Recruitment of postlarval penaeid prawns in the Vellar estuary, South India

Abstract only.The northern bank of Vellar estuary (Parangipettai, India) is ideal for postlarval penaeid prawn recruitment. The annual recruitment, distribution and the substratum preference of postlarval immigrants at three different stations in the estuary were studied in detail. Among the postlarvae of Penaeus, P. (Fenneropenaeus) indicus was dominant followed by P. (Penaeus) monodon, P. (P.) semisulcatus, P. (F.) merguiensis and P. (Melicertus) latisulcatus. In Metapenaeus, postlarvae of M. monoceros were abundant followed by M. dobsoni, M. affinis, M. bre-vicornis and M. lysianassa. Two peaks were observed in the postlarval penaeid prawn population. In P (F.) indicus and P. (P.) monodon, the primary peak occurred from January to April and the secondary peak from July to September. In M. monoceros and M. dobsoni, the primary peak was from March to May and the secondary peak from August to September. The postlarvae of P. (F.) indicus, P. (P.) monodon, M. monoceros and M. dobsoni were available throughout the year while the others were seasonal. The distribution of postlarvae in the estuary is related to the type of substratum, salinity and temperature. The postlarval population declined during the northeast monsoon (November-December) and in peak summer (May-June). Their abundance decreased in the lower salinity areas of the upper reaches of the estuary

Norethindrone ensures masculinization, normal growth and secondary sexual characteristics in the fighting fish, Betta splendens

To ensure masculinization and normal growth of the obligately air-breathing fighting fish Betta splendens, norethindrone acetate (NE) was administered through discrete immersions for 3 h each on the second, fifth and eighth day post-hatching (dph) at selected concentrations (250, 500, 750, 1000 and 1250 μg/l). Immersions at 1000 μg/l ensured the maximum of 92% masculinization, 71% survival, normal growth and appearance of secondary sexual characteristics. NE reduced the air-breathing frequency on the fifth and eigth dph. It also reduced the frequency in males depurated for 172 days following the treatment, although males treated at 750 μg/l almost restored the frequency. In the ovary of the treated but persisting females, it reduced the number of vitellogenic oocytes and increased the vacuolar area. In the testis of the treated males, it reduced the number of spermatogonia and increased the vacuolar area. The treated males could neither induce the female to spawn as many eggs nor accommodate as many fertilized eggs within the bubble nest, as that of the control. While the control females attained puberty on the 140th dph and spawned 122 eggs once every 16 days, the persisting females, which were previously treated at 1000 μg/l, postponed puberty to the 183rd dph and prolonged the inter-spawning period to 40 days. During the 240-day experiment, NE reduced the cumulative progeny production from 764 to 104 (13.6% of the control)

A dissonant scale: stress recognition in the SAQ

BACKGROUND: Our previous analyses using the Stress Recognition subscale of the Safety Attitudes Questionnaire (SAQ) resulted in significant effect estimates with equally opposing explanations. We suspected construct validity issues and investigated such using our own data and correlation matrices of previous published studies. METHODS: The correlation matrices for each of the SAQ subscales from two previous studies by Speroff and Taylor were replicated and compared. The SAS Proc Factor procedure and the PRIORS = SMC option were used to perform Common Factor Analysis. RESULTS: The correlation matrices of both studies were very similar. Teamwork, Safety Climate, Job Satisfaction, Perceptions of Management and Working Conditions were well-correlated. The correlations ranged from 0.53 to 0.76. For Stress Recognition correlations ranged from -0.15 to 0.03. Common Factor Analysis confirmed the isolation of Stress Recognition. CFA returned a strong one-factor model that explained virtually all of the communal variance. Stress Recognition loaded poorly on this factor in both instances, and the CFA indicated that 96.4-100.0% of the variance associated with Stress Recognition was unique to that subscale, and not shared with the other 5 subscales. CONCLUSIONS: We conclude that the Stress Recognition subscale does not fit into the overall safety climate construct the SAQ intended to reflect. We recommend that this domain be omitted from overall safety climate scale score calculations, and clearly identified as an important yet distinct organizational construct. We suggest that this subscale be investigated for its true meaning, characterized as such, and findings conveyed to SAQ end users. We make no argument against Stress Recognition as an important organizational metric, rather we suggest that as a stand-alone construct its current packaging within the SAQ may be misleading for those intent on intervention development and evaluation in healthcare settings if they interpret Stress Recognition results as emblematic of safety climate

FREE RADICAL SCAVENGING AND ANTIOXIDANT PROPERTIES OF MARINE RED ALGAE HYPNEA MUSCIFORMIS

Objective: The study focused on determining the antioxidant properties of the Hypnea musciformis methanol crude extracts, from the red algae.Methods: The evaluation of antioxidant properties was determined by 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazyl (DPPH), 2,2'-azinobis 3ethylbenzthiazoline-6-sulphonic acid (ABTS), ferric reducing antioxidant power (FRAP), nitric oxide scavenging assay (NO), reducing power, superoxide radical scavenging (SOD), hydroxyl and hydrogen peroxide radical assay, the metal chelating activity as well as phosphomolypdenum assay.Results: Among the tested red algae, the maximum antioxidant activity was recorded in the methanol extract of Hypnea musciformis. Whereas methanolic crude extract of red algae and diatom showed good antioxidant potential.Conclusion: This study suggests that methanolic crude extracts contain different potential antioxidant compounds capable to scavenge different types of free radicals.Â

