EXTRACTION OF NATURAL DYES FROM PLANTS FOR TEXTILES

EXTRACTION OF NATURAL DYES FROM PLANTS FOR TEXTILES D. Gopalakrishnan and P.Vinayagamurthi Department of Fashion Technology, PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore – 641 004. Textile Technology, Research & Development Centre, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. Dyes derived from natural materials such as plant leaves, roots, bark, insect secretions, and minerals were the only dyes available to mankind for the coloring of textiles. Natural dyes per se are sustainable as they are renewable and biodegradable but they cannot fulfill the huge demand from the textile sector in view of the preferential use of land for food and feed purposes. Textiles colored with natural dyes are preferred by environmentally conscious consumers and today there is a niche market for such textiles. But the total share of natural dyes in the textile sector is approximately only 1 % due to certain technical and sustainability issues involved in the production and application of these dyes such as nonavailability in ready-to-use standard form, unsuitability for machine use, and limited and non-reproducible shades. Also, overexploitation of natural resources to obtain dyes may result in deforestation and threaten endangered species. This paper attempts to review the current status of natural dyes and various sustainability issues involved in their production and application and examines their future prospects. Introduction Natural dyes were used only for coloring of textiles from ancient times till the nineteenth century. As the name suggests, natural dyes are derived from natural resources. Recent environmental awareness has again revived interest in natural dyes mainly among environmentally conscious people. Apart from their application in textiles, natural dyes are also used in the coloration of food, medicines, handicraft items and toys, and in leather processing, and many of the dye-yielding plants are used as medicines in various traditional medicinal systems. Coloring materials obtained from natural resources of plant, animal, mineral, and microbial origins were used for coloration of various textile materials. There are several challenges and limitations associated with the use of natural dyes. Concerted research efforts in the field of synthetic dyes and rapid industrialization of textile production resulted in almost complete replacement of natural dyes by synthetic dyes on account of their easy availability in ready-to-apply form, simple application process, consistency of shades, and better fastness properties. Different regions of the world had their own natural dyeing traditions utilizing the natural resources available in that region. The current dyestuff requirement from the industry is about 3 million tones. Use of natural dyes started to decline after the invention of synthetic dyes in the second half of the nineteenth century. As agricultural land is primarily required to feed an ever increasing world population and support livestock. And biodiversity should not be compromised for the extraction of dyes; sustainability of natural dyes is a major issue. The tradition of using natural dyes could survive only in certain isolated pockets. Recent research shows that they can also be used to dye some synthetic fibers. Considering this fact, the use of natural dyes in mainstream textile processing is a big challenge. Natural Dyes • Orange: carrots, gold lichen, onion skins • Brown: dandelion roots, oak bark, walnut hulls, tea, coffee, acorns • Pink: berries, cherries, red and pink roses, avocado skins and seeds (really!) • Blue: indigo, red cabbage, elderberries, red mulberries, blueberries, purple grapes, dogwood bark 1 • • • • • Red-brown: pomegranates, beets, bamboo, hibiscus (reddish color flowers), bloodroot Grey-black: Blackberries, walnut hulls, iris root Red-purple: red sumac berries, basil leaves, daylilies, pokeweed berries, huckleberries Green: artichokes, sorrel roots, spinach, peppermint leaves, snapdragons, lilacs, grass, nettles, plantain, peach leaves Yellow: bay leaves, marigolds, sunflower petals, dandelion flowers, paprika, turmeric, celery leaves, lilac twigs, Queen Anne’s Lace roots, mahonia roots, barberry roots, yellow root roots, yellow dock roots Haematoxylon campechianum Oak galls are rich in tannin and are used for mordanting. They can also be used to get a brown color. Catechu or cutch obtained from the heartwood of Acaciacatechu is used to dye cotton, wool, and silk to brown color directly. It is also rich in tannins and can be used to get black color with iron mordant. Black color can also be obtained from many yellow and red dyes by iron mordanting. Famous logwood black color having very good fastness properties was obtained by using iron mordant and the extract of logwood obtained from the heartwood of the tree Haematoxylon campechianum found in Mexico and the West Indies Morinda citrifolia Morinda citrifolia is a fruit-bearing tree in the coffee family, Rubiaceae. The root and bark of the tree Morinda citrifolia growing in India and Sri Lanka issued for getting red shades. Maximum coloring matter can be obtained from the 3to 4-year-old tree. Mature trees have very little dye. Dye is extracted from the chipped material with water after a preliminary wash to remove free acids. Various shades including purple and chocolate can be produced with the use of mordants. Weld Weld (Reseda luteola) was a very important yellow dye plant in Europe. The coloring matter is a Flavonoids and it produces a good yellow color on natural fiber textiles that have very good fastness properties. Tagetus spp. Marigold (Tagetus spp.) is a bright yellow flower-yielding plant. It is commonly used for making garlands and floral decorations. It is available in different colors including yellow, golden yellow, orange, and the like. The main coloring com-ponent is quercetagetol, a flavonol along with two of its glycosides and lutein. It dyes wool and silk in deep yellow colors with good fastness properties. Cotton can be dyed with this dye in combination with mordants to get fast colors. Cotton fabrics are pretreated with tannic acid/tannin-containing mordants followed by metallic mordants before dyeing to get various shades. Flame of the Forest The flame of the forest (Butea monosperma) tree, locally known as tesu in India, produces bright orange color flowers. The dye extracted from the flowers can be used for dyeing all natural fibers. Bright yellow to brown and orange colors can be produced with suitable mordant. Crocus sativus 2 Crocus sativus, commonly known as saffron crocus, or autumn crocus, is a species of flowering plant of the Crocus genus in the Iridaceae family. It is best known for producing the spice saffron from the filaments that grow inside the flower. Saffron is an ancient yellow dye belonging to the family Iridaceous and is obtained from the dried stigmas of the plant Crocus sativus. It is grown in the Mediterranean, Iran, and India, and used for cooking as well as medicinal purposes. The dye is extracted from the stigmas of flowers by boiling them in water. It imparts a bright yellow color to the materials. It can directly dye wool, silk, and cotton. Alum mordant produces an orange yellow known as saffron yellow. Annatto Bixa orellanais Achiote (Bixa orellana) is a shrub native to a region between northern South America and Mexico. The tree is best known as the source of annatto, a natural orange-red condiment (also called achiote or bijol) obtained from the waxy arils that cover its seeds. Annatto Bixaorellana is a small tree belonging to the family Bixaceae. It is extensively used for the dyeing of cotton, wool, and silk and also used for coloring butter, cheese, and the like. The pulp is rich in tannin. The alkali extraction method is used for extracting dye at boiling conditions. It produces reddish orange shades on cotton, wool, and silk. Barberry It is an erect shrub, commonly found in the Himalayas; grow up to 3 meters height, spiny, woody plant, and bark is yellow to brown. The bark is spiny, three-branched thorns. The barberry (Berberis aristata) plant roots, bark, and stems are used to extract the dye. The main constituent of the dye is berberine which is an alkaloid. It is a basic dye and can be used to dye silk and wool directly. The dye produces a bright yellow color with good washing fastness and average light fastness. Cotton can be dyed after mordanting. Mallotus phillipensis The dried fruit capsules of kamala (Mallotus phillipensis) yield a red-orange powder that can be used for dyeing wool and silk to bright orange-yellow and goldenyellow colors. Colors produced on cotton are not so good with moderate fastness properties. Rheum emodi Roots and rhizomes of Himalayan rhubarb (Rheum emodi) yield a yellow dye that can be used to dye wool, silk, and cotton after mordanting with exceptional fastness properties. Extraction Methods As natural dye-bearing materials contain only a small percentage of coloring matter or dye along with a number of other plant and animal constituents such as water-insoluble fibers, carbohydrates, protein, chlorophyll, and tannins, among others, extraction is an essential step not only for preparing purified natural dyes but is also required to be carried out by users of crude dye-bearing materials. As natural coloring materials are not a single chemical entity and the plant matrix also contains a variety of non dye plant constituents, extraction of natural dyes is a complex process. The nature and solubility characteristics of the coloring materials need to be ascertained before employing an extraction process. The different methods for extraction of coloring materials are: • Aqueous extraction • Alkali or acid extraction • Microwave and ultrasonic assisted extraction 3 • • • • Fermentation Enzymatic extraction Solvent extraction Super critical fluid extraction Mordanting Methods There are three types of methods for application of mordants based on the time of their usage. They are Pre mordanting, Post mordanting and Meta mordanting or simultaneous mordanting. As suggested by the name, in pre mordanting, the mordants are applied to the fabric prior to dyeing. It is most common for cotton and cellulosics as in the unmordanted state they do not have affinity for many natural dyes. Even for animal fibers, some natural dyes such as cochineal require this type of mordanting process for producing good shades. Various famous traditional printing styles with natural dyes from India such as ‘‘Kalamkari’’ in Andhra Pradesh and ‘‘Sanganeri’’ in Rajasthan use this mordanting method. The advantage of this method is that standing baths can be used for mordanting; that is, the bath can be reused many times after replenishing with the mordants. This makes the process economical as well as reduces the pollution load hence is useful for large-scale applications. In the post mordanting method, the fabric after dyeing is treated with mordant in a separate bath. The final color is developed during the last phase. Iron salts are very often applied in this manner for producing grey and black colors. In the Meta mordanting or simultaneous mordanting method, both dyeing and mordanting processes are carried out in the same bath itself. Usually for cotton and cellulosics, mordant is also added to the dye bath at the start of dyeing so that both dyeing and mordanting processes take place simultaneously in the same bath. For animal fibers such as wool, mordant may sometimes be introduced into the dye bath towards the end of the dyeing process when much dye has already been exhausted onto the textile. The dyeing duration is reduced in this method due to a reduction in the number of steps. This method produces darker shades for some dyes whereas for others, color yield may reduce due to the loss of some dye and mordant to dye–mordant complex formation in the dye bath which may also cause uneven dyeing. As the mordant cannot be reused, this process is more useful for small lots. Dyeing As for synthetic dyes, the amount of dye to be taken is normally given as % shade. It denotes the amount of dye (in grams) to be taken for dyeing 100 g of textile material. The terminology remains the same for both crude dye material and purified extracts. As the dye content of raw materials is low, it is common to use10–30 % shade whereas the amount can be reduced to 2–5 % for the purified dye extracts. The amount of mordants is also selected in relation to the shade dyed. A larger quantity of mordants is needed for higher shades. As is the case with synthetic dyes, the amount of water to be taken in the dye bath is an important parameter. In technical terms, it is given in the recipe as the material-to-liquor ratio (MLR). The MLR denotes the amount of water in ml required per gram of the fabric to be dyed. As natural dyes differ in their chemical constituents, their dyeing procedures also differ but their basic dyeing process is similar. There may be different optimum temperature, time, and pH of dyeing but the basic steps remain the same. Many natural dyes are dyed at near boiling temperature on cotton. Wool and silk are dyed at a lower temperature although some dyes may dye cotton also at lower temperature. Most dyes require neutral pH but some dyes require acidic pH and some may need alkaline pH. For dyeing animal fibers wool, pashmina, and silk, generally 1–2 % of acetic acid is added during dyeing. The material to be dyed pre mordanted or otherwise is introduced into the dyeing bath at room temperature and the temperature is then increased slowly to ensure uniformity of dyeing. 4 The material is usually dyed for at least an hour to allow the dye to penetrate well inside the textile material. The movement of textile material in the dye bath is very essential. If the dyeing is carried out in dyeing machines, movement of the material is taken care of but in hand dyeing, the fabric needs to be continuously stirred in the dye bath, otherwise uneven dyeing may result. If delicate fabrics such as pashmina are to be dyed, the dye bath should not be stirred continuously as that will damage the fabric structure. In such cases, it is advisable to have a material-to-liquor ratio of at least 1:100 so that the fabric is completely immersed in the dye liquor during dyeing and dyeing is uniform. If simultaneous mordanting is to be carried out, the required quantity of mordant is also added to the dye bath. After the dyeing is over, the dyed materials are removed and allowed to cool down a little and then washed with water. Some traditional dyers leave the material in the dye bath itself to cool and then remove the material for washing. The washed dyed material is then soaped with a hot soap or nonionic detergent solution to remove loosely held dye and is again rinsed with water and air dried in shade. At industrial scale, hydro extractors are used to remove excess water during washing. If post-mordanting is to be carried out, the washed material is taken up for post mordanting without soaping and soaping is carried out on the post mordanted material after washing. When cotton materials are dyed with dyes such as madder which do not have affinity to it without mordants, the pre mordanted dyed material may be further post mordanted to get different shades and improvements in fastness properties. Treatment with small amounts of copper mordant improves the fastness to light for many dyes although it also results in slight hue changes. Such treatment with copper to improve light fastness was also practiced earlier for certain synthetic dyes. A post dyeing treatment with tannins and alum can help in improving the fastness to washing. Conclusion Presently the cost of dyeing textiles with natural dyes is much higher in comparison to the cost of dyeing with synthetic dyes due to several reasons. First the application procedure is lengthy and complicated. Most of the dyeing is done by hand hence it is labor intensive. Although many disadvantages such as poor fastness properties and use of banned metal salts and the like can be easily overcome by research and awareness, others such as non reproducibility of shades and improving the availability would need higher research and industrial investments. Selling of natural dye-bearing materials and their purified extracts is, however, being done at a small industry level. Many manufacturers in the United States, India, China, and other countries are engaged in this activity and their products are available on the Internet. The tedious application process and non reproducibility of shades and insufficient availability are some of the factors responsible for their non adoption in mainstream textile processing. A clean production model offered by natural dyes is a better alternative for them. The benefits of research conducted on the development of improved application techniques for better fastness and environmental compliance should reach these people so that they can earn their livelihoods and the consumer also get the benefit of truly environmentally friendly textiles. At the level where scientific developments stand today, natural dyes are a sustainable option only for smallscale applications and they can complement synthetic dyes as an eco-friendly option for the environment conscious consumer and a means of providing livelihood to various stake holders of the natural dye value chain. *** 5 ASIMA CHATTERJEE: A UNIQUE NATURAL PRODUCTS CHEMIST Amsaveni. S Department of Chemistry, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. Asima Chatterjee(23 September 1917 -22 November 2006) is one of the best known Indian natural products chemists of the last century. She made significant contributions in the field of medicinal chemistry with special reference to alkaloids, coumarins and terpenoids, analytical chemistry, and mechanistic organic chemistry. Chatterjee successfully developed the anti-epileptic drug, 'Ayush-56' from Marsilia minuta and the anti-malarial drug from Alstonia scholaris, Swrrtia chirata, Picrorphiza kurroa and Ceasalpinna crista. An outstanding contribution was her work on vinca alkaloids, which come from the Madagascar periwinkle plant. They are used in chemotherapy to assist in slowing down and halting cancer cells duplicating • • • • • • • • • • • Among her contributions, a few notable ones are Initiated chemical investigation of alkaloids in Rauwolfia canescens.. Contributions to elucidation of structure and stereochemistry of ajmalicine and sarpagine. First suggested stereo-configuration of sarpagine. Investigated the chemistry of almost all principal types of indole alkaloids Isolated and characterized geissoschizine, a key precursor in biogenesis of indole alkaloids from Rhazya stricta Carried out synthetic studies on a number of complex indole alkaloids, quinoline and isoquinoline alkaloids. Developed simplified and normal procedure for preparation of required betaphenylethanolamines in connection with alkaloid synthesis. Elucidated the structure of luvangetin isolated from Luvanga scandens. Studied the action of various Lewis acids on prenylated coumarins and devised simple synthetic routes to a number of complex coumarin systems. Investigated mechanism of acid-catalysed hydramine fission of beta phenylethanol amines. Introduced use of periodic acid as a reagent for detection and location of both terminal and exocyclic double bonds in organic compounds. Asima Chatterjee was the first woman to be awarded a Doctor of Science by an Indian University - in 1944, by the University of Calcutta. She was also the first woman to be elected as the General President of the Indian Science Congress, a premier institution that oversees scientific research. She has won several prestigious awards such as the Shanti Swarup Bhatnagar award, the C V Raman award, and the P C Ray award and is the recipient of the Padma Bhushan, the third-highest civilian award, in recognition of her contributions to the field of science. *** 6 KUDUMIYANMALAI ROCK CUT CAVE TEMPLE S. Vijayarenuka Balasundaram Department of Computer Application, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. Kudumiyanmalai Rock cut cave Temple is located in Pudukkottai district, Tamilnadu. It is under the control of ASI ( Archeology Survey of India) and it is the Treasure of tamil culture and Art works. World Famous Musical Notes Rock was Present in Kudumiyanmalai. • • • • • • The temple complex at Kudimiyanmalai comprises a rock-cut temple and a structural edifice (Sikanatha temple) built during circa 10th century. The rock-cut shrine (known as Tirumulattanam) along with a mandapa was excavated around circa 8th century. The famous musical inscription describing notations for the seven-stringed musical instrument 'Parivadini' is engraved to the right of the cave temple. The mahamandapa attached with the structural temple has exquisite pillars and portrait sculptures of Nayaka period. The temple is also noted for the rock-cut panel depicting sixty-three nayanmar (saints) worshipping Siva and Parvati. Jain vestiges in the form of Tamil-Brahmi inscription found on the south-western slope of the hill pushes its antiquity to early historical times. Definitely all should visit this place once in the life time. *** 7 . HOTOSYNTHESIS OF SILVER NANOPARTICLES USING THE LEAF EXTRACT OF ARTEMISIA PALLENS, L. Bhavana Bindhu. R, Priyanga. P, SanthiyaC. P, Udhayakumari. M Department of Botany, PSGR Krishnammal College for Women, Coimbatore-600 004. Introduction Nanoparticles synthesis and characterisation is an area of immense interest due to nanoparticles broader applicability in the fields of medicine, biology, physics and chemistry (Song and Kim 2009). Silver nanoparticles (AgNPs) are gaining particular attention due to their desirable properties, including their high surface to volume ratios, catalytic properties and antimicrobial effects (Okafor et al., 2013). However, most techniques used for the synthesis of nanoparticles are expensive and may adversely affect the environment and biological systems. Green synthesis, on the other hand, offers a comparatively safer and eco-friendly approach for nanoparticles synthesis. Plants provide a highly desirable system for nanoparticle synthesis due to their ability to produce a wide range of secondary metabolites with strong reducing potential. Since plants are less sensitive to metal toxicity compare to algae and bacteria, they offer a green alternative for the biosynthesis of silver nanoparticles (Pandey et al., 2013). Medicinal plants are of special concern since they control the size and shape of nanoparticles by providing capping layers to nanoparticles (Rauwel et al., 2015). Artemisia pallens is an important medicinal herb used in the perfumery and cosmetics industries and also as an antifungal and antibacterial agent (Alakararao & Alakararao 1981). India is the major exporters of oil to the rest of the world. To the best of our knowledge, there are no reports on assessing the synthesize of silver nanoparticles and testing the anti-cancerous activity using the leaf extract of A. Pallens as biological substrate. Objectives of our Study • To assess the phytosynthesis of silver nanoparticle using the leaf extract of Artemisia pallens, L. • To characterize the phytosynthesized silver nanoparticle using UV–Vis spectrophotometer and SEM analysis • To test the antimicrobial activity of phytosynthesized silver nanoparticles against pathogenic microorganisms • To investigate DNA protecting activity of phytosynthesized silver nanoparticle using DNA nicking assay. • To study the anti-cancerous activity of phytosynthesized silver nanoparticle against HE LA cell line. Experimental Results Figure 2. UV-Vis spectra showing absorbance of phytosynthesised silver nanoparticle Figure 1. Digital optical images of phytosynthesised silver nanoparticles using the leaf extract of Artemisia pallens, 8 Figure 4. Antimicrobial activity of phytosynthesised silver nanoparticles Zone of Inhibition Figure 3. SEM observation of phytosynthesized silver nanoparticles Control 15 10 5 0 Phytosynthesis ed Nano particle Silver nitrate Micro organisms Figure 5. Zone of inhibition showing the antimicrobial activity of photosynthesized silver nanoparticles a b d e c f a-Antimicrobial activity of AgNP against Aspergillus Niger; b-Anti microbial activity of AgNP against Bacillus cereus; c- Anti microbial activity of AgNP against Escherichia coli; d- Anti microbial activity of AgNP against Salmonella typhi; eAntimicrobial activity of AgNP against Penicillin; f- Anti microbial activity of AgNP against St DNA nicking assay: Anticancer Activity The cytotoxicity activity was performed against Hela cell line and the result showed 34.531% of cell death. Conclusion Therefore the present study revealed that nanoparticle synthesized from the extract of Artemisia pallens, L can be used as an anti-cancerous agent. *** 9 A. Manikandan Rubber Research Institute, Coachin. Visvesvaraya Visvesvaraya also known as Sir MV (15 September 1860 - 14 April 1962) was a notable Indian engineer, scholar, statesman and the Diwan of Mysore during 1912 to 1919. He was a recipient of the Indian Republic's highest honour, the Bharat Ratna, in 1955. He was knighted as a Commander of the Indian Empire by King George V for his KUDUMIYANMALAI TEMPLE myriad contributions to the public good.ROCK Every CUT year,CAVE 15 September is celebrated as Engineer's Day in India in his memory. 