Leadership on the Commons: Wealth Distribution, Co-provision and Service Delivery

There has been a long running debate among public choice theorists on the effects of heterogeneity on collective action. Our longitudinal study leads us to conclude that collective action outcomes are shaped not simply by the attributes of heterogeneity themselves but by the processes by which those attributes interact over-time with the bio-physical and institutional environment. From a methodological point of view how one integrates conceptualization of forms of heterogeneity with recognition of their axis of influence; themselves dependent upon attributes of field-level situations is crucial for analysis of collective action. These findings have public policy implications for targeting of poor and non-poor resource users and management of environmental feedback loops

Effect of Pruning and Chemicals on Flowering and Fruit Yield in Mango Cv. Alphonso

A field trial was conducted from 2005 to 2009 on pruning and spray of various chemicals to study their effects on flowering and fruit yield in 'Alphonso' mango, at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore. Seven treatments were imposed, with pruning of fruited shoots as a common treatment, followed by chemical sprays and a control. Over the five years, flowering parameters (% vegetative, dormant or flowering shoots) were found to be non-significant among different treatments. Treatments increased fruit yield compared to control. The best treatment was T3 (Pruning+1% K2HPO4+1% KNO3 spray) which recorded mean fruit yield of 63.9 kg/plant, compared to a fruit yield of 33.0 k/ plant in control

Cumulative and Residual Effects of Paclobutrazol on Growth, Yield and Fruit Quality of 'Alphonso' Mango

A field experiment was conducted during 1996 to 2002 at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore, to study the cumulative and residual effects of paclobutrazol (PBZ) application on shoot vigour, flowering and fruit yield of seventeen years old 'Alphonso' mango trees. Foliar sprays of the chemical at 500, 1000 or 2000 ppm or soil drench at 5 or 10 g a. i. per tree was given during September for three consecutive years and the residual effects were observed for three more subsequent years. Application of PBZ as soil drench was more effective than its foliar spray and doubled fruit yield during the six years. Chemical parameters of fruits such as TSS and acidity were not affected by the treatments but average weight of a fruit was less in the case of PBZ treatments. Residual influence of this chemical, when applied as soil drench, persisted in the three years following the discontinuation of application for three consecutive years, indicating the scope for skipping the application of PBZ or tapering down its dose after three years of its continuous application. From the results of this study, application of paclobutrazol at 5 g a.i. per tree as soil drench for three consecutive years and then its discontinuation for the subsequent three years appears to be most appropriate for 'Alphonso' mango trees in the age group of about 15 to 25 years

Effect of Dose and Time of Paclobutrazol Application on the Flowering, Fruit Yield and Quality of Mango Cv. Alphonso

A field trial was conducted for eight years at Indian Institute of Horticulture Research, Bengaluru to find out the effect of dose and time of application of paclobutrazol (PBZ) on flowering, fruit yield and quality of 'Alphonso' mango. The percentages of flowering, vegetative and dormant shoots were affected by paclobutrazol application. Different dose and time of application of paclobutrazol increased the percentage of flowering shoots significantly and most pronounced effect was with treatment D1T2 (3ml/m canopy PBZ applied 90 days before bud break) which recorded 89.9% flowering shoots as compared to 73.8% in control treatment. Regarding fruit yield, maximum mean fruit yield of 22.0kg/plant was recorded with treatment D1T2 (3ml/m canopy PBZ applied 90 days before bud break) and least was with control (13.1kg/plant) which accounts for fruit yield increase of 67.9%. No particular trend was observed in respect of shoot length in different treatments. However in general, paclobutrazol application reduced the shoot length compared to control. With respect of fruit quality attributes, acidity and TSS were found to be non-significant among different treatments during different years. Average fruit weight was found to be significant during different years and paclobutrazol application reduced the average fruit size compared to control. Cost benefit ratio was maximum of 1:2.52 was with treatment 3ml/m canopy PBZ applied 90 days before bud break and least cost benefit ratio of 1:1.06 was with control

