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Fifteen genotypes were used to studies the genetic variability, heritability, genetic advance, correlation and path coefficient for growth and yield attributing characters in fennel. The highest PCV and GCV were recorded in seed yield per plant, number of secondary branches per plant and number of primary branches per plant. The highest heritability was noticed for seed yield per plant, number of umbelles per plant and number of secondary branches per plant. Plant height, days to 50% flowering and days to first flowering exhibited highest genetic advance as percentage of mean. The seed yield per plant had significant and positive correlation with number of number of secondary branches per plant, plant height, number of umbellates per umbel and test weight. Number of secondary branches per plant, days to 50% flowering, test weight and number of umbellates per umbel had direct effect on seed yield per plant. Therefore, greater emphasis should be given on these characters for genetic improvement of fennel.

Background: Propylthiouracil is an antithyroid drug used to treat hyperthyroidism in pregnancy, as euthyroid state is necessary for optimal pregnancy outcome. Few reports of fetal anomalies are associated with propylthiouracil use as compared to other antithyroid drugs, having severe teratogenic profile. Aims and Objectives: The present study has been conducted to divulge the teratogenic profile of propylthiouracil by observing its gross effects on mice fetuses, as limited data are available despite extensive usage of drug in pregnancy. Materials and Methods: A 100 mg/kg body weight/day of propylthiouracil was orally administered to pregnant Swiss albino mice on the 6th, 7th, and 8th days of gestation (treated group), while distilled water was given orally to pregnant dams of the control group (same volume and for same duration). The fetuses were collected, weighed, and studied for gross abnormalities after sacrificing the pregnant dams on the 18th day of conception. Results: In the present study, the treated group shows reduction in various growth parameters (mean body weight, mean crown-rump length, etc.) depicting growth retardation, in comparison to the control group. On examination, engorged cutaneous vessels, external hemorrhage, and omphalocele were also observed in the treated group. Conclusion: As propylthiouracil is observed to have teratogenic outcome, hyperthyroidism during the first trimester must be treated with minimum effective dose of the drug.

Information on Land Use Land Cover (LULC) pattern is very important for developing management strategies for land use planning. Remotely sensed satellite data has proved to be an unmatched source of information that can deliver LULC information with good accuracy especially in regions where acquiring LULC information through intensive ground surveys seems to be impractical. The present study aims at performing LULC classification of Burhner river watershed situated in Mandla, Balaghat and Dindori districts of Madhya Pradesh, India by adopting unsupervised classification. It also discusses merits and demerits of using unsupervised classification for a high resolution satellite image along with key factors responsible for using it. Sentinel-2B satellite imagery with spatial resolution of 10 m was used in the present investigation. A total number of 6 LULC classes were identified in the study area namely agricultural land, fallow/open land, forest, habitation, wasteland and waterbodies using ERDAS IMAGINE® 2011. Accuracy assessment of the LULC classified image from reference (ground truth) data using error matrix revealed an overall accuracy of 95.72% with kappa coefficient of 0.94. Furthermore, the error matrix also aided in computing classified image producer’s and user’s accuracy which were under acceptable limits. The LULC statistics of study area indicated that highest area is covered by forest (53.01%), followed by fallow/open land (24%), agricultural land (19.44%) and least area is covered by waterbodies (1.38%) and habitation (0.19%). A major portion of study area under fallow/open land category pointed that underutilized land resource potential exist in watershed. Such land can be further utilized for crop production and plantation purposes in order to maximize output from the available natural resources in a sustainable manner.

The estimate of genetic variability was observed for fifteen traits on fifty two genotypes. The ANOVA indicated that the mean sum of squares due to genotypes were highly significant for all the traits, respectively in all the environmental conditions. High magnitude of phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed than the genotypic coefficient of variation for all the characters under study. High genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variations were exhibited for number of secondary branches/plant, Pod bearing length, number of primary branches/plant, number of pods/plants, number of seeds/plant, seed yield/plant (gm), biological yield/plant (gm), First flowering node and harvest index (%) in all six and pooled over environments. The above finding revealed the presence of substantial amount of genetic variability for the traits, which exhibited high magnitudes as well as less influence of environment on the expression of concerned traits. Day to first flowering node, number of seed/pods , hundred seed weight (gm), harvest index and days to flower initiation exhibited moderate genotypic and phenotypic coefficient variation in all the environments. Low genotypic and phenotypic coefficient of variation was observed for pod bearing length in all the environments, this reveled high influence of environment.

