eChapters

HCI is the study of how people interact with computers, especially as it relates to technology design. User-centered design, UI and UX are combined with HCI to provide intuitive technology and products.

Human-computer interaction (HCI) is the field of study that focuses on optimizing how users and computers interact by designing interactive computer interfaces that satisfy users' needs. It is a multidisciplinary subject covering computer science, behavioral sciences, cognitive science, ergonomics, psychology, and design principles. HCI focuses on designing, implementing and evaluating interactive interfaces that enhance user experience using computing devices.

This chapter introduces human–wildlife conflict as a complex ecological and socioeconomic issue arising from interactions between wildlife and human communities. It examines the major drivers and patterns of conflict and considers their ecological and socioeconomic impacts. The chapter focuses particularly on the Indian context and discusses mitigation and management strategies, policy and governance, education, awareness, and community participation. It also considers future research and approaches for promoting coexistence. The chapter emphasizes integrated management strategies that address both wildlife conservation and the needs of communities living in and around forest landscapes.

Humane slaughter is an act of killing the food animals in such a way as to cause the minimum stress or distress to the animal. To achieve this objective animal must be rendered insensible instantaneously and remain insensitive to pain until there is a complete loss of brain responsiveness due to exsanguination. The unconsciousness in animals is induced by stunning procedures which are varying in number. The method of stunning primarily based on species, breed, age, sex, kind and mental state of animals. Stunning is essential to safeguard the feelings and anxieties of animals. It facilitates maximum bleeding from the animals because animal becomes unconscious after stunning. To make animal unconscious before bleeding is not only essential for animal welfare point of view but it is legislation in many countries.

Humoral immune response is the immune response which is mediated by antibodies.. It is called humoral immune response because antibodies are transferred with the ‘humour’ that is fluid or blood. Antibodies are the proteins produced by B lymphocytes.

The immune system protects the body from harmful substances by recognizing and responding to antigens. Antigens are the protein molecules which are present on bacteria, virus, fungi or some other microorganisms.Some toxins can also be antigens. These antigens are recognized by immune system. The destruction of antigens by producing antibody is called antibody-mediated immune response. As antibodies are present in the body fluids i.e. humors,this type of response is called humoral immune response.

It is well known that organic matter plays a unique role in the binding of pesticides in soil, and that this phenomenon is usually the most important cause for interaction of pesticides in the soil environment. Fulvic or humic acids are most commonly associated with the binding interactions. Binding can take place with either the original pesticide or a transformation product, the reaction being induced by abiotic or biotic agents (microbial or plant enzymes). The reactions or processes involved are apparently the same as those responsible for the formation of humic substances, i.e., for the humification process.

The synthesis of humic substances is the least understood and the most intriguing aspect of humus chemistry. Studies on this subject are of enduring and continued research. Several pathways have been identified for the formation of humic substances during the decay of plant and animal remains in soil, the main ones being shown in Fig. 26.1.

6.1. Humus

Fraction of organic matter.

Complex and resistant mixture of brown or dark brown amorphous and colloidal organic substance.

6.2. Humus formation

1. Decomposition: Chemicals in the plant residues are broken down by soil microbes.

Simpler chemicals are metabolized into new compounds in the body tissue of soil microbes.

New compounds are subjected to further modification and synthesis as the microbial tissue is subsequently attacked by other soil microbes.

History of human civilization initiated with the struggle against hunger, it flourishes with the fight against poverty and turns oblivious with absence of voices being raised against these two bio-social lethal. If hunger is a pain, poverty is an agony, then, keeping silent against this carcinoma of civilization is no doubt a crime. Is it that poor people are put to an insurmountable silence by the ruthless hegemonies of political economy, or, they are silent, that’s why they remain poor? Silence has been the lethal enzyme in transforming poverty into hunger, and, offers to a socio- chemical bond, poverty-hunger-silence; the bond that remains non-breakable as on date. Economists lament for poverty, nutritionists regret hunger, but the issues of silence and its cohesion to both hunger and poverty has seldom been scholastically delved into or dealt with. We can hope, a desperation of wishful thinking as it may be, shall drench the researchers who think and feel to explore a missing link between hunger and poverty, the silence or the social anemia of voices.

