Socio-economic Profile and Adoption of Recommended Milking Practices among Small Dairy Farmers of Meenangadi Gram Panchayat of Wayanad District of Kerala

The study was conducted in Meenangadi panchayat of Wayanad, Kerala. Agriculture was primary occupation for majority of the respondents (44 percent). 38 percentage of the respondents were utilising the facilities provided by the animal husbandry department of the state. According to the perception of 72 percent of the respondents, the most important constraint in dairy farming was the non-availability of fodder followed by responses that indicated the next deterrent to be the high cost of cattle feed (60 percent). A total of fourteen clean milking practices were analysed and adoption of milking practices were calculated by using adoption index. Majority of the respondents were found to be medium adopters

Impact of Cropping Systems on Soil Microbial Load: Evidence from Wetland Ecosystems of Wayanad District, Kerala

This study enumerated the microbial communities in soil samples from rice, banana and arecanut from the wet lands of Wayanad district Kerala. The total viable bacterial count in the paddy field was 120x10-6 cfu, 121x10-6 cfu and 147x10-6 cfu in Nenmeni, Kaniyambatta and Pozhuthana Gramapanchayat and that of fungi was 30x10-3 cfu, 32 x10-3 cfu and 37 x10-3 cfu. Likewise, the total viable count of bacteria in areca nut at Nenmeni, Kaniyambatta and Pozhuthana Gramapanchayat was 66 x10-6 cfu, 80 x10-6 cfu, 118 x10-6 cfu and that of fungi was 14 x10-3 cfu, 18 x10-3 cfu, and 30 x10-3 cfu. The total viable count of bacteria in banana field at Nenmeni, and Pozhuthana was 51 x10-6 cfu and that of Kaniyambatta Gramapanchayath was 56 x10-6 cfu. The viable fungal colony at Nenmeni and Kaniyambatta was 18x10-3 cfu and that of Pozhuthana Gramapanchayath was 24 x10-6 cfu

In-Vitro Antagonistic Activity of Plant Extract on Fusarium Species

Plant protection is an important area which needs attention since most of the hazardous inputs added into the agricultural system are in the form of plant protection chemicals. Botanicals possess a variety of promising properties which make it a better biocontrol agent. The objectives of the present study were to isolate Fusarium sp. from soil and to check the effect of botanicals against this fungal pathogen in-vitro. The antagonistic activity of botanicals was studied by co-inoculation with the Fusarium sp. isolated from rhizosphere soil. In poison food technique, the botanicals in different concentration, showed decrease in the growth of the fungal pathogen. Maximum inhibition was observed in 10% Azadiracta sp. with 64% inhibition followed by 5% Azadiracta sp. with 57.8

Earthworm Population in Relation to Different Agro Climatic Regions of Wayanad District of Kerala

Among the numerous microorganisms in the soil, earthworms play an important role in the formation and maintenance of soil structure and fertility by altering the physical, chemical and biological properties. A study was conducted in Wayanad district during 2017 to 2018 to collect and identify the earthworm species present in three agro climatic regions of Wayanad. A total of 30 samples were collected from Wetland, upland and an evergreen forest. A total of 15 earth worm species were identified and among this two species were new to Wayanad, the Dravida thomasi and Amynthas corticis

RNAI MEDIATED GENE SILENCING OF EIF3A: A POSSIBLE SOLUTION TO CONTROL BREAST CANCER

Objective: The eukaryotic translational initiation factor 3A (eIF3A) is reported to be over expressed in most breast cancer cells. In the present study, our aim is to suppress the over expression of eIF3A in human breast cancer MCF-7 cell line using gene silencing technique (RNA interference (RNAi)).Methods: The artificial microRNA (amiRNA) targeting eIF3A gene was constructed by incorporating short interference RNA (siRNA) sequences against eIF3A gene into endogenous microRNA30 (miR-30) and cloned into pcDNA3.1 vector. The amiRNA containing plasmid was then transfected into MCF-7 cell line and the expression of eIF3A was examined by RT-PCR. The cytotoxicity of plasmid with amiRNA targeting eIF3A on MCF–7 cells was evaluated by MTT assay.Results: The amiRNA construct significantly inhibited eIF3A gene expression and reduce the cell viability of MCF-7 cell line.Conclusion: The usage of modified endogenous amiRNA in vector based expression system with significant gene silencing efficiency suggests that RNAi based gene silencing method can be considered as one of the effective means to control cancer.Â

Thermal decomposition of tungsten hexacarbonyl: CVD of W-containing films under Pd codeposition and VUV assistance

Experiments on chemical vapor deposition of W(CO)6- derived films on silicon substrates were carried out at total pressure of 5-10 Torr within the temperature range of 250-350 oС in Ar or H2 flow. Metallic, carbide and oxide phases composed the obtained films. Deposition in presence of hydrogen results in the increase of the metal content in the film. Sublimed palladium hexafluoracetylacetonate Pd(hfa)2 was used for Pd catalytic promotion of the deposition process. Codeposition with Pd(hfa)2 in hydrogen increases W-metal fraction and oxygen content while the Pd content is up to 10 at.%. Influence of vacuum ultraviolet (VUV) radiation from Xe excimer lamp (λ~172 nm) on the quality of the obtained films was investigated. It was found that VUV irradiation can reduce the oxygen-content in the film while W-metal fraction slightly increases. In all films, oxygen was in the form of WO3 and carbon was mainly incorporated as a graphite metastable phase. The influence of other chemical additives is discussed

Soda and Tobacco Industry Corporate Social Responsibility Campaigns: How Do They Compare?

In an article that forms part of the PLoS Medicine series on Big Food, Andrew Cheyne and colleagues compare soda companies' corporate social responsibility (CSR) campaigns - which are designed to bolster the image and popularity of their products and to prevent regulation - with the tobacco industry's CSR campaigning

Application of Quality of Experience in Networked Services: Review, Trend & Perspectives

Full text embargoed until 17.10.2019 (publisher's embargo period, 12 months