Weed dynamics as influenced by tillage system, sowing time and weed competition duration in dry-seeded rice

Cultural practices alter patterns of crop growth and can modify dynamics of weed-crop competition, and hence need to be investigated to evolve sustainable weed management in dry-seeded rice (DSR). Studies on weed dynamics in DSR sown at different times under two tillage systems were conducted at the Agronomic Research Farm, University of Agriculture, Faisalabad, Pakistan. A commonly grown fine rice cultivar 'Super Basmati' was sown on 15th June and 7th July of 2010 and 2011 under zero-till (ZT) and conventional tillage (CONT) and it was subjected to different durations of weed competition [10, 20, 30, 40, and 50 days after sowing (DAS) and season-long competition]. Weed-free plots were maintained under each tillage system and sowing time for comparison. Grassy weeds were higher under ZT while CONT had higher relative proportion of broad-leaved weeds in terms of density and biomass. Density of sedges was higher by 175% in the crop sown on the 7th July than on the 15th June. Delaying sowing time of DSR from mid June to the first week of July reduced weed density by 69 and 43% but their biomass remained unaffected. Tillage systems had no effect on total weed biomass. Plots subjected to season-long weed competition had mostly grasses while broad-leaved weeds were not observed at harvest. In the second year of study, dominance of grassy weeds was increased under both tillage systems and sowing times. Significantly less biomass (48%) of grassy weeds was observed under CONT than ZT in 2010; however, during 2011, this effect was non-significant. Trianthema portulacastrum and Dactyloctenium aegyptium were the dominant broad-leaved and grassy weeds, respectively. Cyperus rotundus was the dominant sedge weed, especially in the crop sown on the 7th July. Relative yield loss (RYL) ranged from 3 to 13% and 7 to16% when weeds were allowed to compete only for 20 DAS. Under season-long weed competition, RYL ranged from 68 to 77% in 2010 and 74 to80% in 2011. The sowing time of 15th June was effective in minimizing weed proliferation and rectifying yield penalty associated with the 7th July sowing. The results suggest that DSR in Pakistan should preferably be sown on 15th June under CONT systems and weeds must be controlled before 20 DAS to avoid yield losses. Successful adoption of DSR at growers' fields in Pakistan will depend on whether growers can control weeds and prevent shifts in weed population from intractable weeds to more difficult-to-control weeds as a consequence of DSR adoption.

Soybean rotation and crop residue management to reduce nitrous oxide emissions from sugarcane soils

NITROUS OXIDE (N2O) IS a potent greenhouse gas and the predominant ozone-depleting substance in the atmosphere. Agricultural nitrogenous fertiliser use is the major source of human-induced N2O emissions. A field experiment was conducted at Bundaberg from October 2012 to September 2014 to examine the impacts of legume crop (soybean) rotation as an alternative nitrogen (N) source on N2O emissions during the fallow period and to investigate low-emission soybean residue management practices. An automatic monitoring system and manual gas sampling chambers were used to measure greenhouse gas emissions from soil. Soybean cropping during the fallow period reduced N2O emissions compared to the bare fallow. Based on the N content in the soybean crop residues, the fertiliser N application rate was reduced by about 120 kg N/ha for the subsequent sugarcane crop. Consequently, emissions of N2O during the sugarcane cropping season were significantly lower from the soybean cropped soil than those from the conventionally fertilised (145 kg N/ha) soil following bare fallow. However, tillage that incorporated the soybean crop residues into soil promoted N2O emissions in the first two months. Spraying a nitrification inhibitor (DMPP) onto the soybean crop residues before tillage effectively prevented the N2O emission spikes. Compared to conventional tillage, practising no-till with or without growing a nitrogen catch crop during the time after soybean harvest and before cane planting also reduced N2O emissions substantially. These results demonstrated that soybean rotation during the fallow period followed with N conservation management practices could offer a promising N2O mitigation strategy in sugarcane farming. Further investigation is required to provide guidance on N and water management following soybean fallow to maintain sugar productivity.

