Area Of Tamil Nadu Research Articles

Deep learning algorithms based landslide vulnerability modeling in highly landslide prone areas of Tamil Nadu, India

Deep learning algorithms based landslide vulnerability modeling in highly landslide prone areas of Tamil Nadu, India

TKM 15 -A High Yielding, Short Duration Rice Variety Suitable for Direct Sown Water Limited Areas of Tamil Nadu, India

TKM 15 -A High Yielding, Short Duration Rice Variety Suitable for Direct Sown Water Limited Areas of Tamil Nadu, India

Assessment of rainfall trend over Periyar Vaigai Command area of Tamil Nadu

Rainfall trend analysis is critical for studying the effects of climate change. The most crucial aspect of understanding climate change at the basin level is, how it will affect water usage, planning, and development. The present study has been attempted to analyze the trend of annual and seasonal rainfall data over Periyar Vaigai Command area from 1982 – 2021 (40 years) employing different trend analysis methods i.e., Mann-Kendall test for trend significance, Sequential Mann-Kendall test for assessment of start and end of trend, Sen’s slope test for trend magnitude, Innovative Trend Analysis for combination of trends and linear regression analysis for trend detection. Statistically positive trend was detected in summer season using all methods whereas, annual and SWM rainfall showed a statistically significant decreasing trend. Winter and NEM rainfall resulted with no significant trend. The results from this study helps to adopt various water management practices and useful for policy makers to prepare appropriate mitigation strategies.

Effect of natural radioactivity along the southern coastal area of Tamil Nadu with statistical approach

Effect of natural radioactivity along the southern coastal area of Tamil Nadu with statistical approach

Resilience among Rural South Indian Families during Covid-19 Pandemic: A Pilot Study

Pandemics have been in the history of mankind wiping out large number of people. COVID-19 pandemic in the 21st century has also taken a heavy toll on lives and has impacted every aspect of life. There have been several short-term and long-term implications on the families. Many families are still experiencing an ongoing negative impacts viz., loss of job, loss and threatened loss of loved ones, financial insecurity etc. Families were unable to meet the demands of children and elderly at home while being grateful for the quality time spent with family members. Material and Method: A comparative cross-sectional study was carried out to measure the level of resilience among families faced with and without COVID-19 infection during the pandemic in selected rural areas of Tamil Nadu, South India. FRS-16 was used to measure the resilience. Results: The study findings regarding the overall resilience revealed that 53% of the families had moderate resilience and 47% had high resilience. However, there was no statistical difference observed in the different domains of resilience such as Family Communication and Connectedness, Positive Framing and External Resources/Support between the families faced with and without COVID-19 infection. Discussion: The findings of this study corresponded to the findings of a study done in Indonesia with 68.9% of the families having moderate resilience during the COVID-19 pandemic. It has also been observed that a positive framing, family communication and connectedness have a positive influence on the family resilience. Conclusion: Family Resilience is a complex process; hence it is of high importance that adaptive strategies are enhanced in families to strengthen them in rising from adversities.

L-DOPA ELICITATION THROUGH CALCIUM ION MEDIATED CHANNEL IN CALLUS CULTURES OF MUCUNA PRURIENS

Objective: The production of L-Dopa in callus cultures of Mucuna pruriens is influenced by substances that regulate calcium channels. Methods: M. pruriens seeds were gathered from the Western Ghats area in Tamil Nadu. L-Dopa was obtained by the Brain (1976) method, A. niger cultures were used for fungal elicitor preparation, and the assay of Ca2+ATPase was studied. Results: The use of fungal triggers resulted in increased L-Dopa levels on the 9th day but reduced levels on the 24th day of culture. When calcium channel modulators like verapamil and chlorpromazine were added, it decreased the growth of calli and L-Dopa production, suggesting the role played by calcium ion channels in L-Dopa synthesis. The calcium ionophore A23187 enhanced calli growth and L-Dopa production, increasing Ca2+ATPase activity. Particularly on the 12th d, Ca2+ATPase was notably active, while the presence of calcium ionophore boosted L-Dopa biosynthesis. Conclusion: The use of fungal elicitors in in vitro cultures of Mucuna pruriens is recommended as a potential method to increase the production of secondary metabolites.

