eChapters

Introduction

The age-old necessities of life are food, clothing and shelter. The 20^th century had dramatized a fourth-energy. Energy starvation of the technological complex that maintains modern society may soon be as crucial a problem as feeding the hungry. Indeed, energy starvation could well precipitate more wide spread food starvation. Solutions for the energy crisis are strongly dependent on the technology of how energy is produced and used. To make a physical change in the world it is necessary to use four resources: energy, matter, space and time. How well a task has been performed can be measured in terms of amount of fuel consumed, the mass of material used, the space occupied, the hours of labour to accomplish it, and the ingenuity with which these resources are utilized. Squandering of irreplaceable energy resources, waste of materials, or large expenditure of space and time cannot be tolerated if the necessities of life are to be provided for all. Energy is intricately linked to development of a country. Growing demand on account of industrialization, urbanization, transportation and also increase consumption in rural areas is putting added pressure on energy supply network. Electricity generation has been increased from 1,400 MW in the year 1947 to 303,118 MW up to August 31, 2016 in India but still there is 10-15% shortage of power in peak hours and all villages are not electrified. Even many electrified villages receive 6 to 8 hours of electricity per day in India. To overcome this shortage there is a need to utilise new and renewable sources of energy. Fortunately, India is blessed with abundant solar energy. The arid parts of India receives much more radiation as compared to the rest of country i.e. maximum solar radiation i.e. 7600-8000 MJm^-2 (2111-2222 kWhm^-2) per annum, followed by semi-arid parts, 7200-7600 MJm^-2 (2000-2111 kWhm^-2), per annum and least on hilly areas where solar radiation is still appreciable i.e. 6000 MJm^-2 (1667 kWhm^-2) per annum (IMD 1985). In this chapter review of different solar thermal technologies in Indian perspective has been carried out.

ABSTRACT

Supercritical fluid extraction technology specifically employing carbon dioxide as an extracting solvent under supercritical conditions have gained tremendous importance in the commercial applications as well as academic fields. The basic advantage is its operation above pressure and critical temperature. The most convenient things are variations of pressure, temperatures, batch time, flow rate and fractionation of important constituents of essential oils, herbs and petrochemicals. In the recent times most of the researchers have studied the Organic synthesis under supercritical conditions with the improved yield and reaction selectivity. The chapter also describes the thermodynamics also.

Supply is the amount of a good or service sellers are willing to offer for sale at a specific price, in a specific market, over a specific time.
Stock vs. Supply
• Stock: All the milk a farmer has—say, 1,000L in tanks.
• Supply: What he sells—500L at Rs 50/L today. Supply is different from stock, as stock refers to the total quantity of a commodity that exists in the market, while supply is the quantity that is usually offered for sale at a particular price.
Law of Supply
The law of supply explains the functional relationship between the price of a good and its supply. When all other factors remain constant, an increase in price leads to an increase in supply. This means there is a direct proportional relationship between price and supply.
Exceptions
1. Land, rare goods, and labour supply in certain cases do not follow the law of supply.
2. The supply of rare goods cannot be changed with price fluctuations.

11.1 Section-A : Write True / False

Q.1 Some assumptions or guesses made about the unknown population parameters, is know as "Statistical hypothesis".

Q.2 For the normal distribution N(μ, σ²), the statement (1) μ = 25.0 and (ii) σ² = 37.0, are known as statistical hypotheses.

Q.3 Let p = 0.5 is the probability of getting a head in single throw of a coin. Ten, this statement is not a statistical hypothesis.

Q.4 The statistical hypothesis under consideration (under test), is known as "Null hypothesis".

Q.5 The null hypothesis is denoted by "Ho".

Introduction

Solar air heating is the conversion of solar radiation to thermal heat. The thermal heat is absorbed and carried by air which is delivered to a living or working space. The transparent property of air means that it does not directly absorb effective amounts of solar radiation, so an intermediate process is required to make this energy transfer possible and deliver the heated air into a living space (Fig.10.1). The technologies designed to facilitate this process are known as solar air heaters. Solar air heating technologies use only free, renewable and clean energy and can help defray the rising cost of conventional energy.

Agriculture is under increasing pressure to produce more food, feed, and biofuel from limited land resources. The current over-reliance on a few key staple crops causes a variety of agronomic, ecological, nutritional, and economic issues and is likely unsustainable in the long run.

Vegetables have a high commercial value in general and hence contribute significantly to household income. Significant research, breeding, and development initiatives are necessary for a number of promising crops to transform existing local landraces into competitive cultivars with broad adaptability and high commercial prospects. India has a good genetic wealth of domesticated crops, and 600 plant species represent the diversity in vegetable crops out of 20,000 angiosperm plants; however, only one-fourth of these are used as major vegetable crops, with the rest classified as minor, underutilized/neglected, rare vegetables, lesser-known vegetables, wild edible vegetables, and so on. Access to the genetic diversity of these selected crops is required for success

Precision medicine and personalised treatment of systemic or tumour diseases gain their acceptance and application in veterinary care, too. The application of personalised medical protocols and companion diagnostics is easier and ethically well reasoned within the veterinary medical field – and it can offer many advantageous lessons to human clinical transformation, too [1]. In vitro companion diagnostics for testing the applicability and sensitivity levels of certain kinase inhibitor and immunotherapeutic drugs offer a greatly increased efficiency for veterinary cancer patients, too. As the understanding of cancer biology has advanced, the field of veterinary oncology has grown significantly, paralleling developments in human oncology. Precision medicine is an innovative approach to disease treatment and prevention that considers individual variability in genes, environment, and lifestyle. In the context of veterinary medicine, precision medicine aims to provide tailored therapies that are specifically designed for the unique genetic and molecular profile of each animal’s cancer. This approach moves away from the traditional “one-size-fits-all” model, instead focusing on targeted treatments that maximize efficacy while minimizing side effects. Companion diagnostics, such as molecular tests, help determine whether a dog or cat is likely to respond to a particular drug. For dogs and cats, precision medicine holds great promise in improving outcomes for cancers, which are among the leading causes of death in companion animals.

Introduction

Poultry is one of the most widespread food industries worldwide. Chicken is the most common type of poultry in the world. The term broiler is applied to chickens that have especially been bred for meat; they grow rapidly. Broiler strains are based on hybrid crosses between Cornish White, New Hampshire and White Plymouth Rock. In broiler production there are two main production phases – keeping of parent stock and production of day-old-chicken (DOC); and growing and finishing of broilers.

The primary purpose of any enterprise is to maximize return on investment over the long-term. It is therefore necessary to market poultry, meat products, and eggs at a price which allows farmers or integrators to maintain profitability in a competitive market. Cost-effective programs of biosecurity and vaccination are required to prevent or limit the impact of disease. It is emphasized that the incremental return in the form of enhanced egg production, hatchability, liveability, growth rate, and feed conversion efficiency must exceed capital and operating expenditures on disease prevention.

Introduction

Therapeutic foods are products, which are multiutility food products that may be used as nutrition as well as medicine. A nutraceutical may be defined as a substance, which has physiological benefit or provides protection against chronic disease. Nutraceuticals are used to improve health, delay the aging process, prevent chronic diseases, increase life expectancy, or support the structure and/or function of the body. Oflate nutraceuticals are receiving considerable interest due to potential nutritional, safety and therapeutic effects. The examples of therapeutic foods are the foods used for feeding of malnourished children on an emergency basis or to supplement the diets of persons with special nutrition requirements, such as the elderly. Therapeutic foods can also form a part of treatment/prevention/reduction of other health conditions such as diabetes, cardiovascular disease, obesity, anaemia and any other lifestyle disorders.

The incidences of diet-related diseases are progressively increasing due to greater availability of calorie-rich foods and a sedentary lifestyle. Obesity, diabetes, atherosclerosis, and neurodegeneration are major diet-related diseases. Nutraceuticals and functional foods represent a novel therapeutic approach to prevent or attenuate diet-related diseases.

There is always a requirement for cheaper formulations using locally available ingredients that are processed in a safe, reliable, and financially sustainable methods. Some of the literature available on health foods for various diseases is summarized below. However, since the burden of diabetes in India is staggering. In 2017, 72 million cases of people suffering from diabetes were reported and the figures are expected to reach 134 million by 2025, this chapter more emphasis is given on the safe, natural treatment/reduction of diabetes by herbal means.

Due to the paucity of clinical data, therapeutic management measures available with domestic animal-practice needs to be extrapolated for due usage in case of captive wild animals reared in zoos, zoological parks and zoological gardens.

