In a cartogram, the map elements are purposely modified with respect to an attribute. A time cartogram is a type of cartogram in which the geographic-distance between locations is replaced by a time-related attribute such as travelling-time, deforming the geography accordingly. This study concentrates on centred time cartograms that visualize travellingtimes from a fixed starting location to other locations in the region. Several methods to construct time cartograms have been proposed, however these methods are not entirely satisfactory. In particular, none of them describes how to deform both the network and the map's boundaries based on travelling-times, which is necessary to maintain recognizability. In many cases, homeomorphism and topology are not maintained. The resultant maps from such methods are highly deformed and are difficult to read. Some of these methods are computationally demanding, while the procedures of others are not fully described. We present a method to construct time cartograms for the visual representation of scheduled movement data using the Dutch railways network as a case study. The method was developed by approaching the construction of time cartograms as a two-step process. In the first step, vector calculus is used to displace the train stations according to travelling-times from a fixed starting station. In the second step, moving-least-squares based affine deformation is applied to deform the railroads and the map's boundaries accordingly. To enhance understanding, concentric circles are drawn from the starting station to depict travelling-times. The method maintains homeomorphism and topology and yields time cartograms that are easily recognizable.

Rice (Oryza sativa L.) feeds to two-third of the global population by serving as staple food. It is the main export commodity of several countries; thus, contributes towards foreign exchange earnings. Unfortunately, average global rice yield is far below than its genetic potential. Low nitrogen (N) use efficiency (NUE) is among the major reasons for low average yield. Current study evaluated the impact of nitrogen fertilizer application methods (conventional and deep placement) on growth, yield-related traits, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, agronomic N-use efficiency (ANUE), partial factors productivity of applied N (PFP) and economic returns of two different transplanted rice varieties (Basmati-515 and Super-Basmati). Fertilizer application methods significantly affected allometry, yield-related traits, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, ANUE, PFP and economic returns. Deep placement of N-fertilizer (DPNF) observed better allometric traits, high chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, ANUE, PFP, yield attributes and economic returns compared to conventional application of N-fertilizer (CANF). Similarly, Basmati-515 had better allometric and yield-related traits, chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, ANUE, PFP and economic returns than Super-Basmati. Regarding interactions among N-fertilizer application methods and rice varieties, Basmati-515 with DPNF resulted in higher chlorophyll contents, photosynthesis rate, ANUE, PFP, allometric and yield related traits and economic returns than CANF. The lowest values of these traits were observed for Super-Basmati with no application of N-fertilizer. Both varieties had better yield and economic returns with DPNF compared to CANF. It is concluded that DPNF improved yield, ANUE and economic returns; therefore, should be opted to improve productivity of transplanted fine rice. Nonetheless, lower nitrogen doses need to be tested for DPNF to infer whether it could lower N use in rice crop.

Purpose Owing to aridity in our agro-ecosystem, mineralization of organic substrate is quite rapid and thereafter volatilized due to lower matrix affinity. In these consequences, the study has been chalked out with the hypothesis to alter the best approaches for mineralization of available organic resources as soil supplement to reduce the economic burden on the farming community. Our laboratory study showed the sequential temporal variations in physic-chemical properties of available organic substrates such as farm manure and sugar industry waste during composting/vermicomposting. Methods The organic material obtained from the farm manure of livestock farm and another sources of industrial organic waste {sugarcane baggase (SCB), pressmud (SPM), mixture of SCB, SPM and sugarcane effluent} were used for this mineralization perspectives. However, all organic substrates properties remained static except moisture up to a period of 21 days. Thereafter, these produced and processed matrix was subsequently composted and vermicomposted during 45 days under normal shade. No earthworms were spiked in composting while Lumbricus rubellus collected near vicinity of research area were inoculated at the rate of 50 g/kg of waste in vermicomposting. Contrarily, their applications was mandated as and when required policy subsequently. Moisture and temperature status of substrates were monitored regularly.

Wheat is an important crop, used as staple food in numerous countries around the world. However, wheat productivity is low in the developing world due to several biotic and abiotic stresses, particularly drought stress. Non-availability of drought-tolerant wheat genotypes at different growth stages is the major constraint in improving wheat productivity in the developing world. Therefore, screening/developing drought-tolerant genotypes at different growth stages could improve the productivity of wheat. This study assessed seed germination and seedling growth of eight wheat genotypes under polyethylene glycol (PEG)-induced stress. Two PEG-induced osmotic potentials (i.e., -0.6 and -1.2 MPa) were included in the study along with control (0 MPa). Wheat genotypes included in the study were ‘KLR-16’, ‘B6’, ‘J10’, ‘716’, ‘A12’, ‘Seher’, ‘KTDH-16’, and ‘J4’. Data relating to seed germination percentage, root and shoot length, fresh and dry weight of roots and shoot, root/shoot length ratio and chlorophyll content were recorded. The studied parameters were significantly altered by individual and interactive effects of genotypes and PEG-induced osmotic potentials. Seed germination and growth parameters were reduced by osmotic potentials; however, huge differences were noted among genotypes. A reduction of 32.83 to 53.50% was recorded in seed germination, 24.611 to 47.75% in root length, 37.83 to 53.72% in shoot length, and 53.35 to 65.16% in root fresh weight. The genotypes, ‘J4’, ‘KLR-16’ and ‘KTDH-16’, particularly ‘J4’ better tolerated increasing osmotic potentials compared to the rest of the genotypes included in the study. Principal component analysis segregated these genotypes from the rest of the genotypes included in the study indicated that these can be used in the future studies to improve the drought tolerance of wheat crop. The genotype ‘J4’ can be used as a breeding material to develop drought resistant wheat genotypes.

