bluuebunny/crossref_metadata_2025 huggingface dataset:
Distribution of Common Maize Diseases and Molecular Characterization of Maize Streak Virus in Kenya
Authors: Charles Alice K. , Muiru William M. , Miano Douglas W. , Kimenju John W.
Published: March 2019

Maize is an important food crop in Kenya and is susceptible to a wide range of diseases. A survey was conducted in 2012 in different agro-ecological zones (AEZ) of Kiambu, Embu and Nakuru counties to determine the distribution of northern leaf blight (NLB), common rust (CR), maize streak disease (MSD), gray leaf spot (GLS), head smut (HS) and common smut (CS). Data collected included prevalence, incidence and severity of each of the diseases. Maize leaf samples infected with MSD were also collected for molecular characterization of Maize streak virus (MSV). Northern leaf blight was reported in all counties surveyed with 100% disease prevalence. Kiambu had the highest incidence (100%) of CR whereas Embu had the highest prevalence (45%) of MSD. The incidences of GLS and HS were very low with averages of below 2.5%. The highest incidence of GLS was in Kiambu (5%). High altitude areas had higher incidences of NLB and GLS while CS and MSD were widespread in the three counties. Comparison of 797 nucleotides from the open reading frame (ORF) C2/C1 of MSV with other sequences from the GenBank showed sequence similarities of 99 to 100% with MSV-A strain. The study revealed that the major foliar diseases of maize are widespread in Kenya and therefore there is need to institute measures to manage these diseases and reduce associated losses. Also, the high percent sequence similarities of MSV indicate low variability which is good for breeders since developed resistant varieties can be adopted over a wider region.
Implications of Agricultural Gypsum Doses in Physical-Hydric Attributes of a Typic Haplortox and on Root Growth and Soybean Productivity
Authors: Guedes Júnior Francisco de Assis , Secco Deonir , Júnior Luiz Antônio Zanão , Tokura Luciene Kazue , Martins Marcos Felipe Leal
Published: March 2019

The response to agricultural gypsum, as a conditioner of the root environment in depth, has been observed for most annual crops. These responses are attributed to the better distribution of roots of the crops in depth in the soil by the reduction of chemical impediments, caused by the exchangeable aluminum and calcium deficiency in these layers, which allows to the plants the use of greater volume of water when they occur summer. In this way, the objective of this study was to evaluate the effects of gypsum doses on physical-hydric attributes, root growth and soybean productivity. The experiment was conducted at the Agronomic Institute of Paraná (IAPAR) in Santa Tereza do Oeste-PR. The soil was classified as Typic Haplortox. Five doses of agricultural gypsum were evaluated: 0; 3; 6; 9 and 12 t ha-1, in outline randomized block design with six repetitions. Soil density, total porosity, macroporosity, microporosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity were evaluated at layers of 0.0-0.1; 0.1-0.2 and 0.2-0.3 m. Soybean productivity and root growth were also evaluated. Data were submitted to regression analysis. The physical attributes soil density, macroporosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity did not differ significantly with the application of the gypsum doses in the 0.0-0.1 and 0.2-0.3 m layers. However, in the 0.1-0.2 m layer, due to pressures imposed by the machines and agricultural implements deforming the soil, there were significant differences in the physical attributes of the density, macroporosity and saturated hydraulic conductivity. There was no significant difference in grain productivity and root growth of soybean.
Agricultural Spray Inspection According to ISO 16122
Authors: Martini Alfran Tellechea , Schlosser José Fernando , Gil Emilio , Farias Marcelo Silveira de , Bertollo Gilvan Moisés , Oliveira Luis Fernando Vargas de , Negri Giácomo Müller
Published: March 2019

The development of the primary sector by expansion of cultivation areas and the raise of productive indexes promotes a larger use of agrotoxics, causing problems related to the inefficiency of applications, which becomes an issue to be studied, especially regarding the quality of sprayers and the precision of spraying. The goal of the present paper is to determine the condition and conservation of agricultural sprayers used in the West border and the Central region of Rio Grande do Sul state (RS), in southern Brazil, as well as identifying the most recurring problems, and assessing the applicability of ISO 16122 in the country’s reality. The execution of this work originated the Projeto de Inspeção de Pulverizadores Agrícolas (PIPA) [Agricultural Sprayer Inspection Project], which was undertaken in two regions of RS, inspecting 56 sprayers. The inspections were carried out by using the technical kit for agricultural sprayer inspection, according to requirements in the methodology described in ISO 16122 (2015). After evaluations were conducted, the data collected were submitted to exploratory analysis by descriptive statistics with the use of percentage frequency. Based on the results obtained, it was possible to conclude that there is need for agricultural sprayer inspection to become mandatory in Brazil. Considering the most frequent application problems, it was possible to verify that, in 64.29% of the evaluations, the precision of the manometer was considered as seriously flawed; in 73.21%, the transverse distribution of the spray wand was also seriously flawed, which is related principally to errors in the space among spray nozzles, and to their wear, affecting 76.79% of the cases in terms of application volume. Besides these, it was also observed that, in 69.64% of the inspected sprayers, the PTO rotation was below recommendation. In relation to the applicability of ISO 16122, it was concluded that there is need for it to be updated, developing specific methodologies for the inspection of self-propelled sprayers. In this sense, in case it be transcribed as ABNT NBR ISO 16122, the latter must specify new parameters so it be unanimously and appropriately used in accordance to Brazilian reality.
Growth of Eucalyptus urocam Under Different Irrigation Managements
Authors: Oliveira L. R. De , Marques A. R. B. , Silva D. Da , Sidião W. B. , Santos W. S. Dos , Amorim V. A. , Borges L. P. , Matos F. S.
Published: March 2019

