Aquacultural Potential of Derelict Waterbodies – A Case Study

Derelict waterbodies could be an important source to boost fish production for meeting the future fish demand of the country. The study has shown that fish yield from these waterbodies could be as high as 4.6 t/ha. Overall, net income per hectare through scientific management of derelict waterbodies has been found to be Rs 104443, with maximum and minimum net incomes per hectare being Rs 207416 and Rs 64033, respectively. Benefit–cost analysis has indicated that all waterbodies are favourable for aquaculture. Overall B-C ratio under the project has been found to be 3.82 and interestingly, scientific management of waterbodies could yield good income even from low level of investment. Such an activity can provide enormous income and employment opportunities in the rural areas. To encourage large-scale utilization of available derelict waterbodies for aquaculture, a prudent and well-conceived policy for leasing out derelict waterbodies and transfer of relevant technologies to the needy and interested farmers should be evolved. These steps would not only boost fish production in the rural areas, but would also provide much needed impetus to the growth and diversification of rural economy.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

A Genetic Algorithm based Approach for Topological Optimization of Interconnection Networks

AbstractThe paper addresses the two terminal reliability while designing the interconnection networks. Thus a topological optimization problem is defined as the existence of at least a reliable path between a pair of nodes satisfying the predefined cost of the network. A new method based on Genetic Algorithm is proposed to solve the above said problem. In the proposed method the chromosome as well as the genes are efficiently encoded so that the cross over provides the optimal solution with better convergence rate. The reliability of some benchmark interconnection networks are evaluated by the proposed method. The population size and the computational time of the said networks as reported in this paper ensures that the proposed method converges to it's optimal solution in very few cpu secondss, while maximizing the value of the reliability of the said network to a greater extent

Regression Rate Study of PVC/HTPB Hybrid Rocket Fuels

In the present study an effort is made to investigate the local regression rate, average regression rate through the effect of oxidizer injection pressure. For experimental investigation a lab scale ballistic test motor is designed and number of static test firing are carried out at different gaseous oxidizer injection pressure. The injection pressure is varied from 150psi to 420psi and a Swirl Injector and a conventional Shower Head Injector are used for the oxidizer injection from oxidizer chamber to fuel grain port. The local regression rate is obtained from the unburnt fuel web thickness after 10.5 second of test firing. Further, the investigation of regression rate of PVC and HTPB solid fuels are depended on mass flux of oxidizer as the regression rate shown a decreasing trend from head end to nozzle end. From the present analysis, it can be summarized that for PVC solid fuel regression rate is completely dependent on swirl injection of oxidizer, as well as the oxidizer injection pressure

Evaluation of the impact of ZeroFly® , an insecticide incorporated plastic sheeting on malaria incidence in two temporary labour shelters in India

Background & objectives: Prevention of malaria is a major technical and operational problem in displaced andmobile populations such as refugee camps and temporary labour settlements. Insecticide incorporated plasticsheeting is a new technology to control mosquitoes in emergency shelters and also temporary habitations atdifferent locations. In view of this, efficacy of ZeroFly®, an insecticide incorporated plastic sheeting (factorytreated with deltamethrin 2.0 g/kg or 265 mg/m2) was evaluated for its efficacy against malaria vectors and itsimpact on malaria incidence in temporary labour settlements in two urban areas in India.Methods: This trial was conducted in two labour settlements in two urban areas, Delhi and Noida (U.P.), Indiawith ~ 250 populations. In an area, two localities were selected for intervention with ZeroFly and untreatedplastic sheets (control). Entomological and epidemiological data were collected using standard methods for one year.Results: Baseline studies on the susceptibility of mosquitoes in Delhi and Noida areas revealed 100% susceptibilityof the malaria vector species Anopheles culicifacies and An. stephensi to deltamethrin. Cone bioassay testsperformed against An. culicifacies and An. stephensi to determine the efficacy of ZeroFly sheets showed 100%mortality against An. culicifacies and An. stephensi with 3 min exposure and after 24 h recovery period. AgainstCulex quinquefasciatus and housefly 100% mortality was obtained after 30 min of exposure period. Interventionwith the ZeroFly plastic sheets resulted in almost complete reduction in the resting density of An. culicifaciesand An. stephensi, the two major malaria vectors and also in the reduction of malaria cases in ZeroFly camps ascompared to control camps. The ZeroFly plastic sheeting was found to be safe for human. Barring some complaintsof skin irritation and itching, which were temporary in nature, no adverse health effects were reported by theusers. The community acceptance was high.Conclusion: Results of the present study revealed that ZeroFly® plastic sheeting is highly effective in reducingthe indoor resting density of mosquitoes, man-vector contact and malaria incidences in labour populations livingin temporary shelters