A Decentralized Session Management Framework for Heterogeneous Ad-Hoc and Fixed Networks

Wireless technologies are continuously evolving. Second generation cellular networks have gained worldwide acceptance. Wireless LANs are commonly deployed in corporations or university campuses, and their diffusion in public hotspots is growing. Third generation cellular systems are yet to affirm everywhere; still, there is an impressive amount of research ongoing for deploying beyond 3G systems. These new wireless technologies combine the characteristics of WLAN based and cellular networks to provide increased bandwidth. The common direction where all the efforts in wireless technologies are headed is towards an IP-based communication. Telephony services have been the killer application for cellular systems; their evolution to packet-switched networks is a natural path. Effective IP telephony signaling protocols, such as the Session Initiation Protocol (SIP) and the H 323 protocol are needed to establish IP-based telephony sessions. However, IP telephony is just one service example of IP-based communication. IP-based multimedia sessions are expected to become popular and offer a wider range of communication capabilities than pure telephony. In order to conjoin the advances of the future wireless technologies with the potential of IP-based multimedia communication, the next step would be to obtain ubiquitous communication capabilities. According to this vision, people must be able to communicate also when no support from an infrastructured network is available, needed or desired. In order to achieve ubiquitous communication, end devices must integrate all the capabilities necessary for IP-based distributed and decentralized communication. Such capabilities are currently missing. For example, it is not possible to utilize native IP telephony signaling protocols in a totally decentralized way. This dissertation presents a solution for deploying the SIP protocol in a decentralized fashion without support of infrastructure servers. The proposed solution is mainly designed to fit the needs of decentralized mobile environments, and can be applied to small scale ad-hoc networks or also bigger networks with hundreds of nodes. A framework allowing discovery of SIP users in ad-hoc networks and the establishment of SIP sessions among them, in a fully distributed and secure way, is described and evaluated. Security support allows ad-hoc users to authenticate the sender of a message, and to verify the integrity of a received message. The distributed session management framework has been extended in order to achieve interoperability with the Internet, and the native Internet applications. With limited extensions to the SIP protocol, we have designed and experimentally validated a SIP gateway allowing SIP signaling between ad-hoc networks with private addressing space and native SIP applications in the Internet. The design is completed by an application level relay that permits instant messaging sessions to be established in heterogeneous environments. The resulting framework constitutes a flexible and effective approach for the pervasive deployment of real time applications.

Management of mango decline using thiophanate methyl and plant activators through a macro infusion system

Mango decline disease has become a major cause of tree losses of about 7-10% in all mango growing areas of Pakistan. This study evaluated the effectiveness of plant activators used in conjunction with the fungicide thiophanate methyl in managing mango decline disease. The study was conducted in the Multan district using trees rated as 1-2 on a decline severity scale and displaying symptoms of gummosis, bark splitting, canker formation, and leaf drooping. Experimental treatments included three plant activators viz. Bion, Planofix, and Root king in conjunction with or without thiophanate methyl, delivered through a macro infusion system. This was the first time a macro infusion system had been used in Pakistan. The injection system delivered the fungicide/activator mixture into the tree trunk under pressure through a series of holes bored into the xylem tissue. Tree disease symptoms were recorded fortnightly to assess the treatment efficacy. After three months, thiophanate methyl, in combination with Bion, was found to be the most effective treatment with trees displaying no apparent disease symptoms. When thiophanate methyl was used alone, or in combination with Root king and Planofix, the symptoms of bark splitting and gummosis persisted.

A generic method of engagement to elicit regional coastal management options

Stakeholder engagement is important for successful management of natural resources, both to make effective decisions and to obtain support. However, in the context of coastal management, questions remain unanswered on how to effectively link decisions made at the catchment level with objectives for marine biodiversity and fisheries productivity. Moreover, there is much uncertainty on how to best elicit community input in a rigorous manner that supports management decisions. A decision support process is described that uses the adaptive management loop as its basis to elicit management objectives, priorities and management options using two case studies in the Great Barrier Reef, Australia. The approach described is then generalised for international interest. A hierarchical engagement model of local stakeholders, regional and senior managers is used. The result is a semi-quantitative generic elicitation framework that ultimately provides a prioritised list of management options in the context of clearly articulated management objectives that has widespread application for coastal communities worldwide. The case studies show that demand for local input and regional management is high, but local influences affect the relative success of both engagement processes and uptake by managers. Differences between case study outcomes highlight the importance of discussing objectives prior to suggesting management actions, and avoiding or minimising conflicts at the early stages of the process. Strong contributors to success are a) the provision of local information to the community group, and b) the early inclusion of senior managers and influencers in the group to ensure the intellectual and time investment is not compromised at the final stages of the process. The project has uncovered a conundrum in the significant gap between the way managers perceive their management actions and outcomes, and community's perception of the effectiveness (and wisdom) of these same management actions.

