Search Results (6)

Banana is a commercially important crop widely cultivated in tropical and subtropical regions, but its cultivation in the canal command basins is challenged due to the development of waterlogged sodic soils. The present study aimed to induce sodicity tolerance through the integration of secondary metabolites in the plants during the tissue culture organogenesis phase. Secondary-metabolite-treated plants were assessed for their performance in the waterlogged sodic soil areas of Samesee block in Lucknow district of Uttar Pradesh, India. Metabolite-treated (MT) plants exhibited significantly better growth and yield compared to untreated control (UTC) plants. Key physiological enhancements in MT plants included increased activities of defense-related enzymes superoxide dismutase (SOD), phenylalanine ammonia lyase (PAL), peroxidase (POD), and proline along with a reduced Na⁺/K⁺ ratio. The metabolic profile of MT plants showed higher expression of antioxidants, phenolic compounds, and flavonoids. MT plants exhibited production of the metabolites such as trihydroxy methylene–di-oxyflavone, rush flavanone, rutin, anthocyanins, neodiosmin, arachidonic acid, and trigalloyl-HHDP-glucose, which belongs to the subclasses of flavonoids, anthocyanins, and sugar alcohols. Consequently, MT plants produced a significantly higher yield (20.85 kg per plant) compared to UTC plants (8.35 kg) and greater biomass. These results suggest that treatments using secondary metabolite extracted from salt-tolerant bacteria can be used as an effective strategy for enhancing sodicity tolerance in banana plants, contributing to sustainable production and economic viability in waterlogged sodic soil conditions. Full article

The First Intermediate Period was a time of cultural innovation and social competition. The collapse of the monarchy and the cultural productions it sponsored paved the way for the emergence of new artistic and cultural expressions, better adapted to a context of fragile authorities and competing local powers. Warfare between rival regional polities became frequent, so tomb scenes and funerary stelae from Middle and Upper Egypt began depicting military actions and men posing as archers. Moreover, local authorities sought the support of local levies and fellow citizens to strengthen and legitimate their fragile rule. Therefore, many monuments and inscriptions celebrate successful command, effective leadership, and caring about one’s city and its inhabitants. These conditions favoured the emergence of cultural innovations and social values aiming to express new identities. Depicting weapons, mainly bows, was crucial in this respect in some areas of Southern Egypt and echoed comparable phenomena occurring in neighbour regions like Nubia and the Levant. Full article

Situated within China’s Liaoning Province, Tanghe Reservoir stands as an exemplar in the realm of reservoirs dedicated to eco-friendly fisheries development. Regrettably, frequent incidents compromising water quality and substantial reductions in reservoir fishery profits have plagued the area due to the absence of effective stocking theory guidance. However, the internal ecosystem drivers responsible for these outcomes have remained elusive. This study, leveraging an Ecopath model, delves into an exploration of the food web structure and ecosystem characteristics inherent to Tanghe Reservoir. The findings gleaned from this research demonstrate that the Tanghe Reservoir ecosystem boasts a considerable capacity for material cycling, yet it has not reached full maturity. A multitude of fish species, zoobenthos, and even zooplankton entities exhibit eco-trophic efficiencies exceeding 0.9, indicative of their rampant overexploitation. Notably, the primary cultured species, Aristichthys nobilis and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix, command significant biomass levels but register lower nutritional conversion efficiencies, signifying their overstocked status. Drawing from the tenets of maximum sustainable yield (MSY) theory, we advocate for a heightened emphasis on the harvest of Aristichthys nobilis and Hypophthalmichthys molitrix. Full article

We examine the growing trend in contemporary societies of appealing to sentiments and emotions in so many areas of social life, particularly under the command of AI tools and algorithms. Two aspects are considered: on the one side, their is insufficient conceptualization around the nature of social emotions, with disconnected classical and recent views in psychology, ethology, evolutionary psychology, neuroscience, etc. In this respect, a clearer idea about the relationships between emotions and social structures will be discussed. On the other side, related to the conceptual disarray around emotions, there is the direct commercial benefit of abusing practices of surveillance and marketing systems around AI. The towering presence of AI, and the increased presence of social networks, are menacing the democratic structures of contemporary societies, both psychologically, culturally, and politically. Full article

Blockchain Technology (BCT) is a growing digital technology that in recent years has gained widespread traction in various industries in the public and private sectors. BCT is a decentralized ledger that records every transaction made in the network, known as a ‘block’, the body of which is comprised of encrypted data of the entire transaction history. BCT was introduced as the working mechanism that forms the operational basis of Bitcoin, the first digital cryptocurrency to gain mainstream appeal. The introduction of decentralized data exchange technology in any industry would require strengthened security, enforce accountability, and could potentially accelerate a shift in workflow dynamics from current centralized architectures to a decentralized, cooperative chain of command and affect a cultural and societal change by encouraging trust and transparency. BCT aims at creating a system that would offer a robust self-regulating, self-monitoring, and cyber-resilient data transaction operation, assuring the facilitation and protection of a truly efficient data exchange system. In the state of Florida, climate change and unpredicted weather disasters have put pressure on state and local decision-makers to adapt quick and efficient post-disaster recovery systems. Part of the recovery efforts is the reconstruction of buildings and infrastructure. The introduction of new technologies in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industry can contribute to addressing recovery and rebuilding after the event of a natural disaster. With parallel technological advancement in geospatial data and Geographic Information System (GIS), as well as worsening climatic conditions, concerns can be suitably addressed by employing an integrated system of both Building Information Modeling (BIM) and BCT. While several potential applications of BIM must provide solutions to disaster-related issues, few have seen practical applications in recent years that indicate the potential benefits of such implementations. The feasibility of BIM-based applications still rests on the reliability of connectivity and cyber-security, indicating a strong use case for using BCT in conjunction with BIM for post-disaster recovery. This research depicts a survey of BCT and its applications in the Architecture, Engineering, and Construction (AEC) industries and examines the potential incorporation within the BIM process to address post-disaster rebuilding problems. Moreover, the study investigates the potential application of BCT in improving the framework for automating the building permitting process using Smart Contract (SC) technologies and Hyperledger Fabric (HLF), as well as discussing future research areas. The study proposes a new conceptualized framework resulting from the integration of BCT and BIM processes to improve the efficiency of building permit processes in post-disaster events. Full article

The command area of the Rakh branch canal grows wheat, sugarcane, and rice crops in abundance. The canal water, which is trivial for irrigating these crops, is conveyed to the farms through the network of canals and distributaries. For the maintenance of this vast infrastructure; the end users are charged on a seasonal basis. The present water charges are severely criticized for not being adequate to properly manage the entire infrastructure. We use the residual value to determine the value of the irrigation water and then based on the quantity of irrigation water supplied to farm land coupled with the infrastructure maintenance cost, full cost recovery figures are executed for the study area, and policy recommendations are made for the implementation of the full cost recovery system. The approach is unique in the sense that the pricings are based on the actual quantity of water conveyed to the field for irrigating crops. The results of our analysis showed that the canal water is severely under charged in the culturable command area of selected distributaries, thus negating the plan of having a self-sustainable irrigation system. Full article