129 research outputs found
Physico-chemical traits of Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp. pod wall affecting Melanagromyza obtusa (Malloch) damage
Pigeonpea [Cajanus cajan (L.) Millsp.] is an important legume crop in the semi-arid tropics, and pod fly [Melanagromyza obtusa (Malloch)] is an important emerging constraint to increase the production and productivity of this crop under subsistence farming conditions. Host plant resistance can be used as an important tool for the management of this pest. Therefore, a set of ten pigeonpea genotypes from a diverse array of plant growth types and maturity groups including two appropriate commercial checks, was evaluated for resistance to pod fly under field conditions, and characterized for physico-chemical pod traits. The non-determinate type GP 75 (extra early maturing) and GP 118 (early maturing), and determinate type GP 233 (extra early maturing) and GP 253 (early maturing) genotypes had significantly lower pod and seed damage as compared to determinate (Prabhat) and non-determinate (Manak) early maturing checks, suggesting that resistance to pod fly is not linked to plant growth type and maturity period of the genotype in pigeonpea. Pod wall thickness, trichome density, reducing and non-reducing sugars, total phenols, tannins, and crude fiber were found to be negatively associated (r = −0.83** to −0.97**), while total protein positively associated (r = 0.88** to 0.97**) with pod fly infestation. Therefore, these traits particularly total phenols, tannins, crude fiber, trichome density, and pod wall thickness, can be used as physico-chemical markers to identify pigeonpea genotypes with resistance to M. obtusa, and use in pod fly resistant breeding program in pigeonp
Electroslag remelting - Its status, mechanism and refining aspects in the production of quality steels
Electroslag remelting has been established as a new measure for the production of quality steels. Many properties of ESR steels are dramatically superior to those of conventionally produced steels. Majority of inclusions are eliminated during ESR depending on slag composition, temperature and melt rate. Usually, after ESR, the metal does not contain sany inclusion larger than 10-12 mm. The pronounced effect of ESR is a feasible and effective method of further enhancing the ductility and charpy U-notch toughness, with some improvement in strength as a result of refinement. ESR is a convenient and economic route for processing steels and alloys which are otherwise difficult to process
A molecular approach to reveal the genetic identity of parrot mussel and other sympatric mussel species distributed along the Kerala coast
Two commercially important mussel species are recorded from the Indian coast: green mussel Perna
viridis (Linnaeus, 1758) and brown mussel P. indica (Kuriakose and Nair, 1976). Apart from this, a
third type referred to as parrot mussel, which has shell shape of brown mussel, but with green shell
colouration and suspected to be the hybrid of the above two species has also been reported from Kollam
coast of Kerala, where both the species co-occur. In the present work, genetic identity of parrot and
sympatric mussel species was determined using protein and genomic DNA markers. Protein markers
viz. Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) and allozymes and
the genomic DNA marker Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) were used for determining
genetic identity of the three mussel groups. The green and brown mussels could be clearly differentiated
using SDS PAGE. The parrot mussel protein pattern was similar to that of brown mussel, except for
an additional band of molecular weight 48.7 Kda which is unique to brown mussel. Genus specific
protein bands for Perna viz. 66 Kda, 43 Kda and 14.3 Kda, were detected in this study. Allozyme
electrophoresis also followed a similar pattern. Of the 10 allozyme loci studied, seven revealed speciesspecific
diagnostic differences between P.viridis and P.indica. They were AAT-1* (Aspartate Amino
Transferase-1*), AAT-2*, ME (Malic Enzyme)*, PGM-2*(Phospo Gluco Mutase-2*), EST-1* (Esterase-
1*), EST-2*, IcDH* (Isocitrate Dehydrogenase)*. Parrot mussel shared all the alleles of brown mussel,
and no hybrid pattern was observed. Species-specific alleles clearly differentiated green mussel from
both brown and parrot mussel. The genetic distance of green mussel from brown mussel, estimated
from allozyme data was 1.1145 and with parrot mussel it was 1.105. The genetic distance between
parrot mussel and brown mussel was negligibly low (0.0005). Using allozyme and RAPD data, the
Nei’s Unbiased Measures of genetic distance were calculated and the dendograms prepared based on
these values clearly depicted the separation of parrot mussel from green mussel as well as the close
resemblance of parrot mussel with brown mussel. The higher gene flow (1.1539) determined using
RAPD marker also hints that brown and parrot mussel may be acting as single interbreeding population.
Hence this study using molecular tools to test the genetic identity of parrot mussel has helped to
conclude that parrot mussel is only a morphotype of brown mussel and not a true hybrid of the two
Iron making in ancient India - a critical assessment
It is a well known fact, that Indian craftsman produced quality iron products much earlier than the developed countries, making use of local reserves of iron ore. Iron produced in ancient India was mostly wrought iron. The metal was obtained in the form of a pasty mass and then shaped under hammer. Today, when India is producing several million tons of iron, primitive iron making is still exists in some parts of India. The primitive iron making furnaces declined in numbers gradually from about 500 in the beginning of 20'h century to about 150 by the middle of the
century. Their present number is not known. Such furnaces are in operation deep into the forests and the tribal areas of India. The paper discusses briefly the history of iron making along with the critical assessment of the ancient processes. Some of the important measures absolutely. essential to upgrade the processes have also been discussed.