10 S. Vijayarenuka Balasundaram Department of Computer Application, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. Kudumiyanmalai Rock cut cave Temple is located in Pudukkottai district, Tamilnadu. It is under the control of ASI ( Archeology Survey of India) and it is the Treasure of tamil culture and Art works. World Famous Musical Notes Rock was Present in Kudumiyanmalai. • • • • • • The temple complex at Kudimiyanmalai comprises a rock-cut temple and a structural edifice (Sikanatha temple) built during circa 10th century. The rock-cut shrine (known as Tirumulattanam) along with a mandapa was excavated around circa 8th century. The famous musical inscription describing notations for the seven-stringed musical instrument 'Parivadini' is engraved to the right of the cave temple. The mahamandapa attached with the structural temple has exquisite pillars and portrait sculptures of Nayaka period. The temple is also noted for the rock-cut panel depicting sixty-three nayanmar (saints) worshipping Siva and Parvati. Jain vestiges in the form of Tamil-Brahmi inscription found on the south-western slope of the hill pushes its antiquity to early historical times. Definitely all should visit this place once in the life time. *** 11 LICHEN S. Jeya Preethi Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. Lichens have been described as dual organisms because they are symbiotic associations between two (or sometimes more) entirely different types of microorganism. • a fungus (mycobiont) • a green alga or a cyanobacterium (photobiont) There are three main types of lichens Foliose, Fruticose and Crustose. Foliose Lichen Foliose lichens have two easily distinguishable sides. In other words, there is a top side and there is a bottom side. They can be very flat, leafy like lettuce, or convoluted and full of ridges and bumps.Example: Pseudocyphellaria rainierensis, old-growth specklebelly. This species has two clearly defined upper and lower sides as well as fringed lobes and many vegetative reproductive structures called "isidia” Fruticose Lichens Fruticose lichens can be pendant and hair-like, upright and shrubby, or upright and cup-like. Many fruticose lichens have round branches that have a central core and others are hollow in the middle. Other fruticose lichens have flat branches that tangle up with each other. Example: Ramalina subleptocarpa. This is an example of a fruticose lichen with two-sided flat branches. Since these branches are not distinctive (no top or bottom), this is still considered fruticose. Crustose Lichens Crustose lichens are just that, crusts. They form a crust over a surface, like a boulder, the soil, a car, or your roof shingles. They can come in many bright, vibrant colors like sunny yellow, orange, and red, as well as grays and greens. Crustose lichens are pressed against their substrate. Example: Pleopsidium chlorophanum, yellow crust, with other crusts, on a rock. Squamulose Lichens Another type is Squamulose lichens have a thallus consisting of minute, scale-like squamules Example: Cladonia cristatella, more commonly known as the British Soldier Lichen, is a prime example of mutually beneficial symbiosis in nature. They are most commonly found in the north eastern quadrant of the United States as well as the eastern half of Canada. This species was coined the term "British Soldier" because of the red caps present on this species. During the late 1700's people thought these caps resembled the caps of British Soldiers of the day, thus the name British Soldier Lichen. Foliose Licheen Crustose Lichens Fruticose Lichens *** 12 Squamulose Lichens WE CAN JUDGE THE HEART OF A MAN BY HIS TREATMENT OF ANIMALS C. Sneka Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. Introduction A rabbit is one such animal that everyone just adores. It is loved for its cute look and adorable activities. Though it is a bit difficult to take care of these gentle creatures, I decided to pet them just because I found them extremely cute. I researched on the internet and also consulted the pet shop owner and came to know that rabbits are happier and live long if they have company. So I decided to get home two cute little rabbits instead of going for just one. Both my rabbits are pure white in colour. I have named them Bunny and Betty. They are my lifelines. While my mother was against petting an animal especially rabbits, she soon grew fond of them. She helps me take good care of both of them. Cleanliness and Grooming Both Bunny and Betty have white fur. The fur often attracts dust, dirt and germs. We help them get rid of it by brushing them gently every 3-4 days. We have a special wide-toothed comb for the same. We have kept separate combs for both the rabbits. Bunny and Betty love the combing sessions. They sit in my mother’s lap and enjoy this activity. My mother washes the combs thoroughly and dries them after every combing session. We make sure to get their hair trimmed to an inch. It is easier to maintain their fur when it is trimmed. Long fur attracts more germs and is also difficult to brush. My mother also trims their nails every once in a while to ensure hygiene. Eating Habits and Behaviour My pet rabbits love eating carrots, grass, basil and various green leafy vegetables. We mainly feed them with leafy greens and give them carrots occasionally as the later contain high sugar content. We bring fresh leafy vegetables and grass for our bunnies every day and make sure they are well fed. Just like small kids, Bunny and Betty love being pampered. They like sitting in my lap and just love it when I pat them or gently rub their head. They show their affection by licking me. They also love running around the house with me.When I return home from school or tuition class, they joyfully run around my feet to show their love. Conclusion Both Bunny and Betty are quite warm, friendly and sociable. They are not only affectionate towards us but also welcome all our guests with warmth. Small kids in our neighbourhood often come to play with Bunny and Betty. They love playing with the kids. *** “The greatest part of a writer’s time is spent in reading, in order to write: a man will turn over half a library to make one book.” -Samuel Johnson 13 EVERY DROP IN THE OCEAN COUNTS S. Arul Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. The water in our bodies is essential for life. Without water, we can’t survive. Since the water in our bodies is continually being used or lost, it needs to be continually replaced, and the best fluid to replace it with is water.Water is involved in every bodily function from digestion and circulation through to the control of body temperature and the excretion of waste products. The water in our bodies is continually being used or lost from the body. Some is used or absorbed by the functions it performs and some is lost through sweat, urine and faeces.Water is one of the most important substances on earth. All plants and animals must have water to survive. If there was no water there would be no life on earth. Apart from drinking it to survive, people have many other uses for water. These include: • • • • • • • cooking washing their bodies washing clothes washing cooking and eating utensils; such as billies, saucepans, crockery and cutlery keeping houses and communities clean recreation; such as swimming pools keeping plants alive in gardens and parks Water is also essential for the healthy growth of farm crops and farm stock and is used in the manufacture of many products. It is most important that the water which people drink and use for other purposes is clean water. This means that the water must be free of germs and chemicals and be clear (not cloudy). Water that is safe for drinking is called potable water. Disease-causing germs and chemicals can find their way into water supplies. When this happens the water becomes polluted or contaminated and when people drink it or come in contact with it in other ways they can become very sick.Water that is not safe to drink is said to be non-potable. Throughout history there have been many occasions when hundreds of thousands of people have died because disease-causing germs have been spread through a community by a polluted water supply.One of the reasons this happens less frequently now is that people in many countries make sure drinking water supplies are potable. Water supplies are routinely checked for germs and chemicals which can pollute water. If the water is not safe to drink it is treated. All the action taken to make sure that drinking water is potable is called water treatment. Sources of water There are many ways in which we can collect water. The main sources are discussed below. Surface water This is water which falls to the ground as rain or hail.This water is collected from a special area called a catchment. The catchment feeds water into a holding area via rivers, streams and creeks. The water is then stored in a natural or artificial (manmade) barrier called a dam or reservoir. Dams are usually placed at the lower end of a valley.Catchment areas are usually far away from towns or cities to lessen the chance of the water being 14 polluted. There are laws which control human activities, such as farming and recreation in catchment areas and on dams to make sure that water supplies are kept potable. Rivers or lakes Town or community water supplies are sometimes drawn directly from nearby rivers or lakes. Springs These are found where underground water flows out of the ground naturally without the use of bores, wells or pumps. Springs often occur towards the bottom of a hill or on sloping ground. Rock catchment areas and rock holes Sometimes large rocky outcrops contain low areas in which water is trapped. These low areas make good natural dams. Often a wall can be built to increase the amount of trapped water. Excavated dams Excavated dams are made by scooping out soil to make a large shallow hole. These dams are sometimes placed at the bottom of a slope to aid water collection. However, this can only be done in areas where the soil will not allow the water to drain away very easily through the ground. For example, in clay soils.Soils which do not allow water to drain away are called impervious.If a community wants a dam in an area where the soil is not impervious this can still be done by digging the hole and lining it with clay or an impervious liner, such as concrete or heavy plastic. Excavated dams are often used by farmers to supply water to stock.There is often a layer of water lying beneath the ground surface, trapped by an impervious layer of rock which will not allow it to drain away. The water may be close to ground level or it may be deep in the ground. This layer of water is called the water table.When this water table is close to ground level the water may actually come to the surface and create a permanent wet area called a soak. This usually occurs in low lying areas or hollows. Soaks are affected by changes in the depth of the water table. That is, if the water table drops then soaks may dry up. Some causes of this can be drought or overuse of ground water by people. Rainwater tanks The rainwater which falls on the roofs of houses is often collected using roof guttering leading through a pipe to a storage tank. Bores and wells These are holes drilled into the ground deep enough to find a permanent (longlasting) body of water. A pipe runs down the hole into the water and a pump is used to get the water up to ground level. The water is then pumped to the community. Artesian bores Sometimes when a bore is sunk into a low lying area the water gushes out of the hole under its own pressure. This water is under pressure because it is part of an underground body of water much of which is at a higher level than the bore opening. This kind of bore is called an artesian bore.A water supply taken directly from a bore or well is often called groundwater.The water which comes from any of these sources may be salty, cloudy, smell unpleasant or have germs in it. Water of this kind would require special treatment to make it potable. Diseases which can come from polluted drinking water Bacterial diseases 15 • • • salmonellosis shigellosis acute diarrhoea Viral diseases • gastroenteritis • hepatitis A • Parasitic • giardiasis • hookworm infection In most parts of Australia and many other countries, proper water treatment methods have almost eliminated the germs that cause many of these diseases from water supplies. However, water treatment and hygiene standards in Indigenous communities, especially small communities or camps, are often inadequate and this is why many of these diseases still occur in Indigenous communities. The germs may get into the water: Directly by A lagoon overflow effluent pipe discharging into a river or stream supplying drinking water the presence of dead animals in the water people or other animals swimming, washing or going to the toilet in a drinking water supply Indirectly by Contamination from an effluent system, such as a leach drain too close to a bore or the overflow from a lagoon flowing into a water supply People washing themselves or going to the toilet in or near a water source. Water contamination and how it can be prevented Anything which contaminates water is called a contaminant or pollutant. Water can be contaminated or polluted by Organic materials • animal carcasses • animal and human faeces and sewage • food waste • plant matter (grass, leaves, wood) • oil, petrol and grease. Inorganic materials • scrap metal and junk • sand • chemicals Many of these materials can carry disease-causing germs into water supplies. Chemicals in the water supply can poison people and other animals.Water can be contaminated at the source, such as the river or bore in storage, such as in elevated tanks in the pipe system which delivers water to the user Domestic rainwater tanks Contamination The rain which fails onto the roof of a house is usually clean, and should not normally contain germs. However, there may be a lot of dirt and rubbish on the roof, especially if it has not rained for a long time.This dirt might include the faeces from birds and small 16 animals. Also, the wind can carry germs in dust blown onto the roof. When it rains the dirt and rubbish will be washed into the storage tank, along with the germs. Some of these germs may cause disease. Dirt, animals and bird faeces can get into a storage tank if it does not have a lid. All these things can carry disease-causing germs. Often animals are trapped in water tanks and drown. As dead bodies rot, germs will grow and contaminate the water.The inside of the tank walls and floor may also become dirty after a period of time. This dirt can contaminate the water. Prevention If a house has a rainwater tank as its water supply, these are the things which should be done to keep the water clean.Install a first flush diverter. This prevents the first flush of water, which may have contaminants from the roof, from entering the tank. • Keep the roof and gutters clean. • Keep a lid on the water tank. • Check for and repair any leaks. • Regularly look into the tank. If the water or walls or floor are dirty the tank will need to be cleaned. • Rivers and billabongs • Contamination There are several ways in which rivers and billabongs can become contaminated with germs or chemicals. • Rubbish may fall into or be washed into the river or billabong, for example, from a nearby dump • Sewage may seep into the river or billabong from nearby septic tanks and leach drains • Faeces may be deposited directly into the river by people or other animals • Faeces deposited near the river may be washed into it by rain • Chemicals or poisons sprayed onto land near the river or billabong may be washed into the water • People or animals may wash themselves in the river or billabong There is a risk that the water supply will be contaminated if the community pumps its water from a place. Near where a contaminant enters the water such as an effluent discharge point where contamination is occurring, such as a swimming area Prevention It is important to try and stop the river or billabong from being contaminated, particularly in the area from which the community takes its water supply. Discharging effluent into rivers and streams should always be avoided.Sometimes it is not possible to stop the contamination of a river or billabong. This is because the contamination source is not known, or cannot be controlled, like if the contamination is occurring upstream or is because of not being able to keep cattle out of a billabong. The following prevention methods can be adopted • • • If the community water supply comes from a river make sure: it is obtained upstream from any possible contamination sources, for example, swimming holes or effluent runoff points it is taken from the deepest possible point in the body of water 17 • • • Make sure that there is little or no building development near the water supply source. There are laws which control where people can put septic tanks/leach drains, effluent ponds, and rubbish tips in relation to water supplies. Make sure people do not use the area around the water supply source for recreational purposes, such as playing sport and having picnics. In the case of a billabong, it may be possible to fence the water source to prevent contamination by people and other animals. Bores Contamination Bores can become contaminated underground. (This can happen if a contaminant is able to get to the water body, for example, if a leach drain is built too close to the water source, or a faulty effluent disposal system allows disease-causing germs to soak down into the groundwater) While bringing it to the surface.This could occur in the bore itself or at the place where the bore pipe comes out of the ground. This is called the bore head. If the bore head is unprotected then animals can spread disease causing germs and parasites to the water via the equipment. For example, if the equipment leaks and allows water to pool, animals will be attracted (especially stock and birds) and their faeces may enter the water at the bore head. Prevention • • • • covers be placed over bore heads there are fences around bore heads to keep animals away the bore head area is protected from flooding as this can carry disease-causing germs into the bore. The bore head is usually protected by raising it above ground level septic tanks/leach drains and effluent disposal sites are well away from the bore. Community water tanks Contamination If a large community tank does not have a proper fitting lid, then people, especially children, birds or other animals may find their way into it and contaminate the water with disease-causing germs.Occasionally, the inside of the community water tank will get dirty and can contaminate the water. Prevention • • • • • • To make sure that the water in the community tank is always clean: The tank should have a proper fitting lid There should be a high fence, with a locked gate, around the tank The tank should be regularly inspected to make sure that it is not leaking and that the water is clean and free of animals, such as frogs If the inside of the tank is dirty it must be cleaned. The proper way to clean a tank is described in Section 6.2 Community water pipes and household plumbing Germs These deserve the greatest attention because of the health risk they present to everyone in the community.Nearly all the water collected from bores, rivers, lakes and billabongs has to be checked regularly and if necessary treated to make sure it is free of germs. Rainwater collected with equipment known to be free of germs is probably the only 18 type of water supply that does not normally have to be treated.When searching for the source of germ contamination of a water supply, it may be necessary to check the whole supply system to try and find the point at which the germs are entering the water. This may be at the water supply source, the tank, anywhere in the pipelines or a breakdown in the water treatment system. Suspended solids Suspended solids include small particles of clay, iron oxide or plant matter which hang in the water and give it a murky (dirty and cloudy) appearance.These solids can be removed by letting the water stand to allow solids to settle. Suspended solids can also be removed from water by filtration. This means running the water through very fine material which will catch the solids. Dissolved salts As rainwater runs over the ground and down into the soil it sometimes comes into contact with limestone and similar rocks. Small amounts of minerals from these rocks dissolve in the water, in much the same way as sugar is dissolved in cups of tea. These minerals are the salts of sodium, calcium and magnesium. For example, sodium chloride (common salt), calcium carbonate (limestone) and magnesium sulphate.The dissolved salts make the water hard. Hard water is what causes the white crust to form on the elements of electric kettles and on the inside parts of toilet cisterns. Soap will not lather easily in hard water. People may get an upset stomach from drinking hard water. Hard water can be made soft by treatment with chemicals. However, this is not often done. Provided the mineral content is not too great and a danger to health, most people can put up with hard water. Disinfection Treating a water supply to kill germs is called disinfection. Communities get their water from sources such as bores, rivers, lakes and dams. The water from these sources is often contaminated; sometimes only slightly, sometimes badly. This is why the water supplier makes provision for water treatment (usually chlorination) between the water source and the storage tank or in the tank. This treatment should keep the water free of live germs and parasites. These are some methods of disinfection Chlorination Chlorination uses chlorine chemicals to kill the germs and should leave sufficientfree residual chlorine in the water. This is a little extra chemical in the water which acts as a safety buffer against further contamination. That is, if all the germs in the water at the storage point are killed, there is still some chlorine left to attack any other germs which might get into the water system in the tank or the pipes which take the water to the community, for example, via a cracked or leaking pipe or tank.The recommended level of free residual chlorine in drinking water is between 0.2 and 0.6 ppm (parts per million) or mg/L (milligrams per litre). This means that there is between 0.2 and 0.6 parts of chlorine per million parts of water, or 0.2 and 0.6 milligrams of chlorine per litre of water. These units of measure are basically the same and either can be used in detailing the measured level of chlorine.Swimming pool free residual chlorine levels are much higher than the level in drinking water.The length of time which the chlorine needs to kill the germs depends upon the level of water contamination. It is important to note that at times the water supply, especially at the source, may be so badly contaminated that normal levels of chlorination will not be enough. 19 Chlorine gas Many communities have a gas chlorination system for their water supply. Cylinders of chlorine gas are connected to the water supply line. The gas is automatically fed into the water at the correct dosage to make sure that all germs are killed.Chlorine gas is yellowgreen in colour and has an irritating, sharp smell. It is an extremely poisonous gas and breathing even small quantities can be fatal. If the gas chlorination system breaks down and causes chlorine gas to leak into the air, the EHP should make sure that no-one goes anywhere near the area and that the water supplier, is notified (told) immediately. People who enter areas into which chlorine gas has leaked must wear full breathing equipment (air tanks). Sodium hypochlorite The chlorine can also be combined with other substances. These can be in solid form or as a solution (liquid).Sodium hypochlorite is one of these substances. This comes in a liquid form. Sodium hypochlorite is used where the chemical has to be added to the water on a regular basis. For example, in swimming pools or water tanks where the chlorine level needs to be checked every few days and sodium hypochlorite added as necessary.Particular steps need to be taken in checking the chlorine level in drinking water and in adding more chlorine to the water. Calcium hypochlorite This is another chemical in which chlorine is combined with other substances.Calcium hypochlorite comes as a white powder. It is often referred to as ‘A chlorine'. It is used for the same purpose and in the same way as sodium hypochlorite. Ultraviolet (UV) light Ultraviolet light cannot be seen by the human eye. However, when it is produced in a lamp (tube) other types of light are also produced which can be seen.When the ultraviolet light is strong enough it is able to kill germs. The water flows through a container in which ultraviolet light producing tubes are set. The water pipes are placed between the ultraviolet light tubes. These pipes are made of Teflon which allows the UV light to pass through into the water and kill any germs present.The disadvantage of ultraviolet light disinfection of water is that there is no residual effect. Germs are killed only at the point of contact with the ultraviolet light. Germs will not be killed if contamination occurs after the water has left the disinfection plant. Chlorine may still have to be added to provide the residual effect. Filtration When water is run through fine sand, the filtration process removes suspended solids.Water supplies for large towns often have their disinfection systems assisted by filtering the water through large sand beds before chlorination. This will reduce the chemicals required for disinfection. However, this is rarely used in smaller water supplies. Boiling If none of the above methods is possible then boiling water for 5 minutes is an effective way of killing germs. Obviously this method would be only useful for small quantities of water. However, it is a good way of getting safe drinking water in an emergency or in a temporary bush camp. Signs of contaminated water 20 It is important for the EHP, or whoever is in charge of the water supply within the community, to constantly monitor the quality of the water.One sign that the water supply might be contaminated is when several people from different families in the community become sick at the same time. A contaminated community water supply can make lots of people sick at the same time. Remember, however, such sickness may also be caused by contaminated food or vectors carrying disease-causing germs.It is, therefore, a good idea to occasionally check the complete water supply system for any problems. If any are found they must be fixed. It might be necessary to call the water supplier for help in locating and fixing the problem. Where contamination by germs is suspected, sampling of the entire water supply system is recommended to find the contamination source. This is done by working through the water supply system and sampling at different places. The results of these samples will show which parts of the system are contaminated and where the contamination may be happening. It is important that every water tank is inspected regularly for signs of water contamination. These are signs that the water in the tank is contaminated: • The water is a green or brown in colour • Green slime is growing on the sides or bottom of the tank • Faeces, rotting leaves or dead animals are in the water • Live animals, such as frogs, are in the water • There is no lid on the tank • The lid of the tank is not on tightly or is rusty and has holes in it • .2 Testing for contaminated water Taking a water sample To test the water supply for germs the water sample is taken in a special water sample bottle. Each bottle has its own label and comes in a sealed plastic bag. Make sure the cap is screwed on properly to protect the sample from contamination.Any chlorine in the water is neutralised as soon as it enters the bottle. Neutralising means using a chemical action to combine the chlorine with another substance so that the chlorine is no longer free to act on germs while it is being transported to the laboratory. The substance in the bottle which neutralises the chlorine in the water is sodium thiosulphate. Neutralising the chlorine in this way gives a true indication of the drinking quality of the water at the moment of sampling. If the chlorine is not neutralised it will continue to kill the germs in the sample before it gets to the laboratory. The test would then show a water supply that is potable even though the sample may have contained germs when it was taken. • Water samples may need to be taken from any one of three different situations: • Running water from a tap • Flowing water such as a river or stream • Still water such as a tank, dam or billabong • Each of these situations requires a different sampling technique. • Water sampling from a tap • Run water from the tap for one minute. • Turn off the tap and sterilise it by flaming it for 30 seconds with a flame from a gas burner or methylated spirits burner. • Run the water again for 20-30 seconds. • Hold the bottle by the base, remove the cap and then take the water sample. • Immediately recap the bottle and place the bottle in its plastic bag. • Place the sample in the esky with a freezer brick. The completed sample submission form can be placed in an envelope in the esky. • Water sampling from flowing water 21 • • • Remove the bottle from its plastic bag, holding the bottle near the bottom. Remove the cap from the bottle. Hold the bottle upside down and lower it into the water to about elbow depth. Sampling still water The procedure is basically the same as for running water. The only difference is when the bottle is turned ready to fill, the bottle should be gently pushed forwards to create an artificial flow while it is being filled. The flow of water takes any germs from the person's hand and arm away from the sampling area. Sampling water for chemicals Sometimes the community water supply is tested for chemicals or minerals, such as salts and metals which may have dissolved in it. In this case, it is not necessary to be so careful about not getting germs into the sample bottle. Get the sampling bottles from the laboratories and sample according to these procedures:Mark the bottle with source, identification, number and date.Seal the bottle and fill in the form giving sample details. Sometimes there is no form to fill in and when this happens a letter explaining the sample must be provided.Send off the sample and letter or completed form. This sample undergoes different tests to those for germs and, therefore, goes to a different laboratory. As there are several laboratories which do these tests, arrangements will need to be made with the laboratory before sampling. Tank cleaning Occasionally the inside of the community water tank will need to be cleaned out. This would be necessary if anything happened in the tank to contaminate the water supply. For example, a dead animal may be found in the tank, dust and dirt might be washed into it or slime may have built up on the sides.These are the steps involved in cleaning out a water tank:Before the cleaning day Let the community people know well beforehand that the tank is to be cleaned and that the water will have to be turned off for a few hours. This will allow them to collect enough water to keep them going whilst the water is turned off. Discuss the tank cleaning job with the water supply agency before commencing the job. The agency can provide any technical assistance especially if the system has an automatic chlorinator. There may be special precautions which need to be taken when the pump is switched off. If you have any problems contacting the water supply agency, the EHO or the EHP supervisor can help.Try and plan the tank cleaning job when the tank is nearly empty so that a lot of water will not be wasted. On the cleaning day, Turn off the pump which fills the tank.There should be no need to turn off an automatic chlorinator. However, follow any instructions given by the water supplier.Turn off the main tap to cut off water supply to the houses.Disconnect the pipe which takes the water to the houses. This will allow the water in the tank to run out.It may not be necessary to disconnect any pipes if the tank has a draining pipe and a valve which can be used to let the water out of the tank. Empty the tank. Make sure that the second person is outside the tank all the time the cleaner is inside. Thoroughly clean all of the inside of the tank. It may be necessary to use a scrubbing brush. Bleach powder may help get rid of dirt and slime which has built up inside the tank. Thoroughly rinse out the tank with fresh water and allow this water to go to 22 waste. Reconnect any disconnected pipes and turn on the pump to refill the tank. Turn on the main tap supplying water to the houses. Make sure the automatic chlorinator is working properly as the tank fills or add the correct amount of chlorine when the tank is full. Water supply plumbing Before undertaking domestic plumbing repairs, the mains tap must be turned off to cut the water to the house. Every building supplied with water in the community will have a mains tap. This will need to be done when fixing taps, including replacing washers, repairing split pipes or broken pipe joints. Taps One of the most common water supply maintenance tasks is the repair of leaking or broken taps. A tap may require. a new jumper washer because the tap leaks from its outlet the washer seat to be smoothed because it has become pitted from use a new O-ring because the tap leaks around the spindle (handle). However, some new types of taps do not have this O- ring and the tap will have to be replaced. *** S. Harshavarthani Department of Mathematics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. *** 23 CHARACTERIZATION OF MICROBIAL FLORA FROM MOBILE PHONES & EVALUATION OF THE POTENTIAL OF HERBAL OIL AND ITS CONSORTIA FOR THEIR ANTIBACTERIAL ROLE AGAINST THE MICROBIAL PATHOGENS. S R. Madhan Shankar*1 and M. Gayathri2 * 1Corresponding author and Rathinam College of Arts and science, Coimbatore - 642 021. 