Impacts of COVID-19 on small-scale freshwater carp and coastal brackish water shrimp farming in India

The present study was simultaneously conducted in two distantly located areas to assess the impacts of COVID-19 on farming processes, instantaneous financial impacts and mitigation strategies adopted by the farmers in the small scale freshwater carp farming and coastal brackish water shrimp farming sectors in India. Primary data were collected through interview of the farmers with the help of pre-tested structured interview schedules. Though the initial impact in both the sectors were substantial, freshwater carp farmers mitigated the crises comparatively well because of wider option in alternative livelihood, low cost locally available inputs, mobilization of local market, direct door to door vending of live fish and mobilization of women work force from the family in the farming sector. Untapped resource in the form of women's' participation in the freshwater farming practices was noteworthy during the pandemic period which increased polynomially (y = - 1.0714x2 + 7.5286x -2.2;R2 = 0.9648). As the shrimp farming sector was dependent upon external markets and burdened with high cost inputs primarily supplied by the input dealers on credit basis, the sector has to bear the burden most. Garret's Rank analysis revealed that integration with other production sectors ranked first as mitigation perception to the freshwater carp farmers, whereas, to the coastal shrimp farmers, the highest rank was with the perception that everything will be normalized within 2- 3 months naturally. Garret's Rank analysis also revealed that in both the sectors, the farmers most important need was credit from the Govt. source in mitigating COVID-19 like crisis in future. © D. Hait.

Special Issue: Genetics and genomics of adaptation. (Special Issue: Genetics and genomics of adaptation.)

This special issue consists of 9 articles on the following topics: population genomics reveals repeated signals of adaptive divergence in the Atlantic salmon of north-eastern Europe;transcriptome wide genotype-phenotype associations in Daphnia in a predation risk environment;the pitfalls and virtues of population genetic summary statistics: Detecting selective sweeps in recent divergences;using gradient Forest to predict climate response and adaptation in Cork oak;variable routes to genomic and host adaptation among coronaviruses;little parallelism in genomic signatures of local adaptation in two sympatric, cryptic sister species;genomic signatures of UV resistance evolution in Escherichia coli depend on the growth phase during exposure;visual and nonvisual opsin genes of sharks and other nonosteichthyan vertebrates: Genomic exploration of underwater photoreception;and microRNA expression variation as a potential molecular mechanism contributing to adaptation to hydrogen sulphide.

Eight Weeks of Pilates Training Improves Respiratory Measures in People With a History of COVID-19: A Preliminary Study.

BACKGROUND: Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) can result in prolonged and severe damage to the lungs and quality of life (QoL). This study was designed to investigate the effects of 8-week Pilates and Aqua-Pilates training on pulmonary function and QoL in patients with COVID-19. HYPOTHESIS: Pilates and Aqua-Pilates training promotes similar changes on pulmonary function and QoL in people with a history of COVID-19. STUDY DESIGN: Randomized controlled trial. LEVEL OF EVIDENCE: Level 3. METHODS: A total of 45 participants (24 men and 21 women) with a history of COVID-19 were assigned randomly to 3 groups: Pilates training (standard Pilates), Aqua-Pilates training (Pilates in water), and Control. The training protocol was performed for 8 weeks (3 sessions per week). Forced vital capacity (FVC), forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1), and the ratio of FEV1 to the FVC (FEV1/FVC) indices were measured by a spirometer. The 26-item questionnaire World Health Organization Quality of Life (WHOQOL) BREF was used to assess QoL. Data were analyzed using paired-sample t test and analysis of covariance with an alpha level <0.05. RESULTS: The mean age of the participants was 49.9 ± 6.4 years. After 8 weeks of Pilates and Aqua-Pilates training, there were significant increases in FVC (21.4% for Pilates and 22.1% for Aqua-Pilates, P < 0.05), FEV1 (32.3% for Pilates and 34.7% for Aqua-Pilates, P < 0.05), and FEV1/FVC% (9% for Pilates and 10.3% for Aqua-Pilates, P < 0.05) for the experimental groups, but not for control. Changes for Pilates and Acqua-Pilates were significantly higher than for control. The QoL scores were significantly different within and between the experimental groups, with greater improvements in the Aqua Pilates group than in the Pilates group. CONCLUSION: An 8-week Pilates or Aqua-Pilates training can improve pulmonary function as much as 34%, depending on the parameter, and QoL in people with a history of COVID-19. Aqua-Pilates training appears to be preferable to standard Pilates. CLINICAL RELEVANCE: The findings provide important insights into how healthcare professionals can prescribe exercise for COVID-19 survivors.