Lac, a natural resin of insect origin, yields basically three useful materials i.e.resin, wax and dye and is an important source of livelihood for poor and tribal farmers in the lac growing regions. Lac growers harvest lac in form of lac stick and lac encrustations attached with sticks are then scraped which is known as sticklac. Sticklac contains impurities which need to be removed by converting sticklac in to seedlac through different unit operations under primary lac processing so that seedlac, a semi-refined product, can be further used in making lac based value added products i.e.shellac, button lac, bleached lac, aleuritic acid etc. Sticklac converted into seedlac can be stored like grain in jute/gunny bag or metal bin for longer period. Hence, lac grower can sell stored seedlac whenever they get remunerative price. Lac resin being natural, biodegradable and non-toxic, finds application in food, textile, furniture, electrical and pharmaceutical industries and provides immense employment opportunities. Regular demand for the materials derived from lac exists in the market due to global trend for use of natural products. Small scale lac processing unit can be established for conversion of sticklac in to seedlac in production catchment area at grower's level itself. Similarly, integrated small scale lac processing unit can also be utilized for conversion of sticklac in to seedlac with reduced man-power requirement and minimum drudgery. Equipments/machineries developed for manufacturing value added lac-based products may be encouraged in the country to reduce time of operation, drudgery and manpower requirement with enhanced capacity of value addition in lac and to promote entrepreneurship development which may further enhance employment generation. To ensure the quality of produce, traditional equipments/machineries needs replacement with new equipments/machineries made of food grade materials coupled with advanced automation system to the maximum possible extent. Value addition in lac could be promoted and migration of rural and tribal people to other states in search of employment could be minimized with adoption of improved equipment and machineries for value addition of lac at village level so that rural and tribal people may get remunerative price of their product. Hence, increase in sustainable livelihood of rural and tribal people might be possible with adoption of lac value addition sector

Pneumonia like the pandemic COVID-19 is a virus disease, first time came into light in December 2019 in the Wuhan city of China. As of today, more than two million deaths from more than 210 countries have been confirmed. This disease has modeled a great threat to human mental health, physical health, and forcefully stuck the routine life with psychosocial consequences globally. The COVID-19 disease is caused by SARS-CoV-2 which leads to acute respiratory distress. The pathogenesis of the disease started from virus entry to the host cell where it controlled the cellular system of the patient directly or indirectly. Population having cardiovascular, immunosuppressive, AIDS, and diabetes-like complications are thought to be very risky for mortality caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The correlation to Noncommunicable diseases like cardiovascular disorders and diabetes has led our attention towards the management of these diseases in the corona outbreak. Thus, this review aimed to better understand the threats modeled by the disease COVID-19 to the cardiovascular system, and the medical community should share their experiences promptly. It is concluded that both published research and real-time experiences shared on social media by world experts will act as a valuable tool and will help to learn more about this disease. Several preventive and therapeutic measures including drug therapy are suggested to manage the disease in comorbidities conditions.

Significance of Precambrian and early Cambrian palaeobiological remains recorded over the last few years on the Indian subcontinent are discussed in the present review. The importance of these remains is assessed in the backdrop of new reports from different parts of the world. Archaean, Proterozoic and early Cambrian successions of India have revealed some of the oldest rock fragments of the world, most primitive eukaryotic remains, bizarre Ediacaran forms and typical early Cambrian fossils. For the sake of brevity and easy comprehension, palaeobiological remains are grouped under Archaean, Proterozoic, Ediacaran and early Cambrian time-frames. New evidence of life forms, documented from the sedimentary basins exposed in peninsular and extra-peninsular region of the country, have challenged the various paradigms, viz. evolutionary, biostratigraphic status of different lithounits and age of the encompassing sedimentary successions. Newly published geochronological and geochemical results are also considered in this review to understand the developments in these fields and their significance in the evolution of hydrosphere, biosphere, and moderating processes over the geological timescale. Recent Indian endeavors in the field of Astrobiology and inputs provided in the areas of astrobiological studies are also discussed.

