Production Deficits Research Articles

Productivity Analysis PC-300 and PC-400 in Earthworks at a Gold Mining Project in Indonesia

Material movement is a significant and costly aspect of gold or general mining projects. This involves the utilization of expensive heavy equipment, necessitating careful management to ensure optimal efficiency. Therefore, this study aimed to analyze the productivity of excavators PC-300 and PC-400 as well as compare theoretical calculation results with actual conditions. The basis was formed by real field data, collected by earthwork supervisors at a gold mine in Indonesia. This data encompassed daily heavy equipment usage, including the duration, the quantity of material moved, and the types of material involved in the relocation process. The calculations resulted in theoretical productivity of 121.45 m3 hour-1 and 99.56 m3 hour-1 for PC-400 and PC-300. Meanwhile, the calculations based on actual conditions resulted in an average productivity of 114.4 m3 hour-1 and 66.3 m3 hour-1 for PC-400 and PC-300 during a one-year project period. The difference between actual and theoretical productivity for PC-400 and PC-300 was relatively small and large at -7.05 m3 hour-1 and -33.26 m3 hour-1, with 0.94 and 0.64 match factors, respectively. The large difference in productivity for the PC-300 was because the equipment supported work projects, such as opening work area access, maintaining area of work, and serving as supporting equipment. Furthermore, it occurred in the total actual production of the material movement against the one-year target production, which was less than -31,921 m3 (-2.5%) out of the 1,277,325 m3 total. The production deficit was attributed to a construction failure that caused PC-400 and PC-300 to be temporarily relocated for reparation. Based on the simulation, target production was achieved by the actual condition at month 13 (additional 1-month duration) with a total production of 1,283,856 m3, which obtained more than +6,531 m3 (+0.51%).

Modeling rainfall-runoff estimation and assessing water harvesting zone for irrigation practices in Keleta watershed, Awash river basin, Ethiopia

The world’s water demand is increasing twice as quickly as the world’s population. Contrarily, the greatest problem facing humanity in the twenty-first century is the supply of food. During dry seasons, when water collecting is a crucial survival strategy, the communities in the study area experience water deficit for agricultural production. In this study, socioeconomic and biophysical parameters were considered to evaluate the water harvesting zone for irrigation practices. With the aid of this technology, water harvesting sites can be found in acceptable sites, and water resource management can be improved to address water shortages during the dry season when crops are at key stages of growth and filling. The integrated geographical information system/Remote Sensing (GIS/RS), Soil Water Assessment Tool (SWAT), fuzzy logic, and analytic hierarchy process (AHP) model were used to carry this out. Rainfall, drainage density, surface runoff, percentage of clay content, land use land cover, slope, lithology, lineament, and Euclidian distance to settlement and road were the criteria utilized to choose the Rainwater Harvesting (RWH) sites. The run-off was estimated using the SWAT model, weights for each influential component were determined using AHP, the input factor was standardized using fuzzy membership, and factors were combined using gamma fuzzy (ℽ= 0.9) overlay weighting. The model’s statistical performance was demonstrated by R2 values of 0.79 and NSE values of 0.77 for monthly calibration periods and R2 values of 0.81 and NSE values of 0.75 for monthly validation periods. The study area’s Rainwater Harvesting potential suitability classes covered very highly suitable (16.91%), extremely suitable (27.6%), moderately suitable (20.23%), low suitable (13.1%), and not suitable (6.43%), and restrictions (15.73%). The study’s findings could help decision-makers identify more lucrative and long-lasting irrigation investment options in the Keleta watershed and make better decisions regarding the development of irrigation projects there.

