Miscellaneous (Biology) Part-III

Dehydration is a condition of excessive loss of body fluids. Dehydration is the loss of water and salts (mainly sodium chloride) essential for normal body functioning.

Common causes of dehydration include insufficient fluid intake, excessive sweating (especially during exercise or in hot weather), vomiting, diarrhea, fever, and certain medical conditions like diabetes or the use of diuretics.

Signs and symptoms of dehydration can include thirst, dry mouth and throat, dark urine, dizziness, fatigue, headache, and, in severe cases, symptoms like weakness, rapid heart rate, and even shock

Treatment for dehydration typically involves replacing lost fluids and electrolytes through oral or intravenous solutions.

Except for sea water, any of the liquid can be used to overcome the lack of water in dehydrated person. The caffeine presented in tea or coffee is diuretic and its consumption causes loss of water in the human body but it is quite low in comparison of water absorbed by tea or coffee.

Alcohol is also diuretic but its effect is very low in case of fluid balance in human body. Even alcoholic drinks like light beer which contain less Percentage of alcohol can be used for prevention of dehydration.

But it is not with sea water. The human body’s cells are at risk of becoming dehydrated on consumption of sea water. UPPSC had mentioned option (d) alcohol as correct answer in its answer key which is wrong. The correct answer should be option (c) i.e. sea water.

The concentration of alcohol in human blood is called BAC (Blood Alcohol Concentration), which is measured in percentage. 0.10 percent of the quantity means that 0.10 g of alcohol is present in per 100 ml of blood in the human body.

More than 0.45 percent of BAC in the human body can be the reason for death. Option (c) has been marked as the correct answer in JKPSC’s answer key.

Long-term effects of climate change will include a decrease in sea ice and an increase in permafrost thawing, an increase in heatwaves and heavy precipitation, and decreased water resources in semi-arid regions.

Over very long periods, plate tectonic processes cause continents to move to different positions on the Earth. Large mountain chains can influence the circulation of air around the globe and consequently influence the climate. For example, warm air may be deflected to cooler regions by mountains.

Cryogenic is the quantities that are involved with very low temperatures like ice. Ice sheets and ice chores are examples of cryogenic indicators of climate change because ice and glaciers react to atmospheric changes and give clear signals about alterations in global climate.

The floral formula is the numerical representation of the relative position and number of floral parts in relation to the mother axis or inflorescence axis. Floral formulae are symbolic as well as numeric representations of different parts of a flower.

It renders information on the type and number of organs, symmetry type, level of ovary, presence of fusions, and interrelationships of different floral parts which are corolla, calyx, androecium, and gynoecium.

Jagadish Chandra Bose was a pioneer in the field of plant neurobiology, demonstrating that plants have a nervous system and can respond to stimuli.

He showed that plants move in response to touch, light, and other stimuli, and that these movements can be measured and recorded using his instruments like the crescograph.

Before Bose's work, science did not widely acknowledge the vitality of plants and trees. Bose's research, including demonstrations at the Royal Society in London, challenged this view and established that plants are living organisms with complex physiological processes.

Bose invented the crescograph, a device that could measure extremely small movements in plants, allowing him to record and analyze plant responses to various stimuli. This instrument was crucial in his experiments and demonstrations.

Foods and many other commodities can be preserved by storage at low temperature, which retards the activities of microorganisms.

Microorganisms are the spoilage agent and consist of bacteria, yeasts and moulds. Low temperature does not destroy those spoilage agents as does high temperature but greatly reduces their activities.

Pig is an omnivorous animal who can't digest fibre properly, while goat, cow and elephant are ruminant animals who have the bacteria’s for digesting fibre.

Pigs have a single-chambered stomach, similar to humans, and are omnivores, meaning they eat both plant and animal matter. They can digest certain types of fiber, but not as effectively as ruminants.

Ruminants have a four-chambered stomach (rumen, reticulum, omasum, and abomasum) that houses symbiotic bacteria and protozoa that ferment plant fibers, allowing them to extract energy from cellulose and other plant matter.