The Paradox of Shorebird Diversity and Abundance in the West Coast and East Coast of India: A Comparative Analysis

Migratory shorebirds that move across continents along their flyways are undergoing a drastic decline globally. A greater proportion of them that regularly winter along the Indian coasts within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) are also undergoing severe declines. However, the mechanisms underlying the population trends in these areas remain little understood. This study investigated the diversity, abundance, population dynamics and distribution patterns of shorebirds along the Indian coasts based on the available literature. The west coast of India is relatively less studied than the east coast in the CAF. Further, we observed that the diversity, abundance, population dynamics and distribution pattern of the shorebirds follow different trends on the west coast compared to the east coast. These variations are in accordance with the differences in topography and biotic and abiotic factors between the coasts. Anthropogenic activities have far-reaching effects on the survival and persistence of shorebirds along the coasts. The west coast is evidently more productive than the east coast at every trophic level and thus the west coast is expected to account for more abundance and diversity of shorebirds. Paradoxically, we found that the east coast supports a greater abundance and diversity of shorebirds than the west coast. The west coast, therefore, requires further investigations to obtain a better understanding of the causes of apparent differences in abundance and diversity as well as the observed declines in shorebirds, compared to the east coast of India

The GCP molecular marker toolkit, an instrument for use in breeding food security crops

Crop genetic resources carry variation useful for overcoming the challenges of modern agriculture. Molecular markers can facilitate the selection of agronomically important traits. The pervasiveness of genomics research has led to an overwhelming number of publications and databases, which are, nevertheless, scattered and hence often difficult for plant breeders to access, particularly those in developing countries. This situation separates them from developed countries, which have better endowed programs for developing varieties. To close this growing knowledge gap, we conducted an intensive literature review and consulted with more than 150 crop experts on the use of molecular markers in the breeding program of 19 food security crops. The result was a list of effectively used and highly reproducible sequence tagged site (STS), simple sequence repeat (SSR), single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP), and sequence characterized amplified region (SCAR) markers. However, only 12 food crops had molecular markers suitable for improvement. That is, marker-assisted selection is not yet used for Musa spp., coconut, lentils, millets, pigeonpea, sweet potato, and yam. For the other 12 crops, 214 molecular markers were found to be effectively used in association with 74 different traits. Results were compiled as the GCP Molecular Marker Toolkit, a free online tool that aims to promote the adoption of molecular approaches in breeding activities

Genomics-assisted breeding in four major pulse crops of developing countries: present status and prospects

The global population is continuously increasing and is expected to reach nine billion by 2050. This huge population pressure will lead to severe shortage of food, natural resources and arable land. Such an alarming situation is most likely to arise in developing countries due to increase in the proportion of people suffering from protein and micronutrient malnutrition. Pulses being a primary and affordable source of proteins and minerals play a key role in alleviating the protein calorie malnutrition, micronutrient deficiencies and other undernourishment-related issues. Additionally, pulses are a vital source of livelihood generation for millions of resource-poor farmers practising agriculture in the semi-arid and sub-tropical regions. Limited success achieved through conventional breeding so far in most of the pulse crops will not be enough to feed the ever increasing population. In this context, genomics-assisted breeding (GAB) holds promise in enhancing the genetic gains. Though pulses have long been considered as orphan crops, recent advances in the area of pulse genomics are noteworthy, e.g. discovery of genome-wide genetic markers, high-throughput genotyping and sequencing platforms, high-density genetic linkage/QTL maps and, more importantly, the availability of whole-genome sequence. With genome sequence in hand, there is a great scope to apply genome-wide methods for trait mapping using association studies and to choose desirable genotypes via genomic selection. It is anticipated that GAB will speed up the progress of genetic improvement of pulses, leading to the rapid development of cultivars with higher yield, enhanced stress tolerance and wider adaptability

Spatio-temporal urban land surface temperature variations and heat stress vulnerability index in Thiruvananthapuram city of Kerala, India

