction both strongly depend on actions in the tropics. In particular, traditional agroforestry could be critical to both biological conservation and human livelihoods in human-altered rainforest areas. However, traditional agroforestry is rapidly disappearing, because the system itself is economically precarious, and because the forest trees that shade traditional crops are now perceived to be overly detrimental to agricultural yield. Here, we show a case where the commonly used agroforestry shade metric, canopy cover, would indeed suggest complete removal of shade trees to maximize yield, with strongly negative biodiversity and climate implications. However, a yield over 50% higher was achievable if approximately 100 shade trees per hectare were planted in a spatially organized fashion, a win-win for biodiversity and the smallholder. The higher yield option was detected by optimizing simultaneously for canopy cover, and a second shade metric, neighboring tree density, which was designed to better capture the yield value of ecological services flowing from forest trees. Nevertheless, even a 50% yield increase may prove insufficient to stop farmers converting away from traditional agroforestry. To further increase agroforestry rents, we apply our results to the design of a sustainable certification (eco-labelling) scheme for cocoa-based products in a biodiversity hotspot, and consider their implications for the use of the United Nations REDD (reducing emissions from deforestation and forest degradation) program in agroforestry systems. Combining yield boost, certification, and REDD has the potential to incentivize eco-friendly agroforestry and lift smallholders out of poverty, simultaneously.

Eastern countries - WIN activity review

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Stiopol, Mihaela

1998-01-01

Women can play this important role in informing people about nuclear energy. WIN is a world-wide association of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and radiation application who want to devote their time to public information. The main goal of the WIN is to establish an objective and effective communication with the public through educational programmes, information exchange and arranging study visits. The membership includes women working in medicine and health care, in regulatory authorities, in industry and as independent researches at Universities. They want to contribute to objectively informing the public by making presentation, discussing and giving information materials on subjects such as; radiation, radioactivity and health effects medical applications nuclear energy nuclear power plants and their safety nuclear and environment uranium mining radiation protection energy sustainable development WIN is also open to men, supporting the goals of WIN. The intention of this paper was to underline the main aspects which reflect WIN activity in some Eastern and Central countries. There are common features and also specific elements for each country. But the goal is the same: to assure an effective and a real information of the public related to the nuclear field

What Can WiN Learn From Other Male Dominated Industries

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Thomas, C.

2015-01-01

Thomas Thor Associates is an Executive Recruitment company solely dedicated to the Nuclear industry. We have been involved with WiN UK in 2014–2015 to help them develop their own organization, this research was part of our partnership. The main purpose of this paper is to provide a clear picture of the techniques that are used by organizations similar to WiN, and business in other industries that are similar to Nuclear, to attract more women to pursue a career in a particular industry, and to support retention and career progression of women in these industries. This paper has taken a look at all industries that require technical and engineering staff, after which the Mining, Oil and Gas, Petro-chemicals, Rail, Renewable Energy, Technology and Construction industries were found to show most similarities with Nuclear, in terms of the technical staff required and their structure on gender diversity. From here, case studies of industry organizations and professional business have been prepared in order to inform WiN of best practice in these industries and provide a benchmark for future WiN operations. Finally, the report results into giving recommendations on projects WiN could add to their current approach to achieve their objectives. The recommendations are based on the results from the case studies, focusing on attracting, recruiting, retaining and developing female professionals. In summary, the recommendations are to: highlight potential career paths for women in Nuclear, educate women on Nuclear, support the development of women and to help companies to increase their bottom line by getting WiN certified. (author)

Seed yield components and their potential interaction in grasses - to what extend does seed weigth influence yield?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boelt, B; Gislum, R

2010-01-01

 In a first-year seed crop of red fescue (Festuca rubra L.) the degree of lodging was controlled by the use of Moddus (Trinexapac-ethyl). Seed weight was found to increase by the decreasing degree of lodging prior to harvest. The higher seed weights were accompanied by higher yields even though...... the number of reproductive tillers and floret site utilization (FSU) were unaffected by the treatments. Seed yield is affected by several yield components and reflects the interaction between the seed yield potential (e.g. number of reproductive tillers, number of spikelets and florets/spikelet per...... reproductive tiller), the utilization of the potential (e.g. seed set, seed weight) and the realization of the seed yield potential, defined as the number of florets forming a saleable seed. The realization of the seed yield potential is affected by seed retention, seed weight and other traits associated...

Cause-related marketing as a win-win strategy

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raletić Saša

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Subjects present in the market tend to achieve synergetic effect by well-established partnerships more often. Cause related marketing based on the direct partnership between companies and nonprofit organizations and indirect partnership between the company and the customer, in order to support a social cause, is as such the subject of this analysis. Cause-related marketing is a manifestation of social-cause marketing and the adaptation of commercial marketing tailored for the programs that influence the voluntary behavior of customers, which will enhance well-being of society. The aim of this analysis is to present cause-related marketing as a win-win situation for all participants in the exchange and in the community. The outcome of the analysis are benefits realized by means of Liste Read phonetically cause-related marketing campaigns. .

Continuous improvement: A win-win process

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lawrence, T.M.; Wichert, A.

1992-01-01

The strategies used within PanCanadian Petroleum Limited's production division to successfully introduce the continuous improvement (CI) process are discussed. Continuous improvement is an operating philosophy and management style which allows all employees to participate in and improve the way an organization performs its day-to-day business. In the CI work environment the supervisor's traditional role changes from one of monitoring and controlling, to one of inspiring, motivating and leading people by communicating a clear vision. Employees at all levels in the work environment are organized into teams and armed with a good working knowledge of the problem-solving tools which allow them to pursue and implement improvement initiatives. The outcome of the process is an ongoing win-win situation for both PanCanadian and its people. Employees are gaining more trust, eliminating job irritants, and enjoying their work in a team environment. The company is benefiting through increased production, improved safety and reduced operating expenses, thanks to the many innovative ideas introduced by employees. 4 refs

Effect of styrene maleic acid WIN55,212-2 micelles on neuropathic pain in a rat model.

Science.gov (United States)

Linsell, Oliver; Brownjohn, Philip W; Nehoff, Hayley; Greish, Khaled; Ashton, John C

2015-05-01

Cannabinoid receptor agonists are moderately effective at reducing neuropathic pain but are limited by psychoactivity. We developed a styrene maleic acid (SMA) based on the cannabinoid WIN 55,212-2 (WIN) and tested in a rat model of neuropathic pain and in the rotarod test. We hypothesized that miceller preparation can ensure prolonged plasma half-life being above the renal threshold of excretion. Furthermore, SMA-WIN could potentially reduce the central nervous system effects of encapsulated WIN by limiting its transport across the blood-brain barrier. Using the chronic constriction injury model of sciatic neuropathy, the SMA-WIN micelles were efficacious in the treatment of neuropathic pain for a prolonged period compared to control (base WIN). Attenuation of chronic constriction injury-induced mechanical allodynia occurred for up to 8 h at a dose of 11.5 mg/kg of SMA-WIN micelles. To evaluate central effects on motor function, the rotarod assessment was utilized. Results showed initial impairment caused by SMA-WIN micelles to be identical to WIN control for up to 1.5 h. Despite this, the SMA-WIN micelle formulation was able to produce prolonged analgesia over a time when there was decreased impairment in the rotarod test compared with base WIN.

Simulating potential growth and yield of oil palm with PALMSIM

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoffmann, M.P.; Vera, A.C.; Wijk, van M.T.; Giller, K.E.; Oberthur, R.; Donough, C.; Whitbread, A.M.; Fisher, M.J.

2014-01-01

The growing demand for palm oil can be met by reducing the gap between potential yield and actual yield. Simulation models can quantify potential yield, and therefore indicate the scope for intensification. A relatively simple physiological approach was used to develop PALMSIM, which is a model that

WIN Global. 1977/98 Activities at a First Glance

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rising, A.; Lopez CArbonell, M.T.; Perez-Griffo, M.L.

1998-01-01

WIN is a worldwide association of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and applications of radiation. The goal of WIN is to contribute to objectively inform the public on nuclear and radiation. WIN's principal objective is to emphasis and support the role that women can and do have in addressing the general public's concerns about nuclear energy and the application of radiation and nuclear technology. WIN is doing this through educational programmes, information exchange and arranging study visits. Members of WIN all have one thing in common: they want the general public to have a better understanding of nuclear and radiation matters. Membership status as ao April 21, 1998 was 605 members from 39 countries. During the year 7 new countries have joined to WIN ant two national WIN groups have been formed. Purpose of this paper is to present, to the Spanish Nuclear Society members, the WIN Global activities all over the world for the period 1997/98. The information included herein comes from different sources and WIN members and is, of course, a quick look over those activities. Win Spain activities for the period will be presented in a different paper of this Annual Meeting. (Author) 2 refs

Future aircraft cabins and design thinking: optimisation vs. win-win scenarios

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A. Hall

2013-06-01

Full Text Available With projections indicating an increase in mobility over the next few decades and annual flight departures expected to rise to over 16 billion by 2050, there is a demand for the aviation industry and associated stakeholders to consider new forms of aircraft and technology. Customer requirements are recognized as a key driver in business. The airline is the principal customer for the aircraft manufacture. The passenger is, in turn, the airline's principal customer but they are just one of several stakeholders that include aviation authorities, airport operators, air-traffic control and security agencies. The passenger experience is a key differentiator used by airlines to attract and retain custom and the fuselage that defines the cabin envelope for the in-flight passenger experience and cabin design therefore receives significant attention for new aircraft, service updates and refurbishments. Decision making in design is crucial to arriving at viable and worthwhile cabin formats. Too little innovation will result in an aircraft manufacturer and airlines using its products falling behind its competitors. Too much may result in an over-extension with, for example, use of immature technologies that do not have the necessary reliability for a safety critical industry or sufficient value to justify the development effort. The multiple requirements associated with cabin design, can be viewed as an area for optimisation, accepting trade-offs between the various parameters. Good design, however, is often defined as developing a concept that resolves the contradictions and takes the solution towards a win-win scenario. Indeed our understanding and practice of design allows for behaviors that enhance design thinking through divergence and convergence, the use of abductive reasoning, experimentation and systems thinking. This paper explores and defines the challenges of designing the aircraft cabin of the future that will deliver on the multiple

In vivo labeling of cocaine receptors with 3H-(-) cocaine, 3H-WIN 35,065-2 and 3H-WIN 35,428

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Scheffel, U.; Boja, J.W.; Stathis, M.; Kuhar, M.J.

1990-01-01

11 C-(-)cocaine (-COC) has recently been employed to image -COC binding sites in vivo using PET. Two analogs of -COC, WIN 35,065-2 (WIN-2) and WIN 35,428 (CFT), have been shown in vitro to exhibit higher affinity for the -COC receptor than -COC. The present study evaluates 3 H-WIN-2 and 3 H-CFT as in vivo receptor labels in mice with a view towards the use of these compounds as PET ligands for -COC receptors in the living human brain. 3 H-labeled -COC, WIN-2 and CFT were injected i.v. into mice and their specific binding in the CNS determined. Peak striatal/cerebellar (S/C) ratios were reached at 5 minutes post injection with -COC (1.56), at 45 minutes with 3 H-WIN-2 (3.30) and 60 minutes with 3 H-CFT (4.0). The specificity of in vivo binding of 3 H-WIN-2 and 3 H-CFT was tested by pre-injection of various drugs. Binding of 3 H-WIN-2 and 3 H-CFT was dose-dependently blocked by cold WIN-2 and CFT, and by dopamine uptake site inhibitors (mazindol, GBR 12,909, nomifensine), but not by (+)COC, paroxetine and desipramine. The data indicate that 3 H-WIN-2 and 3 H-CFT exhibit improved in vivo binding (higher S/C ratios, longer retention time at the -COC receptor/dopamine transporter) compared to -COC and support their testing in PET studies

Highlights from the 2015 WIN Symposium: novel targets, innovative agents, and advanced technologies-a WINning strategy?

Science.gov (United States)

Schilsky, Richard L

2015-01-01

The worldwide innovative networking (WIN) consortium comprises a global alliance of 28 academic and clinical cancer centres, 11 pharmaceutical and technology companies and five charitable or health payer organisations. Since its inception the consortium has striven to provide a forum for all of its members to network, share information and experience, and perform clinical trials with the overarching goal of advancing the care of patients with cancer through the use of precision medicine. The annual 2-day WIN Symposium is the most visible output of the consortium and provides an opportunity for around 400 experts and other delegates to meet and discuss the latest research and initiatives in personalised cancer medicine. The seventh WIN Symposium, held in Paris, France, 29-30 June 2015, consisted of nine plenary and eight poster sessions that covered the overarching theme of novel targets, innovative agents, and advanced technologies being a winning strategy. Highlights included discussions of immune mechanisms and ways to target the cancer immunome and systems biology approaches to supporting personalised cancer. The latest data from the BATTLE-2 and WINther trials were discussed, and round table discussions were held that focused on how best to design the next generation of clinical trials, which included SPRING, SUMMER, and BOOSTER being initiated by the WIN Consortium.

Yield Potential of Hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) Cultivars in Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Deleuran, Lise Christina; Flengmark, Poul Kristiansen

2005-01-01

In order to determine the yield potential of fibre hemp in Denmark, defined as seed yield, biomass, stem and fibre production, five cultivars were evaluated in field trials at two sites during 1998-2000. The total dry matter yield, stem yield, fibre yield, fibre percent, plant height, and seed...

Test of two methods for determining herbaceous yield and botanical ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Above-ground herbaceous yield was estimated using the comparative yield method to win + 10% (p < 0,05) of the harvested mean using 150 harvested and 600 rated quadrats of 50 x 50 cm. The number of quadrats can be substantially reduced by improved observer rating. Using the dry mass rank method and 240 ...

Effect of nitrogen and water deficit type on the yield gap between the potential and attainable wheat yield

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jiangang Liu

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Water deficit and N fertilizer are the two primary limiting factors for wheat yield in the North China plain, the most important winter wheat (Triticum aestivum L. production area in China. Analyzing the yield gap between the potential yield and the attainable yield can quantify the potential for increasing wheat production and exploring the limiting factors to yield gap in the high-yielding farming region of North China Plain. The Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT model was used to identify methods to increase the grain yield and decrease the gap. In order to explore the impact of N and cultivars on wheat yield in the different drought types, the climate conditions during 1981 to 2011 growing seasons was categorized into low, moderate, and severe water deficit classes according to the anomaly percentage of the water deficit rate during the entire wheat growing season. There are differences (P < 0.0001 in the variations of the potential yields among three cultivars over 30 yr. For all three water deficit types, the more recent cultivars Jimai22 and Shijiazhuang8 had higher yields compared to the older 'Jinan17'. As the N fertilizer rate increased, the yield gap decreased more substantially during the low water deficit years because of the significant increase in attainable yield. Overall, the yield gaps were smaller with less water stress. Replacement of cultivars and appropriate N fertilizer application based on the forecasted drought types can narrow the yield gap effectively.

Video lottery: winning expectancies and arousal.

Science.gov (United States)

Ladouceur, Robert; Sévigny, Serge; Blaszczynski, Alexander; O'Connor, Kieron; Lavoie, Marc E

2003-06-01

This study investigates the effects of video lottery players' expectancies of winning on physiological and subjective arousal. Participants were assigned randomly to one of two experimental conditions: high and low winning expectancies. Participants played 100 video lottery games in a laboratory setting while physiological measures were recorded. Level of risk-taking was controlled. Participants were 34 occasional or regular video lottery players. They were assigned randomly into two groups of 17, with nine men and eight women in each group. The low-expectancy group played for fun, therefore expecting to win worthless credits, while the high-expectancy group played for real money. Players' experience, demographic variables and subjective arousal were assessed. Severity of problem gambling was measured with the South Oaks Gambling Screen. In order to measure arousal, the average heart rate was recorded across eight periods. Participants exposed to high as compared to low expectations experienced faster heart rate prior to and during the gambling session. According to self-reports, it is the expectancy of winning money that is exciting, not playing the game. Regardless of the level of risk-taking, expectancy of winning is a cognitive factor influencing levels of arousal. When playing for fun, gambling becomes significantly less stimulating than when playing for money.

A win-win marginal rent analysis for operator and consumer under battery leasing mode in China electric vehicle market

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Li Zhe; Ouyang Minggao

2011-01-01

Recently battery leasing has been introduced into the market by automobile manufacturers and power suppliers due to its potential to reduce the purchase cost of electric vehicles (EVs). However, the profit prospect of battery leasing is still uncertain. This paper takes the views of both the operators and consumers and calculates the 'win-win' marginal rent, which not only ensures the profitability of operators, but also allows consumers a lower expenditure than using Internal combustion engine vehicles (ICVs) and EVs with embedded batteries. Battery cost, vehicle weight, gasoline and electricity price, and the discount rate have impacts on the rent. Battery cost plays a dominant role and a battery cost >5 Yen /W h fails to enable the survival of battery leasing to all types of EVs. Battery leasing would be more competitive when focusing on heavier EVs. At least one of the three thresholds is required for the existence of rent pricing range for a 1000 kg EV: gasoline retail price >6 Yen /L, electricity price <0.6 Yen /kW h, or the discount rate <7%. Typically, the feasible battery rent range is 0.34-0.38 Yen /W h/year for a 1000 kg EV under the present battery cost 2 Yen /W h and China current gasoline and electricity prices. - Highlights: → Rent pricing for EV battery leasing must obey win-win rule for BLO and consumers. → Rent is affected by battery cost, vehicle weight, energy price and discount rate. → Battery cost plays dominant role for the BLO survival as described in '5-3-2' Law. → Heavier EVs are more suitable for battery leasing when battery cost is high. → The profitability of BLO is sensitive to the price of gasoline and electricity.

Evaluation and improvement of wastewater treatment plant performance using BioWin

Science.gov (United States)

Oleyiblo, Oloche James; Cao, Jiashun; Feng, Qian; Wang, Gan; Xue, Zhaoxia; Fang, Fang

2015-03-01

In this study, the activated sludge model implemented in the BioWin® software was validated against full-scale wastewater treatment plant data. Only two stoichiometric parameters ( Y p/acetic and the heterotrophic yield ( Y H)) required calibration. The value 0.42 was used for Y p/acetic in this study, while the default value of the BioWin® software is 0.49, making it comparable with the default values of the corresponding parameter (yield of phosphorus release to substrate uptake ) used in ASM2, ASM2d, and ASM3P, respectively. Three scenarios were evaluated to improve the performance of the wastewater treatment plant, the possibility of wasting sludge from either the aeration tank or the secondary clarifier, the construction of a new oxidation ditch, and the construction of an equalization tank. The results suggest that construction of a new oxidation ditch or an equalization tank for the wastewater treatment plant is not necessary. However, sludge should be wasted from the aeration tank during wet weather to reduce the solids loading of the clarifiers and avoid effluent violations. Therefore, it is recommended that the design of wastewater treatment plants (WWTPs) should include flexibility to operate the plants in various modes. This is helpful in selection of the appropriate operating mode when necessary, resulting in substantial reductions in operating costs.

Is there a potential win for companies when women enrich their role of workers through the enrichement of their family lives?

OpenAIRE

Oliveira, Inês Martins

2015-01-01

While the work-family relation conflict literature has received much attention, there is a lack of empirical evidence towards work-family positive relation. Furthermore, there is a lack of understanding and recognition of possible benefits obtained by skills’ development during maternity. This study concludes that a family-work relation has a positive outcome, namely the enrichment. It was evident that there is a potential win when women enrich their role as workers through the enrichment of ...

The Bamberg Trucking Game: A Paradigm for Assessing the Detection of Win–Win Solutions in a Potential Conflict Scenario

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dario Nalis

2018-02-01

Full Text Available In win–win solutions, all parties benefit more from the solution than they would if they each pursued their own individual goals. Such solutions are beneficial at individual and collective levels and thus represent optimal solutions. Win–win solutions are desirable but often difficult to find. To allow the study of individual differences and situational factors that help or hinder the detection of win–win solutions, we created a paradigm that fills a gap in the repertoire of psychological instruments used to assess collaboration, cooperation, negotiation, and prosocial behavior. The new paradigm differs from previous ones in two aspects: (a In existing paradigms that focus on social motivation, possible strategies are evident, whereas we focused here on the question of whether people can detect the solution and thus disentangle ability from motivation, (b Paradigms that focus on cooperation typically entail a risk associated with the partner’s defection, whereas cooperation in our paradigm is not associated with risk. We adjusted the Trucking Game—a method for assessing bargaining—to include a situation in which two parties can help each other achieve their respective goals and thus benefit over and above the pursuit of individual goals or compromising. We tested scenario-based and interaction-based versions with samples of 154 and 112 participants, respectively. Almost one third of the participants or dyads found the win–win solution. General mental abilities were not related to detecting the win–win solution in either version. The paradigm provides a way to extend research on cooperation and conflict and can thus be useful for research and training.

Winning a competition predicts dishonest behavior.

Science.gov (United States)

Schurr, Amos; Ritov, Ilana

2016-02-16

Winning a competition engenders subsequent unrelated unethical behavior. Five studies reveal that after a competition has taken place winners behave more dishonestly than competition losers. Studies 1 and 2 demonstrate that winning a competition increases the likelihood of winners to steal money from their counterparts in a subsequent unrelated task. Studies 3a and 3b demonstrate that the effect holds only when winning means performing better than others (i.e., determined in reference to others) but not when success is determined by chance or in reference to a personal goal. Finally, study 4 demonstrates that a possible mechanism underlying the effect is an enhanced sense of entitlement among competition winners.

Use of flyash and biogas slurry for improving wheat yield and physical properties of soil.

Science.gov (United States)

Garg, R N; Pathak, H; Das, D K; Tomar, R K

2005-08-01

This study explores the potential use of by-products of energy production, i.e., (i) flyash from coal-powered electricity generation and (ii) biogas slurry from agricultural waste treatment, as nutrient sources in agriculture. These residues are available in large amounts and their disposal is a major concern for the environment. As both residues contain considerable amounts of plant nutrients, their use as soil amendment may offer a promising win-win opportunity to improve crop production and, at the same time, preventing adverse environmental impacts of waste disposal. Effect of flyash and biogas slurry on soil physical properties and growth and yield of wheat (Triticum aestivum) was studied in a field experiment. Leaf area index, root length density and grain yield of wheat were higher in plots amended with flyash or biogas slurry compared to unamended plots. Both types of amendments reduced bulk density, and increased saturated hydraulic conductivity and moisture retention capacity of soil. The study showed that flyash and biogas slurry should be used as soil amendments for obtaining short-term and long-term benefits in terms of production increments and soil amelioration.

A study on the promotion of cooperation with 'women in nuclear (WIN)- global'

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Byung Joo; Kim, K. R.; Kim, D. Y.

2001-04-01

International collaboration with WIN-Global. 1) Evaluation on current status for the foundation of WIN-Korea and investigation on the 1st to 8th WIN-Global conferences for the arrangement of 9th WIN-Global conferences 2) Manifestation on the roles of WIN-Korea and WIN-Global 3) Encouragement of active participation for WIN-Global activies -Establishment of internet net working for effective communication through the internet net working between women in science in Korea and other foreign countries. 1) Preparation and Organization of Women in Korea 2) Foundation of WIN-Korea Home Page in Net 3) Assembly of data for the net work construction in Korea - Enhancement of international cooperation between WIN-Korea and WIN-Global 1) Invitation of 9th WIN-Global Conference in Seoul, Korea 2) Enrollment of one of the Executives and Strengthening the activity of WIN-Korea as member of Board members 3) Characterization on main movements of WIN-Global through the active participation in international activities. - Arrangement for the 9th WIN-Global conference 1) Opperation of Organizing Committee and Supporting Committee and Secretariat 2) Supporting the 9th WIN-Global Confernce

WinSCP for Windows File Transfers | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

WinSCP for Windows File Transfers WinSCP for Windows File Transfers WinSCP for can used to securely transfer files between your local computer running Microsoft Windows and a remote computer running Linux

Improving carbon dioxide yields and cell efficiencies for ethanol oxidation by potential scanning

Science.gov (United States)

Majidi, Pasha; Pickup, Peter G.

2014-12-01

An ethanol electrolysis cell with aqueous ethanol supplied to the anode and nitrogen at the cathode has been operated under potential cycling conditions in order to increase the yield of carbon dioxide and thereby increase cell efficiency relative to operation at a fixed potential. At ambient temperature, faradaic yields of CO2 as high as 26% have been achieved, while only transient CO2 production was observed at constant potential. Yields increased substantially at higher temperatures, with maximum values at Pt anodes reaching 45% at constant potential and 65% under potential cycling conditions. Use of a PtRu anode increased the cell efficiency by decreasing the anode potential, but this was offset by decreased CO2 yields. Nonetheless, cycling increased the efficiency relative to constant potential. The maximum yields at PtRu and 80 °C were 13% at constant potential and 32% under potential cycling. The increased yields under cycling conditions have been attributed to periodic oxidative stripping of adsorbed CO, which occurs at lower potentials on PtRu than on Pt. These results will be important in the optimization of operating conditions for direct ethanol fuel cells and for the electrolysis of ethanol to produce clean hydrogen.

Doubling Your Payoff: Winning Pain Relief Engages Endogenous Pain Inhibition

Science.gov (United States)

Becker, Susanne; Gandhi, Wiebke; Kwan, Saskia; Ahmed, Alysha-Karima; Schweinhardt, Petra

2015-01-01

When in pain, pain relief is much sought after, particularly for individuals with chronic pain. In analogy to augmentation of the hedonic experience ("liking") of a reward by the motivation to obtain a reward ("wanting"), the seeking of pain relief in a motivated state might increase the experience of pain relief when obtained. We tested this hypothesis in a psychophysical experiment in healthy human subjects, by assessing potential pain-inhibitory effects of pain relief "won" in a wheel of fortune game compared with pain relief without winning, exploiting the fact that the mere chance of winning induces a motivated state. The results show pain-inhibitory effects of pain relief obtained by winning in behaviorally assessed pain perception and ratings of pain intensity. Further, the higher participants scored on the personality trait novelty seeking, the more pain inhibition was induced. These results provide evidence that pain relief, when obtained in a motivated state, engages endogenous pain-inhibitory systems beyond the pain reduction that underlies the relief in the first place. Consequently, such pain relief might be used to improve behavioral pain therapy, inducing a positive, perhaps self-amplifying feedback loop of reduced pain and improved functionality.

Distribution of genes associated with yield potential and water ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Supplementary data: Distribution of genes associated with yield potential and water-saving in. Chinese Zone II wheat detected by developed functional markers. Zhenxian Gao, Zhanliang Shi, Aimin Zhang and Jinkao Guo. J. Genet. 94, 35–42. Table 1. Functional markers for high-yield or water-saving genes in wheat and ...

Economics and yields of energy plantations: Status and potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kenney, W.A.; Gambles, R.L.; Zsuffa, L.

1992-01-01

A study was carried out to: determine the factors affecting the cost of energy conversion feedstocks in short rotation intensive culture plantations of trees; determine the factors influencing biomass yield; identify interrelationships between the previous two objectives; present estimates of potential biomass yields and associated economics; and to identify gaps in the knowledge of the economics and yields of biomass production and their interrelationships. Reported costs for most aspects had a wide range. Currently, yields of 10-15 dry Mg/hectare/y are readily achievable. Using the cost and yield data, and assuming a biomass price of $40/dry Mg, a series of cash flow analyses were performed. For the low cost inputs, all scenarios were marginally profitable. For the high cost inputs, none of the scenarios were profitable. A current scenario, using figures for contract farming, was not profitable, however this system would break even with a yield of 23.3 dry Mg/hectare/y, within the range of some production clones. A future scenario using farm labour with increased productivity, product values, and machinery efficiencies yielded a profit-making situation. The addition of incentives increased profitability. There is great potential for the production of woody biomass in Canada as a feedstock for energy and other products. Continued and more intensive breeding and selection to develop high yielding stress tolerant clones, cost efficient harvesting systems, continued research into optimization of planting density, rotation length and cultural techniques, and characterization of promising clones with respect to nutrient-use efficiency, site requirements and pest/disease resistance are important areas for further work. 81 refs., 3 figs., 13 tabs

Does Blue Uniform Color Enhance Winning Probability in Judo Contests?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter D. Dijkstra

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The color of an athlete's uniform may have an effect on psychological functioning and consequently bias the chances of winning contests in sport competition. Several studies reported a winning bias for judo athletes wearing a blue outfit relative to those wearing a white outfit. However, we argue there is no winning bias and that previous studies were confounded and based on small and specific data sets. We tested whether blue biases winning in judo using a very extensive judo data set (45,874 contests from all international judo tournaments between 2008 and 2014. In judo, the first called athlete for the fight used to wear the blue judogi but this was changed to the white judogi in 2011. This switch enabled us to compare the win bias before and after this change to isolate the effect of the color of the judogi. We found a significant win bias for the first called athlete, but this effect was not significantly related to the color of the judogi. The lack of a significant win effect of judogi color suggests that blue does not bias winning in judo, and that the blue-white pairing ensures an equal level of play. Our study shows the importance of thoroughly considering alternative explanations and using extensive datasets in color research in sports and psychology.

Does Blue Uniform Color Enhance Winning Probability in Judo Contests?

Science.gov (United States)

Dijkstra, Peter D; Preenen, Paul T Y; van Essen, Hans

2018-01-01

The color of an athlete's uniform may have an effect on psychological functioning and consequently bias the chances of winning contests in sport competition. Several studies reported a winning bias for judo athletes wearing a blue outfit relative to those wearing a white outfit. However, we argue there is no winning bias and that previous studies were confounded and based on small and specific data sets. We tested whether blue biases winning in judo using a very extensive judo data set (45,874 contests from all international judo tournaments between 2008 and 2014). In judo, the first called athlete for the fight used to wear the blue judogi but this was changed to the white judogi in 2011. This switch enabled us to compare the win bias before and after this change to isolate the effect of the color of the judogi . We found a significant win bias for the first called athlete, but this effect was not significantly related to the color of the judogi . The lack of a significant win effect of judogi color suggests that blue does not bias winning in judo, and that the blue-white pairing ensures an equal level of play. Our study shows the importance of thoroughly considering alternative explanations and using extensive datasets in color research in sports and psychology.

Does Blue Uniform Color Enhance Winning Probability in Judo Contests?

OpenAIRE

Dijkstra, Peter D.; Preenen, Paul T. Y.; van Essen, Hans

2018-01-01

The color of an athlete's uniform may have an effect on psychological functioning and consequently bias the chances of winning contests in sport competition. Several studies reported a winning bias for judo athletes wearing a blue outfit relative to those wearing a white outfit. However, we argue there is no winning bias and that previous studies were confounded and based on small and specific data sets. We tested whether blue biases winning in judo using a very extensive judo data set (45,87...

Quantifying potential yield and water-limited yield of summer maize in the North China Plain

Science.gov (United States)

Jiang, Mingnuo; Liu, Chaoshun; Chen, Maosi

2017-09-01

The North China Plain is a major food producing region in China, and climate change could pose a threat to food production in the region. Based on China Meteorological Forcing Dataset, simulating the growth of summer maize in North China Plain from 1979 to 2015 with the regional implementation of crop growth model WOFOST. The results showed that the model can reflect the potential yield and water-limited yield of Summer Maize in North China Plain through the calibration and validation of WOFOST model. After the regional implementation of model, combined with the reanalysis data, the model can better reproduce the regional history of summer maize yield in the North China Plain. The yield gap in Southeastern Beijing, southern Tianjin, southern Hebei province, Northwestern Shandong province is significant, these means the water condition is the main factor to summer maize yield in these regions.

Lithuanian women actively participate in WIN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Medeliene, D.

1999-01-01

WIN (Women in Nuclear) now has 900 members from 43 countries. Lithuanian women working at different institutions related with nuclear energy joined this international organization three years ago. Most of these women are working at the Ignalina NPP. It was women employed at the plant who became the first members of the national WIN team. The team has recently grown considerably. The new members are also mostly from the Ignalina NPP (author)

WinHPC System Policies | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

) cluster. The WinHPC login node (WinHPC02) is intended to allow users with approved access to connect to also be run from the login node. There is a single login node for this system so any applications

WIN Bulgaria - organization with history and development

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Tsokova, L.

2011-01-01

The report presents information about the establishing, activities and perspectives of WIN Global and WIN Bulgaria - the history of the association, structure, organization, goals and tasks. The social involvement is expressed by issuing of declarations, opinions, memoranda and other documents on important problems in the nuclear area, connected with the power plan, waste management facilities etc

Ombud's Corner: fellows and students – a win-win equation

CERN Multimedia

Sudeshna Datta-Cockerill

2014-01-01

The hundreds of Fellows and students working at CERN bring precious new blood into the Laboratory. At the same time, CERN offers them invaluable work experience that will have a significant impact on their future careers. It is important that we all work together to make this a win-win situation with lasting positive effects for all concerned over the years to come.   Fellows and students are just setting out on a great professional adventure.  Some of them are very young, others are a bit more experienced … and what happens during this early period can have vast consequences on their approach to work and indeed on their overall careers. They all come here with their hard earned skills and a high degree of motivation, ready to make the most out of an internship at CERN. Sometimes, they are called to integrate into well-established units; at other times, they are asked to join complex collaborations. Almost always they have to deal with new information, new cultures, new t...

Expressing determination: From ENS programme 'Women and nuclear energy' to WIN

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heininen-Ojanperae, Marke [Information Officer, Imatran Voima Oy (Finland)

1993-07-01

WIN is an international association of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and radiation application and willing to devote time to public information. It is established as non-profit making. WIN'S working language is English. WIN aims to contribute to objectively informing the public, especially women, on nuclear energy and radiation, in particular by: meeting regularly to exchange ideas and experiences between countries' WIN information groups, establishing country WIN groups in nuclear countries as widely as practical, supporting each other across borders, working out shared information techniques and information materials for international use. WIN is open to female nuclear and radiation professionals and academics as well as communications specialists, from all over the world, pledged to adhere to the goals of this Charter. The first WINFO Quarterly Newsletter of Women in Nuclear has been published.

Expressing determination: From ENS programme 'Women and nuclear energy' to WIN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heininen-Ojanperae, Marke

1993-01-01

WIN is an international association of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and radiation application and willing to devote time to public information. It is established as non-profit making. WIN'S working language is English. WIN aims to contribute to objectively informing the public, especially women, on nuclear energy and radiation, in particular by: meeting regularly to exchange ideas and experiences between countries' WIN information groups, establishing country WIN groups in nuclear countries as widely as practical, supporting each other across borders, working out shared information techniques and information materials for international use. WIN is open to female nuclear and radiation professionals and academics as well as communications specialists, from all over the world, pledged to adhere to the goals of this Charter. The first WINFO Quarterly Newsletter of Women in Nuclear has been published

Quantum Chinos game: winning strategies through quantum fluctuations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Guinea, F; Martin-Delgado, M A

2003-01-01

We apply several quantization schemes to simple versions of the Chinos game. Classically, for two players with one coin each, there is a symmetric stable strategy that allows each player to win half of the times on average. A partial quantization of the game (semiclassical) allows us to find a winning strategy for the second player, but it is unstable w.r.t. the classical strategy. However, in a fully quantum version of the game we find a winning strategy for the first player that is optimal: the symmetric classical situation is broken at the quantum level. (letter to the editor)

Windows Calorimeter Control (WinCal) program computer software design description

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pertzborn, N.F.

1997-01-01

The Windows Calorimeter Control (WinCal) Program System Design Description contains a discussion of the design details for the WinCal product. Information in this document will assist a developer in maintaining the WinCal system. The content of this document follows the guidance in WHC-CM-3-10, Software Engineering Standards, Standard for Software User Documentation

Simulating the potential yield and yield gaps of sugar beet due to water and nitrogen limitations in Khorasan province using SUCROS model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

R Deihimfard

2015-12-01

Full Text Available Introduction Crop productivity is highly constrained by water and nitrogen limitations in many areas of the world (Kalra et al., 2007. Therefore, there is a need to investigate more on nitrogen and water management to achieve higher production as well as quality. Irrigated sugar beet in the cropping systems of Khorasan province in northeastern of Iran accounts for about 34% of the land area under sugar beet production (~115,000 ha with an average yield of around 36 t.ha-1 (Anonymous, 2009. However, there is a huge yield gap (the difference between potential and water and nitrogen-limited yield mainly due to biotic and abiotic factors causing major reduction in farmers’ yield. Accordingly, yield gap analysis should be carried out to reduce the yield reduction and reach the farmer’s yield to the potential yield. The current study aimed to simulate potential yield as well as yield gap related to water and nitrogen shortage in the major sugar beet-growing areas of Khorasan province of Iran. Materials and methods This study was carried out in 6 locations across Khorasan province, which is located in the northeast of Iran. Long term weather data for 1986 to 2009 were obtained from Iran Meteorological Organization for 6 selected locations. The weather data included daily sunshine hours (h, daily maximum and minimum temperatures (◦C, and daily rainfall (mm. Daily solar radiation was estimated using the Goudriaan (1993 method. The validated SUCROSBEET model (Deihimfard, 2011; Deihimfard et al., 2011 was then used to estimate potential, water and nitrogen-limited yield and yield gap of sugar beet for 6 selected locations across the Khorasan province in the northeast of Iran. This model simulates the impacts of weather, genotype and management factors on crop growth and development, soil water and nitrogen balance on a daily basis and finally it predicts crop yield. The model requires input data, including local weather and soil conditions, cultivar

Winning hearts and minds

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Drulia, M.R.

1999-01-01

'The greatest problem in communication is the illusion that it has been accomplished' (George Bernard Shaw). Over the past few decades we have seen major shifts in opinion as to what makes a business successful. The 1950's and 1960's saw a production focus whilst the 1970's and 1980's saw progressive change towards quality and 'customer is king' as key business drivers. A popular view now suggests that the next step change will be towards internal marketing, based on the concept that, in the future, winning employee support will be seen as the single biggest contributor to driving business performances. In summary, to win hearts and minds you must understand the needs of your audience, the intent of your communication activity, adopt a suitable style and match your deeds to your words

WINS. Market Simulation Tool for Facilitating Wind Energy Integration

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Shahidehpour, Mohammad [Illinois Inst. of Technology, Chicago, IL (United States)

2012-10-30

Integrating 20% or more wind energy into the system and transmitting large sums of wind energy over long distances will require a decision making capability that can handle very large scale power systems with tens of thousands of buses and lines. There is a need to explore innovative analytical and implementation solutions for continuing reliable operations with the most economical integration of additional wind energy in power systems. A number of wind integration solution paths involve the adoption of new operating policies, dynamic scheduling of wind power across interties, pooling integration services, and adopting new transmission scheduling practices. Such practices can be examined by the decision tool developed by this project. This project developed a very efficient decision tool called Wind INtegration Simulator (WINS) and applied WINS to facilitate wind energy integration studies. WINS focused on augmenting the existing power utility capabilities to support collaborative planning, analysis, and wind integration project implementations. WINS also had the capability of simulating energy storage facilities so that feasibility studies of integrated wind energy system applications can be performed for systems with high wind energy penetrations. The development of WINS represents a major expansion of a very efficient decision tool called POwer Market Simulator (POMS), which was developed by IIT and has been used extensively for power system studies for decades. Specifically, WINS provides the following superiorities; (1) An integrated framework is included in WINS for the comprehensive modeling of DC transmission configurations, including mono-pole, bi-pole, tri-pole, back-to-back, and multi-terminal connection, as well as AC/DC converter models including current source converters (CSC) and voltage source converters (VSC); (2) An existing shortcoming of traditional decision tools for wind integration is the limited availability of user interface, i.e., decision

[Spatial-temporal variations of spring maize potential yields in a changing climate in Northeast China.

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Zhi Juan; Yang, Xiao Guang; Lyu, Shuo; Wang, Jing; Lin, Xiao Mao

2018-01-01

Based on meteorological data, agro-meteorological observations, and agricultural statistical data in Northeast China (NEC), by using the validated Agricultural Production System sIMulator (APSIM-maize), the potential, attainable, potential farmers' and actual farmers' yields of spring maize during the period 1961 to 2015 were analyzed, and the effects of climate variation on maize potential yield in NEC were quantified. Results indicated that the potential yield of spring maize was 12.2 t·hm -2 during the period 1961 to 2015, with those in northeast being lower than southwest within the study region. The attainable yield of spring maize was 11.3 t·hm -2 , and showed a similar spatial distribution with potential yield. Under the current farmers' management practices, mean simulated potential and actual farmers' yields were 6.5 and 4.5 t·hm -2 , respectively. Assuming there were no changes in cultivars and management practices in NEC, the mean potential, attainable, and potential farmers' yields of spring maize would decrease by 0.34, 0.25 and 0.10 t·hm -2 per decade in NEC. However, the actual farmers' yields increased with the value of 1.27 t·hm -2 per decade averaged over NEC. Due to climate variation, year-to-year variations of spring maize potential, attainable, and potential farmers' yields were significant, ranging from 10.0 to 14.4, 9.8 to 13.3, 4.4 to 8.5 t·hm -2 , respectively.

Mentor-mentee Relationship: A Win-Win Contract In Graduate Medical Education.

Science.gov (United States)

Toklu, Hale Z; Fuller, Jacklyn C

2017-12-05

Scholarly activities (i.e., the discovery of new knowledge; development of new technologies, methods, materials, or uses; integration of knowledge leading to new understanding) are intended to measure the quality and quantity of dissemination of knowledge. A successful mentorship program is necessary during residency to help residents achieve the six core competencies (patient care, medical knowledge, practice-based learning and improvement, systems-based practice, professionalism, interpersonal and communication skills) required by the Accreditation Council for Graduate Medical Education (ACGME). The role of the mentor in this process is pivotal in the advancement of the residents' knowledge about evidence-based medicine. With this process, while mentees become more self-regulated, exhibit confidence in their performance, and demonstrate more insight and aptitude in their jobs, mentors also achieve elevated higher self-esteem, enhanced leadership skills, and personal gratification. As such, we may conclude that mentoring is a two-sided relationship; i.e., a 'win-win' style of commitment between the mentor and mentee. Hence, both parties will eventually advance academically, as well as professionally.

Using sound to unmask losses disguised as wins in multiline slot machines.

Science.gov (United States)

Dixon, Mike J; Collins, Karen; Harrigan, Kevin A; Graydon, Candice; Fugelsang, Jonathan A

2015-03-01

Losses disguised as wins (LDWs) are slot machine outcomes where participants bet on multiple lines and win back less than their wager. Despite losing money, the machine celebrates these outcomes with reinforcing sights and sounds. Here, we sought to show that psychophysically and psychologically, participants treat LDWs as wins, but that we could expose LDWs as losses by using negative sounds as feedback. 157 participants were allocated into one of three conditions: a standard sound condition where LDWs, despite being losses, are paired with winning sights and sounds; a silent condition, where LDWs are paired with silence; and a negative sound condition where LDWs and regular losses are both followed by a negative sound. After viewing a paytable, participants conducted 300 spins on a slot machine simulator while heart rate deceleration (HRD) and skin conductance responses (SCRs) were monitored. Participants were then shown 20 different spin outcomes including LDWs and asked whether they had won or lost on that outcome. Participants then estimated on how many spins (out of 300) they won more than they wagered. SCRs were similar for losses and LDWs (both smaller than actual wins). HRD, however, was steeper for both wins and LDWs, compared to losses. In the standard condition, a majority of participants (mis)categorized LDWs as wins, and significantly overestimated the number of times they actually won. In the negative sound condition, this pattern was reversed; most participants correctly categorized LDWs as losses, and they gave high-fidelity win estimates. We conclude that participants both think and physiologically react to LDWs as though they are wins, a miscategorization that misleads them to think that they are winning more often than they actually are. Sound can be used to effectively prevent this misconception and unmask the disguise of LDWs.

The Gender Difference in the Value of Winning

OpenAIRE

Chen, Zhuoqiong; Ong, David; Sheremeta, Roman

2015-01-01

We design an all-pay auction experiment in which we reveal the gender of the opponent. Using this design, we find that women bid higher than men, but only when bidding against other women. These findings, interpreted through a theoretical model incorporating differences in risk attitude and the value of winning, suggest that women have a higher value of winning than men.

WinHPC System Configuration | High-Performance Computing | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

), login node (WinHPC02) and worker/compute nodes. The head node acts as the file, DNS, and license server . The login node is where the users connect to access the cluster. Node 03 has dual Intel Xeon E5530 2008 R2 HPC Edition. The login node, WinHPC02, is where users login to access the system. This is where

A winning strategy for 3 x n Cylindrical Hex

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Huneke, S. C.; Hayward, R.; Toft, Bjarne

2014-01-01

For Cylindrical Hex on a board with circumference 3, we give a winning strategy for the end-to-end player. This is the first known winning strategy for odd circumference at least 3, answering a question of David Gale. (C) 2014 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved....

Women in neuroscience (WIN): the first twenty years.

Science.gov (United States)

Haak, Laurel L

2002-03-01

Women in Neuroscience (WIN) is an international organization whose major goal is to promote the professional advancement of women neuroscientists. To this end, WIN facilitates contacts and communication among women working in neuroscience, and organizes appropriate activities at the annual Society for Neuroscience (SfN) meeting. WIN was created in 1980, when despite major changes and advances in 'equal opportunities', women were still not achieving a proportionate level of success in the subdiscipline of neurosciences. In 1980, women made up 40 to 50% of entering classes in medical schools or graduate programs, but often comprised only 5 to 15% of leadership in respective organizations. Although there had been women elected to serve as SfN presidents, council, and committee members, women were under-represented in other positions of the Society, such as symposium and session chairs. There was an even lesser degree of representation in leadership positions at universities and medical schools in terms of full professorships, chairs, and program directors, as well as on editorial boards, advisory boards, and councils. Over the years, WIN has worked with success toward increasing the participation of women in neuroscience.

2014 WIN3 Workshop

CERN Document Server

Long, Ling; Pries, Rachel; Stange, Katherine

2016-01-01

Exploring the interplay between deep theory and intricate computation, this volume is a compilation of research and survey papers in number theory, written by members of the Women In Numbers (WIN) network, principally by the collaborative research groups formed at Women In Numbers 3, a conference at the Banff International Research Station in Banff, Alberta, on April 21-25, 2014. The papers span a wide range of research areas: arithmetic geometry; analytic number theory; algebraic number theory; and applications to coding and cryptography. The WIN conference series began in 2008, with the aim of strengthening the research careers of female number theorists. The series introduced a novel research-mentorship model: women at all career stages, from graduate students to senior members of the community, joined forces to work in focused research groups on cutting-edge projects designed and led by experienced researchers. The goals for Women In Numbers 3 were to establish ambitious new collaborations between women i...

Effect of the CB1 cannabinoid agonist WIN 55212-2 on the acquisition and reinstatement of MDMA-induced conditioned place preference in mice

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Miñarro José

2010-03-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Numerous reports indicate that MDMA users consume other psychoactive drugs, among which cannabis is one of the most common. The aim of the present study was to evaluate, using the conditioned place preference, the effect of the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 on the rewarding effects of MDMA in mice. Methods In the first experiment adolescent mice were initially conditioned with 1.25, 2.5 or 5 mg/kg of MDMA or 0.1 or 0.5 mg/kg of WIN and subsequently with both drugs. Reinstatement of the extinguished preference by priming doses was performed in the groups that showed CPP. In the second experiment, animals were conditioned with 2.5 or 5 mg/kg of MDMA and, after extinction, reinstatement of the preference was induced by 0.5 or 0.1 mg/kg of WIN. Results A low dose of WIN 55212-2 (0.1 mg/kg increased the rewarding effects of low doses of MDMA (1.25 mg/kg, although a decrease in the preference induced by MDMA (5 and 2.5 mg/kg was observed when the dose of WIN 55212-2 was raised (0.5 mg/kg. The CB1 antagonist SR 141716 also increased the rewarding effects of the lowest MDMA dose and did not block the effects of WIN. Animals treated with the highest WIN dose plus a non-neurotoxic dose of MDMA exhibited decreases of striatal DA and serotonin in the cortex. On the other hand, WIN 55212-2-induced CPP was reinstated by priming injections of MDMA, although WIN did not reinstate the MDMA-induced CPP. Conclusions These results confirm that the cannabinoid system plays a role in the rewarding effects of MDMA and highlights the risks that sporadic drug use can pose in terms of relapse to dependence. Finally, the potential neuroprotective action of cannabinoids is not supported by our data; on the contrary, they are evidence of the potential neurotoxic effect of said drugs when administered with MDMA.

BMC Ecology Image Competition 2016: the winning images.

Science.gov (United States)

Simundza, Julia; Palmer, Matthew; Settele, Josef; Jacobus, Luke M; Hughes, David P; Mazzi, Dominique; Blanchet, Simon

2016-08-09

The 2016 BMC Ecology Image Competition marked another celebration of the astounding biodiversity, natural beauty, and biological interactions documented by talented ecologists worldwide. For our fourth annual competition, we welcomed guest judge Dr. Matthew Palmer of Columbia University, who chose the winning image from over 140 entries. In this editorial, we highlight the award winning images along with a selection of highly commended honorable mentions.

Evaluation of the WinROP system for identifying retinopathy of prematurity in Czech preterm infants.

Science.gov (United States)

Timkovic, Juraj; Pokryvkova, Martina; Janurova, Katerina; Barinova, Denisa; Polackova, Renata; Masek, Petr

2017-03-01

Retinopathy of Prematurity (ROP) is a potentially serious condition that can afflict preterm infants. Timely and correct identification of individuals at risk of developing a serious form of ROP is therefore of paramount importance. WinROP is an online system for predicting ROP based on birth weight and weight increments. However, the results vary significantly for various populations. It has not been evaluated in the Czech population. This study evaluates the test characteristics (specificity, sensitivity, positive and negative predictive values) of the WinROP system in Czech preterm infants. Data on 445 prematurely born infants included in the ROP screening program at the University Hospital Ostrava, Czech Republic, were retrospectively entered into the WinROP system and the outcomes of the WinROP and regular screening were compared. All 24 infants who developed high-risk (Type 1 or Type 2) ROP were correctly identified by the system. The sensitivity and negative predictive values for this group were 100%. However, the specificity and positive predictive values were substantially lower, resulting in a large number of false positives. Extending the analysis to low risk ROP, the system did not provide such reliable results. The system is a valuable tool for identifying infants who are not likely to develop high-risk ROP and this could help to substantially reduce the number of preterm infants in need of regular ROP screening. It is not suitable for predicting the development of less serious forms of ROP which is however in accordance with the declared aims of the WinROP system.

No effect of blue on winning contests in judo

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, Peter D.; Preenen, Paul T. Y.

2008-01-01

A study by Rowe et al. reported a winning bias for judo athletes wearing a blue outfit relative to those wearing a white one during the 2004 Olympics. It was suggested that blue is associated with a higher likelihood of winning through differential effects of colour on opponent visibility and/or an

Do soil organic carbon levels affect potential yields and nitrogen use efficiency?

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Oelofse, Myles; Markussen, Bo; Knudsen, Leif

2015-01-01

Soil organic carbon (SOC) is broadly recognised as an important parameter affecting soil quality, and can therefore contribute to improving a number of soil properties that influence crop yield. Previous research generally indicates that soil organic carbon has positive effects on crop yields......, the yield with no fertiliser N application and the N use efficiency would be positively affected by SOC level. A statistical model was developed to explore relationships between SOC and potential yield, yields at zero N application and N use efficiency (NUE). The model included a variety of variables...

WinFood data from Kenya and Cambodia

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Owino, Victor O; Skau, Jutta Kloppenborg Heick; Omollo, Selina

2015-01-01

during randomized, controlled trials (WinFood Study) designed to assess the efficacy of locally produced complementary foods based on traditional animal-source foods (edible termites and spiders) to support growth and nutritional status in Kenyan and Cambodian infants. METHODS: In a randomized......, controlled design, infants received WinFood or corn-soy blend (CSB) for 9 months from 6 to 15 months of age. Lean mass accrual and blood nutrition indicators (lipid profile, iron and zinc status) were measured cross-sectionally at 9 and 15 months of age, respectively. Lean mass was determined by measuring...

BMC Ecology image competition: the winning images

Science.gov (United States)

2013-01-01

BMC Ecology announces the winning entries in its inaugural Ecology Image Competition, open to anyone affiliated with a research institute. The competition, which received more than 200 entries from international researchers at all career levels and a wide variety of scientific disciplines, was looking for striking visual interpretations of ecological processes. In this Editorial, our academic Section Editors and guest judge Dr Yan Wong explain what they found most appealing about their chosen winning entries, and highlight a few of the outstanding images that didn’t quite make it to the top prize. PMID:23517630

BMC Ecology image competition: the winning images.

Science.gov (United States)

Harold, Simon; Wong, Yan; Baguette, Michel; Bonsall, Michael B; Clobert, Jean; Royle, Nick J; Settele, Josef

2013-03-22

BMC Ecology announces the winning entries in its inaugural Ecology Image Competition, open to anyone affiliated with a research institute. The competition, which received more than 200 entries from international researchers at all career levels and a wide variety of scientific disciplines, was looking for striking visual interpretations of ecological processes. In this Editorial, our academic Section Editors and guest judge Dr Yan Wong explain what they found most appealing about their chosen winning entries, and highlight a few of the outstanding images that didn't quite make it to the top prize.

Faking or Convincing: Why Do Some Advertising Campaigns Win Creativity Awards?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Raoul V. Kübler

2012-05-01

Full Text Available Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in 2002, it has become commonplace in the advertising industry to use creativity-award-show prizes instead of gross income figures to attract new customers. Therefore, achieving a top creativity ranking and winning creativity awards have become high priorities in the advertising industry. Agencies and marketers have always wondered what elements in the advertising creation process would lead to the winning of creativity awards. Although this debate has been dominated by pure speculation about the success of different routines, approaches and strategies in winning creativity awards, for the first time our study delivers an empirical insight into the key drivers of creativity award success. We investigate what strategies and which elements of an advertising campaign are truly likely to lead to winning the maximum number of creativity awards. Using a sample of 108 campaigns, we identify factors that influence campaign success at international advertising award shows. We identify innovativeness and the integration of multiple channels as the key drivers of creativity award success. In contrast to industry beliefs, meaningful or personally connecting approaches do not seem to generate a significant benefit in terms of winning creativity awards. Finally, our data suggest that the use of so-called “fake campaigns” to win more creativity awards does not prove to be effective.

Use of Byproduct from Cellulosic Ethanol Production as an Additive for Concrete: A Possible Win-win Strategy?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangwei Hao

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Technologists are facing increasing demands to achieve ecologically sustainable industrial practices. Currently the concrete industry is a significant contributor to greenhouse gas emissions. On the other hand, the scaling up of cellulosic ethanol technology has not been a very easy task. In this context, the integration of “greener” concrete with cellulosic ethanol technology may open up promising possibilities. The solid byproducts from cellulosic ethanol production process have been demonstrated to increase the strength of concrete structures when used as a partial cement replacement. Such a delicate integration can also lead to reduction in both carbon footprint and product cost. The possible commercialization of the integrated technologies would provide win-win benefits for both industries.

Does Blue Uniform Color Enhance Winning Probability in Judo Contests?

