A study on innovativeness and regulating conflicts between the fishers and farmers in the Balua wetland

Wetlands store ground and surface water even when the rainfall is erratic. However, the rising demand for water and land to sustain the ever increasing population has manifested in many kinds of conflicts in wetlands. In the study area, Balua Chaur (wetland) in Bihar state of India, 16 conflicts emerged when the flooded lands offarmers was accessed by the fishers to fish. Such conflicts had further marginalized the already indigent fishers. Factor analysis, to reduce the socioeconomic and psychological variables of the fishers that were associated with innovativeness and further analysis of ANOVA and regression was used. In case of fishers, two major groups of interrelated variables that accounted for 60.6 % of the total variance were identified through this method. Factor 1 accounted for 34.8 % of the total variance that included innovativeness, income, education, mass media exposure, extension contact, livestock ownership, land ownership, mobile use collaborating and competing style of conflict management and named as innovative factors. The ANOVA table and stepwise multiple regression model exhibited that the nuclear family type and livestock have significant impact on the innovativeness of fishers with R2 value 0.255. In this paper, peace and prosperity model based upon the analysis of primary information collected from the fishers, farmers and key informants is proposed to foster innovativeness to enhance the productivity of wetland and resolve conflict to mobilize the resources in efficient and judicial manner

Chemical composition and larvicidal activities of the essential oil of Zanthoxylum armatum DC (Rutaceae) against three mosquito vectors

Background & objectives: In view of the recently increased interest in developing plant origininsecticides as an alternative to chemical insecticide, this study was undertaken to assess the larvicidalpotential of the essential oil from the seeds of Zanthoxylum armatum DC [syn. Z. alatum Roxb](Rutaceae) against three medically important species of mosquito vectors, Aedes aegypti, Anophelesstephensi and Culex quinquefasciatus.Methods: Essential oil was hydro distilled in the laboratory from the seeds obtained from the marketand the chemical constituents of the oil were determined using GC/GC-MS. Bioefficacy of theessential oil was evaluated under laboratory conditions using III instar mosquito larvae.Results: Among the three mosquito species tested, Cx. quinquefasciatus was the most sensitive(LC50 = 49 ppm) followed by Ae. aegypti (LC50 = 54 ppm) and An. stephensi (LC50 = 58 ppm). GCMSanalysis of the oil revealed at least 28 compounds, consisting mainly of oxygenated monoterpenes(75%) and monoterpenes (22%). Linalool though constituted a major part (57%), failed to produceany appreciable mortality when tested alone.Interpretation & conclusion: From the results it can be concluded that the larvae of the three mosquitospecies were susceptible to the essential oil composition. Such findings would be useful in promotingresearch aiming at the development of new agent for mosquito control based on bioactive chemicalcompounds from indigenous plant sources as an alternative to chemical larvicides

A case-only study to identify genetic modifiers of breast cancer risk for BRCA1/BRCA2 mutation carriers

Breast cancer (BC) risk for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers varies by genetic and familial factors. About 50 common variants have been shown to modify BC risk for mutation carriers. All but three, were identified in general population studies. Other mutation carrier-specific susceptibility variants may exist but studies of mutation carriers have so far been underpowered. We conduct a novel case-only genome-wide association study comparing genotype frequencies between 60,212 general population BC cases and 13,007 cases with BRCA1 or BRCA2 mutations. We identify robust novel associations for 2 variants with BC for BRCA1 and 3 for BRCA2 mutation carriers, P < 10−8, at 5 loci, which are not associated with risk in the general population. They include rs60882887 at 11p11.2 where MADD, SP11 and EIF1, genes previously implicated in BC biology, are predicted as potential targets. These findings will contribute towards customising BC polygenic risk scores for BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutation carriers

Open data from the third observing run of LIGO, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO

The global network of gravitational-wave observatories now includes five detectors, namely LIGO Hanford, LIGO Livingston, Virgo, KAGRA, and GEO 600. These detectors collected data during their third observing run, O3, composed of three phases: O3a starting in 2019 April and lasting six months, O3b starting in 2019 November and lasting five months, and O3GK starting in 2020 April and lasting two weeks. In this paper we describe these data and various other science products that can be freely accessed through the Gravitational Wave Open Science Center at https://gwosc.org. The main data set, consisting of the gravitational-wave strain time series that contains the astrophysical signals, is released together with supporting data useful for their analysis and documentation, tutorials, as well as analysis software packages

