Agroecological analysis and economic benefit of organic resources and fertiliser in till and no-till sorghum production after a 6-year fallow in semi-arid West Africa

A field experiment was conducted in Gampela (Burkina Faso) in 2000 and 2001 to assess the impact of organic and mineral sources of nutrients and combinations thereof in optimising crop production in till and no-till systems and to assess the economic benefit of these options. The study showed that under conditions of rainfall deficiency, the use of a single organic resource at an equivalent dose of 40 kg N ha⁻¹ better secured crop yield than the application of an equivalent amount as urea-N, while a combination of organic resources and fertiliser was better in increasing crop yield than the application of the same N amount in the form of urea. In a year of rainfall deficiency, a mix of organic resources and fertiliser in both till and no-till systems increased crop water use efficiency, with the result that the farmer was able to purchase only half of the normal quantity of N fertiliser to obtain a higher yield that he would have done when all of the N was supplied in the form of urea. Under conditions where soil N is deficient, an economic benefit was achieved when urea was combined with easily decomposable organic material (e.g. sheep dung); mixing the urea at a dose of 40 kg N ha⁻¹ with maize straw was not sufficient in alleviating the negative interaction due to the enhanced N immobilisation. The results demonstrate that the use of N fertiliser alone was risky and that a higher yield, with the accompanying economic benefit, was scarcely achieved under the prevailing rainfall conditions. The application of soil and water conservation measures can contribute greatly to increasing the economic benefit of mineral, organic or combined organic and mineral-derived nutrient application under semi-arid conditions.     

Safe design of high-performance embedded systems in an MDE framework

In this paper, we use the UML MARTE profile to model high-performance embedded systems (HPES) in the GASPARD2 framework. We address the design correctness issue on the UML model by using the formal validation tools associated with synchronous languages, i.e., the SIGALI model checker, etc. This modeling and validation approach benefits from the advantages of UML as a standard, and from the number of validation tools built around synchronous languages. In our context, model transformations act as a bridge between UML and the chosen validation technologies. They are implemented according to a model-driven engineering approach. The modeling and validation are illustrated using the multimedia functionality of a new-generation cellular phone.     

Experimental and modeling study of lean premixed atmospheric-pressure propane/O2/N2 flames

A better knowledge of the combustion chemistry in very lean flames is required to improve flame stability and control the presence of oxygenated species as final products. In this work, the chemical structure of lean premixed propane-oxygen-nitrogen flames stabilized on a flat flame burner at atmospheric pressure was determined experimentally. The species mole fraction profiles were also computed by the Premix code (Chemkin II version) and three recently proposed mechanisms. Globally, the agreement between measured and computed mole fractions profiles is similar, despite large differences in the number of reactions in each mechanism. Pathways analyses show that only weak variations are observed in the relative importance of the main oxidation routes when the equivalence ratio is decreased from 0.9 to 0.5.     

Facilitated discussions increase learning gains from dialectically localized animated educational videos in Niger

ABSTRACT

This study measured the knowledge transfer and appeal of information and communication technologies (ICTs) used to deliver education for sustainable development (ESD) content to farmers in Niger experiencing major crop losses from the insect pest Maruca vitrata. ICT-ESD content consisted of two dialectically localized and animated videos that address food security problems of cowpea insect herbivory and the shortage of integrated pest management strategies in rural Niger. Comparing pre-test/post-test knowledge transfer for both animated videos when either (1) watched alone (AVO), or (2) in conjunction with a facilitated group discussion prior to post-testing (AVD), results from 90 farmers in 3 rural Nigerien villages showed statistically significant knowledge transfer in both AVO and AVD groups and still greater gains in the AVD group. Importantly, while a majority of participants expressed a preference for learning from such animated videos and a willingness to share their new knowledge and the videos with others, this finding did not statistically significantly associate with education level, supporting the idea that AVO/AVD is an inclusive strategy for low-literate learners within developing-nation contexts. Recommendations and theoretical implications for ICT-ESD implementations in resource-limited areas are also discussed.     

