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Making of date-palm jaggery (popularly known as khejur gur) with its characteristic aroma and flavor is very popular all over India for making various sweet dishes and confectionery products. It is available only for a short duration between middle of November and end of January. The production of solid jaggery includes sap collection (juice) by tapping, filtration, concentration by boiling, cooling of concentrated juice followed by moulding, drying, and storage. Making date-palm jaggery from the raw juice is an art and requires some skill to get the characteristic aroma bearing product with optimum stickiness and colour. Solid jaggery deteriorates rapidly and becomes liquid within 1 or 2 weeks due to its moisture content, invert sugar, and hygroscopic nature. Granular jaggery having low moisture content (1 - 2%d.b) is very popular, tenders several advantages, such as extended shelf-life, easy handling and distribution, high demand for domestic and international markets. It could be made from either solid jaggery or concentrated juice. Therefore, a manually-powered operated granulator (20 kg capacity) was designed, developed, and tested with 5 levels of moisture content (8.4 to 16.25 %db) and 5 levels of rotational speed (48 - 132 rpm) of blades for the production of desired size of jaggery granules. The mass mean diameter of the particles varied linearly with the moisture content of the feed, yielding particles having an average size of 656 µm (Dp) for feed containing 8.4 (%db) moisture. The mean particle size was as low as 700 µm when the machine was operated at 132 rpm with feed moisture content of 12 (%db). The average particle size of 1000 µm is obtained at feed moisture content of 9.0 (%db) and the agitator rotational speed of 76 rpm.

Background: Leukemia Inhibitory Factor (LIF) plays an essential role in oocyte maturation and during early embryonic development. The present study aims to improve the in vitro cattle embryo production by supplementing culture media with LIF. Methods: Fresh ovaries and oviducts were collected from an abattoir in 0.9% saline (30-35°C) supplemented with antibiotics. Total 542 cumulus-oocyte complexes were aspirated from ovaries and cultured in maturation media in 5% CO2 incubator at 38.5°C with maximum humidity after 5-6 times washing. After 24 h matured oocytes were co-incubated with in vitro capacitated sperms in FBO medium. After 15-18 h cumulus cells were stripped off and presumptive zygotes were cultured in mCR2aa medium. After 40 to 42 h, cleavage was observed and embryos were cultured for 7-9 days. Culture media used to replace with fresh media after every 24 h. LIF was supplemented with 15, 30, 45 ng/ml. Result: Supplementation of LIF in culture media increased maturation rate, cleavage rate significantly (P less than 0.05). LIF Supplementation @ 30 ng/ml during culture increased blastocyst development (in control group 7.0±1.3 and 7.1±1.2, 12.9±0.4, 10.2±1.5 in 15 ng/ml, 30 ng/ml and 45 ng/ml respectively) significantly.

This study highlights the effects of strain rate on the critical state (CS) response of crushable sand. A set of drained triaxial tests is simulated using the discrete element method (DEM) to understand the rate effects on the stress–strain and volumetric behaviour of the granular sample. The DEM parameters are obtained by comparing the stress–strain and particle crushing behaviour of in-house experimental analysis on crushable coral sand under a slow strain rate. In DEM, the particles are subjected to varied strain rates under different initial confining pressures and initial densities to capture the rate effects on macroscopic responses until the CS. It is observed that crushing increases with an increase in confining stress. However, a higher strain rate induces relatively lower crushing and higher strength in terms of both peak stress and residual stress. It is observed that in pressure–volume space, the CS line alters with the increasing strain rate of the crushable samples, especially under high-confining conditions, whereas the effect of strain rate on CS seems to be negligible under low-confining conditions due to the absence of particle crushing.

Background: Thamirabarani is a major east-flowing river originates from the Pothigai Hills of Southern Western Ghats (8°36'07.1"N 77°15'50.9"E) at an altitude of 2074 m with a catchment area of 5482 km2 and meanders through a distance of 120 km (24 km in hilly terrain and 96 km in plains) in Tirunelveli and Tuticorin districts and drains into the Bay of Bengal. Present paper provides information on abundance, distribution, human utility, Trophic level, Lm and IUCN status of the Thamirabarani River. Methods: The present study was conducted by monthly intervals on Ichythyofaunal diversity of the Potamon Zone of Thamirabarani River from November 2019 to October 2021, selecting seven sampling stations viz Cherenmahadevi, Vannarpettai, Murappanadu, Karungulam, Srivaikuntam, Eral and Authoor. Result: In the present study, a total of 57 species comprising 11 orders, 19 families and 38 genera were documented from downstream stretch of Thamirabarani River, of which three fish species namely Horadandia atukorali; Oreochromis mossambicus and Wallago attu are under vulnerable category and three fish species namely are Hypselobarbus dubius; Labeo fisheri and Dawkinsia tambraparniei endangered listed in the International Union for Conservation of Nature red list. Among the 11 orders reported, the order Cypriniformes (52%) was observed to have the highest contribution to the Ichthyofaunal diversity and the family Cyprinidae (32%) was recorded the highest contribution to the finfish diversity. The trophic level community structure of recorded fish species revealed the dominance of mid-level carnivores (48%). The human utility of recorded finfishes was found to be the highest was observed as edible (72%) and IUCN status was the highest with least concern (72%).