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Dijkstra, P.D.; Preenen, P.T.Y.; Essen, H. van

2018-01-01

The color of an athlete's uniform may have an effect on psychological functioning and consequently bias the chances of winning contests in sport competition. Several studies reported a winning bias for judo athletes wearing a blue outfit relative to those wearing a white outfit. However, we argue

Zero tillage: A potential technology to improve cotton yield

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abbas Hafiz Ghazanfar

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Zero tillage technology revealed with no use of any soil inverting technique to grow crops. The crop plant seed is planted in the soil directly after irrigation to make the soil soft without any replenishing in soil layers. A study was conducted to evaluate cotton genotypes FH-114 and FH-142 for the consecutive three years of growing seasons from 2013-15. The seed of both genotypes was sown with two date of sowing, 1 March and 1 May of each three years of sowing under three tillage treatments (zero tillage, minimum tillage and conventional tillage in triplicate completely randomized split-split plot design. It was found from results that significant differences were recorded for tillage treatments, date of sowing, genotypes and their interactions. Multivariate analysis was performed to evaluate the yield and it attributed traits for potential of FH-114 and FH-142 cotton genotypes. The genotype FH-142 was found with higher and batter performance as compared to FH-114 under zero tillage, minimum tillage and conventional tillage techniques. The traits bolls per plant, boll weight, fibre fineness, fibre strength, plant height, cotton yield per plant and sympodial branches per plant were found as most contributing traits towards cotton yield and production. It was also found that FH-142 gives higher output in terms of economic gain under zero tillage with 54% increase as compared to conventional tillage technique. It was suggested that zero tillage technology should be adopted to improve cotton yield and quality. It was also recommended that further study to evaluate zero tillage as potential technology should be performed with different regions, climate and timing throughout the world.

How to win friends and influence people

CERN Document Server

Carnegie, Dale

2010-01-01

For more than sixty years the rock-solid, time-tested advice in this book has carried thousands of now famous people up the ladder of success in their business and personal lives. With more than fifteen million copies sold, How to Win Friends and Influence People is one of the best known motivational books in history, with proven advice for achieving success in life. You’ll learn: three fundamental techniques in handling people; six ways to make people like you; twelve ways to win people to you way of thinking; nine ways to change people without arousing resentment; and much, much more!

International cooperation for nuclear science and energy development- A win win perspective

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sheriffah Noor Khamseah Al-Idid Syed Ahmad Idid

2013-01-01

Full-text: International and regional cooperation is fundamental for the safe and effective introduction and expansion of nuclear power programme (NPP). A win-win situation can be harnessed as experienced countries in NPP are able to offer a myriad of benefits to new comer countries as well as countries planning for NPP whilst new comer countries are able to offer education and training opportunities and business opportunities to advanced countries in NPP. Countries with long experience in nuclear power programme (NPP) are able to offer experience, knowledge, advisory as well as sharing of resources and facilities with new comer countries. As skilled and competent personnel in the entire nuclear value-chain are critical to support NPP, this paper will provide an overview of some of the experience and resources of advanced countries in NPP that could be shared with new comer countries, with a focus in the area of education and training, as well as in industrial development. The paper will conclude by offering some recommendations as a way forward for establishing international cooperation in Nuclear Education and Training, as well as for industrial development. (author)

A Win-Win-Win Proposition -- Academia and Industry Working Together for Students

Science.gov (United States)

Cogswell, J.

2011-12-01

geoscience, to include having applied real problem solving via a robust field camp experience. In addition, we look for the maturity and ability to conduct independent research, to integrate broad suites of data, and to work as a team. We look for the ability to communicate results. We do not look for a focus on petroleum. We have many decades of experience in how to best develop that particular discipline quickly, to meet current and future business conditions. There are recurring themes that facilitate successful transition from Academia to a practicing industry geoscientist. These themes include giving students a good grounding in STEM, not just geology; one-on-one mentoring; sharing our passion for the science by sharing our research; and sharing the entire breadth of career opportunities. Similar best practices have been identified to encourage under-represented minority students and women to study STEM. Perhaps this is a suite of habits we should be practicing more broadly. This suite of habits takes extra time, extra effort, and extra money. But if geoscience mentors in Academia, Industry, and professional societies work together, we will be able to create a win for Academia, a win for Industry, and a win for students. (1) Gonzales and Keane, 2011, "Status of the Geoscience Workforce -- 2011," AGI, p. 123.

NREL Solar Cell Wins Federal Technology Transfer Prize | News | NREL

Science.gov (United States)

Solar Cell Wins Federal Technology Transfer Prize News Release: NREL Solar Cell Wins Federal Technology Transfer Prize May 7, 2009 A new class of ultra-light, high-efficiency solar cells developed by the U.S. Department of Energy's National Renewable Energy Laboratory has been awarded a national prize

Almost all k-cop-win graphs contain a dominating set of cardinality k

OpenAIRE

Pralat, Pawel

2013-01-01

We consider $k$-cop-win graphs in the binomial random graph $G(n,1/2).$ It is known that almost all cop-win graphs contain a universal vertex. We generalize this result and prove that for every $k \\in N$, almost all $k$-cop-win graphs contain a dominating set of cardinality $k$. From this it follows that the asymptotic number of labelled $k$-cop-win graphs of order $n$ is equal to $(1+o(1)) (1-2^{-k})^{-k} {n \\choose k} 2^{n^2/2 - (1/2-\\log_2(1-2^{-k})) n}$.

BMC Ecology image competition 2014: the winning images.

Science.gov (United States)

Harold, Simon; Henderson, Caspar; Baguette, Michel; Bonsall, Michael B; Hughes, David; Settele, Josef

2014-08-29

BMC Ecology showcases the winning entries from its second Ecology Image Competition. More than 300 individual images were submitted from an international array of research scientists, depicting life on every continent on earth. The journal's Editorial Board and guest judge Caspar Henderson outline why their winning selections demonstrated high levels of technical skill and aesthetic sense in depicting the science of ecology, and we also highlight a small selection of highly commended images that we simply couldn't let you miss out on.

BMC ecology image competition 2017: the winning images.

Science.gov (United States)

Foote, Christopher; Darimont, Chris T; Baguette, Michel; Blanchet, Simon; Jacobus, Luke M; Mazzi, Dominique; Settele, Josef

2017-08-18

For the fifth year, BMC Ecology is proud to present the winning images from our annual image competition. The 2017 edition received entries by talented shutterbug-ecologists from across the world, showcasing research that is increasing our understanding of ecosystems worldwide and the beauty and diversity of life on our planet. In this editorial we showcase the winning images, as chosen by our Editorial Board and guest judge Chris Darimont, as well as our selection of highly commended images. Enjoy!

Estimating national crop yield potential and the relevance of weather data sources

Science.gov (United States)

Van Wart, Justin

2011-12-01

To determine where, when, and how to increase yields, researchers often analyze the yield gap (Yg), the difference between actual current farm yields and crop yield potential. Crop yield potential (Yp) is the yield of a crop cultivar grown under specific management limited only by temperature and solar radiation and also by precipitation for water limited yield potential (Yw). Yp and Yw are critical components of Yg estimations, but are very difficult to quantify, especially at larger scales because management data and especially daily weather data are scarce. A protocol was developed to estimate Yp and Yw at national scales using site-specific weather, soils and management data. Protocol procedures and inputs were evaluated to determine how to improve accuracy of Yp, Yw and Yg estimates. The protocol was also used to evaluate raw, site-specific and gridded weather database sources for use in simulations of Yp or Yw. The protocol was applied to estimate crop Yp in US irrigated maize and Chinese irrigated rice and Yw in US rainfed maize and German rainfed wheat. These crops and countries account for >20% of global cereal production. The results have significant implications for past and future studies of Yp, Yw and Yg. Accuracy of national long-term average Yp and Yw estimates was significantly improved if (i) > 7 years of simulations were performed for irrigated and > 15 years for rainfed sites, (ii) > 40% of nationally harvested area was within 100 km of all simulation sites, (iii) observed weather data coupled with satellite derived solar radiation data were used in simulations, and (iv) planting and harvesting dates were specified within +/- 7 days of farmers actual practices. These are much higher standards than have been applied in national estimates of Yp and Yw and this protocol is a substantial step in making such estimates more transparent, robust, and straightforward. Finally, this protocol may be a useful tool for understanding yield trends and directing

Doubling Your Payoff: Winning Pain Relief Engages Endogenous Pain Inhibition1,2,3

Science.gov (United States)

Kwan, Saskia; Schweinhardt, Petra

2015-01-01

Abstract When in pain, pain relief is much sought after, particularly for individuals with chronic pain. In analogy to augmentation of the hedonic experience (“liking”) of a reward by the motivation to obtain a reward (“wanting”), the seeking of pain relief in a motivated state might increase the experience of pain relief when obtained. We tested this hypothesis in a psychophysical experiment in healthy human subjects, by assessing potential pain-inhibitory effects of pain relief “won” in a wheel of fortune game compared with pain relief without winning, exploiting the fact that the mere chance of winning induces a motivated state. The results show pain-inhibitory effects of pain relief obtained by winning in behaviorally assessed pain perception and ratings of pain intensity. Further, the higher participants scored on the personality trait novelty seeking, the more pain inhibition was induced. These results provide evidence that pain relief, when obtained in a motivated state, engages endogenous pain-inhibitory systems beyond the pain reduction that underlies the relief in the first place. Consequently, such pain relief might be used to improve behavioral pain therapy, inducing a positive, perhaps self-amplifying feedback loop of reduced pain and improved functionality. PMID:26464995

New combined machine for coal-winning by stripping. Neues Gewinnungssystem fuer die schaelende Gewinnung

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dinter, A.; Plaga, K.; Schwolow, G.; Wiechers, K.-P. (DMT-Gesellschaft fuer Forschung und Pruefung mbH (Germany, F.R.))

1990-06-28

The coal-winning system developed by Bochumer Eisenhuette Heintzmann GmbH Co. KG consists essentially of a round link chain running continuously in one direction, on which both the coal-winning bodies and drivers are mounted. The coal-winning bodies, which are subdivided into two groups, are returned in the face conveyor. Consequently the cutting forces are reduced and continuous coal winning achieved. The chain return strands are also dispensed with in the coal-winning system and the chain is easily accessible. The system has undergoine comprehensive coal-winning tests on various artificial faces at DMT Gesellschaft fur Forschung und Prufung GmbH, whereby advantages emerged compared to conventional ploughing. Favourable resistance coefficients were determined in conveyance tests with run-of-mine coal. Loading tests on the components were successful and numerous detailed improvements to the design were made in conjunction with the manufacturer. 4 figs.

BMC Ecology image competition 2014: the winning images

Science.gov (United States)

2014-01-01

BMC Ecology showcases the winning entries from its second Ecology Image Competition. More than 300 individual images were submitted from an international array of research scientists, depicting life on every continent on earth. The journal’s Editorial Board and guest judge Caspar Henderson outline why their winning selections demonstrated high levels of technical skill and aesthetic sense in depicting the science of ecology, and we also highlight a small selection of highly commended images that we simply couldn’t let you miss out on. PMID:25178017

Evaluation of polycross sweetpotato seedlings for root yield potential ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study aimed at determining the root yield potential of the sweetpotato seedlings, the variation in storage root flesh colour and response of the storage roots to major pests and diseases attacking sweetpotato in the field .The experiment was carried out in the screen house and at the Eastern experimental field of National ...

A case study for biogas generation from covered anaerobic ponds treating abattoir wastewater: Investigation of pond performance and potential biogas production

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McCabe, Bernadette K.; Hamawand, Ihsan; Harris, Peter; Baillie, Craig; Yusaf, Talal

2014-01-01

Highlights: • We report on the performance of a novel covered anaerobic pond system. • Potential biogas production was estimated using BioWin modelling software. • Ponds maintained stable operation; however, accumulation of crust was an issue. • Modelling indicated that biogas yield can be influenced by decomposition efficiency. • Configuration and operation of ponds can also impact potential biogas production. - Abstract: Covered anaerobic ponds offer significant advantages to the red meat processing industry by capturing methane rich gas as a fuel source for bioenergy while reducing greenhouse gas emissions (GHG). This paper presents the results of a novel-designed anaerobic pond system at an Australian abattoir in relation to pond performance and potential biogas production. Key findings in assessing the effectiveness of the system revealed that the covered ponds are capable of efficient wastewater decomposition and biogas production. The primary issue with the covered ponds at the abattoir was the build-up of fat/crust that prevented the accurate measurement of biogas and effective use of the cover. In the absence of field biogas data the novel application of the computer modelling software BioWin® was carried out to simulate chemical oxygen demand (COD) removal rates and subsequent biogas yield. The unique parameter used to fit field data was the fraction of the inlet COD due to a superficial crust which did not follow anaerobic digestion. Field data effluent COD removal rates were matched to simulated rates predicted by BioWin when measured influent COD was reduced to 30%. Biogas modelling results suggest significant variation in the economic benefit of biogas energy, with the quantity of biogas potentially varying tenfold (from 328 m 3 /d to 3284 m 3 /d) depending on site factors such as pond efficiency, pond configuration and operational practices

Combinatorial study of WInZnO films deposited by rf magnetron co-sputtering

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Oh, Byeong-Yun; Park, Jae-Cheol; Lee, Young-Jun; Cha, Sang-Jun; Kim, Joo-Hyung; Kim, Kwang-Young; Kim, Tae-Won; Heo, Gi-Seok

2011-01-01

The compositional dependence of co-sputtered tungsten indium zinc oxide (WInZnO) film properties was first investigated by means of a combinatorial technique. Indium zinc oxide (IZO) and WO 3 targets were used with different target power. W composition ratio [W/(In+Zn+W)] was varied between 3 and 30 at% and film thickness was reduced as the sample position moved toward WO 3 target. Furthermore, the optical bandgap energy increased gradually, which might be affected by the reduction in film thickness. All the WInZnO films showed an amorphous phase regardless of the W/(In+Zn+W) ratio. As the W/(In+Zn+W) ratio in WInZnO films increased, the carrier concentration was restricted, causing the increase in electrical resistivity. W cations worked as oxygen binders in determining the electronic properties, resulting in suppressing the formation of oxygen vacancies. Consequentially, W metal cations were effectively incorporated into the WInZnO films as a suppressor against the oxygen vacancies and the carrier generation by employing the combinatorial technique. - Graphical abstract: The film thickness and the sheet resistance (R s ) with respect to the sample position of WInZnO films, which is compositionally graded by rf power for each target, are exhibited. Highlights: → The compositional dependence of co-sputtered WInZnO film properties is first investigated. → W cations work as oxygen binders in determining the electronic properties. → All the WInZnO films show an amorphous phase regardless of the W/(In+Zn+W) ratio. → W metal cations are effectively incorporated into the WInZnO films by the combinatorial technique.

The physician/hospital joint venture. Developing a win/win strategy for success. Part I: The first step: developing the environment.

Science.gov (United States)

Shorr, A B

1987-02-01

This four part series, "The Physician/Hospital Joint Venture: Developing a Win/Win Strategy," will examine the philosophical basis of marketing to physicians, the options for the organization in formulating a strategy for joint venture development, structuring and negotiating the deal, and finally how to build the physician loyalty and commitment essential for the joint venture's continued success. In this first article, the author emphasizes the organization's need to develop a strategic plan that includes a program for attracting physicians. It also points out the need for sensitivity to physicians' concerns and provides examples of successes and failures.

Customer Satisfaction Perceptions of Dislocated Workers Served by WIN Job Centers in the Mississippi Corridor Consortium

Science.gov (United States)

Washburn, Dava Michelle

2009-01-01

The purpose of this study was to determine the perceptions of satisfaction of dislocated workers served by WIN Job Centers in the Mississippi Corridor Consortium. Four WIN Job Centers participated in this study: Northeast Mississippi Community College WIN Job Center in Corinth, Northwest Mississippi Community College WIN Job Center in Oxford,…

Frances Allen Wins Turing Award

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

Home; Journals; Resonance – Journal of Science Education; Volume 12; Issue 8. Frances Allen Wins Turing Award. Priti Shankar. Article-in-a-Box Volume 12 Issue 8 August 2007 pp ... Author Affiliations. Priti Shankar1. Department of Computer Science and Automation, Indian Institute of Science, Bangalore 560 012, India ...

HIGH YIELD GENETICALLY MODIFIED WHEAT IN GERMANY: SOCIO ECONOMIC ASSESSMENT OF ITS POTENTIAL

OpenAIRE

Wree, Philipp; Sauer, Johannes

2015-01-01

High Yield Genetically Modified Wheat (HOSUT) HOSUT lines are an innovation in wheat breeding based on biotechnology with an incremental yield potential of ca. 28% compared to conventional wheat varieties. We apply the real option concept of Maximum Incremental Social Tolerable Irreversible Costs (MISTICs) to do an ex-ante assessment of the socioeconomic potential of HOSUT lines for Germany. We analyze the cost and benefits to farmer and society within two scenarios. Our results of our scenar...

Windows Calorimeter Control (WinCal) program computer software test plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Pertzborn, N.F.

1997-01-01

This document provides the information and guidelines necessary to conduct all the required testing of the Windows Calorimeter Control (WinCal) system. The strategy and essential components for testing the WinCal System Project are described in this test plan. The purpose of this test plan is to provide the customer and performing organizations with specific procedures for testing the specified system's functions

Winning public and political support for nuclear

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

McFadden, D.J.

2006-01-01

The nuclear industry is entering an historic battle for the hearts and minds of Canadians as government decides on nuclear new build. Recent polls indicate that public support is rising for nuclear power. However, the support could be eroded by negative events or intense lobbying by anti-nuclear groups. The nuclear industry must deal with concerns raised about nuclear power, such as cost, safety, reliability and waste. The nuclear industry should build upon the positive movement in public support. The industry must go to Canadians with a credible message which responds effectively to public concerns. It must be remembered that winning public support will be essential to winning and maintaining political support. (author)

Winning public and political support for nuclear

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McFadden, D.J. [Gowling LaFleur Henderson, LLP, Toronto, Ontario (Canada)

2006-07-01

The nuclear industry is entering an historic battle for the hearts and minds of Canadians as government decides on nuclear new build. Recent polls indicate that public support is rising for nuclear power. However, the support could be eroded by negative events or intense lobbying by anti-nuclear groups. The nuclear industry must deal with concerns raised about nuclear power, such as cost, safety, reliability and waste. The nuclear industry should build upon the positive movement in public support. The industry must go to Canadians with a credible message which responds effectively to public concerns. It must be remembered that winning public support will be essential to winning and maintaining political support. (author)

Playing the gender card: winning the hearts and minds of the female demographic

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Brissette, S.

2006-01-01

To meet future growth potential, the nuclear industry will have to compete to attract the best and brightest by positioning itself as a viable career choice for women and men of diverse backgrounds considering careers in business, engineering, sciences and the trades. This presentation will showcase the innovative work being undertaken by the Canadian chapter of Women in Nuclear (WiN). Learn more about WiN-Canada's partnership with the CNS aimed at engaging in a dialogue with women opinion leaders in Ontario, the successful international conference hosted by WiN-Canada, the efforts at recognizing and promoting the role of women in our industry with the media, and the results of recent groundbreaking WiN Canada survey on what makes nuclear an appealing career to women in our industry, and what barriers must be overcome to continue to attract women to a career in nuclear in the future. (author)

Ecological intensification of cereal production systems: yield potential, soil quality, and precision agriculture.

Science.gov (United States)

Cassman, K G

1999-05-25

Wheat (Triticum aestivum L.), rice (Oryza sativa L.), and maize (Zea mays L.) provide about two-thirds of all energy in human diets, and four major cropping systems in which these cereals are grown represent the foundation of human food supply. Yield per unit time and land has increased markedly during the past 30 years in these systems, a result of intensified crop management involving improved germplasm, greater inputs of fertilizer, production of two or more crops per year on the same piece of land, and irrigation. Meeting future food demand while minimizing expansion of cultivated area primarily will depend on continued intensification of these same four systems. The manner in which further intensification is achieved, however, will differ markedly from the past because the exploitable gap between average farm yields and genetic yield potential is closing. At present, the rate of increase in yield potential is much less than the expected increase in demand. Hence, average farm yields must reach 70-80% of the yield potential ceiling within 30 years in each of these major cereal systems. Achieving consistent production at these high levels without causing environmental damage requires improvements in soil quality and precise management of all production factors in time and space. The scope of the scientific challenge related to these objectives is discussed. It is concluded that major scientific breakthroughs must occur in basic plant physiology, ecophysiology, agroecology, and soil science to achieve the ecological intensification that is needed to meet the expected increase in food demand.

How winning changes motivation in multiphase competitions.

Science.gov (United States)

Huang, Szu-Chi; Etkin, Jordan; Jin, Liyin

2017-06-01

What drives motivation in multiphase competitions? Adopting a dynamic approach, this research examines how temporary standing-being ahead of (vs. behind) one's opponent-in a multiphase competition shapes subsequent motivation. Six competitions conducted in the lab and in the field demonstrate that the impact of being ahead on contestants' motivation depends on when (i.e., in which phase of the competition) contestants learn they are in the lead. In the early phase, contestants are concerned about whether they can win; being ahead increases motivation by making winning seem more attainable. In the later phase, however, contestants are instead driven by how much additional effort they believe they need to invest; being ahead decreases motivation by reducing contestants' estimate of the remaining effort needed to win. Temporary standing thus has divergent effects on motivation in multiphase competitions, driven by a shift in contestants' main concern from the early to the later phase and thus the meaning they derive from being ahead of their opponent. By leveraging insights gained from approaching individuals' self-regulation as a dynamic process, this research advances understanding of how motivation evolves in a unique interdependent self-regulatory context. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2017 APA, all rights reserved).

Stability of rust resistance and yield potential of some icarda bread wheat lines in Pakistan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shah, S.J.A.; Khan, A.J.; Azam, F.; Mirza, J.I.; Atiq-ur-Rehman

2003-01-01

Thirty bread wheat lines resistant to Yellow rust (Yr) were selected after careful screening from two ICARDA nurseries during 1998 - 1999, Rabi season at Nuclear Institute for Food and Agriculture (NIFA), Tarnab, Peshawar under severe disease pressure. In the following crop cycle, these selections were again field evaluated for stability and effectiveness of Yr resistance at multilocations while their yield potential was ascertained at Tarnab in two different trials with Tatara as commercial check. Results revealed that uniformity was found in the potential behavior of 23 lines (77%) in both the cropping seasons against Yr. This included some high yielding (up to 7067 kg/ ha) and low yielding lines (up to 4333 kg / ha) when compared with the check (6089 kg / ha). Yield potential of some high yielding lines with stable Yr resistance should be further evaluated over sites and seasons for wide adaptability, under national uniform testing in order to select and deploy future varieties to combat Yr for acquiring food security in Pakistan.(author)

The need of a win-win regulation regarding the harmonization of advantages for the renewable energy sector and the concerns about the environment

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Moraru Dan

2015-06-01

Full Text Available The main theme of this paper is the evolution of theories and suppositions regarding environment and growth. The sustainable green growth and the sustainable green capitalism concepts have attracted the interest and imagination of policy makers and industry, and also stimulated many exciting new ideas and practical actions such as the “triple bottom line” which refers to harmonizing and balancing out the three interests that are linked with sustainable business: economic, environmental and social ones. The policy has to create a workable association between what the government can ensure and not tax and what it cannot ensure and must tax. In this manner we get a win-win regulation meaning that both sides win. National and supranational policies are part of the macro-level governance and very relevant for the sustainable development of the EU Member States and for the stability of the EU itself.

Sinusoidal potential cycling operation of a direct ethanol fuel cell to improving carbon dioxide yields

Science.gov (United States)

Majidi, Pasha; Pickup, Peter G.

2014-12-01

A direct ethanol fuel cell has been operated under sinusoidal (AC) potential cycling conditions in order to increase the yield of carbon dioxide and thereby increase cell efficiency relative to operation at a fixed potential. At 80 °C, faradaic yields of CO2 as high as 25% have been achieved with a PtRu anode catalyst, while the maximum CO2 production at constant potential was 13%. The increased yields under cycling conditions have been attributed to periodic oxidative stripping of adsorbed CO. These results will be important in the optimization of operating conditions for direct ethanol fuel cells, where the benefits of potential cycling are projected to increase as catalysts that produce CO2 more efficiently are implemented.

Simulating potential growth and yield of oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) with PALMSIM: Model description, evaluation and application

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hoffmann, M.; Castaneda Vera, A.; Wijk, van M.T.; Giller, K.E.; Oberthür, T.; Donough, C.; Whitbread, A.M.

2014-01-01

Reducing the gap between water-limited potential yield and actual yield in oil palm production systems through intensification is seen as an important option for sustainably increasing palm oil production. Simulation models can play an important role in quantifying water-limited potential yield, and

Potential for yield in red clover (Trifolium pratense L. varieties

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vasiljević Sanja

2010-01-01

Full Text Available Red clover (Trifolium pratense L. is botanically a perennial, although it often behaves as a biennial. The crop usually lives 2 to 3 seasons in most clover-growing regions of the world and is generally conceded to be lacking in persistence. The objective of this investigation was to analyze the production potential and persistence of domestic and imported red clover varieties. Experiments were conducted at Rimski Šančevi Experiment Field during the period 2004-2006. The experimental materials were six varieties (K-17, Kolubara, Una, Viola, Start, Nike which were analyzed for the most important production characteristics: yield of green mass, dry matter yield and persistence. .

Jackpot? Gender Differences in the Effects of Lottery Wins on Separation

Science.gov (United States)

Boertien, Diederik

2012-01-01

In this study, information on small to modest lottery wins from the British Household Panel Survey (N = 2,563) was used to investigate the effect of income on separation. The analysis demonstrated that money matters within relationships. Lottery wins temporarily reduced the odds of separation after men won. Men spent more on leisure and became…

Effect of Climate and Management Factors on Potential and Gap of Wheat Yield in Iran with Using WOFOST Model

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

A Koocheki

2017-10-01

Full Text Available Introduction Human diets strongly rely on wheat (Triticum aestivum L.. Its production has increased dramatically during the past 50 years, partly due to area extension and new varieties but mainly as a consequence of intensified land management and introduction of new technologies. For the future, a continuous strong increase in the demand for agricultural products is expected. It is highly unlikely that this increasing demand will be satisfied by area expansion because productive land is scarce and also increasingly demanded by non-agricultural uses. The role of agricultural intensification as key to increasing actual crop yields and food supply has been discussed in several studies. However, in many regions, increases in grain yields have been declining Inefficient management of agricultural land may cause deviations of actual from potential crop yields: the yield gap. At the global scale little information is available on the spatial distribution of agricultural yield gaps and the potential for agricultural intensification. Actual yield is mostly lower than potential yield due to inefficient management and technological that difference between these yields is considered as yield gap. Understanding of relative share of every management factors in yield gap could be as one of the important keys to reduce gap and close actual yield to potential yield. Materials and Methods In order to evaluate the amount of wheat yield gap and also relative share of management and technological variables in yield gap, frontier production function was used which is a multi-variable regression. The frontier production function to be estimated is a Cobb-Douglas function as proposed by Coelli et al. (2005. Cobb-Douglas functions are extensively used in agricultural production studies to explain returns to scale. We propose a methodology to explain the spatial variation of the potential for intensification and identifying the nature of the constraints for further

Who Wins the Olympic Games: Economic Development and Medal Totals

OpenAIRE

Andrew B. Bernard; Meghan R. Busse

2000-01-01

This paper examines determinants of Olympic success at the country level. Does the U.S. win its fair share of Olympic medals? Why does China win 6% of the medals even though it has 1/5 of the world's population? We consider the role of population and economic development in determining medal totals from 1960-1996. We also provide out of sample predictions for the 2000 Olympics in Sydney.

Achieving ecological restoration by working with local people: a Chinese scholar seeks win-win paths

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Heran Zheng

2014-09-01

Full Text Available Environmental degradation and poverty are linked, and this means that conservation and poverty reduction must be tackled together. However, finding a successful integrated strategy has been an elusive goal. We describe the career of a Chinese scholar, Shixiong Cao, whose persistent efforts to find and follow win-win paths have led to ecological restoration accompanied by long-term benefits for local residents. Cao's story illustrates how development that combines environmental and economic perspectives can both help people to escape the poverty trap and restore degraded environments. His experience demonstrates that when environmental managers find solutions that can mitigate or eliminate poverty through the development of green enterprises, they can combine them with environmental restoration efforts to produce long-term sustainable solutions. In this paper, we share Cao's 28 years of experience because we believe that his scientific and practical spirit, and his belief that it is necessary to work directly with the people affected by environmental projects, will inspire other scholars and practitioners to achieve similar successes.

Playing the gender card: winning the hearts and minds of the female demographic

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Brissette, S. [Bruce Power, Tiverton, Ontario (Canada)

2006-07-01

To meet future growth potential, the nuclear industry will have to compete to attract the best and brightest by positioning itself as a viable career choice for women and men of diverse backgrounds considering careers in business, engineering, sciences and the trades. This presentation will showcase the innovative work being undertaken by the Canadian chapter of Women in Nuclear (WiN). Learn more about WiN-Canada's partnership with the CNS aimed at engaging in a dialogue with women opinion leaders in Ontario, the successful international conference hosted by WiN-Canada, the efforts at recognizing and promoting the role of women in our industry with the media, and the results of recent groundbreaking WiN Canada survey on what makes nuclear an appealing career to women in our industry, and what barriers must be overcome to continue to attract women to a career in nuclear in the future. (author)

Potential well yields from unconsolidated deposits in the lower Hudson and Delaware River basins, New York

Science.gov (United States)

Wolcott, Stephen W.

1987-01-01

A comprehensive groundwater protection plan, developed by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation in 1985, identified the need to delineate significant aquifers within the state. A map of the unconsolidated aquifers in the lower Hudson and Delaware River basins was compiled from available data on the surficial geology and well yields. It delineates the significant unconsolidated aquifers and indicates the potential yield of wells that tap these aquifers. The potential well yield is categorized into three ranges: 100 gal/min. No yield range is given for till, but some large diameter or dug wells in till may yield up 10 gal/min. (Lantz-PTT)

Losses Disguised as Wins Affect Game Selection on Multiline Slots.

Science.gov (United States)

Graydon, Candice; Stange, Madison; Dixon, Mike J

2018-05-05

Multiline slots are exciting games that contain features which make them alluring. One such feature is a loss disguised as a win (LDW); wherein, players win less than they wager (e.g., bet 2 dollars, win back 50 cents), but this net loss is disguised by flashing graphics and winning sounds. Research to date concludes that LDWs are both rewarding and reinforcing. Here, we investigated whether LDWs affect players' game selection. Thirty-two undergraduate students with experience playing slot machines played 100 spins on four games-two had positive payback percentages (115%) and two had negative payback percentages (85%) after 100 spins. For each payback percentage condition, there was a game with no LDWs and a game with a moderate number of LDWs. For the 100 spins, players could choose to play whichever game they wished. They then rated their preference for each game following the 100-spins and chose a game to continue playing. The majority of players preferred playing the positive payback percentage game with LDWs and chose to continue playing this game over the three other games. We conclude that in addition to LDWs being reinforcing and rewarding, LDWs do in fact influence game selection. We conclude that responsible gambling initiatives should educate players about LDWs.

Connes' embedding problem and winning strategies for quantum XOR games

Science.gov (United States)

Harris, Samuel J.

2017-12-01

We consider quantum XOR games, defined in the work of Regev and Vidick [ACM Trans. Comput. Theory 7, 43 (2015)], from the perspective of unitary correlations defined in the work of Harris and Paulsen [Integr. Equations Oper. Theory 89, 125 (2017)]. We show that the winning bias of a quantum XOR game in the tensor product model (respectively, the commuting model) is equal to the norm of its associated linear functional on the unitary correlation set from the appropriate model. We show that Connes' embedding problem has a positive answer if and only if every quantum XOR game has entanglement bias equal to the commuting bias. In particular, the embedding problem is equivalent to determining whether every quantum XOR game G with a winning strategy in the commuting model also has a winning strategy in the approximate finite-dimensional model.

Economics and yields of energy plantations: Status and potential, 1992-1993 update

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gambles, R.L.; Kenney, W.A.

1994-01-01

An update is presented of a study carried out to: determine the factors affecting the cost of energy conversion feedstocks in short rotation intensive culture plantations of trees; determine the factors influencing biomass yield; identify interrelationships between the previous two objectives; present estimates of potential biomass yields and associated economics; and to identify gaps in the knowledge of the economics and yields of biomass production and their interrelationships. Developments in economics and yields in short rotation intensive silviculture for the production of biomass energy since 1991 are documented. The most substantial changes have been: the introduction of new clones in Sweden with a 20% increase in yield; illustrating the potential genetic gains achievable through selection and breeding; and halving of harvesting costs with new machinery. Harvesting costs with chipping incorporated have fallen to $51.21/dry tonne. The twin row ESM and Frobbester harvesters have lower estimated costs of $36.62 and $ 33.69 respectively. Agricultural based machines have further reduced costs to $19.42 and $26.12/dry tonne. Using these new data, three new scenarios were developed for cost of production analysis, using contract labour, farm labour or farm labour plus a subsidy. A contracted operation is now viable with an annual equivalent net value (AENV) of $35/ha. With the use of farm labour for most operations and omitting land rent, profitability increased to $127/ha. With a subsidy of $75/ha, the AENV increases to $205/ha. 25 refs., 1 fig., 3 tabs

Winning strategies for pseudo-telepathy games using single non-local box

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kunkri, S.; Kar, G.; Ghosh, S.; Roy, A.

2006-12-01

Using a single NL-box, a winning strategy is given for the impossible colouring pseudo-telepathy game for the set of vectors having Kochen-Specker property in four dimension. A sufficient condition given regarding the structure of the impossible colouring pseudo-telepathy game for general d-dimension. A winning strategy for this game is then described with single use of NL-box. (author)

WIN 55,212-2 Inhibits the Epithelial Mesenchymal Transition of Gastric Cancer Cells via COX-2 Signals

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Xiangshu Xian

2016-11-01

Full Text Available Background: Cannabinoids (the active components of Cannabis sativa and their derivatives have received considerable interest due to reports that they can affect the tumor growth, migration, and metastasis. Previous studies showed that the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55,212-2 (WIN was associated with gastric cancer (GC metastasis, but the mechanisms were unknown. Methods: The effects of WIN on GC cell migration and invasion were analyzed by the wound-healing assay and Transwell assay. Quantitative real-time PCR and Western blot were used to evaluate changes in expression of COX-2 and EMT associated markers in SGC7901 and AGS cells. Results: WIN inhibited cell migration, invasion, and epithelial to mesenchymal transition (EMT in GC. WIN treatment resulted in the downregulation of cyclooxygenase-2 (COX-2 expression and decreased the phosphorylation of AKT, and inhibited EMT in SGC7901 cells. Decreased expression of COX-2 and vimentin, and increased expression of E-cadherin, which was induced by WIN, were normalized by overexpression of AKT, suggesting that AKT mediated, at least partially, the WIN suppressed EMT of GC cells. Conclusion: WIN can inhibit the EMT of GC cells through the downregulation of COX-2.

Green transportation logistics: the quest for win-win solutions

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

measures and speed and route optimization; Sulphur emissions; Lifecycle emissions; Green rail transportation; Green air transportation; Green inland navigation and possible areas for further research. Throughout, the book pursues the goal of “win-win” solutions and analyzes the phenomenon of “push......This book examines the state of the art in green transportation logistics from the perspective of balancing environmental performance in the transportation supply chain while also satisfying traditional economic performance criteria. Part of the book is drawn from the recently completed European...... Union project Super Green, a three-year project intended to promote the development of European freight corridors in an environmentally friendly manner. Additional chapters cover both the methodological base and the application context of green transportation logistics. Individual chapters look...

The Sport League's Dilemma: Competitive Balance versus Incentives to Win.

OpenAIRE

Frederic Palomino and Luca Rigotti.

2000-01-01

We analyze a dynamic model of strategic interaction between a professional sport league that organizes a tournament, the teams competing to win it, and the broadcasters paying for the rights to televise it. Teams and broadcasters maximize expected profits, while the league's objective may be either to maximize the demand for the sport or to maximize the teams' joint profits. Demand depends positively on symmetry among teams (competitive balance) and how aggressively teams try to win (incentiv...

The Sport League's Dilemma: Competitive Balance versus Incentives to Win

OpenAIRE

Palomino, F.A.; Rigotti, L.

2000-01-01

We analyze a dynamic model of strategic interaction between a professional sport league that organizes a tournament, the teams competing to win it, and the broadcasters paying for the rights to televise it. Teams and broadcasters maximize expected profits, while the league's objective may be either to maximize the demand for the sport or to maximize the teams' joint profits. Demand depends positively on symmetry among teams (competitive balance) and how aggressively teams try to win (incenti...

NETPATH-WIN: an interactive user version of the mass-balance model, NETPATH

Science.gov (United States)

El-Kadi, A. I.; Plummer, Niel; Aggarwal, P.

2011-01-01

NETPATH-WIN is an interactive user version of NETPATH, an inverse geochemical modeling code used to find mass-balance reaction models that are consistent with the observed chemical and isotopic composition of waters from aquatic systems. NETPATH-WIN was constructed to migrate NETPATH applications into the Microsoft WINDOWS® environment. The new version facilitates model utilization by eliminating difficulties in data preparation and results analysis of the DOS version of NETPATH, while preserving all of the capabilities of the original version. Through example applications, the note describes some of the features of NETPATH-WIN as applied to adjustment of radiocarbon data for geochemical reactions in groundwater systems.

Windows Calorimeter Control (WinCal) system configuration control board (SCCB) operating procedure

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Westsik, G.A.

1997-01-01

This document describes the operating procedure for the System Configuration Control Board (SCCB) performed in support of the Windows Calorimeter Control (WinCal) system. This board will consist of representatives from Babcock and Wilcox Hanford Company Babcock and Wilcox Protec, Inc.; and Lockheed Martin Services, Inc. In accordance with agreements for the joint use of the Babcock and Wilcox Hanford Company calorimeters located in the Hanford Site Plutonium Finishing Plant (PFP) Nondestructive Assay Laboratory, concurrence regarding changes to the WinCal system will be obtained from the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). Further, changes to the WinCal software will be communicated to Los Alamos National Laboratory

Relationship between team assists and win-loss record in The National Basketball Association.

Science.gov (United States)

Melnick, M J

2001-04-01

Using research methodology for analysis of secondary data, statistical data for five National Basketball Association (NBA) seasons (1993-1994 to 1997-1998) were examined to test for a relationship between team assists (a behavioral measure of teamwork) and win-loss record. Rank-difference correlation indicated a significant relationship between the two variables, the coefficients ranging from .42 to .71. Team assist totals produced higher correlations with win-loss record than assist totals for the five players receiving the most playing time ("the starters"). A comparison of "assisted team points" and "unassisted team points" in relationship to win-loss record favored the former and strongly suggested that how a basketball team scores points is more important than the number of points it scores. These findings provide circumstantial support for the popular dictum in competitive team sports that "Teamwork Means Success-Work Together, Win Together."

Carry on winning: the gamblers' fallacy creates hot hand effects in online gambling.

Science.gov (United States)

Xu, Juemin; Harvey, Nigel

2014-05-01

People suffering from the hot-hand fallacy unreasonably expect winning streaks to continue whereas those suffering from the gamblers' fallacy unreasonably expect losing streaks to reverse. We took 565,915 sports bets made by 776 online gamblers in 2010 and analyzed all winning and losing streaks up to a maximum length of six. People who won were more likely to win again (apparently because they chose safer odds than before) whereas those who lost were more likely to lose again (apparently because they chose riskier odds than before). However, selection of safer odds after winning and riskier ones after losing indicates that online sports gamblers expected their luck to reverse: they suffered from the gamblers' fallacy. By believing in the gamblers' fallacy, they created their own hot hands. Copyright © 2014 The Authors. Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Yield potential of a radiation induced early-dwarf mutant in linseed

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Nayar, G.G.

1975-01-01

An early maturing dwarf mutant, TL-1 was isolated in the high yielding linseed (Linum usitatissimum L.) wariety Neelum following seed irradiation with 50 kR gamma rays. The yield components of the mutant have been evaluated for its productivity in the M 7 generation. TL-1 is compact and significantly short in height (41.8 +- 2.71 cm) as compared to Neelum (79.2 +- 3.08 cm). In flowering the mutant is 30 days earlier than the parent under Trombay conditions. TL-1 and Neelum did not differ significantly in their mean number of primary branches. Although the mean seed yield per plant is lower, in 1000 seed weight the mutant is markedly superior to the parent. The oil content in TL-1 is significantly higher by 3.5 percent points than Neelum and its oil is lighter in colour. By growing more plants per unit area with reduced spacing, the yield potential of TL-1 was considerably increased. The productivity of oil per hectare per day of TL-1 was higher than Neelum. (author)

Striatal connectivity changes following gambling wins and near-misses: Associations with gambling severity

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Holst, R.J. van; Chase, H.W.; Clark, L.

2014-01-01

Frontostriatal circuitry is implicated in the cognitive distortions associated with gambling behaviour. 'Near-miss' events, where unsuccessful outcomes are proximal to a jackpot win, recruit overlapping neural circuitry with actual monetary wins. Personal control over a gamble (e.g., via choice) is

Anthropogenic contamination of a phreatic drinking water winning: 3-dimensional reactive transport modelling

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Griffioen, J.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/091129265; van der Grift, B.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/373433484; Maas, D.; van den Brink, C.|info:eu-repo/dai/nl/187443416; Zaadnoordijk, J. W.

2003-01-01

Groundwater is contaminated at the regional scale by agricultural activities and atmospheric deposition. A 3-D transport model was set-up for a phreatic drinking water winning, where the groundwater composition was monitored accurately. The winning is situated at an area with unconsolidated

Hydrograph sensitivity to estimates of map impervious cover: a WinHSPF BASINS case study

Science.gov (United States)

Endreny, Theodore A.; Somerlot, Christopher; Hassett, James M.

2003-04-01

The BASINS geographic information system hydrologic toolkit was designed to compute total maximum daily loads, which are often derived by combining water quantity estimates with pollutant concentration estimates. In this paper the BASINS toolkit PLOAD and WinHSPF sub-models are briefly described, and then a 0·45 km2 headwater watershed in the New York Croton River area is used for a case study illustrating a full WinHSPF implementation. The goal of the Croton study was to determine the sensitivity of WinHSPF hydrographs to changes in land cover map inputs. This scenario occurs when scaling the WinHSPF model from the smaller 0·45 km2 watershed to the larger 1000 km2 management basin of the entire Croton area. Methods used to test model sensitivity include first calibrating the WinHSPF hydrograph using research-monitored precipitation and discharge data together with high spatial resolution and accuracy land cover data of impervious and pervious areas, and then swapping three separate land cover files, known as GIRAS, MRLC, and DOQQ data, into the calibrated model. Research results indicated that the WinHSPF land cover swapping had peak flow sensitivity in December 2001 hydrographs between 35% underestimation and 20% overestimation, and that errors in land-cover-derived runoff ratios for storm totals and peak flows tracked with the land cover data estimates of impervious area.

RSAC 6.2 with WinRP 2.0 User Manual

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bradley Schrader

2005-09-01

The Radiological Safety Analysis Computer Program (RSAC-6.2) calculates the consequences of a release of radionuclides to the atmosphere. Using a personal computer, a user can generate a fission product inventory from either reactor operating history or a nuclear criticality accident. RSAC-6.2 models the effects of high-efficiency particulate air filters or other cleanup systems and calculates decay and ingrowth during transport through processes, facilities, and the environment. Doses are calculated for resuspension, inhalation, immersion, ground surface, and ingestion pathways. WinRP 2.0, a windows based overlay to RSAC-6.2, assists users in creating and running RSAC-6.2 input files. This users manual contains the mathematical models and operating instructions for RSAC-6.2 and WinRP 2.0. Instructions, screens, and examples are provided to guide the user through the functions provided by RSAC-6.2 and WinRP 2.0. These programs are designed for users who are familiar with radiological dose assessment methods.

Improvement of information on the nuclear energy health effects, the aim of win Slovakia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Petrasova, M.; Nikodemova, D.

1998-01-01

International organisation WIN Global and national organisation WIN Slovakia which as a section of Slovak Nuclear Society, offer unique opportunities for the improvement of radiation risk communication. WIN Global was established in 1993 and currently has about 600 members in 39 countries. WIN Slovakia was established in the end of 1997 and has 20 members. WIN Slovakia is the association of women working professionally in the fields of nuclear energy and application of radiation and willing to devote time to public information. Members of WIN Slovakia all have one thing in common: They want the general public to have a better understanding of nuclear and radiation matter. The members of WIN Slovakia would like and plane to make presentations, discuss and give information material on subjects as: energy and sustainable development; radiation, radioactivity, and health effects; medical applications, radiation protection; nuclear energy, uranium mining; nuclear power plants and their safety; radioactive waste; nuclear and environment; natural radiation, radon. In 1996-1997 a comparative risk perception study was carried out in Slovak Republic. Real data were collected through the administration of a questionnaires distributed among a group of 14-17 years old children (N 1 = 308) and teenagers (N 2 = 150). The list of 44 items covered a wide range of risks and hazards, including risks from technology (nuclear power plants, water-dams etc.) pollution (air-, water-, soil, waste management) nature (floods, fire, etc.), life style (smoking, drugs, alcohol abuse) and society (crime, conflicts, war, terror etc.). The questionnaire contains the questions about the sources of risk information. The topic of the study was the self assessment of the knowledge on particular risks too. The results were summarised

Win Market by Brand

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

FENG Zhende

2002-01-01

Brand is symbol of product quality and strength of enterprise. As a typical culture in market economy, it has great influences in everyday life. Famous brands attract purchasing, which prospers enterprise. After China' s entry to WTO, Chinese economy has turned into a new page.As the world manufacturing base, China is to win international market with its own brands. Chunsheng Refractory Ltd., which specialized in quality silica bricks, has grown in size and strength. And our experiences proved how important the brand is for an enterprise.

Predicting spring barley yield from variety-specific yield potential, disease resistance and straw length, and from environment-specific disease loads and weed pressure

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Østergård, Hanne; Kristensen, Kristian; Pinnschmidt, Hans O.

2008-01-01

For low-input crop production, well-characterised varieties increase the possibilities of managing diseases and weeds. This analysis aims at developing a framework for analyzing grain yield using external varietal information about disease resistance, weed competitiveness and yield potential and ...... growth habit. Higher grain yield was thus predicted for taller plants under weed pressure. The results are discussed in relation to the model framework, impact of the considered traits and use of information from conventional variety testing in organic cropping systems....

Does a Least-Preferred Candidate Win a Seat? A Comparison of Three Electoral Systems

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yoichi Hizen

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this paper, the differences between two variations of proportional representation (PR, open-list PR and closed-list PR, are analyzed in terms of their ability to accurately reflect voter preference. The single nontransferable vote (SNTV is also included in the comparison as a benchmark. We construct a model of voting equilibria with a candidate who is least preferred by voters in the sense that replacing the least-preferred candidate in the set of winners with any loser is Pareto improving, and our focus is on whether the least-preferred candidate wins under each electoral system. We demonstrate that the least-preferred candidate never wins under the SNTV, but can win under open-list PR, although this is less likely than winning under closed-list PR.

Improving working equine welfare in 'hard-win' situations, where gains are difficult, expensive or marginal.

Science.gov (United States)

Pritchard, Joy; Upjohn, Melissa; Hirson, Tamsin

2018-01-01

Brooke is a non-government organisation with working equine welfare programmes across Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2014, staff from ten country programmes were asked to identify 'no-win' situations (subsequently reframed as 'hard-wins')-where improving equine welfare is proving difficult, expensive and/or marginal-in order to inform strategic decisions on how to approach, manage and mitigate for such situations. The Delphi-type consultation process had three phases. Round 1 posed five questions in the form of a workshop, survey and semi-structured interviews. Round 2 re-presented key themes and sense-checked initial conclusions. Round 3 reviewed the nature and prevalence of hard-win situations at an international meeting of all participants. Reasons given for hard-win situations included: no economic or social benefit from caring for working animals; poor resource availability; lack of empathy for working equids or their owners among wider stakeholders; deep-seated social issues, such as addiction or illegal working; areas with a high animal turnover or migratory human population; lack of community cooperation or cohesion; unsafe areas where welfare interventions cannot be adequately supported. Participants estimated the prevalence of hard-win situations as 40-70% of their work. They suggested some current ways of working that may be contributing to the problem, and opportunities to tackle hard-wins more effectively. Respondents agreed that if equine welfare improvements are to span generations of animals, interventions cannot rely on relatively simple, technical knowledge-transfer strategies and quick-wins alone. Programmes need to be more flexible and iterative and less risk-averse in their approaches to embedding good equine welfare practices in all relevant actors. Consultation recommendations informed development of Brooke's new global strategy, a revised organisational structure and redefinition of roles and responsibilities to streamline ways to

Cartilage Protective and Chondrogenic Capacity of WIN-34B, a New Herbal Agent, in the Collagenase-Induced Osteoarthritis Rabbit Model and in Progenitor Cells from Subchondral Bone

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jeong-Eun Huh

2013-01-01

Full Text Available We sought to determine the cartilage repair capacity of WIN-34B in the collagenase-induced osteoarthritis rabbit model and in progenitor cells from subchondral bone. The cartilage protective effect of WIN-34B was measured by clinical and histological scores, cartilage area, and proteoglycan and collagen contents in the collagenase-induced osteoarthritis rabbit model. The efficacy of chondrogenic differentiation of WIN-34B was assessed by expression of CD105, CD73, type II collagen, and aggrecan in vivo and was analyzed by the surface markers of progenitor cells, the mRNA levels of chondrogenic marker genes, and the level of proteoglycan, GAG, and type II collagen in vitro. Oral administration of WIN-34B significantly increased cartilage area, and this was associated with the recovery of proteoglycan and collagen content. Moreover, WIN-34B at 200 mg/kg significantly increased the expression of CD105, CD73, type II collagen, and aggrecan compared to the vehicle group. WIN-34B markedly enhanced the chondrogenic differentiation of CD105 and type II collagen in the progenitor cells from subchondral bone. Also, we confirmed that treatment with WIN-34B strongly increased the number of SH-2(CD105 cells and expression type II collagen in subchondral progenitor cells. Moreover, WIN-34B significantly increased proteoglycan, as measured by alcian blue staining; the mRNA level of type II α1 collagen, cartilage link protein, and aggrecan; and the inhibition of cartilage matrix molecules, such as GAG and type II collagen, in IL-1β-treated progenitor cells. These findings suggest that WIN-34B could be a potential candidate for effective anti-osteoarthritic therapy with cartilage repair as well as cartilage protection via enhancement of chondrogenic differentiation in the collagenase-induced osteoarthritis rabbit model and progenitor cells from subchondral bone.

WiN Argentina: Re Launch of National Chapter and New Activities

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Sayan, J.; Gervasoni, J.; Cantargi, F.; Cintas, A.; Garea, V.

2015-01-01

Women of the Argentinian Nuclear Sector have shared WiN Global’s vision since its birth in 1992. Many have become active members and participated in its Annual Conferences, by presenting papers or country reports (Sweden, 1995 and Russia 1996, Taiwan 1998). Due to several drastic changes in the Sector, such as projects cancellations and reduction of personnel, occurred during the late 1990’s, the National Chapter reduced its activities. Thanks to the restless work of its founder, Dr. Maela Viirsoo, and a group of new Members, the Chapter has been recently re-launched at the 40th Annual Meeting of the Argentinian Nuclear Technology Association (AATN) and new adherents have represented the country in last year’s WiN Global Annual Conference held in Australia. In this presentation, we will show our new membership and governing structure in order to fulfill the WiN Charter’s obligations and WiN Global “Rules and Procedures”. We will also present the planned activities to promote the benefits of nuclear technologies from women’s perspective. Professional women working in several nuclear fields, such as: science and technology, health, cultural, educational and social will improve the community perception towards nuclear technology by organizing lectures, exchanging ideas and stimulating joint initiatives in the educational local system. (author)

Bird communities and biomass yields in potential bioenergy grasslands.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Peter J Blank

Full Text Available Demand for bioenergy is increasing, but the ecological consequences of bioenergy crop production on working lands remain unresolved. Corn is currently a dominant bioenergy crop, but perennial grasslands could produce renewable bioenergy resources and enhance biodiversity. Grassland bird populations have declined in recent decades and may particularly benefit from perennial grasslands grown for bioenergy. We asked how breeding bird community assemblages, vegetation characteristics, and biomass yields varied among three types of potential bioenergy grassland fields (grass monocultures, grass-dominated fields, and forb-dominated fields, and assessed tradeoffs between grassland biomass production and bird habitat. We also compared the bird communities in grassland fields to nearby cornfields. Cornfields had few birds compared to perennial grassland fields. Ten bird Species of Greatest Conservation Need (SGCN were observed in perennial grassland fields. Bird species richness and total bird density increased with forb cover and were greater in forb-dominated fields than grass monocultures. SGCN density declined with increasing vertical vegetation density, indicating that tall, dense grassland fields managed for maximum biomass yield would be of lesser value to imperiled grassland bird species. The proportion of grassland habitat within 1 km of study sites was positively associated with bird species richness and the density of total birds and SGCNs, suggesting that grassland bioenergy fields may be more beneficial for grassland birds if they are established near other grassland parcels. Predicted total bird density peaked below maximum biomass yields and predicted SGCN density was negatively related to biomass yields. Our results indicate that perennial grassland fields could produce bioenergy feedstocks while providing bird habitat. Bioenergy grasslands promote agricultural multifunctionality and conservation of biodiversity in working landscapes.

26 CFR 31.3402(q)-1 - Extension of withholding to certain gambling winnings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 15 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Extension of withholding to certain gambling... to certain gambling winnings. (a)(1) General rule. Every person, including the Government of the.... With respect to reporting requirements for certain payments of gambling winnings not subject to...

Meeting the global food demand of the future by engineering crop photosynthesis and yield potential.

Science.gov (United States)

Long, Stephen P; Marshall-Colon, Amy; Zhu, Xin-Guang

2015-03-26

Increase in demand for our primary foodstuffs is outstripping increase in yields, an expanding gap that indicates large potential food shortages by mid-century. This comes at a time when yield improvements are slowing or stagnating as the approaches of the Green Revolution reach their biological limits. Photosynthesis, which has been improved little in crops and falls far short of its biological limit, emerges as the key remaining route to increase the genetic yield potential of our major crops. Thus, there is a timely need to accelerate our understanding of the photosynthetic process in crops to allow informed and guided improvements via in-silico-assisted genetic engineering. Potential and emerging approaches to improving crop photosynthetic efficiency are discussed, and the new tools needed to realize these changes are presented. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

A short proof that the Coulomb-gauge potentials yield the retarded fields

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Heras, Jose A, E-mail: herasgomez@gmail.co [Universidad Autonoma Metropolitana, Unidad Azcapotzalco, Av. San Pablo No. 180, Col. Reynosa, Mexico D. F. 02200 (Mexico)

2011-01-15

A short demonstration that the potentials in the Coulomb gauge yield the retarded electric and magnetic fields is presented. This demonstration is relatively simple and can be presented in an advanced undergraduate course of electromagnetic theory.

