Journal of Applied and Natural Science
Not a member yet
2928 research outputs found
Sort by
Chaetotaxy of three nymphal instars of an ischnoceran louse, Aegypoecus perspicuus (Phthiraptera: Insecta)
Get PDFThe present study on three nymphal instars of Aegypoecus perspicuus indicated that these differ from each other not only an size, abdominal segmentation, chitinization but also in the number of setae occurring on head, thorax and abdomen. The study also supplements informations regarding the morphological features and chaetotaxy of three nymphal instars of A. perspicuus, occurring on Neophron percnopterus. The diagnostic features of three nymphal instars have also been discussed
Efficacy of vitamin E and vitamin C against silica induced toxicity on male reproductive organs of albino rats
Get PDFSilica is one of the most documented workplace contaminants. Long-term occupational exposure to silica is associated with an increased risk in respiratory diseases such as silicosis, tuberculosis, chronic bronchitis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and lung cancer. The present study was carried out to observe the alteration in testosterone level & histopathological changes in the testis and epididymis after silica exposure, and to show whether therapeutic agents (Vitamin E + Vitamin C) used in study may provide recovery against exposure to silica. For investigations, silica was administered in albino rats as silicon dioxide at a dose of 40 mg/Kg for 28 days (IP) to produce toxic effects. Recovery pattern was evaluated by Vitamin E + vitamin C (50 mg/kg, ip + 100 mg/kg, po, for 5 days after silica administration. The study showed alterations in the various blood parameters after intraperitonealintoxication of silicon dioxide. Testosterone was significantly decreased in experimental rats after 28 days of silica intoxication. Therapeutic agents i.e. vitamin E and vitamin C recouped the values to normal control and recoupment was also observed in histology of testis and epididymis
A study on carbon sequestration in natural forests of India
Get PDFAmong the global common concerns, climate change has been identified as the most important environmental challenge faced by human beings. Emission of carbon dioxide, methane, nitrous oxide, chlorofluorocarbons and hydrocarbons are identified as green house gases causing warming of earth globally. Of these gases, CO2 alone accounts for 60 percent share. The most practical way of removing excess carbon from atmosphere and storing it in to a biological system is by absorption of atmospheric CO2 into the physiological system, plant biomass and finally into the soil . Carbon is thus sequestered into the plants and then the animals. Studies have established that Carbon sequestration by trees and forest could provide relatively low cost net emission reduction. Carbon management in forest is therefore one of the most important agenda in India in 21st century in context of green house gases effect and mitigation of global climate changes. Studies indicated that Indian forests share 1,083.81 MtC in the year 1994 to 3,907.67 MtC in the year 1993. Estimated rate of Carbon flux in selectedIndian planted forest reveals that planted forests of short rotation tree species with regular leaf shedding patterns have more capacity for carbon sequestering in litter which decomposes more rapidly than those with annual or bimodal leaf shedding patterns. Mixed planted forest of exotic and native species could be more efficient in sequestering Carbon than the monocultures. This contribution reviews Carbon sequestration in Indian forests at national level and site-specific situations;and elaborates some possible opportunities for sustainable Carbon forestry
Arbuscular mycorrhizal symbiosis and alleviation of salinity stress
Get PDFSeveral environmental factors adversely affect plant growth and development and final yield performance of a crop. Drought, salinity, nutrient imbalances (including mineral toxicities and deficiencies) and extremes of temperature are among the major environmental constraints to crop productivity worldwide. Development of crop plants with stress tolerance, however, requires, among others, knowledge of the physiological mechanisms and genetic controls of the contributing traits at different plant developmental stages. In the past two decades,biotechnology research has provided considerable insights into the mechanism of biotic stress tolerance in plants at the molecular level. Furthermore, different abiotic stress factors may provoke osmotic stress, oxidative stress and protein denaturation in plants, which lead to similar cellular adaptive responses such as accumulation of compatible solutes, induction of stress proteins, and acceleration of reactive oxygen species scavenging systems. Recently, various methods are adapted to improve plant tolerance to salinity injury through either chemical treatments (plant hormones, minerals, amino acids, quaternary ammonium compounds, polyamines and vitamins) or biofertilizers treatments (Asymbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria, symbiotic nitrogen-fixing bacteria) or enhanced a process used naturally by plants (mycorrhiza) to minimise the movement of Na+ to the shoot. Proper management of Arbuscular Mycorrhizal Fungi (AMF) has the potential to improve the profitability and sustainability of salt tolerance. In this review article, the discussion is restricted to the mycorrhizal symbiosis and alleviation of salinity stress
Micropropagation of Dendrocalamus strictus nees from mature nodal explants
Get PDFAn effort has been made to propagate Dendrocalamus strictus Nees using nodal explants from mature plants. The explants, after surface sterilization, were inoculated on solidified MS basal medium with 2 mg/l BAP. The buds, which started growing, were transferred to solidified MS basal medium with 4 mg/l BAP and 15 mg/l AdS to achieve about three fold multiplication. Single shoots or 2-shoot clusters did not survive and therefore all the experiments were conducted with a cluster of minimum 3-shoots. The rooting was found difficult. Three hormones viz. IAA, IBA and NAA with a concentration of 1, 3 and 5 mg/l were used in various combinations for rooting. Out of the total 9 treatments, only 20% rooting was found only in one treatment, namely in the medium with 5 mg/l indole butyric acid (IBA)
