Determinants of Livelihood Choices: An Empirical Analysis from Rural Bangladesh

The study identifies socio-economic determinants of livelihood choices of rural households in Bangladesh (4,195 households from 139 villages) by applying a multinomial logit model of occupational choice and a multivariate Tobit model that allows for jointness in decision making. Results reveal that households choose multiple livelihood options. A number of socio-economic factors and resources at the household level as well as the state of rural infrastructure significantly determine households’ livelihood choice. Overall, resource-rich and educated households engage in diversified livelihoods and rural infrastructure promotes such diversification. Female-headed households fail to participate in any of the livelihood categories and consequently earn significantly lower income. Policy implications include investment in rural infrastructure, irrigation, rural electrification, education, livestock resources, as well as targeting of female-headed households, for example, creation of a hired labour market and skills/education programmes for females

Culture practices of freshwater giant prawn in some selected areas of Mymensingh

A study was conducted to examine the culture practices of freshwater giant prawn, Macrobrachium rosenbergii in some selected areas of Mymensingh. Based on a sample of 100 farmers from three different upazila, namely Phulpur, Gouripur and Ishwargonj in Mymensingh district, 94% of farmers cultured prawn with fish in their pond. Only 6% of farmers cultured prawn, fish and dike crops for higher economic return. The culture period is typically nine months; hatchery produced post-larvae were stocked from May to June and harvested from November to January. Per hectare production of prawn, 375 kg/yr was very low because the farmers followed simple culture method. Most of the farmers made a profit of Tk. 68,403/ha/yr and the major costs incurred were for purchasing prawn seed and feed. The culture of prawn in pond system is technically possible under different conditions though expansion of small-scale prawn farming mainly depends on reduction of production costs. Future targets could be integration of pond prawn culture with other agricultural activities especially dike cropping and rice production in the monsoon

Short communication: Culture of Chlorella ellipsoidea in different inexpensive medium and used as food for production of rotifer, Brachionus calyciflorus

Rotifers are multicellular animals with body cavities that are partially lined by mesoderm. These organisms are valuable live food for larval fish and crustacean culture. Several characteristics of rotifers, including their nutritional quality, body size and relatively slow motility have contributed to their usefulness as good prey for active larvae. In general, rotifers have both nutrient content and a high rate of daily production. ... In the present study, we cultured Chlorella ellipsoidea in different media and used as food in powdered and fresh live form along with Backer’s yeast to mass production of rotifers

Livestock, vulnerability, and poverty dynamics in India

The focus of this study is to identify the livelihood activities that produce the major share of household income as well as to identify the livelihood pathways and strategies, and the role of livestock in these activities and strategies over a six year period. The paper is organized as follows. Section one is Introduction; Section 2 describes the methodology and data. Section 3 examines the extent of movements into and out of poverty amongst the sample households. Sections 4 and 5 describe the extent of destitution, vulnerability, viability and sustainability in connection with livelihood pathways. Section 6 examines the factors associated with economic/poverty status. Section 7 summarises the role of livestock in these livelihood connections. Finally, the paper draws some policy conclusions and recommendations and discusses the future direction of research

Bacterial Isolates and Antimicrobial Susceptibility in Children with Acute Diarrhea at Ibn Sina Medical College, Bangladesh

Backround: Infectious diarrhea is one of common cause of children diarrhea causing mortality and morbidity worldwide. This study was performed to identify the common bacteria and their antimicrobial susceptibility in children with diarrhea. Methods: A retrospective study was conducted from April 2014 to March 2016 at IBN SINA Medical College Hospital, Bangladesh. Stool samples were cultured on MacConkey agar and blood agar. A standard biochemical procedure was used for full identification of bacterial isolates. Antimicrobial susceptibility tests were done on Mueller-Hinton agar by using disc diffusion method. Data were entered and analyzed by using SPSS version 20 and a p-value of < 0.05 was considered statistically significant. Results: A total of 186 stool samples were tested for bacterial isolation and 55 (29.57%) cases were found to have bacterial isolates. From the total bacterial isolates, the predominant isolate was E. coli 39 (70.91%) followed by Salmonella 9 (16.36%) and Shigella Spp.7 (12.73%). As much as 84.62% E. coli were resistant to co-trimoxazole and cefuroxime while 92.31% E. coli were sensitive to amikacin and 71.79% were sensitive to cefepime and gentamicin. Salmonella were 100% sensitive to cefepime, ceftriaxone, cefixime, ceftazidime, and ciprofloxacin. Shigella were 85.71% sensitive to amikacin and cefepime. Conclusion: The results show that E. coli were the most frequently isolated pathogen in children. The majority of the bacterial isolates were resistant to multiple antibiotics. Hence, antibiotics susceptibility test is mandatory before prescribing any antibiotics

Homeshare Scheme

Homeshare is a scheme in which older people – ‘Homeowners’ - provide an affordable home to young professionals or possibly students – ‘Homesharers’ - in exchange for help or support with everyday tasks (e.g. shopping and cleaning), and companionship. This pairing is intended to be mutually beneficial, whereby older people are provided with help and support to live independently and young people are offered a much needed home. There are similar schemes in London, but nothing like this is currently in place in Leeds. This report presents findings from a research project conducted in Leeds to investigate the demand for this service and the feasibility of this type of scheme. The research was funded by Leeds Metropolitan University and Leeds City Council

The Use of Transposon Insertion Sequencing to Interrogate the Core Functional Genome of the Legume Symbiont Rhizobium leguminosarum

The free-living legume symbiont Rhizobium leguminosarum is of significant economic value because of its ability to provide fixed nitrogen to globally important leguminous food crops, such as peas and lentils. Discovery based research into the genetics and physiology of R. leguminosarum provides the foundational knowledge necessary for understanding the bacterium's complex lifestyle, necessary for augmenting its use in an agricultural setting. Transposon insertion sequencing (INSeq) facilitates high-throughput forward genetic screening at a genomic scale to identify individual genes required for growth in a specific environment. In this study we applied INSeq to screen the genome of R. leguminosarum bv. viciae strain 3841 (RLV3841) for genes required for growth on minimal mannitol containing medium. Results from this study were contrasted with a prior INSeq experiment screened on peptide rich media to identify a common set of functional genes necessary for basic physiology. Contrasting the two growth conditions indicated that approximately 10% of the chromosome was required for growth, under both growth conditions. Specific genes that were essential to singular growth conditions were also identified. Data from INSeq screening on mannitol as a sole carbon source were used to reconstruct a metabolic map summarizing growth impaired phenotypes observed in the Embden-Meyerhof-Parnas pathway, Entner-Doudoroff pathway, pentose phosphate pathway, and tricarboxylic acid cycle. This revealed the presence of mannitol dependent and independent metabolic pathways required for growth, along with identifying metabolic steps with isozymes or possible carbon flux by-passes. Additionally, genes were identified on plasmids pRL11 and pRL12 that are likely to encode functional activities important to the central physiology of RLV3841