Effects of Tillage Practices on Water Consumption, Water Use Efficiency and Grain Yield in Wheat Field

Water shortage is a serious issue threatening the sustainable development of agriculture in the North China Plain, with the winter wheat （Triticum aestivum L.） as its largest water-consuming crop. The effects of tillage practices on the water consumption and water use efifciency （WUE） of wheat under high-yield conditions using supplemental irrigation based on testing soil moisture dynamic change were examined in this study. This experiment was conducted from 2007 to 2010, with ifve tillage practice treatments, namely, strip rotary tillage （SR）, strip rotary tillage after subsoiling （SRS）, rotary tillage （R）, rotary tillage after subsoiling （RS）, and plowing tillage （P）. The results showed that in the SRS and RS treatments the total water and soil water consumptions were 11.81, 25.18%and 12.16, 14.75%higher than those in SR and R treatments, respectively. The lowest ratio of irrigation consumption to total water consumption in the SRS treatment was 18.53 and 21.88%for the 2008-2009 and 2009-2010 growing seasons, respectively. However, the highest percentage of water consumption was found in the SRS treatment from anthesis to maturity. No signiifcant difference was found between the WUE of the lfag leaf at the later iflling stage in the SRS and RS treatments, but the lfag leaf WUE at these stages were higher than those of other treatments. The SRS and RS treatments exhibited the highest grain yield （9 573.76 and 9 507.49 kg ha-1 for 3-yr average） with no signiifcant difference between the two treatments, followed by P, R and SR treatments. But the SRS treatment had the highest WUE. Thus, the 1-yr subsoiling tillage, plus 2 yr of strip rotary planting operation may be an efifcient measure to increase wheat yield and WUE.

Integrated agronomic practice increases maize grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency under various soil fertility conditions

Crop yield potential can be increased through the use of appropriate agronomic practices. Integrated agronomic practice (IAP) is an effective way to increase maize (Zea mays L.) grain yield and nitrogen use efficiency (NUE);however, the physiological processes associated with gains in yield potential obtained from IAP, particularly the different under various soil fertility conditions, remain poorly understood. An IAP strategy including optimal planting density, split fertilizer application, and subsoiling tillage was evaluated over two growing seasons to determine whether the effects of IAP on maize yield and NUE differ under different levels of soil fertility. Compared to farmers' practices (FP), IAP increased maize grain yield in 2013 and 2014 by 25% and 28%, respectively, in low soil fertility (LSF) fields and by 36% and 37%, respectively, in high soil fertility (HSF) fields. The large yield gap was attributed mainly to greater dry matter (DM) and N accumulation with IAP than with FP owing to increased leaf area index (LAI) and DM accumulation rate, which were promoted by greater soil mineral N content (Nmin) and root length. Post-silking DM and N accumulation were also greater with IAP than with FP under HSF conditions, accounting for 60% and 43%, respectively, of total biomass and N accumulation;however, no significant differences were found for post-silking DM and N accumulation between IAP and FP under LSF conditions. Thus, the increase in grain yield with IAP was greater under HSF than under LSF. Because of greater grain yield and N uptake, IAP significantly increased N partial factor productivity, agronomic N efficiency, N recovery efficiency, and physiological efficiency of applied N compared to FP, particularly in the HSF fields. These results indicate that considerable further increases in yield and NUE can be obtained by increasing effective soil N content and maize root length to promote post-silking N and DM accumulation in maize planted at high plant density, especially in fields with low soil fertility.

Knowledge, Attitude and Practices Used in the Control of Striga in Maize by Smallholder Farmers of Western Kenya

The production of maize is constrained by parasitic weeds, particularly Striga. A study was carried out to document farmers＇ knowledge, attitude and practices on Striga control among smallholder farmers across three districts： Kisumu West, Busia and Teso South of Western Kenya. A multistage sampling technique was used to select the locations and farmers to be interviewed. A semi structured, open and closed ended questionnaire was administered leading to field experiment. Besides village meetings （39.2%）, farmers got informed on farming methods under Striga weed farms and its control technologies through neighbours （2.5%）, workshops and trainings （5.0%）, field schools （3.7%）, media （7.5%） and extension agents （10.8%）. The attitudes of farmers towards Striga control varied but frequently cited： long term viability of the Striga seed （12.5%）, difficult to control sharing of farm tools （10.8%）, expensive technologies （13.3%）, lack of adequate information （18.3%）, labour intensive （15.0%）, large farms for use of push and pull technology （1.7%） and time consuming （12.5%）. Framers used various Striga control practices but traditional methods （25%） were among the most used （25%）. Concerted effort involving researchers, extension agents and private sector are, therefore, required for wide scale dissemination and adoption of the existing modem control technologies.

