Friday, November 23, 2012

Orchid Plants

       The Orchidaceae are a diverse and widespread family of flowering plants with colorful and fragrant blooms, commonly known as the orchid family. Along with the Asteraceae, they are one of the two largest families of flowering plants, with between 21,950 and 26,049 currently accepted species, found in 880 genera. Selecting which of the two families is larger is still under debate, as concrete numbers on such enormous families is constantly in flux. Regardless, the number of orchid species equals more than twice the number of bird species, and about four times the number of mammal species. The family also encompasses about 6–11% of all seed plants. The largest genera are Bulbophyllum(2,000 species), Epidendrum(1,500 species), Dendrobium (1,400 Species) and Pleurothallis (1,000 species).



              Orchid bloom times can be quite variable depending on the growing environment and the hybridization of the plant. For example, the hybrid Doritaenopsis, a cross between Doritis and Phalaenopsis, blends the summer bloom time of the Doritis parent with the larger blooms of the Phalaenopsis parent creating nice hybrids that look much like a Phal but bloom longer into the summer. Also, some orchids can be forced into bloom by altering the temperatures. For example, phalaenopsis growers may chill the growing area to trick the plants into thinking it is Fall and setting a bloom spike accordingly. As a result, a plant that is in bloom when purchased is likely to adapt to its environment and set its own bloom cycle based upon its new home. As an example, a plant that is in bloom when purchased in the fall may bloom every winter after that in its new environment.
            The structure of orchid flowers is unique among floral plants. The orchid flower is typically has an outer whorl of three sepals, an inner whorl of three petals, and a single large column (the gynostemium, composed of the male stamens attached to the female pistil) in the center.
            The sepals are the protective cover of the flower bud. When the flower opens, the sepals may become enlarged and colored. In most species, the sepals are equal sized and look like petals. In some species, however, the top, or "dorsal" sepal becomes very large and showy, the two lower "lateral" sepals are sometimes fused into one structure, and in other species all three sepals are fused forming a bell-shaped structure around the flower. In some species, the display of the sepals completely overwhelm the actual flower.
            The two lateral petals flank the greatly enlarged flamboyant bottom petal (lip or labellum) which is usually highly modified to attract and, in some cases, trap potential pollinators. The lip may be differently colored or marked, ruffled or pouch shaped, decorated with crests, tails, horns, fans, warts, hairs, teeth, or other decorations attractive to their selected pollinator.
            The orchid's reproductive organs are combined into a single column (a gynostemium) unlike the usually separate male stamen/anther and female pistil/stigma configurations of other flowers. This is the primary identification feature of an orchid. At the top of the column is the male anther which contains packets of pollen called pollinia. Below the anther is the stigma, a shallow, usually sticky cavity in which the pollen is placed for fertilization. There is a small growth, called the rostellum which acts as a protective barrier to prevent self pollenation. Some species produce separate male and female flowers to prevent self pollenation.
           The overall flower shape is characteristically bilaterally symmetrical (the left and right halves of the blossom are mirror images), a necessity for reliable pollenation by bees.
            In the bud stage, the lip is the uppermost petal. In most (but not all) orchids, as the flower opens, the flower twists 180° around its flower stalk to position the lip on the bottom. This unique process is called resupination. Some orchid flowers remain "upside down" or non- resupinate while other flowers will rotate in a complete 360° circle ending back in the original upside position!
Most orchid growers are aware of the two methods of propagation:  1) Sexual Reproduction.  2) Asexual Reproduction. 
I. Sexual Reproduction 
    In sexual reproduction, seeds are placed on special culture medium to germinate.  Young plants are transplanted to individual pots to continue to grow.  Using the sexual reproduction method, I can see at least two drawbacks:  1)  The purity of rare species may not be kept for long as hybrid may occur and the original plant thus faces extinction.  2)  The rarity and value of your one-and-only species may lessen once it is allowed to be reproduced on a massive scale.         It is much better to preserve a rare species so that more people can enjoy it than to let extinction be its fate. 
II. Asexual Reproduction
    The most up-to-date method is that of Tissue Culture.  First, tissue is taken from the growing point of the parent plant.  This tissue is cut into tiny pieces and put them on the culture medium and kept on shaking while being in the container.  In time, these tiny pieces of tissue will form roots and shoots and become tiny plants.  These tiny plants continue to grow and finally become adult plants after transplanted to individual pots. However, no matter whether we use seeds or tissue culture for reproduction, we need to have a high level of technology, appropriate equipment as well as an aseptic environment.  Needless to say, such requirement is not within the reach of the average orchid grower's budget or capability.  Hence his only hope is perhaps to wait for the rare opportunity of having a shoot appear from a stem or from between a leaf and the roots.  Some orchid growers apply hormones to stimulate the plant to produce new shoots. 

