Shorter Ones Research Articles

Better spiritual support for people living with early stage dementia: Developing the diamond conversation model.

People with early-stage dementia could benefit greatly from on-going spiritual support. However, health care professionals working in dementia care often do not have a clear idea of what such support might entail. There is a lack of tools that can help professionals provide such support. The Diamond conversation model used in palliative care could provide such a support. Aims: To develop the Diamond model for early-stage dementia so that professionals can provide better spiritual support. Participatory research was conducted. Reflective interviews with chaplains, case managers and health psychologists identified frequently occurring existential and spiritual issues of clients and family members. A core participatory group consisting of chaplains, a psychologist and a researcher further analysed these issues thematically and co-developed the Diamond model for early stage dementia over three co-creation sessions. Researchers with Diamond model expertise provided feedback to the core participatory group in between these sessions based on the session output. Central existential and spiritual issues were found to be: self-confidence and -worth, adaptability and capacity, security and loss, burden and enrichment of memory and faith and meaning. The five polarities of the Diamond model were found helpful to understand tensions surrounding these issues. Specific tensions were identified between maintaining a self and being valued, finding direction in what to do and a way to bear changes in ability, a strong need for attachment and letting go of past ways to relate to one another, the renewed intensity of long term memories and decline of the short term ones and surrendering to one's life situation and wanting certainty and meaning. The newly developed Diamond model for people with early-stage dementia offers a valuable framework to help professionals provide conversational support. More research needs to be done to further test and develop the model in practice.

Функціювання повних і коротких форм інфінітива в поезії Миколи Бажана

Functioning of full and short forms of the infinitive in the poetry by Mykola Bazhan. The article analyzes the poems of the Ukrainian poet of the 20th c. Mykola Bazhan in the aspect of the functioning of infinitive forms. It was concluded that the artist prefers full forms of the infinitive, which, like short ones, in contexts realize one or another stylistic function, but, unlike short ones, they can also be neutral textual units. The short form implements the author’s imperative, it is a sign of expression, clarity, categoricalness, imperativeness. A significant number of uses of the short form is determined by rhyme.

Active Microvibration Control of Tool Platforms Installed on the Floors Subjected to Moving Vehicles in Industrial Factories

The vibration responses of tall flexible tool (or equipment) platforms subjected to floor excitations at the platform base are considered more crucial than those of the short ones. This study examined the microvibration control performance of the proposed active piezoelectric mass damper (APMD) or driver for tall platforms subjected to internal automated guided vehicle- (AGV-) induced floor vibrations with larger intensity and broader bandwidth in liquid-crystal-display (LCD) fabrication factories (fabs). The APMD did not require auxiliary spring and damping elements to tune the natural frequency and reduce the stroke of the mass block as required by typical active tuned mass dampers (ATMDs). The motion equation of the proposed analytical model including a continuous three-span beam (or floor) system and an active-controlled tool platform under the action of the AGV moving forces was derived. The APMD, consisting of piezoelectric stacks and a mass block, was installed on the platform subjected to the base rotation excitation, which could be attributed to the uneven vertical floor vibrations induced by AGVs. Moreover, the direct output feedback control algorithm was adopted to determine the optimal feedback gain matrix for calculating the active control force. Time history analyses of the continuous beam-platform model under different AGV weights moving at the same speed were performed, and the corresponding velocity vibration spectra of the floor and platform were further obtained through one-third octave band spectrum analysis. Numerical simulation results revealed that the microvibrations of the platform without APMD generally exceed the VC-A level regardless of the AGV weight. Significant reductions of over 90% on the platform microvibrations could be achieved after the platform was implemented with the APMD, and vibrations met the desired vibration limit (VC-B). Moreover, the APMD exhibits comparable microvibration control performance to the ATMD and requires less mass of the mass block, stroke, and applied voltage under the same active control force. In real-life high-tech production fabs, AGV-induced platform microvibrations occur all the time; therefore, the proposed APMD with less power consumption could be an economical and feasible approach for persistent microvibration control of tall platforms in LCD fabs.

A mechanism-based theory of cellular and tissue plasticity.

