Energy Usage and Benefit-Cost Analysis of Castor Production in Haryana

The study used farm level data collected from rain-fed and irrigated castor seed cultivators from three purposively selected districts namely Rewari, Sirsa and Hisar of Haryana on the basis of highest acreage under castor crop. From each selected district, two villages were selected purposively having large number of castor cultivators. Sixty castor cultivators were interacted to extract relevant information related to various energy utilized in castor seed production using survey method. The aim of this research is to determine the energy input and output involved in castor production in the Haryana. The average energy consumption of the farms investigated in this study is 11064.18 MJha-1 of the total energy, 23.67 per cent is direct and 56.56 per centwas indirect. Renewable energy accounts for 3.49% and energy usage efficiency is found to be 5.92. The total energy input into the production of one kilogram of average castor was estimated to be 8.55 MJ. The dominant contribution to input is energy in the form of nitrogen fertiliser (32.86%), followed by water for diesel- oil (20.61%) and irrigation (19.77%). The cost of castor production per hectare is found to be ` 97412ha-1 in the region, with 52.70% of this beingfixed costs. It can be concluded that intensive castor farms are being operated in the area since the fixed cost was quite high. As a result of benefit-cost ratio (1.48) analysis, castor production was found to be economically efficient

PHOTOSYNTHETIC, BIOCHEMICAL AND ENZYMATIC INVESTIGATION OF Anabaena fertilissima IN RESPONSE TO AN INSECTICIDE-HEXACHLORO-HEXAHYDRO-METHANOBENZODIOXATHIEPINE- OXIDE

A study on the heterocystous, nitrogen fixing cyanobacterium, Anabaena fertilissima was carried out to investigate the effect of an organochlorine insecticide (hexachloro-hexahydro-methano-benzodioxathiepineoxide, called as endosulfan) at different concentrations of 3, 6 and 12 μgml-1 on the photosynthetic pigments-Chl-a, Carotenoids and Phycobiliproteins-phycocyanin, allophycocyanin and phycoerythrin, stress metabolites such as carbohydrates, proteins, amino acids, phenols and enzyme activities-nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase. The insecticide- Endosulfan showed to be deleteriously affecting the activities in the cyanobacterium. As early as the 4th day, chl-a and carotenoids reduced by 38% and 20% respectively. The phycobiliproteins declined by 60%, 64% and 28% with respect to Phycocyanin, Allophycocyanin and Phycoerythrin. Moreover, Endosulfan adversely depleted the cellular activities, leading to a marked decrease in the carbohydrates, proteins, phenols and amino acids and enzymes-nitrate reductase and glutamine synthetase. Despite of deleterious effects of Endosulfan on the cyanobacterium Anabaena fertilissima, a unique regenerating ability in presence of the insecticide was observed by the end of 12 days in the lower doses of insecticide

Molecular Analysis in \u3cem\u3eRauvolfia tetraphylla\u3c/em\u3e L. using RAPD Markers

The Present study reveals the molecular variations in different accessions of Rauvolfia tetraphylla L. a medicinally important plant collected from five locations of the Tirunelveli hills in Tamilnadu, India. Moleuclar analysis was carried out using RAPD markers. Out of the five primers screened, a total of 27 scorable polymorphic markers were generated. The genetic distance between the population ranged from 0.0770 to 0.3514 and the genetic identity ranged from 0.7037 to 0.9259. The overall observed and effective number of alleles is about 0.5007 and 0.3690 respectively. Nei (1978) overall genetic diversity is 0.2034. It is clear that there is distinct genetic variability in R. tetraphylla L

Pharmacognostical Study of Dioscorea oppositifolia L.

