Life Extension Foundation

Meat is a primary source of protein consumed in the world and secondary source of protein in India. India produced 10.25 million tonnes of meat in 2023-24. Telangana is the fourth largest meat producing state accounting for 10.85% of India’s meat production. The present study attempts to analyse the growth pattern, regional variations, sources of growth and instability in production of meat from different types of meat animals (buffaloes, sheep and goats) at the district level by using Compound growth rates, Coefficient of variation, Coppock’s Instability Index (CII) and Hazell’s decomposition analysis for the time series data from 2014-15 to 2023-24 on no of animals slaughtered, yield and meat production. Between 2014-15 and 2023-24 average meat production in Telangana has increased by 120.32% from 505.05 to 1112.73 thousand tons with an average of 800.4 thousand tons. Telangna’s share is increasing in all types of meats except sheep meat where it is showing slight decreasing trend in its share. Category wise analysis shows that poultry meat occupies major share of 46.12% and 43.27% of average meat production in Telangana and India respectively. Telangana accounts for an average share of 9.8% of meat animals and 9.4% of meat production. Its share is increasing for both production and animals for all types of meats. Meat production in telangana shows increasing trend for all types of meat, milch animals and yield. Overall Telangana meat production is stable with low instability index of 2.71% which is less than 15%. This indicates high production is associated with high instability. Rangareddy emerged as leading producer of meat in Telangana accounting for 14.13% of Telangana’s average meat production. Region wise, South Telangana accounts for 50.26 % of Meat production followed by Central Telangna (35.15%) and North Telangana (16.6%). Decomposition analysis showed that animals have contributed to change in average meat production in Telangana during 2014-15 to 2023-24. In North Telangana, where production potential is more, emphasis should be on marketing infrastructure like increasing no of slaughterhouses, livestock markets, road connectivity and encouraging commercial livestock production where as other regions needs to focus on production constraints like green fodder availability. Since the buffalo meat production whose share is less in total meat is predominant in North Telangana encouraging commercial poultry in North Telangana will increase meat production.

Abstract The integration of cover cropping in conventional farming systems has shown positive impacts on soil health enhancement. In Florida, where concerns persist about low productivity in mineral soils and significant carbon loss from organic soils, farmers are increasingly adopting cover crops in their routines. This collaborative study aimed to evaluate the immediate effects of cover cropping, comprehend the connections between soil health indicators, and measure quality indices for both mineral and organic soils. Across Florida, we conducted a comprehensive on‐farm study, gathering 272 samples from both mineral and organic surface soils, which were treated with winter or summer cover cropping, rice cultivation, and fallow or flooded fallow. After analyzing 12 health indicators, we employed statistical methods such as mean comparison, non‐parametric correlation, and regression for both pre‐ and post‐cover cropping periods. A modified Comprehensive Assessment of Soil Health scoring system was utilized to assess the quality indices of both soil types. Notably, cover cropping enhanced cation exchange capacity (CEC) and soil protein (SP) in organic soil while preserving an unchanged active carbon (AC) pool. In mineral soils, such practices improved CEC, organic matter, maximum water holding capacity, SP, and total Kjeldahl nitrogen while reducing bulk density and AC. Following cover cropping, correlations among indicators became more pronounced, emphasizing the intricate relationships among soil properties and essential nutrients. Despite this alteration, the health indices did not change in both soils after cover cropping. The study's confined duration, limited to a single cover crop season, may account for the observed impact.

The purpose of this publication is to provide guidance and tips on how to enter the wonderful world of moths, or "mothing," and, further, how to leverage iNaturalist to document moth observations and contribute to science. The intended audience is anyone who is interested in the natural world and wants to learn more about observing moths, identifying moths, and contributing to science by adding their observations to iNaturalist.

Federal statistical agencies are keenly aware that scientific research is not the only way in which their data assets are used for evidence building. Entities around the world have been building services on top of curated corpuses of scientific research, to help provide insight as to the importance of the works in the collection. This also provides a much-needed framework for statistical agencies and other dataset creators to search and find the usages and impacts of those datasets. While the other papers in this special issue largely apply machine learning models to find datasets in an extensively curated corpus, this paper starts with a much less structured framework and examines the potential to discover how datasets are used in writing that’s targeted at a broader base of users than scientific researchers, and describes the challenges and lessons learned from the exercise.

Background: Public engagement is needed to make sure urban forestry management efforts align with the values of the public being served. Noting this, we determined current and desired urban forest access of Florida (United States) residents using the criteria from the 3-30-300 rule (i.e., 3 trees visible from home, 30% canopy in neighborhood, and a green space within 300 meters of home). Methods: A survey of 1,716 Florida residents was conducted to assess canopy coverage and green space access. Respondents were then asked if this level of urban forest access was sufficient for their needs. We also asked their perceptions of the benefits and drawbacks of urban trees and whether they had any negative interactions with trees in the past. Results: We found that 37.3% of Florida residents met all three criteria of the 3-30-300 rule. Despite this, half the respondents would prefer more trees in their neighborhoods. When asked to name the top benefits provided by trees, the most common responses were shade, beauty, and attracting wildlife. The most common drawbacks to urban trees included risk to property, leaves/debris, and fears regarding storms and hurricanes. Conclusions: Florida residents largely value their urban forest and would like to see it maintained or enhanced. Improving access to greenspaces for recreation is the most pressing concern for urban forest managers in Florida looking to meet the requirements of the 3-30-300 rule. Results from this study can inform and test urban forest management at national and global scales.

The financial market, specifically the stock market, is a sector that suffers from the uncertainty factor and the constant economic instabilities of countries, where it would be ideal to use a tool that assists in the analysis of different probabilities and scenarios and that makes -if possible, introduce variables and situations that could or could not materialize, greatly facilitating the decision to invest or not. One of the experiment analyses tools that has become popular among managers is the Design of Experiments, which can be implemented in the development and optimization of systems, processes and products, however it is underused in the financial area. The general objective of this work is to identify as many areas as possible in which the Design of Experiments is being applied. And specifically, that of synthesizing the works published in the last 10 years, listing by region, language and authors, highlighting the most relevant scientific articles based on the volume of citations and discussing the applicability of the DOE exclusively in the financial market. As a methodology, the Systematic Literature Review (RS) was chosen, through bibliometric analysis. It is hoped that this work can bring another tool to financial professionals to help analyze risks and trace probabilities, increasing its use.