2 Department of Biotechnology, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore - 641 014. Mobile phones are indispensable socially and professionally finding vast usage in environments of high microbial flora. The different bacteria present in mobile phones reflect different working environments and the degree of exposure to such pathogens. It may play a role in the spread of bacterial infection and can cause multi-drug resistance. The present study focuses on identifying the pathogens present on the screen guards of mobile phones and to assess their sensitivity to a consortia of natural essential oils extracted from neem (Azadirachta indica), mustard (Brassica juncea), Cumin (Cuminum cyminum), pongamia (Millettia pinnata) and Mahua (Madhuca longifolia). The efficacy of several natural essential oils and herbal extracts has been evaluated for their antibacterial potential at a broader spectrum. The organisms found in 50 samples obtained from various working group and students were predominantly Staphylococcus, Streptococcus, Pseudomonas, Bacillus, Serratia, Monococci and Vibrio sp which were identified microscopically and confirmed by biochemical tests. The identified organisms were tested for the sensitivity by Well Diffusion Method which revealed the zone of inhibition for all the oils used except for mustard (Brassica juncea) and Mahua (Madhuca longifolia). Monococci showed high sensitivity against the Neem oil (Azadirachta indica). These essential oils can be incorporated into polymers for preparing a wrap/cover which could serve as an antibacterial agent protecting us from various contagious diseases. Introduction Mobile phones have become an intricate part in everyone's life: irrespective of the social status. Albeit the levels of usage, mobile phones are always potential sources of infections particularly in niche areas of works like hospitals, municipal workers. Charles Gerba, Microbiologist at University of Arizona states that mobile phones may have 1000 – 10,000 times more bacterial population than in a toilet seat. According to STATISTA Antonella Mei - Pochtler, an Online Statistical Portal, the total number of mobile phone users worldwide from 2013 to 2019 has been raised from 4 billion to 5 billion. In 2013, more than 1.6 billion smart phones were in use and it was estimated that it would double in the next 4 years. According to the Newsletter from eMarketer in 2014, India ranks third position in usage of smart phone. But in 2016, it has been tremendously increased upto 20.4 million population and it is expected to raise upto 28.9 million in 2019. Micro organisms which are present on the mobile phones are of different kinds based on the nature of work and their environment like housekeeping, students, garden workers, attenders, lab workers, drainage cleaning personnel, etc., Some common organisms present on mobile phones are Staphylococci, Streptococci, Bacillus, Pseudomonas, Vibrio, Monococci, Serratia etc., which may cause serious infectious diseases to human being. Microbes present in each square inch of the mobile phones may causes severe health issues. Antimicrobial resistance is a global phenomenon that has resulted in high morbidity and mortality as a result of treatment failures and increased health care costs. Multi drug 24 resistant microbes cause various health issues in human beings. According to the study conducted by Chaka T E and his co workers in 2016, 85% of people never cleaned their mobile phones and also 78% of health care workers use their mobile phones frequently while working which was the major reason for the patients as well as their family members to come in contact with microbes. Approximately 40% of the pathogenic bacteria are spread from the hospital staff via their mobile phones. The most common organism that was isolated from the mobile phones of health care workers was Staphylococcus sp. The hands of clinicians and workers contaminated with Streptococcal sp, Klebsiella sp and Methicillin resistant Staphylococcus sp and instruments used in the neonatal care unit like stethoscope and other accessories are the other major sources of contact for bacterial infection. Microorganisms can be transferred from one person to another frequently by different modes of transmission like hand contact, phone contact, objects contact, inhalation, currency notes, public toilet and using of common utensils in public places. gastrointestinal tracts result in spread of different microorganisms from user to user. The major reservoir of Staphylococci sp are hands from where it is introduced into food during preparation. Also Staphylococci sp are found commonly on noses and skin of human beings which causes illness like pneumonia and meningitis. Now a days, mobile phone serves as a major vehicle of transmission for various microbes from person to person. Essential oils are complex substances which are volatile and insoluble in water. Essential oils like neem, mahua, eucalyptus, mint, turpentine, pongamia, cumin, mustard shows anti bacterial activity against various microbes. Neem oil shows antibacterial activity against S. aureus. Neem oil shows 81% of antibacterial activity against Propionibacterium acne and 82% of activity against S.epidermidis Pine, thyme and tea oils exhibited strong antibacterial effect against E.coli by Disc Diffusion Method. The present study focuses on isolating pathogens from mobile phones and to check the susceptibility of organism to natural essential oils which could help protect people from various infections. Materials and Methods Microbial Samples from mobile phones were collected from various groups of people differing with work place, age and gender such as students age group from 19-24 years, attenders age group from 33-39 years, mess workers age above 40, canteen workers age from 32-45 years, housekeeping workers age from 45-55 years of PSG College of Arts & Science. The collected samples were swabbed onto the sterile nutrient agar medium and subcultured. Characterization and Identification of Bacteria The cultured bacterial sample was characterized by colony morphology, Gram staining, Motility test (Hanging drop method) and Biochemical analysis (IMVIC). Biochemical test: The biochemical test such as indole, methyl red, voges proskauer, citrate utilisation, triple sugar iron, urease, catalase, nitrate reduction tests were performed. The corresponding media for each test was prepared, sterilized and distributed into each test tube. The isolated bacterial cultures were inoculated and incubated at 37°c for 24 hours. Evaluation of Antibacterial activity by Well Diffusion Method 25 Nutrient agar was prepared and sterilized at 121oC for 15 minutes. Poured 20ml of the medium to each plate and allowed to solidify. Isolated samples from the mobile phones are inoculated to the plates by Spread Plate Technique. Five types of natural essential oils like Neem, Pongamia, Mahua, Mustard, Cumin oil with the concentration of 2% each was poured into wells of each plate containing the culture. Incubated the plates at 37oC for 24 hours and observed for zone of inhibition. Results and discussion Isolation and Identification of bacterial samples Several distinctive colonies were found in nutrient agar plate and from the subcultured plate, the microscopic and biochemical test were characterized. The presence of bacterial species such as Streptococci, Staphylococci, Vibrio sp, Bacillus, Serratia and Pseudomonas(Table 6) as tabulated for student sample (Table 1), attender sample (Table 2), mess worker sample (Table 3), canteen worker sample (Table 4) and housekeepers sample (Table 5). Amira H. A. Al‐Abdalall in 2010 reported that organisms like Staphylococcus sp, Bacillus sp, Proteus sp and Pseudomonas sp were isolated from the mobile phones of the eastern region population of Saudi arabia. 23.5% of E.coli and Enterobacter aerogenes, 35.3% of Staphylococcus aureus and 17.6% of Streptococcus sp were isolated and characterized from mobile phones of Students and Employees in University of Gondar (Verma D K et al, 2015). Evaluation of Antibacterial activity by Well diffusion method The antibacterial potential of natural essential oils were tested on the isolated samples from mobile phones and the zone of inhibition was tabulated (Fig 2, Table 7). Neem oil showed maximum antibacterial activity against Monococci (ZOI – 4.7mm), Bacillus and Streptococcus (ZOI – 0.5mm), Staphylococci (ZOI- 0.8mm), Vibrio and Serratia (ZOI-0.1mm) and there was no zone for Pseudomonas. Mahua oil and Mustard oil showed no activity against all the identified organisms. Pongamia oil showed minimum activity against Vibrio, Staphylococcus, bacillus (ZOI – 0.1mm), Monococci and Streptococcus (0.2mm) and Pseudomonas and Serratia no zone of inhibition. Cumin oil showed maximum activity against Monococci (ZOI- 1.8mm), Serratia (ZOI– 1.9mm) and Minimum activity against Vibrio, Staphylococci, Bacillus and Streptococci (ZOI0.4mm, 0.5mm, 1.0mm and 1.1mm respectively) and there was no activity against Pseudomonas. Upon combination of all the essential oil Monococci shows maximum zone of inhibition with 1.5mm, Staphylococci (ZOI- 0.9mm), Bacillus and Streptococcci (ZOI1.0mm), Vibrio (ZOI- 0.3mm), Pseudomonas and Serratia (ZOI-0.1mm). Previous studies reported that neem oil showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus aureus, Salmonella typhi and Pseudomonas (Johan T et al, 2007). Julien sfier in 2013 reported Cinnamon verum has high antibacterial activity against S.pyogenes. Ethyl acetate extract and Petroleum ether extract of Pongamia pinnata seeds showed inhibitory effect against Staphylococcus aureus and Bacillus sps (Ujwal P et al, 2009). Turgis et al in 2009 concluded that Mustard oil has antibacterial activity against Salmonella typhi and Ecoli and so it can be used as an antibacterial agent. The extracts of inner bark of Madhuca indica showed antibacterial activity against Staphylococcus, Bacillus and Ecoli sps (Nimbekar T et al, 2012).Hence it is here in interpreted that the consortia of essential / herbal oils can be a potential bactericidal agent. These consortia can be incorporated into polymers for development of an antimicrobial mobile phone wrap that can aid protection from pathogens. 26 Table 1. Microscopic and biochemical analysis for the samples from students (S) TESTS Gram staining Motility test Indole Methyl red Voges proskauer Citrate utilization Triple sugar iron Catalase Urease Nitrate reduction Sugar fermentation SAMPLE No S1 S2 S3 + + + M NM M + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + - S4 + NM + + + + + - S5 + M + + + *M – Motile NM –Non- Motile S 6 S 7 S 8 S 9 S10 + + + + NM M M M NM + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + Table 2. Microscopic and biochemical analysis for the samples from Attenders (A) SAMPLE No Motile A1 A2 Gram staining + + Motility test NM NM Indole Methyl red + Voges proskauer + Citrate utilization + + Triple sugar iron + Catalase + Urease + Nitrate reduction + Sugar fermentation + + *M – Motile NM –Non- TESTS A3 + M + + + + + - A4 + M + + + + + - 27 A5 + M + + - A6 + NM + + + + + A7 + NM + + + + - A8 + M + + + + + A9 + NM + + + + + A10 NM + + + + + + Table 3. Microscopic and biochemical analysis for the samples from Mess workers (M) SAMPLE No Motile M 1 M2 M 3 Gram staining + + Motility test M NM NM Indole + Methyl red + Voges proskauer + Citrate utilization + + Triple sugar iron + + Catalase + + Urease + + Nitrate reduction + Sugar + + fermentation *M – Motile NM –Non- TESTS M4 NM + + + + M5 + M + + + + + + + + M6 + M + + + + + + + M7 + NM + + + + - M8 + NM + + + + - M9 + NM + + + + M10 + M + + + + + Table 4. Microscopic and biochemical analysis for the samples from Canteen workers (C) SAMPLE No Motile C 1 C2 C3 Gram staining + + + Motility test M NM NM Indole + + Methyl red + Voges proskauer + Citrate utilization + Triple sugar iron + Catalase + + Urease + + + Nitrate reduction + + Sugar + + fermentation *M – Motile NM –Non- TESTS C4 + NM + + + + + C5 + M + + + + - C6 + NM + + + + - C7 NM + + + + + + C8 + M + + + + + + - C9 + M + + + + + + - C10 + NM + + - Table 5: Microscopic and biochemical analysis for the samples from Housekeepers (H) TESTS Gram staining Motility test SAMPLE No *M – Motile NM –Non- Motile H1 H2 H 3 H 4 H 5 H 6 H 7 H 8 H 9 H10 + + + + + + + + + + NM NM NM M M NM M NM NM M 28 Indole Methyl red Voges proskauer Citrate utilization Triple sugar iron Catalase Urease Nitrate reduction Sugar fermentation + + + + + + - + + + + + + + - + + - + + + + + + + + + - + + + + + + + + + + + - + + + - Table 6: Types of bacteria found in each type of sample Analysis of the samples for the presence of bacteria Mess Canteen House Students Attenders workers workers keepers Staphylococci Sp Present Present Present Present Present Streptococci Sp Present Present Present Present Present Bacillus sp Absent Present Present Present Present Vibrio sp Absent Absent Absent Present Absent Serratia Sp Absent Absent Absent Present Present Pseudomonas sp Absent Absent Absent Absent Present Name of the S.No Bacteria 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. Table 7. Antibacterial activity of Essential oil against various samples isolated from mobile phones. S.No 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. Bacterial Strain Vibrio Staphylococcus Monococci Bacillus Streptococcus Pseudomonas Serratia Zone of Inhibition [ZOI] in mm Cumin Pongamia Madhuca Neem Mustard 0.4 0.1 No 0.1 No 0.5 0.1 No 0.8 No 1.8 0.2 No 4.7 No 1.0 0.1 No 0.5 No 1.1 0.2 No 0.5 No No No No No No 1.9 No No 0.1 No Mixture 0.3 0.9 1.5 1.0 1.0 0.1 0.1 Fig 2: Antibacterial activity of Neem, Cumin and Mustard against A- Bacillus, BStaphylococci, C- Monococci, D – Vibrio, E – Streptococci 29 Fig 3: Antibacterial activity of Combination of Essential oils against A-Vibrio, B – Streptococci, C- Monococci, D- Serratia, E- Bacillus, F- Pseudomonas, GStaphylococcus Conclusion From the 50 samples, 30(60%) sample were contaminated with microorganisms (Table 6). Organism were identified by Gram staining (positive and negative bacteria) and biochemical test (Table 1, 2, 3, 4, 5). Positive and negative bacteria of staphylococci and streptococci were found on the mobile phones of students, attenders, mess workers, canteen workers and housekeepers. Gram positive bacteria of vibrio were present in students mobile phones, Gram negative bacteria of Serratia were present in attenders and housekeepers mobile phones, Gram Negative bacteria of Pseudomonas were present in canteen workers mobile phones. High degree of contamination was found in mobile phones from attenders and canteen workers. Antibacterial activity for Cumin and Neem oil resulted that 80% of bacteria such as Monococci, Serratia, Streptococcus, Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Vibrio were sensitive and resistant to Psedumonas. . Antibacterial activity for pongamia oil resulted that 70% of bacteria such as Monococci, Streptococcus, Bacillus, Staphylococcus, Vibrio were sensitive and resistant to Psedumonas and Serratia. *** 30 CAFFEINE’S ACTIVITY K. Arun Prasath Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimatore – 641 046. Caffeine works by changing the chemistry of the brain. It blocks the action of a natural brain chemical that is associated with sleep. Here is how it works You learned that the chemical adenosine binds to adenosine receptors in the brain. The binding of adenosine causes drowsiness by slowing down nerve cell activity. In the brain, adenosine binding also causes blood vessels to dilate. Adenosine is produced by your daily activity. For ex: Muscles produce adenosine as one of the byproduct of exercise. To a nerve cell caffeine looks like adenosine; Caffeine therefore binds to the adenosine receptors. However, it does not slow down the cell’s activity as adenosine would. The cells can’t serve adenosine anymore because caffeine is taking up all the receptors adenosine binds to it. So instead of slowing down because of the adenosine level, the cells speed it up. You can see that caffeine also causes the brains blood vessels to constrict, because it blocks adenosine’s ability to open them up. This effect is why some headache medicines like Anacin contain caffeine. If you have a vascular headache the caffeine will close down the blood vessel and relieve it. With caffeine blocking the adenosine, you have increased neuron firing in the brain. The pituitary gland do sees all of the activity and thinks some sort of glands to produce adrenalin. Adrenalin is, of course the “fight or flight” hormone and it has a number of effects on your body. 1. your pupils dilate 2. your breathing tubes open up 3. your heart beats faster 4. Blood vessels on the surface constrict to slow down blood flow from cells and also to increase blood flow to muscles, blood pressure increases. 5. blood flow to the stomach slows 6. the liver releases sugar into the blood stream for extra 7. muscles tighten up ready for action This explains why after consuming coffee, your hands get cod, your muscles tense up. You feel excited and you can feel your heart beet increasing. *** The ear is the organ that detects sound. The vertebrate ear shows a common biology from fish to humans, with variations in structure according to order and species. It not only acts as a receiver for sound, but also plays a major role in the sense of balance and body position. The ear is part of the auditory system. 31 AMAZING FACTS ABOUT ANIMALS’ WORLD C. Dharani Department of Zoology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. Every creature, as the art of the God, keeps secrets and miracles inside it. We, as human, are the only creature who has ability to think. Various animal kinds have different features to survive in wild nature. Some of them are discovered by scientists in the history. 1. Dolphins sleep with one eye open 2. Crocodiles are blind in the water but very keen of sight in the air. 3. Crocodiles are color-blind. 4. Owls are the only bird that can see the color blue. 5. Unlike all other insects, flies have five eyes. They have two large eyes and three smaller eyes between them. 6. Snails have four noses. 7. Giraffes have no vocal chords 8. The tongues of chameleons are as long as its body or even longer. Some chameleon types have a tongue longer than two times of its body. 9. The tongues of chameleons are faster than a fighter jet. 10. The eyes of ostrich’s are bigger than their brains. 11. An ant can lift fifty times of its own weight 12. A cockroach can survive without its head for nine days. At the end of nine day, it dies because of hunger. 13. A tarantula can survive for more than two years without food. *** PROTEIN IMPORTANCE P. SUMITHRA Department of Botany Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. 1. Protein is in each of the trillions of cells in the human body. There could be no life more plentiful in the body is water. Approximately 18-20% of the body is protein by weight. 2. The lifespan of most proteins totals two days or less. However, the recent discovery of extremely long-lived proteins may provide scientists with insight into cell aging and neurodegeneration. 3. Pumpkin and squash seeds provide 33 grams of protein per 100-gram serving. Watermelon seeds provide a little less than 28 grams per 100-gram serving. 4. India, with a population of over 1 billion, eats the least amount of meat in the world with just 7 pounds of meat annually per person. Bangladesh comes in second, with 9 pounds, while the Democratic Republic of the Congo eats about 10 pounds of meat per person. 5. Without a protein called Albumin, the entire human body would swell. 6. Cataracts are caused by the denaturation of proteins in the lenses of the eyes. 7. A protein in semen acts on the female brain to prompt ovulation. 8. The human body has about 100,000 different types of protein. The body needs protein to grow, heal, and carry about nearly every chemical reaction in the body. 9. The protein in eggs is the highest quality of protein found in any food. 10. The fish with the most protein is the Yellowfin Tuna, with 30 grams per 100-gram serving. It is followed by anchovies (29 g), salmon (27 g), halibut (27 g), snapper (26 g), and tilapia (26 g). *** 32 THE RAREST PLANTS ON EARTH D. Nandagi Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. More Precious Than The Finest Jewels Anthropogenic activity has not only decimated the population of a large number of species of the Animal Kingdom but heavily impacted members of the Plant Kingdom as well. Though we rarely speak of them, there are several species of plants, with their own unique characteristics, that are found in such low numbers in limited locations in the world, that like in the case of the animals, the International Union for the Conservation of Nature (IUCN) has classified each of these species as "critically endangered". Facing extinction, these plant species are currently more precious that jewels for us and conservation efforts to save them is as urgently needed as it is to save the Bengal tiger or the African rhino. Attenborough's Pitcher Plant A unique species of plant, the Nepenthes attenboroughii or the Attenborough's Pitcher Plant, named after the famed naturalist Sir David Attenborough, was discovered as recently as 2007 in Philippines. Endemic to the Victoria Massif in the Palawan Province of the Philippines, the restricted distribution of this plant has triggered IUCN to classify this species as critically endangered. The plant is characterized by bell shaped pitchers which, some experts claim, are large enough to trap rats in them. Suicide Palm Another plant species discovered in 2007, the suicide palm (Tahina spectabilis), endemic to Analalava District of Madagascar, is also classified as critically endangered by the IUCN. The species is so named because of a peculiar characteristic possessed by this plant. The suicide palm grows up to a period of 50 years when it produces a sudden burst of inflorescence at the top. It is believed that this event is so taxing upon the plant that immediately after the plant withers up and dies. The plant usually grows up to a height of 59 feet and has a bark diameter of around 16 feet. Western Underground Orchid The only species of orchid that remains underground throughout its entire life cycle, the Western Underground Orchid (Rhizanthella gardneri), is a rare species of plant which is endemic to Western Australia. The large-scale clearing of land for agriculture is the primary reason of loss of this species of orchids. Golf Ball Cactus The golf ball cactus, named so because of its white, golf-ball-like appearance, is endemic to a small stretch of land between Brewster Country, Texas, U.S.A. and Coahuila in Mexico. The rarity of the plant species and its restricted range has led to its classification as a threatened species in the United States. In the last 20 years, nearly 95% of the population of this species has been lost with the illicit collection of this plant for ornamental reasons being one of the primary reasons. Venda Cycad Another precious species of plant that deserves immediate attention from conservationists is the Venda cycad (Encephalartos hirsutus). This plant is endemic to South Africa’s Limpopo Province and currently only a few members of this species survive. Some even claim that the species is currently extinct though the IUCN classifies it 33 as critically endangered. The collection of this plant for ornamental purposes is considered to be the major cause of the decline of this species. Jellyfish Tree The jellyfish tree (Medusagyne oppositifolia) appropriately named so for its fruits that appear like a jellyfish, is endemic to Mahe Island of the Seychelles. Though to be extinct, the jellyfish tree was rediscovered in the 1970s and currently the species is critically endangered with only about 86 mature individual plants thriving in the wild. Poke-Me-Boy Tree Poke-me-boy trees (Acacia anegadensis) well deserve the name for their extremely spiny features. The tree, endemic to the British Virgin Islands of Fallen Jerusalem and Anegada, could soon become extinct due to rising sea levels threatening to wash away these low growing shrubs. Cultivars of this plant, however, have been established in the Royal Botanic Gardens of United Kingdom at Kew to keep the species alive if its wild counterparts meet with an unfortunate episode of extinction. Ascension Island Parsley Fern Appearing much like a common parsley plant, the Ascension Island parsley fern (Anogramma ascensionis) grows on the tiny, volcanic Ascension Island in the south Atlantic Ocean. The plant was believed to be extinct for over half a century when a team of botanists studying plants on the island rediscovered the plant in 2009. The scientists took extreme care of the few individual plants discovered and extracted the spores of the plant which was used to establish successful cultivars in the Royal Botanic Gardens at Kew, United Kingdom. It is estimated that only 40 mature plants of this species occur in the wild today, necessitating the classification of the plant as critically endangered by the IUCN. Coral Tree A legume species, the Erythrina schliebenii is a critically endangered species of coral tree was first held to be extinct in 2008 when vast tracts of forest inhabited by these trees were slashed down for timber extraction activities. In 2012, however, a small population of around 50 of these trees were discovered in a small area of Tanzania and presently this is the last known population of Erythrina schliebenii. *** “Keep reading. It’s one of the most marvelous adventures that anyone can have.” – Lloyd Alexander 34 VALPARAI D. Brindha Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. Valparai is located Near by area of Anamalai Tiger Reserve. This Sanctuary is situated at an altitude of 1,400 meters in the Western Ghats near Pollachi (about 90 kms. from Coimbatore) with many best spots and tourist destinations. The area of the sanctuary is 958 sq. kms. Various kinds of fauna like elephant, gaur, tiger, panther, sloth bear, deer, wild bear, wild dog, porcupine, flying squirrel, jackal, pangolin, civet cat and birds like rocket-tailed drongo, re-whiskered bulbul, black headed oriole, tree pie, spotted dove, green pigeon, etc. are found on the best spots. The Amaravathy reservoir in the Anamalais has a large number of crocodiles. There are also many places of scenic beauty such as Karainshola, Anaikunthi shola, grass hills, water falls, groves, teak forests, estates, dams and reservoirs. Here is a list of best spots to see in and around Valparai. Wild life Valparai is a mid-elevation hill station with a very wonderful wildlife. The tea plantations are surrounded by evergreen forest. The region is also a rich elephant tract and is known to have many leopards. The drive to the town from Pollachi passes through the Indira Gandhi Wildlife Sanctuary noted for elephants, boars, lion-tailed macaques, gaur,Leopard Cats, Wild Dogs. spotted deer, sambar,Leopard, Tiger and giant squirrels. The area is also rich in birds, including the great hornbill. Water bodies at Monkey Falls and Aliyar Dam are also seen en route. Valparai receives among the highest rainfall in the region during the monsoons (around June). The Valparai range is also habitat to the Nilgiri tahr, an endemic wild ungulate. These mountain goats inhabit the high ranges and prefer open terrain, cliffs and grasscovered hills, a habitat largely confined to altitudes from 1200 to 2600m in the southern Western Ghats. Their territory extended far and wide all along these hills in the past, but, because of hunting and large-scale habitat destruction, they now exist only in a few isolated sites like the Anaimalai Hills. The human-elephant conflict here is a delicate issue. The tea plantations are a hindrance to the movement of wildlife, particularly elephants who walk large distances to reach water bodies and feeding areas. Some best spots Loams View Point This is a beautiful view point to view Aliyar Dam and surrounding mountains of western Ghats. This is situated in 9th hairpin bend from Aliyar Dam to Valparai. Nice place found always busy. Monkey, Nilgiri Thar found these area..Beware of Monkey… Thalanar View Thalanar Vally is Located Enroute to Valparai, Near by Kavarkal Estate. from here we can see Sholayar dam and Velonie valley view Sholayar Dam The second deepest dam of Asia is located here and that is Sholayar Dam, situated at a distance of 20 Kms. from Valparai. An active tourist spot found always busy. A beautiful place to visit. This Dam’s height is 160 feet. 2 hydro electric power plant is there. Nallamudi View Nature’s one of the most beautiful view point near by Anaimudi and it is Nallamudi Poonjolai. From here, we can see TRIBALS’ hut and Idly River and falls. 