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The present study aimed at predicting the potential habitat of Western Hoolock Gibbon (Hoolock hoolock) in the upper Brahmaputra River Valley, Assam, India, and identifying priority conservation areas for the species, taking canopy cover into account. We used the maximum entropy algorithm for the prediction of the potential habitat of the gibbon using its current distribution with 19 environmental parameters as primary predictors. Spatio-temporal analyses of the habitat were carried out using satellite-based remote sensing and GIS techniques for two decades (1998–2018) along with Terra Modis Vegetation Continuous Field product to examine land use land cover (LULC), habitat fragmentation, Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) and tree cover percentage of the study area. To identify the conservation priority area, we applied a cost-effective decision-making analysis using systematic conservation prioritization in R programming. The model predicted an area of 6025 km2 under high potential habitat, a major part of which was found to overlap with dense forest (80%), followed by moderately open forest (74%) and open forest (66%). The LULC change matrix showed a reduction of forest area in the predicted high potential habitat during the study period, while agricultural class showed an increasing trend. The fragmentation analysis indicated that the number of patches and patch density increased from 2008 to 2018 in the ‘very dense’ and ‘dense’ canopy regions of the gibbon habitat. Based on the conservation priority analysis, a 640 km2 area has been proposed to conserve a minimum of 10% of gibbon habitat. The current analysis revealed that in the upper Brahmaputra Valley most areas under dense forest and dense canopy have remained intact over the last two decades, at least within the high potential habitat zone of gibbons independent of the degree of area change in forest, agriculture and plantation.

An improved, easier, and cost-effective pentacene double-layer technique with better performance is proposed in this paper to enhance the air stability of the pentacene-based organic thin-film transistors (OTFTs). This paper will definitely help to solve the instability issue of pentacene-based OTFTs so that they can be used in long durable low-cost flexible organic display.

A new technique called a pentacene double layer is proposed in this paper to enhance the air stability of the pentacene-based OTFTs. A practically insulating amorphous layer of pentacene (P-II) deposited at very low substrate temperature is used as protective layer above the pentacene active layer (P-I) so that an encapsulation layer of SiO2 can be deposited without damaging the active layer. This technique reduced the probability of interaction of O2 and H2O with the active pentacene layer to zero during fabrication of the devices (multiple breakdown process), and hence can be fabricated without using nitrogen ambient chamber as a result the devices become highly cost effective.

We have investigated the pentacene based Organic Thin Film Transistors (OTFTs) with High-k Dielectric Nd2O3. Use of high dielectric constant (high-k) gate insulator Nd2O3 reduces the threshold voltage and sub threshold swing of the OTFTs. The calculated threshold voltage -2.2V and sub-threshold swing 1V/decade, current ON-OFF ratio is 1.7 × 10(4) and mobility is 0.13cm²/V.s. Pentacene film is deposited on Nd2O3 surface using two step deposition method. Deposited pentacene film is found poly crystalline in nature.

Specimen based records of two vespertilionid bats namely Pipistrellus ceylonicus and Tylonycteris fulvida are provided for the first time from the state of Assam in northeastern India. Based on review of existing literature and examinations of museum specimens, we also furnish a checklist of the bat fauna of Assam with distribution, which includes 32 species in 17 genera.

Tetracene thin film transistors with rare earth oxide (Nd 2 O 3 ) as gate dielectric is reported in this work. Rare earth oxide with high dielectric constant and low leakage current improve the performance of the organic thin film transistors (OTFTs). The fabricated tetracene OTFTs have shown good output characteristics with mobility 0.93x10 -4 cm 2 /V.s, ON-OFF ratio 3.3x10 2 , sub-threshold swing 0.06 V/decade and hole concentration 8.74x10 17 cm -3 . Keywords: Organic thin film transistors; Tetracene; Rare earth oxide; Trap density. © 2010 JSR Publications. ISSN: 2070-0237 (Print); 2070-0245 (Online). All rights reserved. DOI: 10.3329/jsr.v2i2.4094 J. Sci. Res. 2 (2), 214-220 (2010)

