Journal of Applied and Natural Science
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Histopathological alterations in testicular tissue of male rats exposed to arsenic
Get PDFThe present study was designed to investigate the adverse effect of arsenic on testicular tissue of Swiss albino male rats. Sodium arsenite was administered to adult male rats by gavage at the doses 1, 2 and 3 mg/kg body weight for 30 days. After the treatment, the testis were processed for histopathological observations. Sodium arsenite caused remarkable reduction in testicular weight (P<0.05), while the body weight of experimental animals were reduced but not significantly (P<0.05). Histological evaluation revealed dose-dependent, gradual destruction in histoarchitecture of testicular tissue. Sodium arsenite exposure caused complete arrest of spermatogenesis with disfigured seminiferous tubules in the testes .The lumens of the tubules were devoid of spermatids and were in places filled with cellular debris. The germinal epithelium was distorted. At places interstitial odema was also evident. Sertoli and Leydig cells were damaged. Along with structural alterations, fertility rate in experimental animals was significantly decreased at higher doses i.e. 2 and 3 mg/kg, as 100% infertility was observed. After withdrawal of the treatment over a period of 30 days, recovery was observed in low dose groups as few female rats became pregnant. The study concluded that exposure of arsenic causes testicular toxicity in male albino rat
Correlation between fibre length characteristics and mechanical properties of Tectona grandis wood
Get PDFThis study considered the relationship between fibre length characteristics and mechanical properties of Tectona grandis wood aged 15, 20 and 25-year. Six trees of even aged and similar class diameter were used for the study. Wood samples used for the study were systematically collected from three portions at 10, 50 and 90% of the tree height. The test samples were prepared along the radial positions from the pith to the bark. The relationship between fibre length and mechanical properties were examined using linear regression models and correlation coefficient. The results obtained from the correlation analysis carried out to examine the linear relationship between fibre length and mechanical properties of T. grandis wood were 0.924, 0.929 and 0.940 for MOR, MOE and CS parallel to grain. The relationship was highly significant (p < 0.05). Also the correlation coefficient (r) between fibre length and mechanical properties of T. grandis wood were highly significant (p < 0.001). Therefore, fibre length characteristics can be used as an index in predicting the mechanical properties of T. grandis wood
Urban ecosystems of Kurukshetra, India, an amalgamations of eco-friendly, historical as well as archaeological adverse facades: A case study
Get PDFKurukshetra, a state of India is a historical place having global significance linked with its multifaceted aspects concerning education, science education, engineering colleges, museums and above all some sites and spots which are witnesses to the events of world famous war namely, “Mahabharata”. The studies reveal that urbanization processes have turned rural Kurukshetra into a modern semi-urban area with distinct urban features by creating “Urban Estates”. This is an activity which has two faces: Eco-friendly face and adverse ecological face.The generation of an attraction, ultra modern city equipped with vast green belts; impressive avenues having intense plantations of trees, bushes and profusely dotted with Civil Parks is a phenomenal change. One of the most impressive eco-friendly façade of the new environs is the ambience presence of orchards and plant nurseries and there is practice of “Kitchens-Waste” disposal which is disposed off at a safe place to convert it into organic manure. The best of sanitary conditions are in place which is one more environment friendly aspects. A very well laid out “Mini-Secretariat” encompassing virtually each and every office of the District Administration is intensely covered by very thick cover of trees and a new experiment, pioneered first by Haryana Govt.However, the negative features are many to negate the over all positive features. Foremost is related with discarding the traditional and endemic trees like Shisham Dalbergia sissoo, Neem Azadirachta indica, Beri Morus alba, Peepal Ficus religiosa, Banyan Ficus benghalensis and Mango Mangifera indica trees for tree plantations in favour exotic varieties
Ferti-irrigational impact of distillery effluent and Di-ammonium phosphate on the soil and growth characteristics of Egg plant (Solanum melongena L.)
