Nesting records of Asian Woollyneck from Assam, Northeast India

Asian Woollyneck Ciconia episcopus (Boddaert, 1786), is a Near Threatened species of stork restricted to South and South East Asia. Previously considered a seasonal migrant to the pains of Assam was found successfully breeding along the northern part of Kaziranga National Park in Assam. In this note, we provide observations of Asian Woollynecks nesting in three localities in Biswanath district with three successful and one unsuccessful attempt and four additional records from Majuli and Lakhimpur districts of Assam, India. So far, there were only two known breeding records of the species from Assam as well as the whole of Northeast India, hence our observation makes these records important for the conservation of the species in the whole region

Quantitative documentation of traditionally used medicinal plants and their significance to healthcare among the Mishing community of Northeast India

Mishing community is one of the major tribal communities residing in Northeastern India.  They have adapted their lifestyle with one of the adverse conditions and their reliance on plants for food and medicine is widely prevalent. This article presents an explorative ethnobotanical survey on documentation of plants used by the Mishing community of Assam in treating the common ailments as well as their mode of preparation and administration. Research was conducted in eight villages from four districts of Assam. Various participatory interaction methods, group discussions and semi-structured questionnaires were conducted with a total of 80 respondents. Plant importance analysis was done using four quantitative indices (Use value, Use report, Informant consensus factor and Fidelty level). In total, 153 plants under 126 genera and 62 families are recorded. Fabaceae (11 spp.) was the most dominant family and Clerodendrum and Solanum (5 spp. each) were the most dominant genera. The highest use values were recorded for Musa balbisiana (0.087) followed by Paederia foetida (0.075). Kidney stone has the highest Informant Consensus Factor value of 0.97 with 74 use reports for 3 species. A total of 7 species were found to have ≥ 90% Fidelty Level and Cissus quadrangularis recorded the highest value, i.e. 93.7% FL for treating bone fracture with 75 use reports. In addition, a review of ethnomedicinal plants published in earlier literature for the community is presented, and 77 plants are reported as new ethnomedicinal records for the community. A list of bioactive compounds found in the presently reported plants is also listed. Though modern health facilities have gained pace in the developing countries like India, traditional medicine still co-exists with tribal communities as these are the nearest and reliable forms of treatment in Assam, exemplified by the high degree of reliance on it

Seasonal variation of evapotranspiration and its effect on the surface energy budget closure at a tropical forest over north-east India

This study uses one year of eddy covariance flux observations to investigate seasonal variations in evapotranspiration and surface energy budget closure at a tropical semi-deciduous forest located in north east India. The annual cycle is divided into four seasons, namely: pre-monsoon, monsoon, post-monsoon, and winter. The highest energy balance closure (76%) is observed during pre-monsoon, whereas the lowest level of closure (62%) is observed during winter. Intermediate closure of 68% and 72% is observed during monsoon and post-monsoon seasons, respectively. Maximum latent heat flux during winter (150 W m-2) is half of the maximum latent heat (300 W m-2) flux during monsoon. Evapotranspiration is a controlling factor of surface energy budget closure, with highest rates of closure corresponding to the periods of highest evapotranspiration. The Bowen ratio ranges from 0.93 in winter to 0.27 during monsoon. This is the first time the role of evapotranspiration in the seasonal variation of surface energy budget closure has been reported for any ecosystem in north-east India using eddy covariance measurements

