Gender and Climate Change in the Indian Himalayas: Global Threats, Local Vulnerabilities, and Livelihood Diversification at the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve

Global climate change has numerous implications for members of mountain communities who feel the impacts in both physical and social dimensions. In the western Himalayas of India, a majority of residents maintain a livelihood strategy that includes a combination of subsistence or small-scale agriculture, livestock rearing, seasonal or long-term migration, and localized natural resource extraction. While warming temperatures, irregular patterns of precipitation and snowmelt, and changing biological systems present challenges to the viability of these traditional livelihood portfolios in general, we find that climate change is also undermining local communities’ livelihood assets in gender-specific ways. In this paper, we present a case study from the Nanda Devi Biosphere Reserve (Uttarakhand, India) that both outlines the implications of climate change for women farmers in the area and highlights the potential for ecotourism (as a form of livelihood diversification) to strengthen both key livelihood assets of women and local communities’ adaptive capacity more broadly. The paper intentionally employs a categorical focus on women but also addresses issues of inter-group and gender diversity. With this special issue in mind, suggestions for related research are proposed for consideration by climate scientists and social systems and/or policy modelers seeking to support gender justice through socially transformative perspectives and frameworks

Book review: Brewing resistance: Indian Coffee House and the emergency in postcolonial India by Kristin Victoria Magistrelli Plys

In Brewing Resistance: Indian Coffee House and the Emergency in Postcolonial India, Kristin Victoria Magistrelli Plys explores the Coffee House movement as a space of resistance or ‘autonomous zone’ that emerged to contest the authoritarian turn in India during the Emergency of 1975-77. This book is an important and timely reminder of the history of resistance that underscores the importance of tangible spaces in offering sites of protest against totalitarian regimes, writes Anand Badola. Brewing Resistance: Indian Coffee House and the Emergency in Postcolonial India. Kristin Victoria Magistrelli Plys. Cambridge University Press. 2020

Ecodevelopment, Gender, and Empowerment: Perspectives from India’s Protected Area Communities

Book abstract: Feminism has re-shaped the way we think about equality, power relations and social change. Recent feminist scholarship has provided new theoretical frameworks, methodologies and empirical analyses of how gender and feminism are situated within the development process.Global Perspectives on Gender and Space: Engaging Feminism and Development draws upon this framework to explore the effects of globalization on development in diverse geographical contexts. It explores how women’s and men’s lives are gendered in specific spaces as well as across multiple landscapes

Recent advancement in drugs of Alzheimer's disease

Alzheimer's disease (AD), a multifaceted neurological ailment that progresses over time, is the most common cause of dementia in older people. Intracellular neurofibrillary tangles and extracellular amyloidal protein deposits contribute to senile plaques on a pathological level. AD symptoms vary depending on the stage of the disease. Depending on the severity of cognitive impairment, AD is classified as preclinical or presymptomatic, mild, or dementia-stage. In addition, the condition is influenced by a number of risk factors, including advancing age, hereditary factors, head injuries, vascular diseases, infections, and environmental variables. There are currently only two types of licenced medications to treat AD: inhibitors of the cholinesterase enzyme such as donepezil, rivastigmine, galantamine and antagonists of N-methyl d-aspartate (NMDA) such as memantine, both of which are only effective in treating the symptoms of the disease and do not cure or prevent it

Effect of Storage Conditions and Storage Periods on Seed Germination in Eleven Populations of Swertia chirayita: A Critically Endangered Medicinal Herb in Himalaya

Effect of different storage conditions (room temperature, 4°C, and −15°C) and different storage periods over 24 months on seed germination in Swertia chirayita collected from different altitudes in Sikkim Himalaya was determined. Multivariate ANOVA revealed significant (P < 0.0001) effect of storage condition and storage period on seed germination and mean germination time. Seed germination percentage significantly (P < 0.01) varied between 87.78% (Sc5) and 100% (Sc2) during initial testing. Comparatively, high seed germination, low mean germination time, and low rate of fall in seed germination percentage in seeds stored at 4°C over different storage period were recorded. In addition, above 50% seed germination in majority of the populations even after 24 months of storage suggests 4°C as the most appropriate storage condition for long-term storage of seeds of S. chirayita

Individual Investors – Are they Emotionally Biased?

The stock market is a crucial aspect of not just India’s financial market but of the world’s economy as a whole, as it results into massive investments performances. In the fast-moving financial scenario, the traditional finance is unable to explain the irrationality of an individual investor, as they are irrational and influenced by irregularities in financial market. Behavioural finance has earned a lot of significance through its attempts to discover such causes which are behind an investor’s behaviour. The objective of this research paper is to investigate the key impact of behavioural biases in the investment decision making of individual investors. The study consisted of 378 individual investors trading in Indian stock exchanges and data was collected through a questionnaire developed for the purpose of research. The questionnaire was empirically tested after approving its reliability and validity. It is interesting to know the impact of different emotional biases affecting the investment decisions of individual investors. Loss aversion bias, Status quo bias and Optimism bias were studied

Ethnomedicinal plant use by Lepcha tribe of Dzongu valley, bordering Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, in North Sikkim, India