35 Wild Life Loams View Point Thalanar View Sholayar Dam Nallamudi View Wild Life *** S. Harshavarthani Department of Mathematics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. *** 36 STREPTOMYCES AS A POTENTIAL BIOCONTROL AGENT FOR PLANT DISEASE CONTROL 1 1 N. Jaivel , R. Rajesh , K.P. Smitha2, R. Anandham1 and P. Marimuthu1 1 Department of Agricultural Microbiology, Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore- 641 003. 2 Department of Plant Pathology Tamil Nadu Agricultural University, Coimbatore - 641 003. Introduction The idea of Streptomyces based biocontrol agents is new in Indian agricultural scenario. There are only two commercially registered Streptomyces based biocontrol products worldwide viz., Mycostop and Actinovate, used for control of fungal root rots. Streptomyces are gram positive spore forming bacterium commonly found in plants and soil and considered as a potential biocontrol agents for plant disease control due to their antibiotics producing nature, competitive ability, long term persistence in soil or even in low carbon environment, etc. Its usefulness in agriculture is not exploited so much except the usage of Streptomyces lydicus (Actinovate) and Streptomyces griseoviridis (Mycostop) as commercial formulation for the control of several root rot and wilt diseases caused by Pythium sp., Fusarium sp., Rhizoctonia sp. and Phytophthora sp. As biological control agents, Streptomyces could indirectly act through increased plant fitness whereas the disease suppression may occur through the induction of systemic resistance of plants and production of bioactive compounds, such as antibiotic compounds, siderophore and some lytic enzymes such as chitinase, glucanse and cellulase. Plant diseases are widely managed by the practices like chemical pesticide application, developing host plant resistance and by modification of cropping pattern. Application of chemical pesticides has limitations by causing environmental pollution and the host plant resistance may not be durable in the field conditions due to resistance breakdown. Since it is most important to develop alternate strategies for the management of plant diseases by means of biological control, which offers stable reduction in disease incidence and also environmentally safe. Biological control, therefore, assumes special significance in being an ecology-conscious, cost-effective alternative strategy for management of crop diseases. Characteristics of Streptomyces Streptomyces are nowadays considered as biocontrol agents for plant disease control due to their antibiotics producing nature, competitive ability, etc. Many of the seed, soil-borne and foliar diseases were efficiently managed by biocontrol means using Streptomyces sp. A numbers of antimicrobial metabolites were produced by these strains which have different mode of actions in suppression of plant pathogens (Doumbou et al., 2002). Over 55% of antibiotics have been isolated from genus Streptomyces and therefore this genus is one of the several biological control agents which are widely studied and used to control various plant pathogens (Embley and Stackebrandt, 1994). Most of the studies conducted in Indian peninsula have been restricted to isolation, identification and maintenance of actinobacteria in different culture media and only few studies evaluate the antagonistic potential of actinomycetes. Spore germination of Streptomyces is highly influenced by nutrient availability in crop ecosystem and leads to the formation of a filamentous substrate mycelium. Aerial hyphae were produced from the developed substrate mycelium and subsequently differentiated into spore under nutrient limited conditions. The growth and survivability of Streptomyces in plant ecosystem is also influenced by the exudates of plant materials. The signaling molecules and exudates produced by the plants utilized by the Streptomyces sp. 37 which influence the synthesizing of antimicrobial metabolites by altered gene expression. Application of Streptomyces through seed coating may induce systemic resistance. Early colonizing roots of germinated seeds may activate natural plant resistance mechanisms that will increase the capacity of plant defenses against multiple pathogens that will attack later. Soaking seeds in Streptomyces suspension further increases the population of Streptomyces that can colonize the roots. Streptomyces occur in the rhizosphere of plants and can enhance plant growth by producing plant growth promoter substances e.g. auxin or gibberellins. Secondary Metabolites of Streptomyces Streptomycetes constitutes around half of the total soil actinomycetes population are known for producing several bioactive secondary metabolites with diverse biological activities having utilization in agricultural, pharmaceutical and industrial applications. As the Streptomyces are antibiotic producers they colonize crop plant by overcoming the actions of native organisms and perform their disease suppression activity. They are known for synthesizing of complex enzymes even capable of degrading lignocellulosic materials, by this they can easily survive in any environment by utilizing the available complex nutrients for their growth. Most of the root and leaf exudates of plant origin are organic components they can be efficiently utilized by Streptomyces for their secondary metabolism to produce antibiotic metabolites. Application of antibiotics in plant disease control has been expanding rapidly and hundreds of antibiotics are already commercially available for plant disease control. The secondary metabolites obtained from Streptomyces which are used for plant disease control are given in below table. Table 1. Secondary metabolites from Streptomyces with potential in plant disease control Compound Blasticidin-S Irumamycin Kasugamycin Mildiomycin Polyoxin Fumara mildimycin Natamycin Oxytetracycline Isolated from Streptomyces griseochromogenes Streptomyces flavus sub sp. irumaensis Streptomyces kasugaensis Streptoverticillium rimofaciens Streptomyces cacaoi sp. asoensis Streptomyces kurssanovii Streptomyces natalensis Streptomyces rimosus Abamectin Streptomyces avermitilis Streptomycin Streptomyces griseus Diseases Rice blast Botrytis diseases Rice blast, leaf spot in sugar beet and bacterial disease in rice, vegetables Powdery mildews Mode of application Foliar application Foliar spray and soil application Foliar spray, Dust and seed treatment Foliar spray Rice blast Foliar application Downey mildew of wine Foliar spray Basal rots on ornamental bulbs Fireblight (E. amylovora) Scabies, mites and nematodes Bacterial blight, bacterial rots, canker, bacterial wilts 38 dipping Foliar spray Soil application Foliar sprays, dipping and seed Validamycin Streptomyces hygroscopicus Sheath blight in rice, potatoes, vegetables etc. treatment Foliar spray and soil drench The antimicrobial metabolites produced by these organisms are responsible for suppression of disease causing pathogens. The other bioorigin component siderophores produced by these Streptomyces play a coordinated role in suppression of pathogenic organism by creating iron deficient environment. The prophylactic application of Streptomyces results in precolonization surrounding the rhizosphere and phyllosphere region of crop ecosystem and excludes the pathogenic organism by competing for space. The application of Streptomyces is also increased the Intrinsic Systemic Resistance (ISR) of crop plants against various plant pathogens. This ISR can be achieved by synthesizing of native defense chemicals by crop plants. Apart from plant disease control they also produce growth promoting substances that enhances the plant growth and vigor index of seedlings. The biocontrol agents are environmental friendly and cost effective compared to chemical fungicides. The toxic effect of chemical fungicides can be minimized by usage of these biological control agents. Case Studies Actinomycetes are gram positive organisms known for producing several bioactive metabolites with diverse biological activities. The genus Streptomyces constitutes around half of the total soil actinomycete population and are widely recognized as industrially important microorganisms because of their ability to produce novel secondary metabolites having utilization in agricultural, pharmaceutical and industrial applications Actinobacteria have been considered as potential biocontrol agents of plant diseases. Several investigators have described the in vitro and in vivo activities of the actinobacteria. Their modes of action includes parasitism of hyphae. Antibiotic production, siderophores) and via enzymes such as cellulases, hemicellulases, chitinases, amylases and glucanases. Actinomycetes produce a variety of antibiotics with diverse chemical structures such as polyketides, β-lactams and peptides in addition to a variety of other secondary metabolites that have antifungal, antitumor and immunosuppressive activities. A variety of actinomycetes inhabit a wide range of plants as either symbionts or parasites. They may have important role in plant development and health because they can effect plant growth either by nutrient assimilation or through secondary metabolite productions. The spore-peat moss-sand formulation of Streptomyces lydicus WYEC108 applied to P. ultimum-infested sterile or nonsterile soil planted with pea and cotton seeds, showed significant increases in average plant stand, plant length, and plant weight in both cases compared with untreated control plants grown in similar soils. The Streptomyces sp. TC1 isolate shown inhibitory activity against bacterial leaf blight pathogen of rice and also improve the ISR (Induced Systemic Resistance) in rice crop. A biocontrol formulation comprising Streptomyces sp. A1022 was effective against anthracnose of pepper plant caused by Colletotrichum gloeosporioides. The percentage of disease control was observed to be more than that of commercial fungicide azoxystrobin. The average fruit weight of the plant was increased with the application of biocontrol formulation than the commercial fungicide. The three Streptomyces isolates PS4-16, LBR-02 and LSW-05 were prepared in a peat based carrier for evaluation by seed treatment, seedling root dip and spray treatment for control of BLB in rice. Among which Streptomyces PS4-16 which was applied through seed coating and seedling soaking techniques was consistent in controlling bacterial leaf blight disease in rice. Several Streptomyces species, such as S. olivaceoviridis, S. rimosus, S. rochei and Streptomyces spp. from the tomato rhizosphere, have the ability to produce IAA and 39 improve plant growth by increased seed germination, root elongation and root dry weight (El-Tarabily, 2008). Seed treatment of tomato with Streptomyces reduces the damping off symptoms caused by Rhizoctonia solani to the extent of 53.3% the antifungal activity of Streptomyces globisporus strain JK1 against Magnaporthe oryzae, Bipolaris maydis and Cryphonectria parasitica under dual culture assay. The greenhouse experiments conducted using the culture filtrate of JK1 strain on rice seedlings at 2 h post inoculation with M. oryzae showed 88.3% disease reduction of rice blast, while culture filtrate application before pathogen inoculation showed even higher rates of disease reduction. Application of JK-1 strain as cells or culture filtrates to plant tissues did not cause any phytotoxicity symptoms in rice plant. Future prospects The biocontrol efficacy of Streptomyces strain in different mode of applications like seed treatment, seedling root dip has also to be evaluated for effective utilization of its potential. The application of biocontrol agents as seed treatment and seedling root dip having more influence in suppression of plant pathogens than post spray application. Hence there is an ample scope for Streptomyces based biocontrol products to replace the chemical fungicides for controlling plant diseases. To commercialize this as a biopesticide, the formulation should ensure stability during production, processing and storage and also protect the biopesticide from unfavorable environment and enhance the activity on the target. Cell concentration and encapsulation has been recently applied in biopesticide formulation technology which not only provides protection of biocontrol agents from unfavorable environment but also improve the stability because of controlled release. *** NOTES ON INTRODUCTION TO LINGUISTICS R. Kalidoss Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore -641 046. What is Language? Language is the method of human communication, either spoken or written, consisting of the use of words in a structured and conventional way. Linguistic Knowledge includes: Knowledge of the Sound System: Knowing what sounds are in that language and what sounds are not. Knowledge of Words: Knowing the sound units that are related to specific meanings. Arbitrary relationship between form (sounds) and meaning (concept) of a word. Onomatopoeic: Words whose pronunciations suggest their meanings. Knowledge of Sentences: Knowing how to form sentences. Linguistic Competence: What you know about a language. Linguistic Performance: How you use this knowledge in actual speech production and comprehension. Prescriptive Grammar • 1762; Bishop Robert Lowth; A Short Introduction to English Grammar with Critical Notes. • I don’t have none  I don’t have any 40 • You was wrong  You were wrong • Mathilda is fatter than me  Mathilda is fatter than I • Many of those rules were based on Latin grammar. Latin was assumed as the respected scientific language in the 15th – 17th Centuries. Descriptive Grammar • 1985; Randolph Quirk, Sidney Greenbaum, Geoffrey Leech, and Jan Svartvik; A Comprehensive Grammar of the English Language. • Based on a corpus of actual spoken and written English. Morphology The Word of Language • The development of monolingual dictionaries: • 1604; Robert Cawdrey; A Table Alphabetical; 2,500 entries. • 1755; Dr. Samuel Johnson; Dictionary of the English Language; two volumes. • 1828; Noah Webster; An American Dictionary of the English Language; two volumes; 70,000 entries. • Webster’s Third International Dictionary of English Language has over 450,000 entries. Content words: Nouns, Verbs, Adjectives, and Adverbs. Function words: Conjunctions, Prepositions, Articles, Pronouns, Morpheme: The minimal unit of meaning. Free morpheme: a single morpheme that constitutes a word and can stand alone. Bound morpheme: a morpheme that must be attached to another morpheme. Prefix: An affix that occurs before a morpheme. Some examples of negative prefixes Prefix Added to Example UN- adjectives unfair NON- various classes non-smoker, nonsense, non-drip DIS- adjectives, verbs, nouns disloyal, dislike, disfavour A- adjectives, nouns amoral, asymmetry Degree and size prefixes: 41 Prefix Meaning Added to Example Arch- highest, worst nouns archduke, arch-enemy Super- above, better nouns, adjectives superman, supernatural Over- too much verbs, adjectives overeat, overconfident Hyper- extremely adjectives hyperactive Sub- lower than adjectives substandard Mini- little nouns minibus Suffix: An affix that occurs after a morpheme. Class preserving suffixation Suffix Meaning Example -er occupation engineer -ian occupation musician -ist occupation violinist -let small piglet Class changing suffixation: • • • • • • Verbs  Nouns Verbs  Adjectives Adjectives  Nouns Adjectives  Verbs Nouns  Verbs Nouns  Adjectives • Derivational morpheme: deriving (creating) a new word with a new meaning. • Inflectional morpheme: changing the form of a word because of the rules of syntax. • English inflectional morphemes: Nouns –s plural –’s possessive Verbs –s third person singular present –ed past tense –en past participle –ing progressive Adjectives –er comparative 42 –est superlative Word Coinage: Compounds, Acronyms, Back-formations, Abbreviations, Eponyms, and Blends. Compounds: Two or more words joined together to a form a new word. Home + work  homework Pick + pocket  pickpocket Note: The meaning of a compound is not always the sum of the meanings of its parts. Coconut oil  oil made from coconuts. Olive oil  oil made from olives. Baby oil  ......... cathouse  ......... blue-movies  ......... blue-chip  ......... Acronyms: Words derived from the initials of several words. National Aeronautics and Space Agency  ......... Self-contained underwater breathing apparatus  ......... .........  FYI .........  TGIF .........  a.k.a Back-formations: Creative reduction due to incorrect morphological analysis. Editor (1649)  edit (1791) Television (1907)  televise (1927) Abbreviations (Clipping): A word which is clipped. Facsimile  fax Hamburger  burger Gasoline  ......... Advertisement  ......... Omnibus  ......... Words from Names (Eponyms): Words derived from proper names or things. Sandwich Celsius Blends: Similar to compounds, but parts of the words are deleted. Motor + hotel  Motel Breakfast + lunch  ......... modulator, demodulator  ......... *** 43 10 THINGS YOU DIDN'T KNOW ABOUT ISAAC NEWTON V. Devadharshini Department of Biotechnology, Thiagarajar College, Madurai – 625 009. He really did not like his stepfather Newton was an avid list maker and one of his preserved lists included all of the sins he felt he had committed up until the age of 19 (his age at the time). One of them included, "Threatening my father and mother Smith to burn them and the house over them." You can’t hardly blame the guy, though "“when Smith proposed to Isaac’s mother, Isaac wasn’t part of the deal. The three-year-old Isaac was sent to live with his grandmother. He wasn't expected to survive as a child He was born quite premature "“an estimated 11 to 15 weeks early. His mother said he could fit in a quart-sized cup upon birth. That apple thing? Never happened At least, not the way the legend goes. The story you probably know is that Mr. Newton was sitting under a tree contemplating life when an apple struck him on the head, simultaneously making a light bulb about gravity go off. The real story according to the man himself is that Newton was merely looking out the window when he happened to see the fruit drop. Even then, some Newton scholars think the story involving the apple was entirely made up. He was a stutterer, but it puts him in good company Other people who habitually tripped over their tongues included Aristotle, Moses, Winston Churchill and Charles Darwin. Despite being born on January 4, he was born on Christmas Day I know, confusing. At the time of his birth, the Gregorian calendar hadn't been adopted by England yet (it took them until 1752, and Newton was born in 1643). Records indicate that Isaac was born on Christmas and baptized on New Year's Day. When the Gregorian calendar was finally adopted by England, it needed adjusted by 11 days, making January 4 Isaac's recognized birthday. Worried about the supposed apocalypse in 2012? Never fear: Newton spent a lot of time studying the subject "“ in fact, he believed that God had chosen him specifically to interpret the Bible - and concluded that the world would end no sooner than 2060. "This I mention not to assert when the time of the end shall be,"• he explained, "but to put a stop to the rash conjectures of fanciful men who are frequently predicting the time of the end, and by doing so bring the sacred prophesies into discredit as often as their predictions fail. He was a genius, to be sure, but not much of a politician. In his year as a member of parliament, he spoke up only once "“ and that was to tell someone to close a window. Think the Philosopher's Stone is just Harry Potter lore? Newton didn't. OK, Newton didn't know about Harry Potter, but you know what I mean. A bunch of his papers were deemed "unfit to publish"• upon his death in 1727 and remained so until 1936, when Sotheby's auction house acquired and sold most of them to economist John Maynard Keynes. These included the papers on the Philosopher's Stone (thought to turn 44 lead into gold and possibly be an elixir of life) and his prediction about the end of the world. His dog set his laboratory on fire, ruining 20 years of research. At least, that’s the story Newton told "“ some historians believe that Newton never even owned a dog, hypothesizing that he left a window open and a gust of wind knocked over a lit candle. But the dog story lives on "“ it was recorded as early as 1833 in The Life of Sir Isaac Newton. When he saw what man's best friend had done, Newton is said to have exclaimed, "O Diamond, Diamond, thou little knowest the mischief thou hast done." Late in life, Newton suffered a nervous breakdown and became known for rather eccentric behaviour. But it probably wasn’t his fault "“ a 1979 examination of Newton's hair showed astronomical amounts of mercury, probably as a result of all of his alchemy experiments. Too much mercury can drive a man mad, of course, and that may have been exactly what it did to Isaac Newton. Then again, maybe not: the other side of the argument is that Newton never lost his hair (although he was gray by the age of 30 and attributed it to his studies with mercury) and never had bleeding gums, two very prominent symptoms of mercury poisoning. *** “Ignorance more frequently begets confidence than does knowledge: it is those who know little, not those who know much, who so positively assert that this or that problem will never be solved by science.” - Charles Darwin “I can see how it might be possible for a man to look down upon the earth and be an atheist, but I cannot conceive how a man could look up into the heavens and say there is no God.” - *** 45 Abraham Lincoln CONCEPTUAL MODEL DEPICTING THE IMPORTANCE OF CUSTOMER PERCEPTION IN THE PURCHASE – DECISION MAKING PROCESS WITH REFERENCE TO THE MARUTI SUZUKI BRAND Dr. K. Ramya Management Sciences, PSG College of Arts and Science, Coimbatore- 641 004. Knowledge of the marketers in the area of “Customer Perception” enables them to handle the customers by knowing, what they expect and how they perceive the product and how it reflects in the market space. “Customer Perception” is very important concept that every marketer has to analyze for their own development of the product. The customer handling is a very interesting task and also it needs some special care.. The model shown in this research is a conceptual model which depicts the importance and intervention of the customer perception in the purchase-decision making process of the customers. The three factors “Satisfaction drivers”, “Customer Perception” and “Customer Intention” shown in the model are interrelated and complementary to each other. We can find the statistical evidence in the analysis part of this article for proving the relation among the above said factors. Introduction to the Study India is becoming emerging market for worldwide auto giants. India is the second most populated country in the world and the growth rate of Indian economy is also high as compared to developed countries, which attracts the presence of huge demand in the Automobile Small Car Industry. For most of the people, purchasing a car is the second most important and expensive decision, next to purchase of a house; for the automotive manufacturers, first-time car buyers give them the opportunity to create positive brand image which definitely could be reflected in next coming years because consumers could make repeat car purchasing. The concept of “Buying Behavior” is of prime importance in marketing and has evolved over the years. It is very important to understand purchasing products. Day to day human wants are growing, expectation is growing. Car models are no exception to this behavior. Consumer behavior is fairly complex as car consumer buying behavior as it plays a vital role while This leads to constant modifications of car models and its features in terms of their size, capacity, styling etc. and today we see a new model coming into the market practically every quarter. Market has become very competitive and has become very ‘important place’ to study the behavior of consumers and also provides useful insights what a consumer requires in a product in a dynamic environment. Need for the Study Customer satisfaction is fundamental to the success of any organization. Without satisfied customers, no business or agency can survive for long. Therefore, in this context, the study on “customer perception towards Maruti” Suzuki brand becomes vital. According to the Consumer Reports’ annual Car-Brand Perception Survey, consumers perceive each brand in seven categories: quality, safety, performance, value, fuel economy, design/style, and technology/innovation. Combining those factors gives us the total brandperception. It is only through research that a company will be able to study the buying behavior of consumers. With better understanding of factors that influence the consumer preference for selecting the automobile brand will help the companies to take necessary actions required to meet the customer’s need. They can identify their own strengths and weaknesses, where they stand in comparison to their competitors, chart out the future progress path and improvement. The passenger car market changed very rapidly due to the fierce competition and advance technology, therefore, it requires the automotive manufactures to understand the consumer’s preference on time and take fast actions to 46 reflect market changes quickly. So it would be very interesting to know consumer’s preference in today’s fast-changing passenger car market and how is the customer buying process. Scope of the Study The Study aims to find out the factors that influence the customers to select the automobile brands with special reference to Maruti Suzuki Brand. Without knowing the factors, we cannot measure exactly in what way the customer is selecting the automobile brand. So Satisfied Customers able to create new customer effectively through their word of mouth. One mistake can have far- reaching effects on future as well as current customers. So it is essential to find out the customer satisfaction and their expectation towards Automobile brands with special reference to Maruti Suzuki Brand. If any dissatisfaction exists so that remedial measures can be taken by the Company to improve their products and services. Statement of Problem Consumer behavior consists of all human behavior that goes in making before and post purchase decisions. One can succeed in the competitive market only after understanding the complex consumer behavior. An understanding of the consumer enables a marketer to take marketing decisions which are compatible with its consumer needs. Due to the emergence of globalization and liberalization there is a stiff competition among the Automobile industries which are focusing attention in capturing the Indian markets and automobiles are no more considered as luxury once, now occupies a part of day-to-day life and has become a necessity. Customers have now changed their attitude that yesterday’s luxuries are today’s necessities. To be a successful marketer it is absolutely essential to study the factors that influence the prospective buyers and track them in an effective way. Objectives of the Study • To analyze the customer intentions for the purchase of cars. • To find out the satisfaction drivers, in the perception of the customers. • To analyze the perceived quality of the Maruti Suzuki brand according to the customers of Coimbatore District. • To analyze the post - purchase behavior of the Maruti Suzuki customers. Research Methodology Research Methodology is a way to systematically solve the research problem. It may be understood as a science of studying how research is done scientifically. In it we study the various steps that are generally adopted by a researcher in studying his research problem along with the logic behind them. Empirical Study Empirical research relies on experience or observation alone, often without due regard for system and theory. It is data-based research, coming up with the conclusions which are capable of being verified by observation or experiment. We can also call it as experimental type of research. It is necessary to get facts at the firsthand, at their source, and actively to go about doing certain things to stimulate the production or desired information. Here the researcher must set the working hypothesis and should get enough facts for proving or disproving his hypothesis. 