Landing of ‘Flying Gurnard’ in Mumbai

A rare fish ‘flying gurnard’ was landed by a trawler operating in 70-100 m depth in the sea off Mumbai. The species was identified as Dactyloptena peterseni (Nystrom, 1887) and it is reported for the first time along the Indian coast

Structured light techniques for 3D surface reconstruction in robotic tasks

Robotic tasks such as navigation and path planning can be greatly enhanced by a vision system capable of providing depth perception from fast and accurate 3D surface reconstruction. Focused on robotic welding tasks we present a comparative analysis of a novel mathematical formulation for 3D surface reconstruction and discuss image processing requirements for reliable detection of patterns in the image. Models are presented for a parallel and angled configurations of light source and image sensor. It is shown that the parallel arrangement requires 35\% fewer arithmetic operations to compute a point cloud in 3D being thus more appropriate for real-time applications. Experiments show that the technique is appropriate to scan a variety of surfaces and, in particular, the intended metallic parts for robotic welding tasks

Multiple carcasses of Olive Ridleys along Malvan Beach

The Olive Ridley turtle (Lepidochelys olivacea) is protected under the Indian Wildlife (Protection) Act, 1972. Maharashtra government along with NGOs are undertaking several efforts in conservation of sea turtles along the coast. There is a state sponsored incentive program of `500 for locating and sharing information with forest officials. Malvan coast in Sindhudurg district of Maharashtra is known for turtle and fisheries interactions. Occasional turtle nestings can be seen between November to April

Marine turtle conservation programs in villages of Ratnagiri, Maharashtra

Maharashtra is active in sea turtle conservation and its citizen actions with support of forest department are highly commendable particularly in some regions of southern Maharashtra. During the surveys conducted at Harne and Kolthare villages of Ratnagiri in March 2019 it was observed that local volunteers known as “Kasav Mitra” identified by Forest Department, in Ratnagiri District of Maharashtra are undertaking beach patrolling and relocating the eggs to secured enclosures for multiple reasons such as the egg sites being too close to tide water level, beaches open to public that can result in eggs being unknowingly crushed by beachgoers, or dug up by dogs or targeted poaching

The prognostic value of stromal and epithelial periostin expression in human breast cancer: Correlation with clinical pathological features and mortality outcome

open6noBackground: PN is a secreted cell adhesion protein critical for carcinogenesis. In breast cancer, it is overexpressed compared to normal breast, and a few reports suggest that it has a potential role as a prognostic marker. Methods: Tumour samples obtained at the time of mastectomy from 200 women followed for a median time of 18.7 years (range 0.5-29.5 years) were investigated through IHC with a polyclonal anti-PN antibody using tissue microarrays. Epithelial and stromal PN expression were scored independently according to the percentage of coloured cells; the 60th percentile of PN epithelial expression, corresponding to 1 %, and the median value of PN stromal expression, corresponding to 90 %, were used as arbitrary cut-offs. The relationships between epithelial and stromal PN expression and clinicalpathological features, tumour phenotype and the risk of mortality following surgery were analysed. Appropriate statistics, including the Fine and Gray competing risk proportional hazard regression model, were used. Results: The expression of PN in tumour epithelial cells was significantly lower than that which was observed in stromal cells (p < 0.000). No specific association between epithelial or stromal PN expression and any of the clinicalpathological parameters analysed was found as it was observed in respect to mortality when these variables were analysed individually. However, when both variables were considered as a function of the other one, the expression of PN in the stromal cells maintained a statistically significant predictive value with respect to both all causes and cancerspecific mortality only in the presence of high epithelial expression levels. No significant differences in either all causes or BCa-specific mortality rates were shown according to epithelial expression for tumours displaying higher stromal PN expression rates. However, the trends were opposite for the higher stromal values and the patients with high epithelial expression levels denoted the group with the worst prognosis, while higher epithelial values in patients with lower stromal expression levels denoted the group with the best prognosis, suggesting that PN epithelial/stromal interactions play a crucial role in breast carcinogenesis, most likely due to functional cross-talk between the two compartments. On the basis of PN expression in both compartments, we defined 4 subgroups of patients with different mortality rates with the group of patients characterized by positive epithelial and low stromal PN expression cells showing the lowest mortality risk as opposed to the groups of patients identified by a high PN expression in both cell compartments or those identified by a low or absent PN expression in both cell compartments showing the worst mortality rates. The differences were highly statistically significant and were also retained after multiparametric analysis. Competing risk analysis demonstrated that PN expression patterns characterizing each of previous groups are specifically associated with cancer-specific mortality. Conclusions: Although they require further validation through larger studies, our findings suggest that the patterns of expression of PN in both compartments can allow for the development of IHC "signatures" that maintain a strong independent predictive value of both all causes and, namely, of cancer-specific mortality.openNuzzo, P.V.; Rubagotti, A.; Zinoli, L.; Salvi, S.; Boccardo, S.; Boccardo, F.Nuzzo, PIER VITALE; Rubagotti, Alessandra; Zinoli, Linda; Salvi, Sara; Boccardo, S.; Boccardo, F

