We hypothesize that biological diversification across ecological, spatial, and temporal scales maintains and regenerates the ecosystem services that provide critical inputs—such as maintenance of soil quality, nitrogen fixation, pollination, and pest control—to agriculture. Agrobiodiversity is sustained by diversified farming practices and it also supplies multiple ecosystem services to agricul...

To date numerous results on innovation research have been published, however, the literature on innovation does not offer conclusive findings and guidelines for practice. The research and practice of innovation are fragmented and centered on specific cases. The literature does not present a unified theory of innovation. Innovation in any domain could be enhanced by principles and insights from ...

In agent based models, the agents are usually platforms (individual soldiers, tanks, helicopters, etc.), not military units. In the Sandis software, the agents can be platoon size units. As there are about 30 soldiers in a platoon, there is a need for strength distribution in simulations. The contribution of this paper is a conceptual model of the platoon level agent, the needed mathematical mo...

The aim of this study was to develop a pilot plant for the production of M. barbatus seed through artificial reproduction technology for possible use in aquaculture and repopulation of nursery areas. The study involved various phases: setup of the pilot plant, sourcing of M. barbatus specimens and their transplantation to an offshore long-line farm; production of live food (phytoplankton); sele...

Production of foreign molecules in transgenic plants is anticipated to be an alternative to already established, microbial or animal expression systems with lower production costs. This article reviews the different technologies and approaches currently used to produce economically interesting molecules in plants or plant cell cultures, to evaluate their technical feasibility and economic impli...

Based on a survey of 897 farming households in Shaanxi and Gansu provinces, our results show that while farming households had high demands for capital, 47.7% have experienced having their application for a Rural Credit Cooperative (RCC) loan denied because of their low income. Agricultural production and income are significantly influenced by weather risks, and agricultural income accounts for...

The use of plants for medicinal purposes dates back thousands of years but genetic engineering of plants to produce desired biopharmaceuticals is much more recent. As the demand for biopharmaceuticals is expected to increase, it would be wise to ensure that they will be available in significantly larger amounts, on a cost-effective basis. Currently, the cost of biopharmaceuticals limits their a...

The New Zealand deer industry is growing rapidly and the development of sustainable management practices for deer farming is becoming increasingly important. The main environmental issues facing the deer industry are the effects on soil and water quality, exacerba ted by the behaviour responses of deer to confinement (in particular fence pacing and wallowing). In addition, the projected increas...

Artificially produced chemical elements heavier than uranium have been known for more than seventy years and the number of superheavy elements continues to grow. Presently 26 transuranic elements are known. This paper examines the earliest scientific interest in the very heavy elements and the related question of an upper limit of the periodic system. In the period from the 1880s to the early 1...