Background: Porcine cysticercosis, caused by Cysticercus cellulosae a larval stage of adult Taenia solium, is a zoonotic parasitic disease where pigs harbour intermediate stage and human being acts as a definite host. The people of north eastern region of India are mostly non-vegetarian and consumption of pork is very much preferred by the people of this region. Hence,it is essential to detect C. cellulosae infections in pork. But traditional method of detection of C. cellulosae by post mortem examination of pork has disadvantages like need of expert and may be over lookedin case of light infections. Molecular diagnosis have been reported to be highly specific and sensitive for its diagnosis. Keeping in view of the above, the present study on molecular detection of larval cestode C. cellulosae of pigs was undertaken. A study on phylogenetic relation of C. cellulosae of pigs or human Taenae solium of this region was done to know its relation with other parts of the world, as not yet done so far. Methods: A total of 654 pig carcasses in 17 market places of three prime districts of state Arunachal Pradesh, India were examined to detect Cysticercus cellulosae of pigs. The cysticerci samples were obtained manually from the infected muscles and organs of the infected pigs that were preserved in phosphate buffer saline until DNA extraction. Stool samples of human patients who attended out-patient department (OPD) of Community Health Centers, Nursing homes and District etc. of study area of Aunachal Pradesh, India were collected randomly and examined by salt flotation technique for the presence of T. solium eggs. The segments of tapeworm voided by patientswere then identified for species identification and T. solium segments were collected in normal saline solutions (NSS) after clearing the debris and faecal materials. Genomic DNA extraction from 3-4 numbers of cysticerci and T. solium segments collected from affected human being were extractedusing a spin column kit (D Neasy tissue kit: QUIGEN).The technique polymerase chain reaction (PCR) with published primers were used for molecular detection of C. cellulosae and to get molecular (PCR) products of T. solium for further study. The mitochondrial gene cytochrome b oxidase subunit was amplified by PCR. The PCR products were purified, sequenced and phylogenetic tree was constructed using the neighbor-joining method. Result: The present study recorded a PCR amplification of cytochrome b oxidase genes with a definite product size of 1068 bp from DNA extracted from C. cellulosae and T. solium. The product size obtained from C. cellulosae will be helpful for meat inspection by molecular detection of C. cellulosae infections in pork. The present finding signifies that the same genomic isolate of both the larval cestode and adult parasite of T. solium is prevailing in the study areas. The neighbors-joining phylogenic tree shows close similarity of the present isolates with that prevailing in other South East Asian countries and thus it can be assumed from the present finding that the same genotypic isolate of T. solium parasite is prevalent in the whole of South East Asian region.

Aim: Landmark-based truss network system was applied to examine the morphometric and meristic differences among four different populaces of Macrognathus aculeatus namely; Dhakuriabeel, Jashore (DBJ); Arial Kha River, Madaripur (AKRM); Nabaganga River, Jhenaidah (NRJ); Kopotakkha River, Jashore (KRJ) in Bangladesh. Methodology: Completely 80 samples of M. aculeatus were collected (20 individuals from each population) for this study. Six meristic characters, 6 morphometric characters and 15 truss-based morphometric characters were measured for one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey-HSD post hoc test. Discriminant function analyses were also performed by using morphometric and truss-based morphometric characters to detect potential characters responsible for population separation. Results: Completely 80 samples of M. aculeatus were collected (20 individuals from each population) for this study. Six meristic characters, 6 morphometric characters and 15 truss-based morphometric characters were measured for one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) and Tukey-HSD post hoc test. Discriminant function analyses were also performed by using morphometric and truss-based morphometric characters to detect potential characters responsible for population separation. Interpretation: The baseline information derived from the present study would be useful for appropriate conservation of M. aculeatus populations as well as for the researchers for further investigation.

