eChapters

• A machine is a device which receives some sort of energy and does some work.
• A rigid link is one, which does not undergo any deformation while transmitting motion.
• A flexible link is one which is partly deformed in a manner not to affect the transmission of motion.
• A structure is an assemblage of a number of resistant bodies having no relative motion between them.
• A turning pair has a completely constrained motion.
• Cam and follower includes higher pair.
• The lower pairs are self-closed pair.

Introduction

In order to keep pace with the development there is rise in energy use but it has adverse effects on climate due to greenhouse gas emissions from burning of fast depleting fossil fuels. In this context, we need to harness and use more and more renewable forms of energy, especially solar energy that is plentiful on most part of India. Also, at several locations harnessing wind power and utilizing biomass could be effective alternatives. Solar based devices may also work in an integrated manner with small wind turbines as hybrid devices. At present, about 20% of the country’s installed electricity generation capacity is contributed by renewable sources e.g. wind, solar, bioenergy, hydro etc., which is about 71.325 Giga Watt (GW) as on 30^th June, 2018. In agricultural sector, energy is directly used for pumping irrigation water, operating different mechanized farm implements/tools and processing of foods. Share of agricultural sector in total energy consumption is about 7-8% and further increase in energy use from its present value of 1.6 kW ha^-1 to 2.5 kW ha^-1 is expected to meet the production target of next 20 years.

Definition: Climbers are woody or herbaceous plants which climb up the trees and other tall objects with the help of support of their special modified organs such as tendrils, roots, thorns, rootlets, hooks, etc.

Climbing plants are excellent examples of convergent evolution, i.e. having the same basic design that evolved repeatedly in unrelated groups. Majority of these plants are the dicotyledons but climbing plants have also evolved in monocotyledons. Examples are Vanilla orchid (Orchidaceae), Greenbriars, Smilax (Smilacaceae), Gloriosa (Colchicaceae), Semele androgyna (Ruscaceae), Dichelostemma volubile (Alliaceae), Asparagus (Asparagaceae), Bowiea volubilis (Hyacinthaceae), Chusquea (Poaceae).

Mycotoxins are toxic secondary metabolites produced by different types of moulds which are present in soil, plant and feed ingredients. Ingestion of toxins will result in reduced growth and production performance due to reduced nutrient utilization, illness or death of animals. Analysing the presence of mycotoxin and its concentration in grain and feeds is necessary to eliminate the adverse health effects of mycotoxins in animals. Estimation of mycotoxin in feed ingredients is a challenging task because the concentration of toxin is at µg/kg or parts-per billion levels. At the same time, analysing inappropriate samples is a waste of resources. Mycotoxins are not evenly distributed in feeds or grains. If the specimen collected for analysis includes contaminated grain, the mycotoxin will be detected. If not, the mycotoxin will not be detected.

Sample collection for mycotoxin analysis

The objective of sample collection is to collect the specimen samples from as many parts of the feed lot as possible. The size of the collected specimen depends on the size of the load received. Sample collecting probes can be used to collect the samples from bags.

Despite the tremendous advances in agriculture, the agrarian output is still weather and climate-dependent. Frost or low-temperature stress is a single weather-related phenomenon that causes losses greater than any other environmental or biological hazard. As the plants are immobile, they are bound to undergo this stress and suffer damage under natural condition. For avoiding and managing the adverse effects of frost-induced freezing in plants, a reliable early warning/prediction of intensity and duration of frost is necessary.

1. Introduction

As purveyors of ornamentation, inciters of attraction, symbols of inspiration and peace as well as repositories of beauty, flowers hold special roles worldwide. Flowers have always been associated with mankind since time immemorial because they were used in religious offerings and other social ceremonies. Today; floriculture has emerged as one of the most lucrative business profession and as a major diversification options in the agri-businessin many countries of the world due to higher income per unit area. Floriculture is also known as sunrise sector of agriculture because of its fast growing and increasing demand. In India, about 3,09,000 hectares across the country was used for floriculture and produced 23,88,000 metric tonnes (MT) of loose flowers. India is second largest flower producer after China.

The fundamental rights enshrined in the Constitution of India are a cornerstone of the country's democratic framework, guaranteeing essential protections and liberties to its citizens. These rights, often referred to as the "heart and soul" of the Constitution, reflect the deep commitment of the framers to create a just and inclusive society. The Constitution, adopted on January 26, 1950, sets forth a comprehensive set of fundamental rights that safeguard individual autonomy, promote equality, and protect against discrimination and abuse of power.

