Pond production of Artemia in Pakistan

Currently our government and the private sectors are very much interested in the establishment of marine aquaculture. For the successful operation in aquaculture of finfishes and shellfishes, the basic requirement is the suitable diet, apart from proper environment. For the larvae, juveniles and adult stages of the culturing organisms the live Artemia is the ideal food. The aquaculturists the worldover are using live food for their culturing organisms, as the live food played an important role in the dietary management of aquaculture of finfishes and shellfishes (Sorgeloos and Kulasekarapandian, 1984), particularly during larval stages. The live nauplii of Artemia are used in aquaculture of finfishes and shellfishes due to being nutritionally balanced, non polluting, economically bearable, viable and readily acceptable to the culturing species. The adult Artemia is also used for feeding the aquarium fishes particularly so when there is a clear abundance of this resource which is cheaper and can economically compete with alternative artificial diet. By the use of Artemia the aquaculturists may obtain optimum growth and survival rate of the organisms. The life cycle of Artemia is very short, which is completed within two weeks especially during dry season in highly saline waters, the two weeks old Artemia starts producing cysts. These cysts become ready to harvest within a week

Distributional patterns of brachyuran larvae in Manora Channel (Karachi, Pakistan) collected during 1995

This study gives an account of distributional patterns of Brachyuran larvae in the Manora Channel from January to November 1995. The planktonic sampling was carried out during day time from surface and sub-surface waters of station I and II (certain sites) at shallow depths (15'-20') using Bongo net of 300 micron mesh size. In all 19527 larvae were obtained through fourteen sampling. These brachyuran larvae belonged to nine families and twenty four species: Ebalia sagittifera, Philyra sp., Philyra scabriuscula (Leucosiidae), Schizophyris aspera (Majidae), Charybdis annulata, Charybdis sp. (Portunidae), Xanthid sp A., B. and C. (Xanthidae), Pilumnus karachiensis, Pilumnus sp. (Pilumnidae), Menippe rumphii (Oziidae), Pinnotheres sp. A, and B. (Pinnotheridae), Nasima dotilliforme, Serenella indica, Macrophthalmus (Mareotis) depressus, Macrophthalmus sp., Dotilla blanfordi, Ocypodid sp. A., B. and C. (Ocypodidae), Metopograpsus thukuhar and Clistocoeloma lanatum (Grapsidae). This study is based on identification, occurrence, distributional patterns along Manora Channel and percentage composition of brachyuran larvae in the area, collected during 1995

Occurrence and abundance of brachyuran larvae in the Manora Channel (Karachi, Pakistan) during 1993

The present paper investigates the occurrence and abundance of brachyuran larvae in the Manora Channel during August- December 1993. The fortnightly planktonic sampling was carried out in Manora Channel which is bordered by mangroves, during day time from surface and subsurface waters at shallow depth using Bongo net of 300 micron mesh size. Analysis of samples revealed presence of brachyuran larvae of 12 species belonging to 6 families. Of these 4 species are confirmed: Serenella indica, Dotilla blanfordi, Metopograpsus thukuhar and Clistocoeloma lanatum, 2 provisionally identified species are: Pilumnus ?karachiensis and Pinnotheres ?pisum, 2 species are identified upto generic level: Philyra sp. and Pinnotheres sp., and 1 Ocypodid species and 3 Xanthid species are identified upto family level. This study based on identification, occurrence and abundance of brachyuran larvae in the area, also gives percentage composition of brachyuran larvae collected during 1993, in the Manora Channel

Dry Fruit Horticulture and Production Patterns in Highland Ecosystems: A Case of Almond and Walnut Cultivation in Jammu and Kashmir, India

Jammu and Kashmir state is located in north-western part of India. The region shows predominantly mountainous topography with an average elevation of more than 5700 meters above sea level. With fragile climatic regime and interconnected physiographic characteristics, the region forms a typical case of the highland ecosystem. This highland nature of the state forms the suitable characteristics for the cultivation of different agricultural products especially saffron, dry fruits, apple and basmati rice. Over the years, both dry and fresh fruits have emerged as the important contributors to the state economy and the government has come up with various schemes and programmes for the development and growth of the fruit industry. Jammu and Kashmir besides attaining prominence in fresh fruit cultivation have also emerged as a favourite destination for the cultivation of dry fruits especially almonds and walnuts. These crops occupy a significant place and are an important contributor to the state economy as the bulk of their production is exported not only to different parts of India but the world over. The present study is an attempt to study the growth patterns in the dry fruit industry of the state especially almond and walnut. Keywords: Horticulture, Production, Temperate climate, Dry Fruits, Floods, Precipitation.  

Kinetic Model of CCA Fixation on Wood. Part I. The Initial Reaction Zone

The fixation process for chromated copper arsenate (CCA-C) preservative treated wood has at least two distinctly different zones. One of these is a fast "Initial Reaction," characterized by a rapid increase in pH and a decrease in available hexavalent chromium (Crvi). In the present study we develop a mathematical model that describes the initial reaction kinetics for red pine (Pinus resinosa Ait.) treated with 1% CCA-C. The results show that the initial fixation reactions follow pseudo 10th order kinetics. The activation energy and pre-exponential factors were found to be 37.8 kj.mol-1 and 8.7 X 10-19 h-1 mol-9 I9, respectively. At all treatment temperatures tested, the initial reaction resulted in approximately 47% chromium reduction. At 4° the time required to complete the initial reaction is approximately 4.5 h; at room temperature the initial reaction is complete in about 1.7 h. At 50° the initial reaction is complete in about 25 min. The complete model incorporates the rate equation, Arrhenius temperature dependence, and the fixation definition into a single equation that expresses % chromium fixation as a function of initial chromium concentration in the treating solution and time and temperature history of the wood following treatment.This model can also be used as an integral part of an overall fixation model that can be used to predict the percent fixation at a given treatment condition based on knowledge of the temperature history of the wood during fixation

Adverse effects of anti-epileptic, anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetic and anti-arrhythmic drugs on hematological and hepatic parameters

Multiple drug administration increases chances of drug interaction, altering the responses of drugs either increasing or decreasing pharmacological effects, or generating a new pharmacological response. Generally drug interactions should be avoided, due to the possibility of poor or unexpected outcomes. The present study was designed to explore relatively safe combination that can be used in individuals with multiple disorders such as epilepsy, hypertension, arrhythmia and diabetes. The study was conducted in normal rabbits of either sex following administration of drugs for a period of 60 days; various biochemical tests were performed to assess their hepatic and hematological profile. Results of this study suggest that animals of group receiving amiodarone-glibenclamide-captopril-oxcarbazepine combination revealed comparatively more toxic effects than two other combinations.Colegio de Farmacéuticos de la Provincia de Buenos Aire

Constraining Light Gravitino Mass from Cosmic Microwave Background

We investigate the possibilities of constraining the light gravitino mass m_{3/2} from future cosmic microwave background (CMB) surveys. A model with light gravitino with the mass m_{3/2}<O(10) eV is of great interest since it is free from the cosmological gravitino problem and, in addition, can be compatible with many baryogenesis/leptogenesis scenarios such as the thermal leptogenesis. We show that the lensing of CMB anisotropies can be a good probe for m_{3/2} and obtain an expected constraint on m_{3/2} from precise measurements of lensing potential in the future CMB surveys, such as the PolarBeaR and CMBpol experiments. If the gravitino mass is m_{3/2}=1 eV, we will obtain the constraint for the gravitino mass as m_{3/2} < 3.2 eV (95% C.L.) for the case with Planck+PolarBeaR combined and m_{3/2}=1.04^{+0.22}_{-0.26} eV (68% C.L.) for CMBpol. The issue of Bayesian model selection is also discussed.Comment: 22 pages, 6 figures, 7 tables, references are added, accepted for publication in JCA

Kinetic Model of CCA Fixation on Wood. Part III. Model Validation

In previous studies, models were developed for the initial and main fixation reactions of chromated copper arsenate (CCA-C) on red pine wood as a function of time and isothermal wood temperature conditions following treatment with 1% CCA-C. In this study, these models are used to predict the amount of fixation over sequential short non-isothermal intervals as a way of predicting time to total fixation under variable temperature conditions. The rate of fixation of CCA-C treated red pine pole sections could generally be accurately predicted, using these models, from thermocouple temperature readings in the pole surface, even under a highly variable temperature fixation regime. However, variations in fixation rate were observed even within a single pole, associated with density differences at the butts and tops of the poles. This confirms that fixation time estimates are very sensitive to the model parameters and suggests that the model may not accurately predict fixation rates over a wide range of material sources