eChapters

Project Formulation and Finance
Project Formulation and Finance involves two key aspects of project
management: developing the project’s structure and ensuring it has the necessary financial resources. Here’s a closer look at each part:
1. Project Formulation: This is the initial phase where you define the project, including its scope, objectives, and outcomes. It involves identifying stakeholders, setting goals, and determining the resources required. Effective project formulation ensures that the project is feasible, aligns with organizational strategy, and addresses the stakeholders’ needs.
2. Project Finance: This aspect focuses on securing the financial resources needed to execute the project. It includes planning the budget, analyzing investment requirements, and managing financial risks. Financing strategies might involve obtaining funds through loans, equity, grants, or other financial instruments. This phase also covers the assessment of financial viability and the preparation of financial forecasts to ensure that the project is economically sustainable.

Technology Scouting and Innovations in Technology Incubation
Technology scouting and innovations in technology incubation have a symbiotic relationship, fuelling each other for the benefit of budding startups and the broader technology ecosystem. Let’s dive deeper into their individual roles and how they interact:
Technology Scouting
Technology Scouting is the process of discovering, analyzing and evaluating new or existing technologies that will help them with their innovation process. In simple terms, it is a process for companies to find the necessary technology outside the company.
Hunting for promising technologies: Scouts actively search for emerging technologies, patents, research advancements, and market trends across various sectors.
Evaluating potential and fit: They assess the technical feasibility, market potential, and compatibility with the needs of incubators and their supported startups.
Connecting innovators and ventures: Scouts bridge the gap between technology creators (researchers, inventors, startups) and potential users (incubators, established companies).
Fuelling innovation pipelines: Technology scouting helps incubators access a wider range of technologies and ideas, enriching their portfolio and diversifying the innovations supported.

Technology Promotion
The activity of promoting the transfer of technology by creating opportunities, advertising and organizing technology events.
Promotion is a marketing tool, used as a strategy to communicate between the sellers and buyers. Through this, the seller tries to influence and convince the buyers to buy their products or services. It assists in spreading the word about the product or services or company to the people. The company uses this process to improve its public image. This technique of marketing creates an interest in the mindset of the customers and can also retain them as a loyal customer.
Promotion is a fundamental component of the marketing mix, which has 4 Ps:
1. Product (Warranty, features, variety, quality, design, packaging, brand name)
2. Price (List price, discounts, payment terms, credit)
3. Place (channels, coverage, Types of promotion locations, transportation, inventory)
4. Promotion (advertising, self-marketing/personal, sales promotion, public relations, direct marketing, trade shows, events).

Basics of Technology Incubation
Technology incubation is a fascinating process that fosters the growth of innovative startups and businesses with high-potential technology. It provides a supportive environment and resources for early-stage companies to develop their ideas, validate their business models, and navigate the challenges of commercialization.
Here’s a breakdown of the key aspects of technology incubation: What happens in a technology incubation?
Pre-incubation: Startups with promising ideas can receive initial guidance and support to refine their concepts and develop a business plan.
Incubation: Selected startups gain access to shared office space, mentorship from experienced professionals, networking opportunities, and access to funding sources.
Post-incubation: Graduated startups continue to receive support in areas like marketing, legal advice, and investor relations as they scale their businesses.
Benefits of Technology Incubation
Reduced risks: Startups can test their ideas and validate their market potential before investing significant resources.
Access to resources: Incubators provide vital resources like office space, equipment, and software, reducing the financial burden on startups.