Sustainable cereal production: A spatial analytical approach using the Ghana living standards survey

Ghana as one of the countries south of the Sahara, depends solely on cereals as a major staple food. Ironically, Ghana's economy depends on large importation from the global north, particularly Asia, due to systemic production deficits. The probability of farming households producing enough cereals and the constraints to meeting domestic supply remains imperative. Therefore, the current research focussed on the Ghana Living Standard Survey seventh round (GLSS7) involving 15,045 cereal farmers nationwide. By estimating the probability of farming households producing cereals and the factors that constrain cereal production. Using random-effects regression models, the empirics show that farming households are expected to produce 5.87 tonnes of cereals annually. Specifically, farming households headed by males are expected to produce 6.01 tonnes of cereal crops in a year, 0.14 tonnes more than female-headed households. Non-poor households are expected to produce 6.82 tonnes of cereals in a year compared with an expected production of 6.29 tonnes by poor households. Cereal production is constrained by wealth status, gender, and age of household heads. Our findings attempt to inform and shape policy towards sustained cereal production in Ghana, and by implication countries in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The Ministry of Food and Agriculture (MoFA) in Ghana, should bring on board a structural policy that will address constraints related to gender, wealth, and age of household heads to enhance sustainable cereal production.

Using virtual reality to assess gesture performance deficits in schizophrenia patients.

Gesture performance deficits are prevalent in schizophrenia patients and are strongly associated with poor social communication skills and community functioning, affecting their overall quality of life. Currently, video-recording technology is widely used in clinical settings to assess gesture production deficits in schizophrenia patients. Nevertheless, the subjective evaluation of video-recordings can encumber task assessment. The present study will aim to use virtual reality to examine its potential use as an alternative tool to objectively measure gesture performance accuracy in schizophrenia patients and healthy controls. Gesture performance in the virtual reality setting will be based on the well-established Test of Upper Limb Apraxia. Participants will be immersed in a virtual environment where they will experience themselves being embodied in a collocated virtual body seen from a first-person perspective. Motion trackers will be placed on participants' hands and elbows to track upper body movements in real-time, and to record gesture movement for later analysis. Participants will see a virtual agent sitting across from them, with a virtual table in between. The agent will perform various types of gestures and the participants' task will be to imitate those gestures as accurately as possible. Measurements from the tracking devices will be stored and analyzed to address gesture performance accuracy across groups. This study aims to provide objective measurements of gesture performance accuracy in schizophrenia patients. If successful, the results will provide new knowledge to the gesture literature and offer the potential for novel therapeutic interventions using virtual reality technologies. Such interventions can improve gesturing and thus advance social communication skills in schizophrenia patients.

Apraxia of Speech in the Spontaneous Speech of Nonfluent/Agrammatic Primary Progressive Aphasia.

Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a core feature of nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia (naPPA), but its precise characteristics and the prevalence of AOS features in spontaneous speech are debated. To assess the frequency of features of AOS in the spontaneous, connected speech of individuals with naPPA and to evaluate whether these features are associated with an underlying motor disorder such as corticobasal syndrome or progressive supranuclear palsy. We examined features of AOS in 30 patients with naPPA using a picture description task. We compared these patients to 22 individuals with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia and 30 healthy controls. Each speech sample was evaluated perceptually for lengthened speech segments and quantitatively for speech sound distortions, pauses between and within words, and articulatory groping. We compared subgroups of naPPA with and without at least two features of AOS to assess the possible contribution of a motor impairment to speech production deficits. naPPA patients produced both speech sound distortions and other speech sound errors. Speech segmentation was found in 27/30 (90%) of individuals. Distortions were identified in 8/30 (27%) of individuals, and other speech sound errors occurred in 18/30 (60%) of individuals. Frequent articulatory groping was observed in 6/30 (20%) of individuals. Lengthened segments were observed rarely. There were no differences in the frequencies of AOS features among naPPA subgroups as a function of extrapyramidal disease. Features of AOS occur with varying frequency in the spontaneous speech of individuals with naPPA, independently of an underlying motor disorder.

