• Rural Digital Europe
• 2019-2023close
• Open Access close
• Article close

This work proposes a new methodology to build an Earth-wide mosaic using high-spatial resolution (15 m) Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission and Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) images in pseudo-true color. As ASTER originally misses a blue visible band, we have designed a cloud of artificial neural networks to estimate the ASTER blue reflectance from Level-1 data acquired by the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on the same satellite Terra platform. Next, the granules are radiometrically harmonized with a novel color-balancing method and seamlessly blended into a mosaic. We demonstrate that the proposed algorithms are robust enough to process several thousands of scenes acquired under very different temporal, spatial, and atmospheric conditions. Furthermore, the created mosaic fully preserves the ASTER fine structures across the various building steps. The proposed methodology and protocol are modular so that they can easily be adapted to similar sensors with enormous image libraries.

Incotton (Gossypium hirsutum L.) agriculture, very loose soil results inreduced seed emergence and stand establishment because the contact between soiland seed is deficient. Therefore, the use of a planker before planting may helpfirm seedbeds and improve stand establishment. The objective of this study isto determine the effects of different pass numbers of the planker on soil bulkdensity, moisture content and cotton seed emergence. Also, weed species andplant growth parameters were determined in the study. The five treatmentsincluding different soil planking levels (P0, untreated control; P1, one passof planker; P2, two passes of planker; P3, three passes of planker; P4, fourpasses of planker) was compared by using completely randomized block designwith three replications. The results of the study indicated that while the soilbulk density and moisture content was increased with increasing the pass numberof planker, multi-pass of planker significantly reduced seed emergence rate andSPAD value. The highest seed cotton yield per plant was found at P1 (one passof planker) treatment. Also, soil planking levels affected the weed species andthe density of this species. Control plots (P0) had higher weeds species than othertreatments. In conclusion, the findingsof this research suggest that multi-pass of planker may reduce seed emergenceand cotton yield although it increases the moisture content at 0-10 cm soildepth which has positive effect on seed emergence, under the soil and climateconditions like the experimental field. Pamuk (Gossypium hirsutum L.)tarımında, toprağın fazla gevşek olması, tohumun toprakla temasını azalttığıiçin bitkinin çimlenmesi ve çıkışında düşüşlere neden olmaktadır. Bu nedenle, bitkiçıkış oranını ve gelişimini artırmak için ekim öncesi tarlaya en az 2-3 keztapan çekilerek, toprak bastırılmaktadır. Bu çalışmada, tapanın farklı geçişsayılarının, toprağın hacim ağırlığı, nem içeriği ve tohum çıkış oranınaetkisinin belirlenmesi amaçlanmıştır. Ayrıca, çalışmada yabancı ot türleri vebitki gelişim parametreleri belirlenmiştir. Beş farklı tapan geçiş sayısının(P0, kontrol; P1, tapanın bir defa geçişi; P2, tapanın iki defa geçişi; P3,tapanın üç defa geçişi; P4, tapanın dört defa geçişi) denendiği çalışma,tesadüf blokları deneme desenine göre, üç tekerrürlü olarak yürütülmüştür.Çalışmanın sonuçları, tapan geçiş sayısındaki artışın, toprak hacim ağırlığı venem içeriğinde artış meydana getirdiğini, fakat bitki çıkış oranını ve SPAD değeriniönemli ölçüde azalttığını göstermiştir. En yüksek bitkideki kütlü pamuk verimi,P1 uygulamasında elde edilmiştir. Ayrıca, tapan geçiş sayısının, denemealanındaki yabancı ot tür sayısını da önemli düzeyde etkilediği görülmüştür.Kontrol parsellerindeki yabancı ot tür sayısının daha yüksek olduğugözlenmiştir. Sonuç olarak, bu denemenin sonuçları, ekim derinliğindekitoprağın nem içeriğini olumlu yönde etkilemesine rağmen, aynı iklim ve toprakkoşullarında tapanın birden fazla geçiş sayısının bitki çıkış ve verimindedüşüşlere neden olabileceğini göstermektedir. 

The role of digital transformation in creating value for commercial banks has been interesting to researchers for a long time. While many commercial banks have significantly investigated digital transformation, researchers and managers have still met many difficulties examining the distribution of digital transformation to business performance. This paper aims to evaluate the impact of digital transformation on Vietnamese commercial banks’ performance by different sizes, from there proposing policy implications of digital transformation to improve the banking performance. To achieve this goal, we used a quantitative research method. Specifically, we applied the GMM system (SGMM) of Blundell and Bond for the data of 13 joint-stock commercial banks in Vietnam in the period from 2011 to 2019. Then Bayesian analysis is performed to test the robustness of the models estimated by the SGMM method. The result shows that the digital transformation has a positive impact on the performance of Vietnamese commercial banks. Besides, we also find that the larger the banks, the greater the positive impact of digital transformation on bank performance. Therefore, the efficiency of digital transformation depends on a bank scale.

