33 research outputs found
Flocking of egrets in shrimp waste drying beaches of Kerala, India
Coastal and sea birds form an integral part of the
marine ecosystem. Though occurrence of different
avian fauna has been reported sporadically, detailed
information on their interactions with the ecosystem
is not extensively studied. Bubul cusibis, known as
the cattle egret is commonly seen in paddy fields
and wetlands in association with grazing cattle to
catch the insects from the grassland being disturbed
by the moving cattle. In a recent survey in central
Kerala, these egrets were seen in flock on the
beaches
Arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay Bundles on complete intersection varieties of sufficiently high multidegree
Recently it has been proved that any arithmetically Cohen-Macaulay (ACM)
bundle of rank two on a general, smooth hypersurface of degree at least three
and dimension at least four is a sum of line bundles. When the dimension of the
hypersurface is three, a similar result is true provided the degree of the
hypersurface is at least six. We extend these results to complete intersection
subvarieties by proving that any ACM bundle of rank two on a general, smooth
complete intersection subvariety of sufficiently high multi-degree and
dimension at least four splits. We also obtain partial results in the case of
threefolds.Comment: 15 page
Detection and molecular characterisation of Mycoplasma spp. from respiratory tract infections in pigs
Achieving food security involves the maintenance of intensive production systems and
large animal populations where infectious diseases are the most important challenge that need to
be addressed. Respiratory infections in pigs are a formidable threat to swine farmers worldwide.
It is multifactorial and is caused by the interplay between bacterial pathogens, viral agents and
environmental factors. The present study aimed to identify mycoplasmal agents causing respiratory
infections in pigs. A total of 43 samples, comprising of nasal swabs, and necropsy samples with
pneumonic lesions were collected. The DNA extracted from the samples were subjected to
Mycoplasma genus-specific, followed by species-specific PCR. Twenty five samples were positive
for Mycoplasma spp., but further molecular detection performed through species-specific primers,
revealed that 12 samples were positive for M. hyorhinis. None of the samples were positive for M.
hyopneumoniae. The identity of the amplicons were confirmed by nucleic acid sequencing and
BLAST analysis. The evolutionary relationship between the detected organisms was also studied
by phylogenetic analysis. This study hints at the significance of M. hyorhinis in causing respiratory
infections in swine and also suggests that M. hyopneumoniae may not be a significant health
hazard for swine populations of north Kerala
Is SAX J1808.4-3658 a Strange Star ?
One of the most important questions in the study of compact objects is the
nature of pulsars, including whether they are composed of -stable
nuclear matter or strange quark matter. Observations of the newly discovered
millisecond X-ray pulsar \sax with the Rossi X-Ray Timing Explorer place firm
constraint on the radius of the compact star. Comparing the mass - radius
relation of \sax with the theoretical mass - radius relation for neutron stars
and for strange stars, we find that a strange star model is more consistent
with SAX J1808.4-3658, and suggest that it is a likely strange star candidate.Comment: 5 pages, Latex, 1 figure, corrected for some typo
Not Available
Not AvailableCoastal and sea birds form an integral part of the
marine ecosystem. Though occurrence of different
avian fauna has been reported sporadically, detailed
information on their interactions with the ecosystem
is not extensively studied. Bubul cusibis, known as
the cattle egret is commonly seen in paddy fields
and wetlands in association with grazing cattle to
catch the insects from the grassland being disturbed
by the moving cattle. In a recent survey in central
Kerala, these egrets were seen in flock on the
beaches.Not Availabl
An 8 MeV Electron Beam Modified In:ZnO Thin Films for CO Gas Sensing towards Low Concentration
In the present investigation, electron beam-influenced modifications on the CO gas sensing properties of indium doped ZnO (IZO) thin films were reported. Dose rates of 5, 10, and 15 kGy were irradiated to the IZO nano films while maintaining the In doping concentration to be 15 wt%. The wurtzite structure of IZO films is observed from XRD studies post electron beam irradiation, confirming structural stability, even in the intense radiation environment. The surface morphological studies by SEM confirms the granular structure with distinct and sharp grain boundaries for 5 kGy and 10 kGy irradiated films whereas the IZO film irradiated at 15 kGy shows the deterioration of defined grains. The presence of defects viz oxygen vacancies, interstitials are recorded from room temperature photoluminescence (RTPL) studies. The CO gas sensing estimations were executed at an optimized operating temperature of 300 °C for 1 ppm, 2 ppm, 3 ppm, 4 ppm, and 5 ppm. The 10 kGy treated IZO film displayed an enhanced sensor response of 2.61 towards low concentrations of 1 ppm and 4.35 towards 5 ppm. The enhancement in sensor response after irradiation is assigned to the growth in oxygen vacancies and well-defined grain boundaries since the former and latter act as vital adsorption locations for the CO gas
The science case for LIGO-India
The global network of gravitational-wave detectors has completed three observing runs with ∼50 detections of merging compact binaries. A third LIGO detector, with comparable astrophysical reach, is to be built in India (LIGO-Aundha) and expected to be operational during the latter part of this decade. Such additions to the network increase the number of baselines and the network SNR of GW events. These enhancements help improve the sky-localization of those events. Multiple detectors simultaneously in operation will also increase the baseline duty factor, thereby, leading to an improvement in the detection rates and, hence, the completeness of surveys. In this paper, we quantify the improvements due to the expansion of the LIGO global network in the precision with which source properties will be measured. We also present examples of how this expansion will give a boost to tests of fundamental physics
Cross-species protein interactome mapping reveals species-specific wiring of stress response pathways. Sci Signal.
The fission yeast Schizosaccharomyces pombe has more metazoan-like features than the budding yeast Saccharomyces cerevisiae, yet it has similarly facile genetics. We present a large-scale verified binary protein-protein interactome network, "StressNet," based on high-throughput yeast two-hybrid screens of interacting proteins classified as part of stress response and signal transduction pathways in S. pombe. We performed systematic, cross-species interactome mapping using StressNet and a protein interactome network of orthologous proteins in S. cerevisiae. With cross-species comparative network studies, we detected a previously unidentified component (Snr1) of the S. pombe mitogen-activated protein kinase Sty1 pathway. Coimmunoprecipitation experiments showed that Snr1 interacted with Sty1 and that deletion of snr1 increased the sensitivity of S. pombe cells to stress. Comparison of StressNet with the interactome network of orthologous proteins in S. cerevisiae showed that most of the interactions among these stress response and signaling proteins are not conserved between species but are "rewired"; orthologous proteins have different binding partners in both species. In particular, transient interactions connecting proteins in different functional modules were more likely to be rewired than conserved. By directly testing interactions between proteins in one yeast species and their corresponding binding partners in the other yeast species with yeast two-hybrid assays, we found that about half of the interactions that are traditionally considered "conserved" form modified interaction interfaces that may potentially accommodate novel functions