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The experiment was carried out to assess the following objectives: (i) To understand the effect of drought stress on plant height and leaf area in diverse sorghum genotypes. (ii) To study the alterations in chlorophyll index and yield components under drought stress. (iii) To correlate yield with all morpho-physiological traits to understand drought tolerance mechanism of sorghum. Screening experiment was carried out in Augmented design I during April 2022 to July 2022 at Rain Out Shelter (ROS), Department of Crop Physiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore. 33 germplasms from Agricultural Research Station, Kovilpatti (ARS, Kovilpatti) and Indian Council of Agricultural Research- Indian Institute of Millet Research, Hyderabad (ICAR-IIMR, Hyderabad) were collected. Among 33, M35-1, K -12, CSV 27 and CSV 29-R were used as checks, where all the germplasms were cultivated with two treatments under field conditions; T1: (Control) well watered throughout life cycle, T2: Two weeks of drought stress (50%) at booting stage. Traits such as plant height and leaf area, were recorded before and after imposing drought. Chlorophyll index, ear head weight, ear head length, grain yield, total dry matter production, harvest index were recorded after imposing drought stress in control and drought stress. Under drought stress morpho-physiological and yield traits significantly reduced compared to control. There was a significant positive correlation of yield under stress with all the morpho-physiological traits. Among ICAR-IIMR sorghum germplasm collections screened for drought stress tolerance PEC 14, PEC 17, PEC31, PEC 34 EP 90 showed drought tolerance on par with the checks. Similarly, TKSV 1036, TKSV 1707, TKSV 1801, TKSV 1802 germplasms from ARS, Kovilpatti were tolerant to drought stress at booting stage.

Speculation in commodity market is an important indicator that affects the prices of the commodities. Speculation is known as the purchase of a good for resale, or for temporary sale of a good with the purpose of repurchasing it later by hoping that earning profit from an interceding price change. Normally, excessive speculation in commodity market pushes up the prices and speculation create more fluctuations in prices. In this background, the studies focus on trend of speculation in gold future returns and also assess the short – run relationship between Gold futures returns and Speculative ratio. The data have been obtained from the MCX website. The statistical and econometric tools, such as, descriptive statistics, OLS Regression Model and Granger causality tests have been applied to analyze the data. The result of the study reveals that, time trend affects the speculation and there is no short run relationship between Gold futures returns and Gold Speculative ratio. Hence, it is proved that speculation is independent of futures price.

The decline of soil nutrient status and productivity of crops, and restoration of soil health is a key global problem. Crop yields are reduced by soil degradation, which endangers the world's food supply. Crop yields and soil health are further decreased by improper fertilizers in conjunction with intense cropping. A wide variety of plants, particularly monocotyledonous crops that can collect significant levels of silicon in their organs, have shown the benefits of silicon in terms of growth, biomass, and yield. According to the results, silica solubilizer was applied to the soil at a rate of 12.5 kg, 50 kg FYM/ha, and setts were treated with 0.5% K2 SiO3 and 2.5% urea and potash foliar spray every 15 days between 60 and 150 days after planting (DAP) showed, leaf area, maximum tiller population, specific leaf area, leaf area index, macro, and micronutrients, specific leaf weight, quality parameters and commercial cane sugar percent both the ratoon crop and the plant are in drought condition.

Volatility is a standard measure of financial vulnerability and it plays a vital role in analyzing the risk of the securities market. It is traditionally measured using the standard deviation, which indicates how the price of a stock is clustered around the mean or moving average. The intent of the study is to analyse the volatility clustering of six select sectoral indices such as S&P BSE AUTO (Automobile), S&P BSE BANKEX (Bank) , S&P BSE FMCG (Fast Moving Consumer Goods), S&P BSE IT (Information Technology), S&P BSE METAL ( Metals), and S&P BSE OIL & GAS (Oil & Gas Industries). A sample of 2726 days of observations for 11 years period from 03.01.2011 to 31.12.2021 has been taken for the study. The econometric model namely ARCH and GARCH have been applied to analyse the data. The result of the study reveals the presence of volatility clustering in the select six sectoral indices. Metal Sector has shown the higher phase of volatility.