Mental effects of aquatic occupational therapy among women engaged in indoor and outdoor physical activity forms

Purpose: Occupational therapy that uses a person's stay by natural, open waters is known as thalassotherapy and refers to a wide range of health effects, ranging from improving thyroid function, skin appearance and aromatherapy, to strengthening immunity and improving well-being in contact with cold water. During the coronavirus pandemic, severe neurotic-depressive symptoms are associated with numerous limitations in the space of daily living. At the same time, many examples of group physical activity in cold water, known as swimming, have been observed during this period. It is an important condition for both physical and mental well-being which enables social relations. The aim of the study was to compare situational anxiety and body perception levels in women engaged in outdoor (ice-swimming) and indoor (aqua fitness) forms of physical activity in water during the coronavirus pandemic. Material: The study was conducted among 60 female subjects who declared water-based exercise, including 30 subjects practicing ice-swimming (age 39.93 ± 11.15) and 30 doing aqua fitness (age 50.63 ± 10.87). The research tools consisted of two questionnaires, namely State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (STAI) in the version assessing situational anxiety and the Body Esteem Scale (BES). Results: The claimed situational anxiety level in the positive feelings scale showed one statistically significant difference in favor of respondents engaged in ice-swimming, which turned out to be relaxation (p <0.001). More important differences in favor of females practicing ice-swimming were observed in the case of negative indicators of situational anxiety. They concerned declared depression (p <0.001), as well as tension, resentment, and concern (p <0.05). practitioners of ice-swimming achieved statistically better results than the representatives of the aqua fitness group in 8 out of 35 body assessment elements. Conclusions: Limiting the possibility of using indoor sports facilities affects situational anxiety and reduces the sense of acceptance of one's own body, as opposed to unlimited access to outdoor recreational spaces. © 2021, Editura Universitatii din Pitesti. All rights reserved.

Season, not lockdown, improved air quality during COVID-19 State of Emergency in Nigeria.

Globally, ambient air pollution claims ~9 million lives yearly, prompting researchers to investigate changes in air quality. Of special interest is the impact of COVID-19 lockdown. Many studies reported substantial improvements in air quality during lockdowns compared with pre-lockdown or as compared with baseline values. Since the lockdown period coincided with the onset of the rainy season in some tropical countries such as Nigeria, it is unclear if such improvements can be fully attributed to the lockdown. We investigate whether significant changes in air quality in Nigeria occurred primarily due to statewide COVID-19 lockdown. We applied a neural network approach to derive monthly average ground-level fine aerosol optical depth (AODf) across Nigeria from year 2001-2020, using the Multi-angle Implementation of Atmospheric Correction (MAIAC) AODs from Terra and Aqua Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) satellites, AERONET aerosol optical properties, meteorological and spatial parameters. During the year 2020, we found a 21% or 26% decline in average AODf level across Nigeria during lockdown (April) as compared to pre-lockdown (March), or during the easing phase-1 (May) as compared to lockdown, respectively. Throughout the 20-year period, AODf levels were highest in January and lowest in May or June, but not April. Comparison of AODf levels between 2020 and 2019 shows a small decline (1%) in pollution level in April of 2020 compare to 2019. Using a linear time-lag model to compare changes in AODf levels for similar months from 2002 to 2020, we found no significant difference (Levene's test and ANCOVA; α = 0.05) in the pollution levels by year, which indicates that the lockdown did not significantly improve air quality in Nigeria. Impact analysis using multiple linear regression revealed that favorable meteorological conditions due to seasonal change in temperature, relative humidity, planetary boundary layer height, wind speed and rainfall improved air quality during the lockdown.