eChapters

1. What is a characteristic feature of fungal cell walls?

a) Peptidoglycans

b) Ergosterol and polysaccharides

c) Antiphagocytic capsules

d) Fruiting bodies

2. How do fungi reproduce in tissues?

a) Binary fission

b) Budding

c) Simple division of round, yeast-like forms or slender, tubular hyphae

d) Spore formation

Mental health prevention entails intervening to reduce mental health problems by addressing underlying factors before a specific issue arises in an individual, group or population. The primary objective is to decrease the occurrence of future mental health problems. Mental health promotion and prevention strategies seek to enhance an individual’s emotional regulation capabilities, promote healthier alternatives to risky behaviors, cultivate resilience in managing challenges and adversities and foster supportive social environments and networks. These initiatives lie at the heart of a public health approach to children and youth mental wellbeing, emphasizing the importance of optimizing positive mental health while also preventing and addressing mental health issues.
Adolescence represents a critical period for mental health vulnerabilities. The World Health Organization (WHO) reports that approximately half of all mental health conditions manifest by the age of 14, often remaining unidentified and untreated. Nonetheless, proactive preventive measures can yield significant benefits. The latest WHO report highlights the “numerous opportunities for health promotion and disease prevention during adolescence, which could have positive effects on young individuals in both the short and long term.” The WHO guidance advocates for the implementation of preventive psychosocial interventions among youth to mitigate or prevent the potential longterm consequences of mental health conditions.

Introduction

Beauty, purity, love and passion are some of the emotions symbolized by the flowers. The feelings of love, affection and joy are conveyed effectively with these non-speaking beauties of nature, for example a lotus conveys purity, rose love, pansy thoughts and narcissus egotism. Flowers have a definite role to play at almost all occasions of human affairs like birth, marriage, worship, adornments and death. Besides flowers, other ornamental plants also play an important role in environmental planning of urban and rural areas and from wasteland development to overcoming pollution. An important aspect of floriculture is that it is a good avenue to generate gainful employment for youth and women of peri-urban and rural areas.

True /False

Q.1.    A diagnostic test enables the doctors to reach at a decision whether the patient is suffering from a particular disease or not.
Q.2.    The recent developments in the field by biotechnology have led to the development of many new medical tests.
Q.3.    The general principles in designing and conduct diagnostic test studies are not known well.

Glanders is a contagious, acute or chronic, usually fatal anthropo zoonotic disease of Equidae caused by Burkholderia mallei and characterized by serial development of ulcerating nodules that are most commonly found in the upper respiratory tract, lungs, and skin. The first recorded description of glanders is from the third century from Aristotle. In 1664, glanders was recognized as a contagious disease and in 1830, it's zoonotic potential was suspected. In the late 1800's, the Mallein test (1891) was developed for diagnosis of glanders. By 1910, the U.S., Canada and Great Britain all implemented glanders controlprograms. B. mallei was eradicated from the United States in 1929.

Etiology: It is caused by Burkholderia mallei. It is a straight or slightly bent Gm - non-spore forming, non-motile rod. The organisms in old culture appear as pleomorphic. The organisms can grow in ordinary media but addition of defribinated horse blood or glycerol accelerate the growth. Colonies have hop like odour and slime consistency. The organisms are readily destroyed by direct sunlight and most of the disinfectants. They can survive for 20 days in water and 6 weeks in contaminated stable. This organism is closely related to the agent of melioidosis, Burkholderia pseudomallei.

Susceptible hosts: The most susceptible hosts are horses, mules and donkeys. Infections can also occur in dogs, cats, goats and camels; cats may be particularly susceptible. Hamsters and guinea pigs can be infected in the laboratory. It is an occupational /professional hazard to human being. Laboratory samples are highly infectious to humans. Infection have been observed in sheep and goats. Guinea pigs, rabbits and field mice may be infected fatally. Cattle and pigs are absolutely resistant.

Geographic Distribution: Glanders is seen in some Middle Eastern countries, the Indian subcontinent, Southeast Asia, parts of China and Mongolia, and Africa. Sporadic cases are also seen in South America. Sporadic cases of glanders were identified between 1985-86 to 1990-91 from the states of Haryana, Himachal Pradesh and Punjab. Since reemergence of glanders in July - August 2006 in and around Pune and Panchgani area of Maharastra, several cases have been reported among equines of different states viz., Andhra Pradesh, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand and Punjab. During the year 2006-07, National Research Centre on Equines, Hissar tested 4395 samples and 97 were detected positive and B. mallei was isolated from 8 of these cases.