Aim: This study explores the influence of temperature and diet on pepsin enzyme activity in TGGG hybrid groupers. Methodology: Two hundred TGGG groupers (body weight 200±10 g; total length 22.5±1 cm) were equally distributed in three rearing tanks (1500 l capacity). After three weeks of acclimatization, the groupers were kept in 40 tanks (5 fish per tank, 20 tanks with pelleted diet and 20 with shrimp diets) for 30 days. All treatments were replicated five times. Results: Pepsin activity increased with increased temperature, from 22°C (2.10 U mg protein−1) to 30°C (5.64 U mg protein−1) when the groupers were given either pellet or shrimp as diet. The shrimp-fed group showed significantly increased pepsin activity compared to pellet-fed fish. Interpretation: The pepsin enzyme activities in TGGG hybrid groupers were significantly influenced by temperature and diet, but the interaction of these two factors was insignificant. The results suggest that shrimp-diets given at 30°C water was ideal for rearing TGGG hybrid groupers. This suggests that combination proliferates enzymatic activity, which may lead to faster digestion and faster growth rates compared to other combinations.

Calf diarrhoea remains the biggest challenge both in the small and large farms. Infectious diarrhoea is associated with many pathogens, E coli being one but, majority are systematically treated with antibiotics. Since antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is a growing menace, the need to find alternative prophylactic solutions using popular kitchen herbs such as Trachyspermum ammi (Carom seeds), Curcuma Longa (Turmeric) and Cinnamon (Cinnamomum sp.) extracts is been investigated against virulent form of E. coli isolated from calf diarrhoea. The virulence factors identified in these isolates were ST (32.5%), LT (20%), eaeA (15%), stx1 (2.5%) and stx2 (5%) with the occurrence of the most common serogroups as O18 (15%) followed by O111 (12.5%). Highest resistance was seen with β lactamase inhibitor (Amoxicillin/Clavalinic acid) followed by β lactams (Ampicillin, Cefuroxime and Cefepime). Antibacterial effect of cinnamon (methanol) and carom seed (ethanol) extracts was found to be highly sensitive at higher concentration of the extract (500 to 250 µg/ml) while, minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) of turmeric was significantly higher (P

Aim: This study aimed to study the electrophoretic properties of seminal plasma and sperm proteins of Black Bengal buck semen and their correlation with in vitro sperm characters and freezability. Materials and Methods: Semen ejaculates from nine Black Bengal bucks were collected by artificial vagina (n=20/buck). Ejaculates were evaluated for in vitro sperm characters and electrophoretic profile of seminal protein. In vitro sperm characters were evaluated immediately after collection, after completion of equilibration period, and after freeze-thawing. For seminal protein studies, seminal plasma proteins were precipitated by ice-cold ethanol method, and sperm proteins were extracted by Triton X detergent extraction method. Discontinuous sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was performed to assess the molecular weight of seminal proteins. Correlation between in vitro sperm characters and protein bands was determined by Pearson's correlation coefficient, and two-way ANOVA was applied to find the individual buck differences. Results: Significant difference (p

Venous thrombo-embolism, venous thrombosis and pulmonary embolism are common complications in postoperative patients. This focused handbook covers the topics of epidemiology, screening, and prophylaxis along with diagnosis and management of venous thrombo-embolism. It covers both mechanical and pharmacological methods of prophylaxis and various drugs used in prevention and treatment viz. heparins (unfractionated and low molecular weight), anticoagulants (vitamin K antagonists and novel oral anticoagulants), etc. The A-Z format makes this book a useful practical guide. The approach will break the barriers to the use of venous thrombo-embolism prophylaxis in the minds of physicians. Key Features Discusses the content in an innovative A-Z format Contains practical tips for day-to-day clinical management Examines the use of venous thrombo-embolism prophylaxis by practicing physicians and residents

Objective: Activation of the venous muscle pumps of the leg by intermittent transdermal neuromuscular stimulation of the common peroneal nerve has been previously shown to augment venous and arterial flow in patients with leg ulcers. This study aims to establish if microcirculation in the wound bed and periwound area are augmented by the activation of a neuromuscular electrostimulation device (NMES) (Geko, Firstkind Ltd., UK). Method: In this self-controlled, observational study, laser speckle contrast imaging was used to map and quantify microcirculatory flow in the wound bed and periwound area of patients with venous leg ulcers (VLU). Values of flow and pulsatility in these locations were compared with the NMES device, both active and inactive. Results: A total of 16 patients took part in the study. Microvascular flux increased by 27% (p=0.014) in the wound bed, and by 34% (p=0.004) in the periwound area, when the NMES device was activated. Pulsatility increased by 170% (pConclusion: Intermittent electrostimulation of the common peroneal nerve substantially increased both microcirculatory flux and pulsatility in the wound bed and in the periwound area of the VLUs of patients in this study. This provides a plausible mechanistic explanation for its reported efficacy in healing VLUs.

