Partial Products Research Articles

An Efficient Approximate Multiplier with Encoded Partial Products and Inexact Counter for Joint Photographic Experts Group Compression

An Efficient Approximate Multiplier with Encoded Partial Products and Inexact Counter for Joint Photographic Experts Group Compression

Interaction of phosphorus and GA3 improved oilseed flax grain yield and phosphorus-utilization efficiency.

Phosphorus nutrition and hormone concentration both affect crop yield formation. Ascertaining the interaction of phosphorus and GA3 has a synergistic effect on the grain yield and phosphorus utilization efficiency of oilseed flax in dryland. It is extremely important for improving grain yield and phosphorus utilization efficiency. A field experiment was conducted in 2019 and 2020 at the Dingxi Oil Crops Test Station to investigated the effects of phosphorus, gibberellin (GA3), and their interaction on the grain yield and phosphorus-utilization efficiency of oilseed flax plants. Phosphorus fertilizer was applied at three levels (0, 67.5, 135 kg P2O5·ha-1) and GA3 was also sprayed at three concentrations (0, 15, and 30 mg·L-1). The results showed that application of 67.5kg P2O5·ha-1 reduced leaves acid phosphatase (ACPase) activity, but increased phosphorus accumulation throughout the growth period, the 1000-kernel weight (TKW), and the number of grains per capsule. Spraying GA3 significantly increased the leaves ACPase activity, phosphorus accumulation after anthesis and its contribution to grain, phosphorus-utilization efficiency, the number of capsules per plant, and TKW. The phosphorus accumulation at the anthesis, kernel, and maturity stages under the treatment of fertilizing 67.5kg P2O5·ha-1 and spraying 30 mg·L-1 GA3 were increased by 56.06%, 73.51%, and 62.17%, respectively, compared with the control (no phosphorus, no GA3). And the phosphorus accumulation after anthesis and its contribution to grain also increased. 67.5kg P2O5·ha-1 combined with 30 mg·L-1 GA3 and 135kg P2O5·ha-1 combined with 15 mg·L-1 GA3 both significantly increased grain yield of oilseed flax, reaching 1696 kg·ha-1 and 1716 kg·ha-1 across two years, respectively. And there was no significant difference between them. However, the former treatment significant increased the apparent utilization rate, agronomic utilization rate, and partial productivity of phosphorus. The interaction between phosphorus and GA3 was significant for grain yield. Therefore, the application of 67.5kg P2O5·ha-1 in combination with 30 mg·L-1 GA3 is an effective fertilization approach for enhancing oilseed flax growth and grain yield in the experiment region and other similar areas.

Enhancing productivity of aromatic rice-chickpea paira cropping system through different nutrient management practices

The field experiment was carried out at Regional Research and Technology Transfer Station, Bhawanipatna, Kalahandi of Odisha University of Agriculture & Technology, Bhubaneswar to evaluate the performance of three aromatic rice varieties under five different nutrient management practices during 2017-18 and 2018-19. The experiment was laid out in split-plot design taking three aromatic rice varieties (Geetanjali, Gangabali and Badshabhog) in main plot and five nutrient management practices (40:20:20, 60:30:30, 80:40:40 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1, 40:20:20 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1+ FYM 5 t ha-1 and 40:20:20 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1 + FYM 5 t ha-1 + Biofertilizers (Azospirillum and PSB 5 kg each ha-1 ) in sub- plot replicated thrice. Chickpea was sown as paira crop 15 days prior to the harvest of paddy. The yield attributes, yield and economics of production was maximum in aromatic rice Gangabali. Maximum grain yield was obtained with application of 80:40:40 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1(3480 kg ha-1) being at par with 40:20:20 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1 + FYM 5 t ha-1 (3303 kg ha-1) and 40:20:20 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1 + FYM 5 t ha-1 + Biofertilizers (3392 kg ha-1). The chickpea seed yield was maximum in Geetanjali (682 kg ha-1) grown plot, which was harvested fifteen days earlier than the other two varieties. The residual effect of nutrient management practices was prominent in the treatment where inorganic fertilizers were applied in conjunction with organic manures in which the seed yield of chickpea was 19-72% higher in the plots with combined application of organic manures and inorganic fertilizer than that of only inorganic fertilizers. The rice equivalent yield (REY), gross return, net return, return rupee-1 invested and partial factor productivity of NPK used were higher in Geetanjali. Among the nutrient management practices application of 40:20:20 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1 + FYM 5t ha-1 + Biofertilizer registered maximum REY (5088 kg ha-1), gross return (Rs.1,31,336 ha-1) and net return (Rs.75,868 ha-1) which was 43 and 24% higher than the plots treated with 40:20:20 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1 and 60:30:30 kg N:P2O5:K2O ha-1, respectively. The partial factor productivity of NPK used was significantly higher in the treatment supplied with less nutrients from inorganic and/or organics sources and gradually decreased with increasing NPK dose.