Prevalence of Asthma and Its Associated Risk Factors Among Children Aged 5-10 Years in a Rural Area of Coimbatore: A Community-Based Cross-Sectional Study.

Introduction Asthma is one of the serious health problems among children, accounting for a major proportion of lost school days due to absenteeism, decreased academic performances, and lesser social interactions. It can impair a child's activities like playing sports and also their sleeping pattern with frequent school absenteeism. In South India, only a few school-based studies to determine the prevalence of asthma have been carried out, and even fewer studies are done in community settings in rural areas of Tamil Nadu. Hence, this community-based study was done to find out the prevalence of asthma among children aged 5-10 years in rural areas of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Aim & objective To estimate the prevalence of asthma among children aged 5-10 years in rural areas of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. Materials and methods A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted in rural areas of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. A sample of 726 children from the randomly selected seven villages were studied. The sample size was calculated for a finite population. The standardized International Study of Asthma and Allergies in Childhood (ISAAC) questionnaire and calibrated instruments were used as data collection tools. Ethical approval was obtained. Data entry was done in Microsoft Excel and analyzed using the SPSS 19.0 version. The "t" test was used to compare the mean difference between the quantitative variables and the chi-square test was used to test the association between categorical variables. P-value <0.05 was considered as statistically significant. Results The overall prevalence of self-reported asthma was 5.1%. Boys had 1.7 times higher prevalence compared to girls. The prevalence of possible or suspected cases of asthma using the ISAAC screening questionnaire was 20.9%. In univariate analysis, the risk of having asthma among children is significantly higher among those with a positive family history of asthma. Conclusion The study found that the prevalence of self-reported asthma in rural settings is low (5.1%). However, our study also identifies a large number of children (20.9%) with symptoms suggestive of asthma using the ISAAC questionnaire that need the attention of a specialist for early diagnosis and care for reducing morbidity and episode severity.

Soil moisture prediction based on integrating the CEEMDAN decomposition technique with LSTM in the proximity of Prosopis Juliflora

Human-made adaptations in plant diversity, particularly the introduction of alien invasive plant species, can result in problems such as depletion of groundwater, extraction of natural water resources, and modifications in the local biodiversity. In addition to regulating ecosystems and accurate farming, precise forecasting of soil moisture in the vicinity of these exotic plant species can greatly assist in various other agricultural applications. In this study, we present an improved approach for predicting soil moisture levels at different depths in the vicinity of Prosopis Juliflora (IAPS) by integrating long short-term memory (LSTM) and complete ensemble empirical mode decomposition with adaptive noise (CEEMDAN). CEEMDAN is employed as a preprocessing and denoising technique to decompose the initial soil moisture data into several intrinsic mode functions (IMF). After that, LSTM is used to predict all the IMF (Intrinsic Mode Function) parts from the CEEMDAN process. The individual prediction outcomes of each IMF are combined to obtain the final prediction results. Soil moisture measurements were collected continuously in the Coimbatore area of Tamil Nadu at multi-layer soil depths of 10 cm, 30 cm, 60 cm, and 100 cm. The provided data was utilized for training models and achieving optimal accuracy in forecasting soil moisture levels one month prior. The proposed CEEMDAN-LSTM model achieved the highest R2, ranging from 0.985 to 0.995 at various depths when compared to RNN, LSTM, EMD-LSTM, EEMD-LSTM models, and existing literature models. The results show that the proposed method works well at predicting soil moisture at different depths, which can help improve the planting pattern and schedule of native species to increase the area’s green cover.

