Study on Airborne Pollen in the Atmosphere of Bangalore City

The atmospheric pollen of Jnana Bharathi campus, Bangalore University was surveyed during one year period from January 2011 to December 2011 using a vertical cylinder trap. A total of 28 pollen types were identified, among which 7 were present throughout the year. These belonged to Poaceae, Tridax sp., Eucalyptus sp., Parthenium hysterophorus, Cocus nucifera, Croton sparsiflorus and Mimosa pudica. The most predominant Pollen was Parthenium hysterophorus (23.87%) followed by Poaceae (16.19%), Mimosa Pudica (11.31%), Delonix regia (8.77%) and Eucalyptus spp. (7.58%) were found in the atmosphere of Bangalore city. Maximum pollen concentration was observed in the month of May (880/m3) followed by April (552/m3) and minimum in June (163/m3). The total pollens as well as individual pollen types displayed distinct seasonal periodicity in their incidence. The present study will provide preliminary but useful data to the allergologists for effective diagnosis and treatment of local population suffering from pollen hypersensitivity

Reproductive Phenology and Pollination Biology of Madhuca Neriifolia in Wet Evergreen Forest of Western Ghats, South India

Pollination syndromes are suites of phenotypic traits hypothesized to reflect convergent adaptations of flowers for pollination by a specific type of animal. Madhuca neriifolia is an endangered plant species occurring in the Southern Western Ghats of India. The species is sub-annual with an event of two consequent flowering periods per year. The morphological traits of the flowers are evolved in such a way that it can support mixed type of pollination syndromes such as anemophily, entomophily, ornithophily, and chiropterophily. Flowers offer sugar rich nectar present in the flesh corolla and also provide pollen for the visiting pollinators as a pollination reward. The flowers are self-compatible, pollinates both self and cross. Highest mean percentage of fruit set was observed with manual hand cross pollination during November 2011. The high outcrossing index (=4) indicates the necessity of pollinator species for the cross pollination which is supported by the breeding results obtained with manual hand cross pollination. The paired t-test between controlled (open pollination) and the treatments (manual self and cross pollinations) were significantly different

Pollination ecology and reproductive biology of Canarium strictum Roxb. from evergreen forests of Central Western Ghats, India

Pollination and reproductive biology of a dioecious tree Canarium strictum Roxb. (Burseraceae) was extensively studied within the Agumbe forest range of Western Ghats, Karnataka to identify primary pollen vectors and to enumerate interrelationship with the pollinators. The study also investigated phenology floral biology, pollen production, pollen viability, stigma receptivity and nectar production. Trees produced functionally unisexual flowers with white petals, organized densely on inflorescences. Staminate flowers produced high percentage of viable pollen and relatively abundant nectar (15.75 μl) as a reward to the pollinators, while pistillate flowers produced only nectar (12 μl). Successful fruit set with wind pollination was facilitated by synchronization of flowering male and female trees, long term receptivity of stigma in female flowers and extended lifespan of flowers. The highest mean percent of fruit set with hand cross-pollination (μ=91.06) suggests the influence of local male tree density, as well as, frequency and abundance of pollinator community on fruitset by open pollination. © Triveni Enterprises, Lucknow (India)

Seed Bank Estimation and Regeneration Studies of Calophyllum Apetalum Willd., from Western Ghats of Karnataka

Studies on the seed production, modes of dispersal and regeneration patterns of threatened tree species are crucial for the management of their genetic diversity. The seed bank estimation of Calophyllum apetalum was assessed from three different locations of Western Ghats of Karnataka, using two factorial completely randomized design. The results revealed the seeds are dispersed by hydrochory and mammalochory. The post seed dispersal, seed bank estimation studies yielded a high seed density near the base of tree trunks, but it was varied between the distances and locations. The results revealed seed densities are insignificant among the forest ranges and significant with the distances. The in-situ regeneration studies revealed an insignificant relationship between the mean regeneration among the forest ranges and the distances. Also, the ex-situ regeneration studies resulted an insignificant relationship among forest ranges and the distances from which the seeds were collected. The highest seed germination through ex-situ regeneration suggested it, as a best suitable method of conservation of this species

Direct Imaging of Protein Organization in an Intact Bacterial Organelle Using High-Resolution Atomic Force Microscopy

