Canopy Spectral Reflectance Characteristics of Rice with Different Cultural Practices and Their Fuzzy Cluster Analysis

The influence of major cultural practices including different nitrogen application rates, population densities, transplanting leaf ages of seedling, and water regimes on rice canopy spectral reflectance was investigated. Results showed that increased nitrogen rates, water regimes and population densities and decreased seedling ages could enhance reflectance at NIR （near infrared） bands and reduce reflectance at visible bands. Using reflectance of green, red and NIR band and ratio index of 810-560 nm could distinguish the different type of rice by fuzzy cluster analysis,

Canopy Spectral Reflectance Characteristics of Rice with Different Cultural Practices and Their Fuzzy Cluster Analysis

The influence of major cultural practices including different nitrogen application rates, population densities, transplanting leaf ages of seedling, and water regimes on rice canopy spectral reflectance was investigated. Results showed that increased nitrogen rates, water regimes and population densities and decreased seedling ages could enhance reflectance at NIR （near infrared） bands and reduce reflectance at visible bands. Using reflectance of green, red and NIR band and ratio index of 810-560 nm could distinguish the different type of rice by fuzzy cluster analysis,

Influence of Some Cultural Practices on the Incidence and Severity of Leaf Spot Disease of <i>Telfairia occidentalis</i>in Dschang

Fungi diseases are major diseases of Telfairia occidentalis (fluted pumpkin) in the major growing areas of the crop in Cameroon. This study was conducted between March and June in the cropping seasons of 2019 and 2020 to determine the effect of some cultural strategies viz.: tillage and no till, variation of sowing date and removal of diseased leaves on the incidence and severity of leaf spot disease caused by Phoma sorghina. There were four sowing dates, and two tillage systems with no variation in planting distance in the two cropping seasons. The design used was Randomized Complete Block Design (RCBD) with three replications. There were three plots for each sowing date within each replication. Seeds were sown at the rate of 1 m × 1 m, with four seeds per experimental unit. Data for disease incidence and severity was recorded every fortnight, commencing three weeks after emergence (WAE) and for a period of eight weeks for each sowing date. Disease incidence and severity was determined using Microsoft Excel 2010 and the data was subjected to statistical analysis and the means separated by Duncan Multiple Range Test (DMRT) at 95% confidence interval. In addition, the relationship between disease incidence and disease severity was also determined using Pearson correlation. Analysis of variance showed that there was no significant difference in leaf spot disease incidence at till and no-till units within this study period irrespective of sowing date. However, significant differences in leaf spot disease incidence and severity was recorded between the two cropping seasons. Sowing date four recorded the highest disease severity (1.611 ± 0.73) compared to sowing date two and three which was significant but comparable to sowing date one. The lowest disease severity (1.257 ± 0.697) was documented at sowing date two compared to sowing date one and four but comparable to sowing date three. Pearson correlation analysis revealed that there was a significant positive correlation (+0.560) between leaf spot disease incidence and severity which was statistically significant at α = 0.01 (p < 0.01). In order to enhance production of Telfairia occidentalis leaves with reduced disease incidence and severity, sowing dates two and three (first and second weeks of April respectively) coupled with removal of disease leaves every fortnight could regardless of tillage systems well manage leaf spot disease compared to sowing dates one and four.

Cultural Practices for Propagation of Spatholobus suberectus via Cutting into Polybags

In this paper,the propagation of Spatholobus suberectus Dunn.was optimized based on the research results conducted in propagation for many years and the actual need for the planting materials.According to the requirements of Good Agricultural Practices for Chinese Medicinal Drugs,cultural practices for propagation of S.suberectus were summed up and standardized,including the environmental requirements,land preparation,bed preparation,cutting of scions,cuttings treatment,cutting,management of cuttings at the nursery,bagged cuttings ready for transplanting,packing and handling,transportation,and preparation of records for archives.

Influences of Agricultural Practices in the Canton Erde-Pala Chad Vegetation

The study, conducted in the Canton Erd6-Pala Chad, aims to i） list the different cultural practices, ii） study their impact on the vegetation and iii） determine the methods of co-management of these cultural practices. The surveys were realized on 50 households in the village and phytosociological plants in corn, millet, cotton and peanuts cultures. The data analysis by statgraphic and Excel and Principal Component Analysis （PCA） showed that maize production （1,200 kg/ha） ranked first at the expense of cotton （640 kg/ha）. They negatively affect climate change （temperature increase （26%）, rain drop （20%）, land reclamation （18%） and flooding （12%））. Surveys of vegetation on three acres cotton fields （76.17%）, millet （81.06%）, corn （80.32%） and groundnut （83.56%） showed that there is no significant difference （P = 0.05） on the specific contribution of wood of different types of farming practices. Adventists species herbacious like Thelepogon elegans （27.84%）, Hyptis spicigera （19.31%）, Teramnus labialis （15.86%） have most important contributions in specific cultures. Methods of crop treatments have a destructive impact on the environment and the loss of biodiversity and the invasion of crops by adventists. Co-management, crop rotation, association of cultures, community forest management, agroforestry and training farmers in the use of inputs will reduce the potential risks of farming practices.

Effect of Cultural Practices on the Growth of Date Palm VitroPlants Planted in Errachidia （South East of Morocco）

In vitro multiplication of date palm is a very promising way for the rehabilitation of Moroccan palm devastated. The objective of this work was to study the development of vitroplants introduced into traditional and modem palm of the Errachidia region. The procedure followed is to make descriptive diagnoses in different sites where the palm was introduced and to evaluate the mortality of plants and cultural practices. The mortality rates varied from 78% to 19% in new plantation depending on the cultivation technique used. At the traditional palm, the rate of recovery ofplantlets was zero. The mortality is higher in Nejda cultivar compared to Boufegouss. This variety also presented a better adaptation in terms of shoot height in comparison with the development of Nejda and Mejhoul varieties. The production of offshoots as well as inflorescences takes place three years after plantation. The importance of improving cultivation techniques in date palm for the development of this sector in Morocco is discussed.

