The two most important abiotic plant stressors that impact plant development and crop yields are water stress and salinity stress. These issues are particularly important in arid and semi-arid regions. According to a 2019 research paper, “thirty crop species provide 90% of our food, most of which display severe yield losses under moderate salinity.” Moderate salinity is defined as extracted pore-water salinity in the range of 4–8 dS m−1. Currently, commercially available soil moisture and bulk soil electrical conductivity sensors can estimate in situ soil pore-water electrical conductivity with suitably calibrated soil moisture and electrical conductivity models for a wide range of soil types and growing media. With knowledge of the pore-water electrical conductivity it is possible to estimate osmotic tension. Furthermore, there are commercially available dielectric tensiometers that provide soil water tension measurements from the water content of a porous matrix component that is in equilibrium with the wat

The contemporary revival of Confucian education offers a chance to rethink moral and religious education diversity in China. Moral dynamics are presented as the conspicuous and dominant force driving the expansion of Confucian education. Confucian activists’ moral anxiety about state education and society and desire for the moral upliftment of their offspring motivate them to embrace the Confucian pedagogy of memorization and act to engage their children in the extensive recitation of the classics. However, Confucianism has always held a religious nature, and religious organizations (especially Buddhism and Yiguandao) have played a hidden role in promoting Confucian education. This chapter concludes with the argument that Confucian education manifests itself as an intertwining of conspicuous morality and hidden religiosity in its contemporary revival.

The aim of this work has been to derive and statistically evaluate the accuracy of second-order and third-order polynomials to determine vapour pressure deficit (VPD). These polynomials take air temperature and relative humidity measurements to determine VPD without the use of an exponential function, as proposed by F W Murray in 1967. Replacing the exponential function with a 2nd or 3rd order polynomial may be beneficial in ultra-low power microcontroller-based measurement applications where; code size, memory usage and power requirements are critical design drivers. However, oversimplification may impact precision. This work presents alternative 2nd order and 3rd order equations that have been derived from a Murray equation dataset where VPD isothermal datasets were plotted against relative humidity. These linear relationships allow y = mx + c analysis where, (i) 'c' can be set to zero with a offset in the relative humidity data, and, (ii) 'm' can be derived from a 2nd or 3rd order polynomial where 'm' = f(

There are many challenges, not least health inequities, global warming, and a rush for growth and economic development. Personalized, precision, and preventative medicine, bringing the latest omics techniques—genomics, transcriptomics, and metabolomics—for individuals allied to personalized prescription and care should help health equity. Digital technologies and artificial intelligence (AI) can help in an understanding of disease processes and in drug development. A holistic approach to the relationship between technology and the environment and clarity about both the positive benefits and negative harms resulting from using digital tools is necessary. We need to focus on the complete human-environmental interface and not just on climate change and carbon. It will be a measure of collaborative civilization if digital technology, omics techniques, and education can be used to promote global equity. Education linking diversities and performance throughout the world will be crucial.