Determinan Ekspor Batu Bara Indonesia Serta Kontribusinya Terhadap Ekspor Pertambangan dan Pendapatan Negara

Study This title “ Determinants of Indonesian Coal Exports and Their Contribution To Export Mining and State Revenue ”. As for objective from study This that is For know development as well as influence price , exchange rate And production rock coals to export stone in Indonesia. Objective next that is analyze contribution sector mining to state income. Method research used _ is analysis quantitative with secondary data in the form of export data new ember , export data mining And income country period 2013-2021 sourced _ from BPS. For analyze influence price , exchange rate to production rock coals use multiple linear regression , whereas For analyze contribution mining export rock coal in Indonesia uses equality Contribution. Results analysis concludes , first export rock coals as well as his contribution to export mining And income country during 2013-2021 period with fluctuating conditions , respectively _ Partial Exchange rate And Production influential significant to coal exports in Indonesia meanwhile in a manner contribution obtained mark more big than 50%, that is sector mining contribute very Good to GDP in Indonesia during period 2013-2021.

Optimized nitrogen application for maximizing yield and minimizing nitrogen loss in film mulching spring maize production on the Loess Plateau, China

Excessive use of N fertilizers (driven by high-yield goals) and its consequent environmental problems are becoming increasingly acute in agricultural systems. A 2-year field experiment was conducted to investigate the effects of three N application methods (application of solid granular urea once (OF) or twice (TF), application of solid granular urea mixed with controlled-release urea once (MF)), and six N rates (0, 60, 120, 180, 240, and 300 kg N ha−1) on maize yield, economic benefits, N use efficiency, and soil N balance in the maize (Zea mays L.) film mulching system on the Loess Plateau, China. The grain yield and economic return of maize were significantly affected by the N rate and application method. Compared with the OF treatment, the MF treatment not only increased the maize yield (increased by 9.0–16.7%) but also improved the economic return (increased by 10.9–25.8%). The agronomic N use efficiency (NAE), N partial factor productivity (NPFP) and recovery N efficiency (NRE) were significantly improved by 19.3–66.7, 9.0–16.7 and 40.2–71.5%, respectively, compared with the OF treatment. The economic optimal N rate (EONR) of the OF, TF, and MF was 145.6, 147.2, and 144.9 kg ha−1 in 2019, and 206.4, 186.4, and 146.0 kg ha−1 in 2020, respectively. The apparent soil N loss at EONR of the OF, TF, and MF were 97.1–100.5, 78.5–79.3, and 50.5–68.1 kg ha−1, respectively. These results support MF as a one-time N application method for delivering high yields and economic benefits, with low N input requirements within film mulching spring maize system on the Loess Plateau.

Convergence of deep ReLU networks

We explore convergence of deep neural networks with the popular ReLU activation function, as the depth of the networks tends to infinity. To this end, we introduce the notion of activation domains and activation matrices of a ReLU network. By replacing applications of the ReLU activation function by multiplications with activation matrices on activation domains, we obtain an explicit expression of the ReLU network. We then identify the convergence of the ReLU networks as convergence of a class of infinite products of matrices. Sufficient and necessary conditions for convergence of these infinite products of matrices are studied. As a result, we establish necessary conditions for ReLU networks to converge that the sequence of weight matrices converges to the identity matrix and the sequence of the bias vectors converges to zero as the depth of ReLU networks increases to infinity. Moreover, we obtain sufficient conditions in terms of the weight matrices and bias vectors at hidden layers for pointwise convergence of deep ReLU networks. These results provide mathematical insights to convergence of deep neural networks. Experiments are conducted to mathematically verify the results and to illustrate their potential usefulness in initialization of deep neural networks.