According to Futter (2001) it is very important the way we cook our food. If the cooking is inadequate it causes food poisoning. While cooking there can be cross contamination starting from raw foods. It includes hands or utensils which can cause food poisoning. Most foods, especially meat, poultry, fish and eggs should be cooked thoroughly to kill most types of food poisoning bacteria. Generally the food should be cooked to a temperature of 75 °C or hotter. When food is cooked, it should be eaten promptly, kept hotter than 60 °C or cooled, covered and stored in the fridge or freezer. Some people are more at risk from food poisoning than others. In order to buy safe food in the market like buying pre-cut produce as a half a watermelon or cut veggies from a salad bar, it is important to choose items that are refrigerated or surrounded by ice. They must be kept in separate bags. FDA (2019) has studied the contamination in lettuce. Shopping at a farmer’s market is a great way to get locally-grown, fresh fruit, vegetables, and other foods. However, safety of these produce needs to be checked. Many markets have their own food safety rules and vendors must comply with them along with the government regulations. Fruits and vegetables must be washed thoroughly under running water just before eating, cutting or cooking. Fruits and vegetables must never be washed with soap or detergent or using commercial produce washes. Even if it has to be peeled before eating, it is still important to wash it first. Any bacteria present on the outside of items like melons can be transferred to the inside when it is cut or peeled. They should be refrigerated within two hours after preparation. The juice or cider must be treated (pasteurized) to kill harmful bacteria. Pregnant women, children, older adults and people with weak immune systems should drink only pasteurized or treated juice. Raw milk can harbor dangerous microorganisms like Salmonella, E. coli, and Listeria. World India (2017) has looked into the food regulations. These can pose serious health risks. Pregnant women, older adults and people with weakened immune systems are at higher risk for illness caused by Listeria. One source for these bacteria is soft cheese made from unpasteurized milk. It is vital to check the label to make sure that it is made from pasteurized or treated milk. Make sure that eggs are properly chilled at the market. FDA requires that untreated shell eggs must be stored and displayed at 45°F. While buying eggs it needs to be ensured that the eggs are clean and the shells are not cracked. Meat should be properly chilled even in the market and kept in closed coolers with adequate amounts of ice to maintain cool temperatures. If it is brought in an insulated bag or cooler during transit it is very beneficial to keep the quality. It should be always kept separately from your other purchases, so that the juices from raw meat (which may contain harmful bacteria) do not come in contact with produce and other foods. Essays (2018) have written a very comprehensive overview of food safety.

4.1 Introduction

Extraction is a process whereby the desired constituents of a plant are removed using a solvent. The primary ways for extraction of organic molecules of interest to biologists and medical investigators involve breaking open the cells. Cell rupturing is carried out in a variety of ways. The method used depends on the type of tissue used. For plant cells grown in cell suspension culture or for plant callus tissue, a French press or a sonicator can be used to break open the cell. Plant cells grown in culture can also be ruptured with a glass tissue homogenizer. Silicified or highly lignified plant tissues within the organs such as roots, stems, leaves, fruits and seeds are usually frozen and pulverized using liquid nitrogen in a mortar and a pestle (Kaufman et al., 1999). Softer tissues can be ground in a small volume of buffer in a mortar, washed white sand and a pestle to rupture the cells.

When the cells have been ruptured, the extraction is performed using the appropriate techniques. Water soluble compounds and proteins are extracted in buffers or water. Organically soluble compounds are extracted with organic solvents. Boiling ethanol is a good all-purpose solvent for preliminary extraction (Harborne, 1998). The success of the extraction with alcohol is directly related to the extent chlorophyll (when isolating substances from green tissue) is removed into the solvent. The most common chemical procedure for obtaining organic constituents from dried plant tissues is to continuously extract powdered material in a Soxhlet apparatus with a range of solvents, starting with petroleum ether and chloroform (to separate lipids and terpenoids) and then using alcohol and ethyl acetate (for more polar compounds). This method is useful when working on the gram scale. However, one rarely achieves complete separation of constituents and the same compounds may be recovered (in varying proportions) in several fractions. The extract obtained is clarified by filtration and is then concentrated in vacuo in a rotary evaporator. To prevent fungal growth, a trace of toluene may be added to the concentrated extracts and they should be stored in refrigerator. There are short cuts in extraction procedures which one learns with practice. The concentrated extract may deposit crystals on standing.

Soil Density

The density of a soil, as any other matter, is its mass per unit volume. However, in case of soil, because of its unique nature, the density can be expressed by two terms, viz., bulk density and particle density. Soil density is typically expressed in mega gram per cubic metre (Mg m^-3) which is numerically equal to g cm^-3.

