Design considerations for trawl winches

For efficient functioning of a trawl winch it is essential that all component parts should be designed carefully taking into consideration all the relevant factors such as quantum and type of load each component is subjected to, amount of maintenance it will receive during actual operation, type of drive for the winch etc. Based on the practices adopted at the Central Institute of Fisheries Technology certain guidelines are proposed in this paper for designing of trawl winches

A mechanical device for eradication of submerged aquatic weeds

This paper embodies details and method of operation of a mechanical device developed for eradication of submerged aquatic weeds. The economics of operation is also discussed

Indigenous substitutes for "Lignum vitae" for making stern bearings for fishing boats

Difficulties are very often encountered in selecting proper material for making stern bearings for fishing boats. Conventional materials such as white metal, bronze etc. wear out too fast also causing considerable wear to the propeller shaft. Lignum-vitae, a natural wood commonly used for this purpose, is not available on a commercial scale in our country. Results of trials carried out to find out suitable substitutes for lignum-vitae from among indigenous timbers are presented in this paper

Impact of 17β Estradiol on Sex Ratio and Reproductive Output of The Catfish Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch.)

Many of synthetic chemicals (xeno - estrogens) have been shown to interact as agonists with the estrogen receptor (ER) and to elicit biological responses similar to those of the natural steroid hormones. Estradiol is the main compound responsible for the estrogenic activity in sewage treatment works effluents and given these concentrations, those found in surface waters, and its estrogenic potency, E2 is now considered as an important contaminant of the aquatic environment. Despite this, little is known about the biological effects of exposure to low concentrations of E2, or the sensitivity of different fish life stages to the disruptive effects of E2. To assess the effects on reproduction of exposure of adult catfish to E2, the fish used were 7-month-old. For each treatment group (5, 25, 100 ng E2/l, solvent control and dilution water control) a single tank containing 10 females (length 39.4mm ± 0.25; weight 56 mg ± 11.63) and 20 males (length 35.8 ± 0.23; weight 38 mg ± 7.7) was set up. The exposure tanks were 40 cm long × 20 cm wide × 25 cm high. Reproductive performance in each treatment group was followed for a 3-week-period prior to exposure to E2 and during a 3-week-period during the exposure to E2. Fish were maintained in the same tanks for the spawning assessments prior to and during E2 exposures and therefore, the pre-exposure spawning events were assigned as the controls for the subsequent E2 exposures for each regime. Fecundity and fertilization success in the F0 generation and hatchability in the F1 generation were assessed daily. Gonadal sections in males were examined for the presence of oocytes in the testis, alterations in testicular structure and the presence of Sertoli cells. In female gonads, the stages of oocyte development were also examined and for this purpose 50 follicles per couple and per female were identified and counted.Statistical analyses were done using One-way analysis of variance (ANOVA) followed by Duncan’s multiple range test was used. In the present study, the effects of exposure to E2 during various life stages on vitellogenin induction, gonadal histology and reproductive output in the catfish Heteropneustes fossilis was undertaken. This work demonstrated that exposure to E2 resulted in vitellogenin induction whatever the life stage exposed but these effects were reversible after a depuration period. Exposure to 100 ng E2/l from fertilization to 21 dpf also caused a disruption of the sexual differentiation as assessed by the skewed sex ratio in the subsequent adult population. Exposure during early life stages also resulted in an altered pattern of egg production in the subsequent adults. Exposure of catfish as adult to E2 led to a modification of the secondary sexual characteristics at 100 ng E2/l and a decrease of egg production. Taken together, these data showed the nature and level of the effects of E2 are dependent on the timing of the exposure with some effects being permanent (gonad differentiation) and others reversible (Vtg induction). This study demonstrated that early life stages of the fish are sensitive to low concentrations of E2 leading to partial feminization of the population and to vitellogenin induction and highlight the effects on vulnerable developmental stages. Moreover these data raise further concerns about the effects of steroid estrogens in the environment on fish reproductive health

Impact of 17β Estradiol on Catfish, Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch.)

