Doing cell biology in embryos: regulated membrane traffic and its implications for cadherin biology

Regulated trafficking of cadherin adhesion molecules is often invoked as a mechanism to generate dynamic adhesive cell-cell contacts for tissue modeling and morphogenesis. The past 2-3 years have seen several important papers that tackle the cell biology of cadherin trafficking in organismal systems to provide new insights into both mechanism and morphogenetic impact

Development of a Household Coconut Punch-cum-Splitter

A power operated coconut punch-cum-splitter was developed for extracting coconut water and coconut meat. The equipment mainly consists of screw rod, channel section, tapered roller bearing, pulleys, movable tray, and supporting frame, cutting blade, punch and electric motor. The nut of the screw rod was rotated with an electric motor and the drive was transmitted with a belt and pulley system. The tender coconut was placed on the top of the screw rod in natural rest position and was raised to press against either the punch or the blade fixed above the screw rod. The average energy requirement for punching and splitting of the selected range were found to be 11.74 kJ and 12.13 kJ

Curing Acute Prostatitis by means of Ayurveda - A Case Report

Bacterial prostatitis (BP) is a bacterial infection of the prostate gland occurring in a bimodal distribution in younger and older men. It can be acute (ABP) or chronic (CBP) in nature and if not treated appropriately, can result in significant morbidity. Ayurveda is a traditional system of medicine, in which herbal medicines are mainly used for restoring the health. This case report deals with the way of curing acute prostatitis using Ayurveda treatment modalities

Minimum Legal Size (MLS) for marine capture fisheries management in Maharashtra

The marine capture fisheries sector of Maharashtra has undergone tremendous change in terms of fishing patterns, fishing methods, spatial expansion of fishing grounds, multiday fishing and innovations in crafts and gears, among others. With the increasing demand for marine fish for consumption and other non-food utilization of fishes, exploitation of juvenile fishes is becoming more common. Exploitation of juveniles which causes ‘growth overfishing’ is a major concern as it affects the health of fish stocks and the ecosystem which impacts livelihood of fishers and causes much economic loss to all stakeholders

Plankton taxonomy

Plankton includes all those organisms that live suspended in the water column of aquatic ecosystems. Unlike nektons, which swim actively against water currents, plankton are characterized by feeble power of locomotion and drift in the water column at the mercy of currents, winds, and tides. The term “plankton” was coined by Victor Hensen from the Greek word "plankton" meaning drifter or wanderer

Record of the Trident cuttlefish from Maharashtra coast

Cuttlefish are important fishery resources landed mostly by mechanized trawlers operating along Maharashtra coast. Many new records of cuttlefishes have been reported from Maharashtra over the years

महाराष्ट्र की डोल जाल मात्स्यिकी

महाराष्ट्र की डोल जाल मात्स्यिक

Prompt emission polarimetry of Gamma Ray Bursts with ASTROSAT CZT-Imager

X-ray and Gamma-ray polarization measurements of the prompt emission of Gamma-ray bursts (GRBs) are believed to be extremely important for testing various models of GRBs. So far, the available measurements of hard X-ray polarization of GRB prompt emission have not significantly constrained the GRB models, particularly because of the difficulty of measuring polarization in these bands. The CZT Imager (CZTI) onboard {\em AstroSat} is primarily an X-ray spectroscopic instrument that also works as a wide angle GRB monitor due to the transparency of its support structure above 100 keV. It also has experimentally verified polarization measurement capability in the 100 $-$ 300 keV energy range and thus provides a unique opportunity to attempt spectro-polarimetric studies of GRBs. Here we present the polarization data for the brightest 11 GRBs detected by CZTI during its first year of operation. Among these, 5 GRBs show polarization signatures with $\gtrapprox$3$\sigma$, and 1 GRB shows $\>$2$\sigma$ detection significance. We place upper limits for the remaining 5 GRBs. We provide details of the various tests performed to validate our polarization measurements. While it is difficult yet to discriminate between various emission models with the current sample alone, the large number of polarization measurements CZTI expects to gather in its minimum lifetime of five years should help to significantly improve our understanding of the prompt emission.Comment: Accepted for Publication in ApJ ; a figure has been update

Physico-chemical Characterization of Biochar from Selected Ligno-cellulosic Biomass for The Sustainable Utilization

Biochar is a thermal decomposition product known to mitigate climate change and a supplement to enhance soil fertility. The fine-grained, highly porous structure of biochar makes it a popular choice in environmental research. This study aims to assess the Physico-chemical properties and morphological changes in the biochar prepared from feedstocks: sawdust, sugarcane bagasse, and soapnut pith of Sapindus trifoliatus, native to the foothills of Western Ghats, Kerala, at a temperature of 300 oC and 600oC with 30 minutes residence time. The pyrolytic temperature and feedstock type may affect the yield, ash content, volatile matter (VM), fixed carbon (FC), and nutrient composition of biochar. The selection of these two factors is critical before proceeding with charring. The efficiency of biochar was determined through proximate, ultimate, and morphological characterizations. The pH of high-temperature biochar (sawdust biochar, sugarcane bagasse biochar, and soapnut pith biochar prepared at 600oC) was more alkaline (≥7) compared with low-temperature ones. The char yield was highest at 300oC, whereas the fixed carbon was limited. The VM/FC ratio of SDB600 at 1.09±2.3 represents the highest aromaticity and long-term stability. Therefore, SDB600 can be recommended for soil supplementation purposes. The macrospores were uniformly distributed throughout the biochar surface. Sugarcane bagasse pyrolyzed at 600oC (SBB600) possessed the minimum pore diameter (0.87-9.17µm), with the highest surface area; so that it could be an optimum habitat for soil microbiota as well as a suitable adsorbent for environmental remediation applications. The study suggests that biochar made from these ligno-cellulosic feedstocks is a sustainable tool and a value-added product for environmental management

Purse seine fishing in Maharashtra

Purse seines are one of the important gears operated along the west coast of India for harvesting shoaling pelagic fishes, mostly oil sardine and mackerel. Purse seine fishing method invented to harvest the large shoal of pelagic fish in Maine, United State of America during 1830’s later is was spread to Norway, Sweden, Japan etc. In India purse seine was introduced on experimental basis in 1954 under Indo-Norwegian project off Quilon, Kerala and other attempt was made in Goa in 1957 when the territory was still ruled by Portuguese. The commercial purse seining taken up by the fishers in Karnataka during the mid 1970s was later adopted by the fishers in Kerala and Goa. In Maharashtra, fishers from the southern region (Ratnagiri and Sindhdurg) adopted purse seine fishing in late eighties and Mirkarwada emerged as a major base of operation for these purse seiners. In northern Maharashtra, fishers were mostly engaged in set bagnet (Dol nets) and trawl fishing until the late 1990s when a few trawl fishers shifted to purse seine fishing expecting better economic prospects