Saat Bhai

Seven sisters is an English translation to- 'Sat Bhai', a group of birds that forage together in a group of five to six. They are very notorious and at times bold and loud creatures. It happened that I had to stay for fifteen days in my village. I noticed a change, sparrows were not there.

As a child when I used to visit my paternal grand parents when my grandmother was alive, I could find them in our premises. I was puzzled sparrows gone and what are these birds. After sometime I realised as she used to throw grains on the roof, sparrows came. And now they had abandoned our home because she had left for the heavenly abode.

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Anyways, these seven sisters, they are better called, 'Sath Bhai', in local languages in India are Jungle babblers. Gregarious dusky birds, these babblers are very social- can tolerate other species also.

I remember lines that are recited in a hindu puja- Godhan, local name of Govardhan Puja in Eastern Uttar Pradesh, India.

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 "Saton Bhaiyya gaye Bidesh, Anjhul royein beech bane"

Translated as- "Seven brothers have left for foreign land and Anjhul cries in the forest".

This a painful story of Anjhul, an only sister of seven brothers. She is tortured by her sister in laws when her brothers used to leave their home for some foreign land to earn. She is told to do difficult tasks by her wicked sister-in-laws called 'bhabhis' in hindi. Whenever she is given a difficult task she gets out into the forest and cries for her brothers. Then these birds: 'sat-bhai', would listen to her weeping and help her. Whenever Anjhul was troubled she used to cry, and the birds would sing aloud to call  creatures to help her, "Saton Bhiyya gaye Bidesh Anjhul royein beech bane".

How nature is embedded in Indian customs is commendable. It would prove to be a wide leap in conserving biodiversity, if a serious try is considered to follow what is being practiced since time immemorial.

Ameliorating Agent or Agonist?

Ameliorating agents, Agonists,  Antagonists are words that are used when action is being talked of. They can be close in action and sometimes can cause a clouded understanding.

The difference between the three words were asked by a faculty member to a research scholar during her presentation at Zoology Department, R.U. Her thesis intends to show how Pan-Masala can be toxic and cardamom can act as an ameliorating agent. 

Whenever toxicity caused by a specific chemical agent is talked of measures to cure toxicity caused is of prime importance.

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Like if snake venom is being talked of, its antidote becomes the primary concern. Similarly whenever Pan Masala is talked of elaichi (Cardamom) is not talked of?  Wondering why?                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                    
Yes, because it (active principle in cardamom) does not act on ingredients of pan-masala present in human tissues after mastication prior to absorption in the body. 

Meaning thereby, unlike antidote of snake venom which acts on the snake venom present in the blood, cardamom does not targets pan masala ingredients present in blood or any other tissue whatsoever.



Instead, it helps to improve the damage caused to the tissues due to pan-masala. It brings back the healthy condition from the diseased state present earlier. So cardamom has an ameliorating effect.

Chew cardamoms!

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Granth Gyan

Ameliorating Agents: Agents which act to relieve the ills and change for the better..

Agonists: A drug or other chemical that can combine with a receptor on the cell to produce a physiologic action typical of a natural occurring substance.

Antagonists: A drug or other chemical that does not provoke biological response upon binding to a receptor but dampens agonist mediated responses.

Muscles are mostly agonist and antagonistic, they work in pairs.

P.S. Granth Gyan is gyan (knowledge) given free by the blogger. :)

Juvenile or Immature?

'Juvenile' and 'immature', the terms can be confused. BTW are you confused? There was a question made by one of the faculty members at R.U.to a research scholar during her mid term PhD presentation.

Her work is on tillage, on how tillage affects earthworm population. Her findings were explained in terms of the varying quantity of juvenile and immature forms of earthworm after a certain time in the collection from both the fields placed closer and monitored closely.

More juveniles were found in the plot were tillage occurred. I am not to explain her results. It is her discretion.There is research paper on how tillage effects earthworm population. Go through if you like to.

“Anyways what is the difference between them?’’, as one of the faculty members asked her. She explained it in terms of the scale of their body lengths.  I will try to explain what the basic difference is.

 

David James says Juvenile birds are by definition immature birds, but immature birds are not necessarily juvenile.

Etymologically ‘juvenile’  is an adjective derived from a Latin word juvenilis meaning a young person or of ‘belonging to youth’.

  
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Remember “Peter Pan, the boy who would not grow”, J.M. Berries play. This play is available online. The hero, Peter, was immature because he would never age.

Birds which are not covered with feathers, or unfledged are immature. Mark the word ‘unfledged’ which do not have feathers. So, fledglings that are unfledged are immature.

A sophomore is immature. Sophomore is regarded as self assured and opinionated but crude and immature. ‘Sophomore’ word in Indian context is less used. But those who have read Princess Diaries must know Mia. Mia was a sophomore, a fifteen-year-old tenth grade private school student. So she was immature.

Childish people are immature. So Peter Pan was childish that is why he was immature. Immature people are having the delicacy of youth, they are tender- hearted. And now this word to all of you: You should be like one big happy family, full of sympathy toward each other, loving one another with tender hearts and humble minds. This I am not saying, Bible says.