Knowledge, Attitudes, and Practices of Antimicrobial Use and Resistance among Village Animal Health Workers and Veterinary Drug Retailers in Cambodia

Misuse, overuse, and missed prescription of antimicrobials are the driving factors to antimicrobial resistance (AMR) leading to a globally increasing public health concern. This study was conducted to assess the current knowledge, attitudes, and practices (KAP) of village animal health workers (VAHWs) and veterinary drug retailers (VDRs) on antimicrobial use (AMU) and antimicrobial resistance (AMR). The sample size was calculated following [1]. KAP data were scored and categorized following Bloom’s cut-off score. A total of 108 study populations (66 VAHWs and 42 VDRs) were purposively surveyed using a validated KAP questionnaire in 5 provinces across Cambodia. This study found that VAHWs and VDRs have moderate levels of knowledge (61% to 65%) and good attitudes towards AMU (83% to 84%) but employed moderate practices (59% to 74%) on AMU. VAHWs had moderate (66%);while DVRs had poor knowledge (58%) on AMR. Thus, regular awareness education specifically on proper use, prudent use, and stewardships on AMU and AMR in the form of refresher training or awareness events must be provided to VAHWs and VDRs to avoid inappropriate use of antimicrobials and spreading the AMR knowledge across Cambodia.

Based on the process management of traditional Chinese medicine comprehensive intervention method on outcomes in patients with mild/moderate chronic obstructive pulmonary disease:study protocol for a practical randomized controlled trial

Background:The prevalence,morbidity and mortality of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease(COPD)is very high,so it has become a public health problem.The early stage of COPD has been paid much attention before it develops severely.As well,traditional Chinese medicine has some advantages in relieving symptoms and reducing the incidence of COPD exacerbations.Methods:A practical randomized controlled trial will be designed to test the clinical effects of traditional Chinese medicine treatment according to syndrome differentiation.A total of 80 patients with mild/moderate COPD will participate in this study,40 in the treatment group and 40 in the control group.On the basis of the lifestyle intervention,traditional Chinese medicine formula granules for treatment group and the placebo simulation of traditional Chinese medicine granules for control group.The exacerbation and the improvement of pulmonary function will be used as the primary outcome measures.The improvement of clinical symptoms and signs,the quality of life and Dyspnea will be used as the secondary outcomes measures.Conclusion:We assume that the COPD patients will be benefit from therapy with Traditional Chinese medicine treatment.

Water and nitrogen footprint assessment of integrated agronomic practice management in a summer maize cropping system

The footprints of water and nitrogen(WF and NF)provide a comprehensive overview of the type and quantity of water consumption and reactive nitrogen(Nr)loss in crop production.In this study,a field experiment over two years(2019 and 2020)compared three integrated agronomic practice management(IAPM)systems:An improved management system(T2),a high-yield production system(T3),and an integrated soil-crop management system(ISCM)using a local smallholder farmer’s practice system(T1)as control,to investigate the responses of WF,Nr losses,water use efficiency(WUE),and nitrogen use efficiency(NUE)to IAPM.The results showed that IAPM optimized water distribution and promoted water use by summer maize.The evapotranspiration over the whole maize growth period of IAPM increased,but yield increased more,leading to a significant increase in WUE.The WUE of the T2,T3,and ISCM treatments was significantly greater than in the T1 treatment,in 2019 and 2020respectively,by 19.8-21.5,31.8-40.6,and 34.4-44.6%.The lowest WF was found in the ISCM treatment,which was 31.0%lower than that of the T1 treatment.In addition,the ISCM treatment optimized soil total nitrogen(TN)distribution and significantly increased TN in the cultivated layer.Excessive nitrogen fertilizer was applied in treatment T3,producing the highest maize yield,and resulting in the highest Nr losses.In contrast,the ISCM treatment used a reduced nitrogen fertilizer rate,sacrificing grain yield partly,which reduced Nr losses and eventually led to a significant increase in nitrogen use efficiency and nitrogen recovery.The Nr level in the ISCM treatment was34.8%lower than in the T1 treatment while NUE was significantly higher than in the T1 treatment by 56.8-63.1%in2019 and 2020,respectively.Considering yield,WUE,NUE,WF,and NF together,ISCM should be used as a more sustainable and clean system for sustainable production of summer maize.