The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effects of different water irrigation managements on the growth of Eucalyptus urocam plants. The experiment was conducted in a greenhouse at the Goiás State University, Ipameri campus, Brazil, using 100-day-old Eucalyptus urocam seedlings, which were transplanted into pots with 5 kg of substrate. A completely randomized experimental design with five replications was used, in a 2 × 4 factorial arrangement consisting of two daily irrigation depths (50%, and 100% of the substrate retention capacity) and four irrigation times (7:30 a.m., 11:30 a.m., 4:30 p.m., and 7:00 p.m.). The treatments were applied when the plants were 120 days old, and last 18 days, then, the variables were analyzed. E. urocam plants subjected to water deficit had high stomatal sensitivity, reduced transpiration rate, and maintained hydration, which are characteristics of isohydric plants. E. urocam plants irrigated at 4:30 p.m. or 7:00 p.m. presented low stomatal sensitivity and high biomass accumulation potential. Therefore, irrigations between 4:30 p.m. and 7:00 p.m. are recommended for Eucalyptus urocam plants at the initial growth stage.
Relationship Between Jump Performance and Sport Ages in U16 Basketball Players
Authors: Orhan Ozlem , Polat Sezen Cimen , Yarim Imdat
Published: March 2019

This study was conducted to evaluate the jump performance of youth basketball players according to their sport ages. 26 male basketball players (14.1±1.6 year) who participated in the study were divided into two groups of sport ages of 4 and below (≤4) and 6 and above (≥6). The group with sports ages ≤4 consisted of 12 male basketball players with a height of 162±2.56 cm, a body weight of 51.4±3.04 kg, a body mass index of 19.4±0.74 kg/m². The other group with sports ages ≥6 consisted of 14 male basketball players with a height of 155.9±1.98 cm, a body weight of 45.7±1.85 kg, a body mass index of 18.8±0.69 kg/m. All basketball players’ squat jump (SJ) and countermovement jump (CMJ) were measured (Optojump Microgate Bolzano, Italy). The Mann Whitney U test was used to determine whether there were differences between groups in terms of T flighttimes and jump heights. Statistically significant level of p<0.05 was accepted. As a result of the study, no statistically significant difference was observed between the sport ages and SJ and CMJ splashes. In this respect, it can be considered that the Jump performance does not develop in parallel with the training age, and that the jump ability of this cause may be more related to motor skill and ability than the training age.
Publishing trends and productivity in insect taxonomy from 1946 through 2012 based on an analysis of the Zoological Record for four species-rich families
Authors: Liu Yang , Dietrich Christopher , Braxton Susan , Wang Yang
Published: March 2019

Insect taxonomy is fundamental to global biodiversity research, but few studies have been conducted to track progress in this field using objective criteria. This study reports publishing trends in the taxonomy of four diverse, globally-distributed insect families from 1946 to 2012 to elucidate recent progress and the current status of insect taxonomy. Publications included in the Zoological Record online literature database were analyzed for Cicadellidae (leafhoppers), Miridae (plant bugs), Pyralidae (moths) and Staphylinidae (rove beetles). Data on numbers of new species, article length, species description length, authorship and collaborations, and taxonomic journals were extracted and compiled for each year. The results showed that (1) the number of taxonomic papers increased before 1980, followed by a steep decline with subsequent partial recovery; (2) the number of papers describing new species generally mirrored the trend in numbers of new species, suggesting no overall change in the proportion of larger, synthetic works (monographs) and more such work is encouraged; (3) the average number of new species described per publication decreased over the time period investigated, but with an increase in the average description pages per new species; (4) researchers from Europe and North America continue to produce the most taxonomic research on three of the four families, but the main center for Cicadellidae taxonomy has recently shifted to Asia; (5) collaboration among authors within and across continents has increased as indicated by increases in coauthored papers; and (6) journal prevalence differed for the four families and the top 10 most utilized journals for each family were given out for reference. Based on the analysis of the publication trend of the four families, we found that the overall trend toward increasing rates of species discovery is encouraging. But more human resources training and financial support on taxonomic work are required in order to complete a global faunistic inventory in a reasonable timeframe. Future study that conducts more in-depth and comprehensive analysis based on more families is required to reflect the overall trend of the insect taxonomy.
Consumers contracting with other consumers in the sharing economy: fill in the gaps in the legal framework or switch to the blockchain model?
Authors: Jacquemin Hervé
Published: March 2019

