Resource connectivity for beneficial insects in landscapes dominated by monoculture tree crop plantations

Homogenization of agricultural landscapes affects ecological processes and biodiversity and can affect the community composition of ecosystem service providers. These effects can have particular impact in landscapes dominated by monocultures of pollinator-dependent tree crop plantations, which create both spatial and temporal homogeneity at the landscape scale. I looked for associations between the proportion of nearby unmanaged vegetation and potential wild pollinator groups collected within flowering almond orchards in two types of landscape. In the Complex landscape, characterized by a heterogeneous mosaic of multiple crops, semi-natural grassland and natural woodland, insect pollinator groups were not associated with unmanaged vegetation. In the Simple landscape, dominated by monoculture almond plantations, most pollinator groups showed positive relationships with the two unmanaged vegetation types (grassland and woodland). In particular, all wild bee and all but one hoverfly individual were found in remnant native vegetation patches within almond plantations, rather than within rows of almond trees. More research is necessary to identify how structural differences created in monoculture landscapes, between crops and the native vegetation they encroach on, influence ecological communities and the provision of ecosystem services.     

Automatic extraction of 1D barcodes from video scans for drone-assisted inventory management in warehousing applications

The widespread use of barcodes has significantly contributed to accurate, efficient and economic inventory management in warehouses and distribution centres. However, its efficiency has always been limited by the primary method of reading barcodes with a handheld laser scanner. Compared with this reading by line-of-sight at close proximity, vision-based barcode reading algorithms can further improve efficiency, particularly if accompanied by automated data collection platforms such as drones. This paper introduces algorithms that are able to automatically extract barcodes from video data, and verifies their feasibility and promise for inventory management in warehousing applications. Three key techniques corresponding to different recognition levels are proposed: For a known barcode region, a Harris corner detector and Hough transform-based algorithm is applied to quickly estimate the angle by which the frame area needs to rotate to orient the bars vertically for information extraction. Then, the idea of exploiting connectivity and geometry property of barcode areas is proposed to directly recognise multiple barcode regions in a single video frame to eliminate reading difficulties resulting from interactive influence of multiple juxtaposed barcodes, and to save computation time by only processing frame areas of interest for valid barcodes. In addition, a histogram difference-based fast extraction strategy is designed to further improve efficiency by reducing duplicate information processing. Finally, the performance of each technique is evaluated by analysing video data from a large logistics warehouse, demonstrating satisfactory performance in inventory management applications.     

基于需求链管理的信息共享研究

信息是管理的重要基础和依据。本文首先讲述了供应链的基本概念,然后阐述了供应链上的五种基本流,描述了供应链各主体的关系,并提出了信息集成管理的方法。最后,列举了海尔成功应用SAP系统的案例。     

The System of Rice Intensification (SRI): a challenge for science,and an opportunity for farmer empowerment towards sustainable agriculture

Increasing demand for cereals produced from limited natural resources stimulated the Green Revolution in grain crops like wheat and rice. But the gap between potential and actual production continues. Concerns about sustainability, and the social and technical shortcomings of the Green Revolution, have triggered a number of alternative crop production strategies. One, in particular, the so-called System of Rice Intensification (SRI), is attracting attention by governments, civil society organizations and farmers in Asia and elsewhere.     

Connectivity levels and the competitive position of Spanish airports and Iberia’s network rationalization strategy, 2001-2007

This paper examines the connectivity of the Spanish airport system between 2001 and 2007. Over the period, network carriers considerably strengthened the connectivity between Spanish airports and major European hubs. Although OneWorld is still the dominant alliance in Spain, SkyTeam and Star achieved a larger connectivity share through the growth of indirect services provided through their northern European hubs. In addition, the network rationalization strategy of Iberia and its decision to concentrate operations at Madrid-Barajas had important implications for the connectivity of other Spanish airports. Low-cost carriers have boosted direct connectivity from secondary Spanish airports.     

特低渗透油藏间歇式生产油井产能预测分析

特低渗透油藏产能低,开发难度大已成为共识。为了对特低渗透油藏油井产能和油藏产量进行准确的预测,本文在达西公式的基础上,考虑到特低渗透油藏的渗流受到启动压力梯度的影响,推导出了具有启动压力梯度的间歇式生产的油井产能的预测模型,得出油井间歇式生产过程中采油量与时间存在指数递减关系;还推导得出油井关井时间段井底压力变化的数学模型,分析出其井底压力变化与采油时间段的采油速度有关,并给出了进行计算机迭代运算的求解方法和计算步骤。     

Maritime connectivity and agricultural trade

Seaborne shipping is the dominant mode of transport in international trade in agricultural products, and an increasing part of seaborne agricultural trade is carried in containers. Furthermore, the majority of world containers are moved through liner shipping services, that is, regular transport services provided by global shipping companies which comprise a dense network connecting ports and countries around the world. Using a theoretically consistent gravity equation and a novel identification strategy based on the use of intra-national trade flows, this paper investigates the effect of liner shipping connectivity on international trade in agricultural products. The results show that liner shipping connectivity has a positive and statistically significative effect on agricultural trade. Moreover, this positive effect can be observed for the majority of the agricultural products analysed and is also identified for countries at different stages of development. These findings appear especially relevant in terms of the objective of increasing less developed countries' participation in global agricultural trade.     

基于变化分析的基本农田划定成果评价方法初探——以东港市马家店镇为例

东港市马家店镇新一轮土地利用总体规划修编划定的基本农田在地类构成质量上略有降低但基本保持平稳,农用地平均质量等级高于划定前平均质量等级,集中连片性有所提高,基本农田划定成果基本符合《基本农田划定技术规程》原则要求,具有科学合理性。基于地类构成、农用地平均质量等级、集中连片性变化分析的基本农田划定评价方法具有一定的合理可行性,为建立完善合理的基本农田划定成果检查验收方法提供了初步探索经验。