Prenatal development of the lingual epithelium in goat (Capra hircus)

The present study was conducted on the tongue of 18 goat foetii divided into three prenatal age groups viz- Group I ( below 50 days of gestation), Group II ( between 50-100 days of gestation) and Group III ( above 100 days of gestation to up to full term) containing 6 number of foetii in each group to study the sequential events in regard to histological development of the same in goat foetii. The tongue was lined by 3-4 layered epithelium in the foetus at 40 days of gestation (CRL= 2.40cm). The lingual epithelium consisted of a basal layer of cuboidal cells with squamous to cuboidal shaped more superficial layers. At 62 days of gestation (CRL= 10.10 cm), the lamina epithelialis of the tongue of goat foetus was distinctly stratified. At this stage of development, the epithelial layers could be divided into dark basal and a light apical or superficial zones. At 80-84 days of gestation (CRL=15.3 to 16.0 cm), the stratified squamous epithelium of the tongue was better developed both on the dorsum and ventral surfaces. At 93 days of gestation (CRL= 20.6 cm), the stratified squamous epithelium of the tongue was well developed and all the layers of the epithelium could be observed. In the foetii of gestational age of 100 days onwards, the lingual epithelium of the tongue showed various degrees of keratinization. Thus, it was concluded that the tongue of goat was lined with 3-4 layers of epithelial cells. The degree of stratification increased with an increase in gestational age. Also with age there was an increase in the degree of keratinization. This research further implicated that with further advancement of age the basal layer of the epithelium comprised high cylindrical cells along with well defined basement membrane. The decrepancy of histogenesis and keratogenesis between different species may be due to difference in the duration of the gestation period

Development of Marine Ornamental Fishes of Andaman and Nicobar Islands Commercial Scope and Sustainability

The ornamental fish production world-wide has grown to such an extent that it has earned for itself an integrated place of distinction in international fish business. It is estimated that about 1.5 - 2.0 million people worldwide keep marine aquarta and that approximately half of them are in United States alone

HISTOCHEMICAL STUDIES ON THE TESTICULAR STROMA, SEMINIFEROUS TUBULES AND THE LEYDIG CELLS IN ASSAM GOATS

The present study was conducted on eighteen male Assam goats of age ranging from day 1/day old to 10 months divided into six post natal age groups viz. group-I (0-day), group-II (2 months), group-III (4 months), group-IV (6 months), group-V (8 months) and group-VI (10 months) consisting of three animals in each group. Tissue pieces were collected from three different regions of the testis viz., upper, middle and lower and subsequently fixed in Bouin’s solution. All the tissues were processed for paraffin sections and stained for various stains for demonstration of various histochemical substances viz. McManus method for glycogen, Alcian Blue method at pH 1.0 for acid mucopolysaccaharides, Fuelgen reaction for nucleic acids and Mercuric Bromophenol Blue method for Protein. The connective tissue of the capsule and septula testis was weakly reactive to basic proteins in day-old kids (group-I) and moderately reactive in 2 months old kids (group-II). The nuclei of the spermatogenic cells more particularly of the primary spermatocytes showed a strong reaction for basic proteins which were probably due to their increased activity during meiotic phases of spermatogenesis at 4 to 8 months of age (groups-II to V). The basement membranes of the seminiferous tubules were strongly PAS reactive in dayold kids (group-I), moderate in 2 months old kids (group-II) and weak reaction was seen in the older goats, where as the Sustentacular or Sertoli cells showed a very weak reaction in all the age groups under study. The capsule and septula testes showed a faint reaction for nucleic acids in the male goats in all the age groups. The nuclei of various spermatogenic cells were Fuelgen positive and the intensity of reaction increased with the advancing age of the kids. The connective tissue of the capsule and septula testis showed faint reactions for acid mucopolysaccharides in all the age groups. The Leydig cells were also weakly reactive in the kids up to 2 months of age (group-II), but showed moderate reactions in older kids

MICROMETRICAL STUDIES ON THE SEQUENTIAL GROWTH OF THE PRENATAL LIVER OF GOAT (CAPRA HIRCUS)

The present study was conducted on the liver of goat foeti at various prenatal ages viz Group I (below 50 days), Group II (between 50-100 days) and Group III (above 100 days) containing 6 number of foeti in each group to study the growth of the same organ in terms of its micrometrical attributes. The mean values for thickness of capsule and diameter of central vein in right, left, caudate and quadrate lobes differed significantly (p<0.05) between groups II and group III. Again, the mean values for nuclear diameter of hepatocytes in right and left lobe differed significantly (p<0.05) between all the age groups. Caudate and quadrate lobes could not be detected in the animals of age group I. However, nuclear diameter of hepatocytes in these lobes did not differ significantly between groups II and III. The mean values for number of hepatocytes per field in left lobes differed significantly (p<0.05) between groups I and II. The number of hepatocytes per field in respect of right lobes did not differ significantly in all the age groups

GROSS ANATOMICAL STUDIES ON OS COXAE OF INDIAN EAGLE OWL (BUBO BENGALENSIS)