A natural state model in TOUGH2 for the Las Tres Virgenes geothermal field, Baja California Sur, Mexico

The availability of geothermal resources in Baja California has been thoroughly documented in the past. This region currently experiences a deficit in electricity production and it is, to date, disconnected from the National Electric Grid. It is therefore essential to provide strategies for a sustainable production of geothermal electricity in this region that besides, contributes to the increasing need for decarbonization of electricity industry. Here we propose an updated conceptual model of the Las Tres Virgenes hydrothermal system, a currently exploited geothermal area that has been active for more than two decades. The objective of this model is to provide thermal and aquifer relationships that gave rise to this system in its natural state. To achieve this, an updated structural model is presented based on recent geological interpretations of the area. Geochemical and geophysical evidences are also integrated in a conceptual model. A detailed pre-processing step of geological data is incorporated to preserve as much as possible the critical field evidences in the discrete model. Numerical simulations are then conducted using TOUGH2 and the equation of state for water and air (EOS3). As a result, the geothermal field is conceived, and numerically validated, as a fault-hosted fossil aquifer. The upflow that feeds the reservoir interacts with a network of faults. Since the faults hosting the aquifer belong to the regional structural feature of Santa Rosalia Basin, it is imperative to deepen the study of these system with regard to their storativity and permeability since they may control the fate of the system in the long term.

Apraxia of Speech in the Spontaneous Speech of Nonfluent/Agrammatic Primary Progressive Aphasia

Background: Apraxia of speech (AOS) is a core feature of nonfluent/agrammatic primary progressive aphasia (naPPA), but its precise characteristics and the prevalence of AOS features in spontaneous speech are debated. Objective: To assess the frequency of features of AOS in the spontaneous, connected speech of individuals with naPPA and to evaluate whether these features are associated with an underlying motor disorder such as corticobasal syndrome or progressive supranuclear palsy. Methods: We examined features of AOS in 30 patients with naPPA using a picture description task. We compared these patients to 22 individuals with behavioral variant frontotemporal dementia and 30 healthy controls. Each speech sample was evaluated perceptually for lengthened speech segments and quantitatively for speech sound distortions, pauses between and within words, and articulatory groping. We compared subgroups of naPPA with and without at least two features of AOS to assess the possible contribution of a motor impairment to speech production deficits. Results: naPPA patients produced both speech sound distortions and other speech sound errors. Speech segmentation was found in 27/30 (90%) of individuals. Distortions were identified in 8/30 (27%) of individuals, and other speech sound errors occurred in 18/30 (60%) of individuals. Frequent articulatory groping was observed in 6/30 (20%) of individuals. Lengthened segments were observed rarely. There were no differences in the frequencies of AOS features among naPPA subgroups as a function of extrapyramidal disease. Conclusion: Features of AOS occur with varying frequency in the spontaneous speech of individuals with naPPA, independently of an underlying motor disorder.

Land–atmosphere feedbacks contribute to crop failure in global rainfed breadbaskets

Global crop yields are highly dependent on climate variability, with the largest agricultural failures frequently occurring during extremely dry and hot years. Land–atmosphere feedbacks are thought to play a crucial role in agricultural productivity during such events: precipitation deficits cause soil desiccation, which reduces evaporation and enhances sensible heating from the land surface; the amplified local temperatures and moisture deficits can be detrimental to crop yield. While this impact of local land–atmosphere feedbacks on agricultural productivity has recently been reported, the dependency of crop yields on upwind regions remains understudied. Here, we determine the spatio-temporal origins of moisture and heat over the world’s largest 75 rainfed breadbaskets, and illustrate the crop yield dependency on upwind regions. Further, we disentangle the role of local and upwind land–atmosphere interactions on anomalous moisture and heat transport during low-yield years. Our results indicate that crop failure increases on average by around 40% when both upwind and local land–atmosphere feedbacks cause anomalously low moisture and high heat transport into the breadbaskets. The impact of upwind land–atmosphere feedbacks on productivity deficits is the largest in water-limited regions, which show an increased dependency on moisture supply from upwind land areas. Better understanding these upwind–downwind dependencies in agricultural regions can help develop adaptation strategies to prevent food shortage in a changing climate.