Introduction

Global warming is chiefly due to combustion of fossil fuels for multifarious energy needs, causing emission of greenhouse gases which trap energy from the sun leading to warming. These climate changes bring in variation in patterns and emergence of new zoonotic diseases to newer areas. These changes sometimes create conducive conditions for the propagation of insect vectors. History shows that most of the diseases have a direct correlation with climatic changes. The survival and propagation of pathogens are directly related to temperature and humidity etc. Extreme shifts in weather patterns resulting from global warming and climate changes adversely affect the ecosystem resulting in new diseases, re-emergence of earlier diseases including emergence of zoonotic diseases. The emergence of the new cholera strain O: 139 and outbreaks of Dengue, West Nile virus and Rift Valley fever in newer and non-endemic areas have been linked with the El Nino effect. The spread of disease agents may be facilitated by factors including environmental conditions, the presence and availability of suitable hosts, the arthropod's feeding behavior and host preferences.

4.1. Quality of post-harvest product

• Post-harvest quality - market, edible, transport, table, nutritional, internal and appearance qualities

• Consumers consider good quality in relation to colour, flavour and nutrition.

• Final manifestation of inter relation between commodity and its environment.

• Genetic characteristics and physiological status of commodity determine typical post-harvest behaviour and quality of the produce

• Temperature, RH, water potential, light, cultural practices and pest management techniques determine the quality.

4.2. Pre-harvest factors

4.2.1. Related to plants

• Crops: Quality varies from crop to crop E.g. jackfruit, bael, potato, onion, pumpkin, garlic etc. having good quality in relation to shelf life

Key Points

• It is frequently reported that metal, non-metal, and metalloid components cause toxicity in farm animals.

• The type of element causing toxicity affects both the treatment and the clinical indications of toxicity.

• The best course of action for managing toxicity is to treat symptoms f irst, then, if the causal toxin is known, use targeted antidotes.

Introduction

Animal diets contain a variety of environmental components, including metals and non-metals. Certain substances are necessary for the animal and only become poisonous when consumed in excess, while others simply endanger the animal's health. However, a number of variables, including the absorbed dose, the exposure route, the period of exposure (acute versus chronic), and others, affect how toxic the substance is, and these variables must be taken into account when diagnosing, treating, and managing clinical cases. Given the multitude of factors affecting these metals' toxicity. An attempt is made in this chapter to present a streamlined synopsis of the toxicity of metals, non-metals, and metalloid elements that are frequently encountered.

I. Filtration

Filtration is a process of separation of precipitate from solution. Filtration is used to remove impurities from a solution (or) to isolate a solid.

1. International trade contributes and increases the world _________

a) Population

b) Inflation

c) Economy

d) Trade Barriers

2. Free international trade maximizes world output through________.

a) Countries reducing various taxes imposed.

b) Countries specializing in production of goods they are best suited for.

c) Perfect competition between countries and other special regions

d) The diluting the international business laws & conditions between countries.

3. Domestic company limits it’s operations to ___________ political boundaries.

a) International

b) National

c) Transnational

d) Global

Introduction

An agrochemical is a chemical product used in industrial agriculture. In most of the cases, agrochemicals refer to pesticides (insecticides, herbicides, fungicides, algaecides, rodenticides, molluscicides and nematicides), fertilizers, soil conditioners, liming and acidifying agents and plant growth regulators that provide benefits and manage agricultural ecosystem. Agrochemicals were introduced to enhance crop yields and minimized the crop losses due to pests and categories as fertilizers and pesticides. In the past sixty years with the wake of the green revolution (1960s), use of nitrogen, phosphorus and potassium based inorganic fertilizers and pesticides has greatly increased food production by improving efficient and economical crop production in order to fulfil the food needs of the rapidly expanding world population (Pal et al?, 2006).

Okra is a tropical vegetable cultivating for its tender fruits. It is one of the major vegetable crops in India which can be grown in summer as well as rainy season. Fruits are rich in vitamin A, vitamin C and minerals like calcium, phosphorus, iodine, iron, and potassium. Dry fruit skins and fibers are valued for manufacture of paper and card boards. The processed product, dehydrated okra plays a considerable role in export earnings. Dried seeds of okra found to have 20-24 percent protein and 13-22% edible oil hence, used for edible oil production. Mucilaginous stem is used for clarification of cane juice for preparing jaggery. Roasted ground seed are used as coffee substitute.

Cultivated okra is believed to be originated in tropical and subtropical Africa and phytogeographic studies indicated that it arose in Abyssinian region (Ethiopia). However, existence of large number of related species with wide variability and dominant characters suggested India as the secondary centre of origin. Some researchers suggested Hindustani centre of origin mainly India, Pakistan, & Burma.