A short proof that the Coulomb-gauge potentials yield the retarded fields

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Heras, Jose A

2011-01-01

A short demonstration that the potentials in the Coulomb gauge yield the retarded electric and magnetic fields is presented. This demonstration is relatively simple and can be presented in an advanced undergraduate course of electromagnetic theory.

Problem gamblers are hyposensitive to wins: an analysis of skin conductance responses during actual gambling on electronic gaming machines.

Science.gov (United States)

Lole, Lisa; Gonsalvez, Craig J; Barry, Robert J; Blaszczynski, Alex

2014-06-01

Physiological arousal is purportedly a key determinant in the development and maintenance of gambling behaviors, with problem gambling conceptualized in terms of abnormal autonomic responses. Theoretical conceptualizations of problem gambling are discordant regarding the nature of deficit in this disorder; some accounts posit that problem gamblers are hypersensitive to reward, and others that they are hyposensitive to reward and/or punishment. Previous research examining phasic electrodermal responses in gamblers has been limited to laboratory settings, and reactions to real gaming situations need to be examined. Skin conductance responses (SCRs) to losses, wins, and losses disguised as wins (LDWs) were recorded from 15 problem gamblers (PGs) and 15 nonproblem gamblers (NPGs) while they wagered their own money during electronic gaming machine play. PGs demonstrated significantly reduced SCRs to reward. SCRs to losses and LDWs did not differ for either PGs or NPGs. This hyposensitivity to wins may reflect abnormalities in incentive processing, and may represent a potential biological marker for problem gambling. Copyright © 2014 Society for Psychophysiological Research.

Faking or Convincing: Why Do Some Advertising Campaigns Win Creativity Awards?

OpenAIRE

Raoul V. Kübler; Dennis Proppe

2012-01-01

Since the Sarbanes-Oxley Act was passed in 2002, it has become commonplace in the advertising industry to use creativity-award-show prizes instead of gross income figures to attract new customers. Therefore, achieving a top creativity ranking and winning creativity awards have become high priorities in the advertising industry. Agencies and marketers have always wondered what elements in the advertising creation process would lead to the winning of creativity awards. Although this debate has ...

DIFFERENCES IN GAME STATISTICS BETWEEN WINNING AND LOSING RUGBY TEAMS IN THE SIX NATIONS TOURNAMENT

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

José M. Palao

2009-12-01

Full Text Available The objective of the present study was to analyze the differences in rugby game statistics between winning and losing teams. The data from 58 games of round robin play from the Six Nations tournament from the 2003-2006 seasons were analyzed. The groups of variables studied were: number of points scored, way in which the points were scored; way teams obtained the ball and how the team used it; and technical and tactical aspects of the game. A univariate (t-test and multivariate (discriminant analysis of data was done. Winning teams had average values that were significantly higher in points scored, conversions, successful drops, mauls won, line breaks, possessions kicked, tackles completed, and turnovers won. Losing teams had significantly higher averages for the variables scrums lost and line-outs lost. The results showed that: a in the phases of obtaining the ball and more specifically in scrummage and line-out, winning teams lose fewer balls than losing teams (winning teams have an efficacy of 90% in both actions; b the winning team tends to play more with their feet when they obtain the ball, to utilize the maul as a way of attacking, and to break the defensive line more often than the losing team does; and c On defence, winning teams recovered more balls and completed more tackles than losing teams, and the percentage of tackles completed by winning teams was 94%. The value presented could be used as a reference for practice and competition in peak performance teams

Effects of land cover change on moisture availability and potential crop yield in the world’s breadbaskets

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Bagley, Justin E; Desai, Ankur R; Dirmeyer, Paul A; Foley, Jonathan A

2012-01-01

The majority of the world’s food production capability is inextricably tied to global precipitation patterns. Changes in moisture availability—whether from changes in climate from anthropogenic greenhouse gas emissions or those induced by land cover change (LCC)—can have profound impacts on food production. In this study, we examined the patterns of evaporative sources that contribute to moisture availability over five major global food producing regions (breadbaskets), and the potential for land cover change to influence these moisture sources by altering surface evapotranspiration. For a range of LCC scenarios we estimated the impact of altered surface fluxes on crop moisture availability and potential yield using a simplified linear hydrologic model and a state-of-the-art ecosystem and crop model. All the breadbasket regions were found to be susceptible to reductions in moisture owing to perturbations in evaporative source (ES) from LCC, with reductions in moisture availability ranging from 7 to 17% leading to potential crop yield reductions of 1–17%, which are magnitudes comparable to the changes anticipated with greenhouse warming. The sensitivity of these reductions in potential crop yield to varying magnitudes of LCC was not consistent among regions. Two variables explained most of these differences: the first was the magnitude of the potential moisture availability change, with regions exhibiting greater reductions in moisture availability also tending to exhibit greater changes in potential yield; the second was the soil moisture within crop root zones. Regions with mean growing season soil moisture fractions of saturation >0.5 typically had reduced impacts on potential crop yield. Our results indicate the existence of LCC thresholds that have the capability to create moisture shortages adversely affecting crop yields in major food producing regions, which could lead to future food supply disruptions in the absence of increased irrigation or other

Potential yields of wells in unconsolidated aquifers in upstate New York-- Niagara sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Miller, Todd S.

1988-01-01

This map depicts the locations and potential well yields of unconsolidated aquifers in western New York at a scale of 1:250 ,000. It also delineates segments of aquifers that are used for public water supplies and designated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as ' Primary Water Supply Aquifers. ' The map also lists published reports that give detailed information on each area. Most aquifers were deposited in low areas, such as valleys and plains, during deglaciation of the region. Thick, permeable, well-sorted sand and gravel units yield large quantities of water - more than 100 gal/min - to properly constructed wells. Thin sand units and sand and gravel units and thicker gravel units that have a large content of silt and fine sand yield moderate amounts of water, 10 to 100 gal/min. Dug wells that tap till or lacustrine deposits yield less than 5 gal/min. Well yields from bedrock are not indicated. (USGS)

CERN exhibition wins yet another design prize

CERN Multimedia

Joannah Caborn Wengler

2012-01-01

The “Universe of Particles” exhibition in CERN’s Globe wins the silver design prize from the German direct business communications association FAMAB.   Not only do tens of thousands of people visit the “Universe of Particles” exhibition each year, but juries for design prizes are crossing its threshold more and more frequently too. In 2011 alone it claimed 8 awards, including winning outright the 2011 Annual Multimedia award, the iF Communication Design for Corporate Architecture award and the Modern Decoration Media award (the Bulletin already reported on some of these in July 2011). The FAMAB award is the latest to join the prestigious list. The jury of FAMAB’s “ADAM 2011” award was particularly impressed by the hands-on nature of the exhibition, which encourages visitors to get interested in science. They also appreciated the way that the space in the Globe is not just a container for the exhibits, but itself ...

Improving working equine welfare in 'hard-win' situations, where gains are difficult, expensive or marginal.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joy Pritchard

Full Text Available Brooke is a non-government organisation with working equine welfare programmes across Africa, Asia and Latin America. In 2014, staff from ten country programmes were asked to identify 'no-win' situations (subsequently reframed as 'hard-wins'-where improving equine welfare is proving difficult, expensive and/or marginal-in order to inform strategic decisions on how to approach, manage and mitigate for such situations.The Delphi-type consultation process had three phases. Round 1 posed five questions in the form of a workshop, survey and semi-structured interviews. Round 2 re-presented key themes and sense-checked initial conclusions. Round 3 reviewed the nature and prevalence of hard-win situations at an international meeting of all participants.Reasons given for hard-win situations included: no economic or social benefit from caring for working animals; poor resource availability; lack of empathy for working equids or their owners among wider stakeholders; deep-seated social issues, such as addiction or illegal working; areas with a high animal turnover or migratory human population; lack of community cooperation or cohesion; unsafe areas where welfare interventions cannot be adequately supported. Participants estimated the prevalence of hard-win situations as 40-70% of their work. They suggested some current ways of working that may be contributing to the problem, and opportunities to tackle hard-wins more effectively.Respondents agreed that if equine welfare improvements are to span generations of animals, interventions cannot rely on relatively simple, technical knowledge-transfer strategies and quick-wins alone. Programmes need to be more flexible and iterative and less risk-averse in their approaches to embedding good equine welfare practices in all relevant actors. Consultation recommendations informed development of Brooke's new global strategy, a revised organisational structure and redefinition of roles and responsibilities to

Bayesian Analysis for Penalized Spline Regression Using WinBUGS

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ciprian M. Crainiceanu

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Penalized splines can be viewed as BLUPs in a mixed model framework, which allows the use of mixed model software for smoothing. Thus, software originally developed for Bayesian analysis of mixed models can be used for penalized spline regression. Bayesian inference for nonparametric models enjoys the flexibility of nonparametric models and the exact inference provided by the Bayesian inferential machinery. This paper provides a simple, yet comprehensive, set of programs for the implementation of nonparametric Bayesian analysis in WinBUGS. Good mixing properties of the MCMC chains are obtained by using low-rank thin-plate splines, while simulation times per iteration are reduced employing WinBUGS specific computational tricks.

Potential yields of wells in unconsolidated aquifers in upstate New York-- Adirondack sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Bugliosi, Edward F.; Trudell, Ruth A.; Casey, George D.

1988-01-01

This map shows the location and potential well yield from unconsolidated aquifers in the Adirondack region at a 1:250,000 scale. It also delineates segments of aquifers that are heavily used by community water systems and designated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as ' Primary Water Supply ' aquifers and cites published reports that give detailed information on each area. Most aquifers were deposited in low-lying areas such as valleys or plains during deglaciation of the region. Thick, permeable, well-sorted sand and gravel deposits generally yield large quantities of water, greater than 100 gal/min. Thin sand, sand and gravel deposits, or thicker gravel units have a large content of silt and fine sand, yield moderate amounts of water, 10 to 100 gal/min. Wells dug in till and those drilled in bedrock commonly yield less than 10 gal/min. (USGS)

26 CFR 1.6011-3 - Requirement of statement from payees of certain gambling winnings.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... 26 Internal Revenue 13 2010-04-01 2010-04-01 false Requirement of statement from payees of certain gambling winnings. 1.6011-3 Section 1.6011-3 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE SERVICE, DEPARTMENT OF THE... of statement from payees of certain gambling winnings. (a) General rule. Except as provided in...

Winning fights induces hyperaggression via the action of the biogenic amine octopamine in crickets.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Jan Rillich

Full Text Available Winning an agonistic interaction against a conspecific is known to heighten aggressiveness, but the underlying events and mechanism are poorly understood. We quantified the effect of experiencing successive wins on aggression in adult male crickets (Gryllus bimaculatus by staging knockout tournaments and investigated its dependence on biogenic amines by treatment with amine receptor antagonists. For an inter-fight interval of 5 min, fights between winners escalated to higher levels of aggression and lasted significantly longer than the preceding round. This winner effect is transient, and no longer evident for an inter-fight interval of 20 min, indicating that it does not result from selecting individuals that were hyper-aggressive from the outset. A winner effect was also evident in crickets that experienced wins without physical exertion, or that engaged in fights that were interrupted before a win was experienced. Finally, the winner effect was abolished by prior treatment with epinastine, a highly selective octopamine receptor blocker, but not by propranolol, a ß-adrenergic receptor antagonist, nor by yohimbine, an insect tyramine receptor blocker nor by fluphenazine an insect dopamine-receptor blocker. Taken together our study in the cricket indicates that the physical exertion of fighting, together with some rewarding aspect of the actual winning experience, leads to a transient increase in aggressive motivation via activation of the octopaminergic system, the invertebrate equivalent to the adrenergic system of vertebrates.

PR-konsulter och bloggare; en win-win situation? : En studie om PR-konsulters förändrade arbetssätt i och med modebloggarnas framväxt

OpenAIRE

Girell, Cecilia; Kjellström, Sandra

2014-01-01

Abstract Title: PR consultants and bloggers; a win-win situation? -  A study of PR consultants’ new adaptations in the labour market due to the emergence of fashion bloggers.  Authors: Cecilia Girell, Sandra Kjellström Tutor: Ylva Ekström Purpose: With the expansion of the Internet, fashion bloggers have gotten more power. A few companies have understood this powerful and reasonable cheap marketing channel. Despite this, most companies still feel powerless, but what has happened to the wor...

The potential of satellite-observed crop phenology to enhance yield gap assessments in smallholder landscapes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

John M A Duncan

2015-08-01

Full Text Available Many of the undernourished people on the planet obtain their entitlements to food via agricultural-based livelihood strategies, often on underperforming croplands and smallholdings. In this context, expanding cropland extent is not a viable strategy for smallholders to meet their food needs. Therefore, attention must shift to increasing productivity on existing plots and ensuring yield gaps do not widen. Thus, supporting smallholder farmers to sustainably increase the productivity of their lands is one part of a complex solution to realising universal food security. However, the information (e.g. location and causes of cropland underperformance required to support measures to close yield gaps in smallholder landscapes are often not available. This paper reviews the potential of crop phenology, observed from satellites carrying remote sensing sensors, to fill this information gap. It is suggested that on a theoretical level phenological approaches can reveal greater intra-cropland thematic detail, and increase the accuracy of crop extent maps and crop yield estimates. However, on a practical level the spatial mismatch between the resolution at which crop phenology can be estimated from satellite remote sensing data and the scale of yield variability in smallholder croplands inhibits its use in this context. Similarly, the spatial coverage of remote sensing-derived phenology offers potential for integration with ancillary spatial datasets to identify causes of yield gaps. To reflect the complexity of smallholder cropping systems requires ancillary datasets at fine spatial resolutions which, often, are not available. This further precludes the use of crop phenology in attempts to unpick the causes of yield gaps. Research agendas should focus on generating fine spatial resolution crop phenology, either via data fusion or through new sensors (e.g. Sentinel-2 in smallholder croplands. This has potential to transform the applied use of remote sensing

Performance indicators related to points scoring and winning in international rugby sevens.

Science.gov (United States)

Higham, Dean G; Hopkins, Will G; Pyne, David B; Anson, Judith M

2014-05-01

Identification of performance indicators related to scoring points and winning is needed to inform tactical approaches to international rugby sevens competition. The aim of this study was to characterize team performance indicators in international rugby sevens and quantify their relationship with a team's points scored and probability of winning. Performance indicators of each team during 196 matches of the 2011/2012 International Rugby Board Sevens World Series were modeled for their linear relationships with points scored and likelihood of winning within (changes in team values from match to match) and between (differences between team values averaged over all matches) teams. Relationships were evaluated as the change and difference in points and probability of winning associated with a two within- and between-team standard deviations increase in performance indicator values. Inferences about relationships were assessed using a smallest meaningful difference of one point and a 10% probability of a team changing the outcome of a close match. All indicators exhibited high within-team match-to-match variability (intraclass correlation coefficients ranged from 0.00 to 0.23). Excluding indicators representing points-scoring actions or events occurring on average less than once per match, 13 of 17 indicators had substantial clear within-team relationships with points scored and/or likelihood of victory. Relationships between teams were generally similar in magnitude but unclear. Tactics that increase points scoring and likelihood of winning should be based on greater ball possession, fewer rucks, mauls, turnovers, penalties and free kicks, and limited passing. Key pointsSuccessful international rugby sevens teams tend to maintain ball possession; more frequently avoid taking the ball into contact; concede fewer turnovers, penalties and free kicks; retain possession in scrums, rucks and mauls; and limit passing the ball.Selected performance indicators may be used to

Peers and parents: a comparison between neural activation when winning for friends and mothers in adolescence.

Science.gov (United States)

Braams, Barbara R; Crone, Eveline A

2017-03-01

Rewards reliably elicit ventral striatum activity. More recently studies have shown that vicarious rewards elicit similar activation. Ventral striatum responses to rewards for self peak during adolescence. However, it is currently not well understood how ventral striatum responses to vicarious rewards develop. In this study, we test this question using behavioral and fMRI data. A total of 233 participants aged 9-26 years old played a gambling game in the scanner in which they could win or lose money for themselves, their best friend and mother. Participants rated how close they felt to their friend and mother and how much they liked winning for them. These ratings were positively correlated. On the neural level males showed higher responses to winning for a friend, but there were no age differences. In contrast, there was a quadratic effect of age when winning for mother, showing heightened ventral striatum activity in mid-adolescence. Furthermore, there was an interaction between age and sex; for females responses to winning for friends become stronger with age relative to winning for mothers. In conclusion, this study provided evidence for elevated ventral striatum responses for mothers in mid-adolescence, and a shift in ventral striatum responses towards peers in girls. © The Author (2016). Published by Oxford University Press. For Permissions, please email: journals.permissions@oup.com.

Potentials of flora species on the yield of honey in Dakka Forest ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

The study assessed the potentials of flora on the yield of honey in Bali Local Government Area of Taraba State. Floral resources that could accommodate possible apicultural industry have not been examined in the study area. Data on plant species (trees, shrubs and herbaceous plants) utilized by honeybees were obtained ...

EPJ Web of Conferences, Proceedings of the joint meeting QENS/WINS 2014

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frick, B.; Koza, M.M.; Boehm, M.; Mutka, H.

2015-01-01

The 11. QENS (Quasi-Elastic Neutron Scattering) conference and the 6. WINS (Workshop on Inelastic Neutron Spectrometers) were held for the second time together as the joint meeting QENS/WINS 2014. QENS 2014 aims to highlight topical scientific activities in the investigation of the dynamics of matter using quasi-elastic neutron scattering and to envision new applications. In dynamics of matter, matter must be considered in a very broad sense since issues like dynamics of confined matter in nano-porous materials, dynamics of biological systems in relation to function, dynamics of ionic and electrolytes, dynamics of soft matter, liquids, and liquid crystals, are of concern. The aim of the WINS 2014 workshop is to overview recent developments, forthcoming projects and practice of inelastic and quasi-elastic neutron spectrometers. Related issues such as the development of data analysis software, auxiliary devices and outlook for future scientific efforts are also dealt with

23rd WiN Global Annual Conference: Women in Nuclear meet Atoms for Peace. Programme and Abstracts

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2015-01-01

Women in Nuclear (WiN) Global is a worldwide non-profit-making association made up mostly of female professionals working in the various fields of nuclear energy and radiation applications. WiN Global aims to promote understanding and public awareness of the benefits of nuclear and radiation applications through a series of active networks, both national and international. It has approximately 25 000 members from more than 100 countries, organized in national, regional and international chapters. Every year, a chapter of WiN Global organizes the annual conference, which is a unique occasion for the WiN Global community to meet. The 23. WiN Global Annual Conference will highlight the vital role women play in all applications of nuclear science and technology. At the same time, it will provide opportunities for networking, exchanging ideas, technical visits and obtaining the most up-to-date information on the nuclear programmes and facilities around the world as well as on employment opportunities at the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

Prepare for X-Win32 - the new X11 server software for Windows computers

CERN Multimedia

IT Department

2011-01-01

Starnet X-Win32 will replace Exceed as the X11 Server software on Windows computers by February 2012. X11 Server software allows a Windows user to have a graphical user interface on a remote Linux server. This change, initially motivated by a significant change of license conditions for Exceed, brings an easier integration of Windows and Linux logon mechanisms. At the same time, X-Win32 addresses the common use cases while providing a more intuitive configuration interface. CERN Predefined Connections will be available as before. They offer an easy way of starting applications on LXPLUS using PuTTY or starting the KDE, GNOME or ICE window managers. Since X-Win32 is better integrated with SSH and CERN Kerberos compared to Exceed, it is much simpler to set up secure access to Linux services. The decision to choose X-Win32 as the new X11 software resulted from an evaluation that involved various user communities and support teams. More information, including the documented use cases, is available at https://...

Winning and losing: an evolutionary approach to mood disorders and their therapy.

Science.gov (United States)

Sloman, Leon; Sturman, Edward D; Price, John S

2011-06-01

To advance a new evolutionary model that examines the effects of winning and losing on mood and physiological variables. Previous studies have focused on the involuntary defeat strategy in de-escalating conflict. Here, we propose that there also exists an involuntary winning strategy (IWS) that is triggered by success and characterized by euphoria and increased self-confidence. It motivates efforts to challenge, and promotes reconciliation. Previous studies are presented, including data on student athletes, demonstrating the impact of winning and losing on mood. Winning is consistently shown to be related to physiological changes such as increased testosterone and serotonin levels in primates. It reliably leads to mood changes that serve to motivate winners to continue their competitive efforts. When the IWS functions optimally, success leads to success in an adaptive cycle. Over time, the initial differences between the winners and losers of agonistic encounters become magnified in a process known as difference amplification. As a result of assortative mating, the children of people who have entered into an adaptive cycle will inherit traits from both parents that will, in turn, give them an increased competitive advantage. In this manner, difference amplification could have accelerated human evolution by natural selection. Vignettes of clinical interventions are also used to illustrate therapeutic strategies designed to disrupt maladaptive cycles and promote adaptive behaviour.

Assessing potential sustainable wood yield

Science.gov (United States)

Robert F. Powers

2001-01-01

Society is making unprecedented demands on world forests to produce and sustain many values. Chief among them is wood supply, and concerns are rising globally about the ability of forests to meet increasing needs. Assessing this is not easy. It requires a basic understanding of the principles governing forest productivity: how wood yield varies with tree and stand...

Digital image processing in the nuclear field with ImaWin 5.0

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Marajofsky, A.; Trafelati, A.A.; Lavagnino, C.E.

2000-01-01

ImaWin is a software project designed to cover a broad set of applications of Digital Image Processing in the Nuclear Field. Since 1994 the system has evolved in a complete tool that helped to face problems like densitometry calculus, quality control in pellets, deposit administration and surveillance. Neural network kernel and ImaScript scripting language are included within the package. The open and incremental development of ImaWin software has been allowing easy expansion upon a common re-engineering framework. (author)

Winning at Pocker and Games of Chance Winning at Pocker and Games of Chance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Anita Flanders Rebelo

2008-04-01

Full Text Available It's the modern consumer mind - compete to eat, save to the grave, throw to the wind to win! Never the game that's im portant - it's the beer , the fag. . . and if you're broke it's just the "odds" to turn you on. "Socrates didn't play dice games. He drank a lot. And when he was drunk he would go watch the game and give advice. It was because of bad advice that he was eventually sentenced to death. . . Back then it was more fun. Nobody knew anything about odds. It was just put down your money, you toss the dice, you laugh, you take another drink." - to Cassidy,it's knowing the odds that's put everybody on pot. Rack Cassidy's Winning at Poker and Games of Chance lampoons the illogic logic of modern "instructed" man. It is a disturbingly funny caricature of a nonsensical consumer's mind trying to ratio nalize the game of life, and what comes out is "hash" - not meat and potatoes. The book is high philosophical slapstick comedy ila Charlie Chaplin on paper in today's scene. To Cassidy, consumer thinking has made intellectual nitwits of us. We're always ex plaining in detail about what we don't have the slightest real understanding of, but we go on and on like automats spitting out words and words which in the long run make no sense to our__ selves and much less to the other poor broken down human calculat ing machines - especially when we try to give logic to our il/logical vices and fears.

Representations in Award-Winning LGBTQ Young Adult Literature from 2000-2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Jiménez, Laura M

2015-01-01

Lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgendered, and queer (LGBTQ) young adult (YA) literature is increasing in popularity, with novels like Bil Wright's Putting Makeup on the Fat Boy winning the two LGBTQ YA honors--the Lambda Literary and Stonewall Book Awards--as well awards commending their cultural diversity. Despite the upsurge of celebrated LGBTQ YA literature, a study of the protagonists in Lambda- and Stonewall-winning YA novels from 2000-2013 reveals three findings: the dominance of White, gay, male characters contradicts the trend toward strong female protagonists in mainstream YA; stories about lesbians are primarily tragic; and there are no bisexual protagonists.

Simulated potential and water-limited yields of cocoa under different agro-ecological zones in Peninsular Malaysia

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Zabawi, A.G.M.; Gerritsma, W.

2009-01-01

The yield of cocoa under potential and water-limited production levels in different agro-ecological zones was simulated using cocoa model CASE2. For both production levels, the yield was simulated using five years of elirnatic data (1991-1995) and plant data of three-year-old plant. The results

Award-Winning Faculty at a Faith-Based Institution

Science.gov (United States)

Livingston, Jennifer; Jun, Alexander

2011-01-01

Exploring the development of excellent teachers could contribute to the revision of current practices in faculty recruitment, evaluation, workload expectations, and reward systems. This grounded theory study examined the professional careers of nine award-winning faculty members of a faith-based institution of higher education. The data, collected…

Potential limitations for potato yields in raised soil field systems near Lake Titicaca

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lozada Diego Sánchez de

2006-01-01

Full Text Available During the last two decades, various non-governmental organizations have strongly encouraged Bolivian farmers in the Altiplano region near Lake Titicaca to resume the ancestral agricultural practice of constructing raised fields. In addition to improved drainage and possibilities this practice affords for sub-irrigation, advocated benefits of this system traditionally include frost mitigation and high crop yields. Until recently, reliable data to assess the extent of these benefits were unfortunately lacking. In this context, field experiments on raised fields were designed and carried out at two locations in the Bolivian Altiplano to obtain reliable potato yield and temperature data. Observed yields ranged from 2.73 to 10.80 t ha-1 at the first site, where salinity caused significant yield variability (R² = 0.79. At the second site, yields per raised platform varied between 8.25 and 33.45 t ha-1. However, comparable yields were obtained in flat control plots in spite of a mid-season frost, and the minimum temperatures differed only by 1ºC in the conventional plots relative to the raised fields. These results suggest that, under the experimental conditions, the potential benefits of raised fields in terms of frost mitigation or increased yields might only be observable in exceptionally bad years, when extreme frosts wipe out entire potato crops on conventional fields. Nevertheless, it is argued that in spite of these marginally supportive observations, raised-field agriculture may still be a viable option for farmers to consider if the water-filled channels between the raised fields are managed for fish and fertilizer production.

Potential yields of wells in unconsolidated aquifers in upstate New York--Hudson-Mohawk sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Bugliosi, Edward F.; Trudell, Ruth A.; Casey, George D.

1988-01-01

This map shows the location and potential well yields of unconsolidated aquifers in the Hudson-Mohawk region at a scale of 1:250,000. It also delineates segments of aquifers that are heavily used by community water systems and designated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as ' Primary Water Supply ' aquifers, and cites published reports that give detailed information on each area. Most aquifers were deposited in low-lying areas such as valleys or plains during deglaciations of the region. Thick, permeable, well-sorted sand and gravel deposits generally yield large quantities of water, greater than 100 gal/min. Thin sand, sand and gravel deposits, or thicker gravel units that have a large content of silt and fine sand, yield moderate amounts of water, 10 to 100 gal/min. Wells dug in till and those drilled in bedrock commonly yield less than 10 gal/min. (USGS)

Potential yields of wells in unconsolidated aquifers in upstate New York--lower Hudson sheet

Science.gov (United States)

Bugliosi, Edward F.; Trudell, Ruth A.

1988-01-01

This map shows the location and potential well yields from unconsolidated aquifers in the lower-Hudson region at a 1:250 ,000 scale. It also delineates segments of aquifers that are heavily used by community water systems and designated by the New York State Department of Environmental Conservation as ' Primary water supply ' aquifers and cites published reports that give detailed information on each area. Most aquifers were deposited in low-lying areas such as valleys or plains during deglaciation of the region. Thick, permeable, well-sorted sand and gravel deposits generally yield large quantities of water, more than 100 gal/min. Thin sand, sand and gravel deposits, or thicker gravel units that have a large content of silt and fine sand, yield moderate amounts of water, 10 to 100 gal/min. Wells dug in till and those drilled in bedrock commonly yield less than 10 gal/min. (USGS)

Biochemical methane potential, biodegradability, alkali treatment and influence of chemical composition on methane yield of yard wastes.

Science.gov (United States)

Gunaseelan, Victor Nallathambi

2016-03-01

In this study, the biochemical CH4 potential, rate, biodegradability, NaOH treatment and the influence of chemical composition on CH4 yield of yard wastes generated from seven trees were examined. All the plant parts were sampled for their chemical composition and subjected to the biochemical CH4 potential assay. The component parts exhibited significant variation in biochemical CH4 potential, which was reflected in their ultimate CH4 yields that ranged from 109 to 382 ml g(-1) volatile solids added and their rate constants that ranged from 0.042 to 0.173 d(-1). The biodegradability of the yard wastes ranged from 0.26 to 0.86. Variation in the biochemical CH4 potential of the yard wastes could be attributed to variation in the chemical composition of the different fractions. In the Thespesia yellow withered leaf, Tamarindus fruit pericarp and Albizia pod husk, NaOH treatment enhanced the ultimate CH4 yields by 17%, 77% and 63%, respectively, and biodegradability by 15%, 77% and 61%, respectively, compared with the untreated samples. The effectiveness of NaOH treatment varied for different yard wastes, depending on the amounts of acid detergent fibre content. Gliricidia petals, Prosopis leaf, inflorescence and immature pod, Tamarindus seeds, Albizia seeds, Cassia seeds and Delonix seeds exhibited CH4 yields higher than 300 ml g(-1) volatile solids added. Multiple linear regression models for predicting the ultimate CH4 yield and biodegradability of yard wastes were designed from the results of this work. © The Author(s) 2016.

The Effect of Dorsal Hippocampal α2-Adrenegic Receptors on WIN55,212-2 State-Dependent Memory of Passive Avoidance

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Zarrindast M.R.

2010-09-01

Full Text Available Background and Objectives: Cannabinoids are a class of psychoactive compounds that produce a wide array of effects in a large number of species. In the present study, the effects of bilateral intra-CA1 injections of an α2-adrenergic receptor agents, on WIN55,212-2 state-dependent learning were examined in adult male Wistar rats. Methods: The animals were bilaterally implanted with chronic cannulae in the CA1 regions of the dorsal hippocampus, trained in a step-down type inhibitory avoidance task, and tested 24h after training to measure step-down latency.Results: Post-training intra-CA1 injection of WIN55,212-2 (0.25 and 0.5µg/rat induced impairment of memory retention. Amnesia produced by post-training WIN55,212-2 (0.5µg/rat was reversed by pre-test administration of the same dose of WIN55,212-2 that is due to a state-dependent effect. Pre-test intra-CA1 injection of clonidine (0.5 and 0.75µg/rat, intra-CA1 improved post-training WIN55,212-2 (0.5µg/rat, intra-CA1-induced retrieval impairment, while pre-test intra-CA1 injection of yohimbine (1µg/rat, intra-CA1 2min before the administration of WIN55,212-2 (0.5µg/rat, intra-CA1 inhibited WIN55,212-2 state-dependent memory. Conclusion: These results suggest that α2-adrenergic receptors of the dorsal hippocampal CA1 regions may play an important role in Win55,212-2-induced amnesia and WIN55,212-2 state-dependent memory.

Is Hosting the Games Enough to Win? A predictive economic model of medal wins at 2014 Winter Olympics

OpenAIRE

Wladimir Andreff

2012-01-01

An econometric model which has first been estimated on medal wins at Summer Olympics and has predicted 88% of medal distribution at Beijing Games 2008, is revisited for Winter Olympics. After changing some variables to take into account the winter sports specificity, the model is estimated again on all Winter Games since 1964.Then it is used to predict (forecast) the medal distribution per country at the 2014 Sochi Winter Olympics.

[Comparison of potential yield and resource utilization efficiency of main food crops in three provinces of Northeast China under climate change].

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Xiao-yu; Yang, Xiao-guang; Sun, Shuang; Xie, Wen-juan

2015-10-01

Based on the daily data of 65 meteorological stations from 1961 to 2010 and the crop phenology data in the potential cultivation zones of thermophilic and chimonophilous crops in Northeast China, the crop potential yields were calculated through step-by-step correction method. The spatio-temporal distribution of the crop potential yields at different levels was analyzed. And then we quantified the limitations of temperature and precipitation on the crop potential yields and compared the differences in the climatic resource utilization efficiency. The results showed that the thermal potential yields of six crops (including maize, rice, spring wheat, sorghum, millet and soybean) during the period 1961-2010 deceased from west to east. The climatic potential yields of the five crops (spring wheat not included) were higher in the south than in the north. The potential yield loss rate due to temperature limitations of the six crops presented a spatial distribution pattern and was higher in the east than in the west. Among the six main crops, the yield potential loss rate due to temperature limitation of the soybean was the highest (51%), and those of the other crops fluctuated within the range of 33%-41%. The potential yield loss rate due to water limitation had an obvious regional difference, and was high in Songnen Plain and Changbai Mountains. The potential yield loss rate of spring wheat was the highest (50%), and those of the other four rainfed crops fluctuated within the range of 8%-10%. The solar energy utilization efficiency of the six main crops ranged from 0.9% to 2.7%, in the order of maize> sorghum>rice>millet>spring wheat>soybean. The precipitation utilization efficiency of the maize, sorghum, spring wheat, millet and soybean under rainfed conditions ranged from 8 to 35 kg . hm-2 . mm-1, in the order of maize>sorghum>spring wheat>millet>soybean. In those areas with lower efficiency of solar energy utilization and precipitation utilization, such as Changbai

Quantifying the potential for reservoirs to secure future surface water yields in the world’s largest river basins

Science.gov (United States)

Liu, Lu; Parkinson, Simon; Gidden, Matthew; Byers, Edward; Satoh, Yusuke; Riahi, Keywan; Forman, Barton

2018-04-01

Surface water reservoirs provide us with reliable water supply, hydropower generation, flood control and recreation services. Yet reservoirs also cause flow fragmentation in rivers and lead to flooding of upstream areas, thereby displacing existing land-use activities and ecosystems. Anticipated population growth and development coupled with climate change in many regions of the globe suggests a critical need to assess the potential for future reservoir capacity to help balance rising water demands with long-term water availability. Here, we assess the potential of large-scale reservoirs to provide reliable surface water yields while also considering environmental flows within 235 of the world’s largest river basins. Maps of existing cropland and habitat conservation zones are integrated with spatially-explicit population and urbanization projections from the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways to identify regions unsuitable for increasing water supply by exploiting new reservoir storage. Results show that even when maximizing the global reservoir storage to its potential limit (∼4.3–4.8 times the current capacity), firm yields would only increase by about 50% over current levels. However, there exist large disparities across different basins. The majority of river basins in North America are found to gain relatively little firm yield by increasing storage capacity, whereas basins in Southeast Asia display greater potential for expansion as well as proportional gains in firm yield under multiple uncertainties. Parts of Europe, the United States and South America show relatively low reliability of maintaining current firm yields under future climate change, whereas most of Asia and higher latitude regions display comparatively high reliability. Findings from this study highlight the importance of incorporating different factors, including human development, land-use activities, and climate change, over a time span of multiple decades and across a range of different

From chaos to control: winning the war.

Science.gov (United States)

Wojciak, P J

1994-08-01

This article illustrates how a small manufacturing facility in the Midwest undertook the process of an MRP II implementation and ultimately gained class A status at a true make-or-break time in its history. The control that was gained throughout the entire process has helped create a winning environment and will continue to strengthen our position as we move toward world-class excellence.

Winning the war on terror: psychology as a strategic framework.

Science.gov (United States)

Beecroft, Nicholas

2006-01-01

International relations is fundamentally about people. Psychology provides a wide range of tools to understand the rise of Islamic fundamentalist terrorism and offers part of the framework for its resolution. Western societies need to avoid being consumed with fear, revenge or anger which might lead to polarisation and perpetuate the cycle of violence. Understanding the enemy and the virulence of their ideas is essential to winning the hearts and minds of their potential supporters through dialogue, public diplomacy and foreign policy. The West needs to build trust, relationships, reputation and address double standards in its behaviour in order to build a global coalition of people with shared values. The concept of 'war on terror' has been damaging, not least by inhibiting western societies from the self-reflection required to overcome the challenge of terrorism.

Differences in game-related statistics of basketball performance by game location for men's winning and losing teams.

Science.gov (United States)

Gómez, Miguel A; Lorenzo, Alberto; Barakat, Rubén; Ortega, Enrique; Palao, José M

2008-02-01

The aim of the present study was to identify game-related statistics that differentiate winning and losing teams according to game location. The sample included 306 games of the 2004-2005 regular season of the Spanish professional men's league (ACB League). The independent variables were game location (home or away) and game result (win or loss). The game-related statistics registered were free throws (successful and unsuccessful), 2- and 3-point field goals (successful and unsuccessful), offensive and defensive rebounds, blocks, assists, fouls, steals, and turnovers. Descriptive and inferential analyses were done (one-way analysis of variance and discriminate analysis). The multivariate analysis showed that winning teams differ from losing teams in defensive rebounds (SC = .42) and in assists (SC = .38). Similarly, winning teams differ from losing teams when they play at home in defensive rebounds (SC = .40) and in assists (SC = .41). On the other hand, winning teams differ from losing teams when they play away in defensive rebounds (SC = .44), assists (SC = .30), successful 2-point field goals (SC = .31), and unsuccessful 3-point field goals (SC = -.35). Defensive rebounds and assists were the only game-related statistics common to all three analyses.

Dependency of global primary bioenergy crop potentials in 2050 on food systems, yields, biodiversity conservation and political stability

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Erb, Karl-Heinz; Haberl, Helmut; Plutzar, Christoph

2012-01-01

The future bioenergy crop potential depends on (1) changes in the food system (food demand, agricultural technology), (2) political stability and investment security, (3) biodiversity conservation, (4) avoidance of long carbon payback times from deforestation, and (5) energy crop yields. Using a biophysical biomass-balance model, we analyze how these factors affect global primary bioenergy potentials in 2050. The model calculates biomass supply and demand balances for eleven world regions, eleven food categories, seven food crop types and two livestock categories, integrating agricultural forecasts and scenarios with a consistent global land use and NPP database. The TREND scenario results in a global primary bioenergy potential of 77 EJ/yr, alternative assumptions on food-system changes result in a range of 26–141 EJ/yr. Exclusion of areas for biodiversity conservation and inaccessible land in failed states reduces the bioenergy potential by up to 45%. Optimistic assumptions on future energy crop yields increase the potential by up to 48%, while pessimistic assumptions lower the potential by 26%. We conclude that the design of sustainable bioenergy crop production policies needs to resolve difficult trade-offs such as food vs. energy supply, renewable energy vs. biodiversity conservation or yield growth vs. reduction of environmental problems of intensive agriculture. - Highlights: ► Global energy crop potentials in 2050 are calculated with a biophysical biomass-balance model. ► The study is focused on dedicated energy crops, forestry and residues are excluded. ► Depending on food-system change, global energy crop potentials range from 26–141 EJ/yr. ► Exclusion of protected areas and failed states may reduce the potential up to 45%. ► The bioenergy potential may be 26% lower or 45% higher, depending on energy crop yields.

Evaluation of the Accuracy of NASS/CDS Delta-V Estimates from the Enhanced WinSmash Algorithm

Science.gov (United States)

Hampton, Carolyn E.; Gabler, Hampton C.

2010-01-01

The National Automotive Sampling System / Crashworthiness Data System (NASS/CDS) uses the WinSmash program to reconstruct changes in vehicle velocity for real world crashes. Vehicle change in velocity, or delta-V, is a measure of crash severity and a predictor of injury risk. Earlier studies have demonstrated that WinSmash 2.42 underestimated the delta-V by 23% on average with the use of categorical stiffness values for vehicles identified as a source of error. An enhanced version of WinSmash, WinSmash 2008, was developed to employ vehicle specific stiffness values whenever possible. A total of 478 General Motors vehicles equipped with event data recorders (EDRs) and involved in real-world crashes were collected from years 2000 – 2008 of the NASS/CDS database and the delta-V was computed using the enhanced WinSmash. All vehicles were involved in frontal impacts. The enhanced reconstruction algorithm reduced the underestimation of delta-V from 23% to 13% on average for all vehicles. Delta-V estimates for cars only were greatly improved but still understated by 16% on average. Less than 5% error in delta-V was observed for pickup trucks and utility vehicles. The amount of structural overlap for the vehicle and investigator confidence in the reconstruction continued to have an effect on accuracy. No difference in average delta-V was observed when using either updated categorical stiffness values or vehicle specific stiffness values. The changes in WinSmash delta-Vs have important policy implications for NHTSA as the NASS/CDS delta-Vs are the basis for traffic and safety regulations as well as the speeds for vehicular crash testing and costs/benefits analyses. PMID:21050607

The political economy of local government in Croatia: winning coalitions, corruption, and taxes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Vuk Vukovic

2017-12-01

Full Text Available This paper represents the first comprehensive effort to provide a theoretical and empirical explanation of systemic corruption in Croatian local government. It follows the logic of the selectorate theory, according to which staying in power for long periods of time depends on creating a small group of loyal but powerful supporters (the winning coalition. Mayors that exist within such environments not only maximize their chances of staying in power; they also engage in greater corruption and set higher taxes. Its citizens are stuck in a negative spiral of corruption, high taxes, and a politician that regardless of this keeps winning elections. The paper makes two main contributions to the current literature. First it provides a theoretical extension of the selectorate theory to Croatian local government by explicitly modeling the link between corruption and winning coalitions, and second, it empirically verifies the theoretical findings using a novel matching approach called entropy balancing.

Expressing gambling-related cognitive biases in motor behaviour: rolling dice to win prizes.

Science.gov (United States)

Lim, Matthew S M; Bowden-Jones, Henrietta; Rogers, Robert D

2014-09-01

Cognitive perspectives on gambling propose that biased thinking plays a significant role in sustaining gambling participation and, in vulnerable individuals, gambling problems. One prominent set of cognitive biases include illusions of control involving beliefs that it is possible to influence random gaming events. Sociologists have reported that (some) gamblers believe that it is possible to throw dice in different ways to achieve gaming outcomes (e.g., 'dice-setting' in craps). However, experimental demonstrations of these phenomena are lacking. Here, we asked regular gamblers to roll a computer-simulated, but fair, 6 sided die for monetary prizes. Gamblers allowed the die to roll for longer when attempting to win higher value bets, and when attempting to hit high winning numbers. This behaviour was exaggerated in gamblers motivated to keep gambling following the experience of almost-winning in gambling games. These results suggest that gambling cognitive biases find expression in the motor behaviour of rolling dice for monetary prizes, possibly reflecting embodied substrates.

Effects of URB597 as an inhibitor of fatty acid amide hydrolase on WIN55, 212-2-induced learning and memory deficits in rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Hasanein, Parisa; Teimuri Far, Massoud

2015-04-01

Cannabinoid and endocannabinoid systems have been implicated in several physiological functions including modulation of cognition. In this study we evaluated the effects and interaction between fatty-acid amide hydrolase (FAAH) inhibitor URB597 and CB1 receptor agonist WIN55, 212-2 on memory using object recognition and passive avoidance learning (PAL) tests. Learning and memory impairment was induced by WIN 55, 212-2 administration (1mg/kg, i.p.) 30min before the acquisition trial. URB597 (0.1, 0.3 and 1mg/kg, i.p.) or SR141716A (1mg/kg, i.p.) was injected to rats 10min before WIN 55, 212-2 or URB597 respectively. URB597 (0.3 and 1mg/kg) but not 0.1mg/kg induced higher discrimination index (DI) in object recognition test and enhanced memory acquisition in PAL test. The cognitive enhancing effect of URB597 was blocked by a CB1 receptor antagonist, SR141716A which at this dose alone had no effect on cognition. WIN55, 212-2 caused cognition deficits in both tests. URB597 (0.3 and 1mg/kg) treatment could alleviate the negative influence of WIN 55, 212-2 on cognition and memory. These results indicate URB597 potential to protect against memory deficits induced by cannabinoid. Therefore, in combination with URB597 beneficial effects, this study suggests that URB597 has recognition and acquisition memory enhancing effects. It may also constitute a novel approach for the treatment of cannabinoid induced memory deficits and lead to a better understanding of the brain mechanisms underlying cognition. Copyright © 2015 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

WinSim: A simple simulation program for evaluating the influence of windows on heating demand and risk of overheating

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Schultz, Jørgen Munthe; Svendsen, Sv Aa Højgaard

1998-01-01

A two-node model of a room has been implemented in a computer program, WinSim, devel-oped for evaluation of thermal performance of windows in new buildings and in case of retro-fitting. The program calculates the annual heating demand and the number of hours with in-door temperatures higher than...... a user defined limit. WinSim is characterised by the limited amount of required input data. Guide-lines for calculation of the effective thermal capacity of the room is given, and results obtained with WinSim have been compared to results from an advanced building simulation program. Good agreement has...... been found between the two programs with respect to calculated annual heating demand and energy savings due to win-dow exchange, and also the calculated number of hours with overtemperature is similar. Based on the limited examples used for the comparison it can be concluded that WinSim is well suited...

Tight Focus on Instruction Wins Texas District Prize

Science.gov (United States)

Maxwell, Lesli A.

2009-01-01

It took a while for four-time finalist Aldine, Texas, to win the Broad Prize for Urban Education. But it took even longer to craft the system that ultimately put the district over the top. Educators in Aldine district have been working for more than a decade to refine their "managed instruction" system. Reviewers examined how the school…

Modeling the yield potential of dryland canola under current and future climates in California

Science.gov (United States)

George, N.; Kaffka, S.; Beeck, C.; Bucaram, S.; Zhang, J.

2012-12-01

Models predict that the climate of California will become hotter, drier and more variable under future climate change scenarios. This will lead to both increased irrigation demand and reduced irrigation water availability. In addition, it is predicted that most common Californian crops will suffer a concomitant decline in productivity. To remain productive and economically viable, future agricultural systems will need to have greater water use efficiency, tolerance of high temperatures, and tolerance of more erratic temperature and rainfall patterns. Canola (Brassica napus) is the third most important oilseed globally, supporting large and well-established agricultural industries in Canada, Europe and Australia. It is an agronomically useful and economically valuable crop, with multiple end markets, that can be grown in California as a dryland winter rotation with little to no irrigation demand. This gives canola great potential as a new crop for Californian farmers both now and as the climate changes. Given practical and financial limitations it is not always possible to immediately or widely evaluate a crop in a new region. Crop production models are therefore valuable tools for assessing the potential of new crops, better targeting further field research, and refining research questions. APSIM is a modular modeling framework developed by the Agricultural Production Systems Research Unit in Australia, it combines biophysical and management modules to simulate cropping systems. This study was undertaken to examine the yield potential of Australian canola varieties having different water requirements and maturity classes in California using APSIM. The objective of the work was to identify the agricultural regions of California most ideally suited to the production of Australian cultivars of canola and to simulate the production of canola in these regions to estimate yield-potential. This will establish whether the introduction and in-field evaluation of better

WinDAM C earthen embankment internal erosion analysis software

Science.gov (United States)

Two primary causes of dam failure are overtopping and internal erosion. For the purpose of evaluating dam safety for existing earthen embankment dams and proposed earthen embankment dams, Windows Dam Analysis Modules C (WinDAM C) software will simulate either internal erosion or erosion resulting f...

Award-winning machine boosts sorghum farming in Sudan | IDRC ...

International Development Research Centre (IDRC) Digital Library (Canada)

2016-04-28

Apr 28, 2016 ... Award-winning machine boosts sorghum farming in Sudan ... The new planter, developed by researchers at Sudan's Agricultural ... Senegal: Staying home at all costs ... This ICT4D article series features results from innovative research on participatory geographic information systems (P-GIS) in Africa.

Ethanol yield and energy potential of stems from a spectrum of sorghum biomass types

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

McBee, G.G.; Creelman, R.A.; Miller, F.R.

1988-01-01

Sorghum biomass is a renewable resource that offers significant potential for energy utilization. Six sorghum cultivars, representing an array of stem types, were evaluated for ethanol yield. Ethanol production was individually obtained for both the total stem and the pith of each type by anaerobic yeast fermentation. Value of the energy contained in the rind was determined by calorimetry. The highest yield of ethanol from total stem fermentation was 3418.3 liters ha/sup -1/ produced from Rio. Fermentation of Rio pith to ethanol and combustion of the rind resulted in the highest total energy value of the cultivars. The least and greatest energy values were 6.3 and 44.3 x 10/sup 6/ kcal ha/sup -1/ for SC0056-14 and Rio, respectively. Conversion ratios of potentially fermentable carbohydrates (within the vegetative biomass) to ethanol produced, averaged 0.438 for the pith and 0.406 for total stems.

Expressão do potencial de rendimento de cultivares de soja Yield potential expression of soybean genotypes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Hugo Motta Navarro Júnior

2002-03-01

Full Text Available A soja possui alto potencial de rendimento de grãos, mas em virtude da interação genótipo vs. ambiente esse potencial não é verificado em sua totalidade. Utilizando-se seis genótipos de soja de diferentes ciclos, objetivou-se estudar a expressão do potencial de rendimento de grãos e quantificá-lo durante a ontogenia. O experimento foi conduzido no ano agrícola 1996/97 na Estação Experimental Agronômica da Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Eldorado do Sul, RS. As avaliações foram realizadas em plantas individuais e se estenderam desde o estádio de floração até o de maturação. Os resultados obtidos indicam que alto potencial de rendimento não necessariamente identifica uma planta eficiente na retenção das estruturas reprodutivas. Os potenciais de rendimento estimados na floração e no início do enchimento de grãos não se mantêm até a maturação. Genótipos com alto potencial de rendimento de grãos em R8 não apresentam os maiores potenciais de rendimento de grãos em R2 e em R5, porém, são os que apresentam as menores diferenças entre o potencial estimado em R5 e o estimado em R2.Soybean has high yield potential, which is not totally expressed due to genotype vs. environment interaction. Six soybean genotypes of different maturity groups were used with the objective of studying their yield potential expression and quantifying it during ontogeny. The experiment was conducted during the 1996/97 growing season in the Agronomic Experimental Station of the Universidade Federal do Rio Grande do Sul, Eldorado do Sul, RS, Brazil. Plants were evaluated individually from flowering until maturity. Results obtained indicate that high yield potential does not necessarily mean an efficient plant in reproductive structure retention. Yield potential estimated in the flowering and beginning of grain filling stages are not maintained until maturity. Genotypes with high yield potential in the R8 stage do not present the

Winning Strategies: A Case Study of Oyo State Lottery, Nigeria

African Journals Online (AJOL)

PROF. OLIVER OSUAGWA

2014-06-01

Jun 1, 2014 ... Keywords: Tickets, Lottery strategy, Winning numbers, Hypothesis testing, Historical ... Among all the games of ... different kinds of games are organized by ..... [1] Bradley, R.E. (2001), “Euler and the Genoese lottery”, [Online; ...

Modern maize hybrids in Northeast China exhibit increased yield potential and resource use efficiency despite adverse climate change.

Science.gov (United States)

Chen, Xiaochao; Chen, Fanjun; Chen, Yanling; Gao, Qiang; Yang, Xiaoli; Yuan, Lixing; Zhang, Fusuo; Mi, Guohua

2013-03-01

The impact of global changes on food security is of serious concern. Breeding novel crop cultivars adaptable to climate change is one potential solution, but this approach requires an understanding of complex adaptive traits for climate-change conditions. In this study, plant growth, nitrogen (N) uptake, and yield in relation to climatic resource use efficiency of nine representative maize cultivars released between 1973 and 2000 in China were investigated in a 2-year field experiment under three N applications. The Hybrid-Maize model was used to simulate maize yield potential in the period from 1973 to 2011. During the past four decades, the total thermal time (growing degree days) increased whereas the total precipitation and sunshine hours decreased. This climate change led to a reduction of maize potential yield by an average of 12.9% across different hybrids. However, the potential yield of individual hybrids increased by 118.5 kg ha(-1)  yr(-1) with increasing year of release. From 1973 to 2000, the use efficiency of sunshine hours, thermal time, and precipitation resources increased by 37%, 40%, and 41%, respectively. The late developed hybrids showed less reduction in yield potential in current climate conditions than old cultivars, indicating some adaptation to new conditions. Since the mid-1990s, however, the yield impact of climate change exhibited little change, and even a slight worsening for new cultivars. Modern breeding increased ear fertility and grain-filling rate, and delayed leaf senescence without modification in net photosynthetic rate. The trade-off associated with delayed leaf senescence was decreased grain N concentration rather than increased plant N uptake, therefore N agronomic efficiency increased simultaneously. It is concluded that modern maize hybrids tolerate the climatic changes mainly by constitutively optimizing plant productivity. Maize breeding programs in the future should pay more attention to cope with the limiting

The Study of Destructive Effects of Exposure to WIN 55212-2, an Agonist of Cannabinoid Receptor, during Pregnancy on CNS Function of Rats’ Offspring

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mohammad Shabani

2011-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction: Cannabinoid consumption including hashish and WIN55212-2 during pregnancy has destructive affect on the development of fetus and the performance of CNS. Method: WIN treated group received daily 0.5 or 1mg/kg WIN suspended in 1% tween 80 saline (s.c. at a volume of 1 ml/kg from days 5 to 20 of pregnancy. Third, fifth and seventh weeks after birth, the effects of maternal WIN consumption on infants body weight, mortality, histological changes, motor performance and memory function were assessed. Results: Prenatal WIN consumption associated with atrophy of cerebellum cortex in granular and Purkinje cells layers. WIN treatment of pregnant rats produced a significant decrease in the rearing frequency of the offspring, but significantly increased the grooming frequency at 22, 36 and 50 days of age. During the acquisition trials, approach latencies were not significantly different between all groups of rats (50 days old.When the trial was repeated 24 hours and seven days later (retention trial, the avoidance latencies of the WIN-exposed group were significantly shorter than those of control and sham animals. The mortality percent was increased significantly and litter size was decreased significantly in WIN (1mg/kg treated rats compared to the control, sham and WIN (0/5 mg/kg treatment groups. Conclusion: These findings suggest that prenatal exposure to WIN, cannabinoid agonist, induces possibly a long-term alteration on histological, motor performance and learning and memory parameters.