Numerous legal provisions were enacted at an EU level in order to protect consumers contracting with professionals, especially in a digital environment (see, in particular, the protection measures provided by directive 2011/83/EU on consumer rights; directive 2005/29/EC on unfair commercial practices; directive 2000/31/EC on electronic commerce, etc.). With the development of the web 2.0 and the so-called “sharing economy”, consumers are now entitled to easily conclude agreements with other consumers through intermediation platforms. EU Consumer Acquis shall normally be applicable to the relationship between the platform and each of the peers (the seller or the provider on one hand, and the buyer or the recipient on the other hand), with the exclusion of C2C relationships.
The objective of this paper is to highlight the potential issues and gaps in the context of consumer protection (lack of information, warranty issues, no right of withdrawal, etc.), resulting from the fact that C2C agreements are normally out of scope of the EU Consumer Acquis (and only governed by the traditional contract law). Some propositions de lege ferenda will also be made, in order to ensure a higher level of consumer protection (with additional legal duties prescribed for the intermediaries, for instance). Blockchain technology and smart contracts shall also be taken into account, since they should normally give rise to a “disintermediation” process. It should however be assessed whether or not consumer protection will benefit from this disintermediation.
Cholinergic modulation of hippocampal calcium activity across the sleep-wake cycle
Authors: Zhou Heng , Neville Kevin R , Goldstein Nitsan , Kabu Shushi , Kausar Naila , Ye Rong , Nguyen Thuan Tinh , Gelwan Noah , Hyman Bradley T , Gomperts Stephen N
Published: March 2019

Calcium is a critical second messenger in neurons that contributes to learning and memory, but how the coordination of action potentials of neuronal ensembles with the hippocampal local field potential (LFP) is reflected in dynamic calcium activity remains unclear. Here, we recorded hippocampal calcium activity with endoscopic imaging of the genetically encoded fluorophore GCaMP6 with concomitant LFP in freely behaving mice. Dynamic calcium activity was greater in exploratory behavior and REM sleep than in quiet wakefulness and slow wave sleep, behavioral states that differ with respect to theta and septal cholinergic activity, and modulated at sharp wave ripples (SWRs). Chemogenetic activation of septal cholinergic neurons expressing the excitatory hM3Dq DREADD increased calcium activity and reduced SWRs. Furthermore, inhibition of muscarinic acetylcholine receptors (mAChRs) reduced calcium activity while increasing SWRs. These results demonstrate that hippocampal dynamic calcium activity depends on behavioral and theta state as well as endogenous mAChR activation.
Love writing
Authors: Marder Eve
Published: March 2019

Clear writing is the key to success.
Alternative Approaches to Regional Equity and Racial Justice
Authors: Goetz Edward G.
Published: March 2019

This chapter provides an overview of two different ways of working towards racial justice and regional equity. The two approaches are integration efforts on the one hand and community development efforts on the other. The tension between these two approaches is described as a conflict among groups that are generally allied on issues of social justice. It is argued that this debate is a tension within a race-conscious policy alliance, and represents a disagreement about how best to achieve the common goal of racial equity.
The Three Stations of Fair Housing Spatial Strategy
Authors: Goetz Edward G.
Published: March 2019

This chapter contains the argument that fair housing advocates have adopted a spatial strategy of advocacy that has increasingly brought it into conflict with community development efforts. This chapter covers the period of time from passage of the Fair Housing Act of 1968 to the turn of the century. It highlights the key judicial decisions and public policies reflecting the debate between integration and community development. Initially the fair housing movement was most concerned with opening up exclusionary communities. From this position, the movement evolved to include efforts to limit affordable housing in communities of color to avoid the perpetuation of segregation. Finally, the movement has embraced efforts to demolish existing concentrations of low-cost housing as a means of breaking up communities of color. The evolution of the fair housing movement has, with each step, accentuated its conflicts with the community development movement.
New Issues, Unresolved Questions, and the Widening Debate
Authors: Goetz Edward G.
Published: March 2019

This chapter examines the contemporary history of the policy debate between integration and community development. The chapter describes how the debate has been expanded to new policy arenas, including the implementation of urban sustainability and transportation policy, and how it is affected by recent demographic changes in American metropolitan areas. Recent advocacy efforts to bend the Low Income Housing Tax Credit program, the largest program of subsidized housing production in the country, to the goals of integration are described. The chapter assesses the current state of the debate in light of the 2015 Supreme Court decision in ICP v. Texas Department of Housing and Community Affairs and the fair housing initiatives of the Obama Administration.
Everyone Deserves to Live in an Opportunity Neighborhood
Authors: Goetz Edward G.
Published: March 2019

This chapter outlines the points of agreement and disagreement between integrationist and community development approaches to racial justice. The evolution of the debate between these two approaches is summarized. The chapter provides an argument for moving forward and resolving the conflict by focusing on providing people of color with real housing choice but without placing the burden for resolving inequalities on their shoulders. The way forward involves the larger pursuit of racial justice and regional equity, pursuits that are more readily achievable through community development initiatives.
Introduction
Authors: Leng Kirsten
Published: March 2019

