Land-use Dynamics in Jammu and Kashmir

The dynamics of shift among different land-use classes has been studied in the state of Jammu and Kashmir. A significant decline has been observed in the total reported area, which necessitates a proper land-use survey through remote sensing. A declining trend has also been observed in the area under forests. The unfavourable increasing trends in the area put to non-agricultural uses and barren and unculturable land are likely to have serious implications on ecological balance. Inter-sectoral land budgeting analysis has revealed that shifts in area are occurring from desirable ecological towards undesirable ecological sector. The estimates of regression analysis have revealed that the net irrigated area, literacy and area not available for cultivation have significantly improved the cropping intensity in the state agriculture, whereas agricultural density and area under rice are significant determinants of current fallow lands. The study has emphasized on the evolution of suitable institutional mechanism for scientific management, conservation and development of land resources in the state.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Dynamics and Sustainability of Livestock Sector in Jammu & Kashmir

Agricultural and Food Policy,

Marketed Surplus and Price Spread of Vegetables in Kashmir Valley

The paper has reported the growth of vegetable sector in relation with technology mission, extent and determinants of marketed surplus and price spread of vegetables in the Kashmir valley. A substantial increase in the area and production of vegetables has been observed under Mini-Mission-II scheme of Technology Mission. At the farm level, vegetables have been observed to occupy an important place in the cropping pattern. The intensity of cropping in the study area has become more than 250 per cent due to multiple cropping of vegetable crops. On an average, producers’ marketed surplus has been found more than 92 per cent of the total production of selected vegetables. The estimates of regression function have revealed that the production, area under improved varieties, net price received by producers and education level are the significant and positive determinants of marketed surplus, while spoilage at farm level and consumption have shown a negative contribution. The price spread of vegetables with respect to various marketing channels has indicated that the producers’ share has an inverse relationship with the number of intermediaries. The net price received by the producers is relatively higher in the channels in which the produce is directly sold to the consumers or retailers. Across different vegetables, producers could receive higher absolute net returns in tomato, followed by brinjal and cauliflower in all the channels. The study has suggested that the coverage of technology mission should be expanded to other niche areas of vegetable cultivation. The study has also highlighted the needed effective measures to reduce marketing losses at various stages. Study has emphasized on the strengthening of institutions, establishment of processing units and development of market infrastructure in the area.Agricultural and Food Policy,

Geotourism potential of South Klias Peninsula, Sabah

The study area located at the Klias Peninsula consists of the Temburong Formation, Crocker Formation, Setap Shale Formation and Belait Formation. This research focus on the sedimentology of study area and to proposed geosites for geotourism potential. The sedimentology study is based on field data and the facies analysis. Geosite was evaluated to see the uniqueness based on the geological heritage value and the aesthetic value. Based on the facies analysis, the Temburong Formation was dominated by the outer lobe and basin plain facies association are interpret as outer fan and the Crocker Formation was dominantly by the channelized lobe and non-channelized lobe which is interpret as middle fan of deep marine turbidite system. The setap shale Formation consists of heterolitic sediment with some limestone lense interprate as shallow marine environment. Foraminifera analysis from the Temburong, Crocker and Setap Shale in study area consist of planktonic foraminifera range from Late Oligocene to mid Early Miocene for the Temburong Formation, late Early Miocene for the Crocker Fromation and Tea for the Setap Shale Formation which is slightly difference from the previous work. Three geosite have been identified for the geotourism potential in study area namely, Geosite 1 – Batu Luang unconformity of Setap Shale and Belait Formation, Geosite 2 – Batu Linting Hill of Crocker Formation and Geosite 3 – Tanjung Lambidan of Temburong Formation

Risk profiles and one-year outcomes of patients with newly diagnosed atrial fibrillation in India: Insights from the GARFIELD-AF Registry.