ABSTRACT Land use/Land cover (LU/LC) modifications leads to rise in surface temperature is a global concern. This study investigates the effects of LU/LC changes in Land Surface Temperature (LST) variations and effects of Urban Heat Island (UHI) in Thiruvananthapuram city. Furthermore, the study proposed a novel heat stress vulnerability index (HSVI) using Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP) method. Results shows that transformation of all land uses is to built-up areas, which shows an increase of +118.46% where as others such as vegetation (-24.27%), open area (-64.315) and waterbody (-43.88%) shows drastic decrease over 34 years. The relationship between Normalized Difference Vegetation Index and LST shows a significant change with R2 values between 0.223 in 1988, 0.382 in 2000 and 0.253 in 2022. Moreover, this also contributed to the increase of the mean LST of 26.96 ºC in 1988 to 28.52 ºC in 2022. HSVI of the study indicates that 30.83% of the study area is categorized as very low heat stress vulnerable area followed by 37.22% area in low heat stress vulnerability, 17.88% in moderate heat stress vulnerability, 8.87% in high heat stress vulnerability and 5.19% of the area falling in very high heat stress Vulnerability class

Spousal Violence Against Women and Its Association With Women's Mental Health in Pakistan

Zakar R, Zakria Zakar M, Mikolajczyk RT, Krämer A. Spousal Violence Against Women and Its Association With Women's Mental Health in Pakistan. Health Care For Women International. 2013;34(9):795-813.In Pakistan, the issue of spousal violence is under-researched and still not considered a public health problem. To assess the association of spousal violence with women's mental health, a hospital-based cross-sectional survey was conducted through a structured interview schedule with 373 randomly selected ever-married women of reproductive age in eight randomly selected hospitals in the cities of Lahore and Sialkot, Pakistan. After controlling for sociodemographic variables, women's experiences of past and current psychological, physical, and sexual violence remained significantly associated with women's poor mental health. The situation warrants urgent action to mitigate the violence-induced damages done to women's mental health

Intimate partner violence and its association with women's reproductive health in Pakistan

Zakar R, Zakria Zakar M, Mikolajczyk RT, Krämer A. Intimate partner violence and its association with women's reproductive health in Pakistan. International Journal of Gynecology & Obstetrics. 2012;117(1):10-14.Objective: To determine the prevalence of intimate partner violence in Pakistan and its association with reproductive health outcomes. Methods: A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 8 hospitals in Lahore and Sialkot between October 2008 and January 2009. Information from randomly selected ever-married women of reproductive age was collected via a structured interview. Psychologic, physical, and sexual violence was categorized as "no" or "severe" violence. Associations between reproductive health outcomes and violence were assessed by multivariate logistic regression. Results: Among 373 women interviewed, 75.9% reported severe psychologic, 34.6% reported severe sexual, and 31.9% reported severe physical violence at least once in marital life. Women who experienced severe physical violence were more likely to have their husband's noncooperation in using contraceptives (adjusted odds ratio [AOR], 3.31; 95% confidence interval [Cl], 1.93-5.68), poor prenatal care (AOR, 2.11; 95% Cl, 1.23-3.69), unplanned pregnancies (AOR, 2.29; 95% Cl. 1.39-3.76), and poor self-reported reproductive health (AOR, 2.95; 95% Cl, 1.71-4.91) as compared with non-abused women. Similar associations existed for other types of violence. Conclusion: The results highlight the magnitude of violence and its association with reproductive health of women. Urgent action is needed to mitigate the violence and its consequential damage to health. (C) 2011 International Federation of Gynecology and Obstetrics. Published by Elsevier Ireland Ltd. All rights reserved

A United Nations General Assembly Special Session for mental, neurological, and substance use disorders: the time has come.

Mental, neurological, and substance use (MNS) disorders are leading causes of the global burden of disease and profoundly impact the social and economic well-being of individuals and communities. The majority of people affected by MNS disorders globally do not have access to evidence-based interventions and many experience discrimination and abuses of their human rights. A United Nations General Assembly Special Session (UNGASS) is needed to focus global attention on MNS disorders as a core development issue requiring commitments to improve access to care, promote human rights, and strengthen the evidence on effective prevention and treatment

Long-term anthropogenic stressors cause declines in kingfisher assemblages in wetlands in southwestern India

