Examination of distributed learning on recent and remote memory using in-person and online experimental paradigms

Learning is crucial in everyday life. However, how much information we retain depends on the type and schedule of training. It has been widely acknowledged that spaced learning holds a distinct advantage over massed learning for cognitively healthy adults and should be considered an educational standard, particularly when consolidating long-term memory. Given that many experiments have been required to be conducted online as a result of social distancing regulations during the Covid-19 pandemic, we examined whether the spacing advantage could be replicated in an online setup. Two experiments were conducted to examine the effects of spacing across recent (24 hours) and remote (one-month) retention intervals using the Face-Name Pairs task either in-person (Experiment 1) or online (Experiment 2). The results of Experiment 1 suggest that the beneficial memory effects of spaced training are particularly observed with remote memory. The results of Experiment 2 suggest that although participants learn and recall better in an online setup compared to in-person, the spacing effects were not as robust and did not confer any real advantage. These results are discussed in terms of advantages and disadvantages of the two procedures and the implications for online studies.

Inter-row plant spacing effects on grain and fodder yields, growth performance, digestibility and manure quality of sheep

In Ghana, peanut (Arachis hypogaea L.) grain and fodder serve as important sources of protein for human and livestock nutrition, respectively. Experiments were conducted in four farming communities to determine the effects of planting annual peanut at four inter-row spacings of 30, 45, 65 and 75 cm on grain and fodder yields (experiment I), growth performance and manure quality (experiment II), and in situ digestibility (experiment III) of Djallonké sheep fed fodder from these plant spacings. Planting peanut at 30 cm inter-row spacing dually increased grain and fodder yields compared to planting at 60, and 75 cm. Peanut fodder from 30 cm inter-row spacing also had comparatively higher concentration of crude protein and lower concentrations of acid detergent fiber and acid detergent lignin, resulting in significant improvements in dry matter digestibility at 48 h and superior average daily weight gain of sheep. The concentration of N excreted in the manure of sheep fed the 30 cm fodder was greater than those fed peanut grown at 60, and 75 cm inter-row spacing. Planting peanut at an inter-row spacing of 30 cm therefore gave dual benefits of increasing grain and fodder yields as well as increasing the digestibility and growth performance of sheep fed peanut fodder as a supplementary diet to natural pasture for 70 days. Higher concentration of N in the manure of sheep fed 30 cm fodder could have additional benefits of improving soil fertility in smallholder farming systems where inorganic fertilizers are expensive and inaccessible to farmers.

Shape and Spacing Effects on Curvy Twin Sail for Autonomous Sailing Drone

There is an accelerating requirement for ocean sensing where autonomous vehicles can play an essential role in assisting engineers, researchers, and scientists with environmental monitoring and collecting oceanographic data. This paper is performed to develop a rigid sail for the autonomous sailing drone. Our study aims to numerically analyze the aerodynamic characteristics of curvy twin sail and compare it with wing sail. Because racing regulations limit the sail shape, only the two-dimensional geometry was open for an optimization. Therefore, this study’s first objective was to identify the aerodynamic performance of such curvy twin sails. Simultaneously, a secondary objective was to estimate the effect of the sail’s spacing and shapes. A viscous Navier-Stokes flow solver is used for the numerical aerodynamic analysis. The 2D aerodynamic investigation is a preliminary evaluation. The results have shown that the curvy twin sail designs have improved lift, drag, and driving force coefficient compared to the wing sails. The spacing between the port and starboard sails of curvy twin sail is an important parameter. The spacing is 0.035L, 0.07L, and 0.14L shows the lift coefficient reduction because of dramatically stall effect, while flow separation is improved with spacing is 0.21L, 0.28L, and 0.35L. Significantly, the spacing 0.28L shows the maximum high pressure at the lower area and the small low pressure area at leading edges, so the highest lift is generated.