Optimizing the nitrogen application rate for maize and wheat based on yield and environment on the Northern China Plain.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Yitao; Wang, Hongyuan; Lei, Qiuliang; Luo, Jiafa; Lindsey, Stuart; Zhang, Jizong; Zhai, Limei; Wu, Shuxia; Zhang, Jingsuo; Liu, Xiaoxia; Ren, Tianzhi; Liu, Hongbin

2018-03-15

Optimizing the nitrogen (N) application rate can increase crop yield while reducing the environmental risks. However, the optimal N rates vary substantially when different targets such as maximum yield or maximum economic benefit are considered. Taking the wheat-maize rotation cropping system on the North China Plain as a case study, we quantified the variation of N application rates when targeting constraints on yield, economic performance, N uptake and N utilization, by conducting field experiments between 2011 and 2013. Results showed that the optimal N application rate was highest when targeting N uptake (240kgha -1 for maize, and 326kgha -1 for wheat), followed by crop yield (208kgha -1 for maize, and 277kgha -1 for wheat) and economic income (191kgha -1 for maize, and 253kgha -1 for wheat). If environmental costs were considered, the optimal N application rates were further reduced by 20-30% compared to those when targeting maximum economic income. However, the optimal N rate, with environmental cost included, may result in soil nutrient mining under maize, and an extra input of 43kgNha -1 was needed to make the soil N balanced and maintain soil fertility in the long term. To obtain a win-win situation for both yield and environment, the optimal N rate should be controlled at 179kgha -1 for maize, which could achieve above 99.5% of maximum yield and have a favorable N balance, and at 202kgha -1 for wheat to achieve 97.4% of maximum yield, which was about 20kgNha -1 higher than that when N surplus was nil. Although these optimal N rates vary on spatial and temporal scales, they are still effective for the North China Plain where 32% of China's total maize and 45% of China's total wheat are produced. More experiments are still needed to determine the optimal N application rates in other regions. Use of these different optimal N rates would contribute to improving the sustainability of agricultural development in China. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier B.V. All rights

Architecture student Meredith Baber wins Kohn Pedersen Fox Traveling Fellowship

OpenAIRE

Chadwick, Heather Riley

2009-01-01

Meredith Baber of Cartersville, Va., a fourth-year honors architecture student in the School of Architecture + Design, is the first student in the history of Virginia Tech to win a prestigious Kohn Pederson Fox (KPF) Associates Travelling Fellowship.

Studies on seed yield potential of some selected kenaf (Hibiscus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

SAM

2014-06-11

Jun 11, 2014 ... Kenaf seed yield depends on morpho-physiological traits between varieties, .... separated using Duncan's Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 5% ... Mean squares derived from combined analysis of variance for seed yield and yield components in 20 .... environment interaction and yield stability in winter wheat.

The Perceptions of Administrators from Quality Award-Winning School Districts and a Comparison of Student Academic Achievement in Quality Award-Winning Districts

Science.gov (United States)

Jauch, Kevin

2010-01-01

This research project served two main purposes. The first was to uncover the perceptions of district administrators from Quality award-winning school districts in regard to the use of the Malcolm Baldrige National Quality Award program as a management framework. This was accomplished by using the Interstate School Leaders Licensure Consortium's…

Ohio-Based NREL Subcontractor Wins Major Small Business Award

Science.gov (United States)

Ohio-Based NREL Subcontractor Wins Major Small Business Award For more information contact: e:mail alternative fuel vehicles has won a major award from the U.S. Small Business Administration (SBA). Automotive Testing Laboratories, Inc. (ATL) of East Liberty, Ohio was named the SBA's Midwest Regional Small Business

Improving yield potential in crops under elevated CO(2): Integrating the photosynthetic and nitrogen utilization efficiencies.

Science.gov (United States)

Kant, Surya; Seneweera, Saman; Rodin, Joakim; Materne, Michael; Burch, David; Rothstein, Steven J; Spangenberg, German

2012-01-01

Increasing crop productivity to meet burgeoning human food demand is challenging under changing environmental conditions. Since industrial revolution atmospheric CO(2) levels have linearly increased. Developing crop varieties with increased utilization of CO(2) for photosynthesis is an urgent requirement to cope with the irreversible rise of atmospheric CO(2) and achieve higher food production. The primary effects of elevated CO(2) levels in most crop plants, particularly C(3) plants, include increased biomass accumulation, although initial stimulation of net photosynthesis rate is only temporal and plants fail to sustain the maximal stimulation, a phenomenon known as photosynthesis acclimation. Despite this acclimation, grain yield is known to marginally increase under elevated CO(2). The yield potential of C(3) crops is limited by their capacity to exploit sufficient carbon. The "C fertilization" through elevated CO(2) levels could potentially be used for substantial yield increase. Rubisco is the rate-limiting enzyme in photosynthesis and its activity is largely affected by atmospheric CO(2) and nitrogen availability. In addition, maintenance of the C/N ratio is pivotal for various growth and development processes in plants governing yield and seed quality. For maximizing the benefits of elevated CO(2), raising plant nitrogen pools will be necessary as part of maintaining an optimal C/N balance. In this review, we discuss potential causes for the stagnation in yield increases under elevated CO(2) levels and explore possibilities to overcome this limitation by improved photosynthetic capacity and enhanced nitrogen use efficiency. Opportunities of engineering nitrogen uptake, assimilatory, and responsive genes are also discussed that could ensure optimal nitrogen allocation toward expanding source and sink tissues. This might avert photosynthetic acclimation partially or completely and drive for improved crop production under elevated CO(2) levels.

Improving yield potential in crops under elevated CO2: Integrating the photosynthetic and nitrogen utilization efficiencies

Science.gov (United States)

Kant, Surya; Seneweera, Saman; Rodin, Joakim; Materne, Michael; Burch, David; Rothstein, Steven J.; Spangenberg, German

2012-01-01

Increasing crop productivity to meet burgeoning human food demand is challenging under changing environmental conditions. Since industrial revolution atmospheric CO2 levels have linearly increased. Developing crop varieties with increased utilization of CO2 for photosynthesis is an urgent requirement to cope with the irreversible rise of atmospheric CO2 and achieve higher food production. The primary effects of elevated CO2 levels in most crop plants, particularly C3 plants, include increased biomass accumulation, although initial stimulation of net photosynthesis rate is only temporal and plants fail to sustain the maximal stimulation, a phenomenon known as photosynthesis acclimation. Despite this acclimation, grain yield is known to marginally increase under elevated CO2. The yield potential of C3 crops is limited by their capacity to exploit sufficient carbon. The “C fertilization” through elevated CO2 levels could potentially be used for substantial yield increase. Rubisco is the rate-limiting enzyme in photosynthesis and its activity is largely affected by atmospheric CO2 and nitrogen availability. In addition, maintenance of the C/N ratio is pivotal for various growth and development processes in plants governing yield and seed quality. For maximizing the benefits of elevated CO2, raising plant nitrogen pools will be necessary as part of maintaining an optimal C/N balance. In this review, we discuss potential causes for the stagnation in yield increases under elevated CO2 levels and explore possibilities to overcome this limitation by improved photosynthetic capacity and enhanced nitrogen use efficiency. Opportunities of engineering nitrogen uptake, assimilatory, and responsive genes are also discussed that could ensure optimal nitrogen allocation toward expanding source and sink tissues. This might avert photosynthetic acclimation partially or completely and drive for improved crop production under elevated CO2 levels. PMID:22833749

Dependency of global primary bioenergy crop potentials in 2050 on food systems, yields, biodiversity conservation and political stability.

Science.gov (United States)

Erb, Karl-Heinz; Haberl, Helmut; Plutzar, Christoph

2012-08-01

The future bioenergy crop potential depends on (1) changes in the food system (food demand, agricultural technology), (2) political stability and investment security, (3) biodiversity conservation, (4) avoidance of long carbon payback times from deforestation, and (5) energy crop yields. Using a biophysical biomass-balance model, we analyze how these factors affect global primary bioenergy potentials in 2050. The model calculates biomass supply and demand balances for eleven world regions, eleven food categories, seven food crop types and two livestock categories, integrating agricultural forecasts and scenarios with a consistent global land use and NPP database. The TREND scenario results in a global primary bioenergy potential of 77 EJ/yr, alternative assumptions on food-system changes result in a range of 26-141 EJ/yr. Exclusion of areas for biodiversity conservation and inaccessible land in failed states reduces the bioenergy potential by up to 45%. Optimistic assumptions on future energy crop yields increase the potential by up to 48%, while pessimistic assumptions lower the potential by 26%. We conclude that the design of sustainable bioenergy crop production policies needs to resolve difficult trade-offs such as food vs. energy supply, renewable energy vs. biodiversity conservation or yield growth vs. reduction of environmental problems of intensive agriculture.

Yield trends and yield gap analysis of major crops in the world

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Hengsdijk, H.; Langeveld, J.W.A.

2009-01-01

This study aims to quantify the gap between current and potential yields of major crops in the world, and the production constraints that contribute to this yield gap. Using an expert-based evaluation of yield gaps and the literature, global and regional yields and yield trends of major crops are

Leaders in high temperature superconductivity commercialization win superconductor industry award

CERN Multimedia

2007-01-01

CERN's Large Hadron Collider curretn leads project head Amalia Ballarino named superconductor industry person of the year 2006. Former high temperature superconductivity program manager at the US Department of energy James Daley wins lifetime achievement award. (1,5 page)

Yield trends and yield gap analysis of major crops in the world

OpenAIRE

Hengsdijk, H.; Langeveld, J.W.A.

2009-01-01

This study aims to quantify the gap between current and potential yields of major crops in the world, and the production constraints that contribute to this yield gap. Using an expert-based evaluation of yield gaps and the literature, global and regional yields and yield trends of major crops are quantified, yield gaps evaluated by crop experts, current yield progress by breeding estimated, and different yield projections compared. Results show decreasing yield growth for wheat and rice, but ...

Rosemary Aromatization of Extra Virgin Olive Oil and Process Optimization Including Antioxidant Potential and Yield

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erkan Karacabey

2016-08-01

Full Text Available Aromatization of olive oil especially by spices and herbs has been widely used technique throughout the ages in Mediterranean diets. The present study was focused on aromatization of olive oil by rosemary (Rosmarinus officinalis L.. Aromatization process was optimized by response surface methodology as a function of malaxation’s conditions (temperature and time. According to authors’ best knowledge it was first time for examination of oil yield performance with antioxidant potential and pigments under effect of aromatization parameters. For all oil samples, values of the free acidity, peroxide, K232 and K270 as quality parameters fell within the ranges established for the highest quality category “extra virgin oil”. Oil yield (mL oil/kg olive paste changed from 158 to 208 with respect to design parameters. Total phenolic content and free radical scavenging activity as antioxidant potential of olive oil samples were varied in the range of 182.44 – 348.65 mg gallic acid equivalent/kg oil and 28.91 – 88.75 % inhibition of 2,2-Diphenyl-1-picrylhydrazyl-(DPPH•, respectively. Total contents of carotenoid, chlorophyll and pheophytin a as pigments in oil samples were found to be in between 0.09 – 0.48 mg carotenoid/kg oil, 0.11 – 0.96 mg chlorophyll/kg oil, 0.15 – 4.44 mg pheo α/kg oil, respectively. The proposed models for yield, pigments and antioxidant potential responses were found to be good enough for successful prediction of experimental results. Total phenolics, carotenoids and free radical scavenging activity of aromatized olive oil and oil yield were maximized to gather and optimal conditions were determined as 25°C, 84 min, and 2 % (Rosemary/olive paste; w/w.

Winning in straight sets helps in Grand Slam tennis

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Goossens, Dries R.; Kempeneers, Jurgen; Koning, Ruud H.; Spieksma, Frits C. R.

2015-01-01

In this contribution, we study whether fatigue resulting from the previous match affects a player's chances of winning his (or her) next match in Grand Slum tennis. We measure relative fatigue levels of two opponents by looking at the difference in number of sets played in their previous match. We

Modelling predicts that tolerance to drought during reproductive development will be required for high yield potential and stability of wheat in Europe

Science.gov (United States)

Semenov, Mikhail A.; Stratonovitch, Pierre; Paul, Matthew J.

2017-04-01

Short periods of extreme weather, such as a spell of high temperature or drought during a sensitive stage of development, could result in substantial yield losses due to reduction in grain number and grain size. In a modelling study (Stratonovitch & Semenov 2015), heat tolerance around flowering in wheat was identified as a key trait for increased yield potential in Europe under climate change. Ji et all (Ji et al. 2010) demonstrated cultivar specific responses of yield to drought stress around flowering in wheat. They hypothesised that carbohydrate supply to anthers may be the key in maintaining pollen fertility and grain number in wheat. It was shown in (Nuccio et al. 2015) that genetically modified varieties of maize that increase the concentration of sucrose in ear spikelets, performed better under non-drought and drought conditions in field experiments. The objective of this modelling study was to assess potential benefits of tolerance to drought during reproductive development for wheat yield potential and yield stability across Europe. We used the Sirius wheat model to optimise wheat ideotypes for 2050 (HadGEM2, RCP8.5) climate scenarios at selected European sites. Eight cultivar parameters were optimised to maximise mean yields, including parameters controlling phenology, canopy growth and water limitation. At those sites where water could be limited, ideotypes sensitive to drought produced substantially lower mean yields and higher yield variability compare with tolerant ideotypes. Therefore, tolerance to drought during reproductive development is likely to be required for wheat cultivars optimised for the future climate in Europe in order to achieve high yield potential and yield stability.

Key performance indicators for government and non profit agencies: implementing winning KPIs

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Parmenter, David

2012-01-01

"Winning techniques and strategies for nonprofits and government agencies in creating successful and critical key performance indicatorsBy exploring measures that have transformed businesses, David...

Mind the Roots: Phenotyping Below-Ground Crop Diversity and Its Influence on Final Yield

Science.gov (United States)

Nieters, C.; Guadagno, C. R.; Lemli, S.; Hosseini, A.; Ewers, B. E.

2017-12-01

Changes in global climate patterns and water regimes are having profound impacts on worldwide crop production. An ever-growing population paired with increasing temperatures and unpredictable periods of severe drought call for accurate modeling of future crop yield. Although novel approaches are being developed in high-throughput, above-ground image phenotyping, the below-ground plant system is still poorly phenotyped. Collection of plant root morphology and hydraulics are needed to inform mathematical models to reliably estimate yields of crops grown in sub-optimal conditions. We used Brassica rapa to inform our model as it is a globally cultivated crop with several functionally diverse cultivars. Specifically, we use 7 different accessions from oilseed (R500 and Yellow Sarson), leafy type (Pac choi and Chinese cabbage), a vegetable turnip, and two Wisconsin Fast Plants (Imb211 and Fast Plant self-compatible), which have shorter life cycles and potentially large differences in allocation to roots. Bi-weekly, we harvested above and below-ground biomass to compare the varieties in terms of carbon allocation throughout their life cycle. Using WinRhizo software, we analyzed root system length and surface area to compare and contrast root morphology among cultivars. Our results confirm that root structural characteristics are crucial to explain plant water use and carbon allocation. The root:shoot ratio reveals a significant (p physiological traits such as gas exchange, chlorophyll content, and chlorophyll a fluorescence. A thorough analysis of the root system will clarify carbon dynamics and hydraulics at the whole-plant level, improving final yield predictions.

The Appearance of Gender in Award-Winning Children's Books.

Science.gov (United States)

Creany, Anne Drolett

The likelihood that books can shape children's gender role attitudes and transmit gender role stereotypes increases the need for non-sexist children's literature. This paper explores the appearance of gender in Caldecott Award winning children's books. Picture books, trade books, content books and basal readers were inspected in the 1970s for the…

A critical appraisal of WinEcon and its use in a first-year undergraduate Economics programme

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

D. J. Brooksbank

1998-12-01

Full Text Available WinEcon is a Windows-based introductory Economics CAL package designed for use in higher education. It is the product of the Economics Consortium of the TLTP (Teaching and Learning Technology Programme consisting of eight university Economics departments. Each of these has been responsible for producing some of the 25 chapters (tutorials of the finished product. Content is based on covering the common core of introductory Economics as revealed by a survey of higher-education Economics departments. WinEcon is provided, with an accompanying workbook, for a nominal registration fee in the UK. The package is important insofar as it is aimed at all first-year undergraduates studying Economics, which encompasses not only those taking straight Economics degrees but large numbers of students following introductory Economics as part of a Business Studies or Combined Studies course. With no competition to speak of, WinEcon is likely to become a significant feature of the learning experience of a large tranche of the undergraduate population, across a number of degree schemes. Indeed, for many of these students WinEcon will constitute their first major experience of CAL.

Consequences of Adolescent Exposure to the Cannabinoid Receptor Agonist WIN55,212-2 on Working Memory in Female Rats

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Erin K. Kirschmann

2017-07-01

Full Text Available Marijuana is a prevalent illicit substance used by adolescents, and several studies have indicated that adolescent use can lead to long-term cognitive deficits including problems with attention and memory. However, preclinical animal studies that observe cognitive deficits after cannabinoid exposure during adolescence utilize experimenter administration of doses of cannabinoids that may exceed what an organism would choose to take, suggesting that contingency and dose are critical factors that need to be addressed in translational models of consequences of cannabinoid exposure. Indeed, we recently developed an adolescent cannabinoid self-administration paradigm in male rats, and found that prior adolescent self-administration of the cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 (WIN resulted in improved working memory performance in adulthood. In addition, the doses self-administered were not as high as those that are found to produce memory deficits. However, given known sex differences in both drug self-administration and learning and memory processes, it is possible that cannabinoid self-administration could have different cognitive consequences in females. Therefore, we aimed to explore the effects of self-administered vs. experimenter-administered WIN in adolescent female rats on adult cognitive function. Female rats were trained to self-administer WIN daily throughout adolescence (postnatal day 34–59. A control group self-administered vehicle solution. The acute effects of adolescent WIN self-administration on memory were determined using a short-term spatial memory test 24 h after final SA session; and the long-term effects on cognitive performance were assessed during protracted abstinence in adulthood using a delayed-match-to-sample working memory task. In a separate experiment, females were given daily intraperitoneal (IP injections of a low or high dose of WIN, corresponding to self-administered and typical experimenter

Consequences of Adolescent Exposure to the Cannabinoid Receptor Agonist WIN55,212-2 on Working Memory in Female Rats.

Science.gov (United States)

Kirschmann, Erin K; McCalley, Daniel M; Edwards, Caitlyn M; Torregrossa, Mary M

2017-01-01

Marijuana is a prevalent illicit substance used by adolescents, and several studies have indicated that adolescent use can lead to long-term cognitive deficits including problems with attention and memory. However, preclinical animal studies that observe cognitive deficits after cannabinoid exposure during adolescence utilize experimenter administration of doses of cannabinoids that may exceed what an organism would choose to take, suggesting that contingency and dose are critical factors that need to be addressed in translational models of consequences of cannabinoid exposure. Indeed, we recently developed an adolescent cannabinoid self-administration paradigm in male rats, and found that prior adolescent self-administration of the cannabinoid receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 (WIN) resulted in improved working memory performance in adulthood. In addition, the doses self-administered were not as high as those that are found to produce memory deficits. However, given known sex differences in both drug self-administration and learning and memory processes, it is possible that cannabinoid self-administration could have different cognitive consequences in females. Therefore, we aimed to explore the effects of self-administered vs. experimenter-administered WIN in adolescent female rats on adult cognitive function. Female rats were trained to self-administer WIN daily throughout adolescence (postnatal day 34-59). A control group self-administered vehicle solution. The acute effects of adolescent WIN self-administration on memory were determined using a short-term spatial memory test 24 h after final SA session; and the long-term effects on cognitive performance were assessed during protracted abstinence in adulthood using a delayed-match-to-sample working memory task. In a separate experiment, females were given daily intraperitoneal (IP) injections of a low or high dose of WIN, corresponding to self-administered and typical experimenter-administered doses, respectively, or

Which skills and factors better predict winning and losing in high-level men's volleyball?

Science.gov (United States)

Peña, Javier; Rodríguez-Guerra, Jorge; Buscà, Bernat; Serra, Núria

2013-09-01

The aim of this study was to determine which skills and factors better predicted the outcomes of regular season volleyball matches in the Spanish "Superliga" and were significant for obtaining positive results in the game. The study sample consisted of 125 matches played during the 2010-11 Spanish men's first division volleyball championship. Matches were played by 12 teams composed of 148 players from 17 different nations from October 2010 to March 2011. The variables analyzed were the result of the game, team category, home/away court factors, points obtained in the break point phase, number of service errors, number of service aces, number of reception errors, percentage of positive receptions, percentage of perfect receptions, reception efficiency, number of attack errors, number of blocked attacks, attack points, percentage of attack points, attack efficiency, and number of blocks performed by both teams participating in the match. The results showed that the variables of team category, points obtained in the break point phase, number of reception errors, and number of blocked attacks by the opponent were significant predictors of winning or losing the matches. Odds ratios indicated that the odds of winning a volleyball match were 6.7 times greater for the teams belonging to higher rankings and that every additional point in Complex II increased the odds of winning a match by 1.5 times. Every reception and blocked ball error decreased the possibility of winning by 0.6 and 0.7 times, respectively.

Win-stay-lose-learn promotes cooperation in the spatial prisoner's dilemma game.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Yongkui Liu

Full Text Available Holding on to one's strategy is natural and common if the later warrants success and satisfaction. This goes against widespread simulation practices of evolutionary games, where players frequently consider changing their strategy even though their payoffs may be marginally different than those of the other players. Inspired by this observation, we introduce an aspiration-based win-stay-lose-learn strategy updating rule into the spatial prisoner's dilemma game. The rule is simple and intuitive, foreseeing strategy changes only by dissatisfied players, who then attempt to adopt the strategy of one of their nearest neighbors, while the strategies of satisfied players are not subject to change. We find that the proposed win-stay-lose-learn rule promotes the evolution of cooperation, and it does so very robustly and independently of the initial conditions. In fact, we show that even a minute initial fraction of cooperators may be sufficient to eventually secure a highly cooperative final state. In addition to extensive simulation results that support our conclusions, we also present results obtained by means of the pair approximation of the studied game. Our findings continue the success story of related win-stay strategy updating rules, and by doing so reveal new ways of resolving the prisoner's dilemma.

Optimizing Distribution Problems using WinQSB Software

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Daniel Mihai Amariei

2015-07-01

Full Text Available In the present paper we are presenting a problem of distribution using the Network Modeling Module of the WinQSB software, were we have 5 athletes which we must assign the optimal sample, function of the obtained time, so as to obtain the maximum output of the athletes. Also we analyzed the case of an accident of 2 athletes, the coupling of 3 athletes with 5 various athletic events causing the maximum coupling, done using the Hungarian algorithm.

Raising yield potential of wheat. III. Optimizing partitioning to grain while maintaining lodging resistance.

Science.gov (United States)

Foulkes, M John; Slafer, Gustavo A; Davies, William J; Berry, Pete M; Sylvester-Bradley, Roger; Martre, Pierre; Calderini, Daniel F; Griffiths, Simon; Reynolds, Matthew P

2011-01-01

A substantial increase in grain yield potential is required, along with better use of water and fertilizer, to ensure food security and environmental protection in future decades. For improvements in photosynthetic capacity to result in additional wheat yield, extra assimilates must be partitioned to developing spikes and grains and/or potential grain weight increased to accommodate the extra assimilates. At the same time, improvement in dry matter partitioning to spikes should ensure that it does not increase stem or root lodging. It is therefore crucial that improvements in structural and reproductive aspects of growth accompany increases in photosynthesis to enhance the net agronomic benefits of genetic modifications. In this article, six complementary approaches are proposed, namely: (i) optimizing developmental pattern to maximize spike fertility and grain number, (ii) optimizing spike growth to maximize grain number and dry matter harvest index, (iii) improving spike fertility through desensitizing floret abortion to environmental cues, (iv) improving potential grain size and grain filling, and (v) improving lodging resistance. Since many of the traits tackled in these approaches interact strongly, an integrative modelling approach is also proposed, to (vi) identify any trade-offs between key traits, hence to define target ideotypes in quantitative terms. The potential for genetic dissection of key traits via quantitative trait loci analysis is discussed for the efficient deployment of existing variation in breeding programmes. These proposals should maximize returns in food production from investments in increased crop biomass by increasing spike fertility, grain number per unit area and harvest index whilst optimizing the trade-offs with potential grain weight and lodging resistance.

"Is This a Boy or a Girl?": Rethinking Sex-Role Representation in Caldecott Medal-Winning Picturebooks, 1938-2011

Science.gov (United States)

Crisp, Thomas; Hiller, Brittany

2011-01-01

A number of previous studies have addressed gender role-stereotyping in Caldecott Award-winning picturebooks. Building upon the extensive scholarship examining representations of females in Caldecott books, this current study offers a critical investigation of how gender is represented in Caldecott Medal-winning literature from 1938 to 2011 by…

Winning the Future: Improving Education for the Latino Community

Science.gov (United States)

The White House, 2011

2011-01-01

In his State of the Union, the President made it clear that the most important contest this country faces today is not between Democrats and Republicans, but with competitors around the world for the jobs and industries of our time. To win that contest and secure prosperity for all Americans, the nation must out-innovate, out-educate, and…

The Sport League's Dilemma : Competitive Balance versus Incentives to Win

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Palomino, F.A.; Rigotti, L.

2000-01-01

We analyze a dynamic model of strategic interaction between a professional sport league that organizes a tournament, the teams competing to win it, and the broadcasters paying for the rights to televise it.Teams and broadcasters maximize expected profits, while the league's objective may be either

Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 3 (WIN-T Inc 3)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-01

than 1 seconds. Force Protection Armor required to protect personnel operating WIN-T vehicles employed at BCT, Fires, AVN , BfSB, and select force...21, 2016 18:26:36 UNCLASSIFIED 12 Acronyms and Abbreviations AOR - Area of Responsibility ATH - At-the-Halt ATO - Approval to Operate AVN

Highlights from the 2013 WIN Symposium: personalised cancer therapy from innovation to implementation.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilsky, Richard L

2013-01-01

The Worldwide Innovative Networking (WIN) consortium is a global alliance of academic and industrial cancer researchers, clinicians, and cancer advocacy groups set up to promote innovations in personalised cancer therapy and to accelerate the translation of research in this discipline into the oncology clinic. One of its most important initiatives is the WIN symposia, which have been held in Paris each summer since 2009. The fifth WIN symposium, which was held 10-12 July 2013, took as its overall theme 'Personalised Cancer Therapy: From Innovation to Implementation'. Over 400 delegates, including a good number of representatives of patient groups as well as leading academic, industrial, and clinical scientists; students; and post-docs attended this symposium. Its scientific programme featured thirty presentations divided into four main plenary sessions, and there was also a wide-ranging poster session that encompassed all the topics covered in the plenaries. The programme structure followed the path of drug discovery, in that the first session covered assay development for personalised cancer medicine; the second, applications of genomics in oncology; the third, clinical development; and the fourth, the impact of personalised medicine on cancer care.

RERTR end-game: A win-win framework. Phasing out remaining global HEU commerce by conditionally and temporarily renewing U.S. exports of HEU

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Kuperman, Alan J.; Leventhal, Paul L.

1997-01-01

The RERTR program stands on the brink of fulfilling its historic mission. However, a series of missteps and misunderstandings have recently raised the risk that defeat will be snatched from the jaws of victory. Perhaps the most serious threat to the RERTR regime is posed by France's pending import of 625 kilograms of bomb-grade, highly enriched uranium (HEU) from Russia, intended primarily to fuel its high-flux research reactor at the Institute Laue-Langevin in Grenoble, as well as its Orphee research reactor. As the first export of HEU from Russia to a facility outside the former Soviet bloc, this precedential transaction would establish Russia as a new global supplier of bomb-grade uranium, potentially setting the stage for a rise in international HEU commerce, rather than its phase-out as envisioned under the RERTR program. Apparently, France turned to Russia for supply of the fuel because the United States was perceived as unable or unwilling to continue supplying such fuel in the wake of the U.S. Energy Policy Act of 1992, which, pursuant to its so-called Schumer Amendment, places sharp restrictions on HEU exports. Unexplained delays in Russia's shipment of this material to France provide a fortuitous window of opportunity in which efforts can and should be made by France and the United States to resolve present differences in a manner beneficial to each, as well as in the interest of global security. This paper proposes an arrangement under which the United States would renew exports of HEU to France, in exchange for pledges from France enabling the export to comply with the principles and objectives of the RERTR program as embodied in U.S. law. In so doing, the arrangement would obviate the need for Russian HEU export, thereby avoiding its dangerous precedent. By enabling high quality scientific research to continue, while simultaneously helping to fulfill the RERTR program's original goal, such an arrangement would truly be a 'win-win' solution. (author)

Reclamation of peat winning fields - a literature review with special reference to the establishment of forest stands

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Haanell, B.; Svensson, Johan; Magnusson, Tord.

1996-01-01

The aim of this study was to review existing knowledge on various methods for reclaiming peat winning fields, in order to assess the present and future potential of the afforestation alternative for Swedish fields. From this, a decision on the best use of an existing series of afforestation experiments established after peat winning in central and south Sweden should be made. The study deals with experiences from e.g. growing crops and energy forests, creating artificial lakes, pastures, and berry fields, wetland restoration, and afforestation by planting and by natural seeding from nearby forests. It was concluded that afforestation most likely will be one of the most common after-use alternatives in near future in Sweden, and that priority will be given to extensive afforestation methods. The studies in the afforestation experiments should therefore be focused on (1) the possibilities of natural establishment of seedlings by seeding from nearby forests, (2) the suitability of various tree species for planting, and (3) the need for plant nutrient amendments to secure sustainable site productivity and the possibilities to meet this need by using wood ash as fertilizer. 129 refs

Winning Connections? Special Interests and the Sale of Failed Banks

NARCIS (Netherlands)

D. Igan (Deniz); T. Lambert (Thomas); W.B. Wagner (Wolf); Q. Zhang (Quxian)

2017-01-01

textabstractWe study how lobbying affects the resolution of failed banks, using a sample of FDIC auctions between 2007 and 2014. We show that bidding banks that lobby regulators have a higher probability of winning an auction. In addition, the FDIC incurs higher costs in such auctions, amounting to

Biomass yield potential of short-rotation hardwoods in the Great Plains

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Geyer, W A [Kansas State Univ., Manhattan, KS (USA). Dept. of Forestry

1989-01-01

Wood for fuel has increased in importance. Its primary use in the world is for energy, increasingly coming from wood wastes and new biomass sources. One solution to the potential problem of using high-quality trees for fuel could be woody biomass grown under a short-rotation intensive culture system. Species, size, age and spacing are factors that affect biomass production of broadleafed trees. Trials of several species grown at close spacing (0.3 m x 0.3 m) and cut at various ages are described and related to the growth and yield of more conventionally spaced plantings on an alluvial site in eastern Kansas. (author).

Yield Potential of Ten Peanut Introgression Lines derived from Crosses between Arachis cardenassii and A. hypogaea

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

AHMAD RIDUAN

2005-09-01

Full Text Available Diploid species of peanut (Arachis cardenasii showed no symptoms of PStV infection when mechanically inoculated with PStV. Some introgression lines derived from A. cardenasii and A. hypogaea hybridization have been introduced to Indonesia. Evaluation of their adaptability and yield potential were necessary before pursuing further utilization of these introgression lines. The objectives of this research were to determine yield potential of the introgression lines of peanut in green house and field conditions and to evaluate incidence of PStV infection in the field. Peanut plants were grown in the green house and in the field according to standard procedures for raising peanut. Results of the experiments showed that growth and developmental characters of the tested lines were similar between field and green house grown plants. The introgression lines generally exhibited higher secondary branches and longer to flower and harvest as compared to peanut cv. Gajah and Kelinci. The NC-CS30 line was identfied as having higher yield and bigger seed size as compared to standard peanut cultivars (Gajah and Kelinci. Therefore, NC-CS30 germplasm may be further developed as commercial peanut cultivar or be used as donor for peanut breeding in Indonesia.

Win-stay-lose-learn promotes cooperation in the prisoner's dilemma game with voluntary participation.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Chen Chu

Full Text Available Voluntary participation, demonstrated to be a simple yet effective mechanism to promote persistent cooperative behavior, has been extensively studied. It has also been verified that the aspiration-based win-stay-lose-learn strategy updating rule promotes the evolution of cooperation. Inspired by this well-known fact, we combine the Win-Stay-Lose-Learn updating rule with voluntary participation: Players maintain their strategies when they are satisfied, or players attempt to imitate the strategy of one randomly chosen neighbor. We find that this mechanism maintains persistent cooperative behavior, even further promotes the evolution of cooperation under certain conditions.

Estimating the potential intensification of global grazing systems based on climate adjusted yield gap analysis

Science.gov (United States)

Sheehan, J. J.

2016-12-01

We report here a first-of-its-kind analysis of the potential for intensification of global grazing systems. Intensification is calculated using the statistical yield gap methodology developed previously by others (Mueller et al 2012 and Licker et al 2010) for global crop systems. Yield gaps are estimated by binning global pasture land area into 100 equal area sized bins of similar climate (defined by ranges of rainfall and growing degree days). Within each bin, grid cells of pastureland are ranked from lowest to highest productivity. The global intensification potential is defined as the sum of global production across all bins at a given percentile ranking (e.g. performance at the 90th percentile) divided by the total current global production. The previous yield gap studies focused on crop systems because productivity data on these systems is readily available. Nevertheless, global crop land represents only one-third of total global agricultural land, while pasture systems account for the remaining two-thirds. Thus, it is critical to conduct the same kind of analysis on what is the largest human use of land on the planet—pasture systems. In 2013, Herrero et al announced the completion of a geospatial data set that augmented the animal census data with data and modeling about production systems and overall food productivity (Herrero et al, PNAS 2013). With this data set, it is now possible to apply yield gap analysis to global pasture systems. We used the Herrero et al data set to evaluate yield gaps for meat and milk production from pasture based systems for cattle, sheep and goats. The figure included with this abstract shows the intensification potential for kcal per hectare per year of meat and milk from global cattle, sheep and goats as a function of increasing levels of performance. Performance is measured as the productivity achieved at a given ranked percentile within each bin.We find that if all pasture land were raised to their 90th percentile of

Breeding for Grass Seed Yield

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Boelt, Birte; Studer, Bruno

2010-01-01

Seed yield is a trait of major interest for many fodder and amenity grass species and has received increasing attention since seed multiplication is economically relevant for novel grass cultivars to compete in the commercial market. Although seed yield is a complex trait and affected...... by agricultural practices as well as environmental factors, traits related to seed production reveal considerable genetic variation, prerequisite for improvement by direct or indirect selection. This chapter first reports on the biological and physiological basics of the grass reproduction system, then highlights...... important aspects and components affecting the seed yield potential and the agronomic and environmental aspects affecting the utilization and realization of the seed yield potential. Finally, it discusses the potential of plant breeding to sustainably improve total seed yield in fodder and amenity grasses....

Behavioural and neural modulation of win-stay but not lose-shift strategies as a function of outcome value in Rock, Paper, Scissors.

Science.gov (United States)

Forder, Lewis; Dyson, Benjamin James

2016-09-23

Competitive environments in which individuals compete for mutually-exclusive outcomes require rational decision making in order to maximize gains but often result in poor quality heuristics. Reasons for the greater reliance on lose-shift relative to win-stay behaviour shown in previous studies were explored using the game of Rock, Paper, Scissors and by manipulating the value of winning and losing. Decision-making following a loss was characterized as relatively fast and relatively inflexible both in terms of the failure to modulate the magnitude of lose-shift strategy and the lack of significant neural modulation. In contrast, decision-making following a win was characterized as relatively slow and relatively flexible both in terms of a behavioural increase in the magnitude of win-stay strategy and a neural modulation of feedback-related negativity (FRN) and stimulus-preceding negativity (SPN) following outcome value modulation. The win-stay/lose-shift heuristic appears not to be a unified mechanism, with the former relying on System 2 processes and the latter relying on System 1 processes. Our ability to play rationally appears more likely when the outcome is positive and when the value of wins are low, highlighting how vulnerable we can be when trying to succeed during competition.

产学研战略联盟共赢机制探析%Discussion and Analysis of the Win-win Mechanism of the Industry-University-Research Institute Strategic Alliance

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

张道亮; 王章豹

2012-01-01

产学研战略联盟是产学研合作的高级形态,是当今世界各国科技创新和战略竞争的重要模式,要使联盟各方在多重冲突之间寻求协调,必须从系统的角度构建产学研战略联盟的共赢机制。本文从联盟构建和运作过程出发,探讨了产学研战略联盟的8种共赢机制,即选择退出机制、分工协作机制、组织协调机制、激励约束机制、利益共享机制、风险分担机制、监管评价机制和信息沟通机制。%The strategic alliances of industry-university-research institute is senior form of industry-university-research institute collaboration,it is a important mode to drive the innovation of science and technology and strategic competition for all the countries in today＇s world.In order to make the strategic alliances of all parties seek harmony among the multiple conflicts,it is necessary to establish the win-win mechanism of the strategic alliances of industry-university-research institute from the point of view of the system.This paper starts from the construction and operation process of the stategic alliances,discussing and analysising the eight kinds of win-win mechanism of the strategic alliances of industry-university-research institute that are respectly the selection and exit mechanism、the division of labor and collaboration mechanism、the organization and coordination mechanism、the incentive and constraint mechanism、 the benefit sharing mechanism、the risk sharing mechanism、the supervision and evaluation mechanism and the information sharing mechanism.

Biomass and biomass and biogas yielding potential of sorghum as affected by planting density, sowing time and cultivar

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Mahmood, A.; Hussain, A.; Shahzad, A. N.; Honermeier, B.

2015-01-01

Biogas from biomass is a promising renewable energy source whose importance is increasing in European as well as in other countries. A field experiment at one location (Experimental Station Giessen, Justus Liebig University of Giessen, Germany) over two years was designed to study the effect of altering sowing time (ST), planting density and cultivar on the biomass yield and chemical composition of biomass sorghum, and its potential for methane production. Of the two cultivars tested, cv. Goliath (intraspecific hybrid) was more productive with respect to biomass yield than cv. Bovital (S. bicolor x S. sudanense hybrid). ST also influenced biomass yield and most of the quality parameters measured. Delayed sowing was in general advantageous. The choice of cultivar had a marked effect on biogas and methane yield. The highest biogas and methane yields were produced by late sown cv. Bovital. Sub-optimal planting densities limited biomass accumulation of the crop, however neither the chemical composition nor the methane yield was affected by planting density. (author)

An elementary introduction to Bayesian computing using WinBUGS.

Science.gov (United States)

Fryback, D G; Stout, N K; Rosenberg, M A

2001-01-01

Bayesian statistics provides effective techniques for analyzing data and translating the results to inform decision making. This paper provides an elementary tutorial overview of the WinBUGS software for performing Bayesian statistical analysis. Background information on the computational methods used by the software is provided. Two examples drawn from the field of medical decision making are presented to illustrate the features and functionality of the software.

Disease Impact on Wheat Yield Potential and Prospects of Genetic Control

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Singh, Ravi P.; Singh, Pawan K.; Rutkoski, Jessica

2016-01-01

Wheat is grown worldwide in diverse geographical regions, environments, and production systems. Although many diseases and pests are known to reduce grain yield potential and quality, the three rusts and powdery mildew fungi have historically caused major crop losses and continue to remain...... economically important despite the widespread use of host resistance and fungicides. The evolution and fast spread of virulent and more aggressive race lineages of rust fungi have only worsened the situation. Fusarium head blight, leaf spotting diseases, and, more recently, wheat blast (in South America...... for most diseases; their selection through phenotyping reinforced with molecular strategies offers great promise in achieving more durable resistance and enhancing global wheat productivity....

Interior design students win two IDEC Student Design Competition awards

OpenAIRE

Watson-Bloch, Cathy

2005-01-01

Interior Design students in the School of Architecture + Design at Virginia Tech won two of the four awards presented in the 2004-2005 Interior Design Educators Council (IDEC) Student Design Competition. Winners were selected at the International IDEC Conference in Savannah, Ga. with Virginia Tech Interior Design students winning second place and honorable mention.

RUSTEC: Greening Europe's energy supply by developing Russia's renewable energy potential

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Boute, Anatole; Willems, Patrick

2012-01-01

The North-West of Russia is characterized by a large renewable energy resource base in geographic proximity to the EU. At the same time, EU Member States are bound by mandatory renewable energy targets which could prove to be costly to achieve in the current budgetary context and which often face strong local opposition. Directive 2009/28/EC on Renewable Energy makes it possible for Member States to achieve their targets by importing electricity produced from renewable energy sources from non-EU countries. So far, most attention has been on the Mediterranean Solar Plan or Desertec. An EU–Russia Renewable Energy Plan or RUSTEC – being based on onshore wind/biomass/hydro energy and on-land interconnection, rather than solar power and subsea lines – could present a cost-efficient and short-term complement to Desertec. This article examines the political, geopolitical, economic, social and legal challenges and opportunities of exporting “green” energy from Russia to the EU. It argues that EU–Russian cooperation in the renewable energy field would present a win-win situation: Member States could achieve their targets on the basis of Russia's renewable energy potential, while Russia could begin to develop a national renewable energy industry without risking potential price increases for domestic consumers—a concern of great political sensitivity in Russia. - Highlights: ► Russia has a huge renewable energy potential in geographic proximity to the EU. ► This potential could help the EU decarbonize its electricity supply at least cost.► EU–Russia green energy export is a win-win situation but lacks political attention.► RUSTEC could be a short-term and cost-efficient complement to Desertec. ► RUSTEC would diversify EU energy imports/Russian exports and stimulate innovation.

Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Potential: Simulation of Lab and Industrial-Scale Processes

OpenAIRE

Ihsan Hamawand; Craig Baillie

2015-01-01

In this study, a simulation was carried out using BioWin 3.1 to test the capability of the software to predict the biogas potential for two different anaerobic systems. The two scenarios included: (1) a laboratory-scale batch reactor; and (2) an industrial-scale anaerobic continuous lagoon digester. The measured data related to the operating conditions, the reactor design parameters and the chemical properties of influent wastewater were entered into BioWin. A sensitivity analysis was carried...

BMC Ecology Image Competition 2015: the winning images.

Science.gov (United States)

Potenski, Catherine J; Porzecanski, Ana Luz; Baguette, Michel; Clobert, Jean; Hughes, David; Settele, Josef

2015-07-29

For the third time, BMC Ecology is delighted to announce the winners of our Image Competition. This year featured entries from all over the world and showcased not only the creativity and talent of the participants, but also the exquisite beauty and diversity of our planet. We are pleased to present the winning selections of the editorial board of the journal and guest judge Dr. Ana Luz Porzecanski, as well as some highly commended images that are sure to impress.

How the win-lose balance situation affects subsequent decision-making: functional magnetic resonance imaging evidence from a gambling task.

Science.gov (United States)

Dong, G; Lin, X; Zhou, H; Lu, Q

2014-07-11

Humans have been consistently shown to be bad at making decisions, especially in disadvantageous situations. In this study, we designed a task that simulates real-life non-strategic gambling to examine the effect of win-lose balance situations (WIN, LOSS, TIE) on decision-making. In behavioral performances, participants showed shorter response time (RT) in LOSS than in WIN and TIE conditions. Imaging results revealed that decisions in WIN are associated with increased brain activations in the posterior cingulate cortex; decisions in LOSS are associated with increased brain activations in the insula and decreased activations in the inferior frontal gyrus (IFG). Positive correlation was found between brain activation in IFG and RT in LOSS. Overall, we concluded that, in disadvantageous conditions, participants are frustrated by their negative results and tend to make a random selection without full consideration. In advantageous conditions, participants' motivations to gamble are elicited and they tend to engage in more endeavors in making decisions. Copyright © 2014 IBRO. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Land Use, Yield and Quality Changes of Minor Field Crops: Is There Superseded Potential to Be Reinvented in Northern Europe?

Science.gov (United States)

Peltonen-Sainio, Pirjo; Jauhiainen, Lauri; Lehtonen, Heikki

2016-01-01

Diversification of agriculture was one of the strengthened aims of the greening payment of European Agricultural Policy (CAP) as diversification provides numerous ecosystems services compared to cereal-intensive crop rotations. This study focuses on current minor crops in Finland that have potential for expanded production and considers changes in their cropping areas, yield trends, breeding gains, roles in crop rotations and potential for improving resilience. Long-term datasets of Natural Resources Institute Finland and farmers' land use data from the Agency of Rural Affairs were used to analyze the above-mentioned trends and changes. The role of minor crops in rotations declined when early and late CAP periods were compared and that of cereal monocultures strengthened. Genetic yield potentials of minor crops have increased as also genetic improvements in quality traits, although some typical trade-offs with improved yields have also appeared. However, the gap between potential and attained yields has expanded, depending on the minor crop, as national yield trends have either stagnated or declined. When comparing genetic improvements of minor crops to those of the emerging major crop, spring wheat, breeding achievements in minor crops were lower. It was evident that the current agricultural policies in the prevailing market and the price environment have not encouraged cultivation of minor crops but further strengthened the role of cereal monocultures. We suggest optimization of agricultural land use, which is a core element of sustainable intensification, as a future means to couple long-term environmental sustainability with better success in economic profitability and social acceptability. This calls for development of effective policy instruments to support farmer's diversification actions.

You've Come a Long Way, Baby--or Have You? Research Evaluating Gender Portrayal in Recent Caldecott-Winning Books.

Science.gov (United States)

McDaniel, Thomas R.; Davis, Anita P.

1999-01-01

Examines sex inequalities in both text and pictures of award-winning children's books from 1972 through 1997. Compares findings with a study examining award-winning children's books from 1940 to 1971. Finds few gains in representation of females, and finds that the decade of the 1950's remains that with the highest representation of females in…

Quality of white cabbage yield and potential risk of ground water nitrogen pollution, as affected by nitrogen fertilisation and irrigation practices.

Science.gov (United States)

Maršić, Nina Kacjan; Sturm, Martina; Zupanc, Vesna; Lojen, Sonja; Pintar, Marina

2012-01-15

The effect of different fertilisation (broadcast solid NPK application and fertigation with water-soluble fertiliser) and irrigation practices (sprinkler and drip irrigation) on yield, the nitrate content in cabbage (Brassica oleracea var. capitata L.) and the cabbage N uptake was detected, in order to assess the potential risk for N losses, by cultivation on sandy-loam soil. The N rate applied on the plots was 200 kg N ha(-1). The highest yield (93 t ha(-1)) and nitrate content (1256 mg kg(-1) DW) were found with treatments using broadcast fertilisation and sprinkler irrigation. On those plots the negative N balance (-30 kg N ha(-1)) was recorded, which comes mainly from the highest crop N uptake (234 kg N ha(-1)) indicating the lowest potential for N losses. In terms of yield quality and the potential risk for N losses, broadcast fertilisation combined with sprinkler irrigation proved to be the most effective combination among the tested practices under the given experimental conditions. The importance of adequate irrigation is also evident, namely in plots on which 50% drip irrigation was applied, the lowest yield was detected and according to the positive N balance, a higher potential for N losses is expected. Copyright © 2011 Society of Chemical Industry.

Personal dose assessment using region of interest analysis compared with harshaw TLD WinREMS software evaluation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Adjei, D.

2010-06-01

Personal dose equivalents, Hp(10), have been evaluated manually using Region of Interest (ROI) analysis and compared with the automated computerized WinREMS software for the occupationally exposed in medical, industrial and research/teaching applications for 2008 and 2009. The mean annual effective dose estimated by the WinREMS software for medical, industrial and research/teaching applications for the study period are 0.459 mSv, 0.549mSv and 0.447 mSv, respectively compared with ROI analysis are 0.424 mSv, 0.520 mSv and 0.407 mSv respectively. The mean annual collective doses evaluated by the WinREMS software for medical, industrial and research/teaching applications for the two-year study period are 0.258 man-Sv, 0.084 man-Sv and 0.032 man-Sv respectively, compared with the ROI analysis with values: 0.238 man-Sv, 0.080 man-Sv and 0.029 man-Sv respectively. The individual doses for the occupationally exposed in Ghana fall within the typical range of individual doses in the UNSCEAR 2008 report. In calibration mode, the WinREMS method overestimated the personal dose equivalent by 51.3% for doses below 1 mSv and 12.0% above 1 mSv. The corresponding values for the Region of Interest analysis method are 13.2% and 6.5%. The results from the study indicate that the ROI analysis provides a better alternative to estimating the personal doses (au).

Winning by Losing: Incentive Incompatibility in Multiple Qualifiers

OpenAIRE

Dagaev, Dmitry; Sonin, Konstantin

2013-01-01

In sport tournaments, the rules are presumably structured in a way that any team cannot be better off (e.g., to advance to the next round of competition) by losing instead of winning a game. Starting with a real-world example, we demonstrate that the existing national rules of awarding places for the UEFA Champions Leagues and the UEFA Europa League, which are based on the results of the national championship, a round-robin tournament, and the national cup, a knock-out tournament, might produ...

Infiltrating to Win: The Conduct of Border Denial Operations

Science.gov (United States)

2016-04-04

Vietnam through Laos and Cambodia. They did this while battling an insurgency by the Viet Cong. The Central Highlands along the Cambodian and South...in the twentieth century, Chinese communist revolutionary leader Mao Tse -Tung wrote that guerilla warfare was making front lines out of the enemy’s...17 Pape, Bombing to Win, 31-21. 18 Mao Tse -Tung, Selected Military Writings of Mao Tse -Tung, Problems of Strategy in Guerrilla War Against Japan

Successful coal winning with two shearers using chainless haulage

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Fritz, W

1977-10-06

Coal winning in one production district at Rheinpreussen Colliery is described. Extracted seam thickness is 2.95 m, of which 1.15 m is dirt. Eickhoff double-ended ranging shearer loaders with Eicotrack chainless haulage have proved successful, even though this coal is difficult to cut because of the dirt bands. The introduction of twin-belt conveyor drives allowed the distances between centers in the long-haul belt systems to be increased, thereby improving safety.

Using Satellite Data to Identify the Causes of and Potential Solutions for Yield Gaps in India's Wheat Belt

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, M.; Singh, B.; Srivastava, A.; Malik, R. K.; McDonald, A.; Lobell, D. B.

2017-12-01

Food security will be increasingly challenged by climate change, natural resource degradation, and population growth. Wheat yields, in particular, have already stagnated in many regions and will be further affected by warming temperatures. Despite these challenges, wheat yields can be increased by improving management practices in regions with existing yield gaps. We present two studies that are using satellite data to better understand the factors contributing to yield gaps and potential interventions to close yield gaps in India's main wheat belt, the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP). To identify the magnitude and causes of current yield gaps, we produced 30 meter resolution yield maps from 2001 to 2015 using Landsat sallite data and a new method that translates satellite vegetation indices to yield estimates using crop model simulations, bypassing the need for ground calibration data. This is one of the first attempts to apply this method to a smallholder agriculture system, where ground calibration data are rarely available. We find that yields can be increased by 11% on average and up to 32% in the eastern IGP by improving management to current best practices within a given district. Additionally, if current best practices from the highest-yielding state of Punjab are implemented in the eastern IGP, yields could increase by almost 110%. Considering the factors that most influence yields, later sow dates and warmer temperatures are most associated with low yields across the IGP. This suggests that strategies to reduce the negative effects of heat stress, like earlier sowing and planting heat-tolerant wheat varieties, are critical to increasing wheat yields in this globally-important agricultural region. We also apply this method to high-resolution micro-satellite data (impacts of a new fertilizer spreader technology and identify whether satellite data can be used to appropriately target this intervention.

Analysis of Decision Making Process in Moneyball: The Art of Winning an Unfair Game

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mochamad Sandy Triady

2015-03-01

Full Text Available Billy Beanes’s success in using data-driven decision making in baseball industry is wonderfully written by Michael Lewis in Moneyball. As a general manager in baseball team that were in the bottom position of the league from the financial side to acquire the players, Beane, along with his partner, explored the use of data in choosing the team’s player. They figured out how to determine the worth of every player.The process was not smooth, due to the condition of baseball industry that was not common with using advanced statistic in acquiring   players. Many teams still use the old paradigm that rely on experts’ judgments, intuition, or experience in decision making process. Moneyball approached that using data-driven decision making gave excellent result for Beane’s team. The team won 20 gamessequently in the 2002 season and also spent the lowest cost per win than other teams.This paper attempts to review the principles of Moneyball – The Art of Winning an Unfair Game as a process of decision making and gives what we can learn from the story in order to win the games, the unfair games.

Quantifying yield gaps in wheat production in Russia

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Schierhorn, Florian; Prishchepov, Alexander V; Koch, Friedrich J; Müller, Daniel; Faramarzi, Monireh

2014-01-01

Crop yields must increase substantially to meet the increasing demands for agricultural products. Crop yield increases are particularly important for Russia because low crop yields prevail across Russia’s widespread and fertile land resources. However, reliable data are lacking regarding the spatial distribution of potential yields in Russia, which can be used to determine yield gaps. We used a crop growth model to determine the yield potentials and yield gaps of winter and spring wheat at the provincial level across European Russia. We modeled the annual yield potentials from 1995 to 2006 with optimal nitrogen supplies for both rainfed and irrigated conditions. Overall, the results suggest yield gaps of 1.51–2.10 t ha −1 , or 44–52% of the yield potential under rainfed conditions. Under irrigated conditions, yield gaps of 3.14–3.30 t ha −1 , or 62–63% of the yield potential, were observed. However, recurring droughts cause large fluctuations in yield potentials under rainfed conditions, even when the nitrogen supply is optimal, particularly in the highly fertile black soil areas of southern European Russia. The highest yield gaps (up to 4 t ha −1 ) under irrigated conditions were detected in the steppe areas in southeastern European Russia along the border of Kazakhstan. Improving the nutrient and water supply and using crop breeds that are adapted to the frequent drought conditions are important for reducing yield gaps in European Russia. Our regional assessment helps inform policy and agricultural investors and prioritize research that aims to increase crop production in this important region for global agricultural markets. (letter)

Dizocilpine and reduced body temperature do not prevent methamphetamine-induced neurotoxicity in the vervet monkey: [11C]WIN 35,428 - positron emission tomography studies.

Science.gov (United States)

Melega, W P; Lacan, G; Harvey, D C; Huang, S C; Phelps, M E

1998-12-11

[11C]WIN 35,428 (WIN), a cocaine analog that binds to the dopamine transporter (DAT), and positron emission tomography (PET) were used to evaluate the potential neuroprotective effects of dizocilpine (MK-801) on methamphetamine (MeAmp) induced neurotoxicity in the striatal dopamine system of the vervet monkey. MK-801 (1 mg/kg, i.m.) was administered 30 min prior to a neurotoxic MeAmp dosage for this species (2 x 2 mg/kg, 4 h apart); control subjects received MeAmp. MK-801 treated subjects were anesthetized by the drug for 6-8 h; throughout that period, a 2-3 degrees C decrease in body temperature was measured. At 1-2 weeks post-MeAmp, decreases of approximately 75% in striatal WIN binding were observed for both MK-801/MeAmp and MeAmp subjects. Thus, in this non-human primate species, the combination of MK-801 pretreatment and reduced body temperature did not provide protection from the MeAmp-induced loss of DAT. Further, the absence of an elevated body temperature during the acute MeAmp exposure period indicated that hyperthermia, per se, was not a necessary concomitant of the MeAmp neurotoxicity profile as has been previously demonstrated in rodents. These results provide evidence that different regulatory factors maintain the integrity of the rodent and primate striatal dopamine systems.