The present study was conducted on the os coaxe of adult Indian eagle owl. The os coxae of Indian eagle owl consisted of 3 bones namely ilium, ischium and pubis. All the three bones were fused and the space between the pelvic bones was occupied by lumbo-sacral mass. Ventrally, the bones did not unite with each other leaving pelvis open. Ilium was divided into pre-acetabular and post-acetabular parts. The dorsal surface of pre-acetabular part was concave whereas post-acetabular part was small and slightly convex. A very sharp and prominent crest was observed dorsally on either side of the lumbo-sacral mass. Anteriorly, the ventral surface of the ilium was flat and posteriorly, it presented renal fossa for the lodgment of the kidneys. The ischium was flat and somewhat triangular in outline. It formed a large sciatic foramen with ilium and a small obturator foramen with pubis. Pubis was a thin rib-like elongated bone situated along the ventral border of ischium and formed ischio-pubic incisures with the ventral border of ischium. There was no pectineal process at the anterior end of the pubis. The acetabulum was circular in outline and in the form of a foramen. A large triangular shaped anti-trochanter was observed in the caudo-dorsal aspect of acetabulum for articulation with trochanter major of the femur

GROSS ANATOMY AND BIOMETRY ON TIBIOTARSUS, FIBULA AND TARSOMETATARSUS OF INDIAN EAGLE OWL (BUBO BENGALENSIS)

The present study was conducted on the tibiotarsus, fibula and tarsometatarsus of Indian eagle owl. Tibiotarsus was formed by the fusion of the distal end of the tibia with the proximal row of the tarsal bones. Proximal extremity presented large medial and a smaller lateral condyle. The lateral border of lateral condyle presented a facet for articulation with the head of the fibula. The proximal end of tibiotarsus possessed a sharp cranial cnemial crest and a lateral crest separated by inter-cnemial sulcus. Distal extremity presented large lateral and small medial condyles anteriorly which were separated by the inter-condyloid fossa. Extensor canal was seen immediately proximal to the condyles. Just below the lateral condyle, shaft presented a distinct fibular crest for the attachment of the shaft of the fibula. About the middle of the lateral surface there was presence of nutrient foramen. Fibula was much reduced bone. Body of the fibula had a rough area for attachment with fibular crest of tibiotarsus. Tarsometatarsus was formed by metatarsal bones II, III and IV which were fused with each other and with distal tarsal bones. Proximal extremity presented two concave articular facets for the condyles of tibiotarsus. On planter surface of proximal extremity hypotarsus was present hypotarsus. Shaft presented longitudinal lateral and medial crests on both dorsal and planter surfaces which were more prominent on planter surface. The distal extremity had three trochlea separated by two inter-trochlear clefts. Medial articular trochlear was at a higher level than middle and lateral. Medial inter-trochlear cleft was wider than the lateral cleft

Smartphone assisting convolutional neural networks for soil texture classification in dry and wet humid conditions in West Guwahati, Assam

Soil texture using a hydrometer or pipette method requires expertise, although these are accurate. A soil expert may help the farmer to detect the soil texture by analyzing the visual texture of the soil, which is not always accurate. This paper presents the smartphone image-based sand and clay soil classification in wet and dry humid conditions using Self Convolution Neural Network (SCNN) and finetuned MobileNet.A soil dataset of 576 soil images was prepared using a low-cost smartphone under natural light conditions. Different augmentation techniques such as shift, range, rotation, and zoom were applied to the soil dataset to increase the number of images in the soil dataset. The best performance of the MobileNet was reported at epoch 15 with a testing and training loss of 0.0091 and 0.0194, respectively. Though the SCNN model performed best at epoch 10 with a testing accuracy of 99.85%, the MobileNet reported less computation time (167.8s) than the SCNN (273.2s). The precision and recall of the models were 99.62 (MobileNet) and 99.84 (SCNN). The accuracy of the SCNN reported itself as the best model, whereas the computing time of the MobileNet reported itself as the best model in different humid conditions. The model can be used to replicate the traditional soil texture analysis method and the farmers can use it for better productivity

Effect of sub-lethal concentration of endosulfan on lipid and fatty acid metabolism of spotted murrel, Channa punctatus

Effect of sub-lethal concentration of endosulfan on lipid and fatty acid metabolism of spotted murrel, Channa punctatu

Fishery and Exploitation of Malabar Grouper, Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch & Schneider 1801) from Andaman Islands

The fishery and population dynamics of groupers from Andaman Islands were studied from Jan 2010 to Dec 2011 with a special emphasis on Malabar grouper, Epinephelus malabaricus (Bloch & Schneider 1801). The average annual catch of Malabar grouper was 1,296 tonnes contributing to 21.6% of annual grouper landings. Length-weight relationship of Malabar grouper showed that growth was allometric (b=2.96) and relative condition factor (Kn) was 1 and the growth parameters viz., L∞, K and t0 were 124.60 cm, 0.80 and -0.05 respectively. The recruitment pattern was unimodal with one major peak during April to July throughout the study period. The natural mortality (M), fishing mortality (F) and total mortality (Z) were 1.05, 1.48 and 2.53 respectively and exploitation rate (E) was 0.58. The M/K ratio (1.31) was found to be well within the normal range of 1to 2.5. Catch per unit effort varied from 4 to16.5 kg.h-1. The maximum sustainable yield (MSY) was 1,107 tonnes which was lower than the average annual catch (1,296 tonnes), indicating over exploitation. The current study calls for further research in identifying the grouper fishing and spawning aggregation grounds and introduce measures for reducing fishing efforts with input and output controls to sustain the Malabar grouper fishery in Andaman waters