Pre-Administration of Medium Chain Triglycerides In Vivo Can Attenuate or Block the Effects of Recurrent Hypoglycemia

Hypoglycemia is a state of abnormally low blood glucose. Many patients who use insulin, primarily for the treatment of diabetes, experience multiple bouts of hypoglycemia, termed recurrent hypoglycemia (RH). Because RH impairs cognitive function and ability to appropriately respond to a subsequent episode of hypoglycemia, it is critical to develop treatments. One approach, which we have taken here, is to attempt to preserve neuronal fuel supply during a hypoglycemic episode. Medium-chain triglycerides are medium-chain fatty acid (MCT) esters of glycerol that can provide an alternative fuel source to the brain via ketones; the hippocampus is known to express transporters for ketones and to be able to metabolize them. Hence, pre-administration of MCT prior to times of hypoglycemia could possibly prevent the deleterious effects of RH if they are due to loss of fuel generically rather than to specific loss of glucose. We have used a previously established three-day rat model of RH, in which rats are made hypoglycemic on each of three consecutive days and show both cognitive effects and impaired responses to hypoglycemia on the 4th day. Here, we gave Sprague-Dawley rats MCT (i.p.) prior to each episode of hypoglycemia, followed by cognitive testing, removal of the brain and analysis of brain proteins of interest: transporters for glucose and ketones as well as additional markers suggested by our prior studies. During cognitive testing, in vivo microdialysis was used to obtain real-time measures of hippocampal glucose and lactate; previous work showed that RH markedly affected local hippocampal metabolism during testing

Transformations in the Making: Actor-networks, Elite-control and Gender Dynamics in Community Forest Management Intervention in Adavipalli, Andhra Pradesh, India

This is the 100th Defense of a PhD Thesis at ISSS. Sailaja Nandigama, Institute of Social Studies, Den Haag, Nederland, 2009. Titel van het proefschrift: Transformations in Making: Actor-networks, Elite control and Gender Dynamics in Community Forest Management in Adavipalli, Andhra Pradesh, India (Het ontstaan van transformaties: Netweken van actoren, zeggenschap van de elite en de rol van gender bij bosbeheer door lokale gemeenschappen in Adavipalli, Andhra Pradesh, India). Bij projecten op het gebied van het beheer van natuurlijke hulpbronnen is een paradigmawisseling opgetreden waarbij een op de staat gerichte aanpak is vervangen door een participatieve aanpak binnen lokale gemeenschappen. Dit wordt Community-based Natural Resource Management (CBNRM; beheer van natuurlijke hulpbronnen binnen lokale gemeenschappen) genoemd. Deze paradigmawisseling is te danken aan inspanningen om mensen actief te laten deelnemen en directe controle te geven over het gebruik en beheer van hulpbronnen. De nieuwe aanpak staat in zekere zin lijnrecht tegenover een op de staat gerichte top-downbenadering van beheer van en beschikking over natuurlijke hulpbronnen. Er zijn verschillende succesverhalen over de nieuwe aanpak gemeld, maar deze participatieve projecten zijn ook ernstig bekritiseerd door zowel wetenschappers als activisten. De kritiek richtte zich op het feit dat scheve machtsverhoudingen tot gevolg hebben dat niet alle actoren in gelijke mate kunnen deelnemen aan de gedecentraliseerde CBNRM-projecten. De implementatie van gedecentraliseerde CBNRM-projecten heeft talloze ethische, methodologische, politieke en sociaal-ecologische vragen opgeroepen die geanalyseerd moeten worden en voorgelegd moeten worden aan alle betrokkenen. Het is vooral van belang om te begrijpen waarom formele participatieplaatsen hun doel niet hebben bereikt en zelfs onbedoelde gevolgen hebben gehad, zowel voor de deelnemende lokale gemeenschappen als de aanbieders van de projecten. Het doel van dit proefschrift is daarom om erachter te komen of deze aanpak met uitgenodigde participerende instellingen en participatieplaatsen een billijke deelname aan CBNRM-projecten in plattelandsgemeenschappen bevordert. Het onderzoek richt zich op het project Andhra Pradesh Community Forest Management (APCFM; bosbeheer door lokale gemeenschappen in Andhra Pradesh) in het dorp Adavipalli. Het onderzoek gaat ervan uit dat een continuüm van deze bedoelde en onbedoelde gevolgen onvermijdelijk leidt tot transformaties in de sociale machtsverhoudingen tussen alle sleutelfiguren. De implicaties van deze transformaties voor de participatie en institutionele processen aan de basis van de samenleving binnen het APCFM-project in Adavipalli worden ook onderzocht in dit proefschrift. Dit proefschrift is ook bedoeld om meer inzicht te verschaffen in de complexe sociale structuur op het platteland en de implicaties daarvan voor huidige en toekomstige CBNRM-projecten. Daartoe moeten er twee aspecten onderzocht worden: a) De contextafhankelijke verbanden tussen de formele en de informele instellingen die de deelname van actoren aan CBNRM-projecten vormgeven. b) De machtsverhoudingen die kenmerkend zijn voor de onderhandelingen tussen netwerken van actoren. Om dit doel te bereiken richt dit onderzoek zich op de rol die machtsverhoudingen spelen bij de verbanden tussen de formele en informele instellingen aan de basis van de samenleving in Adavipalli en bij het vormgeven van de deelname van sleutelfiguren aan de formele participatieplaatsen. Binnen deze context bieden participatieprocessen op grond van gender, maatschappelijke klasse en kaste inzicht in hoe de sleutelfiguren aankijken tegen elkaars rollen en hun deelname aan het project. In het onderzoek is geprobeerd om de transformaties in de sociale status van actoren en hun vermogen om macht uit te oefenen via verschillende netwerken aan de basis van de samenleving in Adavipalli te verduidelijken. Om de gemarginaliseerde leden van de gemeenschap te laten deelnemen zijn formele participatieplaatsen en instellingen weliswaar hard nodig, maar deze vormen binnen de bestaande machtsverhoudingen op zich geen garantie voor een ‘billijke participatie’ aan het project. De door de internationale gemeenschap gesteunde CBNRM-projecten bieden weinig mogelijkheden om rekening te houden met de dynamische machtsverhoudingen binnen gemeenschappen in de periode voor en nadat een project heeft plaatsgevonden. In de implementatiedocumenten van bilaterale CBNRM-projecten wordt participatie alleen als ‘authentiek’ beschouwd wanneer deze op uitnodiging plaatsvindt in de ‘formele plaatsen’. Actoren die gebruik zouden moeten maken van deze formele participatieplaatsen worden uiteindelijk niet als authentieke deelnemers beschouwd, omdat hun sociale leven niet uitsluitend bestaat uit formele relaties en onderhandelingen. Dit wijst op de noodzaak om bij deze projecten een bredere definitie van participatie te hanteren. De sociale relaties, interacties en onderhandelingen van actoren vinden gewoonlijk vooral in het informele circuit plaats. Deze informele netwerken bepalen of actoren toegang krijgen tot en kunnen beschikken over hulpbronnen die officieel beheerd worden door formele instellingen als het Vana Samrakshana Samithi (VSS; het comité ter bescherming van het bos). Ondanks de goed verankerde formele beleidsdoelstellingen om te zorgen voor participatie, lijkt de ‘informele’ institutionele structuur paradoxaal genoeg te verklaren waarom ‘formele’ participatieplaatsen niet altijd goed functioneren. Dit geldt vooral in gevallen waarin de armen voor hun levensonderhoud afhankelijk zijn van natuurlijke hulpbronnen. Dit onderzoek wijst op de noodzaak om de centrale rol van informele instellingen en machtsverhoudingen bij CBNRM-projecten te erkennen. Het onderzoek probeert de vraag te beantwoorden of participatie van gemarginaliseerde groepen op een efficiëntere manier bereikt kan worden via informele normen en gebruiken, gewoonterecht en alledaagse onderhandelingen over toegang tot en gebruik van hulpbronnen, dan via formele instellingen die de participatie regelen zoals het VSS