Nutraceuticals have received considerable attention for their expected safety and potential nutritive and therapeutic effects. These were used as alternatives to modern medicines that promote quality of health, increase the nutritional value of the diet, and prolong life expectancy. Major constituents of nutraceuticals are herbals; various nutrients and dietary supplements are involved in preventing different diseases and minimizing the pathophysiology of the disease too. It also acts as an immune boosting, natural antioxidant, anticancer, anti-inflammatory, anti-diabetic, cardioprotective, and organ protective agent, in addition to different health-promoting effects. Ultimately, they ensure a better quality of life.

The scope of the nutraceutical field is plenty both in terms of type and the varieties. The nutraceuticals industry in India is one of the rapidly growing markets. Higher- and upper-middle-class consumers are perceiving nutra ceuticals as alternatives to prescribed drugs and exclusively for their beneficial properties without any side effects. Consumers are showing sharp interest in nutraceuticals for boosting energy and improving their physical endurance and mental alertness. Nutraceutical industries are focusing on developing new products with innovative formulations and using proper advertisements to choose the right products. Nutraceuticals have significant promise in the promotion of human health and the prevention of disease. They are widely accepted by all age groups due to their safety, higher quality, purity, efficacy, health-promoting, and disease-curing activities. The newest trend is moving toward nutraceuticals, leading to a new era of medicine and health. It is still in its infancy in India. But in this hype era, we must say, “let food be your medicine” and “proper nutraceuticals daily can keep the medicine away.”

Introduction

In the last decade, digitalization has transformed every aspect of life and society, changing almost every area of our day-to day lives. Not just that; the rate of change that is happening is astonishing and only going to accelerate further. From the way, we work and communicate to how we organize our lives, digital tools and technologies are everywhere including the veterinary sector. Veterinarians are recognizing the need to depart “the analog island” and increasingly willing to embrace digital solutions. Undoubtedly, digitalization is crucial when it comes to boosting efficiency and quality in veterinary medicine and delivery of animal healthcare to masses across various geographies and resource poor setups. Uniquely these digital tools helps vets also to focus on the needs of patients and animal owners.

Introduction
Voice synchronization, or “lip-syncing,” involves matching audio tracks to video so that spoken words align precisely with the movements in the video. This is crucial in various production contexts, such as film, animation, video dubbing, and post-production editing, where accurate synchronization enhances the viewing experience by making interactions feel natural and seamless.
Advanced video editing and audio software, like Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, and Avid Media Composer, provide powerful tools to achieve this with precision. These tools include automated time-stretching, audio wave alignment, and frame-by-frame adjustments, allowing editors to visually align audio waveforms with video frames for meticulous timing. Additionally, AIdriven tools, such as those found in software like Adobe Audition or Descript, can further streamline synchronization by automatically detecting and adjusting timing mismatches, saving time while improving accuracy.
Proper synchronization in video production ensures that the audio and visual elements are cohesively blended, enhancing storytelling and engaging the audience. For professionals, this attention to detail in syncing voice to video is essential for achieving high-quality, polished final products across various media.
This chapter provides an in-depth look at the tools and techniques for voice synchronization using advanced software, including Adobe Premiere Pro, DaVinci Resolve, Avid Media Composer, and Adobe Audition. We will discuss step-by-step processes, professional tips, and troubleshooting methods that can enhance the syncing process and ensure professional-quality results.

Stains are inevitable in histology to impart variable colours to different tissue components. In this domain, hematoxylin (H) and eosin (E) dyes are the dominant stains. According to an estimate nearly 2.5 million slides are stained with H & E each day, reflecting its enormous use in histology laboratories. Hematoxylin is a natural dye, extracted from bark of logwood (Haematoxylon campechianum), whereas eosin is a synthetic dye. The journey of using natural dyes in histology began with A. Leeuwenhoek (1673) who used “saffron”, an extract of saffron crocus. It continued until the systematic studies of C Weigert, J Gerlach, P Ehrlich and H Gierke to the second half of the 19th century and then this filed became subdued by the emerging era of synthetic dyes for their effective tinct. Today most of the stains used in histology are the synthetic dyes. Often, these dyes need further treatment with chemicals to formulate the final working solutions. Synthetic dyes are efficient, but may pose serious health hazards. The awareness on such hazards even has gone to an extent of withdrawal of some of the dyes from histological techniques. Frequent exposure to these chemicals constantly affects the health of the laboratory technicians, pathologist and mainly those working in the laboratory.
Therefore, an era has triggered on the current day, to seek for use of the natural herbal dyes in histology. Despite various shortcomings with use of natural herbal stains, they can still be sought as an analogous to the conventional stains. The concern for safety, cost-effective, eco-friendly, biodegradability and local availability is driving the quest to explore the abundant local plant resources for this purpose. The precise research on various parts of the plants such as stems, leaves, flowers, fruits, roots and seeds used for dye extraction in our laboratory to stain the cell cytoplasm replacing the conventional eosin stain are chronicled in this documentation.

