Household Level Assessment of Climate Change Vulnerability of North Bank Plains Zone Farmers of Assam

The study was carried out to assess the vulnerability of farmers to climate change in northbank plains zone of Assam. For this 2 districts were selected randomly from the northbank plains zone of Assam i.e., Sonitpur and Udalguri. A household level survey was carriedout with the selected farmers to obtain the primary data. For this, total 120 farmers wereselected from 6 different villages through proportionate random sampling. Vulnerabilityindex was worked out by considering 10 different indicators. Findings revealed that 69.17per cent of farmers belonged to medium vulnerability category followed by 16.67 per centand 14.17 per cent in high and low vulnerability category respectively. The meanvulnerability score was 0.455 indicating that, on an average, respondents had mediumvulnerability to climate change. Most of the respondents are belonged to medium category.

Quality of Soil in Gossaigaon Sub-Division and Its Impact on Environmental Degradation

People on Earth are under tremendous threat due to undesired changes in the physical, chemical and biological characteristics of water and soil. Due to increased human population, industrialization, use of unwanted amounts of fertilizers and man-made activities, water and soil is highly polluted with different harmful contaminants. Natural water and soil contaminates due to weathering of rocks and leaching of soils, mining processing etc. It is necessary that the quality of drinking water and soil should be checked at regular time interval, because due to use of contaminated drinking water, human population suffers from variety of water borne diseases. The study area, Gossaigaon sub-division of Kokrajhar district, Assam lies on the north bank of the Brahmaputra river and is slowly sloping towards south from the foothills of Bhutan upto an average height of 42 MSL. The tributaries of the Brahmaputra- Sankosh, Ripu, Dambra, Bura chara, Gadadhar, Gurufella, Madati, Hel, Gongea are flowing southward which have their sources in the Himalayas. In this paper an attempt has been made to assess the quality of soil of 10 different stations by considering the parameters like Colour, Temperature, pH value, Conductance, Alkalinity, Dissolved Oxygen, Hardness, TS, TDS, Chlorine, Fluorine, Sulphur, Nitrogen, Phosphorous, Iron, Calcium and Magnesium, Sodium, Potassium, Zinc, Nickel, Lead and Copper which have direct correlation with human health.

A supply-base (c. AD 43–52)

The archaeology of the first permanent settlement of London is described. New roads were laid out c. AD 48 leading to a site that may have served as a supply-base on the north bank of the Thames. This was set out following a grid-plan around a central area where the forum was later established. Various features illustrate the importance of the managed traffic of military supplies. The topographic, ritual, and political importance of the Thames crossing at London Bridge is stressed, and the evidence of foundation burials and deposits associated with the early layout of the settlement summarized.

Deciphering a timeline of demise at Medieval Angkor, Cambodia using remote sensing

The Greater Angkor Region was the center of the Khmer Empire from the 9th until the 13th to the 14th centuries CE, when it entered a period of decline. Many studies have suggested that the decline of Angkor was precipitated by several factors, including severe monsoons, geopolitical shifts, and invasions. In this paper, we use light detection and ranging and ground penetrating radar to investigate the possible intersection of two of these existential threats in one feature: the North Bank Wall. Our results indicate that this feature was designed with dual functionality of extending the urban area’s defenses to the east of Angkor Thom while maintaining the existing infrastructure for the distribution and disposal of water. These findings suggest that the North Bank Wall was built before the severe droughts in the mid-13th century. The timing of the construction indicates that the perceived need for additional security—whether from internal factional disputes or external adversaries—predated the final adaptations to the hydraulic network during the unprecedented monsoon variability of the 14th century. These results indicate that perceived political unrest may have played a more important role in the decline of the site than previously known.

Species diversity and distribution of schistosome intermediate snail hosts in The Gambia

