Service learning in Loyola College, Chennai : Loyola Extension Awareness Programme (LEAP) : for first year PG students

The subjects that the students study in the class room should be deeply reflected in the field. It should not be mere observation learning, but actually plunging into action through demonstration. For example, Students of the Chemistry Department rightly chooses to conduct the consumer awareness programme by demonstrating some adulterated food and its adverse impact on health. Students of commerce departments should study the business know-how, various marketing techniques and new innovation in business. Students of economics department should study the developmental schemes of the government and its impact on the rural Masses. Thus service learning in Loyola is of two types. 1. RURAL IMMERSION • 7 days of Rural camp in villages. Objectives: • To enable students to develop people oriented attitudes and to imbibe the spirit of concern for others. • To initiate team process among the students\u27 groups. • To learn from the people about the realities at the grassroot level and develop a critical consciousness Dynamics of the programme During I year of Undergraduate, Students are provided rural exposure wherein they stay for six days and live the life of the underprivileged masses. • Motivational session and immersion before going to the field • Input on the stark realities of rural areas of India • Orientation on the rural dynamics of India by the resource person to understand the dynamics of the community • The teams exhibit their learning in the form of chart presentation, or through drama, skit and action songs. Summing-up session by the resource person • Students will share about their difficulties and problems of the village they hail from. Since the students are formed into various groups and they will write their Group Reports. Methodology of visit 1. Observation 2. Interaction with the people in villages 3. Focused group discussion 4. In-depth interviews with individuals 5. Exposure \u3e experiment \u3e experience \u3e impact \u3einvolvement. 2. URBAN IMMERSION The students will be placed in the NGOs in the city of Chennai and will be taken to exposure visits to various NGOs. Students are grouped into teams depending on the size. Each team will take-up two programmes, one in the community and the other in the institution. Visits to slums by staff in-charge of Outreach will be arranged

Economic loss and gains of marine fishing along Kerala coast

Along the Kerala coast, the capital investment in mechanized, motorised and non-mechanised sectors of various craft-gear combinations, on an average, ranges from Rs. 23000 for a small catamaran unit in the non-motorised sector to RS.25 lakh for a small trawler in the mechanised sector. The average operating cost of individual craft among these categories varies between Rs.8,000 and Rs.13 lakh providing returns to the tune of 15 per cent to 140 per cent of the capital investment. Economic loss due to juvenile fishing is severe for species like flatfish with a difIerential ratio 0.14, anchovies with 0.20, thread tin breams with 0.21 , carangids 0.29 and shrimps 0.33

Assessment of demersal stocks in the Southwest coast of India with particular reference to the exploitable resources in outer continental shelf and slope

In spite of added inputs, the increase in marina fish production in India hat been only marginal during the last several years. In some segm3nts of the coast, exploitation of target species have apparently reached the level of IVISY. But in the case of some other species, wide gaps exist between the estimates of stock size and the actual level of exploitation A general awareness has rightly been created that shrimp-oriented growth of industry Is rather limited and further addition to production can largely be realised only by exploiting the stocks of outer shelf and continental slope. In this paper, an attempt has been made to assess the exploitable stocks off southwest coast between 8° North and 15° North latitudes, covering Kerala and Karnataka coasts Several estimates of stock sizes projected by different authors were mostly bated on indirect methods or fragmentary data- Recent data available has bean analysed in the light of Increase in fishing pressure and the estimates of the resources have been revised

Impact of environmental threats on marine fishery resources of coastal Kerala: an economic assessment

Competition and commercialization in marine fisheries have generated discrepancies and imbalances in marine ecology, sustainable production and distributive justice. The private capital investment made on crafts-gears in capture fisheries does not any way compensate the social cost of overexploitation of certain resources, uncontrolled juvenile fishing and discards. The common property nature of marine fisheries coupled with market driven catching strategies and technological changes led to overexploitation of varieties such as elasmobranchs, catfish and goatfish along Kerala coast. However, the analysis of production trends for a period of four decades reveals increasing trends in the landings of species such as oilsardine, anchovies, lizardfish, perches, carangids, tunnies, barracudas, flat fish and cephalapods. The study on the environmental economics of inshore fishery resource utilisation of coastal Kerala has been undertaken in four southern Districts (Ernakulam, Alappuzha, Kollam and Thiruvananthapuram) during the year 2001-2003 with focus on environmental hotspots of industrial pollution and sea erosion along with details of economic loss of juvenile fishing by trawl fisheries