The Portrayal of Older People in Award-Winning Literature for Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Dellmann-Jenkins, Mary; Yang, Lisa

1997-01-01

Examined illustrations for portrayal of older adult characters in Caldecott Medal-winning picture books, comparing 1972-83 and 1984-95 winners. Found that recent books portray elderly in a more positive manner than earlier winners. In addition, only two significant gender differences in a field of 36 possibilities were found over the entire…

WIN 55,212-2, agonist of cannabinoid receptors, prevents amyloid β1-42 effects on astrocytes in primary culture.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Diana Aguirre-Rueda

Full Text Available Alzheimer's disease (AD, a neurodegenerative illness involving synaptic dysfunction with extracellular accumulation of Aβ1-42 toxic peptide, glial activation, inflammatory response and oxidative stress, can lead to neuronal death. Endogenous cannabinoid system is implicated in physiological and physiopathological events in central nervous system (CNS, and changes in this system are related to many human diseases, including AD. However, studies on the effects of cannabinoids on astrocytes functions are scarce. In primary cultured astrocytes we studied cellular viability using MTT assay. Inflammatory and oxidative stress mediators were determined by ELISA and Western-blot techniques both in the presence and absence of Aβ1-42 peptide. Effects of WIN 55,212-2 (a synthetic cannabinoid on cell viability, inflammatory mediators and oxidative stress were also determined. Aβ1-42 diminished astrocytes viability, increased TNF-α and IL-1β levels and p-65, COX-2 and iNOS protein expression while decreased PPAR-γ and antioxidant enzyme Cu/Zn SOD. WIN 55,212-2 pretreatment prevents all effects elicited by Aβ1-42. Furthermore, cannabinoid WIN 55,212-2 also increased cell viability and PPAR-γ expression in control astrocytes. In conclusion cannabinoid WIN 55,212-2 increases cell viability and anti-inflammatory response in cultured astrocytes. Moreover, WIN 55,212-2 increases expression of anti-oxidant Cu/Zn SOD and is able to prevent inflammation induced by Aβ1-42 in cultured astrocytes. Further studies would be needed to assess the possible beneficial effects of cannabinoids in Alzheimer's disease patients.

CERES-Maize model-based simulation of climate change impacts on maize yields and potential adaptive measures in Heilongjiang Province, China.

Science.gov (United States)

Lin, Yumei; Wu, Wenxiang; Ge, Quansheng

2015-11-01

Climate change would cause negative impacts on future agricultural production and food security. Adaptive measures should be taken to mitigate the adverse effects. The objectives of this study were to simulate the potential effects of climate change on maize yields in Heilongjiang Province and to evaluate two selected typical household-level autonomous adaptive measures (cultivar changes and planting time adjustments) for mitigating the risks of climate change based on the CERES-Maize model. The results showed that flowering duration and maturity duration of maize would be shortened in the future climate and thus maize yield would reduce by 11-46% during 2011-2099 relative to 1981-2010. Increased CO2 concentration would not benefit maize production significantly. However, substituting local cultivars with later-maturing ones and delaying the planting date could increase yields as the climate changes. The results provide insight regarding the likely impacts of climate change on maize yields and the efficacy of selected adaptive measures by presenting evidence-based implications and mitigation strategies for the potential negative impacts of future climate change. © 2014 Society of Chemical Industry.

Portraits of Learning 2007: We Present This Year's Winning Student Photos

Science.gov (United States)

Technology & Learning, 2007

2007-01-01

This year's more than 4,000 Portraits of Learning entries attest to the growing comfort with digital technologies and visual arts that today's kids have. This article presents 12 winning student photos of the Portraits of Learning 2007. The winners emerged from the selection of subjects that varied wildly--from grasshoppers, giraffes, zebras, and…

An Overview of the WIN Program: Its Objectives, Accomplishments, and Problems.

Science.gov (United States)

Comptroller General of the U.S., Washington, DC.

The Work Incentive (WIN) program is supposed to help recipients of Aid to Families with Dependent Children (AFDC) to get jobs through a program of training, work experience, and employment while reducing the cost of the AFDC program. Because of concerns raised about the program, the Government Accounting Office (GAO) assessed the program to…

WinGraphics: An optimized windowing environment for interactive real-time simulations

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Verboncoeur, J.P.; Vahedi, V.

1989-01-01

We have developed a customized windowing environment, Win Graphics, which provides particle simulation codes with an interactive user interface. The environment supports real-time animation of the simulation, displaying multiple diagnostics as they evolve in time. In addition, keyboard and printer (PostScript and dot matrix) support is provided. This paper describes this environment

Beliefs about the Potential Impacts of Exploiting Non-Timber Forest Products Predict Voluntary Participation in Monitoring

Science.gov (United States)

Dantas Brites, Alice; Morsello, Carla

2017-06-01

Harvesting and trading non-timber forest products is advocated as a win-win strategy for conservation and development, yet it can produce negative ecological and socioeconomic impacts. Hence, monitoring exploitation outcomes is essential, and participatory monitoring has been suggested to be the most suitable approach. Among possible approaches, participatory monitoring is preferred because it is likely to increase people's awareness and beliefs regarding impacts or potential impacts, thus inducing behavioral changes, although the evidence in this regard is contradictory. We therefore evaluated whether people's beliefs about the potential ecological and socioeconomic impacts of non-timber forest product exploitation increased their likelihood of volunteering to monitor. We studied a community of forest inhabitants in the Brazilian Amazon who harvested and traded a commercially important non-timber forest product. Two methods of data gathering were employed: (i) a survey of 166 adults (51 households) to evaluate people's beliefs and their stated intention to engage in four different monitoring tasks and (ii) four pilot monitoring tasks to evaluate who actually participated. Based on mixed-effects regressions, the results indicated that beliefs regarding both types of impacts could predict participation in certain tasks, although gender, age and schooling were occasionally stronger predictors. On average, people had stronger beliefs about potential socioeconomic impacts than about potential ecological impacts, with the former also predicting participation in ecological data gathering. This finding reinforces the importance of monitoring both types of impacts to help achieve the win-win outcomes originally proposed by non-timber forest product trade initiatives.

Winning and losing tree species of reassembly in Minnesota's mixed and broadleaf forests.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Brice B Hanberry

Full Text Available We examined reassembly of winning and losing tree species, species traits including shade and fire tolerance, and associated disturbance filters and forest ecosystem types due to rapid forest change in the Great Lakes region since 1850. We identified winning and losing species by changes in composition, distribution, and site factors between historical and current surveys in Minnesota's mixed and broadleaf forests. In the Laurentian Mixed Forest, shade-intolerant aspen replaced shade-intolerant tamarack as the most dominant tree species. Fire-tolerant white pine and jack pine decreased, whereas shade-tolerant ashes, maples, and white cedar increased. In the Eastern Broadleaf Forest, fire-tolerant white oaks and red oaks decreased, while shade-tolerant ashes, American basswood, and maples increased. Tamarack, pines, and oaks have become restricted to sites with either wetter or sandier and drier soils due to increases in aspen and shade-tolerant, fire-sensitive species on mesic sites. The proportion of shade-tolerant species increased in both regions, but selective harvest reduced the applicability of functional groups alone to specify winners and losers. Harvest and existing forestry practices supported aspen dominance in mixed forests, although without aspen forestry and with fire suppression, mixed forests will transition to a greater composition of shade-tolerant species, converging to forests similar to broadleaf forests. A functional group framework provided a perspective of winning and losing species and traits, selective filters, and forest ecosystems that can be generalized to other regions, regardless of species identity.

Winning and losing tree species of reassembly in Minnesota's mixed and broadleaf forests.

Science.gov (United States)

Hanberry, Brice B; Palik, Brian J; He, Hong S

2013-01-01

We examined reassembly of winning and losing tree species, species traits including shade and fire tolerance, and associated disturbance filters and forest ecosystem types due to rapid forest change in the Great Lakes region since 1850. We identified winning and losing species by changes in composition, distribution, and site factors between historical and current surveys in Minnesota's mixed and broadleaf forests. In the Laurentian Mixed Forest, shade-intolerant aspen replaced shade-intolerant tamarack as the most dominant tree species. Fire-tolerant white pine and jack pine decreased, whereas shade-tolerant ashes, maples, and white cedar increased. In the Eastern Broadleaf Forest, fire-tolerant white oaks and red oaks decreased, while shade-tolerant ashes, American basswood, and maples increased. Tamarack, pines, and oaks have become restricted to sites with either wetter or sandier and drier soils due to increases in aspen and shade-tolerant, fire-sensitive species on mesic sites. The proportion of shade-tolerant species increased in both regions, but selective harvest reduced the applicability of functional groups alone to specify winners and losers. Harvest and existing forestry practices supported aspen dominance in mixed forests, although without aspen forestry and with fire suppression, mixed forests will transition to a greater composition of shade-tolerant species, converging to forests similar to broadleaf forests. A functional group framework provided a perspective of winning and losing species and traits, selective filters, and forest ecosystems that can be generalized to other regions, regardless of species identity.

Windows Calorimeter Control (WinCal) program computer software configuration management plan

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1997-01-01

This document describes the system configuration management activities performed in support of the Windows Calorimeter Control (WinCal) system, in accordance with Site procedures based on Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE) Standard 828-1990, Standard for Software Configuration Management Plans (IEEE 1990) and IEEE Standard 1042-1987, Guide to Software Configuration Management (IEEE 1987)

Mentor Perspectives on the Place of Undergraduate Research Mentoring in Academic Identity and Career Development: An Analysis of Award Winning Mentors

Science.gov (United States)

Hall, Eric E.; Walkington, Helen; Shanahan, Jenny Olin; Ackley, Elizabeth; Stewart, Kearsley A.

2018-01-01

This study examines how Undergraduate Research (UR) mentoring fits into the career profile of award-winning UR mentors and the factors that motivate engagement as UR mentors. Twenty-four award-winning UR mentors in four countries were interviewed about their mentoring practices. Six themes emerged: (1) Academic Identity and Motivations; (2)…

Winning at litigation through decision analysis creating and executing winning strategies in any litigation or dispute

CERN Document Server

Celona, John

2016-01-01

This book is the first in-depth guide to applying the philosophy, theory, and methods of decision analysis to creating and executing winning legal strategies. With explanations that progress from introductory to advanced and practice problems at the end of each chapter, this is a book the reader will want to use and refer to for years to come. Practicing decision analysts, operations research and management science students, attorneys and law students will find this book an invaluable addition to their knowledge and skills. John Celona has over three decades of experience in teaching and applying decision analysis. John lectures in the School of Engineering at Stanford University and is on faculty at The Stanford Center for Professional Development, the American Course on Drug Development and Regulatory Sciences, and the Academy of the American Society for Healthcare Risk Management.

Suppression of wheat TaCDK8/TaWIN1 interaction negatively affects germination of Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici by interfering with very-long-chain aldehyde biosynthesis.

Science.gov (United States)

Kong, Lingyao; Chang, Cheng

2018-01-01

Wheat TaCDK8 interacts with TaWIN1 to regulate very-long-chain aldehyde biosynthesis required for efficient germination of Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici. Powdery mildew caused by Blumeria graminis f.sp. tritici (Bgt) is a devastating disease of common wheat (Triticum aestivum L.). Bgt infection initiates with its conidia germination on the aerial surface of wheat. In this study, we isolated the cyclin-dependent kinase 8 (TaCDK8) from wheat cultivar Jing411 and found that silencing of TaCDK8 impeded Bgt germination. The biochemical and molecular-biological assays revealed that TaCDK8 interacts with and phosphorylates the wheat transcription factor wax inducer 1 (TaWIN1) to stimulate the TaWIN1-dependent transcription. Bgt conidia on the leaves of TaWIN1-silenced plants also showed reduced germination. Gas chromatographic analysis revealed that knockdown of TaCDK8 or TaWIN1 resulted in decreases of wax components and cutin monomers in wheat leaves. Moreover, Bgt germination on leaves of TaCDK8 or TaWIN1 silenced plants could be fully restored by application of wild-type cuticular wax. In vitro studies demonstrated that very-long-chain aldehydes absent from the cuticular wax of the TaCDK8 or TaWIN1 silenced plants were capable of chemically stimulating Bgt germination. These results implicated that the suppression of TaCDK8/TaWIN1 interaction negatively affects Bgt germination by interfering with very-long-chain aldehyde biosynthesis required for efficient fungal germination.

Winning end users active support to demand side response

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Osorio, Jose [Rede Electrica Nacional, S.A., Lisbon (Portugal); Estanqueiro, Ana [Laboratorio Nacional de Energia e Geologia (LNEG), Lisbon (Portugal)

2012-07-01

While objectives proposed for Smart Grids and Smart metering may seem to be able to win easily end user's supports, a considerable amount of studies on social behavior concerning energy efficiency and sustainability show the gap between the values people would like to fulfill and their real life performance. As TSOs envision here a source of System Ancillary Services, measures to make the source really dependable, so that an adequate market design may really work are pointed out. (orig.)

Poker Player Behavior After Big Wins and Big Losses

OpenAIRE

Gary Smith; Michael Levere; Robert Kurtzman

2009-01-01

We find that experienced poker players typically change their style of play after winning or losing a big pot--most notably, playing less cautiously after a big loss, evidently hoping for lucky cards that will erase their loss. This finding is consistent with Kahneman and Tversky's (Kahneman, D., A. Tversky. 1979. Prospect theory: An analysis of decision under risk. Econometrica 47(2) 263-292) break-even hypothesis and suggests that when investors incur a large loss, it might be time to take ...

Will energy crop yields meet expectations?

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Searle, Stephanie Y.; Malins, Christopher J.

2014-01-01

Expectations are high for energy crops. Government policies in the United States and Europe are increasingly supporting biofuel and heat and power from cellulose, and biomass is touted as a partial solution to energy security and greenhouse gas mitigation. Here, we review the literature for yields of 5 major potential energy crops: Miscanthus spp., Panicum virgatum (switchgrass), Populus spp. (poplar), Salix spp. (willow), and Eucalyptus spp. Very high yields have been achieved for each of these types of energy crops, up to 40 t ha −1  y −1 in small, intensively managed trials. But yields are significantly lower in semi-commercial scale trials, due to biomass losses with drying, harvesting inefficiency under real world conditions, and edge effects in small plots. To avoid competition with food, energy crops should be grown on non-agricultural land, which also lowers yields. While there is potential for yield improvement for each of these crops through further research and breeding programs, for several reasons the rate of yield increase is likely to be slower than historically has been achieved for cereals; these include relatively low investment, long breeding periods, low yield response of perennial grasses to fertilizer, and inapplicability of manipulating the harvest index. Miscanthus × giganteus faces particular challenges as it is a sterile hybrid. Moderate and realistic expectations for the current and future performance of energy crops are vital to understanding the likely cost and the potential of large-scale production. - Highlights: • This review covers Miscanthus, switchgrass, poplar, willow, and Eucalyptus. • High yields of energy crops are typically from small experimental plots. • Field scale yields are lower due to real world harvesting losses and edge effects. • The potential for yield improvement of energy crops is relatively limited. • Expectations must be realistic for successful policies and commercial production

Yield-scaled global warming potential of two irrigation management systems in a highly productive rice system

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Silvana Tarlera

2016-02-01

Full Text Available ABSTRACT Water management impacts both methane (CH4 and nitrous oxide (N2O emissions from rice paddy fields. Although controlled irrigation is one of the most important tools for reducing CH4emission in rice production systems it can also increase N2O emissions and reduce crop yields. Over three years, CH4 and N2O emissions were measured in a rice field in Uruguay under two different irrigation management systems, using static closed chambers: conventional water management (continuous flooding after 30 days of emergence, CF30; and an alternative system (controlled deficit irrigation allowing for wetting and drying, AWDI. AWDI showed mean cumulative CH4 emission values of 98.4 kg CH4 ha−1, 55 % lower compared to CF30, while no differences in nitrous oxide emissions were observed between treatments ( p > 0.05. No yield differences between irrigation systems were observed in two of the rice seasons ( p > 0.05 while AWDI promoted yield reduction in one of the seasons ( p< 0.05. When rice yield and greenhouse gases (GHG emissions were considered together, the AWDI irrigation system allowed for lower yield-scaled total global warming potential (GWP. Higher irrigation water productivity was achieved under AWDI in two of the three rice seasons. These findings suggest that AWDI could be an option for reducing GHG emissions and increasing irrigation water productivity. However, AWDI may compromise grain yield in certain years, reflecting the importance of the need for fine tuning of this irrigation strategy and an assessment of the overall tradeoff between relationships in order to promote its adoption by farmers.

Potential impacts of agricultural drought on crop yield variability under a changing climate in Texas

Science.gov (United States)

Lee, K.; Leng, G.; Huang, M.; Sheffield, J.; Zhao, G.; Gao, H.

2017-12-01

Texas has the largest farm area in the U.S, and its revenue from crop production ranks third overall. With the changing climate, hydrological extremes such as droughts are becoming more frequent and intensified, causing significant yield reduction in rainfed agricultural systems. The objective of this study is to investigate the potential impacts of agricultural drought on crop yields (corn, sorghum, and wheat) under a changing climate in Texas. The Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model, which is calibrated and validated over 10 major Texas river basins during the historical period, is employed in this study.The model is forced by a set of statistically downscaled climate projections from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 (CMIP5) model ensembles at a spatial resolution of 1/8°. The CMIP5 projections contain four Representative Concentration Pathways (RCP) that represent different greenhouse gas concentration (4.5 and 8.5 w/m2 are selected in this study). To carry out the analysis, VIC simulations from 1950 to 2099 are first analyzed to investigate how the frequency and severity of agricultural droughts will be altered in Texas (under a changing climate). Second, future crop yields are projected using a statistical crop model. Third, the effects of agricultural drought on crop yields are quantitatively analyzed. The results are expected to contribute to future water resources planning, with a goal of mitigating the negative impacts of future droughts on agricultural production in Texas.

Climatic and technological ceilings for Chinese rice stagnation based on yield gaps and yield trend pattern analysis.

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Tianyi; Yang, Xiaoguang; Wang, Hesong; Li, Yong; Ye, Qing

2014-04-01

Climatic or technological ceilings could cause yield stagnation. Thus, identifying the principal reasons for yield stagnation within the context of the local climate and socio-economic conditions are essential for informing regional agricultural policies. In this study, we identified the climatic and technological ceilings for seven rice-production regions in China based on yield gaps and on a yield trend pattern analysis for the period 1980-2010. The results indicate that 54.9% of the counties sampled experienced yield stagnation since the 1980. The potential yield ceilings in northern and eastern China decreased to a greater extent than in other regions due to the accompanying climate effects of increases in temperature and decreases in radiation. This may be associated with yield stagnation and halt occurring in approximately 49.8-57.0% of the sampled counties in these areas. South-western China exhibited a promising scope for yield improvement, showing the greatest yield gap (30.6%), whereas the yields were stagnant in 58.4% of the sampled counties. This finding suggests that efforts to overcome the technological ceiling must be given priority so that the available exploitable yield gap can be achieved. North-eastern China, however, represents a noteworthy exception. In the north-central area of this region, climate change has increased the yield potential ceiling, and this increase has been accompanied by the most rapid increase in actual yield: 1.02 ton ha(-1) per decade. Therefore, north-eastern China shows a great potential for rice production, which is favoured by the current climate conditions and available technology level. Additional environmentally friendly economic incentives might be considered in this region. © 2013 John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

'No Win, No Fee', Cost-Shifting and the Costs of Civil Litigation

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Fenn, Paul; Grembi, Veronica; Rickman, Neil

Expenditure on legal services has been rising for much of the last two decades and has attracted considerable policy attention in the UK. We argue that an important reason for this increase lies within the introduction of 'no win no fee' schemes in 1995 and a subsequent amendment which allowed cl...

FwWebViewPlus: integration of web technologies into WinCC OA based Human-Machine Interfaces at CERN

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Golonka, Piotr; Fabian, Wojciech; Gonzalez-Berges, Manuel; Jasiun, Piotr; Varela-Rodriguez, Fernando

2014-01-01

The rapid growth in popularity of web applications gives rise to a plethora of reusable graphical components, such as Google Chart Tools and JQuery Sparklines, implemented in JavaScript and run inside a web browser. In the paper we describe the tool that allows for seamless integration of web-based widgets into WinCC Open Architecture, the SCADA system used commonly at CERN to build complex Human-Machine Interfaces. Reuse of widely available widget libraries and pushing the development efforts to a higher abstraction layer based on a scripting language allow for significant reduction in maintenance of the code in multi-platform environments compared to those currently used in C++ visualization plugins. Adequately designed interfaces allow for rapid integration of new web widgets into WinCC OA. At the same time, the mechanisms familiar to HMI developers are preserved, making the use of new widgets n ative . Perspectives for further integration between the realms of WinCC OA and Web development are also discussed.

FwWebViewPlus: integration of web technologies into WinCC OA based Human-Machine Interfaces at CERN

Science.gov (United States)

Golonka, Piotr; Fabian, Wojciech; Gonzalez-Berges, Manuel; Jasiun, Piotr; Varela-Rodriguez, Fernando

2014-06-01

The rapid growth in popularity of web applications gives rise to a plethora of reusable graphical components, such as Google Chart Tools and JQuery Sparklines, implemented in JavaScript and run inside a web browser. In the paper we describe the tool that allows for seamless integration of web-based widgets into WinCC Open Architecture, the SCADA system used commonly at CERN to build complex Human-Machine Interfaces. Reuse of widely available widget libraries and pushing the development efforts to a higher abstraction layer based on a scripting language allow for significant reduction in maintenance of the code in multi-platform environments compared to those currently used in C++ visualization plugins. Adequately designed interfaces allow for rapid integration of new web widgets into WinCC OA. At the same time, the mechanisms familiar to HMI developers are preserved, making the use of new widgets "native". Perspectives for further integration between the realms of WinCC OA and Web development are also discussed.

Reports of wins and risk taking: an investigation of the mediating effect of the illusion of control.

Science.gov (United States)

Martinez, Frédéric; Le Floch, Valérie; Gaffié, Bernard; Villejoubert, Gaëlle

2011-06-01

Two experiments examined the relationships between the knowledge that another person has won in a gamble, the illusion of control and risk taking. Participants played a computer-simulated French roulette game individually. Before playing, some participants learnt that another person won a large amount of money. Results from a first experiment (n = 24) validated a causal model where the knowledge of another person's win increased the illusion of control, measured with betting times, expectancy and self-reports on scales, which in turn encourages risk taking. In the second experiment (n = 36), some participants were told the previous player acknowledged the win to be fortuitous. The suppression of the belief that the previous winner had himself exerted control over the outcome resulted in lower rates of risk-taking behaviors. This suggests that it was not the knowledge of another person's win in itself that increased risk taking, but rather, the belief that the other person had some control over the gamble's outcome. Theoretical implications for the study of social mechanisms involved in gambling behavior are discussed.

Firms vie to offer DOE a prize-winning recipe for cleanup

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Powers, M.B.

1994-01-01

Eager to get the most bang for its waste cleanup bucks, the US Department of Energy is conducting its own version of the Pillsbury bake-off. DOE is pitting two environmental contractors, Rust International Corp. and Lockheed Environmental Systems and Technologies Co., against each other to come up with the prize-winning recipe for cleaning up some nasty waste problems

Effects of peat-winning on the water environment at a sedge fen ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundin, L.

1997-06-01

Peatlands are used in agriculture and forestry for vegetational growth and in peat-winning for soil improvement, horticulture production and as fuel. A prerequisite in peatland use is drainage, with influences on water conditions in the peatland and in its surroundings. Environmental effects from such peatland use have been investigated at a sedge fen in central Sweden. Groundwater, runoff, water chemistry and streamwater biology were studied during almost 14 years. This period started with a virgin undrained peatland, later being drained for forest production and after a period of seven years intensively drained for peat-winning and with peat harvesting going on for another seven year period with hydrological investigations. Results show a lowered groundwater level, increased runoff and both higher concentrations of most elements and higher leaching from the drained peatland. Biomass and number of individuals of the benthic fauna in streamwater also increased. 7 refs

Variation of Potential Yield of Hybrid Population of Robusta coffee (Coffea canepor

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Novie Pranata Erdiansyah

2014-08-01

Full Text Available The low yield of Robusta coffee in Indonesia may be due to the use of planting materials derived from seeds. The research objective was to determine the variation of Robusta coffee yield wich local propagated by using seeds. The study was conducted in Kaliwining experimental Station of ICCRI (Indonesian Coffee andCocoa Research Institute. There were two populations observed. Number of progeny used in this study were 186 genotypes consisting of two groups from crossesBP 409 x Q 121 with 89 progenies and BP 961 x BP 409 with 81 progenies. The results showed that planting materials from seeds exhibit properties mixed results.Progeny that have the best results (yield more than 2 ton/ha not more than 5% of the total population. In both populations there is a big difference between the progenythat has high and low yield. Highest yield B population could reach 2,500 kg/ha and the C population reached 2,200 kg/ha. The lowest yield can only produce coffee270 kg/ha in populations B and 120 kg/ha in population C.Key words: Coffea canephora, hybrid, variation, yield

Yield gap analysis of Chickpea under semi-arid conditions: A simulation study

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

seyed Reza Amiri Deh ahmadi

2016-05-01

Full Text Available Yield gap analysis provides an essential framework to prioritize research and policy efforts aimed at reducing yield constraints. To identify options for increasing chickpea yield, the SSM-chickpea model was parameterized and evaluated to analyze yield potentials, water limited yields and yield gaps for nine regions representing major chickpea-growing areas of Razavi Khorasan province. The average potential yield of chickpea for the locations was 2251 kg ha-1, while the water limited yield was 1026 kg ha-1 indicating a 54% reduction in yield due to adverse soil moisture conditions. Also, the average irrigated and rainfed actual yields were respectively 64% and 79% less than simulated potential and water limited yields. Maximum and minimum yield gap between potential yield and actual yield were observed in Quchan and Torbat-jam respectively. Generally, yield gap showed an increasing trend from the north (including Nishabur, Mashhad, Quchan and Daregaz regions to the south of the province (Torbat- Jam and Gonabad. In addition, yield gap between simulated water limited potential yield and rainfed actual yield were very low because both simulated water limiting potential and average rainfed actual yields were low in these regions. Yield gap analysis provides an essential framework to prioritize research and policy efforts aimed at reducing yield constraints. To identify options for increasing chickpea yield, the SSM-chickpea model was parameterized and evaluated to analyze yield potentials, water limited yields and yield gaps for nine regions representing major chickpea-growing areas of Razavi Khorasan province. The average potential yield of chickpea for the locations was 2251 kg ha-1, while the water limited yield was 1026 kg ha-1 indicating a 54% reduction in yield due to adverse soil moisture conditions. Also, the average irrigated and rainfed actual yields were respectively 64% and 79% less than simulated potential and water limited yields

A study on the role of women experts to enhance public confidence on nuclear and to establish cooperation and collaboration strategies with the Women In Nuclear (WIN)

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Min, Byung Joo; Kim, K. R.; Kim, D. Y. and others

2002-12-01

This study conducted 'R and D Planning' for the projects which will be partially terminated at 2004. In each field, there are three projects in reactor and nuclear fuel field, seven in nuclear safety field and two projects in RI production and radiation application field. The followings are the detailed contents for each project. Research of present states of WIN web site world-widely, Introduction of activity of women in nuclear working in our country through web site of WIN-Global, Acquisition of information materials through active participation in WIN-Global association(10th WIN-Global Annual Meeting), Construction of database of women in nuclear and technical exchange infra in nation

Nut crop yield records show that budbreak-based chilling requirements may not reflect yield decline chill thresholds

Science.gov (United States)

Pope, Katherine S.; Dose, Volker; Da Silva, David; Brown, Patrick H.; DeJong, Theodore M.

2015-06-01

Warming winters due to climate change may critically affect temperate tree species. Insufficiently cold winters are thought to result in fewer viable flower buds and the subsequent development of fewer fruits or nuts, decreasing the yield of an orchard or fecundity of a species. The best existing approximation for a threshold of sufficient cold accumulation, the "chilling requirement" of a species or variety, has been quantified by manipulating or modeling the conditions that result in dormant bud breaking. However, the physiological processes that affect budbreak are not the same as those that determine yield. This study sought to test whether budbreak-based chilling thresholds can reasonably approximate the thresholds that affect yield, particularly regarding the potential impacts of climate change on temperate tree crop yields. County-wide yield records for almond ( Prunus dulcis), pistachio ( Pistacia vera), and walnut ( Juglans regia) in the Central Valley of California were compared with 50 years of weather records. Bayesian nonparametric function estimation was used to model yield potentials at varying amounts of chill accumulation. In almonds, average yields occurred when chill accumulation was close to the budbreak-based chilling requirement. However, in the other two crops, pistachios and walnuts, the best previous estimate of the budbreak-based chilling requirements was 19-32 % higher than the chilling accumulations associated with average or above average yields. This research indicates that physiological processes beyond requirements for budbreak should be considered when estimating chill accumulation thresholds of yield decline and potential impacts of climate change.

Winning and Losing Tree Species of Reassembly in Minnesota’s Mixed and Broadleaf Forests

Science.gov (United States)

Hanberry, Brice B.; Palik, Brian J.; He, Hong S.

2013-01-01

We examined reassembly of winning and losing tree species, species traits including shade and fire tolerance, and associated disturbance filters and forest ecosystem types due to rapid forest change in the Great Lakes region since 1850. We identified winning and losing species by changes in composition, distribution, and site factors between historical and current surveys in Minnesota’s mixed and broadleaf forests. In the Laurentian Mixed Forest, shade-intolerant aspen replaced shade-intolerant tamarack as the most dominant tree species. Fire-tolerant white pine and jack pine decreased, whereas shade-tolerant ashes, maples, and white cedar increased. In the Eastern Broadleaf Forest, fire-tolerant white oaks and red oaks decreased, while shade-tolerant ashes, American basswood, and maples increased. Tamarack, pines, and oaks have become restricted to sites with either wetter or sandier and drier soils due to increases in aspen and shade-tolerant, fire-sensitive species on mesic sites. The proportion of shade-tolerant species increased in both regions, but selective harvest reduced the applicability of functional groups alone to specify winners and losers. Harvest and existing forestry practices supported aspen dominance in mixed forests, although without aspen forestry and with fire suppression, mixed forests will transition to a greater composition of shade-tolerant species, converging to forests similar to broadleaf forests. A functional group framework provided a perspective of winning and losing species and traits, selective filters, and forest ecosystems that can be generalized to other regions, regardless of species identity. PMID:23613911

Synthesis of [3H]WIN 35,065-2; a new radioligand for cocaine receptors

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Naseree, T.M.; Abraham, P.; Kepler, J.A.; Carroll, F.I.; Lewin, A.H.; Kuhar, M.J.

1990-01-01

Treatment of methyl (-)-3β-phenylnortropane-2β-carboxylate with [ 3 H]CH 3 I afforded [ 3 H]WIN 35,065-2 with specific activity of 25 Ci/mmol, a new ligand for the cocaine recognition site. (author)

Effects of peat-winning on the water environment at a sedge fen ecosystem

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lundin, L.

1996-03-01

Peatlands are used in agriculture and forestry for vegetational growth and in peat-winning for soil improvement, horticulture production and as fuel. A prerequisite in peatland use is drainage, with influences on water conditions in the peatland and its surroundings. Environmental effects from such peatland use have been investigated at a sedge fen in central Sweden. Groundwater, runoff, water chemistry and stream water biology were studied during almost 14 years. This period started with a virgin undrained peatland, later being drained for forest production and after a period of seven years intensively drained for peat-winning and with peat harvesting going on for another seven years period with hydrological investigations. Results show a lowered groundwater level, increased runoff and both higher concentrations of most elements and higher leaching from the drained peatland. Biomass and number of individuals of the benthic fauna in stream water also increased. 7 refs, 7 figs, 2 tabs

Warfighter Information Network-Tactical Increment 2 (WIN-T Inc 2)

Science.gov (United States)

2015-12-01

Company- level . Using equipment mounted on combat platforms, WIN-T Inc 2 delivers a mobile capability that reduces reliance on fixed infrastructure...Cost Estimate Reference Army Cost Position (ACP) dated April 28, 2015 Confidence Level Confidence Level of cost estimate for current APB: 50% The...Development Estimate Changes PAUC Production Estimate Econ Qty Sch Eng Est Oth Spt Total 2.064 -0.055 -0.063 0.016 0.000 0.093 0.000 0.200 0.191 2.255

Effects of WIN 55,212-2 mesylate on the anticonvulsant action of lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, pregabalin and topiramate against maximal electroshock-induced seizures in mice.

Science.gov (United States)

Luszczki, Jarogniew J; Wlaz, Aleksandra; Karwan, Slawomir; Florek-Luszczki, Magdalena; Czuczwar, Stanislaw J

2013-11-15

The aim of this study was to determine the effect of WIN 55,212-2 mesylate (WIN - a non-selective cannabinoid CB1 and CB2 receptor agonist) on the protective action of four second-generation antiepileptic drugs (lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, pregabalin and topiramate) in the mouse maximal electroshock seizure model. Tonic hind limb extension (seizure activity) was evoked in adult male albino Swiss mice by a current (sine-wave, 25 mA, 500 V, 50 Hz, 0.2s stimulus duration) delivered via auricular electrodes. Drug-related adverse effects were ascertained by use of the chimney test (evaluating motor performance), the step-through passive avoidance task (assessing long-term memory) and the grip-strength test (evaluating skeletal muscular strength). Total brain concentrations of antiepileptic drugs were measured by high-pressure liquid chromatography to ascertain any pharmacokinetic contribution to the observed antiseizure effect. Results indicate that WIN (5mg/kg, i.p.) significantly enhanced the anticonvulsant action of lamotrigine (Poxcarbazepine in the maximal electroshock-induced tonic seizure test in mice. Furthermore, none of the investigated combinations of WIN with antiepileptic drugs were associated with any concurrent adverse effects with regards to motor performance, long-term memory or muscular strength. Pharmacokinetic characterization revealed that WIN had no impact on total brain concentrations of lamotrigine, oxcarbazepine, pregabalin and topiramate in mice. These preclinical data would suggest that WIN in combination with lamotrigine, pregabalin and topiramate is associated with beneficial anticonvulsant pharmacodynamic interactions in the maximal electroshock-induced tonic seizure test. © 2013 Published by Elsevier B.V.

GAME-RELATED STATISTICS THAT DISCRIMINATED WINNING, DRAWING AND LOSING TEAMS FROM THE SPANISH SOCCER LEAGUE

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carlos Lago-Peñas

2010-06-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to analyze men's football competitions, trying to identify which game-related statistics allow to discriminate winning, drawing and losing teams. The sample used corresponded to 380 games from the 2008-2009 season of the Spanish Men's Professional League. The game-related statistics gathered were: total shots, shots on goal, effectiveness, assists, crosses, offsides commited and received, corners, ball possession, crosses against, fouls committed and received, corners against, yellow and red cards, and venue. An univariate (t-test and multivariate (discriminant analysis of data was done. The results showed that winning teams had averages that were significantly higher for the following game statistics: total shots (p < 0.001, shots on goal (p < 0.01, effectiveness (p < 0.01, assists (p < 0.01, offsides committed (p < 0.01 and crosses against (p < 0.01. Losing teams had significantly higher averages in the variable crosses (p < 0.01, offsides received (p < 0. 01 and red cards (p < 0.01. Discriminant analysis allowed to conclude the following: the variables that discriminate between winning, drawing and losing teams were the total shots, shots on goal, crosses, crosses against, ball possession and venue. Coaches and players should be aware for these different profiles in order to increase knowledge about game cognitive and motor solicitation and, therefore, to evaluate specificity at the time of practice and game planning

Enhanced self-administration of the CB1 receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 in olfactory bulbectomized rats: evaluation of possible serotonergic and dopaminergic underlying mechanisms

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Petra eAmchova

2014-03-01

Full Text Available Depression has been associated with drug consumption, including heavy or problematic cannabis use. According to an animal model of depression and substance use disorder comorbidity, we combined the olfactory bulbectomy model of depression with intravenous drug self-administration procedure to verify whether depressive-like rats displayed higher voluntary intake of the CB1 receptor agonist WIN55,212-2 (WIN, 12.5 µg/kg/infusion. To this aim, olfactory-bulbectomized (OBX and sham-operated (SHAM Lister Hooded rats were allowed to self-administer WIN by lever-pressing under a continuous (FR-1 schedule of reinforcement in 2h daily sessions. Data showed that both OBX and SHAM rats developed stable WIN intake; yet, responses in OBX were constantly higher than in SHAM rats soon after the first week of training. In addition, OBX rats took significantly longer to extinguish the drug-seeking behaviour after vehicle substitution. Acute pre-treatment with serotonin 5HT1B receptor agonist, CGS-12066B (2.5-10 mg/kg, did not significantly modify WIN intake in OBX and SHAM Lister Hooded rats. Furthermore, acute pre-treatment with CGS-12066B (10 and 15 mg/kg did not alter responses in parallel groups of OBX and SHAM Sprague Dawley rats self-administering methamphetamine under higher (FR-2 reinforcement schedule with nose-poking as operandum. Finally, dopamine levels in the nucleus accumbens of OBX rats did not increase in response to a WIN challenge, as in SHAM rats, indicating a dopaminergic dysfunction in bulbectomized rats. Altogether, our findings suggest that a depressive state may alter cannabinoid CB1 receptor agonist-induced brain reward function and that a dopaminergic rather than a 5-HT1B mechanism is likely to underlie enhanced WIN self-administration in OBX rats.

Biomass energy in organic farming - the potential role of short rotation coppice

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Joergensen, Uffe; Dalgaard, Tommy [Danish Inst. of Agricultural Sciences (DIAS), Dept. of Agroecology, Research Centre Foulum, Tjele (Denmark); Kristensen, Erik Steen [Danish Research Centre for Organic Farming (DARCOF), Research Centre Foulum, Tjele (Denmark)

2005-02-01

One of the aims of organic farming is to 'reduce the use of non-renewable resources (e.g. fossil fuels) to a minimum'. So far, however, only very little progress has been made to introduce renewable energy in organic farming. This paper presents energy balances of Danish organic farming compared with energy balances of conventional farming. In general, the conversion to organic farming leads to a lower energy use (approximately 10% per unit of product). But the production of energy in organic farming is very low compared with the extensive utilisation of straw from conventional farming in Denmark (energy content of straw used for energy production was equivalent to 18% of total energy input in Danish agriculture in 1996). Biomass is a key energy carrier with a good potential for on-farm development. Apart from utilising farm manure and crop residues for biogas production, the production of nutrient efficient short rotation coppice (SRC) is an option in organic farming. Alder (Alnus spp.) is an interesting crop due to its symbiosis with the actinomycete Frankia, which has the ability to fix up to 185 kg/ha nitrogen (N{sub 2}) from the air. Yields obtained at different European sites are presented and the R and D needed to implement energy cropping in organic farming is discussed. Possible win-win solutions for SRC production in organic farming that may facilitate its implementation are; the protection of ground water quality in intensively farmed areas, utilisation of wastewater for irrigation, or combination with outdoor animal husbandry such as pigs or poultry. (Author)

Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement.

Science.gov (United States)

Barcelos, Edson; Rios, Sara de Almeida; Cunha, Raimundo N V; Lopes, Ricardo; Motoike, Sérgio Y; Babiychuk, Elena; Skirycz, Aleksandra; Kushnir, Sergei

2015-01-01

African oil palm has the highest productivity amongst cultivated oleaginous crops. Species can constitute a single crop capable to fulfill the growing global demand for vegetable oils, which is estimated to reach 240 million tons by 2050. Two types of vegetable oil are extracted from the palm fruit on commercial scale. The crude palm oil and kernel palm oil have different fatty acid profiles, which increases versatility of the crop in industrial applications. Plantations of the current varieties have economic life-span around 25-30 years and produce fruits around the year. Thus, predictable annual palm oil supply enables marketing plans and adjustments in line with the economic forecasts. Oil palm cultivation is one of the most profitable land uses in the humid tropics. Oil palm fruits are the richest plant source of pro-vitamin A and vitamin E. Hence, crop both alleviates poverty, and could provide a simple practical solution to eliminate global pro-vitamin A deficiency. Oil palm is a perennial, evergreen tree adapted to cultivation in biodiversity rich equatorial land areas. The growing demand for the palm oil threatens the future of the rain forests and has a large negative impact on biodiversity. Plant science faces three major challenges to make oil palm the key element of building the future sustainable world. The global average yield of 3.5 tons of oil per hectare (t) should be raised to the full yield potential estimated at 11-18t. The tree architecture must be changed to lower labor intensity and improve mechanization of the harvest. Oil composition should be tailored to the evolving needs of the food, oleochemical and fuel industries. The release of the oil palm reference genome sequence in 2013 was the key step toward this goal. The molecular bases of agronomically important traits can be and are beginning to be understood at the single base pair resolution, enabling gene-centered breeding and engineering of this remarkable crop.

Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Edson eBarcelos

2015-03-01

Full Text Available African oil palm has the highest productivity amongst cultivated oleaginous crops. Species can constitute a single crop capable to fulfil the growing global demand for vegetable oils, which is estimated to reach 240 million tons by 2050. Two types of vegetable oil are extracted from the palm fruit on commercial scale. The crude palm oil and kernel palm oil have different fatty acid profiles, which increases versatility of the crop in industrial applications. Plantations of the current varieties have economic life-span around 25-30 years and produce fruits around the year. Thus, predictable annual palm oil supply enables marketing plans and adjustments in line with the economic forecasts. Oil palm cultivation is one of the most profitable land uses in the humid tropics. Oil palm fruits are the richest plant source of pro-vitamin A and vitamin E. Hence, crop both alleviates poverty, and could provide a simple practical solution to eliminate global pro-vitamin A deficiency. Oil palm is a perennial, evergreen tree adapted to cultivation in biodiversity rich equatorial land areas. The growing demand for the palm oil threatens the future of the rain forests and has a large negative impact on biodiversity. Plant science faces three major challenges to make oil palm the key element of building the future sustainable world. The global average yield of 3.5 tons of oil per hectare (t should be raised to the full yield potential estimated at 11-18t. The tree architecture must be changed to lower labor intensity and improve mechanization of the harvest. Oil composition should be tailored to the evolving needs of the food, oleochemical and fuel industries. The release of the oil palm reference genome sequence in 2013 was the key step towards this goal. The molecular bases of agronomically important traits can be and are beginning to be understood at the single base pair resolution, enabling gene-centered breeding and engineering of this remarkable crop.

Oil palm natural diversity and the potential for yield improvement

Science.gov (United States)

Barcelos, Edson; Rios, Sara de Almeida; Cunha, Raimundo N. V.; Lopes, Ricardo; Motoike, Sérgio Y.; Babiychuk, Elena; Skirycz, Aleksandra; Kushnir, Sergei

2015-01-01

African oil palm has the highest productivity amongst cultivated oleaginous crops. Species can constitute a single crop capable to fulfill the growing global demand for vegetable oils, which is estimated to reach 240 million tons by 2050. Two types of vegetable oil are extracted from the palm fruit on commercial scale. The crude palm oil and kernel palm oil have different fatty acid profiles, which increases versatility of the crop in industrial applications. Plantations of the current varieties have economic life-span around 25–30 years and produce fruits around the year. Thus, predictable annual palm oil supply enables marketing plans and adjustments in line with the economic forecasts. Oil palm cultivation is one of the most profitable land uses in the humid tropics. Oil palm fruits are the richest plant source of pro-vitamin A and vitamin E. Hence, crop both alleviates poverty, and could provide a simple practical solution to eliminate global pro-vitamin A deficiency. Oil palm is a perennial, evergreen tree adapted to cultivation in biodiversity rich equatorial land areas. The growing demand for the palm oil threatens the future of the rain forests and has a large negative impact on biodiversity. Plant science faces three major challenges to make oil palm the key element of building the future sustainable world. The global average yield of 3.5 tons of oil per hectare (t) should be raised to the full yield potential estimated at 11–18t. The tree architecture must be changed to lower labor intensity and improve mechanization of the harvest. Oil composition should be tailored to the evolving needs of the food, oleochemical and fuel industries. The release of the oil palm reference genome sequence in 2013 was the key step toward this goal. The molecular bases of agronomically important traits can be and are beginning to be understood at the single base pair resolution, enabling gene-centered breeding and engineering of this remarkable crop. PMID:25870604

Geoelectrical parameter-based multivariate regression borehole yield model for predicting aquifer yield in managing groundwater resource sustainability

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kehinde Anthony Mogaji

2016-07-01

Full Text Available This study developed a GIS-based multivariate regression (MVR yield rate prediction model of groundwater resource sustainability in the hard-rock geology terrain of southwestern Nigeria. This model can economically manage the aquifer yield rate potential predictions that are often overlooked in groundwater resources development. The proposed model relates the borehole yield rate inventory of the area to geoelectrically derived parameters. Three sets of borehole yield rate conditioning geoelectrically derived parameters—aquifer unit resistivity (ρ, aquifer unit thickness (D and coefficient of anisotropy (λ—were determined from the acquired and interpreted geophysical data. The extracted borehole yield rate values and the geoelectrically derived parameter values were regressed to develop the MVR relationship model by applying linear regression and GIS techniques. The sensitivity analysis results of the MVR model evaluated at P ⩽ 0.05 for the predictors ρ, D and λ provided values of 2.68 × 10−05, 2 × 10−02 and 2.09 × 10−06, respectively. The accuracy and predictive power tests conducted on the MVR model using the Theil inequality coefficient measurement approach, coupled with the sensitivity analysis results, confirmed the model yield rate estimation and prediction capability. The MVR borehole yield prediction model estimates were processed in a GIS environment to model an aquifer yield potential prediction map of the area. The information on the prediction map can serve as a scientific basis for predicting aquifer yield potential rates relevant in groundwater resources sustainability management. The developed MVR borehole yield rate prediction mode provides a good alternative to other methods used for this purpose.

Meet the best Award-winning technologies from Pacific Northwest Laboratory

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

1990-09-01

The Battelle Memorial Institute has managed the Pacific Northwest Laboratory (PNL) for the US Department of Energy for 25 years. During this time, numerous new technologies have been discovered and developed at PNL as a result of our research programs. This document will introduce you to some of the more significant discoveries and newly commercialized technologies. Each of the technologies described has received an award from Research Development magazine or the Federal Laboratory Consortium--sometimes both Each technology is available to you through PNL's technology transfer program or one of our licensees. Similarly, our award-winning scientists and engineers are available to assist you as you search for innovative technologies to solve your technical problems. These researchers are familiar with current problems confronting industry, government agencies, and the academic community. They are happy to apply their skills and PNL's resources to your problems. PNL encourages its researchers to work with government agencies, universities, and US industries. PNL technology transfer programs address the nation's drive toward increased competitiveness by being flexible and aggressive, and are designed to tailor results to fit your needs and those of your clients. If you are in search of a new technology or increased competitiveness, consider collaborative efforts with our award-winning staff, whose accomplishments are synopsized in this booklet.

A GIS-based model of potential groundwater yield zonation for a sandstone aquifer in the Juye Coalfield, Shangdong, China

Science.gov (United States)

Yin, Huiyong; Shi, Yongli; Niu, Huigong; Xie, Daolei; Wei, Jiuchuan; Lefticariu, Liliana; Xu, Shuanxiang

2018-02-01

Resolving the potential groundwater yield zonation of sandstone aquifers occurring at depths of several hundred meters has been an important and challenging objective of the hydrogeological research focused on preventing flood hazards in coal mines. Using accessible geological exploration data we put forward a method of predicting the spatial distribution of groundwater storage potential in sandstone aquifers from Permian-age coal deposits in Juye Coalfield, Shangdong, China. A Geological, Tectonic and Lithological Composition Index (GTLCI) model was created using the following parameters: sandstone depth and thickness, faults length density (FaLD), faults density (FaD), fault frequency density (FaFD), fault scale density (FaSD), variation coefficient of the slope (VCS) of the coal seam, intensity index of folds in horizontal direction (IIFoH), and lithological composition index (LCI). Each of these factors was subsequently divided into 5 classes. The analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and trapezoidal fuzzy number (TFN) method was applied to calculate the weight of the conditioning factor and their respective sub-classes. Groundwater yield potential contour map, which was initially constructed using the GTLCI values revealed four groundwater abundance zones. The map was further refined by taking into account hydrogeologic data collected during mining activities. The GTLCI model predictive success rate of 80% was explained by the limited number of boreholes available for validation. It is considered that the GTLCI model is effective at predicting zonation of groundwater yield in the sandstone aquifers from Permian- age coal deposits in Juye Coalfield, China.

Ventajas de aplicar la triangulación empresarial entre España, China y América Latina. Una relación win-win para todos los polos

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Agueda Parra Pérez

2016-05-01

Full Text Available España tiene la oportunidad de desempeñar un papel importante en el proceso de internacionalización de las empresas chinas hacia Europa y América Latina gracias a la histórica experiencia de las multinacionales españolas en estas regiones. Puesto que las relaciones diplomáticas entre España y China gozan de buena sintonía, si España aprovecha la posición de privilegio respecto al resto de economías europeas, el gigante asiático podría estar interesado en el apoyo de España en América Latina, propiciando así la implantación de iniciativas de cooperación entre los tres polos. Los puntos clave para construir una relación win-win en clave triangular es la importancia de un socio local para profundizar en su despliegue internacional en América Latina, que las empresas chinas requieren, además del expertise y know-how necesarios en los procesos operativos, siendo en estos ámbitos las empresas españolas las mejor posicionadas.

A C2 System for 'Winning hearts and Minds': Tools for Confrontation and Collaboration Analysis

National Research Council Canada - National Science Library

Crannell, Mary; Howard, Nigel; Norwood, George W; Tait, Andrew

2005-01-01

Asymmetric campaigns since the end of the Cold War have tended to have a brief war-fighting phase followed by a cultural phase in which victory is achieved by winning the hearts and minds of diverse...

Maximizing Amazonia's Ecosystem Services: Juggling the potential for carbon storage, agricultural yield and biodiversity in the Amazon

Science.gov (United States)

O'Connell, C. S.; Foley, J. A.; Gerber, J. S.; Polasky, S.

2011-12-01

The Amazon is not only an exceptionally biodiverse and carbon-rich tract of tropical forest, it is also a case study in land use change. Over the next forty years it will continue to experience pressure from an urbanizing and increasingly affluent populace: under a business-as-usual scenario, global cropland, pasture and biofuels systems will carry on expanding, while the Amazon's carbon storage potential will likely become another viable revenue source under REDD+. Balancing those competing land use pressures ought also take into account Amazonia's high - but heterogeneous - biodiversity. Knowing where Amazonia has opportunities to make efficient or optimal trade offs between carbon storage, agricultural production and biodiversity can allow policymakers to direct or influence LUC drivers. This analysis uses a spatially-explicit model that takes climate and management into account to quantify the potential agricultural yield of both the Amazon's most important agricultural commodities - sugar, soy and maize - as well as several that are going to come into increasing prominence, including palm oil. In addition, it maps the potential for carbon to be stored in forest biomass and relative species richness across Amazonia. We then compare carbon storage, agricultural yield and species richness and identify areas where efficient trade offs occur between food, carbon, and biodiversity - three critical ecosystem goods and services provided by the world's largest tropical forest.

Evaluation of groundwater resource potential in rural part of ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

This study was carried out to determine groundwater potential in the rural area of Northcentral Nigeria using Vertical Electrical Sounding (VES). The VES data was generated from twenty (20) locations in the study area and was later processed and analyzed using IPI2 WIN software. The underlying geo-electric sections ...

Métodos para a estimativa do potencial de rendimento da soja durante a ontogenia Methods for estimating the soybean potential yield during ontogeny

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

João Leonardo Fernandes Pires

2005-04-01

Full Text Available O objetivo deste trabalho foi estudar métodos para a estimativa do potencial de rendimento da soja durante a ontogenia. Os experimentos foram realizados em Eldorado do Sul, RS, durante as safras de 1996/1997, 1999/2000 e 2000/2001. Os tratamentos constaram de cinco cultivares de soja, FT-Saray, IAS 5, IAS 4, FT-Abyara e FEPAGRO RS-10. Cinco métodos foram utilizados para estimar o rendimento que seria obtido se todas as estruturas reprodutivas presentes no florescimento e no início do enchimento de grãos, produzissem grãos na maturação. O potencial de rendimento no florescimento e no enchimento de grãos, apresentou alta correlação com o número de flores e estruturas reprodutivas, respectivamente. Verificou-se, também, correspondência entre os métodos. Não houve, na maioria das vezes, correlações significativas entre o potencial, no florescimento e enchimento de grãos, e o rendimento de grãos na maturação. Os métodos estudados constituem ferramentas importantes para o manejo, quando utilizados para comparar o potencial de rendimento durante a ontogenia.The objective of this work was to study methods to estimate the soybean potential yield during ontogeny. The experiments were performed in Eldorado do Sul, RS, during the growing seasons of 1996/1997, 1999/2000 and 2000/2001. The treatments consisted of five soybean cultivars, FT-Saray, IAS 5, IAS 4, FT-Abyara and FEPAGRO RS-10. It was calculated the potential yield of each cultivar, by five methods, in order to estimate the yield that would be obtained if all the reproductive structures during flowering and beginning of pod filling produced grains at the maturity. Potential yield (during flowering and pod filling presented a high correlation with the number of flowers and reproductive structures, respectively. It was also found a correspondence among the methods. Most of the time, it did not occurred significant correlations between potential (during flowering and pod filling

Predicting paddlefish roe yields using an extension of the Beverton–Holt equilibrium yield-per-recruit model

Science.gov (United States)

Colvin, M.E.; Bettoli, Phillip William; Scholten, G.D.

2013-01-01

Equilibrium yield models predict the total biomass removed from an exploited stock; however, traditional yield models must be modified to simulate roe yields because a linear relationship between age (or length) and mature ovary weight does not typically exist. We extended the traditional Beverton-Holt equilibrium yield model to predict roe yields of Paddlefish Polyodon spathula in Kentucky Lake, Tennessee-Kentucky, as a function of varying conditional fishing mortality rates (10-70%), conditional natural mortality rates (cm; 9% and 18%), and four minimum size limits ranging from 864 to 1,016mm eye-to-fork length. These results were then compared to a biomass-based yield assessment. Analysis of roe yields indicated the potential for growth overfishing at lower exploitation rates and smaller minimum length limits than were suggested by the biomass-based assessment. Patterns of biomass and roe yields in relation to exploitation rates were similar regardless of the simulated value of cm, thus indicating that the results were insensitive to changes in cm. Our results also suggested that higher minimum length limits would increase roe yield and reduce the potential for growth overfishing and recruitment overfishing at the simulated cm values. Biomass-based equilibrium yield assessments are commonly used to assess the effects of harvest on other caviar-based fisheries; however, our analysis demonstrates that such assessments likely underestimate the probability and severity of growth overfishing when roe is targeted. Therefore, equilibrium roe yield-per-recruit models should also be considered to guide the management process for caviar-producing fish species.

Who Wins in the Indian Parliament Election? Criminals, Wealthy or Incumbents

OpenAIRE

Duraisamy, Palanigounder

2014-01-01

The study examines the impact of criminal charges, wealth, incumbency status of the candidates and the party on their chances of winning and vote share in the Indian parliamentary elections 2009 using candidate level information on 8070 contestants from 543 constituencies. The descriptive and econometric analyses of the data reveal that there is a strong association between wealth, criminal charges and incumbency status of the candidates and the electoral outcomes. Wealthy incumbent candidate...

Measuring the Return on Investment of Nuclear Security Training: The Case of the WINS Academy Professional Society

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Battistella, B.; Howsley, R.; Johnson, D.

