eChapters

Model organisms are widely used in biological researches to describe basic biological processes. When selecting living organisms as models to work with, a wide range of characteristics are used which include: 1) rapid development with short life cycles, 2) small adult size, 3) ready availability and 4) tractability. 

Semen • Semen, a fluid released from the male reproductive system during ejaculation, is made up of a liquid phase called seminal plasma and a cellular component called spermatozoa. • The term “spermatocrit” refers to the percentage of spermatozoa(v/v) in semen, which varies from less than 2% in pigs to more than 30% in sheep. It is about 10% in bull. Semen= Spermatozoa + seminal plasma Spermatozoon • In 1677, the scientist Van Leeuwenhoek first discovered the spermatozoa and called them ‘‘animalacula’’. • Spermatozoa or sperm cells or male gametes, develop within the wall of the seminiferous tubules as a result of a complex process known as spermatogenesis. • The spermatozoon is a highly specialized cell that performs the sole function of fertilizing an oocyte.

Introduction

The Wadi project mainly involves development of orchard (locally known as Wadi) on degraded lands. Mango, Cashew, Guava, Custard apple, Aonla, Lemon, Sapota and Drumstick are the major fruit crops that are cultivated by the tribal through Wadi project. Wadi is a comprehensive project for improving living standards and socio-economic condition of tribal families in remote areas. Acceptance of new idea is not a unit act but a complex process which involves a series of thoughts and actions. In other words, it is known as mental process through which an individual passes from first hearing about an innovation to final adoption. The components of Wadi project so far developed in recent has been for increasing the agriculture and horticulture production and productivity hence, it requires proper adoption by the tribal beneficiaries for production. Unless the components of Wadi project are properly adopted to larger extent by the tribal beneficiaries, the desired target cannot be achieved. The study was undertaken on following objectives.

Objectives

1. To study extent of adoption of components of Wadi project.

2. To study component wise adoption of Wadi project by the tribal beneficiaries.

3. To study relationship between profile of the tribal beneficiaries and adoption components.

Entomology is the science, which deals with study of arthropods which parasitize or affect the domesticated animals. Since these arthropods can cause damage or injury to their host by several ways, thorough understanding of the subject is very essential. Most of these arthropods are ectoparasites living on the body of the host or at the most in subcutaneous tissues while very few are endoparasites, living inside the body of the host. Similarly, most of the arthropods are temporary parasites, while very few like lice and mites are permanent parasites. Arthropods comprise of more than 80% of living creatures on earth.

Harmful Effects Caused by Arthropods to the Body of the Host

1. Injury to the skin: Most of the arthropods have biting tendency and cause injury to the skin by bites. As a result, micro-wounds are produced on the body which may later on be infected with bacteria leading to localised or generalised pyoderma condition or pyodermatic patches. Similarly, such wounds are predisposed to attack of blow flies which cause a condition called as “Blow fly myiasis.” Animals in order to escape the attack of flies try to run all around leading to phenomenon known as “Entomophobia”.

2. Blood sucking Habits: Most of the arthropods have blood sucking tendency like mosquitoes and ticks which may lead to anaemia.

3. Release toxins: Few of the arthropods release poisonous substances while biting. They inject certain poisons and toxins in the body of host. Eg. Some species of ticks release toxins causing paralysis in host known as tick paralysis.

4. Transmission of diseases: Arthropods have ability to transmit various bacterial, viral, protozoal, helminthic and mycotic pathogens. While sucking blood, they collect infective stages of the organism and while biting to the other host, they transmit the pathogens.

Long Pepper or Pipli is the dried fruit of Piper longum, which is a slender, aromatic climber with perennial woody roots, occurring in the hotter parts of India, from the Central Himalayas to Assam, Khasi, and Mikir hills and Lower Hills of Bengal, and evergreen forests of the Western Ghats from Konkan to Travancore in Kerala State, India; it has also been recorded from Nicobar Islands. The plant has creeping jointed stems; young shoots are downy; leaves are 5-9 cm long, 3.5 mm wide, ovate, cordate, with broad rounded lobes at the base; female spikes are cylindrical, pedunculate, male spikes are larger and slender; female spikes are 1.3-2.5 cm long and 4.5 mm in diameter; fruits are ovoid; yellowish orange, minute, droop and are sunk in fleshy spike. The female spikes are sharper, sessile and blunt at the tips and erect, are red when ripe; flowers are numerous and packed. Indian Long Pepper is mostly derived from the wild plants, the main sources of supply being Assam State in India, followed by West Bengal, Nepal and Uttar Pradesh. Small quantities are also available from evergreen forests of Kerala State, West Bengal and certain parts of Andhra Pradesh. It is reported to be cultivated at lower elevations in the Annamalai hills in Tamil Nadu, India, and in parts of Assam, in particular, the heaviest (in India) rainfall region, Cherrapunji. It is cultivated in Meghalaya also; India produced about 200 tonnes in 1990-91. The Long pepper, as sold in India, appears to be derived from 2 or 3 species, including one which is Indonesian. Indian Long Pepper is a product of either Piper longum or Piper peepuloides, while the Indonesian or Java Long Pepper imported from Malayasia is from Piper retrofractum. The fruits of these species are used for the same purpose, though they do vary in their comparative effectiveness.