Several pertinent modifications have been proposed in the design of these furnaces to make them more energy efficient and economically viable 'for tribal and rural populace
Microsatellite Markers to Determine Population Genetic Structure in the Golden Anchovy, Coilia dussumieri
Coilia dussumieri (Valenciennes, 1848) commonly called as golden
anchovy, constitutes a considerable fishery in the northern part of both the west and
east coasts of India. Despite its clear-cut geographic isolation, the species is treated
as a unit stock for fishery management purposes. We evaluated 32 microsatellite
primer pairs from three closely related species (resource species) belonging to the
family Engraulidae through cross-species amplification in C. dussumieri. Successful
cross-priming was obtained with 10 loci, which were sequenced for confirmation of
repeats. Loci were tested for delineating the genetic stock structure of four populations
of C. dussumieri from both the coasts of India. The number of alleles per
locus ranged from 8 to 18, with a mean of 12.3. Results of pairwise FST indicated
genetic stock structuring between the east and west coast populations of India and
also validated the utilization of identified microsatellite markers in population
genetic structure analysis
Microfabrication of a biomimetic arcade-like electrospun scaffold for cartilage tissue engineering applications
Designing and fabricating hierarchical geometries for tissue engineering (TE) applications is the major challenge and also the biggest opportunity of regenerative medicine in recent years, being the in vitro recreation of the arcade-like cartilaginous tissue one of the most critical examples due to the current inefficient standard medical procedures and the lack of fabrication techniques capable of building scaffolds with the required architecture in a cost and time effective way. Taking this into account, we suggest a feasible and accurate methodology that uses a sequential adaptation of an electrospinning-electrospraying set up to construct a system comprising both fibres and sacrificial microparticles. Polycaprolactone (PCL) and polyethylene glycol were respectively used as bulk and sacrificial biomaterials, leading to a bi-layered PCL scaffold which presented not only a depth-dependent fibre orientation similar to natural cartilage, but also mechanical features and porosity compatible with cartilage TE approaches. In fact, cell viability studies confirmed the biocompatibility of the scaffold and its ability to guarantee suitable cell adhesion, proliferation and migration throughout the 3D anisotropic fibrous network. Additionally, likewise the natural anisotropic cartilage, the PCL scaffold was capable of inducing oriented cell-material interactions since the morphology, alignment and density of the chondrocytes changed relatively to the specific topographic cues of each electrospun layer.publishe
The third international hackathon for applying insights into large-scale genomic composition to use cases in a wide range of organisms
publishedVersio
Indigenous health practices of tribals in Ranchi District of Jharkhand
74-79An ethnobotanical survey was carried out among the ethnic groups in Ranchi district of Jharkhand. Traditional use of 41 plant
species are documented in this study. These tribals are using 16 plant species to cure gastro-intestinal disorders, 7 each for
headache as well as respiratory problems and 11 for the treatment of other health problems prevalent in the study area. India
has a variety of tribal population reflecting its great ethnic diversity. Jharkhand is a homeland of 30 tribes including eight
primitive tribes which constitute 28% of the total population. Majority of tribal population of Jharkhand lives in the forest
ecosystem and has its own socio-cultural pattern and tradition. Tribal communities living in biodiversity rich areas possess a
wealth of knowledge on the utilization and conservation of medicinal plants. They have developed this traditional knowledge
over several years of observations, trial and error, inference and inheritance. Some of the indigenous teohnologies are really
effective, much cheaper than modem medicines, prepared by locally available natural resources and easy to prepare. The
potentiality of indigenous health technologies is increasingly being recognized. In present days, this useful knowledge of
indigenous people is fast disappearing due to modernization and the tendency among younger generation to discard their
traditional life style. There is an urgent need to study and document this precious knowledge for the posterity of human society.
Keeping this in view, an ethnobotanical survey was carried out to explore the information regarding the medicinal use of
indigenous plants by tribals found in adjoining forest and agricultural fields
Not Available
Not AvailableNandus nandus is a threatened fish species that plays a significant role in the nutrition of India, especially in the Northeastern states. In the present study, induced spawning of a threatened freshwater fish Nandus nandus (Hamilton-Buchanan) was conducted using three commercially available synthetic GnRH preparations viz., wova- FH, ovaprim, and ovatide in different intensities. The brooder females were injected one time and left to spawn in the spawning hapa. It was found that at different dosages (0.1 ml, 0.2, and 0.3 ml/kg of body weight) hormone wova-FH and ovaprim could induce the fishes to spawn. No spawning was observed by females treated with ovatide and in control set. The spawning time, fertilization rate, hatching rate, and survival rate were quantified in each set of experiment. The egg output/gm female was higher with the dosage of 0.3 ml in comparison to 0.1 ml/kg and 0.2 ml/kg of body weight of ovaprim and wova-FH. The statistical analysis showed significant effect (P < 0.05) between hormonal doses with latency period fertilization rate, incubation period, hatching percentage, and egg output. The present study suggests that wova –FH and ovaprim at 0.3 ml/kg body weight of fish are more effective in induction of spawning of N. nandus.Not Availabl
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