Plastic deformation in cells and tissues has been found to play crucial roles in collective cell migration, cancer metastasis, and morphogenesis. However, the fundamental question of how plasticity is initiated in individual cells and then propagates within the tissue remains elusive. Here, we develop a mechanism-based theory of cellular and tissue plasticity that accounts for all key processes involved, including the activation and development of active contraction at different scales as well as the formation of endocytic vesicles on cell junctions and show that this theory achieves quantitative agreement with all existing experiments. Specifically, it reveals that, in response to optical or mechanical stimuli, the myosin contraction and thermal fluctuation-assisted formation and pinching of endocytic vesicles could lead to permanent shortening of cell junctions and that such plastic constriction can stretch neighboring cells and trigger their active contraction through mechanochemical feedbacks and eventually their plastic deformations as well. Our theory predicts that endocytic vesicles with a size around 1 to 2 µm will most likely be formed and a higher irreversible shortening of cell junctions could be achieved if a long stimulation is split into multiple short ones, all in quantitative agreement with experiments. Our analysis also shows that constriction of cells in tissue can undergo elastic/unratcheted to plastic/ratcheted transition as the magnitude and duration of active contraction increases, ultimately resulting in the propagation of plastic deformation waves within the monolayer with a constant speed which again is consistent with experimental observations.

Social media marketing content strategy: A comprehensive framework and empirically supported guidelines for brand posts on Facebook pages

AbstractDespite all the marketing power social media marketing has, a major challenge it faces is how to create meaningful content that ignites a spark with audiences. The purpose of this research is to examine in what way brands can produce compelling social media content to engage and connect with target audiences. Eighteen brand Facebook Pages from nine major industries were reviewed to identify characteristics of content associated with higher levels of user engagement. Results show that multimedia content, transformational appeal, low levels of interactivity, and endorser type influence user engagement with brand posts on Facebook. Posts made on weekdays demonstrate higher levels of positive reactions than posts made during the weekends. In addition, consumer engagement is higher for service‐ (vs. product‐based) Facebook brand posts. Furthermore, the length of the message proved to play a key role in prompting users to share a social media post, in that longer posts were more likely to be shared than shorter ones.

Gender-Specific Interactions in a Visual Object Recognition Task in Persons with Opioid Use Disorder.

Opioid use disorder (OUD)-associated overdose deaths have reached epidemic proportions worldwide over the past two decades, with death rates for men reported at twice the rate for women. Using a controlled, cross-sectional, age-matched (18-56 y) design to better understand the cognitive neuroscience of OUD, we evaluated the electroencephalographic (EEG) responses of male and female participants with OUD vs. age- and gender-matched non-OUD controls during a simple visual object recognition Go/No-Go task. Overall, women had significantly slower reaction times (RTs) than men. In addition, EEG N200 and P300 event-related potential (ERP) amplitudes for non-OUD controls were significantly larger for men, while their latencies were significantly shorter than for women. However, while N200 and P300 amplitudes were not significantly affected by OUD for either men or women in this task, latencies were also affected differentially in men vs. women with OUD. Accordingly, for both N200 and P300, male OUD participants exhibited longer latencies while female OUD participants exhibited shorter ones than in non-OUD controls. Additionally, robust oscillations were found in all participants during a feedback message associated with performance in the task. Although alpha and beta power during the feedback message were significantly greater for men than women overall, both alpha and beta oscillations exhibited significantly lower power in all participants with OUD. Taken together, these findings suggest important gender by OUD differences in cognitive processing and reflection of performance in this simple visual task.

