Jatindra Nath Bhakta

Effect of four fruit extracts on Rhode Island Red poultry chicks infected with Eimeria tenella

Four fruits, Aegle marmelos, Syzygium cumini, Punica granatum and Carica papaya, were selected to investigate the effect of their extracts on the performance of Rhode Island Red poultry chicks experimentally infected with Eimeria tenella, a highly pathogenic Eimeria species that causes caecal coccidiosis. Thirty one-day-old coccidia-free Rhode Island Red chicks (45 ± 3.5 g) were divided into five groups and reared in cage. Four groups were treated with extracts of Aegle marmelos, Syzygium cumini, Punica granatum and Carica papaya fruits extract @ 1 ml bird-1 day-1 from 7 day age and remaining one group served as control received no treatment. All groups were challenged with E. tenella @ 106 oocyst bird-1 at the age of 14 days. Throughout the experimental period from day 1 to day 22, oocyst output, pathological and performance parameters including growth, mortality, feed and water intake, feed conversion index, caecal lesion score and bloody diarrhoea were recorded at regular interval. Oocyst count was 43 to 50% and 51 to 56% lower in Punica granatum and Carica papaya, respectively than that of the rest two treatments (Aegle marmelos and Syzygium cumini). Increased growth, feed and water intake, and feed conversion index were found in Punica granatum and Carica papaya treatment groups than that of the Aegle marmelos and Syzygium cumini treated groups. The caecal lesion and bloody diarrhoea score was lower in the birds of Punica granatum and Carica papaya treatment groups, whereas remaining two treatments (Aegle marmelos and Syzygium cumini) groups showed 4 score of caecal lesion. It, therefore, can be concluded that there might be a response of Punica granatum and Carica papaya fruits extract to reduce the severity of infection to chickens by exerting a coccidiostatic effect against E. tenella.

Understanding the Soil-Water Interactions for Sustainable Ecosystem Services in Aquatic Environments

Healthy soils are of the utmost importance to society for the variety of ecosystem services they provide in both terrestrial and aquatic systems. Within aquatic systems, soils play an active role in carbon cycling and interactions between soils and water, and additional components of aquatic ecosystems can control the balance of carbon, whether the system becomes a net carbon source or sink. Understanding the interactions between soils and overlying water is crucial to developing adaptive strategies to mitigate climate change. An enhanced, holistic understanding of primary ecosystem drivers in mixed aquatic and soil systems is paramount for guiding their future construction and management to maximize their beneficial use while minimizing negative environmental impacts. Aeration and water circulation devices can be used to improve dissolved oxygen content of the wastewater pond system. Raking may be practiced to improve the ecological conditions of pond soils for encouraging healthy conditions and animal associations of the pond bottom particularly in wastewater-fed systems. The present chapter provides a review of different aspects of soil-water interactions and strategies to maintain ecosystem health for sustainable development.

A naphthalimide-based fluorescence ‘‘turn-on’’ chemosensor for highly selective detection of carbon monoxide: imaging applications in living cells

A naphthalimide-based fluorescence chemosensor, COFP, was designed and synthesized for the detection of carbon monoxide (CO) in HEPES buffer (pH 7.4, 37 °C). The detection process is highly selective towards CO, over a variety of relevant reactive oxygen, nitrogen, and sulfur species. Also, the fluorescence response is not hampered in the presence of biologically relevant metal ions and/or species. The detection method was achieved through the transformation of the nitro group of COFP to an amino functionalized derivative in the presence of CO without using any heavy metals e.g. Pd, Rh, Ru etc. The chemosensor prompted a ‘turn-on’ fluorescence response to CO with a simultaneous increase of the fluorescence intensity by more than 33 times. The LOD (limit of detection) was calculated to be as low as 123 nM using the 3σ method. Moreover, the chemosensor is capable of monitoring the changes in intracellular CO in the C6 glioma cell line.