Use of spatio-temporal data in reducing low value bycatch in trawl fisheries

Use of spatio-temporal data in reducing low value bycatch in trawl fisherie

CMFRI Special Publication No.121 Handbook on Application of GIS as a Decision Support Tool in Marine Fisheries

CMFRI Special Publication No.121(“Handbook on Application of GIS as a Decision Support Tool in Marine Fisheries”) is a pioneering attemptto elucidatethe application of GIS in the marine fisheries sector in India, describing the protocols for mapping marine fishery resources caught using all the gears operated along Indian coast, using GIS platform. The hand book describes the utilities of satellite-based technologies in marine fisheries and emphasizes the need for expanding our vision for satellite based technologies beyond Remote Sensing. The protocols described, with sufficient illustrations in the handbook will serve as a handy tool for incorporating spatial data in marine fisheries distribution, management and conservation studies. The hand book also provides guidelines and precautions for fishery researchers while analyzing marine fisheries data on a GIS platform. Further, the book suggests methods toincorporate GISroutines to study fisheries in relation to variability in environmental and ecological characteristics. The prospects of GIS based studiesin developingMonitoring, Control and Surveillance (MCS) in fisheries management with Vessel Monitoring System (VMS) and marine spatial planning for sustainable development of fisheries and mariculture are also discussed in the handbook

GIS for Assessing Spatio-temporal Variations in Trawl Bycatch off Mangalore Coast

In India, trawl is the major gear contributing more than 50% of the marine fish landing and during 2008-2011, the average landing along the Indian coast was estimated at 1.7 million t. In India, fish brought from trawl fishery for human consumption in fresh or processed form is termed as commercial landing and the rest is called low valued bycatch (LVB). The increased demand for LVB from fish meal plants is an emerging threat for marine fish production in the future, since LVB was constituted mainly by juveniles of commercial fishes. The study showed that the percentage of LVB from the trawlers in India increased from 21% in 2008 to 23% in 2011. The results of the study identify some of the fishing grounds and seasons, in which the percentage of juvenile bycatch of the commercial species is very high. Implementing operational restrictions in the fishery in such areas will help in reviving the stock. The paper illustrates the utility of the spatio- temporal data in suggesting seasonal and spatial restrictions in fishing operations in tropical multispecies scenario

RHIC Physics with the Parton Cascade Model

We present an analysis of the net-baryon number rapidity distribution and of direct photon emission in the framework of the Parton Cascade Model.Comment: 4 pages 4 figures included, proceedings of QM 200

Preliminary experiments on application of participatory GIS in trawl fisheries of Karnataka and its prospects in marine fisheries resource conservation and management

Geographic Information System (GIS) has become a part of our day today life in empowering institutions to formulate acceptable solutions in societal issues. More recently, public participatory GIS (PPGIS) and participatory GIS (PGIS) were viewed as more efficient tools in solving social and resource conservation issues, which empower communities those who are often ignored in traditional GIS practices. In fisheries, PGIS concept was first reported from Canada and on these lines pioneering efforts of involving concept of PGIS in fisheries is being attempted in Karnataka, where the geospatial data on fishing, catch and samples of fish caught by commercial fishing vessels were shared with the research organization and the data and samples thus shared were processed by fishery and GIS experts to come out with various tools for fishery management and resource conservation of the region. The study showed that the trawlers from Mangalore carried out trawling operations from sea off Calicut in the south (75 oE, 11 oN) to off Ratnagiri in the north (73.5 oE, 17 oN). Their depth of operation was between 5 m and 167 m, which signify the importance of revalidation of state–wise policies in introduction of mechanized vessels based on the landing in the respective states. The study showed that during the period, 237 species / groups of marine fauna were discarded of which many were juveniles of commercial species and rest were of adult size fishes of low or no market value. Spatio-temportal distribution and abundance of commercially lesser known species, which was not reported earlier from the coast,which have high trophic importance like small crabs, Charybdis hoplites and shrimp species like Metapenaeus andamanensis were brought out as the results of the study. Study also provided information on a unique ecosystem off Karnataka coast and with reef species and there is an immediate need for conserving this ecosystem. Based on the results of distribution and abundance of marine resources, spatial and seasonal restrictions on fishing efforts can be advocated in areas and seasons during which high incidence of bycatch of juveniles and non-commercial biota is being caught. This will help in sustaining marine fisheries from Malabar and Konkan coasts

Erythrocyte concentrations of B1, B2, B6 but not plasma C and E are reliable indicators of nutrition status in the presence of systemic inflammation

