Life Sciences

Field experiment was undertaken to find out the influence of different orgaftfc inputs and growth regulators on growth, yield and quality of French marigold (Tagetes patula L.) cv. Sindhamani, in a farmer’s field at Sivapuri near Annamalainagar, Tamil Nadu. The experiment was laid out in randomized block design with three replications. Various organic inputs and growth regulators including panchagavya 3%, vermiwash 1:5 dilution, humic acid 0.02%, gibberellic acid 300ppm, triacontanol at 250 ppm were applied.

The study was designed to evaluate the impact of different fertilizer on the growth and yield of soybean varieties at Babcock university farm, Ilishan-Remo in 2009 and 2010. The experimental design was a randomized complete block (RCBD) using three replications. The treatments are three varieties of soybean: (TGx 1740-2F), (TGx 1842 - IE) and (TGx 1448 -2E) and four different fertilizers application: 4ton/ha compost; 30kgN/ha, urea, combination of 2ton/ha compost and 30kgN/ha urea, and (a control).

A total of 60 suspected cutaneous leishmaniasis (CL) cases were diagnosed during the period from December, 2013 to February, 2014 with females representing 67% of the cases. The incidence rate with CL was 88.3% by using Real-Time PCR. Fourty -two (70%) of isolates from different patients were typed as L. major and 11 (18.3%) of isolates were typed as L.tropica while 7 (11.7%) of cases were gave negative results. The present investigation revealed that the highest number of patients 24 (40%) was in age group (10 and less) year.

In the present study, breeding information spread over a period of 14 years from 1995 to 2008, was collected from the history-cum-pedigree sheets and milk yield registers of Murrah buffaloes maintained at four centres of Network Project on Murrah Buffalo Improvement (National Dairy Research Institute, Karnal; Central Institute for Research on Buffalo, Hisar and Guru Angad Dev Veterinary and Animal Sciences University, Ludhiana and Choudhary Charan Singh Haryana Agricultural University, Hisar). Data on first lactation traits of 832 Murrah buffaloes sired by 95 bulls were used for the study.

Tukra is one of the major problem in mulberry growing areas and it is caused by pink mealy bug Maconellicoccus hirsutus which affect both the quality and yield of mulberry leaf. A preliminary attempt has been made to control tukra in mulberry using plant extracts of natural pesticide origin. The seed kernel and leaf extracts of Azadirachta indica, Pongamia pinnata, Madhuca longifolia and only leaf extracts of Lantana camara, Adathoda vasica were directly used as a foliar spray in the control of tukra in M-5 mulberry variety. Total of four sprays were given with an interval of 7 days.

Rapid urbanization in the world is quite alarming, especially in developing countries such as India. In the present study historical change in urban area was analyzed using multi-temporal satellite images of 1980, 2000, 2010 and 2013 respectively to identify the areas where the increase or decrease has taken place over the period of last 33 years. High resolution satellite data of CARTOSAT 1 and 2 was used for base map and Digital Elevation Model generation.

Mulberry, Morus alba L., the only host plant of silkworm (Bombyx mori L.,) is attacked by about 300 species of insect pests. Among them, pink mealy bug, Maconellicoccus hirsutus Green is the most serious causing more than 35 per cent yield loss besides impairing nutritional quality of mulberry leaves. The management of pink mealy bug by using plant products is gaining attention due to proven specificity, biodegradability, low toxicity to non target organisms and low residual toxicity in the mulberry ecosystem.

A newly isolated Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 4996 capable of degrading phenol Pseudomonas aeruginosa MTCC 4996 cells were immobilized with six different matrices. All the immobilized matrices showed faster degradation than free cells. Among the matrices, PUF immobilized cells showed maximum degradation followed by alginate and k-carrageenan, agarose, polyacrylamide and hen egg white. P. aeuriginosa MTCC 4996 cells immobilized with PUF were showed 100% degradation up to 1400 mg/l within 750 min.

Sustainability is the cry in today’s world by many concerned earth dwellers with a view of developing the earth’s resources in such a manner that it will not be depleted for future generations. Key to these developments is justice and equity regarding the redistribution of all goods and service on planet earth. The question is: What could theology and the church’s contribution be to this quest of sustainability of the earth’s resources?

Estuaries are important sinks of pollutants derived from anthropogenic activities. Fish inhabiting these areas have been proposed as sentinels for pollution monitoring through assessment of sensitive biomarkers. Biomarkers can be defined as a change in biological response, ranging from molecular through behavioural changes, which can be related to exposure or effects of environmental contaminants. The present study was focused to examine the histological changes in the comparatively in polluted samples collected from two different sites.