The response of roots and the rhizosphere environment to integrative cultivation practices in paddy rice

Integrative cultivation practices(ICPs)are essential for enhancing cereal yield and resource use efficiency.However,the effects of ICP on the rhizosphere environment and roots of paddy rice are still poorly understood.In this study,four rice varieties were produced in the field.Each variety was treated with six different cultivation techniques,including zero nitrogen application(0 N),local farmers’practice(LFP),nitrogen reduction(NR),and three progressive ICP techniques comprised of enhanced fertilizer N practice and increased plant density(ICP1),a treatment similar to ICP1 but with alternate wetting and moderate drying instead of continuous flooding(ICP2),and the same practices as ICP2 with the application of organic fertilizer(ICP3).The ICPs had greater grain production and nitrogen use efficiency than the other three methods.Root length,dry weight,root diameter,activity of root oxidation,root bleeding rate,zeatin and zeatin riboside compositions,and total organic acids in root exudates were elevated with the introduction of the successive cultivation practices.ICPs enhanced nitrate nitrogen,the activities of urease and invertase,and the diversity of microbes(bacteria)in rhizosphere and non-rhizosphere soil,while reducing the ammonium nitrogen content.The nutrient contents(ammonium nitrogen,total nitrogen,total potassium,total phosphorus,nitrate,and available phosphorus)and urease activity in rhizosphere soil were reduced in all treatments in comparison with the non-rhizosphere soil,but the invertase activity and bacterial diversity were greater.The main root morphology and physiology,and the ammonium nitrogen contents in rhizosphere soil at the primary stages were closely correlated with grain yield and internal nitrogen use efficiency.These findings suggest that the coordinated enhancement of the root system and the environment of the rhizosphere under integrative cultivation approaches may lead to higher rice production.

Practice of Infection Prevention and Control Strategies in Risk Departments during the COVID-19 Epidemic

Objective: To explore the practice and application of infection prevention and control strategies in risk departments during the COVID-19 epidemic, and to formulate the infection prevention and control measures to provide advice and guidance in risk departments. Methods: According to the latest plan of diagnosis and treatment, prevention and control issued by the National Health Commission, expert advice and consensus, combined with the actual situation in our hospital, a series of infection prevention and control measures of COVID-19 in risk department was formulated. Results: During the epidemic period, the prevention and control measures of nine risk departments including emergency operation, anesthesiology, endoscopy center, blood purification center, otolaryngology, stomatology, medical imaging department, medical cosmetology department and pulmonary function room were established from six aspects, including pre-examination and screening, medical technology control, personnel management, personal protection, environmental disinfection, medical waste disposal, etc. Conclusion: During the epidemic period, the infection prevention and control strategy of risk departments is one of the key links to control the spread of the epidemic, and risk departments must pay attention to and strictly implement various infection prevention and control measures.

The Impact of Optimizing Details in the Operating Room on the Level of Knowledge, Attitude, and Practice of Hospital Infection Prevention and Control by Surgeons, as Well as the Effectiveness of Infection Control

Objective: This paper aims to explore the impact of optimizing details in the operating room on the level of knowledge, attitude, and practice of hospital infection prevention and control by surgeons, as well as the effectiveness of infection control. Methods: From January 2022 to June 2023, a total of 120 patients were screened and randomly divided into a control group (routine care and hospital infection management) and a study group (optimizing details in the operating room). Results: Significant differences were found between the two groups in the data of surgeons’ level of knowledge, attitude, and practice in hospital infection prevention and control, infection rates, and nursing satisfaction, with the study group showing better results (P Conclusion: The use of optimizing details in the operating room among surgeons can effectively improve surgeons’ level of knowledge, attitude, and practice in hospital infection prevention and control, reduce infection occurrence, and is worth promoting.

Can propensity score matching replace randomized controlled trials?