Get PDFA comparative study was conducted to assess the ferti-irrigational effect of Distillery effluent (DE) concentrations such as 10%, 25%, 50%, 75% and 100% along with control (Bore well water-BWW) and Di-ammonium phosphate (DAP) separately for the pot culture cultivation of Solanum melongena. The results revealed that DE concentrations had significant (P<0.001) effect on EC, Cl¯, Mg2+, OC, HCO3–, exchangeable Na+, available K+, Ca2+, TKN, available P and SO42-, whereas non-significant (P>0.05) effects were observed for water holding capacity(WHC) and bulk density (BD) of the soil. Irrigation with 100% concentration of DE, increased EC (+63.46%), Cl¯ (+292.37%), Mg2+ (+1162.72%), OC (+3763.63%), exchangeable Na+(+264.29%), available K+ (+48.39%), Ca2+ (+815.74%), TKN (+1449.18%), available P (+338.83%), SO42- (+80.07%), while decreased pH (-17.85%) total bacteria (-47.02 %), fungi (-52.17%) and actinomycetes (-82.89 %) in effluent irrigated soil. Application of diluted doses of DE significantly increased plant height, root length, chlorophyll content, leaf area, number of leaves, number of branches, number of flowers, fruit length, fruit diameter, fruit weight, number of fruit and crop yield of S. melongena, with the better results being obtained at a dilution of 50% of DE concentration in comparison to DAP and BWW
Diel dynamics of heleoplankton in relation to some physico-chemical attributes of water in an aquaculture tank in Guwahati, Assam
Get PDFDiurnal fluctuation of the phytoplankton and zooplankton population (numerical densities) and the physicochemical attributes of water are studied in an aquaculture pond at Guwahati, Assam. In the 24 hour diel cycle, the phytoplankton and zooplankton show significant (t-test, p < 0.01) variation in their numerical density at an interval of 4 hours. The studied physico-chemical parameters of water included Temperature, Total Alkalinity (TA), Total hardness (TH), Dissolved Oxygen (DO), Free Carbon dioxide (FCO2) and pH are analyzed concurrently, which reveals a significant fluctuation (t-test, p< .01) in the day and night hours. Multivariate correlation analysis portrays significant and positive correlations among the total population density of phytoplankton with respect to water temperature (r = 0.845, p<0.05) and pH (r = 0.881, p< 0.01) while it maintains significant negative correlations with TA (r = -0.837, p<0.05), TH (r = -0.768, p< 0.05) and FCO2 (r = -0.830, p<0.05). However, total numerical density of zooplankton reveals positive and significant correlations with TA (r = 0.842, p< 0.05) and FCO2 (r= 0.758, p< 0.05) while it shows significant negative correlations with water temperature (r = -0.906, p< 0.01) and pH (r =- 0.912, p< 0.01)
Effect of prostaglandin on reproduction in relation to pituitary gonadal axis in the fish, Cyprinus carpio (L.)
Get PDFProstaglandins are a class of fatty acids which are “traditionally” associated with a variety of autocrine and paracrine functions in the vertebrate body. In many fishes, however, F prostaglandins also function as a hormone that stimulates sexual behavior. In the present study, F prostaglandin was used to assess the efficacy on reproductive behavior and spawning in relation to pituitary gonadal axis in the fish, Cyprinus carpio by administering different doses. Early maturity was observed in fish leading to courtship and spawning. The histological study of olfactory lobe, pituitary gland and gonads showed that the prostaglandin is also functioning as potent olfactory stimulants with sex pheromonal activity of the fish. F prostaglandin was metabolized and released into the water where it functions as a sex pheromone, stimulating male and female sexual behavior resulting into spawning. It was concluded that F prostaglandin acts as an inducer for successful breeding in the fish, C. carpio
A study on physico-chemical parameters of Dah lake water, District-Ballia (U.P.), India
Get PDFThe back water of river Saryu is a prime source of water for Dah Lake, located in Ballia district, have been studied to project the pristinety of water with respect to different pollution sensitive parameters i.e. organic pollutants– BOD, DO, COD, Inorganic pollutants - Electrical Conductivity, Turbidity, pH, total alkalinity, Chloride, Total hardness etc. The pH (7.68), total alkalinity (180.5 mg/l), Chloride (133.12 mg/l), Total hardness(139.83 mg/l), Calcium (60.26 mg/l) and Magnesium hardness (19.38 mg/l) were found well within the prescribed standard for drinking water (BIS 10500:1991) during the study period i.e. April 2006- March 2008. The study inferred that the water quality of Dah Lake is still free from the any kind of pollutants, must be due to its higher assimilative capacity. It also indicates the higher potential for pisiculture and drinking water sources (after disinfection) for the nearby villages which may ultimately improve the economic condition of the surrounding habitation