Thursday, November 1, 2012

Medical and Health News




Tuesday, August 14, 2012

Dinoflagellates


    Dinoflagellates are unicellular protists which exhibit a great diversity of form. The largest, Noctiluca, may be as large as 2 mm in diameter! Though not large by human standards, these creatures often have a big impact on the environment around them. Many are photosynthetic, manufacturing their own food using the energy from sunlight, and providing a food source for other organisms. Some species are capable of producing their own light through bioluminescence, which also makes fireflies glow. There are some dinoflagellates which are parasites on fish or on other protists.
    Dinoflagellates possess a unique nuclear structure at some stage of their life cycle - a dinokaryotic nucleus (as opposed to eukaryotic or prokaryotic), in which the chromosomes are perminently condensed. The cell wall of many dinoflagellates is divided into plates of cellulose ("armor") within amphiesmal vesicles, known as a theca. These plates form a distinctive geometry/topology known as tabulation, which is the main means for classification.
   The most dramatic effect of dinoflagellates on life around them comes from the coastal marine species which "bloom" during the warm months of summer. These species reproduce in such great numbers that the water may appear golden or red, producing a "red tide". When this happens many kinds of marine life suffer, for the dinoflagellates produce a neurotoxin which affects muscle function in susceptible organisms. Humans may also be affected by eating fish or shellfish containing the toxins. The resulting diseases include ciguatera (from eating affected fish) and paralytic shellfish poisoning, or PSP (from eating affected shellfish, such as clams, mussels, and oysters); they can be serious but are not usually fatal.

    Both heterotrophic (eat other organisms) and autotrophic (photosynthetic) dinoflagellates are known. Some are both. They form a significant part of primary planktonic production in both oceans and lakes. Most dinoflagellates go through moderately complex life cycles involving several steps, both sexual and asexual, motile and non-motile. Some species form cysts composed of sporopollenin (an organic polymer), and preserve as fossils. Often the tabulation of the cell wall is somehow expressed in the shape and/or ornamentation of the cyst.
    Most zooxanthellae are dinoflagellates. The association between dinoflagellates and reef-building corals is widely known, but dinoflagellate endosymbionts inhabit a great number of other invertebrates and protists, for example many sea anemones, jellyfish, nudibranchs, the giant clam Tridacna, as well as several species of radiolarians and foraminiferans. Many extant dinoflagellates are parasites (here defined as organisms that eat their prey from the inside, i.e. endoparasites, or that remain attached to their prey for longer periods of time, i.e. ectoparasites). They can parasitize animal or protist hosts. Protoodinium, Crepidoodinium, Piscinoodinium and Blastodinium retain their plastids while feeding on their zooplanktonic or fish hosts. In most parasitic dinoflagellates the infective stage resembles a typical motile dinoflagellate cell.
     Dinoflagellates are protists which have been classified using both the International Code of Botanical Nomenclature (ICBN) and the International Code of Zoological Nomenclature (ICZN). Approximately half of living dinoflagellate species are autotrophs possessing chloroplasts and half are non-photosynthesising heterotrophs. It is now widely accepted that the ICBN should be used for their classification.


