Water harvesting and supplemental irrigation for improved water use efficiency in dry areas

Productivity / Water harvesting / Runoff / Water storage / Crop production / Water use efficiency / Arid lands / Water resources development / Rain-fed farming / Supplementary irrigation / Irrigation scheduling / Environmental effects / Research priorities / Case studies / West Asia / North Africa / India / Libya / Syria / Burkina Faso

The military topography of Syria's south: fickle external support for moderates; resurgent Islamic State in birthplace of the revolt

The Russian air attacks on Aleppo have diverted attention from Moscow’s intervention intended to secure Bashar al-Assad’s position in Damascus. Extending beyond northern Syria, Moscow’s direct military involvement has instilled fear in the countries backing the non-Jihadist rebel units in the south. Known as the Southern Front, they are based in the area stretching from south of the capital to the Jordanian border and close to the Israeli border. Hardline Islamist rebels, as well as so-called Islamic State (IS), are poised to gain as moderates are undermined. A rethink on ways to empower the Southern Front and once more put pressure on Assad is overdue if the region and its civil structures are to escape capture by the regime and further penetration by the Jihadists is to be prevented – scenarios that could create a new wave of refugees towards Jordan. Due to the south’s strategic importance, Israel has emerged as a veto player in the neighborhood, helping to curb Russian bombing as Moscow acts with different interests in the south and the north. (Autorenreferat

The LiAl/FeS2 battery power source for the future

Advanced high power density rechargeable batteries are currently under development. These batteries have the potential of greatly increasing the power and energy densities available for space applications. Depending on whether the system is optimized for high power or high energy, values up to 150 Wh/kg and 2100 W/kg (including hardware) are projected. This is due to the fact that the system uses a high conductivity molten salt electrolyte. The electrolyte also serves as a separator layer with unlimited freeze thaw capabilities. Life of 1000 cycles and ten calendar years is projected. The electrochemistry consists of a lithium aluminum alloy negative electrode, iron disulfide positive electrode, and magnesium oxide powder immobilized molten salt electrolyte. Processed powders are cold compacted into circular discs which are assembled into bipolar cell hardware with peripheral ceramic salts. The culmination of the work will be a high energy battery of 40 kWh and a high power battery of 28 kWh

Rainfed agriculture: unlocking the potential

Rainfed farming / Soil degradation / Crop production / Climate change / Irrigation methods / Water harvesting / Yield gap / Models / Supplemental irrigation / Water productivity / Watershed management / India

A novel MapReduce Lift association rule mining algorithm (MRLAR) for Big Data

Big Data mining is an analytic process used to dis-cover the hidden knowledge and patterns from a massive, com-plex, and multi-dimensional dataset. Single-processor's memory and CPU resources are very limited, which makes the algorithm performance ineffective. Recently, there has been renewed inter-est in using association rule mining (ARM) in Big Data to uncov-er relationships between what seems to be unrelated. However, the traditional discovery ARM techniques are unable to handle this huge amount of data. Therefore, there is a vital need to scal-able and parallel strategies for ARM based on Big Data ap-proaches. This paper develops a novel MapReduce framework for an association rule algorithm based on Lift interestingness measurement (MRLAR) which can handle massive datasets with a large number of nodes. The experimental result shows the effi-ciency of the proposed algorithm to measure the correlations between itemsets through integrating the uses of MapReduce and LIM instead of depending on confidence.Web of Science7315715

Improving on-farm agricultural water productivity in the Karkheh River Basin

Improving On-farm Agricultural Water Productivity in the Karkheh River Basin (KRB) was a CPWF project that aimed at enhancement of agricultural water productivity (WP) under irrigated and rainfed conditions in Karkheh River Basin. It was launched in Iran through the partnership of ICARDA and the Iranian NARES under the Agricultural Extension, Education, and Research Organization. The project lasted for more than four years between 2004 and 2008. Whereas capacity building was an important part of the agenda, PN8 was a participatory, multi-disciplinary, and action-oriented project that carried out mostly on-farm trials. Findings included existing crop water productivity, suitable technologies for their improvement, interactions between the upper and lower KRB, and a review of the prevailing water policies and institution

The non-genomic effects of the PPARβγ agonist GW0742 on streptozotocin treated rat aorta

