Impact of COVID-19 on Agriculture and Allied Sectors

Impact of Corona virus outbreak on mankind is serious. Apart from health issues and social life stand still, global economy has been affected drastically. Many sectors have been hit by this pandemic and agriculture and allied sectors are no exception. Issues such as shortage of labour, restricted access to markets have been tremendously affected this sector. Many of its frailties were exposed during the course but the resilient cultivation sector surfaced with some promising results after a good monsoon and aggressive response demonstrated by the government to support the sector. Government excluded several farming activities such as farm operations, agribusiness, dairy, poultry and fishery from lockdown limitations after the lockdown extended in May, 2020. Pandemic also presented a great opportunity to think over and evaluate the hidden potential of respective sectors. Solemn efforts are required for innovation and technical up gradation of agricultural operations to alleviate the impacts of the COVID-19 pandemic. As India struggles to uplift the distressed economy, government announced economic stimulus package worth INR 20, 00,000 crore under Atma Nirbhar Bharat Campaign. Long term impacts of this campaign are estimated to develop agriculture and allied sectors with major emphasis on quality products and increased exports of agriculture commodities.

Brain reactivity during aggressive response in women with premenstrual dysphoric disorder treated with a selective progesterone receptor modulator

Premenstrual dysphoric disorder (PMDD) is a psychiatric condition characterized by late luteal phase affective, cognitive, and physical impairment. The disorder causes significant suffering in about 5% of women in their reproductive age. Altered sensitivity of cognitive-affective brain circuits to progesterone and its downstream metabolite allopregnanolone is suggested to underlie PMDD symptomatology. Core mood symptoms include irritability and anger, with aggression being the behavioral outcome of these symptoms. The present study sought to investigate the neural correlates of reactive aggression during the premenstrual phase in women with PMDD, randomized to a selective progesterone receptor modulator (SPRM) or placebo. Self-reports on the Daily Record of Severity of Problems were used to assess PMDD symptoms and gonadal hormone levels were measured by liquid chromatography tandem mass spectrometry. Functional magnetic resonance imaging was performed in 30 women with PMDD, while performing the point subtraction aggression paradigm. Overall, a high SPRM treatment response rate was attained (93%), in comparison with placebo (53.3%). Women with PMDD randomized to SPRM treatment had enhanced brain reactivity in the dorsal anterior cingulate cortex and dorsomedial prefrontal cortex during the aggressive response condition. The fronto-cingulate reactivity during aggressive responses depended on treatment, with a negative relationship between brain reactivity and task-related aggressiveness found in the placebo but not the SPRM group. The findings contribute to define the role of progesterone in PMDD symptomatology, suggesting a beneficial effect of progesterone receptor antagonism, and consequent anovulation, on top-down emotion regulation, i.e., greater fronto-cingulate activity in response to provocation stimuli.

Aggressive Behaviour in the Context of Multiple Disabilities of Institutionalized Children and Young People – Case Studies

The topic of aggression is extremely relevant in our daily lives and this is why it is often the subject of theoretical and practical analysis. In the context of institutional care, it acquires specific dimensions related to a number of factors. This article presents two cases of residents of residential institutions for children and young people with disabilities, with an emphasis on influencing their level of aggressive response to reality. At the root of the interaction proposed are the ideas for supporting communication and for verbalizing desires and experiences in the context of group work. The cases described testify to the existence of positive tendencies in the ability to regulate one’s own behaviour in the natural environment as well as in situations of provocation by others.

Neuromorphological changes following selection for tameness and aggression in the Russian fox-farm experiment

The Russian fox-farm experiment is an unusually long-running and well-controlled study designed to replicate wolf-to-dog domestication. As such, it offers an unprecedented window onto the neural mechanisms governing the evolution of behavior. Here we report adaptations to gray matter morphology resulting from selection for tameness vs. aggressive response toward humans. Contrasting with prior work in other domesticated species, tame foxes did not show reduced brain volume. Rather, gray matter volume in both the tame and aggressive strains was increased relative to foxes bred without selection on behavior. Furthermore, tame- and aggressive-enlarged regions overlapped substantially, including portions of motor, somatosensory, and prefrontal cortex, amygdala, hippocampus, and cerebellum. We also observed differential morphological covariation across distributed gray matter networks. In one prefrontal-hypothalamic network, this covariation differentiated the tame and aggressive foxes together from the conventional strain. These findings indicate that selection for opposite behaviors can influence brain morphology in a similar way.

