Marine Fisheries Policy Brief-1 സമുദ്ര മത്സ്യമേഖലാ നയ പരിപ്രേക്‌ഷ്യം - 1 കേരളം (Marine Fisheries Policy Brief-1 Kerala Malayalam version)

Marine Fisheries Policy Brief-1 സമുദ്ര മത്സ്യമേഖലാ നയ പരിപ്രേക്‌ഷ്യം - 1 കേരളം (Marine Fisheries Policy Brief-1 Kerala Malayalam version

Marine Fisheries Policy Brief-1 Kerala

Kerala which has a coastline of 590 km ranks first in marine fish production of India, contributing nearly 25% (5.81 lakh tonnes on average) to the total annual production. The export of marine products from the State earns valuable foreign exchange besides affording innumerable job opportunities in the industry. The population depending on fisheries has steadily increased over the years and stood at 6,02,234 in 2005 (Anon., 2005). Kerala has been in the forefront of absorbing innovative and new technologies in fishing practices, which have led the marine fisheries sector to take a complex structure. The 1980s was an important period in the development of marine fisheries in Kerala. In the first half of the period the motorized sector grew rapidly and became the most important sector yielding the maximum catch in 1988. By that time, ringseine became very popular in exploiting the pelagic resources and replaced the boatseines to a very great extent. Huge size of the new net (450 to 1000 m long) and large number of crew (30 to 50) needed for its operation necessitated larger boats with high capacity outboard engines (3 outboard engines of 40 hp each). This facilitated extension of fishing grounds for the motorized sector. The fishing grounds covered by the mechanised sector also extended by increasing the boat size and fishing effort and efficiency through multi-day fishing during the late 90s

Independent higher education educators in England: Tutors behavioural characteristics preferred by mature students on business management courses

This research study focuses on identifying the behavioral characteristics desired by mature students from their educators/lecturers/tutors in an Independent Higher Education provider within the UK. The study utilises a mixed-method approach, employing a nonexperimental and sequential explanatory design consisting of two phases. The first phase involves a questionnaire survey, while the second phase comprises semi-structured interviews with the students, aiming to gather both detailed and general insights into the students’ perspectives on the expected behavioral characteristics of their educators. The findings of this study reveal both commonalities and differences in the attributes of lecturers as identified in the quantitative and qualitative findings. In both sets of findings, it is evident that students prefer personalised learning experiences, with an emphasis on lecturers recognising their unique strengths, valuing individuality and providing positive feedback. Additionally, the qualitative findings highlight the significance of patience, empathy, and problem-centered teaching as highly valued traits of a lecturer according to the students. This research contributes to the existing body of knowledge by addressing the complexities involved in educating mature students within the UK Higher Education sector. It emphasises the importance for Higher Education practitioners to comprehend the expected behavioral characteristics of these mature students from their educators. The study also highlights the scarcity of research in this area, as existing literature on adult education and andragogy is often generic and independent of specific contexts

Location-specific forecast at Sriharikota during the launch of GSLV-F01

The present study was carried out to examine the performance of two high-resolution mesoscale/regional atmospheric models to provide real time short range forecast during the GSLV-F01 launch on 20 September 2004. The main objective was to provide vertical shear of horizontal wind, which is very important for launch operations. The models are integrated to provide forecasts 36 h in advance. The model predictions are compared with observations and their performances are evaluated in terms of statistical skill scores. The mesoscale model of Pennsylvania State University (PSU)/National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR) MM5 was found to perform better than the High-resolution Regional Model (HRM) though marginally. Performance of MM5 model was further investigated after improvement of model initial condition with insertion of conventional observations into the large-scale global analysis to perform reanalysis at high resolution (horizontal resolution of 9 km). Results indicate significant improvement in model performance with improvement in initial condition

EVALUATION OF THE PROPHYLACTIC ROLE OF INDIAN SHRIMP IN ALUMINUM CHLORIDE-INDUCED ALZHEIMER’S DISEASE ON EXPERIMENTAL RATS

