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Effects of eating habits and food components on working efficacy, and attraction level of tribal youths in traditional farming
Get PDFA multiform field study was performed over a period of four years from 2017-18 to 2020-21 to perceive the corporal working efficiency and attraction level in farming by the way of livelihood assessment of tribal youths. The manual working capacity of tribal youths is quite diminished owing to deviations in food components, residual deposits of harmful agrochemicals on food products, manipulated working atmosphere, and radical changes in the socio-economical condition of the tribals. The maximum tribal youths are physically weakened, have an impaired immune system, are severely malnourished along with multiple nutrient deficiency disorders due to ignorance of their traditional diets. It has been observed that there is on an average 46.07% decrease in own working efficiency with a 40% aberration in attraction level from farming activities over the last sixty years from 1960-61 to 2020-21. In the existing stipulation, only 14% of tribal youths are extremely attracted, and 19% are fairly involved, however, 27% of tribal youths take up farming as a subsidiary occupation, and 40% of youths are away from parental farming for livelihood. The traditional food components of tribals were also replaced from nutrient-affluent small millets, and underutilized fruits and vegetables to energy-loaded less nutritious rice, wheat, and potatoes. The traditional wisdom for uses of these historic food components is also decreased considerably concerning spending time. It is an imperative need on behalf of the tribal youth healthiness to have an adequate nutritional daily diet which will deliver a healthy life to recover their physical working capacity
Insights into ethnoveterinary practices used by various communities in Dhemaji district of Assam
Get PDFA study was carried out for documentation of ethnoveterinary practices prevalent among the various communities of the Dhemaji district of Assam. Personnel interviews, questionnaires, participatory rural appraisal, group discussions, and field visits were followed to collect the data. A total of 250 livestock farmers were selected across the district from 25 villages. The degree of adoption and effectiveness of each ethnoveterinary practice were expressed in percentage considering the responses of sampled farmers. A total of 62 ethnoveterinary practices were recorded where 43 plant species of 30 families were used to treat 33 common ailments in livestock and poultry. The highest, 28 practices were used for treatments of cattle followed by 21 for treatments of pigs, 8 for poultry, and 5 for Goat against the common issues related to the digestive system, fever, parasitic infestation, viral infection, bone fracture, retention of placenta (ROP), weakness and other health condition in livestock and poultry where the adoption was ranged from 6.00 to 89.33 percent. The present documentation will help the researchers, environmentalists, and other stakeholders towards better understanding in traditional knowledge, distribution of valuable resources and biodiversity conservation of the district
Absorption Spectroscopic Studies of Chip-scale Rubidium Atomic Vapour Cells in a Compact 3D Printed Magneto-Optic Package
Get PDFThis paper describes the design, development and spectroscopic studies of chip-scale Rb atomic vapour cell developed in the authors’ laboratory. A compact magneto-optic package for the chip-scale Rb cell comprising of TEC integrated VCSEL source, silicon p-i-n photo detector and a hemispherical lens for light collimation is reported. The package is manufactured using commercial 3D printing technology. A PC based data acquisition system has been developed to provide real time analysis of the captured spectral data of the Rb chip by laser interrogation of the D1 hyperfine transition. Doppler broadened absorption resonance lines of technological importance have been recorded for transitions 85Rb(2S1/2 F=2→2P1/2 F′ =2,3) having absorption amplitude 1.24 V and FWHM 850 MHz and 87Rb(2S1/2 F=2 →2P1/2 F′ =1,2) has absorption amplitude 0.47 V and FWHM 567 MHz at cell temperature of 70 oC . Further, the chip-scale Rb atomic cell in the magneto-optical package will be explored to develop atomic sensors for space applications
Chlorella biomass as a potential source of algal oil: Investigations on optimization of ultrasonic assisted extraction, kinetics and characterization of algal oil
Get PDFThe creation of renewable and affordable alternative energy is required due to the growing need for sustainable energy. In this present research work, algal oil has been extracted from microalgae biomass of Chlorella vulgaris using the Soxhlet apparatus. The algal biomass is ultrasonically pretreated to disrupt the cell walls of Chlorella sp. A total of five homogeneous solvent extractions are performed. As a result, the use of chloroform and isopropanol showed higher algal oil yields of 10.8% and 9.1%, respectively. Therefore, heterogeneous solvent approaches have been used in different volume ratios (5:1 to 1:5) to improve the yield of algal oil. Accordingly, the findings demonstrated that as compared to homogeneous solvents, the use of heterogeneous solvents shows better yield of algal oil from Chlorella sp. biomass. A maximum bio-oil yield of 12.3% was obtained using chloroform and isopropanol at a ratio of 3:3. To improve the extraction yields of algal oil, various parameters were optimized. The optimized parameters include 20 min of ultrasonication time, 3:1 ratio of solvent to biomass, temperature of 50℃, and an extraction period of 90 min. Further, extracted algal oil is characterised using GC-MS, and the results shows the presence of octadecanoic acid in the extracted algal oil. GC-MS analysis of the extracted edalgal oil has shown the suitability of the oil for transesterification reaction for the production of fatty acid methyl esters