Copyright© Bentham Science Publishers; For any queries, please email at [email protected]: The ubiquitous nuclear receptor PPARβ/δ is increasingly being studied in regards to numerous diseases including diabetes following on the finding that PPARβ/δ agonist GW0742 controls Type 1 Diabetes in rats. Studies have shown that GW0742 has off target, non- PPARβ/δ effects in the cell although there are some key questions that remain to be addressed in respect to the significance of this control on vascular tone. Methods: Using isometric organ baths, rat aorta rings were exposed to ROCK inhibitors and the changes in contraction and dilation measured. Results: Our data shows that the PPARβ/δ agonist GW0742 (10 -7M) inhibits contractile responses to U46619 and phenylephrine, and that these responses are similar in normal and Streptozotocin (STZ) diabetic rat aorta. ROCK inhibitors Fasudil and Y27632 significantly reduced GW0742 mediated dilation of naïve rat aorta, but Fasudil had no effect on GW0742 dilation in STZ diabetic rat aorta. In contrast, STZ diabetic rat aorta pre-contracted with high [K +] Krebs lacked a dilatory response to GW0742, which taken together indicates that the mechanism of action of GW0742 mediated dilation changes in the diabetic state compared to non-diabetic state. Conclusion: This is the first direct evidence demonstrating the non- PPARβ/δ effect of GW0742 on contraction is irrespective to the diabetic state, and that GW0742 has the potential to induce vasodilation via multiple off-target mechanisms.Peer reviewedFinal Accepted Versio

Barriers Hindering Jordanian Women’s Advancement to Higher Political and Leadership Positions

Purpose: The purposes of this study were to identify barriers hindering Jordanian women’s advancement to higher political and leadership positions and to identify main actions/strategies to facilitate Jordanian women’s advancement to higher political and leadership positions. Methodology: A cross sectional survey was used where both quantitative and qualitative data were collected utilizing a self-administered questionnaire. A convenience sample of 500 Jordanian women was selected from women working in political and leadership positions in various settings including government, Non Government Organizations (NGOs), business, educational and academic institutions. The Study involved a self administered questionnaire with closed and open ended questions that include the demographic and personal questions, barriers hindering Jordanian women’s advancement to higher political and leadership positions and main actions/strategies to facilitate Jordanian women’s advancement to higher political and leadership positions. Findings: In their endeavour toward advancement in leadership positions in work and community, women face major obstacles and impediments. These barriers encompass a wide range of obstacles, which include political and legal, personal, family, socio-cultural, and economic barriers. Discrimination against women was a cross cutting issue for all barriers. Political and Legal support, awareness raising and empowerment of women were main issues suggested by women leaders to enhance to higher political and leadership positions. Women should work hard to stick to the heart of the Awakening and fight rather than demand by the name of democracy for their rights in politics and the building of their nation. Recommendations: The study suggests establishment of solid gender-sensitive policies, empowerment of women by strengthening their leadership abilities and capabilities, awareness raising of society about women role in development and involvement of women in the making of democracy and political reform to play an active role in all higher national committees and task groups of political reform

Factors Associated with Contraceptive Use among Jordanian Muslim Women: Implications for Health and Social Policy

The objectives of this quantitative study were to identify factors associated with contraceptive use by Jordanian Muslim women; to estimate factors that predict the variance in contraceptive use; and recommend appropriate health and social policies to enhance quality of life of Jordanian women. A cross -sectional design was used to collect data from 487 married non-pregnant women aged 18 to 49 years who resided in three southern governorates in Jordan using a structured interview guide. Results showed that 63.2% of women used some form of contraceptive method; IUD was the most frequently used method (44.2%). The percentage of women exposed to violence was 5% and 9.2% for physical and verbal abuse respectively. Findings also showed that there was a significant relationship between psychological wellbeing of women and contraceptive use. Furthermore, no relationship between women’s perceived religious stance towards contraceptives and their use. Predictors of contraceptive use were: women aged 40-45 years explained 23.3% of the variance in contraceptive use; and the woman’s approval of contraceptive use for birth spacing explained 21.4% of the variance in contraceptive use. The Islamic stance towards contraceptive use was not significant in these women; however further studies are needed to confirm these findings as well as the generalizability to Muslim women in other countries. The study findings have implications for health and social policies relevant to family planning services in order to enhance and increase the use of contraceptives to reduce the TFR in Jordan. Furthermore, health care providers, social and economical policy makers need to integrate women’s cultural views and contraceptive use in strategies and policies beyond health to improve women’s quality of life and build on the global consensus for women and children to achieve the Millennium Development goals