Microsatellites are highly polymorphic repetitive DNA sequences that are randomly distributed throughout eukaryotic genomes displaying high levels of variation and consequently, are ideal for deciphering genetic variability. They are having high mutation rates (1-4 per generation). Among the microsatellite, (CA) n repeats occurring about one in every 30 kb of mammalian genome constitute useful genetic markers, as their polymorphism is sufficiently stable and their mutation rate are low enough. Out of innumerable microsatellite, ZuBeCa3 microsatellite shows huge variability in the canine genome (Switonski and others 1998). This microsatellite is located in chromosome 9q21-q22 and vastly studied in different dog breeds depicting its heterogeneous distribution over the chromosome (Switonski and others 1998).

There are potential beneficial medicinal uses of probiotics for which research is limited and only preliminary results are available. Recent research on the molecular biology and genomics of Lactobacillus has focused on the interaction with the immune system, anti-cancer potential, and potential as a biotherapeutic agent in case of antibiotic-associated diarrhoea, traveller‘s diarrhoea, pediatric diarrhoea, inflammatory bowel diseases and irritable bowel syndrome (Ljungh et al., 2009). Studies of some probiotics tested in vitro on human epithelial cell lines have shown that they could block the adhesion of shiga toxin producing E. coli (Sherman et al., 2005). These are claimed to be health promoting and/ or disease preventing beyond the basic function of supplying nutrients. Probiotic foods are emerging as an important category of food supplements. Earlier workers have shown the inhibition of diarrhea caused by E.coli using probiotic lactic acid bacteria and yeast (Yan and Polk, 2006). Ratledge et al. (2002) have studied the biochemistry and molecular biology of lipid accumulation in oleaginous microorganisms.

Abstract

The known views in society about the biotech foods were collected and structured in statements. An opinion survey of sixty scientists of CCS Haryana Agricultural University on these statements was conducted. Half of the scientists agreed that there were no biotech food products in our country. Biotech foods were considered safe for human consumption by 61.7% of the respondents. A large majority of the scientists considered that biotech foods were different in taste from foods made from conventional crops. Similarly 65% of scientists had the opinion that biotech crops increase food allergies. Fifty percent of the scientists agreed that biotech foods were regulated and tested. The rest opined that labeling is needed for biotech foods even in USA. Overwhelming majority felt that biotech foods were not widely accepted. Meat, milk and egg products from biotech animals were not concieved as unsafe to eat by 43.3% respondents. Equal number of scientists felt the same about foods produced through biotechnology and viewed that these were not tested for health.

1.    Downy mildew
        
2.    Powdery mildew
        
3.    Rust
        
4.    Wilt

John William Harshberger codified ethnobotany as ‘the study of plants used by primitive and aboriginal people ‘in a popular lecture on 4 December 1895. Later it was published in the Botanical Gazette in 1896 and now he is regarded as “Father of Ethnobotany”. Subsequently, Walter Fewkes (1896) adopted the word ethnobotany after Harshberger for the title of a research paper. Another term ‘Arboriginal Botany’ coined by Steven Powers (1873- 1875) was in use for about two decades before Harsh Berger. In brief, “Ethnobotany is the study of interrelations between primitive human cultures and the plants and animals in its environment, which is regarded as the branch of ethnobiology”. There are some other definitions of ethnobotany by various authors:

Jones (1941) defined as “Ethnobotany is the study of interrelationship between man and vegetation”.

Faulks (1958) considered it as “The total relationship between man and vegetation” in his book entitled “An Introduction to Ethnobotany” It was the first book specially published on ethnobotany. Schultes (1962) explained as “Ethnobotany is the study of relationships which exist between people of a primitive society and their plant environment”. Gadgil and Vartak (1976) considered it as “Branch of economic botany which deals with the role of plants in life and culture of arboriginals and tribal people”. Alcorn (1984) states “It is the study of contextualized plant use”. Wickens (1990) defined ethnobotany as “The study of useful plants prior to their commercial exploitation and eventual domestication”. According to Ford 1994, ethnobotany is concerned with a wide range of interest of plants in cultural and ecological context as men in his edited book “The Nature and Status of Ethnobotany”. According to Martin 1995, ethnobotany is the part of ethnoecology, which concerns plants. Turner 1996 was given the appropriate definition “the science of people’s interaction with plants”. In context of Indian ethnobotany the first book published by Jain, S.K., 1981 entitled “Glimpses of Indian Ethnobotany” and Dr. Jain (2001) defined ethnobotany as “It deals with the study of total natural and traditional interrelationship between man and plants and his environment”.

