Socio-economic Impact Assessment of Livelihood Security in Agriculture, Animal Husbandry and Aquaculture on the Tsunami-hit Lands of Andaman

Indian subcontinent is highly vulnerable to major natural disasters such as earthquakes, cyclones, floods, droughts, landslides and bushfires. Tsunami, which is a recent addition to this list, had occurred in the early morning of 26th December 2004, after a massive earthquake of 9.2 magnitude on the Richter scale in Andaman & Nicobar islands, resulting in the submergence of large area of farmland, and subsequent drying up of water bodies. It caused moisture stress for the standing crops, livestock and fisheries and affected the livelihood of the people to a large extent. In this context, the present study has been carried out to make the socio-economic impact assessment of livelihood security in agriculture, animal husbandry and aquaculture on the tsunami-hit lands of Andaman. Data have been collected from 150 sample respondents and the survey has been conducted for two periods, pre-tsunami and post-tsunami. The results have indicated that tsunami has ravaged the households, standing crops, farm inputs such as seed, feed and implements, livestock and poultry population, their sheds, fish ponds, etc., thereby affecting the basic livelihood security of the people in Andaman. The rehabilitation measures taken by the government and NGOs have improved their livelihoods by reviving agriculture considerably in the subsequent years and by creating employment opportunities in various farm and non-farm activities. The paper has suggested creating profitable livelihood security to vulnerable sections of the society in the existing socio-economic penury with holistic intervention of the community, government and NGOs.Agricultural and Food Policy,

On the performance of stabilized α-nickel hydroxide as a nickel-positive electrode in alkaline storage batteries

The internal resistance of a stabilized α-nickel hydroxide electrode is found to be lower than that of a β-nickel hydroxide electrode as shown from studies of the open-circuit potential-time transients at all states-of-charge. Nevertheless, the self-discharge rates of the former is higher. Gasometric studies reveal that the charging efficiency of the α-nickel hydroxide electrode is higher than that of the β-nickel hydroxide electrode. © 1995

Generalized Neuron Based Secure Media Access Control Protocol for Wireless Sensor Networks

Security plays a pivotal role in most applications of wireless sensor networks. It is common to find inadequately secure networks confined only to controlled environments. The issue of security in wireless sensor networks is a hot research topic for over a decade. This paper presents a compact generalized neuron (GN) based medium access protocol that renders a CSMA/CD network secure against denial-of-service attacks launched by adversaries. The GN enhances the security by constantly monitoring multiple parameters that reflect the possibility that an attack is launched by an adversary. Particle swarm optimization, a popular bio-inspired evolutionary-like optimization algorithm is used for training the GN. The wireless sensor network is simulated using Vanderbilt Prowler, a probabilistic wireless network simulator. Simulation results show that the choice of threshold suspicion parameter impacts on the tradeoff between network effectiveness and lifetime

Effect of Spacing and Pruning on Growth, Yield and Quality of Cv. Deanna Fig (Ficus carica L.)

The effects of tree spacing (5x2m, 5x2.5m, 5x3m, 5x3.5m and 5x4m) and pruning (8 buds/cane, 6 buds/cane and 4 buds/cane) on vegetative growth, physiological parameters, fruit yield and quality were studied in fig (Ficus carica L.) cv. Deanna in the 3rd and 4th year of its growth during the period 2010-12. It was observed that with increase in tree spacing, growth parameters like leaf number, shoot length, internode length, tree-spread, tree height and tree circumference, along with fruit yield both in terms of fruit number and fruit weight per tree, declined gradually under different pruning levels. Increase in pruning level from 8 buds/cane to 4 buds/cane resulted in increased leaf number, shoot length and internode length. Yield characters, viz., fruit number/tree, fruit weight/tree, fruit number/hectare and fruit weight/hectare were marginally influenced by pruning. However, interaction effects of pruning and spacing were found to be non-significant. Consistently declining trends in photosynthesis rate and stomatal conductance, along with increase in leaf water potential value were observed with increase in spacing. Effects of spacing were more conspicuous than those of pruning. Best results for maintenance of vigour and fruit yield were observed under a spacing of 5x2m or 5x2.5m, and 4 buds/cane pruning. Although there was reduction in average fruit size under closer spacing when compared to wide spacing, fruit quality attributes like TSS and acidity were not affected by various treatments. Effects of closer spacing on growth and yield parameters were more pronounced in the 3rd year as compared to the 4th year, showing better response to treatments in young trees. Fruit yield calculated on per hectare basis showed highest fruit number of 116500-133750 and 274500-299500, and fruit weight of 54.5-62.0 and 158.77- 173.30 quintals/ha, respectively, during the 3rdand 4th year of planting under closer spacing of 5x2m and 4 buds/cane pruning