Extraction of bioactive compounds from medicinal plants permits demonstration of their physiological activity. It also facilitates pharmacology studies leading to discovery of synthesis of more potent drugs. The plant selected in the present study is Dioscorea oppositifolia L. (Dioscoreaceae) which is used traditionally for antiseptics, ulcers and abscesses. The root is chewed to cure toothache and aphthae. The whole plant extract is used for secondary syphilis and Psorasis. The present investigation was intended to evaluate the preliminary phytochemical characters and fluorescence analysis of this species

Characterization of Heavy Metals in Vegetables Using Inductive Coupled Plasma Analyzer (ICPA)

The heavy metals or trace elements play an important role in the metabolic pathways during the growth and development of plants, when available in required concentration. The heavy metal concentration of Cadmium (Cd), Cobalt (Co), Copper (Cu), Iron (Fe), Nickel (Ni), Lead (Pb) and Zinc (Zn) was analyzed using Inductive Coupled Plasma Analyzer (ICPA) (Perkin-Elmer ICP Optima 3300 RL, USA) in 21 vegetables collected from Vegetable Market of Anand town, Gujarat. The vegetables are Lady\u2019s Finger ( Abelmoschus esculentus ), Onion ( Alium sepa ), Cauliflower ( Brassica oleracea var. botrytis ), Beat ( Brassica oleracea ), Chilli ( Capsicum annum ), Tindora ( Coccinia indica ), Pattarveli ( Colocasia sp.), Coriander ( Coriandrum sativum ), Cucumber ( Cucumis sativus ), Turmeric ( Curcuma longa ), Vetches/Gavar ( Cyamopsis soralioides ), Bean Pods ( Dolichos lablab ), Carrot ( Ductus carrotus ), Ginger ( Gingiber officinalis ), Sweet Potato ( Ipomoea batatas ), Bottle Gourd ( Lagernaria vulgaris ), Tomato ( Lycopersicum esculentum ), Bitter Gourd ( Momordica charantia ), Drumstick ( Moringa oleifera ), Brinjal ( Solanum melongena ) and Parwar ( Trichosanthes dioicea ). The high concentration of Cd was found in Onion, Coriander and Cauliflower, while Co and Cu content was recorded high in Cauliflower and Bottle Gourd. On the other hand, high content of Fe was observed in Cauliflower and Cucumber. Vetches and Lady\u2019s Finger had shown high concentration of Ni. Cauliflower and Onion showed high amount of Pb. On the other hand, Cucumber and Cauliflower registered maximum content of Zn. The heavy metal concentration in vegetables was within the prescribed safety limits except Fe owing to iron-rich soil of the area. The distribution and characterization of heavy metals in vegetables was studied in detail and discussed in this paper

Biomonitoring of selected freshwater macrophytes to assess lake trace element contamination: a case study of Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, Gujarat, India

A biomonitoring study was carried out at Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary, a proposed Ramsar site, Gujarat State, India, to ascertain the degree of trace element contamination. The study focused on assessment of trace element contamination in certain aquatic macrophytes to be used as biomonitors, in comparison with the sediments (abiotic monitor) for heavy metal pollution. Good information was provided by analyzing roots, stems and leaves of native aquatic plants (biomonitors) represented by eight species: Bergia odorata, Hydrilla verticillata, Ipomoea aquatica, Najas graminea, Nelumbo nucifera, Phragmites karka, Typha angustata and Vellisnaria spiralis, alongwith surface sediments and water, were analyzed for Cd, Co, Cu, Cu, Ni, Pb and Zn contamination. The highest concentrations of the trace elements were measured in Ipomoea aquatica and the lowest in Bergia odorata. Based on the concentration and toxicity status observed in the lake's vegetation, the six metals are arranged in the following decreasing order: Zn > Cu > Ni > Co > Pb > Cd. Compared with the standard, normal and critical toxicity range in plants, the detected values of Cd and Pb falls within normal range, while that of Co, Ni and Cu were within the critical range. However, Zn showed the highest concentration and alarming toxicity levels, which is considered as one of the most hazardous pollutants in Nal Sarovar Bird Sanctuary. Certain aquatic macrophytes species are also proposed as biomonitors for the investigated heavy metal pollutants. Such result was significant in the plant species such as Ipomoea aquatica and Phragmites karka, which are the two most useful species in biomonitoring studies due to their ability to accumulate elements in high concentration in the roots and their availability throughout the year. The results showed the significant difference in accumulation rate of some metals like Zn, Cu and Ni in different plant organs, which showed more accumulation in root than that of stem and leaves. Also, there is a high positive correlation between combinations of different metal-pairs in either plant's root, stem or leaf system