Productivity Improvement of Production Unit Using Objective Matrix (OMAX) Method at PT. X

PT. X is one of the industries in Indonesia that processes sugar cane into sugar and is one of the suppliers of national sugar needs. PT. X's production activities in 2022 still cannot reach the target and production per period has fluctuated. Therefore, this study was conducted with the aim of knowing the current level of total and partial productivity and can provide suggestions for improvement to increase the productivity of sugar production at PT. X in the future. The method used is Objective Matrix (OMAX) with the determination of the weight of the criteria using the AHP method. The criteria used in this study are raw materials, labor, boiler machine working hours, electricity and water. Based on the calculations that have been carried out, it can be seen that partial productivity on raw material criteria, the best productivity ratio owned by the company is 6.97, on labor criteria the ratio is worth 1521.86, on the criteria for boiler machine working hours worth 978.91. In the electricity criteria, the best productivity ratio is 3.89. In the water usage criteria, the highest productivity value is 1.83. The company's highest total productivity achieved was 750.7 in the 6th period of August and the lowest productivity with a value of 73.8 in the 2nd period of June. Improvements were made to all criteria, especially labor criteria and boiler machine working hours. With the application of the OMAX method, PT. X can improve partial productivity and total productivity in the future and identify factors that cause productivity to drop in a certain period.

Method of Synthesis of Devices for Parallel Stream Calculation of Scalar Product in Real Time

A graph scheme of a generalized algorithm for parallel stream calculation of the scalar product was developed. The proposed algorithm uses the same type of operations for forming a partial product that is calculated starting from the lowest digits of the multipliers. The developed algorithm of parallel stream calculation of the scalar product is performed with the use of operations for forming partial products, calculating the macro-partial product, and adding it to the partial result shifted to the right by the number of digits that were used in the formation of partial products. It is suggested that the development of FPGA structures of devices for parallel stream calculation of the scalar product be carried out according to the following principles: use of the same type of conveyor steps; performing calculations based on addition, inversion, and shift operations; performing the calculation of the scalar product as a single operation; regularity and localization of connections between conveyor steps; coordination of the duration of the conveyor time with the time of data input and the time of output of calculation results; space-time parallelization of the process of calculating the scalar product. The algorithm and structure of the parallel stream device for calculating the scalar product with direct formation of partial products based on the analysis of one order of multipliers, which ensures operation with the smallest conveyor cycle, has been developed. The algorithm and structure of the parallel stream device for calculating the scalar product with the formation of partial products for the sum of two pairs of products with the analysis of one order of multipliers, which is advisable to use for a small number of operands, have been developed. The algorithm and structure of a parallel stream device for calculating the scalar product with the formation of partial products according to the modified Booth algorithm have been developed, which ensures a reduction in equipment costs when processing operands with n≥24 bits. The algorithm and structure of the device for calculating the scalar product with the formation of group partial products have been developed, which provides the lowest equipment costs in the case of n=8 for N>8. A method for the synthesis of FPGA devices for parallel stream calculation of the scalar product in real-time has been developed. The proposed method ensures high efficiency of the use of the equipment due to the selection of the algorithm for the formation of partial products and the structure of the device from the list of developed ones and the coordination of the cycle of the conveyor of the selected structure with the time of arrival of input data.

Water management, planting slope indicators, and economic benefit analysis for Panax notoginseng production decision under shaded and rain-shelter cultivation: A three-year sloping fields experiment

Panax notoginseng cultivation planting conditions are harsh and require high soil moisture and slope of cultivated land, plus it takes 3–7 years from planting to harvesting. At present, the continuous crop barrier of Panax notoginseng has not been solved, which makes the arable land suitable for planting significantly reduced. And yet, there is almost no report on the impact of coupling water and slope on the growth of Panax notoginseng. Therefore, this study aims to explore the effects of different irrigation levels and slopes on soil water content (SWC) in the root zone, soil nutrient content, root characteristics, yield, water use efficiency (WUE), partial fertilizer productivity (PFP) and economic benefits of Panax notoginseng. During 2018–2020, a field experiment was conducted in the Panax notoginseng growing seasons with three irrigation levels (I1: 70–75% θFC, I2: 75–80% θFC, I3: 80–85% θFC) and three slopes (S1: 2.43°, S2: 6.38°, S3: 16.38°). The results evidenced that soil water and nutrient content increased with increasing irrigation and decreased with increasing slope. The yield of Panax notoginseng, root morphological characteristics, WUE, PFP, and economic benefits showed a trend of increasing first and then decreasing with the increase of irrigation amount and slope, which increased with the increase of planting years. These parameters reached their maximum at the irrigation I2 (75–80% θFC) and slope S2 (6.38°) treatments. Thus, based on the results of this study, medium irrigation I2 (75–80% θFC) and slope S2 (6.38°) should be considered as the best slope and water management strategy to obtain both high Panax notoginseng yield and economic benefits. Through establishing a multi-objective optimization model with binary quadratic regression analysis. It was indicated that Panax notoginseng yield, WUE, PFP, and economic benefits simultaneously reached ≥ 98% of their maximum values when irrigation interval was 152–193 mm and slope interval was 5.4–9°. In summary, the results obtained in this study have important practical significance for the water management of Panax notoginseng cultivation in slope farmland in Yunnan Province, China.

Enhancing Nutrient Use Efficiency through Nano Urea in Pigeon Pea Based Intercropping System

A field experiment was conducted at Birsa Agricultural University Ranchi during the kharif seasons of 2021 and 2022 to evaluate N uptake and Nutrient Use Efficiency (NUE) for nitrogen as influenced by pigeon pea-based intercropping systems and nitrogen management. Pigeon pea + sweet corn intercropping systems with 100% recommended nitrogen (N1), recorded significantly higher total nitrogen uptake (196.6 kg/ha) which was at par with 50% RDN + 2 spray of nano urea (189.1 kg/ha). Whereas partial factor productivity (PFP), agronomic efficiency (AE), apparent recovery use efficiency (ARUE), economic nutrient use efficiency (ENUE), partial nutrient balance (PNB) of pigeon pea + sweet corn intercropping was recorded maximum (27.4 kg/kg, 13.4 kg/kg, 64.8 %, 1.66 kg yield/ ₹ invested in nitrogen & 0.88 kg/kg) respectively, while in nitrogen management, 50% RDN + 2 sprays of Nano urea performed better in terms of PFP, AE, ARUE, ENUE & PNB (52.5 kg/kg, 24.1 kg/kg, 115.4 %, 3.20 kg yield/ ₹ invested in nitrogen & 1.43 kg/kg respectively) when compared to the other nitrogen management.

Speed, Power and Area Optimized Monotonic Asynchronous Array Multipliers

Multiplication is a fundamental arithmetic operation in electronic processing units such as microprocessors and digital signal processors as it plays an important role in various computational tasks and applications. There exist many designs of synchronous multipliers in the literature. However, in the domain of Input–Output Mode (IOM) asynchronous design, there is relatively less published research on multipliers. Some existing works have considered quasi-delay-insensitive (QDI) asynchronous implementations of multipliers. However, the QDI asynchronous design paradigm, in general, is not area- and speed-efficient. This article presents an efficient alternative implementation of IOM asynchronous multipliers based on the concept of monotonic Boolean networks. The array multiplier architecture has been considered for demonstrating the usefulness of our proposition. The building blocks of the multiplier, such as the partial product generator, half adder, and full adder, were implemented monotonically. The popular dual-rail encoding scheme was considered for encoding the multiplier inputs and outputs, and four-phase return-to-zero handshaking (RZH) and return-to-one handshaking (ROH) were separately considered for communication. Compared to the best of the existing QDI asynchronous array multipliers, the proposed monotonic asynchronous array multiplier achieves the following reductions in design metrics: (i) a 40.1% (44.3%) reduction in cycle time (which is the asynchronous equivalent of synchronous clock timing), a 37.7% (37.7%) reduction in area, and a 4% (4.5%) reduction in power for 4 × 4 multiplication corresponding to RZH (ROH), and (ii) a 58.1% (60.2%) reduction in cycle time, a 45.2% (45.2%) reduction in area, and a 10.3% (11%) reduction in power for 8 × 8 multiplication corresponding to RZH (ROH). The multipliers were implemented using a 28 nm CMOS process technology.