Studies on Rejuvenation of Old, Unproductive 'Alphonso' Mango Trees in Orchards

A field trial on pruning was conducted from 2004 to 2009 to induce rejuvenation of twenty six year old, unproductive 'Alphonso' mango trees, at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore. In the study, three treatments imposed comprised of two pruning treatments, namely 30cm and 45cm pruning of third order branches from the point of origin, and a control (no pruning). Pruning increased the mean cumulative fruit yield for four years, which was almost double that of control, although the two pruning treatments were on par. Maximum mean cumulative fruit yield (86.3kg/plant) was obtained with 30cm pruning, whereas control treatment recorded a fruit yield of 47.2kg/plant. Fruit quality attributes such as average fruit-weight, TSS, acidity and shelf-life were not affected by the two pruning treatments, for rejuvenation of 'Alphonso' mango

Numerical Modelling of Beach Erosion Along South West Coast of India During South–West Monsoon

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

Peripheral Blood Cell Gene Expression Diagnostic for Identifying Symptomatic Transthyretin Amyloidosis Patients: Male and Female Specific Signatures

BACKGROUND: Early diagnosis of familial transthyretin (TTR) amyloid diseases remains challenging because of variable disease penetrance. Currently, patients must have an amyloid positive tissue biopsy to be eligible for disease-modifying therapies. Endomyocardial biopsies are typically amyloid positive when cardiomyopathy is suspected, but this disease manifestation is generally diagnosed late. Early diagnosis is often difficult because patients exhibit apparent symptoms of polyneuropathy, but have a negative amyloid biopsy. Thus, there is a pressing need for an additional early diagnostic strategy for TTR-aggregation-associated polyneuropathy and cardiomyopathy. METHODS AND FINDINGS: Global peripheral blood cell mRNA expression profiles from 263 tafamidis-treated and untreated V30M Familiar Amyloid Neuropathy patients, asymptomatic V30M carriers, and healthy, age- and sex-matched controls without TTR mutations were used to differentiate symptomatic from asymptomatic patients. We demonstrate that blood cell gene expression patterns reveal sex-independent, as well as male- and female-specific inflammatory signatures in symptomatic FAP patients, but not in asymptomatic carriers. These signatures differentiated symptomatic patients from asymptomatic V30M carriers with >80% accuracy. There was a global downregulation of the eIF2 pathway and its associated genes in all symptomatic FAP patients. We also demonstrated that the molecular scores based on these signatures significantly trended toward normalized values in an independent cohort of 46 FAP patients after only 3 months of tafamidis treatment. CONCLUSIONS: This study identifies novel molecular signatures that differentiate symptomatic FAP patients from asymptomatic V30M carriers as well as affected males and females. We envision using this approach, initially in parallel with amyloid biopsies, to identify individuals who are asymptomatic gene carriers that may convert to FAP patients. Upon further validation, peripheral blood cell mRNA expression profiling could become an independent early diagnostic. This quantitative gene expression signature for symptomatic FAP could also become a biomarker to demonstrate significant disease-modifying effects of drugs and drug candidates. For example, when new disease modifiers are being evaluated in a FAP clinical trial, such surrogate biomarkers have the potential to provide an objective, quantitative and mechanistic molecular diagnostic of disease response to therapy.We acknowledge the following sources of research funding: NIH U19 A1063603 (DRS, SMK), NIH DK46335 (JWK) and NIH R01AG19259 (JNB)info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Effect of Organic Nutrition Practices on Papaya (cv. Surya) Fruit Yield, Quality and Soil Health

A field experiment was conducted during 2005-07 at Indian Institute of Horticultural Research, Bangalore, on papaya cv. Surya with six organic treatments along with recommended dose of fertilizers and no manure/fertilizer application. Results indicated that crop growth and fruit yield were higher in inorganic fertilizer treatment (55 t ha1) compared to organic treatments (26.9 to 38 t ha-1). There was no significant variation in average fruit weight and TSS, but shelf life of the fruit was significantly higher in organic treatments (6.2 to 7.9 days) as compared to inorganic fertilizer treatment (5.1days). Among the treatments, application of 7 kg urban compost plant-1 or 10 kg FYM plant-1 was found to be ideal for improving soil health in terms of microbial population, and biochemical reaction compared to other treatments