Attribute framing effects on the timing of booking intentions

Based on experimental evidence, this paper intended to shed some light on whether the negative and positive framing (wording) manipulation of a tourism offer affects the  travellers’ judgment of the decisions involved in booking a holiday element(i.e., mountains tour) with regard to timing (well before the trip, at the last minute). We employ Levin et al’s attribute framing paradigm to manipulate a key attribute of a holiday offer (good/bad weather conditions on the day of a mountains tour), and ask consumers to evaluate the offer and make a mountains tour reservation decision. As hypothesized, positive presentation of the attribute information elicited more responses in favour of early booking and negative presentation of the same attribute elicited fewer responses in favour of early booking; and therefore this could form a useful basis for marketing communication strategies related to the timing and presentation of booking information to the advantage of the tourism industry. Key words: Prospect theory, attribute framing, weather conditions, experiment, timing of booking intention

PCR Based Detection of White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) in Shrimp Post Larvae (PL) of Bangladesh

Shrimp aquaculture is a very promising and rapidly growing industry that contributes about 5% to national GDP in Bangladesh. Shrimp aquaculture is the second highest foreign currency earning source and 97% of the produced shrimp being exported. However, shrimp aquaculture suffered from different diseases particularly viral disease. White Spot Disease (WSD) alone losses tens of billion dollars in every year worldwide as well as in Asia, the industry suggests annual damages is about 4 billion USD. In Bangladesh, White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) infection in shrimp aquaculture alone destroys hundreds of million dollars per year. The detection of WSSV before releasing post larvae (PL) in aqua-farm is immensely important to mitigate this disease from the shrimp aquaculture industry of Bangladesh. In this investigation, a total of 65 PL of shrimp samples were collected from Cox’s Bazar (n=40 PL) and Satkhira (n=25 PL) of Bangladesh between 2015 and 2018. Samples were analyzed by conventional PCR using VP664 and VP28 genes specific primers. Among the 65 PL samples, 11 PL samples were found to be positive where six samples in Cox’s Bazar and five samples in Satkhira areas were found WSSV positive. The overall prevalence rate was 16.93% in the collected PL samples in Bangladesh. Though the infection rate of WSSV in shrimp PL was 16.93%, it will play a deleterious influence in shrimp aquaculture of Bangladesh. The present work suggests that the segregation of WSSV infected shrimp PL before releasing to the culture ponds/ghers is of immensely important to minimize or prevent the WSD infection in shrimp aquaculture

Variability for agromorphological traits, genetic parameters, correlation and path coefficient analyses in Lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.)

Understanding phenotypic and genotypic variability of Bangladeshi lentil (Lens culinaris Medik.) in relation to exotic lentil is important in attempting to widen the genetic base of the germplasm in the country. An experiment was conducted using 30 diverse lentil genotypes to study the agromorphological and genetic variability, heritability, expected genetic advance and inter-relationship of ten yield attributing traits. The genotypes showed highly significant (p<0.01) variations for all of the studied traits. These characters also had higher phenotypic co-efficient of variation (PCV) than those of the corresponding genotypic co-efficient of variation (GCV). High heritability (ranged from 66-98%) was found among the traits. Seed yield plant-1 and number of seeds plant-1 showed high heritability accompanied with high genetic advance (as percent mean). Correlation coefficient studies revealed that number of pods plant-1, number of seeds plant-1 and 100-seed weight contributed to highly significant (p<0.01) positive correlation with seed yield plant-1. Days to 50% flowering and days to maturity were showed highly significant negative correlation with seed yield plant-1. Path analysis showed the highest positive direct effects of 100-seed weight followed by the number of secondary branches plant-1 and number of seeds plant-1 on seed yield plant-1. Days to 50% flowering via 100-seed weight contributed the highest negative indirect effect on seed yield plant-1. Maximum negative direct effect of plant height and days to 50% flowering was observed on seed yield plant-1. Results indicated that the exotic accessions could be effective for the improvement of the yield of lentil.&nbsp

Phenotyping of mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) genotypes against salt stress and assessment of variability for yield and yield attributing traits

Salt tolerance is a complex polygenic trait that is genotype specific and tolerance can depend upon a plants developmental stage. To evaluate reproductive stage specific salt tolerance as well as investigate the inherent variability of mungbean (Vigna radiata L.) genotypes with respect to seed yields and yield-related traits, a pot culture experiment was conducted using 26 mungbean genotypes and exposure to salt stress (EC = 8.0 dS/m) applied at the reproductive stage, just before the opening of the first flowers. The experiment involved maintaining 100% field capacity for three weeks and used a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Data were collected, included days to maturity, plant height (cm), number of pod-bearing branches per plant, number of pods per plant, pod length (cm), number of seeds per pod, 100-seed weight (g) and seed yield per plant (g). Salt stress led to a significant (p<0.001) decrease in seed yield per plant, with yields of the genotypes BMX 11116, BMX 11176, BMX 11140, BMX 11111 and BMX 11163 being the least impacted by exposure to salt. Principal component analysis revealed that the first two components explained 63.5% of the total variation among the mungbean genotypes. Seed yield per plant showed a significant positive correlation with days to maturity, number of pod-bearing branches per plant, number of pods per plant, pod length (cm), number of seeds per pod, and 100-seed weight (g). Cluster analysis grouped the 26 genotypes into five distinct clusters, where the tolerant genotypes placed in cluster I. Based on their stress tolerance indices BARI Mung-6, BMX 11176, BMX 11116, and BMX 11140 were categorized as tolerant genotypes, were selected for further study under direct field conditions and are recommended for the genetic improvement of salt stress tolerance in mungbean