Cyantraniliprole belongs to new chemical class of diamides and used Plutella xylostella one of the highly devastating lepidopteran insect pests of cole crops has been found to develop resistance to cyantraniliprole worldwide including India . However their mechanism of resistance is not examined in Indian scenario. Hence a survey was conducted to analyse the current resistance status of field population of P. xylostella to cyantraniliprole. The maximum lethal concentration expressed by field population in Tamil Nadu was 19.81 ppm which had higher ratio (2828.57) of resistance to that of susceptible population. The enzyme analysis revealed the over expression of GST up to at 24 hr after exposure (HAE) and MFO up to 48 hr upon exposure. Further the synergistic study stated that PBO and DEM could increase the toxicity of cyantraniliprole to some extent.

Background: The sterility mosaic disease in pigeon pea caused by pigeon pea sterility mosaic virus is a serious threat to pigeon pea cultivation in India. A little information is available on the biochemical changes in pigeon pea plant against the SMD disease. Hence present study was taken to know the biochemical alterations in different pigeon pea genotypes due to sterility mosaic disease. Methods: Studies were conducted on the composition of the chlorophyll pigment, total soluble protein (%), total sugars, phenol, tannins, peroxidase and phenol peroxidase in six different genotypes. Result: The results of the study showed that there was a reduction in chlorophyll pigment composition, total soluble protein (%) and total sugars in all infected genotypes, but the reduction in resistant genotypes was less compared to other genotypes. In resistant genotypes, the amounts of phenols, tannins, peroxidase and phenol peroxidase were increased, where as in susceptible genotypes, they were roughly equal to the amounts in uninoculated genotypes. The increase in phenols, tannins, peroxidase and phenol peroxidase in resistant genotypes can be correlated with disease resistance.

Heat waves and droughts are projected to become more widespread as a result of climate change. At the same time, CO2 levels are predicted to have doubled by 2100. The stomatal regulation and gas exchange characteristics were assessed in 25 days old plants of green gram (var Co 8) by exposing them to six different treatments namely, T1: a [CO2] + a T+ irrigation (100%), T2: a [CO2] + a T+ irrigation (50%), T3: a [CO2] + e T (40ºC) + irrigation (100%), T4: e [CO2] – 800 ppm + a T+ irrigation (100%), T5: a [CO2] + combined stress [e T (40ºC) + irrigation (50%) T6: e [CO2] – 800 ppm + combined stress [e T (40ºC) + irrigation (50%)]. The experiment was carried out using Completely Randomized Design (CRD) with three replications. All gas exchange parameters viz., ((photosynthesis rate, stomatal conductance, and transpiration rate) were determined before imposing stress and two weeks after imposing stress. Stomatal characters was examined two weeks after imposing stress. Elevated CO2 stress caused a reduction in stomatal frequency accompanied by larger stomatal size. The study revealed the positive effect of higher CO2 concentration on gas exchange traits of the C3 crops viz., green gram.

Background: Changing lifestyle and food consumption patterns have greater impact on the health status of adolescents including rural, urban and peri-urban areas. Adolescents are vulnerable age group and needs special attention to meet the daily recommended nutrient intakes, especially as it lays foundation for the adult life. Thus, this study was planned to document the sociodemographic and food consumption pattern of adolescents residing in rural Bengaluru. Methods: A semi-structured questionnaire was designed based on pilot-study to collect data on the anthropometric profile, socioeconomic status and food consumption pattern. The data was calculated for the per cent adequacy for nutrients and food intake. Result: The data suggested that majority (80%) respondents belonged to lower middle class and only 12-16% were from upper lower class. Sixty-eight per cent respondents had normal BMI while still 29 per cent were underweight. Skipping meals was noted more in adolescent girls than boys. The per cent nutrient adequacy was more for macronutrients, while less for micronutrients; however, the calcium adequacy was higher due to regular finger millet consumption.

Background: The pigeonpea eriophyid mite, Aceria cajani Chan., vector of sterility mosaic disease in pigeonpea, causes economic damage of up to 90% during the early stages of crop growth. The major element in deploying management practice is to know the population dynamics of the pest. Generally, the vectors of disease causing agents were managed with the synthetic chemical. So we have taken studies to know efficacy of insecticides and acaricides in its control on pigeonpea. Methods: The population dynamics of A. cajani Chan. was monitored in field plots from January 2021 to December 2021. For efficacy of insecticides and acaricides studies in control of A. cajani a completely randomized design was organized. Twelve treatments (insecticides/acaricides) were tested against A. cajani on pigeonpea [var. ICP 8863 (Shree Maruti]. Result: This study found that mite population reached a peak in the summer (March) and another peak in the post-monsoon period (October), whereas the lowest populations were recorded in winter (January). Correlation studies exhibited a significant positive correlation with both maximum and minimum temperature. The insecticide and acaricide trials on A. cajani found that all chemicals used were effective and entomopathogenic formulations were comparatively less effective.

