OpenWeedLocator (OWL): an open-source, low-cost device for fallow weed detection

The use of a fallow phase is an important tool for maximizing crop yield potential in moisture limited agricultural environments, with a focus on removing weeds to optimize fallow efficiency. Repeated whole field herbicide treatments to control low-density weed populations is expensive and wasteful. Site-specific herbicide applications to low-density fallow weed populations is currently facilitated by proprietary, sensor-based spray booms. The use of image analysis for fallow weed detection is an opportunity to develop a system with potential for in-crop weed recognition. Here we present OpenWeedLocator (OWL), an open-source, low-cost and image-based device for fallow weed detection that improves accessibility to this technology for the weed control community. A comprehensive GitHub repository was developed, promoting community engagement with site-specific weed control methods. Validation of OWL as a low-cost tool was achieved using four, existing colour-based algorithms over seven fallow fields in New South Wales, Australia. The four algorithms were similarly effective in detecting weeds with average precision of 79% and recall of 52%. In individual transects up to 92% precision and 74% recall indicate the performance potential of OWL in fallow fields. OWL represents an opportunity to redefine the approach to weed detection by enabling community-driven technology development in agriculture.

Is It Possible to Solve the Conflicts Over Conflict of Interest?; Comment on "Towards Preventing and Managing Conflict of Interest in Nutrition Policy? An Analysis of Submissions to a Consultation on a Draft WHO Tool"

Addressing conflicts of interests when developing and implementing policies to address commercial determinants of health is pivotal to ensure that these policies are free from commercial and other vested interests of unhealthy commodities industry. As a concept, this is well accepted within the tobacco control community, and supported by the existence of an international treaty, the WHO Framework Convention on Tobacco Control. But in nutrition policy the engagement of the food industry appears to remain controversial, as efforts to create partnerships are still underway. There is a need to undertake evaluation of existing conflict of interest policies to assess their implementation and outcomes, creating best practice models that can be replicated, and understanding how to change norms within governments. Additionally, a review of existing norms, codes of conduct, and ethics to determine their impact on preventing COI would guide future implementation of these measures. Finally, governments, academics, and advocates should consider how existing tools, guidelines or other instruments could help frame the COI discussion to ensure its political feasibility. There needs for a discussion on whether the current approach of separate policies for distinct industries is preferable than a broader conflict of interest policy that would be applicable to a wide range of unhealthy commodities and across governmental sectors.

Population-based virucidal phthalocyanine gargle/rinse protocol to reduce the risk of coronavirus disease-2019: a community trial

Purpose: In this community trial, the objective was to evaluate the incidence of coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) cases in two similar communities in three distinct phases: phase 1 (before the intervention), 2 (during the intervention), and 3 (after the intervention).Methods: The test community received the oral antiseptic intervention (experimental), while the control community did not. The official information agency provided the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases. Data were analyzed according to the three phases per epidemiological week (epi) using the R Core Team (2021) program. The relative risk and 95% confidence intervals between the cumulative incidence values of the test and control communities were calculated for each period. In the test community, a total of 995 residents, over 10 years of age, received two bottles containing 600 ml of mouthwash with antiviral phthalocyanine derivative (APD). The participants were asked to gargle/rinse with of 5 mL of the mouthwash with ADP 3 to 5 times a day, for 1 min, until the end of the bottles. Results: In phases 1 and 3, disease risk between the two communities did not differ significantly (p> 0.05), while in phase 2, disease risk was 54% lower in the test community than in the control community. Conclusion: The use of the APD mouthwash protocol seems to reduce the COVID-19 incidence at the population level, and further studies are needed to confirm its protective effect in different contexts.

Spatial autocorrelation analysis of Covid-19 cases in South Kalimantan, Indonesia

Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a new coronavirus that was discovered in Wuhan, China, at the end of 2019. In March 2020, the outbreak extended throughout the world, including Indonesia and one of its provinces, South Kalimantan. This rapid expansion should belinked to people’s mobility between regions, hence the linkage across regions must be examined. In South Kalimantan Province, the purpose of this research is to evaluate the distribution and relationship across regions in terms of the number of positive COVID-19 cases, the number of additional positive COVID-19 cases, and the number of COVID-19 patients under treatment. The spatial autocorrelation analysis with the Moran Index and Local Indicator of Spatial Autocorrelation (LISA) tests were used to determine the spatial autocorrelation between what and what using what data/where the data obtained? from March 22 to September 30, 2020. Based on the results of the Moran Index test, it is known that there is a spatial autocorrelation in the number of cases, the number of additional cases and the number of positive confirmed COVID-19 patients in treatment between one region and another neighboring area. While the results of the LISA Index test show that Balangan Regency, Hulu Sungai Tengah Regency, Hulu Sungai Utara Regency, Banjarmasin City, Tabalong Regency and Banjar Regency affect the level of COVID-19 cases in their respective neighboring areas. Therefore, there is a need for policies to control community mobility in those spatially correlated areas and increase testing and tracing to control the spread of COVID-19 cases in South Kalimantan Province.

