Root zone salinity management using fractional skimming wells with pressurized irrigation: Inception report

Wells / Aquifers / Pumping / Groundwater irrigation / Water quality / Salinity control / Irrigation programs / Climate / Waterlogging / Drainage / Soils / Land use / Cropping systems / Farm income

The Nexus of Ethical Leadership, Job Performance, and Turnover Intention: The Mediating Role of Job Satisfaction

This study aims to examine the impact of ethical leadership on employees’ job satisfaction, performance, and turnover intention. A conceptual framework is developed which clearly integrates job satisfaction as a mediating mechanism in explaining the nexus among ethical leadership, job performance, and turnover intention. This framework is then analysed employing data from a sample (n = 114) of tourist companies in Lahore, Pakistan. The results reveal that ethical leadership has positive effect on employees’ job satisfaction, performance and has negative effect on their turnover intentions. Further, job satisfaction positively mediates the effect of ethical leadership on employees’ job performance and turnover intentions. The findings recommend that the demonstration of ethical leadership behaviours by managers at workplace enhances employees’ job satisfaction and performance, and decreases the intention of employees to leave the job. The main narrative of this study encompasses the imperative role of ethical leadership in the workplace where it serves as a factor that enhances employees’ job satisfaction, performance, and decreases turnover intention. This research explicitly demonstrates that in Pakistani tourism sector, ethical leadership plays a vital role to achieve performance goals. Future research could analyse the said nexus in different sectors and cultures, and may also consider other measures of individual performance. The consideration of job satisfaction as mediating variable in probing the linkages among ethical leadership, job performance, and turnover intention in the context of the workplace in Pakistan and the analysing of this linkage is novel

Os Dias da Criação no Pensamento de Nāṣir-i Ḫusraw

A noção dos Dias da Criação, que culmina no sétimo dia sagrado, ou sábado, é encontrada nas três religiões abraâmicas. Enquanto alguns crentes defendem uma compreensão literal desses dias, outros insistem em que a doutrina possuí uma profunda importância esotérica. Na tradição islâmica, aqueles que defendem o papel do intelecto na compreensão da fé e das escrituras advogam o uso da interpretação simbólica (taʾwīl). A palavra árabe taʾwīl significa fazer com que algo volte à sua origem ou fonte. Entre os mais ardentes defensores da interpretação simbólica estavam os ismaelitas, um dos dois principais ramos do islão Šīʿīta. Este artigo explora como Ḥakīm Nāṣir-i Ḫusraw (m.após 462/1070), o famoso poeta persa e dignitário ismailita, entendeu os Dias da Criação e a sua relação com uma hierarquia de religião (ḥudūd-i dīn) que conduz os crentes à salvação final.The notion of the days of creation, culminating in the hallowed seventh day, or Sabbath, is found in all three Abrahamic faiths. While some believers held to a literal understanding of these days, others insisted that the doctrine had profound esoteric import. In the Islamic tradition, those who championed the role of intellect in understanding faith and scripture advocated the use of symbolic interpretation (taʾwīl). The Arabic word taʾwīl means to cause something to return to its origin or source. Among the most ardent advocates of symbolic interpretation were the Ismailis, who held to one of the two major branches of Šīʿī Islam. This article explores how Ḥakīm Nāṣir-i Ḫusraw (d. after 462/1070), the famous Persian poet and Ismaili dignitary, understood the days of creation and their relationship to a hierarchy of religion (ḥudūd-i dīn), which led believers to ultimate salvation

Change in nutritional status of urban slum children before and after the first COVID-19 wave in Bangladesh: a repeated cross-sectional assessment