Learning of skill and knowledge are differentiated and acknowledged as the outcomes of education. The COVID-19 pandemic phase has disturbed the teaching in classroom, curriculum and academic calendar of educational institutes across the world. Blended learning is an integration of offline and online approaches of sharing subject resources online after classroom learning. Students pursuing professional management course at the university campus and a reputed private college were considered for sample selection. Only those sample respondents with attendance for both modes of learning were considered. The whole population of 360 was invited to participate in the survey, and 294 student participants’ responses were shortlisted for analysis. The instrument was standardized after conducting a pilot study. Descriptive tools, correlation, regression and ANOVA were applied for analysis. The learning in classroom shows strong preference with all the variables having a positive opinion. Furthermore, preference for classroom learning had not changed during the COVID-19 pandemic phase. The classroom learning variables were significant with the COVID-19 effect except for flexibility. The learning of skills with labs or workplace place exposure was preferred over skill learning with an online demonstration. In future, educational institutes should focus on training faculty in the techniques and delivery of online learning, implementing changes in the curriculum that are suitable for online mode of teaching and employing emerging information and communication technologies. JEL Classification: I230

Crop management is one of the most important factors in modern agricultural activity. Studying the balance of growth stages and supplying optimal quantities of mineral nutrients and hormones to growing plants is essential to improve yield in short duration cotton varieties. In recent years, several approaches have been tried to break this yield plateau. The present investigation was intended to study and improve the yield of newly released variety Co 17 (compact cotton) by foliar application of nutrients, growth hormones, growth retardants and nutrient consortium. The treatments are mepiquat chloride (0.015%), potassium silicate (0.5%), Potassium schoenite (0.5%), borax (0.3%), salicylic acid (0.01%), calcium silicate (0.5%) and TNAU cotton plus (1.25%). Foliar application of different treatments at peak vegetative and flowering stage significantly influenced the leaf traits, root traits, and yield. Nutrient consortium (TNAU cotton plus – 53% over control) and growth retardant (mepiquat chloride- 42% over control) increased the seed cotton yield.

Introduction: Traditional teaching methods aid students to procure subject knowledge content but not knowledge construct. Problem based learning (PBL) is evolving as one of the paramount methods of improving students’ knowledge construct. Objective: To evaluate the effectiveness of Problem based learning as an instructional tool in procurement of content knowledge, critical thinking and problem solving skills in cardiovascular Physiology among I MBBS students. Materials and Methods: Thirty students from I MBBS were randomly selected for the study. They were administered with pre-test, exposed to one hour of problem based teaching and again administered with post-test the next day. Results: There was statistically significant improvement in students’ knowledge construct in cardiovascular physiology following exposure to problem based teaching methods. Conclusion: PBL was found to be an effective instructional tool in development of critical thinking and problem solving skills among medical students. Keywords: Knowledge construct, pre-test, post-test.

Food consumption pattern are predictors of health and nutritional status. Bangalore is one of the rapidly urbanizing South Indian megacity with a population of 11 millions. Study highlights gradient changes with reference to food consumption pattern and Body Mass Index (BMI) among households in the rural-urban interface of Bangalore. A total of 300 middle income households were selected by purposive random sampling technique. Standardized schedule was used to collect information on food consumption pattern and BMI using standard protocols. Consumption of energy dense foods was significantly more than adequacy. Average dietary diversity score was less than 50 per cent which is indicative of routinely consumption of only few food groups among households. Fried (51.4%) and Readyto- eat (51.0%) foods consumption was more frequent in rural. Prevalence of overweight (24.5%) and obesity was more in urban (7.1%). Overall, incidences of overweight and obesity were more compared to underweight. This reveals, that there is a need for intervention and promotion of diversified and functional foods to address overweight and obesity, which are the root causes for non-communicable diseases in order to protect health and nutritional status of individuals along rural-urban interface of Bangalore.