Assessment of verb and sentence processing deficits in stroke-induced aphasia: the Italian version of the Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences (NAVS-I)

ABSTRACT Background The Northwestern Assessment of Verbs and Sentences (NAVS) assesses verb and sentence production and comprehension in aphasia. Results from the original English version and from its adaptation to German have shown that the NAVS is able to capture effects of verb-argument structure (VAS) complexity (i.e., lower accuracy for two- and three-argument vs. one-argument verbs) and syntactic complexity (i.e., lower accuracy for non-canonical vs. canonical sentences) in both agrammatic participants and individuals with fluent forms of aphasia. The NAVS has been recently adapted to Italian (NAVS-I) and tested on a group of healthy participants, with results showing longer reaction times to complex vs. simple verbs and sentences. Aims The present study aimed to test the ability of NAVS-I to i) capture verb/sentence production and comprehension deficits in Italian-speaking individuals with agrammatism or with fluent aphasia, and ii) differentiate individuals with aphasia from healthy age-matched participants, with the overall goal to validate its use in clinical practice. Methods & Procedures Forty-four healthy participants and 28 individuals with aphasia (10 with agrammatic speech production) were administered the NAVS-I, which includes tasks assessing production and comprehension of verbs requiring one, two or three arguments, as well as production and comprehension of canonical and non-canonical sentences. Outcomes & Results On the Verb Naming Task (VNT), better production of one- (vs. two- and three-) argument verbs was found in the agrammatic group, whereas, verb production in the fluent group was solely predicted by word length and imageability. No effects of argument optionality (i.e., greater difficulty for optionally transitive verbs than for 1-argument verbs) were found. Sentence-level tasks found no differences between the agrammatic and the fluent group in production or comprehension of both canonical and non-canonical sentences; rather, sentence comprehension accuracy was predicted by demographic variables and by aphasia severity. At the individual level, performance on the NAVS-I was significantly different from that of healthy speakers in 26/28 patients. Conclusions Data show that the NAVS-I is able to capture effects of argument structure complexity in verb production, and effects of syntactic complexity in sentence production and comprehension. In addition, our results point to verb production as the task with greater capability to differentiate agrammatism from other (fluent) forms of aphasia. The study provides support for the use of the NAVS-I in the diagnosis of aphasia, as it is able to detect language deficits at the individual level, even in participants with mild (residual) forms of aphasia.

Oromotor Nonverbal Performance and Speech Motor Control: Theory and Review of Empirical Evidence.

This position paper offers a perspective on the long-standing debate concerning the role of oromotor, nonverbal gestures in understanding typical and disordered speech motor control secondary to neurological disease. Oromotor nonverbal tasks are employed routinely in clinical and research settings, but a coherent rationale for their use is needed. The use of oromotor nonverbal performance to diagnose disease or dysarthria type, versus specific aspects of speech production deficits that contribute to loss of speech intelligibility, is argued to be an important part of the debate. Framing these issues are two models of speech motor control, the Integrative Model (IM) and Task-Dependent Model (TDM), which yield contrasting predictions of the relationship between oromotor nonverbal performance and speech motor control. Theoretical and empirical literature on task specificity in limb, hand, and eye motor control is reviewed to demonstrate its relevance to speech motor control. The IM rejects task specificity in speech motor control, whereas the TDM is defined by it. The theoretical claim of the IM proponents that the TDM requires a special, dedicated neural mechanism for speech production is rejected. Based on theoretical and empirical information, the utility of oromotor nonverbal tasks as a window into speech motor control is questionable.

Voluntary wheel running and lithium supplementation improves muscle force production without altering SERCA function in the D2 mdx mouse

