Harnessing Wisdom for Managing Watersheds: Honey Bee Perspective on Innovations, Institutions and Policies for Marginal Environments

Participatory approaches for watershed management are now considered essential for sustainable natural resources management and yet there is very little opportunity for intellectual participation by the people. This requires understanding of the local knowledge systems and their institutional context. In this paper, we provide an overview of the conceptual framework which can facilitate such participation. The full report being published separately includes case studies of farmers’ innovations in natural resources management.

Cost of Conservation of Agrobiodiversity

The cost of conservation of germplasm stored in gene banks i.e., ex-situ collections has been studied in other parts of the world to estimate direct and indirect contributions by various actors involved in conservation. This is the first study of its kind in India done in collaboration with National Bureau of Plant Genetic Resources, New Delhi. This was part of a sponsored research by Centre for Development Research, Germany. The limitations of this study are also listed so that future research in this regard can be pursued better. One of the costs not included is the cost of sharing data with local communities for enabling them to access germplasm in times of need. This is an important component of conservation and would require translation of gene bank and associated database in local language, making them available through public kiosks. This cost has not been included in any study on the subject so far. Separately, studies are underway to look at the conservation of germplasm under in-situ conditions.

Ensemble quantum-information processing by NMR: implementation of gates and the creation of pseudopure states using dipolar coupled spins as qubits

Quantum-information processing is carried out using dipolar coupled spins and high-resolution nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR). The systems chosen are the dipolar coupled methyl protons of CH3CN partially oriented in a liquid crystalline matrix yielding a two-qubit system and dipolar coupled 13C and methyl protons of 13CH3CN also partially oriented in the liquid crystalline matrix, yielding a three-qubit system. The dipolar coupled protons of oriented CH3 group are chemically and magnetically identical and their eigenstates can be divided into a set of quartet states (symmetric A) and a pair of doublet (E) states. We describe here a method for selectively retaining the magnetization of the symmetric states, yielding two and three qubit systems. We create pseudopure states using single-quantum-transition selective pulses and implement two- and three-qubit gates using one- and two-dimensional NMR

Toward quantum information processing by nuclear magnetic resonance: pseudopure states and logical operations using selective pulses on an oriented spin <SUP>3/2</SUP> nucleus

Nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy has demonstrated significant experimental progress toward the development of quantum computations. The developments so far have taken place mainly through the use of spin ½ nuclei. In this paper we describe the use of a spin math nucleus, oriented in a liquid crystal matrix for the creation of pseudopure states and the implementation of a complete set of two-qubit reversible logic gates using single-quantum transition-selective pulses, extending the range of practice of NMR toward quantum computation

Sperm penetration assay and its correlation with semen analysis parameters

Background: Aim of current study was to determine whether the Sperm Penetration Assay (SPA) can be used as a test to discriminate the infertile male from fertile one. We have also correlated the SPA with semen analysis.Methods: Sperm characteristics namely Semen analysis and the sperm penetration assay were tested in 44 infertile and 10 fertile men. Sperm penetration assay was determined by using zona free hamster eggs.Results: With decreasing spermatozoa concentration in the semen there was significant decrease in percentage penetration of zona free Hamster eggs (p0.05).  Conclusions: The Sperm penetration assay could discriminate the infertile group from fertile group significantly (p<0.001). The test appeared to be highly reproducible and probably identifies a truly infertile male.

Otpornost bakterija Escherichia coli i Pseudomonas aeruginosa na karbapenem u antilope (Antilope cervicapra) i leoparda (Panthera pardus) iz zatočeništva u Indiji

