e-Agricultural innovation using a human-centred systems lens,proposed conceptual framework

Historically, farmers have been amongst the most innovative people in the world. However, agriculture now lags behind other sectors in its uptake of new information technologies for the control and automation of farming systems. In spite of decades of research into innovation, we still do not have a good understanding as to why this is the case. With the globalisation of food markets, IT adoption in agricultural communities is perceived to be increasingly important by policy makers. As the most marginalised of rural communities, it is self-evident that agricultural communities in less developed countries are most in need of these systems. This paper proposes a new integral systems framework of e-agricultural adoption and innovation in less developed countries. It opens up a new avenue of research for control and automation systems theory and practice, which informs policy in respect of e-readiness of rural communities.     

Automated Theorem Proving in Euler Diagram Systems

Diagrammatic reasoning has the potential to be important in numerous application areas. This paper focuses on the simple, but widely used, Euler diagrams that form the basis of many more expressive logics. We have implemented a diagrammatic theorem prover, called Edith, which has access to four sound and complete sets of reasoning rules for Euler diagrams. Furthermore, for each rule set we develop a sophisticated heuristic to guide the search for a proof. This paper is about understanding how the choice of reasoning rule set affects the time taken to find proofs. Such an understanding will influence reasoning rule design in other logics. Moreover, this work specific to Euler diagrams directly benefits the many logics based on Euler diagrams. We investigate how the time taken to find a proof depends not only on the proof task but also on the reasoning system used. Our evaluation allows us to predict the best choice of reasoning system, given a proof task, in terms of time taken, and we extract a guide for defining reasoning rules for other logics in order to minimize time requirements.     

On the expressiveness of second-order spider diagrams

Existing diagrammatic notations based on Euler diagrams are mostly limited in expressiveness to monadic first-order logic with an order predicate. The most expressive monadic diagrammatic notation is known as spider diagrams of order. A primary contribution of this paper is to develop and formalise a second-order diagrammatic logic, called second-order spider diagrams, extending spider diagrams of order. A motivation for this lies in the limited expressiveness of first-order logics. They are incapable of defining a variety of common properties, like ‘is even’, which are second-order definable. We show that second-order spider diagrams are at least as expressive as monadic second-order logic. This result is proved by giving a method for constructing a second-order spider diagram for any regular expression. Since monadic second-order logic sentences and regular expressions are equivalent in expressive power, this shows second-order spider diagrams can express any sentence of monadic second-order logic.     

Metallic Adhesive Layers for Ag‐Based First Surface Mirrors

Metallic thin films have been evaluated as adhesive layers for first surface mirrors. Thin films (0.5–4 nm thick) of Cr, Cu, Ge, Sn, and Ni, capped with an over layer of 100 nm of Ag have been deposited by means of ion assisted electron beam evaporation onto glass substrates. The specular reflectance, conductivity, morphology, adhesion, and abrasion resistance of the mirrors have been assessed and compared. This work demonstrates the superior Ni and Ge adhesion and abrasion resistance to Ag thin films, while Cr and again Ni are the best candidates in terms of reflectance enhancement. In particular, 4 nm of Ni increases the Ag reflectance from 95.7% to 96.7%, exhibits the strongest adhesion as determined by the cross hatch tape test and the lowest loss of material after the different abrasion tests is just 50% in comparison to 100% for Ag‐coated glass substrates.

     

The use of herbal medicine in pregnancy and labour. Part I: An overview of current practice

In tandem with the resurgence of many traditional and alternative systems of healing, herbal medicine is flourishing. Until recently, the dominance of biomedicine within the industrialised world has viewed the use of herbs as being little more than a quaint, historical remnant of our primitive past; recorded and filed by folklorists and museum curators. In so-called developing countries, where this knowledge of plants-as-medicines has not yet been exploited and reserved for use by qualified 'professionals', it remains in the hands of ordinary people, many of whom are mothers and midwives. This article discusses the current position of herbal medicine, whilst also making suggestions for self treatment within safe limits during pregnancy, childbirth and early parenting.     

Computer simulation of the gas separation properties of zeolite Li-X

The criteria determining the effectiveness of a particular zeolite for gas separation are the physical pore size and the location, size, and charge of any cations present. To date the experimentalist has had to use a great deal of intuition when selecting a zeolite for a specific use. Computer modelling of such systems, using a Grand Canonical Monte Carlo method, has been successful in elucidating the behaviour of adsorbates in a wide range of systems. Successful predictions for adsorption isotherms for nitrogen, oxygen and argon have been previously reported by the authors for zeolites A, X and Y with calcium and sodium cations.The aim of the work reported in this paper is to investigate the air separation properties of a different, although similar system namely: zeolite X with lithium cations. The simulations performed using Cerius² molecular modelling software are able to predict adsorption isotherms for nitrogen and oxygen gases, both as single component, and as binary mixtures in Li-X. Further the predicted equilibrium separation factor is calculated to be in the range of 6 to 13 at room temperature, making this system ideal for the preferential adsorption of nitrogen and production of oxygen.