An imprecise fuzzy risk approach for water quality management of a river system

Uncertainty plays an important role in water quality management problems. The major sources of uncertainty in a water quality management problem are the random nature of hydrologic variables and imprecision (fuzziness) associated with goals of the dischargers and pollution control agencies (PCA). Many Waste Load Allocation (WLA)problems are solved by considering these two sources of uncertainty. Apart from randomness and fuzziness, missing data in the time series of a hydrologic variable may result in additional uncertainty due to partial ignorance. These uncertainties render the input parameters as imprecise parameters in water quality decision making. In this paper an Imprecise Fuzzy Waste Load Allocation Model (IFWLAM) is developed for water quality management of a river system subject to uncertainty arising from partial ignorance. In a WLA problem, both randomness and imprecision can be addressed simultaneously by fuzzy risk of low water quality. A methodology is developed for the computation of imprecise fuzzy risk of low water quality, when the parameters are characterized by uncertainty due to partial ignorance. A Monte-Carlo simulation is performed to evaluate the imprecise fuzzy risk of low water quality by considering the input variables as imprecise. Fuzzy multiobjective optimization is used to formulate the multiobjective model. The model developed is based on a fuzzy multiobjective optimization problem with max-min as the operator. This usually does not result in a unique solution but gives multiple solutions. Two optimization models are developed to capture all the decision alternatives or multiple solutions. The objective of the two optimization models is to obtain a range of fractional removal levels for the dischargers, such that the resultant fuzzy risk will be within acceptable limits. Specification of a range for fractional removal levels enhances flexibility in decision making. The methodology is demonstrated with a case study of the Tunga-Bhadra river system in India.

Fatigue self-management behaviors in patients with advanced cancer: A prospective longitudinal survey

Purpose: To explore the fatigue self-management behaviors and factors associated with effectiveness of these behaviors in patients with advanced cancer. Design: Prospective longitudinal interviewer-administered survey. Setting: A tertiary cancer center in Queensland Australia. Sample: One hundred fifty two outpatients with metastatic breast, lung, colorectal and prostate cancer experiencing fatigue (>3/10) were recruited. Main Research Variables: Fatigue self-management behaviors outcomes (perceived effectiveness, self-efficacy and frequency), medical/demographic characteristics (including sites of primary cancer and metastasis, comorbidity, performance status), social support, depressive, anxiety, and other symptoms were assessed. Findings: The participants reported moderate levels of fatigue at baseline (M=5.85, SD 1.44), and maintained moderate levels at 4 weeks and 8 weeks. On average, participants consistently used approximately nine behaviors at each time point. Factors significantly associated with higher levels of perceived effectiveness of fatigue self-management behaviors were higher self-efficacy (p<.001), higher education level (p=.02), and lower levels of depressive symptoms (p=.04). Conclusions: The findings of this study demonstrate that patients with cancer, even with advanced disease, still want and are able to use a number of behaviors to control their fatigue. Self-management interventions that aim to enhance self-efficacy and address any concurrent depressive symptoms have the potential to reduce fatigue severity. Implications for Nursing: Nurses are well positioned to play a key role in supporting patients in their fatigue self-management. Knowledge Translation: This study particularly focused on the perspectives of patients about fatigue self-management, highlighting a number of issues requiring further attention in clinical practice and the potential for future research.

Indoor air quality and energy management through real–time sensing in commercial buildings

Rapid growth in the global population requires expansion of building stock, which in turn calls for increased energy demand. This demand varies in time and also between different buildings, yet, conventional methods are only able to provide mean energy levels per zone and are unable to capture this inhomogeneity, which is important to conserve energy. An additional challenge is that some of the attempts to conserve energy, through for example lowering of ventilation rates, have been shown to exacerbate another problem, which is unacceptable indoor air quality (IAQ). The rise of sensing technology over the past decade has shown potential to address both these issues simultaneously by providing high–resolution tempo–spatial data to systematically analyse the energy demand and its consumption as well as the impacts of measures taken to control energy consumption on IAQ. However, challenges remain in the development of affordable services for data analysis, deployment of large–scale real–time sensing network and responding through Building Energy Management Systems. This article presents the fundamental drivers behind the rise of sensing technology for the management of energy and IAQ in urban built environments, highlights major challenges for their large–scale deployment and identifies the research gaps that should be closed by future investigations.

Enhancing 'Mobility' through Integrated Transportation and Traffic Management

During the course of preparation of a master plan for the transportation networks in Bangalore city, mapping the various initiatives and interventions planned towards addressing mobility, existing situation and implications of some of the proposed interventions was analysed. The inferences are based on existing transportation network; synthesis of various transportation related studies and proposed infrastructure initiatives (road works) in Bangalore. Broadly, they can be summarized as following five aspects: I. Need for ~Sreclassifying~T existing road networks (arterial and sub-arterial) with effective geospatial database in the back-end. II. The proposed Core Ring Road at surface grade may not be feasible. III. Current interventions encouraging more independent motorable transport by way of road widening, construction of underpasses, flyovers and grade-separators would not ease traffic congestion when addressed in isolation. IV. Factors affecting time and cost-overruns in infrastructure projects and ways to tackle are discussed. V. Initiatives required for addressing effective planning for operations recommended.

