Ecotourism as a Means of Sustaining Livelihood, Wildlife Management and Biodiversity Conservation-A Case in Nameri National Park of Assam: India

Community-based Ecotourism (CBET) is an emerging concept. It is being discussed as an important tool for economically benefiting communities that have a feature that fulfils a tourist’s desire for uniqueness. Ecotourism is potentially important for communities reside nearby protected areas. Here, an attempt has been made to evaluate ecotourism initiatives in Nameri National Park, steps that have been introduced by the Assam (Bhorelli) Angling and Conservation Association (ABACA). This association began naturebased tourism ventures in 1956, bringing benefits to the local populace in terms of income, improved infrastructure, employment opportunities and exposure. The community’s capacity to facilitate resourcerelated conflicts has improved following support from development institutions along with facilities provided by the organization. An expanding livelihood base and sustainable biodiversity management measures are reducing locally the vulnerability of resources and man-animal conflicts. The present research is based on data collected using semi-structured interviews, updated using information gathered during successive local meetings. A process of triangulation was followed whereby key informants and focus groups were interviewed and different sites (e.g., homestead, ecocamp, village market, river bank and in the forest) visited. A snowball sampling procedure was used to collect information. Interview questions touched on livelihood options, wildlife conservation and tourist resource management. The evidence collected confirms that the numbers of wildlife (including charismatic species) in the park have either remained stable or increased. The number of White Winged Wood Duck (Cairina scutulata), a critically endangered avian species, now stands at 424, having risen from low numbers at the time of project inception in 1981. Elephant, bird species and bush-loving wildlife have more than doubled following an increase in plant biomass plus anti-poaching campaigns spearheaded by community members who reside near the park. This paper confirms the concept of community-based ecotourism as a means of promoting sustainable management initiatives and producing benefits for communities that live on the fringe of Nameri National Park

Traditional Muga Silk (Antheraea assamensis) Rearing as a Means of Rural Livelihood and Conservation Efforts among the Indigenous Communities of Assam

The Muga silk (Antheraea assamensis) rearing is confined to the North-East India, particularly,the Brahmaputra valley of Assam. This is perhaps, due to pleasant climatic conditions and distribution ofwide range of muga host plants in this region. In Assam ‘Som’ tree provides the principal food for mugasilkworms which produce the golden coloured silk that is very specific and prestigious to north-easternstates of India and found nowhere else on the globe. The north-eastern region of India, with totalgeographical area of 3,04,426 sq km, is situated in eastern part of India. It lies between 21.33 to 29.28° N.latitudes and 89.42 to 97.24° E. longitudes. The region is a part of eastern Himalaya biodiversity hotspotin the world hence endow with endemic flora and fauna.In this paper the researcher tries to the possibility of traditional way of rearing of muga, rural livelihoodand conservation effort among the indigenous communities of the Brahmaputra valley in Assam. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i7.00

Motivating Approaches to Biodiversity Conservation: A Case of Forest Dwellers in Nameri National Park of Assam-India

This paper highlights the implementation of Forest Rights Act to conserving protected areas in the country; Forest Rights Act (2006) has been passed by the parliament of India with dual aims of protecting the right of forest dwellers and at the same time this Act tries to acquire the involvement of forest dwellers to protect forest/protected areas. The main objective of the paper is to determine the factors which influence motivation to spend efforts in terms of work hour for biodiversity conservation in Nameri National Park. A total of 78 numbers of households were interviewed from two forest villages (i.e. Torajan and Dharikati) and two encroached villages (i.e. Rihajuli and Chopaloga) located in the south buffer of Nameri National Park in Assam during March and June of 2021. Respondents in forests village are more willing to spend effort than that of encroacher’s village to conservation. Sex, age, literacy of the respondents and size of land holdings were found to be significantly related to spending time for biodiversity conservation programme. In this paper attempt has been made to emphasize the nature of motivation of the communities towards biodiversity conservation issues. View Article DOI: 10.47856/ijaast.2021.v08i7.01

ASSESSING ECOTOURISM ECONOMICS FOR LIVELIHOOD INTERVENTION- A CASE IN NAMERI NATIONAL PARK OF ASSAM (INDIA)