Background: Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) is an X-linked recessive muscle wasting disease that, with no cure, leads to early mortality (30-40 years of age). Previous studies have shown that voluntary wheel running can mitigate disease pathology and improve muscle contractility in the preclinical mdx mouse model. We have shown that treating wild-type (WT) mice with a low dose of lithium, a natural inhibitor of glycogen synthase kinase 3, enhanced soleus (SOL) and extensor digitorum longus (EDL) muscle contractility. Our objectives were to test our hypothesis of whether combining VWR with low dose lithium supplementation could provide further benefits to muscle contractility in DBA/2J mdx mice – a model that displays far worse disease severity compared with the traditional C57BL/10 mdx mouse. We also examined if this combined intervention could improve muscle calcium regulation in muscle by assessing sarco(endo)plasmic reticulum Ca 2+ -ATPase (SERCA) function as we have recently shown that SERCA function is drastically impaired in D2 mdx mice, which could also contribute to deficits in muscle force production. Methods: Young (5-6 week old) male D2 WT and mdx mice were ordered from Jackson Laboratory. D2 mdx mice were assigned into each of the following conditions: sedentary ( mdxSED), voluntary wheel running ( mdxVWR), or VWR+lithium chloride ( mdxVWR+Li). The VWR groups were given access to a cagewheel for a total of 6 weeks, and the mdxVWR+Li group were provided a low dose of LiCl (50 mg/kg/day) via drinking water for the entire duration of the study. After 6 weeks, all mice were euthanized and the SOL and EDL muscles were subjected to force-frequency curve analysis (1-160 Hz). SERCA function was assessed by performing SERCA activity assays and a Ca 2+ uptake assay. Results: In the SOL, the combined effect of lithium and VWR improved specific force production to near WT levels across submaximal and maximal frequencies. Specific force production in the mdxVWR+Li group was significantly greater compared to the mdxSED group at all stimulation frequencies. Rate of SOL force development was significantly lower in all mdx groups compared to WT. However, rate of relaxation was only significantly reduced (vs. WT) within the mdxSED group, suggesting that VWR and VWR+Li improved relaxation. This could not be explained by any changes in SERCA function. In the EDL, specific force was significantly (p<0.001) reduced across mdx groups compared to WT; however, of all mdx groups, the mdxVWR+Li produced the most force and was significantly different compared to mdxVWR at 80 and 160 Hz. Rates of force development and relaxation were all slower in all mdx groups compared to WT, and there were no differences in SERCA activity. Conclusions: Combining lithium supplementation with VWR improved SOL and EDL force production in the D2 mdx mouse without any changes to SERCA function. V.A.F is a Tier 2 Canada Research Chair in Muscle Plasticity and Tissue-Remodelling. This is the full abstract presented at the American Physiology Summit 2023 meeting and is only available in HTML format. There are no additional versions or additional content available for this abstract. Physiology was not involved in the peer review process.

Leveraging the microbiome to understand clinical heterogeneity in depression: findings from the T-RAD study

Alterations in the gut microbiome have been linked to a variety of mental illnesses including anxiety and depression. This study utilized advanced bioinformatics tools that integrated both the compositional and community nature of gut microbiota to investigate how gut microbiota influence clinical symptoms in a sample of participants with depression. Gut microbiota of 179 participants with major depressive disorder (MDD) in the Texas Resilience Against Depression (T-RAD) study were analyzed by 16S rRNA gene sequencing of stool samples. Severity of anxiety, depression, and anhedonia symptoms were assessed with General Anxiety Disorder – 7 item scale, Patient Health 9-item Questionnaire, and Dimensional Anhedonia Rating Scale, respectively. Using weighted correlation network analysis, a data-driven approach, three co-occurrence networks of bacterial taxa were identified. One of these co-occurrence networks was significantly associated with clinical features including depression and anxiety. The hub taxa associated with this co-occurrence module –one Ruminococcaceae family taxon, one Clostridiales vadinBB60 group family taxon, and one Christencenellaceae family taxon– were connected to several additional butyrate-producing bacteria suggesting that deficits in butyrate production may contribute to clinical symptoms. Therefore, by considering the community nature of the gut microbiome in a real world clinical sample, this study identified a gut microbial co-occurrence network that was significantly associated with clinical anxiety in a cohort of depressed individuals.