2015-01-01

The challenges inherent in managing nuclear and radiological materials are complex and growing; ensuring that such materials remain secure requires competent management supported by ongoing training. The nuclear industry is increasingly becoming aware of the need for nuclear security: numerous dedicated training centres have been established worldwide and the IAEA holds approximately 60 international nuclear security training events annually. International training programmes have been conducted in various fields over decades but assessing their value and having the assurance that these training have had a sustainable impact remain difficult. In the field of nuclear security training, no assessment is being made of the degree to which the investment made is making a difference in building sustainable capacity and capability. This paper aims to discuss a methodology to assess the return on investment of nuclear security training. WINS has established a new professional society called the WINS Academy Alumni, for those individuals who have achieved certification through the WINS Academy. This platform proposes a structure, based on established competency frameworks, through which to measure the return on investment and performance improvement of nuclear security training. The objectives of the WINS Academy society are to stay engaged with certified Alumni, track their continued professional development progress, provide them with additional opportunities, and encourage their continued security competence through recertification. We envision that these certified practitioners will in turn promote certification and continual professional development among their peers to help build a network of security-trained professionals that will lead to meaningful and sustainable changes to security culture worldwide. In the long run (5–10 years), we envision that this group will be at the forefront of new professional requirements for nuclear security competence, with

The Effect of Losses Disguised as Wins and Near Misses in Electronic Gaming Machines: A Systematic Review.

Science.gov (United States)

Barton, K R; Yazdani, A; Ayer, N; Kalvapalle, S; Brown, S; Stapleton, J; Brown, D G; Harrigan, K A

2017-12-01

Near misses and losses disguised as wins have been of interest to gambling researchers and policymakers for many years (e.g., Griffiths in J Gambl Stud 9(2):101-120, 1993). This systematic literature review describes the behavioural, psychological, and psychobiological effects of near misses and losses disguised as wins (LDWs) in an effort to evaluate their precise influence on the player and to highlight areas requiring further investigation. A systematic search for relevant studies was conducted using Scopus, PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest Sociology databases, and the Gambling Research Exchange Ontario Knowledge Repository. A total of 51 (from an initial pool of 802) experimental peer-reviewed studies using human participants were found between 1991 and 2015. The systematic review revealed that near misses motivate continued play, but have varying effects on the emotional state or betting behaviour of the player. Near miss events were also shown to be associated with elevated skin conductance levels and diffuse activity across the brain, most consistently in areas processing reinforcement and reward. Re-examination of the studies of near misses events after classifying the type of game feedback suggested that the effectiveness of near misses is related to the phenomenology of a near miss itself rather than as a response to auditory or visual feedback provided by a slot machine. In contrast to near misses, the presence of LDWs was found to relate to an overestimation of how much a player is actually winning and was consistently viewed as an exciting event. The effect of LDWs appears to be driven by the presence of visuals and sounds most often associated with a true win. Practical implications and directions for future research are also discussed.

Win a lift to the future!

CERN Multimedia

CERN Bulletin

2010-01-01

The Communication Group is organising a competition offering people at CERN the chance to submit their ideas and win a ticket to the Lift10 Conference, which will be held in Geneva from 5 to7 May.   Lift is a community of technology "pioneers", created in 2006. It now involves more than 4,000 people from over 60 countries, who meet regularly in Europe and in Asia to explore the social implications of new technologies and the major shifts ahead. CERN is one of the academic partners of the next Lift conference, whose theme is "Connected people”. For this occasion, 10 free tickets to the conference will be awarded to the "CERNois" who come up with the best answers to the question: “How would you contribute to Lift10?” Those taking part in the competition can choose from among the following categories: - run workshop(s); - cover the conference on a blog; - coordinate a discussion during the breaks; - organize a lift@home ...

Yield potential and fruit quality of scallop squash (Cucurbita pepo L. var. patissonina Greb. f. radiata Nois. cultivars grown for processing

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Eugeniusz Kołota

2015-10-01

Full Text Available Scallop squash fruits may be harvested at different stages of development. Small size fruits, intended both for the fresh market and the food industry, have the highest biological value. This study was conducted to determine the yield potential of scallop squash cultivars (‘Polo F1’, ‘Disco’, ‘Gagat’, ‘Okra’, ‘Sunny Delight F1’ grown on mulched (black polyethylene foil or black agrotextile or unmulched soil, and harvested when fruits reached a diameter of 3–6 cm. Based on 3-year average data, the highest marketable and early yield was produced by ‘Sunny Delight F1’. This cultivar is also appreciated by consumers for its yellow colored skin of fruits. Another advantage of this cultivar was its high nutritional value expressed by the highest content of dry matter, vitamin C, polyphenols and minerals (K, P, Ca, Mg, with limited tendency to nitrate accumulation. Among the other cultivars tested, ‘Okra’ showed high yield potential, ‘Gagat’ was a rich source of carotenoids, and ‘Disco’ – polyphenols. Black polyethylene foil and black agrotextile appeared to be equally effective mulching materials. The benefit from the application of mulch was a significant increase in yield without any change in the chemical composition of the fruit.

Safe handling of potential peroxide forming compounds and their corresponding peroxide yielded derivatives.

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Sears, Jeremiah Matthew; Boyle, Timothy J.; Dean, Christopher J.

2013-06-01

This report addresses recent developments concerning the identification and handling of potential peroxide forming (PPF) and peroxide yielded derivative (PYD) chemicals. PPF chemicals are described in terms of labeling, shelf lives, and safe handling requirements as required at SNL. The general peroxide chemistry concerning formation, prevention, and identification is cursorily presented to give some perspective to the generation of peroxides. The procedure for determining peroxide concentrations and the proper disposal methods established by the Hazardous Waste Handling Facility are also provided. Techniques such as neutralization and dilution are provided for the safe handling of any PYD chemicals to allow for safe handling. The appendices are a collection of all available SNL documentation pertaining to PPF/PYD chemicals to serve as a single reference.

Winning in NCAA Women?s Soccer: Does the Gender of the Coach Matter?

Science.gov (United States)

Brush, Brian C.; Naples, Gregory J.

2011-01-01

While women's intercollegiate soccer has grown rapidly over the past three decades, men still hold nearly two-thirds of all head coaching positions in NCAA Division I women's soccer programs. This paper explores whether the gender of the head coach affects success in winning games. After considering various reasons why gender might matter, we…

Prediction markets and their potential role in biomedical research--a review.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfeiffer, Thomas; Almenberg, Johan

2010-01-01

Predictions markets are marketplaces for trading contracts with payoffs that depend on the outcome of future events. Popular examples are markets on the outcome of presidential elections, where contracts pay $1 if a specific candidate wins the election and $0 if someone else wins. Contract prices on prediction markets can be interpreted as forecasts regarding the outcome of future events. Further attractive properties include the potential to aggregate private information, to generate and disseminate a consensus among the market participants, and to offer incentives for the acquisition of information. It has been argued that these properties might be valuable in the context of scientific research. In this review, we give an overview of key properties of prediction markets and discuss potential benefits for science. To illustrate these benefits for biomedical research, we discuss an example application in the context of decision making in research on the genetics of diseases. Moreover, some potential practical problems of prediction market application in science are discussed, and solutions are outlined. Copyright © 2010 Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved.

Emotional Intelligence and Will to Win: The Invincible and Invisible Phenomenon in Basketball Sports

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Davinder SINGH

2015-12-01

Full Text Available This study examined the emotional intelligence and will to win level among female basketball players. A group of fifty (N=50 female inter-college level basketball players of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab were selected for this study. The purposive sampling technique was used to attain the objectives of the study. All the subjects, after having been informed about the objective and protocol of the study, gave their consent and volunteered to participate in this study. Summarizing the findings we can say that significant differences were found among female basketball players on the sub-variables of Emotional Intelligence i.e., Self-awareness, Empathy, Self-development, Value orientation and Altruistic behaviour. However no-significant no significant differences were found among female basketball players on the sub-variables of Emotional Intelligence i.e., Self-motivation, Emotional stability, Managing relations, Integrity and Commitment. Conculdingly from the above findings that insignificant differences were present among female basketball players on the sub-variables of will to win.

The effect of uniform color on judging athletes' aggressiveness, fairness, and chance of winning.

Science.gov (United States)

Krenn, Bjoern

2015-04-01

In the current study we questioned the impact of uniform color in boxing, taekwondo and wrestling. On 18 photos showing two athletes competing, the hue of each uniform was modified to blue, green or red. For each photo, six color conditions were generated (blue-red, blue-green, green-red and vice versa). In three experiments these 108 photos were randomly presented. Participants (N = 210) had to select the athlete that seemed to be more aggressive, fairer or more likely to win the fight. Results revealed that athletes wearing red in boxing and wrestling were judged more aggressive and more likely to win than athletes wearing blue or green uniforms. In addition, athletes wearing green were judged fairer in boxing and wrestling than athletes wearing red. In taekwondo we did not find any significant impact of uniform color. Results suggest that uniform color in combat sports carries specific meanings that affect others' judgments.

Yield gap analysis in long-term experiments with intensive rice cultivation

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Laureles, E.V.; Correa, T. Jr.; Buresh, R.J.

2007-01-01

The long-term continuous cropping experiment at IRRI is cultivated with three rice crops in a year, making it the world's most intensively cropped long-term rice experiment. The availability of comprehensive rice production records, compiled weather data, and tested crop models provides a means to evaluate long-term trends in measured and potential yields and yield gaps in this rice production system. Yield trends were assessed using the highest yielding cultivar in each cropping season from 1979 to 2005. Potential yield of the highest yielding cultivar in each season was determined using three rice models (ORYZA, TERM, and CERES) run with the actual transplanting and harvest dates for the cultivar. The yield gap was determined from the difference between the simulated potential grain yield and the measured grain yield. Measured and potential yields and the yield gap varied across seasons and years. Measured yields were higher in the dry season than in the early and late wet seasons. The yield gap tended to be higher in the wet season than in the dry season. Climatic parameters, particularly solar radiation, influenced the performance of rice cultivars. The relatively larger yield gaps in the late wet season than in the dry season were associated with increased spikelet sterility. The cumulative measured yield for the three annual rice crop was near 80 percent of the annual yield potential in years with best practices for fertilizer N and crop management. The long term trends suggest that effective timing and rates of N fertilization and effective control of diseases were critical in achieving 80 percent of the annual yield potential

Right Fronto-Temporal EEG can Differentiate the Affective Responses to Award-Winning Advertisements.

Science.gov (United States)

Wang, Regina W Y; Huarng, Shy-Peih; Chuang, Shang-Wen

2018-04-01

Affective engineering aims to improve service/product design by translating the customer's psychological feelings. Award-winning advertisements (AAs) were selected on the basis of the professional standards that consider creativity as a prerequisite. However, it is unknown if AA is related to satisfactory advertising performance among customers or only to the experts' viewpoints towards the advertisements. This issue in the field of affective engineering and design merits in-depth evaluation. We recruited 30 subjects and performed an electroencephalography (EEG) experiment while watching AAs and non-AAs (NAAs). The event-related potential (ERP) data showed that AAs evoked larger positive potentials 250-1400 [Formula: see text]ms after stimulus onset, particularly in the right fronto-temporal regions. The behavioral results were consistent with the professional recognition given to AAs by experts. The perceived levels of creativity and "product-like" quality were higher for the AAs than for the NAAs. Event-related spectral perturbation (ERSP) analysis further revealed statistically significant differences in the theta, alpha, beta, and gamma band activity in the right fronto-temporal regions between the AAs and NAAs. Our results confirm that EEG features from the time/frequency domains can differentiate affective responses to AAs at a neural circuit level, and provide scientific evidence to support the identification of AAs.

Synthesis of ( sup 3 H)WIN 35,065-2; a new radioligand for cocaine receptors

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Naseree, T M; Abraham, P; Kepler, J A; Carroll, F I; Lewin, A H [Research Triangle Inst., Research Triangle Park, NC (USA); Kuhar, M J [Addiction Research Center, Baltimore, MD (USA). Neuroscience Branch

1990-09-01

Treatment of methyl (-)-3{beta}-phenylnortropane-2{beta}-carboxylate with ({sup 3}H)CH{sub 3}I afforded ({sup 3}H)WIN 35,065-2 with specific activity of 25 Ci/mmol, a new ligand for the cocaine recognition site. (author).

Comparing predicted yield and yield stability of willow and Miscanthus across Denmark

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Larsen, Søren; Jaiswal, Deepak; Bentsen, Niclas Scott

2016-01-01

was 12.1 Mg DM ha−1 yr−1 for willow and 10.2 Mg DM ha−1 yr−1 for Miscanthus. Coefficent of variation as a measure for yield stability was poorest on the sandy soils of northern and western Jutland and the year-to-year variation in yield was greatest on these soils. Willow was predicted to outyield...... Miscanthus on poor, sandy soils whereas Miscanthus was higher yielding on clay-rich soils. The major driver of yield in both crops was variation in soil moisture, with radiation and precipitation exerting less influence. This is the first time these two major feedstocks for northern Europe have been compared....... The semi-mechanistic crop model BioCro was used to simulate the production of both short rotation coppice (SRC) willow and Miscanthus across Denmark. Predictions were made from high spatial resolution soil data and weather records across this area for 1990-2010. The potential average, rain-fed mean yield...

Wellbore inertial navigation system (WINS) software development and test results

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Wardlaw, R. Jr.

1982-09-01

The structure and operation of the real-time software developed for the Wellbore Inertial Navigation System (WINS) application are described. The procedure and results of a field test held in a 7000-ft well in the Nevada Test Site are discussed. Calibration and instrumentation error compensation are outlined, as are design improvement areas requiring further test and development. Notes on Kalman filtering and complete program listings of the real-time software are included in the Appendices. Reference is made to a companion document which describes the downhole instrumentation package.

Identifying the performance characteristics of a winning outcome in elite mixed martial arts competition.

Science.gov (United States)

James, Lachlan P; Robertson, Sam; Haff, G Gregory; Beckman, Emma M; Kelly, Vincent G

2017-03-01

To determine those performance indicators that have the greatest influence on classifying outcome at the elite level of mixed martial arts (MMA). A secondary objective was to establish the efficacy of decision tree analysis in explaining the characteristics of victory when compared to alternate statistical methods. Cross-sectional observational. Eleven raw performance indicators from male Ultimate Fighting Championship bouts (n=234) from July 2014 to December 2014 were screened for analysis. Each raw performance indicator was also converted to a rate-dependent measure to be scaled to fight duration. Further, three additional performance indicators were calculated from the dataset and included in the analysis. Cohen's d effect sizes were employed to determine the magnitude of the differences between Wins and Losses, while decision tree (chi-square automatic interaction detector (CHAID)) and discriminant function analyses (DFA) were used to classify outcome (Win and Loss). Effect size comparisons revealed differences between Wins and Losses across a number of performance indicators. Decision tree (raw: 71.8%; rate-scaled: 76.3%) and DFA (raw: 71.4%; rate-scaled 71.2%) achieved similar classification accuracies. Grappling and accuracy performance indicators were the most influential in explaining outcome. The decision tree models also revealed multiple combinations of performance indicators leading to victory. The decision tree analyses suggest that grappling activity and technique accuracy are of particular importance in achieving victory in elite-level MMA competition. The DFA results supported the importance of these performance indicators. Decision tree induction represents an intuitive and slightly more accurate approach to explaining bout outcome in this sport when compared to DFA. Copyright © 2016 Sports Medicine Australia. Published by Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

THE DIFFERENCE IN SITUATION EFFICIENCY OF GOALKEEPERS IN WINNING AND LOSEING TEAMS AT THE WORLD HANDBALL CHAMPIONSHIP FOR JUNIOR WOMEN IN KOREA

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Dinko Vuleta

2013-07-01

Full Text Available The goal of this research is to analyze the differences in parameters of situation efficiency between the goalkeepers of the winning and losing teams on the end result of the handball match defined by the criteria win/loss (POB/POR. The sample of variables consists of frequencies of successful and unsuccessful saves made by the goalkeepers of the winning and losing teams. This research is conducted on a sample of 94 played games (188 opponents of the World handball championship for junior women in Korea 2010. The participating (24 teams, were divided into four groups of six national teams. To determine success/failure in made saves the standard indicators of situation efficiency of goalkeepers were used. To determine the statistically significant differences between the variables the Mann-Whitney U test was used. In the variables saved shots from 9 meter positions successfully, saved shots from 6 meter positions unsuccessfully, saved shots from wing positions successfully, saved shots from wing positions unsuccessfully, saved shots from counter attacks successfully, saved shots from counter attacks unsuccessfully, and saved shots from breakthroughs unsuccessfully a statistically significant difference was determined at the level (p. ‹0.01 between winning and losing teams.

An adapted yield criterion for the evolution of subsequent yield surfaces

Science.gov (United States)

Küsters, N.; Brosius, A.

2017-09-01

In numerical analysis of sheet metal forming processes, the anisotropic material behaviour is often modelled with isotropic work hardening and an average Lankford coefficient. In contrast, experimental observations show an evolution of the Lankford coefficients, which can be associated with a yield surface change due to kinematic and distortional hardening. Commonly, extensive efforts are carried out to describe these phenomena. In this paper an isotropic material model based on the Yld2000-2d criterion is adapted with an evolving yield exponent in order to change the yield surface shape. The yield exponent is linked to the accumulative plastic strain. This change has the effect of a rotating yield surface normal. As the normal is directly related to the Lankford coefficient, the change can be used to model the evolution of the Lankford coefficient during yielding. The paper will focus on the numerical implementation of the adapted material model for the FE-code LS-Dyna, mpi-version R7.1.2-d. A recently introduced identification scheme [1] is used to obtain the parameters for the evolving yield surface and will be briefly described for the proposed model. The suitability for numerical analysis will be discussed for deep drawing processes in general. Efforts for material characterization and modelling will be compared to other common yield surface descriptions. Besides experimental efforts and achieved accuracy, the potential of flexibility in material models and the risk of ambiguity during identification are of major interest in this paper.

Experience of the WiN Hungary in Communication with Public on a Big Social Events

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Szucsán, M.

2015-01-01

My poster presentation is about a process of communication with public during big social events like festivals, open days and sport’s competitions. The technique is: we make a WiN stand on the frequent place of events, invite visitors and kindly ask them to fill our questionnaire about nuclear industry in Hungary. The questionnaire contents 15 questions about Hungarian NPP (how many units we have, what is electrical output). We communicate with visitors during the filling a questionnaire and after that we check the result. We can see the level of knowledge of our guest and give them the appropriate information on their level. Usually every participant takes a small present with the emblem of WiN Hungary. This form of communication has tested many times in our activity. It works very effectively. The form of poster is a chart flow of the process illustrated with photos. (author)

Estimating the Consequences of Fire Exclusion for Food Crop Production, Soil Fertility, and Fallow Recovery in Shifting Cultivation Landscapes in the Humid Tropics

Science.gov (United States)

Norgrove, Lindsey; Hauser, Stefan

2015-03-01

In the Congo Basin, smallholder farmers practice slash-and-burn shifting cultivation. Yet, deliberate burning might no longer be sustainable under reduced fallow scenarios. We synthesized data from the Forest Margins Benchmark Area (FMBA), comprising 1.54 million hectares (ha), in southern Cameroon and assessed the impact of fire exclusion on yield, labor inputs, soil fertility, ecosystem carbon stocks, and fallow recovery indicators in two common field types (plantain and maize) under both current and reduced fallow scenarios. While we could not distinguish between impacts of standard farmer burning practice and fire exclusion treatments for the current fallow scenario, we concluded that fire exclusion would lead to higher yields, higher ecosystem carbon stocks as well as potentially faster fallow recovery under the reduced fallow scenario. While its implementation would increase labor requirements, we estimated increased revenues of 421 and 388 US ha-1 for plantain and maize, respectively. Applied to the FMBA, and assuming a 6-year reduced fallow scenario, fire exclusion in plantain fields would potentially retain 240,464 Mg more ecosystem carbon, comprising topsoil carbon plus tree biomass carbon, than standard farmer practice. Results demonstrate a potential "win-win scenario" where yield benefits, albeit modest, and conservation benefits can be obtained simultaneously. This could be considered as a transitional phase towards higher input use and thus higher yielding systems.

Nasogastric feeding tubes from a neonatal department yield high concentrations of potentially pathogenic bacteria- even 1 d after insertion

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Meinich Petersen, Sandra; Greisen, Gorm; Krogfelt, Karen Angeliki

2016-01-01

probiotic administration through the tube. RESULTS: Out of the 94 NG-tubes, 89% yielded more than 1,000 colony-forming units (CFU)/ml bacteria, and 55% yielded the potentially pathogenic Enterobacteriaceae and/or Staphylococcus aureus. The mean concentration in the yield was 5.3 (SD: 2.1, maximum 9.4) log10......BACKGROUND: Preterm infants are vulnerable to pathogens and at risk of developing necrotizing enterocolitis (NEC) or sepsis. Nasogastric feeding tubes (NG-tubes) might contaminate feeds given through them due to biofilm formation. We wanted to determine if there is a rationale in replacing NG......-tubes more often to reduce contamination. METHODS: We conducted an observational study of used NG-tubes from a tertiary neonatal department. After removal, we flushed a 1-ml saline solution through the tube, determined the density of bacteria by culture, and related it to the duration of use and any...

A preliminary yield trial of some soybean mutant lines

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ratma, Rivaie

1985-01-01

A preliminary yield trial of some soybean mutant lines, derived from irradiated Orba variety with dose of 0.40 kGy, were carried out during the wet and dry season in 1979-1982 in Muara and Citayam, Bogor. The result obtained showed that yield potential of mutant lines no. M6/40/10 was higher than that of the control in dry season in 1979 as well as in the wet season of 1979/80 in Muara. Whereas, the yield potential of the mutant lines no. M6/40/8 and no. M6/40/14 were higher than that of the control only in the wet season. The yield potential of semi dwarf mutant lines no. M6/40/68 was highly significant compared to that of the control in dry season in Muara and the wet season in 1981/82 in Citayam. Whereas, the yield potential of the mutant lines no. M6/40/69 was higher yield compared to that of the control in dry season in 1981 in Muara. (author). 10 refs

Closing Yield Gaps: How Sustainable Can We Be?

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Prajal Pradhan

Full Text Available Global food production needs to be increased by 60-110% between 2005 and 2050 to meet growing food and feed demand. Intensification and/or expansion of agriculture are the two main options available to meet the growing crop demands. Land conversion to expand cultivated land increases GHG emissions and impacts biodiversity and ecosystem services. Closing yield gaps to attain potential yields may be a viable option to increase the global crop production. Traditional methods of agricultural intensification often have negative externalities. Therefore, there is a need to explore location-specific methods of sustainable agricultural intensification. We identified regions where the achievement of potential crop calorie production on currently cultivated land will meet the present and future food demand based on scenario analyses considering population growth and changes in dietary habits. By closing yield gaps in the current irrigated and rain-fed cultivated land, about 24% and 80% more crop calories can respectively be produced compared to 2000. Most countries will reach food self-sufficiency or improve their current food self-sufficiency levels if potential crop production levels are achieved. As a novel approach, we defined specific input and agricultural management strategies required to achieve the potential production by overcoming biophysical and socioeconomic constraints causing yield gaps. The management strategies include: fertilizers, pesticides, advanced soil management, land improvement, management strategies coping with weather induced yield variability, and improving market accessibility. Finally, we estimated the required fertilizers (N, P2O5, and K2O to attain the potential yields. Globally, N-fertilizer application needs to increase by 45-73%, P2O5-fertilizer by 22-46%, and K2O-fertilizer by 2-3 times compared to the year 2010 to attain potential crop production. The sustainability of such agricultural intensification largely depends

Closing yield gaps: perils and possibilities for biodiversity conservation.

Science.gov (United States)

Phalan, Ben; Green, Rhys; Balmford, Andrew

2014-04-05

Increasing agricultural productivity to 'close yield gaps' creates both perils and possibilities for biodiversity conservation. Yield increases often have negative impacts on species within farmland, but at the same time could potentially make it more feasible to minimize further cropland expansion into natural habitats. We combine global data on yield gaps, projected future production of maize, rice and wheat, the distributions of birds and their estimated sensitivity to changes in crop yields to map where it might be most beneficial for bird conservation to close yield gaps as part of a land-sparing strategy, and where doing so might be most damaging. Closing yield gaps to attainable levels to meet projected demand in 2050 could potentially help spare an area equivalent to that of the Indian subcontinent. Increasing yields this much on existing farmland would inevitably reduce its biodiversity, and therefore we advocate efforts both to constrain further increases in global food demand, and to identify the least harmful ways of increasing yields. The land-sparing potential of closing yield gaps will not be realized without specific mechanisms to link yield increases to habitat protection (and restoration), and therefore we suggest that conservationists, farmers, crop scientists and policy-makers collaborate to explore promising mechanisms.

Winning Faces Vary by Ideology: How Nonverbal Source Cues Influence Election and Communication Success in Politics

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Laustsen, Lasse; Petersen, Michael Bang

2016-01-01

-looking sources have better success in attracting votes and policy support. Yet, are all nonverbal source cues similarly received irrespective of audience, or does their reception vary across audiences? Specifically, we ask whether some physical traits are received positively by some audiences but backfire...... for others. Utilizing research on ideological stereotypes and the determinants of facial preferences, we focus on the relationship between the facial dominance of the source and the ideology of the receiver. Across five studies, we demonstrate that a dominant face is a winning face when the audience...... is conservative but backfires and decreases success when the audience is liberal. On the other hand, a non-dominant face constitutes a winning face among liberal audiences but backfires among conservatives. These effects seemingly stem from deep-seated psychological responses and shape both the election...

[Online gaming. Potential risk and prevention programs].

Science.gov (United States)

Malischnig, Doris

2014-12-01

Online gaming is more and more common and increasingly accessible. Due to a lack of social control the participation could be a potential risk for certain customers. The given article focuses on prevention measures that are provided by the Austrian online gaming operator, the Austrian Lotteries, provider of the online gaming platform win2day, in the light of the specifics of Internet gaming in order to avoid problems with gaming.

Ethiopian Wheat Yield and Yield Gap Estimation: A Spatial Small Area Integrated Data Approach

Science.gov (United States)

Mann, M.; Warner, J.

2015-12-01

Despite the collection of routine annual agricultural surveys and significant advances in GIS and remote sensing products, little econometric research has been undertaken in predicting developing nation's agricultural yields. In this paper, we explore the determinants of wheat output per hectare in Ethiopia during the 2011-2013 Meher crop seasons aggregated to the woreda administrative area. Using a panel data approach, combining national agricultural field surveys with relevant GIS and remote sensing products, the model explains nearly 40% of the total variation in wheat output per hectare across the country. The model also identifies specific contributors to wheat yields that include farm management techniques (eg. area planted, improved seed, fertilizer, irrigation), weather (eg. rainfall), water availability (vegetation and moisture deficit indexes) and policy intervention. Our findings suggest that woredas produce between 9.8 and 86.5% of their potential wheat output per hectare given their altitude, weather conditions, terrain, and plant health. At the median, Amhara, Oromiya, SNNP, and Tigray produce 48.6, 51.5, 49.7, and 61.3% of their local attainable yields, respectively. This research has a broad range of applications, especially from a public policy perspective: identifying causes of yield fluctuations, remotely evaluating larger agricultural intervention packages, and analyzing relative yield potential. Overall, the combination of field surveys with spatial data can be used to identify management priorities for improving production at a variety of administrative levels.

Sex Roles and Cultural Diversity in Recent Award Winning Picture Books for Young Children.

Science.gov (United States)

Dellmann-Jenkins, Mary; And Others

1993-01-01

Updated previous research on how gender is being presented in award-winning picture books for young children by replicating a study conducted by Collins, Ingoldsby, and Dellmann in 1984. This study also extended the research design used in the prior investigation by examining the books for portrayal of both androgyny and cultural diversity. (TJQ)

Evaluation of the development and yielding potential of Chenopodium quinoa Willd. under the climatic conditions of Europe. Part Two: Yielding potential of Chenopodium quinoa under different conditions

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Krzysztof Gęsiński

2012-12-01

Full Text Available The evaluation of Chenopodium quinoa cultivation effects in Poland has been compared with European research results. It was found that the conditions in Europe are favorable to Chenopodium quinoa cultivation. Poland has the mean length of the vegetation period. The maximum value of this trait was found in Sweden. The conditions in Bydgoszcz (Poland are very favorable to the cultivation for green matter and favorable as far as the seed yield is concerned. The most favorable seed yield was recorded in Greece.

Anaerobic Digestion and Biogas Potential: Simulation of Lab and Industrial-Scale Processes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ihsan Hamawand

2015-01-01

Full Text Available In this study, a simulation was carried out using BioWin 3.1 to test the capability of the software to predict the biogas potential for two different anaerobic systems. The two scenarios included: (1 a laboratory-scale batch reactor; and (2 an industrial-scale anaerobic continuous lagoon digester. The measured data related to the operating conditions, the reactor design parameters and the chemical properties of influent wastewater were entered into BioWin. A sensitivity analysis was carried out to identify the sensitivity of the most important default parameters in the software’s models. BioWin was then calibrated by matching the predicted data with measured data and used to simulate other parameters that were unmeasured or deemed uncertain. In addition, statistical analyses were carried out using evaluation indices, such as the coefficient of determination (R-squared, the correlation coefficient (r and its significance (p-value, the general standard deviation (SD and the Willmott index of agreement, to evaluate the agreement between the software prediction and the measured data. The results have shown that after calibration, BioWin can be used reliably to simulate both small-scale batch reactors and industrial-scale digesters with a mean absolute percentage error (MAPE of less than 10% and very good values of the indexes. Furthermore, by changing the default parameters in BioWin, which is a way of calibrating the models in the software, as well, this may provide information about the performance of the digester. Furthermore, the results of this study showed there may be an over estimation for biogas generated from industrial-scale digesters. More sophisticated analytical devices may be required for reliable measurements of biogas quality and quantity.

Not quite a win-win: the corporate agenda of the stay at work/return to work project.

Science.gov (United States)

Lax, Michael

2015-05-01

The idea that efforts are necessary to transform the dominant framework of workplace safety and health in the United States, from one of compensation and disability to one of stay at work/return to work (SAW/RTW) for workers injured or made ill on the job, has become increasingly widespread. SAW/RTW advocates argue that everyone "wins" when unnecessary disability is reduced. Toward this end, advocates have put forward a program and implemented a strategy with strong proponents among a coalition of corporate-connected professionals. The seemingly obvious conclusions of their arguments bear closer critical scrutiny, however. Addressing key questions-why injured workers do not SAW/RTW, who the coalition of SAW/RTW proponents includes, and what the coalition proposes-reveals that the SAW/RTW approach mainly benefits employers and the corporate-connected advocates. These assertions are detailed, and principles of an alternative approach that will serve the needs of injured workers are outlined. © The Author(s) 2015 Reprints and permissions: sagepub.co.uk/journalsPermissions.nav.

[Influence of tobacco products' advertisements on behaviour of the 'Quit and Win' competition].

Science.gov (United States)

Kowalska, Alina; Stelmach, Włodzimierz

2007-01-01

Smoking cigarettes, pipes or cigars is in fact inhaling harmful tobacco smoke that is created as a result of burning. Harmful substances that are part of this smoke get inside all the organs, upsetting their activities and the proper running of the life processes. In many countries, spreading the habit of smoking has caused the unwanted changes in the health state of the people. This fact does not prevent the tobacco concerns from tricky advertisement of their products. In the work there have been presented the opinions of the participants of the 'Quit and Win' competition concerning the influence of promotion and advertising of tobacco products on their smoking behaviour. The subject of the analysis are the answers received through the postal survey in June 2001 from the 900 participants of the 'Quit and Win' competition (52.9% of all the participants) organized in the region of Lodz and Kalisz at the end of the 2nd International Antinicotine "Quit and Win" Campaign.. The result have shown that in the group of 900 respondents, 160 people (17.8%) claimed that promoting tobacco has become an obstacle in sustaining tobacco abstinence in their case, and 192 people (21.3%) did not have any opinion on that subject. Though majority of the respondents (58.1%) in the group of 900 people claims that promoting cigarettes in their case had no influence on their decisions concerning smoking, many of them are people who are of contrary opinion or are unable to make any evaluation. In the case of tobacco producers, making this effort to convince us about cigarettes being not harmful proved ineffective. Giving into the influence of the insidious cigarette advertising by the adults make lead the conclusion that frequency with which adolescent and very young people take up smoking may be a result of such promotion. Eliminating tobacco advertisements as a relevant factor leading to smoking, will enable to increase the ratio of non-smokers in the society.

Investigation of the effect of AtWIN1/SHN1 overexpression on poplar trees

Science.gov (United States)

Shaneka S.  Lawson

2016-01-01

Background: Interactions between plants and the environment occur primarily at the leaf level. The plant cuticle consists of a menagerie of lipids, waxes and polymers merging to form an insoluble membrane to protect plant leaves from contamination. In Arabidopsis, wax Inducer1/shine1 (WIN1/SHN1) and its family members have demonstrated roles in wax...

Process for winning uranium from wet process phosphoric acid

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

1980-01-01

A process is described for winning uranium from wet process phosphoric acid by means of liquid-liquid extraction with organic phosphoric acid esters. The process is optimised by keeping the sulphate percentage in the phosphoric acid below 2% by weight, and preferably below 0.6% by weight, as compared to P 2 O 5 in the phosphoric acid. This is achieved by adding an excess of Ba and/or Ca carbonate or sulfide solution and filtering off the formed calcium and/or barium sulphate precipitates. Solid KClO 3 is then added to the filtrate to oxidise U 4+ to U 6+ . The normal extraction procedure using organic phosphoric esters as extraction liquid, can then be applied. (Th.P.)

Yield gap analysis of Chickpea under semi-arid conditions: A simulation study

OpenAIRE

seyed Reza Amiri Deh ahmadi; mehdi parsa; mohammad bannayan aval; mahdi nassiri mahallati

2016-01-01

Yield gap analysis provides an essential framework to prioritize research and policy efforts aimed at reducing yield constraints. To identify options for increasing chickpea yield, the SSM-chickpea model was parameterized and evaluated to analyze yield potentials, water limited yields and yield gaps for nine regions representing major chickpea-growing areas of Razavi Khorasan province. The average potential yield of chickpea for the locations was 2251 kg ha-1, while the water limited yield wa...

Accelerated yield learning in agressive lithography

Science.gov (United States)

Monahan, Kevin M.; Ashkenaz, Scott M.; Chen, Xing; Lord, Patrick J.; Merrill, Mark A.; Quattrini, Rich; Wiley, James N.

2000-06-01

As exposure wavelengths decrease from 248 nm to 193, 157, and even 13 nm (EUV), small process defects can cause collapse of the lithographic process window near the limits of resolution, particularly for the gate and contact structures in high- performance devices. Such sensitivity poses a challenge for lithography process module control. In this work, we show that yield loss can be caused by a combination of macro, micro, CD, and overlay defects. A defect is defined as any yield- affecting process variation. Each defect, regardless of cause, is assumed to have a specific 'kill potential.' The accuracy of the lithographic yield model can be improved by identifying those defects with the highest kill potential or, more importantly, those that pose the highest economic risk. Such economic considerations have led us to develop a simple heuristic model for understanding sampling strategies in defect metrology and for linking metrology capability to yield and profitability.

Operation Sadbhavana: winning hearts and minds in the Ladakh Himalayan region.

Science.gov (United States)

Cariappa, Mudera P; Bonventre, Eugene V; Mohanti, Bikash K

2008-08-01

"Sadbhavana" literally means "goodwill among people." The Indian Army has evolved a military strategy of winning hearts and minds, with this being just a phase in the broader war on terror. We have focused on actions to address the border regions of Ladakh in the Himalayas. The government of India strives against difficult conditions to provide essential services (including health care) to its population in an equitable manner; in remote areas with fragile security and hamstrung provincial government systems, the Indian Army fills this role. The Army's medical units have played a pivotal role in providing comprehensive health care as a keystone of the strategy. The endeavors of the doctors in uniform have succeeded in winning over an alienated population. A total of 163 medical camps were held in 2004, with attendance of 14,050 patients seeking medical attention and 264 patients seeking dental attention; in 2005, 87 camps were conducted, with attendance totals of 7,562 and 559, respectively. The Operation Sadbhavana military strategy has paid rich dividends in the form of changes in the perspective of the denizens of the remote and exotic locales of Ladakh. Planners must carefully analyze the target audiences and the messages delivered to those audiences at the onset of such projects. Future efforts would be enhanced by attempts to quantify the effects of medical missions on the health of the population and on population attitudes toward the Indian Army and the central government.

Alumina Yield in the Bayer Process

Science.gov (United States)

Den Hond, R.

The alumina industry has historically been able to reduce alumina production costs, by increasing the liquor alumina yield. To know the potential for further yield increases, the phase diagram of the ternary system Na2O-Al2O -H2O at various temperature levels was analysed. It was found that the maximum theorical precipitation alumina yield is 160 g/l, while that for digestion was calculated to be 675 g/l.

International land deals, local people's livelihood, and environment nexus (How to create win-win land deals in Ethiopia?)

Science.gov (United States)

Teklemariam Gebremeskel, Dereje; Witlox, Frank; Azadi, Hossein; Haile, Mitiku; Nyssen, Jan

2013-04-01

Following the global raise in demand for food and biofuel production, transnational companies are acquiring large scale agricultural land in developing countries such as Ethiopia. Considering land as one of the factors to be outsourced for development, the government of Ethiopia is supplying millions of hectares of land to transnational companies in the form of longterm lease. Many of the companies which engage in large scale land acquisition are of Indian, Chinese, Ethiopian diaspora, German, Malaysian, Italian, British, Dutch, Turkish, and Saudi-Arabian origin. The boom in the acquisition of farm land in the country has sparked an all-rounded debate among civil society groups, international institutions, nongovernmental organizations and independent development experts. The common reflections concerning the land deals in Ethiopia and elsewhere contain much rhetoric and hype which lack analysis of the real situation "on the ground" giving different connotations such as 'land grabbing', 'agricultural outsourcing', 'neo-colonialism', 'agrarian colonialism', and 'land underdevelopment'. However, deforestation, soil degradation, marginalization of local indigenous communities, and minimally unfair gains from investment by the host country are among the real points of concern arising out of the long term land lease contracts. Scientific evidence is lacking concerning the pragmatic impacts of large scale agricultural land acquisitions by transnational companies upon the natural environment (forest and land), local peoples' livelihood, and the contacting parties (the host country and the companies). The major objective of this study is to investigate the impacts in the context of Ethiopia, orienting to reinvent win-win land use models which constitute sustainable land use, local peoples' livelihood and the company-host country interests. To achieve this overall objective, the study employs a number of methods and methodologies constituting both qualitative and

Feedback processing in adolescence: an event-related potential study of age and gender differences.

Science.gov (United States)

Grose-Fifer, Jillian; Migliaccio, Renee; Zottoli, Tina M

2014-01-01

Adolescence has frequently been characterized as a period of increased risk taking, which may be largely driven by maturational changes in neural areas that process incentives. To investigate age- and gender-related differences in reward processing, we recorded event-related potentials (ERPs) from 80 participants in a gambling game, in which monetary wins and losses were either large or small. We measured two ERP components: the feedback-related negativity (FRN) and the feedback P3 (fP3). The FRN was sensitive to the size of a win in both adult (aged 23-35 years) and adolescent (aged 13-17 years) males, but not in females. Small wins appeared to be less rewarding for males than for females, which may in part explain more approach-driven behavior in males in general. Furthermore, adolescent boys showed both delayed FRNs to high losses and less differentiation in FRN amplitude between wins and losses in comparison to girls. The fP3, which is thought to index the salience of the feedback at a more conscious level than the FRN, was also larger in boys than in girls. Taken together, these results imply that higher levels of risk taking that are commonly reported in adolescent males may be driven both by hypersensitivity to high rewards and insensitivity to punishment or losses. © 2014 S. Karger AG, Basel.

Closing Yield Gaps: How Sustainable Can We Be?

Science.gov (United States)

Pradhan, Prajal; Fischer, Günther; van Velthuizen, Harrij; Reusser, Dominik E.; Kropp, Juergen P.

2015-01-01

Global food production needs to be increased by 60–110% between 2005 and 2050 to meet growing food and feed demand. Intensification and/or expansion of agriculture are the two main options available to meet the growing crop demands. Land conversion to expand cultivated land increases GHG emissions and impacts biodiversity and ecosystem services. Closing yield gaps to attain potential yields may be a viable option to increase the global crop production. Traditional methods of agricultural intensification often have negative externalities. Therefore, there is a need to explore location-specific methods of sustainable agricultural intensification. We identified regions where the achievement of potential crop calorie production on currently cultivated land will meet the present and future food demand based on scenario analyses considering population growth and changes in dietary habits. By closing yield gaps in the current irrigated and rain-fed cultivated land, about 24% and 80% more crop calories can respectively be produced compared to 2000. Most countries will reach food self-sufficiency or improve their current food self-sufficiency levels if potential crop production levels are achieved. As a novel approach, we defined specific input and agricultural management strategies required to achieve the potential production by overcoming biophysical and socioeconomic constraints causing yield gaps. The management strategies include: fertilizers, pesticides, advanced soil management, land improvement, management strategies coping with weather induced yield variability, and improving market accessibility. Finally, we estimated the required fertilizers (N, P2O5, and K2O) to attain the potential yields. Globally, N-fertilizer application needs to increase by 45–73%, P2O5-fertilizer by 22–46%, and K2O-fertilizer by 2–3 times compared to the year 2010 to attain potential crop production. The sustainability of such agricultural intensification largely depends on the way

Proceedings of the WIN-Global 2008 conference

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

2008-01-01

WiN-France hosted the 16. WIN-Global conference May 26-30, 2008, in Marseille, France. The conference was attended by over 150 delegates, representing 30 countries. Canadian participants, from many diverse backgrounds, attended the annual conference from AECL, Bruce Power, CNSC, NB Power and OPG. The theme: Maintaining Key Competencies, Arising Key Competencies for Nuclear Energy: A Challenge and Opportunity for Diversity Development, emphasized the challenges ahead in providing a skilled workforce for the nuclear renaissance, as new build projects and a vast number of retirements are expected around the world within the next 5 years. The conference addressed such questions as 'How will nuclear, attract, develop and retain staff?' A technical tour of Marcoule invited conference attendees to visit one of: Atalante, a high level nuclear chemistry laboratory; Phenix, a fast breeding research reactor; or AVM, a vitrification plant. A subsequent technical tour visited Cadarache providing the opportunity to view ITER, the international fusion research project

Proceedings of the WIN-Global 2008 conference

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

WiN-France hosted the 16. WIN-Global conference May 26-30, 2008, in Marseille, France. The conference was attended by over 150 delegates, representing 30 countries. Canadian participants, from many diverse backgrounds, attended the annual conference from AECL, Bruce Power, CNSC, NB Power and OPG. The theme: Maintaining Key Competencies, Arising Key Competencies for Nuclear Energy: A Challenge and Opportunity for Diversity Development, emphasized the challenges ahead in providing a skilled workforce for the nuclear renaissance, as new build projects and a vast number of retirements are expected around the world within the next 5 years. The conference addressed such questions as 'How will nuclear, attract, develop and retain staff?' A technical tour of Marcoule invited conference attendees to visit one of: Atalante, a high level nuclear chemistry laboratory; Phenix, a fast breeding research reactor; or AVM, a vitrification plant. A subsequent technical tour visited Cadarache providing the opportunity to view ITER, the international fusion research project.

Proceedings of the WIN-Global 2008 conference

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

NONE

2008-07-01

WiN-France hosted the 16. WIN-Global conference May 26-30, 2008, in Marseille, France. The conference was attended by over 150 delegates, representing 30 countries. Canadian participants, from many diverse backgrounds, attended the annual conference from AECL, Bruce Power, CNSC, NB Power and OPG. The theme: Maintaining Key Competencies, Arising Key Competencies for Nuclear Energy: A Challenge and Opportunity for Diversity Development, emphasized the challenges ahead in providing a skilled workforce for the nuclear renaissance, as new build projects and a vast number of retirements are expected around the world within the next 5 years. The conference addressed such questions as 'How will nuclear, attract, develop and retain staff?' A technical tour of Marcoule invited conference attendees to visit one of: Atalante, a high level nuclear chemistry laboratory; Phenix, a fast breeding research reactor; or AVM, a vitrification plant. A subsequent technical tour visited Cadarache providing the opportunity to view ITER, the international fusion research project.

Distribution of genes associated with yield potential and water ...

Indian Academy of Sciences (India)

on the FMs related to yield and water saving in wheat. Till date, six loci ..... Hu Y., Moiwo J. P., Yang Y., Han S. and Yang Y. 2010 Agricul- tural water-saving ... Lyu L., Hu Y., Li Y. and Wang P. 2007 Effect of irrigation treatment on water use ... Zhang Y. J., Fan P. S., Zhang X., Chen C. J. and Zhou M. G. 2009. Quantification of ...

Cannabinoid type 1 receptor ligands WIN 55,212-2 and AM 251 alter anxiety-like behaviors of marmoset monkeys in an open-field test.

Science.gov (United States)

Cagni, Priscila; Barros, Marilia

2013-03-01

Cannabinoid type 1 receptors (CB1r) are an important modulatory site for emotional behavior. However, little is known on the effects of CB1r ligands on emotionality aspects of primates, even with their highly similar behavioral response and receptor density/distribution as humans. Thus, we analyzed the effects of the CB1r agonist WIN 55,212-2 (WIN; 1mg/kg) and the antagonist AM 251 (AM; 2mg/kg), systemically administered prior to a single brief (15 min) exposure to a novel open-field (OF) environment, on the behavior of individually tested adult black tufted-ear marmosets. Both WIN- and AM-treated subjects, compared to vehicle controls, had significantly lower rates of long (contact) calls and exploration, while higher levels of vigilance-related behaviors (scan/glance); these are indicators of anxiolysis in this setup. Changes in locomotion were not detected. However, in the vehicle and AM-groups, sojourn in the peripheral zone of the OF was significantly higher than in its central region. WIN-treated marmosets spent an equivalent amount of time in both zones. Therefore, activation or blockade CB1r function prior to a short and individual exposure to an unfamiliar environment exerted a significant and complex influence on different behavioral indicators of anxiety in these monkeys (i.e., a partially overlapping anxiolytic-like profile). AM 251, however, has no anxiolytic effect when the time spent in the center of the OF is considered. This is a major difference when compared to the WIN-treated group. Data were compared to the response profile reported in other pre-clinical (rodent) and clinical studies. Copyright © 2012 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Use of Excel ion exchange equilibrium solver with WinGEMS to model and predict NPE distribution in the Mead/Westvaco Evandale, TX, hardwood bleach plant

Science.gov (United States)

Christopher Litvay; Alan Rudie; Peter Hart

2003-01-01

An Excel spreadsheet developed to solve the ion-exchange equilibrium in wood pulps has been linked by dynamic data exchange to WinGEMS and used to model the non-process elements in the hardwood bleach plant of the Mead/Westvaco Evandale mill. Pulp and filtrate samples were collected from the diffusion washers and final wash press of the bleach plant. A WinGEMS model of...

Analysis of read-out heating rate effects on the glow peaks of TLD-100 using WinGCF software

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Bauk, Sabar, E-mail: sabar@usm.my [Physics Section, School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Hussin, Siti Fatimah [School of Physics, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Alam, Md. Shah [Physics Section, School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia, 11800 USM, Penang (Malaysia); Physics Department, Shahjalal University of Science and Technology, Sylhet (Bangladesh)

2016-01-22

This study was done to analyze the effects of the read-out heating rate on the LiF:Mg,Ti (TLD-100) thermoluminescent dosimeters (TLD) glow peaks using WinGCF computer software. The TLDs were exposed to X-ray photons with a potential difference of 72 kVp and 200 mAs in air and were read-out using a Harshaw 3500 TLD reader. The TLDs were read-out using four read-out heating rates at 10, 7, 4 and 1 °C s{sup −1}. It was observed that lowering the heating rate could separate more glow peaks. The activation energy for peak 5 was found to be lower than that for peak 4. The peak maximum temperature and the integral value of the main peak decreased as the heating rate decreases.

Studies on seed yield potential of some selected kenaf ( Hibiscus ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Kenaf seed yield depends on morpho-physiological traits between varieties, and the interaction between genotype and the environment. Studies were conducted in Ibadan, Ilora and Kisi stations of the Institute of Agricultural Research and Training (IAR&T), Obafemi Awolowo University, Moor Plantation, Ibadan, Oyo State, ...

Supply chain collaboration aligns order-winning strategy with business outcomes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Pongpak Banchuen

2017-06-01

Full Text Available The paper aims to find out whether appropriate choice of collaboration will enable the required order-winners, leading to improved business outcomes. Structural equation modelling (SEM was employed with cross-sectional data to test the hypothesised relationships among order-winners, modes of collaboration, and business outcomes. Results indicate that firms that focus on flexibility, quality, and delivery should develop strategic collaboration with suppliers to achieve market and innovation improvement. Cost- and quality-focussed firms should develop operational collaboration to achieve resource efficiency. The model allows managers to understand the right alignment of external suppliers while working on their own order-winners being pursued to win business performance.

SigWin-detector: a Grid-enabled workflow for discovering enriched windows of genomic features related to DNA sequences

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Wibisono Adianto

2008-08-01

Full Text Available Abstract Background Chromosome location is often used as a scaffold to organize genomic information in both the living cell and molecular biological research. Thus, ever-increasing amounts of data about genomic features are stored in public databases and can be readily visualized by genome browsers. To perform in silico experimentation conveniently with this genomics data, biologists need tools to process and compare datasets routinely and explore the obtained results interactively. The complexity of such experimentation requires these tools to be based on an e-Science approach, hence generic, modular, and reusable. A virtual laboratory environment with workflows, workflow management systems, and Grid computation are therefore essential. Findings Here we apply an e-Science approach to develop SigWin-detector, a workflow-based tool that can detect significantly enriched windows of (genomic features in a (DNA sequence in a fast and reproducible way. For proof-of-principle, we utilize a biological use case to detect regions of increased and decreased gene expression (RIDGEs and anti-RIDGEs in human transcriptome maps. We improved the original method for RIDGE detection by replacing the costly step of estimation by random sampling with a faster analytical formula for computing the distribution of the null hypothesis being tested and by developing a new algorithm for computing moving medians. SigWin-detector was developed using the WS-VLAM workflow management system and consists of several reusable modules that are linked together in a basic workflow. The configuration of this basic workflow can be adapted to satisfy the requirements of the specific in silico experiment. Conclusion As we show with the results from analyses in the biological use case on RIDGEs, SigWin-detector is an efficient and reusable Grid-based tool for discovering windows enriched for features of a particular type in any sequence of values. Thus, SigWin-detector provides the

SigWin-detector: a Grid-enabled workflow for discovering enriched windows of genomic features related to DNA sequences.

Science.gov (United States)

Inda, Márcia A; van Batenburg, Marinus F; Roos, Marco; Belloum, Adam S Z; Vasunin, Dmitry; Wibisono, Adianto; van Kampen, Antoine H C; Breit, Timo M

2008-08-08

Chromosome location is often used as a scaffold to organize genomic information in both the living cell and molecular biological research. Thus, ever-increasing amounts of data about genomic features are stored in public databases and can be readily visualized by genome browsers. To perform in silico experimentation conveniently with this genomics data, biologists need tools to process and compare datasets routinely and explore the obtained results interactively. The complexity of such experimentation requires these tools to be based on an e-Science approach, hence generic, modular, and reusable. A virtual laboratory environment with workflows, workflow management systems, and Grid computation are therefore essential. Here we apply an e-Science approach to develop SigWin-detector, a workflow-based tool that can detect significantly enriched windows of (genomic) features in a (DNA) sequence in a fast and reproducible way. For proof-of-principle, we utilize a biological use case to detect regions of increased and decreased gene expression (RIDGEs and anti-RIDGEs) in human transcriptome maps. We improved the original method for RIDGE detection by replacing the costly step of estimation by random sampling with a faster analytical formula for computing the distribution of the null hypothesis being tested and by developing a new algorithm for computing moving medians. SigWin-detector was developed using the WS-VLAM workflow management system and consists of several reusable modules that are linked together in a basic workflow. The configuration of this basic workflow can be adapted to satisfy the requirements of the specific in silico experiment. As we show with the results from analyses in the biological use case on RIDGEs, SigWin-detector is an efficient and reusable Grid-based tool for discovering windows enriched for features of a particular type in any sequence of values. Thus, SigWin-detector provides the proof-of-principle for the modular e-Science based concept

Substituting sugar confectionery with fruit and healthy snacks at checkout - a win-win strategy for consumers and food stores? a study on consumer attitudes and sales effects of a healthy supermarket intervention.

Science.gov (United States)

Winkler, Lise L; Christensen, Ulla; Glümer, Charlotte; Bloch, Paul; Mikkelsen, Bent E; Wansink, Brian; Toft, Ulla

2016-11-22

The widespread use of in-store marketing strategies to induce unhealthy impulsive purchases has implications for shopping experience, food choice and possibly adverse health outcomes. The aim of this study was to examine consumer attitudes and evaluate sales effects of a healthy checkout supermarket intervention. The study was part of Project Sundhed & Lokalsamfund (Project SoL); a Danish participatory community-based health promotion intervention. Consumer attitudes towards unhealthy snack exposure in supermarkets were examined in a qualitative pre-intervention study (29 short in-store interviews, 11 semi-structured interviews and three focus group interviews). Findings were presented to food retailers and informed the decision to test a healthy checkout intervention. Sugar confectionery at one checkout counter was substituted with fruit and healthy snacking items in four stores for 4 weeks. The intervention was evaluated by 48 short exit interviews on consumer perceptions of the intervention and by linear mixed model analyses of supermarket sales data from the intervention area and a matched control area. The qualitative pre-intervention study identified consumer concern and annoyance with placement and promotion of unhealthy snacks in local stores. Store managers were willing to respond to local consumer concern and a healthy checkout intervention was therefore implemented. Exit interviews found positive attitudes towards the intervention, while intervention awareness was modest. Most participants believed that the intervention could help other consumers make healthier choices, while fewer expected to be influenced by the intervention themselves. Statistical analyses suggested an intervention effect on sales of carrot snack packs when compared with sales before the intervention in Bornholm control stores (P branding opportunity for supermarkets, thus representing a win-win strategy for store managers and consumers in the short term. However, the intervention

The performance evaluation of WinOSPM model for urban street canyons of Nantes in France.

Science.gov (United States)

Gokhale, Sharad B; Rebours, Arnaud; Pavageau, Michel

2005-01-01

was done to evaluate the models performance using index of agreement and correlation coefficient. The index of agreement (d) and correlation coefficient (r) for all the streets show that estimated concentration levels are in good agreement with that of measurements. From the index of agreements, it can be inferred that model has very less potential for errors. The model's sensitivity to building-exceptions was also tested for the rue de Strasbourg. Results did not reflect this feature very well. It is perceived that the influence of this feature might have been suppressed in averaging the annual hourly values. This influence is apparently seen in hourly average time series variations. Finally, WinOSPM model was found a simple but very useful model. It could very well represent the detailed flow and dispersion conditions in urban streets.

