Linking Ecological and Social Resilience: The role of Indigenous Knowledge in Building Ecological and Social Resilience: A Comparative Analysis

This research investigates the role of Indigenous Knowledge (IK) in enhancing ecological and social resilience in Nepal and across South Asia. It examines traditional practices in agriculture, forestry, water management, and resource conservation, emphasizing their significance in fostering ecological stability and social cohesion. By comparing case studies from Nepal and other South Asian nations, the study identifies commonalities and variations in the application of IK, as well as its adaptability to local environmental and social conditions. The research is guided by three primary objectives: to evaluate the role of IK in resource conservation and ecological resilience, to analyze how IK strengthens social cohesion and adaptive capacity, and to identify barriers—social and institutional—hindering the integration of IK into policy frameworks. Key questions explore the contributions of IK to ecological conservation, its influence on social dynamics, and strategies to better incorporate it into regional and national policies. Employing thematic, comparative, and historical-policy analyses, the study synthesizes insights from secondary data sources, including academic articles, case studies, and policy documents. Findings highlight the sustainability and adaptability of IK while revealing significant challenges, such as fragmented policies, limited institutional support, and socio-political marginalization of indigenous communities. The research concludes by advocating for inclusive governance, integration of IK with scientific innovations, and the establishment of frameworks that empower indigenous communities. These steps are essential for preserving cultural heritage, addressing environmental challenges, and fostering sustainable development across Nepal and South Asia

The influence of social media on Nepal's tourism industry

This research explores the use of social media to influence Nepal's tourism industry and ways to influence travellers by utilising digital platforms, as well as the efficacy of marketing strategies to position the country as a tourist destination. The research examines the effect that influencers and user-generated content (UGC) have in creating tourist perceptions as well as the economic value of social media engagement on Nepalese tourism revenue. What is more, it also mentions such challenges as overtourism and content saturation, which propose strategies for the sustainable growth of tourism. Taking a qualitative approach, the present research examines secondary data such as social media campaigns, academic literature, and tourism reports. It is revealed that social media increases Nepal’s tourism visibility in a significant way, and that influencer content and UGC are more persuasive than traditional marketing. However, the fast digital marketing of some destinations leads to overtourism, which requires rebalanced and sustainable marketing. The research helps tourism boards, businesses, and policymakers with key insights, suggesting ways to improve digital marketing without exposing one’s business to unnecessary risks. It also makes a rather academic contribution to academic discussions of digital tourism, underscoring the importance of responsible social media strategies likely to contribute to the long-term development of Nepal’s tourism

Measurement of the Double Helicity Asymmetry in Inclusive ã0 Production in Polarized Proton-Proton Collision at Center of Mass Energy of 510 GeV.

One of the biggest quests in nuclear and particle physics in the last three decades is to unravel the spin structure of hadrons like protons and neutrons. Spin not only plays a central role in the strong force connecting the elementary constituents of matter, but is also responsible for many of its fundamental properties including the magnetic moment which defines the magnetic properties, the different phases in low temperature physics, and the stability of the universe in general. The origin of the spin of particles like protons and neutrons, which make up to 99.9% of the visible universe, has been the focus of experimental and theoretical efforts. Experiments at European Muon Collaboration (EMC) found that our knowledge of how the spin of the nucleon is derived from its elementary constituents is naive, and our interpretations are not valid. This was termed the spin crisis, an outstanding puzzle for more than three decades and is still not solved. Deciphering the spin puzzle requires knowing the spin of elementary constituents of these particles, quarks and gluons. One of the major objectives of the Relativistic Heavy Ion Collider (RHIC) spin program at Brookhaven National Laboratory is the measurement of the gluon helicity contribution to the proton spin via measuring the double helicity asymmetry (ALL) in various channels. In Pioneering High Energy Nuclear Interaction eXperiment (PHENIX) we measure ALL in π0 meson production. The π0 meson is reconstructed through its di-photon decay channel. The photons are detected by the PHENIX Electromagnetic Calorimeter, which consists of lead glass and lead scintillator detectors and covers a rapidity of |η|\u3c 0.35 and azimuthal angle of 180°. In this dissertation, the results of ALLin π0 production from the data collected in 2013 at center of mass energy = 510 GeV are presented. In 2013, the total integrated luminosity is 150 pb-1 which is almost ten times the total luminosity recorded in 2009 at center of mass energy = 200 GeV. Due to the increase in the center of mass energy and integrated luminosity, these measurements cover the Bjorken x range down to ~0.01. A non-zero ALL result is observed that is consistent with positive gluon polarization in the probed kinematics