Ecological and human health risk assessment of heavy metal contamination in soils of major industrial estates of Tamil Nadu, India

ABSTRACT This study endeavoured to determine the current status of heavy metal contamination in soils around leather industrial areas of Tamil Nadu and the associated environmental and human health risks. Accordingly, 31 soil samples were examined using the total reflection X-ray fluorescence (TXRF) spectroscopy technique. From TXRF results, the mean concentrations of heavy metals (mg kg−1, dry weight) were obtained in the trend of Fe (9234.03) > Al (592.00) > Cr (194.99) > Sr (148.76) > Mn (137.61) > Cl (81.79) > Zn (38.97) > Cu (38.33) > V (36.78) > Pb (31.18) > Ni (9.81) > As (1.12). The pollution indices such as geo-accumulation index (Igeo), contamination factor (CF), and enrichment factor (EF) revealed the significant contaminants in the study area. The hazard index (HI) indicated that non-carcinogenic risk (NCR) due to heavy metals were negligible for both adults and children (HI < 1). In addition, total cancer risk (TCR) showed carcinogenic risk (CR) for adults (TCR = 1.38 × 10−4) and children (TCR = 1.27 × 10−3) are moderate and higher, respectively. Multivariate statistical analyses such as Pearson correlation analysis (CA), hierarchical cluster analysis (HCA), and factor analysis (FA) revealed that the heavy metals derived from various sources such as lithogenic and anthropogenic. Overall, special concern is advised to the inhabitants, especially with regard to children, in the study area about the health risks due to the anthropogenic inputs.

AN EMPIRICAL STUDY ON ORGANISATIONAL CLIMATE IN SUGAR MILLS OF TAMIL NADU

The main aim of the research is to examine the diverse elements that compose organisational climate in the sugar mills of Tamil Nadu. The study is focused on obtaining opinions from the workers working in the sugar mills in the study area of Tamil Nadu. The study has the base of empirical research which is carried out based on the observations in the field. The data was collected using the structure interview schedule which is derived from literature and preliminary investigation in the field. The research follows the methodology adopted in empirical research. The samples used for collecting the data were selected based on random sampling technique. The sample size of the study was fixed to be 209 based on the standard deviation derived from the results of the pilot study. The lists of the population frame were collected from 4 profitable sugar mills that are operating in the study area of Salem District. The collected list were used for randomization of the population out of which 209 workers were selected based on tippet’s table method using simple random sampling. The analysis is composed of confirmatory factor analysis modeling in Analysis of Movement Structure software. The elements of Fair Compensation Policy (FCP), Participative Working Environment (PWE), Supportive Leadership (SL), Workers Welfare and Satisfaction (WWS) and Career Development Practices (CDP) has vital influence on the organisational climate in the sugar mills of Tamil nadu.

Influence of establishment methods and seed coating techniques on the performance of direct seeded rice (Oryza sativa L.) under Periyar Vaigai command area of Tamil Nadu

Rice is a crucial staple crop cultivated extensively in command areas worldwide. In the command areas, the release of water varies due to the inadequate amount of rainfall in the source area and its proper supply. To combat such situations, direct seeding (DS) methods can be opted for; however, lacunae like excess seeds per drop, scattering of seeds, and intercultural operations like thinning, gap filling, and excess weed growth need a clear refinement to enhance the profitability of rice cultivation. Therefore, a research trial was conducted during 2022-24 at Central Farm, Agricultural College and Research Institute, Madurai, to evolve a suitable direct seeding method. The present investigation was laid out under a split-plot design comprising four main plot treatments and four subplot treatments replicated thrice. The main plot treatments comprised different seeding methods (S) and the subplot treatments comprised different seed coating techniques (P). Based on the experimental results, paper roll seeding and DS + Seed coating @ 2% KNO3 fb Bacillus sp. and Azospirillum (PR + P-KN) combination performed better on establishment with grain (6150 kg/ha) and straw yield (7824 kg/ha) respectively. Regarding the B:C ratio, OS-GP + P-KN resulted in higher with 2.64, closely followed by PR + P-KN with 2.61. The least effect was recorded in the combination of round slots in rice drum seeder and dry seeding (RS + DS). Investigating different techniques of direct seeding and seed coating is essential across various regions, particularly in regulated areas where water discharge remains unpredictable.

