Climate change adds another dimension of challenges to the growth and sustainability of Indian agriculture. The growing exposure to livelihood shocks from climate variability/change and limited ...resource base of the rural community to adapt has reinforced the need to mainstream climate adaptation planning into developmental landscape. However, a better understanding of micro-level perceptions is imperative for effective and informed planning at the macro-level. In this paper, the grass-root level perspectives on climate change impacts and adaptation decisions were elicited at farm level in the Moga district of Punjab and Mahbubnagar district of Telangana, India. The farmers opined that the climatic variability impacts more than the long-term climate change. They observed change in the quantum, onset and distribution of rainfall, rise in minimum as well as maximum temperature levels, decline in crop yield and ground water depletion. The key socio-economic effects of climate change included decline in farm income, farm unemployment, rural migration and increased indebtedness among farmers. In order to cope with climate variability and change thereon, farmers resorted to adaptation strategies such as use of crop varieties of suitable duration, water conservation techniques, crop insurance and participation in non-farm activities and employment guarantee schemes. Farmers’ adaptation to changing climate was constrained by several technological, socio-economic and institutional barriers. These include limited knowledge on the costs–benefits of adaptation, lack of access to and knowledge of adaptation technologies, lack of financial resources and limited information on weather. Besides, lack of access to input markets, inadequate farm labour and smaller farm size were the other constraints. Further, on the basis of the grass-root elicitation a ‘Need-Based Adaptation’ planning incorporating farmers’ perceptions on climate change impacts, constraints in the adoption of adaptation strategies and plausible adaptation options were linked with the most suitable ongoing programmatic interventions of the Government of India. The study concluded that micro-level needs and constraints for various adaptation strategies and interventions should be an integral part of the programme development, implementation and evaluation in the entire developmental paradigm.
Introduction: The relationship of tobacco use to dental caries is still unclear. The aim of this study is to assess the relationship between smoking and smokeless tobacco usage and prevalence of ...dental caries and its pattern in the Varanasi population. Materials and Methods: In this study, 472 elderly dentate and consenting individuals were included. Individuals were examined with the aid of mouth mirror, No. 23 explorer, and cotton rolls. The age of the study group ranged from 16 years to 75 years. Individuals were categorized as smoking tobacco users, smokeless tobacco users, and the combination of these two. Frequency and dosage of tobacco usage was recorded. Dental caries was measured using decayed, missing, and filled teeth (DMFT) index. Oral hygiene practices such as mode, material, and frequency of brushing were also recorded. Data were assessed using SPSS 17.0 using Chi-square, t-test, ANOVA test, and binary regression. Results: Caries rate was similar in both males and females (2.57 and 2.70), and the difference was not statistically significant. Caries was higher in individuals with habits when compared to those who were not having habits. There was no statistically significant association between individuals who were smokers, using smokeless tobacco, frequency, mode, and material of brushing with caries pattern. Among smokers, DMFT increased with frequency and duration of smoking, and it was statistically significant; however, in smokeless tobacco users, this was not the case. There was a positive correlation with DMFT and frequency of smoking. Conclusion: The study has shown that tobacco habit is a risk factor for increased caries activity, and it is higher in smokers as compared to smokeless tobacco chewers.
Background There is paucity of real-world data on COVID-19 vaccine effectiveness from cohort designs. Variable vaccine performance has been observed in test-negative case-control designs. There is ...also scarce real-world data of health issues in individuals receiving vaccines after prior COVID-19, and of adverse events of significant concern (AESCs) in the vaccinated. Methods: A cohort study was conducted from July 2021 to December 2021 in a tertiary hospital of North India. The primary outcome was vaccine effectiveness against COVID-19 during the second wave in India. Secondary outcomes were AESCs, and persistent health issues in those receiving COVID-19 vaccines. Regression analyses were performed to determine risk factors of COVID-19 outcomes and persistent health issues. Results: Of the 2760 health care workers included, 2544 had received COVID-19 vaccines, with COVISHIELD (rChAdOx1-nCoV-19 vaccine) received by 2476 (97.3%) and COVAXIN (inactivated SARS-CoV-2 vaccine) by 64 (2.5%). A total of 2691 HCWs were included in the vaccine effectiveness analysis, and 973 COVID-19 events were reported during the period of analysis. Maximum effectiveness of two doses of vaccine in preventing COVID-19 occurrence was 17% across three different strategies of analysis adopted for robustness of data. One-dose recipients were at 1.27-times increased risk of COVID-19. Prior SARS-CoV-2 infection was a strong independent protective factor against COVID-19 (aOR 0.66). Full vaccination reduced moderate–severe COVID-19 by 57%. Those with lung disease were at 2.54-times increased risk of moderate–severe COVID-19, independent of vaccination status. AESCs were observed in 33/2544 (1.3%) vaccinees, including one case each of myocarditis and severe hypersensitivity. Individuals with hypothyroidism were at 5-times higher risk and those receiving a vaccine after recovery from COVID-19 were at 3-times higher risk of persistent health issues. Conclusions: COVID-19 vaccination reduced COVID-19 severity but offered marginal protection against occurrence. The possible relationship of asthma and hypothyroidism with COVID-19 outcomes necessitates focused research. With independent protection of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and high-risk of persistent health issues in individuals receiving vaccine after recovery from SARS-CoV-2 infection, the recommendation of vaccinating those with prior SARS-CoV-2 infection needs reconsideration.
