Academic literature on the topic 'Bio-physical constraints'

The study was conducted in Sawombung Block of Imphal East District, Manipur. The present study was undertaken with an objective to analyse the constraints faced by the CAU-R1 rice growers in adoption of the rice variety CAU-R1. The results revealed that the CAU-R1 rice growers faced bio-physical, socio-economic, technological and institutional constraints more severely. In case of bio-physical constraints, inadequate irrigation facilities (98.00%) stood first, followed by weed problems (97.00%),incidence of insect pest and diseases (86.00%) and lack of certified seed (53.00%). In case of socio-economic constraints, high cost of inputs (96.00%) was found to be the first constraint followed by non-availability of credit (93.00%), low market value (86.00%), lack of subsidy for inputs (85.00%) and high labour charge (76.00%). In case of technological constraints, unavailability of power tiller for ploughing in time (96.00%) was found to be the first constraint followed by lack of knowledge of package of practices (82.00%) and lack of technical help/ less contact with technical expert (76.00%). In case of institutional constraints, non-availability of insurance when crop fails (100.00%) was found to be the first constraint followed by insufficient training programme (96.00%), lack of co-ordination with Department of Agriculture, Marketing cooperatives and CAU-R1 growers (63.00%), lack of marketing (58.00%) and lack of storage facilities (35.00%).

Biological organisms do not evolve to perfection, but to out compete others in their ecological niche, and therefore survive and reproduce. This paper reviews the constraints imposed on imperfect organisms, particularly on their neural systems and ability to capture and process information accurately. By understanding biological constraints of the physical properties of neurons, simpler and more efficient artificial neural networks can be made (e.g., spiking networks will transmit less information than graded potential networks, spikes only occur in nature due to limitations of carrying electrical charges over large distances). Furthermore, understanding the behavioural and ecological constraints on animals allows an understanding of the limitations of bio-inspired solutions, but also an understanding of why bio-inspired solutions may fail and how to correct these failures.

The kiwi fruit is a temperate fruit crop; its cultivation is limited to certain temperate regions. The study was conducted during December 2019 to February 2020 in Lower Subansiri District, Arunachal Pradesh to assess the training need areas of kiwi growers wherein a total of 104 farmers were drawn as respondents through random sampling. The response collected from 104 respondents showed that majority (61.54%) of the respondents had exhibited medium level of training needs. Plant protection measures, propagation and planting, and climate and soil were the top three areas perceived as priority areas in regard to training need areas of the respondents, and the least training need area was in fl owering and pollination. The study also revealed that weed problems under bio-physical constraints; high cost of inputs under socio-economic constraints; lack of improved irrigation system and lack of suitable technology for the region under technological constraints; non-availability of insurance under institutional constraints were among the many constraints perceived by the kiwi growers

Various methods of physical, chemical and combined physicochemical pre-treatments for lignocellulosic biomass waste valorisation to value-added feedstock/solid fuels for downstream processes in chemical industries have been reviewed. The relevant literature was scrutinized for lignocellulosic waste applicability in advanced thermochemical treatments for either energy or liquid fuels. By altering the overall naturally occurring bio-polymeric matrix of lignocellulosic biomass waste, individual components such as cellulose, hemicellulose and lignin can be accessed for numerous downstream processes such as pyrolysis, gasification and catalytic upgrading to value-added products such as low carbon energy. Assessing the appropriate lignocellulosic pre-treatment technology is critical to suit the downstream process of both small- and large-scale operations. The cost to operate the process (temperature, pressure or energy constraints), the physical and chemical structure of the feedstock after pre-treatment (decomposition/degradation, removal of inorganic components or organic solubilization) or the ability to scale up the pre-treating process must be considered so that the true value in the use of bio-renewable waste can be revealed.