Technology Assessment and Refinement
What is Technology Assessment?
Technology assessment serves as a method or tool for forecasting future technological needs. It helps in envisioning or predicting potential technological developments required by users and in identifying areas where existing technologies can be improved. In agriculture, evaluating a technology means understanding its worth or effectiveness. This evaluation can be done by researchers, farmers, or other relevant stakeholders. The knowledge obtained from such evaluations is essential for creating new technologies, improving existing ones, and ensuring their successful adoption by end users.
The approach to technology assessment varies depending on who is conducting the evaluation, the purpose behind it, and the specific characteristics of the technology being assessed. It is commonly defined as the organized and intentional use of knowledge, skills, and experience to carry out a task or deliver a service that contributes to the well-being of society.
Technology Assessment: Definition and Objectives
According to Strasser (1972), technology assessment is a structured approach to planning and forecasting that identifies various options and associated costs. It considers not only economic factors but also environmental and social impacts, both internal and external to the technology being evaluated. The assessment places emphasis on analyzing both the positive and negative consequences of technologies. As such, institutions involved in the development, refinement, and dissemination of agricultural technologies have a significant stake in conducting technology assessments.

Intellectual property (IP) encompasses creations of the human intellect, including inventions, artistic and literary works, as well as symbols, names, and designs. Intellectual property rights (IPR) are legal mechanisms thaprovide creators with exclusive rights to use, manage, and profit from their creations. These rights help protect the interests of innovators and promote continued creativity and innovation.
Intellectual Property Rights refer to the legal entitlements granted to individuals or organizations over their creative and intellectual works, such as patents, trademarks, and copyrights. These rights grant exclusive control or usage privileges for a specific duration, often creating a temporary monopoly. While the concept of intellectual property began to take shape in the 19th century, it was only during the 20th century that it was formally integrated into global legal frameworks.
Intellectual Property Rights (IPR) safeguard the creations of the human mind, such as inventions, artistic and literary works, brand names, logos, designs, and images used in commerce. These rights help foster innovation by allowing creators and inventors to benefit economically from their work.
Key Points
1. Intellectual Property Rights are legal protections acquired by creators or owners of intellectual works.
2. Intellectual property encompasses intangible assets that result from human creativity and thought.

Basics of Technology Commercialization
Technology, a ubiquitous force shaping our world, can be understood from various angles. Here’s a breakdown of its definition, functions, and the fascinating process of its advancement.
Definition
At its core, technology is the application of scientific knowledge for practical purposes. It’s not just about gadgets and gizmos; it encompasses a vast array of systems, processes, and tools that we use to transform the world around us and solve problems. This includes everything from the humble wheel to the intricate workings of artificial intelligence.
Functions
Technology serves a multitude of functions, broadly categorized into:
Simplifying tasks: From automated manufacturing to self-driving cars, technology automates and streamlines processes, saving time and effort.
Enhancing communication and connection: From the internet to social media, technology bridges geographical barriers and fosters global interaction.
Expanding our knowledge and understanding: Scientific instruments, telescopes, and advanced data analysis tools enable us to explore the universe, delve into the microscopic world, and gain deeper insights into various fields.

By 2050, the global population is projected to reach approximately 9.8 billion, requiring a 70% increase in food production to meet the growing dietary demands. The livestock sector will play a crucial role in addressing this rising need through sustainable animal production, contributing to food security, poverty alleviation, public health, and food safety. To tackle the challenges posed by population growth and to achieve the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), technological advancements and innovations will be essential in transforming the food and agriculture sectors.

In light of these challenges, Veterinary Services are more critical than ever. They are essential for enhancing livestock health and productivity, ensuring high-quality food that meets safety standards, and mitigating risks associated with animal diseases and public health. Additionally, Veterinary Services must contribute to global efforts in addressing issues such as food security, antimicrobial resistance, climate change, and the depletion of natural resources.