Morphology and Pollination

Okra is an erect robust herbaceous annual with green or green with reddish tinged stem. Leaves are alternate, 3-7 lobbed, palmate, hirsute and serrate. Flowers are solitary, bisexual, axillary, peduncle is 2 cm long, epicalyx is up to 10 and bracteoles narrow and hairy. Calyx is fused with corolla hence falls with corolla after anthesis. Petals are 5, separate, yellow coloured with crimson spot on claw. Staminal column consists of numerous stamens (80-120) which are united to the base of the petals. Ovary is superior, stigma is small, 5-8 fid and deep red. Fruit is pyramidal and oblong beaked capsule, longitudinally furrowed, hirsute or glabrous, dehisce longitudinally when ripe. Seeds are dark green to dark brown, round and tuberculate.

Amyloid

• Amyloid (G. Amylon; Amyl(o) - STARCH) means starch-like.

• Amyloid is a pathologic glycoprotein deposited in the extracellular spaces and forms fibrils on polymerization.

Histological characteristics

• Amyloid is specially stained with Congo Red.

• Under polarized light, green birefringence is noticed because of alignment of fibrils.

• Amyloid fibrils are 7.5 to 10 nm in diameter, rigid, non-branching hollow-cored tubules of unknown length.

• β-pleated sheet configuration is seen in X-ray diffraction.

• The P-component which is a glycosa-amino-glycan (GAG) facilitates polymerization of amyloid.

Agriculture worldwide is undergoing a profound shift toward sustainability, driven by the need for increased productivity and environmental stewardship. Among the many innovations shaping this transition, biostimulants have gained prominence as a vital tool for enhancing crop performance, improving soil health, and promoting sustainable farming. Unlike conventional agrochemicals, biostimulants work by activating natural plant processes, enhancing nutrient uptake, and increasing resilience to environmental stress. The global agrichemical industry now distinctly categorizes biopesticides, biofertilizers and biostimulants.
WHAT ARE BIOSTIMULANTS?
Biostimulants are natural synthetic substances that enhance plant growth and development without being fertilizer or pesticides. They work by improving nutrient uptake, increasing stress resistance, and stimulating beneficial microbial activity in the soil. Unlike chemical fertilizers, which directly supply nutrients, biostimulants enhance the plant’s ability to utilize nutrients more efficiently.
TYPES OF BIOSTIMULANTS
Biostimulants are categorized based on their composition and mode of action:
Humic and Fulvic Acids – Improve soil structure, enhance nutrient availability and increase root growth.
Seaweed Extracts – Rich in phytohormones and trace elements that promote plant growth and stress resistance.
Amino Acids – Play a crucial role in protein synthesis and help plants recover from environmental stress.
Microbial Biostimulants – Beneficial bacteria and fungi that enhance nutrient uptake and improve soil health.
Brassinoloilds & Tricontanols – Help in vegetative growth and fruit development.
Alkaloids – Improve plant defense mechanism.

Synonyms: Circling disease, Meningoencephalitis, silage disease

It is an infectious fatal disease of wide range of animals and man characterized by encephalitis. It also causes abortion, endometritis and repeat breeding in farm animals. Historically, Listeria was first isolated in 1926 from a natural disease of rabbits characterized by mononuclear leucocytosis and therefore named as Bacillus monocytogenes by Murray and coworker at Cambridge. Later, Pierie who isolated similar bacillus from liver of gerbils in 1927 named it Listerella hepatolytica in honour of surgeon Joseph Lister and finally renamed it Listeria in 1940 due to taxonomic reasons.

Etiology: The disease is caused by L. monocytogenes. The genus Listeria consists of a group of Gm + bacteria of low G+C content closely related to Bacillus, Clostridium, Enterococcus, Streptococcus and Staphylococcus. Out of 6 species reported, only L. monocytogenes and L. ivanovii are considered virulent. Human cases of L. ivanovii infection are rare whereas L. monocytogenes is an important food borne pathogen. L. monocytogenes has been isolated from a variety of food products. Meat, poultry, dairy and vegetable products have been implicated as vehicles of listeriosis. The organism can be isolated from faeces and silage. The organism can be easily destroyed by ordinary disinfectants but may survive in soil and silage for a considerable period of time.

L. monocytogenes is small, coccoid with a tendency to occur in chains. It is aerobic or microaerophilic. It grows on ordinary media within a temperature range of 4-42°C. Growth is improved by addition of glucose, blood or liver extract. Colonies are β haemolytic on blood agar. It ferments glucose and salicin producing acid without gas. Lactose, maltose and sucrose are fermented slowly or not at all and mannitol is not fermented. It is catalase +. It shows tumbling motility when grown at 25°C but at 37°C is non-motile. It is because peritrichous flagella are produced by the bacillus optimally at 20-30°C but scantily or not at all at 37°C.

1    Ideal surgical pack

2    Nerve blocks

3    Commonly used pre-anaesthetics and anaesthetics