The onset of COVID-19 severely disrupted economies and increased acute household food insecurity in developing countries. Consequently, a global rise in childhood undernutrition was predicted, especially among vulnerable populations, but primary evidence on actual changes in nutritional status remained scarce. In this paper, we assessed shifts in nutritional status of urban slum children in Bangladesh pre- and post- the country's first wave of COVID-19 and nationwide lockdown. We used two rounds of cross-sectional data collected before and after the pandemic's first year in two large slum settlements (Korail and Tongi) of Dhaka and Gazipur, Bangladesh (n = 1119). Regression models estimated pre-post changes in: 1) predictors of childhood undernutrition (household income, jobs, food security, dietary diversity, healthcare utilization, and hand hygiene); and 2) under-five children's nutritional status (average height-for-age z-score (HAZ) and weight-for-height z-score (WHZ), stunting, and wasting). Subgroup analysis was done by household migration status and slum area. Over the sample period, average monthly household income dropped 23% from BDT 20,740 to BDT 15,960 (beta = -4.77; 95% CI:-6.40, -3.15), and currently employed fathers slightly declined from 99% to 95% (beta = -0.04; 95% CI:-0.05, -0.02). Average HAZ among the slum children improved 0.13 SD (95% CI: 0.003, 0.26). Among non-migrant children in Tongi, the odds of stunting increased (OR = 2.01, 95% CI: 1.16, 3.48) and average WHZ reduced -0.40 SD (95% CI: -0.74, -0.06). Despite great economic hardship, and differential patterns of representativeness by household geography and migration status, slum children in Bangladesh generally demonstrated resilience to nutritional decline over the first year of the pandemic. While underlying threats to nutritional deterioration persisted, considerable job and income recovery in the post-lockdown period appeared to have cushioned the overall decline. However, as the pandemic continues, monitoring and appropriate actions are needed to avert lasting setbacks to Bangladesh nutritional progress

Recent progress on BIM-based sustainable buildings: State of the art review

Data availability: Data will be made available on request.Copyright © 2023 The Authors. In recent decades, the planet has been negatively impacted by the construction industry due to the development of various infrastructures. Thus, it became one of the most polluting sectors that have required increasing the environmental awareness of public and private entities. Under these circumstances, there are urgent efforts required to mitigate these negative impacts. Different approaches have been made for sustainable buildings based on construction technologies, where sustainability must be included as the main premise from the initial stage of the project. Through a systematic literature review, different methodologies are analyzed such as Building Information Modeling (BIM), Life Cycle Assessment (LCA), and Building Energy Modeling (BEM) based on the existing regulations and standards of each country. The existing digital tools allow for the development of various low-carbon technologies, including sustainable materials and new integrations between them to find sustainable solutions and reduce carbon emissions from buildings. Several limitations exist as Building Information Modeling (BIM) software does not have all the green applications. Therefore, clear results are needed for effective indicators to help interested parties appropriate these technologies and invest time and money in projects based on Building Information Modeling (BIM) and learn a useful lesson for future projects from these technological tools

Association between mother's work status and child stunting in urban slums: a cross-sectional assessment of 346 child-mother dyads in Dhaka, Bangladesh (2020)

Background A growing literature highlights the increased risk of stunting among children growing up in informal or slum settlements. Despite relatively high rates of female labor force participation in slums, there is limited evidence on relationship between mother's work participation and nutritional outcomes of children in these settings. Methods We conducted a cross-sectional study in two large slums (Korail and Tongi) of Dhaka and Gazipur, Bangladesh to assess the association between maternal work and childhood stunting in a low-income urban context. Logistic regression models estimated unconditional and conditional associations between maternal work status and 1) child stunting, 2) child morbidity and dietary intake, and 3) health and hygiene behaviors. Subgroup analyses were done by type of child care support available. Results After adjusting for variations in individual and household level characteristics, we found that children of working mothers had nearly twice the odds of being stunted than children of non-working mothers (OR 1.84, 95%CI 1.05-3.23). Large differences in stunting were found by available care support: compared to children of non-working mothers, children of working mothers with nuclear-type family support had 4.5 times increased odds of stunting (OR 4.49, 95%CI 1.81-11.12), while no odds differential was found for children of working mothers with an extended-type family support (OR 0.69, 95%CI 0.30-1.59). Conclusions Maternal employment is associated with a substantial increase in the odds of child stunting in the slum areas studied. Given that these effects only appear to arise in the absence of adequate family support, integrating appropriate childcare support measures for low-income urban working mothers might be an effective strategy to help reduce the prevalence of chronic undernutrition among slum children

Characterisation of bacteriocins produced by Lactobacillus spp. isolated from the traditional Pakistani yoghurt and their antimicrobial activity against common foodborne pathogens

