Coastal Aquaculture - Mussel farming; Progress and prospects

During the seventies, the Central Marine Fisheri^ lleseardi Institute gave a lead in researches on mariculture and has carved for itself a pioneering role in the R& D programmes of mariculture in the countiy which has been well recognised. Impressed by the outstanding contributions made during the decade, the infrastructure facilities built up and, above all, the scientific and techni<ial competence it has acquittdi jm UNDP/ICAR Centre of Advanced Studies in Mariculture has been instituted at the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute since June 1979. The Centre aims at providing postgraduate education in the new discipline of Mariculture and improvmg the quality of research through doct(»ral and post-doctoral research programmes in identified areas. One of the priority areas of mariculture in India is mussel culture. Although considered a poor relation of the oyster in Europe, mussel has one of the highest potentials in India for increaang production of protein- rich sea food. Mussel gives the highest conversion of primary producera ^hytojrfankton) to human food and culture production in column waters enhances the yield several fold. India has a traditional sustenance fishery for the mmsels at a few centres but the scope for increasing natural production from the existing beds is rather limited

Molluscan resources of Kali river estuarine system in Karnataka

The present work has shown that there is an organized clam fishery for Meretrix meretrix, Paphia malabarica and Villorita cyprinoides in Kali River. The three species of clams show differential distribution. Paphia malabarica is confined to lower reaches of river from the river mouth to Nandangadda where salinity is 33.44%o suggesting that this species has distinct preference for areas where salinity is high. Meretrix meretrix occurs over a distance of 6.25 km from Nandangadda where the salinity is 30.82%o to Kinnar where the salinity is 8.76%o. Villorita cyprinoids is distributed only in low salinity areas in the upper parts of the river from Botjug to Mallapur where salinity is uniformly low fluctuating between 5.7%o and 0.24%o indicating that this species thrives well in low salinity conditions. During the survey conducted in November- December, 1978 observations were made on the environmental conditions, species composition of the molluscan resources, their distribution pattern, exploitation and marketing and the findings are presented in this paper

Utilization of Cyanide as a Nitrogenous Substrate by Pseudomonas fluorescens NCIMB 11764: Evidence for Multiple Pathways of Metabolic Conversion

Article on the utilization of cyanide as a nitrogenous substrate by Pseudomonas fluorescens NCIMB 11764 and evidence for multiple pathways of metabolic conversion

Experimental study of the settlement and collection Of pearl oyster spat from Tuticorin area

For the first time settlement and growth of pearl oyst«rs have be-en observed on granite stones forming the embankments of the New Tuticorin Port. Large numbers of pearl oyster spat have also been collected by employing diflfeirent types of spat collectors and the rate of growth of the oysters in the farm has been studied

Effects of Test-Driven Development : A Comparative Analysis of Empirical Studies

Test-driven development is a software development practice where small sections of test code are used to direct the development of program units. Writing test code prior to the production code promises several positive effects on the development process itself and on associated products and processes as well. However, there are few comparative studies on the effects of test-driven development. Thus, it is difficult to assess the potential process and product effects when applying test-driven development. In order to get an overview of the observed effects of test-driven development, an in-depth review of existing empirical studies was carried out. The results for ten different internal and external quality attributes indicate that test-driven development can reduce the amount of introduced defects and lead to more maintainable code. Parts of the implemented code may also be somewhat smaller in size and complexity. While maintenance of test-driven code can take less time, initial development may last longer. Besides the comparative analysis, this article sketches related work and gives an outlook on future research.Peer reviewe

Toward a first-principles integrated simulation of tokamak edge plasmas

Performance of the ITER is anticipated to be highly sensitive to the edge plasma condition. The edge pedestal in ITER needs to be predicted from an integrated simulation of the necessary first-principles, multi-scale physics codes. The mission of the SciDAC Fusion Simulation Project (FSP) Prototype Center for Plasma Edge Simulation (CPES) is to deliver such a code integration framework by (1) building new kinetic codes XGC0 and XGC1, which can simulate the edge pedestal buildup; (2) using and improving the existing MHD codes ELITE, M3D-OMP, M3D-MPP and NIMROD, for study of large-scale edge instabilities called Edge Localized Modes (ELMs); and (3) integrating the codes into a framework using cutting-edge computer science technology. Collaborative effort among physics, computer science, and applied mathematics within CPES has created the first working version of the End-to-end Framework for Fusion Integrated Simulation (EFFIS), which can be used to study the pedestal-ELM cycles

Nutritional Profile, Antioxidative and Antihyperglycemic Properties of Padina tetrastromatica from Tioman Island, Malaysia

