Institute for Rural Engineering

To report on a randomized controlled trial of Zest, a highly innovative psychological health promotion group intervention designed specifically for women with spinal cord injury (SCI), a population at risk for adverse psychological health. A national sample of 175 women with SCI were randomized to either the Zest intervention or a control group that received intervention materials at the end of the study. The Zest group participated in a psychological health promotion intervention that met weekly for 10 weeks in the free, online, three-dimensional virtual world of Second Life. The novel use of this technology afforded delivery to participants with SCI without requiring them to leave their homes. Both groups completed online surveys at baseline, at program end, and at 6 months assessing the primary outcomes (depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction) and the proposed mediators (self-efficacy, connectedness, and perceived stress). Zest was well received by participants. We found significant group differences supporting the efficacy of the intervention on the primary outcomes of depression, self-esteem, and life satisfaction. Analyses also supported self-efficacy and perceived stress as important mediators of the impact of the intervention on the primary outcomes. Zest, a group program offered on a virtual world platform, offers promise as an intervention for enhancing the psychological health of women with SCI. More attention should be devoted to the psychosocial health needs of people with SCI by developing and implementing affordable, accessible, and widely available programming. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).

Agrivoltaics—the integration of solar photovoltaic systems with agriculture—is a growing trend worldwide. Although studies have clarified the effects of photovoltaic panels above farmland on microclimate and crops, their impact on the organisms within farmland remains poorly documented. Assessing the influence of agrivoltaic installations on organisms within farmland is crucial, as biodiversity and beneficial arthropods that prey on pests can positively affect crop yields. This study assessed the effects of agrivoltaic structures on orb-weaving spiders, which are beneficial arthropods, in Chiba City, Chiba Prefecture, Japan. Over four investigations conducted from June to September 2023, we discovered that the vertical distribution of orb-weaving spiders was concentrated in the structural braces within the photovoltaic panel framework. In terms of horizontal distribution, spiders were most prevalent in areas adjacent to forests, where prey insects were relatively abundant. These findings suggest that agrivoltaic structures, which are typically absent on farmland, can serve as scaffolding for orb-weaving spiders and that the location of web construction within agricultural fields depends on prey availability.

Despite the growing interest in indoor greenery and its positive effects on occupants’ well-being, there is limited knowledge on the optimal light levels for indoor plants that ensure energy efficiency and sustainable growth. This study explored the survival of ornamental plants under low-light conditions typical of indoor workplaces without daylight and investigated the impact of increased light intensity or extended day length on their growth. Three species of foliage plants (Epipremnum aureum, Pachira aquatica, and Rhaphidophora tetrasperma) were cultivated in growth chambers with three different lighting schemes. The results showed that plants sustained growth with 6.8 μmol m−2 s−1 white LED light for 9 h/day, suggesting that extra lighting might not be necessary for shade-tolerant species in offices. In this environment, plants maintained efficient photosynthesis under low illumination by increasing their specific leaf area. Elevating the light to 20.1 μmol m−2 s−1 and extending the day length to 18 h/day enhanced the plants’ relative growth rate. Climbing plants allocated more biomass to stems, resulting in a lower leaf weight ratio and noticeably altering their appearance. This study demonstrates that customized lighting strategies effectively support indoor greening goals, like adjusting intensity for energy savings or adding light for greening large spaces.

language location of open-source software tools without the need for any programming or typing knowledge, using transliteration tools and open supporting tools and platforms, is the need of the hour, to take the software tools to the grassroots levels.The Hindi localisation of the Graphic User Interface (GUI) of QGIS software started in this direction.The master tutorials and websites can also be localised.Initially, translations were done in the standalone utility of Open-Source Qt Linguist, and later, localisation work of the QGIS project shifted to the online Transifex platform, which is a cloud-based localisation platform that enables continuous translations of digital products and their related support contents.Transifex gives open-source projects free access to the platform.The online and continuous translation is better for dynamic projects where the release cycle is faster and words and string counts increase with every new release, as in the case of QGIS.In the QGIS desktop project, translation was started with the version QGIS-2.8;there were 76289 words and 13526 strings to be translated.Out of those, 40532 words and 11855 strings were translated.Later, the newer software versions increased the number of strings/words.Currently, the QGIS Desktop project has 113 languages under the Transifex platform, open to be translated by any willing community member from anywhere around the world using simple transliteration tools like Google Input Tools.A total of 175466 words and 33922 strings are there to translate.Out of that, 25.8 percent of words are translated, and 11.21 percent are reviewed.This paper describes the flow of language localisation work by a common man, taking the case of language localisation of the QGIS Desktop project in Hindi using standalone and online open support platforms.The challenges and issues related to language localisation are discussed in detail.Currently, the author is the coordinator in the QGIS Hindi Desktop project team on the Transifex platform, and 20 members have joined as translators, as shown on the Transifex website.This paper is intended to make the Open-Source Software users aware of the possibilities of their contribution to the wider use of tools by users of different languages at the grassroots levels.

Emissions of CO2 from the soil are mainly derived from soil microbial respiration, whereas CH4 emissions originate from anaerobic degradation of organic matter via microbial processes. Kitchen waste compost is used in the agricultural sector to improve soil quality. However, abiotic CO2 and CH4 emissions from soils amended with kitchen waste compost under aerobic conditions remain uncertain. Temperature plays an important role in organic matter decomposition in both biotic and abiotic pathways. This study aimed to evaluate biotic and abiotic emissions of CO2 and CH4 from soils receiving kitchen compost at different temperatures. Ten grams of soil amended with or without 0.1 g kitchen compost (1%) were sterilized or non-sterilized. The mixture and soil-only samples were incubated in 100-mL glass bottles at 20, 30, and 35 °C for 28 d under an aerobic condition. The results showed that CO2 and CH4 emissions increased at higher temperatures and compost application rates (p < 0.05). Emissions of CO2 mainly occurred via biotic pathways. Abiotic processes were potential pathways for CH4 generation, particularly at high temperatures of 35 °C. There was 20–24% of C in kitchen compost changed to CO2 and less than 0.1% to CH4. Our results suggest that global warming enhances abiotic CO2 and CH4 emissions and may contribute to further global warming.

潮位変動の影響で沿岸域帯水層の地下水位時系列データに含まれることがある潮汐振動成分は，その内陸に向かう伝播に伴う減衰または遅れの分析による帯水層の水理定数推定に利用される．そのような地下水の時系列データ中の潮汐振動成分の抽出方法，すなわちその正弦振動の振幅と初期位相の算出方法のひとつにフーリエ解析がある．フーリエ解析により有限長時系列データから特定周期の正弦振動を抽出しようとすると，解析の原理上避けられない2種類の要因による誤差が生じる．それらはデータに含まれる正弦振動の周期と解析対象とするデータ長に関係する．このため観測データから少ない誤差で潮汐振動を抽出するには，適切な解析データ長を選ぶ必要がある．本検討では，沿岸域帯水層で観測される典型的な潮汐振動の成分構成を持つ人工時系列データから約半日または1日の周期の主要潮汐振動を抽出するときの誤差が，解析データ長が1日から100日の範囲で変わるときにどのように変わるかを具体的に調べた．その結果から，主要潮汐振動を抽出することを目的とした地下水観測データのフーリエ解析において，誤差が相対的に小さく見込まれ推奨される解析データ長を選定した．