Dynamics and Selective Remodeling of the DNA-binding Domains of RPA

Replication protein A (RPA) coordinates important DNA metabolic events by stabilizing single-stranded DNA (ssDNA) intermediates, activating the DNA-damage response and handing off ssDNA to the appropriate downstream players. Six DNA-binding domains (DBDs) in RPA promote high-affinity binding to ssDNA yet also allow RPA displacement by lower affinity proteins. We generated fluorescent versions of Saccharomyces cerevisiae RPA and visualized the conformational dynamics of individual DBDs in the context of the full-length protein. We show that both DBD-A and DBD-D rapidly bind to and dissociate from ssDNA while RPA remains bound to ssDNA. The recombination mediator protein Rad52 selectively modulates the dynamics of DBD-D. These findings reveal how RPA-interacting proteins with lower ssDNA binding affinities can access the occluded ssDNA and remodel individual DBDs to replace RPA

Changing the Global Health Care Landscape—Proceedings of a “Glocal” Symposium

Background: This glocal (global knowledge with local action) symposium was convened by a professional therapeutic massage bodywork professional organization to bring together the fields of economics, politics, and traditional and complementary and alternative medicine (TCAM) to begin development of effective TCAM advocacy worldwide. The symposium addressed the core question, “What information will be needed to address issues that will arise as TCAM practitioners advocate for a respectful and equal-footing access to health care provision, public and private, worldwide?” Participants and Setting: The 35 international participants convened in a Victoria, Canada hotel. They were selectively invited to provide expertise in: advocacy, politics, public policy, economics, TCAM practice, integrative practice, sociology and TCAM research, education, media and language framing, psychology, and mediation. Methods: The two-day symposium used a facilitated dialogue and knowledge-sharing design process geared to achieving group-supported recommendations. Invited panelists discussed each agenda topic, followed by facilitated discussion with the entire group. Results: In general, participants agreed that advocacy from a TCAM perspective is needed. Additionally, more research should use methods with more relevance to everyday health care provision and health care costs such as effectiveness comparative trials and cost effectiveness studies. A number of specific advocacy steps were recommended. Most focused on developing local support for better access and equity regarding TCAM within local health care systems and advocacy work, which needs to both understand and engage the local TCAM practitioners and those using the TCAM services. Conclusions: The increasing awareness of TCAM and advancement toward integrative medicine—including traditional medicines and perspectives— are themes currently in development worldwide. Now is a good time for TCAM practitioners to open dialogue to develop better partnerships in health care. Such dialogue is facilitated when diverse people at the health care table understand each other’s perspectives. More discussions like this, with diverse people across more disciplines, need to occur worldwide

Prospecting for Energy-Rich Renewable Raw Materials: \u3cem\u3eAgave\u3c/em\u3e Leaf Case Study

Plant biomass from different species is heterogeneous, and this diversity in composition can be mined to identify materials of value to fuel and chemical industries. Agave produces high yields of energy-rich biomass, and the sugar-rich stem tissue has traditionally been used to make alcoholic beverages. Here, the compositions of Agave americana and Agave tequilana leaves are determined, particularly in the context of bioethanol production. Agave leaf cell wall polysaccharide content was characterized by linkage analysis, non-cellulosic polysaccharides such as pectins were observed by immuno-microscopy, and leaf juice composition was determined by liquid chromatography. Agave leaves are fruit-like--rich in moisture, soluble sugars and pectin. The dry leaf fiber was composed of crystalline cellulose (47-50% w/w) and non-cellulosic polysaccharides (16-22% w/w), and whole leaves were low in lignin (9-13% w/w). Of the dry mass of whole Agave leaves, 85-95% consisted of soluble sugars, cellulose, non-cellulosic polysaccharides, lignin, acetate, protein and minerals. Juice pressed from the Agave leaves accounted for 69% of the fresh weight and was rich in glucose and fructose. Hydrolysis of the fructan oligosaccharides doubled the amount of fermentable fructose in A. tequilana leaf juice samples and the concentration of fermentable hexose sugars was 41-48 g/L. In agricultural production systems such as the tequila making, Agave leaves are discarded as waste. Theoretically, up to 4000 L/ha/yr of bioethanol could be produced from juice extracted from waste Agave leaves. Using standard Saccharomyces cerevisiae strains to ferment Agave juice, we observed ethanol yields that were 66% of the theoretical yields. These data indicate that Agave could rival currently used bioethanol feedstocks, particularly if the fermentation organisms and conditions were adapted to suit Agave leaf composition