Application of remote sensing techniques for locating pelagic fish concentrations along the Kerala coast (SW coast of India) - work done and future prospects

Intensive validation programme on Potential Fishing Zone forecasts carried out by the MARSIS, Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute, Cochin, at 17 selectedjish landing centres along the Kerala coast between November 1995 and May 1996 revealed a positive relationship betwen PFZ and occurence/abundance of commercially important pelagic fishes. An attempt is made to identify possible reasons for the above, based on results of oceanographic itivestigations undertaken in the area and also taking into consideration fish behaviour in relation to environn-ieni based on past data. Future plans for evolving a suitable prediction system for commercially important pelagic fishes in the coastal waters of the mainland and skipjack fishery in the Lakshadweep islands based on PFZ forecasts are also discussed in view of its importance to the artisanal and small mechanised sector fishermen for reducing the searching time and thereby effecting an overall reduction in the cost of fishing

Optical imaging of the peri-tumoral inflammatory response in breast cancer

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Purpose</p> <p>Peri-tumoral inflammation is a common tumor response that plays a central role in tumor invasion and metastasis, and inflammatory cell recruitment is essential to this process. The purpose of this study was to determine whether injected fluorescently-labeled monocytes accumulate within murine breast tumors and are visible with optical imaging.</p> <p>Materials and methods</p> <p>Murine monocytes were labeled with the fluorescent dye DiD and subsequently injected intravenously into 6 transgenic MMTV-PymT tumor-bearing mice and 6 FVB/n control mice without tumors. Optical imaging (OI) was performed before and after cell injection. Ratios of post-injection to pre-injection fluorescent signal intensity of the tumors (MMTV-PymT mice) and mammary tissue (FVB/n controls) were calculated and statistically compared.</p> <p>Results</p> <p>MMTV-PymT breast tumors had an average post/pre signal intensity ratio of 1.8+/- 0.2 (range 1.1-2.7). Control mammary tissue had an average post/pre signal intensity ratio of 1.1 +/- 0.1 (range, 0.4 to 1.4). The p-value for the difference between the ratios was less than 0.05. Confocal fluorescence microscopy confirmed the presence of DiD-labeled cells within the breast tumors.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>Murine monocytes accumulate at the site of breast cancer development in this transgenic model, providing evidence that peri-tumoral inflammatory cell recruitment can be evaluated non-invasively using optical imaging.</p

Observed controls on resilience of groundwater to climate variability in sub-Saharan Africa

Groundwater in sub-Saharan Africa supports livelihoods and poverty alleviation1,2, maintains vital ecosystems, and strongly influences terrestrial water and energy budgets. Yet the hydrological processes that govern groundwater recharge and sustainability—and their sensitivity to climatic variability—are poorly constrained4. Given the absence of firm observational constraints, it remains to be seen whether model-based projections of decreased water resources in dry parts of the region4 are justified. Here we show, through analysis of multidecadal groundwater hydrographs across sub-Saharan Africa, that levels of aridity dictate the predominant recharge processes, whereas local hydrogeology influences the type and sensitivity of precipitation–recharge relationships. Recharge in some humid locations varies by as little as five per cent (by coefficient of variation) across a wide range of annual precipitation values. Other regions, by contrast, show roughly linear precipitation–recharge relationships, with precipitation thresholds (of roughly ten millimetres or less per day) governing the initiation of recharge. These thresholds tend to rise as aridity increases, and recharge in drylands is more episodic and increasingly dominated by focused recharge through losses from ephemeral overland flows. Extreme annual recharge is commonly associated with intense rainfall and flooding events, themselves often driven by large-scale climate controls. Intense precipitation, even during years of lower overall precipitation, produces some of the largest years of recharge in some dry subtropical locations. Our results therefore challenge the ‘high certainty’ consensus regarding decreasing water resources in such regions of sub-Saharan Africa. The potential resilience of groundwater to climate variability in many areas that is revealed by these precipitation–recharge relationships is essential for informing reliable predictions of climate-change impacts and adaptation strategies

Effect of remote ischaemic conditioning on clinical outcomes in patients with acute myocardial infarction (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI): a single-blind randomised controlled trial.

BACKGROUND: Remote ischaemic conditioning with transient ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm has been shown to reduce myocardial infarct size in patients with ST-elevation myocardial infarction (STEMI) undergoing primary percutaneous coronary intervention (PPCI). We investigated whether remote ischaemic conditioning could reduce the incidence of cardiac death and hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months. METHODS: We did an international investigator-initiated, prospective, single-blind, randomised controlled trial (CONDI-2/ERIC-PPCI) at 33 centres across the UK, Denmark, Spain, and Serbia. Patients (age >18 years) with suspected STEMI and who were eligible for PPCI were randomly allocated (1:1, stratified by centre with a permuted block method) to receive standard treatment (including a sham simulated remote ischaemic conditioning intervention at UK sites only) or remote ischaemic conditioning treatment (intermittent ischaemia and reperfusion applied to the arm through four cycles of 5-min inflation and 5-min deflation of an automated cuff device) before PPCI. Investigators responsible for data collection and outcome assessment were masked to treatment allocation. The primary combined endpoint was cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure at 12 months in the intention-to-treat population. This trial is registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (NCT02342522) and is completed. FINDINGS: Between Nov 6, 2013, and March 31, 2018, 5401 patients were randomly allocated to either the control group (n=2701) or the remote ischaemic conditioning group (n=2700). After exclusion of patients upon hospital arrival or loss to follow-up, 2569 patients in the control group and 2546 in the intervention group were included in the intention-to-treat analysis. At 12 months post-PPCI, the Kaplan-Meier-estimated frequencies of cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure (the primary endpoint) were 220 (8·6%) patients in the control group and 239 (9·4%) in the remote ischaemic conditioning group (hazard ratio 1·10 [95% CI 0·91-1·32], p=0·32 for intervention versus control). No important unexpected adverse events or side effects of remote ischaemic conditioning were observed. INTERPRETATION: Remote ischaemic conditioning does not improve clinical outcomes (cardiac death or hospitalisation for heart failure) at 12 months in patients with STEMI undergoing PPCI. FUNDING: British Heart Foundation, University College London Hospitals/University College London Biomedical Research Centre, Danish Innovation Foundation, Novo Nordisk Foundation, TrygFonden