Biology and fishery of the pig-face bream, Lethrinus lentian Lacepede III. Age and growth

Determination of age and growth of a fish is an important aspect of any fishery research programme. The knowledge of the age structure of the population from year to year helps to furnish the mortality and survival rates of various year classes and also the success of yearly recruitments. Analysis of size and age data of the fish gives estimates of growth rate of the fish and also explains the role played by various year-classes in the fluctuation of the fishery. As is well known, the rational exploitation of the fishery depends bn adequate information of these vital rates for which accurate assessment of age is .essential

Biology and fishery of the pig-face bream, Lethrinus lentian Lacepede II. Maturation and spawning

During the course of the present investigation, some aspects of spawning habits of Lethrinus lentjan were studied. The monthly variations in sex-ratio were also studied to And out any possible correlation with the breeding habits

Biology and fishery of the pig-face bream, Lethrinus lentian Lacepede I. Food and feeding habits

The study of the food of fishes attracted the attention of fishery biologists from the beginning of the present century in view of the recognised importance of food as an environmental factor influencing the growth and distribution of fishes and the success of their fishery. A great deal of work has been done on the food and feeding habits of fishes from Indian waters. A perusal of the literature shows that although casual observations have been made on the food of lethrinids by Al-Hussaini (1947), Devanesan and Chidambaram (1948) and Wheeler (1953), very little information is available about the qualitative and quantitative aspects of the food of these fishes. The present investigation was undertaken to get a xlear picture of the food and feeding habits of Lethrinus lentjan, and attention was devoted to the following aspects during the study: (i) qualitative and quantitative analyses of the food, (ii) feeding intensity, (iii) feeding habits and (iv) composition of food in relation to the size of the fis

A new method of observing weak extended x-ray sources with RHESSI

We present a new method, fan-beam modulation, for observing weak extended x-ray sources with the Reuven Ramaty High-Energy Solar Spectroscopic Imager (RHESSI). This space-based solar x-ray and gamma-ray telescope has much greater sensitivity than previous experiments in the 3-25 keV range, but is normally not well suited to detecting extended sources since their signal is not modulated by RHESSI's rotating grids. When the spacecraft is offpointed from the target source, however, the fan-beam modulation time-modulates the transmission by shadowing resulting from exploiting the finite thickness of the grids. In this paper we detail how the technique is implemented and verify its consistency with sources with clear known signals that have occurred during RHESSI offpointing: microflares and the Crab Nebula. In both cases the results are consistent with previous and complementary measurements. Preliminary work indicates that this new technique allows RHESSI to observe the integrated hard x-ray spectrum of weak extended sources on the quiet Sun.Comment: Publishe

A Survey on Wireless Network Simulators

The Network simulator helps the developer to create and simulate new models on an arbitrary network by specifying both the behavior of the network nodes and the communication channels. It provides a virtual environment for an assortment of desirable features such as modeling a network based on a specific criteria and analyzing its performance under different scenarios. This saves cost and time required for testing the functionality and the execution of network. This paper has surveyed various Wireless Network Simulators and compared them

Preprocedural neutrophil count predicts outcome in patients with advanced peripheral vascular disease undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty

BackgroundThe neutrophil count has been associated with adverse cardiovascular events after percutaneous coronary intervention. There are limited data on risk stratification of patients with advanced peripheral vascular disease (PVD) using white blood cell (WBC) subtypes. This study assessed the association of total and differential WBC counts with adverse outcome in patients with advanced PVD undergoing percutaneous transluminal angioplasty (PTA).MethodsIn a retrospective cohort study, consecutive de novo procedures were analyzed for patients with Rutherford category 4 or 5 PVD who underwent successful nonemergency PTA. Cardiovascular risk factors, baseline total and differential WBC counts, and angiographic data were recorded. Primary outcome was a composite of events of target vessel revascularization (repeat PTA or vascular bypass operation) or lower limb amputation.ResultsA total of 101 patients were studied. Their mean age was 76 ± 10 years, 54% had diabetes mellitus, 68% were hypertensive, and 12% had had previous myocardial infarction. We observed 29 events during a median period of 14 months (interquartile range, 4-26). Cox regression analysis found diabetes mellitus (odds ratio [OR], 4.67; 95% confidence interval [CI], 1.35-16.14; P = .02), Rutherford category 5 (OR, 4.18; 95% CI, 1.06-16.51; P = .04), poor tibial runoff (OR, 4.42; 95% CI, 1.16-16.82; P = .03), and preprocedural neutrophil count in the third tertile (OR, 10.77; 95% CI, 2.19-52.91; P = .003) were independent predictors of outcome.ConclusionsThe results suggest that the preprocedural neutrophil count could be used in global risk factor assessment of patients with advanced PVD who are being considered for PTA. The neutrophil count may reflect the burden of atherosclerosis and tissue damage, and so could identify patients who need more aggressive intervention for advanced PVD