Sunday, August 12, 2012

Birds

 Birds are feathered, winged, bipedal, endothermic, egg-laying, vertebrate animals. With around 10,000 living species, they are the most speciose class of tetrapod vertebrates. 
Rank: Class
Lower classifications: Falconiformes, Owl, Bucerotiformes, Upupiformes, More...
   Birds are warm-blooded vertebrate animals that have wings, feathers, a beak, no teeth a skeleton in which many bones are fused together or are absent, and an extremely efficient,, one-way breathing system. Flying birds have strong, hollow bones and powerful flight muscles.
  Most birds can fly. Birds have a very strong heart and an efficient way of breathing - these are necessary for birds to fly. Birds also use a lot of energy while flying and need to eat a lot of food to power their flight.
Not all flying animals are birds; and not all birds can fly. The ability to fly has developed independently many times throughout the history of the Earth. Bats (flying mammals), pterosaurs (flying reptiles from the time of the dinosaurs), and flying insects are not birds.
 Modern birds are characterised by feathers, a beak with no teeth, the laying of hard-shelled eggs, a high metabolic rate, a four-chambered heart, and a lightweight but strong skeleton. All living species of birds have wings—the now extinct flightless moa of New Zealand were the only exception. Wings are evolved forelimbs, and most bird species can fly. Flightless birds include ratites, penguins, and a number of diverse endemic island species. Birds also have unique digestive and respiratory systems that are highly adapted for flight. Some birds, especially corvids and parrots, are among the most intelligent animal species; a number of bird species have been observed manufacturing and using tools, and many social species exhibit cultural transmission of knowledge across generations.
  Many species are of economic importance, mostly as sources of food acquired through hunting or farming. Some species, particularly songbirds and parrots, are popular as pets. Other uses include the harvesting of guano (droppings) for use as a fertiliser. Birds figure prominently in all aspects of human culture from religion to poetry to popular music. About 120–130 species have become extinct as a result of human activity since the 17th century, and hundreds more before then. Currently about 1,200 species of birds are threatened with extinction by human activities, though efforts are underway to protect them.
  Birds can often safely perch on a power line without being electrocuted. For the bird (or other animal) to be electrocuted, a potential difference must exist across two points of the bird's body (its feet in the case of a bird on a power line). When perching on a single power line, there is no potential difference between the bird's feet, so it is safe. If the bird (or other animal) touches two power lines at a time, or one power line and a ground (like a ground wire or the earth itself), the animal would be electrocuted and die. Many large birds (like eagles and vultures) are electrocuted when their wide wings touch a power line and a ground wire at the same time (often while flying in to land on a power line).
Amazon birds  

 More than 1500 bird species are found in the Amazon Basin, while South America as a whole is home to roughly one-third the world's birds.
  • Many birds found in the Amazon are northern or southern migrants, wintering in or passing though the rainforest at certain times of the year.
  • Macaws are famous for gathering by the hundreds, even thousands, along the clay cliffs of the Amazon river where they feed on minerals which help the birds process toxins found in the seeds they eat.
  • The world's rarest bird is Spix's macaw, a beautiful bird with a dark blue head, a blue body, and a greenish belly with a black mask and bright yellow eye. It has always been rare, limited to palm groves and river edges in small area near the center of Brazil, but recent deforestation, importation of Africaniz

    ed bees-which took their tree hollows, and over collection for the hobbyists caused this species' demise.

Thursday, August 9, 2012

ഗുരുത്വാഗര്‍ഷണ കേന്ദ്രം.....