This chapter introduces a comprehensive self-assessment resource covering the major concepts presented throughout the book. It includes multiple-choice questions, fill-in-the-blanks, true/false questions, short-answer questions, essay questions, viva questions, numerical problems and questions on emerging technologies. The question bank is designed for university examinations and competitive examinations such as ARS and ICAR-NET. It supports systematic revision of wool biology, properties, testing, processing, marketing, standards and modern technologies.

1.    Foot rot or Leaf rot or wilt
        
2.    Anthracnose
        
3.    Bacterial leaf spot or stem rot

11.1 Determination of Penetrability of Soil

Penetrability of a soil is usually assessed by the penetration resistance, which a measure of soil strength and thereby the soil compaction. Penetration resistance is the capacity of the soil in its confined state to resist penetration by a rigid object. Besides soil strength, the penetration resistance also depends on the size, shape and orientation of the axis of the penetrating probe. The penetrating probe may be a finger, pencil, stick, root or any specially designed object having a specified geometric shape and a device to measure the resistance as it is pushed into the soil.

Soil penetrability is intimately related to agriculture because of its adverse impact on draught requirement during ploughing, root development and crop yield, to civil engineering due to its relation to settlement, stability and ground water flow.

Soil penetrability is a measure of the ease with which an object can be pushed or driven into the soil. Any device designed to measure the resistance to penetration may be called penetrometer. There are several types of penetrometers: (i) pocket penetrometer, (ii) proctor penetrometer, (iii) cone penetrometer, and (iv) split-spoon penetrometer. Here, we will discuss about two most commonly used penetrometers viz. pocket penetrometer and cone penetrometer used for agricultural purposes.

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.

Introduction

Due to inherent composition (high moisture and nutrients) of meat, it is highly perishable in nature. Hence, preservation of meat is essential to maintain its fresh quality. This is accomplished by various preservative techniques based on the principles of temperature control, moisture control and direct microbial inhibition.

Temperature Control

1. Chilling/Refrigeration

In this method, meat is stored at refrigeration temperature of 2 to 5°C. Chilling of animal carcasses is also carried out during ageing process, cutting transit, retail display and even in consumer household before ultimate use. Relative humidity during chilling is kept about 90%. The fresh meat has shelf life of 5-7 days at refrigerated temperature

Better functioning of FPO is possible through ensuring sustainability and promoting high growth activities. It can be achieved through working with specific planning. A brief road map for better functioning of FPO/FPC has been discussed here.

7.1. Factors for high growth of Farmer Producer Companies

The reason for high growth of FPC as perceived by ASA (2009) are energetic management team and the board of directors, cooperation from banking institutions which provided hassle free loans to the PC for working capital, and a clearly identified business opportunity that gives a high return on investment. A tentative assessment suggests that there are multifarious benefits for member in the form of timely and easily availability of fertilizers, seeds and other agriculture inputs at a reasonable rate; bulk selling of agriculture produce for better price; extension services received by the farmers which the PC had arranged with the agriculture department or from other service providers; receiving of cash dividends from the FPC (Mondal, 2010).

Sperm abnormalities may be genetical or morphological. They are directly related to the male infertility. • The wet mount method and phase contrast microscopy facilitate sperm visualization for abnormalities. Semen stained with vital stain can also be used for evaluating sperm abnormalities. Sperm morphology or related abnormalities can be evaluated by using eosin-nigrosine stain, carbolfuschin, aniline blue-eosine etc. • Generally, for head and tail abnormalities rose Bengal and William’s stain can be used while for acrosome and head abnormalities Giemsa stain can be used. Categorization of Sperm Abnormalities 1. On the basis of site of abnormality on the spermatozoa • Head abnormalities e.g. microcephalic head, macrocephalic/giant head, narrow or short sperm head, pyriform head, detached glea capitis (acrosomal cap), detached head and double head etc

Class: Insecta

It is the biggest class in animal kingdom. About 70% of species of animals are included in class insecta.

General Morphological Characters

1. All the character of arthropoda are also present in this class.

2. Body is divided into three tagmas i.e. head, thorax and abdomen.

Normally body of arthropods consists of twenty segments. Head region is formed by the fusion of 1st six segments. Thorax is formed by next three segments and abdomen formed by last 11 segments.

Modification of six pair of appendages of head: 1st pair of appendages is modified into eyes. 2nd pair is modified into antennae. 3rd pair is lost. 4th pair of appendages is modified into mandible. 5th pair modified into first maxillae and 6th pair modified into 2nd maxillae means mouth part is nothing but modification of 4th, 5th and 6th pair of appendages. On abdomen, appendages or legs are lost.