Objective: This work was aimed to investigate the prophylactic and therapeutic role of Indian shrimp in aluminum chloride-induced Alzheimer’s disease (AD) in rats. Methods: The male Wistar rats were selected and divided into six groups. Group I received distilled water, Group II received AlCl3 ( 100 mg/kg, p.o.), Group III received rivastigmine (1 mg/kg, p.o.), Group IV received AlCl3 + shrimp powder (200 mg/kg, p.o), and Group V received AlCl3 + shrimp powder (400 mg/kg, p.o) for 60 days. At the end of the study, various parameters such as behavioral and biochemical investigations were assessed. Results: The result of the study shows that the shrimp (400 mg/kg) has better effect on the treatment of aluminum chloride-induced AD in rats. It showed a remarkable improvement in the behavioral and biochemical parameters, and the result of histopathology study shows that the hippocampus region of brain tissue recovered as compared with control. Conclusion: From this study, it is evident that dietary intake of shrimp can help to inhibit oxidative stress produced due to the accumulation of AlCl3 in the brain and used as a prophylactic for AD

Acute Hyperglycemia Worsens Hepatic Ischemia/Reperfusion Injury in Rats

Acute hyperglycemia is known to worsen ischemia/reperfusion (I/R) injury following myocardial infarction and stroke. We investigated whether acute hyperglycemia worsens injury and amplifies the inflammatory response evoked by hepatic I/R. Rats were pretreated with an intraperitoneal injection of 25% glucose or 0.9% sodium chloride (10 ml/kg BW). Subsequently, rats underwent partial (70%) hepatic ischemia for 45 min. After 4 h of reperfusion, hepatic injury, oxidative stress, inflammation, and heat shock protein expression were assessed. Liver injury was increased in the hyperglycemic group with alanine aminotransferase (ALT) and aspartate aminotransferease (AST) serum concentrations of 7,832 ± 3,374 and 10,677 ± 4,110 U/L compared to 3,245 ± 2,009 and 5,386 ± 3,393 U/L (p < 0.05 vs. control). Hyperglycemic I/R was associated with increased liver nitrotyrosine concentrations and increased neutrophil infiltration. I/R upregulated the protective heat shock proteins HSP32 and HSP70 in control animals, but this protective mechanism was inhibited by hyperglycemia: HSP32 expression decreased from 1.97 ± 0.89 (control) to 0.46 ± 0.13 (hyperglycemia), HSP70 expression decreased from 18.99 ± 11.55 (control) to 3.22 ± 0.56 (hyperglycemia), (expression normalized to sham, both p < 0.05 vs. control I/R). Acute hyperglycemia worsens hepatic I/R injury by amplifying oxidative stress and the inflammatory response to I/R. The increase in injury is associated with a downregulation of the protective heat shock proteins HSP32 and HSP70

Software engineering approach to bug prediction models using machine learning as a service (MLaaS)

The presence of bugs in a software release has become inevitable. The loss incurred by a company due to the presence of bugs in a software release is phenomenal. Modern methods of testing and debugging have shifted focus from “detecting” to “predicting” bugs in the code. The existing models of bug prediction have not been optimized for commercial use. Moreover, the scalability of these models has not been discussed in depth yet. Taking into account the varying costs of fixing bugs, depending on which stage of the software development cycle the bug is detected in, this paper uses two approaches - one model which can be employed when the 'cost of changing code' curve is exponential and the other model can be used otherwise. The cases where each model is best suited are discussed. This paper proposes a model that can be deployed on a cloud platform for software development companies to use. The model in this paper aims to predict the presence or absence of a bug in the code, using machine learning classification models. Using Microsoft Azure's machine learning platform this model can be distributed as a web service worldwide, thus providing Bug Prediction as a Service (BPaaS)

Use of Xpert MTB/RIF in Decentralized Public Health Settings and Its Effect on Pulmonary TB and DR-TB Case Finding in India

