Biology and Population of Sergestid Shrimps (Acetes Spp.) (Decapoda: Sergestidae) From Klebang Besar, Malacca, Malaysia

Taxonomy, morphometric variation, population genetics, reproductive cycle, sex ratio, fecundity, feeding habits, seasonal abundance, growth, mortality, recruitment, yield-per-recruit and status of the stock of Acetes spp., locally known as ‘udang geragau’, from the coastal waters of Klebang Besar, Malacca, Peninsular Malaysia were examined during February 2005 to March 2007. Three species of sergestid shrimps viz A. indicus, A. japonicus and A. intermedius were identified from the study area. Among them, A. intermedius was recorded for the first time from Malaysia coast. All morphometric characters amongst the three species were significantly different (P < 0.05). The Random Amplified Polymorphic DNA (RAPD) marker was used to study the population genetic variation of A. japonicus collected along the west coast of Peninsular Malaysia. A total of 90 samples of Acetes japonicus, comprised of 30 (15 males and 15 females) from Kedah, 30 (15 males and 15 females) from Perak and 30 (15 male and 15 females) from Malacca were used. The percentages of polymorphic bands of the three geographic populations investigated were varied from 57.77% to 87.77%. Genetic distances between populations and cluster analysis from UPGMA grouped the populations into two major clusters. The Perak and Malacca populations were in one cluster, while the Kedah population was clustered by itself indicating it was genetically different. The genetic distance was the highest for the Kedah and the Malacca populations while the lowest was for the Perak and the Malacca populations which probably has a closed ancestral relationship and are from the same species. The sex ratio of A. indicus and A. japonicus in the coastal waters of Malacca was in favour of females in most months of the year. The analysis of the annual variation of gonadosomatic index (GSI) showed the continuously breeding of A. indicus and A. japonicus throughout the year. Size at first sexual maturity of female A. indicus was observed at 23 mm and that was > 17 mm of total length for female A. japonicus. There were no females with spent ovaries in the samples of both species. The estimated mean fecundity of A. indicus was 1666.28 (± 46.32) eggs. The mean monthly GSI for females A. indicus showed positive and significant (P 0.05) correlation was found between the mean monthly GSI and the remaining two variables (temperature and dissolved oxygen). According the Simple Resultant Index (%Rs), the stomach contents of A. indicus were comprised of plant matters (22.85%), fine sand and mud (16.19%), crustacean appendages (19.03%), debris (15.46%), unidentified fragments (10.56%), zooplankton (6.78%), phytoplankton (6.47%), algae (3.49%), shrimp nauplii (1.25%) and mollusc larvae (0.91%). Similarly, diet compositions of A. japonicus were made up of plant matters (31.82%), debris (20.06%), phytoplankton (18.45%), fine sand and mud (11.75%), appendages of decapods (6%), unidentified fragments (5.86%), algae (4.17%) and zooplankton (1.80%). These various compositions of food items proved that the two shrimps are bottom feeder omnivore. The average monthly catch per unit effort (CPUE) of the estuarine push net (EPN) was estimated at 2.50 (± 3.42) kg/fisherman/hr. The total catch comprised of three major categories those were Acetes shrimps (90%), followed by fish juveniles (9%) and other shrimps (1%). The annual percent composition of A. indicus, A. japonicas and A. intermedius were found to be 57%, 41% and 2%, respectively. The peak catch was observed in the month of October to December. There was no significant correlation (P > 0.05) between monthly catches and environmental parameters (temperature, dissolved oxygen, salinity, conductivity and total suspended solid). The length frequency distribution for A. indicus suggested that the population consisted of two dominant age group with mean values of 20.80 (± 0.07) mm and 29.85 (± 0.09) mm of the total length, respectively. And the population of A. japonicus consisted of maximum two age groups, with means of 15.18 (± 0.90) mm and 21.56 (± 1.03) mm of total length. The population of A. intermedius also consisted of maximum two age groups, with means of 19.18 (± 0.05) mm and 26.92 (± 0.06) mm of the total length. The positive allometric nature of growth for A. indicus was observed. However, isometric nature of growth was found in combined sexes of A. japonicus. The positive allometric nature of growth was also observed in female and both sexes of A. intermedius. There were significant difference between males and females size-frequency distribution of A. indicus (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test: dmax = 0.42, P < 0.05), A. japonicus (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test: dmax = 0.39, P < 0.05) and A. intermedius (Kolmogorov-Smirnov test: dmax = 0.40, P < 0.05). The growth, mortality, recruitment and relative yield per recruit of Acetes spp. were investigated based on monthly length-frequency data, using FiSAT software. Higher natural mortalities of male A. indicus and A. japonicus versus the fishing mortalities observed from the study indicated the unbalance position in the stock. Exploitation level (E) of female was higher than males in A. japonicus population. This study indicated two major recruitment events per year where two cohorts were produced per year for A. indicus and A. japonicus populations. The recruitment pattern of A. intermedius was continuous with one major cohort per year. Results from the analysis of the exploitation rate (E) based on the fishing mortality estimates, and from the relative yield-per-recruit (Y/R), indicate that the Acetes japonicus fishery is over exploited although A. indicus and A. intermedius fishery were slightly below the optimum level of exploitation. This implies that any further unrestrained increase in fishing effort might overshoot the level giving maximum sustainable yield, thus driving the stock down and leading to economic losses

