Climate change and associated heat waves and droughts are causing enormous amounts of damaged wood in Central Europe. To face these challenges, mechanized timber harvesting systems consisting of single-grip-harvesters and forwarders are commonly employed due to their high productivity and work safety. Despite the advantages of these work systems, the operation of advanced forestry machines requires lengthy training and entails high levels of mental strain for machine operators. In recent years, operator assistance systems have been installed in forest machines with the intention of reducing mental workload of machine operators, thereby improving productivity. However, knowledge of the actual effect of operator assistance systems on productivity is still lacking.The present case study surveyed the effect of two recently released operator assitance features, Intelligent Boom Control (»IBC«) and a rotating cabin (»RC«), on productivity during loading cycles, by means of a time study. Therefore, IBC and RC were tested in different loading settings using a forwarder, John Deere 1210G. Three loading angles were tested (55°, 90° and 125° azimuthal and counterclockwise to the machine axis) in combination with five loading distances (4 m, 5.5 m, 7 m, 8.5 m, and 10 m distance from the crane pillar). The 15 loading positions were sampled using four variants (I: IBC off RC off, II: RC on IBC off, III: IBC on RC off, IV: IBC on RC on), capturing 10 replications for each position and variant, resulting in 600 loading cycles in total.When the operator was not supported by any system, mean time consumption per loading cycle amounted to 20.6 ± 0.114 sec. The utilization of IBC resulted in a significant reduction in time consumption of 2 seconds per loading cycle. Moreover, further time savings were observed when IBC was engaged in combination with a rotating cabin, leading to a mean time consumption of 17.8 ± 0.114 sec (or 14% improvement) per loading cycle. Although the lowest time consumption was observed when IBC and RC were engaged, the use of RC alone did not show any significant time improvements.Since loading activities occupy approximately 50% of the total cycle time in timber forwarding, potential time savings within this work element are crucial for further improvements of work productivity. This pilot case study quantified the time savings when IBC and RC were engaged during loading in an experimental setting. The results can be used as a basis for further investigations dealing with factors influencing the productivity of highly mechanized timber harvesting systems.

All biological products obtained from forests other than timber are considered non-timber forest products (NTFPs). NTFPs production levels in Ghana are affected by climate change. Over the past years, NTFPs have adversely affected by prolonged droughts and short rainfall in Ghana. In rural areas, where NTFP enhance livelihoods for rural dwellers, this adversely affects their food security. This study aimed to determine how rural dwellers in Ghana perceive the impact of annual variability in rainfall and temperature on their non-timber forest products. To better understand how residents perceive climate change's effect on NTFPs, 732 residents were interviewed. Household information and perceptions regarding changes to the availability of NTFP (snails, mushrooms, honey, etc.) were recorded using structured and semi-structured questionnaires. As a result of the sharp rise in temperature and the decline in rainfall, combined with a prolonged drought, there has been a decline in the production levels of NTFPS in the forest areas of the country. The respondents reported a decline in the production levels of honey, snails, and mushrooms, as well as income generated. It is imperative that the Ghana government, through the Ghana forestry commission, educate rural dwellers about the importance of NTFP sustainable use and implement afforestation programs to help regenerate degraded forest areas that threaten some of the organisms required for the production of NTFPs. Embarking on afforestation programs will help improve the climatic conditions supporting the production of NTFPs.

The hidden nature of a glued-in rod joint presents considerable challenges with regards to quality control, and there has been minimal research on the subject to fully understand the influence of defects on the joint performance. In this study, voids in adhesive line or glue-free zones were simulated in various depths of the embedded rod, and the results were compared to a reference sample population without defects. Withdrawal capacity of glued-in steel threaded rods were lower compared to reference group samples without gluing defects, when glue simulated voids or glue-free zones were positioned in the middle part and upper (closer to sample crosscut surface) part of the glued-in rods. And no difference was observed of simulated glue-free zones in the lower (the deepest) part, closer to the end of the glued-in rod, compared to reference group samples without gluing defects.

Most anticancer drugs cannot achieve adequate CNS exposure due to being P-gp substrates, a key efflux transporter of the blood–brain barrier. Entrectinib is a weak P-gp substrate and achieves CNS therapeutic levels. Crizotinib and larotrectinib (inhibitors of the same class) are strong P-gp substrates with poor CNS exposure. Therefore, the potential economic and patient quality of life value of entrectinib in targeting and resolving CNS metastases is patient and healthcare system relevant. Entrectinib is a potent and selective inhibitor of ROS1/TRK/ALK tyrosine kinase activity in vitro with systemic and CNS activity. Intracranial ORRs of 79.2% and 62.5% were observed in adult patients with ROS1 fusion positive NSCLC and NTRK fusion positive solid tumours, respectively, who had measurable baseline CNS metastases. For ROS1-positive NSCLC, the median intracranial PFS was 12.0 months, while for NTRK it was 10.1 months. Published costs incurred by patients with early brain metastases vs. patients without were applied to the average duration in which the cohort was free of CNS metastases (ie. in the CNS Progression Free state). Similarly, the QALY benefit was estimated by applying literature EQ-5D utility estimates for patients with CNS metastases vs. the utilities derived from the entrectinib trials for patients without CNS metastases; again, informed by the average duration of the CNS Progression Free state. The CNS effect of entrectinib could result in significant cost savings of $62K and $58K USD per patient with baseline CNS metastases and ROS1-positive NSCLC or NTRK solid tumours respectively. Similarly, resolving CNS metastases with entrectinib would contribute additional QALYs of 0.24 and 0.28 per patient for ROS1-positive and NTRK solid tumours respectively. Entrectinib has demonstrated important CNS clinical benefit relative to other available treatments, which could lead to significant healthcare system cost savings and substantial quality of life improvements for patients.

