The impact of suspended culture of the edible oyster Crassostrea madrasensis (Preston) on benthic faunal assemblages

The impact of suspended farming of the edible oyster, Crassostrea madrasensis (Preston) on the benthic faunal community structure was studied. The species composition of the faunal samples collected during January to September 2002 from an experimental farm which supported an oyster biomass of 27 to 288 kg in 25 m2 area in Ashtamudi Lake, Kerala, were compared with that of a reference (non-farming) site. The faunal density was almost similar at the farm site, 1278 no. m-2 and at the reference site 1470 no. m-2. At the farm site, 22 species of annelids belonging to 16 genera and at the reference site 23 species under 19 genera were recorded. The Shannon Weiner function (H’) was only slightly higher (2.64) at the reference site, than at the farm site (2.53). Almost similar Simpson (1-λ) dominance indices were also obtained. The Pielou’s (J’) evenness index was 0.79 at the reference site while at the farm site it was marginally lower (0.75). The Margalef (d) species richness index was higher (4.05) at the farm site than at the reference site (3.70). These differences in univariate diversity indices were not significant (P>0.05). The benthic faunal community structure at both sites were similar and there was no negative impact due to short-term farming of oysters

Environmental impact assessment of suspended oyster, Crassostrea madrasensis (Preston) culture

The environmental impact due to farming of the Indian backwater oyster Crassostrea madrasensis (Preston) for five consecutive years was studied. The changes during crop holiday periods of three; six and nine months were also assessed. The water column and sediment characteristics and benthic macrofaunal community changes of farm sites of different farming and crop holiday periods were compared with those of reference sites. The study indicated that there were no significant variations in the hydrographic parameters due to continuous farming. Howeve ~ the sediment characteristics and the benthic macrofaunal composition at the farm sites were found to change with continuous farming. The percentage of coarse and fine sand was found to decrease while that of silt, clay and organic carbon found to increase with the year of farming. The impact on sediment characteristics due to farming for two years could be rectified with a crop holiday of six months period but the impact due to continuous farming for five years could not be rectified even with a long-term crop holiday of nine months. The benthic macrofaunal communities of the farm and reference sites were found to vary with the year of farming. The number of species recorded at the farm and reference site of first year of farming was almost similar (30 for farm site, 28 for reference site). The number of species recorded for the second year farming period was 24 for farm site and 33 for reference site, but the difference was not significant. On the contrary, Significant differences were found in the number of species at the farm and reference sites of three, four and five years of farming. The number of individuals was always higher at the reference sites than that of farm sites. Maximum number of individuals (1278 m·2 ) was recorded at the first year farm site and the minimum (279 m·2) at the fourth year farm site. Improvements in number of species, number of individuals were noticed at farm sites when crop holiday was given and a crop holiday of six months proved to be useful in rectifying the impact of oyster farming of two years. Based on findings of the present study it is recommended that oyster farming can be done continuously for a maximum period of two years and if the culture needs to be carried for more than two years at the same site, a crop holiday of at least six months is to be given. Altemately, the location of farming has to be shifted to an adjacent site after 2 years

Green Supply Chain Management: A Review and Research Direction

Green supply chain management has become an eco-friendly and an ecological issue that integrates the source chain concept along with the encompassing atmosphere. This method makes up item concept, product sourcing and also  manufacturing, end product shipping to consumers, and  item end-of-life administration after its own helpful lifestyle has been passed. GSCM targets to get rid of or even lower waste (power, exhausts, chemical and strong wastes) along the source chain. As a methodical and  thorough tactic, GSCM has become a substantial brand new creation that aids organizations in establishing win-win techniques that decrease ecological threats and also repercussions while improving eco-friendly productivity, permitting all of them to comply with revenue and market intendeds. This research study report testimonials the literary works and also gives a checklist of GSCM components and also practises, sustainable green supply chain management and also styles in GSCM

