Response of walnut (Juglans regia L.) leaf aqueous extracts, on seed germination and seedling growth of wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) in agri-silvi system of Uttarakhand

Effect of different doses of aqueous extracts of walnut leaf was studied on germinating seeds and early seedling growth of wheat variety (cv. VL-616) recommended for hills under West Himalayan agri-silvi system. Seven treatments comprised of distilled water control (0%), 10%, 20%, 30%, 40%, 50% and 60% concentration of leaf extracts were treated. The effect of aqueous extracts was found inhibitive; indicate a direct proportional relationship with concentration dependent manner on seed germination and subsequent seedling growth of wheat. The wheat variety exhibited extent of phytotoxicity at 60% extracts application in comparison to untreated control. Invariably there was a decrease in first count, germination, seedling root and shoot length, seedling fresh and dry weight and vigour index with increasing aqueous extracts concentration on germinating wheat, however the shoot length was observed maximum at 60% concentration

Existence of solutions to neutral differential equations with deviated argument

In this paper we shall study a neutral differential equation with deviated argument in an arbitrary Banach space $X.$ With the help of the analytic semigroups theory and fixed point method we establish the existence and uniqueness of solutions of the given problem. Finally, we give examples to illustrate the applications of the abstract results

The political prioritisation of welfare in India:comparing the Public Distribution System in Chhattisgarh and Jharkhand

The idea of state responsibility for ensuring food security has gained ground, with strong popular mobilisations for the Right to Food around the world; but important variations prevail, both in the articulation of demands around food security interventions and in political responses to these. This paper takes a close look at India’s Public Distribution System, a programme with a long history and clear national-level, legislative backing, but considerable differences in prioritisation at the subnational level. Through an empirically rich and innovative comparison of Chhattisgarh with Jharkhand – both created at the same time, in 2000 – it asks why the opportunities afforded by statehood allowed Chhattisgarh to politically prioritise the PDS, but not Jharkhand. The paper finds that the explanation lies in the interrelated dimensions of political competition, the nature of pressures exerted by electorally significant societal groups, and political enablement of bureaucratic capacity. Finally, the analytical framework at the heart of the paper contributes to the emerging literature on the political conditions that allow the deployment of state capacity for the promotion of welfar

Diet composition of freshwater crab, Potamon koolooense Rathbun, 1904 from hillstream of Uttarakhand

The present study was carried out to study the diet composition of freshwater crab, P. koolooense in hillstream Khoh of Uttarakhand during November, 2013 to October, 2014. Total 105 crab samples were used for the study, 35 male and 47 female were found with food in their stomach while rest of the 23 had empty stomachs. The carapace length (CL) ranged from 12mm to 49mm, carapace width (CW) from 15mm to 59mm and total weight (TW) from 2.08g to 60.12g. Stomach content analysis of the animal showed that the diet of the animal composed of animal matter, plant matter, algae, fungi, debris and unidentified materials. Animal matter ranged from (3.27-11.93%), plant matter (4.37-14.44%), algae (1.73-6.15%), fungi (0.17-1.43%), debris (28.18-40.47%) and unidentified materials (36.46-50.05%) in males while in the female animal matter ranged from (3.09-12.34%), plant matter (4.45-12.73%), algae (1.03-7.61%), fungi (0.02-3.34%), debris (23.18-43.34%) and unidentified (30.31-51.04%). Unidentified materials recorded maximum and fungi recorded minimum in both the sexes of Potamon koolooense. A significant difference was observed at p<0.05 between food groups- algae and unidentified matter in both sexes. This is the first report, to key out and quantifies the dietary items and feeding habits of crab in Uttarakhand which would be helpful in interpreting the ecological niche of the animal in mountain stream communities

Quantitative osteological study of a bottom feeder hillstream cyprinoid fish Crossocheilus latius latius (Hamilton- Buchanan)

