Age and growth of Malabar sole Cynoglossus macrostomus Norman off Kerala Coast

The age and growth of the Malabar sole, Cynogl- mocmtamcs Norman occurring along the coastal seas off Kerala were studied. The length frequency studies indicated that the fish attained 114.0 mm, 136.5 mm, 1525 mm and 159.5 mm at the end of 1 to 4 years. The growth rings on scales showed that the fish attained 118.7 mm, 134.8 mm and 150.3 mm when I to 111 rings are formed on scales. The time of formation of &he rinp on scales was found to be during October-December and February-April. The growth parameters were determined by the von Bertalanffy growth formula, Ford-Walford graph and by the Gulland and Holt plot The values obtained were Loo = 166 mm and K = 0.714lyear

On the conservation and management of marine turtles

There are five species of marine turtles occurring in and around Mandapam - Rameswaram; both in the Gulf of Mannar and Palk Bay regions. They are incidentally caught live in trawl net, shore-seine, drift-gill net and bottom-set gill net operations in this area. They are in great demand in the rural sector. Though, the fishermen are aware that these endangered animals are protected, often the profit motive make them to sell these turtles. Whenever, any incidence is brought to the notice of the Regional Centre of the Institute, attempts have been made to rescue and release them back to the sea as a conservation measure

The Indian oil sardine

The Indian oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps Val, supports a neritic pelagic fishery contributing 2 to 33 % of the annual marine fish production in India. Though distributed all along the Indian coast the species sustains a commercial fishery of high magnitude along the coasts of Kerala, Karnataka , Goa and southern part oJ Maharashtra. During the last fifty years the annual all India production oscillated between 14.000 t in 1952 to 3 lakh t during 1968. Presently the west coast indicates a declining trend compared to an ascending pattern along the east coasl. The production from east coast surpassed that of the west coast contributing 52% of the all India production of 2.03 lakh t in 1998. The fishery along the west coast is known for its fiuctuating nature. Further, the species indicates a cyclic pattern of abundance. A variety of traditional gears were engaged in exploiting the resource till the introduction of modern and sophisticated gear like the purse seines in the late seventies and the ring seines in the late eighties. In fact oil sardine is one among the few species that have ever remained a subject matter of intensive research. The focus of this compilation is to present a comprehensive picture of the Indian oil sardine, its fishery, biology, stock, future prospects of exploitation and management measures needed for yield optimisation

Continuum description of profile scaling in nanostructure decay

The relaxation of axisymmetric crystal surfaces with a single facet below the roughening transition is studied via a continuum approach that accounts for step energy g_1 and step-step interaction energy g_3>0. For diffusion-limited kinetics, free-boundary and boundary-layer theories are used for self-similar shapes close to the growing facet. For long times and g_3/g_1 < 1, (a) a universal equation is derived for the shape profile, (b) the layer thickness varies as (g_3/g_1)^{1/3}, (c) distinct solutions are found for different g_3/_1, and (d) for conical shapes, the profile peak scales as (g_3/g_1)^{-1/6}. These results compare favorably with kinetic simulations.Comment: 4 pages including 3 figure

Status and scope of research on pelagic fisheries of India

Extensive and indiscriminate exploitation of marine natural resources, during the last three decades is leading to a situation where no more commercial fish stocks may be left in the sea by year 2050 unless ecosystems are protected and the biodiversity is revived, warns a new study cataloging the global collapse of marine ecosystems (Worm et al., 2006). The task of understanding the dynamics of large marine ecosystems to offer effective and relevant scientific advice to develop management interventions is a difficult, complex, expensive and lengthy process. This is especially true in the Indian context where the country has an EEZ of 2.02 million km2, which contributes nearly 40% of the total fish production from the Indian Ocean. Fishes have been mentioned in the ancient literature of India including the epics such as Ramayana and Mahabaratha. Excavations from Mohenjodaro and Harappa indicate that fishing with hooks and nets was common as back as 3000 B.C. and over the years fishing and fisheries in India have evolved at a rapid pace (Ayyappan et al., 2004). Marine fisheries is basically harnessing a natural resource and therefore its management must anchor on knowledge- based interventions generated through close monitoring of their distribution, abundance, exploitation, population dynamics and fluctuations of fish stocks in relation to natural factors and anthropogenic interventions. Against a scenario of an ever-increasing population and stagnant marine fish production in recent years, per capita seafood availability is a serious concern. The countr