Image Denoising by using Modified SGHP Algorithm

In real time applications, image denoising is a predominant task. This task makes adequate preparation for images looks prominent. But there are several denoising algorithms and every algorithm has its own distinctive attribute based upon different natural images. In this paper, we proposed a perspective that is modified parameter in S-Gradient Histogram Preservation denoising method. S-Gradient Histogram Preservation is a method to compute the structure gradient histogram from the noisy observation by taking different noise standard deviations of different images. The performance of this method is enumerated in terms of peak signal to noise ratio and structural similarity index of a particular image. In this paper, mainly focus on peak signal to noise ratio, structural similarity index, noise estimation and a measure of structure gradient histogram of a given image

Impact of suspended culture of the edible oyster Crassostrea madrasensis (Preston) on the sediment texture and organic carbon content at the farm site

The impact of farming of the edible oyster Crassostrea madrasensis on the sediment characteristics in Ashtamudi Lake was studied. The meat weight in the 25 m2 trestle (rack) farm with approximately 30,000 oysters was found to increase from 27 kg in March to 228 kg in September with a corresponding total shellon weight of 188 kg and 1431 kg respectively. The effect of farming on the top 1-5 cm and 5-10 cm column of the farm substrate was studied separately. Sediment in both the columns beneath the farm and the reference site (non-farm) in the estuary was predominated by fine sand (about 70%) followed by silt, clay and coarse sand. The average organic carbon content in the two sediment columns during the crop period were 0.87 (1-5 cm) and 0.73 (5-10 cm). Though there were variations in the sediment texture and organic carbon content between the farm and the reference sites the impact due to term oyster farming on these parameters was not significant

CHARACTERIZATION OF HYPOTHETICAL PROTEINS SAS0760 AND SAS1738 FROM “COMMUNITY ASSOCIATED STAPHYLOCOCCUS AUREUS” MSSA476

Staphylococcus aureus is known to cause a wide range of infections from simple, curable skin infections like carbuncles, furuncles, and impetigo to deadly infections such as bacteremia, osteomyelitis, endocarditis and post-operative infections. Recently, the emergence of multiple antibiotic resistances has posed a great challenge to therapeutics and infection management. Very early in therapeutics of Staphylococcus aureus infections, it acquired resistance to the penicillin, including methicillin [1], that was designed specifically for the penicillin resistant strains. These strains were designated methicillin resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA). Originally, MRSA was only seen in hospital-associated infections (HA MRSA) [2-4], but recently, MRSA found in community settings (CA MRSA) are more invasive infections [5, 6] with greater genetic diversity and hence different antibiotic resistance patterns [4, 7]. MSSA476 is a CA MRSA, though evolutionarily, it is closely related to MRSA252, a HA MRSA [2, 8]. Hence we decided to identify hypothetical proteins from MSSA476. Disease management involves understanding the properties of bacteria in order to tackle the infection efficiently and finding new effective drugs to kill the pathogen. Further understanding of such unique, unexplored hypothetical proteins and their characterization with relation to virulence will help understand the increased virulence of CA MRSA

MicroRNA-214 targets PTK6 to inhibit tumorigenic potential and increase drug sensitivity of prostate cancer cells.

Prostate cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in men with African American men disproportionally suffering from the burden of this disease. Biomarkers that could discriminate indolent from aggressive and drug resistance disease are lacking. MicroRNAs are small non-coding RNAs that affect numerous physiological and pathological processes, including cancer development and have been suggested as biomarkers and therapeutic targets. In the present study, we investigated the role of miR-214 on prostate cancer cell survival/migration/invasion, cell cycle regulation, and apoptosis. miR-214 was differentially expressed between Caucasian and African American prostate cancer cells. Importantly, miR-214 overexpression in prostate cancer cells induced apoptosis, inhibiting cell proliferation and colony forming ability. miR-214 expression in prostate cancer cells also inhibited cell migration and 3D spheroid invasion. Mechanistically, miR-214 inhibited prostate cancer cell proliferation by targeting protein tyrosine kinase 6 (PTK6). Restoration of PTK6 expression attenuated the inhibitory effect of miR-214 on cell proliferation. Moreover, simultaneous inhibition of PTK6 by ibrutinib and miR-214 significantly reduced cell proliferation/survival. Our data indicates that miR-214 could act as a tumor suppressor in prostate cancer and could potentially be utilized as a biomarker and therapeutic target

Effect of rare earth dopants on structural and mechanical properties of nanoceria synthesized by combustion method

Structural characteristics of combustion synthesized, calcined and densified pure and doped nanoceria with tri-valent cations of Er, Y, Gd, Sm and Nd were analyzed by X-ray diffraction (XRD) and high resolution transmission electron microscopy (HRTEM). The results showed that the as-synthesized and calcined nanopowders were mesoporous and calculated lattice parameters were close to theoretical ion-packing model. The effect of dopants on elastic modulus, microhardness and fracture toughness of sintered pure and doped ceria were investigated. It was observed that tri-valent cation dopants increased the hardness of the ceria, whereas the fracture toughness and elastic modulus were decreased

Cytomorphological alterations of thyroid gland consequent upon fluorosis

Background: Study aimed at assessing the impact of elevated fluoride from drinking water on thyroid gland structure and function in fluorosis prone areas. Iodine is incorporated in the thyroid synthesis by thyroid gland but in the presence of low Iodine levels fluoride is likely to interfere with the concentrating capacity of thyroid of iodine in thyroid production, consequently reflecting changes in thyroid parameters and also cytomorphological features manifesting hypothyroidism in association with different pathological entities.Methods: Prakasam district in Andhra Pradesh is fluorosis prone zone and subjects are picked up from highly vulnerable zone in this district and their specimens are collected to study cytomorphological changes of the thyroid gland and biochemical parameters of blood samples for thyroid function test were considered. Cytological study by way of Fine Needle Aspiration Cytology (FNAC) of thyroid gland, biochemical parameters pertaining to function of thyroid gland namely Free triiodothyronine (FT3), Free Thyroxine (FT4) and Thyroid stimulating hormone (TSH) were assessed in the subjects from fluorosis prone zone.Results: The results were statistically significant with concurrent association of different cytological alterations of thyroid gland in these subjects like Hashimoto’s thyroiditis of hypothyroidism, adenomatous goitre, colloid goitre and few of follicular adenoma/neoplasm. FNAC makes cytological changes evident showing different morphological features that comprise different pathological entities largely with an evidence of hypothyroidism in most of the cases in the given study.Conclusions: The results of the study strongly suggest assessing the magnitude of the problem of fluorosis and also magnitude of its influence on thyroid structure and function that warrants assessment of the thyroid function by biochemical and cytological studies

Study of the Influence of Sintering Atmosphere and Mechanical Activation on the Synthesis of Bulk Ti2AlN MAX Phase Obtained by Spark Plasma Sintering

The influence of the mechanical activation process and sintering atmosphere on the microstructure and mechanical properties of bulk Ti2AlN has been investigated. The mixture of Ti and AlN powders was prepared in a 1:2 molar ratio, and a part of this powder mixture was subjected to a mechanical activation process under an argon atmosphere for 10 h using agate jars and balls as milling media. Then, the sintering and production of the Ti2AlN MAX phase were carried out by Spark Plasma Sintering under 30 MPa with vacuum or nitrogen atmospheres and at 1200 °C for 10 min. The crystal structure and microstructure of consolidated samples were characterized by X-ray Diffraction, Scanning Electron Microscopy, and Energy Dispersive X-ray Spectroscopy. The X-ray diffraction patterns were fitted using the Rietveld refinement for phase quantification and determined their most critical microstructural parameters. It was determined that by using nitrogen as a sintering atmosphere, Ti4AlN3 MAX phase and TiN were increased at the expense of the Ti2AlN. In the samples prepared from the activated powders, secondary phases like Ti5Si3 and Al2O3 were formed. However, the higher densification level presented in the sample produced by using both nitrogen atmosphere and MAP powder mixture is remarkable. Moreover, the high-purity Ti2AlN zone of the MAX-1200 presented a hardness of 4.3 GPa, and the rest of the samples exhibited slightly smaller hardness values (4.1, 4.0, and 4.2 GPa, respectively) which are matched with the higher porosity observed on the SEM images.España, Universidad de Sevilla CITIUS under the grant PPIT-2021, project no. 2021/00000691España project funded by the Madrid region under program S2018/NMT-4381 MAT4.0-C