Feeding colostrum and transition milk facilitates digestive tract functionality recovery from feed restriction and fasting of dairy calves

The objective of this study was to evaluate the digestive tract recovery and metabolism of feeding either bovine colostrum (BC), transition milk (TM), or milk replacer (MR) after an episode of feed restriction and fasting (FRF) in dairy calves. Thirty-five Holstein male calves (22 ± 4.8 d old) were involved in a 50-d study. After 3 d of feeding 2 L of rehydration solution twice daily and 19 h of fasting (d 1 of study), calves were randomly assigned to one of the 5 feeding treatments (n = 7): calves were offered either pooled BC during 4 (C4) or 10 (C10) days, pooled TM during 4 (TM4) or 10 (TM10) days, or MR for 10 d (CTRL) at the rate of 720 g/d DM content. Then, all calves were fed the same feeding program, gradually decreasing MR from 3 L twice daily to 2 L once daily at 12.5% DM until weaning (d 42), and concentrate feed, water, and straw were offered ad libitum until d 50. Citrulline, Cr-EDTA, β-hydroxybutyrate (BHB), and nonesterified fatty acids (NEFA) in serum and complete blood count (CBC) were determined on d -3, 1, 2, 5, and 11 relative to FRF, except BHB and NEFA at d -3. Volatile fatty acids (VFA), lactoferrin (LTF), IgA, and microbiota (Firmicutes to Bacteroidetes ratio and Fecalis prausnitzii) were analyzed in feces on d 5 and 11 before the morning feeding. Health scores were recorded daily from d -3 to d 14 as well as d 23 and 30. Feed concentrate, MR, and straw intake were recorded daily, and body weight on d -3, 1, 2, 5, and 11 and weekly afterward. Calf performance, intake, serum Cr-EDTA, CBC, fecal LTF concentrations and microbiota parameters were similar among treatments throughout the study. Serum NEFA concentrations were greater in TM4, TM10 and C10 calves compared with the CTRL ones from d 2 to 11, and after the FRF, serum concentrations of BHB were lower in CTRL calves than in the other treatments, and on d 11, serum BHB concentrations in the long treatments (C10 and TM10) remained greater than those in the shorter ones (C4 and TM4) and CTRL. Serum citrulline concentrations were similar on d -3 and 1 in all treatments, but they were greater in C4, C10, TM4, and TM10 on d 2 and 5, and on d 11 they were only greater in C10 and TM10 than in CTRL calves. Fecal IgA concentrations tended to be greater in C10 than in CTRL, TM4, and TM10 calves, and in C4 and TM10 than in CTRL animals. Fecal propionate proportion was lesser in C10 than in CTRL, TM4, and TM10 calves, while butyrate was greater in C4 and C10 than in TM4 and CTRL calves. The proportion of non-normal fecal scores of C10 fed calves was greater than TM4 and TM10 calves. Results showed that TM and BC may help to recover intestinal functionality, provide gut immune protection, and increase liver fatty acid oxidation in calves after a FRF episode.

Long-term dynamic asset allocation under asymmetric risk preferences

We examine the impact of return predictability and parameter uncertainty on long-term portfolio allocations when investors’ utility function quantifies their asymmetric behaviour against expected gains and losses on risky assets. Allowing for different return generating systems and two investable assets, we examine the way portfolio allocation to the risky asset evolves over the course of the investment horizon in the presence of risk asymmetries. We find persisting horizon effects, with stocks appearing progressively more attractive at longer horizons as opposed to shorter ones. The role of parameter uncertainty also appears to be prominent in the portfolio choice problem. Accounting for this results in both significantly lowering the exposure to the risky asset and lessening the horizon effects driven by return predictability. An equally important aspect of this study relates to detecting a level of disappointment aversion below which it is optimal for investors to hold zero units of a risky asset. In this regard, our analysis has implications for the nonparticipation puzzle in stock markets.

Melting process of Carreau non-Newtonian nano-phase change material inside cylindrical energy storage system: Effect of thermal fins

Melting of a non-Newtonian phase-change material in a finned porous vertical cylinder was numerically studied. The governing equations and corresponding boundary conditions were derived by the enthalpy–porosity technique in cylindrical coordinates. The equations were then non-dimensionalized and solved by the finite element method. The grid independence of the solution was evaluated, and the fluid dynamics code was validated by comparison with accredited numerical and experimental studies. The results were discussed regarding the number and size of thermal fins and the aspect ratio parameter regarding to the melting volume fraction, the total energy stored, the average Nusselt number, the average velocity, the contour of isotherms, and streamlines. The results showed that increasing the number of the fins from 1 to 5 and using larger fins instead of shorter ones positively affected the time required for completing the melting process by 16% and 20%, respectively. It is worth noting that a storage system with a higher aspect ratio (AR = 2) than a lower one (AR = 0.5) shortens the melting process by about 80%. The maximum value of the total energy stored remains constant with any change in the number and size of the fins; however, it is diminished by reducing the aspect ratio.

