This paper examines the factors that affect human–wildlife conflict and its socio-ecological consequences, including impacts on the daily lives of rural people, farming activities, children’s schooling, and livestock rearing. Both qualitative and quantitative approaches were employed. Data were collected from secondary sources, primarily the Uttarakhand State Forest Department and the Forest Survey of India, covering 25 years (2000–2025). Information on wildlife species, their populations, and the number of people killed or injured by wildlife was obtained. The author visited some affected areas of human–wildlife conflict in July 2024 and January 2025. A perception study was conducted in which 212 people from five villages were interviewed. A map of human–wildlife conflict hotspots was also prepared. Three districts of Uttarakhand—Pauri, Almora, and Tehri—were identified as human-wildlife conflict hotspots. This study reveals that elephants dominate the plains—namely the Doon Valley and the Tarai region—whereas leopards and bears dominate the middle Himalayan region in terms of human–wildlife conflict. Wild boars and langurs are also found in the same region. Snow leopards are confined to the Greater Himalayan region. Every day, one or more people are killed by wildlife, and the number of injured people is considerably high. Fatalities from leopard attacks are highest, followed by bear attacks, mainly in the middle Himalayan region. The study suggests that both the Forest Department and local communities can play significant roles in managing wildlife through awareness programmes and improved forest management.
Rare-earth (RE)-containing magnesium sheet alloys are promising for lightweight structures because they can reduce anisotropy and improve warm formability. Their industrial relevance, however, should be assessed not only through mechanical performance, but also through process-energy demand, corrosion durability, and critical-raw-material considerations. This perspective examines Mg–Zn–RE sheets, with ZE10A as an anchor case, to connect three issues that are often treated separately: low-temperature warm-forming windows, deformation-induced microstructural stability, and corrosion-film kinetics. Current evidence indicates that in the approximately 250–300 °C range, recovery and incipient dynamic recrystallization may improve formability while limiting major grain or phase evolution. Under these recovery-dominated conditions, we propose, as a working hypothesis, that the influence of thermomechanical history on corrosion is mediated primarily by defect architecture, near-surface heterogeneity, and the formation and breakdown kinetics of dynamic, non-passivating films, rather than by extensive precipitation or classical microgalvanic changes. A screening-level discussion of process-energy demand, together with a database-based comparison of the embodied energy and carbon footprint of selected rare-earth elements, is used to frame responsible alloy and processing decisions without claiming a full life-cycle assessment. The perspective concludes with a research roadmap integrating history-faithful forming tests, correlative microstructure mapping, time-resolved electrochemistry, and transparent sustainability assumptions to support predictive manufacturing design rules for Mg–RE sheets.
Although acceptable in some products and specialities, bitter flavors are a major issue in food-product development, e.g., in proteins of emergent sources. Many mushroom species have been known historically for their bitterness, which is perceived later than the other flavors, and whose perception lingers in the mouth. To date, the substances responsible for this taste could not be identified, possibly due to the extremely variable molecular structures of bitter compounds in nature. The growing sector of mycelium-derived foods is constantly including novel species into their development pipelines, and the need for ways to control off-flavors, particularly the bitter aftertastes, is becoming evident. Identifying the chemical groups responsible for these perceptions is the first step towards finding solutions. Reviewing the perception of bitterness, masking methodologies, and in particular, the occurrence of bitterness in mushrooms, we find that fungal bitterness is chemically diverse, mainly attributable to peptides, phenolics, terpenoids, and alkaloids, with direct receptor-level evidence so far restricted to a few metabolites such as oligoporins and infractopicrin, while most reported compounds remain inferred. Fungal bitterness is likely multicausal, so masking strategies will need to be developed on a species- or group-specific basis rather than universally.
Membrane-associated RING-CH (MARCH) ligases are a family of 11 ubiquitin E3 ligases that regulate protein stability, trafficking, and signaling across diverse cellular contexts. Although MARCH ligases have been studied most extensively in immune regulation, antigen presentation, viral restriction, and cellular homeostasis, their roles in pulmonary biology remain incompletely defined. The lung is a highly specialized environmental interface that must preserve gas exchange while continuously responding to infectious, inflammatory, and sterile insults. These demands require careful regulation of epithelial and endothelial barrier integrity, innate and adaptive immune activation, and tissue repair. Current work suggests that MARCH ligases influence many of these processes by regulating inflammatory responses, cytokine receptors, antiviral signaling mediators, viral proteins, mitochondrial fission or fusion, junctional molecules, ciliary components, and remodeling pathways. In this review, we summarize current knowledge and highlight gaps in the understanding of MARCH ligase expression and function in lung-relevant cell types and disease contexts. Defining how MARCH ligases operate within specific lung compartments may reveal new regulatory mechanisms governing pulmonary immunity, barrier function, host defense, and lung remodeling.
Leaf mustard (Brassica juncea) is an important leafy vegetable highly valued for its diverse flavor and nutrient compounds, particularly glucosinolates. However, different varieties of leaf mustard exhibit substantial phenotypic variation and varying glucosinolate content. In this study, we systematically assessed the phenotypic variability and glucosinolate content among 86 genotypes of leaf mustard. The Shannon-Wiener index for qualitative traits ranged from 0.10 (leaf surface gloss) to 1.60 (leaf shape), while for quantitative traits, it ranged from 1.85 (petiole length) to 2.07 (leaf width). Cluster analysis grouped the accessions into three distinct clusters, with hierarchical clustering indicating that yield-related traits were the primary factors distinguishing these groups. Principal component analysis (PCA) revealed that eight components accounted for 87.44% of the total variance in yield and glucosinolate attributes. Based on comprehensive scoring, the top five genotypes (A645, A464, A512, A702, and A445), exhibiting diverse characteristics, were identified as promising candidates for breeding programs. Moreover, our results suggest that leaf mustard leaves with deeper or more numerous lobes contain higher concentrations of glucoraphanin. Collectively, these findings provide valuable genetic resources to advance leaf mustard breeding.