Why and when do learning goal orientation and attitude decrease with aging? The role of perceived remaining time and work centrality

We conducted two studies to improve our understanding of why and when older workers are focused on learning. Based on socioemotional selectivity theory, which proposes that goal focus changes with age and the perception of time, we hypothesized and found that older workers perceive their remaining time at work as more limited than younger workers which, in turn, is associated with lower learning goal orientation and a less positive attitude toward learning and development. Furthermore, we hypothesized and found that high work centrality buffers the negative association between age and perceived remaining time, and thus the indirect negative effects of age on learning goal orientation and attitude toward learning and development (through perceived remaining time). These findings suggest that scholars and practitioners should take workers’ perceived remaining time and work centrality into account when examining or stimulating learning activities among aging workers.

Knowledge management research in the construction industry: a review

Purpose: Knowledge management (KM) is important to the knowledge-intensive construction industry. The diversified and changing nature of works in this field warrants us to stocktake, identify changes and map out KM research framework for future exploration. Design/methodology/approach: The study involves three aspects. First, three stages of KM research in construction were distinguished in terms of the time distribution of 217 target publications. Major topics in the stages were extracted for understanding the changes of research emphasis from evolutionary perspective. Second, the past works were summed up in a three-dimensional research framework in terms of management organization, managerial methodology and approach, and managerial objective. Finally, potential research orientations in the future were predicted to expand the existing research framework. Findings: It was found that (1) KM research has significantly blossomed in the last two decades with a great potential; (2) major topics of KM were changing in terms of technology, technique, organization, attribute of knowledge and research objectives; (3) past KM studies centred around management organization, managerial methodology and approach, and managerial objective thus a three-dimensional research framework was proposed; (4) within the research framework, team-level, project-level and firm-level KM were studied to achieve project, organizational and competitive objectives by integrated methodologies of information technology, social technique and KM process tool; and (5) nine potential research orientations were predicted corresponding to the three dimensions. Finally, an expanded research framework was proposed to encourage and guide future research works in this field. Research limitations/implications: The paper only focused on the construction industry. The findings need further exploration in order to discover any possible missing important research works which were not published in English or not included in the time period. Originality/value: The paper formed a systematic framework of KM research in construction and predicted the potential research orientations. It provides much value for the researchers who want to understand the past and the future of global KM research in the construction industry.

Peripartum management of glycemia in women with type 1 diabetes

OBJECTIVE We aimed to 1) describe the peripartum management of type 1 diabetes at an Australian teaching hospital and 2) discuss factors influencing the apparent transient insulin independence postpartum. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS We conducted a retrospective review of women with type 1 diabetes delivering singleton pregnancies from 2005 to 2010. Information was collected regarding demographics, medical history, peripartum management and outcome, and breast-feeding. To detect a difference in time to first postpartum blood glucose level (BGL) >8 mmol/L between women with an early (<4 h) and late (>12 h) requirement for insulin postpartum, with a power of 80% and a type 1 error of 0.05, at least 24 patients were required. RESULTS An intravenous insulin infusion was commenced in almost 95% of women. Univariate analysis showed that increased BMI at term, lower creatinine at term, longer duration from last dose of long- or intermediate-acting insulin, and discontinuation of an insulin infusion postpartum were associated with a shorter time to first requirement of insulin postpartum (P = 0.005, 0.026, 0.026, and <0.001, respectively). There was a correlation between higher doses of insulin commenced postpartum and number of out-of-range BGLs (r[36] = 0.358, P = 0.030) and hypoglycemia (r[36] = 0.434, P = 0.007). Almost 60% had at least one BGL <3.5 mmol/L between delivery and discharge. CONCLUSIONS Changes in the pharmacodynamic profile of insulin may contribute to the transient insulin independence sometimes observed postpartum in type 1 diabetes. A dose of 50–60% of the prepregnancy insulin requirement resulted in the lowest rate of hypoglycemia and glucose excursions. These results require validation in a larger, prospective study.