Seaweeds are an important ingredient of functional foods recommended for daily food, due to their unique compositions and nutritional value. Padina tetrastromatica is a brown edible seaweed that is commonly found along the coastal regions of Peninsular Malaysia and consumed as food by some coastal communities. This study investigates the nutritional and antihyperglycaemic potential of P. tetrastromatica extracts, which is generally accepted as an important functional food. In our methodology, we induced diabetes intraperitoneally in experimental animals with a dose of 65 mg kg−1 body weight of streptozotocin. Oral treatment with 200 and 400 mg kg−1 of P. tetrastromatica ethanolic and ethyl acetate extracts were initiated, respectively, to experimental rats once daily for 18 days. Metformin was used as the positive control. Biochemical estimations and histopathological analysis were included in this study. Treatment with P. tetrastromatica extracts significantly lowered the plasma glucose levels in Streptozotocin-induced diabetic rats. In addition, P. tetrastromatica extract treatment also showed a significant reduction in serum alanine transaminase levels. However, no significant changes were observed in serum aspartate transaminase levels. The ethyl acetate extract of P. tetrastromatica at 400 mg kg−1 dose shows some nephroprotective effect, which is observed from the significant increase in the plasma albumin levels. Histopathological evaluation revealed no marked morphological changes in tissues of the isolated organs of the ethyl acetate extract-treated group, revealing the safe nature of P. tetrastromatica.</jats:p

Effects of dietary Na+ deprivation on epithelial Na+ channel (ENaC), BDNF, and TrkB mRNA expression in the rat tongue

<p>Abstract</p> <p>Background</p> <p>In rodents, dietary Na⁺deprivation reduces gustatory responses of primary taste fibers and central taste neurons to lingual Na⁺stimulation. However, in the rat taste bud cells Na⁺deprivation increases the number of amiloride sensitive epithelial Na⁺channels (ENaC), which are considered as the "receptor" of the Na⁺component of salt taste. To explore the mechanisms, the expression of the three ENaC subunits (α, β and γ) in taste buds were observed from rats fed with diets containing either 0.03% (Na⁺deprivation) or 1% (control) NaCl for 15 days, by using <it>in situ </it>hybridization and real-time quantitative RT-PCR (qRT-PCR). Since BDNF/TrkB signaling is involved in the neural innervation of taste buds, the effects of Na⁺deprivation on BDNF and its receptor TrkB expression in the rat taste buds were also examined.</p> <p>Results</p> <p><it>In situ </it>hybridization analysis showed that all three ENaC subunit mRNAs were found in the rat fungiform taste buds and lingual epithelia, but in the vallate and foliate taste buds, only α ENaC mRNA was easily detected, while β and γ ENaC mRNAs were much less than those in the fungiform taste buds. Between control and low Na⁺fed animals, the numbers of taste bud cells expressing α, β and γ ENaC subunits were not significantly different in the fungiform, vallate and foliate taste buds, respectively. Similarly, qRT-PCR also indicated that Na⁺deprivation had no effect on any ENaC subunit expression in the three types of taste buds. However, Na⁺deprivation reduced BDNF mRNA expression by 50% in the fungiform taste buds, but not in the vallate and foliate taste buds. The expression of TrkB was not different between control and Na⁺deprived rats, irrespective of the taste papillae type.</p> <p>Conclusion</p> <p>The findings demonstrate that dietary Na⁺deprivation does not change ENaC mRNA expression in rat taste buds, but reduces BDNF mRNA expression in the fungiform taste buds. Given the roles of BDNF in survival of cells and target innervation, our results suggest that dietary Na⁺deprivation might lead to a loss of gustatory innervation in the mouse fungiform taste buds.</p

Synergistic Activation of Dopamine D1 and TrkB Receptors Mediate Gain Control of Synaptic Plasticity in the Basolateral Amygdala

Fear memory formation is thought to require dopamine, brain-derived neurotrophic factor (BDNF) and zinc release in the basolateral amygdala (BLA), as well as the induction of long term potentiation (LTP) in BLA principal neurons. However, no study to date has shown any relationship between these processes in the BLA. Here, we have used in vitro whole-cell patch clamp recording from BLA principal neurons to investigate how dopamine, BDNF, and zinc release may interact to modulate the LTP induction in the BLA. LTP was induced by either theta burst stimulation (TBS) protocol or spaced 5 times high frequency stimulation (5xHFS). Significantly, both TBS and 5xHFS induced LTP was fully blocked by the dopamine D1 receptor antagonist, SCH23390. LTP induction was also blocked by the BDNF scavenger, TrkB-FC, the zinc chelator, DETC, as well as by an inhibitor of matrix metalloproteinases (MMPs), gallardin. Conversely, prior application of the dopamine reuptake inhibitor, GBR12783, or the D1 receptor agonist, SKF39393, induced robust and stable LTP in response to a sub-threshold HFS protocol (2xHFS), which does not normally induce LTP. Similarly, prior activation of TrkB receptors with either a TrkB receptor agonist, or BDNF, also reduced the threshold for LTP-induction, an effect that was blocked by the MEK inhibitor, but not by zinc chelation. Intriguingly, the TrkB receptor agonist-induced reduction of LTP threshold was fully blocked by prior application of SCH23390, and the reduction of LTP threshold induced by GBR12783 was blocked by prior application of TrkB-FC. Together, our results suggest a cellular mechanism whereby the threshold for LTP induction in BLA principal neurons is critically dependent on the level of dopamine in the extracellular milieu and the synergistic activation of postsynaptic D1 and TrkB receptors. Moreover, activation of TrkB receptors appears to be dependent on concurrent release of zinc and activation of MMPs