eChapters

Introduction

Water hyacinth, Eichhornia crassipes, is such an aquatic plant that needs hardly any introduction. This aquatic plant is considered as nuisance weed found floating freely on fresh water bodies, proliferates aggressively and therefore, spreads like wild fire. It can infest all types of water bodies, chokes waterways, canals, channels, dams, and thus damages potential water resources. Evidently, two plants produces 300 offspring within 23 days only and under ideal environment, 10 plants can multiply to 6 lakh and may cover an acre area within a period

Introduction

Aquarium fish keeping has become increasingly popular in industrialized countries and has been rated as the second biggest hobby and the most popular type of pet (Oliver, 2001). The National Pet Owners Survey 2007-08 revealed that 142 million freshwater and 9.6 million salt water fish were kept as pet in the USA alone (APPMA, 2008). The growing interest in aquarium fish has resulted in steady increase in aquarium fish trade globally. Today, with a turn over of US $ 9.0 billion a year and an annual growth of 8.0%, production of ornamental fish is an important business activity as well as one of the most popular hobbies in the world (Yanar et al., 2008).

Semen metabolic activity can be assessed with the help of the following tests:
    
15.1    Incubation test
    
15.2    Methylene Blue Reduction Test
    
15.3    Resazurine Reduction Test
    
15.4    Millovonoo’s Resistance Test (‘r’ test)
    
15.5    Fructolysis Index
    
15.6    Oxygen utilization test
    
15.7     Glutamic oxaloacetic transaminase activity

15.1 Incubation Test

The longevity and viability of spermatozoa during storage is a good index of fertilizing ability of sperm. In this test assessment of motility is carried out over a period time to obtain an idea about the length of time over which acceptable level of motility is maintained in the semen sample. Therefore, this test serves as a mean of determining storage probability within a fairly short period of time.

Introduction

The success of green revolution strategies for raising agricultural productivity and production has depended on the development of crop varieties that are more responsive to increased applications of water, manure, fertilizer, and agrochemical means of protection against pests. For farmers to benefit from this process whereby investing in more inputs can lead to production of more outputs, they had to begin by buying and using improved seeds. The green revolution was clearly seed dependent. The system of rice intensification (SRI) and other agro ecological approaches follow a different strategy, on the other hand. They work with whatever crop varieties the farmer already has or prefers to use (recognizing that it is always most productive to start with whatever genotype is best suited to the farmers’ circumstances and goals). Agro ecological methods are more likely to reduce the use of external input than to increase this as they mobilize and capitalize upon potentials that already within plants and upon the interactions between plants and their biotic and abiotic environments, i.e., mutual influences among plants, other organisms, climate, soil and other inanimate factors (Altieri, 1995; Gliessman, 1998; Uphoff, 2002). This is a very different envisioning of the agricultural domain.

Assessment of nutrient requirements for ruminants is essential in order to maintain good health and optimal production levels in these animals. Ruminants have a unique digestive system that allows them to digest plant-based feed, such as grass and hay, through a process called fermentation. This process produces volatile fatty acids which are then absorbed by the animal and serve as their main source of energy. Therefore, it is important to ensure that the diet provided to ruminants contains enough nutrients to support both their metabolic needs as well as their production demands. This assessment includes factors such as age, weight, stage of lactation or pregnancy, level of activity, and environmental conditions. In addition, the quality and quantity of available forage should also be considered when determining the nutrient requirements of ruminants. Proper assessment can help prevent deficiencies or excesses of certain nutrients which can lead to health issues and decreased productivity in these animals. Ultimately, by accurately assessing the nutrient requirements for ruminants, producers can develop appropriate feeding programs that promote overall well-being and performance in their herds.

Bulls are considered as the half of the herd as the genetic contribution of a male almost commensurate with that of a female. The male gamete, following deposition in the female reproductive tract, traverses a long path before it could effect a successful fertilization process. It is the beauty of the nature’s creation that in spite of encountering much of this physical and chemical stress, the male chromatin remains stable until it forms the male pronucleus following fertilization. This amazing feature is endowed by the high level of compaction of the sperm nuclear DNA which in turn is due to the replacement of the sperm nuclear histones by protamines.

Introduction

At the very outset, the varied aspects which govern the agricultural scenario in India have been taken up. Basically, India is a land of diversity and Indian climate defies an easy generalization. It comprises a wide range of weather conditions prevailing across a large geographic scale existing in the midst of varied topography. A systematic analysis reveals that Indian climate can be partitioned into six major climatic subtypes, ranging from deserts in the west, to the alpine tundra and glaciers in the north, to humid tropical regions supporting rainforests in the southwest and the island territories. The landform pattern is also found to be widely varying over places. Interestingly, tIndian soils can be divided into six categories, namely, alluvial soils, regular soils, red soils, laterite soils, mountain soils as well as the desert soils. Being a populous country whose sixty percent of the population earns its livelihood on agro-based incomes, directly or indirectly, it is important to review the robustness of the system followed in the actual practice in the Indian scenario towards the process of raising crops which ultimately feed more than hundred crores population. The review reveals that the agricultural production and farm incomes in India are frequently affected by the natural disasters such as droughts, floods, cyclones, storms, landslides as well as the earthquakes, and, indeed, the susceptibility of Indian agriculture to these disasters is compounded by the outbreak of epidemics and man-made disasters such as fire, sale of spurious seeds, fertilizers and pesticides, price crashes etc. As a sequel, the farmers are severely affected through the loss of production of agricultural crops and consequently, the loss of farm income due to occurrence of such events, and it is no denying that the management of or coping with such factors remains beyond the control of the farmers.

Scientists rely on a variety of endocrine, behavioral, autonomic nervous system and immunological end points to measure stress. Unfortunately, none of these measures has proved to be a litmus test for stress. Increased secretion of the adrenal glucocorticoids and cortisol has been found to be associated with stress and investigators frequently cite an increase in circulating cortisol as a proof of stress. Colborn et al., (1991) found that stallions secreted similar amounts of cortisol whether the stallions were restrained, exercised or permitted to mate with a mare. Serum cortisol concentrations are often used to evaluate stress, but due to the marked variability, faecal corticosterone has been used to evaluate stress in cattle (Morrow et al., 2002). Dairy cattle secrets cortisol during restrained and when approached by strangers. So it is difficult to simply use secretion of cortisol or any other hormone to differentiate between non threatening stress and distress. Further, complicating is inter animal variability in stress response. Even among the same breed some cows may produce more cortisol to the same amounts of thermal stressors.

Introduction

Agriculture is the main sector of the Odisha economy and contributes approximately 42% to the gross domestic product (GDP) and employs over 80% of the population. Despite its role, agricultural production is constrained by high climate variability where rainfall distribution is extremely uneven and this has negative implications for the livelihoods of people .Drought frequently results in crop failure, while high rainfall intensities result in low infiltration and high runoff causing enhanced soil erosion and land degradation. Land degradation in the form of soil erosion and declining land fertility is a serious challenge to agricultural productivity and economic growth (Lemenih, 2004).Studies indicate that the tribal district of Odisha have experienced high rates of soil erosion and deforestation, resulting in sediment accumulation in downstream reservoirs and rivers.

In any work environment the managers, facilitators are equipped with some specific type of skills to perform their activity effectively. In this study, multi stakeholders were involved in the process of Precision Farming from land preparation to marketing. Every stakeholder has a specific task to be performed so as to lead the client in the direction desired. In order to achieve this, the skill components viz., Management and Facilitating skills possessed by them and their own perception on those skills were assessed.

Introduction
Assisted reproductive technology (ART) refers to treatments and procedures in the field of reproductive biology that are utilised to achieve pregnancy by artificial or partially artificial means.
Artificial insemination
Artificial insemination (AI) is the earliest form of assisted reproductive technology. The technology has been of immense relevance in enhancing production and health features through the appropriate use of better male animals, as well as in eliminating certain venereal illnesses.
• Semen collection: The man is typically allowed to mount a phantom during the process. In cattle, an artificial vagina is used)
• Semen evaluation: Evaluating semen is crucial before processing. The most basic semen evaluation involves examining the concentration, progressive motility, and morphological normality of the spermatozoa)
• Semen dilution, packaging and freezing: Following examination, the semen is ready for dilution and packaging. Spermatozoa require storage mediums that are particular to each species. After packaging, the semen dosages must be properly maintained until insemination. Cryopreservation is typically used for cattle.
• Insemination: Insemination should occur during the female’s oestrus, when she is receptive to copulation.
Multiple Ovulation and Embryo Transfer (MOET)
The main processes are to stimulate a donor female to create suitable embryos, then remove the embryos from her and transfer them to unmated recipient females at equivalent post-ovulatory reproductive phases, ensuring that the donor’s embryos are carried to term in the recipients’ uteri. Multiple ovulations are caused by superovulation or superstimulation, a procedure that increases the number of ovulations in a donor beyond what is normal for a given species. Embryos are recovered 6-8 days following the start of oestrus. Most embryos are transferred during the late morula or blastocyst stage.

Introduction

Food safety and quality assumes paramount significance in any food industry. Globalization has driven both the food and agricultural firms to adopt systems that functions in a way to interlink food standards and international trade so as to achieve superior food quality and safety. Food industries follow several regional and international food safety procedures to procure certification from the government and other agencies in order to survive in both domestic and international markets (Ryan, 2014). The essential components in the food safety include handling, preparation and storing of the food products to ensure the food quality and to avoid food-borne diseases. The unwanted substances in a food product included by an accident is known as contaminants and the unwanted substance added to the food product to reduce the cost or to improve the other properties are known as adulterants. Contaminants and adulterants may lead to pathogens and toxins that pose serious concerns over the health of the consumer (Jha, 2016). The adulterants and contaminants are classified as physical adulterants and contaminants, chemical adulterants and residues, microbiological and pathogenic contaminants and toxins.