The Introduction makes a case for gendering the history of sexology; specifically it argues that focusing on women’s ideas facilitates a more complex understanding of sexology as a form of knowledge and power. It begins by introducing the key figures and exploring the kinds of political promise they saw in scientific knowledge. It then challenges the limits of Foucault’s highly influential analysis of sexology by contextualizing sexology’s emergence within the rise of the women’s movement in the later nineteenth and early twentieth century. Moreover, the Introduction draws on the sociology of science to reframe sexology as a field, and thus to argue that sexology was built and animated by a diverse range of actors with disparate investments in the creation of this knowledge. Finally, it discusses the limitations of women’s sexual scientific work and the ambivalent legacy it bequeathed.
Fluid Gender, Rigid Sexuality
Authors: Leng Kirsten
Published: March 2019

Revised gender roles, strained heterosexual relations, and ongoing biopolitical concerns regarding the “regeneration” of German populations followed the First World War. Simultaneously, sexology turned towards a greater consideration of the influence of social, cultural, and psychological factors on sexuality. Focusing on groundbreaking texts by Mathilde Vaerting and individual psychologist Sofie Lazarsfeld, this chapter demonstrates how the unique conditions of the 1920s enabled these women to make strikingly new and original contributions to sexology and especially to discussions of sexual difference. Specifically, these women separated sex as a conceptual unit into discreet categories of gender and sexuality and devoted greater attention to power as a factor shaping gender roles. However, both Vaerting and Lazarsfeld retreated to essentialism when it came to sexuality, raising important questions about the historical-social conditions in which gender and sexuality can become open to new forms of scrutiny and analysis.
Why Bird Feeding Matters
Authors: Jones Darryl
Published: March 2019

Bird feeding is an extraordinarily popular pastime, engaging many millions of people who provide enormous amounts of food for wild birds in their private gardens. This chapter describes the sheer scale of this practice in terms of volume of seed, numbers of people and monetary dimensions of the associated industry. It also poses the many questions that need to be addressed if we are to have a thorough understanding of this activity.
What Happens When We Feed?
Authors: Jones Darryl
Published: March 2019

The importance and influence of food in the lives of animals has been studied is great detail in a vast number of species. This chapter outlines the many findings of this critical research that are directly relevant to understanding how the provisioning of food for garden birds may be affecting their lives.
From the Arctic to Istanbul
Authors: Bloch Alexia
Published: March 2019

This chapter provides an overview of the ethnographic research and theoretical foundations informing this study of women’s labor migration from the former Soviet Union into Turkey. Tracing three intertwined themes that animate the book—postsocialism, transnational mobility, and intimacy—the chapter highlights gendered aspiration for mobility and intimate practices like emotional labor forged within forces of global capitalism. The chapter also critically discusses global concerns with trafficking in women, showing how post-Soviet women migrants’ accounts complicate assumptions of oppression. The chapter also presents the context and methods of the research, with an analysis of “mobile” methods and field work with an infant along. The chapter closes with the book’s organizational thread, namely accounts of five key women and their families.
Conclusion
Authors: Quigley Fran
Published: March 2019

The campaign for access to HIV/AIDS medicines was history’s most successful health rights campaign, and a model for modern-day advocacy for access to essential medicines. A growing access to medicines movement is profiled, and suggestions for action—and talking points to buttress arguments—are provided.
Counterinsurgency and Human Rights in the Post-1945 World
Authors: Drohan Brian
Published: March 2019

This introduction examines recent historiographical trends in the writing of human rights history and military histories of counterinsurgency. Much of the current human rights historiography has focused on finding the origins of contemporary human rights movements rather than engaging with the ways in which human rights activists thought of themselves at the time. Secondly, the introduction addresses the myths of supposedly “humane” British counterinsurgency methods such as the use of minimum force, winning hearts and minds, and obeying the rule of law. But during the wars in Cyprus, Aden, and Northern Ireland, human rights activists tried to expose the brutality and repression of British counterinsurgency to public scrutiny.
Introduction
Authors: MacDonald Paul K. , Parent Joseph M.
Published: March 2019

This chapter asks the central question, outlines the three main arguments, and explains the value added of the work. It underscores why the question matters to theories of international politics and policy debates on the rise of China and the decline of the United States. It also defines decline and retrenchment,relates retrenchment to a spectrum of grand strategies, and provides a map of the rest of the book.
Tsar Power
Authors: MacDonald Paul K. , Parent Joseph M.
Published: March 2019

This chapter analyzes Russia's ambivalent responses to decline at the turn of the century. Overall, Russian pursued retrenchment policies that helped lay the foundations for its resurgence after World War I, but retrenchment was accelerated by blundering into the Russo-Japanese War and undermined by the Bosnian crisis. Structural conditions, such as the belief that the conquest calculus rewarded attack, help explain why retrenchment was hard to maintain, but many of the errors were self-inflicted by a recalcitrant tsar, who was at odds with much of mass and elite opinion.
The Rise of Labor Activism
Authors: Preminger Jonathan
Published: March 2019

