The monkey is not always a God: Attitudinal differences toward crop-raiding macaques and why it matters for conflict mitigation

Attitudinal differences toward wildlife have important implications for conflict management and when the species in question have strong cultural and religious associations, conflict mitigation becomes a challenging endeavor. We investigated farmers’ attitudes toward two different crop-raiding macaque species, the rhesus macaque in northern India, and the bonnet macaque in southern India. Apart from regional differences in attitudes, we also assessed temporal changes in attitude toward the rhesus macaque. We carried out household surveys using a semistructured questionnaire to collect data. Our findings reveal that respondents in southern and northern India differ significantly in their views regarding species sanctity and preference for mitigation options. Although people’s perceptions of the rhesus macaques had changed over time in northern India, farmers were still unwilling to cause harm to the macaques. We discuss the underlying causes of these observed differences in attitude and their impact on the management of human–macaque conflict.     

Variability of dissolved reactive phosphate and apparent oxygen utilization along the west coast of India

This work focuses on the spatial variability of dissolved reactive phosphate along the west coast of India. In this study, samples of surface and bottom water was collected from each of the 27 sites during a single pre-monsoon transect along the west coast of India to study the variation of dissolved reactive phosphate. Phosphate showed an enrichment pattern with increase in depth of the water column. In addition to this, an offshore increase in phosphate concentrations was noticed for both surface and bottom stations. Almost all the surface stations of this study area were found to be characterized by negative apparent oxygen utilization (AOU) values, and bottom stations of the deeper offshore zone (200 m depth) displayed large positive AOU values. The bottom stations of shallow near coastal waters and the deeper offshore zone are characterized by an inverse relationship between phosphate and dissolved oxygen, whereas at these depths, a direct relation was observed between phosphate and AOU. AOU is calculated as the difference between oxygen saturation value at the in situ temperature and salinity and the actual measured concentration. This oxidative re-mineralization mechanism decreases the observed dissolved oxygen well below the expected theoretical values, which is concordant with the higher concentration of phosphate and high positive AOU values.     

Statistical analysis of the physico-chemical data on the coastal waters of Cochin

Measurements of temperature, salinity, dissolved oxygen, nitrogen as ammonia, nitrate and nitrite, and phosphate along with chlorophyll were carried out at three stations on the coastal waters of Cochin, south west India, at two-levels of the water column over a period of five years. The data set has been factorised using principal component analysis (PCA) for extracting linear relationships existing among a set of variables. A graphical display of the scores generated from the PCA was done by means of boxplots and biplots, which helped in the interpretation of the data. The major factors conditioning the system are related to the input of fresh water from the estuary of the Periyar river and the high organic load of the bottom sediment in the coastal area which results in a reducing environment, as reflected in the parameters of dissolved oxygen, ammoniacal-nitrogen and nitrite-nitrogen. Another factor which contributes to the variation in the system is related to the unloading activity in the port area. The present approach presents a logical way to interpret the complex data of the physico-chemical measurements.     

Neem extract–blended nanocellulose derived from jackfruit peel for antibacterial packagings

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - The use of jackfruit peel as a source for natural and fully biodegradable “nanocellulose” (NC) for the production of bioplastics with...     

Biosynthesis of (S)-1-(1-naphthyl) ethanol by microbial ketoreductase

Environmental Science and Pollution Research - (S)-1-(1-naphthyl) ethanol (SNE) is a chiral drug intermediate for the production of mevinic acid analog, a potent cholesterol agent. It acts as an...     

Exploring multifunctional antioxidants as potential agents for management of neurological disorders

Free radical or oxidative stress may be a fundamental mechanism underlying several human neurologic diseases. Therapy using free radical scavengers (antioxidants) has the potential to prevent, delay, or ameliorate many neurologic disorders. However, the biochemistry of oxidative pathobiology is complex, and optimum antioxidant therapeutic options may vary and need to be tailored to individual diseases. In vitro and animal model studies support the potential beneficial role of various antioxidant compounds in neurological disease. Antioxidants generally play an important role in reducing or preventing the cell damage and other changes which occur in the cells like mitochondrial dysfunction, DNA mutations, and lipid peroxidation in the cell membrane. Based on their mechanism of action, antioxidants can be used to treat various neurological disorders like Huntington’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, and Parkinson’s disease. Vitamin E has a scavenging action for reactive oxygen species (ROS) and also prevents the lipid peroxidation. Creatine generally reduces the mitochondrial dysfunction in Parkinson’s disease (PD) patients. Various metal chelators are used in PD for the prevention of accumulation of the metals. Superoxidase dismutase (SOD), lipases, and proteases act as repair enzymes in patients with AD. Accordingly, the antioxidant defense system is found to be most useful for treating various neurological disorders.