The results of the experiment carried out on the development of silkworm pupal Masala Cookies (SPMC) with incorporation of silkworm pupal residue powder (SPRP) revealed that,7 per cent SPRP incorporated was found to be best accepted with scores for appearance (7.8), colour (7.6), texture (8.0), aroma (7.4), taste (7.6) and overall acceptability (7.6). Silkworm pupal masala cookies had better nutrient content as compared with the control masala cookies (0 % SPRP).The 7 per cent SPRP incorporated SPMC contained 16.6 g protein, 79.3 g carbohydrate, 51.3 g fat, 854 kcal energy, 114.5 mg calcium and 6.6 mg iron. Microbial population of SPMC in initial day was found to be nil in case of all groups of microorganisms like bacterial, E. coli and molds. Bacteria of 6.10×104 CFU and molds of 3.50×102 CFU was noticed on 90th day of storage. Interestingly, no E. coli was observed from initial to 90th day of storage. The mean sensory evaluation scores of silkworm pupal masala cookies were recorded from initial day to end of storage study period for the best accepted SPMC (7 %). There was decrease in the overall acceptability from initial (7.4) to 90th day of storage (6.6). Microbial population of SPRP and protein in initial day was found to be nil in case of all groups of microorganisms like bacterial, E. coli and molds. Bacteria of 6.97×104 CFU and 7.63×104 CFU and molds of 4.73×102 CFU and 5.07×102 CFU was noticed on 90th day of storage. Interestingly, no E. coli was observed from initial to 90th day of storage. The SPRP contained 140 mg of phytic acid and 0.2 mg of tannin/ 100g of powder. The production cost of control and SPMC was Rs. 20 /100g.

Contrast enhancement is a primitive step in image processing application for enhancing the visual perceptibility which can be treated as the increase in gray level differences between background and foreground with suppression of noises. In literature, various methods have been proposed for contrast enhancement such as bi- histogram and two-dimensional histogram-based methods, etc. Among various methods, the suitable contrast enhancement algorithm should be chosen based on different applications. To find suitability, qualitative and quantitative analysis is also needed. The quantitative analysis can be done with the help of the various performance measures. In this paper, a complete taxonomy of performance measure for contrast enhancement has been discussed and analyzed for the CSIQ database. Among the various performance measures, it is found that Absolute Mean Brightness Error (AMBE), entropy, contrast improvement index, and gradient magnitude similarity deviation (GMSD) are better in terms of the range of operation and the wide variation of low contrast images. It is interpreted that absolute mean brightness requires less time for computation and it is widely used by the researchers for quantitative analysis of contrast enhancement algorithm. This study provides a critical analysis of the several quantitative measures that validate the effectiveness of qualitative measures and motivates to propose an alternate measure that considers the strength of various measures discussed in the literature. These measures quantify the mean brightness shifting, contrast, and entropy preservation.

Background: Food consumption practices involving dietary diversity, healthy and unhealthy practices have greater influence on nutritional and health status of the individual. Men and women always behave differently and have different consumption pattern due to various factors. Urbanization gradients along rural-urban interface of Bangalore mega city helps for comparative study of these factors. Aims: To compare food consumption practices between men and women across rural-urban interface of Bangalore, India. Methodology: Men (n=150) and women (n=150) from 300 middle income households in the rural-urban interface of Bangalore, were surveyed for dietary diversity score (DDS), healthy and unhealthy dietary practices and response to questions on health and nutrition. Results: Findings revealed that, least DDS was recorded in transition area among both men (48.0%) and women (47.7%). In rural maximum difference for healthy habit score was existed between men (50.8%) and women (44.0%). Average unhealthy habits score was more among women in rural (33.2%) and transition (35.4%) areas, whereas in urban, men had higher score (41.8%). Health and nutrition aspects indicated, fasting on religious belief was more practiced by women in transition area (56%). Consumption of health supplements was more among women, especially in urban (34%). Conclusion: It can be concluded that, women have poor food consumption practices compared to men. Even though women are observed to be more health conscious than men, their dietary habits are compounded with various factors such as socio-cultural, occupational and urbanization. In this regard nutrition programmes must be strengthened to decrease risk factors for non-communicable diseases and to improve overall health of the individuals.

The study was aimed at developing submergence tolerant version of popular rice variety of Tamil Nadu namely CO 43, through marker assisted introgression of Sub1 locus from a submergence tolerant FR13A. Selfed progenies of BC2 generations were genotyped and phenotyped for submergence tolerance. Foreground selection was done using rice marker RM219 and ART 5. Background Selection (BGS) was done using 25 genome wide SSR markers with three markers covering per chromosome. BGS resulted in the identification of superior six BC2F2 plants possessing > 80% of CO43 genome. These lines were selfed to generate BC2F3 progenies for further phenotyping studies under simulated submergence conditions. Most of the BC2F3 progenies and FR13A plants exhibited 100% survival for flooding stress of 13 days. All the survived plants of BC2F3 generations were evaluated for plant height, chlorophyll contents, chlorophyll fluorescence, photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rates before and after flooding. The findings of the study showed that the backcross progenies (BC2F3) with minimum underwater elongation were associated with increased survival percentage, higher chlorophyll contents and comparable fluorescence values as that of FR13A. Most of the BC2F3 individuals recorded higher photosynthetic rate coupled with higher conductance and transpiration rates.