I feel good whether my friends win or my foes lose: brain mechanisms underlying feeling similarity.

Science.gov (United States)

Aue, Tatjana

2014-07-01

People say they enjoy both seeing a preferred social group succeed and seeing an adversary social group fail. At the same time, they state they dislike seeing a preferred social group fail and seeing an adversary social group succeed. The current magnetic resonance imaging study investigated whether-and if so, how-such similarities in reported feeling states are reflected in neural activities. American football fans anticipated success and failure situations for their favorite or their adversary teams. The data support the idea that feeling similarities and divergences expressed in verbal reports carry with them significant neural similarities and differences, respectively. Desired (favorite team likely to win and adversary team likely to lose) rather than undesired (favorite team likely to lose and adversary team likely to win) outcomes were associated with heightened activity in the supramarginal gyrus, posterior cingulate cortex, insula, and cerebellum. Precuneus activity additionally distinguished anticipated desirable outcomes for favorite versus adversary teams. Copyright © 2014 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

The dependence of maize (Zea mays hybrids yielding potential on the water amounts reaching the soil surface

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kresović Branka

2013-01-01

Full Text Available The aim of the present study was to observe the response of maize hybrids under rainfed and irrigation conditions of the soil in order to establish the dependence of yielding potential on the water amounts reaching the soil surface during the growing season. The four-replicate trail was set up according to the randomised complete-block design on chernozem. Pre-watering soil moisture was approximately 70% of field water capacity, and soil moisture was established thermogravimetrically. During the five-year studies, the following differences in yields could be as follows: 12.68 t ha-1 (ZP 341; 12.76 t ha-1 (ZP 434; 13.17 t ha-1 (ZP 578; 14.03 t ha-1 (ZP 684 and 13.75 t ha-1 (ZP 704 under conditions of 440 mm, 440 mm, 424 mm, 457 mm and 466 mm of water, respectively. The hybrid ZP 341, i.e. ZP 578 expressed the highest, i.e. the lowest tolerance in dry relative seasons, respectively. The reduction of the water amount for every 10 mm decreased the yield by 119.4 kg ha-1 (ZP 341, 156.7 kg ha-1 (ZP 434, 172.3 kg ha-1 (ZP 578, 148.9 kg ha-1 (ZP 684 and 151.1 kg ha-1 (ZP 704. [Projekat Ministarstva nauke Republike Srbije, br. TR 31037

Exclusive nonleptonic B{yields}VV decays

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barik, N [Department of Physics, Utkal University, Bhubaneswar-751004 (India); Naimuddin, Sk [Department of Physics, Maharishi College of Natural Law, Bhubaneswar-751007 (India); Dash, P C [Department of Physics, Prananath Autonomous College, Khurda-752057 (India); Kar, Susmita [Department of Physics, North Orissa University, Baripada-757003 (India)

2009-07-01

The exclusive two-body nonleptonic B{yields}VV decays are investigated, within the factorization approximation, in the relativistic independent quark model based on a confining potential in the scalar-vector harmonic form. The branching ratios and the longitudinal polarization fraction (R{sub L}) are calculated yielding the model predictions in agreement with experiment. Our predicted CP-odd fraction (R{sub perpendicular}) for B{yields}D*D{sub (s)}* decays are in general agreement with other model predictions and within the existing experimental limit.

Redefining yield gaps at various spatial scales

Science.gov (United States)

Meng, K.; Fishman, R.; Norstrom, A. V.; Diekert, F. K.; Engstrom, G.; Gars, J.; McCarney, G. R.; Sjostedt, M.

2013-12-01

Recent research has highlighted the prevalence of 'yield gaps' around the world and the importance of closing them for global food security. However, the traditional concept of yield gap -defined as the difference between observed and optimal yield under biophysical conditions - omit relevant socio-economic and ecological constraints and thus offer limited guidance on potential policy interventions. This paper proposes alternative definitions of yield gaps by incorporating rich, high resolution, national and sub-national agricultural datasets. We examine feasible efforts to 'close yield gaps' at various spatial scales and across different socio-economic and ecological domains.

Analysis of the one-dimensional Yut-Nori game: Winning strategy and avalanche-size distribution

Science.gov (United States)

Park, Hye Jin; Sim, Hasung; Jo, Hang-Hyun; Kim, Beom Jun

2013-10-01

In the Korean traditional board game Yut-Nori, teams compete by moving their pieces on a two-dimensional game board, and the team whose all pieces complete a round trip on the board wins. In every round, teams throw four wooden sticks of the shape of half-cut cylinders and the number of sticks that show belly sides, i.e., the flat sides, determines the number of steps the team's piece can advance on the board. It is possible to pile up one team's pieces if their sites are identical so that pieces as a group can move together afterwards (piling). If a team's piece(s) arrives at a site occupied by an opponent's piece(s), it is caught and removed from the board, and the team is given one more chance to throw the sticks and proceed (catching). For simplicity, we simulate this game on a one-dimensional board with the same number of sites as the original game and show that catching is a more advantageous strategy than piling to win. We also study the avalanche-size distribution in the thermodynamic limit and find that it follows an exponential form.

CERN repeats last year's running win

CERN Document Server

2000-01-01

The CERN first team successfully defended the title won last year in the 20th annual Cross Inter-Entreprises held at Collex-Bossy on Saturday 7 October. 101 teams of four runners representing firms from all over the Geneva area finished the 6.2 km race, through forest and over fields. In spite of two members of last year’s winning team being absent through injury this time, the first team was still 38 seconds faster than in 1999. The second and third CERN teams also excelled with places in the first 15 teams. In this race the teams start at one-minute intervals and the time of each team is that of its third runner to finish, so they try to run in a group of three or four all the way. The full results of all teams can be found at: http://www.Club-association.ch/CHP Placings of the CERN teams 1st 21:53 Cornelis, Ecarnot, Ehmele, Nisbet 6th 22:50 Cornet, Eklund, Rick, Ruiz Llamas 13th 24:24 Dunkel, Guillot, Montejo Raez, Zamiatin 35th 28:22 Cameron, Galbraith, Revol, Scalisi

Growth, reproductive phenology and yield responses of a potential biofuel plant, Jatropha curcas grown under projected 2050 levels of elevated CO2.

Science.gov (United States)

Kumar, Sumit; Chaitanya, Bharatula S K; Ghatty, Sreenivas; Reddy, Attipalli R

2014-11-01

Jatropha (Jatropha curcas) is a non-edible oil producing plant which is being advocated as an alternative biofuel energy resource. Its ability to grow in diverse soil conditions and minimal requirements of essential agronomical inputs compared with other oilseed crops makes it viable for cost-effective advanced biofuel production. We designed a study to investigate the effects of elevated carbon dioxide concentration ([CO(2)]) (550 ppm) on the growth, reproductive development, source-sink relationships, fruit and seed yield of J. curcas. We report, for the first time that elevated CO(2) significantly influences reproductive characteristics of Jatropha and improve its fruit and seed yields. Net photosynthetic rate of Jatropha was 50% higher in plants grown in elevated CO(2) compared with field and ambient CO(2) -grown plants. The study also revealed that elevated CO(2) atmosphere significantly increased female to male flower ratio, above ground biomass and carbon sequestration potential in Jatropha (24 kg carbon per tree) after 1 year. Our data demonstrate that J. curcas was able to sustain enhanced rate of photosynthesis in elevated CO(2) conditions as it had sufficient sink strength to balance the increased biomass yields. Our study also elucidates that the economically important traits including fruit and seed yield in elevated CO(2) conditions were significantly high in J. curcas that holds great promise as a potential biofuel tree species for the future high CO(2) world. © 2014 Scandinavian Plant Physiology Society.

'It's happening at Rush' wins top PRSA award. Integrated marketing effort boosts Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's.

Science.gov (United States)

Rees, Tom

2002-01-01

An award-winning integrated marketing campaign for Rush-Presbyterian-St. Luke's Medical Center, Chicago, showcases the institution's research and developments. Each edition of its 50-part series of print ads features a different case study. These are being promoted through internal communications and also with highly visible collateral materials.

Why the Weak Win Wars: A Study of the Factors That Drive Strategy in Asymmetric Conflict

Science.gov (United States)

2009-12-01

takes the stance that the fundamental reason for the loss of Vietnam was the fact that the U.S., as a democratic regime, could 168 Al Hemingway ...Afghanistan: The Communist Coup, the Soviet Invasion, and the Consequences. Boulder, CO: Westview Press, 1984. Hemingway , Al. “CORDS: Winning Hearts and

Football league win prediction based on online and league table data

Science.gov (United States)

Par, Prateek; Gupt, Ankit Kumar; Singh, Samarth; Khare, Neelu; Bhattachrya, Sweta

2017-11-01

As we are proceeding towards an internet driven world, the impact of internet is increasing in our day to lives. This not only gives impact on the virtual world but also leave a mark in the real world. The social media sites contains huge amount of information, the only thing is to collect the relevant data and analyse the data to form a real world prediction and it can do far more than that. In this paper we study the relationship between the twitter data and the normal data analysis to predict the winning team in the NFL (National Football League).The prediction is based on the data collected on the on-going league which includes performance of each player and their previous statistics. Alongside with the data available online we are combining the twitter data which we extracted by the tweets pertaining to specific teams and games in the NFL season and use them alongside statistical game data to build predictive models for future or the outcome of the game i.e. which team will lose or win depending upon the statistical data available. Specifically the tweets within the 24 hours of match will be considered and the main focus of twitter data will be upon the last hours of tweets i.e. pre-match twitter data and post-match twitter data. We are experimenting on the data and using twitter data we are trying to increase the performance of the existing predictive models that uses only the game stats to predict the future.

The Air Campaign vs. Ballistic Missiles: Seeking the Strategic Win in the 21st Century

Science.gov (United States)

2017-06-01

combined knowledge of air power history provided ample fodder from which to pick and develop a topic of great interest to me. I owe a special debt...Scud missile campaign, the Great Scud Chase. The cases show that while both Germany and Iraq’s missile campaigns failed to win their wars for them...68 Illustrations Table 1 Summarized Comparison

Potential of multiseeded mutant (msd) to boost sorghum grain yield

Science.gov (United States)

Seed number per plant is an important determinant of the grain yield in cereal and other crops. We have isolated a class of multiseeded (msd) sorghum (Sorghum bicolor L. Moench) mutants that are capable of producing three times the seed number and twice the seed weight per panicle as compared with t...

Impact of Lygus spp. (Hemiptera: Miridae) on damage, yield and quality of lesquerella (Physaria fendleri), a potential new oil-seed crop.

Science.gov (United States)

Naranjo, Steven E; Ellsworth, Peter C; Dierig, David A

2011-10-01

Lesquerella, Physaria fendleri (A. Gray) S. Watson, is a mustard native to the western United States and is currently being developed as a commercial source of valuable hydroxy fatty acids that can be used in a number of industrial applications, including biolubricants, biofuel additives, motor oils, resins, waxes, nylons, plastics, corrosion inhibitors, cosmetics, and coatings. The plant is cultivated as a winter-spring annual and in the desert southwest it harbors large populations of arthropods, several of which could be significant pests once production expands. Lygus spp. (Hemiptera: Miridae) are common in lesquerella and are known pests of a number of agronomic and horticultural crops where they feed primarily on reproductive tissues. A 4-yr replicated plot study was undertaken to evaluate the probable impact of Lygus spp. on production of this potential new crop. Plant damage and subsequent seed yield and quality were examined relative to variable and representative densities of Lygus spp. (0.3-4.9 insects per sweep net) resulting from variable frequency and timing of insecticide applications. Increasing damage to various fruiting structures (flowers [0.9-13.9%], buds [1.2-7.1%], and seed pods [19.4-42.5%]) was significantly associated with increasing pest abundance, particularly the abundance of nymphs, in all years. This damage, however, did not consistently translate into reductions in seed yield (481-1,336 kg/ha), individual seed weight (0.5-0.7 g per 1,000 seed), or seed oil content (21.8-30.4%), and pest abundance generally explained relatively little of the variation in crop yield and quality. Negative effects on yield were not sensitive to the timing of pest damage (early versus late season) but were more pronounced during years when potential yields were lower due to weed competition and other agronomic factors. Results suggest that if the crop is established and managed in a more optimal fashion, Lygus spp. may not significantly limit yield

Development of a utility system for nuclear reaction data file: WinNRDF

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Aoyama, Shigeyoshi; Ohbayasi, Yosihide; Masui, Hiroshi; Chiba, Masaki; Kato, Kiyoshi; Ohnishi, Akira

2000-01-01

A utility system, WinNRDF, is developed for charged particle nuclear reaction data of NRDF (Nuclear Reaction Data File) on the Windows interface. By using this system, we can easily search the experimental data of a charged particle nuclear reaction in NRDF than old retrieval systems on the mainframe and also see graphically the experimental data on GUI (Graphical User Interface). We adopted a mechanism of making a new index of keywords to put to practical use of the time dependent properties of the NRDF database. (author)

The impact of gender and nationality on winning a professional society award

Science.gov (United States)

Holmes, Mary Anne; McKenzie, Judith

2016-04-01

Women are under-represented for science awards and fellow status in professional science societies (accounting for career stage) and are over-represented for teaching and service awards (Ball et al., 2015; Lincoln et al., 2012; Holmes et al., 2011). In addition, for the American Geophysical Union, non-U.S. members are under-represented among all awardees. Gender bias in evaluation processes are well-documented (e.g., Valian, 1999), and cultural differences are at play in the under-representation of non U.S. members. U.S. members are more likely to nominate their peers for awards, and to write effusive letters to support the nomination (Ball et al., 2015). There are effective mechanisms to reduce bias in both nomination and evaluation processes, a few of which are: 1) separate the nomination and evaluation processes by creating nomination committees of a diverse group of people who actively seek potential nominees and promote their nominations; this expands the pool of nominees; 2) educate nomination and evaluation committees on the research that demonstrates the impact of implicit bias on nomination and selection processes (e.g., http://www.enei.org.uk/pages/unconscious-bias.html; http://wiseli.engr.wisc.edu/bias.php); 3) minimize use of simple bibliometric indices, which are known to exhibit gender bias (men self-cite more than women; Maliniak et al., 2013) and nationality bias (papers in English language journals are more likely to be cited than non-English journals (Bornmann et al., 2012; González-Alcaide et al., 2012); 4) members of the selection committee should understand the effects of gender on the quality of letters written for women (Trix and Psenka, 2003); 5) establish and follow clear criteria for the award. Professional societies can promote fairness and inclusion by self-study: find and compile the data on the gender, race, ethnicity and nationality of members who are nominated for and win awards, as well as on who is doing the nominating. Compare

Calculation of total free energy yield as an alternative approach for predicting the importance of potential chemolithotrophic reactions in geothermal springs.

Science.gov (United States)

Dodsworth, Jeremy A; McDonald, Austin I; Hedlund, Brian P

2012-08-01

To inform hypotheses regarding the relative importance of chemolithotrophic metabolisms in geothermal environments, we calculated free energy yields of 26 chemical reactions potentially supporting chemolithotrophy in two US Great Basin hot springs, taking into account the effects of changing reactant and product activities on the Gibbs free energy as each reaction progressed. Results ranged from 1.2 × 10(-5) to 3.6 J kg(-1) spring water, or 3.7 × 10(-5) to 11.5 J s(-1) based on measured flow rates, with aerobic oxidation of CH(4) or NH4 + giving the highest average yields. Energy yields calculated without constraining pH were similar to those at constant pH except for reactions where H(+) was consumed, which often had significantly lower yields when pH was unconstrained. In contrast to the commonly used normalization of reaction chemical affinities per mole of electrons transferred, reaction energy yields for a given oxidant varied by several orders of magnitude and were more sensitive to differences in the activities of products and reactants. The high energy yield of aerobic ammonia oxidation is consistent with previous observations of significant ammonia oxidation rates and abundant ammonia-oxidizing archaea in sediments of these springs. This approach offers an additional lens through which to view the thermodynamic landscape of geothermal springs. © 2012 Federation of European Microbiological Societies. Published by Blackwell Publishing Ltd. All rights reserved.

Survey of electrochemical metal winning processes. Final report

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Vaaler, L.E.

1979-03-01

The subject program was undertaken to find electrometallurgical technology that could be developed into energy saving commercial metal winning processes. Metals whose current production processes consume significant energy (excepting copper and aluminum) are magnesium, zinc, lead, chromium, manganese, sodium, and titanium. The technology of these metals, with the exception of titanium, was reviewed. Growth of titanium demand has been too small to justify the installation of an electrolyte process that has been developed. This fact and the uncertainty of estimates of future demand dissuaded us from reviewing titanium technology. Opportunities for developing energy saving processes were found for magnesium, zinc, lead, and sodium. Costs for R and D and demonstration plants have been estimated. It appeared that electrolytic methods for chromium and manganese cannot compete energywise or economically with the pyrometallurgical methods of producing the ferroalloys, which are satisfactory for most uses of chromium and manganese.

Local conditions for the Pauli potential in order to yield self-consistent electron densities exhibiting proper atomic shell structure

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Finzel, Kati, E-mail: kati.finzel@liu.se [Linköpings University, IFM Department of Physics, 58183 Linköping (Sweden)

2016-01-21

The local conditions for the Pauli potential that are necessary in order to yield self-consistent electron densities from orbital-free calculations are investigated for approximations that are expressed with the help of a local position variable. It is shown that those local conditions also apply when the Pauli potential is given in terms of the electron density. An explicit formula for the Ne atom is given, preserving the local conditions during the iterative procedure. The resulting orbital-free electron density exhibits proper shell structure behavior and is in close agreement with the Kohn-Sham electron density. This study demonstrates that it is possible to obtain self-consistent orbital-free electron densities with proper atomic shell structure from simple one-point approximations for the Pauli potential at local density level.

Excellence in the stacks strategies, practices and reflections of award-winning libraries

CERN Document Server

Hill, Jacob

2013-01-01

Excellence in the Stacks details the philosophies, practices and innovations of award-winning libraries over the last ten years. It will inform the profession and highlight the themes and strategies these liberal-arts colleges share, and where they differ. Using the Association of Research and College Libraries Excellence in Academic Libraries Award standards as guidelines for exploring librarianship, this book gathers the perspectives of all types of librarians at all levels of employment. By highlighting winners' holistic approaches it helps define and focus the energies of college libraries

Organization of an interphase system for the coupling of WINS-D4 and SNAP-3D programs

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Frias Suarez, D.

1989-01-01

In this report a modular system developed for the CC-1 critical assembly's physical calculation is described. It was based upon the WINS-D4 and SNAP-3D codes, which are coupled by means of an interphase module and a groups diffusion cross sections library

Effects of Cannabinoid Exposure during Adolescence on the Conditioned Rewarding Effects of WIN 55212-2 and Cocaine in Mice: Influence of the Novelty-Seeking Trait

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. Rodríguez-Arias

2016-01-01

Full Text Available Adolescent exposure to cannabinoids enhances the behavioural effects of cocaine, and high novelty-seeking trait predicts greater sensitivity to the conditioned place preference (CPP induced by this drug. Our aim was to evaluate the influence of novelty-seeking on the effects of adolescent cannabinoid exposure. Adolescent male mice were classified as high or low novelty seekers (HNS and LNS in the hole-board test. First, we evaluated the CPP induced by the cannabinoid agonist WIN 55212-2 (0.05 and 0.075 mg/kg, i.p. in HNS and LNS mice. Then, HNS and LNS mice were pretreated i.p. with vehicle, WIN 55212-2 (0.1 mg/kg, or cannabinoid antagonist rimonabant (1 mg/kg and were subsequently conditioned with WIN 55212-2 (0.05 mg/kg, i.p. or cocaine (1 or 6 mg/kg, i.p.. Only HNS mice conditioned with the 0.075 mg/kg dose acquired CPP with WIN 55212-2. Adolescent exposure to this cannabinoid agonist increased the rewarding effects of 1 mg/kg of cocaine in both HNS and LNS mice, and in HNS mice it also increased the reinstating effect of a low dose of cocaine. Our results endorse a role for individual differences such as a higher propensity for sensation-seeking in the development of addiction.

Synthetic Brassica napus L.: Development and Studies on Morphological Characters, Yield Attributes, and Yield

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

M. A. Malek

2012-01-01

Full Text Available Brassica napus was synthesized by hybridization between its diploid progenitor species B. rapa and B. oleracea followed by chromosome doubling. Cross with B. rapa as a female parent was only successful. Among three colchicine treatments (0.10, 0.15, and 0.20%, 0.15% gave the highest success (86% of chromosome doubling in the hybrids (AC; 2=19. Synthetic B. napus (AACC, 2=38 was identified with bigger petals, fertile pollens and seed setting. Synthetic B. napus had increased growth over parents and exhibited wider ranges with higher coefficients of variations than parents for morphological and yield contributing characters, and yield per plant. Siliqua length as well as beak length in synthetic B. napus was longer than those of the parents. Number of seeds per siliqua, 1000-seed weight and seed yield per plant in synthetic B. napus were higher than those of the parents. Although flowering time in synthetic B. napus was earlier than both parents, however the days to maturity was little higher over early maturing B. rapa parent. The synthesized B. napus has great potential to produce higher seed yield. Further screening and evaluation is needed for selection of desirable genotypes having improved yield contributing characters and higher seed yield.

Limitations of the relative standard deviation of win percentages for measuring competitive balance in sports leagues

OpenAIRE

P. Dorian Owen

2009-01-01

The relative standard deviation of win percentages, the most widely used measure of within-season competitive balance, has an upper bound which is very sensitive to variation in the numbers of teams and games played. Taking into account this upper bound provides additional insight into comparisons of competitive balance across leagues or over time.

Identification of the most sensitive parameters in the activated sludge model implemented in BioWin software.

Science.gov (United States)

Liwarska-Bizukojc, Ewa; Biernacki, Rafal

2010-10-01

In order to simulate biological wastewater treatment processes, data concerning wastewater and sludge composition, process kinetics and stoichiometry are required. Selection of the most sensitive parameters is an important step of model calibration. The aim of this work is to verify the predictability of the activated sludge model, which is implemented in BioWin software, and select its most influential kinetic and stoichiometric parameters with the help of sensitivity analysis approach. Two different measures of sensitivity are applied: the normalised sensitivity coefficient (S(i,j)) and the mean square sensitivity measure (delta(j)(msqr)). It occurs that 17 kinetic and stoichiometric parameters of the BioWin activated sludge (AS) model can be regarded as influential on the basis of S(i,j) calculations. Half of the influential parameters are associated with growth and decay of phosphorus accumulating organisms (PAOs). The identification of the set of the most sensitive parameters should support the users of this model and initiate the elaboration of determination procedures for the parameters, for which it has not been done yet. Copyright 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Winning big but feeling no better? The effect of lottery prizes on physical and mental health.

Science.gov (United States)

Apouey, Benedicte; Clark, Andrew E

2015-05-01

We use British panel data to determine the exogenous impact of income on a number of individual health outcomes: general health status, mental health, physical health problems, and health behaviours (drinking and smoking). Lottery winnings allow us to make causal statements regarding the effect of income on health, as the amount won by winners is largely exogenous. Positive income shocks have no significant effect on self-assessed overall health, but a significant positive effect on mental health. This result seems paradoxical on two levels. First, there is a well-known gradient in health status in cross-sectional data, and second, general health should partly reflect mental health, so that we may expect both variables to move in the same direction. We propose a solution to the first apparent paradox by underlining the endogeneity of income. For the second, we show that lottery winnings are also associated with more smoking and social drinking. General health will reflect both mental health and the effect of these behaviours and so may not improve following a positive income shock. Copyright © 2014 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Distance exercised during submaximal training on race winnings for Thoroughbred racehorses

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Carolina Berkman

2015-07-01

Full Text Available Evaluations of the physical fitness of Thoroughbred racehorses have been correlated with race earnings, but few reports exist about the influence of the distance exercised during training on both physical conditioning indices and financial productivity. During one training season sixteen claiming Thoroughbred horses were subjected to submaximal training and monitored by a global positioning system (GPS coupled to a heart rate monitor. After initial and single monitoring, the horses were distributed into two groups of eight individuals each; one group exercised short distances (SD between 1600 and 1900m, while the other exercised long distances (LD between 2000 and 2350m. The duration (min and mean and maximal velocities (ms-1attained during each session were determined, as well as the difference in distances exercised (m between official races and each training session. Blood lactate concentration ([LA] during recovery was also determined. Student's t-test was used for a non-paired analysis, with P≤0.05 considered significant. The winnings (USD of each horse were correlated with the peak heart rate (HRpeak attained during the training session. The distances exercised in the training sessions were greater in relation to the official races distances by 24.7% and 40% for SD and LD, respectively. Lactatemia did not differ between the groups. The HRpeak obtained during the training session was lower in LD group. The velocity at which the heart rate reached 200 bpm (V200 was higher in LD group. There was a moderate correlation (r= 0.42 between the highest winnings and lowest HRpeak. The horses that ran longer distances during their submaximal training session had better cardiac conditioning and tendency to increase financial productivity

Effects of ecological and conventional agricultural intensification practices on maize yields in sub-Saharan Africa under potential climate change

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Folberth, Christian; Yang, Hong; Gaiser, Thomas; Liu, Junguo; Wang, Xiuying; Williams, Jimmy; Schulin, Rainer

2014-01-01

Much of Africa is among the world’s regions with lowest yields in staple food crops, and climate change is expected to make it more difficult to catch up in crop production in particular in the long run. Various agronomic measures have been proposed for lifting agricultural production in Africa and to adapt it to climate change. Here, we present a projection of potential climate change impacts on maize yields under different intensification options in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) using an agronomic model, GIS-based EPIC (GEPIC). Fallow and nutrient management options taken into account are (a) conventional intensification with high mineral N supply and a bare fallow, (b) moderate mineral N supply and cowpea rotation, and (c) moderate mineral N supply and rotation with a fast growing N fixing tree Sesbania sesban. The simulations suggest that until the 2040s rotation with Sesbania will lead to an increase in yields due to increasing N supply besides improving water infiltration and soils’ water holding capacity. Intensive cultivation with a bare fallow or an herbaceous crop like cowpea in the rotation is predicted to result in lower yields and increased soil erosion during the same time span. However, yields are projected to decrease in all management scenarios towards the end of the century, should temperature increase beyond critical thresholds. The results suggest that the effect of eco-intensification as a sole means of adapting agriculture to climate change is limited in Sub-Saharan Africa. Highly adverse temperatures would rather have to be faced by improved heat tolerant cultivars, while strongly adverse decreases in precipitation would have to be faced by expanding irrigation where feasible. While the evaluation of changes in agro-environmental variables like soil organic carbon, erosion, and soil humidity hints that these are major factors influencing climate change resilience of the field crop, no direct relationship between these factors, crop yields

Study on Yield and Yield Components of Wheat Genotypes under Different Moisture Regimes

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

E. Mogtader

2012-10-01

Full Text Available In order to study grain yield and yield components of 16 advanced wheat lines under rainfed and supplementary irrigation conditions, this research was conducted in randomized block design with 3 replications at Maragheh Research Station during 2008-09 seasons. Analysis of variance revealed significant differences for date to heading, plant height, 1000 kernel weight, tiller number, spike length, seed number per spike, spikelet number per spike, peduncle length, harvest index, leaf, sheath length and grain yield. Results also showed that the lines No. 4 (91-142 a 61/3/F35.70/MO73//1D13.1/MLT and 16 (Azar2 with 1895 and 1878 Kg/ha, lines No. 4 and 7 (YUMAI13/5/NAI60/3/14.53/ODIN//CI13441 with 2132 and 2285 Kg/ha had highest grain yield under rainfed and supplementary irrigated conditions respectively. Based on results these 16 lines and cultivars were grouped in 4 and 3 distinct classes using Ward’s Method of cluster analysis under rainfed and irrigated conditions. Path analysis indicated that vigor at shooting stage, seed number per spike and HI were positive important traits to select lines for high yielding potential in this study. HI and TKW had also positive effects on grain under supplementary irrigation.

Winning strategies of political campaigns in hybrid electoral spaces. Case study – Iasi County

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Adrian Marius Tompea

2012-10-01

Full Text Available Our material introduces the concept of hybrid electoral area, as a distinct electoral entity set up by special territorial and administrative processes. We analyze specific cases of such spaces in Iasi and we see how the winning electoral strategies have been configured here. We provide examples of campaign activities and actions which ensured the candidates’ success by simultaneously targeting both the electoral sub-spaces and the community seen as whole.

Many Libraries Have Gone to Federated Searching to Win Users Back from Google. Is It Working?

Science.gov (United States)

King, Douglas

2008-01-01

In the last issue, this journal asked a question on many librarians' minds, and it was pleased with the depth and variety of responses. As suggested by this journal editorial board member Oliver Pesch, readers were asked, "Many libraries have gone to federated searching to win users back from Google. Is it working?" Respondents approached the…

Sensitivity of commercial pumpkin yield to potential decline among different groups of pollinating bees.

Science.gov (United States)

Pfister, Sonja C; Eckerter, Philipp W; Schirmel, Jens; Cresswell, James E; Entling, Martin H

2017-05-01

The yield of animal-pollinated crops is threatened by bee declines, but its precise sensitivity is poorly known. We therefore determined the yield dependence of Hokkaido pumpkin in Germany on insect pollination by quantifying: (i) the relationship between pollen receipt and fruit set and (ii) the cumulative pollen deposition of each pollinator group. We found that approximately 2500 pollen grains per flower were needed to maximize fruit set. At the measured rates of flower visitation, we estimated that bumblebees (21 visits/flower lifetime, 864 grains/visit) or honeybees (123 visits, 260 grains) could individually achieve maximum crop yield, whereas halictid bees are ineffective (11 visits, 16 grains). The pollinator fauna was capable of delivering 20 times the necessary amount of pollen. We therefore estimate that pumpkin yield was not pollination-limited in our study region and that it is currently fairly resilient to single declines of honeybees or wild bumblebees.

Potential of deficit irrigation, irrigation cut-offs, and crop thinning to maintain yield and fruit quality with less water in northern highbush blueberry

Science.gov (United States)

Drought and mandatory water restrictions are limiting the availability of irrigation water in many important blueberry growing regions, including Oregon, Washington, and California. New strategies are needed to maintain yield and fruit quality with less water. Three potential options, including defi...

Phenotyping Drought Tolerance and Yield Potential of Warm-Season Legumes Through Field- and Airborne-Based Hyperspectral VSWIR Sensing

Science.gov (United States)

Drewry, D.; Berny-Mier y Teran, J. C.; Dutta, D.; Gepts, P.

2017-12-01

Hyperspectral sensing in the visible through shortwave infrared (VSWIR) portion of the spectrum has been demonstrated to provide significant information on the structural and functional properties of vegetation, resulting in powerful techniques to discern species differences, characterize crop nutrient or water stress, and quantify the density of foliage in agricultural fields. Modern machine-learning techniques allow for the entire set of spectral bands, on the order of hundreds with modern field and airborne spectrometers, to be used to develop models that can simultaneously retrieve a variety of foliar chemical compounds and hydrological and structural states. The application of these techniques, in the context of leaf-level measurements of VSWIR reflectance, or more complicated remote airborne surveys, has the potential to revolutionize high-throughput methods to phenotype germplasm that optimizes yield, resource-use efficiencies, or alternate objectives related to disease resistance or biomass accumulation, for example. Here we focus on breeding trials for a set of warm-season legumes, conducted in both greenhouse and field settings, and spanning a set of diverse genotypes providing a range of adaptation to drought and yield potential in the context of the semi-arid climate cultivation. At the leaf-level, a large set of spectral reflectance measurements spanning 400-2500 nanometers were made for plants across various growth stages in field experiments that induced severe drought, along with sampling for relevant trait values. Here we will discuss the development and performance of algorithms for a range of leaf traits related to gas exchange, leaf structure, hydrological status, nutrient contents and stable isotope discrimination, along with their relationships to drought resistance and yield. We likewise discuss the effectiveness of quantifying relevant foliar and canopy traits through airborne imaging spectroscopy from small unmanned vehicles (sUAVs), and

Path and correlation analysis of perennial ryegrass (Lolium perenne L.) seed yield components

DEFF Research Database (Denmark)

Abel, Simon; Gislum, René; Boelt, Birte

2017-01-01

Maximum perennial ryegrass seed production potential is substantially greater than harvested yields with harvested yields representing only 20% of calculated potential. Similar to wheat, maize and other agriculturally important crops, seed yield is highly dependent on a number of interacting seed...... yield components. This research was performed to apply and describe path analysis of perennial ryegrass seed yield components in relation to harvested seed yields. Utilising extensive yield components which included subdividing reproductive inflorescences into five size categories, path analysis...... was undertaken assuming a unidirectional causal-admissible relationship between seed yield components and harvested seed yield in six commercial seed production fields. Both spikelets per inflorescence and florets per spikelet had a significant (p seed yield; however, total...

Winter sowing of adapted lines as a potential yield increase strategy in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.)

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Barrios, A.; Aparicio, T.; Rodríguez, M.J.; Pérez de la Vega, M.; Caminero, C.

2016-11-01

Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik. subsp. culinaris) is a traditional crop in Spain although current grain yield in Spain is relatively low and unstable. The effect of an early sowing date (winter sowing) on yield in the Spanish Central Plateau (meseta) was analyzed comparing it to the traditional spring sowing. Yield from eleven cultivars currently available for sowing in Spain and two F6:7 populations of recombinant inbred lines (RIL), ´Precoz´ × ´WA8649041´ (89 lines) and ´BGE016365´ × ´ILL1918´ (118 lines), was evaluated in winter and spring sowing dates for three seasons (2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08) and two localities. Yield and stability were assessed by the method of consistency of performance with some modifications. When comparing with the best currently available cultivars sown in the traditional spring sowing date, (with an estimated average yield of 43.9 g/m in our experimental conditions), winter sowing using adapted breeding lines proved to be a suitable strategy for increasing lentil yield and yield stability in the Spanish meseta, with an average yield increase of 111% (reaching an estimated yield of 92.8 g/m). Results point to that lentil production can greatly increase in the Spanish meseta if adequate plant materials, such as some of the lines analyzed, are sown at late fall. (Author)

Winter sowing of adapted lines as a potential yield increase strategy in lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Abel Barrios

2016-06-01

Full Text Available Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik. subsp. culinaris is a traditional crop in Spain although current grain yield in Spain is relatively low and unstable. The effect of an early sowing date (winter sowing on yield in the Spanish Central Plateau (meseta was analyzed comparing it to the traditional spring sowing. Yield from eleven cultivars currently available for sowing in Spain and two F6:7  populations of recombinant inbred lines (RIL, ´Precoz´ × ´WA8649041´ (89 lines and ´BGE016365´ × ´ILL1918´ (118 lines, was evaluated in winter and spring sowing dates for three seasons (2005/06, 2006/07 and 2007/08 and two localities. Yield and stability were assessed by the method of consistency of performance with some modifications. When comparing with the best currently available cultivars sown in the traditional spring sowing date, (with an estimated average yield of 43.9 g/m in our experimental conditions, winter sowing using adapted breeding lines proved to be a suitable strategy for increasing lentil yield and yield stability in the Spanish meseta, with an average yield increase of 111% (reaching an estimated yield of 92.8 g/m. Results point to that lentil production can greatly increase in the Spanish meseta if adequate plant materials, such as some of the lines analyzed, are sown at late fall.

Sensitivity of commercial pumpkin yield to potential decline among different groups of pollinating bees

Science.gov (United States)

Eckerter, Philipp W.; Schirmel, Jens; Cresswell, James E.; Entling, Martin H.

2017-01-01

The yield of animal-pollinated crops is threatened by bee declines, but its precise sensitivity is poorly known. We therefore determined the yield dependence of Hokkaido pumpkin in Germany on insect pollination by quantifying: (i) the relationship between pollen receipt and fruit set and (ii) the cumulative pollen deposition of each pollinator group. We found that approximately 2500 pollen grains per flower were needed to maximize fruit set. At the measured rates of flower visitation, we estimated that bumblebees (21 visits/flower lifetime, 864 grains/visit) or honeybees (123 visits, 260 grains) could individually achieve maximum crop yield, whereas halictid bees are ineffective (11 visits, 16 grains). The pollinator fauna was capable of delivering 20 times the necessary amount of pollen. We therefore estimate that pumpkin yield was not pollination-limited in our study region and that it is currently fairly resilient to single declines of honeybees or wild bumblebees. PMID:28573019

Study of the Higgs boson discovery potential in the process pp{yields}H/A{yields}{mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -}/{tau}{sup +}{tau}{sup -} with the ATLAS detector

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Dedes, Georgios

2008-04-22

In this thesis, the discovery potential of the ATLAS experiment at the Large Hadron Collider (LHC) at CERN for the heavy neutral Higgs bosons H/A of theMinimal Supersymmetric extension of the Standard Model of particle physics (MSSM) in the decay channels H/A{yields}{tau}{sup +}{tau}{sup -}{yields}e/{mu}+X and H/A{yields}{mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -} has been studied. The ATLAS detector is designed to study the full spectrum of the physics phenomena occuring in the proton-proton collisions at 14 TeV center-of-mass energy and to provide answers to the question of the origin of particle masses and of electroweak symmetry breaking. For the studies, the ATLAS muon spectrometer plays an important role. The spectrometer allows for a precise muon momentum measurement independently of other ATLAS subdetectors. The performance of the muon spectrometer depends strongly on the performance of the muon tracking detectors, the Monitored Drift Tube Chambers (MDT). Computer programs have been developed in order to test and verify the ATLAS muon spectrometer simulation, an essential ingredient for data analysis. In addition, dedicated programs for the monitoring of the quality of the data collected by the muon spectrometer have been developed and tested with data from cosmic ray muons. High-quality cosmic ray muon data have been used for the calibration of the MDT-chambers. A new calibration method, called analytical autocalibration, has been tested. The proposed method achieved the required accuracy of 20 {mu}m in the determination of the space-to-drift-time relationship of the drift tubes of the MDT chambers with only 2000 muon tracks per chamber. Reliable muon detector simulation and calibration are essential for the study of the MSSM Higgs boson decays H/A{yields}{tau}{sup +}{tau}{sup -}{yields}e/{mu}+X and H/A{yields}{mu}{sup +}{mu}{sup -} and of the corresponding background processes. The signal selection and background rejection requirements have been optimized for maximum signal

Emotional Intelligence and Will to Win: The Invincible and Invisible Phenomenon in Basketball Sports

OpenAIRE

SINGH, Davinder

2015-01-01

This study examined the emotional intelligence and will to win level among female basketball players. A group of fifty (N=50) female inter-college level basketball players of Guru Nanak Dev University, Amritsar, Punjab were selected for this study. The purposive sampling technique was used to attain the objectives of the study. All the subjects, after having been informed about the objective and protocol of the study, gave their consent and volunteered to participate in this st...

现代企业经营伦理：寻求企业利润与伦理“共赢共生”%Modem Enterprise Management Ethics： ＂Win-Win Symbiosis＂ between Profit and Ethics

Institute of Scientific and Technical Information of China (English)

王佳翔

2012-01-01

As a social and economic organization, modem enterprise should undertake corrensponding social responsibilities. During production and business operation process, enterprises should not only focus on profit, but also undertake social ethical responsibility with self-conscious. Furthermore, if enterprises want to make great profit in a long term, they should enforce ethics management internally and take social responsibilities externally, so as to achieve ＂win-win co-existence＂ between profit and ethics.%现代企业作为一种社会经济组织，应该承担其应尽的社会责任。即：在生产经营过程中，企业不但要顾及经营利润，还应自觉承担社会伦理责任。企业如想长期获利，就强须对内实现其伦理化管理，对外承担其社会责任，进而使企业利润与伦理达到“共赢共生”的目的。

Can joint carbon and biodiversity management in tropical agroforestry landscapes be optimized?

Science.gov (United States)

Kessler, Michael; Hertel, Dietrich; Jungkunst, Hermann F; Kluge, Jürgen; Abrahamczyk, Stefan; Bos, Merijn; Buchori, Damayanti; Gerold, Gerhard; Gradstein, S Robbert; Köhler, Stefan; Leuschner, Christoph; Moser, Gerald; Pitopang, Ramadhanil; Saleh, Shahabuddin; Schulze, Christian H; Sporn, Simone G; Steffan-Dewenter, Ingolf; Tjitrosoedirdjo, Sri S; Tscharntke, Teja

2012-01-01

Managing ecosystems for carbon storage may also benefit biodiversity conservation, but such a potential 'win-win' scenario has not yet been assessed for tropical agroforestry landscapes. We measured above- and below-ground carbon stocks as well as the species richness of four groups of plants and eight of animals on 14 representative plots in Sulawesi, Indonesia, ranging from natural rainforest to cacao agroforests that have replaced former natural forest. The conversion of natural forests with carbon stocks of 227-362 Mg C ha(-1) to agroforests with 82-211 Mg C ha(-1) showed no relationships to overall biodiversity but led to a significant loss of forest-related species richness. We conclude that the conservation of the forest-related biodiversity, and to a lesser degree of carbon stocks, mainly depends on the preservation of natural forest habitats. In the three most carbon-rich agroforestry systems, carbon stocks were about 60% of those of natural forest, suggesting that 1.6 ha of optimally managed agroforest can contribute to the conservation of carbon stocks as much as 1 ha of natural forest. However, agroforestry systems had comparatively low biodiversity, and we found no evidence for a tight link between carbon storage and biodiversity. Yet, potential win-win agroforestry management solutions include combining high shade-tree quality which favours biodiversity with cacao-yield adapted shade levels.

Substituting sugar confectionery with fruit and healthy snacks at checkout – a win-win strategy for consumers and food stores? a study on consumer attitudes and sales effects of a healthy supermarket intervention

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Lise L. Winkler

2016-11-01

confectionery was found. Conclusions The present study finds that the healthy checkout intervention was positively evaluated by consumers and provided a ‘responsible’ branding opportunity for supermarkets, thus representing a win-win strategy for store managers and consumers in the short term. However, the intervention was too modest to draw conclusions on long-term sales and health implications of this initiative. More research is needed to assess whether retailer-researcher collaborations on health promotion can be a winning strategy for public health.

Yield gap mapping as a support tool for risk management in agriculture

Science.gov (United States)

Lahlou, Ouiam; Imani, Yasmina; Slimani, Imane; Van Wart, Justin; Yang, Haishun

2016-04-01

The increasing frequency and magnitude of droughts in Morocco and the mounting losses from extended droughts in the agricultural sector emphasized the need to develop reliable and timely tools to manage drought and to mitigate resulting catastrophic damage. In 2011, Morocco launched a cereals multi-risk insurance with drought as the most threatening and the most frequent hazard in the country. However, and in order to assess the gap and to implement the more suitable compensation, it is essential to quantify the potential yield in each area. In collaboration with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, a study is carried out in Morocco and aims to determine the yield potentials and the yield gaps in the different agro-climatic zones of the country. It fits into the large project: Global Yield Gap and Water Productivity Atlas: http://www.yieldgap.org/. The yield gap (Yg) is the magnitude and difference between crop yield potential (Yp) or water limited yield potential (Yw) and actual yields, reached by farmers. World Food Studies (WOFOST), which is a Crop simulation mechanistic model, has been used for this purpose. Prior to simulations, reliable information about actual yields, weather data, crop management data and soil data have been collected in 7 Moroccan buffer zones considered, each, within a circle of 100 km around a weather station point, homogenously spread across the country and where cereals are widely grown. The model calibration was also carried out using WOFOST default varieties data. The map-based results represent a robust tool, not only for drought insurance organization, but for agricultural and agricultural risk management. Moreover, accurate and geospatially granular estimates of Yg and Yw will allow to focus on regions with largest unexploited yield gaps and greatest potential to close them, and consequently to improve food security in the country.

Microbial antagonism as a potential solution for controlling selected root pathogens of crops

Science.gov (United States)

Cooper, Sarah; Agnew, Linda; Pereg, Lily

2016-04-01

Root pathogens of crops can cause large reduction in yield, however, there is a limited range of effective methods to control such pathogens. Soilborne pathogens that infect roots often need to survive in the rhizosphere, where there is high competition from other organisms. In such hot spots of microbial activity and growth, supported by root exudates, microbes have evolved antagonistic mechanisms that give them competitive advantages in winning the limited resources. Among these mechanisms is antibiosis, with production of some significant antifungal compounds including, antibiotics, volatile organic compounds, hydrogen cyanide and lytic enzymes. Some of these mechanisms may suppress disease through controlling the growth of root pathogens. In this project we isolated various fungi and bacteria that suppress the growth of cotton pathogens in vitro. The pathogen-suppressive microbes were isolated from cotton production soils that are under different management strategies, with and without the use of organic amendments. The potential of pathogen-suppressing microbes for controlling the black root rot disease, caused by the soilborne pathogen Thielaviopsis basicola, was confirmed using soil assays. We identified isolates with potential use as inoculant for cotton production in Australia. Having isolated a diverse group of antagonistic microbes enhances the probability that some would survive well in the soil and provide an alternative approach to address the problem of root disease affecting agricultural crops.

Modelling the Determinants of Winning in Public Tendering Procedures Based on the Activity of a Selected Company

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Maciej Malara

2012-01-01

Full Text Available The purpose of this article is to identify the factors influencing the probability of winning in public procurement procedures and to assess the strength of their impact from the perspective of both: the bidder and procurer. The research was conducted with the use of series of quantitative methods: binary logistic regression, discriminant analysis and cluster analysis. It was based on a sample consisting of public tenders, in which the examined company performed the role of a bidder. Thus, the research process was aimed at both identifying the factors of success and estimating the probability of achieving it, where it was possible to obtain probabilities. The main idea of this research is to answer questions about the utility of various methods of quantitative analysis in the case of analyzing determinants of success. Results of the research are presented in the following sequence of sections: characteristics of the examined material, the process of modelling the probability of winning, evaluation of the quality of the results obtained. (original abstract

Pros and cons of healthcare information technology implementation: the pros win.

Science.gov (United States)

Maffei, Roxana

2006-01-01

Countless studies and investigations have been performed siding either for or against the implementation of technology in the healthcare setting. This article presents both sides of this debate, with an obvious conclusion that the pros of this debate win. The practice of information technology in the medical domain lags behind its knowledge and discovery by at least 7 years. The key to closing this gap is to show, through various studies, how information technology systems provide decision support to users at the point in time when decisions are needed. What the reader will obtain from this article is that the pros for information technology implementation in healthcare settings weigh much more and have a greater effect than the cons.

Introduction dosimetric data of cobalt-60 unit in planning new Win-PTL- 3D

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Gonzalez Perez, Yelina; Rodriguez Zayas, Michael; Perez Guevara, Adrian; Sanchez Zamora, Luis; Reyes Gonzalez, Tommy; Sola Rodriguez, Yeline; Caballero, Roberto; Cruz Marcane, Viviana

2009-01-01

3D planning is based on the individual and image reconstruction formation of fields, allowing better absorption of dose volume White minimizing damage to surrounding healthy tissue. During the clinical implementation of the Win-PLT software includes validation from the implementation of dosimetric acceptance tests through a series of precise experimental measurements, reflecting different clinical situations (test cases). For the commissioning characterized the photon beam Cobalt Unit 60, taking measurements with a set consisting of a phantom dosimetric automatic ionization chambers and electrometer Tandem. The measured data are used to power the TPS through WINCOM auxiliary program that lets you adjust a number of parameters to model the photon beam. This adjustment is made by comparing the PDD curves and profiles of experimental data with modeled data. The test cases performed are in compliance with the requirements proposed in the geometric of the AAPM TG55. The modeling of beam dosimetry data was successful, since the discrepancies were within the criteria TRS-430. The cases involved events where points near the edge of the field and in the presence of blocking a discrepancy outside the tolerance, suggesting not to use these items for purposes of limitation. Win TPS-PLT is suitable for clinical use with the photon beam Cobalt Unit 60, backed by the reliability that dropped on the results of beam modeling and verification of dosimetric calculations. (Author)

Assessment of Potential Climate Change Effects on the Rice Yield and Water Footprint in the Nanliujiang Catchment, China

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Mingzhi Yang

2018-01-01

Full Text Available The Nanliujiang catchment is one of major rice production bases of South China. Irrigation districts play an important role in rice production which requires a large quantity of water. There are potential risks on future climate change in response to rice production, agricultural irrigation water use and pollution control locally. The SWAT model was used to quantify the yield and water footprint (WF of rice in this catchment. A combined method of automatic and manual sub-basin delineation was used for the model setup in this work to reflect the differences between irrigation districts in yield and water use of rice. We validated our simulations against observed leaf area index, biomass and yield of rice, evapotranspiration and runoff. The outputs of three GCMs (GFDL-ESM2M, IPSL-CM5A-LR and HadGEM2-ES under three RCPs (RCP2.6, 4.5, 8.5 were fed to the SWAT model. The results showed that: (a the SWAT model is an ideal tool to simulate rice development as well as hydrology; (b there would be increases in rice yield ranged from +1.4 to +10.6% under climate projections of GFDL-ESM2M and IPSL-CM5A-LR but slight decreases ranged from −3.5 to −0.8% under that of HadGEM2-ES; (c the yield and WFs of rice displayed clear differences in the catchment, with a characteristic that high in the south and low in the north, mainly due to the differences in climatic conditions, soil quality and fertilization amount; (d there would be a decrease by 45.5% in blue WF with an increase by 88.1% in green WF, which could provide favorable conditions to enlarge irrigated areas and take technical measures for improving green water use efficiency of irrigation districts; (e a clear rise in future grey WF would present enormous challenges for the protection of water resources and environmental pollution control in this catchment. So it should be to improved nutrient management strategies for the agricultural non-point source pollution control in irrigation districts

Reflections on Sven-Eric Liedman’s Marx-Biography “A World to Win: The Life and Works of Karl Marx”

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Christian Fuchs

2018-05-01

Full Text Available The English translation of Sven-Eric Liedman’s Marx-biography A World to Win: The Life and Works of Karl Marx was published two weeks before Marx’s bicentenary. This article presents reflections on Liedman’s book and asks how one should best write biographically about Marx. The paper compares Liedman’s biography to the Marx-biographies written by Jonathan Sperber (Karl Marx: A Nineteenth-Century Life and Gareth Stedman-Jones (Karl Marx: Greatness and Illusion. A biography is a way of repeating a person’s life, works and age in a process of reconstruction and retelling. The question that arises is how to write a biography as a dialectical text. Sven-Eric Liedman: A World to Win: The Life and Works of Karl Marx. London: Verso, London, 2018. 768 pages., £35.00 hbk. ISBN 9781786635044

Sensitivity of CERES-Maize yield simulation to the selected weather data

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Zalud, Z.; Stastna, M.

2000-01-01

Sensitivity analysis of selected weather data runs after successful parametrization and validation of the CERES-Maize simulation model. Estimation of the potential yield has been carried out during the long term experiment (1980-1997) as well as the estimation of influence of meteorological parameters on the simulation results for the water-limited yield. 10 % under and over stimulation of global radiation and precipitation as well as increasing and decreasing temperature by 1 deg C on simulated potential and water-limited yield have been done. In most of the years, air temperature underestimation resulted in a higher simulated grain yield and overstimulation shown a lower yield for water limited level. Overestimation of precipitation during wet days in growing period of the maize leads to an increase of amount of water available for the plant and to increase the yield. Underestimation of global radiation by 10 % resulted in a decline in simulated grain yield from -8.8 to -9.9 %. The overestimation caused increase of the yield from 7.8 to 10 %. Overestimation by 10 % resulted in a slight underestimation of the yield in low yielding years and underestimation of global radiation by 10 % in overestimation of the yield. The effect was opposite in high yielding years

Heterogeneous global crop yield response to biochar: a meta-regression analysis

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Crane-Droesch, Andrew; Torn, Margaret S; Abiven, Samuel; Jeffery, Simon

2013-01-01

Biochar may contribute to climate change mitigation at negative cost by sequestering photosynthetically fixed carbon in soil while increasing crop yields. The magnitude of biochar’s potential in this regard will depend on crop yield benefits, which have not been well-characterized across different soils and biochars. Using data from 84 studies, we employ meta-analytical, missing data, and semiparametric statistical methods to explain heterogeneity in crop yield responses across different soils, biochars, and agricultural management factors, and then estimate potential changes in yield across different soil environments globally. We find that soil cation exchange capacity and organic carbon were strong predictors of yield response, with low cation exchange and low carbon associated with positive response. We also find that yield response increases over time since initial application, compared to non-biochar controls. High reported soil clay content and low soil pH were weaker predictors of higher yield response. No biochar parameters in our dataset—biochar pH, percentage carbon content, or temperature of pyrolysis—were significant predictors of yield impacts. Projecting our fitted model onto a global soil database, we find the largest potential increases in areas with highly weathered soils, such as those characterizing much of the humid tropics. Richer soils characterizing much of the world’s important agricultural areas appear to be less likely to benefit from biochar. (letter)

Modelling Bambara Groundnut Yield in Southern Africa: Towards a Climate-Resilient Future

Science.gov (United States)

Karunaratne, A. S.; Walker, S.; Ruane, A. C.

2015-01-01

Current agriculture depends on a few major species grown as monocultures that are supported by global research underpinning current productivity. However, many hundreds of alternative crops have the potential to meet real world challenges by sustaining humanity, diversifying agricultural systems for food and nutritional security, and especially responding to climate change through their resilience to certain climate conditions. Bambara groundnut (Vigna subterranea (L.) Verdc.), an underutilised African legume, is an exemplar crop for climate resilience. Predicted yield performances of Bambara groundnut by AquaCrop (a crop-water productivity model) were evaluated for baseline (1980-2009) and mid-century climates (2040-2069) under 20 downscaled Global Climate Models (CMIP5-RCP8.5), as well as for climate sensitivities (AgMIPC3MP) across 3 locations in Southern Africa (Botswana, South Africa, Namibia). Different land - races of Bambara groundnut originating from various semi-arid African locations showed diverse yield performances with diverse sensitivities to climate. S19 originating from hot-dry conditions in Namibia has greater future yield potential compared to the Swaziland landrace Uniswa Red-UN across study sites. South Africa has the lowest yield under the current climate, indicating positive future yield trends. Namibia reported the highest baseline yield at optimum current temperatures, indicating less yield potential in future climates. Bambara groundnut shows positive yield potential at temperatures of up to 31degC, with further warming pushing yields down. Thus, many regions in Southern Africa can utilize Bambara groundnut successfully in the coming decades. This modelling exercise supports decisions on genotypic suitability for present and future climates at specific locations.