Questionnaire experience of the pictorial usability inventory (PUI) – a comparison of pictorial and hybrid usability scales

In recent years, alternative types of usability questionnaires using graphical elements (pictorial scales) or a combination of graphical and verbal elements (hybrid scales) have been introduced. Previous research indicates that these questionnaires have advantages, such as increased respondent motivation, and drawbacks, such as extended questionnaire completion time. This study aimed to systematically investigate the psychometric properties and the respondents’ experience of two versions of a recently developed questionnaire, the Pictorial Usability Inventory (PUI), consisting of a hybrid and pictorial version. Given that questionnaire length is a crucial factor for the usefulness of a scale, the study tested long and short versions (8 items vs 3 items) of both questionnaire types. The study involved an online usability test with 777 participants, who were asked to complete one of the four PUI versions and an established verbal usability scale after solving three tasks on a webpage. The results demonstrated high sensitivity, high convergent validity, and good internal consistency for all four PUI versions. While the long pictorial scale achieved the best psychometric properties overall, participants preferred the hybrid scales, particularly the short version. The study's findings are in line with previous research on pictorial and hybrid instruments and suggest that hybrid instruments, particularly short ones, may be superior to purely pictorial instruments in terms of respondent-centred aspects conceptualised in the term ‘questionnaire experience’.

Lamb wave based damage imaging under nonlinear chirp excitation

Considering a trade-off between temporal-spatial resolution and multi-mode nature of Lamb waves, tone bursts with short durations are usually used as excitations in Lamb wave based damage detection. A short-duration excitation usually requires a large amplitude to carry sufficient energy so as to obtain response signals with enough signal-to-noise ratio and cover a large inspection area. In this paper, an alternative Lamb wave damage imaging method using nonlinear chirp (nonlinear frequency modulation, NLFM) excitation with a long duration and a small amplitude is proposed. The signal processing techniques of pulse compression and dispersion compensation are adopted to compress the long-duration wave packets of response signals into short ones. Compared with conventional tone burst excitations with short durations and small amplitudes, due to the long duration of the nonlinear chirp excitation and the use of pulse compression, sufficient energy can be applied to transducers under small amplitude excitations so the image contrast in imaging will not degrade. Furthermore, as large amplitude excitations are no longer required, high voltage amplifiers are not necessary so the hardware of the Lamb wave testing system is simplified. Experiments on a carbon steel plate with an artificial crack are carried out and Lamb wave signals are collected using a linear array consisting of nine PZTs. Experimental results under the NLFM signal and conventional tone bursts are provided. Experimental results show that under the condition of the same excitation amplitude, the proposed method under the NLFM excitation can achieve better imaging quality compared with methods under conventional tone bursts.

Research on the Mechanism of Low-Temperature Oxidation of Asphaltene.

Asphaltene extracted from heavy oil was oxidized by a mixture of propionic anhydride and hydrogen peroxide at a low temperature of 50 °C. Elemental analysis, infrared analysis, proton nuclear magnetic resonance analysis, and gas chromatograph/mass spectrometer analysis results indicated that oxygen addition, side chain cleavage, and condensation reactions mainly occurred in the oxidation process. The oxidation products were divided into 28% methanol solubles and 72% methanol insolubles. There were mainly fatty acids and fatty acid esters in the methanol solubles. There were also small amounts of aromatic compounds with low condensation in the methanol solubles, and the alkyl side chains were mostly short ones. The degree of aromatic ring condensation in the methanol insolubles was slightly higher than that of the pristine asphaltene. There were still some long unbroken chains in the methanol insolubles after the low-temperature reaction. The molecular dynamics simulation results show that the distribution of propionic anhydride around the asphaltene molecules can promote the oxidation of asphaltene. This low-temperature oxidation technology can be used to process asphaltenes to improve the profitability of heavy-oil-processing enterprises.