Presenting an in-depth and empirically rich analysis of various recent labor campaigns and strikes, particularly those of the junior doctors, railway workers, university cleaners and social workers, Chapter 2 is the first of five chapters which address the first sphere, union democracy. It investigates the resurgence of labor activism and its implications, and asserts that many of these campaigns reflect a new desire for participation and greater union democracy stemming from frustration with the Histadrut and distrust in existing representative frameworks and organizations. This “legitimacy gap” of historical institutions has driven workers to demand new representative frameworks and establish new organizations, including the new trade union Koach Laovdim.
The Frontal Struggle
Authors: Preminger Jonathan
Published: March 2019

Chapter 7, which addresses the labor-capital balance of power, conceptualizes three planes of labor struggle, anchored in concepts of union power: the “frontal struggle” of organizing drives, unionization and collective action; the “ideological struggle” in which organized labor defends its legitimacy and the legitimacy of collective labor relations; and the “institutional struggle” over the institutions and formalized frameworks that facilitate collective labor relations. The chapter then explores the first plane with an analysis of unionizing at Pelephone, which encountered extreme opposition from the employer and led to a groundbreaking ruling from National Labor Court determining what an employer may and may not do in opposition to an organizing drive. However, noting other employers’ continued opposition to labor organizing and their ability to ignore the spirit of the ruling, the chapter suggests that the frontal struggle is easily undermined if it has no general public support on the level of ideology.
Experimental mechanical strain measurement of tissues
Authors: Huang Lingwei , Korhonen Rami K. , Turunen Mikael J. , Finnilä Mikko A.J.
Published: March 2019

Strain, an important biomechanical factor, occurs at different scales from molecules and cells to tissues and organs in physiological conditions. Under mechanical strain, the strength of tissues and their micro- and nanocomponents, the structure, proliferation, differentiation and apoptosis of cells and even the cytokines expressed by cells probably shift. Thus, the measurement of mechanical strain (i.e., relative displacement or deformation) is critical to understand functional changes in tissues, and to elucidate basic relationships between mechanical loading and tissue response. In the last decades, a great number of methods have been developed and applied to measure the deformations and mechanical strains in tissues comprising bone, tendon, ligament, muscle and brain as well as blood vessels. In this article, we have reviewed the mechanical strain measurement from six aspects: electro-based, light-based, ultrasound-based, magnetic resonance-based and computed tomography-based techniques, and the texture correlation-based image processing method. The review may help solving the problems of experimental and mechanical strain measurement of tissues under different measurement environments.
Three odorant-binding proteins are involved in the behavioral response of Sogatella furcifera to rice plant volatiles
Authors: Hu Kui , Liu Sheng , Qiu Lin , Li Youzhi
Published: March 2019

Plant volatiles play an important role in regulating insect behavior. Odorant binding proteins (OBPs) are involved in the first step of the olfactory signal transduction pathway and plant volatiles recognition. Sogatella furcifera is one of the most destructive pests of rice crops. Understanding the functions of S. furcifera OBPs (SfurOBPs) in the host plant location and the behavioral responses of S. furcifera to rice plant volatiles could lead to improved, more environmentally-friendly, methods for controlling this pest. We found that SfurOBP1 displayed only weak binding with all the tested volatiles. SfurOBP2, SfurOBP3 and SfurOBP11 had different binding affinities to β-ionone. SfurOBP2 and SfurOBP11 had strong binding affinities to β-caryophyllene (Ki = 2.23 µM) and plant alcohol (Ki = 2.98 µM), respectively. The results of Y-olfactometer experiments indicate that S. furcifera was significantly repelled by octanal and n-octane but strongly attracted by (+)-limonene, acetophenone, 2-heptanone, n-hendecane, α-farnesene and β-ionone. Furthermore, the dsRNA-mediated gene silencing of SfurOBP2, SfurOBP3 and SfurOBP11 shifted the olfactory behavior of S. furcifera for β-ionone, α-farnesene and plant alcohol, respectively. These results suggest that the SfurOBPs are involved in the recognition of rice plant volatiles, and several potential repellants and lures for controlling this pest.
An assessment for health education and health promotion in chronic disease demonstration districts: a comparative study from Hunan Province, China
Authors: Xu Qiaohua , Chen Biyun , Jin Donghui , Yin Li , Huang Yuelong
Published: March 2019

Background

Cost-effective strategies of chronic disease control, integrated health education and health promotion play important roles in the programs of chronic disease demonstration districts in China. The performance of these districts can be directly assessed by their health education and promotion work. However, there have been only a few performance assessments done on these programs, most of which made without the inclusion of proper quality indicators. This study was designed to establish a framework of indicators for outcome evaluation of health education and promotion efforts in Chinese districts, and explore the factors involved in promoting these efforts.

Methods

A modified two-round Delphi survey was first used to construct quality indicators on a nine-point Likert scale. With those indicators, the rank sum ratio (RSR) method was then conducted through rank conversion and parametric statistics, to assess and classify the performance of ten districts or counties randomly chosen both from demonstration and non-demonstration districts in the Hunan province.

