•In-person delivery of alcohol treatments was preferred by most participants.•Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, Counselling and 12-Step Facilitation Therapy were perceived the most acceptable treatments ...and Virtual Reality Therapy (VRT) and mobile VRT the least acceptable of currently available, alcohol treatments.•Treatment familiarity and preferences, prior VR experience, mental health, treatment uptake attitudes and perceived stigma were linked to the acceptability of VRT.•Psychoeducation and familiarisation processes in delivery protocols, and in-person delivery, could increase VRT’s acceptability in alcohol treatment.
The information that crops offer is turned into profitable decisions only when efficiently managed. Current advances in data management are making Smart Farming grow exponentially as data have become ...the key element in modern agriculture to help producers with critical decision-making. Valuable advantages appear with objective information acquired through sensors with the aim of maximizing productivity and sustainability. This kind of data-based managed farms rely on data that can increase efficiency by avoiding the misuse of resources and the pollution of the environment. Data-driven agriculture, with the help of robotic solutions incorporating artificial intelligent techniques, sets the grounds for the sustainable agriculture of the future. This paper reviews the current status of advanced farm management systems by revisiting each crucial step, from data acquisition in crop fields to variable rate applications, so that growers can make optimized decisions to save money while protecting the environment and transforming how food will be produced to sustainably match the forthcoming population growth.
It is instructive to exploit the coupling effect between the chaff clouds and the sea surface so that the scattering mechanism of chaff clouds above the surface can be better understood. An EM model ...for low-altitude chaff clouds above the sea surface is proposed to analyze the scattering contributions of the EM waves between the chaff clouds and the surface. For high-density chaff elements, their scattering properties can be calculated quickly and accurately by the vector radiative transfer. During the process, Monte Carlo solver is used to simulate the energy change of photons and the coupling effect among chaffs. Meanwhile, the Advanced Integral Equation Model is applied to calculate the electromagnetic scattering energy of the sea. Moreover, the coupling effect between the chaff clouds and the sea is taken into account by the four-path method. Numerical results indicate that the validity of the VRT method can be verified by the FEKO. In addition, the dynamic coupling of RCS variation is simulated and the scattering characteristics of chaff clouds under different sea states and heights are analyzed to predict the scattering coefficients. Moreover, for chaff clouds with different spatial distributions, the scattering characteristics are analyzed to provide an effective strategy for practical applications.
•A spatially scalable framework for precision N management.•VRT-N is marginally profitable in many fields in the US Midwest.•VRT-N can be better justified when accounting for the environmental ...benefits.•Managing temporal variability has bigger potential than managing spatial variability alone.
Variable rate technology nitrogen (VRT-N) application, a precision management approach to synchronize N input with crop demand, has received increasing attention in recent years. Although existing field trials have suggested the agronomic and environmental feasibility of VRT-N adoption, the potential benefits at large scale remain a puzzle to farmers and policy-makers, partly because no tools are available for aggregated assessments. In this study, we develop a scalable framework to support large-scale precision N management by fully leveraging recent advances in crop modeling, remote sensing, and publicly available weather and soil datasets. Using this new framework, we investigated the agronomic and environmental benefits of VRT-N application for corn compared to Uniform-N application across 9 states and ca. 2600 fields in the US Corn-Belt. Our results showed that, given an Extension-reported service fee of 6.2 USD$/ha for applying N at variable rate, the multi-year averaged mean agronomic margin of adopting VRT-N were only 6.7 $/ha more than Uniform-N. Accounting for the environmental cost of N leaching and N2O emission increased the mean benefit of VRT-N to 26.4 $/ha. Agronomic benefits in general increased with the yield heterogeneity in field, and the mean value was driven by a small fraction of very heterogenous fields. Additional benefits from managing the temporal variability were 29.5 $/ha and 51.6 $/ha on average from an agronomic and environmental perspective, respectively. Environmental benefits are considerable but are unlikely to drive farmer adoption in the absence of new incentives for precision technologies. Although various uncertainties remain to be reduced, the current framework opens opportunity to ingest future improvements in models and geospatial datasets and could serve as a foundation for other precision management practices such as seeding rate and irrigation.