Water Permeability Characteristics of Normal Strength Concrete Made from Crushed Clay Bricks as Coarse Aggregate

Water permeability characteristic of concrete made from crushed clay bricks as coarse aggregate is investigated and compared with concrete made from natural stone aggregate. For this, six different brick and five different natural stone samples were selected. Crushing strength of brick samples and water absorption of aggregate produced from them were also measured. Concrete samples of three different compressive strengths were prepared as per ACI mix design method from each of these aggregate samples. Compressive strength of concrete that could be achieved with brick aggregate varied between 19 and 28 MPa, whereas, for stone aggregate, compressive strength varied between 24 and 46 MPa. These samples were then tested for water permeability using the AT 315 machine as per EN 12390-8: “Depth of Penetration of Water under Pressure.” Experimental results and subsequent analysis indicate that water permeability of brick aggregate concrete is 225% to 550% higher than that of concrete made from natural stone aggregate of identical compressive strength. Water permeability was found to be directly related to compressive strength, water absorption, and porosity of hardened concrete. It was also observed that water permeability of concrete is influenced by water absorption of brick aggregate and crushing strength of brick

Application of moringa leaf extract improves growth and yield of Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and Indian Spinach (Basella alba)

Moringa (Moringa oleifera L.) leaf extract is a natural plant growth stimulant that is well-known for its ability to improve plant growth and development. A field study was conducted to evaluate the influence of MLE (Moringa Leaf Extract) on the growth, yield and nutritional improvement in two vegetable crops [Tomato (Solanum lycopersicum) and Indian Spinach (Basella alba)]. The extract was applied at two weeks interval with different frequencies. The crops were fertilized with chemical fertilizers and MLE application was done as per treatment @ 25 ml/plant. For each of the crops, this bio-stimulant had a significant boosting effect on growth, yield and nutrient uptake whereas the maximum frequency in the application i.e. T4 (foliar application of MLE at 2 weeks after transplanting and application at every 2 weeks thereafter) showed the highest influence. Indian Spinach responded proportionally more to foliar-applied MLE in terms of plant growth and nutrient uptake compared to tomato. The effect of MLE on the yield parameters was more pronounced in tomato that showed a 25% (averaged across all the growth parameters) increase over control, but Indian Spinach showed ~20% increase in yield parameters compared to control. Therefore, applying MLE to the foliage may assist in increasing the yield by improving plant growth across the different vegetable species (e.g., Tomato and Indian Spinach)

Factors influencing apartment buying decision: an analysis of company and customer perspective

Vol. V, No.2, July- December, 200

Correction to: Impact of Continuous Professional Education on Leadership for Rehabilitation Professionals in Bangladesh: A Pilot Study

In the publication of this article, the abstract, full-text of the article and the author's affiliations had some mistakes with regards to the writing/language. The abstract, full-text and the affiliations of the authors has now been updated in the original article. The authors declare that the correction does not change the results or conclusion of this paper

An Ultra-Sensitive Visible-IR Range Fiber Based Plasmonic Refractive Index Sensor

Photonic crystal fiber (PCF)-based plasmonic sensors have gained considerable attention because of their highly sensitive performance and broad range of sensing regimes. In this work, a relatively simple ultra-sensitive PCF-based surface plasmon resonance (SPR) sensor has been proposed for detecting different analyte refractive indices (RIs) ranging from 1.33 to 1.43 over a wide range of wavelength spectrum spanning 0.55 $\mu$m to 3.50 $\mu$m. The comprehensive finite-element simulations indicate that it is possible to achieve remarkable sensing performances such as wavelength sensitivity (WS) and figure of merit (FOM) as high as 123,000 nm/RIU and 683 RIU$^{-1}$, respectively, and extremely low values of wavelength resolution (WR) of 8.13 x 10$^{-8}$ RIU. In addition, a novel artificial neural network (ANN) model is proposed to be integrated into the practical setup in order to accurately predict the RIs by carefully examining the simulation data. The mean square error (MSE) and accuracy ($R^2$) values for the ANN model are found about 0.0097 and 0.9987, respectively, indicating the high prediction capability of the proposed ANN model. Due to its exceptional sensitivity and precise detection capabilities, the proposed device has the potential to serve as a viable option for sensing analyte refractive index (RI). Additionally, the sensor could be utilized for identifying cancerous cells and detecting urinary tract infections in humans