INTRODUCTION

The concept of hurdle technology has been developed as a new way to realize safe, stable, nutritious and economical foods. It employs combination of different preservation techniques to achieve a multi-target, mild but reliable preservation of foods. The application of hurdle technology in food preservation is increasing rapidly worldwide. Over the years, insight into the hurdle effect has been broadened and the application of hurdle technology has been extended. A better understanding of the occurrence and interaction of food preservative factors (hurdles) in foods is the basis for improvements in food preservation. If the hurdles for the microbes are known, the microbiological stability and safety of this food might be optimized by changing the intensity or quality of these hurdles. Using the proper combination of hurdles, it is possible to improve not only the microbial stability and safety but also the sensory and nutritive quality as well as the economical aspects of food. The hurdle concept is also referred to as food preservation by combined methods, combined process, combination preservation or combination processing techniques. The hurdle effect is of fundamental importance for the preservation of foods. The illustration of hurdle effect was first introduced by Leistner in 1978. Based on the understanding of hurdle effects, the concept of hurdle technology was derived (Leistner 1985).

Hybrids are produced by crossing two genetically diverse parents variety. Hybrid vigour is at its maximum in the F₁ generation and hence highest emphasis is placed on the F₁ hybrids. Hybrid varieties leads to maximum exploition of heterosis as compared to any other varieties. Beal in 1880 recommended the use of F₁ varietal crosses of maize for commercial cultivation.

Mangelsdorf (1951) has opined that hybrid corn has been the most far-reaching development in applied biology. Hybrid cultivars have contributed enormously to world’s food and feed resources. Although dramatically successful at first in corn, hybrids have spread to several other crops both in cross-pollinated and self-pollinated species. Their use is likely to spread more in time to come. Hybrid varieties are those in which F1 populations are used to produce commercial crop. Parents of F1 may be inbred lines, clones, varieties, or other populations. Hybrid breeding is historically rooted in development of hybrids in corn and therefore most of the issues covered in this section relate to hybrid breeding in maize.

The term hybrid or hybrid variety is used to designate F1 populations that are used for commercial plantings. Such F1 populations are obtained by crossing clones, open-pollinated varieties, and inbred lines that are genetically dissimilar. Historically the first attempts to make practical use of fortunate mating system of maize came late in the nineteenth century by W. J. Beal in Michigan, stimulated by Darwin’s work on inbreeding and outcrossing. Beal suggested use of F1 varietal crosses to exploit heterosis for commercial crop. The hybrid seed was to be produced by detasseling alternate rows. It was George Harrison Shull (1909) who first suggested a pure line method of corn breeding based on inbred lines obtained by continued self-fertilization and the use of F1 hybrids between these inbred lines for the production of commercial crop. His proposal was to make use of single crosses (hybrids between two inbred lines) based on the superior performance of the hybrids in various combinations between the inbred lines.

Symbolic systems provide logical reasoning and explicit knowledge representation, whereas sub-symbolic models offer learning, adaptation and pattern-recognition capabilities. This chapter explains how combining these approaches can create more accurate, adaptive and interpretable intelligent systems. It discusses rule-based systems, logic programming, ontologies, neural networks, fuzzy systems, evolutionary computation and swarm intelligence. Neural-symbolic, neuro-fuzzy, rule-augmented and ontology-aware architectures are examined, along with loose, tight and deep integration strategies. Applications in healthcare, cybersecurity, manufacturing and knowledge-based information systems demonstrate their practical potential. Challenges involving integration complexity, scalability, knowledge engineering, transparency and continuous updating are considered, together with future directions in human-centred hybrid intelligence.

Hybrid vigour in plants has long been noted, and the first suggestion that it be exploited in vegetables was by Hayes and Jones in 1916. F1 hybrid eggplants were used on commercial scale in Japan before 1925. Demonstration of the value of hybrids in corn in the early 1920’s gave impetus to a few exploratory studies in other crops. Methods of its application to large scale field production of hybrids in vegetable crops were first proposed in 1932 using the self incompatibility system in cabbage and in 1943 using the cytoplasmic genetic male sterility system in onion. Today hybrid varieties are common in several vegetable crops viz., sweet corn, onion, tomato, summer squash, ordinary cabbage, cucumber, watermelon, muskmelon, asparagus, sweet pepper, chilli pepper, spinach, broccoli, Chinese cabbage, eggplant, Brussels sprout, Chinese radish, red beet, celery, bottle gourd, bitter gourd, okra, etc. India figures prominently in commercial exploitation of heterosis in vegetable crops like cabbage, tomato, okra, watermelon, muskmelon, eggplant, bottle gourd, bitter gourd and cucumber.