Applications of Biofertilizers and Phosphorus Influence Nutrient Uptake and Nutrient Use Efficiency in Chickpea (Cicer Arietinum L.)

ABSTRACT The objective of the study was to investigate the effects of sole applications of biofertilizers and phosphorus as well as their integrated use in lentil. The field experiment was conducted to study the effect of phosphorus (0, 15, 20 and 25 kg P2O5 ha−1) and biofertilizer inoculation treatments [uninoculated control, Mesorhizobium, Mesorhizobium + RB-1 (Pseudomonas argentinensis) and Mesorhizobium + RB-2 (Bacillus aryabhattai)] on nutrient uptake, nutrient use efficiency and residual nutrient status of soil after the harvest of chickpea. Mesorhizobium + RB-1 recorded the highest uptake of nitrogen (73.7, 59.0 and 132.7 kg ha−1 in grain, straw and total, respectively), phosphorus (8.29, 11.34 and 19.63 kg ha−1 in grain, straw and total) and potassium (23.48, 43.36 and 66.84 kg ha−1 in grain, straw and total) as well as partial factor productivity (113.1 kg grain kg−1 P2O5). Application of 25 kg P2O5 ha−1 recorded the highest phosphorus concentration (0.39% in grain and 0.26% in straw), phosphorus uptake (8.35, 12.32 and 20.67 kg ha−1 in grain, straw and total, respectively) and phosphorus status in soil after crop harvest (18.7 and 16.7 kg P ha−1 in 0–15 and 15–30 cm soil layers, respectively). Partial factor productivity was recorded the highest with the application of 15 kg P2O5 ha−1 (132.2 kg grain kg−1 P2O5). It can be concluded that dual applications of biofertilizers [Mesorhizobium + RB-1 (Pseudomonas argentinensis)] and 25 kg P2O5 ha−1 improve nutrient uptake by the crop and build up of nutrients in the soil after the harvest of the crop.

Zinc biofortification and implications on growth, nutrient efficiency, and stress response in Amaranthus cruentus through soil application of biosynthesized nanoparticles

The study investigates the effects of treating Amaranthus cruentus (red amaranth) plants with biosynthesized zinc nanoparticles (Zn Nps) and zinc sulfate at concentrations of 10, 25, and 50 kg/ha [4.46, 11.11 and 22.32 ppm, respectively] on plant height, weight, zinc accumulation, zinc use efficiency, health risk index associated with the consumption of treated plants and gene expression analysis of stress-responsive genes. Notably, applying 10 kg/ha [4.5 ppm] of biosynthesized Zn Nps resulted in an increase in the plant height by 34 % and the fresh weight by 53 % compared to the other treatments. However, an increase in the concentration of Zn Nps application led to reduced plant height and fresh weight, both for 25 [11 ppm] and 50 [22 ppm] kg/ha concentration, likely due to excessive zinc toxicity. Zinc accumulation in plant tissues increased significantly for all treatments compared to the control, with dose-dependent increases in leaves, shoots, and roots for Zn Nps. Zinc use efficiency was evaluated, with biosynthesized Zn Nps at 10 kg/ha displaying superior agronomic efficiency, partial productivity factor, and physiological efficiency. While zinc sulfate at 10 kg/ha exhibited lower values than biosynthesized Zn Nps, they still surpassed other concentrations, highlighting the benefits of optimizing zinc levels. Health risk assessment revealed safe consumption across treatments, with hazard risk index (HRI) values below one, particularly for plants treated with 10 kg/ha biosynthesized Zn Nps. Gene expression analysis of stress-responsive genes AhDGR2 and AhGSH1, remained relatively consistent across all treatments.

