Potential of Intercropping of Oil Palm (E. guineensis Jacq.) and Liberica Coffee (C. liberica L.): A Case Study in Smallholder Plantation

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis Jacq.) has become the main plantation commodity in Indonesia. Climate change phenomena and competitiveness fluctuation of palm oil commodities have led to increased need for optimized land productivity while maintaining sustainability. This research aimed to study the potential of oil palm intercropping with liberica coffee (Coffea liberica L.) in several smallholder oil palm plantations in Riau Province, Sumatera Island, Indonesia. Measurements in the middle of the non-harvesting path of oil palm showed the age of oil palm is directly proportional to the difference between air and soil temperature and relative humidity under canopy. Oil palm roots were dominantly distributed vertically in solum 0 - 30 cm and always dominant compared to coffee at all horizontal distances observed. While the dominant root coffee distribution was in solum 31 - 60 cm. Analysis results show the tap roots extend no further than 30-45 cm below the soil surface. It was known that oil palm roots are dominantly distributed at a distance of 2-3 m from the trunk while the coffee roots are dominantly distributed at a distance of 1-2 m from the trunk. Analysis of oil palm yields in the intercropping system showed no significant decrease compared to monocropping systems with relatively the same age and production input. Coffee production per tree has decreased by 25-30% compared to the average production in monocropping systems.

ANALISIS PENGENDALIAN KUALITAS LINE PRODUKSI BODY INNER K56 DENGAN TAHAPAN DMAIC DI PT.KMIL (KURNIA MUSTIKA INDAH LESTARI)

One of the products of PT. Kurnia Mustika Indah Lestari is the inner body of K56. In one month the product rejects amounted to 2.0%, which exceeds the tolerance limit set by the company, namely 0.5%. It is necessary to carry out research aimed at determining the root of the dominant problem that causes rejection of the inner K56 body and determining the quality improvement proposal. The method used is quality control with the DMAIC stage. The results of the research findings show that the dominant root cause of reject burry is that work instructions are not carried out (Method) and working in a hurry to quickly rest (Human). The reject scratch type is due to lack of skill (Method) and pursuing a lot of rest time (Human). The recommendation to improve the quality of the reject burry is to carry out work instructions, be more careful when loading the material into the dies, always clean the inside of the dies, checkman supervises the manpower of the production process so that it works according to cycle time. For the reject scratch type, it is to provide training for man power, give warning instructions for the placement of parts while running the process, set rules for working times that are not too fast, take advantage of spare time to clean the machine. Keywords: Quality, Reject, DMAIC (Define, Measure, Analyze, Improve, Control).

On the application of the IMA−CNMNC dominant-valency rule to complex mineral compositions

Mineral species should be identified by an end-member formula and by using the dominant-valency rule as recommended by the IMA–CNMNC. However, the dominant-end-member approach has also been used in the literature. These two approaches generally converge, but for some intermediate compositions, significant differences between the dominant-valency rule and the dominant end-member approach can be observed. As demonstrated for garnet-supergroup minerals, for example, the end-member approach is ambiguous, as end-member proportions strongly depend on the calculation sequence. For this reason, the IMA–CNMNC strongly recommends the use of the dominant-valency rule for mineral nomenclature, because it alone may lead to unambiguous mineral identification. Although the simple application of the dominant-valency rule is successful for the identification of many mineral compositions, sometimes it leads to unbalanced end-member formulae, due to the occurrence of a coupled heterovalent substitution at two sites along with a heterovalent substitution at a single site. In these cases, it may be useful to use the site-total-charge approach to identify the dominant root-charge arrangement on which to apply the dominant-constituent rule. The dominant-valency rule and the site-total-charge approach may be considered two procedures complementary to each other for mineral identification. Their critical point is to find the most appropriate root-charge and atomic arrangements consistent with the overriding condition dictated by the end-member formula. These procedures were approved by the IMA−CNMNC in May 2019.

Extensive sampling and high-throughput sequencing reveal Posidoniomyces atricolor gen. et sp. nov. (Aigialaceae, Pleosporales) as the dominant root mycobiont of the dominant Mediterranean seagrass Posidonia oceanica

Seagrasses provide invaluable ecosystem services yet very little is known about their root mycobiont diversity and distribution. Here we focused on the dominant Mediterranean seagrass Posidoniaoceanica and assessed its root mycobiome at 32 localities covering most of the ecoregions in the NW Mediterranean Sea using light and scanning electron microscopy and tag-encoded 454-pyrosequencing. Microscopy revealed that the recently discovered dark septate endophytic association specific for P.oceanica is present at all localities and pyrosequencing confirmed that the P.oceanica root mycobiome is dominated by a single undescribed pleosporalean fungus, hitherto unknown from other hosts and ecosystems. Its numerous slow-growing isolates were obtained from surface-sterilised root segments at one locality and after prolonged cultivation, several of them produced viable sterile mycelium. To infer their phylogenetic relationships we sequenced and analysed the large (LSU) and small (SSU) subunit nrDNA, the ITS nrDNA and the DNA-directed RNA polymerase II (RPB2). The fungus represents an independent marine biotrophic lineage in the Aigialaceae (Pleosporales) and is introduced here as Posidoniomycesatricolorgen. et sp. nov. Its closest relatives are typically plant-associated saprobes from marine, terrestrial and freshwater habitats in Southeast Asia and Central America. This study expands our knowledge and diversity of the Aigialaceae, adds a new symbiotic lifestyle to this family and provides a formal name for the dominant root mycobiont of the dominant Mediterranean seagrass.