Industrial and municipal sewage treatments works effluents discharges and surface run off represent the main source of synthetic and naturals estrogens into the aquatic environment. 17β estradiol (E2) is now considered as an important contaminant of the aquatic environment. Despite this, little is known about the biological effects of exposure to low concentrations of E2, or the sensitivity of different fish life stages to the disruptive effects of E2. To address these issues, the present has been conducted a series of experiments on the freshwater fish Heteropneustes fossilis (Bloch.) exposing them to low concentrations of E2 (5, 25 and 100 ng E2/l). These concentrations correspond to those commonly found in effluents and for the lower dose, a concentration found in some surface water. In the adult stage, secondary sexual characteristics, gonadal growth (the gonado-somatic index (GSI)) and sex ratio were calculated. For all experiments, the concentrations of E2 were measured by a gas chromatography–mass spectrometry (GC–MS). This study demonstrated that early life stages of the fish are sensitive to low concentrations of E2 leading to partial feminization of the population and to vitellogenin induction and highlight the effects on vulnerable developmental stages. Moreover these data raise further concerns about the effects of steroid estrogens in the environment on fish reproductive health

Divine competition: Religious organizations and service provision in India

This paper examines religious and non-religious service provision by religious organisations in India. We present a stylized Hotelling-style model in which two religious organisations differentiate hemselves on the strength of religious beliefs in order to compete in attracting adherents. We show in the model two central predictions: first,that the organisations will differentiate themselves on the strength of religious beliefs. Second, that in equilibrium, economic inequality makes the organisations increase their provision of non-religious services. To test this, we present unique primary survey dataon the economics of religion, collected by us between 2006 and 2010 from 568 Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Jain religious organisations spread across 7 Indian states. We use these data to demonstrate that the organisations have substantially increasedtheir provision of non-religious services. We also provide quantitative evidence based oneconometric testing to highlight that religious organisations are differenting themselves on the strength of religious beliefs with respect to other organisations, and are also providing higher education and health services as economic inequality increases in India

Divine Competition: Religious Organisations and Service Provision in India

This paper examines religious and non-religious service provision by religious organisations in India. We present a stylized Hotelling-style model in which two religious organisations differentiate hemselves on the strength of religious beliefs in order to compete in attracting adherents. We show in the model two central predictions: first,that the organisations will differentiate themselves on the strength of religious beliefs. Second, that in equilibrium, economic inequality makes the organisations increase their provision of non-religious services. To test this, we present unique primary survey dataon the economics of religion, collected by us between 2006 and 2010 from 568 Hindu, Muslim, Christian, Sikh and Jain religious organisations spread across 7 Indian states. We use these data to demonstrate that the organisations have substantially increasedtheir provision of non-religious services. We also provide quantitative evidence based oneconometric testing to highlight that religious organisations are differenting themselves on the strength of religious beliefs with respect to other organisations, and are also providing higher education and health services as economic inequality increases in India

Neural Networks based Smart e-Health Application for the Prediction of Tuberculosis using Serverless Computing.

The convergence of the Internet of Things (IoT) with e-health records is creating a new era of advancements in the diagnosis and treatment of disease, which is reshaping the modern landscape of healthcare. In this paper, we propose a neural networks-based smart e-health application for the prediction of Tuberculosis (TB) using serverless computing. The performance of various Convolution Neural Network (CNN) architectures using transfer learning is evaluated to prove that this technique holds promise for enhancing the capabilities of IoT and e-health systems in the future for predicting the manifestation of TB in the lungs. The work involves training, validating, and comparing Densenet-201, VGG-19, and Mobilenet-V3-Small architectures based on performance metrics such as test binary accuracy, test loss, intersection over union, precision, recall, and F1 score. The findings hint at the potential of integrating these advanced Machine Learning (ML) models within IoT and e-health frameworks, thereby paving the way for more comprehensive and data-driven approaches to enable smart healthcare. The best-performing model, VGG-19, is selected for different deployment strategies using server and serless-based environments. We used JMeter to measure the performance of the deployed model, including the average response rate, throughput, and error rate. This study provides valuable insights into the selection and deployment of ML models in healthcare, highlighting the advantages and challenges of different deployment options. Furthermore, it also allows future studies to integrate such models into IoT and e-health systems, which could enhance healthcare outcomes through more informed and timely treatments

PHYTOCHEMICAL SCREENING, ANTIOXIDANT AND ANTIBACTERIAL ACTIVITIES OF MILLINGTONIA HORTENSIS (L)

Objective: Millingtonia hortensis Linn (Bignoniaceae) is commonly known as cork tree and Akash neem. Aim of studies to determine the antioxidant activity and antibacterial activity.Methods: The antioxidant activity of different solvent extracts were measured by chemical analyses involving the assay of 1,1-diphenyl-2-picryhydrazyl (DPPH) radical scavenging activity and super oxide radical scavenging activity.Results: Phytochemicals (secondary metabolites) screening of methanol, chloroform, ethanol, petroleum ether, aqueous leaf extracts revealed the presence of carbohydrates, tannins, saponins, flavonoids, alkaloids, betacyanins, phenols and coumarins.Conclusion: The presence of these phytochemicals and antioxidant capacity support the use of this plant as an antibacterial agent against the group of micro organisms tested.Â