The use of sea safety measures by fishermen

It was seen from the study that the use of sea safety measures was not very popular among the fishermen operating mecahnlsed and non- mechanised crafts and they relied mostly on their own wisdom and skill in saving their lives. Some kind of negligence is also seen on the part of the boat owners who often hire labour for fishing operations. The most urgent need, besides enforcing legal regulations is to educate fishermen regarding the use of safety measures. Training and other methods of intervention may be used to tell them about measures that could be adopted for msmagement of crisis including the use of first- aid. They should be made aware of the need to Invest their efforts In taking precautions to reduce the danger they face In their vocation

Evaluation of group discussion on developing oyster culture in Kerala

Edible oyster presents good farming potential in Kerala in view of the conducive ecology and manpower availability. As the technology transfer function is vested with the extension personnel of the Socioeconomic Evaluation and Technology Transfer Division of CMFRI, a systematic evaluation of the programme was conducted by the Division to quantify opinions and suggestions and to list out the constraints anticipated in taking up the technology which would be helpful in developing suitable TOT strategies

Handling the Psychological Distress of Parents of Children with Autism Spectrum Disorders: Feasibility of Group Work Approach

Autism Spectrum Disorders are pervasive developmental disorders affecting many children today. Parenting a child with special needs, such as children with autism, is very taxing, as they need intensive and life-long intervention in diverse areas. This paper is an attempt to assess the need of those parents of children with autism and to develop an intervention programme to take care of the psychosocial issues. The study had two phases. In the first phase 120 parents of children with autism spectrum disorders were interviewed using a semi structured interview schedule and GHQ 28. In the second phase, an intervention module was prepared and implemented with 20 parents. The results show that the mean psychological distress was significantly higher for mothers compared to fathers. The scores on subscales show that mothers have higher level of somatic symptoms, anxiety and insomnia, social dysfunction and depression compared to fathers. The pre and post analysis of the group intervention shows that there is a drop in the level of distress and increase in the awareness on child’s illness in parents after the group intervention. The findings show that addressing parental needs in a group setting can be very effective and beneficial in helping parents reduce their distress levels and hence making them better equipped to look after their child with a disability like autism

Traditional Media in Fisheries Communication

Information is the key resource in rural development and the communication of information is a major function of extension education. The interest in the use of traditional/folk media for developmental purpose is increasing in many less industrialized countries like India

Field trials with compounded feed developed by C M F R I for Penaeus indicus

Field trials were carried out with compounded feed at a shrimp farm adopted by CMFRI under its extension programme at South Chellanam, Cochin. The coconut grove pond aggregating around 10 cents of water area having a depth of about 1 metre was stocked with 3,000 Nos of P.indicus seed

Awareness campaign for Fisherwomen

Women in fishing communities have decisioh-making role in community management. With the increasing commercialisation of fishing industry I women's access to post-harvest operations in fisheries has been declining: It is- estimated that only about 20 percent of women from traditional fishing households get opportunities for income generation from fishery related activities which are seasonal

Chemical patterning for the highly specific and programmed assembly of nanostructures

We have developed a new chemical patterning technique based on standard lithography-based processes to assemble nanostructures on surfaces with extraordinarily high selectivity. This patterning process is used to create patterns of aminosilane molecular layers surrounded by highly inert poly (ethylene glycol) (PEG) molecules. While the aminosilane regions facilitate nanostructure assembly, the PEG coating prevents adsorption of molecules and nanostructures, thereby priming the semiconductor substrate for the highly localized and programmed assembly of nanostructures. We demonstrate the power and versatility of this manufacturing process by building multilayered structures of gold nanoparticles attached to molecules of DNA onto the aminosilane patterns, with zero nanocrystal adsorption onto the surrounding PEG regions. The highly specific surface chemistry developed here can be used in conjunction with standard microfabrication and emerging nanofabrication technology to seamlessly integrate various nanostructures with semiconductor electronics

Assessment of prescribing pattern and cost analysis of topical steroids for skin disorders in dermatological outpatient department of a tertiary care hospital

Background: Topical steroid is most commonly prescribed in non-infective dermatological conditions. Periodical Prescription audit is mandatory for the effective management. Hence the present study is designed to assess the prescribing pattern and cost analysis of topical steroids for various skin disorders in the dermatology OPD of a teaching hospital.Methods: This is a prospective observational study conducted in dermatology OPD of a teaching hospital from Jan-Mar 2019 in patients prescribed with topical steroids in all age groups after obtaining IEC approval. Data was analyzed for prescription pattern and cost analysis using descriptive statistics and expressed in percentage.Results: A total of 90 prescriptions were analyzed among which males were 45% and females were 55%, the common indications were eczema-27.7%, atopic dermatitis-25.5%, psoriasis-16.6%, dermatoses-13.3%, lichen planus-7.77% etc. Topical steroids commonly prescribed were super potent (Clobetasol 34.4% and Halobetasol 22.2%). Cream and ointment formulation were commonly used. Common adverse reactions were skin atrophy, hypopigmentation, acne. In prescribing pattern, specification of strength and quantity were lacking whereas instructions regarding area of application-44.4%, route of administration-83.3%, frequency and duration-91% were noted. In cost analysis, comparison is made between similar potency and clinical outcome. Of which, Clobetasol 0.05% and Betamethasone 0.01% is found to be cost effective compared to Halobetasol 0.05% and Mometasone 0.1% respectively.Conclusions: This study provides a limelight on prescribing pattern of topical steroids and emphasize periodic audit to rationalize the prescription with cost effectiveness

Craft and gear in mangroves - Responsible fishing

How to reconcile livelihood concerns of the marginalized people who inhabit the mangrove areas with that of resource conservation. It is indeed the Achilles’ heel of any mangrove management programme especially when designed in the context of a paradigm of Responsible fisheries as being advocated the world over

Action research for rural empowerment in Chellanam fishing village

The empowerment approach aims at equipping the rural people with ways and means of improving their living conditions. Extension education was found to be useful in producing the desired change in the target grou