Omentoplasty as an effective surgical modality for managing a high risk patient with deep sternal wound infection

Poorly managed diabetes and hypertensives are risk factors for deep sternal wound infection (DSWI) following cardiac surgery; leading to increased morbidity and mortality. To reappraise the effectiveness of omental flap in the management of High risk patient with DSWI. A middle aged man with extensive mediastinitis following cardiac surgery (from outside referral). He was a known Diabetic and Hypertensive who was poorly compliant on medications. The history, physical examination, gycosylated Haemoglobin (HbA1c) and microbiological analyses showed high blood pressure, poor glycaemic control, septicaemia with staphylococcal DSWI. Resuscitation was achieved with the use of oral antihypertensives, Human insulin and antibiotics respectively. The DSWI was managed with serial debridement and subsequent wound cover with omental flap. The hospital stay was shorter and outcome was good. The management of DSWI with omental flap may be an effective surgical modality that reduces morbidity and mortality even in high risk patients

Magmatic origin and petrogenesis characterization of syenite rock from Pakkanadu alkaline complex, Southern Granulite Terrain, India: Implication on emplacement and petrogenetic history

The present study mainly focused on understanding the magmatic origin and petrogenesis characterization based on the Petrography, major, trace and Rare Earth Element (REE) signatures in the alkaline syenite from Pakkanadu alkaline carbonatite complex. The alkaline plutons from South Indian granulite terrain are intruded along with Archaean epidote-hornblende gneisses. The study area was carbonatite complexes of Tamil Nadu and is characterized by a group of rock associations Carbonatite-Syenite-Pyroxenite - Dunite. From Harker various patterns Pakkanadu alkaline complex syenite showed increasing trends of SiO2, Al2O3, Na2O + K2O opposite to decreasing order of CaO, Fe2O3, MgO, TiO2, P2O5 and MnO trend, suggest fractionation of clinopyroxene, hornblende, sphene, apatite and oxide minerals and feldspar that ruled the fractionation. The concentration of trace elements enriched in Large Ion lithophile elements  (LILE) (Ba, Sr, and Rb) elements and High Field Strength Elements (HFSEs) indicated that the dyke intrusion by differentiation of magma from a mantle source. Rare earth element (REE) distribution of Light rare earth element (LREE) enriched and High rare earth element (HREE) depleted pattern show strongly fractionated pattern with moderate Eu anomalies. Plots of tectonic discrimination diagrams of Pakkanadu samples fall in the field of syn-COLG field to the VAG syn- COLG field.     For the first time, this type of study was carried out in the study region in a detailed manner. The present study significantly exposed the petrography, petrogenesis and magmatic origin process in the Pakkanadu alkaline carbonatite complex.

Unusual landings of deepwater bandfish along Chennai coast

Large volumes of Acanthocepola Bleeker, 1874 landing by mechanized single day trawlers and motorized fibre glass boats were observed at Chennai Fisheries Harbour and Kovalam Landing Centre in Chennai respectively during the month of August and September, 2019. In single day mechanised trawlers operated in 12km north off Chennai at a depth of 18m total landings between 6th and 13th August,2019 were an estimated 1200 kg. The size range was 270-470mm with dominant mode at 340-360mm. The individual fish weight ranged between 57-112g with a mean weight of 78g

Web crippling response of cold-formed ultra-high strength steel lipped channel sections

In the recent times, the use of cold-formed ultra-high strength steel (CFUSS) has increased in construction industry due to their key advantages such as higher strength-to-weight ratio, flexibility in achieving desired shape as well as availability in relatively long spans. The CFUSS lipped channel sections can be used as purlins and joists in the steel structural systems, thus they are vulnerable to different failure modes including web crippling. The current design rules don’t include any specific guidelines to estimate the web crippling capacity of the CFUSS sections. The current study, therefore, aims to numerically investigate the web crippling response of CFHSS lipped channel sections under Interior-Two-Flange (ITF) loading conditions. Numerical models were established by using finite element (FE) package ABAQUS. The developed models were verified against published test data and then used as a base for conducting an extensive parametric study. The ultimate web crippling capacity obtained from the parametric study was used to assess the accuracy of the current design equations in the standards. The assessment revealed that the existing design equations are insufficient in predicting the ultimate web crippling capacity of CFUSS lipped channel sections under the ITF loading condition

Bioactive potential of selected actinobacterial strains against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other clinical pathogens

1307-1311Marine actinobacteria produces diverse array of metabolites with novel chemical structures with potential bioactivities. Exploring the understudied ecosystems may increase the chance of getting novel actinobacteria and new metabolites.The present study explores the bioactive potential of actinobacteria isolated from the marine ecosystem of Andaman and Nicobar Islands, Bay of Bengal, against Mycobacterium tuberculosis and other clinical pathogens. The crude extracts from 15 marine actinobacterial strains were produced through agar surface fermentation using YEME agar and extracted using ethyl acetate. The crude extracts were tested against the standard strain M. tuberculosis H37Rv, clinical drug sensitive M. tuberculosis, and MDR M. tuberculosis strains by luciferase reporter phage (LRP) assay at 500 µg/ml concentration. The anti-microbial activity against other clinical pathogens, namely, Staphylococcus aureus, Escherichia coli, Salmonella paratyphi, Klebsiellapneumoniae, Pseudomonas aeruginosa, Candida albicans, and Cryptococcusneoformans and non-tubercular mycobacteria, M. smegmatis was studied by agar plug method. Among the 15 extracts that were tested for anti-tubercular activity, the crude ethyl acetate extract of the 14 actinobacterial strains showed anti-tubercular activity against at least one of the three M. tuberculosis strains. Exceptionally, the ethyl acetate extract of strain SACC 168 inhibited all three M. tuberculosis strains tested. In anti-microbial screening, the crude extracts of eight strains showed anti-microbial activity including six strains, which were active against the non-tuberculous mycobacteria. Further purification and characterization of the active molecule from the potential extracts will pave way for the potential natural product candidate for tuberculosis and other microbial infections