Potassium Fertilization and Application Time for Wheat Yield Improvement in Cambisols of Enderta Districts, South Eastern, Tigray

Recently the government of Ethiopia has introduced potassium as fertilizer through the introduction of various K containing blended fertilizers. However, the optimum application rate and time of application on specific crop and soil type has not been studied yet. So, a field experiment was conducted to determine the optimum rate of potassium and its application time for wheat yield and yield components in Cambisols of Enderta district South Eastern zone of Tigray. The experiment was laid out in Randomized Complete Block Design with 4 levels of potassium (0, 40, 60 and 80 of K2O kg/ha) with and without split application including control in three replications. Results depicted that except harvest index all the yield and yield components of wheat were influenced by potassium fertilization. Moreover, split application of K significantly affected the yield and yield components of wheat as compared to single application of full dose of K. In line with this, the highest grain and straw yields of wheat were obtained at 80 kg/ha K2O levels and statistically similar with the split application levels of 40 and 60 kg/ha K2O. This implies that the 40 kg/ha K2O at split application is economically feasible (optimum) level of K for wheat production in the Cambisols of the area studied. The highest agronomic efficiency and partial factor productivity were also obtained at the level of 40 kg/ha K2O in split forms. Hence, potassium fertilization is important and should be applied in split methods rather than at full single dose at planting for increasing wheat yield and improving agronomic efficiency and partial factor productivity in the Cambisols of Enderta districts.

Productivity, nutrient indices and soil nutrient status of short grain aromatic rice-green gram system as influenced by integrated nutrient management strategies

New age challenges of irrational use of fertilizers under monocropping of rice calls for integrative nutrient management strategy along with establishment of rice based cropping system. A field study was carried out in 2017–18 and 2018–19 at Odisha University of Agriculture and Technology, Bhubaneswar, India to investigate the integrated nutrient management strategies on productivity, nutrient indices and soil nutrient status in short grain aromatic rice-green gram cropping system. The experiment was set up in split plot design with six nutrient management strategies in rice were taken in main plot in randomized block design and three nutrient management strategies in green gram were taken as sub plot in split-plot design in sequence. Results revealed that application of 50% NPK+ 50% Recommended Dose of Nitrogen (RDN)-FYM to rice followed by 75% NPK + Rhizobium + Phosphorus Solubilizing Bacteria to green gram recorded the highest rice equivalent yield and production efficiency in 2017–18 and 2018–19 followed by 50% NPK+ 50% RDN-FYM to rice followed by 100% NPK to green gram. Application of 50% NPK+ 50% RDN-FYM to rice and 75% NPK + Rhizobium + PSB to green gram recorded the highest partial factor productivity of nitrogen, nitrogen utilization efficiency and nitrogen uptake efficiency in the system. Soil nutrient status of the cropping system improved with balanced application of organic and inorganic sources of nutrients compared to mineral fertilizers only. Thus, supplementing FYM and sesbania as organic manures along with reduced dose of inorganic fertilizers improved sustainability of rice-green gram system along with improving soil fertility.

Effects of Water and Nitrogen Regulation on Cotton Growth and Hydraulic Lift under Dry Topsoil Conditions