Background Xpert MTB/RIF, the first automated molecular test for tuberculosis, is transforming the diagnostic landscape in high-burden settings. This study assessed the impact of up-front Xpert MTB/RIF testing on detection of pulmonary tuberculosis (PTB) and rifampicin-resistant PTB (DR-TB) cases in India. Methods This demonstration study was implemented in 18 sub-district level TB programme units (TUs) in India in diverse geographic and demographic settings covering a population of 8.8 million. A baseline phase in 14 TUs captured programmatic baseline data, and an intervention phase in 18 TUs had Xpert MTB/RIF offered to all presumptive TB patients. We estimated changes in detection of TB and DR-TB, the former using binomial regression models to adjust for clustering and covariates. Results In the 14 study TUs, which participated in both phases, 10,675 and 70,556 presumptive TB patients were enrolled in the baseline and intervention phase, respectively, and 1,532 (14.4%) and 14,299 (20.3%) bacteriologically confirmed PTB cases were detected. The implementation of Xpert MTB/RIF was associated with increases in both notification rates of bacteriologically confirmed TB cases (adjusted incidence rate ratio [aIRR] 1.39; CI 1.18-1.64), and proportion of bacteriological confirmed TB cases among presumptive TB cases (adjusted risk ratio (aRR) 1.33; CI 1.6-1.52). Compared with the baseline strategy of selective drug-susceptibility testing only for PTB cases at high risk of drug-resistant TB, Xpert MTB/RIF implementation increased rifampicin resistant TB case detection by over fivefold. Among, 2765 rifampicin resistance cases detected, 1055 were retested with conventional drug susceptibility testing (DST). Positive predictive value (PPV) of rifampicin resistance detected by Xpert MTB/RIF was 94.7% (CI 91.3-98.1), in comparison to conventional DST. Conclusion Introduction of Xpert MTB/RIF as initial diagnostic test for TB in public health facilities significantly increased case-notification rates of all bacteriologically confirmed TB by 39% and rifampicin-resistant TB case notification by fivefold

Plasma von Willebrand factor levels predict in-hospital survival in patients with acute-on-chronic liver failure

BACKGROUND AND AIMS: Circulating levels of von Willebrand factor (vWF) predict mortality in patients with cirrhosis. We hypothesized that systemic inflammation in acute-on-chronic liver failure (ACLF) will stimulate endothelium, increase vWF levels, and promote platelet microthrombi causing organ failure. METHODS: In this prospective study, we correlated plasma vWF levels with organ failure, liver disease severity, sepsis, and systemic inflammatory response syndrome (SIRS) and also analyzed if vWF levels predicted in-hospital composite poor outcome (i.e. death/discharged in terminal condition/liver transplantation) in consecutive ACLF patients. RESULTS: Twenty-one of the 50 ACLF patients studied had composite poor outcome. ACLF patients had markedly elevated vWF antigen and activity (sevenfold and fivefold median increase, respectively) on days 1 and 3. Median ratio of vWF to a disintegrin and metalloprotease with thrombospondin type 1 motif, member 13 (ADAMTS13) activity on day 1 was significantly higher in ACLF patients (11.2) compared to 20 compensated cirrhosis patients (3.3) and healthy volunteers (0.9). On day 1, area under ROC curve (AUROC) to predict composite poor outcome of hospital stay for ACLF patients for vWF antigen, vWF activity, and model for end-stage liver disease (MELD) score were 0.63, 0.68, and 0.74, respectively. vWF activity correlated better with liver disease severity (MELD score, ACLF grade) and organ failure (Sequential Organ Failure Assessment [SOFA] score) than vWF antigen; in contrast, neither vWF antigen nor activity correlated with platelet count, sepsis, or SIRS. CONCLUSIONS: vWF levels are markedly elevated, correlate with organ failure, and predict in-hospital survival in ACLF patients. This data provides a mechanistic basis for postulating that vWF-reducing treatments such as plasma exchange may benefit ACLF patients

A descriptive study on catchment area analysis and customer satisfaction towards big bazaar with special reference to Vadapalani Branch, Chennai

Customers' experience ultimately determine whether or not a company stays in business.The importance of customer satisfaction was a hot business topic in the 1980s, as customer satisfaction was considered the best window into loyalty.In the late '80s, however, researchers questioned whether customer satisfaction actually impacts overall performance.They found that the link between customer satisfaction and higher profits, ROI, or share of market is dubious.The research paper is about the identification of the customer satisfaction and catchment area of BIG BAZAAR'S Business in vadapalani branch and its service.The researcher used descriptive research, and simple random sampling to identify the sample.The sample size of 111 was included in the study. Researcher sued Chi square test to test the hypothesis