Introduction

As India is the leading global economy with livestock contributing 4.66% in total GVA to Indian Economy (PIB, 2024) and ranks 1st in Milk Production, 2nd in Egg production, 5th in meat production (BAHS, 2024). Being the largest exporter of milk and meat in the world , this has led to the intensification of animal production due to the increasing demand of major livestock products (MLPs), which has led to an increasing overall use of antimicrobials. Antimicrobials are invariably used to preserve animal and public health, but also as growth promoters at a sub-therapeutic level. The overuse and misuse of antibiotics can contribute to antimicrobial resistance. The growing resistance to antimicrobial drugs could reverse the therapeutic benefits; animals’ resistance to antimicrobial drugs, reduces productivity and leads to economic losses. Unwanted antimicrobials residues may be present in products of animal origins, in animal waste contaminating soil and water and the environment. Seventy-five to ninety percent of antimicrobials used in livestock are excreted, mostly unmetabolized. AMR poses a serious threat to the safety and quality of animal origin food, food security and livelihoods. Unhealthy and unproductive animals are no longer able to generate food products of acceptable safety and quality for human consumption and can no longer contribute to income generation. Insufficient standards for residues in animal food products, reduces the livestock sectors potential of access to trade and increases public health risks (https://www.fao.org/antimicrobial-resistance/key-sectors/animal-production/ en/).

Introduction

Wound is a disruption to the epithelial integrity of the skin, extended in-depth to subcutaneous tissue and other body parts such as ligaments, muscles, blood vessels, nerves, and bone (Robson et al. 2001). An appropriate wound healing is essential for the restoration of disrupted anatomical continuity (Begum, 2000). We have observed increasing interest in research based on traditional medicines of the world in the recent era (Medina-Franco et al. 2013). Traditional and complementary medicine regains popularity not only in developing countries but also in developed countries. Common and known practices across the globe of traditional medicines include Herbal, Ayurveda, Siddha, Unani, Iranian, Islamic, Vietnamese, Chinese, Acupuncture, African and other pseudo-medical knowledge (Dorai 2012). According to World Health Organization (WHO), traditional medicine ‘the health practices, approaches, knowledge and beliefs incorporating plant, animal and mineral-based medicines, spiritual therapies, manual techniques and exercises, applied singularly or in combination to treat, diagnose and prevent illnesses or maintain well-being’. Saxena et al. (2013) reported that phytochemicals present in plants are liable for preventing disease and promoting health. Antibiotics used in the treatment of wound infections are now proved to have adverse effects in the human body and in pathogens where resistance is emerging. Attention has, therefore, turned towards extracting biologically active compounds from plant species having wound healing property (Pattanayak and Sunita, 2008).

Introduction

Canine epilepsy, a prevalent neurological disorder, significantly impacts the quality of life for both dogs and their owners. Traditional anticonvulsant therapies often yield inconsistent outcomes, necessitating the exploration of alternative treatments such as homeopathy [1][2]. Homeopathy’s individualized approach aligns with the principles of unicism, focusing on holistic care tailored to each patient’s unique symptom profile [3]. However, the subjective nature of remedy selection and response assessment poses challenges for practitioners.

The integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) offers a promising avenue to address these challenges [4]. Predictive models can analyze complex datasets to uncover patterns that guide remedy selection and treatment strategies. This study evaluates the comparative performance of Logistic Regression, Random Forest, and XGBoost in predicting treatment outcomes for canine epilepsy managed with homeopathic remedies.

Introduction

Avian medicine is a rapidly growing field, with an increasing number of exotic bird species being kept as pets. However, the unique anatomy, physiology, and behaviour of these birds present several challenges as well as new opportunities for veterinarians and researchers.Now a day’s birds are gaining popularity over dogs and cats because of various reasons listed below:

a. They are more suited in present life style as can be suited well in small spaces.

b. They require low maintenance with relative low cost of maintenance and live longer life.

c. They form very strong bonds with their owners.

Birds can be classified into different families, such as Psittaciformes, Passeriformes, Columbiformes, Piciformes, Anseriformes, Galliformes etc. containing numerous species (>10,000). The first documentation of parrot as a pet was found in Rig Veda, written more than 3000 years ago. Evidence of bird keeping is observed in ancient civilizations of Greece, Rome, China and Egypt. In Greek mythology, Raven (a crow) was mentioned as a symbol of good luck and was associated with God Apollo (God of prophecy). Crows are also considered as ancestors in Hindu mythology and food (pinda) is offered to crows during ritual of paying homage to dead persons. In most of the countries psittacine and passerine birds are preferred as pet birds.

Introduction

Mithun (Bos frontalis), or ‘Gayal’ or ‘Eso’ or ‘Sial’ or ‘Sandong’ or ‘Wei’, is a rare bovine species, exclusively found in the northeastern hill region (NEHR) of India at an altitude of 300-3000 m. It plays an important role in the socio-economic and cultural life of indigenous tribes of Arunachal Pradesh, Nagaland, Mizoram and Manipur and is aptly referred to as the ‘Pride of Northeast India’ (Mukherjee et al. 2019). Besides India, mithun population is distributed to China, Bangladesh, Thailand, Bhutan, Myanmar, and Malaysia. The Indian mithun is a medium- to large-sized majestic ruminant with a characteristic jet-black body, an ash-colored forehead, and ‘white stockings’ on all the limbs. This unique animal has a special preference for salt feeding, is a skilled browser even in steep, hilly terrain, and does not need pasture land like cattle. Mithun is primarily reared under a free range system as an important source of lean meat, rich in amino acids, proteins, PUFA, etc. On September 1, 2023, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India (FSSAI) officially certified the mithun as a food animal (Joshi et al., 2021; Lalchamliani et al., 2024; Ramesh et al., 2024). Compared to milk from other species, mithun milk has much larger quantities of fat, lactose, solids-not fat (SNF), calcium, important vitamins A, D, and E, essential amino acids, and polyunsaturated fatty acids (Devi et al., 2023).

Introduction

A complete neurological examination is warranted whenever an equine patient displays signs consistent with neurological disorder or to establish that the horse is neurologically normal (e.g., pre-purchase examination). Neurological examination of equine patient is challenging due to their large size, which prevents veterinarian from using many of the tests used for small animals. The key to a successful neurologic examination is to do the examination in a consistent and organized fashion. It is important to develop a routine, then do it the same way each time. This approach ensures that some parts of the examination are not forgotten and it also increases the consistency of the exam as you examine more number of equine patients. A standardized examination form is a valuable aid in this and can be concise. The goals of the neurologic examination are to determine whether disease of the nervous system exists, to localize the lesion to a particular area of the nervous system, and to describe and record the responses as a baseline for future evaluations. In this paper, a complete neurological examination is described with special emphasis on field conditions.

Asiatic Elephant (Elephas maximus) is the national heritage animal of India. This particular species now exists in 13 Asian countries including India. As per 2017 census, India is home to an estimated figure of 29,964 elephants that is >60% wild population of the globe. Once distributed across the country, now they are squeezed to 14 states grouped in four regions ie., southern (14,612), north-eastern (10,139), east-central (3,128) and northern regions (2,085). There are 2675 captive elephants across different states under both private and government custody. This largest terrestrial mammal is protected under Seclude I species of Indian Wild Life Protection Act, 1972.

Both central and state Government are implementing short- and long-term programmes for health and well-being of captive as well as free-range elephants. The Central Government has established an ‘Elephant Cell’ at the Wildlife Institute of India (WII), Dehradun to provide technical inputs to the ministry for strengthening the efforts towards conservation of elephants. Add-on, the ‘Project Elephant’ was launched in 1991-92 in the Ministry of Environment, Forests and Climate Change to restore the elephant habitats and reduce their sufferings. Elephant habitats are notified as Elephant Reserves that are basic management units for elephant conservation and managements. A total of 33 Elephant Reserves has been notified in the country. A book titled, ‘Caring for elephants: Managing health and welfare in captivity’ is edited for field officers, veterinary professionals and elephant handlers.

Learning objectives

1. Recognise inflammatory cell types

2. Recognise common skin pathogens

3. Diagnostic test are best for each case

4. Gain experience in interpretation

5. Recognise important artefacts

″The most crucial step towards healing is having the right diagnosis″. While approaching a case, a clinician should follow appropriate steps in a systematic way for accurate diagnosis of dermatological disorders. A careful history is a first step to choose appropriate diagnostic tests.