The timber industry in Russia under sanctions: Losses and opportunities

The article considers the prospects of the domestic timber industry in the context of sanctions restrictions. Based on the data on average annual trade flows for 2018—2020, the potential damage from trade restrictions is assessed. Particular attention is paid to the fifth package of EU sanctions, which contains the most severe restrictions on trade with Russia for a wide range of forest commodities. The potential loss of income for the Russian timber industry from the ban on exports to the EU is estimated at 3.5 billion dollars. The ban on imports from the EU countries may also be sensitive for the industry, but it should not be regarded as fatal. The possibilities of partial replacement of the deficit of products for a considerable list of goods are shown. At the same time, the violation of free trade in forest products because of sanctions becomes a new turn in the spiral of the global crisis, which began in the pandemic COVID-19. Consequently, the damage to countries imposing sanctions on Russia is also significant. The most affected will be the largest RF trading partners in Europe — Finland and Germany, as well as the Baltic States. A sharp increase in logging in the EU against the background of the energy crisis creates an additional opportunity for the Russian timber complex. The reciprocal nature of economic losses, as well as multiple examples of circumventing sanctions in other industries, suggest that the most likely scenario will be attempts to maintain trade relations while formally implementing the imposed restrictions.

Probing the pathogenicity of patient-derived variants of MT-ATP6 in yeast

The list of mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) variants detected in individuals with neurodegenerative diseases is constantly growing. Evaluating their functional consequences and pathogenicity is not easy, especially when they are found in only a limited number of patients together with wild-type mtDNA (heteroplasmy). Owing to its amenability to mitochondrial genetic transformation and incapacity to stably maintain heteroplasmy, and the strong evolutionary conservation of the proteins encoded in mitochondria, Saccharomyces cerevisiae provides a convenient model to investigate the functional consequences of human mtDNA variants. We herein report the construction and energy-transducing properties of yeast models of eight MT-ATP6 gene variants identified in patients with various disorders: m.8843T>C, m.8950G>A, m.9016A>G, m.9025G>A, m.9029A>G, m.9058A>G, m.9139G>A and m.9160T>C. Significant defect in growth dependent on respiration and deficits in ATP production were observed in yeast models of m.8950G>A, m.9025G>A and m.9029A>G, providing evidence of pathogenicity for these variants. Yeast models of the five other variants showed very mild, if any, effect on mitochondrial function, suggesting that the variants do not have, at least alone, the potential to compromise human health.

160 The Neurosurgical Anatomy of Deficits in Speech Production

INTRODUCTION: Why do similar neurosurgical lesions cause a range of deficits in speech production? We investigated Broca’s aphasia as a disorder of fluency and apraxia of speech (AOS) as a disorder of articulatory coordination to dissociate the anatomy and lesional etiology of these syndromes. METHODS: Patients were prospectively tested with a standardized speech paradigm. Resections were outlined into 3D regions of interest and transformed into a common brainspace (MNI brain). Recordings of speech were retrospectively review by speech language experts to assess apraxia of speech. A voxel-based lesion-mapping (VLSM) algorithm was used to associate resection areas with acute postoperative aphasia or apraxia of speech. Averages of white-matter tracts were overlaid onto MNI reconstructions for analyses of white-matter tract involvement. Pre-operative diffusion tensor imaging reconstructions were created using peri-lesional regions of interest for seeds to investigate perilesional white matter tracts in these cohorts. RESULTS: Of 289 patients with left sided craniotomies and prospective language evaluation, 19 had Broca’s aphasia. 255 of these patients had recordings available for expert review, of whom 28 had apraxia of speech. VLSM analysis found Broca’s aphasia and fluency deficits were not associated with classic anatomic Broca’s area (pars opercularis and triangularis). Rather, they were associated with ventral sensorimotor cortex (SMC) and supramarginal gyrus (P < 0.001). Apraxia of speech was associated the most ventral aspects of SMC (P < 0.001). SLF III reconstructions terminated in the areas associated with Broca’s aphasia and fluency deficits, but had more limited overlap with the VLSM regions associated with apraxia of speech. CONCLUSIONS: Lesions leading to AOS and Broca’s aphasia after neurosurgical resection do not correlate with Broca's area. Rather, they cluster in ventral sensorimotor cortex. Subcortical white-matter tract injury may explain disparate non-fluent aphasia subtypes in patients with anatomically similar lesions.