A study on anthropometry of pubic tubercle and its clinical implication

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: The word "hernia" in Latin means "rupture" of a portion of structure. This word in Greek means "bud". Hernia by definition is the abnormal protrusion of any viscera or peritoneum lined sac outside of its normal containing cavity through some natural or unnatural opening. Fundamentally, all sites of herniation possess one feature in common i.e. the zone of weakness where structures pass from or to the abdominal cavity or where interstices occur between musculoaponeurotic bands of surrounding trilaminar wall. All the hernias in groin begin within a single weak area called myopectineal orifice. Lack of the evolutionary development of a strong posterior rectus sheath and transversalis fascia in lower abdomen is thought to represent a significant specific anatomic defect in the evolution of humankind. Various contributing and precipitating factors like chronic constipation, chronic cough, senile enlargement of prostate (all increasing intra-abdominal pressure) and obesity. The lowness of pubic tubercle is associated with narrow origin of internal oblique muscle from lateral inguinal ligament. The narrow origin of internal oblique muscle fails to protect the deep ring and consequently indirect inguinal herniation occurs. The present study is a Prospective study done to evaluate the role of low lying pubic tubercle in the development of inguinal hernia. METHODS: This study is a prospective study conducted at Madras medical college and Rajiv Gandhi Government General Hospital on a total of 150 patients under the topic “A STUDY ON ANTHROPOMETRY OF PUBIC TUBERCLE & ITS CLINICAL IMPLICATIONS” are taken up for study with the help of relevant history and clinical examination for a period of 8 months starting from February 2017 to September 2017. A total of 75 cases and 75 controls were included in the study. Any case of Inguinal Hernia more than 18 years of age irrespective of sex and occupation were included in Cases group. Volunteers of similar age group who do not have inguinal hernia were included in Controls group. The study subjects were asked to lie in supine relaxed position on hard bed. Keeping both their lower limbs straight, so that both the anterior superior iliac spine were at the same level. A line was drawn on the anterior abdominal wall. Connecting both anterior superior iliac spine which was given the name SS Line and the length of SS Line was noted; next the pubic tubercle on the side of hernia was marked by the palpation. Then vertical distance between this point and the SS Line was measured in centimeters. This line was designated as ST line. Similar measurement was done on controls as well. The data collected were entered into Microsoft Office Excel 2013.The collected data were analysed with IBM.SPSS statistics software 23.0 Version. RESULTS: All cases studied were males. The mean age of cases was 49yrs whereas controls was 45 yrs.The mean Height of cases and controls were 163.60cm and 162.99cm respectively. Mean weight of cases was 61.60kg and control group was 61.01kg.Of 75 cases 33 were Right sided hernia, 32 were Left sided and 10 Bilateral inguinal hernia. Out of 65 unilateral cases 26 were having Direct inguinal hernia and 39 were Indirect hernia cases. Among the cases 5 had associated Hydocele and 1 had Varicocele. The Interspinal distance (SS) Range among cases is 24.3 – 27.6. The Interspinal distance (SS) Range among controls is 22.2 -25.7. The mean Interspinal distance among cases was 29.61cm whereas in control group it was 23.89cm.The pubic tubercle segment (ST) range among cases is 7.3 – 8.0. The pubic tubercle segment (ST) range among controls is 6.9 – 7.8. The mean value of ST segment among cases is 7.657 which is significantly greater than the control group whose mean value is 7.332. 81.3% of cases and 14.7% of controls had ST line more than 7.5cm who belongs to low lying pubic tubercle group. 18.7% cases and 85.3% controls had ST line less than 7.5 belonging to high lying pubic tubercle group. The P value is less than 0.01 and is considered highly significant. A positive correlation was found among cases between height and ST line (r= 0.563). Positive correlation was also found between weight and ST line (r= 0.448) among cases. CONCLUSION: The present study shows that number of muscle and connective tissue variations in inguinal region depends upon the position of groin in relation to the inter spinal plane.The unusual origin of internal oblique muscle in those individuals is far away from the external half of the inguinal ligament leaving the deep ring unprotected during increased intra abdominal pressure and during abdominal wall muscle contraction which leads to development of Inguinal hernia. The longer the inguinal ligament, the larger the suprainguinal region and the larger Hessert’s triangle which leads to less efficient shutter mechanism and hence the low lying pubic tubercle group of cases has more tendency to develop Inguinal hernia

Drift gill net fishery for large pelagics at Cochin - A case study on by-catch of pelagic sharks

In India, the elasmobranchs contributed on an average 60,8(X) t during 1986 to 1999 forming 2.7% of the total marine fish landings. The production varied from 50,000t in 1990 to a highest of 75,(X)0 t in 1998. The sharks dominated forming 62.4%, followed by rays (33.5%) and skates the rest. The west coast accounted for 55.5% and east coast 44.5%. The highest contribution of 30.2% was from Gujarat followed by Tamilnadu (26.2%). The drift gillnets, sharing 48.5% of the production, was the major gear, followed by trawls (31.5%) and hooks and line (6.1%). Since the drift gillnets (DGN), apart from the scombroids, exploit a variety of larger pelagics, a case study of the shark fishery by the gear at Kochi was made based on the data from 1979 to 1999 and the results are presented her

Seasonal landings of oil sardine, Sardinella longiceps at Rameswaram, Pamban and Mandapam areas

Unusual and unprecedented landings of oil sardine, Sardinella langiceps were noticed at Rameswaram and Pamban during January and February 1992. The estimated catch of oil sardine at Rameswaram for January- February 1992 was 4,561 t. The pair trawlers contributed 4,244 t and fish trawlers 317 t. The C/E varied from 1.5 to 8 t. At Pamban the pair trawling during the period realised 741 t