Mapping women’s role in small scale fisheries value chain in India for fisheries sustainability

Sustainability in small scale fisheries is receiving wider acceptance worldwide as the system faces different kinds of exploitations. Gender can play a significant role in achieving sustainability as they are the primary beneficiaries in small scale fisheries. Exploring their level of participation in resource use can provide a database that functions as the key determinants for sustainability. This article looks for empirical evidences on the role of men and women in small scale fisheries through gender structure analysis. The indigenous communities (n=154) in Vazhachal Forest Division, Kerala, southern state in India is considered for the study. Methods adopted includes household survey using semi structured questionnaire, transect walks, focus groups and direct observations. Results reveal that although higher percentage of men (66.20%), women’s role is substantial (33.80%) in fisheries value chain including pre harvest, harvest and post-harvest sector. Their presence had a significant relation in supporting men in fisheries activities like collection of baits (χ2= 6.189, p= 0.013), accompanying men in fishing (χ2= 4.153; p= 0.042), sorting of fishes (χ2= 3.566, p=0.059), processing of fishes (χ2=9.776, p= 0.002) and in mending of nets (χ2= 4.40, p=0.042). Results, further, reveal that men and women have unique and overlapping roles in small scale fisheries. The key findings of the study provide quantitative evidence to develop strategies for small scale fisheries sustainability

A pilot study on the isolation and biochemical characterization of Pseudomonas from chemical intensive rice ecosystem

In recent times, there has been a renewed interest in the search of plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR) for sustainable crop production. Rice is an economically important food crop, which is subjected to infection by a host of fungal, viral and bacterial pathogens. In this study, an attempt was made to isolate Pseudomonas spp., a potent PGPR in the rhizosphere. Through appropriate microbiological and biochemical methods, the study demonstrated the presence of fluorescent and nonfluorescent Pseudomonads in the rhizosphere of chemical intensive rice growing environments. Augmentation of such PGPR including, Pseudomonads in the rice ecosystems will ensure a healthy micro climate for rice.Key words: Pseudomonas, rice, plant growth promoting rhizobacteria (PGPR)

Evaluation of Efficacy of Sonosalphingogram for Assessing Tubal PatencyiIn Infertile Patients with Hysterosalphingogram as Gold Standard.

Infertility Has Emerged As A Significant Psychosocial Problem Today With Approximately 15% Of Married Couples Being Infertile. (1) DEFINITION OF INFERTILITY It Has Been Defined As One Year Of Unprotected Coitus Without Conception. It Affects Approximately 10 – 15% Of Couples In The Reproductive Age Group. ETIOLOGY An Assessment Of Causative Factors Have Shown That 30% Cases Are Due To Male Factors 30% Due To Female Factors 30% Due To Combined Male & Female Factors 10% Due To Unexplained Causes. Among The Female Infertility Factors, 30 – 40% Cases Are Due To Ovulatory Dysfunction 30 – 40% Due To Tubal Pathology 10 – 15% Due To Unexplained Causes 10 – 15% Due To Miscellaneous Causes Like Endocrine Factors. Tubal Pathology Is Responsible For 30 – 40% Cases Of Infertility. (1) Determining Whether The Fallopian Tube Is Patent Is Part Of Initial Evaluation Procedure In Seeking The Cause Of Infertility. Currently Available Procedures Each With Its Drawbacks Include Rubin Test, Which Is Highly Subjective; Laparoscopy, Which Is Invasive And Hysterosalphingography, Which Expose The Patient To Ionizing Radiation And Contrast Medium. Of The Three Techniques Hysterosalphingography Has Been Commonly Used. (2) In Recent Years Major Technologic Advances In Diagnostic Ultrasound Have Led To Improve Image Quality Particularly With The Use Of Vaginal Probes. Negative Contrast Like Saline Can Be Used To Visualize The Endometrial Cavity (3). The Presence Of Fluid In Periovarian Region And Pouch Of Douglas Indicates The Patency Of The Tube. Further The Use Of Color Doppler To Assess Flow Through The Cornua Can Qualitate The Direction Of Flow. This Study Undertaken In The Barnard Institute Of Radiology Gives Our Experience In Sonosalphinghography In 35 Cases Of Infertility