Globally, agriculture is recognized as a highly vulnerable sector to climate change and risks from climatic aberrations pose an imminent danger to the food security and sustainability of livelihoods. ...To bring robustness in climate adaptation planning, evaluation of resilience across homogenous regions is essential for developing and scaling suitable location-need-context specific interventions and policies that build the resilience of the agricultural system. In this paper, we present an analysis and discussion of multi-scalar and multi-indicator assessment, by profiling resilience across agro-climatic zones of India, based on the development of a Climate-Resilient Agriculture Index embracing environmental, technological, socio-economic, and institutional and infrastructural dimension. A total of 26 indicators, spread across these four dimensions, were employed to purport inter- and intra-agro-climatic zone differentials in the level of resilience. Among the zones, it was found that West Coast Plains & Ghats and Tans-Gangetic Plains had the highest degree of resilience to manage climate risks. Most of the districts lying within Eastern Himalayan Region, Middle Gangetic Plains, Eastern Plateau & Hills, and Western Dry Region had a lower degree of resilience. The study places greater emphasis on deciphering region-specific drivers and barriers to resilience at a further disaggregated scale for improving rural well-beings. It is construed that devising action plans emphasizing awareness, preservation of natural resources, diversification, building physical infrastructure, strengthening of grass-root institutions, and mainstreaming climate adaptation in the developmental policy is crucial for climate-resilient pathways.
Vulnerability of agriculture to climate shocks and its consequences on farm livelihoods and food security is well recognized. Mainstreaming climate adaptation into policy landscape is a must for ...achieving the pathway to sustainable development. The approach envisages grass-root and climate perspectives to bring about developmental interventions for rural poor and small farm holders. Even though macro-level planning is necessary and useful, the coping mechanisms across different socio-economic and agro-climatic settings should be recommended at micro-level especially in developing nations. Responses of resource poor farmers to weather abnormalities are often rendered ineffective on account of several barriers to adaptation. Keeping this in view, we attempted to review the potential strategies adopted by the farmers, with a greater focus on constraints to adaptation in order to feed into the policy options of the Government. The authors articulate that the micro-level inferences from natural resource management, agriculture research and development, infrastructure and human capital across the space should be integral part of the climate adaptation planning. Moreover, the paper demonstrates how the developmental interventions spread across different verticals of the government can mutually address both the rural development and climate adaptation considerations. It is also construed that strengthening the role and capacity of local institutions in assembling grass-root information and in implementation of programmes is crucial for effectively addressing vulnerability to both the climatic and non-climatic factors. In nutshell, the paper aims at assisting development practitioners and policymakers in devising an effective approach towards mainstreaming climate adaptation in the existing rural developmental architecture.
Background: The world has been hit by an unknown obstacle in the form of the COVID-19 pandemic. India also faced a never seen before situation in trying to contain the spread of COVID-19 by enforcing ...one of the most stringent lockdowns in the world. The billion-plus population of the country throws a severe challenge at the operational level in enforcing the measures. The frontline workers in these trying times such as the Police, Central Industrial Security Force, health-care workers, volunteers, and essential service workers have done a praiseworthy job under exceptionally hard conditions. Aim: The study aimed to investigate the awareness of COVID-19 among the frontline police workers who were posted during lockdown in our state. Materials and Methods: A questionnaire comprising 25 questions was randomly distributed among the police personnel who were on COVID-19 duty. The knowledge they had was assembled, assessed, and scrutinized. Results: A total of 150 police officers took part in the study. Mean age of 39.91 ± 9.96 years was seen. The majority of them had enough knowledge about the ongoing pandemic and they were seen to be taking good precautions to fight the virus. Conclusion: The joint effort of public and the frontline workers was the mainstream reason to bring our country back on track. Police had put their best efforts into controlling the spread of this contagion by maintaining a strict lockdown. They did immensely well and we as citizens should be grateful to them for protecting us from this pandemic.
In this research, surface modification was carried out on aluminium alloy 6061 through friction stir processing by embedding surface with B
4
C particles. Three different samples namely, AA6061 with ...only stir processing (sample 1), friction stir processed by B
4
C with single pass (sample 2) and by B
4
C multi-pass (sample 3) were developed to study the wear, corrosion and microstructural properties. The modified surfaces were characterised by carrying out using optical and scanning electron microscopes. Pin-on disc method was employed to study the wear rate on these stir processed samples. Corrosion behaviour of three stir processed samples was characterised in a 3.5 wt.% NaCl solution at 10 mV/s scan rate. From microstructural analysis, the dark zones with onion rings were seen at the nugget zone in sample 2, whereas uniform distribution with clear grain boundaries were observed in sample 3. From wear test, the wear rate for sample 1 was higher when compared with other two samples. From corrosion test, corrosion rate of sample 2 was observed to be 1.469 mm/year which is lower than sample 1 (2.868 mm/year) and sample 3 (6.127 mm/year). Corrosion resistance of sample 2 was greatly improved due to proper mechanical mixing of B
4
C particles.
The paper contributes to the growing literature highlighting the significance of assessing risk and vulnerability, micro-level perceptions and adaptation decision-making in building resilience of ...farm communities to climate change in dryland region of India. To select a region for grassroots enquiry, spatial differential in risk to climate change was assessed in Rajasthan, using IPCC AR5 framework. Among the highly vulnerable and risky districts, Bikaner district was selected for elicitation of micro-level imperatives. Rising atmospheric temperature, inter-seasonal displacements of rainfall and recurrence of extreme events were perceived by the farmers resulting in resource degradation, production risks and erosion of households’ socio-economic dynamics. As risk preventive measures, suitable adjustment in agricultural practices, natural resource management, shift to off-farm activities and other relief measures were adopted by the farmers. Farmer’s choice of adaptation was influenced by several climatic, socio-economic and infrastructural & institutional factors in varying degree. Moreover, several financial, economic, infrastructural and informational bottlenecks to adaptations were reported during household survey and FGDs. The results suggest that capturing grassroots evidence is crucial for directing locally tailored adaptation strategies, along with the improving deficiencies in the developmental pathways for climate-resilient agriculture.
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