The quantitative osteological study has been conducted on a Hillstream bottom feeder fish Crossocheilus latius latius. C. latius latius is a common hillstream fish of Snowfed Rivers of Alaknanda. The bones have been taken from different sized fishes ranged from 13 to 27 Cm in length and 39 to 132 gm in weight. The correlation is applied between Body Weight and the Weight of different disarticulated bones of C. latius latius. The correlation (r) is highly significant among the different parameter of body in relation to osteology which ranged from r = 0.952; P<0.1 to r = 0.999; P< 0.1

Ichthyofaunal diversity in Bachan Gad and Kakda streams of the Mid-himalayan Ganga river system of Garhwal in relation to stream gradient and distance

The present study was carried out to investigate the comparative seasonal distribution and relative abundance of fish fauna of streams Bachan Gad of river Alaknanda and Kakda Gad of river Mandakini of Mid-himalayan Ganga river System. Total length of the Bachan Gad is 14.5 km from origin to the confluence at main river Alaknanda with an altitudinal variation from 605.94 to 1418.23m (a.s.1), whereas, total length of the Kakda Gad is 15.5 km. from origin to confluence at main river Mandakini with altitudinal variation from 984.50 to 1993.70 m (a.s.1). Total 23 species from Bachan Gad and 20 fish species were identified from Kakda Gad. The differences in the availability of fish-fauna were directly related to the nature of the profile and slope of tributaries; which affects the migration and breeding grounds of the fishes inhabited in the main river Alaknanda and Mandakini of Ganga river system. Variation in the availability of fishes has been recorded from different sites of the stream. In streams and rivers the changes take place along their length is directly related to the eco-physico-chemical nature (water depth, current, substratum etc). All these factors which change along the length of streams are also the factors which control the distribution of the various sections of the biotic fauna and flora

Antibacterial and antioxidant activity of methanolic extract of bark of Prunus persica

In the present study in vitro antimicrobial and antioxidant activities of Prunus persica family rosaceae were carried out from the bark extract of the plant. The methanolic extract was tested for their antimicrobial study against gram positive and gram negative bacteria and for their antioxidant activity using scavenging activity of DPPH (1,1 diphenyl-2-picrylhydrozyl) radical method. The plant extract showed remarkable antibacterial and antioxidant activity

Implications of high temperature and elevated CO2on flowering time in plants

Citation: Jagadish, S. V. K., Bahuguna, R. N., Djanaguiraman, M., Gamuyao, R., Prasad, P. V. V., & Craufurd, P. Q. (2016). Implications of high temperature and elevated CO2on flowering time in plants. Frontiers in Plant Science, 7. doi:10.3389/fpls.2016.00913Flowering is a crucial determinant for plant reproductive success and seed-set. Increasing temperature and elevated carbon-dioxide (e[CO2]) are key climate change factors that could affect plant fitness and flowering related events. Addressing the effect of these environmental factors on flowering events such as time of day of anthesis (TOA) and flowering time (duration from germination till flowering) is critical to understand the adaptation of plants/crops to changing climate and is the major aim of this review. Increasing ambient temperature is the major climatic factor that advances flowering time in crops and other plants, with a modest effect of e[CO2]. Integrated environmental stimuli such as photoperiod, temperature and e[CO2] regulating flowering time is discussed. The critical role of plant tissue temperature influencing TOA is highlighted and crop models need to substitute ambient air temperature with canopy or floral tissue temperature to improve predictions. A complex signaling network of flowering regulation with change in ambient temperature involving different transcription factors (PIF4, PIF5), flowering suppressors (HvODDSOC2, SVP, FLC) and autonomous pathway (FCA, FVE) genes, mainly from Arabidopsis, provides a promising avenue to improve our understanding of the dynamics of flowering time under changing climate. Elevated CO2mediated changes in tissue sugar status and a direct [CO2]-driven regulatory pathway involving a key flowering gene, MOTHER OF FT AND TFL1 (MFT), are emerging evidence for the role of e[CO2] in flowering time regulation. © 2016 Jagadish, Bahuguna, Djanaguiraman, Gamuyao, Prasad and Craufurd