Nagaland University

Despite improvement in national health policies and programs, the health performances in Nagaland are among the lowest in the country. The intra state disparity in healthcare facilities and treatment still exist in the state. This paper provides an in-depth analysis on the healthcare utilization as influenced by various underlying factors. Thirteen households and one health personnel were selected based on purposive and random sampling in Yanmhon old village of Wokha district, Nagaland. Semi structured interview schedule gathered the data during July, 2024. The present study informed that while the public health centre exhibited no financial barrier, peoples’ health needs cannot be satisfactorily met. Villagers were deprived of healthcare services either due to non-availability of basic necessities or absence of health personnel in the village primary health centre. In times of healthcare utilization outside the village, the social determinants through family and community intervention were observed. The health service limitations are compensated by the community’s arrangements. The study thus suggests an inclusive approach for an equitable healthcare delivery. Keywords: health, rural, determinants, healthcare utilization, healthcare infrastructure

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1007/s13197-025-06531-5.

This paper seeks to examine and engage in discussions regarding the dynamics between linguistic diversity in the early modern Mediterranean and social structures, trade, spaces of mobility, and politics of power, and the context in which the former influenced the other factors, as well as presenting a view of the process of how this phenomenon of ‘influencing’ and ‘defining’ took place over time and unravel its various different aspects, illustrating the interconnectedness of language and identity in the early modern Mediterranean. We will look into how this period witnessed the coexistence and interaction of various linguistic communities, shaping identities and forging connections across borders and how the languages spoken in the Mediterranean not only reflected the rich tapestry of cultures but also played a crucial role in defining individual and communal identities.

Precision agriculture requires accurate discrimination between winter crops and weeds, but there is a lack of annotated image data for winter cropping systems. This paper investigates a two-stage deep learning approach that integrates self-supervised feature learning with supervised fine-tuning for winter crop and weed image classification. A new winter crop and weed image dataset, WinterCropWeedDB, is proposed and used in this paper, which contains 1,136 high-resolution images of six winter crop species and four weed species collected from agricultural fields in central India. In the first stage of self-supervised learning, an EfficientNet-B3 model is pre-trained using a SimCLR-style self-supervised learning approach with an InfoNCE loss function (temperature τ = 0.5) on the images. The average contrastive loss value reduces from 2.0712 in the first iteration to 1.6835 at the end of pretraining. In the second stage of supervised fine-tuning, the pre-trained EfficientNet-B3 model is fine-tuned with a supervised classifier head on the images and tested on a single internal validation split (30%) of the dataset. The fine-tuned model reaches a maximum validation accuracy of 98.27%, with a macro-averaged F1-score of 0.98. Gradient-weighted class activation mapping (Grad-CAM) and Grad-CAM++ are used on the fine-tuned model to provide a qualitative visualization of the image regions that contribute to class predictions. The experiment outcomes demonstrate the viability of using self-supervised pretraining and supervised fine-tuning for the classification of winter crop and weed images on a region-specific dataset, while also emphasizing the importance of additional testing on independent test sets.

Abstract This article presents a transcribed, glossed, and translated folktale in Thebo Tibetan. The narrative is presented in four-line interlinear format with accompanying commentary and time-aligned transcription. This is the first published text in Thebo Tibetan and offers valuable insight into its structure and oral narrative tradition. This contribution enhances the documentation of Thebo and expands the comparative folklore record for Tibeto-Burman languages.

This paper explores authenticity of Ao folktales that appear as narrative and AI-assisted content on Youtube. The paper employs a mixed qualitative approach for the analysis of visual and textual elements of the folktales. Along with this, viewers’ comments and creators’ positioning are examined within the engagement it generates. The paper draws on folklore studies, postcolonial theory and media anthropology to trace and understand the change in meaning and authenticity as traditional narratives interact with digital platforms. Findings of the study shows that while Youtube enhances visibility of the Ao folktales, platform incentives tend to privilege visually attractive content over authentic and community-grounded content. The study also identifies distinct patterns of folktales as content which are linked to incentives offered by the platform and motivations of content creators. The paper argues for the need of community involvement and validation to ensure authentic cultural representation on digital platforms.

Soil fertility assessment is crucial for sustainable agricultural productivity, particularly in calcareous soils that often exhibit nutrient imbalances. The present study was undertaken to evaluate the spatial distribution and status of major soil fertility parameters and macronutrients in the calcareous soils of Vaishali district, Bihar. A total of 139 geo-referenced surface soil samples (0–15 cm) were collected across different blocks using GPS-based random sampling. Standard analytical procedures were employed to determine soil pH, electrical conductivity (EC), organic carbon (OC), and available macronutrients including nitrogen (N), phosphorus (P), potassium (K), and sulphur (S). Descriptive statistics and correlation analysis were performed to understand nutrient variability and inter-relationships among soil properties. Results revealed that soil pH varied from 7.02 to 8.36, indicating near-neutral to moderately alkaline conditions, while EC values (0.11–2.48 dS m⁻¹) confirmed predominantly non-saline soils. Organic carbon ranged from 0.21% to 1.21%, with nearly 46% of soils in the low category. Available nitrogen was consistently deficient (87.81–351.23 kg ha⁻¹), with 94.96% of samples below the critical limit. Phosphorus content ranged from 8.61 to 44.49 kg ha⁻¹, mostly in the low to medium category, whereas potassium was severely deficient in 96.4% of samples (<150 kg ha⁻¹). Sulphur levels (6.62–34.3 ppm) were generally low to medium. Correlation analysis indicated strong positive relationships of nitrogen with organic carbon, and moderate associations between phosphorus and nitrogen. Overall, the soils of Vaishali district were found to be low in organic matter and deficient in essential macronutrients, particularly N and K. These findings highlight the need for balanced fertilizer application and integrated nutrient management strategies to sustain soil fertility and enhance crop productivity in calcareous regions of Bihar.