Cotton growth and development is influenced by various uncontrollable environmental conditions. Temperature variations in the field can be created by planting at different dates. The objective of the present study was to evaluate the effect of planting dates and thermal temperatures (growing degree days) on yield of 4 genotypes viz. CIM-598, CIM-599, CIM-602, Ali Akbar-703. Plants were subjected to six planting dates during 2013 and 2014 in a trial conducted in randomized complete block design with four replications. Cotton genotypes exhibited significant differences for boll number, boll weight and seed cotton yield while CIM-599 produced the highest seed cotton yield of 2062 kg ha-1 on account of maximum boll number and boll weight. Highest seed cotton yield was recorded in planting dates from April 15 to May 1 whereas early and delayed planting reduced the yield due to less accumulation of heat units. Regression analysis revealed that increase of one unit (15 days) from early to optimum date (March 15 to April 15) increased yield by 93.58 kg ha-1. Delay in planting also decreased the seed cotton yield with the same ratio. Thus it is concluded that cotton must be sown from April 15 to May 1 to have good productivity in this kind of environment.

Autistic people face many challenges in various aspects of daily life such as social skills, repetitive behaviors, speech, and verbal communication. They feel hesitant to talk with others. The signs of autism vary from one individual to another, with a range from mild to severe. Autistic children use fewer communicative gestures compared with typically developing children (TD). With time, the parents may learn their gestures and understand what is occurring in their child’s mind. However, it is difficult for other people to understand their gestures. In this paper, we propose a wearable-sensors-based platform to recognize autistic gestures using various classification techniques. The proposed system defines, monitors, and classifies the gestures of the individuals. We propose using wearable sensors that transmit their data using a Bluetooth interface to a data acquisition and classification server. A dataset of 24 gestures is created by 10 autistic children performing each gesture about 10 times. Time- and frequency-domain features are extracted from the sensors’ data, which are classified using k-nearest neighbor (KNN), decision tree, neural network, and random forest models. The main objective of this work is to develop a wearable-sensor-based IoT platform for gesture recognition in children with autism spectrum disorder (ASD). We achieve an accuracy of about 91% with most of the classifiers using dataset cross-validation and leave-one-person-out cross-validation.

In the present study, we investigated the impact of different combinations of wheat straw biochar, compost and biogas slurry on maize growth, physiology, and nutritional status in less productive soils. The experiment was performed as a completely randomized block design in a greenhouse pot experiment. The compost and biogas slurry were applied with and without biochar. The results revealed that a combination of biochar, compost, and biogas slurry enhanced the cation exchange capacity (31%), carbon (83%), phosphorus (67%) and potassium (81%) contents in the soil. Likewise, a significant increase in soil microbial biomass carbon (15%) and nitrogen (37%) was noticed with the combined use of all organic amendments. Moreover, the combined application of biochar, compost and biogas slurry enhanced soil urease and β-glucosidase activity up to 96% and 67% over control respectively. In addition, plant height, chlorophyll content, water use efficiency and 1000-grain weight were also enhanced up to 54%, 90%, 53% and 21% respectively, with the combined use of all amendments. Here, biochar addition helped to reduce the nutrient losses of compost and biogas slurry as well. It is concluded that biochar application in combination with compost and biogas slurry could be a more sustainable, environment-friendly and cost-effective approach, particularly for less fertile soils.

Abstract-A smartphone has more advanced computing ability and connectivity than basic featured phones. Presently, we are moving from the Internet society to a mobile society where more and more access to the information is required. This has resulted in a mobile security which is no longer immanent, but imperative. Smartphone authentication has received substantial attention of the research community for the past several years because there have been modern developments beyond the classical PINs and passwords making user authentication more challenging. In this paper, we critically analyze the attacks and the vulnerabilities in smartphones' authentication mechanisms. A comparative analysis of different authentication techniques along with the usage of the different authentication methods is discussed which lead the end-user towards choosing the most suitable and customizable authentication technique.