 ഭൂമിയുടെ ഗുരുത്വാഗര്‍ഷണ കേന്ദ്രം IAvബയാണ് എന്നുള്ളതിന്നു തെളിവ്  ഖുറാന്‍ അടിസ്ഥാനപ്പെടുത്തി പറയാന്‍ നമുക്ക് സാധിക്കും.കാരണം, ഖുറാനില്‍ ദൈവം പറയുന്നു: "IAvബ തകര്‍ന്നാല്‍  പിന്നെ ഭുമിക്കു നിലനില്‍പ്പിÃ".
Fsâ അനുമാനം ഇപ്രകരമാണ് ; ഭൂമിയുടെ ഗുരുത്വാഗര്‍ഷണ ബലം  9.8gm/s2നേക്കാള്‍ കോടിക്കണക്കിനു ഇരട്ടിയവാം.എന്നാല്‍ ഇത്  9.8gm/s2 aആയി നിലനിര്‍ത്തുന്നത് IAvബയിലെ  ത്വവാഫ്/പ്രദക്ഷണം തന്നെയാവാം.IAv GItZiw ഭുമിയുടെ H¯- \SphnemsW¶v
imkv{Xw k½Xn¡ps¶¶ കാര്യം നാം HmÀt¡ണ്ട­Xmbn«p­­­­­ണ്ട് .IAvബ തകര്‍ന്നാല്‍ പിന്നെ ത്വവാഫ്/പ്രദക്ഷണം ഉണ്ടാവുകയിÃ.ചുരുക്കത്തില്‍ ഭൂമിയുടെ അതിശക്തമായ ഒരു കാന്തിക വലയം സര്‍വ്വ സൃഷ്ട്ടിപ്പിനെയും ഭുമിയിലേക്ക് ആകര്‍ഷിക്കുന്നു.അനന്തരഫലമായി ഈ  പ്രബ©w അവസാനിക്കുകയുംചെയ്യുന്നു. 


Tuesday, August 7, 2012

Human Resources

      Human Resources department is the department or support systems responsible for personnel sourcing and hiring, applicant tracking, skills development and tracking, benefits administration and compliance with associated government regulation.
      Human Resources evolved from personnel as the field moved beyond paying employees and managing employee benefits. The evolution made verbal the fact that people are an organization's most important resource. People are an asset that must be hired, satisfied, developed, and retained.

Online jobs application:-
 Human Resource Management  

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Kingdom Animalia


          With over 2 million species, Kingdom Animalia is the largest of the kingdoms in terms of its species diversity. But when you think of an "animal", what image comes to mind? While mammals, birds, reptiles, amphibians, and fish are the most familiar to us , over half of all the animal species belong to a group of animals known as arthropods. Arthropods include animals such as centipedes, crabs, insects, and spiders.
             Animals are a major group of multicellular, eukaryotic organisms of the kingdom Animalia or Metazoa. Their body plan eventually becomes fixed as they develop, although some undergo a process of metamorphosis later on in their life. Most animals are motile, meaning they can move spontaneously and independently. All animals are also heterotrophs, meaning they must ingest other organisms or their products for sustenance.


Kingdom Animalia Characteristics
  • All animals are multicellular, eukaryotic heterotrophs —they have multiple cells with mitochondria and they rely on other organisms for their nourishment.
  • Adult animals develop from embryos: small masses of unspecialized cells
  • Simple animals can regenerate or grow back missing parts
  • Most animals ingest their food and then digest it in some kind of internal cavity.
  • Somewhere around 9 or 10 million species of animals inhabit the earth.
  • About 800,000 species have been identified.
  • Animal Phyla- Biologists recognize about 36 separate phyla within the Kingdom Animalia.

Five kingdom classification

Friday, July 20, 2012

ഇന്ത്യന്‍ യുവത്വത്തിനു വിലയില്ലേ....?

