Magnetic wire-based sensors for the micro-rheology of complex fluids

We propose a simple micro-rheology technique to evaluate the viscoelastic properties of complex fluids. The method is based on the use of magnetic wires of a few microns in length submitted to a rotational magnetic field. In this work, the method is implemented on a surfactant wormlike micellar solution that behaves as an ideal Maxwell fluid. With increasing frequency, the wires undergo a transition between a steady and a hindered rotation regime. The study shows that the average rotational velocity and the amplitudes of the oscillations obey scaling laws with well-defined exponents. From a comparison between model predictions and experiments, the rheological parameters of the fluid are determined.Comment: 14 pages 7 figures, accepted in Physical Review

Targeted trawl fishery for moontail bullseye, Priacanthus hamrur off Mangalore for surumi production

Moontail bullseye, Priacanthus hamrur has been forming a part of the trawl fishery off Mangalore, caught from a depth beyond 100 m ever since deepsea trawling started off the coast. This is not a preferred edible species in Karnataka and was not a species considered for targeted fishery

Unusual catch rates of cuttlefish in a multiday trawler

Cuttlefish is one of the commercially important group of cephalopods caught by multi-night trawlers along the coast of Karnataka. The catch rate of cuttlefish in multiday trawlers varies from <5 kg/haul during December-April period to 50-300 kg/haul during the peak fishing season in August- September

Observations on the landing of Odonus niger at Mangalore

The redtoothed triggerfish (Odonus niger) of the family Balistidae is a reef associated species landed by trawl nets operated along the Karnataka coast. This species forms dense aggregations in inshore waters and were not targeted till recently due to their poor market demand. The triggerfish shoals are intentionally avoided by the trawlers and the incidental catches are either discarded or brought ashore when there is available deck space for storage. Such small quantities landed are auctioned along with the miscellaneous fish groups. Some interest was evinced on this species by the fish meal traders due to limited availability of raw materials during the year 2008

POM2/CSI1 is essential for functional association of cellulose synthase and microtubules in Arabidopsis

In plants, regulation of cellulose synthesis is fundamental for morphogenesis and plant growth. Cellulose is synthesized at the plasma membrane, and the orientation of synthesis is guided by cortical microtubules; however, the guiding mechanism is currently unknown. We show that the conditional root elongation pom2 mutants are impaired in cell elongation, fertility, and microtubule-related functions. Map-based cloning of the POM-POM2 locus revealed that it is allelic to CELLULOSE SYNTHASE INTERACTING1 (CSI1). Fluorescently tagged POM2/CSI1s associated with both plasma membrane-located cellulose synthases (CESAs) and post-Golgi CESA-containing compartments. Interestingly, while CESA insertions coincided with cortical microtubules in the pom2/csi1 mutants, the microtubule-defined movement of the CESAs was significantly reduced in the mutant. We propose that POM2/CSI1 provides a scaffold between the CESAs and cortical microtubules that guide cellulose synthesis

Tropical Dominating Sets in Vertex-Coloured Graphs

Given a vertex-coloured graph, a dominating set is said to be tropical if every colour of the graph appears at least once in the set. Here, we study minimum tropical dominating sets from structural and algorithmic points of view. First, we prove that the tropical dominating set problem is NP-complete even when restricted to a simple path. Then, we establish upper bounds related to various parameters of the graph such as minimum degree and number of edges. We also give upper bounds for random graphs. Last, we give approximability and inapproximability results for general and restricted classes of graphs, and establish a FPT algorithm for interval graphs.Comment: 19 pages, 4 figure

Sex ratio distortion in the Nesolynx thymus (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae), an ecto-pupal parasitoid of uzifly, Exorista sorbillans (Diptera: Tachinidae)

The reproductive alterations induced by maternally inherited alpha-proteo-bacteria Wolbachia to their hosts is a well-documented phenomenon. In Nesolynx thymus, a gregarious hymenopterous ecto-pupal parasitoid of the uzifly, Exorista sorbillans, diagnostic PCR assay using specific primers revealed the presence of Wolbachia. Following genetic crossing experiments, we observed a female biased sex ratio of 1 : 9.5 at 25 degrees C and 1 : 3 male to female ratio when the populations were exposed to heat shock 33 degrees C for six hours. Furthermore, we found infection polymorphism, where female parasitoids are infected by Wolbachia but males are not infected. Infected eggs develop into females, whereas uninfected eggs develop parthenogenetically into males. The results are discussed in the context of the possible mechanism of sex-ratio bias caused by Wolbachia

Single-dose pharmacokinetics of isoniazid and rifampicin in patients with chronic renal failure

The pharmacokinetics of Isoniazid and Rifampicin were studied in 18 patients with mild or moderate renal failure (creatinine clearance : 10.1-50.0 ml/min) and 17 patients with severe renal failure (creatinine clearance < 10.0 ml/min) and the findings compared with those in 16 healthy subjects. The renal excretion of Isoniazid, Acetylisoniazid, Rifampicin and Dcsacetylrifampicin was severely inhibited in patients with renal failure. Plasma Rifampicin and Isoniazid concentrations in rapid acetylators were similar in healthy subjects and both the groups of patients. In slow acetylators, plasma Isoniazid concentrations and exposure (AUC) and half-life of the drug, calculated on the basis of these concentrations were appreciably higher in patients than in healthy subjects (P < 0.01); the mean values in the two groups of patients were, however, similar. The correlations between plasma creatinine or creatinine clearance and peak concentration, exposure or half-life of Isoniazid were poor (r < 0.28) in the slow acetylators. These findings suggest that in patients with renal failure, it is not necessary to reduce dosage of Rifampicin or of Isoniazid in rapid acetylators but advisable in respect of Isoniazid in slow acetylators to lessen the risk of toxic reactions

Natural language analysis of online health forums

Despite advances in concept extraction from free text, finding meaningful health related information from online patient forums still poses a significant challenge. Here we demonstrate how structured information can be extracted from posts found in such online health related forums by forming relationships between a drug/treatment and a symptom or side effect, including the polarity/sentiment of the patient. In particular, a rule-based natural language processing (NLP) system is deployed, where information in sentences is linked together though anaphora resolution. Our NLP relationship extraction system provides a strong baseline, achieving an F1 score of over 80% in discovering the said relationships that are present in the posts we analysed