Climate Smart Agriculture - A Comprehensive Scoping and Assessment Study with Particular Reference to Uganda

** The paper is based on the study carried out by the author for FAO (Food and Agriculture Organization) and FANRPAN (Food, Agriculture and Natural Resources Policy Analysis Network) as a consultant.
 Based on the projection on population growth and food consumption pattern in developing countries, there is likely to be a deficit in the food production by the year
 2050. Africa’s population has just passed 1 billion and it is expected to double by the year 2050 (FAO 2012) According to FAO, Sub Saharan Africa, Uganda inclusive, is the region that has the highest proportion of poor and undernourished people in Africa (FAO,2011a). Agricultural production will, therefore have to increase by at least 70% in order to ensure that the food demands are met.
 Meeting the food demands of a growing population is already a formidable task for agricultural sector of many developing nations like Uganda but this will be further exacerbated by climate change. Largely due to climate change, agricultural productivity is likely to decrease. Similarly, the stability of production and incomes are likely to change. This trend may be even worse in countries which are already experiencing food insecurity (FAO 2012)
 The important implication of this is that for Uganda, policy makers will be faced with an even greater challenge to ensure that agriculture contributes more in addressing food security issues, development and climate change (adaptation and mitigation). In other words, agriculture in Uganda must undergo major and significant transformation in order to address the challenges likely to be faced in achieving food security and responding to climate change. Put in another way, in order to stabilize output and income, production systems must become more resilient or more capable of performing well in the face of disruptive events. This requires transformation in the management of natural resources and higher efficiency in the use of these resources and inputs for production. 
 According to FAO, approaches that seek to maximize the benefits and minimize the trade-offs across the multiple objectives, often associated with agricultural sector, require more integrated and coordinated planning, policies and institutional arrangements as well as financing and investments. Such approaches and related enabling requirements are referred to by FAO as climate smart agriculture. Climate Smart Agriculture (CSA) is thus a way to ensure the achievements of future food security under climate change. CSA encompasses sustainable agriculture and it includes the need for adaptation and the potential for mitigation with associated technical, policy and financing implications.
 This scoping study attempts to review and examine the current production practices as it relates to CSA in Uganda. The study also seeks to conduct comprehensive reviews of the existing policies, analyze gaps and identify relevant policy recommendations.

Breakdown and Productivity Prediction of Dragline using Machine Learning Algorithms

Dragline operations play a major role in the overall production of coal in open cast mining. Hence, it becomes necessary to maximize the working hours and minimize the idle and breakdown hours as it affects the overall production of a mine. There is also a shortage of skilled labour for dragline operations and combined with the time-to-time breakdown of dragline, it results in a production deficit. In this study, extensive research is carried out using machine learning algorithms on data obtained from one of the largest opencast mines in Singrauli. The data consists of the parameters that were maintained by the staff on a regular basis, and the algorithm tried to learn the underlying patterns between the independent and dependent variables and find the correlation between the parameters that have a significant impact on productivity and breakdown, which were the dependent variables. The results obtained from the algorithms are encouraging and, with certain improvements in data collection procedures, can improve the prediction accuracy to an effective level. An increase in the frequency of data collection and expanding the data recording using sensors to the electrical and mechanical parameters along with the specific type of failure in the dragline machine will further improve the accuracy of the model and can provide beforehand information so that the machine could be handed over to maintenance department for the change of faulty parts and necessary precautions that can be taken to prevent the breakdown which will result in an overall reduction of idle and breakdown hours and increase in overall production.

