Social impact and women empowerment through mussel farming in Kerala, India

Mussel farming has gained popularity along the southwest coast of India with more than 3,000 women becoming owners of mussel farms. Vasanth Kripa and Vazhoor Gopalan Surendranathan show how training alone was not sufficient to motivate villagers to adopt a new technology; instead visual observations of the success of the technology are essential for removing the risk aversion attitude. Support from the government prompted women to form self-help groups. This led to group farming, which helped women overcome social inhibitions and prove their competence

Shanghai, Dubai, Mumbai Or Goodbye?

Starting in 2007, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs) from Asia and the Middle East have invested billions of dollars in major U.S. financial firms. The primary driving force behind their growth is rising commodity prices, in particular oil. Given that SWFs represent a relatively new, cash-rich investment group, we studied the public policy concerns with their investments, SWFs mode of entry, and how does the market react to the investment. SWFs lack of transparency with regards to their investment motives and governance structure is cause for concern. While taking full opportunity of depressed security prices as a result of the 2007-2008 financial crisis, they are also being prudent by investing mostly in preferred stocks and fixed-income convertible securities of large U.S. corporations that are followed by many analysts and are highly liquid. Despite investing handsomely in U.S. targets and adopting a hands-off approach toward management; the liquidity crisis continues to perpetuate the decline in SWF-targets’ stock price post-investment. Using an event study parameter approach, we found the short-run market reaction to be statistically insignificant in 11 out of 12 announcements of SWF investments; but in the months following the investment, SWF-targets underperform both the S&P500 and the Dow Jones Financial Services Index Fund.Stock Market, Sovereign Wealth Funds (SWFs), SWF-targets’ stock price post-investment

Surface Restructuring of Nickel Sulfide Generates Optimally-Coordinated Active Sites for ORR Catalysis

First-row transition metal oxides and chalcogenides have been found to rival the performance of precious metal-based catalysts for the interconversion of water and O$_2$. The high lability of the first-row transition metal ions leads to surface dynamics under the conditions of catalysis and results in active site structures distinct from those expected by surface termination of the bulk lattice. While these surface transformations have been well-characterized on many metal oxides, the surface dynamics of heavier chalcogenides under electrocatalytic conditions are largely unknown. We recently reported that the heazlewoodite Ni$_3$S$_2$ bulk phase supports efficient ORR catalysis under benign aqueous conditions and exhibits excellent tolerance to electrolyte anions such as phosphate which poison Pt. Herein, we combine electrochemistry, surface spectroscopy and high resolution microscopy to characterize the surface dynamics of Ni$_3$S$_2$ under ORR catalytic conditions. We show that Ni$_3$S$_2$ undergoes self-limiting oxidative surface restructuring to form an approximately 2 nm amorphous surface film conformally coating the Ni$_3$S$_2$ crystallites. The surface film has a nominal NiS stoichiometry and is highly active for ORR catalysis. Using DFT calculations we show that, to a first approximation, the catalytic activity of nickel sulfides is determined by the Ni-S coordination numbers at surface exposed sites through a simple geometric descriptor. In particular, we find that the surface sites formed dynamically on the surface of amorphous NiS during surface restructuring provide an optimal energetic landscape for ORR catalysis. This work provides a systematic framework for characterizing the rich surface chemistry of metal-chalcogenides and provides principles for developing a broader understanding of electrocatalysis mediated by amorphous materials.Comment: 12 pages, 5 figures, Supporting Information 27 page

Development of ancillary industries related to mussel farming in Kerala

The commercialization of mussel farming in Kerala has created more part-time jobs during the crop period and has also helped in the development of several ancillary industries. It Development of ancillary industries related to mussel farming in Kerala1219 is estimated that during 2005-06, in the threenorthern districts viz Kasaragod, Kozhikode and Malappuram, the farmed mussel production by the rack method was 7496, 211 and 399 tonnes (t) respectively. To support such extensive mussel farming, several ancillary industries have also developed and the impact is widespread

Biology of Mactra violacea (Gmelin 1791) from Kerala, south-west coast of India

The surf clam Mactra violacea (commonly known as violet trough shell), is distributed all along the sandy beaches of north Kerala. It occurs in the surf zone, upto 75-100 m depth. It is a large clam (upto 80 mm) with high meat content and nutritive value which is collected and consumed by the local people. The biology of the surf clam was studied to understand its growth, edibility and potential for mariculture

Bivalve resources and its exploitation in Malabar

The Malabar region of Kerala (Kozhikode, Kannur, Mahe, Kasargod) has significant bivalve resources contributing to subsistence fisheries of the local population. Clams and oysters form the major resources in the estuaries and backwaters. The clams, Meretrix casta, Meretrix meretrix, Villorita cyprinoides, Paphia malabarica and the edible oyster, Crassostrea madrasensis form the major exploited bivalve resources of commercial significance

Mesostructure-Induced Selectivity in CO2 Reduction Catalysis

Gold inverse opal (Au-IO) thin films are active for CO[subscript 2] reduction to CO with high efficiency at modest overpotentials and high selectivity relative to hydrogen evolution. The specific activity for hydrogen evolution diminishes by 10-fold with increasing porous film thickness, while CO evolution activity is largely unchanged. We demonstrate that the origin of hydrogen suppression in Au-IO films stems from the generation of diffusional gradients within the pores of the mesostructured electrode rather than changes in surface faceting or Au grain size. For electrodes with optimal mesoporosity, 99% selectivity for CO evolution can be obtained at overpotentials as low as 0.4 V. These results establish electrode mesostructuring as a complementary method for tuning selectivity in CO[subscript 2] -to-fuels catalysis

Bivalve resources of Moorad Estuary, north Kerala

A bivalve resource survey of Moorad estuary in Badagara District of north Kerala was carried out during February 2004 to assess the bivalve species, their distribution and potential stock. Sampling sites were fixed within five main zones of the Moorad estuary based on the clam fishery activities and local enquiries. The bivalve distribution in a unit area was taken by demarking the area of clam bed with a quadrant. Observations on the area of clam bed, water clarity, depth and temperature were recorded at each site. Surface and bottom water samples were collected and hydrographic parameters like salinity, temperature, pH and dissolved oxygen content, productivity, nitrate, phosphate and silicate were recorded. Sediment samples were collected to analyse the grain size and organic content of the clam beds. All samples were analysed within 24 h except sediment samples. Average density of bivalve per square metre area was analysed and the potential stock was estimated for each bivalve species in the estuary