Repeated sprinting is defined as a minimum of three sprints with a mean recovery duration interspersed by less than or equal to 60 s of recovery time (Taylor et al., 2015; Sirotic and Coutts, 2007). These occur frequently in team sports, which are played around the world, often in hot environments (Girard, Brocherie and Bishop, 2015). At present, there is an abundance of research exploring the physiological strain of repeated sprinting in the heat (e.g. Almudehki et al., 2012; Drust et al., 2005; Kilduff et al., 2013), but data on the biomechanical alterations is limited (Girard et al., 2017). Therefore, the aim of the present study was to investigate the effect of heat on team sports players’ physical performance, physiological strain and biomechanical variables during repeated sprint performance when compared to a temperate environment. Six male recreational team sports players completed four trials; one V̇O2MAX test, one familiarisation and two randomised, counterbalanced experimental trials of the repeated sprint protocol (CON: 20C 50% rH and HOT: 35C 50% rH). For the experimental trials, participants completed a warm-up, followed by the repeated sprint protocol on a non-motorised force plate instrumented treadmill, which consisted of four blocks of six 6 s sprints, with 30 s recovery between each sprint and five-minute recovery between each block. Rectal temperature, heart rate, RPE, thermal comfort and thermal sensation were all taken and the beginning and end of each block and spatiotemporal characteristics (Optojump) and angular kinematics (Quintic 2D motion analysis) were recorded for every sprint. All physical performance variables were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in HOT compared with CON. Rectal temperature, skin temperature, sweat loss, TC and TS were all significantly higher (P < 0.05) in HOT compared with CON. Average step length and peak propulsive horizontal force were significantly lower (P < 0.05) in HOT, whilst peak plantar flexion and hip and ankle range of motion were significantly larger (P < 0.05) in HOT compared with CON. Peak hip flexion, peak plantar flexion angular velocity, peak hip flexion angular velocity, peak knee flexion angular velocity and peak dorsi flexion angular velocity were all significantly higher (P < 0.05) in CON compared with HOT. Considering the performance decrements found in the hot condition, practitioners should be aware of the biomechanical causes of these, particularly as a decreased step length reduces the propulsive horizontal forces. The shorter steps lengths observed in the heat can be explained by the lower force production of the muscles, with heat decreasing the number of muscle fibre units recruited, creating less propulsive force. Therefore, strategies need to be developed to maintain step length in the heat or be able to increase step frequency to compensate for the decrements in step length to maintain running velocity. Further research is required to support the understanding of the underpinning cause for the change in step length in the heat.

The authors introduce an unsupervised Intrusion Detection System designed to detect zero-day distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks in Internet of Things (IoT) networks. This system can identify anomalies without needing prior knowledge or training on attack information. Zero-day attacks exploit previously unknown vulnerabilities, making them hard to detect with traditional deep learning and machine learning systems that require pre-labelled data. Labelling data is also a time-consuming task for security experts. Therefore, unsupervised methods are necessary to detect these new threats. The authors focus on DDoS attacks, which have recently caused significant financial and service disruptions for many organisations. As IoT networks grow, these attacks become more sophisticated and harmful. The proposed approach detects zero-day DDoS attacks by using random projection to reduce data dimensionality and an ensemble model combining K-means, Gaussian mixture model, and one-class SVM with a hard voting techni

Purpose: This paper aims to challenge the fashion of ubiquitous artificial intelligence (AI) and the effects which it will have upon society. In doing so it argues that the effects of AI will be minimal but important. Design/methodology/approach: This argument is based upon the Socratic method and explores the Utilitarian background in which AI is based while drawing upon classical literature and other examples to illustrate the argument. Findings: The findings are encompassed in the argument and show that we need to be more open and careful when considering AI and its effects. We also need to be more realistic when considering potential benefits. Practical implications: This argument has significant implications for the adoption of AI. Social implications: The social implications are equally profound and will impact upon our application of AI solutions to current problems and upon humanity more generally. Originality/value: This is the first paper which relates AI to human successes.

Using logistic regression and a dataset of 816 MPs who sat in the UK House of Commons between 1997 and 2019, we analyse which MPs get elevated to the upper chamber. Drawing on literatures concerning progressive political ambition, the UK Parliament and the wider nature of the British state, we test hypotheses concerning loyalty, expertise and nepotism. We find evidence to support all three but expertise in the form of frontbench experience and, for those MPs without such experience, loyalty appear to be the most important factors driving elevation. Our research has implications for debates surrounding House of Lords reform.

Sarcopenia is a leading cause of functional decline, loss of independence, premature mortality, and frailty in older adults. Reducing and breaking up sedentary behaviour is associated with positive sarcopenia and frailty outcomes. This study aimed to explore the acceptability, engagement and experiences of a remotely delivered sedentary behaviour intervention to improve sarcopenia and independent living in older adults with frailty. This was a mixed-methods study. In-depth qualitative semi-structed interviews were conducted with a subset (N = 15) of participants with frailty (aged 74 ± 6 years) who had participated in the Frail-LESS (LEss Sitting and Sarcopenia in Frail older adults) intervention aimed at reducing sedentary behaviour. The interviews explored acceptability of the intervention overall and its individual components (a psychoeducation workbook, wrist-worn activity tracker, health coaching, online peer support and tailored feedback on sitting, standing and stepping). Process evaluation questionnai