Interferon and Ribavirin Combination Treatment Synergistically Inhibit HCV Internal Ribosome Entry Site Mediated Translation at the Level of Polyribosome Formation

Purpose:Although chronic hepatitis C virus (HCV) infection has been treated with the combination of interferon alpha (IFN-α) and ribavirin (RBV) for over a decade, the mechanism of antiviral synergy is not well understood. We aimed to determine the synergistic antiviral mechanisms of IFN-α and RBV combination treatment using HCV cell culture.Methods:The antiviral efficacy of IFN-α, RBV alone and in combination was quantitatively measured using HCV infected and replicon cell culture. Direct antiviral activity of these two drugs at the level of HCV internal ribosome entry site (IRES) mediated translation in Huh-7 cell culture was investigated. The synergistic antiviral effect of IFN-α and RBV combination treatment was verified using both the CalcuSyn Software and MacSynergy Software.Results:RBV combination with IFN-α efficiently inhibits HCV replication cell culture. Our results demonstrate that IFN-α, interferon lambda (IFN-λ) and RBV each inhibit the expression of HCV IRES-GFP and that they have a minimal effect on the expression of GFP in which the translation is not IRES dependent. The combination treatments of RBV along with IFN-α or IFN-λ were highly synergistic with combination indexes <1. We show that IFN-α treatment induce levels of PKR and eIF2α phosphorylation that prevented ribosome loading of the HCV IRES-GFP mRNA. Silencing of PKR expression in Huh-7 cells prevented the inhibitory effect of IFN-α on HCV IRES-GFP expression. RBV also blocked polyribosome loading of HCV-IRES mRNA through the inhibition of cellular IMPDH activity, and induced PKR and eIF2α phosphorylation. Knockdown of PKR or IMPDH prevented RBV induced HCV IRES-GFP translation.Conclusions:We demonstrated both IFN-α and RBV inhibit HCV IRES through prevention of polyribosome formation. The combination of IFN-α and RBV treatment synergistically inhibits HCV IRES translation via using two different mechanisms involving PKR activation and depletion of intracellular guanosine pool through inhibition of IMPDH

Sequential LASER ART and CRISPR treatments eliminate HIV-1 in a subset of infected humanized mice

Elimination of HIV-1 requires clearance and removal of integrated proviral DNA from infected cells and tissues. Here, sequential long-acting slow-effective release antiviral therapy (LASER ART) and CRISPR-Cas9 demonstrate viral clearance in latent infectious reservoirs in HIV-1 infected humanized mice. HIV-1 subgenomic DNA fragments, spanning the long terminal repeats and the Gag gene, are excised in vivo, resulting in elimination of integrated proviral DNA; virus is not detected in blood, lymphoid tissue, bone marrow and brain by nested and digital-droplet PCR as well as RNAscope tests. No CRISPR-Cas9 mediated off-target effects are detected. Adoptive transfer of human immunocytes from dual treated, virus-free animals to uninfected humanized mice fails to produce infectious progeny virus. In contrast, HIV-1 is readily detected following sole LASER ART or CRISPR-Cas9 treatment. These data provide proof-of-concept that permanent viral elimination is possible

Longitudinal double-spin asymmetry and cross section for inclusive neutral pion production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV

We report a measurement of the longitudinal double-spin asymmetry A_LL and the differential cross section for inclusive Pi0 production at midrapidity in polarized proton collisions at sqrt(s) = 200 GeV. The cross section was measured over a transverse momentum range of 1 < p_T < 17 GeV/c and found to be in good agreement with a next-to-leading order perturbative QCD calculation. The longitudinal double-spin asymmetry was measured in the range of 3.7 < p_T < 11 GeV/c and excludes a maximal positive gluon polarization in the proton. The mean transverse momentum fraction of Pi0's in their parent jets was found to be around 0.7 for electromagnetically triggered events.Comment: 6 pages, 3 figures, submitted to Phys. Rev. D (RC