One thousand four hundred and eighty three spring wheat germplasm (Triticum aestivum L.) lines comprising Indian as well as exotic lines were screened for resistance to spot blotch disease during winter 2014-15 at hot spot locations i.e., Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi and Uttar Banga Krishi Vishwavidyalaya, Cooch Behar. Severity of the disease at different stages beginning from tillering to dough stage was recorded. Location Severity Index (LSI) of Varanasi was higher than Cooch Behar. Twenty eight accessions were resistant or highly resistant at both locations. These 28 accessions were validated during the winter season (2015–2016). These germplasm were also evaluated at four environments for agronomic traits. Out of 28 accessions, seven (IC564121, IC529684, IC443669, IC443652, IC529962, IC548325 and EC178071-331) were highly resistant across the locations and over the years of study. These accessions comprised one exotic and six indigenous accessions belonging to Uttarakhand and Haryana. Two lines (IC529962 and IC443652) had higher yield than the best check at all the locations. These lines showing highly resistant reaction alongwith wider adaptability can be expedited for direct cultivation or for the development of high yielding and disease resistant cultivars. These lines can also be used for identification of novel resistance gene using allele mining tools and their deployment for the development of spot blotch resistant cultivars.

The benefits of a stress†tolerant crop become visible under the stresses that the crop is tolerant against. We investigate the adoption of submergence†tolerant rice in northern Bangladesh by using panel data of 461 households, interviewed in 2013 and 2015. The sample households were randomly selected in 31 villages where submergence†tolerant rice seeds were given to a small number of farmers in each village. The results from the household fixed†effects model indicate that submergence in the previous year increased the adoption of submergence†tolerant rice. The adoption impact was larger among farmers who were neighbors of early seed recipients. Our results suggest that being neighbors of early seed recipients may have helped the neighboring farmers observe the benefits of the submergence†tolerant rice under submergence. The results indicate the importance of the information flow from early recipients to neighboring farmers.

Climate change affects crop production through exposure to droughts, floods, pests, and pathogens. To mitigate climate-induced production losses, various stress-tolerant varieties have been developed and adopted in many countries around the globe. We assess the impacts of adopting submergence-tolerant (Sub1) rice varieties on productivity, profit, and rice consumption in northwest Bangladesh, using Endogenous Switching Regression and cross-sectional data in 2016. The findings reveal that the adoption of Sub1 rice had a significant positive impact on yield (6.0% higher), profit (55.0% higher), and rice consumption (15.0% higher) vis-a-vis the impact on non-adopters. Importantly, non-adopters could benefit if they adopted Sub1 rice—with about 8%, 48%, and 15% more rice yield, profit, and rice consumption, respectively. The findings further reveal that approximately 42% of the sampled farmers adopted Sub1 rice in northwest Bangladesh. The main drivers of this adoption are access to information on Sub1 rice through neighbors, farmer organizations, and training. Also, the application of pesticides and irrigation negatively affected the adoption of Sub1 rice. Finally, we find that rice production, profit, and rice consumption are location dependent. Therefore, we suggest implementing location-specific policies and developing social and institutional capacity to build trust in the new technology, which will increase the dissemination of Sub1 seeds by transferring agricultural knowledge and incentivizing farmers to adopt Sub1 rice in flood-prone areas in Bangladesh.

We have optimized Gd ion substitution in BiFeO 3 (BFO) and observed prominently change in structural, electrical and magnetic behavior of Bi 1+2x Gd 2x/2 Fe 1−2x O 3 ceramics synthesized through slow step sintering schedule. It is observed that with the increase in concentration of Gd (x=0.1), original structure of BFO is transformed from rhombohedral R 3 c space group to orthorhombic Pn 21 a space group. Surprisingly, unit cell volume is drastically contracted (35% for x=0.2) and the sintered specimen showed enhanced room temperature ferromagnetic behavior although the original BFO is normally G-type antiferromagnetic in nature at 643 K. It is expected that intrinsic chemical pressure within the bulk body built by the substitution of Gd in presence of excess bismuth greatly supported through unidirectional movement of electrical dipole moment with in each individual domain as a result of which suppression of leakage current with enhanced dielectric and ferroelectric hysteresis is observed.