Morph-specific seasonal variation of aggressive behaviour in a polymorphic lizard species

The persistence of colour polymorphism (CP) within a given population is generally associated with the coexistence of alternative reproductive strategies, each one involving specific trade-offs among behavioural, morphological, physiological, and other life histories. Common wall lizard (Podarcis muralis), is a medium-sized diurnal lizard, showing CP in three main colours (yellow, white, and red) on throat and belly, and a morph-specific pattern for both immunocompetence and seasonal variation of T levels. Yellow males show low stamina with high plasma T levels at the beginning of the season, while white males show high stamina with a higher plasma T levels at the end of the season. We hypothesised the presence of two strategies: a risky one, characterised by high aggressiveness played by yellow-morph, and a conservative one by white morph with low aggressiveness. Thus, we tested the aggressive response to conspecifics of yellow and white morphs using a mirror inserted into their cage, mimicking an intrusion of a stranger in their territories, throughout the breeding season (from April to July, 117 trials). We considered three types of aggressive response, with different levels of aggressiveness: (i) bite against the image reflected in the mirror, (ii) seconds spent by the individuals into the half mirrored cage, and (iii) number of times the lizard entered the half mirrored cage. We also considered the number of tongue flicking as explorative behaviour variable. All lizards were tested after a period of acclimatisation to the captivity conditions. Results demonstrate that yellow males showed a higher aggressive response in the early season and a decrease aggressive response towards the end, whereas white males showed an opposite pattern.

Interventions for Perpetrators of Intimate Partner Violence: An I3 Model Perspective

The Instigating-Impelling-Inhibiting model of intimate partner violence (IPV) etiology, or “I3 Model,” is presented as a meta-theoretical alternative to traditional perspectives regarding treatment models for perpetrators of IPV. The I3 Model is a meta-theoretical approach to understanding IPV risk that, when applied to IPV intervention programs, incorporates practically any therapeutic component that aims to decrease individual's exposure to instigating contexts, target any individual or situational factor that impels IPV, and increase an individual's ability to inhibit an aggressive response. In this review, we first briefly summarize the IPV literature and existing intervention models. Second, we review the I3 Model and illustrate its promise as a guiding framework for understanding IPV risk and its broad relevance to etiology and intervention. Third, we discuss the conceptual application of this framework to intervention with IPV perpetrators. Fourth, we identify factors that may promote as well as complicate I3 Model-related intervention developments.

Differential Effects of Intervention Timing on COVID-19 Spread in the United States

Assessing the effects of early non-pharmaceutical interventions1-5 on COVID-19 spread in the United States is crucial for understanding and planning future control measures to combat the ongoing pandemic6-10. Here we use county-level observations of reported infections and deaths11, in conjunction with human mobility data12 and a metapopulation transmission model13,14, to quantify changes of disease transmission rates in US counties from March 15, 2020 to May 3, 2020. We find significant reductions of the basic reproductive numbers in major metropolitan areas in association with social distancing and other control measures. Counterfactual simulations indicate that, had these same control measures been implemented just 1-2 weeks earlier, a substantial number of cases and deaths could have been averted. Specifically, nationwide, 61.6% [95% CI: 54.6%-67.7%] of reported infections and 55.0% [95% CI: 46.1%-62.2%] of reported deaths as of May 3, 2020 could have been avoided if the same control measures had been implemented just one week earlier. We also examine the effects of delays in re-implementing social distancing following a relaxation of control measures. A longer response time results in a stronger rebound of infections and death. Our findings underscore the importance of early intervention and aggressive response in controlling the COVID-19 pandemic.

Assessing the Preference of Rabbit Does to Social Contact or Seclusion: Results of Different Investigations

The aim of this study was to verify the motivation of rabbit does to social contact or seclusion. The results of two different research activities assessed in Italy (experiment 1) and Germany (experiment 2) through the use of motivational cages are reported. In experiment 1, only the average time of occupation of the group or seclusion zone was recorded of four nulliparous does, while, in experiment 2, the group-housing system provided space for does with kits and consisted of four single areas (nest boxes with individual electronic nest box recognition systems). Experiment 1 showed that does spent a similar amount of time in seclusion or in group (49.61% vs 50.39%, respectively). On the contrary, in experiment 2, does with kits appeared to prefer spending time alone (71.90%) rather than in groups. The presence of kits probably stimulates a hierarchical and aggressive response of the dominant does, with the low-ranking does staying secluded to avoid violent interactions. In fact, in each reproductive cycle, one doe did stay in the group area whereas the other three does used this area in different percentages of time. Further researches are needed to find a good combination of the cage with the does’ physiological phases.