There is a need for recent information on intermediate snail hosts of schistosomes in The Gambia as the latest studies were conducted over three decades ago. This study assessed the incidence, species diversity, distribution and infection status of schistosome intermediate snail hosts in the country. Malacological surveys were conducted in all 5 regions of The Gambia: Central River Region (CRR), Upper River Region (URR), Western Region (WR), Lower River Region (LRR) and North Bank Region (NBR). Sampling of snails was undertaken at 114 sites that included permanent water bodies such as streams (bolongs), rice fields, irrigation canals and swamps; and temporal (seasonal) laterite pools. Ecological and physicochemical factors of sites were recorded. Snails were identified morphologically and screened for schistosome infections using molecular techniques. Freshwater snails were found at more than 50% (60/114) of sites sampled. While three species of Bulinus were collected, no Biomphalaria snails were found in any of the sites sampled. Of the total 2877 Bulinus snails collected, 75.9% were identified as Bulinus senegalensis, 20.9% as Bulinus forskalii and 3.2% as Bulinus truncatus. Seasonal pools produced the largest number of snails, and CRR was the region with the largest number of snails. Bulinus senegalensis was found more in seasonal pools as opposed to permanent sites, where B. forskalii and B. truncatus were observed to thrive. Bulinus snails were more common in seasonal sites where aquatic vegetation was present. In permanent sites, the abundance of snails increased with increase in water temperature and decrease in water pH. Bulinus senegalensis was found infected with both S. haematobium and S. bovis, while B. forskalii and B. truncatus had only S. bovis infection. While the human parasite S. haematobium was restricted to just four sites, the livestock parasite S. bovis had a much more widespread geographical distribution across both CRR and URR. This new information on the distribution of intermediate snail hosts of schistosomes in The Gambia will be vital for the national schistosomiasis control initiative.

Scientific Technological Interventions on Rapeseed and Mustard: Recent Advances and Future Prospects

In order to increase production, popularization of improved technology as well as for uplifting the socio-economic conditions of the small and marginal farmers of Sonitpur district which typically lies in North Bank Plain Agro-climatic Zone of Assam, a Crop demonstration was conducted among 100 numbers of agricultural beneficiaries in 5 clusters namely Chaiduar, Bihaguri, Balipara, Dhekiajuli and Gabhoru in the year 2020-2021 for the popularization of technology as well as cultivars. Selection of the beneficiaries and Villages were done based on their cropping sequence by the resource person working under the project entitled "Augmenting Rapeseed-Mustard Production of Assam farmers for Sustainable Livelihood Security" linked with Assam Agribusiness and Rural Transformation Project (APART) scheme. During the period of the cropping season, the selected farmers for adoption had shown keen interest in attending farmer’s technical training programme conducted at the cluster level for adopting scientific production techniques and methods gradually, which was considered as a very important technique to be followed by the marginal farmers of Assam to obtain good crop population and ultimately higher yield. Adopting scientific agricultural techniques had helped farmers to reduce the labour cost thus benefitted the farmers by reducing the cost of cultivation. Due to its suitable soil and agro-climatic conditions as well as through their dedication and continuous efforts towards farming, they could be able to achieve higher yield and income within a short period of time as well as could motivate the other small and marginal farmers of nearby villages for further uplifting their economic status thereby preserving their ancestral occupation for future generations.

Provenance of Zhou Dynasty bronze vessels unearthed from Zongyang County, Anhui Province, China: determined by lead isotopes and trace elements

Thirteen Zhou Dynasty bronze vessels and two slags from Zongyang County along the north bank of the Yangtze River in Anhui were analyzed by LA-MC-ICP-MS and EDXRF. The results of lead isotope analysis showed that there were two kinds of lead materials in the Zongyang bronzes. Vessels in Class I, thought to have originated from the Wannan region were primarily used during the Western Zhou and the following Spring and Autumn period; while those in Class II, possibly from the local mines in Zongyang County, were mainly present during the Warring States period. Such a shift in the ore material sources is also revealed by the trace element analysis of the Zongyang bronzes. With reference to the relevant historical documents, we suggest that the transformation of the bronze material sources might have been associated with the changes of the political situation during the Zhou Dynasty.

Provenance of the Zhou Dynasty Bronze Vessels Unearthed from Zongyang County, Anhui Province, China: Determined by Lead Isotopes and Trace Elements

Thirteen Zhou Dynasty bronze vessels and two slags from Zongyang County along the north bank of the Yangtze River in Anhui were analyzed by LA-MC-ICP-MS and EDXRF. The results of the lead isotope analysis showed that there were two kinds of lead materials in the Zongyang bronzes. Class Ⅰ which could have originated from the Wannan region were mainly used in the Western Zhou and the following Spring and Autumn periods; while Class Ⅱ, possibly from the local mines in Zongyang County, were mainly present in the Warring States period. Such a shift in the ore material sources is also revealed by the analysis of the trace elements of the Zongyang bronzes. With reference to relevant historical documents, it can be inferred that the transformation of the bronze material sources could be related to the changes of the political situation during the Zhou Dynasty.