A Scale to Measure the Perception of Graduates towards Student READY Programme

A scale was developed to measure the perception of graduates towards Student READY Programme (SRP). The Likert’s summated rating scale was followed in the construction of scale. Based on the review of literature and discussion with the expert’s, 49 statements were enlisted. The relevancy rating were sent to 160 scientists and extension specialists working in research institutes of Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR) and State Agricultural University (SAU) for critical evaluation of statements on a 5 point continuum. Out of 160 judges 66 responded within a period of one month. Based on their judgment 40 statements were isolated in the first stage of screening by finding the relevancy weightage scores. Statements having relevancy weightage of more than 0.70, relevancy percentage of more than 70 per cent and mean relevancy score of more than 3.70 were considered for final selection. By this process, 32 statements were isolated in the first stage of screening, which were suitably modified and rewritten wherever applicable. Eight statements were added as per the comments of experts. Thus finally 40 statements were selected for item analysis. In item analysis the selected statements were administered to 80 agriculture graduates of non-sample area of Tamil Nadu and Karnataka. Finally a total of 28 statements were selected for the study based on ‘t’ values (&gt; 1.75) resulted from the item analysis and were included in the final scale. The ‘r’ value of the scale was found to be 0.922, which was highly significant at one per cent level indicating the high reliability of the scale. Hence, the scale developed was found to be reliable and valid. The instrument developed to measure the perception of graduates towards Student READY Programme (SRP) can be used by the researchers.

Purification and Characterization of Desferrioxamine B of Pseudomonas fluorescens and Its Application to Improve Oil Content, Nutrient Uptake, and Plant Growth in Peanuts

Microorganisms produce siderophores, which are low-molecular-weight iron chelators when iron availability is limited. The present analyzed the role of LNPF1 as multifarious PGPR for improving growth parameters and nutrient content in peanut and soil nutrients. Such multifarious PGPR strains can be used as effective bioinoculants for peanut farming. In this work, rhizosphere bacteria from Zea mays and Arachis hypogaea plants in the Salem area of Tamil Nadu, India, were isolated and tested for biochemical attributes and characteristics that stimulate plant growth, such as the production of hydrogen cyanide, ammonia (6 µg/mL), indole acetic acid (76.35 µg/mL), and solubilizing phosphate (520 µg/mL). The 16S rRNA gene sequences identified the isolate LNPF1 as Pseudomonas fluorescens with a similarity percentage of 99% with Pseudomonas sp. Isolate LNPF1 was evaluated for the production of siderophore. Siderophore-rich supernatant using a Sep Pack C18 column and Amberlite-400 Resin Column (λmax 264) produced 298 mg/L and 50 mg/L of siderophore, respectively. The characterization of purified siderophore by TLC, HPLC, FTIR, and 2D-NMR analysis identified the compound as desferrioxamine, a hydroxamate siderophore. A pot culture experiment determined the potential of LNPF1 to improve iron and oil content and photosynthetic pigments in Arachis hypogaea L. and improve soil nutrient content. Inoculation of A. hypogea seeds with LNPF1 improved plant growth parameters such as leaf length (60%), shoot length (22%), root length (54.68%), fresh weight (47.28%), dry weight (37%), and number of nuts (66.66) compared to the control (untreated seeds). This inoculation also improved leaf iron content (43.42), short iron content (38.38%), seed iron (46.72%), seed oil (31.68%), carotenoid (64.40%), and total chlorophyll content (98.%) compared to control (untreated seeds). Bacterized seeds showed a substantial increase in nodulation (61.65%) and weight of individual nodules (95.97) vis-à-vis control. The results of the present study indicated that P. fluorescens might be utilized as a potential bioinoculant to improve growth, iron content, oil content, number of nuts and nodules of Arachishypogaea L., and enrich soil nutrients.

