The Indian mackerel

The Indian mackerel forms the major pelagic resources along the Indian coast Its trend of production fiuctuates in space and time. Several scientists have conducted considerable research works on its biology, fishery and population structure from various parts of its distributional range at different periods of time. Its fishing pattern witnessed large changes in response to mechanisation, motorisation, innovative gear and synthetic nets, together with extension of fishing to deeper grounds. The paper reviews the status of mackerel fisheries research that were carried out in CMFRI since 1950 through regular monitoring programme for its sustainable harves

Development of a Machine for Expressing Vernonia amygdalina Leaf Juice

Vernonia amygdalina leaf juice is known for its nutritive value and as food supplement. There is therefore, a need for a simple processing device for the leaf juice expression. This study developed a machine for producing contamination-free V. amygdalina leaf juice. The design of the machine was based on the principle of a pressure deferential applied to the incoming leaf mash compared with that applied to the discharged material. Macerated leaves were compressed through a tapered screw conveyor; whose shaft terminates as a rising but short conical kink. The maximum juice yield of 41.39% was expressed from the leaf mash at pressing pressure and residence time of 6.09 MPa and 11 min, respectively. The throughput of the machine was 9.60 kg/h and the juice extraction rate was 1.86/h at leaf to water ratio of 1: 0.8. The maximum juice expression efficiency was 15.54% at 1: 1.2 leaf to water ratio, 60 rpm constant rotational motor speed and 11.99 kg/h feeding rate. Approximately 26.38% of the inherent moisture content of the leaf was expressed by the machine. It is expected that the machine may be used to express juice from other plant leaves having comparative physical properties. The machine therefore provides a viable technique for mechanical expression of good quality V. amygdalina leaf juice.

Fishery, biology and stock assessment of skipjack tuna in Indian seas

In India the oceanic skipjack, Katsuwonus pelamis (Linnaeus) forms a significant fishery only in Lakshadweep islands. Here itself the catch is only an insignificant component in the lotal annual catch of this species from western Indian Ocean. The infrastructural facilities now available in these islands are insufficient to expect any major improvement in its fishery. As this group of islands arc increasingly coming to focus in the national context with a view for further devlopment, the fisheries sector will have to get its due importance

Design, construction and testing of a dehuller for African breadfruit (Treculia africana) seeds

The African breadfruit seed is a popular food resource in several parts of West Africa. It is presently being dehulled manually in the absence of a suitable mechanical device. A machine was designed in order to remove the drudgery involved in dehulling the seeds. The machine comprised of a roller which cracks the hull, an oscillating cam follower which removes the cracked hull through repeated shearing against a stationary wall, and an aspiration unit which sifts the hull from the endosperm. A prototype was constructed and tested. Throughput was 64 kg/h; yield, 75%; completely dehulled seeds, 85%; breakage, 1% and sifting efficiency was practically 100%

Unusual heavy landings of triggerfish

The Red-toothed triggerfish Odonus niger, belonging to the family Balistidae, is known as “Puzhthi” in local parlance in Kerala. Small quantities seasonally form part of the low value bycatch (LVB) in trawlers, gill netters, ring netters etc. operated in the 40 to 80 m depth zone along the south-west coas

Smoking influences the yield of dendritic cells for cancer immunotherapy

Background: Dendritic cell (DC)-based vaccination is considered to be a potentially effective therapeutic strategy against advanced cancer. The aim of this study was to address the smoking history that might affect the preparation of DC vaccines in validated instructional manufacture. Materials and Methods: Data on mature DCs generated from 102 sessions of leukapheresis performed on 92 patients with advanced cancer or sarcoma were retrospectively evaluated and compared in relation to the data between their smoking history and the generation of DCs from these patients. 61 patients with adenocarcinoma, including 7 with lung, 10 with breast, 8 with stomach, 12 with colorectal, and 23 with pancreatic adenocarcinoma were enrolled. Results: The average yield of autologous DCs (15.5 ± 8.3x107) was thought to be dependent on the number of monocytes (124.2 ± 74.1x107) collected by leukapheresis. The average ratio of DCs/apheresed monocytes (DC/aM ratio) was lower in the smoker group (11.1 ± 7.2%) than that in the non-smoker group (17.2 ± 9.3%, p=0.001). The number of DCs and the DC/aM ratio were lower in the patients with gastric and pancreatic cancer than in those with adenocarcinoma of other sites. Conclusions: As cancer therapy moves forward into the field of personaArticlePharmaceutical Regulatory Affairs. 4(1):133 (2015)journal articl

Medial prefrontal cortex neuronal activation and synaptic alterations after stress-induced reinstatement of palatable food seeking: a study using c-fos-GFP transgenic female rats

Relapse to maladaptive eating habits during dieting is often provoked by stress and there is evidence for a role of ovarian hormones in stress responses and feeding. We studied the role of these hormones in stress-induced reinstatement of food seeking and medial prefrontal cortex (mPFC) neuronal activation in c-fos-GFP transgenic female rats, which express GFP in strongly activated neurons. Food-restricted ovariectomized or sham-operated c-fos-GFP rats were trained to lever-press for palatable food pellets. Subsequently, lever-pressing was extinguished and reinstatement of food seeking and mPFC neuronal activation was assessed after injections of the pharmacological stressor yohimbine (0.5-2 mg/kg) or pellet priming (1-4 noncontingent pellets). Estrous cycle effects on reinstatement were also assessed in wild-type rats. Yohimbine- and pellet-priming-induced reinstatement was associated with Fos and GFP induction in mPFC; both reinstatement and neuronal activation were minimally affected by ovarian hormones in both c-fos-GFP and wild-type rats. c-fos-GFP transgenic rats were then used to assess glutamatergic synaptic alterations within activated GFP-positive and nonactivated GFP-negative mPFC neurons following yohimbine-induced reinstatement of food seeking. This reinstatement was associated with reduced AMPA receptor/NMDA receptor current ratios and increased paired-pulse facilitation in activated GFP-positive but not GFP-negative neurons. While ovarian hormones do not appear to play a role in stress-induced relapse of food seeking in our rat model, this reinstatement was associated with unique synaptic alterations in strongly activated mPFC neurons. Our paper introduces the c-fos-GFP transgenic rat as a new tool to study unique synaptic changes in activated neurons during behavio

Feeding and metabolic consequences of scheduled consumption of large, binge-type meals of high fat diet in the Sprague–Dawley rat

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