47 Sampling Unit A decision has to be taken concerning a sampling unit before selecting sample. It may be geographical, construction unit or it may be a social unit. Here the researcher has selected the Coimbatore district as the sampling unit. Sample Size This refers to the number of items to be selected from the universe to constitute a sample. In this project 460 Respondents are selected to get optimum result. Sampling Technique The researcher must decide the type of sample he will use. i.e., he must decide the technique to be used in the items for the sample. Quota sampling technique is applied here. Data Collection Construction of the Questionnaire A detailed questionnaire consisting of 5-point scale was constructed for the purpose of the study. A pilot study was conducted. Based on the Observations in the pilot study, the tool for data collection was revised, refined and standardized. Tools for Analysis The following tools have been applied for analyzing the collected data. .1,Cronbach’s Alpha Testing 2. Frequency Analysis 3. Correlation 4. Chi-square Test 5. One way ANOVA 6. Factor Analysis 7. KMO Test Customer Perception Model Satisfied Not satisfied No further recommendation Further recommend The model shown above is a conceptual model which depicts the importance and intervention of the customer perception in the purchase-decision making process of the customers. The three factors “Satisfaction drivers”, “Customer Perception” and “Customer Intention” shown on the top of the model are interrelated and complementary to each other. We can find the statistical evidence in the analysis part of this thesis for proving the relation among the above said factors. There are strong positive correlations among the variables contributing to the above said three factors. As shown in the model above, the customer perception collectively reflects in the market space and influences the purchasedecision making process. A new customer is being influenced by the collective perception prevailing in the market space makes a purchase decision, choses the product of his choice and starts using the product. Based on his experience with the product he is either satisfied or dissatisfied. The degree of satisfaction or dissatisfaction will vary depending on the nature of experiences with the product. A satisfied customer will tend to recommend the product to his friends in his network, whereas the dissatisfied customer will not recommend. These are all included in his post purchase behavior. Now his new improved perception of various aspects of the product will contribute to influence or strengthen the existing collective perception in the market-space. Conclusion 48 With the rapid increase in car brands, consumers really have to think hard while making a choice or deciding for the Maruti Suzuki car to be purchased. Due to increased competition, more and more work is to be done by the marketing department so as to understand the purchase behavior of the consumers. Therefore this study would help the companies in understanding the factors that influence the purchase decision of the consumers and their expectations from the passenger cars and it explains how the three important factors have a great reflection on the market space and again how the market space reflection is connected with the customer perception. *** S. Harshavarthani Department of Mathematics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. *** 49 THE LETTER J. Merlin Seles Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. Dear Mom and Dad The war is now over, My task is finally this But Mom there is something I must ask to you….. Mom, I would like to bring Him home with me I have a friend We have no home you use… My son, of course we don’t mind If someone comes with you I am sure the would stay At least a day or two But Mom, I have to tell you something Please don’t be alarmed My friend, you use, in the battle Happened to lose an arm…. My son, don’t be afraid To bring him home with you He could stay and visit Even a weekend or two…. But Mom, he is not just a friend He is a brother too That’s why I want him to live with us And be a son to you 50 But, before you give me a answer There is something I must say My friend fought in a battle In which he lost a leg too My son, it hurts to say this But the answer is “no” Your father and I would have no time For one who is crippled so. Sometime later a letter came, Saying their son was dead And when they read the cause of death, “Suicide” it said…. Sometime later the gasket came… Draped with the country’s flag Without an arm and leg If I know that a word of mine A word not kind and true Might leave its trace On a loved one’s face Is never speak harshly, would you? If I knew, the light of a smile Lingers the whole day And lightens some heart I wouldn’t with hold it, would you? *** 51 ABIOTIC FACTOR INFLUENCING GROWTH OF A PHYTOPATHOGEN CERCOSPORA THEAE, UNDER IN VITRO CONDIOTIONS Jyoti Prasad Kakati, K.Hemelatha, T.Madhupreetha J and RitaEvelyne Department of Biotechnology, K.S.R.C.T., Tiruchengode - 637 215. The effect of pH, temperature and light on growth of the fungal phytopathogen Cercospora theae was studied in solid and liquid media. C. theae isolates collected from Tea plantations of Karnataka, Munnar and Valparai were investigated .The study was initiated to provide a basis for further field experimentation regarding host pathogen interaction , pH range from 5 to 6 was found to be effective in aspects of growth and control of Bacterial contamination. Considering the temperature the optimal lies some where between 20˚C - 30˚C. In the case of effect of light growth was drastically maximal at the plates incubated under Room light as well as ultraviolet ray light. Introduction Tea is the most popular and in expensive beverage produced from the young leaves of the commercially cultivated tea plant. Tea production is greatly hindered due to a number of pests and diseases. Among that leaf disease plays major role in the reduction of tea yield. Among these leaf spot diseases, bird’s eye spot is caused by Cercospora theae Petch. Cercospora theae is a pathogenic fungus, which belongs to the family Deutromycetes of the Division Mycota. It occurs in almost all tea growing areas of the world. The disease affected leaves appears with small black, round, sunken necrotic spots with a red colored margin. Abiotic and biotic factors that affect the growth of the pathogen have to be studied in order to know about the optimal requirement of the pathogen. Hence the studies on various abiotic factors were studied as a preliminary step to understand about the pathogen so as to pave the way. Methodology Isolation of the pathogen Infected leaves were screened in various estates and samples were collected from Karnataka, Munnar and Valparai and named as KC10,MC24,AND VC38. The collected samples were then surface sterilized and the infected area was placed over the Potato Dextrose Agar plates. The growth pattern of the pathogen was studied in both solid and liquid media at different pH, temperature and light. The pH ranging was 4, 5, 6, 7, 8and 9 and temperature was 10, 20, 30, 40, 50 and 60oC and light was Direct sunlight, indirect, Tube light, UV light and dark given. Growth pattern was noted by calculating the colony diameter for 9 days and the wet weight and dry weight was calculated on 8th day. Results Effect of pH The results shows that for KC10 wet weight is more in pH 6 of about 225mg and dry weight is more in the same pH of about 199.67mg. For MC24 wet weight is more in pH 7 (318mg) and dry weight is more at the same pH of about 282mg. For VC38 wet weight was more in pH5 at a rate of about 322.33mg and dry weight was also more at the same pH at a range of 291.33mg. In radial growth VC38 shows higher growth (Table1). Effect of Temperature The results showed that for the growth was optimal at 20˚C for all the three isolates and the diameter was about 62.67 mm, 76.67mm and 85.0mm in diameter for KC10, MC24 and VC38 (Table2)and dry weight was also optimal at 20˚C for all the three 52 isolates at a rate of 183.33 mg, 194.33 mg and 394 mg for the KC10, MC24 and VC 38 isolates respectively. Effect of Light The results were confirmed that both solid and liquid media showed that the growth was maximum in indirect sunlight. In case of liquid medium results, both wet weight & dry weight depicts the same results for all the three isolates of C. theae, which is high in indirect sunlight in rooms followed by UV light, tube light, Dark and sunlight(Table3).. The highest dry weight recorded for the three isolates were 252.67 mg, 203.33 mg and 268.33 mg corresponding to the indirect sunlight. Table 1. Radial growth of Cercospora theae in different pH. Isolates KC10 D pH 4 pH 5 pH 6 pH 7 pH 8 3 37.3±7.1 36±2 31.33±1.51 36.33± 2.1 52.67±16.0 5 56±4.6 63± 13.2 56.67± 3.8 58.33± 0.58 61± 3.6 7 71.67± 5.7 81± 8.2 73.67 ± 4.1 72.33 ±2.1 78.33± 4.2 12 88.33 ±2.9 90± 0 90± 0 90± 0 90± 0 MC24 3 41.33± 7.6 40±5.3 43.67 ±8.2 41.33± 6.8 42.33± 5.9 5 43.67± 1.2 64.33 ±3.2 61.33± 8.2 59± 5.3 75± 7 7 71.33±10.7 87.33± 4.6 87.33± 4.6 82±2.7 82± 13.9 12 80 ±5 90± 0 90± 0 90± 0 90± 0 VC38 3 39.33± 6 39± 9.5 42.67± 2.5 39.33± 3.2 40.33± 2.2 5 58.33± 7.6 68.33±3.1 73.33±2.2 60± 4.4 72.67±1.2 7 88.33±2.9 90± 0 90± 0 82.33±2.1 90± 0 12 90±0 90 ±0 90±0 90±0 90±0 * KC10 MC24 and VC38 are the three isolates of C.theae. D-denotes days. All the data represented in the table were average of three replicates pH 9 41.33± 7.4 58.67± 8.2 69.33±6 82.33± 2.5 34±5.3 51.33± 2.3 64± 1.7 90± 0 42.33± 68 63.33±12.6 90± 0 90±0 Figure. 1 & 2. Wet weight and dry weight of C. theae in different pH. Wet weight of Cercospora theae in different pH Dry weight of Cercospora theae in different pH 315 256 291.33 282 231 322.33 229.67 pH9 229.33 189.67 318 MC24 191 191.67 pH8 pH7 pH6 pH5 pH4 129.67 weight in (mg) 26 200.67 199.67 184.67 184.33 157.69 153.33 228.67 223.67 192 171.33 172 165 217.33 212.33 154.33 KC10 225 205 178.33 KC10 Weight in (mg) MC24 VC38 Different isolates of C.theae Table 2. Radial growth of Cercospora theae in different temperature. D 3 5 7 10°C 20°C 30°C 183±1.5 15.67±2.1 33.67±+7.0 33.33±3.2 44±6.6 40.33±4.0 53 40°C 7.67±0.56 17±2 20.67±2.1 50°C 5±1.7 6.33±0.6 - 60°C No growt h Isolates KC10 pH4 pH5 pH6 pH7 pH8 pH9 121 94.33 No growt h Different isolates of C.theae 282 292.33 VC38 56.33±7.6 48.33±4.5 24±1.73 9 62.67±5.5 63.33±3.2 31.33±2.3 12 18.33±1.5 17.67±3.2 7±0 6±0 MC24 3 36.33±6.0 44±5.3 15.67±4.1 5 57±5.2 51±1.7 19.67±0.57 7 66.33±2.9 60.33±4.6 27.67±6.4 9 76.67±7.6 65.67±4.0 28.67±0.57 12 19.33±3.2 13.33±0.57 5.33±0.57 3 51±4.6 37.67±3.5 17±2.7 5 VC38 60.6±4.0 64.33±5.0 22.33±2.1 7 9 79±3.6 76±7.8 35±0 12 85±2 85.67±4.0 45±5 * KC10 MC24 and VC38 are the three isolates of C.theae. D-denotes days. All the data represented in the table were average of three replicates Figure. 3 & 4. Wet weight and dry weight of C. theae in different temperature. Wet weight of Cercospora theae at different temperature ranges Dry weight of Cercospora theae at different temperature ranges 450 4500 400 4000 3810 3762 394 361 350 3500 300 3000 250 2500 200 211.67 183.33 2000 181.67 160.33 194.33 150 1500 1478 1400 1245 100 1000 746 500 0 86 0 10°C 20°C 30°C 83.33 78 50 242 99.67 0 50°C 40°C 0 60°C 0 0 10°C 20°C Different temperature ranges KC10 MC24 30°C 0 50°C 40°C 0 60°C Differnt temperature ranges VC38 KC10 MC24 VC38 Figure. 5 & 6. Wet weight and dry weight of C. theae in different light. Wet weight of Cercospora theae in different light sources Dry weight of Cercospora theae in different light sources 4500 268.33 255.67 241.33 252.67 4119 4000 3000 3018.71 2500 2417 2000 1658 1588.67 1500 203.33 3229.33 Weight in (mg) weight in (mg) 3500 2612.67 1914.7 1582.67 1000 154.67 148 151 Dark Tube uv 157 133.33 Indirect Sun 100 917.67 523.33 500 77 87.33 78.33 0 Dark Tube uv Indirect MC24 61 49.33 Sun Different light source KC10 54 42 65.67 KC10 M C24 VC38 Different light sources VC38 * KC10 MC24 and VC38 are the three isolates of C.theae. D-denotes days. All the data represented in the table were average of three replicates Table 3. Radial growth of Cercospora theae in different light. Isolates KC10 D 3 Dark 28±2 Tube light 15.67±0.6 Uv 24±4.6 Indirect 23.33±3.1 Direct 14.33±0.6 5 36±3.6 29.67±2.5 32±6.6 35.67±3.2 15.67±1.2 54 MC24 VC38 7 44±2 40.67±0.6 45.67±8.7 62.67±2.5 16±1 12 52.67±3.1 55.33±4.2 62±16.5 79±1 16.67±1.2 3 5 25±5 34.67±4.51 25.33±4.73 36.33±3.3 25.33±4.0 42.33±2.5 35±5.6 43±4.6 13.33±0.58 14±1 7 44.67±2.52 42.67±2.5 56.33±4.0 58.33±7.6 14±1 12 70.33±1.53 55.33±2.9 75±1 70.67±3.5 15±1 3 5 33.33±4.2 58±3.6 33.67±1.5 51±1.7 27±3.6 66.33±6.7 37.33±7.5 43±6.1 12.67±1.2 14±1 7 73.67±5.1 64±12.5 52.33±7.5 14±1 78±2.8 79±0 77±16.8 81.67±14.4 80±17.3 14.67±1.2 12 KC10 MC24 and VC38 are the three isolates of C.theae. D-denotes days. All the data represented in the table were average of three replicates * Discusssion The overall results depicts that though alkaline pH 8 and pH 9 found to be effective for pathogen. Alkalinity is supporting the growth of bacteria which is resulting in competitive inhibition of the pathogen at later stages. Pathak and Shakhawat reported that optimal pH supported the growth and sporulation of fungal phytopathogen Tolysporum penicillariae was found to be 7.5. In contrary U. tritici pathogen which yields maximum growth at pH 3.9 was reported by Sen and Munjal in 1968. Coinciding to results of Sen and Munjal the pathogen Cercospora theae is supported by acidic environment. Hence it can be concluded that acidic pH of 5 is the optimal pH that supports the growth of the phytopathogen. According to the results of temperature studies in liquid media and solid media for Cercospora theae the universal factors resulted to the optimal temperature that supports the growth of the phytopathogen was 20˚C. In the present study, indirect sunlight in rooms favours the growth followed by UV light, tube light and darkness where as direct light from sun exhibiting 12hr light / 12 hr dark inhibited the growth of the pathogen of the phytopathogen is 20˚C. *** (b) “Reading one book is like eating one potato chip.” – Diane Duane “Reading is a discount ticket to everywhere.” – Mary Schmich “Keep reading. It’s one of the most marvelous adventures that anyone can have.” – 55 Lloyd Alexander EVALUATION OF PHARMACOLOGICAL ACTIVITY AND USES OF TRIBULUS TERRESTRIS J. P. Shanmadi KK College of pharmacy, Chennai - 600 128. It is a Mediterranean plant belongs to the family Zygophyllaceae, also known as puncture vein. It has been used mostly in India and Pakistan. Its parts like leaf root and fruits are used by the people for the medicinal uses. For over many years it has been used by athletes, body builders and for other health problems like heart, circulatory conditions and sexual issues. It used for the treatment of angina, eczema, renal and vesicle calculi, eye problem and edema. Introduction Tribulus terrestris has been found in subtropical regions mainly in India. Its roots and fruits used for rheumatism, piles, renal and vesicles calculi and general weakness. Leaves, fruits and flowers are used as tonic and diuretics. It contains chemical constituents like flavonoids, glycosides, alkaloids, tannins, furostanol saponin 1, spirostanol saponins 2 and 3, situterol glycoside, steroidal saponins which gives the antibacterial, cytotoxic, antihyperlipidimic effect. It also increases the secretion of luteinizing hormone and testosterone . Recent research has been conducted based on the study of photosensitivity of Tribulus terrestris in South African sheep for geeldikkop, study of sexual effect of Tribulus terrestris puncturevein extract using rat model, study of Tribulus terrestris saponin less toxic to normal call than cancer cell (influence on apoptosis and proliferation). Discription Tribulus terrestris stems has diameter of about 10 cm to over 1 m, often branching. They are usually form flat patches. Leaves are pinnately compound. Its Hairy leaflets are opposite and has length up to 3 mm long. The flowers are 4–10 mm wide, with five lemonyellow petals, five sepals, and ten stamens. Its fruit develops that falls apart into five burs. The burs are hard and have two to four spines, 10 mm long and 4–6 mm broad. Pharmacological Activity • Due to presence of large amount of essential oils and nitrates and increase in potassium salts in cause diuretic effect. • It also acts as antihypertensive agent. 56 • It causes relaxation of acetyl choline and electrical field stimulation gives aphrodisiac activity. • It inhibits nucleation and growth of calcium oxalate crystals leads to antiurolithic activity. • Inhibition of damage to NRK52E renal cells causing cytoprotective activity. • Inhibition of gluconeogenesis which leads to hypoglycemic activity. it also enhance the absorption of metformin hydrochloride • It decreases cholesterol, LDL, VLDL and TG and also increases the HDL level gives hypolipidemic activity. • It is used to treat cardiac disorders like coronary disease, myocardial infarction, cerebral arthrosclerosis, CAD and sequel of cerebral thrombosis. • It has immunomodulatory activity by dose dependent increase phagocytosis. • It effectively inhibits COX-2 and INOS in lippopolysachride induced RAW264.7 cells causing anti inflammatory activity. • Only the fruit and leaf of Indian plant has antibacterial activity effectively against E.coli and S.aureus. Mechanism gf Action • Diuretic effect: Tribulus terrestris has large amount of nitrates, essential oils in fruits and leaves, it also has increased potassium salt which causes diuretic effect along with this it increases smooth muscle tonicity. • Aphrodisiac activity: Tribulus terrestris increases nitrous oxide in nitergic nerve endings and endothelium causing aphrodisiac activity. It increases testosterone secretion by inhibiting testosterone cadmium induced testicular damage. • Antiurolithic activity: GOX causes oxalate synthesis which gives glycoxalate from glycolate due to oxidation causes urolithiasis. Tribulus terrestris inhibits GOX enzyme. • Hypoglycemic property: Tribulus terrestris decreases serum glues, serum triglycerides, serum cholesterol and decreases SOD activity, which also inhibits gluconeogenesis leads to hypoglycemia • Hypolipidemic effect: due to presence of phenolic compound in Tribulus terrestris leads to increase in lipoprotein lipase in muscle. It decrease cholesterol induced hyperlipidemia in the body. • Immunomodulatory activity: Tribulus terrestris stimulate the nonspecific immune response. Increases specific immune response by raising humeral antibody delayed hypersensitivity response. • Activity in cardiac disorder: Tribulus terrestris decreases biomarkers like malondialdehyde, aspartate transaminase, creatinine kinase, LDH activity and myocardial apoptosis rate. 57 • Anti inflammatory activity: suppressing the proinflammatory cytokines such as IL-4 and tumor necrosis factor alpha in macrophage cell line causing the anti inflammatory activity. Recommended dose Fruit 3-6g as powder, 20-30g as decoction. Root 20-30g as decoction. Sexual disorder - 250-1500mg/day orally. Diabetes1000mg/ day. Side effects Side effects are mild and uncommon Some side effects include stomach pain, cramping, diarrhea, nausea, vomiting, constipation, excitation, difficulty sleeping, or heavy menstrual bleeding. In rare cases, reports of kidney damage have been linked to taking tribulus. Conclusion Tribulus terrestris is used traditionally by the ancestors for the sexual disorder. It also used for the treatment of rheumatic pain and as analgesic. It is concluded that the root, stem, flower, fruit and leaf of Tribulus terrestris gives the antiurolithic property, hypoglycemic property, aphrodisiac activity, hypolipidimic activity, activity in cardiac disorder and anti inflammatory activity by using it as powder or decoction in recommended doses. *** DRUG DISCOVERY AND DRUG DESIGN N. Karthik Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. Introduction: Drug discovery is the process by which drugs are discovered and designed. In Past most drugs have been discovered by identifying the active ingredient from traditional remedies. It is a new approach to control the disease and infection at the molecular and physiological level and to target specific entities. The process involves the identification of candidates, synthesis, characterization, screening, and assays for therapeutic efficacy. It is the beginning process of drug development prior to clinical trials. Drug design is the approach of finding drugs by design, based on their biological targets. Typically a drug target is a key molecule involved in a particular metabolic or signalling pathway that is specific to a disease condition or pathology, or to the infectivity or survival of a microbial pathogen. Drug discovery Despite advances in technology and understanding of biological systems, drug discovery is still a long process with low rate of new therapeutic discovery. Information on the human genome, its sequence and what it encodes has been hailed as a potential windfall for drug discovery, promising to virtually eliminate the bottleneck in therapeutic targets that has been one limiting factor on the rate of therapeutic discovery. However, data 58 indicates that "new targets" as opposed to "established targets" are more prone to drug discovery project failure in general. This data collaborates some thinking underlying a pharmaceutical industry trend beginning at the turn of the twenty-first century and continuing today which finds more risk aversion in target selection among multi-national pharmaceutical companies. Targets "Established targets" are those for which there is a good scientific understanding, supported by a lengthy publication history, of both how the target functions in normal physiology and how it is involved in human pathology. This does not imply that the mechanism of action of drugs that are thought to act through a particular established targets is fully understood. Rather, "established" relates directly to the amount of background information available on a target, in particular functional information. The more such information is available, the less investment is (generally) required to develop a therapeutic directed against the target. The process of gathering such functional information is called "target validation" in pharmaceutical industry. "New targets" are all those targets that are not "established targets" but which have been or are the subject of drug discovery campaigns. These typically include newly discovered proteins, or proteins whose function has now become clear as a result of basic scientific research. The majority of targets currently selected for drug discovery efforts are proteins. Drug designing and its Approaches Functioning of the pathway stopped in the diseased state by a key molecule to stop functioning. Drugs designed that bind to the active region and inhibit this key molecule. However these drugs - designed - not to affect any other important molecules that may be similar to the key molecules. Sequence homologies were widely used for drug designing. It helps to enhance the normal pathway by promoting specific molecules in the normal pathways those are affected in the diseased state. The structure of the drug molecule interacts with the biomolecules that can be modeled using computational tools. These tools were used to construct drug molecule within the biomolecules of its known structure and its active site. There have also been suggestions to make use of mRNA. Gene silencing also have therapeutical applications. Rational drug design Historical method by trial-and-error testing of chemical substances on cultured cells or animals, and matching the apparent effects to treatments. Rational drug design begins based on chemical responses in the body or target organism, and tailoring combinations of these to fit a treatment profile. It should be potential new drugs without side-effects. E.g., of rational drug design it uses 3D information obtained from x-ray crystallography and NMR spectroscopy - referred as structure-based drug design. First approved drug is the carbonic anhydrase inhibitor dorzolamide which was approved in 1995. Another eg: design in imatinib, a tyrosine kinase inhibitor designed specifically for the bcr-abl fusion protein that is characteristic for Philadelphia chromosome-positive leukemias. Imatinib is different from other drugs of cancer, as agents of chemotherapy simply target rapidly dividing cells, does not differentiate between cancer cells and others. The activity of a drug at its binding site is one part of the design. Another to take into account is the molecule's drug likeness, which summarizes the necessary physical properties for effective absorption. Estimation of druglikeness should be done by Lipinski's Rule of Five. Computer-assisted drug design: 59 Computer-assisted drug design uses computational chemistry to discover, enhance, or study drugs and related biologically active molecules. Methods used are simple molecular modeling, using molecular mechanics, molecular dynamics, semi-empirical quantum chemistry methods, ab initio quantum chemistry methods and density functional theory. The purpose is to reduce the number of targets for a good drug that have to be subjected to expensive and time-consuming synthesis and trialing Examples of designed drugs: • Cimetidine, the prototypical H2-receptor antagonist from which the later members of the class were developed • Dorzolamide, a carbonic anhydrase inhibitor used to treat glaucoma • Many of the atypical antipsychotics • Selective COX-2 inhibitor NSAIDs • SSRIs (selective serotonin reuptake inhibitors), a class of antidepressants • Zanamivir, an antiviral drug • Enfuvirtide, a peptide HIV entry inhibitor • Probenecid • Nonbenzodiazepines like Zolpidem and Zopiclone Drug delivery systems Some of the drug delivery system are: Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems; Proprietary Drug Delivery Systems; Controlled Release Oral Dosage Forms; Unique Multifunctional Nano- and Micron-Sized Capsules; Needle-Free Injection Devices; Pharmaceutical Spray and Dispensing Systems; Solutions for Respiratory, Allergy, Dermatological and Topical Conditions; Tablet Binders, Lubricants, Superdisintegrants and Functional Fillers; Transdermal Therapeutic Patches; Advanced Oral Wafer Medication and Estradiol Matrix HRT Patches; Transdermal Drug Delivery Systems; Proprietary Drug Delivery Systems; Controlled Release Oral Dosage Forms; Unique Multifunctional Nano- and Micron-Sized Capsules; Needle-Free Injection Devices; Pharmaceutical Spray and Dispensing Systems. Current status Pharmaceutical Industry’s existence is based on chemical compounds that are dispensed orally or as injectables. During last three decades, formulations that control the rate and period of drug delivery (i.e., time-release medications) and target specific areas for treatment have become increasingly common and complex. Pharmaceutical research focuses - not only the development of new treatments also the mechanisms with which to administer them. Problem in drug delivery is that many drug potencies and therapeutic effects are limited or otherwise reduced due to partial degradation when it reach a desired target in the body. Researchers are turning to advances in the worlds of micro- and nanotechnology. Effective in enhancing drug targeting specificity, lowering systemic drug toxicity, improving treatment absorption rates, and providing protection for pharmaceuticals against biochemical degradation. Excitingly, Biodegradable polymers, dendrimers (so-called star polymers), electroactive polymers, and modified C-60 fullerenes (also known as “buckyballs”) are of in a plan to use in drugs. Modern research uses biodegradable polymer systems. Drug deliverers degrade by process of hydrolysis, which subsequently leaves their incorporated medications behind. 60 The degradation process -breakdown of polymers into lactic and glycolic acids. These acids are reduced by the Kreb’s cycle to carbon dioxide and water, which the body can easily expel. Recent research is that effect of hydrogel on stomach and into the more alkaline intestine. Hydrogels are cross-linked, hydrophilic, 3D polymer networks that are highly permeable to various drug compounds, can withstand acidic environments, and can be tailored to “swell”, and thereby releasing entrapped molecules through weblike surfaces. Depending on the gel’s chemical composition, different internal and external stimuli (e.g., changes in pH, magnetic or electric field, temperature, and ultrasound irradiation) may be used to trigger the swelling effect. Once triggered, however, the rate of entrapped drug release is determined solely by the cross-linking ratio of the polymer network. PAA (Poly acrylic acid) hydrogels which has super-absorbency and ability to form extended polymer networks through hydrogen bonding. Excellent bioadhesives, means that they can adhere to mucosal linings within the gastrointestinal tract for extended periods, releasing their encapsulated medications slowly over time. Conclusion Need for research in drug delivery systems ways that is to administer new pharmaceutical therapies. Safety and efficacy of current treatments for improvement of delivery rate, biodegradation, and site-specific targeting can be predicted, monitored, and controlled. Global health care perspective ways to administer oral form and delivering costly, multiple-dose, long-term therapies in inexpensive, potent, and time-releasing or self-triggering formulations are also needed. The promise of administration methods that allow patients to safely treat themselves is as significant as any other health care. *** KNOW ABOUT YOUR TOOTHPASTE AND THE EDIBLE ONES M. Charumathi Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. History It started in India and China way before the 1800s, in which time, 1824, a dentist named Peabody was the first person to make tooth paste with soap in it. John Harris first added chalk as an ingredient to toothpaste in the 1850s. In 1873, Colgate mass-produced the first toothpaste in a jar. In 1892, Dr. Washington Sheffield, a dental surgeon and chemist, manufactured the first toothpaste into a collapsible tube. The positive response of his patients encouraged him to market the paste. He constructed a laboratory to improve his invention and a small factory to manufacture it. The earliest known reference to toothpaste is in a manuscript from Egypt in the 4th century A.D., which prescribes a mixture of powdered salt, pepper, mint leaves, and iris flowers. Many early toothpaste formulations were based on urine. However, toothpastes or powders did not come into general use until the 19th century. Why do you use Toothpaste? It helps to clean your teeth. The foaming action and surfactants are not nearly as important as the brushing itself. The main reason for using toothpaste is that it provides fluoride to strengthen the teeth. (Some also contain whitening or sensitivity agents.) 61 In the basic word's teeth has an acid called as lactic acid. The tooth enamel is attacked by the acid and causes tooth decay. Toothpastes contain alkaline substances that help to neutralize and remove the acid in the mouth. Saliva in our mouth also plays a similar role. The enzyme Ptyalin that is found in the saliva is slightly alkaline and can help to remove the acid particularly after a meal. Toothpaste contains fluoride, which prevents disease in your gums, and it is also slightly abrasive, so it helps scrub your teeth, just like your brush. It's somewhat antibacterial as well. Toothpaste used on earth is not edible in large quantities, and swallowing it should be avoided. Toothpaste contains fluoride with can eat the lining of the stomach. Ingredients Fluoride, Saccharin, additives and Sodium Lauryl Sulfate (SLS). Edible toothpaste history It was invented by NASA who developed edible toothpaste for astronauts. Astronauts in space use toothpaste that is edible. As in space they can’t brush as we do so they swallow the toothpaste instead. Because of the absence of gravity in space, being able to swallow toothpaste is much more convenient for astronauts than having to spit it out. For this reason, edible toothpaste is used. Ingredients All ingredients are organic & edible. Deep fish collagen, Aloe Vera, various amino acids, vitamins (B1, B6, B12 ) and essential trace elements *** OSTEOPOROSIS S. Sureka Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. We all know, our bones become weak as we age. This reduction in bone mass is called Osteoporosis. The bone becomes abnormally porous and weak predisposing it to fractures even upon to a minor injury. How it happens? Bone is actually not a skeleton as we usually think, but it is a living tissue. There is a continuous turnover of bone tissue. Old bone is continuously replaced by new bone. (Bone resorption and bone formation) Upto the age of thirty, bone formation is more than resorption. We attain a peak bone mass in our third decade of life. Greater the peak bone mass, less marked will be the effect of inevitable depletion later in life. After thirty years of age, bone mass depletes at a rate of 0.3 % per year in men and 0.5 % per year in women till menopause. After menopause this low accelerates to about five percentages per year. This is why elderly women frequently get hip fractures. There are many other causes apart from aging for osteoporosis. Examples are malnutrition, endocrine disorders, infections, some cancers, chronic renal failure, chronic intake of steroids (for asthma, skin conditions) and alcoholism.One primary aim should be to get peak bone mass. 62 How? The answer is regular physical exercise. With regular exercises, we can get not only greater peak bone mass but can reduce the rate of bone mass in subsequent years. So even if you are over thirty now, start doing exercise and keep your bones strong. And avoid alcohol. Risk factors for Osteoporosis  Being female  In women, being post menopausal  In men, low testosterone levels  Advanced age  Family history of osteoporosis  Thinness or small frame. *** Did you know? • Smallest fish were discovered in Indonesia in 2005, that measured just 7.9mm long, making them the smallest known vertebrates. They were adult females of Paedocypris Progenetica, a member of the carp family. • The smallest bird is the bee humming bird , which is 5.7cm long and weighs 1.6gram. • only 0.46mm in long. • The smallest bee is the Brazilian Trigona duckei at 2-5mm in long. • The smallest turtle or tortoise is the common musk turtle which is 7.62cm long and weighs 227grams. • The spotted dwarf adder is the smallest venomous snake at 22.8cm in long. • The average human body carries ten times more bacterial cells than human cells • A snail can sleep for three years. • Elephants are the only animal that can't jump • The fingerprints of a koala are so indistinguishable from humans that they have on occasion been confused at a crime scene *** 63 IRON DEFICIENCY – ANEMIA S. Suganthi Rani Department of Chemistry, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. Anemia is derived from Ancient Greek word anaimia, meaning "lack of blood". It is defined as a pathological process in which hemoglobin (Hb) concentration in red cells is abnormally low, considering variations as to age, gender, sea-level altitude, as a result of several situations such as chronic infections, hereditary blood conditions, deficiency of one or more essential nutrients that are necessary for the formation of hemoglobin e.g.: folic acid, B12, B6 and C vitamins, and proteins. The rate of iron absorption by the intestinal tract is also related to age group. For instance, a 12-month infant presents an absorption rate four times higher than others in different age groups. The three main classes of anemia include excessive blood loss such as a hemorrhage or chronically through low-volume loss, excessive blood cell destruction (hemolysis) or deficient red blood cell production (ineffective hematopoiesis).The operational definition of anemia, in terms of hemoglobin levels, was established by the World Health Organization, adopting the level of 11.0 g/dl for children under the age of six and pregnant women. For children aged between 6 and 14 years and non pregnant adult women, the level was 12 g/dl, and 13 g/dl for adult men. Iron deficiency anemia prevention should be established through the following four approaches: nutritional education and improvement of diet quality, including breastfeeding incentive for infants, medicine supplementation, food fortification and control of infections. Mild to moderate iron deficiency anemia is treated by oral iron supplementation with ferrous sulfate, ferrous fumarate, or ferrous gluconate. When taking iron supplements, it is very common to experience stomach upset and/or darkening of the feces. The stomach upset can be alleviated by taking the iron with food, however this decreases the amount of iron absorbed. Vitamin C aids in the body's ability to absorb iron, so taking oral iron supplements with orange juice is of benefit.Vitamin supplements given orally (folic acid) or subcutaneously (vitamin B-12) will replace specific deficiencies. In anemia of chronic disease, anemia associated with chemotherapy, or anemia associated with renal disease, some clinicians prescribe recombinant erythropoietin, epoetin alfa, to stimulate red cell production. In severe cases of anemia, or with ongoing blood loss, a blood transfusion may be necessary. *** “Dream is not that which you see while sleeping it is something that does not let you sleep.” - A P J Abdul Kalam, 64 LIST OF INDIAN STATE TREES D. Nandagi Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. India, officially the Republic of India is a country in South Asia. It is made up of 29 states and 7 union territories. All Indian states have their own government and the Union territories come under the jurisdiction of the Central Government. As mostofthe othercountriesIndiatoohasa State Andhra Pradesh Arunachal Pradesh Bihar Chhattisgarh Goa Gujarat Haryana Himachal Pradesh Jammu and Kashmir Jharkhand Karnataka Kerala Mizoram Nagaland Odisha Punjab Rajasthan Sikkim Tamil Nadu Telangana Tripura Uttar Pradesh Common name Neem Scientific name Azadirachta indica Hollong Dipterocarpus macrocarpus Sacred fig Sal Coconut Mango Sacred fig Deodar Chinar Sal Sandalwood Coconut Iron wood Alder Ashoka tree Indian rosewood Khejri Rhododendron Palmyra palm Jammi Agar Ashoka Ficus religiosa Shorea robusta Cocos nucifera Mangifera indica Uttarakhand Burans West Bengal Alstonia Union territory Andaman and Nicobar Islands Chandigarh Dadra and Nagar Haveli Daman and Diu Delhi Lakshadweep Puducherry Ficus religiosa Cedrus deodara Platanus orientalis Shorea robusta Santalum album Cocos nucifera Mesua ferrea Alnus nepalensis 150px Dalbergia sissoo Prosopis cineraria Rhododendron niveum Borassus Prosopis cineraria Aquillaria agallocha Saraca asoca Rhododendron arboreum Alstonia scholaris Common name Andaman redwood Scientific name Pterocarpus dalbergioides Mango Tree Not Designated Not Designated Flamboyant Bread fruit Bael fruit tree *** Mangifera Indica 65 Delonix regia Artocarpus altilis Aegle marmelos HISTOCHEMICAL LOCALIZATION OF LIGNIN AND TANNIN G. Abi Beaulah Department of Biochemistry, Auxilium College (Autonomous), Vellore – 632 006. Introduction Plants have been a primary source of medicine in the traditional healthcare systems around the world. The application of plants in the treatment of diseases is evidence of man’s ingenuity1. The contribution of these plants to the therapeutic action to fight against the diseases dates back several centuries, and has, to a certain extent, been documented by the ancient Chinese, Indian and North African civilizations2. The inappropriate use of traditional medicines or practices can have negative or dangerous effects on the human health. So, the need for further research prevails to ascertain the efficacy and safety of the practices and medicinal plants used by traditional medicine systems 3. The approach to isolation and characterization of active ingredients from plants started in the late 19 th century and continues till date4. Medicinal plants are the great natural resources, but due to lack of knowledge, arbitrary use and lack of conservation measures, many important medicinal plant species are becoming threatened, endangered and extinct. Histochemistry is devoted to study the identification and distribution of chemical compounds within and between biological cells, using stains, indicators and light and electron microscopy5. Histochemical methods are employed in the identification, density of accumulation and distribution of chemical compounds within biological cells and tissues in different organs under microscopes using the color-stain reaction technique and photographic recording. These include the preparation of fixed variably stained specimens and then the examination under the microscopic devices. The methods are found to be efficient tools for analyzing, localization and distribution of molecules like proteins, carbohydrates, lipids and secondary metabolites in cells and tissues 6. The technique is also employed to study time course of deposition and distribution of major secondary metabolites7. Material and Methods About the plant Botanical Name : Croton sparsiflorus Morong. Synonym : Croton bonplandianum Baill. Family : Euphorbiaceae Common Name : Naipoondu (T), Ban Tulasi (E) Habitat : Throughout India and tropical Asia Distribution : Grows wild along roadsides and abandoned places Croton sparciflorus 66 Sample Collection: The plant material (Croton sparciflorus) was collected in the month of August from Auxilium College campus, Vellore, Tamil Nadu, India and was taxonomically identified and authenticated by the Institute of Herbal Science, Plant Anatomy Research Centre, Chennai, Tamil Nadu, India (PARC/2010/3167) and also voucher specimen CS-ACK-CHEM-001 are retained as the herbarium in the Department of Botany, Auxilium College campus, Vellore, Tamil Nadu for future reference. Histochemical localization of lignin and tannin: Fresh matured parts of the species were used for the histochemical studies. Johansson processing method was adopted for the study with slight modification 8,9 . Sections were later examined and photomicrographs taken from good preparations. The presence and distributions of tannin and lignin rich cells among the various tissues were scored as follows: + indicates low; ++ indicates moderate; +++ indicates High. Results and Discussion Histochemical methods are employed in the identification, distribution of chemical compounds. The density of accumulation within biological cells and tissues in different organs can be identified under microscopes using the color-stain reaction technique and photographs can be recorded. A histochemical study for the localization of tannin and lignin were carried out for root, stem and leaf of Croton sparciflorus plant and the results are presented as photographs. Tannins occur in organs and tissues of many plant species and they are among the most widespread secondary metabolite present in plant, though with restricted distribution in certain monocot plants10. Tannins were found to be of universal occurrence among the Euphorbicaeae family. Similarities and variations were found in the intensity and distribution of ergastic substance among different parts of the plant. In root and stem of the Croton sparciflorus plant, the tannins were found to be high in cortical cells, cuticle, epidermis and phloem but found to be less in mesophyll tissue and xylem as it is evident from the photograph. In the leaf the tannins were found in the cortical and cuticles in a lesser amount. Lignin was found to be present in higher amount in root owing to the presence of secondary metabolites present in the xylem and many of the reactions may take place in xylem due to the presence of lignin. The cork cells and cells around the nematode or egg masses cavity showed the presence of lignin13. In root, stem and leaf of the Croton sparciflorus, the lignin were also found to be high in cortical cells, cuticle, epidermis and phloem but found to be less mesophyll tissue and xylem as shown in photograph. Conclusion Medicinal plants play a major role and constitute the backbone of traditional medicinal practices due to its ability to synthesize a wide variety of secondary metabolites and they are used to perform important biological functions on the human bodies through processes identical to conventional drugs. The histochemical localization of lignin and tannin in plant tissues showed that Croton sparciflorus leaf has tannin occurrence more prevalent in tissues of xylem, phloem, and cortical cells and even in epidermis. The presence of tannins in the epidermis of most of the species helps to protect themselves from the harmful microorganisms, predators or even from the environmental stress. 67 Figure 1. Histochemical studies of different parts of Croton sparciflorus Tissue *** S. Harshavarthani Department of Mathematics, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. 68 NATURE J. Merlin Seles Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. As a fond mother, when the day is over, Leads by the hand her little child to bed, Half willing, reluctant to be led, And leave his broken playthings on the floor, Still gazing at them through the open door, Nor wholly reassured and comforted By promises of others in their stead, Which though more splendid, may not please him more. The beauty of the sunset, Tells us something each day, The beauty of sunrise , Tells us this day is here to stay, So, get inspired by nature each day, To make your way. The grass so little has to doA sphere of simple greenWith only Butterflies to brood And Bees to entertainAnd stir all day to pretty times The Breezes fetch alongAnd hold the sunshine in its lap And bow to everythingAnd thread the dew’s, all night, like PearlsAnd make itself so fine A Duchess were too common For such a noticing*** “Science is not only a disciple of reason but also one of romance and passion.” – Stephen Hawking “We are just an advanced breed of monkeys on a minor planet of a very average star. But we can understand the Universe. That makes us something very special.” – Stephen Hawking 69 SCHISTOSOMIASIS R. Kalidoss Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. Introduction Schistosomiasis is an environmentally-mediated disease that depend upon the presence of suitable habitats for snails which serve as intermediate hosts for the parasite. It is perhaps the most important disease associated with manmade lakes and irrigaton projects in the tropical countries. Inadequate sanitation and contact with contaminated water bodies is a function of the disease transmission. It is a disease caused by several species of fluke worm of genus Schistosoma. The World Health organisation (WHO) identified schistosomiasis as one of the six most serious public health problems in developing countries (Akogun,199O; Ashaolu and Ofoezie,1995; Ofoezie,1995; WHO,1999; Oladejo and Ofoezie,2006). Schistosomiasis affects more than 200million persons in a population of 600 million in 74 countries (WHO, 1995). General features of Schistosomes In this group of organisms, sexes are separate and the adult worms are parasitic in the portal veins and its radicles. S. mansoni and S. japonicum are found in the veins of the large and the small intestine respectively while S. haematobium is found in the veins of the bladder among other places (Awotunde, 2002). Unlike most trematodes, schistosomes are long up to 20mm in length), worm-like and well adapted to life in the blood vessels of their host. 70 Male is broad, lateral margins are folded ventrally forming a gynaechophoric canal in which the female lives. The two branches of the intestine after primary bifurcation unite again a little distance behind the testes that vary in number from four to eight and are restricted to a small dorsal area situated immediately behind the ventral sucker. Females are longer than males and are filiform. Female uteri have comparatively few eggs that have spines or hook. They use suckers to attach themselves to the wall of the blood vessels. They obtain food and oxygen from the blood in which they live. Mature worms in corpula occur in the greatest number in the venous plexuses of the rectum and bladder. The transmission of the disease to man can not be achieved without an intermediate host which are species of freshwater snails. There is no redia stage and no encysted metaceracarial stage as it occurs in other trematodes. Life cycle of Schistosoma spp Eggs are passed out in urine (S. haematobium), stool or excreta (S. mansoni) of an infected person i.e. definitive host.(Fig 2) On contact with water, the egg hatch to become the larva i.e. the miracidium. In order to survive, the tiny larva finds a fresh water snail which is the compatible intermediate host (S. haematobium utilizes Bulinus spicies; S. mansoni utilizes Biompholaria spicies; and S. japonicum utilizes Onchomelania species). In the compatible freshwater snail, the tiny larvae develop into primary sporocysts, which eventually produce several secondary sporocysts which then migrate to the digestive gland (liver) of the snail. The secondary sporocyst in the liver of the snail grow and mature before producing large number of cercaria which break out of the snail tissues into the water. The cycle continues when the cercaria penertrates the unbroken skin of man that wades unprotected into the cercariae-infested water body(through the activities such as bathing, swimming,irrigation,farming,paddling of canoe and cloth washing). The cercariae sheds bifurcated tail and changes into a schistosomulum before entering the blood system directly (or rarely, indirectly via the lymphatics) to be carried passively via the right heart, lungs and left heart to the general systemic vessels where it enters the splanchnic blood vessels en route to the liver. Here it grows into mature adult. The cycle is completed with the pairing of young adults which then migrate against the blood flow of the hepatic portal system to the mesenteric or vesical veins depending on the species of shistosome (Jordan et al., 1985). From the account of the life cycle of the Schistosoma spp, the following points can be deduced: 1. There is an alternation of generation with sexual reproduction in the vertebrate host and asexual reproduction in the snail to replace the considerable parasite losses between man and the snail. 2. All the offspring of a single egg will be of the same sex. 3. The adult worms do not multiply in the vertebrate host-each successful cercaria develops into a single adult worm. 4. The free living stages do not feed, are short –lived, and are adapted to life in a hypotonic aquatic environment. 5. The activity, survival and rate of development of the free –living and the intramolluscan stages are all dependent on the ambient temperature, all processes proceed more rapidly as it increases until lethal temperatures are reached. While in homoiethermic vertebrate host, development and vital processes are more uniform. 71 Figure 2. Life cycle of human Schistosome Figure 3 . Schistosome Eggs as seen in urine under the microscope. Biology of Snail Intermediate Hosts The phylum mollusks is primarily divided into six classes: Monoplacophora, amphineura, gastropoda, scaphopoda, lamellibranchia and chephalopoda.(Fig3) The class Gastrtopoda (Snails) comprises of about 75,000 recent species and are adapted to almost all kinds of habitats: the sea, land and water. They are broadly divided into three sub-classes, Prosobranchia; Opisthobranchia, and Pulmonata. The Prosobranchia are mainly unisexual snails, found in the sea, freshwater bodies and on land. A few species are of 72 great medical importance. Opisthobranchia are hermaphroditic snails with reduced shell or entirely without shell. All the species are marine and non are of medical importance. Pulmonata are also hermaphroditic snails. Physical and Chemical Factors affecting Freshwater snail distribution The principal factors causing fluctuation of snail densities are desiccation in temporary streams, high temperature and flushing out of snails in perennial streams and long delay in the recolonization of temporary site after reappearance of water. Temperature affects regional distribution of snails and each snail species is well adapted to its local temperature profile. Temperature also regulates the rate of growth, reproduction and some other important physiological activities of snail. Generally snail intermediate hosts tolerate wide range of temperature, sometime from 00to about 4000C (Appleton, 1978). For instance, the bulinid snails are reported to be eurythemic, tolerating temperatures between 50C and 400C with an optimal range of 250C- 500C. Some species, however, may be adapted only to limited regional change in temperature. As a result of this, temperature is the most importance abiotic factor determining the regional distribution of host snails. The rainfall pattern have distinct influence on snaildensity. The effect of rainfall on snail distribution is related to its regulatory effect on current velocity and water levels of lotic and lentic habitat Rainfall pattern determine a number of factors such as: increase in the water velocity and influence of the water level. Only a few snails survive a drag current of more than 30cm/s and many snails are normally stranded by rapid change in water level.In general, factors such as turbidity (i.e transparency), water temperature, total alkalinity, hydrogen ion concentration (pH) and the major cations (sodium, potassium, magnesium) also contribute significantly in determining the abundance and distribution of fresh water snails. Fresh water snails respond to variation in the concentration of potassium; sodium, magnesium, carbonate and hydrogen carbonate rations concluded that snails flourish most in microhabitats characterized by high oxygen tension, moderate conductivity, low temperature, low light intensity and neutral pH. reported that distribution of snail is significantly influenced by conductivity, dissolved oxygen and biochemical oxygen demand. Control of schistosomiasis Chemotheray Chemotherapy is used to reduce morbidity in human populations. There are several drugs, which are now available for the treatment of schistosomiasis, but three are recommended on the basis of their efficacy and minimal side effects, they are metriphomate, oxamniquine and praziquatel. Metriphonate is effective only against S. haematobium requiring three doses at two- weeks interval (Feldmeier et al., 1982 Webbe, 1993) Oxaminiquine is effective only against S. mansoni and is used in a dose taken in two equal parts at two intervals Praziquantel is the best of them all because it is effective against all species of schistosome in a single dose Materials and Methods Study Area The study area covers Kwembe ward in Dar es salaam in T a n z a n i a . The climate of the area is typically tropical with two main seasons; rainy season of about seven months (April-October) and dry season of about four mounths (November- March). Tools used for the study 73 Microscopes, test reagents, Centrifuge, blood culturing etc. Sample Collection Procedures Primary Source of sample collection Human urine, blood and stool samples collected from Kwembe school and processed at Emate Hospital at Dar es Salaam. Urine CollectionKwembe primary school was selected, for the study, Urine samples were collected in wide mouthed plastic bottles. A 10ml sub sample was withdrawn and poured into a 25ml-universal plastic bottles with a groove at the bottom. Each urine sample was preserved by adding 1ml of formalin and returned to the laboratory for analysis for presence and number of schistosome egg using sedimentation. In the laboratory, the preserved urine samples were made to stand in an upright position for at least 3 hours to ensure that the eggs were settled (by gravity) in the groove of the universal bottle. 9ml supernatant was carefully withdrawn from each sample using needle and syringe. The remaining 1ml sediment was examined using a counting chamber on the microscope under  40 magnification for the presence and number of S. haematobium eggs/10mil urine. The standard examination and urine microscopy methods for detection of Schistosoma haematobium, (standard microbiology sample collection, preservation and analysis were maintained) and matrix method were simultaneously employed. (a) M acroscopic examination All urine samples were macroscopically examined for their appearance (i.e. whether bloody and cloudy). (b) Microscopic examination The urine were screened for the presence of eggs using wet preparation method and concentration technique (c) Urine microscopy The procedures for the urine examination are as follows: 1. The urine specimens were thoroughly agitated, 10ml of each sample taken, centrifuge at 3,5000rpm for 5minutes; 2. The supernatant was discarded and the whole sediment was transferred to a clean slide and covered with cover glass; 3. The entire sediment was examined under the microscope using x10 objective lens with the condenser iris closed sufficiently to give good contrast; 4. The results were analyzed as egg/10ml urine according to age and sex of pupil; 5. The results were interpreted according to Cheesbrough (2001), any urine sample containing more than 50 eggs in 10ml of urine indicates a heavy infection of Schistosoma sps. Rapid Assessment Method The rapid and inexpensive method was used for first assessment to determine which communities in an area have a high risk of Schizostoma sps. Infection. The procedure was based on simple questionnaires to find out how frequent schistosomiasis is in community (Annexure 1). Blood test 74 The standard examination and blood test methods for detection of Schistosoma haematobium, (standard microbiology sample collection, preservation and analysis were maintained) was simultaneously employed. Results and Discussion A total number of 100 samples were examined for this study. Out of the 40 male samples examined, 23 were infected by Schistosoma sps. with the prevalence rate 5 7 . 5 % in Primary age of 8 -15 groups. (see Table 1). Among the 60 female samples examined 32 female students were infected with 53.3% prevalence rate of infection. Lower prevalence rate was recorded in the age group 14 – 15 of standard 6. The prevalence rates were 10%. Similar work conducted by Sowole and Adegbite, (2012) reported that A total number of 268 samples were examined. Out of the 125 male samples examined, 96 were infected by Schistosoma haematobium with the highest prevalence rate (>90%) in Primary Five (see Table 1). Among the 143 female samples examined 125 female students were infected with 87% prevalence rate of infection. Primary one male and female pupil had least infection rate (50.0%), primary two male and female (78.9%), primary three male and female (81.3%), primary four male and female (89.6%) , primary five male and female (91.8%) and primary six male and female (89.1%). From the Table 2, age group of 11-12, 13-14 and 15-16 were the most infected with the percentage infective rate of 16.79%, 16.79% and 17.54% respectively. Lower prevalence rate was recorded in the age group 5 -6, 7-8, 9-10. The prevalence rates were 5.60%, 11.19% and 14.55% respectively. The results for the present study is not in agreement with Sowole et al., (2012) as the present study is conducted at location in Tanzania and lots of differences are prevailed as far as the factors such as climate, culture, sanitation, personal hygiene are concerned. The high prevalence rate of 221 (82.5) observed, is higher in comparison to 2.4 % in some primary school at Abattoir area, Jos, Central Nigeria and 49.9 % in Faringaida and student area, all in Plateau State Central part of Nigeria as reported by Akunfongwe et.al (1995). They concluded that the result may be due to the absence of safe and nonfunctional pipe- borne water in the study area, (the infested water body is the major source of water in the community) the farming, fishing occupation, belief and low level of education and awareness of the inhabitants on the disease compare to Jos a more developed areas. From the table 2, age group of 5-6, 7-8, 9-10 were the most infected with the percentage of 75%, 68%, 61.25% respectively. Lower prevalence rate was recorded in the age group of 15-16, at the rate of 10%. High populations (90%) like any other rural dwellers are subsistence farmers and fishermen, many of the school pupils help their parents in farming and fishing after school, in weekends and holidays. This will likely predispose higher population to the risk of infection of coming in contact with the infected water bodies and consequently getting infected. Female are more frequent in these water bodies when fetching. This is probably this reason for the high proportion of infected females (87.4%) compared with infected males (76.8). Two probable factors can be responsible for this, unfortunately, the majority of the inhabitants are illiterate and believe that haematuria is a normal stage in the process of maturation and that is often passed from one generation to the other (hereditary) (Adomeh, 1998), therefore they refuse to seek medical attention. On the other hand, the high prevalence similar to the findings of Ogbiede (1999), may be due to the fact that females often become infected with Schistosoma sps. during washing of clothes in the stream, involving prolonged contact with contaminated water. Young children normally accompany their mother to the river in which they play and so may be exposed to the 75 infection due to prolonged water contact. This finding is contrary to the report of Gendy et al. (1999) and Rudge et al. (2000) which shows that males had more water contact compared to females because they are more adventurous and so play more in water bodies. And some studies such as Satayanhum (2006) and Opara (2001) have reported no association between Schistosoma sps. and gender. Stool examination From the table 3, A total number of 55 samples were examined for this study. Out of the 23 male samples examined, 13 were positive. with the prevalence rate o f 5 6 . 5 % . Among the 33 female samples examined 30 were infected with 53.3% prevalence rate of infection. Lower prevalence rate was recorded in the age group 14 – 15 of standard 6. The result obtained in this study clearly show that there is a high prevalence of Schizostomia sps. In Da r es s al aam brought by the poor hygi ene and s ani t at ion. It has a far reaching effect on the life pattern of the people of the communities in Tanzania. This could change the occupational pattern and life styles of people in Tanzania as poor will be prone to be facing hazards than rich people test positive for urine analysis showed 43 positive for stool test at the prevalence rate of 78.18%.From the table 4, blood test for examination of cyst, among 43 positive individuals, 36 showed positive at the prevalence rate of 83.72%. Among 13 male of stool examination positive samples, 9 showed positive for the presence of cyst in blood at the prevalence rate of 69.23%. The female stool examination positive individual showed 27 positive for the presence of cyst in blood out of 30 at the rate of 11.11%. Conclusion An attempt was carried out to assess the prevalence of Schistosoma sps. and distribution of the infections among the school pupils….in Tanzania. A total 100 pupils randomly selected for the study, and then statistical technique of correlation analysis was used to establish the prevalence of Schizostoma carriers in DSM. Of these pupils examined 55 were positive for the Schistosoma sps. ova. There is slight difference between the rate of infection among sex; 53 % female and 52% male. This is to conclude that there is need for health/ hygiene education in the rural areas, designed to discourage the pupils contact with surface water sources and provision of portable water supply. *** Top 10 countries with the most bird species Country 1. Colombia 2. Peru 3. Brazil 4. Ecuador 5. Indonesia 6. Bolivia 7. Venezuela 8. China 9. India 10. Dem.Rep.of Congo *** 76 bird species 1897 1881 1772 1670 1632 1449 1417 1319 1302 1174 COMPOST AND ITS USES M. Mariraj Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. Compost is composed of organic materials derived from plant and animal matter that has been decomposed largely through aerobic decomposition. The process of composting is simple and practiced by individuals in their homes, farmers on their land, and industrially by industries and cities. Compost can be rich in nutrients. It is used in gardens, landscaping, horticulture, and agriculture. The compost itself is beneficial for the land in many ways, including as a soil conditioner, a fertilizer , addition of vital humus or humic acids, and as a natural pesticide for soil. In ecosystems, compost is useful for erosion control, land and stream reclamation, wetland construction, and as landfill cover. Ingredients Composting organisms require four equally important things to work effectively • Carbon - for energy; the microbial oxidation of carbon produces the heat Template:Citaion needed. • High carbon materials tend to be brown and dry. • Nitrogen - to grow and reproduce more organisms to oxidize the carbon. • High nitrogen materials tend to be green (or colorful, such as fruits and vegetables) and wet. • Oxygen - for oxidizing the carbon, the decomposition process. • Water - in the right amounts to maintain activity without causing anaerobic conditions. Materials in a compost pile. Certain ratios of these materials will provide beneficial bacteria with the nutrients to work at a rate that will heat up the pile. In that process much water will be released as vapor ("steam"), and the oxygen will be quickly depleted, explaining the need to actively manage the pile. The hotter the pile gets, the more often added air and water is necessary; the air/water balance is critical to maintaining high temperatures until the materials are broken down. At the same time, too much air or water also slows the process, as does too much carbon (or too little nitrogen). The most efficient composting occurs with a carbon:nitrogen mix of about 30 to 1. Nearly all plant and animal materials have both carbon and nitrogen, but amounts vary widely, with characteristics noted above (dry/wet, brown/green). Fresh grass clippings have an average ratio of about 15 to 1 and dry autumn leaves about 50 to 1 depending on species. Mixing equal parts by volume approximates the ideal C:N range. Few individual situations will provide the ideal mix of materials at any point in time - in this respect, home composting is like horseshoes, perfect is great, but close still works. Observation of amounts, and consideration of different materials as a pile is built over time, can quickly achieve a workable technique for the individual situation. Urine People excrete far more plant nutrients (nitrogen, phosphorus, potassium) in urine than in feces. Human urine can be used directly as fertilizer or it can be put onto compost. Adding a healthy person's urine to compost usually will increase temperatures and therefore increase its ability to destroy pathogens and unwanted seeds. Urine from a person with no obvious symptoms of infection, is generally much more sanitary than fresh feces. Unlike feces, urine doesn't attract disease-spreading flies (such as house flies or blow flies), and it 77 doesn't harbor the most hardy of pathogens, such as parasitic worm eggs. Urine usually doesn't stink for long, particularly when is fresh, diluted, or put on sorbents. Urine is primarily composed of water and urea. Although metabolites of urea are nitrogen fertilizers, it is easy to over-fertilize with urine creating too much ammonia for plants to absorb, acidic conditions, or other phytotoxicity. Microorganisms With the proper mixture of water, oxygen, carbon, and nitrogen, microorganisms are allowed to break down organic matter to produce compost. Microorganisms are absolutely necessary for the composting process and without them, organic matter in your compost heap cannot undergo the composting process. There are five types of microorganisms found in active compost: • Bacteria- The most common of all the microorganisms found in compost. • Actinomycetes- Necessary for breaking down paper products such as newspaper, bark, etc. • Fungi- Molds and yeast help break down materials that bacteria cannot especially lignin in woody material. • Protozoa- Help consume bacteria and fungi, balancing out the composting cycle. • Rotifers- Rotifers also help break down organics in the compost and also ingest bacteria and fungi. In additions earth worms not only ingest partly composted material but also continually re-create aeration and drainage tunnels as they move through the compost. The lack of microorganisms is the main reason why organic materials have difficulty breaking down in landfills. Uses Compost is generally recommended as an additive to soil, or other matrices such as coir and peat, as a tilth improver, supplying humus and nutrients. It provides a rich growing medium, or a porous, absorbent material that holds moisture and soluble minerals, providing the support and nutrients in which plants can flourish, although it is rarely used alone, being primarily mixed with soil, sand, grit, bark chips, vermiculite, perlite, or clay granules to produce loam. Generally, direct seeding into a compost is not recommended due to the speed with which it may dry and the possible presence of phytotoxins which may inhibit germination, and the possible tie up of nitrogen by incompletely decomposed lignin. Destroying pathogens, seeds, or unwanted plants Composting can destroy pathogens or unwanted seeds. Unwanted living plants (or weeds) can be destroyed by covering with mulch/compost. The "microbial pesticides" in compost may include thermophiles and mesophiles, however certain composting detritivores such as black soldier fly larvae and redworms, also reduce many pathogens. Thermophilic (high-temperature) composting is well known to destroy many seeds and nearly all types of pathogens (exceptions may include prions). However, thermophilic composting requires a fair amount of material, around a cubic meter. The sanitizing qualities of (thermophilic) composting are desirable where there is a high likelihood of pathogens, such as with manure. Applications include humanure composting or the deep litter technique. Types Compost tea Compost tea is a liquid solution or suspension made by steeping compost in water. It is used as both a fertilizer and in attempts to prevent plant diseases. The liquid is applied as a 78 spray to non-edible plant parts, or as a soil-drench (root dip), such as seedlings, or as a surface spray to reduce incidence of harmful phytopathogenic fungi in the phyllosphere. Vermicompost Vermicompost is the product of composting utilizing various species of worms, usually red wigglers, white worms, and earthworms to create a heterogeneous mixture of decomposing vegetable or food waste, bedding materials, and vermicast. Vermicast, similarly known as worm castings, worm humus or worm manure, is the end-product of the breakdown of organic matter by species of earthworm. The earthworm species (or composting worms) most often used are Red Wigglers (Eisenia foetida or Eisenia andrei), though European nightcrawlers (Eisenia hortensis) could also be used. Users refer to European nightcrawlers by a variety of other names, including dendrobaenas, dendras, and Belgian nightcrawlers. *** Do you know about the things which live after death? Eye 31 min Brain 10 min Leg 4 hours Skin 5 day Heart 10 min Ear 10 min Bones 30 days How long does it take? • • • • • • • • • • One beat of a fly’s wing- 0.001 seconds. Flash of lightning- 0.001 seconds. One beat of a humming bird’s wing- 0.0125 seconds Mouse heart beat- 0.09 seconds. Blink of a human eye- 0.33 seconds. Human heart beat- 1.0 seconds. Land speed record: Car ThrustSSC travelling 1 km2.9 seconds. Bullet train to travel 1 km- 13.75 seconds. Space shuttle to travel 100 km-15 seconds. Light reaching earth from the sun- 497 seconds. 79 N. Vidhya Department of Computer Application, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. *** 80 ROLE OF AQUATIC FAUNA IN OCEAN STIRRING C. Dharani Department of Zoology, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. The World’s ocean we know, are constantly shaken and stirred by the winds and the tides and other physical forces of nature. But do fish and other swimming marine life stir the ocean, too? The simple math: total the mechanical energy of all the estimated marine swimmers in all the world’s oceans and you get a figure that suggests as much as a third of all the vertical mixing in the world’s oceans is produced by marine life, according to a university of Wisconsin-Madison press release. Since the question was first posed some rough” top down’ calculations have emerged suggesting that marine swimmers- everything from whales to krill - could contribute a significant portion of the mechanical energy for all ocean mixing. The problem assumes real importance in settings like fish farms and ocean aquaculture where large concentrations of confined fish can be at risk from bacterial infections caused by microbes that, in the open, mixed ocean, wouldn’t be an issue. Another ad perhaps more precise way to approach the problem is to model the influence of a single swimmer on a fluid particle and multiply. That is the approach described this week in the journal physics letters A by mathematician’s jean-luc Thiffeault of the university of Wisconsin- Madison and Stephen Childress of Neywork University. “oceanographers want to know how things mix vertically in the ocean,” says Thiffeault, explaining that the ocean is like a layer cake, withtiers of water from top to bottom that have different temperatures and concentrations of nutrients, such as iron. Because of the ocean’s stratification, water doesn’t want to move vertically, but it eventually must, otherwise there would be no life on earth,” says Thiffeault. “This is called vertical transport. The question is where does it come from?” *** The heart is a myogenic muscular organ found in all animals with a circulatory system (including all vertebrates), that is responsible for pumping blood throughout the blood vessels by repeated, rhythmic contractions. In mammals, the function of the right side of the heart (see right heart) is to collect de-oxygenated blood, in the right atrium, from the body (via superior and inferior vena cavae) and pump it, through the tricuspid valve, via the right ventricle, into the lungs (pulmonary circulation) so that carbon dioxide can be dropped off and oxygen picked up (gas exchange). 81 ISOLATION AND MASS CULTIVATION OF SPIRULINA R. Kalidoss Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. Introduction Humans have taken advantage of natural populations of microalgae for centuries (Nostoc in Asia and Spirulina in Africa and North America), it is only recently that the potential for microalgal biotechnology has been realised. Microalgal biotechnology has the potential to produce a vast array of products including foodstuffs, industrial chemicals, compounds with therapeutic applications, bioremediation solutions production of natural pigments, biofuels and dietary supplements (Andrade and, from a virtually untapped source, the primary goal being to establish profitable business ventures. Algae are a diverse group of simple, plantlike organisms that photosynthesise to store energy. Although algae have been traditionally regarded as simple plants, they span more than one domain, including both Eukaryota and Bacteria. Algae range from single-celled to multicellular organisms, some with fairly complex differentiated forms and (if marine) called seaweeds. All lack leaves, roots, flowers, and other organ structures that characterise higher plants. They are distinguished from other protozoa in that they are photoautotrophic although this is not a hard and fast distinction as some groups contain members that are mixotrophic, deriving energy both from photosynthesis and uptake of organic carbon either by osmotrophy, myzotrophy or phagotrophy Some unicellular species rely entirely on external energy sources and have reduced or lost their photosynthetic apparatus. Cyanobacteria have been used as a food source and as a nutritional supplement. Cyanobacteria are prokaryote-single-celled organisms with characteristics that cause biologists to debate whether they are really algae or bacteria. Cyanobacteria are ubiquitous, occurring in typical aquatic and terrestrial habitats as well as in extreme environments such as hot springs with temperatures as high as 71o C and dry crevices of desert rocks. Their colours vary from blue-green to red or purple and this is determined by the proportions of two secondary pigments, c- phycocyanin (blue) and c-phycoerythrin (red), that tend to mask the green chlorophyll present in the thylakoids The cyanobacterium, Spirulina was consumed by the Aztecs in 16th century Mexico (http://www.answers.com/topic/spirulina-food-supplement), around Lake Texcoco and has long been a traditional food in Chad. It is now farmed in many countries such as the USA, Thailand, China, India and Australia and sold as a health food and dietary supplement. Commercial algal production is still restricted to very few plants producing high value food or pigments. A common feature of most of the algal species currently produced commercially (i.e. Chlorella, Spirulina and Dunaliella) is that they grow in highly selective environments which means that they can be grown in open air cultures and still remain relatively free of contamination by other algae and protozoa. Thus, Chlorella grows well in nutrient-rich media, Dunaliella salina grows at very high salinity and Spirulina requires a high pH, salinity and bicarbonate concentration. Existing commercial microalgae culture systems are of three types: large open ponds, 82 circular ponds with a rotating arm to mix the cultures, and raceway ponds. The cultivation of any alga, especially under outdoor conditions involves a complex system that depends on the interaction of various external and internal factors. Under natural conditions, most algae grow as mixed communities that include various species and genera. The isolation of a desired species depends on the provision of a suitable environment for its growth. Effluents require supplementation in order to maximise biomass production and supplements can be included from various growth media. Abiotic factors affect the growth and may require optimization as well. Traditional methods employed one factor-at-a-time (OFAT) design and optimization whereas factors often interact and can provide better results if these interactions are investigated. Objectives 1. To select a fast-growing, non-genetically modified strain of Spirulina which offers apromising alternative for other fish feeds 2. To assess the growth parameters of Spirulina in laboratory scale batch processes to determine the suitability of the medium to support the growth of Spirulina. 3. To determine, statistically, the effect of abiotic factors and biotic supplements on the growth of Spirulina 4. To construct and operate the production of Spirulina in a bio reactor. 5. To determine the nutritional composition of Spirulina sps.and assess the feasibility of producing Spirulina platensis on a large scale. Morphology and Gross Structure Algae are differentiated according to their predominating colourations, and are divided into blue-green, green, red and brown types. Spirulina, one of the blue-green algae, is a multicellular, filamentous cyanobacterium (Richmond, 1986). Even though it is singlecelled, individual filaments of Spirulina are relatively large, attaining sizes of 0.5 millimetres in length, which is about 100 times the size of other algae. Under the microscope, Spirulina appears as a blue-green filament composed of cyclindrical cells arranged in unbranched trichomes. The filaments are motile, gliding along their axis. Heterocysts are absent. The diameter of the cells ranges from 1 to 3  m in the smaller species and from 3 to 12  m in the larger species. The prolific reproductive capacity of the cells and their proclivity to adhere in colonies makes Spirulina a large and easily gathered biomass. Cellular Structure Spirulina are Gram-negative, with soft cell walls that consist of complex sugars and protein. They are undifferentiated and filamentous. Their main photosynthetic pigment is phycocyanin, which is blue in color. These cyanobacteria also contain chlorophyll a and carotenoids. Some contain the pigment phycoythrin, giving them a red or pink colour. Spirulina also have gas vesicles, giving them bouyancy in the aquatic environments they inhabit. Spirulina are photosynthetic, and therefore autotrophic. The photosynthetic apparatus that they possess is similar to that of higher plants. However, since they are prokaryotic, the 83 photosynthetic apparatus is not organised in the chloroplast, but dispersed throughout the cell. Laboratory Cultivation Methods The manner in which algae are cultivated varies widely, depending not only on the organism, but also on the use to be made of the culture (Vonshak et al, 1988). Just like all plants, each specie of microalga grows best under certain conditions. There is an ideal combination of temperature, nutrient mix, pH and other factors for each species. Small Scale Culture Vessels Various methods have been developed to isolate and cultivate microalgae in the laboratory as well as outdoors on a large scale. Culture vessels that are made out of glass are preferred and are stoppered by means of cotton plugs wrapped in cotton gauze and covered by wax paper or aluminium foil to exclude dust and reduce evaporation. For routine cultivation of small volumes of algal culture, test tubes are sufficient, however if larger quantities of algae are required, 200-500 ml Erlenmeyer flasks or flat bottomed depressed flasks (Figure 2.5a) are normally employed and filled to approximately 30% of their volume with the algal suspension. The “Penicillium flask” is suitable for growing cultures up to one litre under ordinary laboratory conditions and the “Roux” flask achieves higher irradiance. Culture Media For The Growth of Algae Under natural conditions most algae grow as mixed communities, which include various species and genera. The isolation and growth of a particular species will depend on the provision of a suitable environment for its growth. For the successful growth of an alga in a culture, all intrinsic parameters of that organism must be met in the environment. Environmental factors may be physical eg. temperature and light, or chemical that provides all the raw material used for structural and protoplasmic synthesis of the algal cell. Culture media that are used for algae can be broadly grouped into three major categories, namely Measurements of Growth One of the parameters for monitoring the growth of algae is the estimation of the algal biomass produced. The growth of algal cultures can be expressed as the increment of biomass, number of cells, amount of pigments and proteins over a given period of time. Turbidity Measurement of the turbidity, either visually or with a spectrophotometer, is the most general method for estimating the algal concentration of suspended solids in the culture. Spectrophotometric analysis is the measurement of the optical density at a given wavelength. This method is based on the application of the photometric law which states that each elementary layer of a dispersed system scatters the same relative portion of the passing monochromatic light, the magnitude of the scatter being proportional to the dispersion concentration. A wavelength of 550 nm is recommended. Dry Weight Gravimetric estimation of algal dry weight is one of the most direct ways to determine 84 biomass production. This parameter only characterises the general physico-chemical state of the given sample and cannot always be applied as the sole method for biomass estimation because it does not differentiate between the actual algal biomass and suspended nonbiological solids. Collected algae should be dried by a method avoiding excessive heat, thereby assuring good reproducibility and identical weights obtained for given samples read at the same hourly intervals. Temperatures commonly applied are between 70 and 110oC. Microscopic Examination Microscopic examination is often used for algal quantification. Different models of counting chambers are available commercially, the choice depending on algal cell size and concentration. Reproducibility of the counts is the main problem with this procedure so attention must be given to sampling, dilution of the medium and filling of the chamber Materials and Methods • • • Isolation, identification and culture conditions Inoculum preparation Spirulina production in batch experiments Growth estimation of spirulina • Construction of a photobioreactor • • Measurement of spirulina sps. Drying of spirulina platensis powder • Experimental design for fish feeding • Growth study Results and Discussion Microscopic Examination 0f Spirulina Slides of S. sps. was isolated, prepared as wet mounts and viewed at a 1000 x magnification under a (make and model) light microscope. The following photomicrographs illustrate the physical differences between the two cultures (Fig.4.1). Spirulina are freefloating filamentous cyanobacteria characterized by cylindrical, multicellular trichomes in an open left-hand helix. In liquid media the cells are helical in shape and this changes to a complete spiral on solid media (Ciferri, 1983). The cells appeared green due to the predominant presence of the pigment chlorophyll. The microorganisms that were used in this study was cultures of Spirulina, viz., Spirulina sps. (Figure 4.1), isolated from nearby lake. Production In Batch Experiments This study used Zarrouks culture medium as an economic, growth medium for the cultivation of Spirulina. This type of study is relevant because lower production costs derived from the use of a low cost effluent could lead to a competitive process. 85 Table 2. Growth performance of fishes fed with fishmeal and spirulina Treatment Initial Weight (g) T0 T1 T2 Final Weight (g) RGR (g) 3.78 4.53 19.84 3.78 5.66 49.73 3.78 6.43 70.89 Figure 1. Graph showed a comparison of parameters of S. platensis , , 9.5 , , 9.8 , , 10.2 , , 10.5 , , 10.8 , , 11.2 , , 11.2 , , 10.8 , , 10 , , 9.2 ,,7 , , 0.75 , , 0.6 , , 0.75 , , 0.65 , , 0.6 , , 0.55 , , 0.5 , 0.42 , , 0.37 , , 0.25 , , 0.25 , , 0.22 , , 0.2 ,00, 0.18 , , 0.17 , , 0.24 , , 0.13 , , , 0.09 , 0.1 , Day, , ,0,0, 0, ,0.01 , ,1,1, , ,2,2, , ,3,3, , ,4,4, , ,5,5, , ,6,6, , ,7,7, , ,8,8, , ,9,9, , ,10, 10, , 0,00,0 , 1,00,0, 0.05 , 2,00,0, 0.05 , 3,000 , 4,000 , 5,000 , 6,000 , 7,000 , 8,000 , 9,000 , 10,0 , Day, 0 Figure 2. Graph showed absorbance of biomass of Spirulina sps. at 670 nm O.D O.D 2 per. Mov. Avg. (O.D) Growth of fishes 1. The initial average weight, final weight, for the experimental fishes and tested diets 86 were calculated and recorded in Table 2. Amongst the fish meal and Spirulina diet, the fishes fed with the fish meal diet showed lowest RGR (19.84%) and Spirulina fed fish showed RGR (70.89%) . In the present study, improved growth was noticed with the diet containing Spirulina sps. These findings are in conformity with those of Ghanshyam et al. (2001) who reported that Spirulina fortified diet has more impact on growth and nutrient profile with less impact on pigmentation, while marigold has superior impact on pigmentation with less impact on the growth and nutrient profile of the fishes. Conclusions 1. This research was indicated in such a way that it is possible to grow Spirulina on Zarrouks medium to aim increased yields. 2. Final concentrations were optimised in a laboratory made bioreactor under synthetic light and natural conditions and produced 2.5gm l-1 biomass. 3. The marine fishes of Arotharon Hipidus were grown in lab fed with spirulina and fish meal for comparative analysis to evaluate its growth. *** Humanity needs practical men, who get the most out of their work, and, without forgetting the general good, safeguard their own interests. But humanity also needs dreamers, for whom the disinterested development of an enterprise is so captivating that it becomes impossible for them to devote their care to their own material profit. Without doubt, these dreamers do not deserve wealth, because they do not desire it. Even so, a well-organized society should assure to such workers the efficient means of accomplishing their task, in a life freed from material care and freely consecrated to research. - Curie, Marie “A thinker sees his own actions as experiments and questions--as attempts to find out something. Success and failure are for him answers above all.” - *** 87 Friedrich Nietzsche PERSONALITY DEVELOPMENT S. Jaya Preethi Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore – 641 046. “Personality is the dynamic organization within the individual of that psychophysical system that determines his unique adjustment to his environment.” - Gordon Allport Aim The training is aimed at the promotion of the strategies for the holistic personality development of the students. The rationale behind this endeavor is the recognition of the multifaceted influence of the personality of the students upon their life. Objective The objective of the training is to bring about personality development with regard to the different behavioral dimensions that have far reaching significance in the direction of holistic effectiveness. Introduction The term personality is derived from the Latin word Persona meaning a mask. Personality refers to the relatively enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another and that lead people to act in a consistent and predictable manner, both in different situations and over extended periods of time. It is the sum total of all physical, mental and emotional attitudes, values, interests and motivational factors. Definition Personality is defined as: the enduring or lasting patterns of behavior and thought (across time and situation). Theories Freud’s Theory of Personality Psychoanalytic theories explain human behavior in terms of the interaction of various components of personality. Freud drew on the physics of his day (thermodynamics) to coin the term psycho-dynamics. Based on the idea of converting heat into mechanical energy, he proposed psychic energy could be converted into behavior. According to Freud the mind can be divided into two main parts: • • The conscious mind includes everything that we are aware of. This is the aspect of our mental processing that we can think and talk about rationally. The unconscious mind is a reservoir of feelings, thoughts, urges, and memories that outside of our conscious awareness. Most of the contents of the unconscious are unacceptable or unpleasant, such as feelings of pain, anxiety, or conflict. This theory suggest that personality is composed of the id, the ego, and the superego. • Id: the unorganized, inborn part of personality whose purpose is to immediately reduce tensions relating to hunger, sex, aggression, and other primitive impulses. 88 • • Ego: restrains instinctual energy in order to maintain the safety of the individual and to help the person to be a member of society. Superego: the rights and wrongs of society and consists of the conscience and the ego-ideal. According to Freud, anxiety is an unpleasant inner state that people seek to avoid. Anxiety acts as a signal to the ego that things are not going right. Frued identified three types of anxiety: Neurotic anxiety is the unconscious worry that we will lose control of the id's urges, resulting in punishment for inappropriate behavior. Reality anxiety is fear of real-world events. The cause of this anxiety is usually easily identified. For example, a person might fear receiving a dog bite when they are near a menacing dog. The most common way of reducing this anxiety is to avoid the threatening object. Moral anxiety involves a fear of violating our own moral principles. In order to deal with this anxiety, Freud believed that defense mechanisms helped shield the ego from the conflicts created by the id, superego and reality. Denial - Denial is an outright refusal to admit or recognize that something has occurred or is currently occurring. Drug addicts or alcoholics often deny that they have a problem, while victims of traumatic events may deny that the event ever occurred. Repression - Repression acts to keep information out of conscious awareness. However, these memories don't just disappear; they continue to influence our behavior. For example, a person who has repressed memories of abuse suffered as a child may later have difficulty forming relationships. Suppression - Sometimes we do this consciously by forcing the unwanted information out of our awareness, which is known as suppression. In most cases, however, this removal of anxiety-provoking memories from our awareness is believed to occur unconsciously. Displacement - Displacement involves taking out our frustrations, feelings and impulses on people or objects that are less threatening. Displaced aggression is a common example of this defense mechanism. 89 Sublimation - Sublimation is a defense mechanism that allows us to act out unacceptable impulses by converting these behaviors into a more acceptable form. For example, a person experiencing extreme anger might take up kick-boxing as a means of venting frustration. Projection - Projection is a defense mechanism that involves taking our own unacceptable qualities or feelings and ascribing them to other people. For example, if you have a strong dislike for someone, you might instead believe that he or she does not like you Intellectualization - Intellectualization works to reduce anxiety by thinking about events in a cold, clinical way. For example, a person who has just been diagnosed with a terminal illness might focus on learning everything about the disease in order to avoid distress and remain distant from the reality of the situation. Rationalization - Rationalization is a defense mechanism that involves explaining an unacceptable behavior or feeling in a rational or logical manner, avoiding the true reasons for the behavior. For example a student might blame a poor exam score on the instructor rather than his or her lack of preparation. Regression - When confronted by stressful events, people sometimes abandon coping strategies and revert to patterns of behavior used earlier in development. For example, an individual fixated at an earlier developmental stage might cry or sulk upon hearing unpleasant news. Eysenck’s Personality Theory Eysenck (1952, 1967, and 1982) developed a very influential model of personality. Based on the results of factor analyses of responses on personality questionnaires he identified three dimensions of personality: extraversion, neuroticism and psychoticism. During 1940s Eysenck was working at the Maudsley psychiatric hospital in London. His job was to make an initial assessment of each patient before their mental disorder was diagnosed by a psychiatrist. Through this position he compiled a battery of questions about behavior, which he later applied to 700 soldiers who were being treated for neurotic disorders at the hospital (Eysenck (1947). He found that the soldiers’ answers seemed to link naturally with one another, suggesting that there were a number of different personality traits which were being revealed by the soldier's answers. He called these first order personality traits He used a technique called factor analysis. This technique reduces behavior to a number of factors which can be grouped together under separate headings, called dimensions. Eysenck (1947) found that their behavior could be represented by two dimensions: Introversion / Extroversion (E); Neuroticism / Stability (N). Eysenck called these secondorder personality traits. According to Eysenck, the two dimensions of neuroticism (stable vs. unstable) and introversion-extroversion combine to form a variety of personality characteristics. Extraverts are sociable and crave excitement and change, and thus can become bored easily. They tend to be carefree, optimistic and impulsive. Introverts are reserved, plan their actions and control their emotions. They tend to be serious, reliable and pessimistic. 90 Neurotics / unstable tend to be anxious, worrying and moody. They are overly emotional and find it difficult to calm down once upset. Stables are emotionally calm, unreactive and unworried. Eysenck (1966) later added a third trait / dimension - Psychoticism – e.g. lacking in empathy, cruel, a loner, aggressive and troublesome. Eysenck related the personality of an individual to the functioning of the autonomic nervous system (ANS). Personality is dependent on the balance between excitation and inhibition process of the nervous system. Neurotic individuals have an ANS that responds quickly to stress. Individuality The quality or character of a particular person or thing that distinguishes them from others of the same kind, especially when strongly marked. It can also be said that the quality that makes one person or thing different from all others. The below listed are the five important reasons for keeping up your individuality 1. You Contribute Great Ideas To The World. 2. You Are Not Influenced By Other People's Fears. 3. You Lead The Way For Others. 4. You Live Life With More Joy. 5. You Inspire People Like You to Live Their Lives More Passionately. Favorable Impression 91 What does your current image say about you? Does your image project the impression that you are competent, confident, trustworthy and approachable? Or, does your image tell people you’re stressed, indecisive, overwhelmed and/or unreliable? Take a few minutes to think about how you come across to others and jot down a few notes. After you’ve brainstormed some thoughts, read through the following five tips and determine ways you can change/improve your image to project a more positive first impression: • • • • • Analyze your attire. Do your clothes project an appropriate personal image? For example, if you’re trying to cultivate an executive presence in a fairly formal industry and company, do you dress the part by wearing suits? If you want people to view you as creative, do your clothing (and jewelry) choices reflect your individual creativity? Personal shoppers and stylists are great resources to help you upgrade your wardrobe and overall ‘look.’ Role-play your verbal communication. Do you speak clearly, professionally and at an appropriate pace and sound level when first meeting someone? Ask a friend to role-play and look for ways you can modify your verbal communication to create an improved first impression. Evaluate your non-verbal communication. Do you shake hands like a like a limp fish? Practice non-verbal communication, such as shaking hands firmly and establishing good eye contact to ensure you aren’t doing anything that could damage a good first impression. Examine your attitude. Do you smile when first meeting someone, even if you’re busy and have other things on your mind? Are you focusing on that person and giving them your full attention? If not, you might be harming your image. Scrutinize your grooming (hair, make-up, cleanliness, etc.). Does your hair (and make-up, if female) project the image you want to project? Maybe it’s time to consult a stylist for an updated style or sit down with a make-up artist to create a different look. Determinants of Personality Personality is a result of the combination of four factors, i.e., physical environment, heredity, culture, and particular experiences. Here we discuss each factor determining personality separately. Personality and Environment: To the extent that the physical environment determines cultural development and to the extent, that culture in turn determines personality, a relationship between personality and environment becomes clear. Some two thousand years ago, Aristotle claimed that people living in Northern Europe were owing to a cold climate, full of spirit but lacking in intelligence and skill. The natives of Asia, on the other hand, are intelligent and inventive but lack in spirit, and are, therefore, slaves. Heredity and Personality Heredity is another factor determining human personality. Some of the similarities in man’s personality are said to be due to his common heredity. Every human group inherits the same general set of biological needs and capacities. These common needs and capacities explain some of our similarities in personality. Man originates from the union of male and female germ cells into a single cell which is formed at the moment of conception. 92 Heredity may affect personality in another way, i.e., indirectly. If boys in a society prefers slim girls as their companion, such girls will receive greater attention of the society providing them thereby more opportunities to develop their personality. According to Allport, Gordon, W. no feature of personality is devoid of hereditary influence. Personality and Culture There can be little doubt that culture largely determines the types of personality that will predominate in the particular group. According to some thinkers, personality is the subjective aspect of culture. They regard personality and culture as two sides of the same coin. Spiro has observed, ‘The development of personality and the acquisition of culture are not different processes, but one and the same learning process.” Personality is an individual aspect of culture, while culture is a collective aspect of personality.” Each culture produces its special type or types of personality. Personality and Particular Experiences: Personality is also determined by another factor, namely, the particular and unique experiences. There are two types of experiences one, those that stem from continuous association with one’s group, second, those that arise suddenly and are not likely to recur. The type of people who meet the child daily has a major influence on his personality. The personality of parents does more to affect a child’s personality. If the parents are kind, tolerant of boyish pranks, interested in athletics and anxious to encourage their child’s separate interests the child will have a different experience and there shall be different influence on his personality than the one when the parents are unkind, quick tempered and arbitrary. In the home is fashioned the style of personality that will by and large characterise the individual throughout his life. Personality Disorganization Society everywhere demands from its member’s conformity to its folkways and mores, to its values and standards. But often the individual fails to meet the requirements of the society in which he lives. As a result, he develops personality problems and becomes disorganized. Such a person is considered a mental case, a case of mental derangement or abnormality. The peculiarity about him is that his behavior is unpredictable. He differs so systematically and persistently from the normative assumptions and mental habits of others that they cannot understand the motivations and hence do not know what to expect. He remains socially isolated because in his ease there is breakdown of communicative understanding. Personality disorganization, therefore, means that the individual is out of adjustment with society who has failed to organize the chief goals of his life into an integrated whole so as to achieve unity of the self. Personality disorganization may take the milder or serious forms of mental disorder such as neuroses or psychoses. In addition to mentally disorganized persons there are other examples of personality disorganization in the alcoholics, criminals, gamblers, prostitutes and drug addicts who are mentally normal but socially abnormal. Causes of Personality Disorganization • • • The failure of an individual to adjust himself to society may be due to the factors inherent in the individual or in the society in which he lives. In the modern society man’s desires have increased manifold. The rapid changes in society create new ideas, set up new standards while the old ones still persist. 93 Culture and Personality Disorganization There is a close relation between culture and personality disorganization. Every human being in modern culture suffers from inner conflicts. Though some mental disorders may be of an organic or constitutional nature, but most mental disorders arise from, inner conflicts and are created by the incompatible values of Culture. Personal Disorganization in Primitive Societies: Primitive societies are said to be comparatively free of disorganized individual. Thus Ellis-worth Faris found an almost complete absence of psychoses among the Congo Bantu. Not a single member of the staff of four hospitals visited could tell Faris of a single case of split personality. Similarly, Ruth Benedict found it hard to explain the meaning of suicide to the peaceful Zuni Indians, the word was unfamiliar to them. Personality Reorganization: The cases of personality disorganization have increased in modern society, there is no denying the fact. The social scientists are busy in analyzing the causes and finding out the remedies. There is, however, still a difference of opinion as to the best way to proceed. Those who regard organic factors as the main determinants of social behavior seek to improve it through eugenic means of one kind or another. The psychologists, psychiatrists and psychoanalysts try to find the cause and remedy in the individual alone as if he were living in a vacuum. Then there are environmentalists who regard social environment as the main factor of personality disorganization and consequently regard change in the environment as allimportant. However, all these are partial views. The problem of personally disorganization is many-sided and any effective Treatment will need a consideration of hereditary, biological, psychological and environmental factors and a unification of culture bound together by mutually compatible and common values. Conclusion As personality refers to the relatively enduring characteristics that differentiate one person from another, the sum total of all physical, mental and emotional attitudes, values, interests and motivational factors should be involved in order to have a good personality. Finally our Image is our Personality. *** Mother Teresa ( 26 26 August 1910 September 1997), born Agnes Gonxha Bojaxhiu (Pronounced) was an Indian Catholic Nun of Albanian ethnicity who founded the Missionaries of charity in Kolkata, Indian in 1950. For over 45 years she ministered to the poor, sick, orphaned and dying while guiding the Missionaries of charity expansion first throughout India and then in other countries. 94 TOP TEN UNEXPLAINED PHENOMENA….. WILL SCIENCE ANSWER FOR ALL THESE???????? S. Priya Department of Biotechnology, Thiagarajar College, Madurai -625 009. 1. UFO: The word UFO stands for Unidentified Flying Objects. Usually, when people see such flying objects, which they cannot identify, they refer it as an alien ship. There has been video proof recorded at times, but due to the nature of non-professional recording, most of the times the evidence is not so clear to make out a good understanding about it. Still, while careful investigation has revealed known causes for most sighting reports, some UFO incidents will always remain unexplained. 2. Body-Mind Connection: Err a new kind of thing for the scientist. The mind controls the body in many ways that are still unexplained. It’s the mysterious power of the mind that doesn’t let our body know about everything going around, it kind of filters a lot of things and if this is used more properly, it could do a lot of good things. Medical science is only beginning to understand the ways in which the mind influences the body. The placebo effect, for example, demonstrates that people can at times cause a relief in medical symptoms or suffering by believing the cures to be effective - whether they actually are or not. Using processes only poorly understood, the body's ability to heal itself is far more amazing than anything modern medicine could create. 3. The Taos Hum: Some residents and visitors in the small city of Taos, New Mexico, have for years been annoyed and puzzled by a mysterious and faint low-frequency hum in the desert air. Oddly, only about 2 percent of Taos residents report hearing the sound. Some believe it is caused by unusual acoustics; others suspect mass hysteria or some secret, sinister purpose. Whether described as a whir, hum, or buzz and whether psychological, natural, or supernatural no one has yet been able to locate the sound's origin. 4. Near death experience and life after death: Some people have survived after a near death condition and they always comes up with unexplaining divine stories. They sure can be thankful to god for letting them in, but the stories that they say do not have any proof to back it up. Skeptics suggest that the experiences are explainable as natural and predictable hallucinations of a traumatized brain, yet there is no way to know with certainty what causes near-death experiences, or if they truly are visions of "the other side." 5. Psychic powers and esp.: Psychic powers and extra-sensory perception (ESP) rank among the top ten unexplained phenomena if for no other reason than that belief in them is so widespread. Many people believe that intuition is a form of psychic power, a way of accessing arcane or special knowledge about the world or the future. Researchers have tested people who claim to have psychic powers, though the results under controlled scientific conditions have so far been negative or ambiguous. Some have argued that psychic powers cannot be tested, or for some reason diminish in the presence of skeptics or scientists. If this is true, science will never be able to prove or disprove the psychic powers. 6. Deja vu: Deja vu is a French phrase meaning 'already seen,' referring to the distinct, puzzling, and mysterious feeling of having experienced a specific set of circumstances before. This happens to most people actually. It’s the feeling of something that we have done or known before, its like a repeat telecast. Like we have been taken back in time to do the thing again. 95 7. Mysterious disappearance: People disappear for various reasons. Most are runaways, some succumb to accident, a few are abducted or killed, but most are eventually found. Not so with the truly mysterious disappearances.It is known to be taken by the aliens for some kind of research. Some people also report that their cattle are being taken by the aliens. 8. Big foot: It is a long debated thing. Some people believe in the existence of huge monkeys who are like gorillas but walk a little straight, like cavemen. . However, they are known to be big, that’s why the name, “big foot”. Some people always come up with their footmarks, but no one has actually seen them, or atleast have a proof of their existence. 9. Ghosts: Stories for most but real for some. Ghosts are the souls that do not go to heaven or hell, after their body died. It’s believed that they have some unfinished work left on earth and they should finish it up first. Only then they can leave the earth. Unexplained thing for sure. Ghost investigators hope to one day prove that the dead can contact the living, providing a final answer to the mystery. 10. Intuition: while god only gave 5 senses to the human beings, some people believe to have another sense. They call it the 6th sense by which they can understand something which cannot be explained by science. Psychologists note that people subconsciously pick up information about the world around us, leading us to seemingly sense or know information without knowing exactly how or why we know it. But cases of intuition are difficult to prove or study and psychology may only be part of the answer. *** CHANDRAYAAN-2 J. Merlin Seles Department of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore - 641 046. Chandrayaan-2 is the second lunar exploration mission developed by the Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) after Chandrayaan-1. It consists of a lunar orbiter,the Vikram lander, and the pragyan lunar rover, all of which were developed in India. The main scientific objective is to map the location and abundance of lunar water via pragyan. The mission was launched to the Moon from the second launch pad at Satish Dhawan Space Centre on 22 july at 2.43 PM IST (09: 13 UTC) by a Geosynchronous Satellite Launch Vehicle Mark III. The craft reached the Moon’s orbit on 20 August 2019 and began orbital positioning maneuvers for the landing. Vikram and the rover was scheduled to land on the near side of the Moon, in the south polar region at a latitude of about 70 degree south at approximately 1:50 am on 7 september 2019. Objectives The primary objectives of Chandrayaan-2 are to demonstrate the ability to soft-land on the lunar surface and operate a robotic rover on the surface. Scientific goals include studies of lunar topography, mineralogy, elemental abundance, the lunar exosphere, and signatures of hydroxyl and water ice. The orbiter will map the lunar surface and help to prepare 3D maps of it. The onboard radar will also map the surface while studying the water ice in the south polar region and thickness of the lunar regolith on the surface. Design 96 Orbiter The orbiter will orbit the Moon at an altitude of 100 km. The orbiter carries eight scientific instruments two of them are improved versions of those flown on Chandrayaan-1. The approximate launch mass was 2.379 kg. The Orbiter High Resolution Camera (OHRC) will conduct high resolution observation of the landing site prior to separation of the lander from the orbiter. The orbiter’s structure was manufactured by Hindustan Aeronautics Limited and delivered to ISRO Satellite Centre on 22 june 2015. Vikram Lander The Vikram lander will detach from the orbiter and descend to a low lunar orbit of 30km. It will perform a comprehensive check of all its on- board systems before attempting a soft- landing. Pragyan Rover The rover’s mass is about 27 kg and will operate on solar power. The rover will move on 6 wheels traversing 500m on the lunar surface at the rate of 1cm per second, performing on-site chemical analysis and sending the data to the lander, which will relay it to the Mission control on the earth. As per a timeline released earlier by ISRO, the lander Vikram was to land at 1:53am and the rover Pragyan was scheduled to roll down a ramp at 5:19am. A successful landing would have made India just the fourth country to land a vessel on the lunar surface, and only the third nation to operate a robotic rover there. What happened to Chandrayaan 2, whether it landed on the moon or if the mission ended in failure will be known only when ISRO makes a formal announcement. Support and plaudits, meanwhile, poured in for the space agency from across India, with many lauding their efforts in taking India within touching distance of the moon. *** 97 FACULTY DEVELOPMENT PROGRAMME ON “RURAL IMMERSION & COMMUNITY ENGAGEMENT FOR IMPROVING RURAL EDUCATION” FROM 9TH TO 13TH AUGUST 2019 AT THE BHARATHIAR UNIVERSITY. Central government of India, Ministry of Human resource development, Department of Higher education has funded through Mahatma Gandhi National Council of Rural Education, Hyderabad to organize a Faculty Development Programme on “Rural Immersion & Community Engagement for Improving Rural Education” from 9th to 13th August 2019 at the Bharathiar University. Teaching fraternity is the greatest resource of every nation. Future of our nation is dependent on the current budding generation. Keeping both these factors in mind, this program intends to train the teachers to understand the difficulties faced by rural children by getting into their shoes and making learning a happy memory. The Department of Botany and Physical Education jointly organize the program which includes 2 days of in-house and 3 days of outreach program. About 112 members registered and 80 members covering 28 institutions across 4 states of South India namely Tamil Nadu, Pondicherry, Kerala and Andhra were shortlisted. The inaugural function was held at Natchimuthu seminar hall. Dr.K.Murugavel, Professor and Head, Department of Physical Education, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore welcomed the gathering. Dr. P. Ponmurugan, The coordinator for science stream of the program, Associate Professor, Department of Botany spoke about the objectives of the program. Followed by him, the program coordinator for arts, Dr. S. Akila, Assistant Professor, Department of Physical Education, Bharathair University spoke about the pride of Coimbatore and the spectrum of participants. Dr. K. Murugan, Registrar in-charge of the University presided over the function and enlightened the participants about rain borne diseases & its spread among rural and urban beds. Dr. B. S. C. Naveen Kumar, Senior Faculty, MGNCRE MHRD, GOI, Hyderabad addressed the gathering highlighting the need of the hour for focusing on rural education. Finally Dr. T. Parimelazhagan, Professor, Dept. of Botany, Bharathiar University, Coimbatore delivered the formal vote of thanks. *** 98 FRESHER’S DAY In our Botany Department, we organized Fresher’s day for 2019 M.Sc Batch on 1 st August, The main aim of the Fresher’s day is to give warm welcome to the new comers. It is accompanied with so many colourful events like dance and singing performances and with interactive session. *** 99 GUEST LECTURE On August 21, we organized guest lectures, The Morning session was titled about Agrobacterium rhizogens mediated gene transfer and guest lecture for morning session is Dr.Shajahan Associate professor, Department of Botany, Jamal Mohamed college, Tiruchirappalli and the Afternoon session held by Dr.N.Elankovan Assistant professor department of biotechnology, Periyar University, Salem on Efficacy of herbals for neurological disorder. *** 100 FIELD VISIT On 6th August both I and II M.Sc Students along with Scholars and Staffs went to one day field visit to Sathyamangalam for plants study. We collect some plants for Herbarium preparation and Visit near by places like Vanabathrakali amman temple, Bannari Amman temple, Kodiveri dam and Bhavani Sagar Dam. *** 101