Metabotyping of docosahexaenoic acid - Treated alzheimer's disease cell model

10.1371/journal.pone.0090123PLoS ONE92-POLN

Dietary Intake and Rural-Urban Migration in India: A Cross-Sectional Study

BACKGROUND: Migration from rural areas of India contributes to urbanisation and lifestyle change, and dietary changes may increase the risk of obesity and chronic diseases. We tested the hypothesis that rural-to-urban migrants have different macronutrient and food group intake to rural non-migrants, and that migrants have a diet more similar to urban non-migrants. METHODS AND FINDINGS: The diets of migrants of rural origin, their rural dwelling sibs, and those of urban origin together with their urban dwelling sibs were assessed by an interviewer-administered semi-quantitative food frequency questionnaire. A total of 6,509 participants were included. Median energy intake in the rural, migrant and urban groups was 2731, 3078, and 3224 kcal respectively for men, and 2153, 2504, and 2644 kcal for women (p<0.001). A similar trend was seen for overall intake of fat, protein and carbohydrates (p<0.001), though differences in the proportion of energy from these nutrients were <2%. Migrant and urban participants reported up to 80% higher fruit and vegetable intake than rural participants (p<0.001), and up to 35% higher sugar intake (p<0.001). Meat and dairy intake were higher in migrant and urban participants than rural participants (p<0.001), but varied by region. Sibling-pair analyses confirmed these results. There was no evidence of associations with time in urban area. CONCLUSIONS: Rural to urban migration appears to be associated with both positive (higher fruit and vegetables intake) and negative (higher energy and fat intake) dietary changes. These changes may be of relevance to cardiovascular health and warrant public health interventions

Economic Assessment of Water Harvesting plus Supplemental Irrigation for Improving Water Productivity of a Pulse–Cotton Based Integrated Farming System in Telangana, India

An integrated farming system (IFS) aims to sustain agricultural production, maintain farm incomes, safeguard the environment and respond to climate change impacts. Experiments in a tribal farmer's fields during 2016–2018 with two IFS models (pulse and cotton) were conducted in the Telangana region, India. An on‐farm reservoir (OFR) is designed for storing surface runoff based on the area and runoff coefficient determined through a modelling approach. The results demonstrated how supplemental irrigation and water harvesting are the most important and proven technologies for improving crop productivity and the efficient use of water in dryland areas of the semi‐arid tropics. The economic analysis indicated that after introduction of OFR technology, farmers' profits were increased under both scenarios of prolonged and short dry spells. According to the results, adoption of the OFR and IFS models not only ensured economic returns but provided regular employment even on less than 1 ha of land, which is usually non‐sustainable if monocropping is being practised. The approaches used in this work might be useful for guiding producers’ decisions in optimizing resources and selecting crops based on economic and water use efficiency