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Abstract Cocoa (Theobroma cacao L.) provides livelihoods for 5 million smallholder farmers, but the factors limiting cocoa yield are poorly understood. We present a global analysis of pollination, cocoa tree, plantation, and climate factors affecting cocoa yield, with experimental data from three major cocoa-producing countries: Brazil, Ghana and Indonesia. Hand-pollination increased yield by 20%, showing cocoa yield is limited by pollination, but not nutrients. Leaf litter and large cacao trees, measures of soil resource availability and access, increased yield by 9-19%. Cooler temperatures by 7 °C during the hot season increased yield by up to 31%, indicating substantial risks from climate warming. Agricultural production that enhances cocoa pollinator abundance, protects soils, and mitigates climate risks will be the most effective way to secure global cocoa production and support livelihoods into the future.

Abstract We need comprehensive information to manage and protect biodiversity in the face of global environmental challenges, and artificial intelligence is required to generate that information from vast amounts of biodiversity data. Currently, vision‐based monitoring methods are heterogenous; they poorly cover spatial and temporal dimensions, overly depend on humans, and are not reactive enough for adaptive management. To mitigate these issues, we present a portable, modular, affordable and low‐power device with embedded vision for biodiversity monitoring of a wide range of terrestrial taxa. Our camera uses interchangeable lenses to resolve barely visible and remote targets, as well as customisable algorithms for blob detection, region‐of‐interest classification and object detection to automatically identify them. We showcase our system in six use cases from ethology, landscape ecology, agronomy, pollination ecology, conservation biology and phenology disciplines. Using the same devices with different setups, we discovered bats feeding on durian tree flowers, monitored flying bats and their insect prey, identified nocturnal insect pests in paddy fields, detected bees visiting rapeseed crop flowers, triggered real‐time alerts for waterfowl and tracked flower phenology over months. We measured classification accuracies (i.e. F1‐scores) between 55% and 95% in our field surveys and used them to standardise observations over highly resolved time scales. Our cameras are amenable to situations where automated vision‐based monitoring is required off the grid, in natural and agricultural ecosystems, and in particular for quantifying species interactions. Embedded vision devices such as this will help addressing global biodiversity challenges and facilitate a technology‐aided agricultural systems transformation.

Abstract Urban land expansion is a major driver of many environmental and societal changes that challenge human well‐being and sustainable development, but its evolutionary process and dynamics are neither clear nor well‐integrated into urban science quantitatively. We analyzed the global urban extent data based on nighttime lights to examine the statistical distribution of urban land area at the global scale, and in 13 regions and countries over 29 years. The results reveal a converging temporal trend in urban land expansion from subnational to global scales, characterized by a coherent shift of urban area distribution from an initial power law toward an exponential distribution. This trend is well captured by a unified mathematical model based on the shifted power law distribution function and is reflected in the gradual predominance of medium‐size cities over small‐size cities in the configuration of urban systems across the world. The shift of urban area distributions bears the consequence of reduced urban system stability and resilience, and can be linked to increasing exposure of urban populations to extreme heat events and air pollution. These changes are likely to be driven by the increasing influence of external economies of scale associated with globalization. The findings challenge the status quo of land urbanization practices and emphasize the importance of medium‐size cities in urban planning.

Among the leading issues that dominated debate throughout 2020, diversity on higher education campuses surfaced once again demanding change of existing as well as future practices. Addressing and incorporating diversified cultural perspectives require universities to do much more than issuing diversity statements. This research study employed Q-methodology to explore and compare the perspectives that one group of international students and one group of domestic students hold regarding the American model of the research university. The groups included Arab students studying at a public research university in the United States, and domestic American students studying at a public research university in the United States. Fifteen students from both groups--representing a total of 30 participants--were interviewed. Factor analysis indicated that students from both cultural backgrounds held unique perspectives regarding the value of the American model of the research university.