Introduction

Canine atopic dermatitis (CAD) is a chronic inflammatory skin disease marked by itching (pruritus), redness (erythema), and recurrent infections. While traditionally considered an immune-mediated condition, recent studies highlight the significant role of skin barrier dysfunction in its development. A key aspect of CAD is the compromised skin barrier, which increases permeability to allergens, irritants, and microorganisms, thereby worsening the disease. The skin barrier is a complex, dynamic structure essential for protecting dogs from environmental challenges. The stratum corneum—the outermost layer of the epidermis—serves as a crucial defense against environmental insults, allergens, and pathogens. In dogs with atopic dermatitis, this barrier often becomes impaired, leading to increased transepidermal water loss (TEWL), greater allergen penetration, and secondary infections. This dysfunction both results from and contributes to the condition, creating a self-perpetuating cycle of barrier disruption, inflammation, and immune dysregulation.

As the heart diseases in companion animals is becoming common as in humans, the research in canine cardiac diseases is one of the most extensive studies in the present scenario. As per the available literature, the overall occurrence of various cardiac abnormalities ranges from 0.37 percent to 1.67 percent in various parts of the country. Whereas, in western parts of the globe, nearly 8 million dogs suffer from heart disease accounting 10% of all dogs in the United States. Heart diseases are common among older dogs; up to 75% of senior dogs have some type of heart condition, and unfortunately, most go undiagnosed due to varied reasons. The recognition of canine cardiac diseases has been delayed, and ignored on account of lack of awareness and knowledge by the owner and inadequate diagnostic facility in our country. Physical examination, radiography, electrocardiography and echocardiography are most useful diagnostic procedures employed in diagnosing the cardiac diseases in dogs. However, majority of the acquired cardiac diseases are being managed medically with one or a combination of drugs. Improved diet management and health care of companion animals have led to increased life expectancy, as a result, cardiac diseases have become pivotal causes of death for both dogs and cats. For such reason, a major objective has become to increase the quality of life by reducing the expansion of cardiac diseases via early detection of diseases and provision of effective treatment.

Renal failure is one of the most commonly presented conditions in veterinary clinics world over. Although the potential for recovery is favorable, most animals die due to multisystemic effects induced by azotemia. Hence, extracorporeal removal of endogenous and exogenous toxins is very essential for expanding the window of recovery. Hemodialysis has been used in treatment of veterinary patients for the last 50 years and is still one of the most expensive and technically demanding treatment modalities in veterinary medicine. It is an advanced extracorporeal renal replacement therapy which has recently transitioned from a clinical curiosity to a more advanced standard for management of acute kidney injury (AKI) and chronic kidney disease (CKD) in companion animals particularly dogs and cats.

In addition to eliminating selective toxins that cause AKI, regardless of renal function, hemodialysis is also effective in the removal of pharmacokinetically active soluble uremic substances in CKD to enhance life expectancy and quality of life (Singh, 2021). Other common indications of hemodialysis in veterinary medicine include fluid overload, dysregulated body fluid composition, drug overdose or intoxications (Foster, 2020; Singh et al?, 2024). Medical management alone is often insufficient to control the clinical signs and metabolic abnormalities associated with uremia when AKI is severe or when there is involvement of acute on chronic kidney disease. Consequently, animals are at risk of death within a short therapeutic window, despite the potential reversibility of AKI and the improvement of life expectancy in CKD.

Introduction

One of the remarkable advancements in veterinary medicine recently is the application of interventional cardiology techniques to treat various congenital heart diseases. In dogs and cats, congenital heart diseases can be treated much more easily and with fewer complications using minimally invasive interventional approaches, rather than through traditional open-heart surgery. Among congenital heart diseases, treatment options are available for conditions such as PDA (Patent Ductus Arteriosus), AS (Aortic Stenosis), PS (Pulmonic Stenosis), VSD (Ventricular Septal Defect), ASD (Atrial Septal Defect), extrahepatic shunt, and stem cell applications. These diseases often cannot be significantly improved by medical treatment alone, making the use of the aforementioned interventional techniques essential for effective management.