Gender and displacement in Jaffna, Sri Lanka

This report presents the preliminary results of a household survey of internally displaced persons (IDPs) in Jaffna District in Northern Province, one of the areas that still has a large IDP population. The main focus of this survey conducted in October 2020 employing Covid-19 safety protocols was to examine the gendered experiences arising from protracted displacements spanning over three decades. The survey covered 220 households (182 male-headed and 38 female-headed), which accounts for 54.3 per cent of the total IDP households in the Jaffna District. Among other topics, the survey gathered data on the respondents’ current living conditions, finances, asset ownership, safety and security concerns, access to services, social networks and relationship with other IDPs and the host community, and water, sanitation and hygiene issues they face. It also gathered data on the respondents’ pre-displacement experiences to compare that with their current lives, in order to examine the role of displacement in gendered issues they face

FORMULATION OF SUSTAINABLE AGRO FORESTRY MODELS FOR NORTH CENTRAL DRY ZONE OF SRI LANKA

Increase of human population and clearing of forests for their requirements has been alocal as well as global environmental crisis. In Sri Lanka, forest cover has dwindled at analarming rate from 70% in 1990 to 22% as of present. Deforestation and degradation ofland due to many reasons including poverty related land management practices such asshifting cultivation and forest encroachments, conversion of forest estate to other moreeconomically profitable land uses are some of the reasons for the loss of forest. agroforestryhas been identified all over the world as an appropriate alternative which providessustainabilityAccording to the Forestry Sector master Plan (1995) the necessity of utilizing the sparsely·used scrub lands for agroforestry ventures to improve the tree cover and socio-economicstatus of the people has been identified. Forest Department too in its Participatory ForestryProject has ventured into establishment of farmers woodlots with the active participation ofcommunities and this programme is wide spread in many parts of the country especially inthe dry zone. However, the composition of these farmers woodlots still not complete toincorporate diversity and sustainability. Therefore, the objective of this present study is toformulate sustainable tree-crop models for a wide range of land classes in the north centraldry zone of Sri LankaIpalogama divisional Secretariat in Anuradhapura District was identified for the study.Field studies were done in handsomely selected 3 traditional tank based villages namelySangattewa, Puliyankulama and Dampeleassagama . Information was gathered through aquestionnaire survey, field visits and personnel interviews with villagers. Randomelyselected 44 households or 14.8% of the total households in the 3 villages were subjected tothe survey. The species composition and vertical and horizontal diversity, lightrequirements, multiple uses, financial returns/ha, prevalence of local/indigenous treespecies and farmer's choice were taken into consideration in the formulation of theagroforestry models for the various land classes sampled egoAlluvial plains, middle slopesand upper slopes etc.

Birth registration and children's rights: a complex story

Birth registration is a fundamental right of all children and a basic function of all modern governments. So, given the extensive anticipated benefits of birth registration, there has been increasing interest from development organisations in implementing programmes on birth registration in countries with low rates of registration.But there is a significant lack of empirical research that explores the effects of birth registration, and if and how it benefits children in practice.Plan’s new research in India, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Vietnam reveals the results of an investigation into the impact of birth registration. What emerges is a complex picture of the interrelationship between children’s rights and birth registration. As a result, the report makes a series of important recommendations for governments and development partners

2-(2,4-Dichloro­phen­yl)-9-phenyl-2,3-di­hydro­thieno[3,2-b]quinoline

In the title compound, C23H15Cl2NS, the quinoline system is almost planar [r.m.s. deviation = 0.013 (2) Å]. The phenyl group is disordered over two positions with site occupancies of 0.55 and 0.45, and is oriented in a nearly perpendicular configuration to the quinoline ring [the dihedral angles between the quinoline ring and the major and minor disordered components of the phenyl ring are 81.8 (2) and 71.6 (2)°, respectively]. The dihydro­thiene ring adopts an envelope conformation. The dihedral angle between the chloro­phenyl ring and the quinoline system is 79.32 (1)°. In the crystal weak C—H⋯π inter­actions occur

Building cloud applications for challenged networks

Cloud computing has seen vast advancements and uptake in many parts of the world. However, many of the design patterns and deployment models are not very suitable for locations with challenged networks such as countries with no nearby datacenters. This paper describes the problem and discusses the options available for such locations, focusing specifically on community clouds as a short-term solution. The paper highlights the impact of recent trends in the development of cloud applications and how changing these could better help deployment in challenged networks. The paper also outlines the consequent challenges in bridging different cloud deployments, also known as cross-cloud computing

Fluconazole resistance in Candida albicans is induced by Pseudomonas aeruginosa quorum sensing

Microorganisms employ quorum sensing (QS) mechanisms to communicate with each other within microbial ecosystems. Emerging evidence suggests that intraspecies and interspecies QS plays an important role in antimicrobial resistance in microbial communities. However, the relationship between interkingdom QS and antimicrobial resistance is largely unknown. Here, we demonstrate that interkingdom QS interactions between a bacterium, Pseudomonas aeruginosa and a yeast, Candida albicans, induce the resistance of the latter to a widely used antifungal fluconazole. Phenotypic, transcriptomic, and proteomic analyses reveal that P. aeruginosa’s main QS molecule, N-(3-Oxododecanoyl)-L-homoserine lactone, induces candidal resistance to fluconazole by reversing the antifungal’s effect on the ergosterol biosynthesis pathway. Accessory resistance mechanisms including upregulation of C. albicans drug-efflux, regulation of oxidative stress response, and maintenance of cell membrane integrity, further confirm this phenomenon. These findings demonstrate that P. aeruginosa QS molecules may confer protection to neighboring yeasts against azoles, in turn strengthening their co-existence in hostile polymicrobial infection sites

Determinants of Change in Physical Activity in Children 0-6 years of Age: A Systematic Review of Quantitative Literature.