Green synthesis of magnesium oxide nanoparticles and their antibacterial activity

1210-1215Nanotechnology has prospects of opening new avenues to fight and prevent diseases using atomic-scale tailoring of materials. As the nano revolution emerges, it is imperative to develop “nano‑naturo” links between nanotechnology and green domains of the nature. The present investigation describes the mangrove Rhizophora lamarckii’s property of synthesizing magnesium oxide nanoparticles . The newly synthesized magnesium oxide nanoparticle morphology is nanohexagonal and spherical. The particles range in dimensions between 20 and 50 nm and are crystalline in nature. The functional groups of the mangrove, amine, and alkane are found to act as reductants and stabilizers. The newly synthesized MgO nanoparticles are found to have potent antibacterial activity

Biogenic synthesis of gold nanoparticles using Sargassum tenerrimum and its evaluation of antibacterial activity against Escherichia coli and Salmonella typhi

1291-1297An important aspect of nanotechnology is the development of a reliable and ecofriendly method for the synthesis of nanomaterials. In the present study, Sargassum tenerrimum extract was used to synthesize gold nanoparticles (AuNPs) by the reduction of AuCl4− ions to Au0. The formation and morphology of the synthesized AuNPs were investigated using \UV–visible spectroscopy, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy, transmission electron microscopy, X-ray diffraction, and field emission scanning electron microscopy with energy dispersive X-ray analysis. The nanoparticles synthesized at 60 °C were spherical in shape while few were also hexagonal in shape with the size ranging between 10 and 40 nm. The antibacterial activity of AuNPs was tested against Escherichia coli (ATCC 25922) and Salmonella typhi (ATCC 6539). On examination under an epifluorescence microscope, it was found to cause a significant amount of deterioration to the bacterial cells

Manufacturing practices for silicon-based power diode in fast recovery applications

This paper reports a fast recovery semiconductor diode that was developed for use in high power applications. The diode constructed in disc-type ceramic package with a peak-inverse voltage rating of 2800 V and current rating of 710 A was fabricated using float-zone (FZ) silicon wafer as the starting raw material. Alternate processes viz. gold diffusion, gamma irradiation and electron irradiation were explored for control of carrier lifetime required to tune the switching response of the diode to the desired value of 8 s. The paper compares the results of these alternate processes. The diodes were fabricated and tested for forward conduction, reverse blocking and switching characteristics. The measured values were observed to be comparable with the design requirements. The paper presents an overview of the design, manufacturing nd testing practices adopted to meet the desired diode characteristics and ratings. When you are citing the document, use the following link http://essuir.sumdu.edu.ua/handle/123456789/2788

The Sodium Absorption Ratio in Neyveli Aquifer

Source: ICHE Conference Archive - https://mdi-de.baw.de/icheArchiv

In vitro anticancer activity of Sargassum sp. polysaccharides against MCF-7 cell lines

1267-1273Seaweed polysaccharides are compounds with promising chemopreventive and chemotherapeutic activities. In this study, polysaccharides isolated from Sargassum seaweeds were tested for their efficiency in cancer therapy. Polysaccharides were isolated, purified, and characterized using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR); and Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopic and matrix-assisted laser desorption ionization mass spectrometric (MALDI-MS). It was found that the polysaccharides from Sargassum sp. branches are sulfated galactose–fucose disaccharides and sulfated galactose monosaccharides attached to the main chain through (1–4) linkages. Further, the polysaccharides were tested for cytotoxicity and anticancer activity against human breast adenocarcinoma cell line (MCF-7) using the Annexin-V/propidium iodide (PI) staining method