Reinventing global studies through transformative scholarship : a critical proposition

the chapter presents an argument for a new transformative approach in global studies, to respond to present global crisesPeer reviewe

Training Manual on Advanced Analytical Tools for Social Science Research Vol.1

Applying appropriate analytical techniques form the backbone of any research endeavor in agriculture, fisheries, and allied sciences. Without proper knowledge of applying statistical/econometric tools, software, and derivation of inferences from the same, it would not be possible to gather relevant interpretations of the investigation. Hence, the importance of well-designed data collection protocol, analysis, and interpretation cannot be underestimated. Such inferences form the basis of sound policy planning and resource management. Technology advancements and the development of analytical software have made the data analysis process less laborious. A basic understanding of the application of advanced analytical tools and their interpretation increases the productivity and efficiency of social science researchers engaged in agriculture/animal/fisheries science research. Hence the Winter School on Advanced Analytical Tools for Social Science Research is designed to enhance the analytical skills of social science researchers from NARES by allowing them to familiarize with advanced analytical procedures and their practical applications. This Winter School is a step towards familiarizing recent analytical techniques in social science to derive quality research outputs. The course is designed to acquaint the participants with areas such as exploratory data analysis, sampling techniques, data classificatory techniques, non–parametric methods, econometric analysis, and time series modeling, etc. Lectures on GIS/Spatial modeling, scaling techniques, data mining and big data analytics, machine learning techniques, and ecosystem evaluation have also been touched upon. The course is more practical-oriented, with a greater emphasis on interpreting the results. It employs a combination of lectures and exercises using statistical software

Climbing the ladder of success through Pearl spot seed production technology: The saga of SHG entrepreneurs in Vallarpadam

Climbing the ladder of success through Pearl spot seed production technology: The saga of SHG entrepreneurs in Vallarpada

Marine Ecosystem Challenges & Opportunities (MECOS 3)

The Marine Biological Association of India (MBAI), established in 1958, is proud to gear up for MECOS3, the third symposium on Marine Ecosystems- Challenges and Opportunities during 7-10 January, 2020. The MBAI besides organising MECOS1 (2009) and MECOS2 (2014) has inculcated active interest and participation among its members by handling several national and international symposia/seminars, since its formation. The MBAI has 794 life members and 20 institutional members. The mandate of the MBAI is promotion of scientific research in the field of marine biology and allied sciences

Obesity reduces hippocampal structure and function in older African Americans with the APOE-ε4 Alzheimer’s disease risk allele

IntroductionExcess body weight and Alzheimer’s disease (AD) disproportionately affect older African Americans. While mid-life obesity increases risk for AD, few data exist on the relationship between late-life obesity and AD, or how obesity-based and genetic risk for AD interact. Although the APOE-ε4 allele confers a strong genetic risk for AD, it is unclear if late-life obesity poses a greater risk for APOE-ε4 carriers compared to non-carriers. Here we assessed: (1) the influence of body mass index (BMI) (normal; overweight; class 1 obese; ≥ class 2 obese) on cognitive and structural MRI measures of AD risk; and (2) the interaction between BMI and APOE-ε4 in older African Americans.MethodsSeventy cognitively normal older African American participants (Mage = 69.50 years; MBMI = 31.01 kg/m2; 39% APOE-ε4 allele carriers; 86% female) completed anthropometric measurements, physical assessments, saliva collection for APOE-ε4 genotyping, cognitive testing, health and lifestyle questionnaires, and structural neuroimaging [volume/surface area (SA) for medial temporal lobe subregions and hippocampal subfields]. Covariates included age, sex, education, literacy, depressive symptomology, and estimated aerobic fitness.ResultsUsing ANCOVAs, we observed that individuals who were overweight demonstrated better hippocampal cognitive function (generalization of learning: a sensitive marker of preclinical AD) than individuals with normal BMI, p = 0.016, ηp2 = 0.18. However, individuals in the obese categories who were APOE-ε4 non-carriers had larger hippocampal subfield cornu Ammonis region 1 (CA1) volumes, while those who were APOE-ε4 carriers had smaller CA1 volumes, p = 0.003, ηp2 = 0.23.DiscussionThus, being overweight by BMI standards may preserve hippocampal function, but obesity reduces hippocampal structure and function in older African Americans with the APOE-ε4 Alzheimer’s disease risk allele