Passive acoustic monitoring of soundscapes and biodiversity produces vast amounts of audio recordings, but the management and analyses of these raw data present technical challenges. A multitude of software solutions exist, but none can fulfil all purposes required for the management, processing, navigation, and analysis of acoustic data. The field of ecoacoustics needs a software tool that is free, evolving, and accessible. We take a step in that direction and present ecoSound-web: an open-source, online platform for ecoacoustics designed and built by ecologists and software engineers. ecoSound-web can be used for storing, re-sampling, organising, analysing, and sharing soundscape recording or metadata projects. Specifically, it allows manual annotation of soniferous animals and soundscape components, automatic annotation with deep-learning models for all birds and for UK bat species, peer-reviewing annotations, analysing audio in time and frequency dimensions, computing alpha acoustic indices, and providing reference sound libraries for different taxa. We present ecoSound-web’s structure and features, and describe its operation for typical use cases such as sampling bird and bat communities, using a primate call library, and the analysis of soundscape components and acoustic indices. ecoSound-web is available from: https://github.com/ecomontec/ecoSound-web

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) have become part of individual lives in the 21st century. ICT is often employed to improve the quality of instructional delivery to help in equipping the students with relevant skills and knowledge. This paper stressed on the integration of ICT tools in teaching Agricultural Science in Senior Secondary Schools in Benue State. The paper dealt with the impact of ICT tools in teaching Agricultural Science. Examined the usage level of ICT tools by learners, determined the effect of ICT integration on student’s attitude/interest and challenges of integrating ICT in Agricultural Science classes. Descriptive survey research design was adopted for the study with the population of 6250 and a sample size of 120 respondents. The instrument for data collection was a questionnaire validated by three experts; data was collected by the researcher and analyzed using mean and standard deviation while chi square was used to test the null hypotheses at .05 level of confidence. Findings revealed amongst others that ICT devises if used in Agricultural Science instruction in teaching learning process, will boost learner’s performances, makes learning more interesting and enhances student’s retention abilities. Teachers attest that, teacher’s incompetency of ICT use, lack of teachers’ self-confidence, traditional appraisal of ICT and lack of ICT mainstreaming into schools’ policy were some of the constraints faced. Therefore, for effective integration of ICT in teaching Agricultural Science in secondary schools, it was recommended that teachers of Agricultural Science should be trained periodically; sufficient ICT facilities should be provided; there should be constant power supply; internet services should be enhanced, among others.

Passive acoustic monitoring of soundscapes and biodiversity produces vast amounts of audio recordings, but the management and analyses of these raw data present technical challenges. A multitude of software solutions exist, but none can fulfil all purposes required for the management, processing, navigation, and analysis of acoustic data. The field of ecoacoustics needs a software tool that is free, evolving, and accessible. We take a step in that direction and present ecoSound-web: an open-source, online platform for ecoacoustics designed and built by ecologists and software engineers. ecoSound-web can be used for storing, re-sampling, organising, analysing, and sharing soundscape recording or metadata projects. Specifically, it allows manual annotation of soniferous animals and soundscape components, automatic annotation with deep-learning models for all birds and for UK bat species, peer-reviewing annotations, analysing audio in time and frequency dimensions, computing alpha acoustic indices, and providing reference sound libraries for different taxa. We present ecoSound-web’s structure and features, and describe its operation for typical use cases such as sampling bird and bat communities, using a primate call library, and the analysis of soundscape components and acoustic indices. ecoSound-web is available from: https://github.com/ecomontec/ecoSound-web

Objective: To describe whether detecting plasma microbial cell-free DNA by next-generation sequencing (NGS) provided additional information compared to routine cultures or led to change in antimicrobial management. Design and setting: This is a retrospective cohort study evaluating NGS tests performed on patients who were admitted to an 11-acute care hospital health system in the greater Houston area between May 2022 and May 2023. Repeat tests on the same patient encounter were included if >7 days from previous test. Routine microbiology data was compared if test was collected within 7 days before or after NGS testing. Results: During the study period there were 135 unique patient encounters identified with an NGS order. Of which, 74.1% were ≥18 years of age and 46.7% were immunocompromised. A total of 143 NGS tests were ordered, with 4 not being run due to quality control issues. Out of 139 NGS tests completed, 76 (54.7%) were positive for at least one organism. When compared to routine testing, NGS alone was positive in 29 (20.9%) instances, routine testing alone was positive in 17 (12.2%) instances, both were positive in 44 (31.7%) instances, and both were negative in 49 (35.3%) instances. In the 44 instances that both NGS and routine testing were positive, 15 (34.1%) were concordant for all organisms. In total, NGS identified 92 more organisms (69 bacterial, 8 fungal, and 15 viral) compared to routine testing and routine testing identified 42 more organisms (28 bacterial, 6 fungal, 11 viral, and 1 parasite) compared to NGS. Fifty-six changes to antibiotic therapy were made within 48 hours of the NGS test resulting, with 16 of these changes being directly attributed to NGS test. Nine of these changes being escalations and seven being de-escalations. Conclusion: NGS may aid in determining further testing, earlier detection of pathogens, and detection of pathogens outside of routine testing resulting in direct changes to antimicrobials. However, results need to be interpreted with caution. NGS can miss pertinent pathogens and is difficult to interpret when commensal organisms are detected, both of which can lead to unnecessary testing or treatment. There is an absence of a clear algorithm for the use of NGS testing and the test comes with a high price and unclear utility. Further studies are needed to determine which patients may most benefit from NGS testing.