Fragile wetland habitats are susceptible to multiple threats from anthropogenic activities. Direct waste deposition, habitat modification and overexploitation of fish have caused alternations in food webs in wetlands. Kingfishers are ecological indicators with the potential ability to respond to the minute changes in their microenvironment. Their abundance and distribution at wetland habitats are affected by multiple environmental factors. We studied the kingfisher assemblages in India to determine proximate and ultimate causes of their decline. We recorded the abundance of five species of kingfishers across five wetland habitats from 2011 to 2020 in Kerala, southwest coast of India. Kingfishers were counted twice in a month between 6.00 and 12.00 hrs. Air temperature, water temperature, humidity and turbidity were recorded. We measured fish diversity and abundance and organic waste as an additional explanatory variable. One-way ANOVA, Autoregressive Integrated Moving Average model and structural equation modelling were used to determine which explanatory variables affected kingfisher populations. Air temperature, water temperature and turbidity increased significantly during the study and had negative effects on the abundance of kingfishers. Humidity decreased significantly but had no effect on the kingfisher abundance. Fish abundance declined and had a strong positive effect on the abundance of kingfishers. The analysis of incidence of wastes across the study areas revealed that, all the sites were severely polluted. We also observed drastic decline in the abundance of all the species of kingfishers studied across the sites with a rapid decline in Pied Kingfisher and slower decline in White-throated Kingfisher. Black-capped Kingfisher is a local migrant to the study areas and is already red listed and categorized as Vulnerable (VU). This study suggests that kingfisher assemblages are declining along with the health status of the habitat. Urgent action is needed to help in designing and implementing effective management strategies for the sustainability of wetlands in the region.Peer reviewe

The Paradox of Shorebird Diversity and Abundance in the West Coast and East Coast of India: A Comparative Analysis

Migratory shorebirds that move across continents along their flyways are undergoing a drastic decline globally. A greater proportion of them that regularly winter along the Indian coasts within the Central Asian Flyway (CAF) are also undergoing severe declines. However, the mechanisms underlying the population trends in these areas remain little understood. This study investigated the diversity, abundance, population dynamics and distribution patterns of shorebirds along the Indian coasts based on the available literature. The west coast of India is relatively less studied than the east coast in the CAF. Further, we observed that the diversity, abundance, population dynamics and distribution pattern of the shorebirds follow different trends on the west coast compared to the east coast. These variations are in accordance with the differences in topography and biotic and abiotic factors between the coasts. Anthropogenic activities have far-reaching effects on the survival and persistence of shorebirds along the coasts. The west coast is evidently more productive than the east coast at every trophic level and thus the west coast is expected to account for more abundance and diversity of shorebirds. Paradoxically, we found that the east coast supports a greater abundance and diversity of shorebirds than the west coast. The west coast, therefore, requires further investigations to obtain a better understanding of the causes of apparent differences in abundance and diversity as well as the observed declines in shorebirds, compared to the east coast of India

Factors associated with non-utilization of child immunization in Pakistan: evidence from the Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07

Bugvi A, Rahat R, Zakar R, et al. Factors associated with non-utilization of child immunization in Pakistan: evidence from the Demographic and Health Survey 2006-07. BMC Public Health. 2014;14(1): 232.Background The proportion of incompletely immunized children in Pakistan varies from 37-58%, and this has recently resulted in outbreaks of measles and polio. The aim of this paper is to determine the factors associated with incomplete immunization among children aged 12-23 months in Pakistan. Methods Secondary analysis was conducted on nationally representative cross-sectional survey data from the Pakistan Demographic and Health Survey, 2006-07. The analysis was limited to ever-married mothers who had delivered their last child during the 23 months immediately preceding the survey (n = 2,435). ‘Complete immunization’ was defined as the child having received twelve doses of five vaccines, and ‘incomplete immunization’ was defined if he/she had missed at least one of these twelve doses. The association between child immunization status and determinants of non-utilization of vaccines was assessed by calculating unadjusted and adjusted odds ratios (AOR) with 95% confidence intervals using a multivariable binary logistic regression. Results The findings of this research showed that nearly 66% of children were incompletely immunized against seven preventable childhood diseases. The likelihood of incomplete immunization was significantly associated with the father’s occupation as a manual worker (AOR = 1.47; 95% CI: 1.10-1.97), lack of access to information (AOR = 1.35; 95% CI: 1.09-1.66), non-use of antenatal care (AOR = 1.33; 95% CI: 1.07-1.66), children born in Baluchistan region (AOR = 1.74; 95% CI: 1.12-2.70) and delivery at home (AOR = 1.39; 95% CI: 1.14-1.69). Conclusions Despite governmental efforts to increase rates of immunization against childhood diseases, the proportion of incompletely immunized children in Pakistan is still high. Targeted interventions are needed to increase the immunization rates in Pakistan. These interventions need to concentrate on people with low socioeconomic and educational status in order to improve their knowledge of this topic