Background: Indigenous languages are crucial for biodiversity knowledge, yet face extinction. This study emphasizes their importance in understanding ecosystems and the necessity of preservation efforts based on the ethnoecological knowledge of Kadar indigenous community endemic to Western Ghats mountains of South West India. Integrating this knowledge into conservation policies is essential for global biodiversity protection. Methods: This study documented the ecological knowledge of threatened species of the Kadar community in Anamalai, Western Ghats. The knowledge associated with indigenous terminology on threatened species such as Purple Frog, Cochin Forest Cane Turtle, Hornbills etc are used here to demonstrate the depth of associated ecological knowledge. It involved ethnographic engagement to understand their perspectives and practices. Results: The Kadar language holds vital ecological knowledge, including unique names for species within the Anamalai landscape unit of the Southern Western Ghats. Their lexicon reveals intricate understandings of biodiversity, exemplified by "Karibmudan" (endangered tree) known uniquely to Vazhachal clans, and specific terms for "Koottupambu," "Chirapool," "Thattukottan," "Vatti Ongal," and "Karimbudan” for them alone and “Chirattan" which is shared across other indigenous communities of the Southern Western Ghats are highlighting the interconnected ecological comprehension. Conclusion: The Kadar ethnic community's knowledge exemplifies deep ecological insights that are useful for the present conservation paradigm. Preserving this linguistic heritage is crucial for safeguarding traditional ecological knowledge and integrating indigenous perspectives into conservation, enriching our understanding of biodiversity and ensuring local community involvement.
Background: Healthcare and social helping occupations require not only technical competence but also interpersonal, creative, and leadership capacities that match the social and organizational complexity of these roles. Aligning personality traits with occupational demands can improve workforce stability, patient care quality, and job satisfaction. The Holland RIASEC model, combined with detailed personality profiling, provides a useful framework for this alignment. To evaluate the suitability of 130 individuals for medical and social helping occupations using the Holland RIASEC model together with the FIKR (Facet, Insight, Knowledge, and Resilience) profiling tool, with emphasis on the Social, Artistic, Enterprising, and Conventional dimensions. Method: Participants completed a 200 item dichotomous questionnaire that mapped FIKR facets to the six RIASEC dimensions. “High” scores were defined empirically as scores in the top quartile of the observed distribution for each dimension. Because scores are discrete, ties at the cut off can produce proportions greater than 25%. Descriptive statistics were computed, and exploratory chi square tests and correlations were planned to add interpretive depth. Results: Using the empirical top quartile cut offs, 50 individuals (38.5%) met the social threshold, 45 (34.6%) met the Artistic threshold, 38 (29.2%) met the Enterprising threshold, and 55 (42.3%) met the Conventional threshold. These subsets indicate interpersonal strength, creative potential, leadership inclination, and preference for structure, respectively. Conclusion: A percentile based classification yields transparent and reproducible identification of high scoring subgroups relevant to healthcare and social helping work. The approach can inform recruitment, role placement, and targeted training for patient facing, creative, administrative, and leadership functions.
Background: Chitosan, a commonly used biopolymer, has attracted a lot of attention because of its potential in various chemotherapeutic applications. Even though its biomedical properties have been thoroughly studied, systematic studies assessing how molecular weight affects its cytotoxic effects across various cell lines while holding other crucial parameters like pH and degree of deacetylation constant are still lacking. Information regarding the cytotoxic profiling of different molecular weight chitosan is necessary to optimize the therapeutic efficacy. Methods: The current study aimed to evaluate the cytotoxic effects of high, medium, and low molecular weight chitosan on L929 fibroblast and MCF-7 breast cancer cell lines using the MTT assay. Different concentrations of low, medium, and high molecular weight chitosan were treated on both cell lines for 24 hours, followed by addition of MTT reagent. After 2 hrs incubation, the formazan crystals were dissolved in DMSO, and the optical density was measured to calculate cell viability. Results: High molecular weight chitosan had the lowest cytotoxicity in L929 cells with an IC50 of 496 ± 37.46a µg/mL, while low molecular weight chitosan exhibited the highest cytotoxicity with an IC50 of 345±9.03c µg/mL. Interestingly, in the case of the MCF-7 cell line, the high molecular weight chitosan exerted a higher cytotoxic effect with an IC50 value of 217 ± 5.72d µg/mL, followed by 331 ± 13.55c µg/mL of medium and 479 ± 14.75a µg/mL of low molecular weight chitosan. Conclusion: The current findings indicate that high molecular weight chitosan demonstrates greater compatibility compared to low and medium molecular weight chitosan in the L929 cell line. However, it also shows potential cytotoxic effects in the MCF-7 breast cancer cell line, suggesting its possible therapeutic application in drug delivery and cancer treatment.
Himachal Pradesh is a small hill state of Northern India. The state has an extensive range of agro-climatic conditions, ranging from low foothills to snow-covered highlands. Most of state’s population is dependent on agriculture for livelihood, making it state’s largest economy. But over the past few years it has been observed that the state’s agriculture is shifting from traditional cereal based cropping system to high value commodities like fruits, vegetables and particularly off-season vegetables. This shift in consumption pattern from cereals to horticultural crops was at beginning seen in few districts like Shimla, Solan, Kullu and Lahul and Spiti which later gained pace in 1990s and since has spread in low and mid hill districts. Crop diversification is a crucial approach that can reduce crop failure risk, generate employment opportunities, help in environmental preservation and most importantly boost farm revenue which can ultimately increase household income of small and marginal farmers. The factors like climate change, demand for horticultural crops, support from government institutions and various state or centre government policies/schemes/projects are promoting crop diversification in the state. This review aims to show the changes in land use pattern and cropping pattern in the state and how these changes have led to diversification from cereals to horticultural commodities. This review also explains the factors that facilitate diversification, impacts of diversification and various constraints faced by agricultural diversification in state.
The degradation of the Aral Sea is among the most severe man-made environmental catastrophes of the 20th and 21st centuries. In this article, the tenets of ecotoxicology, namely, i) Source–Pathway–Receptor, ii) Dose–Response, iii) Bioavailability, iv) Accumulation, v) Mode of Action, vi) Ecological Relevance, vii) Mixture Toxicity, viii) Community Effects, ix) Toxicokinetics, and x) Risk Assessment, are used to reinterpret the toxicological perspective of the ecological degradation of the Aral Sea. This article calls for an expansive historical-ecological synthesis of the manner in which cumulative exposure to toxics, desertification, and systematic water mismanagement have inflicted irreversible damage upon biotic and human communities by synthesizing ecological data, health indicators, remote sensing studies, and governance investigations. Every theme manifests serious gaps in monitoring, risk communication, and regulatory reaction, thus highlighting the lack of integrated toxicological governance in reducing environmental and public health issues. The research shows that ecotoxicology is a framework for ethical and multidisciplinary environmental action and a discipline for assessing chemical risks. The Aral Sea disaster therefore demonstrates how oversight of the toxicological foundations of ecosystem failure can exacerbate health crises, social disintegration, and environmental irreversibility. This article supports the integration of ecotoxicological concepts into regional policy, restoration planning, and resilience-enhancement at the community level. Eventually, the implementation of these concepts may bring about more equitable, science-based, and sustainable futures for previously marginalized ecosystems.