The recent advancement in information technology and evolving of the (IoT) shifted the traditional medical approach to patient-oriented approach (e.g., Telemedicine/Telemonitoring). IoT permits several services including sensing, processing and communicating information with physical and bio-medical constraints. Wireless Body Area Network (WBAN) handles the issues pertaining to the medical purposes in the form of sensor nodes and connected network. The WBAN takes human physiological data as an input to subsequently monitor the patient conditions that are transferred to other IoT components for analysis. Such monitoring and analysis demand a cohesive routing approach to ensure the safe and in-time transfer of data. The temperature rise of bio-medical sensor nodes makes the entire routing operation very crucial because the temperature of implanted nodes rises and ultimately damages body tissues. This needs dispersion in data transmission among different nodes by opting various available routes while avoiding temperature rise. In this paper, we present Adaptive Thermal-Aware Routing algorithm for WBAN. The ATAR is designed to overcome the temperature rise issue of implanted bio-medical sensors nodes. The new protocol is based on Multi-Ring Routing approach to find an alternative route in the case of increasing temperature. The simulation results indicate that proposed protocol is more efficient in terms of temperature rise and throughput than existing approaches.

Over the past few years, unmanned aerial vehicles (UAV) or drones have been used for many applications. In certain applications like surveillance and emergency rescue operations, multiple drones work as a network to achieve the target in which any one of the drones will act as the master or coordinator to communicate, monitor, and control other drones. Hence, drones are energy-constrained; there is a need for effective coordination among them in terms of decision making and communication between drones and base stations during these critical situations. This paper focuses on providing an efficient approach for the election of the cluster head dynamically, which heads the other drones in the network. The main objective of the paper is to provide an effective solution to elect the cluster head among multi drones at different periods based on the various physical constraints of drones. The elected cluster head acts as the decision-maker and assigns tasks to other drones. In a case where the cluster head fails, then the next eligible drone is re-elected as the leader. Hence, an optimally distributed solution proposed is called Bio-Inspired Optimized Leader Election for Multiple Drones (BOLD), which is based on two AI-based optimization techniques. The simulation results of BOLD compared with the existing Particle Swarm Optimization-Cluster head election (PSO-C) in terms of network lifetime and energy consumption, and from the results, it has been proven that the lifetime of drones with the BOLD algorithm is 15% higher than the drones with PSO-C algorithm.

Profitability of sheep production systems depends on several different animal characteristics rather than a single trait. Economic selection indexes combine information from more than one trait into an overall score, to maximise genetic gain. Economic values (EVs) are required for each trait in the breeding goal so that selection emphasis is proportional to the economic importance of each trait. Defining clear breeding goals is more complex for hill breeds than for other sectors of the sheep industry because they provide breeding females in addition to lambs for slaughter. The aims of this paper are to i) describe how EVs for breeding goal traits suitable for UK hill sheep were derived for a combination of carcass, maternal and ‘sustainability’ traits using a bio-economic model, and ii) show how these EVs vary between different production systems as a result of the differences in the physical constraints of farm size, pasture availability and the biological limits of sheep in extensive rearing environments.

Periodontitis is a serious chronic inflammatory condition that can cause periodontal tissue deterioration and, eventually, tooth loss. Periodontal regenerative therapy using membranes and bone grafting materials, as well as flap debridement and/or flap curettage, have all been used with varying degrees of clinical effectiveness. Current resorbable and non-resorbable membranes serve as a physical barrier, preventing connective and epithelial tissue down growth into the defect and promoting periodontal tissue regeneration. The "perfect" membrane for use in periodontal regenerative therapy has yet to be created, as these conventional membranes have several structural, mechanical, and bio-functional constraints. We hypothesised in this narrative review that the next-generation of guided tissue and guided bone regeneration (GTR/GBR) membranes for periodontal tissue engineering will be a graded-biomaterials that closely mimics the extracellular matrix.