Still not clear. According to Juvenile Justice Act, a commonly known child law, "juvenile" or "child" means a person who has not completed eighteenth year of age. Recently a juvenile murder  was in news in Bihar, when Mr. Lalu and Mr. Paswan called upon a Bihar Bandh and their supporters destroyed public property mercilessly. What a shame on their part. 

After the boy was found, who was allegedly murdered, people who look for exploiting situations surfaced like earthworms that come out when we tap feet on earth in rainy season. Here we realize that juveniles are also teenage people and immature are also teenage people.

But immature are those people who would not mature into adults and juveniles are those who will mature into adults. 

Similarly earthworm, we know they regenerate when cut into two.They can grow into two,when cut? Wonderful! natural phenomenon. Poor we! 

We don’t grow into two. Neither do they. The part of earthworm’s body which has got clitellum grows and the other which does not have, is worn out. The part when cut must have at least the clitellum and ten body segments to grow into a complete worm.

At one time in earthworm population in any mound, immature and matures are found. But after rains occurred juveniles and semi-matures are found. This happens because matures die after reproduction in august. So, semi-matures are more numerous in September.

The word immature should not have been used in this context. It is vague. Semi-mature is the word instead. Juveniles are smaller than immature. Immature, that is being talked about is earthworm sexually semi mature and juveniles are worms that have hatched from the cocoons. 

Species to species size varies, therefore depth of their burrow also varies. Adults, which scale larger in length, are found at depth in the cross section of the soil taken, when sampling is done. But juvenile and semi-matures are found near the soil cover, not much deeper as in earlier case.

So immature are sexually semi-mature earthworm that are larger than juvenile forms; i.e., those earthworms that have hatched recently from their cocoons.

In rainy season try tapping the earth with your feet. Small earthworms, both juveniles and immatures  will come out after feeling the vibrations!

Sweet and Salty: Silk

Silk is sweet and salty. Surprised aren't you. I too was. From silk we are apprehensive of a natural protein fibre, some forms of which can be woven into textiles. But 'Silk' is a brand of soy milk and other dairy-substitute products, including soy yogurt and almond milk distributed by White Wave Foods, a subsidiary of Dean Foods. The name "Silk" is a portmanteau of "soy" and "milk"

 If we were to trace when it all started; i.e, making of soybeans into a drink, we would find the roots somewhere in China. The drink is popular in Malaysia and other Southeast Asian countries.

Ecological Impact of Soybean Cultivation:

• It is more energy efficient than growing cows for obtaining milk. Because using the same amount of land for growing soy in one field and raising cows in the other, the land-use in the former case would feed more people than in the latter. As cows require more energy in order to produce milk owing to their consumption of up to 24 kg of food in dry matter and 90-180 liters of water on a daily basis for production of 40kg milk. 
• Soybean, a legume also replenishes nitrogen content when grown in the soil.

 Benefits of Soy Milk 

• It is an alternative to dairy milk .
• It is cheaper than milk 
• It can be a better alternative to a person who is lactose intolerant as it contains no lactose.
• It is low in fat and calories and high in many essential vitamins and minerals.
• It is 'heart smart'; i.e., is 100% cholesterol free and very low in saturated fat. Researches indicate that a daily intake of 25 g of soy protein may reduce risk of heart disease.
• It contains omega 3 fatty acid, a PUFA (poly unsaturated fatty acid) whose intake is helpful in reducing the risk of heart attack, rheumatism, diabetes. But for people who suffer from gout, purine in soy can make the condition worse. The U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) recommends gout sufferers to limit consumption of soy product.
  
  
  
  
  
  Wonder Zone
  1. What are the controversies related to soybean cultivation for obtaining soy milk?
  2. Can silk, the  fiber obtained from the silk worm cocoons, obtained from any other animal.
  
  P.S. The questions appearing in wonder zone are self allotted exercises for the blog author :). BTW any person interested in answering my question can answer in the comment box embedded beneath the post.

On the Origin of Writers

Unlike, 'On the Origin of species' a book by Charles Darwin, 'On the Origin of writers' is not a book. It is a general theme, if evolution occurred then writers too must have evolved. What do you say? There is an article titled, 'On the Origin of Science writers' on Discover magazine blog.

 

 

 In 'Way of Cheetah' , author Lynn Viehl corelates the evolution of writers with the evolution of Cheetah. He says that writers evolved 10,000-20,000 years ago according to the petroglyphs found in Australia and India. The author says that nature has not equipped writers with accesories like cheetah. 

Cheetah's speed, owing to its claws and vision make it a better adapted species unlike the writers. Writers are numerous, but they lack speed in writing; i.e., are less productive with reference to time. This is closely related to the intellectual claws that writers possess and varied vision- like the variety of stories they tell. But Cheetah and writers, according to the author are both on the same boat; i.e., they are fighting extinction.

Why writers are facing extinction? Because people do not read books, they like surfing internet more than buying books, these days. 

