No abstract

The relationship between fishing, livelihood diversification and poverty was investigated in the lower Mekong basin, in Laos, where fishing forms an important, but usually secondary part of rural livelihoods. Results from a household survey show that participation in fishing is common and positively associated with higher occupational diversity and more agricultural activities. This is likely due to the low opportunity costs associated with many forms of fishing and factors such as tradition, enjoyment of fishing, underutilised labour and low capital requirements. Alternative livelihoods within the rural setting are therefore unlikely to cause fishers to leave the fishery, but instead strengthen the livelihood portfolio as a supplementary activity. Fishing is not an activity only for the very poorest households, but is undertaken by all wealth groups. However, fishing forms a greater proportion of income, employment and food security for the poor and is important in households with poor quality farm land.

No abstract

Intestinal flora plays a critical role in the initiation and perpetuation of inflammatory bowel disease. This study examined whether live fecal bacteria were necessary for the initiation of this inflammatory response or whether sterile fecal material would provoke a similar response. Three preparations of fecal material were prepared: (1) a slurry of live fecal bacteria, (2) a sterile lysate of bacterial antigens, and (3) a sterile filtrate of fecal water. Each preparation was introduced via gastric gavage into the intestines of axenic interleukin-10 gene-deficient mice genetically predisposed to develop inflammatory bowel disease. Intestinal barrier integrity and degrees of mucosal and systemic inflammations were determined for each preparation group. Intestinal barrier integrity, as determined by mannitol transmural flux, was altered by both live fecal bacterial and sterile lysates of bacterial antigens, although it was not altered by sterile filtrates of fecal water. However, only live fecal bacteria initiated mucosal inflammation and injury and a systemic immune response. Fecal bacterial antigens in the presence of live bacteria and sterile fecal bacterial antigens have different effects on the initiation and perpetuation of intestinal inflammation.

No abstract