Ring seine fishery of Kerala: An overview

Among the various fishing gears employed for pelagic schooling fishes along the Kerala coast, seines are the most efficient. Contribution of ring seine to total marine fish landings of Kerala has steadily increased since its introduction during the early eighties. It was 21.4 % in the nineties rising to 36.7 % during the period 2000-2004 and contributing more than 50 % since then. In recent years, about 90 % of the oil sardine and about 60 % of the mackerel landed in Kerala were caught in ring seines. Ring seines were introduced during the early eighties by traditional fishers of Alappuzha District which became highly successful

Effect of monoclonal and Assorted Seedling Rootstocks on Long Term Growth and Yield of Hevea Clones

Seven Hevea brasiliensis clones were evaluated on two types of rootstocks, assorted seedling rootstocks (AR) and monoclonal rootstock (MR) over 19 years. Influence of rootstock on scion growth and rubber yield was assessed based on juvenile height, circumference of the main trunk (cm), number of branches, branching height and cumulative dry rubber yield (g per tree per tapping, conventionally abbreviated gt–1 t–1). Highest cumulative yield (g per tree per tapping) over the 12 years for which the trees were tapped was obtained from clone RRII 105 (MR: 1076 g per tree per tapping and AR: 497 g per tree per tapping), followed by RRII 203 (MR: 661; AR: 538), RRII 208 (MR: 477; AR: 486), RRII 118 (MR: 497; AR: 452). Gl 1 yielded the least, 219 g per tree per tapping (MR) and 378 g per tree per tapping (AR); GT1 produced 335 g per tree per tapping (MR) and 375 g per tree per tapping (AR). RRII 118 had the greatest circumference at age 19 (91.4 cm on MR) 88.8 on AR, followed by RRII 105 (MR: 87.4 cm AR: 89.2 cm) and GT 1 (MR: 88.5 cm; AR: 84.4cm). Effect of scion clone was significant (p\u3c0.01) only for trunk circumference at opening, but not for cumulative rubber yield at age 11 (4 years after opening) or cumulative rubber yield at age 19 (12 years after opening). Most importantly, rootstock and clone x rootstock interaction did not significantly affect rubber yield or tree circumference at any evaluation time. There was no evidence to suggest that growth and yield of clones was influenced significantly by rootstock typ

Systematics, fishery and biology of the white sardine Escualosa thoracata (Valenciennes, 1847) exploited off Kerala, south-west coast of India

Landings of the white sardine Escualosa thoracata (Valenciennes, 1847) indicated a shift in their abundance from north-east to south-west coast of India and a sharp decline in the resource landings during the last decade along the entire range of its distribution. High local demand coupled with competitive price for the species might have led to overexploitation of this otherwise seasonal resources along the major areas of its abundance along the Indian coast. Detailed study on the systematics, fishery and biology of the species landed along Kerala coast was undertaken during 2015 and 2016. Stock assessment studies indicated near optimum fishing pressure on the resource along the Kerala coast

Racial Discrimination and Uptake of Dental Services among American Adults

This study examined the relationship between racial discrimination and use of dental services among American adults. We used data from the 2014 Behavioral Risk Factor Surveillance System, a health-related telephone cross-sectional survey of a nationally representative sample of adults in the United States. Racial discrimination was indicated by two items, namely perception of discrimination while seeking healthcare within the past 12 months and emotional impact of discrimination within the past 30 days. Their association with dental visits in the past year was tested in logistic regression models adjusting for predisposing (age, gender, race/ethnicity, income, education, smoking status), enabling (health insurance), and need (missing teeth) factors. Approximately 3% of participants reported being discriminated when seeking healthcare in the past year, whereas 5% of participants reported the emotional impact of discrimination in the past month. Participants who experienced emotional impact of discrimination were less likely to have visited the dentist during the past year (Odds Ratios (OR): 0.57; 95% CI 0.44–0.73) than those who reported no emotional impact in a crude model. The association was attenuated but remained significant after adjustments for confounders (OR: 0.76, 95% CI 0.58–0.99). There was no association between healthcare discrimination and last year dental visit in the fully adjusted model. Emotional impact of racial discrimination was an important predictor of use of dental services. The provision of dental health services should be carefully assessed after taking account of racial discrimination and its emotional impacts within the larger context of social inequalities

Unusual heavy landings of flying gurnards at Munambam Fishing Harbour

Flying gurnards belongs to the familyDactylopteridae, distributed in tropical Indo-Pacificand Atlantic oceans. From the 7 speciesrepresenting two genera, Dactylopterus andDactyloptena only four species such asDactyloptena gilberti, D. macracantha,D. orientalis and D. peterseni are found in thewestern Indian Ocean. These are small to moderatesized marine bottom dwelling fish and mostlycaught by bottom trawls as by-catch in the nearshore waters and not having much commercialvalue