DNA glycosylase activities for N4,5-dimethylcytosine

Master's thesis in Biological chemistryAlthough the epigenetic DNA base 5-methylcytosine (m5C) has an important role in cellular functions, damaging chemical alterations to m5C have been little studied. For example, while much knowledge exists on erroneous methylation of the four common bases in DNA, almost none studies have been conducted on methylation damage to m5C resulting in double and triple methylated bases. Certain methylases can convert m5C into N4,5-dimethylcytosine (mN4,5C) in DNA in vitro, and there is a possibility of the presence of mN4,5C in vivo. We investigated the ability of various DNA glycosylases to process DNA containing mN4,5C at a specific site, and we report that Escherichia coli Fpg protein and endonuclease VIII (Nei) exhibit activity for mN4,5C in DNA in vitro. Fpg removes mN4,5C most efficiently opposite non-cognate C followed by T, while no activity was detected opposite A and cognate G. In contrast, Nei incises at mN4,5C in DNA most efficiently opposite cognate G followed by A and T, whereas almost no activity was detected opposite C. Nei and Fpg thus seem to complement each other in the repair of mN4,5C in DNA. Plasmids containing mN4,5C placed opposite G, C, A and T should separately be transformed into E. coli wild-type, fpg‒, nei‒ and fpg‒ nei‒ cells to study the in vivo consequences of these repair functions. Our findings describe for the first time the repair of a further methylated epigenetic base in DNA

Facile Synthesis of Bio-templated Tubular Co3O4 Microstructure and its Electrochemical Performance in Aqueous Electrolytes

Template-assisted facile synthesis of tubular Co3O4 microstructures and its electrochemical performance was studied to understand its use as a potential electrode material for supercapacitors. Tubular porous Co3O4 microstructures were synthesized using cotton fibers as bio-template. The as-obtained templated Co3O4 structure inherits the morphology and microstructure of cotton fiber. The electrochemical performance of the electrode made up of tubular Co3O4 structure was evaluated in 3M KOH, NaOH, and LiOH aqueous electrolytes. The large-surface-area of tubular Co3O4 microstructure has a noticeable pseudocapacitive performance with a capacitance of 401 F/g at 1 A/g and 828 F/g at 2 mV/s, a Coulombic efficiency averaging ~100%, and excellent cycling stability with capacitance retention of about 80% after 5,000 cycles. Overall, the tubular Co3O4 microstructure displayed superior electrochemical performance in 3M KOH electrolyte with peak power density reaching 5,500 W/kg and energy density exceeding 22 Wh/kg. The superior performance of the tubular Co3O4 microstructure electrode is attributed to its high surface area and adequate pore volume distribution, which allows effective redox reaction and diffusion of hydrated ions. The facile synthesis method can be adapted for preparing various metal oxide microstructures for possible applications in catalysis, electrochemical, sensors, and fuel cell applications

The Impact of Trekking Tourism on Local Communities: A Case Study of Mega Mount Trekking & Expedition

This study explores the different impacts of trekking tourism on local communities along Nepal’s Annapurna Circuit, focusing on Mega Mount Trekking & Expedition Pvt. Ltd. It examines economic benefits such as job creation and business growth, as well as challenges such as seasonal income fluctuation, cultural commodification, and environmental degradation. This investigation was implemented using qualitative methods, including interviews with stakeholders. The research indicates the importance of the company regarding the promotion of sustainable tourism through local employment, cultural preservation, and environmental responsibility. However, it also reveals a lack of consistency in environmental education and community involvement. The findings highlight, therefore, a need for balanced tourism; one that fosters economic growth, encourages cultural authenticity, and supports ecological conservation through improved training, functional policies, and community collaboration towards sustainable tourism practices in the region

Automated classification of web contents in B2B marketing

Recent growth in digitization has affected how customers seek the information they need to make a purchase decision. This trend of customers making their purchase decision based on the information they collect online is increasing. To accommodate this change in purchase behavior, companies tend to share as much information about themselves and their products online, which in turn drives the amount of unstructured data produced. To get value for this huge amount of data being produced, the unstructured data needs to be processed before being used in digital marketing applications. When it comes to the companies serving business to customers (B2C), plenty of research exists on how the digital content could be used for marketing, but for the companies serving business to business (B2B) a huge research gap presides. B2C marketing and B2B marketing might share some analytical concepts but they are different domains. Not much research has been done in the field of using machine learning in B2B digital marketing. The lack of availability of labeled text data from the B2B domain makes it challenging for researchers to experiment on text classification models, while several methods have been proposed and used to classify unstructured text data in marketing and other domains. This thesis studies previous works done in the field of text classification in general, in the marketing domain, and compares those methods across the dataset available for this research. Text classification methods such as Random Forest, Linear SVM, KNN, Multinomial Naïve Bayes, and Multinomial Logistic Regression dominates the research field, hence these methods are tested in this research. In the used dataset surprisingly, Random Forest Classifier performed best with an average accuracy of 0.85 in the designed five-class classification task

Design and Performance of the Alignment System for the CMS Muon Endcaps

The alignment system for the CMS Muon Endcap detector employs several hundred sensors such as optical 1-D CCD sensors illuminated by lasers and analog distance- and tilt-sensors to monitor the positions of one sixth of 468 large Cathode Strip Chambers. The chambers mounted on the endcap yoke disks undergo substantial deformation on the order of centimeters when the 4T field is switched on and off. The Muon Endcap alignment system is required to monitor chamber positions with \mbox{75-200 $\mu$m} accuracy in the R$\phi$ plane, $\approx$400 $\mu$m in the radial direction, and $\approx$1 mm in the z-direction along the beam axis. The complete alignment hardware for one of the two endcaps has been installed at CERN. A major system test was performed when the 4T solenoid magnet was ramped up to full field for the first time in August 2006. We present the overall system design and first results on disk deformations, which indicate that the measurements agree with expectations