Bi4BaTi4O15(BBTO), an Aurivillius oxide, which is a mixed metal bismuth–layered based oxide fabricated by chemical route, has shown highly efficient photocatalytic activity in degradation of organi...

A field experiment was conducted to investigate the effect of water stress on early and mid-late categories of Co-canes, i.e., [Co 98014, Co 0118, Co 0238, Co 07023, Co 15023 (early) and Co 0124, Co 05011, Co 11027, Co 15027, Co 12029 (mid-late)]. The experiment consists of stress treatments in main plot, i.e. (control and water stress) and ten Co-canes in subplot were laid out in factorial randomized block design with three replications. The water stress was imposed by withholding irrigation during formative phase. The observations recorded on morphological, physiological and yield attributes have suggested possible key characteristics of water stress tolerance. Leaf area and cane length exhibited 37.3% and 26.53% reduction under drought condition in comparison to the control. Co 05011 (78.77%) and Co 0238 (76.88%) showed/maintained better RWC under stress condition with mean reduction of 16.70% over Co-canes RWC. Water stress also caused reduction in gas exchange traits and the associated pigments by 56.57% in stomatal conductance (gS), 56.55% in photosynthetic rate (pN), 38.21% in transpiration rate (E), 28.01% in internal CO2 (Ci) and 16.86% in the chlorophyll content. Maximum water use efficiency (pN/E) under drought stress was recorded in Co 0238 (4.12) and Co 98014 (3.93). Total number of tillers, number of millable canes, single cane weight and cane yield were also reduced under water stress but Co 98014, Co 05011, Co 0238, Co 12029 and Co 15023 showed lesser reduction in these traits. Further, the cane yield data were subjected to different drought tolerance indices viz. stress susceptibility index, stress tolerance index and yield index. Results obtained from physiological and yield attributes as well as tolerance indices indicated that Co 98014, Co 05011, Co 0238 and Co 12029 had the potential to grow well under water stress conditions for sustaining sugarcane production and hence could be used as tolerant germplasm in crop improvement programs.

Rasna saptak kwath (RSK) is an Ayurvedic polyherbal formulation. In Ayurvedic classics it is recommended to administer this drug in decoction form only, to treat inflammation and pain related to the rheumatoid disorders. The present study was carried to fulfill two aims. First aim was to characterize the Ayurvedic preparation i.e. RSK which is a polyherbal formulation comprising of eight ingredients including an adjuvant drug, on the basis of the physicochemical, pharmaceutical, microbiological, spectroscopic and chromatographic parameters to confirm its identity, quality and purity. The second aim was to provide this formulation into some another dosage form for much better therapeutic activity in comparison to decoction form. Both the extracts were compared for standardization and for antioxidant activity. The results revealed that HA extract possess more phyto-constituents. The IC50 of HA extract was 33.3µg/ml while that of AQ extract was 480µg/ml. Microbial load and heavy metal analysis confirm their safety issue.

In this article, the photocatalytic performance of the heterostructure g-C3N4/NiO for the mineralization of the malachite green (MG) dye under the exposure of the UV light in an aqueous medium was characterized. The first part of the study was devoted to the synthesis of the heterostructured nanocomposite by single-step hydrothermal process accompanied by calcination. Physical and chemical behaviour of the synthesized photocatalyst was examined by a high-resolution powder X-ray diffraction (XRD), Fourier transform infrared (FT-IR), Transmission electron microscope (TEM), Field emission scanning electron microscope (FESEM), Brunauer–Emmett–Teller (BET), X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS), and ultraviolet–visible diffuse reflectance spectroscopy (UV–vis DRS) measurements. TEM and XRD measurements confirms the formation of the heterostructured hexagonal shaped g-C3N4/NiO. The structural stability of the nanocomposite photocatalyst was analysed by XRD measurment after the recyclability test. XPS analysis disclosed the oxidation state of the nickel (Ni+2) into the photocatalyst. The superiority of our synthesized catalyst is that the better optical band gap matching and the fact that it regulates internal charge transfer of excitons within the heterojunction. Second part of the study focused on the degradation of the MG with nanocomposite g-C3N4/NiO. Scavenger analysis revealed the existence of the superoxide radicals (O2•-) as the main active species, which is the caretaker of mineralization of the MG with the nanocomposite that have one of the highest turn over frequency (TOF) till date.

