Diversification In Employment Structure And Status Of Rural Women Workers In Ernakulam District

The basic objective of the present study has been to observe the process and pattern of employment diversification among the rural women workers in Ernakulam district. The evidences are that the women workers in the rural areas of the state are being increasingly diversified into the tertiary sector. The clear cut evidence for the fact that in Kerala non-agricultural employment of rural women is increasing with more and more of them getting diversified into the tertiary sector. The women get more self esteem and recognition in terms of the work being done by them. In the urban areas of the state as a poverty eradicating measure the Kerala government has already introduced a new scheme under the banner of Kudumbasree. Another fact noticed in the study that the sectoral shift of women workers has posed a grave problem to the agricultural sector. The reluctance of workers to do manual jobs on land and the prevalence of high wages among the agricultural labours has left many a cultivable area fallow or has induced farmers to shift to less labour –intensive crops. The situation is expected to worsen in future as even the high wages fail to attract the young generation to this sector. To conclude the study has fulfilled all its objectives, viz; highlighting the rural employment structure in Kerala, examining the process, pattern, determinants and consequences of diversification among rural women workers in the sample villages. Being the first of its kind at the micro level in the state it contributes to the available literature in the area enriching the database that is crucially lacking for devising projects at the village and block-level. There exists ample scope for future research of similar nature in an urban background where the secondary data-sources are hinding towards a reversal of trends from non-agriculture to agriculture.

‘Once a miner, always a miner’: Poverty and livelihood diversification in Akwatia, Ghana

This paper offers an alternative viewpoint on why people choose to engage in artisanal mining – the low tech mineral extraction and processing of mainly precious metals and stones – for extended periods in sub-Saharan Africa. Drawing upon experiences from Akwatia, Ghana’s epicentre of diamond production since the mid-1920s, the analysis challenges the commonly-held view that the region’s people are drawn to artisanal mining solely because of a desire ‘to get rich quick’. A combination of events, including the recent closure of Ghana Consolidated Diamonds Ltd’s industrial-scale operation and decreased foreign investment in the country’s diamond industry over concerns of it potentially harbouring ‘conflict’ stones from neighbouring Coˆte D’Ivoire, has had a debilitating economic impact on Akwatia. In an attempt to alleviate their hardships, many of the town’s so-called ‘lifetime’ diamond miners have managed to secure employment in neighbouring artisanal gold mining camps. But their decision has been condemned by many of the country’s policymakers and traditional leaders, who see it solely as a move to secure ‘fast money’. It is argued here, however, that these people pursue work in surrounding artisanal gold mining communities mainly because of poverty, and that their decision has more to do with a desire to immerse in activities with which they are familiar, that offer stable employment and consistent salaries, and provide immediate debt relief. Misdiagnosis of cases such as Akwatia underscores how unfamiliar policymakers and donors are with the dynamics of ASM in sub-Saharan Africa.

Out of the Andes: patterns of diversification in clearwing butterflies

Global biodiversity peaks in the tropical forests of the Andes, a striking geological feature that has likely been instrumental in generating biodiversity by providing opportunities for both vicariant and ecological speciation. However, the role of these mountains in the diversification of insects, which dominate biodiversity, has been poorly explored using phylogenetic methods. Here we study the role of the Andes in the evolution of a diverse Neotropical insect group, the clearwing butterflies. We used dated species-level phylogenies to investigate the time course of speciation and to infer ancestral elevation ranges for two diverse genera. We show that both genera likely originated at middle elevations in the Andes in the Middle Miocene, contrasting with most published results in vertebrates that point to a lowland origin. Although we detected a signature of vicariance caused by the uplift of the Andes at the Miocene-Pliocene boundary, most sister species were parapatric without any obvious vicariant barrier. Combined with an overall decelerating speciation rate, these results suggest an important role for ecological speciation and adaptive radiation, rather than simple vicariance.