Growth promotion of Sargassum fusiforme by epiphytic microbes is dependent on the extent of interspecific interactions of the microbial community

Profound growth differences such as seedling length and biomass are often observed during the cultivation of Sargassum fusiforme despite the absence of detectable variance in abiotic factors that could have affected this process. This highlights the importance of biotic factors such as epiphytic microbiota in controlling seedling growth. Yet, how, and to what extent microbial activities can affect host growth in the presence of seawater flow and continuous erosion remains debatable. Particularly, the contribution of microbial network interactions to the growth of macroalgae remains poorly understood. This study aimed to compare the physicochemical properties of S. fusiforme seedlings via 16S rRNA gene Illumina sequencing-based profiling of the epiphytic microbial communities of seedlings with different lengths. Significantly different epiphytic bacterial communities were observed among S. fusiforme seedlings of different lengths. The result showed that community from longer seedlings maintained higher bacterial diversity with the taxa Gammaproteobacteria, Burkholderiales, Alteromonadales, Vibrionaceae, Ralstonia, Colwelliaceae, and Thalassotalea being selectively enriched. More importantly, microbial interspecific interactions, which were predominantly positive, were enhanced consistently in communities of the longer seedlings, indicative of reinforced prevalent and mutually cooperative relationships among the microorganisms associated with S. fusiforme seedlings of greater length. Furthermore, longer seedlings also displayed up-regulation of microbial functional potentials involved in N fixation and mineralization, P mineralization and transportation, and ion transportation compared with shorter ones. Lastly, stochastic processes dominated the community assembly of the epiphytic microorganisms. These findings could provide new insights into the relationship between microbial communities and growth in S. fusiforme seedlings and enable us to predict the community diversity and assembly of macroalgae-associated microbial communities. This could have important implications for linking microbial community diversity and network interactions to their host productivity.

Reducing honeycomb-generated turbulence with a passive grid

Honeycombs are widely used to laminarize fluid streams by inhibiting the lateral components of the fluctuating velocity. However, they also produce additional turbulence by themselves due to the formation of large-scale instabilities and the breakup of the individual velocity profiles stemming from the honeycomb cells. In the present research, we use 2D-planar particle image velocimetry to study how honeycomb-generated turbulence is affected by a downstream grid. It is found that placing a grid near the honeycomb discharge drastically enhances flow uniformity by separating the strong jets stemming from the individual honeycomb cells into many smaller jets that are much more rapidly dissipated. The results show that using a grid reduces the integral length scale by up to a factor 10, and the axial and lateral energy spectra reveal that the grid primarily limits the energy contained in eddies with lower wave numbers. Furthermore, the grid can reduce the magnitude of peak turbulence intensity by as much as 95% and leads to a large reduction of the correlation length, as long as it is positioned upstream of the onset of the large-scale honeycomb-induced instabilities. A downstream grid is highly beneficial for both a laminar and turbulent honeycomb discharge and is most effective when there is a slight offset between the grid and honeycomb. Even though longer honeycombs generally produce more turbulence than short ones due to the larger length-scale of the shear layers, these effects are almost entirely decoupled when using a honeycomb-grid combination. Finally, a honeycomb-grid combination effectively inhibits both axial and lateral turbulence.Graphic abstract

DYNAMICS OF THE PARIETAL-OCCIPITAL ALPHA RHYTHM ACTIVITY DURING COMPARISON OF VISUAL STIMULI DURATIONS

This research is aimed at studying the dynamics of the parietal-occipital alpha rhythm in its connection with the process of stimuli duration comparison. EEG study was conducted in which participants (n = 48) were asked to compare pairs of visual stimuli of different durations ranging from 3.2 to 6.4 s. The time-frequency analysis of the EEG was carried out in the range of 8–12 Hz. The power of alpha rhythm increases from the stimulus onset to the middle of its presentation, but then its dynamic depends on the stimulus duration: it further increases for short durations (3.2, 3.6, 4.0 s), stays the same for middle durations (4.4, 4.8, 5.2 s) and decreases for long durations (5.6, 6.0, 6.4 s). The relative decrease of alpha power for long stimuli in relation to the short ones was related to subjective perception of time. The results are discussed from the point of view of the “dual klepsydra” model: it is assumed that alpha rhythm acts as an electrophysiological correlate of the functioning of “neural accumulators” associated with the subjective passage of time.

