EVALUATION OF HEAMAGGLUTINATION AND ANTI-CANCER POTENTIAL FROM INDIAN DIETARY PLANTS

Objective: To evaluate the agglutination and anti-cancer activity of different dietary plants, commonly used in Indian dietary system for its therapeutic applications.Methods: Sap/phloem exudates from different dietary plants were collected in phosphate buffer saline (PBS) was evaluated for lectin activity by using haemagglutination method in serial dilution manner. Anticancer activity of the different samples was evaluated against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells by using trypan blue exclusion method.Results: Samples belongs to Cucurbitaceae family showed promising lectin activity among test samples. Praecitrullus fistulosus and Cucumis prophetarum give 256HU/mg whereas Cucumis dipsauses gives 128HU/mg activity, whereas Abelmoschus esculentus (16HU) which gives low lectin activity. Praecitrullus fistulosus shows anticancer activity 67.38% inhibition at 200µg concentration followed by Cucumis prophetum of 56.36% at 200µg concentration against Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) cells.Conclusion: The present study demonstrated that dietary lectin having a potential role in the biological field. High lectin activity demonstrates the anticancer effect in Ehrlich ascites carcinoma (EAC) model system, in vitro. Further study needs to isolate and evaluate biologically active lectin molecule in order to demonstrate the anticancer effect

From the macroscopic to the microscopic: some scientific insights

The full report in which this chapter appears is in ORE: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/1416

Ammonium inhibition of nitrate uptake by phytoplankton: A new relation based on similarity and hyperbolicity

A theoretical formulation based on the properties of similarity and hyperbolicity is given for ammonium inhibition of nitrate uptake by phytoplankton. It leads to a new kinetic relation for ammonium inhibition, which is found to represent the data of nitrogen kinetics experiments of McCarthy et al. in the northwest Indian Ocean more accurately than the earlier relations of Wroblewski and O'Neill et al. Analysis of the ƒ-ratio (new production/the sum of new and regenerated production) implied by the three relations shows that there is a qualitative difference among the three. The relation of Wroblewski tends to underestimate the new production, while that of O'Neill et al. tends to overestimate it

Evaluation of Surface Water Quality Using Water Quality Index (WQI) and GIS Tool Of Anantapur Location

The objective of this study is to estimate the quality of surface water in a semi-arid area of India, specifically in the pond located in Old Town, BKS Katta Road, Anantapur. The water quality index (WQI) is used to calculate the quality of the water samples taken from the pond, and a map of the water quality was created using geographic information system (GIS). The samples were analyzed for various factors including Electrical Conductivity (EC), Odour, Taste, pH, Temperature, Calcium (Ca2+), Magnesium, Total dissolved solids (TDS), Bicarbonate (HCO-3), Chloride (Cl-), Biological Oxygen Demand (BOD), Chemical Oxygen Demand (COD), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Nitrate (NO-3) and Iron (Fe-). Based on these analyses, spatial distribution maps were also prepared using GIS. The WQI values swayed from 61.875 to 74, ensuring that the pond water samples were of the highest quality and safe for direct consumption

Pioneering Metallurgy: The origins of iron and steel making in the Southern Indian subcontinent Telangana Field Survey Interim Report 2011

A chapter from this report ("From the macroscopic to the microscopic: some scientific insights") is in ORE: http://hdl.handle.net/10871/17744British Council UKIER

Census 2011 and Child Sex Ratios in Tamil Nadu: A Comment

Abstract. Inspired by Narayana (2008), published in this journal, this comment revisits the conclusion of a policy-driven decline in daughter elimination in the south Indian state of Tamil Nadu using recently released data from Census 2011. Consistent with Narayana's work we find evidence to support the conclusion that government and NGO interventions have played a role in reducing gender differences in survival

Tamil Nadu and the Diagonal Divide in Sex Ratios

Between 1961 and 2001, India’s 0-6 sex ratio has steadily declined. Despite evidence to the contrary, this ratio is often characterised in terms of a diagonal divide with low 0-6 sex ratios in northern and western India and normal 0-6 sex ratios in eastern and southern India. While unexpectedly high rates of female infant mortality have been reported in Tamil Nadu, it is still regarded as lying outside the ambit of states with unusually low 0-6 sex ratios. Based on an analysis of patterns in sex ratio at birth, infant mortality rates and under-5 mortality rates for Tamil Nadu, this paper traces the development of daughter deficit in the state and examines the validity of the diagonal divide in sex ratios across India. We find evidence of daughter deficit in more than half the state’s districts with a majority of the shortfall arising before birth. The evidence presented here, combined with earlier work on declining 0-6 sex ratios outside northwestern India, suggests that the diagonal divide is no longer an appropriate distinction

Daughter Elimination: Cradle Baby Scheme in Tamil Nadu

Tamil Nadu’s two decade old Cradle Baby Scheme tries to ensure that female babies who would otherwise have been killed are given up for adoption. Civil society activists are not happy with the scheme because they feel that it only encourages parents to abandon female babies and is not a substitute for tackling the crime of sex selection and female foeticide. However, until the girl child is welcome in families, such a scheme will be needed

Ensuring daughter survival in Tamil Nadu, India

The south Indian state of Tamil Nadu is a relatively recent entrant to the list of Indian states exhibiting the phenomenon of "missing girls". A substantial proportion of these missing girls may be attributed to the differential survival of girls and boys in the 0-6 age group due to daughter elimination in the form of sex selection, neglect and infanticide. Notwithstanding the state's relatively recent history of daughter elimination, the government and NGOs in Tamil Nadu have been active in terms of data collection to track gender differences in survival and in introducing interventions to prevent daughter elimination. Against this background, this paper has two aims. First, it provides a temporal and spatial analysis of patterns of daughter deficits in Tamil Nadu over the period 1996 to 2003. Second, it undertakes an examination of the modus operandi, underlying assumptions, strengths and weaknesses of various interventions and assesses their effect on daughter limination

Tackling female infanticide and sex selection in Tamil Nadu a failure?

This response to "Declining Child Sex Ratio and Sex Selection in India: A Demographic Epiphany"? (EPW, 18 August 2012) argues that contrary to the assertion in that article, state and non-governmental organisation interventions seem to have played an important role in reversing the decline in the 0-6 sex ratio in Tamil Nadu