30 research outputs found
Determining Effective Management Strategies for Stemphylium Leaf Blight of Onion
No full textScicluna, Julia, 2025, "Supplemental data for: Determining effective management strategies for Stemphylium leaf blight of onion: Disease forecasting trial", https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/ZQZ6MA, Borealis, V1.Scicluna, Julia, 2025, "Supplemental data for: Determining effective management strategies for Stemphylium leaf blight of onion: Early infection trials", https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/FIDVED, Borealis, V1.Scicluna, Julia, 2025, "Supplemental data for: Determining effective management strategies for Stemphylium leaf blight of onion: Fungicide resistance trials", https://doi.org/10.5683/SP3/BT4SKC, Borealis, V1.Stemphylium leaf blight (SLB) of onion caused by Stemphylium vesicarium (Wallr.) E.G. Simmons is the most common foliar disease of onion in Ontario. The objectives of this research were to develop and evaluate disease forecasting models to reduce fungicide applications, detect infection of onion early in the growing season, and assess mutations associated with resistance to succinate dehydrogenase inhibitor (SDHI) fungicides in S. vesicarium. Modified forecasting models based on weather data or conidia counts reduced fungicide application but not SLB. Infection of onion was detected in the field as early as the flag leaf stage but penflufen seed treatment did not reduce early season infection of onion. Six mutations associated with SDHI resistance were detected in S. vesicarium isolates collected in the Holland Marsh from 2021-2024. More research is needed to develop an effective forecasting model and assess mutations for reduction of efficacy for all registered SDHI fungicides.Food from ThoughtFresh Vegetable Growers of OntarioOntario Agri-Food Innovation Allianc
Endovascular Aneurysm Repair Surveillance Program Driven by Artificial Intelligence : Is This the Holy Grail of Surveillance?
No full textSocial democracy in a postcolonial island state : Dom Mintoff’s impact
No full textThis paper pays homage to former Maltese premier and postcolonial Maltese leader, Dom Mintoff soon after his death in August 20 2012. The pragmatic socialist politics of Dom Mintoff is exposed and the contradictions revealed. His ability as a negotiator, orator and architect of a democratic socialist politics marked by the building of a welfare state is underscored. Pugilistic and irascible, Mintoff is presented warts and all as a statesman and a political figure of international acclaim.peer-reviewe
Automotive factory network renewal
No full textThe aim of this applied thesis was to plan, implement, and study the upgrading the network infrastructure in Valmet Automotive Oy, specifically in its Uusikaupunki factory. Valmet Automotive is a Finnish automotive service provider, focusing on premium vehicles, convertible roof systems and electric vehicles. The objective was to plan and implement a networking infrastructure that could support the load of a factory in full-scale production, while ensuring near-constant availability. The transition also had to minimize impact on any ongoing car and car part production.
The process was split into four parts: studying the original environment, planning a replacement, implementation, and organizing a support service. Initially a lengthy study of the current network infrastructure was performed, in order to identify the original layout, what needed to be changed
and what could be kept. This entailed numerous meetings with engineers responsible for the system, and studying and translating topology maps and technical documentation. This resulted in a detailed picture of the original nfrastructure that the author used to compile the migration plan.
The thesis focused around the replacement of the core switches in the Uusikaupunki factory, as this was identified as the most critical and necessary part of the whole project. The impact of replacing these switches was studied, and a step by step process plan was developed in order to lessen any negative effects on production. This process had to include providing component redundancy, satisfy original network requirements, and create a support structure for the new infrastructure.
This thesis resulted in increased reliability and performance on the IT infrastructure of the Uusikaupunki branch of Valmet Automotive Inc. Network breaks and speed decreases, that were observed beforehand, were shown to have minimized. The knowledge gained from this thesis was used to plan a similar implementation in another of Valmet’s branches
The Meal Experience in Casual Dining Restaurants
No full textThis research-oriented thesis thrived from the author’s first study related to the quality of the service given in Maltese restaurants. Therefore, the main objective of this study is to empirically examine the present situation and quality of the meal experience given in casual dining restaurants in Malta.
The literature review is broken down into four chapters. The first chapter discusses the foodservice sector; a general overview and a definition of this dynamic and everchanging sector is given. The second and third chapter deal with customer experience as well as the various facets and forms pertaining to the restaurant experience. Lastly, the fourth and last chapter focuses on the service quality and customer satisfaction.
For this research paper, two research methodologies used for data collection. A total of 23 casual dining restaurants around Malta were chosen for the participative observation, whilst the survey questionnaire had a total response from 763 participants. The data gathered from the two research methodologies was amalgamated for interpretation and conclusions.
The key result in this study, with the exception of a few scenarios, suggest that, in general, casual dining restaurants in Malta are performing rather well. Nonetheless, issues related to customer interaction and a better menu offering vis a vis healthy/dietary options and local specialities should be taken into account and addressed.