Geographic range size, life history and rates of diversification in Australian mammals

What causes species richness to vary among different groups of organisms? Two hypotheses are that large geographical ranges and fast life history either reduce extinction rates or raise speciation rates, elevating a clade's rate of diversification. Here we present a comparative analysis of these hypotheses using data on the phylogenetic relationships, geographical ranges and life history of the terrestrial mammal fauna of Australia. By comparing species richness patterns to null models, we show that species are distributed nonrandomly among genera. Using sister-clade comparisons to control for clade age, we then find that faster diversification is significantly associated with larger geographical ranges and larger litters, but there is no evidence for an effect of body size or age at first breeding on diversification rates. We believe the most likely explanation for these patterns is that larger litters and geographical ranges increase diversification rates because they buffer species from extinction. We also discuss the possibility that positive effects of litter size and range size on diversification rates result from elevated speciation rates.

Hybridisation and diversification in the adaptive radiation of clownfishes.

BackgroundThe importance of hybridisation during species diversification has long been debated among evolutionary biologists. It is increasingly recognised that hybridisation events occurred during the evolutionary history of numerous species, especially during the early stages of adaptive radiation. We study the effect of hybridisation on diversification in the clownfishes, a clade of coral reef fish that diversified through an adaptive radiation process. While two species of clownfish are likely to have been described from hybrid specimens, the occurrence and effect of hybridisation on the clade diversification is yet unknown.ResultsWe generate sequences of three mitochondrial genes to complete an existing dataset of nuclear sequences and document cytonuclear discordance at a node, which shows a drastic increase of diversification rate. Then, using a tree-based jack-knife method, we identify clownfish species likely stemming from hybridisation events. Finally, we use molecular cloning and identify the putative parental species of four clownfish specimens that display the morphological characteristics of hybrids.ConclusionsOur results show that consistently with the syngameon hypothesis, hybridisation events are linked with a burst of diversification in the clownfishes. Moreover, several recently diverged clownfish lineages likely originated through hybridisation, which indicates that diversification, catalysed by hybridisation events, may still be happening.

Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET)

Evidence Review 3 - Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) Briefing 3 - Reducing the number of young people not in employment, education or training (NEET) This pair of documents, commissioned by Public Health England, and written by the UCL Institute of Health Equity, examine how to help young people into employment, education or training. They describe the relationship between being NEET and health; inequalities in prevalence of being NEET; and the scale of the problem. The papers show that being NEET, particularly for prolonged periods, is associated with negative effects on health and a range of other outcomes. Furthermore, the chances of becoming NEET are not equally or randomly distributed throughout society – those who are relatively disadvantaged, from poor backgrounds, or who have had negative experiences at school are more likely to spend some time being NEET. The papers also propose actions that can be taken at a local level in order to reduce the proportion of young people who are NEET. There is good evidence on what works in order to enable and support young people to enter employment, education and training. Taking action to reduce NEET levels is both possible and necessary – both to ensure young people have opportunities, and also as an important way to improve public health and reduce inequalities. The full evidence review and a shorter summary briefing are available to download above. This document is part of a series. An overview document which provides an introduction to this and other documents in the series, and links to the other topic areas, is available on the ‘Local Action on health inequalities’ project page. A video of Michael Marmot introducing the work is also available on our videos page.

Rate of gene sequence evolution and species diversification in flowering plants: a re-evaluation

Barraclough and co-workers (in a paper published in 1996) observed that there was a significant positive correlation between the rate of evolution of the rbcL chloroplast gene within families of flowering plants and the number of species in those families. We tested three additional data sets of our own (based on both plastid and nuclear genes) and used methods designed specifically for the comparison of sister families (based on random speciation and extinction). We show that, over all sister groups, the correlation between the rate of gene evolution and an increased diversity is not always present. Despite tending towards a positive association, the observation of individual probabilities presents a U-shaped distribution of association (i.e. it can be either significantly positive or negative). We discuss the influence of both phylogenetic sampling and applied taxonomies on the results.

Ecological and historical drivers of diversification in the fly genus Chiastocheta Pokorny.