Managing political space: authority, marginalised people’s agency and governance in West Bengal

This paper investigates governance reform which aims to ‘move the state’ closer to people, arguing that greater attention needs to be paid to two questions: how does political decentralisation affect the ways in which authority is exercised? And what spaces does it leave open for poor people’s agency? It focuses on West Bengal, an Indian innovator of decentralisation through panchayati raj (‘rule by local councils’) in the late 1970s, investigating the everyday practices through which rural political space was being managed through in-depth qualitative evidence gathered from two panchayats towards the end of the Left Front government’s long rule (1977–2011). This work indicates the ways in which patronage, coercion and surveillance were melded by those exercising political power in the Bengali countryside, and the limited political opportunities which these practices left open to the poor. The ostensibly democratic structures of panchayati raj thus coexisted with the informal exercise of power and the reproduction of new forms of ascribed political identity for poorer and marginal groups. This in turn raises critical questions about programmes of governance reform being pursued across the global South

Revisiting the Reciprocity of Human-Ecological Systems: Integrating Extensive Agriculture and Transhumant Pastoralism in the Northern States of India

India’s primary sector is characterised by the age-old practices of agriculture and pastoralism that have traditionally remained symbiotic in nature. However, these relationships are dwindling in the light of uneven development focus and increasing climatic hazards. The current mode of local development practices is directly affecting the overall environment while simultaneously increasing the vulnerability of the resource-dependent communities. Pastoralism, along with the agricultural enterprise that is expanding with the support of irrigation network, is recognised as a major community-based occupation in the northern region of India. Despite that, pastoralism remains highly neglected in policy circles, whereas agriculture persists to be the dominant livelihood source both in popular imagination as well as development planning. In such a scenario, the contributions of pastoralism to rural livelihoods remain undervalued and scantily discussed in the context of the Indian subcontinent. Highlighting the emerging need for sustainable management of natural resources amidst pressing climate crisis, in the current paper we recentre our focus on significance of pastoralism in the region. We emphasize on the integration of crop-livestock production systems based on the traditional reciprocities observed among the transhumant pastoral and settled agricultural communities in the North Indian states. While reviewing the interdependence and practices of exchange between these communities, we conceptualise the complex human-ecological requirements that serve as a basis for such long lasting associations. It majorly includes the exchange of resources, knowledge, market and labour along with persevering sociocultural linkages. Based on such thematic understanding, we essentially aim at highlighting the need for a revival of integrated peasant-pastoral production system that carry an untapped potential for managing the emerging socio-ecological challenges by promoting sustainable sharing of resources between the two co-dependent communities