An experimental and analytical study of real surface effects on radiant heat transfer

Comparison of experimental data with predictions based on simple and more detailed models for radiation properties of surface

A Preliminary Investigation towards the Risk Stratification of Allogeneic Stem Cell Recipients with Respect to the Potential for Development of GVHD via Their Pre-Transplant Plasma Lipid and Metabolic Signature

The clinical outcome of allogeneic hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (SCT) may be influenced by the metabolic status of the recipient following conditioning, which in turn may enable risk stratification with respect to the development of transplant-associated complications such as graft vs. host disease (GVHD). To better understand the impact of the metabolic profile of transplant recipients on post-transplant alloreactivity, we investigated the metabolic signature of 14 patients undergoing myeloablative conditioning followed by either human leukocyte antigen (HLA)-matched related or unrelated donor SCT, or autologous SCT. Blood samples were taken following conditioning and prior to transplant on day 0 and the plasma was comprehensively characterized with respect to its lipidome and metabolome via liquid chromatography/mass spectrometry (LCMS) and gas chromatography/mass spectrometry (GCMS). A pro-inflammatory metabolic profile was observed in patients who eventually developed GVHD. Five potential pre-transplant biomarkers, 2-aminobutyric acid, 1-monopalmitin, diacylglycerols (DG 38:5, DG 38:6), and fatty acid FA 20:1 demonstrated high sensitivity and specificity towards predicting post-transplant GVHD. The resulting predictive model demonstrated an estimated predictive accuracy of risk stratification of 100%, with area under the curve of the ROC of 0.995. The likelihood ratio of 1-monopalmitin (infinity), DG 38:5 (6.0), and DG 38:6 (6.0) also demonstrated that a patient with a positive test result for these biomarkers following conditioning and prior to transplant will be at risk of developing GVHD. Collectively, the data suggest the possibility that pre-transplant metabolic signature may be used for risk stratification of SCT recipients with respect to development of alloreactivity

Are horizontal fusional vergences comparable when measured using a prism bar and synoptophore?

Aim: To determine whether horizontal fusional vergences are comparable when measured using a prism bar and synoptophore. Methods: Thirty two participants (18–23 years) had their blur, break, and recovery points measured for convergence and divergence amplitudes using a prism bar (6 m) and synoptophore. All participants had VA of 0.1 LogMAR or better in either eye, were heterophoric or orthophoric and had binocular single vision. The prism bar target was a 0.2 LogMAR letter. The synoptophore target was the foveal ‘rabbit’ fusion slides. The prism bar was placed over the dominant eye and the testing speed was two seconds per two prism dioptres (Δ), increasing to five seconds per 5Δ when the increments began to increase in 5Δ. Synoptophore testing speed was two seconds per degree. Results: The synoptophore measured significantly higher convergence break points than the prism bar (Z = 3.37, p = 0.001). No significant differences were found between both tests for divergence break points (Z = 0.99, p = 0.32). However, both tests displayed wide limits of agreement (LoA) when measuring convergence (–24Δ to + 49.59Δ) and divergence break points (–7.70Δ to + 10.19Δ). Differences when measuring convergence and divergence blur and recovery points were not statistically significant. Conclusion: There was a statistically and clinically significant difference when measuring convergence break points using the prism bar and synoptophore but no significant difference when measuring divergence break points. However, both tests displayed wide LoA when measuring convergence and divergence break points, indicating they should not be used interchangeably in clinic to measure horizontal fusional vergences