Dry topsoil and relatively moist subsoil can occur in specific areas and times, limiting plant growth but creating conditions for hydraulic lift (HL). There is a lack of a rational water and nitrogen (N) strategy to improve cotton growth and maintain HL. This study investigated the effects of three topsoil water conditions (W0.6: 60–70%, W0.5: 50–60%, and W0.4: 40–50% of field capacity) and three N rates (N120-120, N240-240, and N360-360 kg N ha−1) plus one control treatment on cotton growth and HL under dry topsoil conditions in 2020 and 2021. The results showed that plant height and leaf area increased with increasing N rate, but the differences among topsoil water conditions were relatively small, except for leaf area in 2021. The HL water amount of all treatments increased gradually and then continued to decline during the observation period. There was a trend that the drier the topsoil or the more N applied, the greater the amount of HL water. Additionally, topsoil water conditions and N rate significantly affected the total HL water amount and root morphological characteristics (root length, surface area, and volume). Seed and lint cotton yield tended to decrease with increasing topsoil dryness at N240 or N360, except for lint yield in 2021, or with decreasing N rate, especially under W0.6. As topsoil became drier, the total evapotranspiration (ET) decreased, while with the increase in N rate, ET showed small differences. Water use efficiency increased with a higher N rate, while N partial factor productivity (PFPN) did the opposite. Furthermore, the PFPN under W0.4 was significantly lower than that under W0.6 at N240 or N120. These findings could be useful for promoting the utilization of deep water and achieving sustainable agricultural development.

Optimized fertilization based on fallow season precipitation and the Nutrient Expert system for dryland wheat reduced environmental risks and increased economic benefits

In drylands, optimized management of fertilization based on precipitation is very important to reduce fertilizer inputs and environmental risks and improve crop yield and benefits. Based on a four-year winter wheat experiment with two treatments (FP, farmers’ practices; NE, Nutrient Expert system recommendation) at nine counties of the Chinese Loess Plateau, we determined the effects of NE on wheat yield, environmental risks, and economic benefits under three precipitation year types (dry, normal, and wet) and recommended optimized N fertilization. The results showed that the NE treatment reduced N and P fertilizer input rates by 21.7% and 50.0%, respectively, Nr losses by 30.1% and GHG emissions by 21.6%, but it did not affect wheat grain yield compared to the FP treatment. There were no significant differences in N and P input rates among the three precipitation year types, but higher grain yield and partial factor productivity of N and P fertilizers were found in wet years in the NE treatment. Additionally, soil nitrate N residues in the 0–100 cm soil layers were ordered in wet years < normal years < dry years. Based on the NE system, the optimized N fertilization method could further reduce the N fertilizer rate by 16.6% and 62.5%, Nr losses by 20% and 68%, and GHG emissions by 1.7% and 47.8% in normal and dry years, respectively, but could increase economic benefits by 3.3% and 5.6%, suggesting that optimized fertilization based on fallow season precipitation can result in multiple benefits for agriculture and the environment.

Controlled-Release Nitrogen Mixed with Common Nitrogen Fertilizer Can Maintain High Yield of Rapeseed and Improve Nitrogen Utilization Efficiency.

Field experiments were conducted to study the effects of different proportions of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer mixed with quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer on the yield and nitrogen utilization efficiency of direct-seeding rapeseed. Using a conventional nitrogen application rate of 180 kg ha-1 as a control, a total of 5 types of available nitrogen fertilizers and different proportions of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizers were mixed for fertilizer treatment. The proportion of available nitrogen fertilizer used was 135 kg ha-1, and the addition ratios of the five types of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizers were 0%, 30%, 50%, 70%, and 100%, respectively (i.e., the proportion of controlled-release nitrogen to the total nitrogen application amount). These ratios were represented as N135R0, N135R1, N135R2, N135R3, and N135R4, respectively. The results showed that there was no significant difference in the number of pods per plant, the number of seeds per pod, or the grain yield under the treatment of controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer mixed with quick-acting nitrogen fertilizer for proportions of 30-50% (N135R1~R3) when compared with the control, and a stable yield was achieved. Mixing controlled-release nitrogen fertilizer under reduced nitrogen application can significantly improve the apparent utilization rate of rapeseed nitrogen fertilizer, but it first increases and then decreases with the increase of the controlled-release nitrogen mixing ratio, reaching its highest under the N135R2 treatment. The agronomic utilization efficiency and partial productivity of nitrogen fertilizer first increased and then decreased with the increased proportion of controlled-release nitrogen, and both reached their highest utilization with the N135R2 treatment. The mixed treatment of controlled-release nitrogen did not affect soil urease activity, but significantly increased soil sucrase activity. The mixed treatment of controlled-release nitrogen also increased soil microbial biomass nitrogen and carbon content. Especially in the flowering stage, the soil microbial biomass nitrogen and carbon content was significantly higher under a controlled-release nitrogen mixing ratio of 30-50%. At the same time, it had a similar effect on soil inorganic nitrogen content. Therefore, a controlled-release nitrogen mixing treatment provided sufficient nitrogen for the key growth period of rapeseed. Under the condition of reducing the amount of nitrogen fertilizer by 25% based on the amount of nitrogen fertilizer applied to conventional rapeseed, the application of controlled-release urea mixed with common nitrogen fertilizer mixed at a ratio of 30-50% can be an effective way to maintain grain yield levels and improve nitrogen utilization efficiency.