Women\u27s Agency and Pastoral Livelihoods in India: A Review

The role of women in promoting and sustaining pastoral livelihoods remains an under-researched area across the world. Often, studies discuss pastoralism as a male-oriented enterprise, thus overshadowing or ignoring the part played by women in such livelihood practices. In India, where pastoralism itself is essentially a neglected area of research, such discussions remain even sparse. Pastoral communities depending on migratory livestock rearing practices for their livelihoods exhibit gender-based differences in their everyday life in terms of division of labour, mobility patterns, and rights over resources. Women play different roles and responsibilities at the household and community levels that remain intertwined with their pastoral livelihoods. Drawing from the available literature, we aim to synthesize the situated agency of these pastoral women in their everyday lives and their collective activism in the face of mainstream models of development. We engage in a thorough analysis from a gender perspective in this paper to discuss specific cases of Indian women and their influence on pastoral livelihoods and interests. We aim to reframe and undo the invisibility women in pastoralism have faced thus far by re-telling their stories from a gendered perspective

Women’s Agency and Pastoral Livelihoods in India: A Review

The role of women in promoting and sustaining pastoral livelihoods remains an under-researched area across the world. Often, studies discuss pastoralism as a male-oriented enterprise, thus overshadowing or ignoring the part played by women in such livelihood practices. In India, where pastoralism itself is essentially a neglected area of research, such discussions remain even sparse. Pastoral communities depending on migratory livestock rearing practices for their livelihoods exhibit gender-based differences in their everyday life in terms of division of labour, mobility patterns, and rights over resources. Women play different roles and responsibilities at the household and community levels that remain intertwined with their pastoral livelihoods. Drawing from the available literature, we aim to synthesize the situated agency of these pastoral women in their everyday lives and their collective activism in the face of mainstream models of development. We engage in a thorough analysis from a gender perspective in this paper to discuss specific cases of Indian women and their influence on pastoral livelihoods and interests. We aim to reframe and undo the invisibility women in pastoralism have faced thus far by re-telling their stories from a gendered perspective

South Asian Feminisms and Youth Activism: Focus on India and Pakistan

These are turbulent times for the many countries that form the Global South. South Asian nation-states are no exception; the last half century has ushered in liberalization of economies, forced structural adjustments, climate chaos, criminalization of indigenous and lower caste populations, and rapid technological changes. All these forces have resulted in massive upheavals often manifested in political, economic, and social crises. Experts observe that in times of instability, the most marginalized groups, already the target of social violence, are disproportionately subjected to enormous stress, anxiety, and insecurity. In South Asia, women, as one such group that faces multiple intersectional oppressions depending on class, caste, religious locations, etc. have been active participants on the frontlines of struggles for social justice and equity. In the new era of hardened nationalism and militarism, they have also been the targets of violence and brutality

Introduction: South Asian Feminisms and Youth Activism: Focus on India and Pakistan

These are turbulent times for the many countries that form the Global South. South Asian nation-states are no exception; the last half century has ushered in liberalization of economies, forced structural adjustments, climate chaos, criminalization of indigenous and lower caste populations, and rapid technological changes. All these forces have resulted in massive upheavals often manifested in political, economic, and social crises. Experts observe that in times of instability, the most marginalized groups, already the target of social violence, are disproportionately subjected to enormous stress, anxiety, and insecurity. In South Asia, women, as one such group that faces multiple intersectional oppressions depending on class, caste, religious locations, etc. have been active participants on the frontlines of struggles for social justice and equity. In the new era of hardened nationalism and militarism, they have also been the targets of violence and brutality

Optimal Ensemble Learning Based on Distinctive Feature Selection by Univariate ANOVA-F Statistics for IDS

Cyber-attacks are increasing day by day. The generation of data by the population of the world is immensely escalated. The advancements in technology, are intern leading to more chances of vulnerabilities to individual’s personal data. Across the world it became a very big challenge to bring down the threats to data security. These threats are not only targeting the user data and also destroying the whole network infrastructure in the local or global level, the attacks could be hardware or software. Central objective of this paper is to design an intrusion detection system using ensemble learning specifically Decision Trees with distinctive feature selection univariate ANOVA-F test. Decision Trees has been the most popular among ensemble learning methods and it also outperforms among the other classification algorithm in various aspects. With the essence of different feature selection techniques, the performance found to be increased more, and the detection outcome will be less prone to false classification. Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) with F-statistics computations could be a reasonable criterion to choose distinctives features in the given network traffic data. The mentioned technique is applied and tested on NSL KDD network dataset. Various performance measures like accuracy, precision, F-score and Cross Validation curve have drawn to justify the ability of the method