This paper entitled tries to emphasize on the ecotourism initiatives and its impact of on livelihood intervention in the fringe of Nameri National Park in Assam, India. Ecotourism initiatives that have been introduce by Assam (Bhorelli) Angling and Conservation Association (ABACA), an organization started ecotourism ventures in the year 1956 benefiting local populace in terms of income, improved infrastructure, employment opportunities and exposure. The community's capacity to facilitate resource related conflicts has improved following support from development institutions and facilities provided by the organization. An expanding livelihood base is reducing local vulnerability to disaster and man-animal conflicts. The numbers of inhabitant wildlife species in the park have increased due to adequate protection and reduce frequency of livestock in nearby villagers. There is need to build the community's capacity for the promotion of activities that compliment ecotourism. Through the paper the researcher emphasizes such possibilities on the basis of assessment of potential ecotourism resources of the Nameri National Park during field experience gained different parts of the study area

Bounded fractional intersecting families are linear in size

Using the sunflower method, we show that if $\theta \in (0,1) \cap \mathbb{Q}$ and $\mathcal{F}$ is a $O(n^{1/3})$-bounded $\theta$-intersecting family over $[n]$, then $\lvert \mathcal{F} \rvert = O(n)$, and that if $\mathcal{F}$ is $o(n^{1/3})$-bounded, then $\lvert \mathcal{F} \rvert \leq (\frac{3}{2} + o(1))n$. This partially solves a conjecture raised in (Balachandran et al., Electron J. Combin. 26 (2019), #P2.40) that any $\theta$-intersecting family over $[n]$ has size at most linear in $n$, in the regime where we have no very large sets.Comment: 7 page

Radiological significance of high-resolution computed tomography for elderly pulmonary tuberculosis patients : an analysis with culture test

Purpose: Pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) is one of the major health problems in the elderly population, causing significant morbidity and mortality. The aim of this study is to evaluate the significance of the high-resolution computed tomography (HRCT) modality for the diagnosis of PTB, in comparison to culture test. Material and methods: Thoracic HRCT images of the study population, comprising 124 patients clinically suspected for PTB with smear and culture reports, were analysed for sensitivity and specificity of the HRCT test. Features of active PTB were centrilobular nodules, 'tree-in-bud' pattern densities, macro-nodules, consolidations, cavitary lesions, ground-glass opacities, and miliary nodules. Results: Among the study population, 108 cases presented HRCT features of active PTB and the remaining cases were negative but had presented a few features mimicking PTB. As inferred from positive culture test results, 106 cases had active PTB, the remaining cases were culture negative for PTB. False-positive (FP) or 'type I error' cases, and false-negative (FN) or 'type II error' cases were ascertained by Bayes' theorem. Sensitivity (true positive rate) and specificity (true negative rate) of HRCT test were 0.8125 and 0.8571, respectively. Conclusions: For proper diagnosis the predictive capability, as two values of 'a posteriori probability', was computed; the mean value of 'a posteriori probability' for HRCT was 0.6358. When its culture test was positive, the HRCT test was 69.56-92.85% efficient in ascertaining positive results with a sample; on the other hand, when its culture test was negative it was 66.66-100% efficient for a negative result. Thus, the HRCT test is considerably dependable

Evaluation of regression algorithms for estimating leaf area index and canopy water content from water stressed rice canopy reflectance

Optical remote sensing (RS) with robust algorithms is needed for accurate assessment of crop canopy features. Despite intensive studies on algorithms, their performance using RS needs to be improved. We evaluated five different algorithms (partial-least-squares regression (PLSR), support vector regression (SVR), random forest regression (RFR), locally-weighted-PLSR (PLSRLW) and PLSR with feature selection (PLSRFS)) for rapid assessment of leaf area index (LAI) and canopy water content (CWC) for rice canopies using canopy reflectance spectra over visible to short-wave infrared region. Two pooled datasets of LAI (600) and CWC (480) were collected from two replicated field experiments during 2014–15 and 2015–16 rice growing season. The performance of each algorithm was evaluated using coefficient of determination (R2). Results showed that PLSRLW performed more accurately than other algorithms with R2 values 0.77 and 0.66 for LAI and CWC, respectively. We also used a bootstrapping approach to generate a kernel density estimator of root mean squared error values for each model. The results suggested that the improvement in prediction accuracy of LAI and CWC can be achieved if a suitable algorithm is selected by assigning higher weights to calibration samples, which has similar canopy structure as the test sample. Subsetting of the canopy spectral data results large error values in test dataset, therefore the use of entire season canopy spectral data should be used for model calibration