Poly - FEM for the analysis of plane elasticity problems

In this work we present polygonal finite element method (Poly-FEM) for the analysis of two dimensional plane elasticity problems. The generation of meshes consisting of n− sided polygonal finite elements is based on the generation of a centroidal Voronoi tessellation (CVT). An unstructured tessellation of a scattered point set, that minimally covers the proximal space around each point in the point set is generated whereby the method also includes tessellation of nonconvex domains.In this work, a patch recovery type of stress smoothing technique that utilizes polygonal element patches for obtaining smooth stresses is proposed for obtaining the smoothed finite element stresses. A recovery type a − posteriori error estimator that estimates the energy norm of the error from the recovered solution is then adopted for the polygonal finite element method. The refinement of the polygonal elements is then made on an region by region basis through a refinement index. For the numerical integration of the Galerkin weak form over polygonal finite element domains we resort to classical Gaussian quadrature applied to triangular sub domains of each polygonal element

Evaluation of the effectiveness of seminar as an educational tool among the medical post graduate students

Background: The departments of medical colleges have a greater responsibility in making the study methods of their subject innovative, interesting and participatory for the post graduate students. One such method adopted is organizing seminars for the post graduate students. The post graduate education depends on self-learning. Knowledge acquisition through seminars forms an essential part of their training programme.Methods: This study assesses the role of seminar as teaching-learning tool by recording the perception of post graduates on seminars through a questionnaire based survey.Results: The scores for most of the items of a twenty point questionnaire were above three indicating the learning from seminar is satisfactory. Seminar methods of teaching-learning, in contrast to the traditional didactic class room lecture method, is more effective way of  learning, which is relevant to self-development and is also interactive. This method provokes discussions and debates which help post graduate students to voice their opinion and clear their doubts.  Conclusions: Many of the post graduate students feel that this technique of seminar programme is useful amidst some suggestions to improve quality. Thus the post graduate seminar method is a teaching-learning method that covers the three major domains of teaching i.e., cognitive, affective and psychomotor skills and is thus effective and well -accepted among the post graduate students.

Lymphocytic thyroiditis: a correlation of cytological grades with clinical, biochemical and ultrasound findings

Background: Hashimoto’s thyroiditis sometimes referred to as goitrous thyroiditis is a synonym of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis or autoimmune thyroiditis. Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis (Hashimoto’s thyroiditis) is one of the most common cause of goiter and hypothyroidism, it is found most commonly in middle aged and young female, but can also occur in other age groups, including children. Chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis can be graded based on cytomorphology. In this study an attempt has been made to correlate the grades with clinical findings, biochemical levels and ultrasonography findings.Methods:This is a prospective study conducted on 309 patients in the Department of Pathology, Andhra Medical College, Visakhapatnam. The various parameters like patient’s clinical presentation, biochemical levels and thyroid ultrasound were studied. Fine needle aspiration of thyroid gland and grading of thyroiditis was done on smears. The grades were correlated with above parameters and the correlation indices were evaluated statistically. Chi-square tests were used for statistical correlation and p value of <0.05 was considered significant.Results: Most of the patients were females (297, 96.11%) who commonly presented with a diffuse goiter (263, 85.11%). Asymptomatic cases (193, 62.46%) and elevated TSH (194, 62.78%) were common. Most of the cases had grade I/II disease (299, 96.76%) by cytology. Conclusion:FNAC is a simple, safe and cost effective procedure and is a sensitive and specific diagnostic tool in diagnosing chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis. Cytological grading of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis helps in assessing the severity of the disease and can predict the thyroid functional status. A combined approach of cytological grading of chronic lymphocytic thyroiditis along with ultrasonography and biochemical levels can detect subclinical hypothyroid states and provide a guide to therapy