Lactic acid bacteria (LAB) are widely known for their probiotic activities for centuries. These bacteria synthesise some secretory proteinaceous toxins, bacteriocins, which help destroy similar or interrelated bacterial strains. This study was aimed at characterising bacteriocins extracted from Lactobacillus spp. found in yoghurt and assessing their bactericidal effect on foodborne bacteria. Twelve isolated Lactobacillus spp. were examined to produce bacteriocins by the organic solvent extraction method. Bacteriocins produced by two of these strains, Lactobacillus helveticus (BLh) and Lactobacillus plantarum (BLp), showed the most significant antimicrobial activity, especially against Staphylococcus aureus and Acinetobacter baumannii. Analysis of SDS-PAGE showed that L. plantarum and L. helveticus bacteriocins have a molecular weight of ~10 kDa and ~15 kDa, respectively. L. plantarum (BLp) bacteriocin was heat stable while L. helveticus (BLh) bacteriocin was heat labile. Both bacteriocins have shown activity at acidic pH. Exposure to a UV light enhances the activity of the BLh; however, it had negligible effects on the BLp. Different proteolytic enzymes confirmed the proteinaceous nature of both the bacteriocins. From this study, it was concluded that bacteriocin extracts from L. helveticus (BLh) can be considered a preferable candidate against foodborne pathogens as compared to L. plantarum (BLp). These partially purified bacteriocins should be further processed to attain purified product that could be useful for food spoilage and preservation purposes

Influence of Edible Coatings on Biochemical Fruit Quality and Storage Life of Bell Pepper cv. “Yolo Wonder”

The present study was carried out to investigate the influence of food grade coatings on fruit quality and storage life of bell pepper cv. “Yolo Wonder” at 8±1°C with 90–95% RH for 24 days. Coating treatments were given to bell pepper fruits by dipping in aqueous solutions of gum arabic (6, 9, and 12%), Aloe vera gel (4, 5, and 6%), and cinnamon oil (0.5, 0.75, and 1%). Physicochemical characteristics as well as quality of bell pepper fruits improved in all coating treatments. Results revealed that 12% gum arabic coating exhibited significantly reduced weight loss, membrane leakage, chilling injury, and decay incidence with less increase in pH, total soluble solids, and sugar percentage, whereas appealing fruit color (L⁎, a⁎, and b⁎) along with higher values of ascorbic acid (1.84 mg/100 g), titratable acidity (0.19%), and firmness (4 N) was observed in cold storage environment. Our results clearly suggested that coating of bell pepper fruits with 12% gum arabic can maintain postharvest storage quality of bell pepper fruits

Eye and Voice-Controlled Human Machine Interface System for Wheelchairs Using Image Gradient Approach

© 2020 The Author(s). This is an open access article distributed under the Creative Commons Attribution License (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/) which permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited.Rehabilitative mobility aids are being used extensively for physically impaired people. Efforts are being made to develop human machine interfaces (HMIs), manipulating the biosignals to better control the electromechanical mobility aids, especially the wheelchairs. Creating precise control commands such as move forward, left, right, backward and stop, via biosignals, in an appropriate HMI is the actual challenge, as the people with a high level of disability (quadriplegia and paralysis, etc.) are unable to drive conventional wheelchairs. Therefore, a novel system driven by optical signals addressing the needs of such a physically impaired population is introduced in this paper. The present system is divided into two parts: the first part comprises of detection of eyeball movements together with the processing of the optical signal, and the second part encompasses the mechanical assembly module, i.e., control of the wheelchair through motor driving circuitry. A web camera is used to capture real-time images. The processor used is Raspberry-Pi with Linux operating system. In order to make the system more congenial and reliable, the voice-controlled mode is incorporated in the wheelchair. To appraise the system’s performance, a basic wheelchair skill test (WST) is carried out. Basic skills like movement on plain and rough surfaces in forward, reverse direction and turning capability were analyzed for easier comparison with other existing wheelchair setups on the bases of controlling mechanisms, compatibility, design models, and usability in diverse conditions. System successfully operates with average response time of 3 s for eye and 3.4 s for voice control mode.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio