A bibliography of parasites and diseases of marine and freshwater fishes of India

With the increasing demand for fish as human food, aquaculture both in freshwater and salt water is rapidly developing over the world. In the developing countries, fishes are being raised as food. In many countries fish farming is a very important economic activity. The most recent branch, mariculture, has shown advances in raising fishes in brackish, estuarine and bay waters, in which marine, anadromous and catadromous fishes have successfully been grown and maintained

A hexamer origin of the echinoderms' five rays

Of the major deuterostome groups, the echinoderms with their multiple forms and complex development are arguably the most mysterious. Although larval echinoderms are bilaterally symmetric, the adult body seems to abandon the larval body plan and to develop independently a new structure with different symmetries. The prevalent pentamer structure, the asymmetry of Loven's rule and the variable location of the periproct and madrepore present enormous difficulties in homologizing structures across the major clades, despite the excellent fossil record. This irregularity in body forms seems to place echinoderms outside the other deuterostomes. Here I propose that the predominant five-ray structure is derived from a hexamer structure that is grounded directly in the structure of the bilaterally symmetric larva. This hypothesis implies that the adult echinoderm body can be derived directly from the larval bilateral symmetry and thus firmly ranks even the adult echinoderms among the bilaterians. In order to test the hypothesis rigorously, a model is developed in which one ray is missing between rays IV-V (Loven's schema) or rays C-D (Carpenter's schema). The model is used to make predictions, which are tested and verified for the process of metamorphosis and for the morphology of recent and fossil forms. The theory provides fundamental insight into the M-plane and the Ubisch', Loven's and Carpenter's planes and generalizes them for all echinoderms. The theory also makes robust predictions about the evolution of the pentamer structure and its developmental basis. *** including corrections (see footnotes) ***Comment: 10 pages, 6 figure

A Conversational Agent (PracticePal) to Support the Delivery of a Brief Behavioral Activation Treatment for Depression in Rural India: Development and Pilot-Testing Study.

BACKGROUND: Brief psychosocial interventions, such as the Healthy Activity Program (HAP), which are based on behavioral activation and delivered by nonspecialist providers (NSPs), have emerged as cost-effective solutions for the treatment of depression. HAP treatment outcomes are improved by the engagement of patients in activation-focused homework assignments and their adherence to these assignments during therapy. Currently, patients are expected to complete these homework assignments using a paper workbook. OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to describe the user-centered development process of PracticePal, a chatbot designed to enhance patient engagement and homework adherence, and to evaluate its feasibility and acceptability as a therapy aid in India. METHODS: We used a user-centered approach to co-develop PracticePal, incorporating conversational flows and video scripts in Hindi. The chatbot was piloted with 30 participants having depression who were receiving the HAP from 15 nonspecialist counselors in primary care in rural Madhya Pradesh, India. The feasibility and acceptability of PracticePal were assessed through engagement data, in-depth interviews with a subset of 6 participants, and focus group discussions with 11 counselors. Treatment completion rates and changes in depressive symptoms were explored as secondary outcomes. RESULTS: Average patient engagement spanned 29 days (95% CI 24-34) during the 60-day treatment period. The engagement of patients with PracticePal increased as their treatment progressed, particularly after the third HAP session. Of the 30 patients, 20 (67%) accessed more than half of the multimedia content available on the chatbot. On average, there was a greater frequency of self-initiated engagement (1558 out of a total of 1835 times, 84.9%) across all sessions compared with reminder prompts (277 out of 1835 times, 15.1%). All 30 patients completed treatment and experienced a reduction in the mean Patient Health Questionnaire-9 score from 13 (95% CI 12.6-13.6; signifying moderate severity) to 4 (95% CI 2.9-4.7; signifying none/minimal severity). Patients found the chatbot's reminders for activities, mood tracking, and video messages helpful and observed that it could help others in their social network. NSPs also reported improved participation of patients in the homework tasks compared with the paper workbook. A few patients faced challenges with low internet bandwidth, and those with limited literacy suggested increasing the amount of video content for easier accessibility. CONCLUSIONS: The PracticePal chatbot is a feasible and acceptable therapy aid to complement a psychological treatment, with promising potential to enhance the effectiveness of NSP-delivered psychosocial interventions in low-resource settings. Future steps include conducting a fully powered randomized controlled trial to assess its effectiveness in improving mental health outcomes