In this article we design tilt integral derivative controller with filter (TIDNC) for D.C Motor speed control. TIDN parameters are tuned by using flower pollinating algorithm (FPA). By using tuning parameters of TIDNC, we obtain desired step response. Thereafter comparative analysis is carried out with FPA based proportional integral derivative controller (PIDC), fractional order PIDC (FOPIDC) and tilt integral derivative controller (TIDC) in terms of desired step response and performance indices (PIs) like integral of square error (ISE), integral of time weighted absolute error (ITAE), integral of time weighted square error (ITSE) and integral of absolute error (IAE). After that, response of a D.C Motor with FPA is compared with other metaheuristic algorithms like particle swarm optimization (PSO) and firefly algorithms (FA).

Tariffs on shrimps and a few other items imported from the USA are set to go up as the government of India has decided to impose retaliatory duties worth over $200 million on 29 products. This work focuses on shrimp which is the flagship item of seafood exports from India which accounts for 10% of the total exports and nearly 20% of the agricultural exports. Changing markets and product profile including exports diagnostics are explored. Backed by a strong market acceptance, international markets for Indian shrimp have been relatively steady but product profile needs to develop vertically. India needs to diversify its focus from frozen shrimp into value added products. It needs to develop resilience to foreign exchange rates volatility and retain, diversify and develop niche markets. Overall, strong and steady performance of Indian seafood exports overtime should not lead to complacence. Industry needs to be supported both physically and financially. National Bank for Agriculture and Rural Development (NABARD) finance and priority sector lending needs to broad base their outlook to enable industry to update and adopt latest processing technology to develop and market value added shrimp. The MPEDA and Coastal Aquaculture Authority (CAA) which govern aquaculture production and regulation need to look into restructuring shrimp farming in the country to eliminate negative externalities that limit full-scale exploitation of its potential. The steady contribution of seafood exports to the foreign exchange kitty of India should make it a priority sector for attention, in terms of financial, physical, human and social considerations. The newly announced MatsyaSampada Yojana of the government of India, should envisage strategies for sustainable exploitation of available open common use resources of fisheries and aquaculture in the light of climate change scenario and human resource development for sustaining the sector.

Ediacaran macrofossils are typically preserved in three taphonomic modes: casts/molds in siliciclastic rocks, casts/molds in carbonate rocks, and carbonaceous compressions in black shales. Only a few taxa are known to be preserved in more than one of these taphonomic modes. Flabellophyton is a genus that has been previously reported from lower Ediacaran black shale of the Lantian Formation (635–551 Ma) in South China and upper Ediacaran sandstone of the Ediacara Member (560–550 Ma) in South Australia. Here we report Flabellophyton from upper Ediacaran limestone of the Shibantan Member of the Dengying Formation (551–539 Ma) in South China, making Flabellophyton the only genus that occurs in all three taphonomic modes. We also provide a systematic description of Flabellophyton based on material from the Lantian and Dengying formations in South China, recognizing three morphospecies—F. lantianense, F. typicum sp. nov., and F. obesum sp. nov. Flabellophyton is reconstructed as an erect epibenthic marine organism attached to sandy, carbonate, and muddy substrates. Its phylogenetic affinity remains ambiguous though it was historically interpreted as an algal fossil. The wide environmental and stratigraphic distribution of Flabellophyton allow comparative taphonomic and paleoecological analysis. Taphonomic analysis of Flabellophyton indicates that multiple taphonomic pathways can facilitate the preservation of Ediacaran macrofossils. As a window into Ediacaran paleoecology, Flabellophyton and other Ediacaran fossils played a crucial role in the construction of epibenthic communities in Ediacaran oceans, and helps to understand the ecological migration and evolutionary expansion from deeper to shallower oceans during the Ediacaran Period.