The study abroad experience at the university level is an increasingly important developmental opportunity. Unfortunately, while campuses within the United States collectively enroll a growing number of international students, the number of American students studying abroad during an undergraduate degree program remains consistently low. This is especially true among African American students. This case study examines the perceptions of undergraduate African American students regarding institutional barriers to study abroad. Supporting extant literature, perceived cost and restrictions on financial aid for studying abroad topped the reasons for not pursuing study abroad. In addition, the largest influences on the decision by African American students to participate in study abroad are family and friends. However, minimal institutional awareness of these influencers was present. To increase African American participation in study abroad, the findings highlight the need for focused institutional actions that include involving African American campus resources, carefully considering study abroad destinations, and strategic communication.

Abstract Background As vaccines for COVID-19 became available, many countries introduced an obligation in 2021 for employees to prove their COVID-19 status at work, known in Germany as the 3G rule (vaccinated, recovered, tested). In view of the controversial debate, there was concern that employees might try to avoid providing mandatory COVID-19 certificates by taking sick leave. The aim of this study was to investigate whether mandatory COVID-19 tests in the workplace led to such an evasive response. Method For an empirical panel analysis, we collected data from official sources and combined aggregated health insurance data on sick leave, epidemiological data on laboratory-confirmed COVID-19 infections, and vaccination rates for the German states from September 2021 to January 2022. We used a regional panel data analysis to estimate the impact of the mandatory COVID-19 certificates at the workplace on workers’ sick leave. The regional vaccination rate reflected differences in treatment intensity. Results This study contributes to the limited evidence on the potential impact of introducing mandatory COVID-19 certificates at the workplace on sickness absence rates. In fact, our results showed that after controlling for infection rates, a one percentage point lower vaccination rate led to a 0.021 percentage point increase in the sickness absence rate when the 3G rule came into effect. This effect was measured with high statistical precision. In addition, in robustness checks, we controlled for a number of other possible influencing factors that may have affected sickness behaviours, such as time-varying labour market situations. However, the results remained robust. Conclusions The results of our empirical panel analysis implied that mandatory COVID-19 certificates in the workplace led to evasive responses and to additional days of sick leave of a relevant magnitude. Testing obligations were meant to help contain the epidemic. However, when introducing controversial obligations, it is important to consider evasive responses and to design the rules appropriately and communicate them convincingly.

The effects of globalization have been studied, mainly, from a corporatization perspective (Kleypas and & McDougal 2012) and have used classic economic and academic capitalism theories (Walker 2009), and administrative theoretical frameworks (Barrow, Didou-Aupetit, and Mallea 2003). Such views have contributed to the widespread adoption of a business model of the university that emphasizes knowledge production and the view of education as a commodity (Murphy 2006; de Wit 2011). A common response is the adoption, and in some cases the local adaptation, of the American model of the research university (AMRU) [a model that has its roots in the United Kingdom and is employed in Australia, so it is also referred to as the Anglo-Saxon model of the research university (Teichler 1998; Wanger, Azizova and Wang 2009; Wang and Wanger 2011)]. Within the Arab Gulf region, efforts to emulate the research university model are well documented (Obst and Kirk 2010). This study accordingly assesses the perceptions of Arab Gulf students of the AMRU and compares them to the perceptions of American students.