Advances in Open Reduction and Internal Fixation of Multiple Mandibular Fractures with Condylar Involvement.

Multiple mandibular fractures with condylar involvement are challenging to treat. This article presents a series of steps to simplify the treatment and improve the outcomes in open reduction and internal fixation of multiple mandibular fractures with condylar involvement. Four new elements are identified: three-dimensional printing, model surgery, Kirschner wires to manipulate the segments in condylar fractures, and a top-to-bottom sequence. This algorithm has contributed to streamlining the procedure and improving the outcomes of these challenging fractures. For the same operator, reduction and osteosynthesis require approximately 40 minutes less than before the adoption of the new protocol. The authors have not encountered suboptimal reductions or situations where the screws were too long, necessitating exchange for shorter ones in revision surgery.

Cobalt Vanadate (Co3V2O8) Hollow Microspheres as a Polysulfide Adsorption and Conversion Catalyst for Li–S Batteries

A lithium–sulfur battery (Li–S) is considered as one of the most suitable emerging energy storage technologies for electric vehicles (EVs) due to its higher specific capacity, energy density, and low cost. However, the dissolution of lithium polysulfides (LiPS) in an electrolyte causes a huge shuttle effect, which results in poor cycle life and rate performance. Herein, Co3V2O8 (CVO) hollow microspheres have been prepared by the solvothermal method and used as catalyst additives to the sulfur electrode (cathode host). It was found that CVO acts as a bifunctional additive, the vanadium and oxygen sites immobilize the LiPS through V–S and Li–O interactions, while the cobalt site facilitates the rapid conversion of long-chain LiPS into short ones (Li2S2/Li2S). Furthermore, the hollow microspheres act as a sulfur reservoir and can confine (encapsulate) more LiPS during the electrochemical conversion process, thus inhibiting the shuttle effect. In this work, the chemical adsorption and polysulfide conversion ability of CVO is corroborated by XPS and cyclic voltammetry studies, respectively. Even at a higher sulfur loading of 5.4 mg cm–2, CVO containing the Li–S cell (denoted as S@CVO/CNT Vs Li) demonstrates an initial discharge capacity of 694 mAh g–1 at 0.5 C, and after 200 cycles, the observed capacity is 566 mAh g–1, which amounts to 81% capacity retention. Similarly, the cell delivers an excellent rate capability of up to 5 C rate. At the 1 C rate, the cell shows an initial discharge capacity of 904 mAh g–1 (S-loading of 3 mg cm–2) and 692 mAh g–1 after 300 cycles with 77% capacity retention.

Trajectory optimization for autonomous modular vehicle or platooned autonomous vehicle split operations

Autonomous modular vehicle (AMV) technology allows for the flexible adjustment of vehicle length en-route per application needs, e.g., docking multiple short vehicles into one long vehicle or, conversely, splitting a long vehicle into multiple shorter ones. AMV docking is an extreme case of autonomous vehicle (AV) platooning in that AMVs are physically connected with zero gaps. This paper studies the trajectory planning for platoon split operations. A two-stage optimization problem is proposed to design AMV or platooned AV split operations trajectories. The first-stage objective minimizes the split operation time duration for operation efficiency. The second-stage objective minimizes the sum of squared acceleration to identify the smoothest trajectories for riding comfort and fuel efficiency.A feasible cone method is proposed by extending the time geography to reveal theoretical properties on the solution feasibility and analytically solve the first-stage problem. An exact solution approach based on quadratic programming and a heuristic solution approach based on Pontryagin's maximum principle are proposed to solve the second-stage problem. The original feasible region of the second-stage problem is greatly reduced through the feasible region analyses.Numerical experiments show that the heuristic solution approach can always solve the second-stage problem instantaneously without any or with a slight loss of the operation optimality to satisfy real-time applications needs, whereas the exact solution approach with a state-of-the-art solver may take a much longer solution time that may impose challenges to certain real-time applications. It is also noted that the exact solution time is significantly reduced after accommodating the reduced feasible region. This is critical for applications requiring absolute optimality when the heuristic solution approach fails to reach the exact optimum. The comparison between the heuristic solution approach and a customized benchmark approach reveals the superiority of the heuristic solution approach in optimizing vehicle split trajectories. Results from sensitivity analyses on key parameters provide managerial insights into engineering implementations. The generalizability of the heuristic solution approach in solving another trajectory smoothing objective function considering both acceleration and jerk is proven by extensive numerical experiments. The generalizability of the heuristic solution approach in large-scale applications and when considering surrounding traffic is also discussed.