Investigation of climate change by analysing the rainfall pattern in kuzhithuraiyar sub-basin of India using GIS-based spatial analysis

Global climate change may have a significant effect on several environmental components in many different nations worldwide. Variations in the pattern of precipitation have an immediate impact on the management of water resources. To improve water resource management techniques, it is critical to investigate differences in the temporal and geographical rainfall patterns. The current study looks at rainfall patterns in the Kuzhithuraiyar sub-basin of the Kodayar basin, Kanyakumari District. Utilizing the mean monthly data from four distinct rain gauge locations, we have comprehensively compiled and analysed rainfall statistics over an extensive timespan of 30 years (1991–2020). For precision in temporal categorization, this data was meticulously divided into four seasonal classifications: pre-monsoon, post-monsoon, southwest monsoon (SW), and northeast monsoon (NE). Using ArcGIS 10.8, the rainfall pattern was analysed, and spatial distribution maps for the four seasons listed above were created using the inverse distance weighting (IDW) approach. The region receives an average of 1456.78 mm of precipitation each year, with the post-monsoon, pre-monsoon, SW monsoon, and NE monsoon providing 32.87 mm, 335.28 mm, 538.67 mm, and 549.97 mm, respectively. The results reveal that the model correlates mean rainfall and rainfall variability over areas of Tamil Nadu's Kuzhithuraiyar sub-basin with some accuracy in terms of the number of rainfall extremes and their spatial distribution maps.

Health Gadgets usage among Healthcare Personnel in the Perambalur Municipality area of Tamilnadu, India

Introduction: Health gadgets are worn 24/7 to capture biometric data. However, there is limited data on the use of wearable devices in India. Therefore, the present study aims to assess the attitudinal and behavioral predictors of use of health apps and to determine the association between the use of health-related apps and various sociodemographic factors.Materials and Methods: We carried out the cross-sectional study among 601 medical professionals using a semistructured questionnaire from November 2021–May 2022. The questionnaire contained six parts: demographic details; knowledge about health gadgets; types of health gadgets; and practice of health gadgets. We analyzed the collected data using SPSS version 21 software.Results: This survey included 340 health gadget users (56.6 percent). Nearly 226 (66.9%) healthcare personnel said the apps were easy and good, and 194 (57.4%) thought the time spent using them was appropriate. Nearly 38.7%of participants had never heard of health applications, and 10.3% have no health apps or gadgets.Conclusion: Using health gadgets or wearable devices was significantly high among healthcare personnel, and the level of satisfaction was also high among them. The influence of social factors like gender and education was also significant for the use of wearable devices.

Digital Mapping of Key Static Soil Attributes of Tamil Nadu, India using Legacy Soil Information

Abstract Acquiring spatial soil information is pivotal for land resource management, environmental and soil modelling. Digital soil mapping approach helps in prediction of spatial soil properties by establishing the relationship between soil and environmental covariates. In the current study, we attempted to predict and map spatial distribution of soil depth, coarse fragments (CF), and soil textural classes over 0.13 million sq km area of Tamil Nadu, India. About 2105 samples were used for the prediction of soil attributes viz., soil depth and coarse fragments using random forest (RF) regression model, multiple linear regression (MLR), and support vector machine (SVM), while the same set of soil data was used to predict the soil textural classes as categorical variables using Random Forest classifier. Different environmental covariates such as derivatives of digital elevation models, IRS LISS-III data and bioclimatic variables were related for predicting the soil properties. The predicted soil depth and CF ranged from 46-200 cm and 1-42 per cent, respectively. The RF model outperformed by explaining the variability (R2) of 43% for soil depth and 21% for coarse fragments with root mean square error (RMSE) of 38 cm and 13%, respectively, whereas, MLR and SVM could achieve the maximum variability of R2 of 0.20 and 0.25 for soil depth and R2 of 0.07 and 0.09 for CF. With respect to soil textural classes, RF classifier performed well with overall accuracy of 63.8% and kappa index of 0.43. Variable importance ranking of Random Forest model showed that elevation, multiresolution valley bottom flatness (MrVBF), multiresolution ridge top flatness (MrRTF) and remote sensing variables (NDVI &amp; EVI) displayed decisive role in prediction of the soil depth, coarse fragments and soil textural classes. In this study, 250 m resolution detailed soil depth, CF and textural class maps were prepared which will be useful for different environmental modelling and proper agricultural management purposes.