The practice of veterinary homoeopathy has existed since Hahnemann’s time. During recent years it has emerged from the shadows and appears to be growing exponentially, expanding in many directions. Veterinary homeopathy has strongest modern tradition in Europe particularly in Germany, France and Great Britain. European Union committee has urged recently to cut the use of antimicrobials in human as well as in animals to an essential level for maintaining the effectiveness of antimicrobials and to deal with the problems of emergence of resistance among microbes.

Tradition of veterinary homeopathy is as old as humans. Initially homeopathic drugs viz. Aconitum napellus, Camphora, Nux vomica and Opium were used for the treatment of certain diseases of horses and cattle as early as 1833 by German Practitioner – Guillaume Lux. Since then veterinary homeopathy has progressed considerably despite the apparent difficulty in adopting the patient questioning technique, lack of expression of subjective feelings and lack of experimental data.

Utility of ultrasound has extended from diagnostic realm to alternate therapies. Therapeutic ultrasound is also known as ultrasound physiotherapy. It is a commonly used modality for the rehabilitation of the soft tissues of the musculoskeletal system.

Though the treatment for arrhythmias has been recommended for even a single premature beat, in the current scenario the treatment is indicated when there are more than 17 VPCs per minute. In certain situations the side effects or proarrhythmic effects of drugs can lead to morbidity or mortality. As a result, new guidelines are proposed when evaluating the need for treatment of arrhythmias. Keeping the adverse effects of antiarrhythmic agents in mind, one should be selective about which arrhythmias are to be treated. The goal of antiarrhythmic therapy includes the treatment of an existing arrhythmia or prophylaxis for anticipated arrhythmias.

Thermal Analysis

Physical and chemical properties of any soil are governed largely by the mineralogical make up of the soil, and more specifically by the clay fraction. Identification, characterization and an understanding of properties of different minerals are important in evaluating soils in relation to classification, agronomic practices and engineering purposes.

Clay fractions of soils are usually composed of mixture of one or more secondary phyllosilicate minerals along with primary minerals inherited from the parent materials. Identification of minerals species as well as their quantitative estimation in such polycomponent system require application of several qualitative and quantitative analysis.

The methods used for identification and quantification have steadily been improved over the last 50 years. Among the several methods often used for this purpose three are very common, e.g. (i) differential thermal analysis (DTA), (ii) x-ray diffraction analysis (XRD), and (iii) infrared spectroscopy (IR).

Thermal analysis is a term covering a group of analyses that determine the changes of some physical parameters, such as weight, energy, dimension and evolved volatile substances with change in temperature. Many soil constituents undergo various thermal reactions upon heating, which can be utilized as a diagnostic tool for qualitative identification and quantitative estimation of the substances. These reactions may be exothermic or endothermic, and phase change or crystal change may take place during reactions. Whatever be the reactions, if properly measured, they give some valuable information to identify the substance under consideration.

Among the several methods available for thermal analysis, three methods are frequently used in soil research: differential thermal analysis (DTA), differential scan calorimetry (DSC), and thermogravimetry (TG). Among these, DTA and TG will be discussed here.

Introduction

It is the process of retaining food over a period of time without being contaminated by pathogenic organisms or chemicals and without losing its colour, texture, flavour and nutritious value. It involves preventing the growth of bacteria, fungi and other microorganisms, as well as retarding the oxidation of fats which causes rancidity.

Objective

• To increase its shelf life, retaining original nutritional values, colour, texture, and favour.

Abstract

Application of solar energy for drying of agricultural food products is one of the most attractive and cost-effective drying techniques. However, the intermittent nature of the solar energy is one of the major shortcomings of the solar drying system that can be alleviated by storing excess energy during the peak time and using it in off sun hours or when the direct availability of solar energy is inadequate. The use of sensible and latent heat storage systems in solar dryer is an effective way of storing thermal energy for drying purpose. This chapter will present information on different thermal energy storage (TES) materials, their advantages and disadvantages. The information available in the literature regarding the studies conducted on TES assisted solar drying systems is also covered in this chapter. In addition, some of the models that have been used by different researchers to test the performance of different TES materials are also reviewed.

