Effects of temperature and growing seasons on crop water requirement: implications on water savings

Water savings can be improved through reducing agricultural water consumption. The crop water requirement (CWR) depends on several factors including temperature and growing seasons. This study investigated the effects of temperature and growing seasons on CWR in Saudi Arabia. Increase in temperature by 1°C increased the CWR by 1.9 - 2.9%, 1.9 – 3.0% and 2.2 – 3.8% for dates, alfalfa and wheat respectively. Total CWR was estimated to be 8713 million cubic meters in 2011, which showed an increase of 1.8 – 2.9% for 1°C increase in temperature. CWR for wheat was more sensitive to growing seasons than dates and alfalfa. Empirical relationship was developed to predict the effects of growing seasons on CWR for wheat while changes in CWR for dates and alfalfa were not significant. Through shifting growing seasons and minimizing the effects of temperature for the major crops, significant amount of groundwater may be saved, which can reduce the production of costly desalinated water. Keywords: Water resources; conservation; crop water requirement; temperature; growing seasons; polic

The Heartland theory of Sir Halford John Mackinder: justification of foreign policy of the United States and Russia in Central Asia

"The paper examines the foreign policy of the United States and Russia towards Central Asia by reviewing selective foreign policy discourses in the context of the Heartland theory. In effect, the central formulation of the study rests on this research question: to what extent is the Heartland theory influential in the foreign policy of the United States and Russia? The analysis is therefore organized by first conducting a comparative/contrast approach of USA and Russian policies via each other. The analysis seeks to suggest and/or establish some relationship between the predictions of the theory and current foreign policy relations. The study has reached to a conclusion that literature around the United States and Russia is indicative to the relevancy of Heartland theory." (author's abstract

THE HEARTLAND THEORY OF SIR HALFORD JOHN MACKINDER: JUSTIFICATION OF FOREIGN POLICY OF THE UNITED STATES AND RUSSIA IN CENTRAL ASIA

The paper examines the foreign policy of the United States and Russia towards Central Asia by reviewing selective foreign policy discourses in the context of the Heartland theory. In effect, the central formulation of the study rests on this research question: to what extent is the Heartland theory influential in the foreign policy of the United States and Russia? The analysis is therefore organized by first conducting a comparative/contrast approach of the USA and Russian policies via each other. The analysis seeks to suggest and/or establish some relationship between the predictions of the theory and current foreign policy relations. The study has reached to a conclusion that literature around the United States and Russia is indicative to the relevancy of Heartland theory

e-Learning for expanding distance education in tertiary level in Bangladesh: Problems and progress

E-learning has broadly become an important enabler to promote distance education (DE) and lifelong learning in most of the developed countries, but in Bangladesh it is still a new successful progressive system for the learning communities. Distance education is thought to be introduced as an effective way of educating people of all sections in Bangladesh. Bangladesh Open University (BOU), the only distance education provider in Bangladesh, has been trying to adopt the use of various e-learning materials for its distance delivery. This paper has tried to describe the current progress of quality e-learning for expanding distance education, identifying the major problems of e-learning in distance education at tertiary level in Bangladesh, with special reference to BOU, and finally to put forward some valuable recommendations for solving the problems. The study is based on both primary and secondary sources. It is observed from the research that e-learning is going to ensure its bright prospect as an alternative mode of education at the tertiary level in Bangladesh. There are several problems that are identified and can be mitigated and solved through Information and Communication Technology (ICT) development, greater acceptance by learners, and much research in this sector in Bangladesh to face globalization. DOI: 10.18870/hlrc.v3i4.17

DRIVING FORCE OF E-LOYALTY IN ONLINE BANKING SECTOR IN THE CONTEXT OF MALAYSIA

The development of customer loyalty in online banking has become a basic issue because of the positive and constructive influence on banks' long haul productivity. With increasing Internet access, the competition is only one tick away. Customer loyalty in online banking sector appears to be essential for electronic banks both in a competitive and additionally an economic sense. Hence, there is a need to understand how customer loyalty in the online banking sector is created. Previous studies found that e-service quality, e-satisfaction, and e-trust have direct or indirect effects on the creation of e-loyalty. However, previous studies just demonstrated a piece of relationships between these variables and their effects on e-loyalty. A hole can be discovered that there is not a comprehensive view on all of the effects that service quality, customer satisfaction, and customer trust have on customer loyalty in the context of online banking. Therefore, the present research tried to provide a comprehensive model to fill the crevice of previous literature and demonstrate the relationship of e-service quality, e-satisfaction, and e-trust with e-loyalty in the online banking sector. The target sample in this investigation was experienced Internet banking users. Based on the investigation, it is discovered that e-satisfaction and e-trust assume the real role to construct e-loyalty in the online banking sector. However, e-service quality is not a predictor of customer e-loyalty towards Internet banking websites. It means that customers tend not to be steadfast even. However, the online banking service providers provide great services. The investigation impediments, suggestions, alongside directions for further research are discussed

Role of T Lymphocyte Trafficking in Diabetic Cardiomyopathy

Diabetic cardiomyopathy is a distinct pathological condition characterized by myocardial fibrosis and cardiac dysfunction in diabetic patients. The resolution of myocardial fibrosis to improve cardiac function in diabetes is an active area of research. Notably, increased T lymphocyte infiltration into myocardium has been attributed to increased cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction in diabetes. However, the experimental data on the role of T lymphocyte modulation in diabetic myocardial fibrosis is scarce. To this end, sphingosine 1-phosphate receptor 1 (S1P1) regulates the egress of mature T lymphocytes from lymphoid organs to blood and peripheral organs. Thus, the inhibition of T cells trafficking through S1P1 receptor modulation is a potential translational approach to protect the heart in diabetes. We hypothesized that inhibition of T lymphocyte trafficking by modulating S1P1 receptor protects diabetic heart and ameliorates fibrosis. To accomplish this overarching objective, we conducted three related studies: (1) assess the effects of fingolimod (S1P1 receptor modulator) treatment in diabetes-induced myocardial fibrosis in mice; (2) study cardiac fibrosis and dysfunction in diabetes using conditional T-cell S1P1 knockout (TS1P1KO) mice; (3) evaluate the effects of CD4+ T cells transfer to TS1P1KO mice in diabetes-induced myocardial fibrosis and dysfunction

Significance of Agro-Textiles and Future Prospects in Bangladesh

Agro-textile is a crucial and emerging sector among all the twelve sectors of technical textiles. It covers all the textile products from horticulture application to fishing and animal husbandry application. However, the significance of agro-textiles can be stated substantial all over the world. Also in Bangladesh, some application of agro-textiles products have shown great extent of outcomes and it has positive impacts on growth and production of various crops, vegetables. The main purpose of this research is to deliver an overview and importance of agro-textiles and to indicate the prospect of agro-textiles in future of Bangladesh. For this research some market analysis has been done, which implies some indication about the rise in utilization and also in local production of agro-tech. An alternate intention of this study to make the industrialists, the businessmen and the entrepreneurs comprehend about this sector and to encourage them in investment

Attacks on self-driving cars and their countermeasures : a survey

Intelligent Traffic Systems (ITS) are currently evolving in the form of a cooperative ITS or connected vehicles. Both forms use the data communications between Vehicle-To-Vehicle (V2V), Vehicle-To-Infrastructure (V2I/I2V) and other on-road entities, and are accelerating the adoption of self-driving cars. The development of cyber-physical systems containing advanced sensors, sub-systems, and smart driving assistance applications over the past decade is equipping unmanned aerial and road vehicles with autonomous decision-making capabilities. The level of autonomy depends upon the make-up and degree of sensor sophistication and the vehicle's operational applications. As a result, self-driving cars are being compromised perceived as a serious threat. Therefore, analyzing the threats and attacks on self-driving cars and ITSs, and their corresponding countermeasures to reduce those threats and attacks are needed. For this reason, some survey papers compiling potential attacks on VANETs, ITSs and self-driving cars, and their detection mechanisms are available in the current literature. However, up to our knowledge, they have not covered the real attacks already happened in self-driving cars. To bridge this research gap, in this paper, we analyze the attacks that already targeted self-driving cars and extensively present potential cyber-Attacks and their impacts on those cars along with their vulnerabilities. For recently reported attacks, we describe the possible mitigation strategies taken by the manufacturers and governments. This survey includes recent works on how a self-driving car can ensure resilient operation even under ongoing cyber-Attack. We also provide further research directions to improve the security issues associated with self-driving cars. © 2013 IEEE

Relationship between Induction of Novel Somaclonal Variants and Types of Organogenesis in Muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.)

A comparative study on induction of somaclonal variation in muskmelon (Cucumis melo L.) cv. Birdie regenerants obtained through direct and indirect organogenesis was carried out. Two types of non-meristematic explants (e.g. cotyledon and petiole) were used for this study. A significantly lower (p<0.05) frequency of variation was observed in muskmelon somaclones regenerated via direct organogenesis (MS medium with BAP) compared to indirect (MS medium with BAP and 2,4-D). Morphological study revealed that the somaclones regenerated from proximal cotyledon, petiole and distal cotyledon explants through direct organogenesis did not show any variation in elongation medium at the concentrations of BAP 0.1, 0.3 and 0.5 mg-l, respectively. In contrast, higher number of morphologically somaclonal variants was obtained from these explants at the same concentration of BAP obtained through indirect organogenesis. Other concentrations of BAP, on the other hand, added to the elongation medium showed higher percentage of somaclones with different types of novel variations, e.g. early flowering including higher number of flowers, slow growth of shoots with variant shape of leaves having long and thick petioles, and stubby shoot apices including flattened stem. These variations could be the prime genetic materials to develop new varieties of muskmelon, e.g. high yielding variety, early, late variety, dwarf variety, and variety with desirable body configurations. The results suggest that specific concentrations of BAP or combinations of BAP and 2,4-D have a significant (p<0.05) influence on the induction of novel somaclonal variations in muskmelon regenerants. Future cytogenetic and molecular studies reveal that the novel genetic variations at the chromosome level in somaclonal variants can exist