<p>Lignocellulosic biomass (LCB) such as crop residues and agro-industrial wastes are renewable resources and available abundantly. It could play central role in sustainable feeding system of ruminant production. These materials are potential source of fiber to support optimum rumen function and energy supply. However, the LCB has important nutritional constraints that limit its utilization as feed for ruminants. This review is intended to discuss nutritional constraints of LCB as ruminant feed and the potentials and challenges of processes in upgrading the nutritional quality of LCB. The main polymer compounds in LCB are cellulose (30 to 60% ), hemicellulose (20 to 40 %) and lignin (15-25%) and its inter linkages make the energy contained in the LCB is less extractable by the ruminant digestive system. Physical, chemical and biological processing technologies have been well known as alternative means to upgrade the nutritive values of LCB. Recently, novel processing technologies of LCB such as ionic liquid, organosolv, sonication, and new screened rot white fungi (<em>Ceriporiopsis subvermispora</em>) and some older technologies using alkaline and acids have been studied and developed particularly for the purpose of biofuel production in the bio refinery industry. Processing technologies have different properties in degrading the lignin, degrading and solubilizing the cellulose and hemicellulose that all relate to the nutritive quality of LCB. Advantages of processed LCB in ruminant animals were indicated by increase in diet digestibility, intake, rumen fermentation and gain. It is concluded that numerous processing technologies are available to upgrade the nutritional quality of LCB, but there are obstacles to use some of these techniques for wide application in ruminant production system.</p>

Historic urban landscapes are bio-physical imprints of past generation’s activities as well as a matrix for those of current and future generations. Pressures of economic development, while benefitting modernization, have led to loss of traditional practices in cultural landscapes, which reflected customs, values and belief systems of communities. This article explores alternative ways of seeing historic cities particularly with respect to the historic urban landscape paradigm. Chamba town, Himachal Pradesh, a pilgrim centre, market town and historic capital of the Chamba region, recently celebrated the millennium of its establishment. This historic town has distinctive location and is characterized by exceptional cultural and natural resources, landforms, bio-diversity and intangible cultural heritage. With a current population of 25,000, it is growing as a major town centre and pushing the boundaries of town limits and residential areas. Unregulated new development which is not designed for earthquake resistance, absence of delineation of ecologically sensitive zones, marginalization of traditional knowledge and aspirations of the primary custodians have resulted in fragile state of being, both naturally and culturally, and have altered the traditional regime of this historic town. This article examines the fragile relation between humans, nature and culture of Chamba and need for sustainable planning and management system for heritage resources within mountainous regions, with responsiveness to constraints and challenges. The authors reflect upon economic shifts, cultural transformations and infrastructure development, which adapt traditional knowledge designs to address urban needs for historic urban landscapes.

Nell’ambito del progetto GRACE BBI, questo lavoro si propone di studiare la fattibilità della coltivazione della canapa su terreni marginali caratterizzati da fattori biofisici limitanti intrinseci. Dopo un capitolo introduttivo della canapa, questo lavoro studia la letteratura scientifica per determinare gli effetti di diversi fattori biofisici sulla resa e la qualità del materiale della canapa, e dimostra che la canapa può essere particolarmente suscettibile alla qualità del terreno (scarsa profondità, estreme tessiture del suolo) poiché potrebbe essere coltivata su suoli contaminati, sotto clima arido o in ambito montuoso. Nei due capitoli seguenti è stata caraterizzata sperimentalmente la variabilità genetica del germoplasma Europeo riguardo la tolleranza allo stress osmotico ed agli stress indotti da metalli pesanti (rame, zinco) in ambito controllato. È stata evidenziata l’esistenza di una larga variabilità di tolleranza allo stress osmotico fra 26 genotipi, mentre la variabilità di tolleranza ai metalli pesanti è rimasta non statisticamente significativa. In modo interessante, le due varietà gialle del germoplasma, caratterizzate in letteratura per avere un’alta efficienza di decorticazione della fibra e conseguentemente essendo di interesse per la coltivazione su terreni marginali, manifestano caratteristiche di tolleranza per ciascun fattore studiato. Conseguentemente, l’ultimo capitolo studia ai livelli agronomico ed ecofisiologico la resa e l’efficienza di decorticazione di fibra di una varietà gialla in confronto ad una varietà verde di riferimento, e dimostra che in condizioni limitanti di concimazione azotata, la varietà gialla mostra una resa di biomassa leggermente ma significativamente minore, mentre la resa di fibra e l’efficienza di decorticazione rimane significativamente più alta, rendendo questa varietà interessante nell’ottica di una coltivazione su terreni marginali.
In the frame of the GRACE BBI project, the present work studies the feasibility of hemp cultivation on marginal lands, characterised by intrinsic bio-physical constraints. After a chapter introducing hemp, this work investigates the scientific literature to determine the effects of diverse bio-physical constraints on hemp yield and biomass quality, showing that hemp can be particularly susceptible to soil quality (low depth, extreme soil textures), whereas it can be cultivated on contaminated soils, under arid climate or in mountain environment. The next two chapters aimed at characterizing the genetic variability of European hemp germplasm for osmotic and heavy metals (copper and zinc) stress tolerance, under controlled environment. The existence of a large variability of osmotic stress tolerance was evidenced across 26 hemp genotypes, while the variability f tolerance to copper and zinc remained non statistically significant. Interestingly, the two yellow varieties of the germplasm, characterised in literature as displaying a high efficiency of fibre decortication rendering them interesting for cultivation on marginal lands, displayed characteristics of tolerance for each of the studied bio-physical constraints. Consequently, the last chapter studies, at agronomical and eco-physiological levels, the yield and the fibre decortication efficiency of a yellow variety in comparison with a conventional green variety, and showed that under nitrogen limiting conditions, the yellow variety produces slightly but significantly less biomass, while the fibre decortication efficiency and yield were significantly higher, rendering this variety interesting in the frame of a hemp cultivation on marginal lands.

Nanotechnology deals with materials that are 1–100 nm in size. Nanomaterials are prepared in different ways such as physical, chemical, and biological methods. They exhibit fascinating features that allow them to perform numerous physiological tasks. They have higher surface area to volume ratios and show typical nanoscale quantum confinement characteristics. They play a critical role in biomedical research. They're quite versatile and used in a variety of medical applications. The demand for nanomedicine drugs with improved performance and reduced toxicity has been steadily increasing in recent years. Nanomedicine is the new area of nanoscience and nanotechnology. Pharmaceutical nanosystems are classified, synthesized, and characterized using procedures based on their size, shape, and functionality. This book chapter focuses on recent trends of nanomedicine technology in pharmacology, particularly on the application of nanomaterials in medicine. Antibacterial characteristics, multicolor medical imaging, disease diagnostics, medication administration, vaccines and biomolecules (peptides, proteins, and genes), therapies, cancer treatment, tissue engineering, and clinical aspects are discussed. Advancements in nanomedicine technology will not only aid in the early diagnosis of infectious and viral disorders, but also in the treatment of infections such as Alzheimer's disease, tuberculosis, and Parkinson's disease. The benefits and constraints of commercializing nanomedicine technology products for pharmacology applications, as well as the hazards and obstacles in developing nanomaterials for medical research are highlighted in this chapter.

In this project we studied optimal use and adoption of sophisticated irrigation technologies. The stated objectives in the original proposal were to develop a conceptual framework for analyzing intra-season timing of water application rates with implications for crop and irrigation technology selection. We proposed to base the analysis on an intra-seasonal, dynamic, agro-economic model of plants' water demand, paying special attention to contamination of groundwater and soil in intensively cultivated areas that increasingly rely on water of lesser quality. The framework developed in the project integrates (i) a bio-physical model of water flow in the vadose zone and water uptake by plants and yield response with (ii) a dynamic management model to determine the optimal intra-season irrigation policy. It consists of a dynamic optimization model to determine irrigation rates at each point of time during the growing season and aggregation relating harvested yield with accumulated water input. The detailed dynamic approach provides a description of yield production processes at the plant’s level, and serves to determine intra-season irrigation decisions. Data derived from extensive field experiments were used to calibrate the model's parameters. We use the framework to establish the substitution between irrigation technology (capital) and water inputs; this is an important property of irrigation water productivity that has been overlooked in the literature. Another important feature investigated is the possibility to substitute fresh and saline water with a minimal productivity loss. The effects of soil properties and crop characteristics on optimal technology adoption have also been studied. We find that sandy soil, with low water holding capacity, is more conducive to adoption of sophisticated drip irrigation, as compared to heavier soils in which drainage losses are significantly smaller.