Randomized controlled trials(RCTs)have long been recognized as the gold standard for establishing causal relationships in clinical research.Despite that,various limitations of RCTs prevent its widespread implementation,ranging from the ethicality of withholding potentially-lifesaving treatment from a group to relatively poor external validity due to stringent inclusion criteria,amongst others.However,with the introduction of propensity score matching(PSM)as a retrospective statistical tool,new frontiers in establishing causation in clinical research were opened up.PSM predicts treatment effects using observational data from existing sources such as registries or electronic health records,to create a matched sample of participants who received or did not receive the intervention based on their propensity scores,which takes into account characteristics such as age,gender and comorbidities.Given its retrospective nature and its use of observational data from existing sources,PSM circumvents the aforementioned ethical issues faced by RCTs.Majority of RCTs exclude elderly,pregnant women and young children;thus,evidence of therapy efficacy is rarely proven by robust clinical research for this population.On the other hand,by matching study patient characteristics to that of the population of interest,including the elderly,pregnant women and young children,PSM allows for generalization of results to the wider population and hence greatly increases the external validity.Instead of replacing RCTs with PSM,the synergistic integration of PSM into RCTs stands to provide better research outcomes with both methods complementing each other.For example,in an RCT investigating the impact of mannitol on outcomes among participants of the Intensive Blood Pressure Reduction in Acute Cerebral Hemorrhage Trial,the baseline characteristics of comorbidities and current medications between treatment and control arms were significantly different despite the randomization protocol.Therefore,PSM was incorporated in its analysis to create samples from the treatment and control arms that were matched in terms of these baseline characteristics,thus providing a fairer comparison for the impact of mannitol.This literature review reports the applications,advantages,and considerations of using PSM with RCTs,illustrating its utility in refining randomization,improving external validity,and accounting for non-compliance to protocol.Future research should consider integrating the use of PSM in RCTs to better generalize outcomes to target populations for clinical practice and thereby benefit a wider range of patients,while maintaining the robustness of randomization offered by RCTs.

Teaching Reform and Exploration of Practical Courses Based on Programmable Control

As the country continues to promote the development of intelligent manufacturing,all industries are carrying out enterprise automation upgrading,the Pearl River Delta Intelligent Manufacturing Conference held in March 2024 provides a direction guide for each enterprise on how to integrate the intelligent manufacturing technology into each link and provide direction guidance for enterprises to create new models and new business formats.College teachers,in focusing on the teaching process,should closely match the enterprise and social needs and cultivate excellent students.As the core controller of automation control,the application of programmable controllers in teaching is particularly important.In practical classes,by setting progressive difficulty,project guidance,team collaboration,and other links,students can master the automation equipment design of programmable control in repeated practice.

Farmers’ Knowledge and Awareness towards the Use of Agrochemicals in Vegetable Cultivation, Fako Cameroon

Agrochemicals are contemporary, omnipresent tool used in vegetable cultivation. Farmers’ knowledge and awareness of the proper usage of agrochemicals are critical for mitigating the negative effects on human health. This cross-sectional study was aimed at assessing the usage knowledge, risk awareness of toxicological and chemical classes, proper handling and use practices for agrochemicals homologated for use in vegetable farming, and the occurrence of health-related symptoms as a result of exposure among these farmers. The study included 93 vegetable growers from agricultural hotspot towns in Fako, southwest Cameroon. The field study, ran from November 2021 to December 2023, using a questionnaire to collect information on farmers demographic, and their knowledge of pesticide classes, and the related risk of associated with the handling of agrochemicals. Results show that all vegetable farmers, particularly those engaged in agribusiness, employ pesticide inputs to maximize production. Six pesticides, two fertilizer types, and one unknown substance were identified. While 23 active compounds were found, the most utilized were abamectin, emamectin (10.46%), dimethoate (9.30%,) and ethoprophos (8.13%). Two active chemicals, dimethoate and methalaxyl, are illegal yet remain in circulation. Toxicological classes I and II, with the greatest harmful effect on human health, were the most commonly utilized (64.27%). Thirty-nine percent of farmers never use personal protection equipment when working with agrochemicals, demonstrating a significant gap in knowledge and awareness of agrochemicals and their various applications and handling procedures in the field. The government should implement an intensive specialized educational program for on-field farmers with incentives in order to promote sustainable agriculture methods that ensure environmental and human safety.

Studies on the Economical and Practical Temperature Control Facility of Deep-Litter Systems for Swine Production

Deep-Litter System is a high yield approach to raise swine with pollution free in a lower cost. In the research, based on the heat stress in summer caused by fermentation, three temperature-control systems were designed, including natural ventilation through transoms, forced ventilation via fans, and cooling by hyperbaric spray system. Specifically, the latter intermittent auto-pressurized spray system developed in our lab, which could spray successively via pressure from storage tubes without wetting the fermentation bed, is suitable for the promotion with the deep-litter technology in rural regions , since the power consumption is only 1 kwh per day.