Background & aim: There is increasing evidence that the plasma concentration of vitamin D, carotenoids, zinc and selenium are associated with the magnitude of the systemic inflammatory response. In order to examine whether other vitamins may be affected and whether red cell concentrations are less affected by systemic inflammation the aim of the present study was to examine the effect of the systemic inflammatory response on red cell measurements of vitamins B1, B2 and B6, and plasma concentration of vitamin C and E in a large cohort of patients referred for a nutritional screen. Methods: Patients referred for nutritional assessment of B1 (n = 551), B2 (n = 251), B6 (n = 313), ascorbic acid (n = 494) and α-tocopherol (n = 395) concentrations. These vitamins were measured using routine laboratory methods. Results: The median concentrations of vitamin B1 grouped according to C-reactive protein concentrations ≤10, 11–80 and >80 mg/L were 543, 664 and 766 ng/g Hb respectively (p < 0.001, 41% higher). The median concentration of vitamin B1 grouped according to albumin concentrations ≥35, 25–34 and <25 g/l were 547, 664 and 701 ng/g Hb respectively (p < 0.001, 28% higher). The median concentrations of red cell vitamin B2 grouped according to CRP concentrations ≤10, 11–80 and >80 mg/L were 2.2, 2.3 and 2.4 nmol/g Hb respectively (p < 0.001, 9% higher). The median red cell concentrations of vitamin B2 grouped according to albumin concentrations ≥35, 25–34 and <25 g/l were 2.1, 2.4 and 2.3 nmol/g Hb respectively (p < 0.001, 14% higher). The median concentrations of red cell vitamin B6 grouped according to CRP concentrations ≤10, 11–80 and >80 mg/L were 534, 548 and 767 pmol/g Hb respectively (p < 0.001, 44% higher). The median red cell concentrations of vitamin B6 grouped according to albumin concentrations ≥35, 25–34 and <25 g/l were 462, 644 and 840 pmol/g Hb respectively (p < 0.001, 82% higher). In contrast, the median plasma concentrations of ascorbic acid grouped according to CRP concentrations ≤10, 11–80 and >80 mg/L were 25.0, 15.0 and 6.0 μmol/l respectively (78% lower, p < 0.001). The median plasma concentrations of ascorbic acid grouped according to albumin concentrations ≥35, 25–34 and <25 g/l were 32.0, 13.0 and 5.0 μmol/l respectively (84% lower, p < 0.001). The median α-tocopherol/cholesterol grouped according to CRP concentrations ≤10, 11–80 and >80 mg/L were 5.9, 4.6 and 2.1 μmol/l respectively (64% lower, p < 0.001). The median α-tocopherol/cholesterol grouped according to albumin concentrations ≥35, 25–34 and <25 g/l were 6.0, 5.5 and 2.1 μmol/l respectively (65% lower, p < 0.001). Conclusion: Red cell concentrations of vitamins B1, B2 and B6 were not lower with an increasing systemic inflammatory response. In contrast, plasma concentrations of vitamin C and E were lower. Therefore, compared with plasma concentration, red cell concentrations of B1, B2 and B6 are likely to be more reliable measures of status in the presence of a systemic inflammatory response

Shear Viscosity in a Perturbative Quark-Gluon-Plasma

Among the key features of hot and dense QCD matter produced in ultra-relativistic heavy-ion collisions at RHIC is its very low shear viscosity, indicative of the properties of a near-ideal fluid, and a large opacity demonstrated by jet energy loss measurements. In this work, we utilize a microscopic transport model based on the Boltzmann equation with quark and gluon degrees of freedom and cross sections calculated from perturbative Quantum Chromodynamics to simulate an ideal Quark-Gluon-Plasma in full thermal and chemical equilibrium. We then use the Kubo formalism to calculate the shear viscosity to entropy density ratio of the medium as a function of temperature and system composition. One of our key results is that the shear viscosity over entropy-density ratio $\eta/s$ becomes invariant to the chemical composition of the system when plotted as a function of energy-density instead of temperature.Comment: 11 pages, 8 figures: version #2 contains some revisions and added references to clarify relationship to previously published wor

The Dynamics of a Classical Spinning Particle in Vaidya Space-Time

Based on the Mathisson-Papapetrou-Dixon (MPD) equations and the Vaidya metric, the motion of a spinning point particle orbiting a non-rotating star while undergoing radiation-induced gravitational collapse is studied in detail. A comprehensive analysis of the orbital dynamics is performed assuming distinct central mass functions which satisfy the weak energy condition, in order to determine a correspondence between the choice of mass function and the spinning particle's orbital response, as reflected in the gravitational waves emitted by the particle. The analysis presented here is likely most beneficial for the observation of rotating solar mass black holes or neutron stars in orbit around intermediate-sized Schwarzschild black holes undergoing radiation collapse. The possibility of detecting the effects of realistic mass accretion based on this approach is considered. While it seems unlikely to observe such effects based on present technology, they may perhaps become observable with the advent of future detectors.Comment: REVTeX file, 20 pages, 26 figure

Mechanistic Studies on Selective Trimerization of Linear α-Olefins over a Supported Titanium Catalyst

The supported titanium catalyst s(FI)Ti, generated by adding (FI)TiCl3 to MAO-treated SiO2 (FI = (N-(5-methyl-3-(1-adamantyl)salicylidene)-2’-(2”-methoxyphenyl)anilinato)], effects the selective trimerization of the linear α-olefins (LAOs) propene, 1-pentene, 1-hexene, 1-decene, with >95% selectivity for trimers and ~85% selectivity to a single isomer thereof (2,3,5-trialkyl-1-hexene). Mechanistic interpretations are offered for the high regioselectivity as well as for some unusual kinetics behavior, including third-order dependence on LAO concentration and nearly identical initial rates at 0 and 25 °C

Cosupported Tandem Catalysts for Production of Linear Low-Density Polyethylene from an Ethylene-Only Feed

Linear low-density polyethylene (LLDPE) is produced from an ethylene-only feed over a tandem catalyst system consisting of a phenoxy–imine titanium trimerization catalyst and a silylene-linked cyclopentadienyl/amido titanium polymerization catalyst cosupported on the same methylaluminoxane/silica particles. The level of 1-hexene incorporation can be controlled by varying the ethylene pressure