BACKGROUND: The Global Anticoagulant Registry in the FIELD-Atrial Fibrillation (GARFIELD-AF) is an ongoing prospective noninterventional registry, which is providing important information on the baseline characteristics, treatment patterns, and 1-year outcomes in patients with newly diagnosed non-valvular atrial fibrillation (NVAF). This report describes data from Indian patients recruited in this registry. METHODS AND RESULTS: A total of 52,014 patients with newly diagnosed AF were enrolled globally; of these, 1388 patients were recruited from 26 sites within India (2012-2016). In India, the mean age was 65.8 years at diagnosis of NVAF. Hypertension was the most prevalent risk factor for AF, present in 68.5% of patients from India and in 76.3% of patients globally (P < 0.001). Diabetes and coronary artery disease (CAD) were prevalent in 36.2% and 28.1% of patients as compared with global prevalence of 22.2% and 21.6%, respectively (P < 0.001 for both). Antiplatelet therapy was the most common antithrombotic treatment in India. With increasing stroke risk, however, patients were more likely to receive oral anticoagulant therapy [mainly vitamin K antagonist (VKA)], but average international normalized ratio (INR) was lower among Indian patients [median INR value 1.6 (interquartile range {IQR}: 1.3-2.3) versus 2.3 (IQR 1.8-2.8) (P < 0.001)]. Compared with other countries, patients from India had markedly higher rates of all-cause mortality [7.68 per 100 person-years (95% confidence interval 6.32-9.35) vs 4.34 (4.16-4.53), P < 0.0001], while rates of stroke/systemic embolism and major bleeding were lower after 1 year of follow-up. CONCLUSION: Compared to previously published registries from India, the GARFIELD-AF registry describes clinical profiles and outcomes in Indian patients with AF of a different etiology. The registry data show that compared to the rest of the world, Indian AF patients are younger in age and have more diabetes and CAD. Patients with a higher stroke risk are more likely to receive anticoagulation therapy with VKA but are underdosed compared with the global average in the GARFIELD-AF. CLINICAL TRIAL REGISTRATION-URL: http://www.clinicaltrials.gov. Unique identifier: NCT01090362

Regional collaborations and indigenous innovation capabilities in China: A multivariate method for the analysis of regional innovation systems

In this study we analyse the emerging patterns of regional collaboration for innovation projects in China, using official government statistics of 30 Chinese regions. We propose the use of Ordinal Multidimensional Scaling and Cluster analysis as a robust method to study regional innovation systems. Our results show that regional collaborations amongst organisations can be categorised by means of eight dimensions: public versus private organisational mindset; public versus private resources; innovation capacity versus available infrastructures; innovation input (allocated resources) versus innovation output; knowledge production versus knowledge dissemination; and collaborative capacity versus collaboration output. Collaborations which are aimed to generate innovation fell into 4 categories, those related to highly specialised public research institutions, public universities, private firms and governmental intervention. By comparing the representative cases of regions in terms of these four innovation actors, we propose policy measures for improving regional innovation collaboration within China

Reducing the environmental impact of surgery on a global scale: systematic review and co-prioritization with healthcare workers in 132 countries

Background Healthcare cannot achieve net-zero carbon without addressing operating theatres. The aim of this study was to prioritize feasible interventions to reduce the environmental impact of operating theatres. Methods This study adopted a four-phase Delphi consensus co-prioritization methodology. In phase 1, a systematic review of published interventions and global consultation of perioperative healthcare professionals were used to longlist interventions. In phase 2, iterative thematic analysis consolidated comparable interventions into a shortlist. In phase 3, the shortlist was co-prioritized based on patient and clinician views on acceptability, feasibility, and safety. In phase 4, ranked lists of interventions were presented by their relevance to high-income countries and low–middle-income countries. Results In phase 1, 43 interventions were identified, which had low uptake in practice according to 3042 professionals globally. In phase 2, a shortlist of 15 intervention domains was generated. In phase 3, interventions were deemed acceptable for more than 90 per cent of patients except for reducing general anaesthesia (84 per cent) and re-sterilization of ‘single-use’ consumables (86 per cent). In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for high-income countries were: introducing recycling; reducing use of anaesthetic gases; and appropriate clinical waste processing. In phase 4, the top three shortlisted interventions for low–middle-income countries were: introducing reusable surgical devices; reducing use of consumables; and reducing the use of general anaesthesia. Conclusion This is a step toward environmentally sustainable operating environments with actionable interventions applicable to both high– and low–middle–income countries

Ecosystem Management Approach for Agricultural Growth in Mountains: Farmers Perception of Ecosystem Services and Dis-Services in Kashmir-India

Besides supplier of provisional services, agricultures role as source of ecosystem services to the ecology is being increasingly recognized. The two way relationship between agricultural production and ecosystem services made it imperative to examine farmers perception of importance of and their ability to manage various ecosystem services from and to the agriculture. This study, motivated by limited availability of literature, is an attempt to fill this research gap through focusing on farmers' perceptions of four different attributes towards 17 ecosystem services and 15 dis-services in Kashmir, a mountainous region in India. Results revealed that farmers attributed high rating to the importance of all ecosystem services, professed severity of dis-services to and from agriculture and perceived their inability to fully manage them. The farmers revealed concerns about vulnerability of agriculture to any threat causing deterioration in ecosystem services though their concerns vary across services. The farmers WTP for enriching services and reducing vulnerability of agriculture to ecosystem service deterioration coupled with their views passed a message to policy makers for implementation of some market-based instruments to overcome any potential loss to services. Study highlighted a need of an environmental policy to encourage socially acceptable and ecosystem-oriented approaches towards land-use management. Acknowledgement : Authors gratefully acknowledge the financial assistance granted by the Department of Science & Technology (DST), Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India for generating data for this piece of research