Spatial parameters associated with the risk of banana bunchy top disease in smallholder systems

The Banana Bunchy Top Disease (BBTD), caused by the Banana Bunchy Top Virus (BBTV) is the most important and devastating in many tropical countries. BBTD epidemiology has been little studied, mixed landscape smallholder systems. The relative risks associated with this disease vary between geographical areas and landscapes. This work analyzed the management and vegetation conditions in smallholder gardens to assess the factors linked to landscape-level BBTV transmission and management. Mapping was done in this study area which is in a BBTD-endemic region, involving farmers actively managing the disease, but with household-level decision making. A spatial scanning statistic was used to detect and identify spatial groups at the 5% significance threshold, and a Poisson regression model was used to explore propagation vectors and the effect of surrounding vegetation and crop diversity. Spatial groups with high relative risk were identified in three communities, Dangbo, Houéyogbé, and Adjarra. Significant associations emerged between the BBTD prevalence and some crop diversity, seed systems, and BBTD management linked factors. The identified factors form important candidate management options for the detailed assessment of landscape-scale BBTD management in smallholder communities.

Imaging Three-Dimensional Brain Organoid Architecture from Meso- to Nanoscale across Development

Organoids are human stem cell-derived three-dimensional cultures offering a new avenue to model human development and disease. Brain organoids allow studying various aspects of human brain development in the finest details in vitro in a tissue-like context. However, spatial relationships of subcellular structures such as synaptic contacts between distant neurons are hardly accessible by conventional light microscopy. This limitation can be overcome by systems that quickly image the entire organoid in three dimensions and in super-resolution. To that end we have developed a setup combining tissue expansion and light sheet fluorescence microscopy for imaging and quantifying diverse spatial parameters during organoid development. This technique enables zooming from a mesoscopic perspective into super-resolution within a single imaging session, thus revealing cellular and subcellular structural details in three spatial dimensions, including unequivocal delineation of mitotic cleavage planes as well as the alignment of pre- and postsynaptic proteins. We expect light sheet fluorescence expansion microscopy (LSFEM) to facilitate qualitative and quantitative assessment of organoids in developmental and disease-related studies.Summary statementThe combination of light sheet fluorescence and expansion microscopy enables imaging of mature human brain organoids in toto and down to synaptic resolution

The laser radiation parameters control method based on the digital video system registration

The paper describes a method of a beam radiation parameters analysis. Such analysis bases on the laser beam registration in the plane of a diffusely reflecting screen and digital processing of the registered image. The algorithm of the laser beam spatial parameters determination is presented and realized programmatically. The experiment was carried out using a digital high-speed video system and a solid-state pulsed periodic laser based on a Cr3+: BeAl2O4 alexandrite crystal. A comparison of the proposed method with a standardized method based on the registration of radiation by a matrix photodetector is presented. The development of measure methods of the laser radiation parameters is necessary due to the appearance of new sources of laser radiation and their use in various applications.

LK-5 glass surface modification by glass blowing method based on microsystem technology

This paper considers the possibility of modifying the surface LK-5 glass by glass blowing methods to solve the problems of creating an atomic clock and ensuring a controlled distribution of metal nanoparticles on its surface. The evolution of the formation of a spherical profile of a glass surface on a hermetically welded cavity in a glass-silicon system was studied experimentally and theoretically. Also, the possibility of modifying the spatial parameters of arrays of nanoparticles distributed on the glass surface has been demonstrated. The obtained experimental and theoretical data demonstrate sufficient convergence.

Geochronological aspects of terminal Late Fort Ancient sites in the Little Miami-Ohio Rivers confluence area and their archeological significance

A geochronological approach is used to examine the temporal and spatial parameters of terminal Late Fort Ancient (∼1450 –1750 CE) habitation sites in the Little Miami-Ohio Rivers confluence area. We use a Bayesian analysis of radiocarbon dates, microtephrochronology, a biostratigraphic indicator ( Bison bison), and ethnohistorical records to examine terminal Late Fort Ancient sites in this region. Circular, stockaded villages (≤ 5 ha), consisting of single-family dwellings were replaced with large linear villages (≤ 8 ha), consisting of multifamily longhouses constructed parallel to the Little Miami and Ohio rivers. Smaller contemporary habitations and a plethora of underground maize silos suggest a seasonal pattern of population fission and fusion. At the time of Hernando de Soto's military conquests, ∼350 km to the south, terminal Late Fort Ancient villages in this region were increasing in number and size.