Cross-Country Differences in Entrepreneurial Activity： The Role of Cultural Practice and National Wealth

In this paper, we argue that national culture is important in interpreting the differences of entrepreneurial activities between countries. Furthermore, national wealth plays a moderating role between national culture and entrepreneurial activities. Datasets from the Global Leadership and Organizational Behavior Effectiveness （GLOBE） project and Global Entrepreneurship Monitor （GEM） study were analyzed. We find that there are interaction effects between GDP, a proxy for national wealth, and several cultural dimensions on entrepreneurial activities. More traditional cultural variables （in-group collectivism, humane orientation, and power distance） enhance early-stage and established entrepreneurship in low- and medium-GDP countries, but hinder early-stage and established entrepreneurship in high-GDP countries. More modernistic cultural variables （performance orientation, future orientation, and uncertainty avoidance） promote high-growth and high-innovation entrepreneurship in some situations, especially in high-GDP countries. Implications and limitations are discussed.

A skeptic's guide to"intercultural communication"debunking the"intercultural"and rethinking"culture"

Starting with a critique of so-called intercultural communication,the present paper contests and challenges the prevalent and dominant essentialist views of "culture".It is exposed that these views have a detrimental underlying logic that is both destructive and self-destructive.Instead,the paper proposes a radically new idea of culture,a minimalist approach supported by insights gleaned from contemporary semiotic inquiry.In this approach,culture is defined as a biological instinct to acquire information through modeling,that is,learning by models.This instinct is at work,or is realized,in specific acts of such modeling,resulting in cultural practices and cultural artifacts.In the case of humanity,a cultural practice is anything a human does that can be modeled by another human and a cultural artifact is any object that humans make and can model.The paper argues it is imperative to keep in mind that when we deal with the "intercultural",we are only dealing with concrete yet different cultural practices or cultural artifacts.This is an effective way to completely refute essentialism.In a sense,the paper is meant to be a wake-up call,instead of a fighting talk.Its main objective is not to negate or obliterate the field of"intercultural communication",among others,but rather to save them from them-selvesa true and worthy field of"intercultural communication"is a field against essentialism,instead of an accessory to essentialism,whether the commission is"before the fact"or "after the fact".

Abuses of Women in Inheritance Across Cultures： An Exploratory Study of Its Prevalence and Religious Panacea

The patriarchal nature of African society generally lays emphasis on the superiority of men over women in every sphere of life. When a woman dies, in most African societies, her legacy is usually inherited by the husband, children, and her family. But if a man dies, the widow, usually experiences false accusations of killing her husband to deny her share of her husband＇s properties. This paper examines how the dynamics of cultural practices in Nigeria promotes abuse of inheritance rights of women and discusses the possibilities of using Islamic inheritance rules as a divine solution to the abuse of inheritance rights of women. The research questions as follows： what is the nature of women＇s rights to father＇s estate？ What is the nature of widow＇s right to the husband＇s estate？ What is your perception about the Islamic law of inheritance？ The data for this study were collected using questionnaire and simple percentage was used for the analysis. In this respect, a questionnaire was administered to 220 women who were purposely selected from the three major tribes in Lagos state, Nigeria. The result showed that various cultures in Nigeria favour male child, grant male higher rights to land and other properties and promote abuse of inheritance rights against women.

Ecological Sound Control Strategies for Population Suppression of Date Palm Borers Oryctes spp.

Cultural practices, hand collection of larvae, light traps and entomopathogenic fungi were investigated to manage of palm borers Oryctes spp. in date palm orchards during the years 2010-2015. Cultural practices, such as sanitation and pruning frond bases, hand collection of larvae during regular annual service work and light traps with solar energy were practiced annually in one orchard for five years. In the second orchard, cultural practices were applied for two years, light trap for one year only, and no hand collection of larvae was done during the period. The third orchard was used as a control treatment. Results showed reduction in population density of larvae （91.6% and 53.0%） and adult （76.1% and 41.1%） ofOryects spp. in the 1st and 2nd orchard, respectively The results also demonstrated the impact of moon light phases on the number of Oryctes spp. adults caught by light trap and the existence of an inverse relation between moon light and flight activity of adults. Biological experiments also revealed that entomopathogenic fungi can cause high mortality rate reaching 100% after 29 d. Beauveria bassiana scored higher mortality rate in short time, especially at concentration of 1 × 10^11 conidia/mL with LT50 = 12.75 and LT90 = 20; while, Metarhizium anisopliae caused the higher percentage of malformed adults. The results depicted the effectiveness of some integrated ecological sound control methods for monitoring and population suppression of Oryects spp. in date palm orchards.

Photo Socialization in Digital Natives

In the following work of research, we shall present the results of a study on forms of digital photographic socialization as carried out by the so-called ＂digital natives＂ in order to explore their competence in managing digital photographic output and cultural practices. This shall be done under the following categories of analysis： snapshot, organization, socialization, reception, privacy, and copyrights in digital photography. The study explores the forms of digital photography production, technical problems of photographic management and the final uses that digital photographers give to their photos in terms of web tools 2.0, mobile telephones and social networks. Digital photography technology, compact cameras, mobile phones with cameras, specialized websites in photography and the lnternet generate new forms of production and emerging styles of digital photographic socialization. The study is carried out using a defined sample of university students, those digital natives who create and use digital photography.