Role of antioxidative enzymes in toxic bloom forming Cyanobacteria
Get PDFThe antioxidative enzymes catalase and ascorbate peroxidase in toxic bloom forming cyanobacteria play a pioneer role in scavenging free radicals, which are generated as an outcome of photosynthesis and respiration. Ten Bloom forming toxic cyanobacterial strains Synechococcus elongates, Synechocystis aquatalis, Merismopedia glauca, Microcystis aeruginosa, M. aeruginosa (O), Arthrospira (=Spirulina) platensis, Nostoc paludosum, Anabaena iyengarii, A. variabilis and Cylindrospermum muscicola were isolated from natural blooms and purified. The results depict the significant activity of antioxidative enzymes. In A. platensis the activity of catalase (28.7 ± 2.3 mM/min/ìg protein), and Ascorbate peroxidase (1.91±0.12 mM/min/ìg protein) enzyme was maximum. It was also observed that the activity of ascorbate perooxidase was very less compared to activity of catalase. The growth analysis and pigment profile were also studied. Growth measurements revealed that cells attain maximum growth nearly after 15-20 days of inoculation except S. aquatalis, A. platensis and N. paludosum maximum, where optimum growth was achieved after 25th day. Chlorophyll-a content of A.platensis showed maximum concentration (14.47 ± 1.17 mg/L) and minimum concentration in S. elongates (2.30 ± 0.138 mg/L). The concentration of phycobiliproteins was found maximum in A. platensis (2.09 mg/ml). The detection of antioxidative potential of cyanobacterial strains will help to broaden the knowledge about their survival and can pave path for their utilization in biotechnology
Dawn singing behavior of a tropical bird species, the Pied Bush Chat Saxicola caprata
Get PDFThis paper aims to study the structure and pattern of dawn song in a tropical avian species, the Pied Bush Chat (Saxicola caprata) in Haridwar (290 55’ N, 780 08’ E; Uttarakhand, India) in 2009. Males delivered complex dawn chorus on daily basis during only breeding season (February to July). The dawn song bout was made up of a number of distinct sections called song types. Each song type consisted of a series of similar or dissimilar units referred to as elements. Song type length averaged 1.43±0.23 sec and did not differ significantly among males. Theaverage number and types of elements in a song type were observed 8.15±1.64 and 8.01±1.56, respectively.In more than 80% of observations, song types were delivered with immediate variety and males did not follow any definite sequential pattern of song delivery. Males sang continuously for about 30 min at high rates during dawn. Males performed continuous dawn singing throughout the breeding season and seemed to interact vocally through counter-singing for extended period. Observations suggest that dawn song delivery in Pied Bush Chat plays an important role in maintenance and adjustment of social relationship among neighbouring males
Efficiency of turbidity and BOD removal from secondarily treated sewage by electrochemical treatment
Get PDFThe present investigation observed the effect of operating time, current density, pH and supporting electrolyte on the removal efficiency of Turbidity (TD) and Biochemical oxygen demand (BOD) of secondarily treated sewage (STS) using electrochemical process. A glass chamber of 2 litre volume was used for the experiment with two electrode plates of aluminum, each having an area of 125 cm2 and 2 cm distance apart from each other. The treatment showed that the removal efficiency of TD and BOD increased to 87.41 and 81.38 % respectively with theincrease of current density (1.82 -7.52 mA/cm2), time (5 - 40 mins.) and different pH (4-8) of the STS. The most effective removal efficiency was observed around the pH 7. Further, 0.5 g/l NaCl as a supporting electrolyte for electrochemical treatment of STS was found to be more efficient for an increase to 95.56 % and 86.99 % for the removal of TD and BOD at 7.52 mA/cm2 current density in 40 mins. respectively. The electrode and energy consumption was found to vary from 2.52 x10-2 to 10.51 x10-2 kg Al/m3 and 2.76 kwh/m3 to 45.12 kWh/m3 depending on the operating conditions.The kinetic study results revealed that reaction rate (k) increased from 0.0174 to 0.03 min-1 for TD and 0.0169 to 0.024 min-1 for BOD with increase in current density from 1.82 to 7.52 mA/cm2