Community Structure of Oribatid Mites in Improved Grasslands: A Case Study from Central India

About 14% of the land in Central India (25º20\u27-26º30\u27N and 79º45\u27-78º15\u27E) is classified as grass/range lands, most of which is degraded. In order to improve condition class of these areas, several land development programs have been undertaken by various agencies. However, long term implications of such interventions are not understood properly. Since oribatid mites constitute an important part of soil ecosystem(Noti et al. 2003) having intricate relations with the niches in soil and their community structure is a swift reflection on ecosystem habitat structure, complexity and other factors, this study was planned

Absorption & Fluorescence Spectra of Phenosafranin in Aqueous Solutions in Presence of Alkylamines

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Soil Invertebrates of \u3cem\u3eLasiurus sindicus\u3c/em\u3e Based Grazing Lands: Impact of Management and Grazing Intensity

Arid Western plains of India are dominated by pasture and grazing lands. Lasiurus sindicus (LS) is the dominant na-tive grass species growing on sandy plains and low dunes under the low rainfall extreme desert climate. Palatability and higher crude protein (8-14% in early vegetative growth, 4-6% in 80-120 days of growth) make this grass a highly preferred grazing species. Since drought is frequent (47%) in this part of the country the LS grasslands are under tremendous grazing pressures and classified under poor or very poor condition for livestock. It is imperative to re-store the natural resources on which this grassland depends. Soil invertebrates especially soil collembola and mites are an integral part of this grassland ecosystem. Their community structure changes in response to the changes in management and other factors, and may serve as a tool for rapid impact assessment of restoration measures. With this background, Lasiurus sindicus grazing lands in Jaisalmer District of Western Rajasthan of India were evaluated, to understand the impact of grazing intensity and management practices on the community structure of the soil invertebrates

Qualitative Tests for Preliminary Phytochemical Screening and Antihelmintic Activity of Root Extract of Crossandra infundibuliformis

Crossandra infundibuliformis is native to South India and Srilanka. It is a traditional plant having beneficial activities with fewer side effects. The promising effects of the plant includes Anticancer, Antibacterial, Antifungal, Antihelmintic, insecticidal, wound healing properties etc. The active constituents of the plant are alkaloids, flavonoids, phytosterols, and phenolic compounds. In the present study, the root extract was evaluated for antihelmintic activity and the plant showed promising effect at 200mg/kg. Initial phytochemical screening was also done in ethanol, chloroform and acetone extracts. The major constituents in all the three extracts are alkaloids, flavonoids and tannins

Fallacy of coverage : uncovering disparities to improve immunization rates through evidence; results from the Canadian International Immunization Initiative, Phase 2 - Operational Research Grants

The evidence points to a “fallacy of coverage,” and provides reasons for lack of effective immunization coverage. Five themes are: timeliness of immunization; social and gender inequities; vaccine efficacy; understanding demand side issues to tailor interventions; and national data sets that mask actual district level coverage rates. The research results demonstrate how locally generated evidence can inform immunization strategies to ensure that children who need to get vaccinated will get vaccinated, and vaccinated on time. Funding for improving immunization should focus not only on increasing coverage, but also on future diseases and vaccines

Butea monosperma bark extract mediated green synthesis of silver nanoparticles: Characterization and biomedical applications

AbstractThe work deals with an environmentally benign process for the synthesis of silver nanoparticle using Butea monosperma bark extract which is used both as a reducing as well as capping agent at room temperature. The reaction mixture turned brownish yellow after about 24h and an intense surface plasmon resonance (SPR) band at around 424nm clearly indicates the formation of silver nanoparticles. Fourier transform-Infrared (FT-IR) spectroscopy showed that the nanoparticles were capped with compounds present in the plant extract. Formation of crystalline fcc silver nanoparticles is analysed by XRD data and the SAED pattern obtained also confirms the crystalline behaviour of the Ag nanoparticles. The size and morphology of these nanoparticles were studied using High Resolution Transmission Electron Microscopy (HRTEM) which showed that the nanoparticles had an average dimension of ∼35nm. A larger DLS data of ∼98nm shows the presence of the stabilizer on the nanoparticles surface. The bio-synthesized silver nanoparticles revealed potent antibacterial activity against human bacteria of both Gram types. In addition these biologically synthesized nanoparticles also proved to exhibit excellent cytotoxic effect on human myeloid leukemia cell line, KG-1A with IC50 value of 11.47μg/mL