Long-time series assessment of the sustainable development of Xiamen City in China based on ecological footprint calculations

Ecological footprint is an operational quantitative method to convert the biological resources consumed by human beings and the wastes discharged into bioproductive land area. Compared to the ecological carrying capacity, the ecological footprint model can evaluate the sustainability of regional development. However, owing to shortcomings in the evaluation of regional sustainable development, the ecological footprint model is unable to reflect the ecological inequity between regions caused by trade, and so it has been revised to a consumptive and productive ecological footprint model. The purpose of this study was to analyze the changing trends of productive and consumptive ecological footprint and deficit by calculating the ecological footprint of Xiamen City, China, from 2010 to 2019. This study also evaluates the sustainability and fairness of this zone's development and determines the patterns of its sustainable development. The results show that the productive ecological surplus of Xiamen increased by nearly 15 times from − 0.0084 in 2010 to 0.1165 in 2019, while the consumption ecological deficit increased by 30 times, from 0.0228 in 2010 to 0.3338 in 2019. Therefore, Xiamen is regionally sustainable but nationally unsustainable as it takes up the resources of other regions of the country. The city should take more responsibility for current national ecological problems. Therefore, within the rational range of its ecological carrying capacity, Xiamen should harness local natural resources, ensure a sufficient supply of local farmland, increase the yield per unit of agricultural products, and ensure consumption of more locally-produced products.

Disease-specific differences in gene expression, mitochondrial function and mitochondria-endoplasmic reticulum interactions in iPSC-derived cerebral organoids and cortical neurons in schizophrenia and bipolar disorder

We compared transcriptomic profiles of cerebral organoids differentiated from induced pluripotent stem cells of eight schizophrenia and eight bipolar disorder patients to identify genes that were differentially expressed in cerebral organoids between two disorders. Gene ontology analysis showed relative up-regulation in schizophrenia organoids of genes related to response to cytokines, antigen binding and clathrin-coated vesicles, while showing up-regulation in bipolar disorder of genes involved in calcium binding. Gene set enrichment analysis revealed enrichment in schizophrenia of genes involved in mitochondrial and oxidative phosphorylation while showing enrichment in bipolar disorder of genes involved in long term potentiation and neuro-transporters. We compared mitochondrial function in cerebral organoids from schizophrenia and bipolar disorder subjects and found that while schizophrenia organoids showed deficits in basal oxygen consumption rate and ATP production when compared to healthy control organoids, while bipolar disorder organoids did not show these deficits. Gene ontology analyses also revealed enrichment in bipolar disorder of genes in ion binding and regulation of transport. Experiments examining the interaction between mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum in cortical neurons from bipolar disorder subjects showed a significantly lower number of contact sites between mitochondria and endoplasmic reticulum when compared to cortical neurons from schizophrenia patients. These results point to disease-specific deficits in mitochondrial respiration in schizophrenia and in mitochondrial-endoplasmic reticulum interactions in bipolar disorder.

Persistent Unilateral Force Production Deficits Following Hand Injury in Experienced Climbers: A Reliability and Retrospective Injury Study.

In climbing, research is needed to guide clinical and training advice regarding strength differences between hands. The objectives of this study were to establish test-retest reliability of a field-based apparatus measuring sport-specific unilateral isometric hand strength and to investigate whether these measures detect between-hand differences in climbers with and without a history of unilateral hand injury. A reliability and case-control injury study was carried out. Seventeen intermediate-advanced climbers without and 15 intermediate-advanced climbers with previous unilateral hand injury participated. Unilateral isometric fingertip flexor strength was assessed during maximal voluntary contraction (MVC) and peak rate of force development (RFD) tests in full-crimp overhead position. The magnitude of within-group between-hand differences was calculated using a generalized estimating equation to evaluate if prior injury was associated with lower MVC and RFD outcomes and whether hand dominance influenced the magnitude of these effects. The control group was assessed 1 wk later to determine intraclass correlation coefficients (ICCs) for all measures. The MVC (ICC 0.91-0.93) and the RFD (ICC 0.92-0.83) tests demonstrated moderate-to-high reliability. When accounting for handedness, those with prior injury showed 7% (P=0.004) reduced MVC and 13% (P=0.008) reduced RFD in the injured hand. The nondominant hand was also significantly weaker in MVC (11%, P<0.001) and RFD (12%, P=0.02) outcomes. For uninjured climbers, MVC and RFD were not significantly higher in the dominant hand (differing by 4% and 5%, respectively). Previous climbing injury was associated with persistent weakness in the injured limb and exacerbated handedness effects. Therefore, recommendations for rehabilitation should be considered.