Infestation of rhizocepalan barnacle in the Blue swimmer crab

The parasitic rhizocephalan barnacle, Sacculina spp. were observed in the live Blue swimmer crab, Portunus pelagicus while collecting broodstock for crab seed production. Rhizocephalans have been reported from different aquatic habitat like the deep ocean to pelagic, intertidal, brackish water habitat and a few species occur in freshwater also

Larviculture and seed production of the silver pompano, Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede, 1801) for the first time in India

Larviculture and seed production protocols for the silver pompano Trachinotus blochii, which is one of the promising finfish species for brackishwater and marine aquaculture was developed based on six trials for the first time in India. The newly hatched larvae were stocked at a density of 20 larvae l-1 in 2 t FRP tanks with 1.5 t of seawater. Green water technique was employed during larviculture upto the weaning period. Enriched S-type rotifers were fed at a density of 10-12 nos. ml-1 until 3 day post hatch (dph) and the enriched L-type rotifers were given at a density of 6-8 nos. ml-1 from 7 dph and thereafter with enriched Artemia at a density of 3-5 nos. ml-1. Weaning started from 15 dph and by 20-25 dph metamorphosis was completed. The survival on completion of metamorphosis ranged from 10-15% and the specific growth rate in terms of length (mm) was 8% per day. The larval morphology and growth pattern are also described

Breeding season of green mussel, Perna viridis at Mocha,Veraval

Spat falling of Green Mussel, Perna viridis, was observed during the month of February. The size of mussel spats ranged from 1.1 to 2.0 cms. This shows a winter breeding season for the green mussels of Mocha. In southern India, monsoon and summer seasons were the reported seasons of mussel breeding in the wild. Spats were found attached to the rocks in the intertidal area of Mocha

Effect of stocking density on growth and survival of hatchery reared fry of Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer (Bloch) under captive conditions

One of the important factors determining the success in open sea floating cage farming is the availability of quality seeds of appropriate size. The commercially available hatchery produced seeds should be further reared to appropriate size before stocking in the sea cages. The Asian seabass, Lates calcarifer is an important candidate species for open sea floating cage culture. Availability of seeds of required size is an important bottleneck in the sea farming of this species. To address this issue, an experiment was conducted in 2007 off Visakhapatnam coast of India in the Bay of Bengal, to study the effect of different stocking densities on the growth and survival rate of hatchery reared seabass fry. Asian seabass fry with a mean total length of 23.9 ±3 mm and mean body weight of 0.45±0.05 g were stocked in 5 t FRP tanks with 3.5 t of filtered seawater, at three different stocking densities viz., 1000, 1500 and 2000 nos. m-3 in triplicate. The fishes were fed with commercial dry pellet feed (Godrej) at 6-8% of fish biomass. Feeding was done 6 times daily at 4 h intervals . The water quality parameters were monitored and maintained within the favorable ranges for seabass culture. The growth and survival under different stocking densities were monitored for a period of 90 days. Results observed from these experimental trials showed that the specific growth rate (SGR) was inversely proportional to that of the stocking density (p<0.05), and no significant variation was noticed in the survival rate. An overall biomass production of 1.11 kg day-1 was obtained at a high stocking of 2000 nos. m-3. The results of the experiment indicated that these high stocking density techniques with proper feeding and water quality management can be used to produce large numbers of seabass fingerlings of stockable size for open sea cage culture

Impact of increase in temperature and light intensity on development and metamorphosis of hatchery reared silver pompano Trachinotus blochii (Lacepede, 1801) larvae

The largehead ribbonfish, Trichiurus lepturus Linnaeus, 1758 forms a major fishery along north-west coast of India comprising the two coastal states of Gujarat and Maharashtra. Diet composition was analysed for five years (2010-2014) to understand shifts if any in the prey items. Seasonal changes in the prey items were studied for three years (2012-2014) to explore the temporal dynamics of prey availability in the ecosystem and in largehead ribbonfish guts. Feeding indices viz., Stomach fullness index (SFI), empty stomach ratio (ESR), gastrosomatic index (GaSI) and relative gut length (RLG) explained the feeding behaviour, seasonal dynamics and ontogenetic shifts in prey items. The Vacuity Index (VI) was estimated as 37.56%, indicating that T. lepturus is a carnivore and relatively edacious. Diet of T. lepturus comprised of fishes (47.16%), crustaceans (45.22%), molluscs (4.33%) and miscellaneous items (3.28%). Acetes sp. was the most dominant prey item during the study period. Feeding intensity was found to be high during the post-monsoon months which coincided with the period of gonadal maturation of the fish. Significant variations (p<0.05) were seen in the feeding indices during different months, different sizes and between sexes due to the availability of prey items, physiological changes and ontogenetic shifts. A detailed knowledge on diet composition, temporal dynamics in diet patterns and feeding indices can reveal the trophic interaction of prey-predator, resource abundance and fluctuations which are important inputs in ecology-based fishery management models/tools