Behaviour of Cold-Formed Steel Semi Rigid Connections

Ductility and inelastic performance are important considerations in aseismic design of buildings. The dissipation of energy due to inelastic deformation is predominantly required in the connections like beam column joints. It is necessary to design these joints as semi rigid for its economic and structural benefits. Semi-rigid connections have highly nonlinear behaviour that makes the analysis and design of frames difficult and complicated. Steel structures are highly regarded for their seismic performance. It is required to understand and study the inelastic behavior of steel connections which would help in an economical and simpler design. This paper involves the modeling of deformational behaviour of a cold formed steel connection in a finite element software simulating the real time behavior. The ultimate moment and rotation is studied for different semi rigid connections after validation of the model

Distribution of finfish resources along southeast coast of India in relation to certain environmental parameters

This paper embodies the distribution pattern of major finfish resources along the southeast coast of India as observed during the cruises operated by FORV Sagar Sampada. A total of 16 cruises (1985-90) operated along latitude 7° 15'- 15°00' N and longitude 75°50'- 82°3r E hauled a total catch 37.5 tonnes with a catch rate of 537 kg/hr. The catch was constituted mainly by threadfin breams (43%), perches (14%), barracudas (9.72%), carangids (8.56%) and elasmobranchs (4.81%). Seasonally higher catch rates were obtained during July- September period. Depth range of 60 - 80 m had denser population of finfish resources. Water temperature and salinity appeared to influence the distribution of major finfishes more than dissolved oxygen. Groups such as threadfin breams were found preferring cooler waters of Wadge Bank area, while barracudas appear to occupy warmer waters of Gulf of Mannar

Cephalopod production in India and constituent maritime states

The fishing craft and gear in which cepbalopods are obtained in India and the all India, statewise and east and west coast cephalopod production are presented. The bulk of the cephalopod catches is obtained along the west coast and trawl net accounts for major portion of landings. Maharashtra, Kerala, Tamil Nadu and Gujarat are the leading states in production

Investigating elevational gradients of species richness in a Mediterranean plant hotspot using a published flora

The Apuan Alps are one of the most peculiar mountain chain in the Mediterranean, being very close to the coastline and reaching an elevation of almost 2000 m. Based on published flora, we investigated the distribution of plant species richness along the whole elevational gradient of this chain considering: (i) all species, (ii) endemic versus alien species; and (iii) functional groups of species based on Raunkiær life forms (RLF). Generalized Linear Models (GLMs) were used to analyse richness patterns along the elevational gradient, and elevational richness models versus the area of the elevational belts were fitted to test the effect of surface area. Our results showed decreasing species richness with increasing elevation. In contrast, endemic species richness increased along the elevational gradient. Alien species were mainly distributed at low elevations, but this result should be taken with caution since we used historical data. Species life forms were not equally distributed along the elevation gradient: chamaephytes and hemicryptophytes were the richest groups at high elevations, while therophytes showed highest species richness at low elevations. Our findings suggest that in the Apuan Alps there is a major elevational gradient in species composition that could reflect plant evolutionary history. Furthermore, we highlight the key role of published floras as a relevant source of biodiversity data.publishedVersio

Review on cephalopod resources, biology and stock assessment in Indian seas

Cephalopods are fished from the seas around India from very early times and at present contribute one of the most important exploited marine fishery resources oj the country (between 4 and 5% of the all India production). The production, which remained at very low level up to the early seventies, has shown a remarkable increase crossing the 1,00,000 tonne mark in 1994. The taxonomy, biology and stock assessment of the various exploited species have been studied since the early seventies by the CMFRI. Studies indicate that uplo 1994 tlie exploitation has remained within rational limits in almost all maritime states. The recent rapid increase in production warrants close monitoring of this short-lived resource from the viewpoint of Judicious management

Oceanic squids - their distribution, abundance and potential in the EEZ of India and contiguous seas

FORV Sagar Sampada collected a good number of oceanic squids belonging to several families from the Indian EEZ and contiguous seas. Of these, the most important species was the purpleback flying squid Symplectoteuthis oualaniensis which forms a potential oceanic squid resource. This species was caught in pelagic trawl at depths up to.200-250 m from surface in the oceanic areas. Though the squid is known to be distributed throughout India's oceanic waters, it frequently occurred in comparatively more abundance, up to 318 squids per haul, in the northneastem Arabian Sea. There was wide variation in the size of this squid (from 20 mm to 472 mm), the largest individual weighing 4.5 kg. The diamondback squid Thysanoteuthis rhombus, the largest specimen of which measured 585 mm in length and 5.3 kg in weight, was also caught from a few stations. Besides these large species, several others belonging to families such as Onychoteuthidae, Histioteuthidae, Enoploteuthidae and Cranchiidae are also distributed in the EEZ. A large number of oceanic squids were collected at night, which is indicative of their diel vertical migration towards surface layers during night hours

Some aspects of the biology of squids

The results of studies on the biological aspects such as sexuality, sex ratio, size at first maturity, spawning, age and growth, distribution of adults, food, predators,Iife-history and distribution of juveniles of three species of squids Loligo duvaucelii, Sephreuthis lessoniana and Doryteuthis sibogae are presented. The breeding period of all the three species was found to be prolonged. In Lotigo duvaucelii the males attained sexual maturity earlier than females in the various fishing grounds investigated

Cephalopod fisheries at selected centres in India

The cephalopod fisheries at eleven selected centres, Waltair, Kakinada, Madras, Portonovo, Mandapam, Rameswaram and Kilakarai on the east coast and Vizhinjam, Cochin, Mangalore and Bombay on the west coast have been studied and the annual and seasonal trends of the total cephalopod catches, species composition and CPUE investigated. Cephalopods were obtained in appreciable quantities in trawl nets in most of the areas studied. There is an organized fishery with hooks and lines for cuttlefish and squids at Vizhinjam. (Trivandrum)

Some aspects of the biology of cuttlefishes

The biological aspects namely, sexuality, sex composition, size at first maturity, spawning, age and growth, distribution of adults, food and distribution of juveniles of six species of cuttlefishes Sepia pharaonis, S. aculeata, S. elliptica, S. brevimam, S. prashadi and S. inermis are discussed here. Sepia pharaonis showed differential growth and the rate of growth of females was higher than that of males. By contrast growth rate of Sepia aculeata was almost similar in both sexes

Areawise and gearwise production of cephalopods

The coasts of the maritime states of India have been divided into subareas and the annual and seasonal trends of the areawise and gearwise landings of cephalopods and CPUE have been studied in detail