The Role of Community Science in Entomology

Community (or citizen) science, the involvement of volunteers in scientific endeavors, has a long history. Over the past few centuries, the contributions of volunteers to our understanding of patterns and processes in entomology has been inspiring. From the collation of large-scale and long-term data sets, which have been instrumental in underpinning our knowledge of the status and trends of many insect groups, to action, including species management, whether for conservation or control, community scientists have played pivotal roles. Contributions, such as pest monitoring by farmers and species discoveries by amateur naturalists, set foundations for the research engaging entomologists today. The next decades will undoubtedly bring new approaches, tools, and technologies to underpin community science. The potential to increase inclusion within community science is providing exciting opportunities within entomology. An increase in the diversity of community scientists, alongside increasing taxonomic and geographic breadth of initiatives, will bring enormous benefits globally for people and nature. Expected final online publication date for the Annual Review of Entomology, Volume 67 is January 2022. Please see http://www.annualreviews.org/page/journal/pubdates for revised estimates.

A Graphical Stability Analysis Method for Cascade Conjugate Order Systems

The theory and applications of complex fractional analysis have recently become a hot topic in the fields of mathematics and engineering. Therefore, studies on the complex order systems and their subset called the complex conjugate order systems began to appear in the control community. On the other hand, the concept of stability has always been an important issue, especially in the analysis and control of dynamical systems. In this paper, a graphical method for stability analysis of the complex conjugate order systems is presented. Since the proposed method is based on the Mikhailov stability criterion known from the stability theory of integer order systems, it is named the generalized modified Mikhailov stability criterion. This method gives stability information about the higher order complex conjugate order systems, i.e. cascade conjugate order systems, according to whether it encloses the origin in the complex plane or not. Three simulation examples for the cascade conjugate order systems are given to show the effectiveness and reliability of the method presented. The results are verified by the poles on the first sheet of Riemann surface and also time responses of the systems, which are calculated analytically in a very complex way.

Leading Topics in Twitter Discourse on JUUL and Puff Bar Products: Content Analysis

Background In response to the recent government restrictions, flavored JUUL products, which are rechargeable closed-system electronic cigarettes (e-cigarettes), are no longer available for sale. However, disposable closed-system products such as the flavored Puff Bar e-cigarette continues to be available. If e-cigarette consumers simply switch between products during the current government restrictions limited to 1 type of product over another, then such restrictions would be less effective. A step forward in this line of research is to understand how the public discusses these products by examining discourse referencing both Puff Bar and JUUL in the same conversation. Twitter data provide ample opportunity to capture such early trends that could be used to help public health researchers stay abreast of the rapidly changing e-cigarette marketplace. Objective The goal of this study was to examine public discourse referencing both Puff Bar and JUUL products in the same conversation on Twitter. Methods We collected data from Twitter’s streaming application programming interface between July 16, 2019, and August 29, 2020, which included both “Puff Bar” and “JUUL” (n=2632). We then used an inductive approach to become familiar with the data and generate a codebook to identify common themes. Saturation was determined to be reached with 10 themes. Results Posts often mentioned flavors, dual use, design features, youth use, health risks, switching 1 product for the other, price, confusion over the differences between products, longevity of the products, and nicotine concentration. Conclusions On examining the public’s conversations about Puff Bar and JUUL products on Twitter, having described themes in posts, this study aimed to help the tobacco control community stay informed about 2 popular e-cigarette products with different device features, which can be potentially substituted for one another. Future health communication campaigns may consider targeting the health consequences of using multiple e-cigarette products or dual use to reduce exposure to high levels of nicotine among younger populations.

Recirculation of H2, CO2, and ethylene improves carbon fixation and carboxylate yields in anaerobic fermentation

Anaerobic fermentation with mixed cultures has gained momentum as a bioprocess for its promise to produce platform carboxylates from low-value biomass feedstocks. Anaerobic fermenters are net carbon emitters and their carboxylate yields are limited by electron donor availability. In a new approach to tackle these two disadvantages, we operated two bioreactors fed with acetate and lactate as a model feedstock while recirculating H2/CO2 to stimulate concomitant autotrophic activity. After 42 days of operation, hydrogenotrophic methanogenesis was predominant and ethylene (≥1.3 kPa) was added to one of the reactors, inhibiting methanogenesis completely and recovering net carbon fixation (0.20 g CO2 L-1 d-1). When methanogenesis was inhibited, exogenous H2 accounted for 17% of the consumed electron donors. Lactate-to-butyrate selectivity was 101% (88% in the control without ethylene) and lactate-to-caproate selectivity was 17% (2.3% in the control). Community analysis revealed that ethylene caused Methanobacterium to be washed out, giving room to acetogenic bacteria. In contrast to 2-bromoethanosulfonate, ethylene is a scalable methanogenesis inhibition strategy that did not collaterally block i-butyrate formation. By favoring the bacterial share of the community to become mixotrophic, the concept offers a way to simultaneously increase selectivity to medium-chain carboxylates and to develop a carbon-fixing chain elongation process.