In view of the global aging population and growing need of palliative care, innovative intervention for effective symptom management is of urgent need. Flourishing-Life-Of-Wish Virtual Reality ...Therapy (FLOW-VRT) is a brief, structured, manualized, and personalized psychological intervention with theoretical foundations based on stress coping theory, self-determination theory, flow theory, and attention restoration theory. With a specific focus on relaxation, FLOW-VRT-Relaxation intends to facilitate adaptive end-of-life coping through delivering personalized relaxation. This paper reports a case study of the application of FLOW-VRT-Relaxation, and discusses its therapeutic potential as a cost-effective method for reducing palliative symptoms by addressing patient's unmet needs. The case study is a 51-year-old Chinese female, diagnosed with advanced cervix cancer, and presented with unmet psychological (i.e., unfulfilled wishes) and physical needs (i.e., pain and fatigue) before FLOW-VRT-Relaxation. To address her unmet needs, FLOW-VRT-Relaxation was delivered by a registered clinical psychologist specialized in palliative care. Need assessment was first conducted, followed by a 10-min VR travel of Japan as her own choice. Relaxation was verbally coached during VR. Right after VR, consolidation with psychological components including psychoeducation, cognitive and emotional processing, and reminiscence intervention were delivered. The patient showed improvement in physical and psychological symptoms, lower sense of loneliness and engulfment, as well as enhanced peace after FLOW-VRT-Relaxation. The current findings provide encouraging initial support for the feasibility, acceptability, and therapeutic potential of using FLOW-VRT-Relaxation as a cost-effective, scalable and personalized VR relaxation for patients under palliative care. It is hoped that with its optimal use, FLOW-VRT-Relaxation can serve as an alternative therapeutic tool that effectively improves the end-on-life care.
•A pioneered study is carried out to develop a variable rate liquid fertilizer application system to detect on-the-go deficiency of Nitrogen within a field and apply it according to the requirement ...of crop.•The system includes microcontroller, Green-seeker sensor, proportional solenoid valve (PSV), pressure relief valve, pump, battery, etc. Microcontroller receives a signal from Green-seeker sensor and it transmits to the PSV.•24.30% fertilizer is saved while implementing the present variable rate system.
Variable rate technology (VRT) provides a sustainable, efficient, and cost-effective nutrient application option. A pioneered study is carried out to develop a variable rate liquid fertilizer application system to detect on-the-go deficiency of Nitrogen within a field and apply it according to the requirement of crop. The system includes microcontroller, nitrogen sensor (i.e. Green-seeker sensor), proportional solenoid valve, pressure relief valve, pump, battery, etc. Microcontroller receives a signal from Green-seeker sensor and it transmits to the proportional solenoid valve (PSV). The PSV opening is change based on the prescribed nutritional dose. The experimental study is conducted on groundnut crop. The experiment is carried out for different level of fertilizer (N1-150, N2– 200, N3-250, and N4-300 l ha−1) as well as different operating speed is 3, 4, 5 km h−1 to estimate actual fertilizer dropped (AFD), % error, droplet size, droplet density (DD), uniformity coefficient (UC), and spray deposition. The response time of the system is in the range of 1.12 s to 1.80 s. It is observed from the experimental study that the error in the fertilizer to be dropped and AFD increases with increase in the speed of operation. The percentage error is found to be 2.73 %, which is the lowest one, at 3 km h−1 operating speed. The maximum droplet size is found to be 272.5 μm at 5 km h−1 forward speed and 300 l ha−1 nitrogen application rate, whereas minimum droplet size is found to be 241.23 μm at 3 km h−1 forward speed and 150 l ha−1 nitrogen application rate. The present study proposes maximum of 24.30 % saving in the fertilizer application for groundnut crop. Thus, the present system improved fertilizer use efficiency, profitability while minimizing environmental hazards.