Cascade proportional integral retarded control of servodrives

The goal of this work is to propose a new time-delay control law called the cascade proportional integral retarded controller, which is aimed at position control of DC servodrives. The proposed controller has a cascade inner loop-outer loop structure. The inner loop is endowed with an integral retarded algorithm, and regulates the servodrive angular velocity. A proportional controller closes the outer loop whose goal is to regulate the servodrive angular position. The tuning of the cascade proportional integral retarded controller is accomplished into two steps. In the first step, the velocity of the inner loop is tuned by assigning a triple dominant root. The second step tunes the outer position loop. It is also possible to modify the cascade proportional integral retarded controller to avoid velocity measurements without adding extra filters. Moreover, the cascade topology of the cascade proportional integral retarded controller makes it easy to introduce a nonlinear saturated gain in the outer loop. This controller termed as the cascade nonlinear proportional integral retarded controller prevents overshoots for large values of the set point, avoids excessive control effort, and maintains a prescribed value of the angular velocity. Experiments in real-time using a laboratory prototype allow assessing the performance of the proposed controllers.

Dominant Root Associated Fungi (RAF) from Drynaria quercifolia L. either Induce or Retard Growth of PSB Rc10 Rice (Oryza sativa L.) in Gibberellic Acid-Inhibited Medium

The testing and use of microorganisms for in vitro growth promotion of agriculturally significant crops such as rice has increased but remains underexploited. The current study aims to explore growth-enhancing mechanisms of dominant root-associated fungi (RAF) isolates from Drynaria quercifolia and test their effects on rice. The most abundant RAF on five tree-collection sites were cultured in vitro. Genomic DNA of the RAF were extracted and the ITS (internal transcribed spacer) region of the 18S ribosomal DNA (rDNA) were sequenced and molecularly identified. Two RAF isolates significantly increased the plant shoot/total length (Meyerozyma guilliermondii: 10.29±4.18/13.46±4.18 cm; Trichoderma simmonsii: 10.33±1.38/13.23+1.58 cm), shoot/total fresh weight (Meyerozyma guilliermondii: 57.33±15.76/71.00±16.10 mg; Trichoderma simmonsii: 63.22±12.23/76.00±10.67 mg) and shoot/total dry weight (Meyerozyma guilliermondii: 16.99±6.74/22.78±7.41 mg; Trichoderma simmonsii: 16.89±3.33/23.11±5.30 mg) weight comparedto the negative control. These results possibly show the ability of the two isolates to produce the hormone gibberellic acid. On the other hand, three of the RAF isolates did not significantly increase seedling growth and biomass. The Trichoderma yunnanense (shoot: 0.36±0.16 cm; total: 0.53±0.20 cm), unidentified Mucoromycotina isolate F5P1RAF16 (shoot: 1.87±0.59 cm; total: 2.12±0.58 cm) and the unidentified Mucoromycotinaisolate F9P2RAF21 (shoot: 3.26±1.56 cm; total: 5.19±2.00 cm) approximated the growth of rice seedlings inoculated with broth and water negative control (shoot: 4.40+2.27 cm; total: 6.38+2.28 cm). This possibly indicates the inability of these isolates to produce GA or their potential ability to produce growth-retarding metabolites. Preliminary data from this study reveal potential growth-promoting capacity of RAF isolates on rice.

Shainin Methodology: An Alternative or an Effective Complement to Six Sigma?

<div><strong>Purpose:</strong> The purpose of this paper is to provide a brief overview of Six Sigma and Shainin RedX® methodology and to propose the modification of Six Sigma methodology in order to achieve the improved efficiency of DMAIC in the diagnostic journey using some of the approaches of Shainin RedX® methodology.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Methodology/Approach:</strong> The diagnostic journey of Six Sigma has been revised by bringing key elements of Shainin RedX® methodology into DMAIC: task domain character of the method, focus on the dominant root-cause, use of the progressive elimination method and the application of a problem-solving strategy.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Findings:</strong> This paper presents a proposal of DMAIC framework modification using selected tools and procedures of Shainin RedX® methodology in the diagnostic phase.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Research Limitation/implication:</strong> Although the improved methodology is used in the environment of the automotive supplier, in this paper, practical examples are not included in order not to violate the licensing rules applied by Shainin LLC.</div><div> </div><div><strong>Originality/Value of paper:</strong> The contribution of this article is the proposal of modified methodology, which should improve the effectiveness of problem-solving.</div>

EOS (Electrical Overstress) – The Old, Unknown Phenomenon?

Frequently, Electrical Overstress (EOS) is understood in a similar context like Electrostatic Discharge (ESD). However, when looking deeper, only 3-5% of EOS failure signatures are caused by ESD. The dominant root causes can be found on system level – often inaccessible for the device failure analyst. However, switching procedures and sometimes-hidden inductance loads are the unconsidered and undiscovered problem makers. This paper reviews and highlights these failure mechanisms.