Results

The Delphi process produced seven themes and 25 sub-themes as quality indicators. The seven themes included organizational management, financial support, professional personnel, health education and promotion, residents’ health awareness and behaviors, residents’ satisfaction, and residents’ health literacy. The districts were classified into four levels by RSR as follows: One demonstration district at the first-ranked level, five other demonstration districts at the second-ranked level, all non-demonstration districts at the third-ranked level. None were at the fourth-qualified level.

Discussion

Chronic disease demonstration districts performed better on the work of health education and health promotion than the non-demonstration districts. The work should be focused on the following measures of chronic diseases: organizational management, financial support, media-related broadcasting, technical support, community-based promotion and supportive environment, and people’s enhanced awareness and health literacy.
Construction of Knowledge Test on Large Cardamom Cultivation Practices in Arunachal Pradesh
Authors: Koyu Bai , Singh Rajkumar Josmee , Devarani L. , Singh Ram , Hemochandra L.
Published: March 2019

The knowledge test was developed to measure the knowledge of large cardamom growers. All 32 items were primarily fabricated on the basis of indorsing rational rather than root memorization and discriminate the sound knowledgeable large cardamom growers from the ailing knowledgeable ones.The scores from selected respondents were subjected to item analysis, consisting of item difficulty index and item discrimination index.In the final selection, the scale consisted of 17 items with ranging from 30-80 and discrimination index ranging from 0.30 to 0.55. The reliability of knowledge test being developed was tested by using Split-Half method and it was found to be 0.704.
Does Microfinance Matter for Women Borrowers? Recent Findings from Bangladesh
Authors: Hossain Basharat , Wadood Syed Naimul
Published: March 2019

This paper examines the impact of microfinance on some selected women borrower respondents of Bangladesh, who have been selected through a systematic random survey process. This is a quantitative research based on primary and secondary data. The primary data was collected through a structured questionnaire on sixty women borrowers of the Dhaka City, Bangladesh. This paper finds that microfinance has a highly significant positive impact on the income of these women borrower respondents. Moreover, though microfinance encourages for savings and buying new asset but it has no significant impact on their asset building and savings.Overall, there has been a mixed outcome from this cross-sections data: microfinance has been found as a matter for women borrowers’ income increasing aspects, whereas not much effective in increasing savings or building up of assets. Finally the paper recommends some steps to increase effectiveness of microfinance on the women borrowers, including expanding training facilities and lower interest rates particularly for women borrowers.
Distribution and Ecology of Euglenoids in Selected Lakes of Tumakuru District, Karnataka
Authors: Murulidhara V. N. , Murthy V. N. Yogananda
Published: March 2019

Aim: This study deals with the distribution and ecology of euglenoids in relation to physicochemical characteristics of water in four lakes of Tumakuru district.

Place and Duration of Study: Guluru, Bugudanahalli, Colony and Teeta are the four lakes of Tumakuru district selected for the present study during 2015-17.

Methodology: Euglenoids function as indicators of aquatic superiority. Composite samples were taken at two feats depth from surface level on monthly basis for the enumeration of euglenoids. Results: A total of ten species under three genera were identified. Guluru lake harboured 46.66% followed by Colony and Teeta lakes 20% each and Bugudanahalli lake with 13.33%. Seasonally all the lakes recorded maximum density of euglenoids during summer except in Colony lake, where they reached their peak during rainy season. Euglenoids showed significant positive correlation with water temperature (r = 0.664: P < 0.05), Sulphate (r = 0.757: P < 0.05) and Silica (r = 0.775: P < 0.05) at 5% level.

Conclusion: Euglenoids established negative correlation with dissolved oxygen and ammoniacal nitrogen. As the euglenoids serve as pollution indicator organisms, moderate density of euglenoids in the lakes investigated indicates that, lakes are tending towards biologically eutrophic condition.
Potential of Different Fungi Species in Biodegradation Field of Phenolic Compounds
Authors: Shebany Yassmin M. , El-Dawy Eman G. , Gherbawy Youssuf A.
Published: March 2019

Phenolic compounds are dominant pollutants in terrestrial and freshwater environmental that have toxic effects on living organisms at low concentrations, because it has the ability to persist in the ecosystem. So bio-removal is a good technique that employs the metabolic potential of microorganisms to clean up the environmental pollutants and turned into less dangerous or harmless substances. This work aims to the isolation of different species of fungi from wastewater of factories and Red Sea coast to test the ability of these fungi to degrade phenolic compounds. Ten species of fungi and sterile mycelium are used to degrade phenol and its derivatives at different concentrations (0.4%, 0.6% and 0.8%). All fungi species have the ability of degradation of phenol and their derivatives, but P. chrysogenum, Saccharomyces sp. and sterile mycelium exhibited low ability to break down of hydroxyl-benzene, 2-naphthol and 1,3 dihydroxy benzene, respectively.
Phytochemical Composition and in vitro Antioxidant Activity of Golden Melon (Cucumis melo L.) Seeds for Functional Food Application
Authors: Olubunmi Ibidapo P. , Olajumoke A. Alagbe , Bamidele J. Awogbemi , Omolara O. Fatunmibi
Published: March 2019

Aim: Golden melon (Cucumis melo) is an annual herbaceous plant belonging to the family of Cucurbitaceae (Cucurbit). This study was carried out to evaluate the phytochemical composition and in vitro antioxidant activity of golden melon seed extract.