INTRODUCTION

Information services are keys to the development of agriculture education, research and extension education in India. The services are rendered by the agricultural department, university, college and ICAR institute libraries. In changing scenario the users of libraries access the information themselves from various sources such as computer, internet, television, e-governance, videoconferencing, call centers, mobile phones and other electronic sources from anywhere, at any time as and when required.

Agricultural trends are changing everyday with the development of new research techniques and technologies and in support of this a heterogeneous knowledge is available in the form of various electronic sources. To make the best of emerging technologies in agriculture, it is vital that agricultural students, scientists, research scholars, academicians, extension workers, agriculturalists receive continuous information on education, research, extension work, training and to the cultivators on topics such as pesticide management, use of better seeds, irrigation and use etc. for the development of farm and farming. With the introduction of new technology that affects both their processes and products, libraries become more and more hybrid organizations. Hybrid libraries are mixes of traditional print material like books and magazines, as well as electronic based material such as downloadable audio books, electronic journals, e-books, etc. Because of this shift, libraries face many challenges, the most important of which is the competition for scarce resources. In this competition libraries have to change the allocation of resources from the more traditional processes like circulation to more value added processes like direct self-services to their patrons. The FAO is also a source of knowledge and information, providing behind the scenes assistance to help people help themselves.

Floral Biology and Crossing

Pearl millet spikelets bear 2 types of florets, one being bisexual and the other staminate. A singIe pistil with 2 feathery and 3  anthers is enclosed between the lemma and palea. The unisexual staminate florets are sessile and borne below the bisexual flowers. These have 3 anthers and lack the female organs. Pearl millet is a highly protogynous species and thus  highly cross pollinated.
 
The time of panicle exertion from boot leaf varies in inbreds and hybrids. Bhatnagar and Kumar (1960) observed that spike takes 6 days to emerge from the sheath with the maximum emergence on the fourth or fifth day. The stylar branches protrude first from the florets at the tip of the head and gradually proceed downwards. Most of the stylar branches on the earheads emerge by the third day. There exists a great variation in the time taken for the complete emergence of the styles in the hybrids than in the inbred lines (Tewari et al.,1971). Anthesis in pearl millet is completed in two phases. The first involves the bisexual florets while the second involves staminate florets. It has been generally observed that the anthers in the sessile male florets emerge 2-3 days after the anthers have emerged in the bisexual florets. Thus most heads continue to shed pollen for 4-6 days.The largest number of anthers emerged between 8 PM and 2 AM. Environmental factors like temperature and humidity have significant role in the anther emergence.

Hybrid Rice

People’s Republic of China announced the successful development and use of F1 rice hybrids in the late 1970s. The first hybrid rice combinations were put into commercial production in China in 1976. Since then commercial exploitation of hybrid rice attracted the attention of researchers around the world. It is accepted that about 20% yield advantage of hybrid rice would be usually required to meet the extra cost of seed production and the future rice demands of a growing world population. Realizing the prospects of hybrid rice, IRRI intensified research on this and organized an ‘International Symposium on Hybrid Rice’ on 6-10 October 1986 at the Hunan Hybrid Rice Research Centre, Changsha, China where Prof. Yuan Longping and his co-workers had made their names in development of hybrid rice. The proceedings were brought out in form of a book entitled ‘Hybrid Rice’ in 1988 by International Rice Research Institute, Philippines. This book documents the information exchanged, and presents for the first time, in English, much of the Chinese literature on hybrid rice.

Squashes and pumpkins are vegetable crops of the genus Cucurbita. They are grown in temperate, subtropical and tropical regions of the world. These crops are common elements in home gardening and subsistence agro-ecosystems in most countries and are produced on commercial scale in some countries. The economic botany, genetics and evolutionary history of Cucurbita has been reviewed by Whitaker and Davis (1962) and Whitaker (1974).