The study aimed to investigate the occurrence of carbapenem resistant E. coli and P. aeruginosa in apparently healthy, captive blackbucks and leopards of India. Faecal samples of blackbucks (n = 7) and leopards (n = 7) were processed to isolate carbapenem resistant E. coli (CRE) and P. aeruginosa (CRP). Forty (leopards n = 26; blackbuck n = 14) E. coli and two P. aeruginosa (blackbuck n = 2) samples were isolated from the faecal samples (n = 14). Eleven carbapenem resistant isolates were recovered, of which 10 were CRE and one was CRP. The minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) was determined for meropenem for carbapenem resistant isolates and was between 8 and 64 μg/mL. All the CRE and CRP were phenotypically multidrug resistant, and six CRE were extended-spectrum beta- lactamases (ESBL) producers. On genotypic screening, seven CRE and one CRP were positive for the blaNDM carbapenemase gene. Efflux pump-mediated carbapenem resistance was noticed in four CRE isolates (36.4%, 4/11). Of the six ESBL producing CRE, four isolates carried blaCTX-M-1 genes. The CRE isolates also harbored blaTEM-1, blaAmpC, qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, tetA, tetB and sul1 resistance genes. On Shiga toxin virulence screening, Stx1, Stx2 genes were detected in two and one isolates, respectively. Plasmid typing of CRE revealed that the blaNDM genes were carried on an Incl1 plasmid. The plasmid multilocus sequence typing (pMLST) of the isolates showed the Sequence Type (ST) 297. The occurrence of carbapenem resistance bacteria in captive wildlife should be a major public health priority.Cilj rada bio je istražiti slučajeve otpornosti bakterija E. coli i P. aeruginosa na karbapenem u zdravih antilopa i leoparda iz zatočeništva u Indiji. Uzorci izmeta antilopa (n = 7) i leoparda (n = 7) obrađeni su kako bi se izolirale bakterije E. coli (CRE) i P. aeruginosa (CRP) otporne na karbapenem. Iz uzoraka izmeta (n = 14) dobiveno je 40 izolata (leopard n = 26, antilopa n = 14) E. coli i 2 izolata P. aeruginosa (antilopa n = 2). Pronađeno je 11 izolata otpornih na karbapenem, od kojih je 10 E. coli i 1 P. aeruginosa. Određena je minimalna inhibicijska koncentracija (MIK) za meropenem za izolate otporne na karbapenem, od 8 za E. coli i 64 μg/mL za P. aeruginosa. Svi izolati E. coli i P. aeruginosa fenotipski su bili otporni na širok spektar lijekova, a 6 izolata E. coli proizvodilo je beta- laktamaze širokog spektra (ESBL). Genotipskim probirom 7 izolata E. coli i 1 izolat P. aeruginosa bili su pozitivni na karbapenemaza gen blaNDM. Otpornost na karbapenem putem efluks pumpe zabilježena je u 4 izolata E. coli (36,4 %, 4/11). Od 6 ESBL producirajućih CRE, 4 izolata nosila su gen blaCTX-M-1. Izolati E. coli također su sadržavali blaTEM-1, blaAmpC, qnrA, qnrB, qnrS, tetA, tetB i sul1 gene otpornosti. Pretragom na šiga-toksin, Stx1 i Stx2 geni utvrđeni su u dva odnosno jednom izolatu. Tipiziranje plazmida CRE otkrilo je prisutnost blaNDM gena na Incl1 plazmidu. Multilokusno tipiziranje sekvencija plazmida (pMLST) izolata otkrilo je sekvenciju tipa (ST) 297. Pojava otpornosti bakterija na karbapenem u divljih životinja iz zatočeništva trebala bi biti javnozdravstveni prioritet

Use of Quadrupolar Nuclei for Quantum Information processing by Nuclear Magnetic Resonance: Implementation of a Quantum Algorithm

Physical implementation of Quantum Information Processing (QIP) by liquid-state Nuclear Magnetic Resonance (NMR), using weakly coupled spin-1/2 nuclei of a molecule, is well established. Nuclei with spin$>$1/2 oriented in liquid crystalline matrices is another possibility. Such systems have multiple qubits per nuclei and large quadrupolar couplings resulting in well separated lines in the spectrum. So far, creation of pseudopure states and logic gates have been demonstrated in such systems using transition selective radio-frequency pulses. In this paper we report two novel developments. First, we implement a quantum algorithm which needs coherent superposition of states. Second, we use evolution under quadrupolar coupling to implement multi qubit gates. We implement Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm on a spin-3/2 (2 qubit) system. The controlled-not operation needed to implement this algorithm has been implemented here by evolution under the quadrupolar Hamiltonian. This method has been implemented for the first time in quadrupolar systems. Since the quadrupolar coupling is several orders of magnitude greater than the coupling in weakly coupled spin-1/2 nuclei, the gate time decreases, increasing the clock speed of the quantum computer.Comment: 16 pages, 3 figure

‘It Takes Two Hands to Clap’: How Gaddi Shepherds in the Indian Himalayas Negotiate Access to Grazing

This article examines the effects of state intervention on the workings of informal institutions that coordinate the communal use and management of natural resources. Specifically it focuses on the case of the nomadic Gaddi shepherds and official attempts to regulate their access to grazing pastures in the Indian Himalayas. It is often predicted that the increased presence of the modern state critically undermines locally appropriate and community-based resource management arrangements. Drawing on the work of Pauline Peters and Francis Cleaver, I identify key instances of socially embedded ‘common’ management institutions and explain the evolution of these arrangements through dynamic interactions between individuals, communities and the agents of the state. Through describing the ‘living space’ of Gaddi shepherds across the annual cycle of nomadic migration with their flocks I explore the ways in which they have been able to creatively reinterpret external interventions, and suggest how contemporary arrangements for accessing pasture at different moments of the annual cycle involve complex combinations of the formal and the informal, the ‘traditional’ and the ‘modern’