Place and Duration of Study: The study was carried out between a period of July and August 2017 at Baking Milling Division, Federal Institute of Industrial Research Oshodi Nigeria. 

Methodology: The crude methanolic extracts of the seed were tested for phytochemical and antioxidant activities according to standard analytical procedure. The antioxidant potential of the seed extracts was examined using different assays by determining total phenolic content, total flavonoid content, total antioxidant capacity. The free radical scavenging activities of the extract such as 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH)  radical scavenging activity,  in vitro lipid peroxidation, and nitric oxide (NO) scavenging assay were determined spectrophotometrically.

Results: The phytochemical screening of the seed extracts revealed the presence of some secondary metabolites such as alkaloids, phenolic, steroids, flavonoids, terpenoids and cardiac glycosides. The total phenolic content of extract was found to be 29.39 mg/100 g while the amount of total flavonoid content was 20.67 mg/100 g. Scavenging ability was observed to increase in proportion to concentration for all the scavenging assays and at the highest concentration of              100 µg/ml. Total antioxidant capacity assay showed 19.44 mg per 100 g. This high scavenging ability in the seed extracts may be attributed to the presence of phenolic and flavonoids compounds in the extract. The DPPH free radical scavenging activity of 100µg/ml Cucumis melo extract was 75.20% ± 0.72 while the reference standard (Ascorbic acid) was 83.24% ±0.31. Lipid peroxidation inhibition ability of 100 µg/ml Cucumis melo extract was 87.18% ± 0.16 while the standard (ascorbic acid) was 94.96% ± 0.16 at the same concentration. Results obtained from this study showed that the nitric oxide scavenging ability of the extract was 80.50%±0.63 while the standard antioxidant was 85.94% ± 0.54.

Conclusion: In all the assays, Cucumis melo extract showed maximum percentage of antioxidant potentials at 100 µg/ml. Additionally, golden melon seed possess appreciable amount of phenols and high antioxidant properties which could be explored and incorporated in functional food applications particularly in baked products.
Economic Development versus Social Development: In the Case of Sri Lanka
Authors: Rajapakshe Wasantha
Published: March 2019

Aims: After the independence from British in 1948, all successive governments have operated welfare programs as a development strategy. The objective of this paper is to investigate and analyze the major food subsidy programs which are functioned until today and check their effectiveness with regards to the two meaning of development; traditional and modern meaning.

Study Design: This is survey research based on secondary data and involved an extensive literature review on the area of concern to provide an overview of the social welfare programs and economic impact of Sri Lanka. 

Methodology: For this study therefore data collected from various published sources and analyzed with descriptive statistics and presented as graphs, percentages to show the trends.

Results: It is not the attention to conclude this investigation with purely negative opinion.  However, Sri Lanka has not enjoyed sustainable health growth rate after the independence. Except for occasional booms, which had for only 2-3 years in early 1980s’. Therefore according to the traditional meaning of development, clearly Sri Lanka is a less developed country. The decades of welfare policies act as a development strategies in modern point of view.  Sri Lanka always considers as a model country.  Comparing developed countries, Human Development Index (HDI) in Sri Lanka has a higher rank.  Is that mean Sri Lanka is a developed country?  According to the two doctrine, development is not only economic growth but also human development. It is essentially a mix tasks. Therefore, Sri Lanka Experience confirm that the fact that neither purely welfare policies nor even growth oriented policies supported by welfare programs can be a substitute for more upfront institutional measures for overcoming poverty and inequality and development of a country.
Automatic detection of graticule isocenter and scale from kV and MV images
Authors: Fang Raymond , Yang Jinzhong , Du Weiliang , Court Laurence
Published: March 2019

Purpose

To automate the detection of isocenter and scale of the mechanical graticule on kilo‐voltage (kV) or mega‐voltage (MV) films or electronic portal imaging device (EPID) images.

Methods

We developed a robust image processing approach to automatically detect isocenter and scale of mechanical graticule from digitized kV or MV films and EPID images. After a series of preprocessing steps applied to the digital images, a combination of Hough transform and Radon transform was performed to detect the graticule axes and isocenter. The magnification of the graticule was automatically detected by solving an optimization problem using golden section search and parabolic interpolation algorithm. Tick marks of the graticule were then determined by extending from isocenter along the graticule axes with multiples of the magnification value. This approach was validated using 23 kV films, 26 MV films, and 91 EPID images in different anatomical sites (head‐and‐neck, thorax, and pelvis). Accuracy was measured by comparing computer detected results with manually selected results.

Results

The proposed approach was robust for kV and MV films of varying image quality. The isocenter was detected within 1 mm for 98% of the images. The exceptions were three kV films where the graticule was not actually visible. Of all images with correct isocenter detection, 99% had a magnification detection error less than 1% and tick mark detection error less than 1 mm, with the exception of 1 kV film (magnification error: 3.17%; tick mark error: 1.29 mm) and 1 MV film (magnification error: 0.45%; tick mark error: 1.11 mm).

