Controls on the net dissolved organic carbon production in tropical peat

<p>Soil factors such as pH and the presence of polyvalent cations can influence the net production of dissolved organic carbon (DOC). This study aimed to determine the main factors that control net DOC production. The study was conducted at Buatan Village, Siak Indrapura Regency, Riau Province, Indonesia. Soil and water sampling were done every month for a year observation, from July 2018 to June 2019. Soil sampling was carried out to determine the concentration of C-organic acids, pH, N, P, K, Cu, and soil water content (SWC). Peat water sampling was carried out using modified pore water sampling to measure DOC concentration. Groundwater level (GWL) and soil temperature were also observed. Multiple regression analysis was performed to find out the soil and environmental factors controlling the net DOC production. The results showed that the net DOC production fluctuated with seasonal changes and soil pH was a significant controlling factor (<em>P</em> = 0.035) and positively correlated (<em>P</em> = 0.040) to the net DOC production. In addition, N-mineral, PO₄, and Cu were positively correlated with net DOC production (<em>P</em>-value: 0.026; 0.033; and 0.028; respectively) while C-organic acids and SWC were negatively correlated (<em>P</em>-value: 0.033; and 0.020; respectively). There was no correlation between net DOC production with GWL, soil temperature, and K concentration. This finding confirmed that pH was the main factor controlling the net DOC production and reflects DOC contribution to the solution acidity.</p>

A Polynomial Splines Identification Method Based on Control Nets

In this study, based on Polynomial Splines with control nets, an identification method is investigated. We introduce polynomial splines with control nets defined over T-mesh. The basic idea is to extend T-vertices such that those T-vertices become interior cross vertices or boundary vertices. To this end, we introduce the design-suitable T-mesh for constructing polynomial splines with control net. In design-suitable T-meshes, there are no extra basis vertices produced by an appropriate extension of T-vertices. The basis functions are defined over each vertex in a design-suitable T-mesh by the means of constructing PHT-splines basis functions.

Low Involvement and Ineffective Monitoring Link Mothers’ Work-Family Conflict and Adolescent Self-Control

Understanding what explains the individual differences in adolescent self-control is crucial, given the importance of self-control to positive youth development. This research examines the extent to which mothers’ work–family conflict (WFC) associates with adolescent self-control via parenting (i.e., involvement, positive parenting, poor monitoring/supervision, and corporal punishment). One hundred and eighty-eight Chinese mother–child dyads participated in the research. Mothers reported on their WFC and parenting at T1, and adolescents rated their self-control 2.5 months later. Results of mediation model found that low involvement and poor monitoring/supervision linked the association between mothers’ WFC and adolescent self-control, net the effect of child sex, family socioeconomic status, and mothers’ marriage and working status. These findings suggest that boosting working mothers’ involvement and monitoring/supervision could be promising ways to nurture their adolescent children’s self-control, particularly for mothers with high WFC.

Foraging Behavior and Pollination Efficiency of Apis mellifera L. on the Oil Tree Peony ‘Feng Dan’ (Paeonia ostii T. Hong et J.X. Zhang)

To solve the issue of insufficient pollinating of insects for the oil tree peony ‘Feng Dan’ (Paeonia ostii T. Hong et J.X. Zhang) and improve its seed set and yield, we conducted observations from 2017 to 2018 to investigate the relationship between honey bee (Apis mellifera L.) foraging behavior and diurnal activity. We compared the single-fruit seed set ratio among three flower types on the same plants of the oil tree peony, which flowered simultaneously, in three pollination areas (bee pollination, natural field pollination, and controlled pollination by pollinators) and in a net room under self-pollination, wind pollination and bee pollination. Apis mellifera exhibited short single visitations, long visitations to a single flower and repeated visits to flowers of the oil tree peony. The number of flower visits of A. mellifera was significantly and positively yet weakly correlated with the number of stigma visits (2017: r = 0.045, p < 0.05; 2018: r = 0.195, p < 0.01). The seed set of oil tree peony follicles in the A. mellifera pollination area was significantly higher than that in the natural pollination field area and the control net rooms. On the same oil tree peony plant with synchronous flowering, the percent seed set of follicles pollinated by A. mellifera at a high density was significantly higher than that resulting from wind pollination and self-pollination.

Adjoint Optimisation of Internal Turbine Cooling Channel Using NURBS-Based Automatic and Adaptive Parametrisation Method

A well-formulated design space parametrisation is the key to the success of design optimisation. Most parametrisation methods require manual set-up which typically results in a restricted design space and impedes the generation of superior designs which may be found outside this restricted envelope. In this work, we adopt a NURBS-based automatic and adaptive parametrisation approach where the optimisation begins in a coarser design space and adapts to finer parametrisation during the optimisation. Our approach takes CAD descriptions as input and to alter the shape perturbs the control points of the NURBS patches that form the boundary representation. Driven by adjoint sensitivity information the control net is adaptively enriched using knot insertion. The sensitivity-driven parametrisation method is applied here to reduce the pressure loss of a U-bend passage of a turbine blade serpentine cooling channel.

Religion and the Sense of Control in Cross-National Perspective: The Importance of Religious Context

Is individual religiosity associated with the sense of control? If so, does a nation’s religious context modify that association? Multilevel analyses with data from the sixth wave of the World Values Survey (2010–2014) demonstrate that religious attendance and prayer are positively associated with the sense of control, net of individual- and country-level controls. However, belief in God is not associated with the sense of control. Furthermore, cross-level interactions suggest that the association between individual religiosity and the sense of control varies across national religious context. Specifically, religious attendance, prayer, and belief in God are more positively associated with the sense of control in countries with higher levels of religiosity than in countries with lower levels of religiosity. I discuss the theoretical implications of these findings for views about religion, sense of control, and the linkage between macro-level contexts and micro-level factors.