Coevolution is among the main forces shaping the biodiversity on Earth. In Eurasia, one of the best-known plant-insect interactions showing highly coevolved features involves the fly genus Chiastocheta and its host-plant Trollius. Although this system has been widely studied from an ecological point of view, the phylogenetic relationships and biogeographic history of the flies have remained little investigated. In this integrative study, we aim to test the monophyly of the five Chiastocheta eco-morphological groups, defined by Pellmyr in 1992, by inferring a mitochondrial phylogeny. We further apply a new approach to assess the effect of (i) different molecular substitution rates and (ii) phylogenetic uncertainty on the inference of the spatio-temporal evolution of the group. From a taxonomic point of view, we demonstrate that only two of Pellmyr's groups (rotundiventris and dentifera) are phylogenetically supported, the other species appearing para- or polyphyletic. We also identify the position of C. lophota, which was not included in previous surveys. From a spatio-temporal perspective, we show that the genus arose during the Pliocene in Europe. Our results also indicate that at least four large-scale dispersal events are required to explain the current distribution of Chiastocheta. Moreover, each dispersal to or from Asia is associated with a host-shift and seems to correspond to an increase in speciation rates. Finally, we highlight the correlation between diversification and climatic fluctuations, which indicate that the cycles of global cooling over the last million years had an influence on the radiation of the group.

Ex-Offenders in Employment, 2005

Currently, Iowa law lacks statutory language that would include Iowans with a criminal history as a protected class (this lack of coverage mirrors most of the nation). However, Iowa has been shown to parallel EEOC guidance that states that an employer may exclude an individual from employment on the basis of a conviction record only if the employer’s decision was “justified by business necessity.”

Effects of a fire response trait on diversification in replicated radiations.

Fire has been proposed as a factor explaining the exceptional plant species richness found in Mediterranean regions. A fire response trait that allows plants to cope with frequent fire by either reseeding or resprouting could differentially affect rates of species diversification. However, little is known about the generality of the effects of differing fire response on species evolution. We study this question in the Restionaceae, a family that radiated in Southern Africa and Australia. These radiations occurred independently and represent evolutionary replicates. We apply Bayesian approaches to estimate trait-specific diversification rates and patterns of climatic niche evolution. We also compare the climatic heterogeneity of South Africa and Australia. Reseeders diversify faster than resprouters in South Africa, but not in Australia. We show that climatic preferences evolve more rapidly in reseeder lineages than in resprouters and that the optima of these climatic preferences differ between the two strategies. We find that South Africa is more climatically heterogeneous than Australia, independent of the spatial scale we consider. We propose that rapid shifts between states of the fire response trait promote speciation by separating species ecologically, but this only happens when the landscape is sufficiently heterogeneous.

Molecular phylogenetics and temporal diversification in the genus Aeromonas based on the sequences of five housekeeping genes

Several approaches have been developed to estimate both the relative and absolute rates of speciation and extinction within clades based on molecular phylogenetic reconstructions of evolutionary relationships, according to an underlying model of diversification. However, the macroevolutionary models established for eukaryotes have scarcely been used with prokaryotes. We have investigated the rate and pattern of cladogenesis in the genus Aeromonas (γ-Proteobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteria) using the sequences of five housekeeping genes and an uncorrelated relaxed-clock approach. To our knowledge, until now this analysis has never been applied to all the species described in a bacterial genus and thus opens up the possibility of establishing models of speciation from sequence data commonly used in phylogenetic studies of prokaryotes. Our results suggest that the genus Aeromonas began to diverge between 248 and 266 million years ago, exhibiting a constant divergence rate through the Phanerozoic, which could be described as a pure birth process.

Molecular phylogenetics and temporal diversification in the genus Aeromonas based on the sequences of five housekeeping genes

Several approaches have been developed to estimate both the relative and absolute rates of speciation and extinction within clades based on molecular phylogenetic reconstructions of evolutionary relationships, according to an underlying model of diversification. However, the macroevolutionary models established for eukaryotes have scarcely been used with prokaryotes. We have investigated the rate and pattern of cladogenesis in the genus Aeromonas (γ-Proteobacteria, Proteobacteria, Bacteria) using the sequences of five housekeeping genes and an uncorrelated relaxed-clock approach. To our knowledge, until now this analysis has never been applied to all the species described in a bacterial genus and thus opens up the possibility of establishing models of speciation from sequence data commonly used in phylogenetic studies of prokaryotes. Our results suggest that the genus Aeromonas began to diverge between 248 and 266 million years ago, exhibiting a constant divergence rate through the Phanerozoic, which could be described as a pure birth process.