pardeep kumar

Modern agriculture heavily relies on the use of synthetic fertilisers, which are expensive and associated with significant environmental risks. Hence, it is necessary to focus on developing integrated farming practices that encompass cost-effective synthetic fertilisers.

The present experimentation was carried out to assess the effect of various treatments comprised of fermented liquid bio formulations, biofertilizers, & organic amendments on the horticultural, biochemical, & soil nutrient attributes of garden pea varieties. A Factorial Randomized Block Design was laid out for treatments in three replications. 

The results of the investigation exhibited a significantly positive influence of the treatments and their interaction with pea varieties for most of the studied traits. Among varieties, treatments, and their interactions, variety GS-10 and PB-89 treatment modules, viz., Jeevmurta 20% + Phosphorus solubilizing bacteria 100% + Farmyard manure, and their interaction were found to be best for improving the various horticultural and soil traits i.e. shelling percentage, protein content, effective nodules per plant, available nitrogen and phosphorus content. However, the application of Jeevamurta 20 % + Rhizobium 100 % + Farm yard manure on pea variety GS-10, resulted a positive increment in yielding traits namely, plant height, number of pods per plant, single pod weight, total pod yield, pod yield per plant and pod yield per plot.

The combination of variety “GS-10” with Jeevamurta 20%, Rhizobium 100%, and FYM, showed the positive increment in productivity of the garden pea, also found to be effective to control the incidence of rust and powdery mildew. Highlights· Peas have the capability to fix atmospheric nitrogen in the soil, which ultimately benefits the growth and development · Modern agriculture heavily relies on the use of synthetic fertilizers, which are expensive and associated with significant environmental risks·It is necessary to focus on developing integrated farming practices that encompass cost-effective and sustainable alternatives to synthetic fertilizers.· Application of Jeevmurta 20% +Rhizobium 100% coupled with FYM were found to be the best for improvising the growth, yield, quality, and nutrient status of the soil.

Himachal Pradesh state is located in seismically active western Himalayas (India) and its seven districts are in seismic zone V and other in zone IV as per the seismic code of India. Ninety% area of Hamirpur district, the studied area, lies in zone V. Peak ground acceleration (PGA) is one of the most important seismic response parameters in structural seismic design, largely influenced by the sub-soil and input seismic motion characteristics. In the present work, the primary objective is to identify the areas in the district that are prone to amplification of peak ground acceleration and can be delineated for infrastructural planning. Peak ground acceleration is one of the most important parameters used in seismic design of the structures. It is estimated using the computer programme ProShake, wherein the soil parameters from 181 borehole profiles up to 30 m depth and software in-built standard earthquake input motions of magnitude 6.9, 7.0, and 7.2 used as the input parameters. The output peak ground acceleration range from 0.24 g to 0.72 g at the ground surface and from 0.21 g to 0.54 g at a depth of 10 m. There is an attenuation of peak ground acceleration at 30 m depth. The estimation of peak ground acceleration will play an important role in delineating the starta having higher peak ground acceleration amplification. This information can be effectively used for planning of important infrastructure projects like hospitals, educational institutions, and commercial establishments in an economical way in the studied area.

In the present work, the empirical correlations between standard penetration test (SPT) N-values  versus  shear modulus (Gmax), and Peak Ground Acceleration (PGA) amplifications for sub-Himalayan district-Hamirpur, Himachal Pradesh (India) consisting of highly variable soil/rock strata at different depths and across the terrain are evaluated. In the first stage, the N values obtained from SPTs are conducted in the field at 184 locations covering the studied area. The shear wave velocity for each soil profile of each borehole is calculated using the best available correlation in the literature. Further, the seismic response parameters are evaluated for these values using the ProShake software. Finally, the empirical relationships between maximum shear modulus and SPT value for different soil types are determined along with the ground motion amplifications. The amplification factor for Bhoranj sub-division varies from 1.40 to 2.60 and from 1.28 to 2.30, 1.20 to 2.10, 1.22 to 1.85, and 1.22 to 1.70 for Barsar, Nadaun, Hamirpur, and Sujanpur, respectively. The studied area consists of variable soil strata including clay, silt, sand, conglomerate, sandstone, and mixture thereof. The correlation between shear modulus and N value is coherent with already reported correlations for regular soils. The amplification factor reported for the sites plays an important role in planning infrastructure in the region. The correlations between maximum shear modulus (Gmax) and SPT value for hilly terrain comprising of highly complex geological formations such as mixed soil and fractured rocks presented in the study are not available in the research work carried out earlier.