Whole-genome sequencing reveals host factors underlying critical COVID-19

Critical COVID-19 is caused by immune-mediated inflammatory lung injury. Host genetic variation influences the development of illness requiring critical care1 or hospitalization2,3,4 after infection with SARS-CoV-2. The GenOMICC (Genetics of Mortality in Critical Care) study enables the comparison of genomes from individuals who are critically ill with those of population controls to find underlying disease mechanisms. Here we use whole-genome sequencing in 7,491 critically ill individuals compared with 48,400 controls to discover and replicate 23 independent variants that significantly predispose to critical COVID-19. We identify 16 new independent associations, including variants within genes that are involved in interferon signalling (IL10RB and PLSCR1), leucocyte differentiation (BCL11A) and blood-type antigen secretor status (FUT2). Using transcriptome-wide association and colocalization to infer the effect of gene expression on disease severity, we find evidence that implicates multiple genes—including reduced expression of a membrane flippase (ATP11A), and increased expression of a mucin (MUC1)—in critical disease. Mendelian randomization provides evidence in support of causal roles for myeloid cell adhesion molecules (SELE, ICAM5 and CD209) and the coagulation factor F8, all of which are potentially druggable targets. Our results are broadly consistent with a multi-component model of COVID-19 pathophysiology, in which at least two distinct mechanisms can predispose to life-threatening disease: failure to control viral replication; or an enhanced tendency towards pulmonary inflammation and intravascular coagulation. We show that comparison between cases of critical illness and population controls is highly efficient for the detection of therapeutically relevant mechanisms of disease

Development of Animal Drawn Peg Planker for Secondary Tillage in Hill Agriculture

Indigenous wooden log with peg type harrow, locally known as dante in Sikkim, is used for secondary tillage. Several designs of improved peg type harrow for the plains are not suitable for the narrow terraces of less than 3.0 m width on steep hills. An animal drawn peg planker of 800 mm working width made of mild steel sheet was developed to suit the topographical conditions of the North Eastern Hill Region of India, and serve as a substitute to the local wooden peg type harrow. The animal drawn peg planker was field tested by determining the soil particle size distribution curve. The average post-operation large size clod was of 112.55 × 81.25 mm in control plot and 71.82 × 54.70 mm in field operated by the peg planker. The local wooden peg harrow and the developed peg planker had work rate of 0.035 and 0.047 ha.h-1; and draft requirement of 52.0 kgf and 48.0 kgf, respectively. The effective size, uniformity coefficient and coefficient of gradation were 0.17, 20.0, 0.97 and 0.25, 40.0,1.91, respectively, for the local wooden peg harrow and the developed peg planker. These values suggested that the soil was finer, well and uniformly graded by use of the developed peg planker as compared to the local wooden peg harrow. The total energy input required was 2077.96 MJ.ha-1 and 1546.97 MJ.ha-1 for local wooden peg harrow and developed peg planker, respectively. The saving in energy input by use of the developed planker was 25.55 per cent

Effect of Gang Width and Operating Speed on Specific Draft and Weeding Efficiency of Weeding Sweep in Vertisols

The study was conducted at 12%, 15%, 18% and 21% soil moisture in the clayey soil having 52.30 % clay, 11.21 % silt, 13.15 % coarse sand. The penetration resistance was kept reasonably uniform which ranges from 11.980 to 12.178 N/cm2• The four gang widths i.e. 225 mm, 250 mm, 275 mm and 300 mm were taken for the study. The test was conducted at four speeds of operation i.e. 0.28 m s·\u27, 0.42 m s·I, 0.56 m s·1 and 0.70 m s· \u27. Hundred pins were randomly inserted in to the soil on the path of the tool in 350 mm band to represent the weed in the row. The draft was recorded by transducer designed for the present study. The undisturbed pins were counted to calculate the weeding efficiency. The effect of gang width on specific draft and weeding efficiency was observed to be significant and was linear. Specific draft was lowest for 300 mm gang width at 0.28 m s· , speed and weeding efficiency was higher for 300 mm gang width at 0.42 m S·I speed. It was observed that the relationship between speed and specific draft was linear and that of speed and weeding efficiency was quadratic

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