Abstract. Water quality is an important index of the ecological environment, which changes rapidly and needs to be monitored chronically. In urban ecological environment, water quality problem is not only more serious, but also more complex in time and space. Remote sensing water quality monitoring can cover a large area in a short time. Therefore, remote sensing can be adopted to make up for the shortcomings of traditional water quality monitoring methods in space coverage and temporal resolution. In order to monitor the narrow rivers in urban area, low altitude remote sensing is needed. This paper proposes a multi-spectral water quality monitoring method based on UAV platform, which can quickly monitor an entire urban water area and conduct multi-temporal observation for key indices of water quality within one day. It is helpful to find and locate the polluted areas which affect the water environment quickly. Also, it can show the changes of water quality on the time axis. The result can provide a decision-making basis for water environment treatment.

ABSTRACT: The aim of this study was to assess the effect of feeding management on performance and carcass yield of male turkeys during finishing stage. 920 male turkeys were used, which were housed in 40 pens; each pen was comprised of experimental unit. The birds, from 91 to 154 days, were submitted to four feeding managements, based on feed intake, that were: ad libitum, where feed was permanently available to birds; controlled with a daily supply of 100% of recommended feed amount; controlled with 95% of recommended daily feed amount, and controlled with 90% of recommended daily feed amount. Each feeding treatment had ten replicates of 23 birds each. Controlled or restricted feeding management reduced feed intake, average weight, and weight gain (P <0.05), and worsened feed conversion (P <0.05). Carcass and leg weight were reduced (P <0.05) from the 5% restriction related to the recommended. Breast weight was reduced (P <0.05) with a restriction of 10%. No differences were seen when compared to carcass and leg yield and fat deposition (P> 0.05), only breast yield was reduced (P<0.05) when the birds received 90% of that recommended by the lineage, compared to the ad libitum feed management. The feeding management of male turkeys with restriction of the recommended feed amount during the finishing stage had a negative effect on the performance of the birds. However, controlled feeding at 100% of recommended to the lineage reduced feed intake and did not change the carcass weight, breast or leg yield, or fat deposition.

Ocean-going ships were key to rising maritime economies of the Early Modern period, and understanding how they were built is critical to grasp the challenges faced by shipwrights and merchant seafarers. Shipwreck timbers hold material evidence of the dynamic interplay of wood supplies, craftmanship, and evolving ship designs that helped shape the Early Modern world. Here we present the results of dendroarchaeological research carried out on Batavia���s wreck timbers, currently on display at the Western Australian Shipwrecks Museum in Fremantle. Built in Amsterdam in 1628 CE and wrecked on its maiden voyage in June 1629 CE in Western Australian waters, Batavia epitomises Dutch East India Company (Verenigde Oostindische Compagnie, or VOC) shipbuilding. In the 17th century, the VOC grew to become the first multinational trading enterprise, prompting the rise of the stock market and modern capitalism. Oak (Quercus sp.) was the preferred material for shipbuilding in northern and western Europe, and maritime nations struggled to ensure sufficient supplies to meet their needs and sustain their ever-growing mercantile fleets and networks. Our research illustrates the compatibility of dendrochronological studies with musealisation of shipwreck assemblages, and the results demonstrate that the VOC successfully coped with timber shortages in the early 17th century through diversification of timber sources (mainly Baltic region, L��beck hinterland in northern Germany, and Lower Saxony in northwest Germany), allocation of sourcing regions to specific timber products (hull planks from the Baltic and L��beck, framing elements from Lower Saxony), and skillful woodworking craftmanship (sapwood was removed from all timber elements). These strategies, combined with an innovative hull design and the use of wind-powered sawmills, allowed the Dutch to produce unprecedented numbers of ocean-going ships for long-distance voyaging and interregional trade in Asia, proving key to their success in 17th-century world trade. Funding: WvD LP130100137 Australian Research Council https://www.arc.gov.au/ No MD-D 607545 FP7 People Programme (Marie Curie Actions) https://ec.europa.eu/research/mariecurieactions/ 016.Veni.195.502 Nederlandse Organisatie voor Wetenschappelijk Onderzoek https://www.nwo.nl/en AD 677152 European Research Council https://erc.europa.eu/

This article reconstructs the history of a Pentecostal denomination in Kenya that was established by Scandinavian missionaries from two missionary agencies, namely the Norwegian Pentecostal Mission (NPM) and Swedish Free Mission (SFM), during the early 1950s. It relies on oral narratives by early African clerics, missionaries and church leaders as well as archival materials such as minutes, correspondence and reports to argue that the 60-year history of the Free Pentecostal Fellowship in Kenya (FPFK) may be periodised into three major epochs: the period of beginnings (1955–1984); the period of collaboration (1984–1996); and the period of nationalisation (1997–2018). It further contests that the present challenges for the church, such as the schism between Swedish and Norwegian sections, financial instability and the collapse of its national institutions, as well as an over emphasis on rural evangelism and a failure to penetrate the Kenyan urban life, are directly linked to its Scandinavian heritage.