Fragment size and diversity of mulches affect their decomposition, nutrient dynamics, and mycorrhizal root colonisation

Plant-based mulch has been proposed as a sustainable way of maintaining soil fertility. However, the role of mulch diversity, quality, and size in decomposition dynamics, and their effect on crop yield, has not been fully explored. We investigated how mulch quality, proxied by the constituent plant species diversity, and residue size drive mulch decomposition, nutrient release, crop nutrition, and yield. A rhizotron experiment was set up with barley as a model crop, with the addition of mulch of two particle sizes (1.5 and 30 cm) and four different plant residue mixes of differing biodiversity (17, 12, 6, and 1 species) in a fully factorial design. Soil nutrient dynamics were measured at advanced decomposition stages, together with residue quality, arbuscular mycorrhizal fungal (AMF) root colonisation, and crop yield. Residue mass loss was significantly affected by its chemical composition. Initial NDF content was more restricted factor in C and N mineralisation than C:N or lignin. Long residues retained significantly higher C and N content, than short residues. Crop yield was not affected by residue type or size. Residue size significantly affected barley growth rate, influencing seed protein content. Soil available K was significantly increased by residues with a higher initial C:N ratio. Short residues resulted in higher soil Zn. Residues of higher diversity resulted inhigher AMF root colonisationof the barley plants. Generally, long residue mulches maintain higher fertilisation capacity at advanced stage of decomposition than short ones, without a deleterious effect on crop yield. Further investigation should evaluate the effect of continuous application of long residue mulches on soil fertility and microbial symbiosis.

A theoretic analysis of magnetoactive GES-based turbulent solar plasma instability

ABSTRACT A recently reported gravito-electrostatic sheath (GES) model is procedurally applied to study the turbumagnetoactive helioseismic oscillation features in the entire bi-fluidic solar plasma system. The bounded solar interior plasma (SIP, internally self-gravitating), and the unbounded solar wind plasma (SWP, externally point-gravitating) are coupled through the interfacial diffused solar surface boundary (SSB) due to an exact gravito-electrostatic interplay. A numerical platform on the developed theoretic formalism reveals the evolution of both dispersive and non-dispersive features of the modified GES mode fluctuations in new parametric windows. Different colourspectral profiles exhibit important features of the GES-based SIP–SWP perturbations elaborately. It is illustratively shown that the thermostatistical GES stability depends mainly on the radial distance, magnetic field, equilibrium plasma density, and plasma temperature. We see that their dispersive features are more pertinently pronounced in the self-gravitational domains (SIP) than the electrostatic counterparts (SWP). Besides, different characteristic parameters with accelerating (or decelerating) and stabilizing (or destabilizing) effects influencing the entire solar plasma stability are illustratively portrayed. We speculate that, in the SIP, the long-wave (gravitational-like) helioseismic fluctuations become highly dispersive showing more propagatory nature than the shorter ones (acoustic-like). The short waves show more propagatory propensity than the longer ones in the SSB and SWP regime. The reliability of our proposed investigation is bolstered along with the tentative applicability and future scope in light of the current solar observational scenarios, such as SOHO, STEREO, SDO, PSP, and SolO.