USE OF CREDIT EVALUATION PROCEDURES AT AGRICULTURAL BANKS IN MINNESOTA: 1991 SURVEY RESULTS

Agricultural Finance,

Minimum Legal Size (MLS) for marine capture fisheries management in Maharashtra

The marine capture fisheries sector of Maharashtra has undergone tremendous change in terms of fishing patterns, fishing methods, spatial expansion of fishing grounds, multiday fishing and innovations in crafts and gears, among others. With the increasing demand for marine fish for consumption and other non-food utilization of fishes, exploitation of juvenile fishes is becoming more common. Exploitation of juveniles which causes ‘growth overfishing’ is a major concern as it affects the health of fish stocks and the ecosystem which impacts livelihood of fishers and causes much economic loss to all stakeholders

Plastic menace faced by fishers of Satpati, Maharashtra

Small conical stationary bag nets (Bokshi) are operated by artisanal fishers mostly in creeks, with strong tidal currents in certain regions of Maharashtra. The net is set using wooden pole (Khunt) driven at creek bottom against the flood or ebb tide. At Satpati, Bokshi nets are operated in the near shore creek for about 16 days in a month at a rate of 2 hauls per day. Here, fishermen are concerned about the increasing quantity of plastic debris entering their nets during fishing operations adversely affecting their livelihood

Purse seine fishing in Maharashtra

Purse seines are one of the important gears operated along the west coast of India for harvesting shoaling pelagic fishes, mostly oil sardine and mackerel. Purse seine fishing method invented to harvest the large shoal of pelagic fish in Maine, United State of America during 1830’s later is was spread to Norway, Sweden, Japan etc. In India purse seine was introduced on experimental basis in 1954 under Indo-Norwegian project off Quilon, Kerala and other attempt was made in Goa in 1957 when the territory was still ruled by Portuguese. The commercial purse seining taken up by the fishers in Karnataka during the mid 1970s was later adopted by the fishers in Kerala and Goa. In Maharashtra, fishers from the southern region (Ratnagiri and Sindhdurg) adopted purse seine fishing in late eighties and Mirkarwada emerged as a major base of operation for these purse seiners. In northern Maharashtra, fishers were mostly engaged in set bagnet (Dol nets) and trawl fishing until the late 1990s when a few trawl fishers shifted to purse seine fishing expecting better economic prospects

Advancing of Cellular Signaling Pathways in Respiratory Diseases Using Nanocarrier based Drug Delivery Systems.

Cell Signaling pathways form an integral part of our existence, that allows the cells to comprehend a stimulus and respond back. Such reactions, to external cues from the environment, are required and are essential to regulate the normal functioning of our body. Abnormalities in the system arise when there are errors developed in these signals, resulting in a complication or a disease. Presently, respiratory diseases contribute to being the third leading cause of morbidity worldwide. According to the current statistics, over 339 million people who are asthmatic, 65 million who are suffering from COPD, 2.3 million who are lung cancer patients and 10 million are tuberculosis patients. This toll of statistics with chronic respiratory diseases leaves a heavy burden on society and nation annual health expenditure. Hence, a better understanding of the processes governing these cellular pathways will enable us to treat and manage these deadly respiratory diseases effectively. Moreover, it is important to comprehend the synergy and interplay of the cellular signaling pathways in respiratory diseases, which will enable us to explore and develop suitable strategies for targeted drug delivery. This review, in particular, focuses on the major respiratory diseases and further provides an in-depth discussion on the various cell signaling pathways that are involved in the pathophysiology of respiratory diseases. Moreover, the review also analyses the defining concepts about advanced nano-drug delivery systems involving various nanocarriers and propose newer prospects to minimize the current challenges faced by researchers and formulation scientists

Host and virus effects on reversion in cassava affected by cassava brown streak disease

The phenomenon of virus-infected plants naturally recovering health is known as ‘reversion’, and is a type of resistance mechanism exploited in some crop plants for disease control. Various parameters were investigated that affect reversion from cassava brown streak disease (CBSD) in three cassava varieties (Albert, Kaleso and Kiroba) that differ in levels of resistance to the disease. Cassava plants were inoculated by grafting with two virus species (Ugandan cassava brown streak virus, UCBSV and Cassava brown streak virus, CBSV) that cause CBSD, and the plants grown from them were subsequently assessed for reversion. The rate of reversion depended on the cassava variety, virus species, and the length and position of the stem cuttings used. A significantly high proportion of progenies were virus-free (reverted) for the resistant variety Kaleso (64·1% for UCBSV and 54·9% of CBSV), compared to the tolerant variety Kiroba (56·7 and 45·5%) and the susceptible control Albert (38·9 and 35·1%). The highest number of virus-free plants was generated from short 10 cm long cuttings (e.g. 60·1% for Kaleso for CBSV) compared to 20 cm long stem cuttings (e.g. 21·4% for Albert). Cuttings taken from upper stems of diseased plants produced most virus-free progenies compared to middle and lower parts. More than 50% virus-free plants were obtained in the resistant and tolerant varieties. This is a highly valuable finding and could be exploited for developing strategies to control the current CBSD epidemic in eastern and central Africa

Automatic Identification System (AIS): An initiative in purse seine fisheries along Mumbai coast

Automatic Identification System (AIS) is a significant development in navigation safety since the introduction of RADAR. It was originally developed as a collision avoidance tool for commercial vessels to improve the helmsman’s information about his surrounding environment. AIS does this by continuously transmitting a vessels identity, position, speed and course along with other relevant information to all other AIS equipped vessels within range