Introduction

Corcyra cephalonica commonly called as rice meal moth or rice moth is a pest of stored foods, viz., cereals, cereal products, oilseeds, pulses, dried fruits, nuts and spices. Many of the natural enemies mass-bred in the laboratory for use in field against crop pests are dependent on either egg or larval stages of Corcyra due to the simple reason that it is easier and cheaper to produce natural enemies on different stages of Corcyra than on their original hosts.

Morphology and Biology of Corcyra

The eggs are oval and measure 0.5 x 0.3 mm. The white surface is sculptured and has a short nipple-like structure at one end. The larvae are generally creamish – white except for the head capsule and the prothoracic tergite, which are brown. There are well-developed prolegs on abdominal segments 3-6 and 10. A fully matured larva measures 15 mm. The last-instar larva spins a closely woven, very tough, double-layered cocoon in which it develops into a dark-brown pupa. The anterior portion of the cocoon has a line of weakness through which the adult emerges. The adults are small. The hind-wings are pale-buff, and the fore-wings are mid-brown or greyish-brown with thin vague lines of darker brown colour along the wing veins. The males are smaller than the females.

Sexual activity usually begins shortly after adult emergence. There is a preoviposition period of about 2 days. Egg-laying mainly occurs during the night. The greatest numbers are laid on the second and third days after emergence, although oviposition may continue throughout life. Eggs take about 2-3 days to hatch. Optimum conditions for larval development of C. cephalonica are 30 – 32.5 °C and 70 per cent RH, at which, the period from egg hatch to adult emergence is only 26-27 days. There is considerable variation in the number of larval instars; however, males generally have 7 and females have 8. The last-instar larvae pupate within the food. The adults emerge through the anterior end of the cocoon, where there is a line of weakness. The sex ratio is 1:1. The adult moth is nocturnal and is most active at nightfall.

Introduction

Development of feeding strategies that are more efficient and more eco-friendly by reducing waste is one of the key priorities in poultry production today. Thus, there is a focus on reduction of the crude protein content in a diet fortified with adequate amounts of currently available free amino acids (e.g. L-Lys, DL-Met, L-Thr, L-Val and L-Trp) in order to optimize protein utilization efficiency while maintaining production performance and reducing nitrogen excretion in chicken. Baker et al (1978) reported that animals do not need dietary protein to provide amino acids. Since, then numerous studies have been conducted to study amino acid requirement of poultry. They are components of tissue proteins and provision at insufficient levels leads to reduced protein synthesis. Provision of the different essential amino acids is therefore a prerequisite for maintaining optimal rates of protein synthesis. However, optimizing amino acid nutrition requires consideration of the different functions of amino acids, which are recognized to have several significant influences. Amino acids are precursors of important molecules.

Objective: Equip participants with the skills to communicate clearly, confidently, and empathetically in verbal, non-verbal, and written forms to foster collaboration, reduce misunderstandings, and build stronger workplace relationships.
Why It Matters
Effective communication is the cornerstone of professional success. It ensures ideas are conveyed clearly, builds trust, and prevents conflicts. Poor communication can lead to misaligned expectations, decreased productivity, and strained relationships. For example, a vague email can cause project delays, or a misunderstood tone in a meeting can create tension. This module empowers participants to master communication in diverse workplace scenarios.
Learning Outcomes: By the end of this module, participants will:
1. Understand the components of effective communication (verbal, nonverbal, written).
2. Practice active listening and empathetic responses to enhance interpersonal connections.
3. Craft clear, professional written messages tailored to their audience.
4. Apply communication strategies in real-world scenarios through interactive exercises.

Summary
 
This chapter explores different approaches to manage water in rain-fed and irrigated agricultural systems. The first methods support the retention of water and reduce soil erosion. These methods include mulching – the application of a surface coating over the soil – which is usually organic mater. This reduces the damage to soil caused by rain and wind and reduces water loss to evaporation and helps with infiltration. The other methods explored are bunding and terracing.  These approaches are about stopping the flow of water across land to increase the amount of water infiltration into the soil and to reduce or prevent soil run off.  These approaches are labour intensive. A less labour -intensive approach is contour ploughing. This approach is about encouraging farmers and tractor drivers to plough across sloping fields not up and down them. The second group of technologies refers to the introduction of water through irrigation methods.