Morphology of head region of insects

Highest point of head known as “Vertex”. Anterior portion sloping in forward direction known as “Frons”. Posterior portion sloping towards thorax is “Occiput”. On the medial aspect of head, there is a pair of compound eyes. Each compound eye is made of number of lenses called as “facet”. Compound eyes may meet one another in mid line (holoptic) or are wide apart (dichoptic). Just medial to compound eyes, there is a pair of non-functioning simple eyes known as “ocellus.” Just in front of these two eyes on either side, there is a pair of antennae. Antennae are made up of three parts, base, pedicle and f ilaments. Pedicle is non segment basal piece. On these antennae, hair may be present. At the base of each antenna, there is olfactory pin. Lateral part of head is known as “Gena”. Just below the frons, there is a chitinous plate known as “Clypeus”. Below clypeus, there is mouth part. Mouth parts are located on ventral side. Mouth part consists of labrum which forms the upper boundary of mouth and labium which forms the lower lip or lower boundary of mouth. On underneath the labrum, there is membranous structure called epipharynx which bears the organ of taste. On upper surface of labium, there is another membranous structure called hypopharynx which bears the opening of salivary duct. Between labrum and labium there is one pair of mandibles and one pair of maxillae. Mouth parts are collectively known as “Proboscis”.

Introduction

Diagnosis of cancer has always been challenging. There is no single diagnostic test to confirm the cancer. A detailed evaluation of the patient comprises of history, physical examination and various diagnostic tests.

Most common steps in the diagnosis involve physical examination, imaging tests, laboratory tests, biopsy etc. Other than these there are several other battery of tests that are followed in modern diagnostics. The main aim of the diagnosis is to determine what type of cancer and more importantly the stage and the grade. Early detection of cancer provides cure or better chances of survival in any patient. It improves the prognosis of cancer and potentiate the effect of targeted therapy. There are several moderndiagnostic techniques like 2D and 3D imaging using PET positron emission tomography, MRI, Computed Tomography (CT), X Rayimaging and ultrasound scanning. The diagnosis of tumor involves several steps.

Animal bristles are natural fibers derived from the hair or fur of various animals, mainly pigs and horses. Celebrated for their distinctive characteristics, these bristles have been employed for centuries across a range of uses. Bristles consist of stiff, wiry hairs from pigs, hogs, or boars, and are typically utilized in the manufacture of different types of brushes. They are predominantly harvested from the back, neck, and tail, as the hairs located on the flank and belly are too short for effective use. Pig bristles are characterized by their coarse, stiff texture and tapered shape, often featuring split or flagged tips. These flagged tips improve their efficiency in paint and varnish applications due to their capacity to retain paint effectively.
Shaving brushes crafted from soft bristles surpass synthetic options owing to their enhanced water absorption and retention abilities. In our nation, bristles are primarily obtained from local and crossbreed pigs. Indian bristles are noted  for their coarseness and durability, although their longer flagged tips (whichcan constitute up to 30% of their total length) necessitate trimming prior to use, potentially diminishing their overall value.
Bristles are harvested from live pigs or boars once or twice annually, as well as from slaughtered or deceased animals. In certain bacon processing facilities, bristles are also collected by shaving the skins of slaughtered animals postscalding. Those obtained from live pigs generally exhibit superior lustre and resilience compared to those from deceased animals.

This chapter introduces the specialized terminology used throughout wool production, evaluation, processing and trade. It provides an alphabetically organized glossary covering technical terms associated with fibres, fleece preparation, grading, processing, textile manufacture and wool commerce. The glossary is designed to improve technical communication and examination preparation by giving readers precise definitions of commonly used terms. Cross-referencing with relevant chapters further helps readers connect terminology with the underlying scientific and technological concepts.

Considering the economic importance of chlorophyll variegation in floriculture trade attempt was made for cytological, anatomical and biochemical analysis of chlorophyll variegated mutants for better and clear understanding of origin of chlorophyll variegation (Kirk and Tilney-Bassett 1967, Datta et al. 1995). Following chlorophyll variegated mutants and their respective original varieties were analysed –

‘Los Banos Beauty’ (LBB) : Original double bracted Bougainvillea with green leaf.

INTRODUCTION

The North Eastern Region of India comprises of eight states, viz., Assam, Arunachal Pradesh, Manipur, Meghalaya, Tripura, Nagaland, Mizoram and Sikkim. These north eastern states are home to myriad tribals and several ethnic groups. Most of the people of the north-eastern region of India belong to the Mongolian race and the food habit of the region is fairly similar with that of South-East Asian countries. Fermented foods form an intrinsic part of the diet of these people. Fermentation has been an age long traditional practice of preserving various food products in the region. These fermented products are used as condiments in the preparation of various traditional sauces, strews and dishes (Saisithi, 1994).

The nutritive value of feedstuffs is generally expressed in terms of protein and energy value. The protein and energy value usually referred in ruminants are DCP (Digestible crude protein) and TDN (Total digestible nutrients), because the feeds used in the diet of ruminants have a vide variability in their digestibility, hence after removal of the variable fraction the requirement of nutrients is expressed. Starch Equivalent (SE) is also the measure of energy but its usefulness is limited to certain extent, due to involvement of tedious and expensive process.