In Retrospect (standard:non fiction, 2060 words)
Author: Juggernaut	Added: Oct 31 2010	Views/Reads: 3638/3009	Story vote: 0.00 (0 votes)
A biographical essay.

Click here to read the first 75 lines of the story

With totally no supervision and purely with own planning, Juggernaut
worked three years, almost round the clock and submitted manuscript of 
his thesis to the Head of the Department (an Indian descent) who was 
totally unaware of the topic on which Juggernaut was working. 
Juggernaut was pleasantly surprised when the Professor said that the 
work submitted could get at least two, if not three Ph.D., degrees. 

Thesis Title: Urea Adsorption and Urease Activity in Some Trinidad Soils
(Ph.D., thesis submitted in 1977 at the University of the West Indies, 
St. Augustine, Trinidad.) 

Factors affecting urea adsorption and urease activity in several
Trinidad soils with contrasting properties were investigated. Soils 
factors that promote urea adsorption i.e., high organic carbon content 
and clay content were also associated with urease activity.  However, 
soil pH had a detrimental effect on urease activity but at the same 
time it facilitated the urea adsorption process. 

Michaelis constant (Km) of soil urease for the different soils was
variable. Fine textured soils with high organic carbon content showed 
higher Km values than coarse textured soils.  The free energy of 
activation of urease was almost similar for different soils but entropy 
and enthalpy of activation energy differed considerably. 

Amendment of soil with glucose or animal manure increased urease
activity considerably. However, the induced activity urease activity 
diminished with time and also with toluene treatment.  Toluene 
treatment in urease assay resulted in both increases and decreases in 
enzyme activity depending upon the soil type. The treatment reduced 
difference between the urease activity of air-dry and field moist soil 
samples. 

Different methods of soil storage influenced more markedly the urease
activity of fine textured soils with high moisture content than coasts 
textured soils. Preservation of field-moist samples by refrigeration at 
4˚ C was found to be the most appropriate method of storing soil 
samples for urease assay. 

2, 5-dimethyl-p-benzoquinone was the most effective urease inhibitor and
the magnitude of inhibition persisted for longer periods compared to 
other quinones tested. Naturally occurring tannins in bark extract of 
Terminalia arjuna produced considerable inhibition.  Among the several 
plant protection chemicals investigated, parathion, nemagon and thiram 
produced significant inhibition of soil urease activity, whereas 
herbicide treatment resulted in both increases and decreases in the 
enzyme activity depending on the soil characteristics. Research papers 
written from Ph.D., Thesis. 

•	Role of organic matter in urea adsorption. 

•	Urea adsorption in some Trinidad Soils. 

•	Effects of soil acidity and saturating cations on adsorption of urea
in soil. 

•	An infra-red spectrophotometric study of the mechanism of urea
adsorption in soil. 

•	Relative adsorption of urea on soils, clays, humic acids and
clay-humic acid mixtures. 

•	A study of different parameters in assaying soil urease activity. 

•	Distribution of urease activity in some Trinidad soils. 

•	Influence of different methods and periods of soil sample storage on
its urease activity. 

•	Kinetic characteristics of soil urease activity. 1. Michael-Menten
constants of soil urease activity. 2. Thermo-kinetic parameters of soil 
urease activity. 

•	Influence of glucose and animal manure on production of urease
activity in soil. 

•	Influence of quinones and naturally occurring polyphenols on urease
activity in some Trinidad soils. 

•	Effect of different insecticides on urease activity in some Trinidad
soils. 

•	Effect of toluene on urease soil activity. 

On completing Ph.D., Juggernaut wrote several research papers from his
thesis for publication and gave it to the Head of the Department for 
review; while some were published several others were never published, 
still laying somewhere at his former Professor's office collecting dust 
over the last three decades. The most disappointment came when a 
visiting professor from an Ivy League university in the United States 
offered a post- doctoral fellowship to Juggernaut, it was blocked by 
the Head of the Department on flimsy grounds (apparently he insisted 
that a local Caribbean student should get it, surprisingly there were 
none in the program.) 

Juggernaut was lucky to land on a job in Jamaica through a
recommendation from Jamaican Professor. With no supervisor and for the 
first time in full control, Juggernaut was happy at his new job as a 
Soil Chemist/Chief Chemist at the Sugar Research Institute in Jamaica. 

His work was fulfilling and his work at the Institute was still
appreciated even after 25 years. 