Hazards in food can be categorized into physical, chemical and biological.

Physical Hazards: Physical hazards are foreign organic or inorganic objects or extraneous materials in the food products. Hard and sharp physical hazards are of particular concern. Examples of physical hazards are broken glass, plastics, metal pieces, wood pieces, stones etc.

Withania somnifera, also known as Ashwagandha, Indian ginseng, Winter cherry, Ajagandha, Kan-aje Hindi, Amukkara in Tamil and Samm Al Ferakh, is a plant in the Solanaceae or nightshade family.

Grasshoppers : Trilophida an- nulata : Acrididae

The nymphs and adults of this grasshopper feed on the margins of leaves of Aswagandha. It is only a minor pest, nibbling on the leaves.

This vertebra is decidedly atypical in form and structure. The body and spineous process are absent. It has the form of a strong ring, from which two curved plates, the wings, project laterally. The ring incloses a very large vertebral foramen and consistis of two lateral masses connected by dorsal and ventral arches.

The lateral masses (Massae laterales) present two deep oval anterior articular cavities (Foveae articulares craniales) which receive the occipital condyles; they are separated by a wide notch above and a narrow one below. The lateral margin is also notched, and a triangular non-articular depression cuts into the medial part of each cavity. The posterior articular surfaces (Facies articulares caudales) are somewhat saddle-shaped; they are confluent on the ventral arch, but are widely separated dorsally, and do not conform in shape to the corresponding surfaces of the axis.

The dorsal arch (Arcus dorsali,) presents a median dorsal tubercle (Tuberculum dorsale) and is concave ventrally. It is perforated on either side near its anterior margin by the inter vertebral foramen (Foramen invertebrale). The anterior border is deeply notched, and the posterior border is thin and concave.

The ventral arch (Arcus ventralis) is thicker, narrower, and less curved than the dorsal. In its lower surface is the ventral tubercle (Tuberculum ventrale), into which the terminal tendon of the longus colli muscle is inserted. The upper face has posteriorly a transversely- concave articular surface, the fovea dentis, on which the dens or odontoid process of the axis rests.

In front of this is a transverse rough excavation and a ridge for the attachment of the ligamentirm dentis.

Abstract

Drying is one of the most important industrial operations for preservation of food material. Due to the major limitations posed by convective drying methods, there is always a need for novel drying techniques which are technically, economically and environmentally sustainable. Based on the principle of moisture diffusion due to vapor pressure gradient, atmospheric freeze drying (AFD) offers a promising alternative to conventional drying systems. A cold gas with low water vapor pressure is used as drying medium to sublimate moisture directly from the frozen material at atmospheric pressure conditions. As a result the product gets dried at much lower temperature unlike convective drying. Thus, products dried with AFD retain better nutrition, texture and color and the process is also considerably cost effective. Major limitation of the AFD process is longer drying time, which can however be accelerated by using heat pump drying or new ultrasound technology. This chapter focuses on mechanism, benefits, limitations and comparative study of AFD with other drying methods such as hot air drying and vacuum freeze drying. It provides an insight regarding effect of AFD on properties of food material based on various studies reported in literature.

The potential of atomic absorption spectrometry/spectrophotometry/ spectroscopy for determination of metallic elements was first realized by Alan Walsh during 1950. The standard equipment termed as atomic absorption spectrometer/ spectrophotometer (AAS) has now gained a reputation in the field of analytical chemistry for determination of very small concentrations of metallic elements and metalloids. As little as 0.01 ppm of many elements can be determined through this tool. Recently, the Zeeman background correction technique has further enhanced the quality of the results obtained from the flame-less graphite furnace atomizer. Combining the very latest in AA technology with the most powerful computing and software available many manufacturers have developed several designs/models of AAS based on flame or flame-less technique.

Introduction

The first application of atomic absorption spectra to chemical analysis was made just over 100 years ago by Kirchoff (1860), who demonstrated the presence of various elements in the solar atmosphere. He and Bunsen, demonstrated shortly afterwards that atomic spectra, whether in emission or absorpiton, could be the basis of a powerful method of chemical analysis. Walsh (1955) recognized the potential advantages of the absorption method over emission method and devised simple and versatile apparatus applicable to the routine analysis of solutions of a wide range of elements. Alkemade and Milatz (1955) published papers describing the application of atomic absorption  techniques to chemical analysis.

Etiology

Atopic dermatitis is genetically predisposed to allergic skin disease. It consists of atopy and hereditary cause to produce IgE mediated allergic reaction to environmental allergens.

Immunohistochemistry reveals the presence of Langerhans cell proliferation and strong positive expression of IgE in skin tissue sections.

Gross pathology