QTL controlling root and shoot traits of maize seedlings under cold stress

The improvement of early vigour is crucial for the adaptation of maize (Zea mays L.) to the climatic conditions of central Europe and the northern Mediterranean, where early sowing is an important strategy for avoiding the effect of summer drought. The objectives of this study were to identify quantitative trait loci (QTL) controlling cold-related traits and to investigate the relationships among them. A set of 168 F2:4 families of the Lo964×Lo1016 cross was grown in a sand-vermiculite substrate at 15/13°C (day/night) until the one-leaf stage. Twenty QTL were identified for the four shoot and two seed traits examined. Analysis of root weight and digital measurements of the length and diameter of primary and seminal roots led to the identification of 40 QTL. The operating efficiency of photosystemII (ΦPSII) was related to seedling dry weight at both the phenotypic and genetic level (r=0.46, two matching loci, respectively) but was not related to root traits. Cluster analysis and QTL association revealed that the different root traits were largely independently inherited and that root lengths and diameters were mostly negatively correlated. The major QTL for root traits detected in an earlier study in hydroponics were confirmed in this study. The length of the primary lateral roots was negatively associated with the germination index (r=−0.38, two matching loci). Therefore, we found a large number of independently inherited loci suitable for the improvement of early seedling growth through better seed vigour and/or a higher rate of photosynthesi

High Density Planting in Mango cv. Alphonso

A trial was conducted to optimize spacing for high density planting in mango cv. Alphonso to obtain higher yield/ unit area at the Agriculture Research Station, Mulde, during 2006-07 to 2008-09 with four close spacings and one normal spacing as control. Highest yield (6.4 MT/ha) was recorded with a spacing of 5 m x 5 m without reduction in fruit size in 10 year old plants compared to the mean yield of 1.12 MT/ha in 10m x 10m normal spacing. High density plantation helped to get significantly higher yield per unit area compared to the normal spacing, without affecting size and quality of mango fruits. The highest cost:benefit ratio (2.33) was recorded in high density plantation of 5m x 5m, with maximum net returns of Rs.1,12,000/- per hectare. The present findings show promise for more yield and returns per unit area during the initial years of mango plantation by adopting 5m x 5m high density planting

Aortic dilatation in Marfan syndrome: Role of arterial stiffness and fibrillin-1 variants

Objective: Marfan syndrome (MFS) is an autosomal dominant genetic disorder characterized by aortic root dilation and dissection and an abnormal fibrillin-1 synthesis. In this observational study, we evaluated aortic stiffness in MFS and its association with ascending aorta diameters and fibrillin-1 genotype. Methods: A total of 116 Marfan adult patients without history of cardiovascular surgery, and 144 age, sex, blood pressure and heart rate matched controls were enrolled. All patients underwent arterial stiffness evaluation through carotid-femoral pulse wave velocity (PWV) and central blood pressure waveform analysis (PulsePen tonometer). Fibrillin-1 mutations were classified based on the effect on the protein, into 'dominant negative' and 'haploinsufficient' mutations. Results: PWV and central pulse pressure were significantly higher in MFS patients than in controls [respectively 7.31 (6.81-7.44) vs. 6.69 (6.52-6.86)m/s, P=0.0008; 41.3 (39.1-43.5) vs. 34.0 (32.7-35.3)mmHg, P<0.0001], with a higher age-related increase of PWV in MFS (β 0.062 vs. 0.036). Pressure amplification was significantly reduced in MFS [18.2 (15.9-20.5) vs. 33.4 (31.6-35.2)%, P<0.0001]. Central pressure profile was altered even in MFS patients without aortic dilatation. Multiple linear regression models showed that PWV independently predicted aortic diameters at the sinuses of Valsalva (ß=0.243, P=0.002) and at the sinotubular junction (ß=0.186, P=0.048). PWV was higher in 'dominant negative' than 'haploinsufficient' fibrillin-1 mutations [7.37 (7.04-7.70) vs. 6.60 (5.97-7.23)m/s, P=0.035], although this difference was not significant after adjustment. Conclusion: Aortic stiffness is increased in MFS, independently from fibrillin-1 genotype and is associated with diameters of ascending aorta. Alterations in central hemodynamics are present even when aortic diameter is within normal limits. Our findings suggest an accelerated arterial aging in MFS

Scale-free random branching tree in supercritical phase

We study the size and the lifetime distributions of scale-free random branching tree in which $k$ branches are generated from a node at each time step with probability $q_k\sim k^{-\gamma}$. In particular, we focus on finite-size trees in a supercritical phase, where the mean branching number $C=\sum_k k q_k$ is larger than 1. The tree-size distribution $p(s)$ exhibits a crossover behavior when $2 < \gamma < 3$; A characteristic tree size $s_c$ exists such that for $s \ll s_c$, $p(s)\sim s^{-\gamma/(\gamma-1)}$ and for $s \gg s_c$, $p(s)\sim s^{-3/2}\exp(-s/s_c)$, where $s_c$ scales as $\sim (C-1)^{-(\gamma-1)/(\gamma-2)}$. For $\gamma > 3$, it follows the conventional mean-field solution, $p(s)\sim s^{-3/2}\exp(-s/s_c)$ with $s_c\sim (C-1)^{-2}$. The lifetime distribution is also derived. It behaves as $\ell(t)\sim t^{-(\gamma-1)/(\gamma-2)}$ for $2 < \gamma < 3$, and $\sim t^{-2}$ for $\gamma > 3$ when branching step $t \ll t_c \sim (C-1)^{-1}$, and $\ell(t)\sim \exp(-t/t_c)$ for all $\gamma > 2$ when $t \gg t_c$. The analytic solutions are corroborated by numerical results.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure