Aquaculture is emerging as one of the most viable and promising enterprises for keeping pace with the surging need for animal protein, providing nutritional and food security to humans, particularly ...those residing in regions where livestock is relatively scarce. With every step toward intensification of aquaculture practices, there is an increase in the stress level in the animal as well as the environment. Hence, disease outbreak is being increasingly recognized as one of the most important constraints to aquaculture production in many countries, including India. Conventionally, the disease control in aquaculture has relied on the use of chemical compounds and antibiotics. The development of non-antibiotic and environmentally friendly agents is one of the key factors for health management in aquaculture. Consequently, with the emerging need for environmentally friendly aquaculture, the use of alternatives to antibiotic growth promoters in fish nutrition is now widely accepted. In recent years, probiotics have taken center stage and are being used as an unconventional approach that has numerous beneficial effects in fish and shellfish culture: improved activity of gastrointestinal microbiota and enhanced immune status, disease resistance, survival, feed utilization and growth performance. As natural products, probiotics have much potential to increase the efficiency and sustainability of aquaculture production. Therefore, comprehensive research to fully characterize the intestinal microbiota of prominent fish species, mechanisms of action of probiotics and their effects on the intestinal ecosystem, immunity, fish health and performance is reasonable. This review highlights the classifications and applications of probiotics in aquaculture. The review also summarizes the advancement and research highlights of the probiotic status and mode of action, which are of great significance from an ecofriendly, sustainable, intensive aquaculture point of view.
Soil is the basis of all agroecosystem and its health is of utmost importance for the better productivity and sustainability of agriculture but soil health is constantly deteriorating due to the ...addition of xenobiotic compounds by various agronomicals and industrial applications. Pesticides are widely used throughout the world for controlling the spread of various pests in agroecosystem but the persistent nature and non-targeted toxicity of the compounds have also become the major concern for agroecosystem and is directly hampering the yield of agricultural produce. Hence, removal of these substances is of utmost importance and a variety of approaches are in progress. Currently, the use of biological resources for the removal and degradation of these substances has emerged as a powerful tool. Numerous bacterial and fungal species with degradation ability have been tried and established but very few attempts are made to make a comprehensive evaluation of the potential of these agents. This review thrusts on the bioremediation efficiency of soil fungi with an aim to make a comparative analysis and to critically evaluate their potential application in the field. The species of Aspergillus, Allescheriella, Alternaria, Microsporum, Penicillium, Phlebia, Paecilomyces, Trichoderma, etc. are known for their bioremediation potential. But Aspergillus species are the most widely used for degrading almost all types of pesticides.
An in vivo study was conducted to compare the enteric methane emissions and diversity of ruminal methanogens in cattle and buffaloes kept in the same environment and fed on the same diet. Six cattle ...and six buffaloes were fed on a similar diet comprising Napier (Pennisetum purpureum) green grass and concentrate in 70:30. After 90 days of feeding, the daily enteric methane emissions were quantified by using the SF6 technique and ruminal fluid samples from animals were collected for the diversity analysis. The daily enteric methane emissions were significantly greater in cattle as compared to buffaloes; however, methane yields were not different between the two species. Methanogens were ranked at different taxonomic levels against the Rumen and Intestinal Methanogen-Database. The archaeal communities in both host species were dominated by the phylum Euryarchaeota; however, Crenarchaeota represented <1% of the total archaea. Methanogens affiliated with Methanobacteriales were most prominent and their proportion did not differ between the two hosts. Methanomicrobiales and Methanomassillicoccales constituted the second largest group of methanogens in cattle and buffaloes, respectively. Methanocellales (Methanocella arvoryza) were exclusively detected in the buffaloes. At the species level, Methanobrevibacter gottschalkii had the highest abundance (55-57%) in both the host species. The relative abundance of Methanobrevibacter wolinii between the two hosts differed significantly. Methanosarcinales, the acetoclastic methanogens were significantly greater in cattle than the buffaloes. It is concluded that the ruminal methane yield in cattle and buffaloes fed on the same diet did not differ. With the diet used in this study, there was a limited influence (<3.5%) of the host on the structure of the ruminal archaea community at the species level. Therefore, the methane mitigation strategies developed in either of the hosts should be effective in the other. Further studies are warranted to reveal the conjunctive effect of diet and geographical locations with the host on ruminal archaea community composition.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are highly prevalent in the tribal populations; however, there are limited data regarding health system preparedness to tackle NCDs among these populations. We ...estimated the availability of human resources, equipment, drugs, services and knowledge of doctors for NCD management in the selected tribal districts in India.
A cross-sectional survey was conducted in 12 districts (one from each State) with at least 50 per cent tribal population in Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Himachal Pradesh, Madhya Pradesh, Odisha and eight northeastern States. Primary health centres (PHCs), community health centres (CHCs) and district/sub-district hospitals (DHs) were surveyed and data on screening and treatment services, human resources, equipment, drugs and information systems indicators were collected and analysed. The data were presented as proportions.
In the present study 177 facilities were surveyed, including 156 PHCs/CHCs and 21 DHs. DHs and the majority (82-96%) of the PHCs/CHCs provided outpatient treatment for diabetes and hypertension. Overall, 97 per cent of PHCs/CHCs had doctors, and 78 per cent had staff nurses. The availability of digital blood pressure monitors ranged from 35 to 43 per cent, and drugs were either not available or inadequate. Among 213 doctors, three-fourths knew the correct criteria for hypertension diagnosis, and a few correctly reported diabetes diagnosis criteria.
The results of this study suggest that the health system of the studied tribal districts was not adequately prepared to manage NCDs. The key challenges included inadequately trained workforce and a lack of equipment and drugs. It is suggested that capacity building and, procurement and distribution of equipment, drugs and information systems to track NCD patients should be the key focus areas of national programmes.
Achieving a circular economic model in agriculture and meeting the food requirement of the growing population is a global challenge. The task is much more daunting in the Eastern Himalaya where low ...productive maize–fallow is a predominant production system. To enhance system productivity and energy use efficiency while maintaining environmental sustainability and economic profitability, therefore, energy-efficient, low carbon footprint (CF; CO2-e) and profitable short duration crops must be made an integral part of the maize fallow system. Thus, six cropping systems viz., maize–fallow, maize–French bean, maize–soybean, maize–black gram, maize–green gram, and maize–toria were evaluated for seven consecutive years (2011–2018) to assess their energy requirement and efficiency, carbon footprint (CF; CO2-e), economic returns and eco-efficiency. The results revealed that the maize–French bean system had the highest system productivity (11.4 Mg ha−1), energy productivity (17.9), energy profitability (15.9) and non-renewable energy use efficiency (9.97). The maize–French bean system had also the highest net profit (US$ 3764.5 ha−1) and benefit to cost ratio (2.54). The energy consumed under different inputs/activities across the cropping systems for chemical fertilizers, diesel and machinery ranged from 50.0–62.7%, 17.3–20.8% and 4.6–15.4%, respectively. The maize–fallow system had the highest CF (0.34 kg CO2 e per kg grain) while, the maize–French bean system had the lowest CF (0.19 kg CO2 e per kg grain). The maize–French bean system had also considerably increased eco-efficiency both in terms of energy use (US$ 0.23 MJ−1) and (US$ 1.78 per kg CO2 e) over maize–fallow system. Thus, the study has suggested that maize–French bean system is energy-efficient, economically viable and environmentally safer systems to utilize maize fallow and improve food security, may help in achieving green/circular economy.
Display omitted
•Post rainy season induction of legume crops in maize–fallow system reduced GHGI.•Fertilizer applications and diesel had a major share (71–81%) in the total energy input.•Intensification of maize fallow system by French bean enhanced energy use efficiency.•Maize–French bean system reduced GHGI by 45% while enhancing productivity by three-fold.
Amid the current environmental crises that exert enormous pressure on the arable lands, there is a need to adopt environment-friendly effective but highly productive conservation agriculture ...practices to feed the growing world population. Thus, a study was conducted to test the hypothesis that the inclusion of cowpea (Vigna unguiculata L. Walp) live mulch under no-till and reduced tillage in the summer maize (Zea mays L.) – rainy season maize-mustard (Brassica juncea (L.) czern) sequence would enhance agronomic productivity, energy use efficiency, and water productivity while reducing greenhouse gases emissions. Five tillage treatments viz., no-till, no-till-live mulch, reduce tillage, reduce tillage-live mulch, and conventional tillage were evaluated in three times replicated randomized complete block design. Land productivity for maize–maize–mustard system was the highest under reduced tillage-live mulch. No-till-live mulch had 36.4% lesser energy requirement, 2.4 times more energy productivity than that under conventional tillage. Reduced tillage-live mulch and no-till-live mulch had higher water productivity compared to all other treatments. The conventional tillage had the highest net CO2-eq emission while no-till-live mulch had the lowest. Inclusion of cowpea as live mulch enhanced C sequestration which has the potential to offset approximately half of the total CO2 emission, enhance energy use efficiency, land and water productivity. The findings of this study might be useful to develop a policy for sustainable high productivity through efficient resource use in the Eastern Himalayan Ecosystems that have the potential to become the corn belts of India.
•Inclusion of cowpea live mulch under no-till (NT-LM) and reduced tillage (RT-LM) increased crop and land productivity.•The NT-LM/RT-LM increased energy use efficiency and crop productivity.•The NT-LM/RT-LM increased water productivity and decreased water footprint.•The NT-LM/RT-LM increased carbon sequestration and decreased carbon footprint.•The NT-LM/RT-LM decreased the cost of production and increased net profit.
Transport behaviour of
137Cs from nitric acid feed was investigated using cellulose triacetate plasticized polymer inclusion membrane (PIM) containing several crown ether carriers viz. ...di-benzo-18-crown-6 (DB18C6), di-benzo-21-crown-7 (DB21C7) and di-
tert-butylbenzo-18-crown-6 (DTBB18C6). The PIM was prepared from cellulose triacetate (CTA) with various crown ethers and plasticizers. DTBB18C6 and tri-
n-butyl phosphate (TBP) were found to give higher transport rate for
137Cs as compared to other carriers and plasticizers. Effect of crown ether concentration, nitric acid concentration, plasticizer and CTA concentration on the transport rate of Cs was also studied. The Cs selectivity with respect to various fission products obtained from an irradiated natural uranium target was found to be heavily dependent on the nature of the plasticizer. The present work shows that by choosing a proper plasticizer, one can get either good transport efficiency or selectivity. Though TBP plasticized membranes showed good transport efficiency, it displayed poor selectivities. On the other hand, an entirely opposite separation behaviour was observed with 2-nitrophenyloctylether (NPOE) plasticized membranes suggesting the possible application of the later membranes for the removal of bulk
137Cs from the nuclear waste. The stability of the membrane was tested by carrying out transport runs for nearly 25 days.
Non-communicable diseases (NCDs) are the leading cause of death in India. Although studies have reported a high prevalence of NCD in tribal populations, there are limited data pertaining mortality ...due to NCDs. Therefore, in this study we estimated the proportion of deaths due to NCDs among 15 yr and older age group in tribal districts in India.
We conducted a community-based survey in 12 districts (one per State) with more than 50 per cent tribal population. Data were collected using a verbal autopsy tool from the family member of the deceased. The estimated sample size was 452 deaths per district. We obtained the list of deaths for the reference period of one year and updated it during the survey. The cause of death was assigned using the International Classification of Diseases-10 classification and analyzed the proportions of causes of death. The age-standardized death rate (ASRD) was also estimated.
We surveyed 5292 deaths among those above 15 years of age. Overall, NCDs accounted for 66 per cent of the deaths, followed by infectious diseases (15%) and injuries (11%). Cardiovascular diseases were the leading cause of death in 10 of the 12 sites. In East Garo Hills (18%) and Lunglei (26%), neoplasms were the leading cause of death. ASRD due to NCD ranged from 426 in Kinnaur to 756 per 100,000 in East Garo Hills.
The findings of this community-based survey suggested that NCDs were the leading cause of death among the tribal populations in India. It is hence suggested that control of NCDs should be one of the public health priorities for tribal districts in India.
Non-dispersive solvent extraction (NDSX) of Nd(III) from nitric acid feed solutions was carried out for the first time employing a hollow fiber contactor which used a mixture of di-nonyl phenyl ...phosphoric acid (DNPPA) and tri-n-octylphosphine oxide (TOPO) in petrofin as the carrier extractant. The transport efficiency was found to be reasonably good with quantitative metal ion recovery (>99.9%) in about 30min. The effect of feed acidity, extractant concentration, flow rates of feed and extractant solution on the transport of neodymium was investigated in recycling mode. For possible applications to different types of feed solutions, NDSX studies were also carried out at varying Nd concentrations and linear increase in Nd mass transfer was seen resulting in quantitative transport in about 40min for feeds containing as high as 1.6g/L of Nd. Various diffusional parameters for the mass transfer of neodymium in the extractant solution were calculated. A mathematical model was developed for prediction of the extraction behavior of Nd(III) in the extractant solution and mass transfer coefficients were calculated. The developed model was successfully validated with the experimental results under different feed conditions.
•Nd separation by NDSX was studied.•DNPPA and TOPO mixtures were used.•Transport data were modeled and agreed well with experiments.•The NDSX method can be used for Nd recovery from acidic feeds.
In this work, by employing chemical etching technique with hydrochloric acid, followed by passivation with lauric acid, superhydrophobic aluminum surfaces were synthesized. The surface morphology ...analysis reveals the presence of rough microstructures on coated aluminium surface and contact angle increases with etching time as enhancement of surface roughness. Superhydrophobicity with water static contact angle of 172 ± 5° and sliding angle of 4 ± 0.5° is achieved. Coating exhibits the excellent self-cleaning and anti-fogging properties. Coating shows the excellent mechanical, chemical, UV, and thermal stability. Additionally coating shows the excellent regeneration capability. This approach can be applied to any size and shape of aluminium surface and hence has great industrial applications.
•Fabrication of superhydrophobic coatings on aluminium substrates using chemical etching technique.•Study the effect of etching time on surface wettability and morphologies.•Characterization of coatings by surface morphology, water contact angle, self-cleaning, anti-fogging and water-repellency.•Evaluate the wetting durability and regenerability of coatings by conducting thermal, chemical, UV and mechanical stability tests at perturbation conditions.•Coating shows the excellent self-cleaning and anti-fogging properties.
PDF
