International Letters of Natural Sciences Vol. 53

Abstract: In the present study, a field experiment was conducted to study the effect of some organic fertilizers on four varieties of tomato viz., Sadia F1, Isabella F1, Lelord and Sun cherry for its growth, yield and fruits sensory. A total of 64 plots were prepared with the dimension of 3 m² x 4 m² and each plot was applied with recommended doses of organic fertilizers. The results on the growth parameters of the studied tomato varieties showed that the chicken manure had the significant effect on plant height and root length of Isabella F1, leaf area of sun cherry, root fresh and dry weight and of Lelord, leaves fresh and dry weight of Sadia F1. Whereas, shoot fresh and dry weight of Isabella tomato variety was increased when treated with mixed manure. Agro fish pellet treatment had increased the stem diameter of Isabella F1 significantly. The number of flowers and fruits of sun cherry tomato variety were increased when treated with agro fish pellet. Agro fish also influenced the fruits number in Sadia F1 and fruit yield of lelord followed by Isabella F1 respectively. The sensory evaluation of the fruits of studied tomato varieties revealed that chicken manure had good result on the overall quality of the fruits of Sadia F1 and Sun cherry. Agro fish pellet and mixed manure has influenced the overall quality of Isabella F1 and Lelord variety tomato fruits.

Abstract: The objective of this work was to register and document the traditional knowledge of plant resources used in ethnoveterinary practices in Kendrapara district of Odisha, India. Investigation was carried out in the interior of the district, to explore the therapeutic uses of plants by local inhabitants. Information was collected using structured questionnaires, complemented by unstructured interviews and informal conversations with traditional healers, elderly people and farmers. Samples of plants that were reported to have medicinal value were collected and identified by botanical classification. Fifty five plant species, distributed among 34 families, were indicated for 27 different medicinal uses. The family Solanaceae had the largest number of reported species followed by Mimosaceae, Fabaceae and Apocynaceae. Prominent diseases treated by plant remedies were wounds, diarrhea, constipation, snake bite, skin ailments and rheumatism. Leaves were more commonly utilized for the preparation of ethnoveterinary medicine than other plant parts. The knowledge of traditional healers, and other experienced elderly people should be tapped to gather information on these practices so that it gets documented for the benefit of future generations. The present study contributed to the construction of an inventory of ethnoveterinary plants, which might provides a better database for future scientific validation studies.

Abstract: Natural enemies of insect pests in vegetable crops (brinjal, okra and tomato) were recorded and their diversity was studied in Kancheepuram and Tiruvallur Districts, Tamil Nadu. Natural enemies were collected by pitfall traps, sweeping nets and by hand picking from January 2011 to December 2013 twice in a month. Totally 129 species of predatory and parasitic insects were recorded. All the natural enemies were grouped into 50 families under eight different orders. Order hymenoptera contained the highest number of families and species. Among the predators, Coccinellidae (ladybird beetles) was found to be the dominant group with high number of species. It was clear that Coccinellidae, Staphylinidae, Carabidae and Pentatomidae were the predominant natural enemies throughout the study period. In 2013, formicidae formed the major family of occurrence from July to December in the vegetable fields; in this period the total number of individuals collected from all families was the highest. The maximum Shannon-Wiener diversity index was 3.70 during the second season in 2013. Maximum richness (5.99) was recorded in the second season of 2012. The variations in the diversity, species richness and evenness between two cropping systems are discussed in this paper.

Abstract: Coir pith is being considered as the reject generated during the extraction of coir fibre from coconut husks. It is a light weight and fluffy material with dusts and bits of fibres. The coir pith has many undesirable components and hence it does not carry any value addition. It needs to be degraded for the effective utilization for further activities. Microbes have the ability to decompose coir pith. Coir pith itself posses its own native microbes. Hence in the present study, raw coir pith and the soil dumped with coir pith in the dumping yards along the vicinity of the coir fibre factories were subjected for the enumeration and characterization of microorganisms. The coir pith for the study was collected from two locations in Cuddalore District. The results exhibited the presence of huge quantity of microbes in the raw coir pith than the coir pith dumped soil. Furthermore, the percentage occurrence of bacteria was significantly higher when compared with that of the fungi and actinomycetes. Totally 12 species of bacteria, six species of fungi and three species of actinomycetes were recorded. The results showed significant variation in the quantity and quality of the microbes.

Abstract: The air quality of four areas in Imo State with a total of twenty two locations was monitored for a period six months with respect to CO level using Gasman air monitor (Crowcon Instruments Ltd, England. The air quality monitoring was conducted in the morning, afternoon and evening hours within dry and wet seasons in order to elucidate the variability of this atmospheric pollutant in the study locations. The results obtained showed significant variation of the air pollutant in the morning, afternoon and evening including within the twenty four weeks, and between dry and wet seasons. The mean values of CO in the dry season are in the order Egbema > Okigwe > Owerri > Orlu, while the order for the mean CO level in wet season is Okigwe > Orlu > Egbema > Owerri. Elevated concentration of CO was observed in the study areas above 10 ppm, the Nigerian National ambient air quality standard. This observation calls for health and environmental concern. Hence, anthropogenic activities and fugitive emission sources of atmospheric pollutants such as increased vehicular traffic, biomass combustion, use of electric power generating sets, leakages from incinerators and flare stacks should be seriously monitored.