Sensory and physicochemical evolution of tropical cooked peeled shrimp inoculated by Brochothrix thermosphacta and Lactococcus piscium CNCM I-4031 during storage at 8°C

This study investigated the sensory quality and physicochemical evolution (pH, glucose, l-lactic acid, biogenic amine, free amino-acids and volatile compounds) during storage at 8 °C of cooked peeled shrimp inoculated with the specific spoilage bacteria Brochothrix thermosphacta alone or mixed with the protective strain Lactococcus piscium CNCM I-4031. Growth of both bacteria was monitored at regular intervals during storage by microbial counts and the thermal temperature gradient gel electrophoresis (TTGE) technique. Bacterial counts showed that L. piscium and B. thermosphacta inoculated at 7 log CFU/g and 3 log CFU/g were well adapted to shrimp, reaching a maximum level of 9 log CFU/g after 4 days and 10 days respectively. In mixed culture, the growth of B. thermosphacta was reduced by 3.2 ± 0.1 log CFU/g. The TTGE technique allowed monitoring the colonisation of the strains on the shrimp matrix and confirming the dominance of L. piscium in mixed culture throughout the experiment. Sensory analysis confirmed that B. thermosphacta spoiled the product after 11 days, when its cell number attained 8 log CFU/g with the emission of strong butter/caramel off-odours. This sensory profile could be linked to the production of 2,3 butanedione, cyclopentanol, 3-methylbutanol, 3-methylbutanal, 2-methylbutanal, 4-methyl-3-chloro-3-pentanol and ethanol, which were produced in more significant quantities in the B. thermosphacta batch than in the batches in which the protective strain was present. On the contrary, TVBN and TMA were not suitable as quality indicators for B. thermosphacta spoilage activity. In the products where the protective L. piscium strain was present, no adverse effect on sensory quality was noted by the sensory panels. Moreover, biogenic amine assessment did not show any histamine or tyramine production by this strain, underlining its safety profile. Both strains produced lactic acid (1850 mg/kg in L. piscium and B. thermosphacta batch on days 3 and 10 respectively; 3830 mg/kg on day 7 in mixed culture) and the pH decrease from 6.6 ± 0.0 to 5.9 ± 0.1 was similar in all batches. Lactic acid production or competition for free amino-acid was not involved in the inhibition mechanism; however rapid glucose consumption by L. piscium could partially explain the growth limitation of the spoilage micro-organism. This study demonstrated the spoilage characteristic of B. thermosphacta and the usefulness of L. piscium as a bioprotective culture for tropical cooked peeled shrimp without any adverse effect on the sensory quality of the product.     

Partial differential equation-based approach for empirical mode decomposition: application on image analysis

The major problem with the empirical mode decomposition (EMD) algorithm is its lack of a theoretical framework. So, it is difficult to characterize and evaluate this approach. In this paper, we propose, in the 2-D case, the use of an alternative implementation to the algorithmic definition of the so-called "sifting process" used in the original Huang's EMD method. This approach, especially based on partial differential equations (PDEs), was presented by Niang in previous works, in 2005 and 2007, and relies on a nonlinear diffusion-based filtering process to solve the mean envelope estimation problem. In the 1-D case, the efficiency of the PDE-based method, compared to the original EMD algorithmic version, was also illustrated in a recent paper. Recently, several 2-D extensions of the EMD method have been proposed. Despite some effort, 2-D versions for EMD appear poorly performing and are very time consuming. So in this paper, an extension to the 2-D space of the PDE-based approach is extensively described. This approach has been applied in cases of both signal and image decomposition. The obtained results confirm the usefulness of the new PDE-based sifting process for the decomposition of various kinds of data. Some results have been provided in the case of image decomposition. The effectiveness of the approach encourages its use in a number of signal and image applications such as denoising, detrending, or texture analysis.     

Matrix-filler interactions in a co-ground ecocomposite: Surface properties and behaviour in water

Ecocomposites made up of polystyrene and starch were produced by co-grinding. The mechanism by which the composite is formed was identified by following the particle size and morphology. The size reduction of the matrix particles is favoured by the presence of starch which adheres on polystyrene surface, playing the role of agglomeration inhibitor between matrix particles. Thus, the filler is well dispersed in the matrix, permitting a good homogeneity of the composite properties. The hydrophilic behaviour of starch is reduced by co-grinding, resulting of a decrease of the acid and non dispersive components of the surface energies. Consequently the interactions between the initially hydrophobic matrix and hydrophilic filler are enhanced without using a compatibilizer. Thus, the water-resistance of the co-ground composite materials is better compared to blends since blends pellets introduced in water are rapidly disintegrated while an adapted co-grinding time permits to avoid this problem. It was seen that the diffusion coefficient of water in the composite pellets decreases with an increase of the co-grinding time for the lower filler rates, while it is the opposite for high filler rates. Moreover, the diffusion coefficient increases with the filler ratio.