AGROINDUSTRY FOR RURAL AND SMALL FARMER DEVELOPMENT: ISSUES AND LESSONS FROM INDIA

This article examines the priority given to agroindustries in India in the context of their role in rural and small farmer development. The features and constraints of agroindustry are examined to assess their real and potential contribution and challenges faced. Institutional and organizational models that have been tried or proposed in India are evaluated from the point of view of performance and contribution to rural and small farmer development. The article then draws policy and managerial implicationsAgribusiness, Community/Rural/Urban Development,

Mineralization of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and sulphur from different organic wastes in silty clay loam soils

Mineralization of carbon, nitrogen, phosphorus and suphur was studied by incubating soil samples for 90 days at 30°C temperature with four different organic materials viz. Press mud, sugarcane trash, paper mill bagasse and pine needle. The results showed that the carbon mineralization in soil was significantly higher from sugarcane trash followed by press mud as compared to control. The cumulative percent of carbon mineralization increased with incubation period and maximum mineralization was recorded at 90 DOI (days after incubation). The maximum cumulative percent N-mineralization (16.88%) in soil was shown by paper mill bagasse followed by sugarcane trash and pine needle. The percent N-mineralization from all added organic amendments increased incubation period up to 45days of incubation DOI (days after incubation) after then it gradually declined, while the pine needles showed maximum cumulative P-mineralization in soil followed by sugarcane trash while minimum was recorded from press mud. The paper mill bagasse showed highest cumulative S-mineralization in soil followed by sugarcane trash. Irrespective of organic wastes, cumulative S-mineralization significantly increased after 15 days of incubation up to 45 days later on it showed declined trend. Among the organic wastes, sugarcane trash showed maximum Cmineralization in soil exhibited fast decomposition in comparison to other wastes. So, it can be used for composting.The paper mill bagasse showed more N and S mineralization while maximum mineralization of P was found in pine needle. The press mud and sugarcane trash showed potential for short duration enriched compost

Agarose processing in protic and mixed protic–aprotic ionic liquids : dissolution, regeneration and high conductivity, high strength ionogels

We have shown that low viscosity alkyl or hydroxyalkyl ammonium formate (ILs) can dissolve agarose, and higher dissolution can be achieved in the mixed, alkyl or hydroxyalkyl ammonium + imidazolium or pyridinium ILs. The polarity parameters α, β, π*, ET(30) and ETN of these IL systems were measured to explain their dissolution ability for agarose. Dissolved agarose was either regenerated using methanol as a precipitating solvent or ionogels were formed by cooling the agarose–IL solutions to ambient temperature. Exceptionally high strength ionogels were obtained from the agarose solutions in N-(2-hydroxyethyl)-ammonium formate or its mixture with 1-butyl-3-methylimidazolium chloride. Regenerated material and ionogels are characterized for their possible degradation/conformational changes and gel properties (thermal hysteresis, strength, viscoelasticity and conductivity) respectively. A high strength, high conducting ionogel was demonstrated to be able to build an electrochromic window. Such ionogels can also be utilized for other soft matter electronic devices and biomedical applications

“The Problem from Hell”: Examining the Role of Peace and Conflict Studies for Genocide Intervention and Prevention

Genocide is one of the most challenging problems of our age. In her book, “A Problem from Hell:” America and the Age of Genocide, Samantha Power (2002) argues that the United States, while in a position to intervene in genocide, has lacked the will to do so, and therefore it is incumbent on the U.S. citizenry to pressure their government to act. This article reviews how the topic of genocide raises questions along the fault lines of the field of Peace and Conflict Studies (PACS). In this article, a framework is provided to examine genocide and responses to it. This includes a review of a multiplicity of factors that (a) facilitate genocide, (b) constrain action in the face of it, and (c) facilitate intervention. In this analysis, further consideration is given to the location of the actor either within the region of the conflict or external to it. Our goal is to situate the study of genocide in the PACS field and promote to the articulation of possibilities for intervention by individuals, organizations, and policymakers

The low-mass Initial Mass Function in the Orion Nebula cluster based on HST/NICMOS III imaging

We present deep HST/NICMOS Camera 3 F110W and F160W imaging of a 26'x33', corresponding to 3.1pcx3.8pc, non-contiguous field towards the Orion Nebula Cluster (ONC). The main aim is to determine the ratio of low--mass stars to brown dwarfs for the cluster as a function of radius out to a radial distance of 1.5pc. The sensitivity of the data outside the nebulous central region is F160W=21.0 mag, significantly deeper than previous studies of the region over a comparable area. We create an extinction limited sample and determine the ratio of low-mass stars (0.08-1Msun) to brown dwarfs (0.02-0.08Msun and 0.03-0.08Msun) for the cluster as a whole and for several annuli. The ratio found for the cluster within a radius of 1.5pc is R(02)=N(0.08-1Msun)/N(0.02-0.08Msun)=1.7+-0.2, and R(03)=N(0.08-1Msun)/N(0.03-0.08Msun)=2.4+-0.2, after correcting for field stars. The ratio for the central 0.3pcx0.3pc region down to 0.03Msun was previously found to be R(03)=3.3+0.8-0.7, suggesting the low-mass content of the cluster is mass segregated. We discuss the implications of a gradient in the ratio of stars to brown dwarfs in the ONC in the context of previous measurements of the cluster and for other nearby star forming regions. We further discuss the current evidence for variations in the low-mass IMF and primordial mass segregation.Comment: Accepted to A&