Changes introduced in the 2016 edition of the Building Code of Australia permitted residential and office buildings to be of timber-framed or massive timber construction up to 25 m in effective height as a Deemed-to-Satisfy solution for the first time; typically, eight-storeys. This approach was extended in the 2019 edition of the BCA, to all classes of buildings – including retail premises, schools, hospitals and aged-care buildings of timber-framed and massive timber construction.

Vegetable cultivation in Sri Lanka is an intensive and highly commercialized system. Since, vegetables are heavy nutrient feeders that produce high biomass within a short period, management of fertilizers and amendments are critical for sustainable production. The objective of this study was to assess the fertilizer and amendment usage by intensively vegetable cultivating farmers in Sri Lanka and identify the relationship between farmer practices and their productivity using a questionnaire survey. Study was conducted with randomly selected 100 farmers each from Nuwara Eliya (NE) and Marassana (M) regions. Data were obtained on relative use of inorganic fertilizers, organic amendments and liming materials, with respect to the current recommendations. The vegetable cultivating systems of the two regions were identified as vegetable-potato-vegetable and vegetable-paddy-vegetable for NE and M, respectively. The productivity of crops cultivated in NE was higher than that of M. While about 25% and 67% of farmers in NE and M, respectively, used synthetic fertilizers more than the recommended level, about 66% (NE) to 99% (M) farmers used less than 50% of the recommended organic manure quantities for their vegetable crops. We attributed these differences to other crops included in the rotation, availability and high cost of organic fertilizers, and the value of crops, in addition to the cash subsidy given for synthetic fertilizers. Productivity of fields in M, where moisture stresses are more common, appeared not related to the relative quantity of fertilizer or amendments used. However, the productivity was maximized around 70-90% of recommended level of fertilizers among farmers in NE. We concluded that site-specific fertilizer best management practices need to be introduced to intensively cultivating farmers in Sri Lanka, in order to increase and sustain productivity.

This study investigated the volatile phytochemical diversity of 30 samples obtained from experimental hybrid and commercial H. lupulus L. plants. Essential oils distilled from these samples were analysed by high resolution gas chromatography coupled with accurate mass time-of-flight mass spectrometry (GC–accTOFMS). A total of 58 secondary metabolites, mainly comprising 18 esters, 6 monoterpene hydrocarbons, 2 oxygenated monoterpenes, 20 sesquiterpene hydrocarbons, 7 oxygenated sesquiterpenes, and 4 ketones, were positively or tentatively identified. A total of 24 metabolites were detected in all samples, but commercial cultivars (selected for brewing performance) had fewer compounds identified compared to experimental genotypes. Chemometrics analyses enabled distinct differentiation of experimental hybrids from commercial cultivars, discussed in terms of the different classes of compounds present in different genotypes. Differences among the mono- and sesquiterpenoids, appear to be related to either: i) the genetic origin of the plants; or ii) the processes of bioaccumulation of the identified secondary metabolites.

A novel sequential three-dimensional gas chromatography-high-resolution time-of-flight mass spectrometry (3D GC-accTOFMS) approach for profiling secondary metabolites in complex plant extracts is described. This integrated system incorporates a nonpolar first-dimension (1Dnp) separation step, prior to a microfluidic heart-cut (H/C) of a targeted region(s) to a cryogenic trapping device, directly followed by the rapid reinjection of a trapped solute into a polar second-dimension (2DPEG) column for multidimensional separation (GCnp-GCPEG). For additional separation, the effluent from 2DPEG can then be modulated according to a comprehensive 2D GC process (GC×GC), using an ionic liquid phase as a third-dimension (3DIL) column, to produce a sequential GCnp-GCPEG×GCIL separation. Thus, the unresolved or poorly resolved components, or regions that require further separation, can be precisely selected and rapidly transferred for additional separation on 2D or 3D columns, based on the greater separation realized by these steps. The described integrated system can be used in a number of modes, but one useful approach is to target specific classes of compounds for improved resolution. This is demonstrated through the separation and detection of the oxygenated sesquiterpenes in hop ( Humulus lupulus L.) essential oil and agarwood ( Aquilaria malaccensis) oleoresin. Improved resolution and peak capacity were illustrated through the progressive comparison of the tentatively identified components for GCnp-GCPEG and GCnp-GCPEG×GCIL methods. Relative standard deviations of intraday retentions (1 tR, 2 tR,, and 3 tR) and peak areas of ≤0.01, 0.07, 0.71, and 7.5% were achieved. This analytical approach comprising three GC column selectivities, hyphenated with high-resolution TOFMS detection, should be a valuable adjunct for the improved characterization of complex plant samples, particularly in the area of plant metabolomics.