eChapters

I. FILL UPS

1. The quick viability test was developed by _____.
2. _____ is a biochemical test.
3. The indicator used for quick viability test is _____.
4. For maize seeds, the method followed for staining is _____.

ABSTRACT

Holostemma ada-kodien K. Schum, is a laticiferous climber belonging to the family Asclepiadaceae. The root tubers of the plant are medicinally important and are utilized as a major ingredient of the drug, Jivanti. The roots of Holostemma are sweet, ophthalmic, emmolient, alterant, tonic stimulant, aphrodisiac, expectorant and galactagogue and are useful in ophthalmopathy, orchitis, cough, burning sensation, stomachalgia, fever and to cure ‘tridosha’ (Warrier et al., 1995). The sugars and amino acids present in the tuberous roots are responsible for the medicinal properties (Ramiah et al., 1981). There is a huge demand for the root tubers of Holostemma in the South Indian pharmacies and more than 150 metric tons of roots are needed every year (Nair et al., 1992). The destructive and ruthless collection of tuberous roots in recent times has led to acute scarcity of the plant and consequently it has been listed as vulnerable and rare in the FRLHT red list of medicinal plants (FRLHT, 1997). Extending the commercial cultivation of Holostemma is practically impossible due to the increasing land pressure and the perennial nature of the crop. An alternative to meet the increasing demand is to produce the active chemicals in Holostemma through in vitro techniques. In vitro techniques have been extensively studied to produce the different secondary metabolites from various medicinal plants. A strong correlation between secondary metabolite production and morphological differentiation gives more impetus to the application of organized cell culture particularly the root cultures for the large-scale production of phytochemicals in vitro. Transformed root cultures - the so called hairy root cultures obtained after the insertion of T-DNA from the root inducing (Ri) plasmid of the Agrobacterium rhizogenes into the plant genome (Ackermann, 1977) has emerged as an important tool for the production of secondary metabolites in vitro (Rhodes et al., 1987). Hairy roots have advantages of fast growth, organ differentiation and stable secondary metabolite production (Banerjee et al., 1995). We report here the hairy root induction from shoot buds and seedling hypocotyls in infection with A. rhizogenes useful in exploring the possibilities of large-scale in vitro secondary metabolite production in this rare medicinal plant.

The avocado (Persea americana Mill) belonging to the family Lauraceae, may have originated in southern Mexico but was cultivated from the Rio Grande to central Peru long before the arrival of Europeans. It was then distributed into the West Indies and all other parts of the tropical and subtropical world. It reached India probably in 1892. Now it is grown in Tamil Nadu, Karnataka, and Kerala in India, to a limited extent.

Cultivars/Varieties: Fuerte, Hass, Lula, Pollck, Purple, Green.

Uses

Avocado is low in sugar content and rich in avocado butter, hence can be highly recommended as a high energy food for diabetics. The pulp of the fruit can be preserved by freezing, and can be used as sandwich filling or spread, in ice creams and milk shakes. Though the fruit is high in fat content, it is harmless unlike animal fat. The pulp has butter consistency, and looks very much like cow’s butter and bland in taste with a nutty flavour, without any offensive odour or smell. Its aroma resembles that of tender coconut.

Principle
The principle of the test is that antibodies possess two antigen-binding sites that will attach specifically with the antigenic determinants on the surfaces of the bacteria, cells or particles. Under suitable conditions one antibody molecule will combine with the determinant group on the surfaces of two bacteria and in this way a lattice is formed. These lattices are generally visible with the naked eye as clumps and they sediment readily due to the large size of the clump.
Pre-requisites for Agglutination Reaction
a) The antigen (agglutinogen) should be in particulate form, which will remain in suspension for sufficiently long time.
b) The antibody (agglutinin) should be directed to the target surface epitope.
c) Antigen – antibody should be present in optimal proportions.
d) An electrolyte is necessary for the reaction to take place and usually the reaction is carried out in physiological saline solutions (0.85% NaCl). Because of the overall negative charge on red cells or bacteria at neutral pH it is difficult for them to come close enough, so that for molecule such as IgG antibodies are able to form a bridge between epitope of two different cells or bacteria. The presence of salt tends to neutralize the charge effects to allow agglutination.
Plate Agglutination Test
This is employed to screen sera within a short period for preliminary testing.
Materials
• Brucella abortus coloured antigen
• suspected serum
• glass plate.

A diagnostic radiograph is defined as one showing the tissues adequately penetrated, sharply outlined, and the variations in tissue opacity sufficiently demonstrated. An ideal diagnostic radiograph should have excellent detail, correct density and proper scale of contrast. The sharpness of the image determines the detail or definition of an image. There are two factors in radiographic quality control, viz: photographic and the geometric effect.  Density, contrast and detail are photographic aspects of radiographic quality. Detail and distortion are geometric aspects of radiographic quality. Because a radiograph is a two-dimensional (2-D) image of a three-dimensional (3-D) object, the appearance of a radiographic image varies with the patient’s orientation in relation to the primary X-ray beam. 

Materials Required

Canned product, weighing balance, can cutter, vacuum/pressure guage, seam checking guage, Refractometer / Salometer etc. 

Procedure

    1.    Take a canned product say canned peach.
    2.    Record the weight of the can (A)
    3.    Record the information marked on the label i.e net  weight, date of packing, etc
    4.    Observe the can externally for the concavity of the lid.
    5.    Record the vacuum of the can by using a vacuum guage
    6.    Cut the lid of the can with a can cutter
    7.    Record the head space
    8.    Put all the contents over a sieve and let the liquid drain
    9.    Record the weight of empty can (B) to calculate net contents
    10.    Record the drained weight of the pieces.
    11.    Record whether the liquid is syrup or brine
    12.    Record the TSS of the salometer reading of the liquid (as the case may be)

I. FILL UPS

1. _____ is the measure of how many seeds are alive and could develop into plants which will reproduce themselves.
2. _____ method is useful for determining viability of forest tree seeds.

1. NEMATODES

Nematodes, also called eel-worms, are wormlike in appearance, but quite distinct taxonomically from true worms. They live freely in fresh or salt water or in soil. They are saprozoic and also parasitize animals (including man) and plants. Many species of nemotdes parasitize higher plants and cause disease symptoms. Plant parasitic nematodes are small (invisible to the naked eye), long, tubular, round in the cross section, unsegmented and smooth invertebrates. They inhibit different parts of plants, namely, roots, stem, flower buds and seeds. Depending on the host-parasite relationship, plant parasitic nematodes may be sedentary or migratory and ectoparasitic and/or endoparasitic in their feeding habits.

1.1. Nematodes

Seed-borne nematodes may be internal or may occur as seed infestation. Several saprozoic soil nematodes occur in beds of soil mixed with seed. Seed infestation by nematodes does not produce any specific symptoms on seed, but in those that occur as endoparasites, the floral structure may be modified into a seed gall (Anguina spp.) may produce symptoms such as discoloration of testa in groundnut (Ditylenchus destructor) or may be symptomless as in paddy kernels infected by Aphelenchoides besseyi. Neergaard (1979) listed five genera - Anguina, Aphelenchoides, Ditylenchus, Heterodora and Rhadinaphelenchus - that are seed-transmitted. Heterodora and Rhadinaphelenchus occur as endoparasites in roots, stems, and leaves. The latter also affects the growing apex, inflorescence and husks of dropped nuts.

The homoeopathic materia medica consists of around 1000 drugs, the characteristics of which have been verified or proved. Homoeopathy is unique in that it uses no drug, which has not been proved. The proving has been done by administering pure medicines to healthy human beings and recording in minute detail the effects, mostly adverse, produced by such administration. The tests were conducted on men and women who were mostly medical people and students who were not sick. The drugs were administered in doses consisting of crude drugs or homoeopathic potencies. These volunteers were then asked to describe the effects of the drugs in their own words. These descriptions were noted down by the doctors conducting the experiments and were carefully recorded. Hundreds of thousands of such symptoms were recorded while proving the homoeopathic drugs and the materia medica forms a record of the best proving along with other data collected as a result of laboratory tests and experiments.

In paragraph 25 of the 'Organon of medicine', Dr.Samuel Hahnemann the founder of the system laid down the basis of homoeopathy in the following words: "Now, however, in all careful trials, pure experience, the sole and infallible oracle qi healing art, teaches us that medicine which, in its action on the healthy human body, has demonstrated its power of producing the greatest number of symptoms similar to those observable in the case of disease under treatment, does also, in doses of suitable potency and attenuation, rapidly, radically and permanently remove the totality of the symptoms of this morbid state, that is to say the whole disease present, and change it into health; and that all medicines cure, without exception, those diseases whose symptoms most nearly resemble their own, and leave none of them uncured."

There are about 3000 tanneries processing 6000 tonnes of hides and skin annually in India. Large amounts of solid and liquids are generated in tanneries containing N and heavy metals. The treatment of tannery waste waters generates sludge which contain a large variety of organic and mineral components. The amount of sludge from a single tannery may be obtained up to 10,000 tonnes/ Yr. Fresh Sludges undergo preliminary fermentation on liquid separating plots which are stored in piles where further decomposition takes place. As a result of decomposition process, partially biodegraded material resembling compost is obtained. It looks like deep black earthy material. The chemical composition indicates the possibility of using it in agriculture. The hides of infected animals many contain anthrax germs and be contaminated with heavy metals particularly chromium in the sludge which depends on the technology for hide tanning and the methods used in a sewage treatment plants. The sludge from tanneries using chromium in the treatment process are not suitable to be used as fertilizer as they contain high amount of chromium. Co-composting of these wastes with crop residues could provide good quality compost and the heavy metal content would get diluted and reduced per unit weight.

Principle
Some viruses like Orthomyxo, Paramyxoviruses etc. have the property to clump the erythrocytes of certain species of birds or animals. This is not an antigen-antibody reaction but a network of erythrocytes formed by the bridging virions. These virions on their envelop have peplomers that binds with the receptors on the erythrocytes. If large quantities of virus are used for HA and allowed to act on red blood cells
for a long period of time, the agglutinated red cells shed the virus particles which then float freely in the suspending fluid and neither attach to the same red cells nor agglutinate them. This process of dissociation of virus from the red cells is known as elution, and is due to the destruction of receptors on red cells by the virion associated receptor destroying enzyme - neuraminidase. The red cells freed from the virus particles are known as stabilized red cells. The elution will occur most rapidly if the temperature is raised to 37°C as the enzyme neuraminidase will be more active at this temperature.

Practical Application of Haemagglutination
a) Spot test: For rapid detection of the presence of a haemagglutinating virus. This can be done by mixing two or three drops of suspected sample (infected chick embryo fluids or cell culture fluids) with equal quantity of 5% chicken red cells in normal saline. The appearance of the clumps of agglutinated red cells, indicate the presence of a haemagglutinating
virus in the sample.
b) Titration of the virus using the haemagglutinating property.

India is famous as the ‘Land of Spices’ world over. Spices are nature’s gift to humankind for flavoring our food. They are also used as preservative and in pharmaceuticals. India is the largest producer, consumer and exporter of seed spices and their value added products. About 63 different spice crops are cultivated in the country. Among them, seed spices are annual herbs, whose dried seeds or fruits are used as spices. These crops share 21.87% in terms of quantity and 7.42 % in terms of value to total spices export in the country. The country grows a wide variety of seed spices like coriander, cumin, fenugreek and fennel as major crop, while, dill, nigella, ajwain, anise, celery, caraway, parsley, black cumin and few other are categories as the minor seed spices.

One of the most important pieces of information in the field of  X-rays is a radiographic technique chart. If one select exposure factors from a good rating chart, consistent radiographic examinations of diagnostic quality will be obtained. In addition, there will be a saving of X-ray films because waste from repeated exposures will be avoided.

There are several types of techniques chart that can be formulated, each type must be formulated with the goat of maximum potential of a particular X-ray machine. Perhaps the most popular type of technique chart used by veterinarians is a variable kilovoltage technique chart. A variable mA second chart is probably more appropriate for the most powerful X-ray machine. However, combination of variable kilovoltage and mAs technique chart is best. Such charts take into consideration the need to adopt a technique chart for different body systems, such as a thoracic and abdominal study, as well as examination involving the musculoskeletal system. The principle of how to prepare a variable kilovoltage technique chart along with an example of such a chart is given.

The equipments used in artificial insemination should be clean and sterilized. The use of unsterilized equipments in AI causes the spread of infection in the herd and infertility. Rinse the equipments with tap water immediately after use and then lukewarm detergent solution. The detergent used for washing the AI equipments should be non corrosive. Use of corrosive detergents will reduce half-life of the plastic and rubber wares. Wash thoroughly with tap water till the equipments become grease free and perfectly clean. Then rinse in distilled water at least thrice. Use of distilled water does not leave any salt residues on articles after drying.

Fluid therapy plays an important role in emergency and critical care of  the malnourished, anemic, unhealthy and debilitated animals and as a supportive therapy in various disease conditions, accidents etc. The type, rate and quantity of fluids indicated for common abnormal conditions  in various animals are dealt in brief in  the following chapter.

Homoeopathy system of medicine is the system of healing suited to all the young, and the old, the rich and the poor, the people in the developed as well as the underdeveloped countries and for persons in any place or climate. This is not to take away from the value and utility of the other prevalent systems of medicine. The aim of every science of healing is the relief of sick. Every system is successful in its own fashion. Homoeopathy too fights sickness and does so with remarkable results. Additionally the cost of diagnosis in this system is negligible because the diagnosis is by and large symptomatic. The medicine itself is inexpensive. Notable efficacy and low costs are the strong points of homoeopathic medicine. There are no toxic effects of the drugs, no side effects. The time taken for the medicine to show improvement is not long. Homoeopathic medicines are easy to store and have a long life.

Homoeopathy has been attacked again and again on the ground that the potencised drugs cannot be tested in a laboratory. But that way a number of phenomenon is still outside the pale of conventional science. However, laboratory tests have been going in many countries and certain phenomenon not acceptable to conventional scientific beliefs have been observed.

The homoeopathic system of medicine develops for its special use, the inner medicinal powers of the crude substances by means of a process peculiar to it and which has never been tried, whereby they only all become immeasurably and penetratingly efficacious and remedial. Even those that in the crude state give no evidence of the slightest medicinal power on the human body.

This remarkable change in the qualities of natural bodies develops the latent, hidden powers, which influence the body, change the well-being. This is affected by mechanical action upon their smallest particles by means of rubbing and shaking and through the addition of an indifferent substance, dry or fluid. This process is called dynamization; potencizing and the products are dynamizations or potencies in different degrees.

Study of animal diseases at patient bed side for diagnosis, prognosis, monitoring and treatment comes under

a) Veterinary Epidemiology b) Preventive Medicine

c) Veterinary Jurisprudence d) Veterinary Clinical Medicine

Release agents are used to grease equipment used for manufacturing certain types of sugar confectionery for easy removal of the sweet.

High-viscosity, purified mineral oil is most commonly used material suitable for all sweet manufacturing purposes. Mineral oil is neutral in taste and has little odour. It should be used carefully: there is a legal limit of 0 2% in the United Kingdom.

Acetylated mono-glycerides have excellent release properties. A number of alternatives based on vegetable oil are available, but the development of rancidity on the film surface on the sweets during storage is the major difficulty in the use of vegetable oil

A family of 56 genera and over 1,300 species, Zingiberaceae are distributed in tropical regions, chiefly in Indomalaysia. About 17 genera and over 115 species have been reported from India, chiefly in Western Ghats and Eastern Himalayas. Some largely represented genera along with number of their world over reported species are Alpinia (250), Amomum (150), Costus (150), Zingiber (90), Kaempferia (70), Curcuma (60), Hedychium (50), Globba (50) and Elettaria (7).
Selected Indian Genera
Alpinia, Amomum, Costus, Curcuma, Elettaria, Hedychium, Zingiber.
Economic Importance
1. Spices and condiments: Seeds of Amomum cardamom (Badi elayachi) and Elettaria cardamomum (true cardamom), roots of Alpinia officinarum (gangal root) and rhizomes of A. gangala (Siamese ginger), Curcuma longa (turmeric) and Zingiber officinalis (ginger) are used as spices, condiments and flavouring agents. Ginger oil, obtained from rhizomes of Z. officinalis, is used in perfumery and for medicinal purposes. Turmeric is also used for medicinal purposes.