Background: Scientific evidence supports therapeutic properties of flaxseed; however, a large sector of the population is still unaware of the associated benefits and its possible applications as usage in food prodcuts. Flaxseed is popularly known for its high alpha-linolenic acid content, but is also a source of lignan, fibre and protein that are biologically active in the prevention of some non-transmissible chronic diseases. Methods: Methodology involved in the study has focused on formulation of health mix by standardising the amount of flaxseed incorporated, sensory evaluation of the formulated product by semi-trained panel members, assessment of functional properties and analysis of macronutrient composition. Result: The developed health mix is a good source of protein (15 g per 100 g) and fiber (13 g per 100 g). Water soluble index of 5.23 per cent, swelling power 12.50 per cent and solubility index of 17.62 per cent was observed in the developed flour. Health mix containing 10 g of flaxseed per serving had best acceptance.

Water is a key factor for the mulberry plant since, the full potential of mulberry crop production is frequently decreased by the limitations on water. The present study was carried out to assess the stomatal regulation and gas exchange parameters on four mulberry genotypes and three varieties in rain out shelter. Four months old mulberry plants were grown in pots and subjected to three water regimes viz., 100% PC, 50% PC and 25% Pot water holding capacity for 30 days. All the gas exchange parameters (photosynthetic rate, stomatal conductance and transpiration rate) were studied before imposing stress and 30 days after drought stress. Stomatal characters (stomatal size and stomatal frequency) and leaf yield was examined 30 days after drought stress. Water stress caused a reduction in the size of the stomata accompanied by higher stomatal frequency. All the gas exchange parameters were severely affected by drought stress. Even though all the genotypes showed sharp decline in photosynthetic rate, the reduction percentage was minimum in MI-0425 (15.85%). Similar trend was observed in stomatal conductance where tolerant genotype MI-0425 exhibited minimum reduction in stomatal conductance while susceptible MI-0613 recorded maximum for the same at intense water stress. The drought tolerant genotype MI-0425 recorded maximum increase in WUEi by maintaining higher photosynthetic rate and transpiration rate under severe water stress. All the gas exchange parameters showed significant positive correlation with WUEi. But negative correlation was obtained between the stomatal frequency and stomatal size.

Rice is susceptible to heat stress at flowering, where temperatures above 33 °C during anthesis causes spikelet sterility. Heat-induced spikelet sterility at flowering is associated with reduction in grain yield. So far only N22 has been used as universal donor for heat stress. One of the major traits employed in N22 in mitigating the impact of high temperature is the early morning flowering (EMF). Hence, the present study was designed to identify novel donors from the indigenous landraces of rice available at TNAU. The physiological basis of flower opening time (FOT) showed early flowering lines had higher transpiration rate coupled with low photosynthetic rate and stomatal conductance during anthesis. The transpiration rate also led to a reduction in panicle temperatures in these lines. It was concluded that at the time of anthesis, the panicle temperatures were 24 °C and less which led to advanced FOT. The results revealed that among the 21 lines, seven landraces, namely Thatan samba, Panamara samba, Thooyamali, Norungan, Mattikar, Sornavari and Seakar, flowering (9.30 to 10.00 IST). Hence, the lines Thatan samba, Panamara samba which flowered before 9.40 IST can be used as potential donors of EMF trait to develop heat-tolerant varieties.

The concept of coloring a graph will lead to the definition of a complete n- coloring of a graph G which results the achromatic number ψ(G) where the maximum number of colors required for the points of G in which every pair of colors appears on at least one pair of adjacent vertices. In this paper, we obtain the achromatic number for the Central graph of Ladder graph, Central graph of Dutch-Windmill graph, Central graph of Fan graph and Central graph of Flower graph is denoted as ψ[C(L_{n})], ψ[C(D₃⁽ⁿ⁾)], ψ[C(F_{m,n})] and ψ[C(FL_{n})] respectively.