Conclusion

We developed an approach to robustly and automatically detect graticule isocenter and scale from two‐dimensionla (2D) kV and MV films. This is a first step toward automated treatment planning based on 2D x‐ray images.
Moisture Sensitive Smart Yarns and Textiles from Self‐Balanced Silk Fiber Muscles
Authors: Jia Tianjiao , Wang Yang , Dou Yuanyuan , Li Yaowang , Jung de Andrade Monica , Wang Run , Fang Shaoli , Li Jingjing , Yu Zhou , Qiao Rui , Liu Zhuangjian , Cheng Yuan , Su Yewang , Minary‐Jolandan Majid , Baughman Ray H. , Qian Dong , Liu Zunfeng
Published: March 2019

Smart textiles that sense, interact, and adapt to environmental stimuli have provided exciting new opportunities for a variety of applications. However, current advances have largely remained at the research stage due to the high cost, complexity of manufacturing, and uncomfortableness of environment‐sensitive materials. In contrast, natural textile materials are more attractive for smart textiles due to their merits in terms of low cost and comfortability. Here, water fog and humidity‐driven torsional and tensile actuation of thermally set twisted, coiled, plied silk fibers, and weave textiles from these silk fibers are reported. When exposed to water fog, the torsional silk fiber provides a fully reversible torsional stroke of 547° mm−1. Coiled‐and‐thermoset silk yarns provide a 70% contraction when the relative humidity is changed from 20% to 80%. Such an excellent actuation behavior originates from water absorption‐induced loss of hydrogen bonds within the silk proteins and the associated structural transformation, which are corroborated by atomistic and macroscopic characterization of silk and molecular dynamics simulations. With its large abundance, cost‐effectiveness, and comfortability for wearing, the silk muscles will open up additional possibilities in industrial applications, such as smart textiles and soft robotics.
High‐Security Multifunctional Nano‐Bismuth‐Sphere‐Cluster Prepared from Oral Gastric Drug for CT/PA Dual‐Mode Imaging and Chemo‐Photothermal Combined Therapy In Vivo
Authors: Xuan Yang , Yang Xiao‐Quan , Song Zi‐Yu , Zhang Ruo‐Yun , Zhao Dong‐Hui , Hou Xiao‐Lin , Song Xian‐Lin , Liu Bo , Zhao Yuan‐Di , Chen Wei
Published: March 2019

Multifunctional nanoprobes that can be applied for real‐time monitoring or precision treatment of tumors have received wide interest among researchers. However, most of these nanoprobes are obtained through chemical synthesis, and thereby may contain toxic residues or harmful reagents. In this article, a nano‐bismuth‐sphere‐cluster (Bi) is synthesized via a one‐step method (after an irradiation with ultra‐violet) and is then applied in dual‐mode computed tomography/photoacoustic imaging. Bismuth potassium citrate granules, which is a common gastric drug that is highly safe and has a low price (<1 China Yuan/g), is used as the only raw material. The results show that the Bi cluster has good stability with sizes of about 25–55 nm, and a photothermal conversion efficiency as high as 39.67%. After being adsorbed onto doxorubicin, the Bi cluster can be used directly in animal experiments. Due to the effect of enhanced permeability and retention, the probe can easily enter tumor cells. Drug release can be controlled by a near‐infrared laser and the acidic environment of tumor cells, which indicates that the combined chemo‐photothermal therapy is achieved. This work presents a new dual‐mode bio‐imaging and combined chemo‐photothermal therapeutic nanoprobe that can be applied in theragnostics for tumors.
Expanding the Horizon of Mechanochromic Detection by Luminescent Shear Stress Sensor Supraparticles
Authors: Wintzheimer Susanne , Reichstein Jakob , Wenderoth Sarah , Hasselmann Sebastian , Oppmann Maximilian , Seuffert Marcel T. , Müller‐Buschbaum Klaus , Mandel Karl
Published: March 2019

Novel sensor particles have been developed that expand the variety of today's mechanochromic systems. The developed supraparticles consist of several different components to enable the sensor function. First, a luminescence‐quenching core material is coated with silica nanoparticles. Second, this structure is surrounded by raspberry‐like nanostructured silica particles, which host luminophore moieties. Upon shear stress, components spatially separated in the original supraparticles, namely quencher and luminophore components, come into contact. This causes an irreversible quenching of the luminescence (sensor turn‐off). Different options to select core, quencher, and luminophore components allow to drive the sensors to different sensing options regarding response time, sensitivity, and operation time. The sensors can be sensitive and rapid in response or generated to monitor the influence of shear stress over longer periods of time. Thus, a rapid, visible, “on‐the‐fly” sensing of shear stress is possible as well as monitoring the impact of prolonged shear stress. The particles are assembled by spray‐drying. This affords flexibility when choosing the type of quencher and luminophore moiety. As such, the sensitivity of this robust, particle‐based shear stress sensor system can be deliberately configured. Furthermore, the supraparticle sensor can be integrated in surfaces to create interactive, communicating materials.