Concrete is the most widely used construction material owing to its good strength, mouldability and robustness. However, its durability has always been a cause of concern arising mainly due to the fact that concrete is highly porous, microcracked and hydrophilic in nature making water ingress into it unavoidable. Water ingress is the primary cause for all major durability related issues in concrete such as freezing and thawing, reinforcement corrosion, carbonation, efflorescence etc. It is thus evident that to prevent deterioration and thereby increase durability and service life of concrete structures, water ingress into it must be minimized. This can be accomplished by a number of methods out of which hydrophobic treatment of concrete is nowadays becoming popular. Surface Hydrophobic Treatment and Integral/Bulk Hydrophobic Treatment are two main ways to induce water repellency in concrete. In this work, the efficacy of integrally incorporating a silane product into concrete and providing a surface treatment using the same product on the mechanical, durability and physical properties has been studied. Integral modification did not yield satisfactory results in case of water proofing the composites with the Water Contact Angle values lying below 90˚ in the hydrophilic range. Whereas, the surface treatment reported a successful hydrophobic modification reporting Water Contact Angle value as high as 157.1˚. The Water Contact Angle values for all surface modified samples were over 150˚ which lies in the superhydrophobic category along with the composites exhibiting a self-cleaning behaviour with very little effect on the compressive and tensile strength.

Arundo donax L. (Giant reed) is a grass species belong to Poaceae family with a myriad of uses such as traditional and ethnomedicinal values, bioenergy, and socio-economic importance. The plant is used in conventional medicine to treat various disorders related to skin, gastrointestinal, skeletal, menstrual problems, respiratory and urinary diseases. The present review summarises the scattered information on socio-economic importance, ethnomedicinal uses, phytochemistry and pharmacological aspects of this plant. We conducted a rigorous literature survey using databases such as Scopus, Science Direct, Web of Science, Google Scholar, and PubMed entering keywords like A. donax, Giant reed, and Spanish reed, etc. Phytochemical investigations have identified several alkaloids, terpenoids, sterols, phenolics, and lignin derivatives. The isolated phytoconstituents are reported to exhibit multiple pharmacological activities such as anti-bacterial, anti-oxidant, anti-proliferative, anti-spasmolytic, and also used to treat helminthic infestations in cattle. However, the scientific validity of traditional practices to cure various diseases has not been correctly evaluated yet. Therefore, it is recommended to further investigate the plant for clinical trials to unleash its therapeutic importance towards chemical characterisation for drug discovery and development in the pharmacological field.

Context: 

Viral hepatitis is a common infectious disorder with a high degree of mortality. The host immunological feedback to the hepatitis virus is dim and unable to down-regulate and clear infection. C-reactive protein (CRP), an acute phase reactant synthesized by hepatocytes in response to inflammatory reactions, facilitates apoptosis and phagocytosis. An effort has been made in the current meta-analysis study to elucidate the relationship between CRP and hepatitis B virus (HBV) and hepatitis C virus (HCV) infections.

 Eighteen published research articles on CRP levels of viral hepatitis patients were included in this study. A random-effects model was used to calculate the pooled mean level for CRP.

 The pooled mean level of CRP hepatitis B and hepatitis C was 6.93 mg/L (95% CI: 3.04 - 10.81) and 2.31 mg/L (95% CI: 1.06 - 3.55), respectively. A high degree of variance was observed among the studies, with the I2 more than 90%.

 The pooled mean level of CRP was within the normal range in patients with hepatitis C; however, it was high in patients with hepatitis B. The pooled mean CRP level reported in this study can be useful to determine the level of liver damage in patients with viral hepatitis.

Kamala tree (Mallotus philippensis) is traditionally used by different ethnic groups to treat a variety of diseases and health ailments. However, these traditional uses need to be scientifically investigated and validated in order to develop drugs from this tree. Therefore, the present article is aimed to review the scientifically validated knowledge on the pharmacology and phytochemistry of the tree. To accomplish this, we extensively surveyed the available databases like Scopus, Web of Science, Google Scholar, ScienceDirect, NCBI including PubMed and PubChem, etc. by using keywords ‘Mallotus philippensis’, ‘Mallotus phillippinensis’ and ‘Mallotus philippinensis’. Our results indicated that the tree possesses more than 50 different types of important phytochemicals of natural origin. The wide array of phytochemicals possesses fascinating biological activities like anthelmintic, antibacterial, anti-inflammatory, anti-oxidant, anti-cancerous, anti-tuberculosis, anti-parasitic, analgesic, anti-urolithiatic and anti-viral activities. Thus, pharmacological activities and isolation of active phytochemicals make the tree a promising candidate for drug discovery. However, pharmacological activities such as antibacterial and anti-oxidant activities are often tested with crude extracts and in vitro rudimentary methods that can be sometimes misleading and non-specific. Thus, more sophisticated techniques may be applied for the isolation of active chemicals and elucidating their mechanism of actions.