Physiological tolerance of the early life history stages of fresh water prawn (Macrobrachium rosenbergii De Man, 1879) to environmental stress

382-389The present study examines the effect of temperature and salinity on the larval development and survival of Macrobrachium rosenbergii. The larvae showed 100 % mortality at higher temperature (33.5 ± 0.5 °C) in all the salinity conditions (12, 15, and 20 PPT). The survival rate varied between 76-96 % on exposure to lesser temperature conditions. Likewise, the post-embryonic yolk lasted for 4 days at ambient temperature (29 °C); whereas, at 33.5 ± 0.5 °C, it lasted only for 2-3 days. There was an increase in total length of larvae, when exposed to higher temperature and salinity. For the cardiac performance, larval heart beat (fH) significantly increased for higher temperature and salinity conditions (20 PPT; 33.5 °C) and lowered at ambient condition 12 PPT; 29 °C. Larval stroke volume Vs, Cardiac output (Qt) were higher in ambient conditions and lowest in higher temperature and salinity conditions. The larval activity decreased significantly at higher temperature and salinity conditions, compared to ambient conditions

Age and sex variation in the distribution of visceral fat among healthy doctors

Background: Non Communicable Diseases (NCDs) are a mushrooming problem and accounts for majority of deaths. Paradoxically the population of Kerala is increasingly susceptible to NCDs despite having good access to health care. Doctors work in highly stressful conditions and often adopt sedentary lifestyles thereby forming a subset of the NCD prone population. The objective of this study was to assess the health status of the doctors which would provide an insight into their health and level of awareness regarding the role of lifestyle in prevention of NCDs.Methods: Sixty five doctors participated in this Cross-Sectional Observational study conducted at a CME in Kerala. After obtaining Institutional Ethical clearance, demographic profile was collected, and fat levels were estimated using body composition analyzer (OMRON-HBF375). The results were tabulated using Microsoft Office Excel, analyzed using SPSS version 20.Results: On classifying the study group based on BMI, only 34 were normal, 26 were Overweight, and 4 were Obese. Gender wise distribution of body fat revealed only 4 had normal body fat composition. The study also showed that as age advances the amount of total and visceral fat shows a significant upward trend in males.Conclusions: BMI alone cannot be used as a predictor of health status. Body Fat percentage analysis should be included in routine screening programs. Men have a tendency to develop visceral adiposity with age. Females depend more on fat as primary source and hence females will respond better to a properly programmed exercise regime and men to a well guided diet program with exercise

Life in High Salt Concentrations with Changing Environmental Conditions: Insights from Genomic and Phenotypic Analysis of Salinivibrio sp.

Life in salt pans with varying chemical compositions require special adaptation strategies at both the physiological and molecular level. The Marakkanam salt pan in South India is characterized with a high fluctuation in salinity (19–490 ppt), Ultravioletradiation, and heavy metal concentrations. Several bacterial species have been isolated and identified in the view of phylogenetic analysis and for the subsequent production of industrially important enzymes. However, limited information exists on the genomic basis of their survival under variable environmental conditions. To this extent, we sequenced the whole genome of the Salinivibrio sp. HTSP, a moderately halophilic bacterium. We analysed the physiological and genomic attributes of Salinivibrio sp. HTSP to elucidate the strategies of adaptation under various abiotic stresses. The genome size is estimated to be 3.39 Mbp with a mean G + C content of 50.6%, including 3150 coding sequences. The genome possessed osmotic stress-related coding sequences, and genes involved in different pathways of DNA repair mechanisms and genes related to the resistance to toxic metals were identified. The periplasmic stress response genes and genes of different oxidative stress mechanisms were also identified. The tolerance capacity of the bacterial isolates to heavy metals, UV-radiation, and salinity was also confirmed through appropriate laboratory experiments under controlled conditions