One of the main goals of precision agriculture researches is to define a suitable decision support system (DSS) for farm management with the goal of optimizing returns on inputs while preserving resources. Therefore, our long-term objective is the development of an adequate DEM model which can be adapted in the actual decision support system (DSS) to create a new model driven decision support s...

Archeological analysis of faunal remains and of lithic and bone tools has suggested that hunting of medium to large mammals was a major element of Neanderthal subsistence. Plant foods are almost invisible in the archeological record, and it is impossible to estimate accurately their dietary importance. However, stable isotope (delta(13)C and delta(15)N) analysis of mammal bone collagen provides...

By installing FBG sensors on the geogrids, smart geogrids can both reinforce and monitor the stability for geogrid-reinforced slopes. In this paper, a geogrid-reinforced sand slope model test is conducted in the laboratory and fiber Bragg grating (FBG) sensing technology is used to measure the strain distribution of the geogrid. Based on the model test, the performance of the reinforced soil sl...

Migratory and resident hosts have been hypothesized to fulfil distinct roles in infectious disease dynamics. However, the contribution of resident and migratory hosts to wildlife infectious disease epidemiology, including that of low pathogenic avian influenza virus (LPAIV) in wild birds, has largely remained unstudied. During an autumn H3 LPAIV epizootic in free-living mallards (Anas platyrhyn...

The physical crosslinking of colloidal nanoparticles via dynamic and directional non-covalent interactions has led to significant advances in composite hydrogels. In this paper, we report a simple approach to fabricate tough, stretchable and hysteretic isotropic nanocomposite hydrogels, where rod-like cellulose nanocrystals (CNCs) are encapsulated by flexible polymer chains of poly(N,N-dimethyl...

Under global warming, climate models show an almost three-fold increase in extreme positive Indian Ocean Dipole (pIOD) events by 2100. These extreme pIODs are characterised by a westward extension of cold sea surface temperature anomalies (SSTAs) which push the downstream atmospheric convergence further west. This induces severe drought and flooding in the surrounding countries, but the process...

In the present work the computer modelling was used to show that longer ligands allow biological cells (e.g. blood platelets) to withstand stronger flows after their adhesion to solid walls. Mechanistic model of polymer-mediated ligand-receptor adhesion between a microparticle (cell) and a flat wall was developed. Theoretical threshold between adherent and non-adherent regimes was derived analy...

The basal ganglia, and the striatum in particular, are critical for action reinforcement [1,2]. The dorsal striatum, which can be further subdivided into dorsomedial (DMS) and dorsolateral (DLS) striatum, is mainly composed of two subpopulations of striatal medium spiny projection neurons (MSNs): dopamine D1 receptor-expressing MSNs that constitute the striatonigral or direct pathway (dMSNs); a...

Most discussions of the ethics of self-report research on abuse and interpersonal violence focus on the risks of asking participants about their experiences. An important element of the cost-benefit analysis--the costs of not asking about child abuse--has largely been ignored. Furthermore, little research has been conducted on the costs and benefits of child abuse research, leaving researchers ...

Most discussions of the ethics of self-report research on abuse and interpersonal violence focus on the risks of asking participants about their experiences. An important element of the cost-benefit analysis--the costs of not asking about child abuse--has largely been ignored. Furthermore, little research has been conducted on the costs and benefits of child abuse research, leaving researchers ...