Management of semi-natural grasslands for butterfly and moth communities

This work focuses on the factors affecting species richness, abundance and species composition of butterflies and moths in Finnish semi-natural grasslands, with a special interest in the effects of grazing management. In addition, an aim was set at evaluating the effectiveness of the support for livestock grazing in semi-natural grasslands, which is included in the Finnish agri-environment scheme. In the first field study, butterfly and moth communities in resumed semi-natural pastures were com-pared to old, annually grazed and abandoned previous pastures. Butterfly and moth species compo-sition in restored pastures resembled the compositions observed in old pastures after circa five years of resumed cattle grazing, but diversity of butterflies and moths in resumed pastures remained at a lower level compared with old pastures. None of the butterfly and moth species typical of old pas-tures had become more abundant in restored pastures compared with abandoned pastures. There-fore, it appears that restoration of butterfly and moth communities inhabiting semi-natural grass-lands requires a longer time that was available for monitoring in this study. In the second study, it was shown that local habitat quality has the largest impact on the occurrence and abundance of butterflies and moths compared to the effects of grassland patch area and connec-tivity of the regional grassland network. This emphasizes the importance of current and historical management of semi-natural grasslands on butterfly and moth communities. A positive effect of habitat connectivity was observed on total abundance of the declining butterflies and moths, sug-gesting that these species have strongest populations in well-connected habitat networks. Highest species richness and peak abundance of most individual species of butterflies and moths were generally observed in taller grassland vegetation compared with vascular plants, suggesting a preference towards less intensive management in insects. These differences between plants and their insect herbivores may be understood in the light of both (1) the higher structural diversity of tall vegetation and (2) weaker tolerance of disturbances by herbivorous insects due to their higher trophic level compared to plants. The ecological requirements of all species and species groups inhabiting semi-natural grasslands are probably never met at single restricted sites. Therefore, regional implementation of management to create differently managed areas is imperative for the conservation of different species and species groups dependent on semi-natural grasslands. With limited resources it might be reasonable to focus much of the management efforts in the densest networks of suitable habitat to minimise the risk of extinction of the declining species.

Juvenile rheumatoid knee : Management of knee growth disturbances in children with juvenile idiopathic arthritis

Juvenile idiopathic arthritis (JIA) is associated with growth disturbances, especially leg length discrepancy (LLD) and knee valgus deformity (KVD). Studies have demonstrated growth plate stimulation with chronic arthritis. In the context of surgical treatment of LLD or KVD of a growing knee, the less invasive procedures, which allow immediate mobilisation, are preferred. Establishment of the skeletal age and the correction potential in the knees of rheumatic children is difficult due to rheumatic changes. In this present work, an analysis of the efficacy, safety and long-term results of temporary epiphyseal arrests performed in Rheumatism Foundation Hospital (Heinola, Finland). The distribution of diagnoses among children (n=71) with JIA and LLD (68 knees) was consistent with the normal oligoarthritis-predominated population of children with JIA. A higher male:female ratio (1:1.7 vs. 1:2.4 in population-based studies (PBS)) and earlier mean onset age (4 vs. 7 years in PBSs) were, however, distinct features in the study population. In most cases the correction was reliable and temporary arrest produced a mean correction of 1mm per month. The time of arrest required, however, varied significantly, probably due to the effect of underlying diseases and medication, and the age of the child. All complications encountered (10%) were minor. The correction achieved persisted in long-term follow-up. KVD (n=112, 177 knees) was associated with a high proportion of polyarthritic disease subtype (45% vs. 12-31% in PBSs), and the male:female distribution was grossly female-dominated (1:4.9 vs. 1:2.4 in PBSs). The early mean onset age (3 vs. 7 years in PBSs) was also notable in this cohort. Successful correction was achieved in 2/3 cases and the mean angular correction was 0.7 degrees per month. The required time of arrest, however, varied considerably. In 13% of knees the paucity of follow-up visits resulted in over-correction to varus. The complication rate (3%) in the knees operated for KVD was considerably lower compared to ten per cent in the management of LLD. Most of the complications related to epiphyseal stapling were reversible. However, the risk of premature closure of growth plates does exist. The number of over-corrections was notably high, with 13% knees turning to varus. The correction achieved persisted in long-term follow-up.

Cost-efficient virtual machine management in data centers

Virtual Machine (VM) management is an obvious need in today's data centers for various management activities and is accomplished in two phases— finding an optimal VM placement plan and implementing that placement through live VM migrations. These phases result in two research problems— VM placement problem (VMPP) and VM migration scheduling problem (VMMSP). This research proposes and develops several evolutionary algorithms and heuristic algorithms to address the VMPP and VMMSP. Experimental results show the effectiveness and scalability of the proposed algorithms. Finally, a VM management framework has been proposed and developed to automate the VM management activity in cost-efficient way.