Ecosystem services of coastal wetlands for climate change mitigation: an economic analysis of Pokkali and Kaipad-based rotational paddy farming systems in India

Climate change and associated weather aberrations are wreaking havoc on the performance of production systems worldwide. Because of their proximity to the sea and risk of exposure, coastal wetlands are regarded as one of the most climatically vulnerable production systems. As a result, interventions to improve their adaptation and resilience to climate change are critical. We attempted to investigate the multifunctional ecosystem roles and services provided by the Pokkali and Kaipad paddy-based rotational farming systems on the southwest coast of India, which are being revived through a pilot programme implemented by the Kerala Agency for Development of Aquaculture. The physical and economic dimensions of the ecosystem services/disservices are assessed, and policy options for further land revival and area expansion of such wetlands are proposed

Restricted feedback control of one-dimensional maps

Dynamical control of biological systems is often restricted by the practical constraint of unidirectional parameter perturbations. We show that such a restriction introduces surprising complexity to the stability of one-dimensional map systems and can actually improve controllability. We present experimental cardiac control results that support these analyses. Finally, we develop new control algorithms that exploit the structure of the restricted-control stability zones to automatically adapt the control feedback parameter and thereby achieve improved robustness to noise and drifting system parameters.Comment: 29 pages, 9 embedded figure

Examining the efficacy of a cardio-dance intervention on brain health and the moderating role of ABCA7 in older African Americans: a protocol for a randomized controlled trial

IntroductionAfrican Americans are two to three times more likely to be diagnosed with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) compared to White Americans. Exercise is a lifestyle behavior associated with neuroprotection and decreased AD risk, although most African Americans, especially older adults, perform less than the recommended 150 min/week of moderate-to-vigorous intensity exercise. This article describes the protocol for a Phase III randomized controlled trial that will examine the effects of cardio-dance aerobic exercise on novel AD cognitive and neural markers of hippocampal-dependent function (Aims #1 and #2) and whether exercise-induced neuroprotective benefits may be modulated by an AD genetic risk factor, ABCA7 rs3764650 (Aim #3). We will also explore the effects of exercise on blood-based biomarkers for AD.Methods and analysisThis 6-month trial will include 280 African Americans (≥ 60 years), who will be randomly assigned to 3 days/week of either: (1) a moderate-to-vigorous cardio-dance fitness condition or (2) a low-intensity strength, flexibility, and balance condition for 60 min/session. Participants will complete health and behavioral surveys, neuropsychological testing, saliva and venipuncture, aerobic fitness, anthropometrics and resting-state structural and functional neuroimaging at study entry and 6 months.DiscussionResults from this investigation will inform future exercise trials and the development of prescribed interventions that aim to reduce the risk of AD in African Americans

Different methods for standardization of fishing efforts

Surplus production models are widely employed to evaluate the condition of fish stocks, encompassing the entire stock, overall fishing effort, and the total yield derived from the stock. These models operate under the assumption that variations in population biomass result from hikes due to growth and reproduction, as well as drops due to natural and fishing mortality. Utilizing Catch-Per-Unit-Effort (CPUE) as input, these models rely on the presumption that CPUE is directly proportional to the biomass of fish stock in the sea. An inherent challenge in fitting such a production model lies in determining CPUE, whether in terms of units operated or in hours of operation/actual fishing hours (AFH) or in any measure of fishing efforts. Given the heterogeneous nature of fishing fleets in tropical regions, they are often categorized into boat-gear categories, where fishing units within each category share similar characteristics and performance. When assessing the collective impact of the fishing operations of the entire fleet on the exploitation of fish stock, nominal addition of the efforts of different boat-gear categories may lack meaningfulness without prior effort adjustment to enhance comparability. In tropical regions, due to the varying capacities of gears and the potential presence of multiple species in each gear, the effort expended to catch a resource cannot be simply considered as the sum of the duration/units of operation of all gears. This paper aims to underscore various effort standardization methodologies found in the literature for different situations, offering insights into the challenges faced in tropical fisheries and proposing a way forward