Cytoview: development of a cell modelling framework

The biological cell, a natural self-contained unit of prime biological importance, is an enormously complex machine that can be understood at many levels. A higher-level perspective of the entire cell requires integration of various features into coherent, biologically meaningful descriptions. There are some efforts to model cells based on their genome, proteome or metabolome descriptions. However, there are no established methods as yet to describe cell morphologies, capture similarities and differences between different cells or between healthy and disease states. Here we report a framework to model various aspects of a cell and integrate knowledge encoded at different levels of abstraction, with cell morphologies at one end to atomic structures at the other. The different issues that have been addressed are ontologies, feature description and model building. The framework describes dotted representations and tree data structures to integrate diverse pieces of data and parametric models enabling size, shape and location descriptions. The framework serves as a first step in integrating different levels of data available for a biological cell and has the potential to lead to development of computational models in our pursuit to model cell structure and function, from which several applications can flow out

Isolation and Partial Characterisation of a Novel Lectin from Aegle marmelos Fruit and Its Effect on Adherence and Invasion of Shigellae to HT29 Cells

Lectins are a class of ubiquitous proteins/glycoproteins that are abundantly found in nature. Lectins have unique carbohydrate binding property and hence have been exploited as drugs against various infectious diseases. We have isolated one such novel lectin from the fruit pulp of Aegle marmelos. The isolated lectin was partially characterised and its effect against Shigella dysenteriae infection was evaluated. The isolated lectin was found to be a dimeric protein with N-acetylgalactosamine, mannose and sialic acid binding specificity. The effect of Aegle marmelos fruit lectin on the adherence of Shigella dysenteriae to human colonic epithelial cells (HT29 cells) was evaluated by Enzyme Linked Immune Sorbent Assay and invasion was analysed. The protective nature of the Aegle marmelos fruit lectin was assessed by analyzing apoptosis through dual staining method. Aegle marmelos fruit lectin significantly inhibited hemagglutination activity of Shigella and its minimum inhibitory concentration is 0.625 µg/well. Further, at this concentration lectin inhibited Shigella dysenteriae adherence and invasion of HT29 cells and protects the HT29 cells from Shigella dysenteriae induced apoptosis. To conclude, isolated lectin dimeric protein with N-acetylgalactosamine, Mannose and sialic acid binding specificity and inhibits adherence and invasion of Shigellae to HT29 cells thus, protects the host

Blood pressure and hypertension in people living at high altitude in Nepal

This study aimed to describe blood pressure (BP) and hypertension (HT) in samples of high altitude populations of Nepal and to explore associations of systolic BP, diastolic BP and HT with altitude. This was a cross-sectional survey among 521 people living at four different altitude levels, all above 2800 m, in the Mustang and Humla districts of Nepal. Data on BP was available for all 521 participants. Systolic and diastolic BP levels were highest at the altitude of 3620 m (the highest area surveyed) but did not consistently increase with altitude. Using the cut-point of ≥140/90 mmHg (systolic/diastolic), the prevalence of HT (or on anti-hypertensive medication) was 46.1%, 40.9%, and 54.5% respectively at 2800 m, 3270 m and 3620 m of Mustang district, and 29.1% at 2890 m of Humla district. In a multivariate model adjusting for potential confounders there was moderate evidence of a relationship between systolic BP and altitude; mean systolic BP increased by 14.1 mmHg (95% CI 2.6 to 25.5), P=0.02 for every 1000 m elevation. Although diastolic BP and the probability for HT (or on anti-hypertensive medication) also tended to increase with increasing altitude levels, there was no evidence of a relationship. In the present study three out of four communities living at higher altitude levels showed a greater prevalence of HT among those aged 30 years or older compared with the overall national data. These findings indicate a probable high risk of raised BP in high altitude populations in Nepal