Analysis of four different catechins, four theaflavins (TF), and thearubigin (TR) in oxidizing macerated CTC (crush–tear–curl) and rolled orthodox leaves of TV25 clone was done. Tea leaves were oxidized at different air temperatures (20, 25, 30, and 35°C) and thickness of oxidizing leaf bed (2 and 5 cm). Rate of depletion of catechins was modeled using Michaelis–Menten equation. Depletion of dihydroxylated catechins (EC, ECG) was found to be more affected by change in air temperature than trihydroxylated catechins (EGC, EGCG). Amount of maximum total TF at different temperatures was in the range of 1.19%–1.3% for CTC‐macerated leaves and 0.33%–0.43% for rolled orthodox leaves. Quadratic and linear regression equations, developed to model the change in TF and TR contents, respectively, were good fit. Bed thickness does not have any significant effect on TF content in both CTC and orthodox leaves as revealed from ANOVA. PRACTICAL APPLICATIONS: Oxidation or fermentation of macerated leaves is a crucial step in black tea processing that needs to be carefully monitored. Tea processing facilities maintain only air humidity level during fermentation. Air temperature is also an important factor affecting the degradation of catechins and formation of different pigment compounds. Optimum amount of unoxidized catechins and oxidized compounds TF and TR affects the quality of final product. Modeling of catechin, TF, and TR contents in oxidizing leaves will help to manipulate processing conditions such as air temperature, duration, and bed thickness to produce good quality black tea.

This experiment was conducted to study the electrophoretic characters of heparin binding proteins (HBP) of Black Bengal buck semen and their correlation with sperm characters and cryo-survivability. Semen ejaculates (n=20/buck) were collected from nine bucks and in vitro sperm characters were evaluated at collection, after equilibration and after freeze - thawing. HBP were isolated through heparin column and discontinuous Sodium Dodecyl Sulphate Polyacrylamide Gel Electrophoresis (SDS-PAGE) was performed to assess molecular weight. Significant difference (plessthan0.01) were observed among the bucks in sperm characters and freezability. Eight protein bands of 17 to 180 kDa in seminal plasma and 7 bands in sperm were found. 180 -136 kDa HBP of seminal plasma and 134-101 kDa HBP of sperm had showed high correlation with in vitro sperm characters. Further studies on identification of these proteins and their correlation with in vivo pregnancy are needed to find their role as marker for buck selection.

A generalized equation is constructed for a class of classical oscillators with strong anharmonicity which are not exactly solvable. Aboodh transform based homotopy perturbation method (ATHPM) is applied to get the approximate analytical solution for the generalized equation and hence some physically relevant anharmonic oscillators are studied as the special cases of this solution. ATHPM is very simple and hence provides the approximate analytical solution of the generalized equation without any mathematical rigor. The solution from this simple method not only shows excellent agreement with the exact numerical results but also found to be better accuracy in comparison to the solutions obtained from other established approximation methods whenever compared for physically relevant special cases.

This paper reports the observation of hexagonal phase of barium titanate by Mn doping and its effect on dielectric and magnetic properties. Ceramic samples of Ba0.98Zn0.02Ti1−xMnxO3 (where, x= 0.04, 0.06 and 0.08) were prepared by traditional solid-state reaction route. The hexagonal phase is stabilized in the composition Ba0.98Zn0.02Ti0.92Mn0.08O3 and a very feeble M–H loop is also observed in that composition. This induced magnetism is expected due to the exchange interactions between magnetic polarons formed by oxygen vacancies with Mn ions. The dielectric constant as well as the ferroelectric to paraelectric transition temperature is systematically decreased with increasing of Mn doping concentration. Further to that, the temperature dependent dielectric constant curve is also broadened at transition temperature with increasing of Mn concentration. However, the ferroelectric to paraelectric transition temperature is well above room temperature.

This technical note finds that a conventional 2-rate controller (which receives feedback at $T$ - but provides control at $2T$ -intervals) has a 2-periodic core, and augments this core to have a generalized 2-rate control that has complete loop-zero (and pole) placement capability. An algorithm for controller parameter evaluation for pole-zero placement using only linear algebraic steps has been developed. The controller also ensures zero steady-state and improved transient ripples. Its superiority in respect of gain-margin compensation is illustrated for a third-order plant with an unstable pole and a non-minimum-phase zero.