People in general and students in particular, prefer downloading a book from a link available on the internet than buying its cheap paperback editions. Results is low sale of book despite the demand that is huge. Ultimately everything falls on the pocket of the writer, he/she is paid low. It is no longer a nice paying job. 

Like the art films whose demand is less intellectual write-ups are not much in demand. Cheap Literature is found to top the best selling list, not every time but most often, in country like India where youth population is so large. So you have to assure that you have a nice paying job, if you have to nurture this expensive hobby: writing. Expensive because you have to buy books to study.

Notwithstanding, the fierce competion among the writing groups and the challenges the publishing Industry is facing today, there are ample opportunities. Many interactive sites are available on internet that make writing a group activity. You can assess your progress by seeing what your counterparts from across the world are doing. 

There is  website NaNoWriMo, you can register there. Get a push from them and begin writing with a speed of Cheetah. I got to know about this from Paperback Writer. He refers the work; i.e,Way of Cheetah as OOP (out of place) writing how to. But spare time and go through his work. It is really Nice. It is a lame excuse that one does not gets time to write. If you motivate yourself, you can write like a Cheetah. It's true like if you start any athletic activity, in intial stages you fall- make mistakes, but once you have perfect grip on your toes you are gone. I can see the horizon. Best Wishes. Writopia is a nice resource, thanks  Lynn.

But certainly there is more to writing science than writing.

P.S. This motivating speech was written to inspire my self. If it can inspire any other soul in the meanwhile, it would be a job well done!. :)

Life Cycle of Insects-I

It seems easy to tell a child that eggs hatch into larvae, larvae mature into pupae and pupae into adult forms, while explaining how a butterfly exhibits different forms in its life-cycle. We tend to explain that any life-cycle is a progress along a developmental pathway. How fast or how slow an insect completes its life-cycle? It can be a great question.

 

While talking about the things that control their polymorphic nature, it is difficult to conclude whether the time is programmed in their genes or environmental changes are necessary for the expression of such genes? Environmental changes pertain to seasonal changes in which the parameters like photo-period, temperature and humidity change.

 

Availability of  'FOOD' is  most important. Nature has programmed everything. We find that when FOOD is abundant in the environment than only the feeding forms (i.e. larvae) emerge. So if we try to find examples we will come to conclude that life-cycles are regulated in the nature. When the feeding forms mature into reproducing forms; i.e., adults, the growth of their population is constrained by abundance of predators which feed on them. 

My Memory Note

I remember one of my teachers, Mr. A.K. Thakur, he was not a teacher by profession was a govt. consultant. He had deep interest in microbiology. It happened that I was acquainted to him and got an opportunity to attend his class, in a coaching institute. He stressed on availability of 'FOOD' in the environment. His pronunciation 'F' pronounced as 'ph' with an undue stress was peculiar . You can't laugh in the class, but when you are out, there are no any constraints! Ha ha.... "No Any", it was his commonly used phrase. He was a fatherly personality, it always felt like my father was teaching me, when he used to turn his back while teaching.

 A species response in  adverse conditions reflects its adaptation to factors such as season length, food supply, competition and natural enemies. Timing to develop resistance to an adversity can be modified by numerous ways such as slower development, arrested development, movement to sheltered sites. Life cycle responses are understood in terms of adaptation for seasonal coincidence(synchrony), tolerance of differences or choice of alternatives (flexibility), programmed differences (variability). The synchrony, flexibility and variability depend chiefly when and how conditions constraint growth and development (Danks 1987, 1991,1992).

'Affect' or 'effect'

These two words are commonly mistaken. Can an animal administered on a diet, that is not poisonous, be effected/affected? Effect or affect, a question.I came across this cartoon, while clearing my doubt. Clear your doubt for better writing. Refer: Grammer Girl  .

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A Fish Hospital!

I was utterly surprised when my friend Hena Kausar informed me about a Fish Hospital, one of its own kind in Chandernagore, West Bengal.

I started fancying about how things might be working out, there. How the fishes would be taken care of? There must be aquariums assigned as beds for the patients. Well!

Big question is who would take them there, if they were ill? It was a wonderful exercise and an ocassion of...ofcourse nice chit-chat between us. Definitely those who would accompany the ill fishes would be their owner, we concluded.

Chandernagore “Matsya Nilaya”,  is an Aquarium Fish Research & Development and Training Institute, established in 1998 .It is Bengal's First Fish Hospital which treats all types of aquarium fishes.

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I like fishes and visiting  Aquaworld at Ranchi. There you can find good collection of aquarium fishes. On the teachers day; i.e.,  5th September my music guru was gifted with an aquarium, but unfortunately some of the fishes died within a week. This was a big disappointment for us, the students and our dear madam, Miss Mrinalini Akhouri.

Now when  you can have a hospital which takes good care of fish-pets and can treat them when they are ill, then you don't have to worry, as you can rush them there.

 Question that is in my mind:-

#What animal rights do aquarium fishes have?
  
Please do think over.