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,

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".

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.

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.