1. Introduction
Crop health valuation plays a vital part in modern agriculture as it positively stimulates food security, economic constancy, and ecological sustainability. This process involves monitoring and evaluating the growth and development of crops, finding possible stressors or diseases, and executing suitable management practices. Judicious and precise evaluation of crop health permits early exposure of diseases, pests, and other irregularities. Detecting these problems at their early growth stages can aid prevent extensive occurrences and decrease the need for unnecessary pesticide use, indorsing justifiable crop management practices. Assessing crop health on a regular basis help in enhancing yields by detecting factors that could inhibit crop productivity. Agricultural systems can be made resource-efficient by incorporating tools, modern technologies and information management systems that come under the precision agriculture concept. Modern scientific improvements, comprising Global Positioning System (GPS), grain yield monitoring system, Variable Rate Technologies (VRT), sensor networks, and Femote Sensing (RS), have assisted farmers to detect in-field heterogeneity of crop and soil and adopt site-specific farm management practices. Varying the application of inputs with VRT can decrease the cost of inputs and labor, increase productivity, and decrease the potential environmental influences from the overuse of farm inputs. However, the success rate of VRT needs precise and consistent information on the location and extent of crop and soil health conditions, such as crop nutrient shortages, soil and crop water deficiency, and injury caused by insect pests, weeds, or pathogens. So far, the dominant remote sensing technologies that the farming sector has used are visible (VIS), Near-Infrared (NIR), and short-wave infrared (SWIR) sensors. The use of thermal sensors in agriculture is to some extent narrow despite its wide use in the areas of medical science (Ring and Ammer, 2012), intelligence/military (Hinz and Stilla, 2006), and the food processing sector (Vadivambal and Jayas, 2011). By providing temperature variations of soil and crop canopy, thermal remote sensing has the prospective to be used for various

It is necessary to consider both micro and macro climate while planning scientific livestock management strategies. Thermal comfort of animals is the most important environmental consideration affecting the production performance of domestic animals in general and the dairy cattle in particular. Various components of climate like air temperature, humidity, solar radiation, wind velocity and precipitation affect the thermal comfort of animals and their performance. As these factors produce a combined effect rather than each component alone thermal indices involving two more of these factors are useful for rational decision making information for livestock managers. Considering only the direct effects of microclimate will be an over simplification of the problems because the indirect effects of the macroclimate operating through feed supplies, feed quality, parasitism, and other factors are equally or more important. These factors confound the direct effects of climatic elements and under many situations far overshadow their effects. Thus, evaluation of the direct and indirect effects of climate independent of each other is necessary. We will also examine each factor separately for easiness of understanding keeping in mind that the heat exchange of the animals with their environment is a combined effect of all these intertwined with complex biological and physical factors. Yamamoto (1983) concluded “Heat exchanges between animal and their environment are not readily explainable in terms of physical principles because the relationships are considerably modified by animal factors”. The combined effects of the climatic factors involved in heat exchange between any homoeothermic animal and its surrounding has led to the development of Thermal Indices as a basis for assessing the biological effect and consequent impact of thermal environment (Hahn 2003). Studies on the thermal environment and methods to represent in reliable indices are more important in the tropical world in general and hot tropical humid world in particular.

The advantages and disadvantages of thermal indices and how it can be used as useful guide for environment management of dairy cows are illustrated in this paper through examples. Many salient basic aspects were noted by Thomas C.K. way back in 1969 but the exact use of this information for the farmers is a far cry.

Temperature regulates germination, plant growth, flowering, maturity and many insect and disease processes. Thermal indices integrate temperature over time to quantify biological development more effectively than simple temperature averages. This chapter introduces growing degree days, heat units, photothermal units, heliothermal units and related measures. It explains base, optimum and maximum temperatures and connects accumulated thermal time with crop phenology. These indices help predict development stages, adjust sowing dates, estimate harvest periods, schedule farm operations and assess varietal suitability. Thermal-index analysis is particularly valuable under climate variability because it enables researchers and farmers to anticipate shifts in crop development and improve climate-responsive agricultural management.

Thermal Pollution
The term “thermal pollution” refers to the damaging rise in temperature that occurs in rivers, lakes, the ocean, and streams. The local fish and plant life may perish as a result of this temperature increase.
Definition
Thermal pollution refers to the release of warm water into rivers. (OR) Any process that modifies the temperature of water results in thermal pollution, which is the deterioration of water quality.
Causes/Sources
Electric power stations are major contributors to thermal pollution. Burning coal or natural gas produces heat in electric power plants. Because of the high temperatures, water can be turned into steam, which powers turbines and generates electricity. The plant circulates cool water near to the heated steam in order to help condense it. The 15 oC above-average temperature of this heated water is released back into the body of water. Thermal pollution can also be caused by runoff water. Concrete is heatabsorbing and can get extremely hot. The problem of water temperature rise is also a significant issue when runoff from concrete surfaces enters rivers.