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The Nigerian government is committed to sustaining rice production to meet national demand. Nevertheless, political tension and climate-induced stressors remain crucial constraints in achieving policy targets. This study examines whether climate change and political instability significantly threaten rice production in Nigeria. First, we employed nonparametric methods to estimate the country's rainfall and temperature trends between 1980Q1 and 2015Q4. Second, we employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique to examine the effects of climate change and political instability on rice production. The results show that while temperature has an increasing pattern, rainfall exhibits no significant trend. The findings from the ARDL estimate reveal that rice production responds negatively to temperature changes but is less sensitive to changes in rainfall. In addition, political instability adversely affects rice production in Nigeria. We argue that Nigeria's slow growth in rice production can be traced back to the impact of climate change and political tension in rice farming areas. As a result, reducing the overall degree of conflict to ensure political stability is critical to boosting the country's self-sufficiency in rice production. We also recommend that farmers be supported and trained to adopt improved rice varieties less prone to extreme climate events while supporting them with irrigation facilities to facilitate rice production.

The Nigerian government is committed to sustaining rice production to meet national demand. Nevertheless, political tension and climate-induced stressors remain crucial constraints in achieving policy targets. This study examines whether climate change and political instability significantly threaten rice production in Nigeria. First, we employed nonparametric methods to estimate the country's rainfall and temperature trends between 1980Q1 and 2015Q4. Second, we employed the autoregressive distributed lag (ARDL) technique to examine the effects of climate change and political instability on rice production. The results show that while temperature has an increasing pattern, rainfall exhibits no significant trend. The findings from the ARDL estimate reveal that rice production responds negatively to temperature changes but is less sensitive to changes in rainfall. In addition, political instability adversely affects rice production in Nigeria. We argue that Nigeria's slow growth in rice production can be traced back to the impact of climate change and political tension in rice farming areas. As a result, reducing the overall degree of conflict to ensure political stability is critical to boosting the country's self-sufficiency in rice production. We also recommend that farmers be supported and trained to adopt improved rice varieties less prone to extreme climate events while supporting them with irrigation facilities to facilitate rice production.

AbstractLeymus chinensis is a dominant species in the Inner Mongolia steppe, northern China. Plant growth in northern China grassland is often limited by low soil nitrogen availability. The objective of this study is to investigate whether rhizomes of Leymus chinensis are involved in the contribution of N uptake. The N concentration, 15N concentration and 15N proportion in roots, rhizomes and shoots after 48 h exposure of roots (Lroot) and rhizomes (Lrhizo) separately and roots and rhizomes together (Lr+r) to 0.1 mM 15NHNO3 solution were measured using root‐splitting equipment and stable isotope (15N) techniques, respectively. The N content and dry mass were not affected by the labeling treatment. In contrast, the 15N concentration in shoots, rhizomes and roots was significantly increased by the labeling in rhizomes, indicating that the inorganic nitrogen was absorbed via rhizomes from the solution and can be transported to other tissues, with preference to shoots rather than roots. Meanwhile, the absolute N absorption and translocation among compartments were also calculated. The N absorption via rhizomes was much smaller than via roots; however, the uptake efficiency per surface unit via rhizomes was greater than via roots. The capacity and high efficiency to absorb N nutrient via rhizomes enable plants to use transient nutrient supplies in the top soil surface. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

AbstractLeymus chinensis is a dominant species in the Inner Mongolia steppe, northern China. Plant growth in northern China grassland is often limited by low soil nitrogen availability. The objective of this study is to investigate whether rhizomes of Leymus chinensis are involved in the contribution of N uptake. The N concentration, 15N concentration and 15N proportion in roots, rhizomes and shoots after 48 h exposure of roots (Lroot) and rhizomes (Lrhizo) separately and roots and rhizomes together (Lr+r) to 0.1 mM 15NHNO3 solution were measured using root‐splitting equipment and stable isotope (15N) techniques, respectively. The N content and dry mass were not affected by the labeling treatment. In contrast, the 15N concentration in shoots, rhizomes and roots was significantly increased by the labeling in rhizomes, indicating that the inorganic nitrogen was absorbed via rhizomes from the solution and can be transported to other tissues, with preference to shoots rather than roots. Meanwhile, the absolute N absorption and translocation among compartments were also calculated. The N absorption via rhizomes was much smaller than via roots; however, the uptake efficiency per surface unit via rhizomes was greater than via roots. The capacity and high efficiency to absorb N nutrient via rhizomes enable plants to use transient nutrient supplies in the top soil surface. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Modern district heating technologies have a great potential to make the energy sector more flexible and sustainable due to their capabilities to use energy sources of varied nature and to efficiently store energy for subsequent use. Central control tasks within these systems for the efficient and safe distribution of heat refer to the stabilization of overall system temperatures and the regulation of storage units state of charge. These are challenging goals when the networked and nonlinear nature of district heating system models is taken into consideration. In this letter, for district heating systems with multiple, distributed heat producers, we propose a decentralized control scheme to provably meet said tasks stably.

Modern district heating technologies have a great potential to make the energy sector more flexible and sustainable due to their capabilities to use energy sources of varied nature and to efficiently store energy for subsequent use. Central control tasks within these systems for the efficient and safe distribution of heat refer to the stabilization of overall system temperatures and the regulation of storage units state of charge. These are challenging goals when the networked and nonlinear nature of district heating system models is taken into consideration. In this letter, for district heating systems with multiple, distributed heat producers, we propose a decentralized control scheme to provably meet said tasks stably.

The greenhouse calcium looping process (GCL) is based on the cyclic carbonation/calcination reaction of limestone under mild operating conditions, for example, temperatures of 600 to 800 °C and CO2 partial pressures of 400 to 1600 ppm (0.04–0.16%). The GCL process can provide the required heat and CO2 enrichment to greenhouses with limestone particles instead of fossil fuels such as natural gas. In this research, the calcination reaction of the GCL process was studied in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) to determine its kinetic parameters. The experimental results showed that the calcination reaction follows a zero order reaction with a pre-exponential factor of 6.9 × 106 min–1 and an activation energy of 103.6 kJ mol–1. Various models were analyzed to find out the most appropriate model for predicting the calcination reaction in the GCL process, of which the function G(x) = 1 – (1 – x)1/3 was found most appropriate through the least-squares linear fitting of experimental data. The derived kinetic param...

The greenhouse calcium looping process (GCL) is based on the cyclic carbonation/calcination reaction of limestone under mild operating conditions, for example, temperatures of 600 to 800 °C and CO2 partial pressures of 400 to 1600 ppm (0.04–0.16%). The GCL process can provide the required heat and CO2 enrichment to greenhouses with limestone particles instead of fossil fuels such as natural gas. In this research, the calcination reaction of the GCL process was studied in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) to determine its kinetic parameters. The experimental results showed that the calcination reaction follows a zero order reaction with a pre-exponential factor of 6.9 × 106 min–1 and an activation energy of 103.6 kJ mol–1. Various models were analyzed to find out the most appropriate model for predicting the calcination reaction in the GCL process, of which the function G(x) = 1 – (1 – x)1/3 was found most appropriate through the least-squares linear fitting of experimental data. The derived kinetic param...