Abstract: The matter of soil pollution by heavy metals caused to increase of concerns about environment. The present study has been done by the aim of investigation on zinc metal accumulation on Cupressus arizonica. To achieving this goal the one-year Cupressus arizonica species seedlings were placed in vases. After the passage of each 55-day time periods from the growth of seedlings, the shoot, root and soil of seedlings were sampled. Results were studied using ANOVA test and Duncan test. The lowest concentration rate of zinc in Cupressus arizonica species organs in the first time period in the shoot and root was 5 g and 1.9 g, respectively and in the second time period in the shoot and root was 2 g and 1.6 g, respectively. Based on the researches, Cupressus arizonica species appropriate for refining zinc metal polluted soils.

Abstract: We have studied the antimicrobial properties of 6-bromoeugenol and eugenol by three strains: Pseudomonas aeruginosa (S1), Escherichia coli (S2) and Staphylococcus aureus (S3). We have determined the minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) for a range of concentrations using the disc diffusion method. We note that all samples present an antimicrobial activity toward the tested bacterial strains at different concentrations (1, 0.5 and 0.25 mg/ml). The 6-bromoeugenol gives modest activity with (S1) and (S3). Eugenol reacts positively with the Pseudomonas aeruginosa (S1) at all concentrations and with the Escherichia coli (S2) at 0.5 mg/ml. We remark that the Pseudomonas aeruginosa (S1) is the more sensitive strain than Escherichia coli (S2) and Staphylococcus aureus (S3). We have estimated the activity coefficient which has confirmed the antimicrobial activity of the different samples. So, 6-bromoeugenol has shown his efficiency as antimicrobial agent.

Abstract: Pancreatic cancer is one of the most severe malignant disease, with an extreme degree of lethality, considering that the survival rate at 5 years is up to 4%. In addition, a major disadvantage of this disease is the fact that the diagnosis is determined very late in the evolution of the disorder, despite the development of new technologies. In this way, the main symptoms are occurring later on, when the tumour is already locally advanced and unresectable. Up to now surgery is the only modality that can provide a greater chance of survival, but unfortunately the pancreatic resection has many unknowns and controversies around it. Moreover, the studies on endocrine pancreatic function after resection are very few and somehow controversial. In this way, in the present mini-review we will describe the most relevant experimental data regarding the post-resection pancreatogenic diabetes, the pancreatic polypeptide PP and the pancreatic glucose metabolism after resection or the glucose metabolism after partial or total pancreatectomy.

Abstract: The research was held in terms of Zaporozhian Reservoir (Ukraine) from 2014 till 2015 year. It was established that prussian carp (Carassius gibelio Bloch, 1782) and roach (Rutilus rutilus Linnaeus, 1758) underyearlings accumulate essential elements more extensively, especially zinc, comparing to adults ones. The species characteristic of heavy metals accumulation in the carp fish body was observed. The intensity level of erythropoiesis occurrence was higher in young fish of both species of carp fish. The specific features of cytometric characteristics of fish erythrocytes were identified: the relative amount of mature red blood cells prevailed in roach, and the area of mature red blood cells was significantly higher in prussian carp. In addition, in the young roach among immature forms of red blood cells significantly higher percentage of polychromatophil normoblasts was revealed.

Abstract: The island of Sri Lanka is free from serious natural hazards such as volcanic activity and earthquakes resulting from climatic extremes, but there are impacts of many natural disasters, such as landslides, floods and droughts, the intensity and frequency of which are increasing due to human interventions. Some areas of Sri Lanka are also periodically subject to cyclones that occur due to climatic conditions and geographical locations. Land degradation denotes all natural or anthropogenic processes that diminish or impair productivity of land. This occurs mainly through soil erosion, loss of organic matter and nutrients in the soil; salinization and large scale land degradation in Sri Lanka. Its manifestations today are heavy loss of soil, siltation in the water bodies, reservoirs and coastal waters, unplanned settlements, loss of arable land leading to declining productivity in agricultural lands and intensification of impacts of natural hazards such as flooding and landslides. Land degradation is a major problem in Eastern Coastal Area from Kalmunai MC, Karaitivu and Nintavur Divisional Secretariat Divisions (DSDs) of Ampara District. However, there is a considerable spatial heterogeneity exists within this area in terms of land use, topography, land management and socio-economic conditions. Therefore, land degradation assessment studies are very important for the sustainable development of the area. Considering the above background, this study was conducted with the objectives of developing a land degradation assessment model using a GIS based approach.