The author started his first research on the restaurant sector in 2016, when he was writing his bachelors’ thesis on the food and beverage service in Malta; this research paper is a continuity of his work and it gives a glimpse of information of what is happening in the Mal-tese casual dining restaurants. Therefore, it would be of significant value to this industry if further studies are conducted; not only in the catering sector, but also in other vital sectors which form part of the tourism and hospitality industry
Isolation of squares in graphs
No full textGiven a set of graphs, we call a copy of a graph in an -graph. The -isolation number of a graph , denoted by , is the size of a smallest subset of the vertex set such that the closed neighbourhood of intersects the vertex sets of the -graphs contained by (equivalently, contains no -graph). Thus, is the domination number of . The second author showed that if is the set of cycles and is a connected -vertex graph that is not a triangle, then . This bound is attainable for every and solved a problem of Caro and Hansberg. A question that arises immediately is how much smaller an upper bound can be if for some , where is a cycle of length . The problem is to determine the smallest real number (if it exists) such that for some finite set of graphs, for every connected graph that is not an -graph. The above-mentioned result yields and . The second author also showed that if and exists, then . We prove that and determine , which consists of three -vertex graphs and six -vertex graphs. The -vertex graphs in were fully determined by means of a computer program. A method that has the potential of yielding similar results is introduced.16 pages, 1 figure, minor corrections mad
Some Europeans are more equal than others
No full textThe position of Roma migrants in the EU presents an anomaly which challenges the foundations of European Union law. As Union citizens, European migrants are entitled to freedom of movement and residence in Member States. Yet the rights intended to secure this position have been routinely and selectively denied to Roma migrants, leading to forced evictions and collective expulsions without regard t o European Law. As has been evidenced in the UK, Roma arrivals are viewed with particularly acute suspicion; a response which reflects their double stigmatization as both immigrant and Roma. At the same time, Roma migration from new Member States has expo sed a contradiction inherent in the citizenship project which strikes at the heart of the Union ’s human rights credentials. The degree of exclusion and inequality faced by Europe’s largest minority in all Member States is the most pressing internal human rights issue facing the EU. Yet the European institutions continue to lack a coherent response and defined strategy. The current European framework demanding National Action Plans is commendable in that it prevents individual states from abdicating responsibility for the situation of their Roma citizens. Nevertheless, the absence of clear targets, Roma engagement and European leadership, suggest that this strategy is doomed to failure offering little more than a distraction. In a Union predicated on, inter alia, the rule of law, respect for human rights and the protection of minorities, this detached position undermines the legitimacy of the entire citizenship project
Evaluation of six serological ELISA kits available in Italy as screening tests for equine infectious anaemia surveillance
No full textAbstract Background ELISAs are known to have a higher diagnostic sensitivity than the agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) when employed for serological diagnosis of equine infectious anaemia (EIA). For this purpose, an “in-house” and five commercial ELISAs available in Italy were assessed by the National Reference Centre for EIA for their analytic specificity (Sp); precocity, defined as capability of detecting first antibodies produced during a new infection; precision based on repeatability and reproducibility, estimated from the coefficient of variation (CV); accuracy, estimated from multiple K and relative Sp and sensitivity (Se). Two serum panels, positive for non-equine retroviruses and the most frequent equine viruses, were employed to measure analytic Sp. ELISA precocity was also compared to that of one “in-house” and three commercial AGID kits, employing a panel of sera, collected weekly from horses infected with modified EIA viruses. Precision and accuracy were defined using results of a panel containing positive and negative sera examined in an inter-laboratory trial with the participation of the ten Official Laboratories. Furthermore, a questionnaire was used to assess the appropriateness of each kit for routine use. Results Analytic Sp was 100%, while the 75th percentile of CVs for positive sera varied from 0.4% to 12.73% for repeatability and from 1.6% to 44.87% for reproducibility. Although CV of the negative serum was constantly high, its outcome was unaltered. Relative Se ranged from 98.2% to 100%, relative Sp was constantly 100% and multiple K ranged from 0.95 to 1. Precocity differed among the assays: three kits detected 4.8% and 42.9% positive samples on 21 days post infection (dpi), all assays detected positive samples on 28 dpi, between 47.6% and 95.2%. Precocity of ELISAs was superior to that of the AGIDs except for two assays. In view of the feedback obtained from the questionnaires, all kits were considered appropriate for routine use. Conclusion All ELISAs having high Se and precocity are preferable as a screening test in EIA surveillance programmes to the AGID tests examined. These two tests can be incorporated in a serial diagnostic pathway to improve the efficacy of a surveillance plan
Reverse engineering applied to a lumbar vertebra
No full textBone studies can be made in vivo or in vitro. However, disadvantages of both traditional techniques call for a compromise between the two. Reverse engineering allows in vitro bone samples to be simulated and analysed in a virtual in vivo environment thus offering a middle ground solution and a sound foundation on which biomechanical studies of bone could develop.peer-reviewe