An approach to assess the quality of honey using partial least square method

The objective of the present study is to obtain the quantity of honey components such as moisture, glucose, fructose and sucrose in order to access the quality of honey. The tested honey samples are authenticated if the characteristics of a pure honey. The average ratio of 56% fructose to 44% glucose, but the ratios in the individual honeys ranged from a high of 64% fructose and 36% glucose to a low of 50% fructose and 50% glucose. The contents such as fructose and sucrose in honey is due to the presence of invertase enzymes. The organic acids present in the honey is responsible for the flavor and stability against the contamination of honey due to microorganisms. The natural food items are adulterated intentionally to increase the quantity and there by the quality gets affected. The main adulterants added in honey are sucrose, corn syrup, sugar syrup and jaggery syrup. The quantification deals in finding out the amount of basic constituents present in pure honey and adulterated honey using Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrometer with the multivariate analysis and validating the same using chemical analysis method. The partial least square model is used in predicting the constituents of the samples

Effect of steroid injection on food utilization in Channa striatus

Synthetic anabolic sex steroid hormones such as methyltestosterone (MT), testosterone (T), testosterone propionate (TP), estroid (ED), diethylstilbesterol (DES), diethylstilbesterol dipropionate (DES dipro) and docabolin (DN) were tested separately for their effect on food utilization in Channa striatus. Injection of low dosages of DES, DES dipro and TP acts as appetite depressors and Dn, MT, Ed and T as stimulators. MT, Ed and Dn induced not only increased feeding but also increased conversion. T promoted growth along with food consumption. Though DES and DES dipro suppressed feeding; individuals receiving these hormones showed increased growth with increasing dosage

Performance Evaluation of Chemometric Prediction Models—Key Components of Wheat Grain

148–152The present study was aimed to evaluate the accuracy of using near-infrared spectroscopy (NIRS) for predicting protein, moisture, starch and ash content values of wheat. The physiochemical properties of wheat were predicted using twelve prediction models of preprocessing coupled with regression tools. The performance measure of SVM aided with extended multiplicative scatter correction gave confident prediction results of protein, moisture, ash and starch content with R2 values of 0.989, 0.987, 0.976, 0.998 and RMSECV values of 0.263, 0.285793, 0.369 and 0.03 respectively. These results indicate the practical applicability of NIRS in wheat grain quality profiling

STUDY ON PREVALENCE OF DEPRESSION AND ADVERSE DRUG REACTIONS AMONG SOUTH INDIAN EPILEPTIC PATIENTS

Objectives: To compare the prevalence and intensity of adverse drug reactions (ADR) in patients receiving antiepileptic monotherapy and polytherapy,and to assess the pattern of depression associated with the therapy.Methods: This is a prospective observational study conducted in neurology outpatient department for a time period of 6 months in a tertiary carehospital, South India. Patients diagnosed as epileptic for more than 6 months and receiving stable doses of antiepileptic drugs (AED) for 3 monthswere included in the study. Study participants receiving monotherapy and polytherapy were divided into groups. A detailed validated questionnairewas used to assess the incidence and severity of depression and ADRs among the study participants. Mann–Whitney test, Kruskal–Wallis test, andWilcoxon signed rank test were used to know the statistical significance at p<0.05.Results: Among 91 patients with epilepsy, depression was observed mainly in the study group receiving polytherapy than monotherapy. The severityof ADR observed among various study groups during the first and second visit were compared, which showed that all range of intensity scores werereported. During the second visit, the severity of ADR was high when compared to the first visit. Further incidence of ADRs with AED therapy wascompared which showed clinically significant values in all ADRs reported in both monotherapy and polytherapy.Conclusion: Our study showed, maximum ADRs were among the patients receiving polytherapy, and depression was observed in patients receivingpolytherapy. This suggests the need for safe drug practice.Keywords: Epilepsy, Anti-epileptics, Adverse drug reactions, Depression, Monotherapy, Polytherapy.Â

Distribution and abundance of molluscan cryptofauna from Karaichalli Island (Gulf of Mannar), southeastern coast of India

Replicate samples of live coral, dead massive coral, dead branching coral, and live & dead coral were studied. The surface area, volume, percentage cover, biomass and percentage available living space were determined for molluscan cryptofauna in each habitat. The gastropods Pyrene versicolor, Drupa sp. and Cerithium sp. were common in branching corals. The bivalves Saccostrea cllecullata, Area sp., Isognomon sp., Pinctada sp. and Lithophaga sp. were common in dead parts of ramose corals. Mytilids were rare in living parts of ramose corals. Pyrene sp., Drupa sp., Cerithium sp. and Lambis sp. were found crawling on the surface of the massive corals