Наука, гуманистические ценности и медицинское образование

ВУЗЫВЫСШИЕ УЧЕБНЫЕ ЗАВЕДЕНИЯОБРАЗОВАНИЕ МЕДИЦИНСКОЕНАУКАГУМАНИСТИЧЕСКИЕ ЦЕННОСТ

Measles delay in India: the role of parents’ behaviour

Background: Objectives were to identify the factors influencing the timeliness of measles immunisation in India, as well as to explore whether parental behaviour in health care seeking facilities varies depending on the gender of child.Methods: A cross-sectional study was undertaken in India using secondary data from the fourth phase of the district level household and facility survey (DLHS 4). To estimate the age-specific coverage rates scientifically and thoroughly Kaplan-Meier survival analysis was applied. The risk factors for delayed measles immunisation were identified by using cox proportional hazard regression model.Results: Individual factors, social factors, awareness, and facilitatory factors all have a significant impact on the timeliness of measles immunisation in India. Additionally, it can also be concluded that in the case of a male child, institutional delivery significantly improves health-seeking behaviour among the parents compared to a female child. Conclusions: Numerous elements like the place of residence, economic position, and caste limit the timeliness of measles immunisation in India. Parents' health-seeking behaviour is also significant in the list of influential factors, like mother’s antenatal visit during pregnancy, the child's place of delivery, and motivation for child immunisation. In India child's gender and birth order discovered to have an impact on measles immunisation timeliness. Furthermore, we discovered that parents' health-seeking behaviour is not gender-neutral, but rather favours male child more.

The high pressure diffraction beamline "XPRESS" at Elettra

The opening of the Xpress beamline [1] in 2016 has provided the high-pressure diffraction user community of the Elettra synchrotron facility a dedicated experimental set up at their disposal. This new beamline is part of a scientific partnership between India and Italy under a project administered through the Indian Institute of Sciences (IISc) Bangalore, for the development of a macromolecular and a high-pressure x-ray diffraction facilities, respectively XRD2 [2] and Xpress. A multipole superconducting wiggler (SCW) is the source of these two beamlines. A liquid nitrogen cooled silicon single crystal (cut along the (111) direction) hosted in the splitter chamber in the Front-End section intercepts the beam from the source (SCW) and directs it to the focusing mirror of the Xpress at a fixed energy of 25 keV. At this energy, the SCW provides a factor of 14 higher photon flux compared to the permanent magnet wiggler of XRD1, the existing diffraction beamline. The beam is focused using a toroidal mirror of 1.4 m long and 2.9 mrad grazing angle with a Pt coating to achieve 80% reflectivity at 25 keV. The focused beam from the mirror is further optimized by collimators (presently 80 micron diameter) to have intense and well defined monochromatic beam required for the high-pressure x-ray diffraction experiments. On-line pressure monitoring is achieved through a ruby fluorescence microscope connected side-by-side to the final beam collimator stage. The present experimental stage is equipped to host room temperature - high-pressure powder diffraction measurements using various kinds of Diamond Anvil Cells (DAC) in the pressure range 0-50 GPa. An image plate MAR345, with a controllable linear movement along the beam direction at two fixed vertical positions, is available for recording the diffraction pattern from both powder and single crystal samples. A Gas loading system is under commissioning, while variable temperature (300 \u2013 100 K) capillary powder diffraction stage and limited range low-temperature high-pressure measurements using a specialized DAC and liquid nitrogen cryocooler system are also planned to be added in the near future. [1] http://www.elettra.eu/elettra-beamlines/xpress.html [2] http://www.elettra.eu/elettra-beamlines/xrd2.htm

Magnetodielectric effect of Graphene-PVA Nanocomposites

Graphene-Polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) nanocomposite films with thickness $120 \mu m$ were synthesized by solidification of PVA in a solution with dispersed graphene nanosheets. Electrical conductivity data were explained as arising due to hopping of carriers between localized states formed at the graphene-PVA interface. Dielectric permittivity data as a function of frequency indicated the occurrence of Debye-type relaxation mechanism. The nanocomposites showed a magnetodielectric effect with the dielectric constant changing by 1.8% as the magnetic field was increased to 1 Tesla. The effect was explained as arising due to Maxwell-Wagner polarization as applied to an inhomogeneous two-dimensional,two-component composite model. This type of nanocomposite may be suitable for applications involving nanogenerators.Comment: 13 pages, 11 figure