Win the game of Googleopoly unlocking the secret strategy of search engines

CERN Document Server

Bradley, Sean V

2015-01-01

Rank higher in search results with this guide to SEO and content building supremacy Google is not only the number one search engine in the world, it is also the number one website in the world. Only 5 percent of site visitors search past the first page of Google, so if you're not in those top ten results, you are essentially invisible. Winning the Game of Googleopoly is the ultimate roadmap to Page One Domination. The POD strategy is what gets you on that super-critical first page of Google results by increasing your page views. You'll learn how to shape your online presence for Search Engine

A data acquisition system based on general VME system in WinXP

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Ning Zhe; Qian Sen; Wang Yifang; Heng Yuekun; Zhang Jiawei; Fu Zaiwei; Qi Ming; Zheng Yangheng

2010-01-01

The compilation and encapsulation of a general data acquisition system based on VME board in WinXP environment was developed using LabVIEW with graphics interface. By integrating the emulational instrument panel of LabVIEW and calling the Dynamic Link Libraries (DLLs) of crate controller, the VME modules were encapsulated into function modules independently, for convenience of use. The BLT, MBLT and CBLT readout modes for different VME boards were studied. The modules can be selected and modified easily according to the requirements of different tests. Finally, successful applications of the high resolution data acquisition software (DAQ) in several experiment environments are reported.(authors)

Care initiation area yields dramatic results.

Science.gov (United States)

2009-03-01

The ED at Gaston Memorial Hospital in Gastonia, NC, has achieved dramatic results in key department metrics with a Care Initiation Area (CIA) and a physician in triage. Here's how the ED arrived at this winning solution: Leadership was trained in and implemented the Kaizen method, which eliminates redundant or inefficient process steps. Simulation software helped determine additional space needed by analyzing arrival patterns and other key data. After only two days of meetings, new ideas were implemented and tested.

Estimating yield gaps at the cropping system level.

Science.gov (United States)

Guilpart, Nicolas; Grassini, Patricio; Sadras, Victor O; Timsina, Jagadish; Cassman, Kenneth G

2017-05-01

Yield gap analyses of individual crops have been used to estimate opportunities for increasing crop production at local to global scales, thus providing information crucial to food security. However, increases in crop production can also be achieved by improving cropping system yield through modification of spatial and temporal arrangement of individual crops. In this paper we define the cropping system yield potential as the output from the combination of crops that gives the highest energy yield per unit of land and time, and the cropping system yield gap as the difference between actual energy yield of an existing cropping system and the cropping system yield potential. Then, we provide a framework to identify alternative cropping systems which can be evaluated against the current ones. A proof-of-concept is provided with irrigated rice-maize systems at four locations in Bangladesh that represent a range of climatic conditions in that country. The proposed framework identified (i) realistic alternative cropping systems at each location, and (ii) two locations where expected improvements in crop production from changes in cropping intensity (number of crops per year) were 43% to 64% higher than from improving the management of individual crops within the current cropping systems. The proposed framework provides a tool to help assess food production capacity of new systems ( e.g. with increased cropping intensity) arising from climate change, and assess resource requirements (water and N) and associated environmental footprint per unit of land and production of these new systems. By expanding yield gap analysis from individual crops to the cropping system level and applying it to new systems, this framework could also be helpful to bridge the gap between yield gap analysis and cropping/farming system design.

Modern multithreading implementing, testing, and debugging multithreaded Java and C++/Pthreads/Win32 programs

CERN Document Server

Carver, Richard H

2005-01-01

Master the essentials of concurrent programming,including testing and debuggingThis textbook examines languages and libraries for multithreaded programming. Readers learn how to create threads in Java and C++, and develop essential concurrent programming and problem-solving skills. Moreover, the textbook sets itself apart from other comparable works by helping readers to become proficient in key testing and debugging techniques. Among the topics covered, readers are introduced to the relevant aspects of Java, the POSIX Pthreads library, and the Windows Win32 Applications Programming Interface.

Assessment of Cane Yields on Well-drained Ferralsols in the Sugar-cane Estate of Central Cameroon

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Van Ranst, E.

1999-01-01

Full Text Available The potential yields of irrigated and of rainfed sugar-cane on three ferrallitic soil series, well represented in the Nkoteng sugar-cane estate of Central Cameroon, are estimated following different methods. The potential yield of irrigated sugar-cane is estimated from the total maximum evapotranspiration during the crop cycle. The potential yield of rainfed sugar-cane is estimated following two methods for the establishment of a water balance and for the determination of a yield reduction as a result of a water deficit. The calculated potential yields are higher than the observed ones. The yield reduction due to rain fed cropping can mainly be attributed to water shortage during the late yield formation and the ripening periods. A supplementary yield decline is due to a combined action of an acid soil reaction, a possible Al-toxicity a low base saturation, an inadequate CEC, organic matter content and P-availability which may adequately explain the actual yield level.

Root yield and reserpine content of Rauvolfia serpentina Benth. on media under the plant with potential allelopathic effect by nutrient addition

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SULANDJARI

2008-07-01

Full Text Available The root of Rauvolfia serpentina Benth (pule pandak contains more than 50 kinds of alkaloid which is useful to treat many kinds of diseases and reserpine is ones to treat of hypertension. Eucalyptus deglupta and Acacia mangium have become release an allelochemy to ecosystem that are can reduce the growth of the plant association. The purpose of this research is to know about the influence of nutrient and media under the plant with potential allelopathic effect to root yield and reserpine content. The research was arranged in Complete Random Block Design. Nutrient was nested on media. Media are: under Tectona grandis, A. mangium, and E. deglupta. Nutrient is 30 t ha-1 organic fertilizers, 200 ha-1 inorganic (NPK fertilizers and control. Polybag with 30 cmx30 cm plant densities and 20% of shading. The result are that beside under the T. grandis, pule pandak was capable to growth under the A. mangium and E. deglupta. Thirty ton per hectare organic fertilizers was increased of growth and yield more than 200 ha-1 inorganic (NPK fertilizers. Allelocemy from A. mangium and E. deglupta was decreased dry root yield but was not effect to reserpine content.

The influence of zeta potential and yield stress on the filtration characteristics of a magnesium hydroxide simulant

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Biggs, Simon; Nabi, Rafiq; Poole, Colin; Patel, Ashok

2007-01-01

In the UK, irradiated fuels from Magnox reactors are often stored in water-filled ponds under alkaline conditions, so as to minimise corrosion of fuel cladding. This is important to prevent or reduce leakage of soluble fission products and actinides to the pond water. A variety of intermediate level wastes derived from Magnox materials are stored at power stations. Under these alkaline conditions, various species of magnesium are formed, of which magnesium hydroxide is the dominant material. The particle-fluid interactions are significant for the design and operation of facilities for hydraulic retrieval, filtration, dewatering and ion exchange treatment of fuel storage pond water and stored wet Magnox wastes. Here we describe a study of particulate properties and filtration characteristics of oxide particle simulants under laboratory conditions. Cake and medium resistance data were correlated across a range of pH conditions with electro-acoustic zeta potential and shear yield stress measurements, as a function of particle volume fractions. The influence of zeta potential on filtration properties arises directly from the interaction of particles within the sediment cake. (authors)

The costs of electoral fraud: establishing the link between electoral integrity, winning an election, and satisfaction with democracy.

Science.gov (United States)

Fortin-Rittberger, Jessica; Harfst, Philipp; Dingler, Sarah C

2017-07-03

Previous research has shown that voters' perception of electoral fairness has an impact on their attitudes and behaviors. However, less research has attempted to link objective measurements of electoral integrity on voters' attitudes about the democratic process. Drawing on data from the Comparative Study of Electoral Systems and the Quality of Elections Data, we investigate whether cross-national differences in electoral integrity have significant influences on citizens' level of satisfaction with democracy. We hypothesize that higher levels of observed electoral fraud will have a negative impact on evaluations of the democratic process, and that this effect will be mediated by a respondent's status as a winner or loser of an election. The article's main finding is that high levels of electoral fraud are indeed linked to less satisfaction with democracy. However, we show that winning only matters in elections that are conducted in an impartial way. The moment elections start to display the telltale signs of manipulation and malpractice, winning and losing no longer have different effects on voter's levels of satisfaction with democracy.

Uso de WinBUGS en los métodos bayesianos. Una aplicación en auditoría

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Vázquez Polo, Francisco José

2001-01-01

Full Text Available Lo que se presenta es un breve recorrido por el programa WinBUGS, desarrollado para problemas de inferencia estadística bayesiana haciendo uso de métodos Markov Chain Monte Carlo, MCMC. Una dificultad recurrente en la inferencia bayesiana ha sido la enorme complejidad computacional que presenta en muchos casos el cálculo de cantidades a posteriori de interés. En los últimos años se están utilizando los métodos MCMC, que mediante la simulación Monte Carlo de cadenas de Markov, permiten salvar estas dificultades. El programa WinBUGS, de libre acceso en la red y diseñado por los británicos Spiegelhalter, Thomas y Best, implementa estas técnicas, y posibilita su uso a un amplio número de usuarios de la estadística bayesiana aplicada. En concreto, en este trabajo se presenta un ejemplo de su uso en un modelo de Auditoría Contable, para el cálculo del error total en una contabilidad.

Development of high yielding mutants in lentil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Rajput, M.A.; Sarwar, G.; Siddiqui, K.A.

2001-01-01

Full text: Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) locally known as Masoor, is the second most important rabi pulse crop, after chickpea, in Pakistan. It is cultivated on an area of over 63,400 ha, which constitutes about 4.83% of the total area under pulses. The annual production of the crop is 28,200 tones with an average yield of 445 kg/ha. Yield at the national level is very low, about one-half of the world's yield, which is mainly due to non-availability of high yield potential genotypes. Keeping in view the importance of mutants in developing a large number of new varieties, an induced mutations programme was initiated at AEARC, Tandojam during 1987-88, to develop high yielding varieties in lentil. For this, seeds of two lentil varieties, 'Masoor-85' and 'ICARDA-8' had been irradiated with gamma-rays ranging from 100-600 Gy in NIAB, Faisalabad during 1990. Selections were made in M2 on the basis of earliness, plant height, branches/plant and 100 grain weight. After confirming these mutants in M3 they were promoted in station yield trials and studied continuously for three consecutive years (1993- 1995). Overall results revealed that these mutants have consistent improvement of earliness in flowering and maturity. Plant height also increased in all mutant lines except AEL 23/40/91 where reduction in this attribute was observed as compared to parent variety. Mutant lines AEL 49/20/91 and AEL 13/30/91 showed improvement in 100 grain weight. The improvement of some agronomic characters enhanced the yield of mutant lines in comparison to parent varieties (Masoor-85 and ICARDA-8). The diversity in yield over the respective parents was computed from 6.94 to 60.12%. From these encouraging results it is hoped that mutant lines like AEL 12/30/91 and AEL 49/20/91 may serve as potential lentil genotypes in future. (author)

Two designs for image digital processing applications in the nuclear area using ImaWin

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Lavagnino, Carlos E.; Marajofsky, Adolfo

1999-01-01

In this work two designs of image processing systems of low cost for the nuclear area are presented. They have the advantage of the adaptability given by the ImaWin software and the connection with Internet, applied to digitalisation in research and development fields. The first design is the development of a digitalisation system for inspection and study of fuel plate radiographs for test reactors, while the second one describes the specification and design of an intelligent system of intrusion signals continuous inspection and administrative control of fissile material deposits. (author)

Preference pulses and the win-stay, fix-and-sample model of choice.

Science.gov (United States)

Hachiga, Yosuke; Sakagami, Takayuki; Silberberg, Alan

2015-11-01

Two groups of six rats each were trained to respond to two levers for a food reinforcer. One group was trained on concurrent variable-ratio 20 extinction schedules of reinforcement. The second group was trained on a concurrent variable-interval 27-s extinction schedule. In both groups, lever-schedule assignments changed randomly following reinforcement; a light cued the lever providing the next reinforcer. In the next condition, the light cue was removed and reinforcer assignment strictly alternated between levers. The next two conditions redetermined, in order, the first two conditions. Preference pulses, defined as a tendency for relative response rate to decline to the just-reinforced alternative with time since reinforcement, only appeared during the extinction schedule. Although the pulse's functional form was well described by a reinforcer-induction equation, there was a large residual between actual data and a pulse-as-artifact simulation (McLean, Grace, Pitts, & Hughes, 2014) used to discern reinforcer-dependent contributions to pulsing. However, if that simulation was modified to include a win-stay tendency (a propensity to stay on the just-reinforced alternative), the residual was greatly reduced. Additional modifications of the parameter values of the pulse-as-artifact simulation enabled it to accommodate the present results as well as those it originally accommodated. In its revised form, this simulation was used to create a model that describes response runs to the preferred alternative as terminating probabilistically, and runs to the unpreferred alternative as punctate with occasional perseverative response runs. After reinforcement, choices are modeled as returning briefly to the lever location that had been just reinforced. This win-stay propensity is hypothesized as due to reinforcer induction. © Society for the Experimental Analysis of Behavior.

Are GM Crops for Yield and Resilience Possible?

Science.gov (United States)

Paul, Matthew J; Nuccio, Michael L; Basu, Shib Sankar

2018-01-01

Crop yield improvements need to accelerate to avoid future food insecurity. Outside Europe, genetically modified (GM) crops for herbicide- and insect-resistance have been transformative in agriculture; other traits have also come to market. However, GM of yield potential and stress resilience has yet to impact on food security. Genes have been identified for yield such as grain number, size, leaf growth, resource allocation, and signaling for drought tolerance, but there is only one commercialized drought-tolerant GM variety. For GM and genome editing to impact on yield and resilience there is a need to understand yield-determining processes in a cell and developmental context combined with evaluation in the grower environment. We highlight a sugar signaling mechanism as a paradigm for this approach. Copyright © 2017 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Brazilian Soybean Yields and Yield Gaps Vary with Farm Size

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffries, G. R.; Cohn, A.; Griffin, T. S.; Bragança, A.

2017-12-01

Understanding the farm size-specific characteristics of crop yields and yield gaps may help to improve yields by enabling better targeting of technical assistance and agricultural development programs. Linking remote sensing-based yield estimates with property boundaries provides a novel view of the relationship between farm size and yield structure (yield magnitude, gaps, and stability over time). A growing literature documents variations in yield gaps, but largely ignores the role of farm size as a factor shaping yield structure. Research on the inverse farm size-productivity relationship (IR) theory - that small farms are more productive than large ones all else equal - has documented that yield magnitude may vary by farm size, but has not considered other yield structure characteristics. We examined farm size - yield structure relationships for soybeans in Brazil for years 2001-2015. Using out-of-sample soybean yield predictions from a statistical model, we documented 1) gaps between the 95th percentile of attained yields and mean yields within counties and individual fields, and 2) yield stability defined as the standard deviation of time-detrended yields at given locations. We found a direct relationship between soy yields and farm size at the national level, while the strength and the sign of the relationship varied by region. Soybean yield gaps were found to be inversely related to farm size metrics, even when yields were only compared to farms of similar size. The relationship between farm size and yield stability was nonlinear, with mid-sized farms having the most stable yields. The work suggests that farm size is an important factor in understanding yield structure and that opportunities for improving soy yields in Brazil are greatest among smaller farms.

Narrowing Maize Yield Gaps Under Rain-fed conditions in Tanzania ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

Abstract. The wide gap between potential and actual yields of maize in Tanzania, due low productivity is the major constraint to ... An International Journal of Basic and Applied Research ... for determining maize grain yield followed by water.

Analysis of Yield and Yield Related Traits Variability of Winter Wheat (Triticum aestivum L. Cv. Izolda and Double Haploid Lines

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Kozdój Janusz

2015-12-01

Full Text Available The yield-forming potential of winter wheat is determined by several factors, namely total number of shoots per plant and total number of spikelets per spike. The field experiments were conducted during three vegetation seasons at the Plant Breeding and Acclimatization Institute – National Research Institute (PBAI–NRI, located in Radzików, Poland. The objective of this study was a comparative analysis of the structural yield-forming factor levels, which determine grain yield per spike and per plant of the DH lines and standard Izolda cultivar. Results indicate that several DH lines showed some differences in tested morphological structures of plant, yield factor levels and in grain yield per spike and per plant in comparison to standard Izolda, regardless of the year. Mean grain yield per plant of DH lines was 26.5% lower in comparison to standard Izolda only in the second year of study. It was caused by a reduction of productive tillers number. Structural yield-forming potential of DH lines was used in 38% and 59% and in case of Izolda in 47% and 61% (the second and the third year of experiment, respectively. The mean grain yield per spike of DH lines was 14.8% lower than Izolda cultivar only in third year of experiment and it was caused by about 12% lower number of grains per spike. Structural yield-forming potential of DH spikes was used in 82.4%, 85.4% and 84.9% and in case of Izolda in 83.8%, 87% and 89.5% (the first, the second and the third year of experiment, respectively. The grain yield per winter wheat plant (both DH lines and standard Izolda was significantly correlated with the number of productive tillers per plant (r = 0.80. The grain yield per winter wheat spike (both DH lines and Izolda cultivar was significantly and highly correlated with the number of grains per spike (r = 0.96, number of fertile spikelets per spike (r = 0.87 and the spike length (r = 0.80. Variation of spike and plant structural yield-forming factors

Soil salinity and matric potential interaction on water use, water use efficiency and yield response factor of bean and wheat.

Science.gov (United States)

Khataar, Mahnaz; Mohhamadi, Mohammad Hossien; Shabani, Farzin

2018-02-08

We studied the effects of soil matric potential and salinity on the water use (WU), water use efficiency (WUE) and yield response factor (Ky), for wheat (Triticum aestivum cv. Mahdavi) and bean (Phaseoulus vulgaris cv. COS16) in sandy loam and clay loam soils under greenhouse conditions. Results showed that aeration porosity is the predominant factor controlling WU, WUE, Ky and shoot biomass (Bs) at high soil water potentials. As matric potential was decreased, soil aeration improved, with Bs, WU and Ky reaching maximum value at -6 to -10 kPa, under all salinities. Wheat WUE remained almost unchanged by reduction of matric potential under low salinities (EC ≤ 8 dSm -1 ), but increased under higher salinities (EC ≥ 8 dSm -1 ), as did bean WUE at all salinities, as matric potential decreased to -33 kPa. Wheat WUE exceeds that of bean in both sandy loam and clay loam soils. WUE of both plants increased with higher shoot/root ratio and a high correlation coefficient exists between them. Results showed that salinity decreases all parameters, particularly at high potentials (h = -2 kPa), and amplifies the effects of waterlogging. Further, we observed a strong relationship between transpiration (T) and root respiration (Rr) for all experiments.

Award-winning articles and posters from the World Federation of Chiropractic's 12th Biennial Congress 2013.

Science.gov (United States)

Haldeman, Scott; Chapman-Smith, David

2014-01-01

This editorial reviews the original research submissions to the World Federation of Chiropractic's 12th Biennial Congress held in Durban, South Africa from April 10 - 13, 2013, and the four award-winning scientific articles in the NCMIC Louis Sportelli Research Awards competition at the Congress which are published in this issue of the Journal of Manipulative and Physiological Therapeutics. Copyright © 2014 National University of Health Sciences. Published by Mosby, Inc. All rights reserved.

Impact of NDF degradability of corn silage on the milk yield potential of dairy cows

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Mauro Spanghero

2010-01-01

Full Text Available The neutral detergent fibre (NDF degradability of corn silage samples, measured in vitro (ivNDFd by a filter bag system, was used to examine (i the relationship between the ivNDFd and that calculated from acid detergent lignin (L content (NDFd and (ii the impact of ivNDFd variations on the predicted milk yield (MY of dairy cows fed corn silage based diets. A total of 173 samples of corn silage were collected during a period of three years (2001-03 in different dairy farms of the Po Valley (Northern Italy. Each sample was analysed for chemical composition and was also tested in triplicate for the ivNDFd using the DaisyII incubator (Ankom, Tech. Co., Fairport, NY, USA with incubation time of 48hs. Moreover, the NDFd of samples was calculated from the L contents, while the measured ivNDFd values were used to estimate the NEl, the potential dry matter intakes (DMI and to predict the MY of cows. Corn silage samples of the three years were similar for NDF and starch contents (44.2 and 30.7% DM, on average, respectively while samples from 2003, in comparison with 2001 and 2002, had lower crude protein (6.9 vs 8.3-8.4% DM, P<0.01 and L contents (3.3 vs 3.6-3.9% DM, P<0.01 and higher ivNDFd values (53.3 vs 45.6-47.8%, P<0.01. The relationship between ivNDFd and NDFd was weak (R2=0.09, not significant. The MY predicted from the NEl content and DMI of corn silage (5.5 MJ/kg DM and 8.9 kg/d minus the maintenance energy costs, was 11.5 kg/d on average (coefficient of variation 20%. Our simulations indicate that a variation of ivNDFd by +1.0% changes the NEl of corn silage to have an expected variation in milk yield of +0.15 kg/d. If the ivNDFd is also used to predict the corn silage DMI then a +1.0% variation in ivNDFd of corn silage produces an overall +0.23 kg/d MY variation. The present results indicate that ivNDFd is highly variable in corn silage populations and differences in this nutritional parameter have an appreciable impact on the predicted milk

Effects of kernel weight and source-limitation on wheat grain yield ...

African Journals Online (AJOL)

DRmohammadi

2012-02-09

Feb 9, 2012 ... Many regions need wheat cultivars that are capable of high yields when the weather is beneficial but produce stable yields when conditions are adverse. These geno- types should have high yield potential in both favorable and high temperature environments (Yang et al., 2002a;. Ahmed et al., 2011a, b).

Potential forcing of CO2, technology and climate changes in maize (Zea mays) and bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) yield in southeast Brazil

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Costa, L C; Justino, F; Oliveira, L J C; Sediyama, G C; Lemos, C F; Ferreira, W P M

2009-01-01

Based upon sensitivity experiments, this study aims to investigate the impact of increased atmospheric CO 2 concentration, climate changes, and ongoing technological advancements on bean (Phaseolus vulgaris) and maize (Zea mays) yield. This investigation assumes that the atmospheric CO 2 concentration evolves according to the A2 scenario. For these analyses we have used climate data as projected by climate simulations conducted with the HadCM3 climate model for both present day and greenhouse warming conditions. The results demonstrated that warming conditions associated with increased greenhouse gases as delivered by the HadCM3 model lead to reductions in the potential productivity of maize and beans for the years 2050 and 2080 by up to 30%. This thermal response is, however, damped by the highly efficient CO 2 fertilization effect which is expected to increase bean productivity as compared to present day conditions. A similar investigation for maize yield revealed a different picture. It has been found that the CO 2 fertilization feedback is much weaker and cannot cancel out the thermal effect. We have found, therefore, that climate changes as simulated to occur in the future are not favorable for increasing the maize yield in southeast Brazil. By the inclusion of the third forcing evaluated, representing technological advancements, it is demonstrated that improvements in the crop system reduce the negative effect associated with warmer climate conditions for both crops. We conclude that appropriate soil and technological management as well as genetic improvements may very likely induce an increase in bean and maize yield despite the unfavorable future climate conditions.

Application of the thermal efficiency analysis software 'EgWin' at existing power plants

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Koda, E.; Takahashi, T.; Nakao, Y.

2008-01-01

'EgWin' is the general purpose software to analyze a thermal efficiency of power system developed in CRIEPI. This software has been used to analyze the existing power generation unit of 30 or more, and the effectiveness has been confirmed. In thermal power plants, it was used for the clarification of the thermal efficiency decrease factor and the quantitative estimation of the influence that each factor gave to the thermal efficiency of the plant. Also it was used for the quantitative estimation of the effect by the operating condition change and the facility remodeling in thermal power, atomic energy, and geothermal power plants. (author)

An assessment of irrigation needs and crop yield for the United States under potential climate changes

Science.gov (United States)

Brumbelow, Kelly; Georgakakos, Aris P.

2000-01-01

Past assessments of climate change on U.S. agriculture have mostly focused on changes in crop yield. Few studies have included the entire conterminous U.S., and few studies have assessed changing irrigation requirements. None have included the effects of changing soil moisture characteristics as determined by changing climatic forcing. This study assesses changes in irrigation requirements and crop yields for five crops in the areas of the U.S. where they have traditionally been grown. Physiologically-based crop models are used to incorporate inputs of climate, soils, agricultural management, and drought stress tolerance. Soil moisture values from a macroscale hydrologic model run under a future climate scenario are used to initialize soil moisture content at the beginning of each growing season. Historical crop yield data is used to calibrate model parameters and determine locally acceptable drought stress as a management parameter. Changes in irrigation demand and crop yield are assessed for both means and extremes by comparing results for atmospheric forcing close to the present climate with those for a future climate scenario. Assessments using the Canadian Center for Climate Modeling and Analysis General Circulation Model (CGCM1) indicate greater irrigation demands in the southern U.S. and decreased irrigation demands in the northern and western U.S. Crop yields typically increase except for winter wheat in the southern U.S. and corn. Variability in both irrigation demands and crop yields increases in most cases. Assessment results for the CGCM1 climate scenario are compared to those for the Hadley Centre for Climate Prediction and Research GCM (HadCM2) scenario for southwestern Georgia. The comparison shows significant differences in irrigation and yield trends, both in magnitude and direction. The differences reflect the high forecast uncertainty of current GCMs. Nonetheless, both GCMs indicate higher variability in future climatic forcing and, consequently

The use of green waste from tourist attractions for renewable energy production: The potential and policy implications

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Shi, Yan; Du, Yuanyuan; Yang, Guofu; Tang, Yuli; Fan, Likun; Zhang, Jun; Lu, Yijun; Ge, Ying; Chang, Jie

2013-01-01

Quantifying potential renewable energy sources from tourist attractions is a pivotal initial step in developing energy policies and strategies for low-carbon tourist industry development. Although solar energy and wind power have been in use for providing power for tourist attractions, the value of using waste biomass for energy production is still poorly understood. Here we advocate a promising approach that produces energy from green waste created by tourism attractions currently existing in large numbers and is still increasing dramatically. Using the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) of China as an example, we evaluated the potential of utilizing green waste to produce energy from 385 tourist attractions in 16 cities of this region. Our results showed that the total potential energy production using the green waste biomass was estimated at 6740 TJ/yr (1 TJ=10 12 J) with an average of 137 GJ/ha/yr (1 GJ=10 9 J), accounting for 6% (the average of the Yangtze River Delta, some scenic areas up to 93%) of YRD′s tourism industry′s energy consumption in 2008. The use of green waste for energy production is possible using current technology and could result in a win–win approach by reducing waste and increasing the renewable energy yields. -- Highlights: •Green waste from tourist attractions could help offset the tourist′s fossil fuel consumption. •Economic, technical, and social feasibility analysis of green waste for energy production. •Puts forward policy recommendations, from management regulations, public support etc

CERN Club Football wins 40 year old tradition cup

CERN Multimedia

Dave Underhill

2016-01-01

Already two weeks since the CERN football team, representing the Dave Underhill XI in the annual match with the Geneva Scottish Football Club, made a late, late rally to win the Jean Pierre Fillettaz Trophy. They started well with some good passing movements, but the Scots were also playing well and began to take control towards the end of the first half. Then, following a series of poor finishing and good goalkeeping by the CERN keeper, they finally found the back of the net, and the lads in white trooped off for well-earned oranges and water, just 1-0 down at half time. The second half was again evenly matched, but while we were not making the goal chances the Scots were squandering theirs. THEN with just 10 minutes to go a sudden resurgence of energy and aggression, the CERNites made the chances which counted, and in the space 5 minutes turned the score around and were happy to hear the final whistle and celebrate a famous 2-1 victory. Victory and commiserations were celebrated in the "Club Ho...

Global warming potential and greenhouse gas intensity in rice agriculture driven by high yields and nitrogen use efficiency

Science.gov (United States)

Zhang, Xiaoxu; Xu, Xin; Liu, Yinglie; Wang, Jinyang; Xiong, Zhengqin

2016-05-01

Our understanding of how global warming potential (GWP) and greenhouse gas intensity (GHGI) is affected by management practices aimed at food security with respect to rice agriculture remains limited. In the present study, a field experiment was conducted in China to evaluate the effects of integrated soil-crop system management (ISSM) on GWP and GHGI after accounting for carbon dioxide (CO2) equivalent emissions from all sources, including methane (CH4) and nitrous oxide (N2O) emissions, agrochemical inputs and farm operations and sinks (i.e., soil organic carbon sequestration). The ISSM mainly consisted of different nitrogen (N) fertilization rates and split, manure, Zn and Na2SiO3 fertilization and planting density for the improvement of rice yield and agronomic nitrogen use efficiency (NUE). Four ISSM scenarios consisting of different chemical N rates relative to the local farmers' practice (FP) rate were carried out, namely, ISSM-N1 (25 % reduction), ISSM-N2 (10 % reduction), ISSM-N3 (FP rate) and ISSM-N4 (25 % increase). The results showed that compared with the FP, the four ISSM scenarios significantly increased the rice yields by 10, 16, 28 and 41 % and the agronomic NUE by 75, 67, 35 and 40 %, respectively. In addition, compared with the FP, the ISSM-N1 and ISSM-N2 scenarios significantly reduced the GHGI by 14 and 18 %, respectively, despite similar GWPs. The ISSM-N3 and ISSM-N4 scenarios remarkably increased the GWP and GHGI by an average of 69 and 39 %, respectively. In conclusion, the ISSM strategies are promising for both food security and environmental protection, and the ISSM scenario of ISSM-N2 is the optimal strategy to realize high yields and high NUE together with low environmental impacts for this agricultural rice field.

Establishment, Growth, and Yield Potential of the Perennial Grass Miscanthus × Giganteus on Degraded Coal Mine Soils

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Stanisław Jeżowski

2017-06-01

Full Text Available Miscanthus × giganteus is a giant C4 grass native to Asia. Unlike most C4 species, it is relatively cold tolerant due to adaptations across a wide range of altitudes. These grasses are characterized by high productivity and low input requirements, making them excellent candidates for bioenergy feedstock production. The aim of this study was to investigate the potential for growing Miscanthus on extremely marginal soils, degraded by open lignite (brown coal mining. Field experiments were established within three blocks situated on waste heaps originating from the lignite mine. Analyses were conducted over the first 3 years following Miscanthus cultivation, focusing on the effect of organic and mineral fertilization on crop growth, development and yield in this extreme environment. The following levels of fertilization were implemented between the blocks: the control plot with no fertilization (D0, a plot with sewage sludge (D1, a plot with an identical amount of sewage sludge plus one dose of mineral fertilizer (D2 and a plot with an identical amount of sewage sludge plus a double dose of mineral fertilizer (D3. Crop development and characteristics (plant height, tillering, and biomass yield [dry matter] were measured throughout the study period and analyzed using Analysis of Variance (ANOVA. Significant differences were apparent between plant development and 3rd year biomass production over the course of the study (0.964 kg plant-1 for DO compared to 1.503 kg plant-1 for D1. Soil analyses conducted over the course of the experiment showed that organic carbon levels within the soil increased significantly following the cultivation of Miscanthus, and overall, pH decreased. With the exception of iron, macronutrient concentrations remained stable throughout. The promising yields and positive effects of Miscanthus on the degraded soil suggests that long term plantations on land otherwise unsuitable for agriculture may prove to be of great

The birth of a community, the death of the win: Player production of the Middle-earth Collectible Card Game [symposium

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Joe Bisz

2009-03-01

Full Text Available Collectible card games (CCGs are at the midpoint of the spectrum of gameplaying: half game, half story. An examination of a CCG based on Tolkien's Middle-earth illustrates the ways in which fans of the story have changed the game, especially in removing the focus on winning.

26 CFR 7.6041-1 - Return of information as to payments of winnings from bingo, keno, and slot machines.

Science.gov (United States)

2010-04-01

... winnings from bingo, keno, and slot machines. 7.6041-1 Section 7.6041-1 Internal Revenue INTERNAL REVENUE..., keno, and slot machines. (a) In general. On or after May 1, 1977, every person engaged in a trade or... machine play or of $1,500 or more from a keno game shall make an information return with respect to such...

Aplicación cliente-servidor MatLab®-WinCC® empleando comunicación OPC

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Ana Isabel González Santos

2011-01-01

Full Text Available Normal 0 21 false false false MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Tabla normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-ansi-language:#0400; mso-fareast-language:#0400; mso-bidi-language:#0400;} Se presenta una aplicación desarrollada con el sistema SCADA WinCC®. La aplicación permite el control proporcional integral de una red RC de primer orden, la identificación de un motor de corriente continua para la detección de fallos y el análisis de sensibilidad de las condiciones iniciales en un reactor semi-batch. La principal ventaja de la aplicación demostrativa realizada es mostrar las potencialidades que pueden adquirir las aplicaciones SCADAs, implantadas actualmente en la industria, cuando interactúan a través de la comunicación OPC con otras aplicaciones específicas de mayor potencial en materia de cálculo numérico como las desarrolladas en el Simulink de MatLab®. Palabras claves: Comunicación OPC, control, detección de fallos, identificación, MatLab®, WinCC®

Recycling as a strategy against rare earth element criticality: a systemic evaluation of the potential yield of NdFeB magnet recycling.

Science.gov (United States)

Rademaker, Jelle H; Kleijn, René; Yang, Yongxiang

2013-09-17

End-of-life recycling is promoted by OECD countries as a promising strategy in the current global supply crisis surrounding rare earth elements (REEs) so that dependence on China, the dominant supplier, can be decreased. So far the feasibility and potential yield of REE recycling has not been systematically evaluated. This paper estimates the annual waste flows of neodymium and dysprosium from permanent magnets, the main deployment of these critical REEs, during the 2011-2030 period. The estimates focus on three key permanent magnet waste flows: wind turbines, hybrid and electric vehicles, and hard disk drives (HDDs) in personal computers (PCs). This is a good indication of the end-of-life recycling of neodymium and dysprosium maximum potential yield. Results show that for some time to come, waste flows from permanent magnets will remain small relative to the rapidly growing global REE demand. Policymakers therefore need to be aware that during the next decade recycling is unlikely to substantially contribute to global REE supply security. In the long term, waste flows will increase sharply and will meet a substantial part of the total demand for these metals. Future REE recycling efforts should, therefore, focus on the development of recycling technology and infrastructure.

Highlights from the 2016 WIN Symposium, 27-29 June 2016, Paris: personalised therapy beyond next-generation sequencing.

Science.gov (United States)

Schilsky, Richard; Davies, Will

2016-01-01

The Worldwide Innovative Networking (WIN) consortium is an alliance of academic institutions, pharmaceutical partners, representatives from technology companies and charitable/health payer organisations from across the globe. For the last six years, the consortium's aims have been to foster communication and collaboration between members, encourage dialogue in an open forum, and deliver clinical trial results that improve the care and outcomes of patients with cancer using the latest advances in genomic-based medicine. The annual WIN Symposium, held over two days, is a chance for its members to come together and discuss ongoing research, recent announcements, and introduce new developments in personalised medicine. This year's conference, held in Paris, France 27-29 June, consisted of six dedicated sessions, including two debates, and posters from members and participating organisations, all focusing on the latest therapeutic advances and updates in genomic analysis. Special highlights from this year included discussion of the MINDACT clinical trial, which uses a gene expression test to identify patients with breast cancer who can safely forego adjuvant chemotherapy, and the reflections on the SHIVA trial. Of particular interest to many speakers was the utilisation of liquid biopsy samples to produce near real time snapshots of tumour mutational profiles and vulnerability.

Integrating black liquor gasification with pulping - Process simulation, economics and potential benefits

Science.gov (United States)

Lindstrom, Erik Vilhelm Mathias

Gasification of black liquor could drastically increase the flexibility and improve the profit potential of a mature industry. The completed work was focused on research around the economics and benefits of its implementation, utilizing laboratory pulping experiments and process simulation. The separation of sodium and sulfur achieved through gasification of recovered black liquor, can be utilized in processes like modified continuous cooking, split sulfidity and green liquor pretreatment pulping, and polysulfide-anthraquinone pulping, to improve pulp yield and properties. Laboratory pulping protocols have been developed for these modified pulping technologies and different process options evaluated. The process simulation work around BLG has led to the development of a WinGEMS module for the low temperature MTCI steam reforming process, and case studies comparing a simulated conventional kraft process to different process options built around the implementation of a BLG unit operation into the kraft recovery cycle. Pulp yield increases of 1-3% points with improved product quality, and the potential for capital and operating cost savings relative to the conventional kraft process have been demonstrated. Process simulation work has shown that the net variable operating cost for a pulping process using BLGCC is highly dependent on the cost of lime kiln fuel and the selling price of green power to the grid. Under the assumptions taken in the performed case study, the BLGCC process combined with split sulfidity or PSAQ pulping operations had net variable operating cost 2-4% greater than the kraft reference. The influence of the sales price of power to the grid is the most significant cost factor. If a sales price increase to 6 ¢/KWh for green power could be achieved, cost savings of about $40/ODtP could be realized in all investigated BLG processes. Other alternatives to improve the process economics around BLG would be to modify or eliminate the lime kiln unit

Using satellite data to identify the causes of and potential solutions for yield gaps in India’s Wheat Belt

Science.gov (United States)

Jain, M.; Singh, Balwinder; Srivastava, A. A. K.; Malik, R. K.; McDonald, A. J.; Lobell, D. B.

2017-09-01

Food security will be increasingly challenged by climate change, natural resource degradation, and population growth. Wheat yields, in particular, have already stagnated in many regions and will be further affected by warming temperatures. Despite these challenges, wheat yields can be increased by improving management practices in regions with existing yield gaps. To identify the magnitude and causes of current yield gaps in India, one of the largest wheat producers globally, we produced 30 meter resolution yield maps from 2001 to 2015 across the Indo-Gangetic Plains (IGP), the nation’s main wheat belt. Yield maps were derived using a new method that translates satellite vegetation indices to yield estimates using crop model simulations, bypassing the need for ground calibration data. This is one of the first attempts to apply this method to a smallholder agriculture system, where ground calibration data are rarely available. We find that yields can be increased by 11% on average and up to 32% in the eastern IGP by improving management to current best practices within a given district. Additionally, if current best practices from the highest-yielding state of Punjab are implemented in the eastern IGP, yields could increase by almost 110%. Considering the factors that most influence yields, later sow dates and warmer temperatures are most associated with low yields across the IGP. This suggests that strategies to reduce the negative effects of heat stress, like earlier sowing and planting heat-tolerant wheat varieties, are critical to increasing wheat yields in this globally-important agricultural region.

The way forward in biochar research: targeting trade-offs between the potential wins

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Jeffery, S.; Bezemer, T.M.; Cornelissen, G.; Kuyper, T.W.; Lehmann, J.; Mommer, Liesje; Sohi, S.; Van de Voorde, T.F.J.; Wardle, D.A.; Van Groenigen, J.W.

2015-01-01

Biochar application to soil is currently widely advocated for a variety of reasons related to sustainability. Typically, soil amelioration with biochar is presented as a multiple-‘win’ strategy, although it is also associated with potential risks such as environmental contamination. The most often

Irrigation offsets wheat yield reductions from warming temperatures

Science.gov (United States)

Tack, Jesse; Barkley, Andrew; Hendricks, Nathan

2017-11-01

Temperature increases due to climate change are expected to cause substantial reductions in global wheat yields. However, uncertainty remains regarding the potential role for irrigation as an adaptation strategy to offset heat impacts. Here we utilize over 7000 observations spanning eleven Kansas field-trial locations, 180 varieties, and 29 years to show that irrigation significantly reduces the negative impact of warming temperatures on winter wheat yields. Dryland wheat yields are estimated to decrease about eight percent for every one-degree Celsius increase in temperature, yet irrigation completely offsets this negative impact in our sample. As in previous studies, we find that important interactions exist between heat stress and precipitation for dryland production. Here, uniquely, we observe both dryland and irrigated trials side-by-side at the same locations and find that precipitation does not provide the same reduction in heat stress as irrigation. This is likely to be because the timing, intensity, and volume of water applications influence wheat yields, so the ability to irrigate—rather than relying on rainfall alone—has a stronger influence on heat stress. We find evidence of extensive differences of water-deficit stress impacts across varieties. This provides some evidence of the potential for adapting to hotter and drier climate conditions using optimal variety selection. Overall, our results highlight the critical role of water management for future global food security. Water scarcity not only reduces crop yields through water-deficit stress, but also amplifies the negative effects of warming temperatures.

Simulations of oscillatory systems with award-winning software, physics of oscillations

CERN Document Server

Butikov, Eugene I

2015-01-01

Deepen Your Students' Understanding of Oscillations through Interactive Experiments Simulations of Oscillatory Systems: with Award-Winning Software, Physics of Oscillations provides a hands-on way of visualizing and understanding the fundamental concepts of the physics of oscillations. Both the textbook and software are designed as exploration-oriented supplements for courses in general physics and the theory of oscillations. The book is conveniently structured according to mathematical complexity. Each chapter in Part I contains activities, questions, exercises, and problems of varying levels of difficulty, from straightforward to quite challenging. Part II presents more sophisticated, highly mathematical material that delves into the serious theoretical background for the computer-aided study of oscillations. The software package allows students to observe the motion of linear and nonlinear mechanical oscillatory systems and to obtain plots of the variables that describe the systems along with phase diagram...

Review of yield gap explaining factors and opportunities for alternative data collection approaches

NARCIS (Netherlands)

Beza, E.A.; Vasco Silva, João; Kooistra, Lammert; Reidsma, Pytrik

2017-01-01

Yield gap analysis is gaining increased scientific attention, as estimating and explaining yield gaps shows the potential for sustainable intensification of agricultural systems. Explaining yield gaps requires detailed information about the biophysical environment, crop management as well as

Born to win? Testing the fighting hypothesis in realistic fights: left-handedness in the Ultimate Fighting Championship

OpenAIRE

Pollet, Thomas V.; Stulp, Gert; Groothuis, Ton G. G.

2013-01-01

Given the heritability of human left-handedness and its purported associations with fitness-lowering traits, the persistence of the minority of left-handedness in human populations is an evolutionary puzzle. The fighting hypothesis proposes that these negative fitness costs are offset by fitness gains for left-handers when involved in fights with right-handers, as being a minority would generate a surprise effect increasing the chance of winning. The finding that left-handers are overrepresen...

Reports of Wins and Risk Taking : An Investigation of the Mediating Effect of the Illusion of Control.

OpenAIRE

Martinez , Frederic; Le Floch , Valérie; Gaffié , Bernard; Villejoubert , Gaëlle

2011-01-01

International audience; Two experiments examined the relationships between the knowledge that another person has won in a gamble, the illusion of control and risk taking. Participants played a computer-simulated French roulette game individually. Before playing, some participants learnt that another person won a large amount of money. Results from a first experiment (n=24) validated a causal model where the knowledge of another person's win increased the illusion of control, measured with bet...

Problems in Analyzing Time Series with Gaps and Their Solution with the WinABD Software Package

Science.gov (United States)

Desherevskii, A. V.; Zhuravlev, V. I.; Nikolsky, A. N.; Sidorin, A. Ya.

2017-12-01

Technologies for the analysis of time series with gaps are considered. Some algorithms of signal extraction (purification) and evaluation of its characteristics, such as rhythmic components, are discussed for series with gaps. Examples are given for the analysis of data obtained during long-term observations at the Garm geophysical test site and in other regions. The technical solutions used in the WinABD software are considered to most efficiently arrange the operation of relevant algorithms in the presence of observational defects.

The Effect of Crop Residue and Different NPK Fertilizer Rates on yield Components and Yield of Wheat

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

fatemeh khamadi

2017-08-01

Full Text Available Introduction Integrated nutrient management involving crop residue/green manures and chemical fertilizer is potential alternative to provide a balanced supply of nutrients, enhance soil quality and thereby sustain higher productivity. The present experiment was undertaken to evaluate the effect of different crop residue management practices and NPK levels on yield components and yield of wheat. Materials and methods Field experiments were conducted during 2012-2014 at department of agronomy, Chamran University. Experiment was laid out in a randomized block designs in split plot arrangement. With three replications. Crop residues were assigned to main plot consistent CR1: wheat residue; CR2: rape residue; CR3: barley residue; CR4: barley residue + vetch; CR5: wheat straw + mungbean; CR6: vetch residue; CR7: mungbean residue; CR8: No residue incorporation as main plot and three NPK fertilizer rates: F1: (180N-120P-100K kg.ha-1; F2: (140N-90P-80K kg.ha-1; F3: (90N-60P-40K kg.ha-1 as sub plots. Twelve hills were collected at physiological maturity for measuring yield components from surrounding area of grain yield harvest area. Yield components, viz. number of spike per m2, seed per spike, 1000- grain weight, plant height were measured. Grain and straw yields were recorded from the central 5 m2 grain yield harvest area of each treatment and harvest index was calculated. Data were subjected to analysis by SAS and mean companions were performed using the Duncan multiple range test producer. Also, graphs were drawn in Excel software. Results and discussion The result of analysis variance showed significant difference between crop residues for evaluated traits. The result indicated that the highest biological and grain yield was obtained when wheat treated with CR5: wheat straw + mungbean (green manure and CR4: barley straw + vetch (green manure. Biological and grain yield increased 31 and 26% respectively by CR5 comparing with control. The highest

Biochar boosts tropical but not temperate crop yields

Science.gov (United States)

Jeffery, Simon; Abalos, Diego; Prodana, Marija; Catarina Bastos, Ana; van Groenigen, Jan Willem; Hungate, Bruce A.; Verheijen, Frank

2017-05-01

Applying biochar to soil is thought to have multiple benefits, from helping mitigate climate change [1, 2], to managing waste [3] to conserving soil [4]. Biochar is also widely assumed to boost crop yield [5, 6], but there is controversy regarding the extent and cause of any yield benefit [7]. Here we use a global-scale meta-analysis to show that biochar has, on average, no effect on crop yield in temperate latitudes, yet elicits a 25% average increase in yield in the tropics. In the tropics, biochar increased yield through liming and fertilization, consistent with the low soil pH, low fertility, and low fertilizer inputs typical of arable tropical soils. We also found that, in tropical soils, high-nutrient biochar inputs stimulated yield substantially more than low-nutrient biochar, further supporting the role of nutrient fertilization in the observed yield stimulation. In contrast, arable soils in temperate regions are moderate in pH, higher in fertility, and generally receive higher fertilizer inputs, leaving little room for additional benefits from biochar. Our findings demonstrate that the yield-stimulating effects of biochar are not universal, but may especially benefit agriculture in low-nutrient, acidic soils in the tropics. Biochar management in temperate zones should focus on potential non-yield benefits such as lime and fertilizer cost savings, greenhouse gas emissions control, and other ecosystem services.

Projected climate change impacts upon dew yield in the Mediterranean basin

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Tomaszkiewicz, M. [Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut (Lebanon); Abou Najm, M., E-mail: majdian@aub.edu.lb [Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut (Lebanon); Beysens, D. [Physique et Mecanique des Milieux Heterogenes, UMR 7636 CNRS — ESPCI, Universite Pierre et Marie Curie — Universite Paris Diderot, 10 rue Vauquelin, 75005 Paris (France); Service des Basses Temperatures, CEA-Grenoble & Universite Joseph Fourier, Grenoble (France); OPUR, 60 rue Emeriau, 75015 Paris (France); Alameddine, I. [Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut (Lebanon); Bou Zeid, E. [Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ 08540 (United States); El-Fadel, M. [Department of Civil & Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering & Architecture, American University of Beirut, Beirut (Lebanon)

2016-10-01

Water scarcity is increasingly raising the need for non-conventional water resources, particularly in arid and semi-arid regions. In this context, atmospheric moisture can potentially be harvested in the form of dew, which is commonly disregarded from the water budget, although its impact may be significant when compared to rainfall during the dry season. In this study, a dew atlas for the Mediterranean region is presented illustrating dew yields using the yield data collected for the 2013 dry season. The results indicate that cumulative monthly dew yield in the region can exceed 2.8 mm at the end of the dry season and 1.5 mm during the driest months, compared to < 1 mm of rainfall during the same period in some areas. Dew yields were compared with potential evapotranspiration (PET) and actual evapotranspiration (ET) during summer months thus highlighting the role of dew to many native plants in the region. Furthermore, forecasted trends in temperature and relative humidity were used to estimate dew yields under future climatic scenarios. The results showed a 27% decline in dew yield during the critical summer months at the end of the century (2080). - Highlights: • Dew atlas for Mediterranean region is presented. • Cumulative dew yields can exceed 2.8 mm at the end of the dry season. • Dew yields compared with PET and ET show the role of dew to many native plants. • Forecasted trends under future climatic scenarios show a 27% decline in dew yield.

Predicted Exoplanet Yields for the HabEx Mission Concept

Science.gov (United States)

Stark, Christopher; Mennesson, Bertrand; HabEx STDT

2018-01-01

The Habitable Exoplanet Imaging Mission (HabEx) is a concept for a flagship mission to directly image and characterize extrasolar planets around nearby stars and to enable a broad range of general astrophysics. The HabEx Science and Technology Definition Team (STDT) is currently studying two architectures for HabEx. Here we summarize the exoplanet science yield of Architecture A, a 4 m monolithic off-axis telescope that uses a vortex coronagraph and a 72m external starshade occulter. We summarize the instruments' capabilities, present science goals and observation strategies, and discuss astrophysical assumptions. Using a yield optimization code, we predict the yield of potentially Earth-like extrasolar planets that could be detected, characterized, and searched for signs of habitability and/or life by HabEx. We demonstrate that HabEx could also detect and characterize a wide variety of exoplanets while searching for potentially Earth-like planets.

The Evolution of Shea Butter's "Paradox of paradoxa" and the Potential Opportunity for Information and Communication Technology (ICT to Improve Quality, Market Access and Women's Livelihoods across Rural Africa

Directory of Open Access Journals (Sweden)

Julia Bello-Bravo

2015-05-01

Full Text Available Shea trees grow across 4 million km2 of sub-Saharan Africa. Shea parklands provide a sustainable source of edible fat (shea butter that, in terms of volume, is currently second only to cocoa butter as a vegetal source of stearic acid in the multi-billion dollar chocolate and cosmetic sectors. However, in terms of international trade, shea has been opaque to consumers of edible products (where the majority of shea exports end their global journey and actually only well-known in western markets as a cosmetic ingredient. The millions of women collectors have been disconnected from global supply chains, as the majority of their sheanuts are factory processed, supplied by traders who, in many cases, do not understand quality issues nor share knowledge with their village-based collectors—this is the “Paradox of paradoxa”. This review provides the background to this issue by contextualizing the industry and describing how weak post-harvest quality control impacts the shea supply chain. The paper then explains how this knowledge was incorporated into a 3D animation available for free transmission to rural African audiences and viewing on portable devices like video capable mobile phones. This tool offers the potential of low-cost multiple benefits to users, which we term here a win-cubed [win3] opportunity, where women collectors can receive free knowledge of using less resources to produce higher quality shea kernels which in turn offer higher extraction yields, lowering production costs, of a better and more marketable product.

Higgs production in vector boson fusion in the H{yields} {tau}{tau} {yields} ll + 4{nu} final state with ATLAS. A sensitivity study

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Schmitz, Martin

2011-05-15

A study of the expected sensitivity of the ATLAS experiment to discover the Standard Model Higgs boson produced via vector boson fusion (VBF) and its decay to H{yields} {tau}{tau} {yields} ll + 4{nu} is presented. The study is based on simulated proton-proton collisions at a centre-of-mass energy of 14 TeV. For the rst time the discovery potential is evaluated in the presence of additional proton-proton interactions (pile-up) to the process of interest in a complete and consistent way. Special emphasis is placed on the development of background estimation techniques to extract the main background processes Z{yields} {tau}{tau} and t anti t production using data. The t anti t background is estimated using a control sample selected with the VBF analysis cuts and the inverted b-jet veto. The dominant background process Z {yields} {tau}{tau} is estimated using Z{yields} {mu}{mu} events. Replacing the muons of the Z{yields} {mu}{mu} event with simulated {tau}-leptons, Z {yields} {tau}{tau} events are modelled to high precision. For the replacement of the Z boson decay products a dedicated method based on tracks and calorimeter cells is developed. Without pile-up a discovery potential of 3{sigma} to 3.4{sigma} in the mass range 115 GeV

Corrigendum to "Sinusoidal potential cycling operation of a direct ethanol fuel cell to improving carbon dioxide yields" [J. Power Sources 268 (5 December 2014) 439-442

Science.gov (United States)

Majidi, Pasha; Pickup, Peter G.

2016-09-01

The authors regret that Equation (5) is incorrect and has resulted in errors in Fig. 4 and the efficiencies stated on p. 442. The corrected equation, figure and text are presented below. In addition, the title should be 'Sinusoidal potential cycling operation of a direct ethanol fuel cell to improve carbon dioxide yields', and the reversible cell potential quoted on p. 441 should be 1.14 V. The authors would like to apologise for any inconvenience caused.

Lessons learnt from a sectoral analysis of greenhouse gas mitigation potential in the Balkans

International Nuclear Information System (INIS)

Georgopoulou, E.; Mirasgedis, S.; Sarafidis, Y.; Gakis, N.; Hontou, V.; Lalas, D.P.; Steiner, D.; Tuerk, A.; Fruhmann, C.; Pucker, J.

2015-01-01

Balkan countries in the process of joining the European Union shall adopt greenhouse gas emissions reduction targets and implement appropriate mitigation policies and measures. This paper presents a simplified methodological framework based on marginal abatement cost curves for estimating the technical and economic mitigation potential at sectoral level (buildings and road transport) in selected Balkan countries. The results of the analysis provide to decision makers useful information regarding the availability of background data, the potential for setting ambitious mitigation targets, and detailed tools for assisting the selection of policies and measures to meet these targets. The analysis performed shows that a significant part of the greenhouse gas emissions abatement potential can be achieved through win–win measures. The incorporation of environmental externalities associated with these interventions, estimated through benefits transfer, further improves the economic performance of these measures, especially in the buildings sector. Moreover, the implementation of these measures is shown to result in positive macroeconomic effects through increases in GDP (gross domestic product) and creation of new jobs. Finally, the rebound effect may restrict the estimated greenhouse gas emission reductions in the buildings of the countries examined due to the low energy performance of the existing building stock. - Highlights: • Analysis of the technical and economic GHG mitigation potential in western Balkans. • Marginal abatement cost curves highlight several win–win interventions. • Incorporation of environmental benefits improves the performance of measures. • Mitigation measures result in significant positive macroeconomic effects. • The investment costs and the rebound effect may influence measures' effectiveness.

Search for the Higgs Boson in the H{yields} ZZ{sup (*)}{yields}4{mu} Channel in CMS Using a Multivariate Analysis; Busqueda del Boson de Higgs en el Canal H{yields} ZZ{sup (*)}{yields}4{mu} en CMS Empleando un Metodo de Analisis Multivariado

Energy Technology Data Exchange (ETDEWEB)

Alonso Diaz, A.

2007-12-28

This note presents a Higgs boson search analysis in the CMS detector of the LHC accelerator (CERN, Geneva, Switzerland) in the H{yields} ZZ{sup (*)}{yields}4{mu} channel, using a multivariate method. This analysis, based in a Higgs boson mass dependent likelihood, constructed from discriminant variables, provides a significant improvement of the Higgs boson discovery potential in a wide mass range with respect to the official analysis published by CMS, based in orthogonal cuts independent of the Higgs boson mass. (Author) 8 refs.

Highlights from the WIN 2017 Symposium, 26-27 June 2017, Paris, France: 'Expediting Global Innovation in Precision Cancer Medicine'.