Hydrogels based on mucilage of underutilized cereals: Synthesis and characterization
Get PDFMucilage is a natural polysaccharide with a variety of physicochemical and structural properties. Plant-derived mucilage has a wide range of applications, such as binding agent, stabilizer, emulsifying agent, thickening agent, and gelling agent. This study investigated the potential of underutilized cereals’ mucilage and further explored their application by synthesizing mucilage-based hydrogels. For this purpose, we have explored four new sources of mucilage, namely adzuki beans (Ab), amaranth (Am), proso millet (Pr), and little millet (Lm). The underutilized cereals’ mucilage application has been examined by developing hydrogels through the free radical co-polymerization technique. Mucilages are confirmed to be a natural thickening and a substitute for synthetic polymers after being evaluated physically and phytochemically. Structural analysis of mucilages and their hydrogels (AbH, AmH, PrH & LmH) were characterized by using FTIR-ATR, XRD, 1H & 13C NMR techniques. It confirms that all four mucilages are rich in polysaccharide residues and grafting of sodium acrylate has been successfully done on mucilages. Thermal gravimetric analyses represent the better thermal stability of the synthesized hydrogels than their respective mucilages. SEM confirms the porous structure of the mucilages and their hydrogels. All of these studies demonstrated that the underutilized mucilage from cereals might be a good feedstock for a hydrogel-forming agent, which can be explored in the food, cosmetics, and pharmaceutical industries
Extraction and characterization of various unconventional natural fibres
Get PDFIn this study, various unconventional fibres have been successfully extracted from crop residue of Canna indica, Areca catechu sheath, Caryota urens spadix petiole, and Abelmoschus esculentus, and their physical, chemical, thermal, and mechanical properties are studied. High cellulose contents of the fibres (20.5-67 wt%) provide better tensile strength (525-563MPa) and ensure better bonding with the matrix. Moreover, the low density of the fibre (1.37-1.44 gcm−3) makes it an alternative to hazardous synthetic fibres. The lower crystal size (0.5-12.9nm) structure tends to absorb more water than the higher crystal size structure. The thermogravimetric analysis confirms its stability up to 150-300°C, which is higher than the polymerization temperature. These characteristics show that the fibre may be effortlessly converted into nonwoven fabrics
Thermal comfort properties of weft knitted interlock layered fabrics
Get PDFThe main objective of this study is to produce interlock fabrics with two different types of material at the face and back and to evaluate the effectiveness of its air permeability and thermal properties, which, in turn, decide the comfort of the wearer. It is observed that the tightness factor of the fabric has a linear relationship with air permeability, thermal conductivity and Qmax. The polyester modal interlock fabric shows a higher Qmax value which provides a good warm-cool effect, that is important for sportswear applications.
A facile approach for isolation of cellulose nanocrystals from banana fibres
Get PDFNanocellulose, in form of cellulose nanocrystals (CNC-B) from banana fibres, has been isolated through steam explosion followed by chemical treatments and mechanical grinding. The nano size of isolated particles is confirmed by dynamic light scattering and transmission electron microscopy analysis and an aspect ratio up to 9.80 is reported. The improvement in crystallinity and removal of amorphous constituents are confirmed by X-ray diffraction and Fourier transform infrared analysis respectively. It is interesting to report that the present CNC-B is unable to show an antibacterial property, which might be due to complete removal of lignin.
Computer geometric modeling approach with filament assembly model for 2×2 twill woven fabrics structures
Get PDFA new computer geometric modeling approach for 2×2 twill woven fabrics structures has been presented. A 3D model considering their inherent skewness is proposed and can be used in precise geometrical description. Balanced fabric geometry occurs in 2×2 twill weaves where the fabrics are defined by floating and intersecting segments in weaves, which create symmetric floatings on the front and back surfaces of the fabrics. The yarns cross-section of twill woven fabrics uses the concept of virtual locations and each cross-section is rotated along a single yarn path. The curve of each filament in each of two successive cross-sections is approximated by NURBS. The approach described is demonstrated in 3D CAD for twill woven fabrics structures by using the geometric parameters considering their inherent skewness. The simulated twill woven fabrics structures must be improved so that they are a true visual simulation of real twill woven fabrics and can demonstrate wide varieties of form.