Record sized longnose trevally landed

A large sized longnose trevally Carangoideschrysophrys (Cuvier, 1833) was landed at CochinFisheries Harbour on 19th September 2015. Belongingto the family Carangidae, it was caught by a hookand line unit operated near Lakshadweep waters

Observations on fishery and biology of yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares (Bonnaterre, 1788) from Lakshadweep waters

The yellowfin tuna Thunnus albacares is a high value oceanic resource for which targeted fishing was initiated in 2008 in Lakshadweep islands. Pole and line, troll line and drift gillnet are the major gears operated in the islands using traditionally designed mechanised Pablo boats of 25 to 34 feet overall length. Fishing operation is mainly practised during September to May. The estimated landing of total fish from three islands of Lakshadweep (Minicoy, Androth and Agatti) during January–December, 2011 was 1555 t, of which tuna contributed 83%. Maximum yellowfin tuna landing was recorded from Minicoy (84%) followed by Agatti (9 %) and Androth (7%). Smaller sized yellowfin tuna with fork length (FL) measuring 42-46 cm were observed throughout the year. Swarming crab, Charybdis smithii was the dominant food component with index of relative importance (IRI) of 87.5 followed by Auxis thazard (IRI - 5.3) and Cheilopogon sp. (IRI - 0.8). Since the inception of the World Bank aided National Agricultural Innovation Project (NAIP) by the Indian Council of Agricultural Research (ICAR), on ’Developing a value chain for oceanic tunas in Lakshadweep islands’, targeted fishing for yellowfin tuna has resulted in 37% increase in the landing of this species

Occurrence of macro plastic in the stomach of flat needlefish

On 6th January 2016, biological samples ofAblennes hians were collected from the hook andline fishing boats based at Munambam FishingHarbour, Kochi. While analysing the gut contents inthe laboratory, the stomach of one specimen (weight380 gm, total length 687 mm) contained macroplastic material having about 0.02 gm weight.Stomach also contained partially digested shrimps,sea snails (Diacavolinia longirostris, Cavoliniatridentata) and digested matter

Emergent complex neural dynamics

A large repertoire of spatiotemporal activity patterns in the brain is the basis for adaptive behaviour. Understanding the mechanism by which the brain's hundred billion neurons and hundred trillion synapses manage to produce such a range of cortical configurations in a flexible manner remains a fundamental problem in neuroscience. One plausible solution is the involvement of universal mechanisms of emergent complex phenomena evident in dynamical systems poised near a critical point of a second-order phase transition. We review recent theoretical and empirical results supporting the notion that the brain is naturally poised near criticality, as well as its implications for better understanding of the brain

Preclinical Testing of a Novel Niclosamide Stearate Prodrug Therapeutic (NSPT) shows efficacy against Osteosarcoma

Therapeutic advances for osteosarcoma (OS) have stagnated over the past several decades, leading to an unmet clinical need for patients. The purpose of this study was to develop a novel therapy for OS by reformulating and validating niclosamide, an established anthelminthic agent, as a Niclosamide Stearate Prodrug Therapeutic (NSPT). We sought to improve the low and inefficient clinical bioavailability of oral dosing, especially for the relatively hydrophobic classes of anti-cancer drugs. Nanoparticles were fabricated by rapid-solvent shifting and verified using dynamic light scattering and UV-vis spectrophotometry. NSPT efficacy was then studied in vitro for cell-viability, cell-proliferation, intracellular-signaling by western blot; ex vivo pulmonary metastatic assay model; and in vivo PK and lung mouse metastatic model of OS. NSPT formulation stabilizes niclosamide stearate against hydrolysis and delays enzymolysis; increases circulation in vivo with t1/2 ~5 h; reduces cell-viability and cell-proliferation in human and canine OS cells in vitro at 0.2 - 2 µM IC50; inhibits recognized growth pathways, and induces apoptosis at 20µM; eliminates metastatic lesions in the ex-vivo lung metastatic model; and, when injected intravenously (i.v.) at 50mg/kg weekly, it prevents metastatic spread in the lungs in a mouse model of OS over 30 days. In conclusion, niclosamide was optimized for preclinical drug delivery as a unique prodrug nanoparticle injected i.v. at 50mg/kg (1.9mM). This increased bioavailability of niclosamide in the blood stream prevented metastatic disease in the mouse. This chemotherapeutic strategy is now ready for canine trials, and if successful, will be targeted for human trials in OS patients