Modern & Smart Library in the Information Age

Due to information explosion, the knowledge can be available without boundaries and with the help of new technologies, the library services are developing day-by-day. With smart Technology, the modern library can fulfill the demand of the user

A CORRELATIVE STUDY ON SPINDLE CELL SARCOMA WITH CYTO-HISTOLOGICAL GRADING BY CONVENTIONAL METHODS IN AN INDIAN TERTIARY CARE TEACHING HOSPITAL

Objective: Spindle cell sarcomas constitute an important component of soft tissue sarcomas, where accurate grading is more important than histologic subtypes to plan treatment strategies and determine prognosis. To assess whether histologic criteria for grading sarcomas could be applied to fine needle aspiration biopsy (FNAB) specimens of adult spindle cell sarcomas without knowledge of sarcoma subtypes. Furthermore, correlate this grading with histologic Federation Nationale Des Centres de lutte contre le cancer (FNCLCC) grading system and find out the percentage of accuracy of FNAB grading. Methods: Hundred cases were studied by fine needle aspiration cytology (FNAC), among them 50 cases found to be spindle cell sarcoma; in only 42 cases surgical specimens were available. Each aspiration being spread into two or more slides. Subsequently, biopsy was done and studied. Technique used - grading of FNAB specimens and corresponding surgical specimens. Result: Grading of FNAB specimens done taking into account four parameters - nuclear atypia, nuclear variation (nuclear contour, chromatin, nucleoli, and nuclear overlap), mitotic figure, and necrosis. Grading of surgical specimens done by FNCLCC system. The overall results were correlated for both FNAC and biopsy concordance and statistically analyzed. From there the sensitivity and specificity were calculated as 95.23% and 80.76%, respectively. Conclusion: Histologic criteria for grading sarcomas in adults could be applied to FNAC specimens of spindle cell sarcomas with 88% accuracy. While comparing the diagnosis given by FNAC and biopsy, it revealed the true positive were 40 cases, true negative 42 cases, false positive 10 cases, and false negative (FN) 2 cases.Â

Investigation on the status of Johne's disease based on agar gel immunodiffusion, ziehl-neelsen staining and nested PCR approach in two cattle farm

Background and Methods: Paratuberculosis is a chronic disease of ruminant, caused by Mycobacterium avium subsp. paratuberculosis (Map), clinically infected animals produce high level of antibodies in blood and shed detectable amount of Map organisms in feces. Several serological and molecular tests are utilized for detection of antibodies or DNA of the organism in clinical samples. Present study indicates the status of paratuberculosis in two distinct cattle farms with different organizational set-ups viz. organized and unorganized. We used agar gel immunodiffusion (AGID) assay for the detection of antibodies in blood. Ziehl-Neelsen (ZN) staining of fecal smears was done to observe acid-fast bacilli and Nested PCR targeted to IS900 and f57 sequences, was performed to confirm the pathogen.Results: Sera samples of cattle, from organized farm, did not show any visible precipitating band with AGID assay. However, fecal smears of few cattle (3.57%) were positive for acid-fast bacilli. When confirmed with nested PCR, only one fecal sample (0.71%) was found positive for Map. In case of unorganized farm, a large number of cattle (38.75%) showed precipitating antibodies with AGID assay and the percentage of fecal smears that showed acid-fast bacilli was 26.62%. Nevertheless, fecal samples containing Map DNA was confirmed in 14.37% of fecal sample by nested PCR.Conclusions: An organized farm, with better hygiene and management practices, showed lesser occurrence of paratuberculosis in cattle in comparison to unorganized farm. Not all AGID assays positive cattle might be an efficient shedder of Map and mare detection of acid-fast bacilli in fecal smears did not always indicate the presence of Map organism. Cattle infected with JD were mostly in the age group of six years and above