Long-term maintenance of high yield and soil fertility with integrated soil-crop system management on the Loess Plateau

Ridge–furrow with full film mulching has been widely applied to increase crop yield and water productivity on the Loess Plateau, but it may stimulate carbon (C) mineralization. How to integrate other technological benefits based on this technology for long-term maintenance of high yield and soil fertility is a pressing issue. With the local farmers’ practice (FP) as a control, three integrated soil-crop system management (ISSM) practices integrating fertilizer rates, fertilizer types and planting densities (ISSM-N1, ISSM-N2 and ISSM-MN) were established to improve maize yield and soil quality. Compared with the FP, the maize yield increased by 13.34%, 21.83% and 30.24%, and the soil quality index (SQI) increased by 9.66%, 14.91% and 38.38% for ISSM-N1, ISSM-N2 and ISSM-MN, respectively. However, ISSM-N1 did not significantly increase yield, and ISSM-N2 increased residual soil nitrate and decreased nitrogen (N) partial factor productivity significantly. Compared to the FP, ISSM practices increased soil organic carbon (SOC), labile organic C fractions (LOCFs) and potassium permanganate organic C fractions in the topsoil to varying degrees, but only ISSM-MN reached significant levels for most C fractions. The sensitivity index indicated very easily oxidizable C (24.6%), easily oxidizable C (24.7%), hot-water extractable C (30.8%), labile organic C (24.7%) and particulate organic C (57.3%) were more sensitive than SOC (22.7%). ISSM-MN sequestered significantly higher C than the other treatments. The results of the relative importance analysis and the structural equation model indicated that LOCFs were the direct contributors to yield, while recalcitrant C (CO) was the indirect contributor, revealing the underlying mechanism that CO decomposed to replenish LOCFs and the total N pool with the water soluble C pool as the transit station. Overall, ISSM-MN is the most promising strategy to improve crop yield and soil fertility in the long term on the Loess Plateau.

Efficient approximate multipliers utilizing compact and low-power compressors for error-resilient applications

Approximate computing is one of the promising techniques in error-resilient applications to overcome high-density integration challenges, such as energy consumption and performance. Multipliers constitute a significant portion of computer arithmetic units, leading to considerable energy and time consumption. In this paper, we propose low-power and compact approximate compressors for composing approximate Dadda multiplier structures, including compressors, half adders, and full adders, which utilize three-phase partial product compression: truncated, approximation, and exact columns. In approximate columns, we consider approximate compressors derived from the truth table of the exact 4:2 compressor and simplified K-map entries based on the probability of each combination of inputs. An error-correcting module (ECM) is designed to distinguish specific cases and reduce the error metrics. All circuits were simulated using ModelSim and then synthesized using Design Compiler with the 15 nm FinFET technology. When compared to state-of-the-art works, our multipliers exhibit approximately 30%, 43%, and 10% reductions in power, area, and delay, respectively. To evaluate their functionality, we conducted image multiplication and implemented a simple multi-layer perceptron (MLP) neural network using the modified National Institute of Standards and Technology (MNIST) dataset in MATLAB with 0.998 mean structural similarity index metric (MSSIM), 51 dB peak-signal noise ratio (PSNR), and 95% classification accuracy.