Science Vision

8-18

Authors: D.C. Baro, S. Sharma, D. Sharma

River Sonkosh enters India at Jamduar (longitude of 89°51'39.4'' E and latitude of 26°43'59.8'' N), Kokrajhar district of Assam. It extends up to the Feshimari-Jaldhuaghat at a longitude of 89°47'26''E and latitude of 26°22'39''N. Cold water fish assemblages of Sonkosh river was investigated at three upstream stations from April, 2013 to March, 2014. During study period, 65 species of fishes belonging to 6 major orders and 18 families were recorded. The most number of species belongs to family Cyprinidae (29) and followed by Sisoridae (7), Nemacheilidae (6), Cobitidae (4), Channidae (3), Psilorhynchidae (2), Olyridae (2), Badidae (2), Anguillidae (1), Amblycipitidae (1), Bagridae (1), Siluridae (1), Schilbeidae (1), Eresthistidae(1), Belonidae (1), Mastacembelidae (1), Nandidae (1) and Tetradontidae (1). Diversity indices like Shannon-Wiener index (H), Simpson dominance index (D), Simpson index of diversity (1-D), Buzas and Gibson’s evenness (E) and Margalef’s index (d) were analyzed by using PAST Software (version 2.19).

29-33

Authors: K. Lalchhandama, Lallawmchhunga, C. Lalmuansangi, L. Hauzel, C. Vanlalparmawii, MGCC Zairohlupuii

Artesunate is a prescription drug in the treatment of severe malaria due to Plasmodium falciparum. It has surpassed all other antimalarial drugs in terms of efficacy and safety. Serendipitous experiments in the 1980s began to unveil its true and broad-spectrum medical potential. It has been successfully shown to be highly effective antiviral, antitrematodal, antischistosomal, and anticancer molecule. Although the anthelmintic activity is now established beyond doubt, it has never been tested on parasitic tapeworms (cestodes) and roundworms (nematodes). We treated the cestode Raillietina tetragona and the nematode Ascaridia galli with different doses, ranging from 0.7, 1.5, 3, 6 to 12 mg ml-1. The cestodes were highly susceptible to the various doses of the drug. But the nematodes were not at all responsive. The findings suggest that artesunate is a good candidate in the treatment of cestode infections.

39-45

Authors: P.B. Lalthanpuii, B. Lalruatfela, Zoramdinthara, H. Lalthanzara

Documentation is the basic method of preserving indigenous traditional knowledge. Indigenous knowledge is passed down through generations and is in reality a necessary means of understanding many aspects of science. The indigenous techniques of food processing by the Mizo residing in a landlocked state - Mizoram, in northeast India has not been recorded systematically. This article describes some of the most familiar techniques of Mizo traditional food processing techniques; however, minor differences have been observed among different parts within the state. It was amazing to observe that the Mizos utilize the available resources such as fire or sun for food preservation and developed their own way of innovative scientific methods for food processing. It has been recommended that a study on the nutritive values of the Mizo traditionally processed foods would be very significant to see the impact of such processing on the health of the Mizo community.