Assessment of Feeding Practices among under 5 Children in a Rural Area of Tamilnadu, India

Assessment of Feeding Practices among under 5 Children in a Rural Area of Tamilnadu, India

Microbial degradation of low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polystyrene using Bacillus cereus (OR268710) isolated from plastic-polluted tropical coastal environment

The study focused on marine bacteria, specifically Bacillus cereus, sourced from heavily polluted coastal areas in Tamil Nadu, aiming to assess their efficacy in degrading low-density polyethylene (LDPE) and polystyrene over a 42-day period. When LDPE and polystyrene films were incubated with Bacillus cereus, they exhibited maximum weight losses of 4.13 ± 0.81 % and 14.13 ± 2.41 %, respectively. Notably, polystyrene exhibited a higher reduction rate (0.0036 day−1) and a shorter half-life (195.29 days). SEM images of the treated LDPE and polystyrene unveiled surface erosion with cracks. The energy dispersive X-ray (EDX) analysis revealed elevated carbon content and the presence of oxygen in the treated LDPE and polystyrene films. The ATR-FTIR spectra exhibited distinctive peaks corresponding to functional groups, with observable peak shifts in the treated films. Notable increases were detected in carbonyl, internal double bond, and vinyl indices across all treated groups. Additionally, both treated LDPE and polystyrene showed reduced crystallinity. This research sheds light on Bacillus cereus (OR268710) biodegradation capabilities, emphasizing its potential for eco-friendly waste management in coastal regions.

Investigating the influence of thermal evaporation method on the heavy metal pollution index (HPI) of groundwater

Groundwater plays a substantial role in satisfying freshwater demand for different purposes worldwide. The degradation of groundwater by various industrial and anthropogenic activities has become a significant problem in recent times. Specifically, the intrusion of heavy metal substances into the groundwater aquifers through industrial effluents is a critical concern. Therefore, the evaluation of groundwater quality has become the need of the hour in order to guarantee the sustainable and secure utilization of freshwater for farming, commercial, and, most importantly, domestic applications. In this study, the groundwater quality and the Heavy Metal Pollution Index (HPI) of an industrial area in Tamil Nadu, India, called ‘Thoothukudi’, have been evaluated in order to determine the influence of industrial activities on the groundwater quality. In total, ten groundwater samples were accessed from the borewells located near the major industrial areas. The parameters, namely pH, total hardness (TH), electrical conductivity (EC), chromium (Cr), copper (Cu), nickel (Ni), iron (Fe), manganese (Mn), and lead (Pb) levels of the groundwater samples were evaluated. Further, the samples were treated using solar thermal-based evaporative (STBE) arrangements. The HPI values of the raw samples demonstrated that the groundwater in the studied areas was affected by heavy metal contamination. The distillation of the groundwater samples exhibited that the STBE method is an effective and energy-efficient tool to eradicate the heavy metal contamination of the groundwater. Specifically, the average day-wise yield of the STBE arrangement was reported as 2838 ml/day in the lab-scale experiments.

Prevalence of anemia and its social determinants among the male residents of an urban area in Tamil Nadu, India.

India has a high burden of anemia among the South Asian countries. Anemia has been extensively studied in the female and child population, with less attention given to males. The present study aims to assess the prevalence of anemia among males residing in an urban area and associated social determinants. A community-based cross-sectional study was conducted among 300 males (during September and October 2021) in an urban area of Coimbatore, Tamil Nadu. A portable hemoglobin photometer was used to detect the prevalence of anemia. A structured questionnaire was used to collect details on social determinants of anemia such as dietary practice, education, income, and sanitary practices. The mean age of study participants was 34 ± 5.23 years. The prevalence of overall anemia among men was 20.3% (95% confidence interval [CI]: 15.9-25.3%), with moderate and severe anemia being 5.7% (95% CI: 3.3-8.9%) and 1% (95% CI: 0.2-2.9%), respectively. Belonging to a lower socioeconomic class (odds ratio [OR] = 6.50, P < 0.05) and consuming more than two cups of tea (OR = 7.28, P < 0.05) were significantly associated with anemia. Our study depicts a high burden of anemia among males. Health education on the role of dietary factors contributing to anemia needs to be emphasized with special focus on the frequency of tea intake. Primary care physicians can include screening for anemia in their routine practice for men belonging to lower socioeconomic groups. Consideration should be made to include male populations also under the National Anemia Control program.