Background Understanding the determinants of children’s health behaviours is important to develop successful behaviour-change interventions. Objective We aimed to synthesise the evidence around determinants (‘preceding predictors’) of change in physical activity (PA) in young children (0–6 years of age). Methods As part of a suite of reviews, prospective quantitative studies investigating change in physical activity in children aged 0–6 years were identified from eight databases (to October 2015): MEDLINE, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Web of Knowledge, British Nursing Index, Applied Social Sciences Index and Abstracts, and Sociological Abstracts. Determinants and direction of association were extracted, described and synthesised according to the socio-ecological model (individual, interpersonal, organisational, community, policy). Results Forty-four determinants, predominantly in the interpersonal and organisational domains, were reported across 44 papers (six prospective cohort, 38 interventional); 14 determinants were assessed in four or more papers. Parental monitoring showed a consistent positive association with change in PA; provider training was positively associated with change in children’s moderate-to-vigorous PA only. Five (sex, parental goal setting, social support, motor skill training and increased time for PA) showed no clear association. A further seven (child knowledge, parental knowledge, parental motivation, parenting skills, parental self-efficacy, curriculum materials and portable equipment) were consistently not associated with change in children’s PA. Maternal role-modelling was positively associated with change in PA in all three studies in which it was examined. Conclusions A range of studied determinants of change in young children’s PA were identified, but only parental monitoring was found to be consistently positively associated. More evidence dealing with community and policy domains from low-/middle-income countries and about lesser-explored modifiable family- and childcare-related determinants is required. International Prospective Register for Systematic Reviews (PROSPERO) Registration Number CRD42012002881. Electronic supplementary material The online version of this article (doi:10.1007/s40279-016-0656-0) contains supplementary material, which is available to authorized users

Serum Concentrations of Myostatin and Myostatin-Interacting Proteins do not differ between young and Scarcopenic elderly men

Peer reviewedPostprin

Synthesis and Evaluations of “1,4-Triazolyl Combretacoumarins” and Desmethoxy Analogs

1,4-Triazolyl combretacoumarins have been prepared by linking the trimethoxyarene unit of combretastatin A4 with coumarins, via a 1,2,3-triazole. For this, 4-azidocoumarins were accessed by a sequential two-step, one-pot reaction of 4-hydroxycoumarins with (benzotriazol-1-yloxy)tris(dimethylamino)phosphonium hexafluorophosphate (BOP), followed by reaction with NaN3. In the reaction with BOP, a coumarin-derived phosphonium ion intermediate seems to form, leading to an O4-(benzotriazolyl)coumarin derivative. For the CuAAC reaction of azidocoumarins with 5-ethynyl-1,2,3-trimethoxybenzene, catalytic [(MeCN)4Cu]PF6 in CH2Cl2/MeOH with 2,6-lutidine, at 50 oC, was suitable. The 4-azidocoumarins were less reactive as compared to PhN3 and the NBO coefficients of the azido groups were compared by DFT analysis. Compound solubility was a problem in biological assays. On the basis of the biological and solubility data of one 1,4-triazolyl combretacoumarin, four analogs lacking one or two methoxy groups were synthesized. Reactivity differences among the phenylacetylenes were noted and the NBO coefficients of the alkynes were compared by DFT analysis. In cytotoxicity assays, 1-phenyl-4-(3,4,5-trimethoxyphenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole showed activity in CEM and MDA-MB-231 cell lines by apoptosis. The desmethoxy 6-bromo-4-(4-(4-methoxyphenyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazol-1-yl)-2H-chromen-2-one also showed cytotoxicity against the two cell lines, but this did not appear to be consistent with apoptosis. The antiviral activity of the compounds was unremarkable

Performance of soybean (Glycine max) intercropped with different cereals under varying levels of nitrogen

A field experiment conducted during 2009 and 2010 at the research farm of the Indian Agricultural Research Institute, New Delhi to study the performance of soybean as influenced by the intercropping of cereals, viz. maize (Zea mays L.), sorghum [Sorghum bicolor (L.) Moench.] and pearl millet (Pennisetum glaucum L.) with 0, 50, 75 and 100% of their respective recommended dose of N (RDN) levels. In all 12 intercropping systems in 2:1 ratio of soybean+ maize, soybean+sorghum and soybean+pearl millet with 4 levels of RDN to cereal component crops along with sole soybean were carried out in a randomized block designand replicated thrice. The performance of soybean was greatly influenced by the intercrops as well as N levels. The sole crop of soybean recorded higher number of branches, drymatter accumulation, root biomass; leaf area index, crop growth rate and relative growth rate as compared to soybean grown in intercropping systems. Likewise the yield attributes, yield and harvest index were also higher with sole soybean. Among the intercropping systems, soybean+pearl millet had greater negative impact on performance of soybean as compared to soybean+maize and soybean+sorghum system. The increase in N levels to cereal crops in intercropping systems showed negative impact on the growth and yield attributes, and yield of soybean. The 100% RDN to intercropped cereals had the highest negative effect while the control had the least. The highest gross returns, net returns, B: C ratio and soybean equivalent yield (SEY) were observed under soybean+maize intercropping system along with 100% RDN to intercropped maize in both the years of experimentation. Among the intercropping systems, soybean+maize intercropping systems recorded higher returns and SEY than others