Development of a hot water treatment plant suitable for banana

Banana is a year round fruit in Bangladesh.  After harvesting, banana is attacked by postharvest disease caused by some fungi.  The quality and quantity losses of banana occur due to disease attacks and lack of proper postharvest handling.  Fungus can be destroyed or made inactive by chemical or heat treatment.  Most of the chemicals are hazardous to human health.  Heat treatment technology is simple and is a non-chemical method to kill or inactivate pest and to control fungus.  A hot water treatment plant was designed and developed with local materials for treating banana fruits.  Overall dimensions of the hot water treatment plant were 1600 mm×926 mm×1566 mm and operated by an electrical motor of 0.38 kW.  Water was heated by the six electric immersion heaters of 2,000 W of each.  The capacity of the plant was 350 kg h-1.  The price of the hot-water treatment plant was Taka 1,00,000 (US$1300) and treatment cost was Taka 0.55 kg-1 ($0.007).  The effective combinations of temperatures and exposure periods of BARI Kola 1 and Sabri Kola were found to be 55°C for 5 min.  When the banana fruits were treated with hot water, the shelf-life of the fruits was found to increase by 30% and the postharvest loss reduced by 70% over those of untreated bananas.  The break-even point of the plant was 70 h yr-1.  Banana fruits treated by the plant can be profitable to traders when the annual use of the plant exceeds 70 h.  Payback period of the plant was estimated to be 26 d.  Therefore, there is a good opportunity of farmers and traders to increase income and generate employment using the hot water treatment plant.   Keywords: Hot-water treatment plant, banana, temperature, exposure period, break-even point and payback perio

In-vivo evaluation of Anti-onciceptive, Anti-inflammatory, Antipyretic, Hypoxia and Gastro-intestinal potentials of SwasKas Chintamani Ras

Background: SwasKas Chintamani Ras (SKC) an Ayurvedic preparation used for respiratory disease was tested for the pharmacological study using small laboratory animals. The purpose of the experiment is to study the analgesic and anti-inflammatory, antipyretic activity, drug’s property to modify the survival time, gastro-intestinal effects/side-effects.Method: Analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect of the drug was carried out by three complementary test methods namely formalin induced paw licking test, xylene induced ear edema test and acetic acid writhing test. Antipyretic activity of the drug was determined by infra-red thermometry test. Drug’s property to modify the survival time of mice was studied by hypoxia test. For investigating the gastro-intestinal effects / side-effects gastric emptying test, gastro-intestinal motility test, colon transit time test and castor oil induced anti-diarrhoea test were conducted. Mild analgesic and anti-inflammatory effect was observed by formalin induced paw licking test and xylene induced ear edema test in SKC treated animal that was more prominent in female mice.Results: SKC at a dose of (100 mg/kg) showed significant analgesic effect, surprisingly reverse effect was observed at the higher doses. SKC treated male/female mice exhibit overall decrease in body temperature at dose 100 mg/Kg in the experimental period. SKC results in negligible decrease in gastric emptying at 2nd hour but increases in gastric emptying at 4th hour in experimental male mice. SKC at the dose of 100 mg/kg, showed an increase in the gut motility from the early 1sthrs to 4th hr. SKC also showed increase in colon transit time indicating possibility of potential laxative effect.Conclusion: It can be said from this experiment that SKC is devoid of any prominent side effects, further in-depth toxicological study is recommended to validate the safety of this Ayurvedic drug

Evaluation of the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activities of methanolic extracts of the leaves of Averrhoa bilimbi leaves

Objectives: This study was aimed to investigate the analgesic and anti-inflammatory activi­ties of crude methanolic extract Averrhoa bilimbi leaves.Materials and Methods: Methanolic extracts of Averrhoa bilimbi leaves with different concentration were tested for an­algesic activity in mouse model by acetic acid induced writhing and anti-inflammatory effect was tested by carrageenan induced paw edema modelResults: The extract, at 400 mg/kg, showed higher analgesic activity (67.51%) against acetic acid induced pain in mice while the standard ref­erence drug Diclofenac sodium exhibited 64.33% activity at 10 mg/kg dose. The anti-inflammatory effect of the extract was comparable to reference drug Ibuprofen and the effect was sustained for 2-4 hr.Conclusion: Methanolic extractof Averrhoa bilimbi leaves have moderate analgesic and anti-inflammatory properties

Population dynamics and exploitation level of green-lipped mussel (Perna viridis) using FiSAT from the offshore island of the Cox's Bazar Coast of Bangladesh

Planning and management of molluscan resources require knowledge of various population parameters and exploitation level (E) of the population in a particular location. Estimation of population parameters like asymptotic length (L8), growth co-efficient (K), mortalities, exploitation level (E) and recruitment pattern of green-lipped mussel (Perna viridis) in the offshore Island of Cox’s Bazar coast of Bangladesh were studied by using the length frequency based analysis of FiSAT software. Asymptotic length (L8) was 19.43 cm and growth co-efficient (K) was estimated at 0.56/yr. Total mortality (Z) was 1.44/yr. Natural mortality (M) and fishing mortality (F) were 1.38/yr and 0.06/yr, respectively. Exploitation level (E) of R viridis was 0.04 while the maximum allowable limit of exploitation value (Emax) was 0.68. The exploitation level (< 0.50) indicates that the stock of P. viridis might underexploited in the offshore Island of the Cox’s Bazar coast of Bangladesh

Development of breeding and fingerling production techniques for endangered long-whiskered catfish Sperata aor in captivity

An experiment was undertaken to develop a suitable seed production technique for Sperata aor in captivity. Naturally produced fry of aor was reared at different densities in nine nursery ponds 0.012 ha in size with an average depth of 0.8 m each. Three stocking densities tested, each of which was triplicated. Fry of aor stocked at 100,000/ha was designated as treatment-1 (T1), 150,000/ha as treatment-2 (T2) and 200,000/ha as treatment-3 (T3). All stocked fry were from the same age group with mean length and weight of 1.78 ± 0.28 cm and 0.24 ± 0.05 g, respectively. Fry in all the treatments were fed with SABINCO nursery feed (32.06% crude protein) for the first 14 days and starter-I (31.53% crude protein) for days 15 to 56. Physico-chemical parameters and plankton population of pond water were within the optimal level being better in T1 than those in T2 and T3. Growth in terms of final weight and length, weight and length gain, specific growth rate, daily growth rate, and survival of fingerlings were significantly higher in T1 followed by T2 and T3. Food conversion rate was significantly lower in T1 than in T2 and T3. Significantly higher number of fingerlings was produced in T3 than those in T2 and T1. Despite this, consistently higher net benefits were achieved from T1 than from T2 and T3. This is the first time report that stocking of 100,000 fry/ha appears to be the most suitable density for rearing of aor fingerlings in nursery ponds

Enhancement of machinability of Inconel 718 in end milling through online induction heating of workpiece

This paper presents the outcome of a study on heat assisted end milling of Inconel 718 using inducting heating technique conducted to enhance the machinability of the material. The heating temperature maintained below the phase transformation temperature was aimed at softening the top removable material layers. The experimental results of both conventional and heat assisted machining were compared. The machinability of Inconel 718 under these conditions was evaluated in terms of tool life, tool wear morphology and chatter. The advantages of Induction heating is demonstrated by an longer tool life and lower chatter. The study showed that preheated machining facilitates up to 80% increase of tool life over conventional machining conducted using TiAlN coated carbide inserts

Development of an artificial neural network algorithm for predicting the surface roughness in end milling of inconel 718 alloy

In this work, an artificial neural network (ANN) model was developed for the investigation and prediction of the relationship between cutting parameters and surface roughness during high speed end milling of nickel-based Inconel 718 alloy. The input parameters of the ANN model are the cutting parameters: cutting speed, feed, and axial depth of cut. The output parameter of the model was surface roughness. For this interpretation, advantages of statistical experimental design technique, experimental measurements, artificial neural network were exploited in an integrated manner. Cutting experiments are designed based on statistical three-level full factorial experimental design technique. A predictive model for surface roughness was created using a feed-forward back-propagation neural network exploiting experimental data. The network was trained with pairs of inputs/outputs datasets generated when end milling Inconel 718 alloy with single-layer PVD TiAlN coated carbide inserts. A very good predicting performance of the neural network, in terms of concurrence with experimental data was attained. The model can be used for the analysis and prediction for the complex relationship between cutting conditions and the surface roughness in metal-cutting operations and for the optimization of the surface roughness for efficient and economic production

Phytochemical Screening and Antimicrobial Potential Analysis of Methanolic Extracts of Ten Days Mature Triticum aestivum Linn. (Whole Plants)

Triticum aestivum Linn. is a common wheat plant which have been used as traditional herbal medicine and is highly valued for its therapeutic and nutritional properties. In the present study we intended to screen possible chemical groups and the antimicrobial potential of methanolic extracts of ten days mature whole plants of T. aestivum Linn. Phytochemical analysis was done by different qualitative chemical tests and antimicrobial potential was ascertained by disc diffusion method. The phytochemical analysis of the crude extract executed the presence of alkaloids, carbohydrates, glycosides, saponins, glycosides, steroids, tannins, flavonoids, terpenoids and phenols. Broad spectrum antimicrobial activity was revealed by the crude extracts at the concentration of 400 μg/disc. Ciprofloxacin was used as standard antibiotic to compare with that of the results. In order to isolate and characterize the antimicrobial active constituents responsible for the antimicrobial potential, further work especially bioassay-guided fractionation may be confessed.Â

New Distribution Records of Sergestid Shrimp, Acetes intermedius (Decapoda: Sergestidae) from Peninsular Malaysia with Notes on its Population Characteristics

Present research records for the first time, the occurrence of the sergestid shrimp Acetes intermedius in Peninsular Malaysia. A taxonomic account of this shrimp is provided. Notes on its habitat and population characteristics were examined based on 995 specimens collected from the Klebang Besar, coastal waters of Malacca, Peninsular Malaysia during February 2005 to January 2006. Size-frequency distribution revealed that the mean size of females consistently exceeded that of males throughout the year (TL range: 15-27.50 and 13.50-33 mm for males and females, respectively). The overall yearly and the monthly sex ratio were in favor of females. Asymptotic length (L4) and growth co-efficient (K) was estimated as 34.65 mm and 1.50 yearG1. The exponent b (2.979) of the length-weight relationship for males was found near to the isometric value (b = 3.0) and positive allometric growth was observed in females and combined sexes (b = 3.227 for females and b = 3.249 combined sexes). The asymptotic weight was calculated as 211.21 mg. The overall average growth rate of A. intermedius showed 2.10 (` 0.88) mm/month in the coastal waters of Malacca