An interesting note on floating corals.

The floating stone on a closer examination reveals that it is a coral. Corals of the genus Favia, Platygyra etc. are kept floating in a tank filled with water. The scientific explanations of the floating corals are examined. The scientific significance of floating coral are here described

Effect of culture media and tissue extracts in the mantle explant culture of abalone, Haliotis varia Linnaeus

The study is aimed at developing appropriate media for the mantle explant culture of abalone Haliotis varia. The effect of different media viz., L-15, Ham's F12, M199 was studied in combination with 10% Fetal Calf Serum (FCS) and 10% tissue extracts of gonad, mantle and whole body of abalone, H. varia to understand cell behaviour, cell yield and cell adherence in mantle explant culture of H. varia. Cultures with L-15 media gave better cell yield and M199 promoted better cell adherence. Addition of mantle extract to all media enhanced the cell yield to a maximum followed by whole body extract. Addition of whole body extract facilitated in cell adherence followed by the addition of mantle extract

Biodiversity and community structure of coral reefs around Krusadai Island, Gulf of Mannar, India

This paper gives the results of the surveys conducted in the Krusadai Reef for the assessment of the coral cover and biodiversity during March-May 2005, following the Line Intercept Transect Method. A total of 35 hard coral species were recorded in this reef. The total live, dead and bleached coral cover for the reef as a whole was estimated as 54.9, 18.7 and 15.4% respectively and the remaining part was covered with soft corals, sponges, seagrasses, sand and rubble. Dead coral cover was dominated by porites. Further, relative abundance values were derived for each species and they were assigned the status dominant/ abundant/ common/ uncommon/ rare. Although, no species was assigned “dominant” status, Acropora formosa belonged to the category “abundant” and all other species were either of “common” or “uncommon” status only. Fisher and Shannon diversity indices were highest (3.68 and 2.14 respectively ) in 8th site. Pielou’s evenness was highest in 7th site. SIMPER analysis revealed that Acropora formosa (33.95%) along with Acropora humilis (15.85%), Porites mannarensis (12.97%) and Montipora digitata (12.07%) were responsible for dissimilarity among various sites in the island. The average similarity in species composition was 20.5%

Does advanced maternal age influence obstetric outcome: a study in a tertiary care centre

Background: Advanced maternal age defined as age 35 years and older at estimated date of delivery has become increasingly common in last two to three decades. The International Federation of Gynaecology and Obstetrics in 1958 recommended that all women going through their first pregnancy over the age of 35 years should be considered high risk for pregnancy and included in this category 1.Methods: A one-year prospective observational study conducted in a tertiary care hospital after institutional ethical clearance. All 165 women above 35yrs who delivered during this period were taken as Cohort 1. Same number of women aged between 20 and 34 years were randomly selected as comparison group (Cohort 2). Both the groups were compared in terms of preexisting medical disorders, obstetrical morbidities, antenatal complications, intrapartum complications.Results: Older and younger women had similar antenatal booking, occupational and socioeconomic status. The main reason for pregnancy at advanced age group was late marriage. The risk of chronic hypertension, gestational diabetes mellitus, pre-existing medical disorders were higher in advanced maternal age.Conclusions: Increasing maternal age is associated with elevated risks for pregnancy complications. They are at high risk for gestational diabetes, cesarean section and to have low birth weight babies. Since these women are at higher risk of complications, they should be advised to adhere to frequent antenatal visits and close supervision

Mean first passage times for bond formation for a Brownian particle in linear shear flow above a wall

Motivated by cell adhesion in hydrodynamic flow, here we study bond formation between a spherical Brownian particle in linear shear flow carrying receptors for ligands covering the boundary wall. We derive the appropriate Langevin equation which includes multiplicative noise due to position-dependent mobility functions resulting from the Stokes equation. We present a numerical scheme which allows to simulate it with high accuracy for all model parameters, including shear rate and three parameters describing receptor geometry (distance, size and height of the receptor patches). In the case of homogeneous coating, the mean first passage time problem can be solved exactly. In the case of position-resolved receptor-ligand binding, we identify different scaling regimes and discuss their biological relevance.Comment: final version after minor revision

Automatic Gaze Classification for Aviators: Using Multi-task Convolutional Networks as a Proxy for Flight Instructor Observation

In this work, we investigate how flight instructors observe aviator scan patterns and assign quality to an aviator\u27s gaze. We first establish the reliability of instructors to assign similar quality to an aviator\u27s scan patterns, and then investigate methods to automate this quality using machine learning. In particular, we focus on the classification of gaze for aviators in a mixed-reality flight simulation. We create and evaluate two machine learning models for classifying gaze quality of aviators: a task-agnostic model and a multi-task model. Both models use deep convolutional neural networks to classify the quality of pilot gaze patterns for 40 pilots, operators, and novices, as compared to visual inspection by three experienced flight instructors. Our multi-task model can automate the process of gaze inspection with an average accuracy of over 93.0% for three separate flight tasks. Our approach could assist existing flight instructors to provide feedback to learners, or it could open the door to more automated feedback for pilots learning to carry out different maneuvers

On the influence of spatial heterogeneity on an internal boundary layer at a short fetch

Surface layer meteorological data collected at a coastal site, at Vasco-Da-Gama (15°21′N, 73°51′E, 58.5m MSL) (13–18 July, 2002) with prevailing southwesterly surface winds are analyzed to study the characteristics of internal boundary layer at a short fetch using an instrumented tower (9 m). The spectral and turbulence characteristics of wind are compared with earlier measurements made at a comparatively homogeneous terrain and the standards available in literature. The study show the smaller eddies in the vertical velocity spectrum attains equilibrium with the underlying surface at a short fetch itself and follows spectral similarity. However, this is not followed by longitudinal and transverse velocity spectra under unstable as well as stable condition

On the landing of giant devil ray Manta birostris at Pamban (Palk Bay)

On 9.3.06, two giant devil rays, Manta birostris measuring 165.5 and 154 cm and weighing 42 and 10 kg respectively were caught in bottom set gill net operated in the Palk strait from a depth of 30m

A note on the landing of a slender sunfish near Rameswaram

A sunfish, Ranzania laevis (Pennant) (Slender mola), belonging to the family Molidae measuring 620mm in total length and 7kg. weight was caught in shore seine on 25/1/06 from Gulf of Mannar near Rameswaram

Assessment of species diversity and coral cover of Velapertumuni Reef, Palk Bay, India

Velapertumuni Reef, a fringing reef of Palk Bay was surveyed for the assessment of the coral cover and biodiversity during September 2004, following the Line Intercept Transect Method and their geographical positions were fixed using the Global Positioning System. The percentages of live and dead coral cover at each site were derived and a total of 12 hard coral species were found on the transects; Pontes solida was the major species at 6 sites, followed by Favia pallida at 2 sites and Acropora cytllerea and Porites lutea were dominant in 5" and 8" sites respectively. Therefore, except for one site the massive corals were dominant in all other areas. The total live and dead coral cover for the reef as a whole was estimated as 44% and 26% respectively and the remaining part was covered with coralline algae, sand and rubble. Dead coral cover was dominated by poritids, but acroporids showed the highest ratio of dead coral to live coral cover. Further, relative abundance values were derived for each species and they were assigned status as dorninant/abundant/ common/uncommon/rare. Accordingly, P. solida was the only species in the "dominant "category; I? lutea and E pallida belonged to the category "abundant" and all other species were given either "common" or "uncommon" status. The Shannon indices of diversity in most of the sites were low varying from 0-2 and the reef as a whole showed a diversity of 1.47. The species richness and evenness values also showed low values of 5.4 and 0.59 respectively