IMPROVEMENT OF INFORMATIVITY OF COMBINED DIFFERENT-RANGE IMAGES IN MEDICAL DIAGNOSTICS

Задача повышения качества результатов медицинской диагностики и удобства их интерпретации является актуальной на современном этапе развития биомедицинской инженерии. Особый интерес представляют методы визуализации, применимые при диагностике онкологических заболеваний. Повышать достоверность медицинской диагностики таких патологических состояний предлагается посредством совмещения разнодиапазонных изображений, в частности сканов в инфракрасном и видимом диапазонах длин волн. Предлагается методика, в которой два изображения конкретного биообъекта, полученные от датчиков, работающих в разных частотных диапазонах, имеющие одинаковые пространственные параметры и сформированные с общего ракурса, сводятся в общее изображение чересстрочно. Новизна предлагаемой методики заключается в том, что после совмещения изображений производится взаимная передача заданных частей каждого пикселя соседним пикселям по вертикали. В полученном изображении каждый пиксель содержит информацию оптического и инфракрасного изображений в заданных пропорциях. Показано, что предлагаемая методика обеспечивает увеличение информативности в полученном изображении в шесть раз относительно исходных изображений. Предлагаемая методика совмещения разнодиапазонных изображений может быть применена в различных прикладных областях In the medical diagnostics of diseases, it is necessary to obtain the most reliable information in order to obtain the correct diagnosis and, as a result, the correct treatment for the patient. One of the methods of diagnostic studies of oncological diseases of a near-surface nature is to obtain infrared images. It is possible to increase the reliability of information by combining images obtained from thermal imagers, as well as from television video cameras. In this paper, we propose a technique in which two images of a particular object obtained from sensors operating in different frequency ranges, having the same spatial parameters, and formed from the same angle, are interlaced into a common image. The novelty of the proposed method lies in the fact that after combining the images, the specified parts of each pixel are mutually transmitted to the neighboring pixels vertically. In the resulting image, each pixel contains information of optical and infrared images in appropriate proportions. It is shown that the proposed method provides an increase in information content in the resulting image six times relative to the original image. The proposed technique for combining multi-range images can be applied in various areas

Contracting for Work in Tourism and Catering in Greece: Beyond a State/Market Dichotomy

Drawing on a case study of contemporary employment relations in tourism and catering in Greece, this paper seeks to contribute to our empirical understanding of employment law. Which factors determine the ways in which the law is perceived by employers and workers and complied with, breached or avoided? The main argument of the paper is that not only market forces are relevant here; several other factors need to be taken into consideration, which when combined with market forces can re-regulate as well as deregulate the field of employment. These tend to be informal, locally embedded and influenced by wider social relations. By constructing a simple matrix of employment settings based on locale and seasonality on one axis, and size of enterprise and scope of services provided on the other, the paper demonstrates how organisational and spatial parameters and the social environment interact with market forces and legal forces to shape prevailing norms and to influence the behaviour of parties to the contract for work. It further demonstrates that the structuring of the sectoral labour market is a process determined by broader social power dynamics. Beyond serving as part of the context within which contracting for work takes place, legal rules are a resource to be mobilised by both employers and workers.

Alteration in HDEMG Spatial Parameters of Trunk Muscle Due to Handle Design during Pushing

Previous research identifies that pushing and pulling is responsible for approximately 9–18% of all low back injuries. Additionally, the handle design of a cart being pushed can dramatically alter a worker’s capacity to push (≅9.5%). Surprisingly little research has examined muscle activation of the low back and its role in muscle function. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the effects of handle design combination of pushing a platform truck cart on trunk muscle activity. Twenty participants (10 males and 10 females, mean age = 24.3 ± 4.3 years) pushed 475 lbs using six different handle combinations involving handle orientation (vertical/horizontal/semi-pronated) and handle height (hip/shoulder). Multichannel high-density EMG (HDsEMG) was recorded for left and right rectus abdominis, erector spinae, and external obliques. Pushing at hip height with a horizontal handle orientation design (HH) resulted in significantly less (p < 0.05) muscle activity compared to the majority of other handle designs, as well as a significantly higher entropy than the shoulder handle height involving either the semi-pronated (p = 0.023) or vertical handle orientation (p = 0.028). The current research suggests that the combination of a hip height and horizontal orientation handle design may require increased muscle demand of the trunk and alter the overall muscle heterogeneity and pattern of the muscle activity.