Thermophilic Campylobacter spp. in salad vegetables in Malaysia

The main aim of this study was to combine the techniques of most probable number (MPN) and polymerase chain reaction (PCR) for quantifying the prevalence and numbers of Campylobacter spp. in ulam, a popular Malaysian salad dish, from a traditional wet market and two modern supermarkets in Selangor, Malaysia. A total of 309 samples of raw vegetables which are used in ulam were examined in the study. The prevalences of campylobacters in raw vegetables were, for supermarket I, Campylobacter spp., 51.9%; Campylobacter jejuni, 40.7%; and Campylobacter coli, 35.2%: for supermarket II, Campylobacter spp., 67.7%; C. jejuni, 67.7%; and C. coli, 65.7%: and for the wet market, Campylobacter spp., 29.4%; C. jejuni, 25.5%; and C. coli, 22.6%. In addition Campylobacter fetus was detected in 1.9% of raw vegetables from supermarket I. The maximum numbers of Campylobacter spp. in raw vegetables from supermarkets and the wet market were > 2400 and 460 MPN/g, respectively

Lithium abundances along the RGB: FLAMES-GIRAFFE spectra of a large sample of low-mass Bulge stars

Context: A small number of K-type giants on the red giant branch (RGB) is known to be very rich in lithium (Li). This fact is not accounted for by standard stellar evolution theory. The exact phase and mechanism of Li enrichment is still a matter of debate. Aims: Our goal is to probe the abundance of Li along the RGB, from its base to the tip, to confine Li-rich phases that are supposed to occur on the RGB. Methods: For this end, we obtained medium-resolution spectra with the FLAMES spectrograph at the VLT in GIRAFFE mode for a large sample of 401 low-mass RGB stars located in the Galactic bulge. The Li abundance was measured in the stars with a detectable Li 670.8 nm line by means of spectral synthesis with COMARCS model atmospheres. A new 2MASS (J-K) - Teff calibration from COMARCS models is presented in the Appendix. Results: Thirty-one stars with a detectable Li line were identified, three of which are Li-rich according to the usual criterion ($\log\epsilon({\rm Li})>1.5$). The stars are distributed all along the RGB, not concentrated in any particular phase of the red giant evolution (e.g. the luminosity bump or the red clump). The three Li-rich stars are clearly brighter than the luminosity bump and red clump, and do not show any signs of enhanced mass loss. Conclusions: We conclude that the Li enrichment mechanism cannot be restricted to a clearly defined phase of the RGB evolution of low-mass stars (M\sim1M_{\sun}), contrary to earlier suggestions from disk field stars.Comment: 6 pages (14 with appendix), 5 figures (1 in appendix), accepted for publication in A&

Evaluation of Methyl-Binding Domain Based Enrichment Approaches Revisited

Methyl-binding domain (MBD) enrichment followed by deep sequencing (MBD-seq), is a robust and cost efficient approach for methylome-wide association studies (MWAS). MBD-seq has been demonstrated to be capable of identifying differentially methylated regions, detecting previously reported robust associations and producing findings that replicate with other technologies such as targeted pyrosequencing of bisulfite converted DNA. There are several kits commercially available that can be used for MBD enrichment. Our previous work has involved MethylMiner (Life Technologies, Foster City, CA, USA) that we chose after careful investigation of its properties. However, in a recent evaluation of five commercially available MBD-enrichment kits the performance of the MethylMiner was deemed poor. Given our positive experience with MethylMiner, we were surprised by this report. In an attempt to reproduce these findings we here have performed a direct comparison of MethylMiner with MethylCap (Diagenode Inc, Denville, NJ, USA), the best performing kit in that study. We find that both MethylMiner and MethylCap are two well performing MBD-enrichment kits. However, MethylMiner shows somewhat better enrichment efficiency and lower levels of background “noise”. In addition, for the purpose of MWAS where we want to investigate the majority of CpGs, we find MethylMiner to be superior as it allows tailoring the enrichment to the regions where most CpGs are located. Using targeted bisulfite sequencing we confirmed that sites where methylation was detected by either MethylMiner or by MethylCap indeed were methylated

Rapid detection and enumeration of pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus in raw vegetables from retail outlets

This study aims to determine the frequency and density of potentially pathogenic Vibrio parahaemolyticus, defned as those possessing thermostable-direct hemolysin (tdh) and/or tdh-related hemolysin (trh) genes, in raw salad vegetables at retail level in Selangor, Malaysia. A combination of Most Probable Number - Polymerase Chain Reaction (MPN-PCR) method was applied to detect the presence of tdh and/or trh gene-possessing V. parahaemolyticus and to enumerate their density in the samples. A total of 276 samples of vegetables commonly eaten raw in Malaysia (Cabbage = 30; Carrot = 31; Cucumber = 28; Four winged bean = 26; Indian pennywort = 17; Japanese parsley = 21; Lettuce = 16; Long bean = 32; Sweet potato = 29; Tomato = 38; Wild cosmos = 8) were analyzed. The samples were purchased from two supermarkets (A and B) and two wet markets (C and D). With the MPN-PCR technique, about 12.0% of the samples were positive for the presence of V. parahaemolyticus tdh-positive, with maximum densities of up to 39 MPN/g. The total frequency of V. parahaemolyticus trh-positive in the samples was 10.1%, with maximum concentration 15 MPN/g. V. parahaemolyticus tdh-positive was most prevalent in samples from Wet Market C (20.78%) and also in vegetable type Oenanthe stolonifera (Japanese parsley) with 19.0%, while V. parahaemolyticus trh-positive was predominant in samples from Wet Market D (16.7%) and was most frequent in both Oenanthe stolonifera (Japanese parsley) and Cucumis sativus (Cucumber) with 14.3% prevalence for each type. The results highlighted the fact that raw vegetables could be contaminated with virulent V. parahaemolyticus and could act as a transmission route, thus poses risk to consumers from the consumption of raw vegetables. To the author’s knowledge, this is the first assessment of V. parahaemolyticus carrying tdh and trh genes in raw vegetables from retail outlets in Malaysia