Effect of different doses of gamma radiation on growth parameters of Mulberry (Morus) variety Kosen
Get PDFThe present study was carried out to evaluate the effect of different doses of gamma radiations(1kR-10kR from co60)on different growth parameters of mulberry variety Kosen.Overall results revealed that a declined trend in all the growth parameters i.e. sprouting (83.66%-18.66%), rooting (77.96%-19.59%), height of the plant (105.00 cm-58.03 cm), number of the branches (7.73-4.23), intermodal distance (3.76 cm-3.94 cm), petiole length (2.89 cm-2.59 cm) and pollen fertility (77.93%-40.66%) were recorded and showed a deleterious effect. But the response of growth parameters against different doses showed variant behaviour in case of rooting as constant declined trend was not observed. Similarly fluctuating state has been found in other growth parameters also
Antibacterial activity of leaf extracts of some selected traditional medicinal plants of Uttarakhand, North East India
Get PDFScreenings of methanolic leaf extracts of nine medicinal plants (Cotinus coggygria, Adhatoda vesica, Argemone mexicana, Zanthoxylum armatum, Berberis asiatica, Corissa opaca, Euphorbia hirta, Cassio fistula and Ricinus communis), belonging to selected areas of Uttarakhand, were tested against seven bacterial strains (Bacillus subtilis, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Enterobactor aerogenes, Klebsiella pneumoniae, Proteus vulgaris and Pseudomonas aeruginosa) by disc diffusion method. Leaf extracts of R. communis, B. asiatica and C. opaca showed high (13 – 23) effect on all the bacterial strains while E. hirta, Z. armatum and A. vesica exhibits minimum (6 – 15) effects. Remaining leaf extracts of plants were found moderately (10 - 19) effective
Demography of helminth parasites in relation to biometic characteristics of Mastacembalus armatus
Get PDFThe study was conducted to collect and identify helminth parasites of Mastacembalus armatus and also to determine the prevalence intensity and abundance of parasitic infection. 118 M. armatus, obtained from different sampling stations of Yamuna river between March 2008 to February 2009 were examined for endoparasitic helminth infections. Of these only 31 fishes were found infected. Four helminth species including one nematode (Ascaridia ganpatii), two cestodes (Polyonchobothrium armatii, Senga nayari) and one trematode (Eucreadium pandeyi)were found in host fish. The over all monthly infestation of prevalence (0.29), intensity (3.28) and abundance (1.13) were recorded. The maximum infection was recorded in middle size range while very small and larger fishes showed lesser susceptibility to helminth parasites
Effect of temperature and surface area on adsorption of chlorine on different adsorbent carbons
Get PDFChlorine is used in several ways in industry. In such situations, where residual chlorine persists as pollutant, Activated carbons like animal charcoal, carbon black and coconut charcoal can serve as agents to remove residual pollutant “chlorine” by the process of adsorption. Five samples of Carbon black, six samples of active Carbons and two samples of charcoals were treated with a stream of chlorine @0.4 litre/hour at temperature varying from 300 to 1200 C. Chlorine is adsorbed partially physically and partially chemically. Percentage of the chemisorbed increases with rise in the temperature. Maximum percentages of chemisorptions occur at 1200 C while the maximum uptake, physical as well as chemical, takes place at 300 C, which was the lowest temperature. It is seen that activated carbon, carbon blacks and charcoal differ markedly by in their total chlorine uptake at 300 C. Activated carbons associated with high surface were seen to take up maximum chlorine. Fall in surface area is more in active carbons as compared to carbon black due to greater adsorption of chlorine. This probably shows that micro porous carbons are better adsorbent for chlorine adsorption. The unsaturated sites also play far dominant role and provide centres where the adsorption takes place predominantly. Uptake of chlorine is enhanced on evacuating the carbon samples at 6000 C and 10000 C. This is due to the creation of more unsaturated sites. Process of adsorption cum chemisorption takes place through different kinetic stages with different energetics. The activation energies keep on increasing with increasing amounts of chemisorption
Enrichment of various metals in Abelmoschus esculentus grown in wastewater irrigated soil area of Dehradun city, India
Get PDFThe accumulation of metal contents in soil from wastewater (WW) irrigation is a cause of serious concern due to their potential accumulation in vegetables and food products growing in such areas. The results revealed the concentration of Pb (0.17±0.03 mg/l), Cu (0.10±0.04 mg/l), Zn (1.06±0.08 mg/l), Ni (0.08±0.02 mg/l), Cd (0.07±0.02 mg/l) and Cr (0.07±0.02 mg/l) in the WW of Bindal river used for irrigation of Abelmoschus esculentus. The maximum metal contents were observed for Pb (43.89±6.13 mg/kg), Cu (20.92±3.19 mg/kg), Zn (46.77±6.51 mg/kg), Ni (39.95±8.02 mg/kg), Cd (15.57±2.17 mg/kg) and Cr (125.70±23.01 mg/kg). The enrichment factors (EF) in WW irrigated soil were found to be in the order of Cd (2.46) > Cr (2.42) > Zn (1.67) > Cu (1.36) = Ni (1.36) > Pb (1.31). The concentration of Pb was maximum (57.99±1.54 mg/kg) in roots, Cu (33.91±2.13 mg/kg) in the leaves; Zn (81.70±2.99 mg/kg) in roots, Ni (86.10±3.19 mg/kg) in stem; Cd (20.39±1.99 mg/kg) and Cr (76.78±3.04 mg/kg) in leaves of A. esculentus. The EF values of 2-5 for Pb, Cu, Ni, Cd and Cr except Zn for fruits, leaves and roots of A. esculentus showed moderate enrichment of these metals. The values for Cd and Cr showed moderate enrichment of the stem of this plant. The study concluded that the WW irrigation increased the metallic contents of soil, which in turn were accumulated in different parts of A. esculentus that may cause potential health risk in human beings