The function of bioenergetic membranes is strongly influenced by the spatial arrangement of their constituent membrane proteins. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) can be used to probe protein organization at high resolution, allowing individual proteins to be identified. However, previous AFM studies of biological membranes have typically required that curved membranes are ruptured and flattened during sample preparation, with the possibility of disruption of the native protein arrangement or loss of proteins. Imaging native, curved membranes requires minimal tip–sample interaction in both lateral and vertical directions. Here, long-range tip–sample interactions are reduced by optimizing the imaging buffer. Tapping mode AFM with high-resonance-frequency small and soft cantilevers, in combination with a high-speed AFM, reduces the forces due to feedback error and enables application of an average imaging force of tens of piconewtons. Using this approach, we have imaged the membrane organization of intact vesicular bacterial photosynthetic “organelles”, chromatophores. Despite the highly curved nature of the chromatophore membrane and lack of direct support, the resolution was sufficient to identify the photosystem complexes and quantify their arrangement in the native state. Successive imaging showed the proteins remain surprisingly static, with minimal rotation or translation over several-minute time scales. High-order assemblies of RC-LH1-PufX complexes are observed, and intact ATPases are successfully imaged. The methods developed here are likely to be applicable to a broad range of protein-rich vesicles or curved membrane systems, which are an almost ubiquitous feature of native organelles

An Intra-city Route Management System - Sanchari Mitra

Bus transportation system is one of India’s most effective network which keeps the social, economical, political and cultural labyrinth of the country together. Individual states have their state run buses that help people commute. These buses connect major cities and towns. After the trains, buses are the next choice for travelers. Buses carry more than 90 percent of public transport in Indian cities. In spite of having numerous applications pertaining to the bus transportation, the information available is not being used to its full potential. Also, the real time information is not provided to the user. This project is aiming to implement an application on Web and platforms of Google Android, Apple iOS and Microsoft Windows that can provide relevant bus information to the users. The users will be provided with all the possible direct or indirect routes between the source and the destination. In completing the project, different technologies like GPS, location detection and route finding will be examined. DOI: 10.17762/ijritcc2321-8169.160411

Linearly-realised Worldsheet Supersymmetry in pp-wave Background

We study the linearly-realised worldsheet supersymmetries in the ``massive'' type II light-cone actions for pp-wave backgrounds. The pp-waves have have 16+N_sup Killing spinors, comprising 16 ``standard'' Killing spinors that occur in any wave background, plus N_sup ``supernumerary'' Killing spinors (0\le N_sup \le 16) that occur only for special backgrounds. We show that only the supernumerary Killing spinors give rise to linearly-realised worldsheet supersymmetries after light-cone gauge fixing, while the 16 standard Killing spinors describe only non-linearly realised inhomogeneous symmetries. We also study the type II actions in the physical gauge, and we show that although in this case the actions are not free, there are now linearly-realised supersymmetries coming both from the standard and the supernumerary Killing spinors. In the physical gauge, there are no mass terms for any worldsheet degrees of freedom, so the masses appearing in the light-cone gauge may be viewed as gauge artefacts. We obtain type IIA and IIB supergravity solutions describing solitonic strings in pp-wave backgrounds, and show how these are related to the physical-gauge fundamental string actions. We study the supersymmetries of these solutions, and find examples with various numbers of Killing spinors, including total numbers that are odd.Comment: Latex, 35 page

Evaluation of elite cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum) genotypes for yield, quality and resistance to Cardamom mosaic virus

Nine genotypes of cardamom (Elettaria cardamomum Maton) along with two commercial cultivars, Green Gold and Appangala 1were evaluated for their yield and selected horticultural traits. There were significant differences amongst different genotypeswith respect to yield and other traits. The genotype IC 349651 was found to be highest in yield (1048.2 kg ha-1) followed byIC 547167 (987.1 kg ha-1). The genotype IC 547167 (Appangala 2) was found to be moderately resistant to Cardamom mosaicvirus under artificial conditions and rich in α terpinyl acetate content which was comparable to Appangala 1. In 2014, thegenotype IC 547167 was recommended for high yield and resistance to Cardamom mosaic virus under field conditions andreleased as Appangala 2 for Karnataka and adjoining areas of Kerala. The variety, Appangala 2 (IC 547167) was developedthrough hybridization between Appangala 1 x NKE 19

Algal biomass as a global source of transport fuels: Overview and development perspectives

Abstract As a result of the global fuel crisis of the early 1970s, coupled with concerns for the environment, the use of biofuel has been on the increase in many regions throughout the world. At present, a total of approximately 30 billion (30×109) liters of biofuel are utilized worldwide annually, although most countries rely hugely on the first generation biofuel. The limitations of the first and second generation biofuel gave rise to current interest in algae as a promising alternative to these conventional biofuel sources. Algal biomass could provide a lion׳s share of the global transport fuel requirements in future. The present review highlights some important developments in, and potentials of algaculture as a major biomass resource of the future. However, the major constraint to commercial-scale algae farming for energy production is the cost factor, which must be addressed adequately before its potentials can be harnessed