BACKGROUND AND PURPOSE: Coinfection of neurocysticercosis (NCC) and Japanese encephalitis (JE) has been advocated as more than a chance occurrence resulting in poor outcome. We undertook this study to determine whether the association of the 2 infections is more than a chance occurrence, to define the imaging characteristics of coinfections, and to explore the synergistic effect of NCC in JE. MATERIALS AND METHODS: Sixty-two patients with JE were studied by MR imaging and CT. CT was done in 53 and MR imaging in 53 patients. The diagnosis of JE was established by CSF JE virus immunoglobulin M capture (MAC) enzyme-linked immunosorbent assay (ELISA). NCC was diagnosed from imaging. A control group of 385 patients was evaluated by imaging for prevalence of NCC in the general population. RESULTS: A significantly high association of NCC with JE (19.3%) was observed in comparison with prevalence of NCC in control subjects (1.04%; P = .0003). JE lesions in coinfection were significantly asymmetric with lateralization to the side of the brain having the maximum NCC or a cyst with edema. The JE lesions in coinfections were more florid, with a significantly higher proportion of abnormal CT scans and more abnormal MR imaging. Coinfections were significantly more common in children. Significantly lower CSF MAC-ELISA units in patients with coinfection reflected low CSF IgM levels, suggesting altered immune status. CONCLUSION: In our series, there was a strong association between JE and NCC, and, thus, this coinfection was more than a chance occurrence.

A giant pedunculate tumour of oesophagus is reported in this study for its rareness. A mate patient aged 48 years was admitted at Jorhat Christian Medical Centre with the complaint of swelling of the neck and dysphagia for a period of 4 months. Clinically the neck swelling looks like swelling of left lobe of thyroid with intrathoracic extension, ENT examination was normal The barium Swallow X-ray of oesophagus showed surprisingly huge dilatation of upper half of the oesophagus. The oesophagoscopy snowed a large mobile infra oesophageal tumour extending from the upper end of the oesophagus upto the mid thoracic region. The neck is explored by collar incission and the cervical oesophagus is opened by longitudinal incission. The tumour is pulled out from the oesophagus and is removed completely by cutting the peduncle which was attached to the tight wall of the oesophagus just below the cricopharynx. The peduncle was about I em in diameter., The length of the tumour was about 3–4 cm at the thoracic part. Post Operative recovery was uneventful. The histopathology report skewed it to be a ease of FIBROLIPOMA.

Background Malaria is a major cause of morbidity and mortality in Northeast India. As there is limited information available on the potential influence of socio-economic variables on malaria risk, the present study was conducted to assess the influence of demographic factors, the socio-economic status, and knowledge, awareness and education on malaria occurrence. Methods Demographics, malaria knowledge and socio-economic variables were collected in four randomly selected health sub-centres of the Orang primary health centre in the Udalguri district, Assam and the association of malaria occurrence with different variables were analysed. The trend of malaria occurrence for different income groups, proximity to health centres and number of mosquito bites per day was also determined using the chi-square test. Relative risk (RR) for gender, house type, knowledge and use of bed nets was determined using Katz approximation. Results Out of the 71 household heads interviewed, 70.4% (50/71) were males. About half (54.9%, 39/71) of the participants had a history of malaria in the last two years, of which 64.1% (25/39) were males, while 35.9% (14/39) were females (χ2 = 5.13; p = 0.02; RR = 1.79). Of the total population surveyed, 49.3% lived in bamboo houses and 35.2% lived at a distance of >3 km from the nearest health centre. The number of participants who had a history of malaria decreased with an increasing monthly income (p < 0.0001). Malaria occurrence was higher among the households living in bamboo houses (69.2%), as compared to Kucha houses (20.5%) and Pucca houses (10.3%). No significant association was observed between education level and malaria occurrence (p = 0.93). The participants who did not use bed nets regularly reported a high occurrence of malaria infection as compared to those who used bed nets everyday (p < 0.0001). Conclusions Lower income, house type, distance to health sub-centre, knowledge and awareness about malaria, number of mosquito bites per day and use of bed nets were positively associated with malaria occurrence. Increasing the number of health sub-centres close to rural areas, improving the economic status and increasing awareness about malaria prevention measures will thus help to reduce malaria-associated morbidities.