Lepcha is the oldest and the first tribe reported from Sikkim, India; majority of its population inhabiting in Dzongu valley, an officially demarcated reserve for Lepcha community, bordering Khangchendzonga Biosphere Reserve, in north district. Lepchas of Dzongu are known for their retention of rich cultural heritage. In view of the on-going cultural and economic changes brought in by the process of globalization, the immediate need was felt to document in details the under-explored ethnomedicinal practices of Lepchas of Dzongu valley. This paper reports 118 species, belonging to 71 families and 108 genera, under ethnomedicinal utility by the Lepchas for curing approximately 66 ailments, which could be grouped under 14 broad categories. Zingiberaceae appeared as the most used family (8 species and 5 genera). As per use pattern, maximum of 30.50% species are to cure stomach related disorders/ailments, followed by 19.49% for curing cut, wounds, inflammation, sprains and joint pains. Administration of medicine orally is recorded in 75% cases. Root and rhizome harvesting targeted 30 species. The changing scenario over time both at socio-cultural front and passing traditional knowledge interests from older to younger generation and rich ethnomicinal wealth of the oldest tribe of Sikkim are discussed in the light of conservation strategies and techniques to adopt

DEVELOPMENT AND EVALUATION OF TIOCONAZOLE LOADED EMULGEL

Objective: The objective of the present work was to develop, characterize and evaluate the tioconazole loaded emulgel and to prove that emulgel can be the best alternative for delivery of hydrophobic drug topically.Methods: for the preparation of stable Emulgel, firstly gels were prepared using different polymers as carbopol 934 and xanthan gum, followed by preparation of emulsions and finally mixed together (table 1). Emulgel was evaluated for physical appearance, pH, spreadability, extrudability, viscosity, swelling index, dilution test, centrifuge test, drug content, in vitro release study, kinetic analysis of release data, antifungal activity and stability study for 3 mo. A comparative study was also performed between prepared emulgels with available marketed antifungal cream.Results: All evaluation parameters were in acceptable range with good physical appearance and the pH in the range of 5.5 to 6.8. The results show that the extrudability was in the range 15.63 to 35.27 g/cm2; with spreadability in range of 6.6 to 8.833 cm. swelling index of F3 was seen a maximum in 3 h of about 75.13%. The viscosity was in the range of 15240 to 56340 cps at 10 RPM. During in vitro release of all formulations, F1 and F5 showed a maximum in vitro drug release of 59.11% and 55.11% respectively in 8 h. The kinetic analysis of fitting the data in different model shows that the best formulation of F1 fits in the Higuchi model with regression coefficient (R2) of 0.998 and show non-fickian diffusion. The formulations were found stable. F1 and F5 provide a similar zone of inhibition like to market cream.Conclusion: Tioconazole emulgel provide the better platform for delivery of hydrophobic drug for topical route and so able to produce better patient compliance.Â

Improved boreal vegetation mapping using imaging spectroscopy to aid wildfire management, Interior Alaska

Thesis (Ph.D.) University of Alaska Fairbanks, 2023Wildfires are a natural and essential part of Alaska ecosystems, but excessive wildfires pose a risk to the ecosystem's health and diversity, as well as to human life and property. To manage wildfires effectively, vegetation/fuel maps play a critical role in identifying high-risk areas and allocating resources for prevention, suppression, and recovery efforts. Furthermore, vegetation/fuel maps are an important input for fire behavior models, along with weather and topography data. By predicting fire behavior, such as spread rate, intensity, and direction, fuel models allow fire managers to make informed decisions about wildfire suppression, management, and prevention. Traditionally used vegetation/fuel maps in Alaska are inadequate due to a lack of detailed information since they are primarily generated using coarser resolution (30m) multispectral data. Hyperspectral remote sensing offers an efficient approach for better characterization of forest vegetation due to the narrow bandwidth and finer spatial resolution. However, the high cost associated with data acquisition remains a significant challenge to the widespread application of hyperspectral data. The aim of this research is to create accurate and detailed vegetation maps and upscale them for the boreal region of Alaska. The study involves hyperspectral data simulation using Airborne Visible InfraRed Imaging Spectrometer - Next Generation (AVIRIS-NG) data and publicly available Sentinel-2 multispectral data, ground spectra convolved to Sentinel-2 and AVIRIS-NG using the spectral response function of each sensor. Simulated data captured the minute details found in the real AVIRIS-NG data and were classified to map vegetation. Using the ground data from Bonanza Creek Long-Term Ecological Research sites, we compared the new maps with the two existing map products (the LANDFIRE's Existing Vegetation Type (EVT) and Alaska Vegetation and Wetland Composite). The maps generated using simulated data showed an improvement of 33% in accuracy and are more detailed than existing map products. In addition to fuel maps, we performed sub-pixel level mapping to generate a needleleaf fraction map, which serves fire management needs since needleleaf species are highly flammable. However, validating the sub-pixel product was challenging. To overcome this, we devised a novel validation method incorporating high-resolution airborne hyperspectral data (1m) and ground data. The study addresses the limitations of traditional fuel/vegetation maps by providing a more detailed and accurate representation of vegetation/fuel in Alaska. The methods and findings advance fuel and vegetation mapping research in Alaska and offer a novel pathway to generate detailed fuel maps for boreal Alaska to aid wildfire management.Alaska Established Program to Stimulate Competitive Research (EPSCoR), AmericaView, and the College of Natural Science and Mathematics, National Science Foundation award OIA-1757348, State of Alaska and the U.S. Geological Survey Grant/Cooperative Agreement No. G18AP0007