Abstract
Virtual reality therapy (VRT) is a new psychotherapeutic approach integrating virtual reality technology and psychotherapy. This case series aimed to study effectiveness of VRT in treating ...psychological problems. We described four cases of first-line health care professionals with emerging clinically significant early psychological problems during the COVID-19 outbreak, and specifically received the VRT treatment. We compared the Patient Health Questionnaire 9 items (PHQ-9), Generalized Anxiety Disorder-7 (GAD-7), PHQ-15, and Athens Insomnia Scale to evaluate psychological symptoms and sleep quality before and after sessions. All four cases showed a reduction in scale comparison. General scores of the PHQ-9 reduced 65%, GAD-7 reduced 52.17%, PHQ-15 decreased 38.17%, and scores of the Athens Insomnia Scale reduced 67.44%. Meanwhile, a reduction in depression, anxiety, psychosomatic, and sleeping symptoms was also found, which decreased 76.92% in general. These results are highly significant statistically. This case series demonstrated the effectiveness of VRT on psychological problems as a promising approach to apply on various psychological distress and disorders.
•Water Energy Food nexus approach was applied to evaluate the impact of Variable Rate Technology at farm level for a sustainable use of nitrogen.•The results show the importance for farmers of ...managing inputs in an efficient way, in order to obtain economic and environmental benefits.•The adoption of VRT in input management can provide important benefits, both under economic and environmental perspective.
In this paper we assess the sustainability of Variable Rate Technology (VRT) application for different wheat intensive agricultural areas in Europe. Within the H2020 FATIMA project we developed an analytical framework to assess the environmental and economic sustainability of nutrient management in two Case Studies in Greek and Czech Republic, implemented with different fertilization strategies in the winter wheat production, compared with the conventional one.
We look at the economic and environmental dimension expressed throughout a set of specific performance indicators implemented under the Water Energy Food (WEF) nexus framework. Considering that fertilization strategies significatively affect environmental impact as well as economic performance at farm level, we investigated how Precision Agriculture (PA) tools, and particularly VRT, most suitable for increasing efficiency in fertilization distribution, can improve and maximize efficiency of inputs and profitability of individual fields by targeting application where needed and at optimum rates.
The study shows how, despite a general reduction of production cost and increase in gross margin, farm sizes and the level of efficiency of the “as usual scenario” influence the economic impact of the VRT. Looking instead at the environmental perspective of the analysis, the results provide evidence of a decrease of nitrogen (N) due to lower amount of fertilizers, as well as a better distribution according to the potential productivity of the field, causing reduced impact of groundwater quality (nitrate loss by leaching). On the other side, some constraints arise from the high cost and the investments needed to adopt VRT at farm level, one of the main challenges to be solved through adequate policy instruments.
Polish wheat (Triticum polonicum) is a unique tetraploid wheat species characterized by an elongated outer glume. The genetic control of the long-glume trait by a single semi-dominant locus, P1 (from ...Polish wheat), was established more than 100 years ago, but the underlying causal gene and molecular nature remain elusive. Here, we report the isolation of VRT-A2, encoding an SVP-clade MADS-box transcription factor, as the P1 candidate gene. Genetic evidence suggests that in T. polonicum, a naturally occurring sequence rearrangement in the intron-1 region of VRT-A2 leads to ectopic expression of VRT-A2 in floral organs where the long-glume phenotype appears. Interestingly, we found that the intron-1 region is a key ON/OFF molecular switch for VRT-A2 expression, not only because it recruits transcriptional repressors, but also because it confers intron-mediated transcriptional enhancement. Genotypic analyses using wheat accessions indicated that the P1 locus is likely derived from a single natural mutation in tetraploid wheat, which was subsequently inherited by hexaploid T. petropavlovskyi. Taken together, our findings highlight the promoter-proximal intron variation as a molecular basis for phenotypic differentiation, and thus species formation in Triticum plants.
A naturally occurring sequence rearrangement in the intron-1 region of the MADS-box gene VRT-A2, featuring a 560-bp deletion coupled with a 157-bp sequence substitution, leads to ectopic expression of VRT-A2 in floral organs and underlies the origin of Polish wheat (Triticum polonicum) and ‘Daosuimai’ (T. petropavlovskyi), species with elongated outer glumes and grains.
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