Collective Action for Integrated Community Watershed Management in Semi-Arid India: Analysis of Multiple Livelihood Impacts and the Drivers of Change

Spatial and temporal attributes of watersheds and associated market failures require institutional arrangements for coordinating use and management of natural resources. Effective collective action (CA) for watershed management has the potential to provide multiple economic and environmental benefits - tangible and non-tangible - to rural communities. This allows smallholder farmers to jointly invest in management practices that provide collective benefits to community members. The functions of the group can also extend to include provision of new services like collective marketing of products and essential inputs. While watershed management contributes to resource productivity and sustainability, increased commercialization and market access open opportunities to diversify into high-value crops, creating incentives for agricultural intensification. However, evaluating the multi-faceted impacts of integrated watershed management interventions is complicated by problems of measurement, valuation and attribution. While, more rigorous methods for evaluating such impacts in the context of developing countries are beginning to emerge, this study employs a mix of qualitative and quantitative methods for evaluating these multi-faceted impacts from a case study of a watershed project in semi-arid India. Results from qualitative insights are confirmed through econometric analyses and empirical measurements using proper count erfactuals. The study analyses the drought mitigation, economic and environmental gains along with linked benefits for commercialization of production and increased farmer participation in markets.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Divanadium Pentoxide/4H-silicon Carbide: A Schottky Contact for Highly Linear Temperature Sensors

Abstract A new temperature sensor based on a divanadium pentoxide/4H-silicon carbide (V2O5/4H-SiC) Schottky diode is presented. The realized device shows a good linear dependence vs. temperature of the voltage drop measured across the forward-biased junction. The diode performance, i.e. linearity and sensitivity, were analyzed in the temperature range from 147 K up to 400 K. Moreover, fundamental diode parameters were extracted from current-voltage characteristics

Dilatancy transition in a granular model

We introduce a model of granular matter and use a stress ensemble to analyze shearing. Monte Carlo simulation shows the model to exhibit a second order phase transition, associated with the onset of dilatancy.Comment: Future versions can be obtained from: http://www.ma.utexas.edu/users/radin/papers/shear2.pd

A Model for the Development of the Rhizobial and Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Symbioses in Legumes and Its Use to Understand the Roles of Ethylene in the Establishment of these two Symbioses

We propose a model depicting the development of nodulation and arbuscular mycorrhizae. Both processes are dissected into many steps, using Pisum sativum L. nodulation mutants as a guideline. For nodulation, we distinguish two main developmental programs, one epidermal and one cortical. Whereas Nod factors alone affect the cortical program, bacteria are required to trigger the epidermal events. We propose that the two programs of the rhizobial symbiosis evolved separately and that, over time, they came to function together. The distinction between these two programs does not exist for arbuscular mycorrhizae development despite events occurring in both root tissues. Mutations that affect both symbioses are restricted to the epidermal program. We propose here sites of action and potential roles for ethylene during the formation of the two symbioses with a specific hypothesis for nodule organogenesis. Assuming the epidermis does not make ethylene, the microsymbionts probably first encounter a regulatory level of ethylene at the epidermis–outermost cortical cell layer interface. Depending on the hormone concentrations there, infection will either progress or be blocked. In the former case, ethylene affects the cortex cytoskeleton, allowing reorganization that facilitates infection; in the latter case, ethylene acts on several enzymes that interfere with infection thread growth, causing it to abort. Throughout this review, the difficulty of generalizing the roles of ethylene is emphasized and numerous examples are given to demonstrate the diversity that exists in plants

Current assessment of the Red Rectangle band problem

In this paper we discuss our insights into several key problems in the identification of the Red Rectangle Bands (RRBs). We have combined three independent sets of observations in order to try to define the constraints guiding the bands. We provide a summary of the general behavior of the bands and review the evidence for a molecular origin of the bands. The extent, composition, and possible absorption effects of the bands are discussed. Comparison spectra of the strongest band obtained at three different spectral resolutions suggests that an intrinsic line width of individual rotational lines can be deduced. Spectroscopic models of several relatively simple molecules were examined in order to investigate where the current data are weak. Suggestions are made for future studies to enhance our understanding of these enigmatic bands

The measurement of testosterone and oestradiol-17[beta] using iodinated tracers and incorporating an affinity chromatography extraction procedure

The development of sensitive radioimmunoassays (RIA) for testosterone and oestradiol-17[beta], utilising 125I-radioligands, is described. Use of an homologous bridge at the same site of attachment, for both the radioligand and the steroid-carrier protein conjugate employed in raising antibodies, normally results in a loss of assay sensitivity and precision. This was overcome in the oestradiol assay by utilising an heterologous configuration at the site of attachment (11[alpha] vs 11[beta]). In contrast, for testosterone, even though an homologous bridge and site of attachment was used for the radioligand and the steroid-carrier protein conjugate, a very sensitive assay with extremely high antibody titres (dilution of 1:2 x 106) was achieved. This finding was repeated with a different antiserum suggesting that the "bridge binding" phenomenon may be related to the position of attachment to the steroid molecule. In addition, an antibody-Sepharose 4B affinity chromatography extraction procedure has been developed for both oestradiol and testosterone. This approach allows the measurement of very low concentrations of steroids from large volumes of a variety of biological fluids. As antibody-linked Sepharose 4B uses high concentrations of antibody, steroids of similar structure are extracted from biological fluids. However, the cross-reactivity of these related steroids are very low in the RIA's, ensuring good specificity.Peer Reviewedhttp://deepblue.lib.umich.edu/bitstream/2027.42/25490/1/0000031.pd

Boosting of ALVAC-SIV vaccine-primed macaques with the CD4-SIVgp120 fusion protein elicits antibodies to V2 associated with a decreased risk of SIVmac251 acquisition

The recombinant ALVAC vaccine coupled with the monomeric gp120/alum protein have decreased the risk of HIV and SIV acquisition. Ab responses to the V1/V2 regions have correlated with a decreased risk of virus acquisition in both humans and macaques. We hypothesized that the breadth and functional profile of Abs induced by an ALVAC/envelope protein regimen could be improved by substituting the monomeric gp120 boost, with the full-length single-chain (FLSC) protein. FLSC is a CD4-gp120 fusion immunogen that exposes cryptic gp120 epitopes to the immune system. We compared the immunogenicity and relative efficiency of an ALVAC-SIV vaccine boosted either with bivalent FLSC proteins or with monomeric gp120 in alum. FLSC was superior to monomeric gp120 in directing Abs to the C3 a2 helix, the V5 loop, and the V3 region that contains the putative CCR5 binding site. In addition, FLSC boosting elicited significantly higher binding Abs to V2 and increased both the Ab-dependent cellular cytotoxicity activity and the breadth of neutralizing Abs. However, the FLSC vaccine regimen demonstrated only a trend in vaccine efficacy, whereas the monomeric gp120 regimen significantly decreased the risk of SIVmac251 acquisition. In both vaccine regimens, anti-V2 Abs correlated with a decreased risk of virus acquisition but differed with regard to systemic or mucosal origin. In the FLSC regimen, serum Abs to V2 correlated, whereas in the monomeric gp120 regimen, V2 Abs in rectal secretions, the site of viral challenge, were associated with efficacy. The Journal of Immunology, 2016, 197: 2726-2737