Son Preference and Family Planning Practices among Married Men in Mumbai, India

ve To study son preferences and the contraceptive knowledge, attitude and practices of Indian Male

Science Letters:Crossover randomized controlled trial of the electronic version of the Chinese SF-36

Objectives:to verify the feasibility and reliability of the electronic version of Chinese SF-36 based on the Quality-of-Life-Recorder. Design: A crossover randomized controlled trial, comparing a paper-based and an electronic version of the Chinese SF-36, was conducted. According to generated random numbers, interviewees were asked to fill out either the electronic version or the paper version first. The second version was filled in after a pause of at least 10 min. Settings and participants: One group of 100 medical students at the School of Medicine of Zhejiang University and the other group of 50 outpatients at a clinic for general practice in Hangzhou City (China) were eventually recruited in this study. Results: The acceptance of the electronic version was good (60% of medical students and 84% of outpatients preferred the electronic version). At the level of eight-scale scores, the mean-difference for each scale (except for general health) between the two versions was less than 5%. At the level of 36 questions, the percentage of "exact agreement" ranged within 64%～99%; the percentage of "global agreement" ranged within 72%～99%; 77% of the kappa coefficients demonstrated "good/excellent agreement" and 23% of the kappa coefficients demonstrated "medium agreement". Conclusion: This study, for the first time, can provide empirical basis for the confirmation of the feasibility and reliability of the electronic version of the Chinese SF-36 and may provide an impulse towards widespread deployment of the Quality-of-Life-Recorder in Chinese populations.

Analysis of finite-time practical stability for time-varying polytopic systems

The problem of finite-time practical stability （FTPS） for time-varying polytopic systems is discussed. Three equivalent conditions for FTPS are first proposed. To facilitate the system analysis, a sufficient linear matrix inequality （LMI） criterion on the FTPS is further provided. The definition of finite-time practical boundedness and a sufficient LMI criterion are also provided to overcome the exogenous disturbance. A numerical example is used to illustrate the effect of the proposed approach.

Practical bipartite consensus for multi-agent systems:A barrier function-based adaptive sliding-mode control approach

This paper is concerned with bipartite consensus tracking for multi-agent systems with unknown disturbances.A barrier function-based adaptive sliding-mode control(SMC)approach is proposed such that the bipartite steady-state error is converged to a predefined region of zero in finite time.Specifically,based on an error auxiliary taking neighboring antagonistic interactions into account,an SMC law is designed with an adaptive gain.The gain can switch to a positive semi-definite barrier function to ensure that the error auxiliary is constrained to a predefined neighborhood of zero,which in turn guarantees practical bipartite consensus tracking.A distinguished feature of the proposed controller is its independence on the bound of disturbances,while the input chattering phenomenon is alleviated.Finally,a numerical example is provided to verify the effectiveness of the proposed controller.

Adaptive Practical Output Tracking Control for High-order Nonlinear Uncertain Systems

追踪控制的适应实际输出的问题为高顺序的非线性的不明确的系统的一个类被学习，它在未知控制系数的更低的界限确切被知道的假设下面被调查了。基于新柔韧的适应控制和连续稳定的想法，这个假设成功地被移开。借助于增加一个力量综合者，一条系统的途径被开发构造追踪控制器的连续适应实际产量，它保证靠近环的系统的所有状态是全球性稳定的，当追踪的错误能被任何给定的正数在一有限时间以后围住时。最后，一个模拟例子被给说明理论结果的正确性。

Practical prescribed-time tracking control for uncertain strict-feedback systems with guaranteed performance under unknown control directions

In this paper,we consider the practical prescribed-time performance guaranteed tracking control problem for a class of uncertain strict-feedback systems subject to unknown control direction.Due to the existence of unknown nonlinearities and uncertainties,it is challenging to design a controller that can ensure the stability of closed-loop system within a predetermined finite time while maintaining the specified transient performance.The underlying problem becomes further complex as the control directions are unknown.To deal with the above problems,a special translation function as well as Nussbaum type function are introduced in the prescribed performance control(PPC)framework.Finally,a PPC as well as preset finite time tracking control scheme is designed,and its effectiveness is confirmed by both theoretical analysis and numerical simulation.

Theory and Practice of Water Pollution Prevention and Control for Inflowing Rivers in Taihu Valley

The pollutants from the 15 rivers inflowing into Lake Taihu accounted for about 80% of the total amount of the pollutants inflowing into Lake Taihu. Therefore, overall treatment of the inflowing rivers of Taihu Lake is of great importance to the improvement of water environment in the valley and the eutrophication status in th lake. Firstly, the basic ideas, key taches and main methods for water pollution control of inflow rivers of Taihu Lake was put forward in this article, Basic on these theories, the pollutant source status in the comprehensive treatment zone of the 15 major inflow rivers was analysized, the countermeasures of pollution control and main regulation projects were introduced, and the total abatement of pollutants was predicted. With the implement of regulation projects, the number of rivers with water quality worse than Grade V among the 15 major inflow rivers had come from 9 to 3, and the eutrophication status of Taihu Lake had changed from medium level to light level. The overall treatment of the major inflow rivers of the Taihu Lake had achieved initial success.