ഇന്ത്യ ഒരു ജനാധിപത്യ രാജ്യമാണ്‌ .നമ്മെ ആരു ഭരിക്കണമെന്ന് നാം തന്നെയാണ് തീരുമാനിക്കുന്നത്‌.എന്നാല്‍ നമ്മുടെ തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പ് രീതിയുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട് ചില കാര്യങ്ങള്‍ നമ്മള്‍ യുവജനത ആലോചിക്കേണ്ടതായിട്ടുണ്ട്.കാരണം 2021 ആകുമ്പോള്‍ ഇന്ത്യയില്‍  യുവ സമൂഹം 64% ആയിരിക്കും.ഇന്ത്യയില്‍ രാഷ്‌ട്രപതി  ആകാന്‍ വേണ്ട  കുറഞ്ഞ പ്രായം 35ഉം ആണ്.രാജ്യസഭാ അങ്ങമാകാന്‍ 30 ഉം, ലോകസഭാ അങ്ങമാകാനും നിയമസഭാങ്ങമാകാനും 25 ഉം വയസ്സാണ് വേണ്ടത്.അത് പോലെ തദ്ദേശസ്വയംഭരണ സ്ഥാപനങ്ങളിലേക്ക് മത്സരിക്കാന്‍ 21 വയസ്സുമാണ് വേണ്ടത്.എന്നാല്‍ വോട്ട് ചെയ്യാന്‍ 18 ഉം...!

          ഇവിടെ നാം ചില ശാസ്ത്രീയ സത്യങ്ങള്‍ മനസ്സിലാക്കേണ്ടതുണ്ട്, 2020ല്‍ ഒരു ഇന്ത്യക്കാരെന്റെ ശരാശരി പ്രായം 29 ആയിരിക്കും .ഇത്തരമൊരു സാഹചര്യത്തില്‍ നമ്മുടെ തിരഞ്ഞെടുപ്പുമായി ബന്ധപ്പെട്ട പ്രയപരിധികളില്‍ മാറ്റം വരുത്തിയിട്ടില്ലെങ്ങില്‍ അത് യുവ സമൂഹത്തിനു തിരിച്ചടിയാകും.അതുപോലെതന്നെ 18 വയ്യസ്സുള്ള പൗരന് മത്സരിക്കാനും അനുമതി ലഭിക്കണം .കാരണം, തന്നെ ആരു ഭരിക്കണമെന്ന് തിരുമാനിക്കാന്‍ 18 വയസ്സുകാരന് അധികാരമുണ്ട്‌ ! അപ്പോള്‍ പിന്നെ എന്തുകൊണ്ട് 18 വയസ്സുകാരന് മത്സരിക്കാനും ഭരിക്കാനും സാധിച്ചുകൂടാ......??????.
 

Thursday, July 19, 2012

നമ്മുടെ കവലകളില്‍ മയക്കുമരുന്നോ...??

നമ്മുടെ നാട്ടിലെ കവലകളില്‍ അന്യ സംസ്ഥാന തോഴിലാളികള്‍ പാക്ക് (അടയ്ക്ക മിശ്രിതം ) വില്‍ക്കുന്നത് പതിവായി നാം കാണുന്നുണ്ട്. വിലയുടെ മാറ്റത്തിനനുസരിച്ച് പാക്കുകളിലും വിത്യാസമുണ്ട് .യുവാക്കളാണ് പ്രധാനമായും പാക്ക് വാങ്ങാന്‍ എത്തുന്നത്‌...! പണ്ടൊക്കെ പാക്ക്‌ വാങ്ങിയിരുന്നത് മുതിര്‍ന്നവര്‍ ആയിരുന്നു .എന്നാല്‍ അന്യ സംസ്ഥാന തോഴിലാളികള്‍ വില്‍ക്കുന്ന പാക്കുകള്‍ യുവാക്കളുടെ ഹരമായി മാറിയിരിക്കുന്നു .അന്യ സംസ്ഥാന തോഴിലാളികള്‍ വില്‍ക്കുന്ന പാക്കുകളില്‍ യുവാക്കളെ  ആകര്‍ഷിക്കാന്‍ എന്താണ് ഇവര്‍ ഉപയോകിക്കുന്നത്............???????    യുവാക്കള്‍ ഇതിന് അടിമകളാകുന്നത്  എന്ത് കൊണ്ട് ....? നാം ആലോചിക്കേണ്ടതല്ലേ ? പ്രത്യേകിച്ച്  മയക്കുമരുന്ന്  വില്‍പ്പന വ്യാപകമാകുന്ന ഈ സാഹചര്യത്തില്‍ !!!!!!!!...........