Research Work at Sugar Industry Research Institute. Mandeville, Jamaica
(1978-85) 

•	Nutrient value of distiller's waste and it's effect on soil pH.(1983) 

•	An update on irrigation water quality in Clarendon and St.Catherine
plains in Jamaica. 

•	Productivity levels of some major cane soil types in Jamaica.(1982) 

•	Secondary and micro-elements in cane nutrition. Jamaican
situation.(1982) 

•	Conducting soil salinity surveys in cane areas of Jamaica. (1981) 

•	Influence of split and late application of potash on cane quality and
yields.(1981) 

•	Various classifications of cane soils in Jamaica.(1981) 

•	Quality of irrigation water at Monymusk sugar estate between 1975 and
1981. (1981) 

•	Filter press mud, a by-product from sugar factory.(1980) 

•	A review of weed control practices in Jamaican sugar industry.  (1984)


•	Cane soils of Jamaica (1984) 

•	Subject index to the annual reports published by the Jamaican sugar
Industry Research Institute between 1948-1981.(1983) 

•	Sugarcane response to phosphates and potash in Jamaica. Results of
field experiments conducted between 1948-81. (1983) 

•	A bibliography of research work on sugarcane in Jamaica between 1937
and 1982. (1983) 

•	An index to nutrition experiments conducted between 1948 and 1978 at
the Sugar Industry Research Institute, Mandeville, Jamaica (1982) 

•	Soil salinity survey of Caymanas sugar estate in St. Catherine,
Jamaica (1981) 

•	Soil salinity survey of Bernard Lodge sugar estate in St. Catherine,
Jamaica (1980) 

•	Acid soils and liming (1979) 

•	Saline and alkaline soils (1978) 

•	Potassium and sugar-cane nutrition (1980) 

•	Post-harvest deterioration of cane (1980) 

•	Soil physical properties and cane productivity (1979) 

•	Irrigation water crisis in Clarendon and St. Catherine plains (1983) 

The Director of research, a fair minded person at last, appreciative of
Juggernaut's work insisted that he continue his work even after 7 years 
at the Institute. But Juggernaut thought it was time to move on since 
there wasn't any interesting work left to do despite the fact it was 
the most beautiful and wonderful place to live. And more importantly, 
the people were kind and giving. The staff at the General Hospital 
where Juggernaut's wife worked loved her and were sorry to let her go. 

Looking for a job with a foreign degree in the United States was no fun.
 Though miles apart from his research background, Juggernaut was happy 
to get a job in the industry. He reinvented himself in the field of 
environmental science and managed to sustain for several years. Not 
surprisingly, his boss was from Bombay, no kidding. Again, same old 
Indian tricks to hold down and other paraphernalia that comes with it 
(read short story entitled “Crime Scene.”)  Nevertheless, the job gave 
opportunities to travel extensively within the United States. When 
Juggernaut left the Job, he was proud he documented his work for others 
to benefit. 

Technical Papers Written for Animal Rendering Industry (1985 – 2000) 

•	Water reuse at various rendering plants. 

•	On-site treatment of wastewater generated from used restaurant grease
processing. 

•	Nitrification in CMAS tank/ wastewater lagoons. 

•	A checklist to implement Spill Prevention Control and Counter-measures
Plan (SPCC). 

•	A checklist to implement Stormwater Pollution Prevention Plan (SWPPP).


•	A study of odor control chemical usage and its costs. 

•	 Maintenance checklist to operate air-scrubbers. 

•	Why packed-bed air scrubbers sometimes under-perform? 

•	Do incineration of rendering odors in thermal oxidizers (TO) guarantee
odor free operation? 

•	Why more odor complaints in summer? Emission factors for animal
rendering operation 

Inspired by reading travel essays in National Geographic, Life Magazine
and local Railway Guides, his father subscribed, Juggernaut 
orchestrated his own journey. Met lot of people, some very kind and 
some not so. It's all about journey not the destination, Pam Collins, 
originally from Scotland, a fellow graduate student in Trinidad used to 
say to Juggernaut, perhaps she read Juggernaut's mind well having desk 
next to him for almost five years. 

While reading Aurobindo's work recently Juggernaut came across this “To
judge from appearances and apparent success is precisely an act of 
complete ignorance.”  This was so real thought Juggernaut from his 
experiences.  He was not sure whether it was his ignorance, timidity, 
or from his upbringing to accept the events, some totally unjust. But 
he always thought of saying “go f--- yourself” to the people so unjust. 
But he never did. In retrospect he should have done it. 


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