Bi4Ti3O12-BaTiO3 (BTO-BT) nanocomposite, a Aurivillius oxide, which is synthesised by modified solid-state route, and characterised by various techniques like FTIR, XRD, TEM, UV-DRS, Zetasizer Nano...

Field experiment was conducted at Fruit Research Station, Imalia, Department of Horticulture, College of Agriculture, J.N.K.V.V., Jabalpur (M.P.) during the year 2018 – 2019 to determine the influence of seed soaking duration and concentration of cow urine on seed germination, growth and survival of Karonda (Carissa carandas L.) seedlings. The experiment was laid out in eight treatments replicated thrice in factorial randomized block design. Among the treatments, the combined effect of seed soaking duration for 24 hours and seed treatment with 25% cow urine was more superior over the other combinations with highest seed germination (5.83 days), 50% germination (15.50 days), germination at 60 DAS (78.15%), coefficient of germination (5.83), speed of germination (8.61). Growth parameters at 60, 90 and 120 DAS with seedling height (8.21, 10.74 and 12.20 cm), stem girth (1.93, 2.27 and 2.56 mm), number of leaves per seedling (28.5, 66.7 and 81.7) respectively, other growth parameters at 120 DAS such as length of seedling (27.96 cm), number of roots per seedling (105.7), fresh weight of seedlings (3.24g), dry weight of seedlings (1.38g), seedling vigor index I (2190.4 cm), seedling vigor index II (101.6g), survival of seedlings (78.7%), leaf area index (3.75), leaf area duration ( 6181.45 cm2. days), light transmission ratio (36.28%) and energy interception (0.40 cal cm-2 min-1).

In the present study, the long-term variability in precipitation and temperatures was analyzed in relation to the urban environment of Ranchi Metropolitan Region, eastern plateau region, India. The daily meteorological observations of 5 decades (1961–2010) indicated an increasing mean temperature (0.4 °C) and decreasing cumulative precipitation in the Ranchi, capital region of the state Jharkhand. The results exhibited a declining precipitation patterns in the recent decade as compared to the earlier 4 decades. The high daily monsoon rainfall intensity with low cumulative precipitation can be observed during post-2000 periods, which indicate a highly erratic nature of precipitation in the region. Temporal census data demonstrated that the Ranchi urban region faced enormous proliferation in the human population (21 times) during the period 1927–2010 and thereby induced the extensive alteration in land use/land cover and rapid built-up expansion (> 5 times) as evidenced by the temporal satellite-based observations. The increasing annual per capita land consumption (361.50%) together with annual per capita loss of heat sink zones (96.3% during 1927–2010) and high influx of vehicles (563% during 1997–2010) influenced the local and regional climatic variable in the region. The results indicate that the rapid and haphazard urban sprawl in the last few decades and increase in built-up and impervious surface largely contributed in increasing the land surface temperature (34–42 °C) as compared to the rural environment (30–38 °C), which perhaps could be the region for the changes in climate and weather pattern of the area.

The CaCu3Mn4O12 (CCMO) ceramic was successfully synthesized through the chemical route. The phase formation was confirmed by the X-ray diffraction pattern. Thermogravimetric (TGA), FT-IR, SEM, TEM, EDX, and XPS analysis were performed for investigation of the thermal behavior, phase identification, microstructural analysis, elemental analysis and oxidation state of the CCMO ceramic respectively. FT-IR spectra confirmed the existence of MnO6 octahedral in body-centered cubic (BCC) complex perovskite oxide that resembles the CaCu3Ti4O12 structure. The average particle size was observed by TEM in the range between 100 and 200 nm. AFM shows the average roughness of the surface was found to be in the range of 30 ± 5 nm. XPS and EDX studies confirmed the purity and oxidation state of the CCMO ceramic. The synthesized material shows very interesting unique Griffith’s phase (TG) results that arise disorder in magnetic susceptibility in which ferromagnetic transition was to be observed in the paramagnetic region. Keywords: Chemical route, XPS analysis, Magnetic properties, Griffith’s phase (TG), Ferromagnetic (FM), Paramagnetic (PM)

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