Noise Modelling in Highly Mechanised Bauxite Mines - A Case Study at Panchpatmali Bauxite Mines of NALCO

Panchpatmali Bauxite deposit is the one amongst a series of bauxite deposits which were discovered in the east coast region of India in early 1960s to put India in the 5th position in the world's Bauxite map with a total bauxite reserve over 02(two) billion tonnes and current annual production is about 4.8 million tonnes per annum which is now under expansion to 6.3 Milion tonne. Consi-dering its vast deposit containing over 300 million tonnes reserve, Panchpatmali bauxite deposit under name and style of NALCO Ltd., was picked u

Record sized Alepes vari and Nematalosa nasus

The herring scad, Alepes vari is a common pelagic fish species in the family carangidae. The species is the largest fish of the scad genus Alepes and maximum length so far recorded all over the world oceans is 560 mm TL (Froese & Pauly, FishBase 2016, http://www.fishbase.org.). During a regular field visit, an unusually large specimen of A. vari was recorded from Kalamukku Landing Centre, Kerala on 25th May, 2016. This was a male individual measuring 600 mm in total length (TL) and weighing 1.6 kg (Fig. 1)and was caught by hook and line. Young ones occasionally occur in pelagic trawls and larger ones rarely occur in gill net and hook and line catches

Morphometry and Length - Weight Relationship of Uranoscopus marmoratus Cuvier, 1829 (Family: Uranoscopidae) from Palk Bay, India

Uranoscopus marmoratus Cuvier, 1829 (Family: Uranoscopidae, Order: Perciformes, Class: Actinopterygii) is one of the stargazers occurred in the Eastern and Western Indian Ocean. The stargazers are purely marine, distributed throughout the world in deep and shallow waters, include about 50 extant and one extinct species in eight gener

Biometric analysis of brushtooth lizard fish Saurida undosquamis (Richardson, 1848) from Mumbai waters

The aim of the present study was to investigate the relationship between various morphometric measurements and meristic counts, and to establish the length-weight relationships (LWRs) and length-length relationships (LLRs) of Saurida undosquamis based on specimens collected from New Ferry Wharf landing centre of Mumbai coast during September 2013 to June 2015. The morphometric variables for the species under study exhibited high level of correlation with each other. Based on present study results, the fin formula of S. undosquamis in Mumbai water can be written as B 13-15, D 11-13, P 13-15, V 9, A 10-11, C 18-20, L47-53. Different values of regression coefficient (b) and correlation coefficient (r) in LLRs illustrates that different organ grows differently. The values of the regression coefficient b in the LWRs equations (W = aLb) were 2.90, 3.04 and 2.99 for male, female and pooled individuals respectively indicating an isometric growth with high correlation coefficient (r2). These parameters are useful for evaluating the relative condition of fish as well as for subsequent biological and population based studies

Histomorphology and immunohistochemistry of adenocarcinoma and fibroma in Indian oil sardine (Sardinella longiceps Valenciennes, 1847) from Palk Bay, Southeast coast of India

A single specimen of Indian oil sardine Sardinella longiceps was observed with wart-like appearances in three different regions of the fish: one on the premaxillary part, and other two on the skin and at the vent region respectively. Mucosal tissues were expunged and preserved in 10 % neutral phosphate-buffered formalin for histological examination. Based on the histopathological analysis, lesions were identified as adenocarcinoma and fibroma on the premaxillary part and skin, respectively. Based on the immunohistochemistry, vimentin and cytokeratin-like proteins were demonstrated, suggesting that the wart-like extrusions were fibroma and adenocarcinoma respectively

Droplet epitaxy of InN quantum dots on Si(111) by RF plasma-assisted molecular beam epitaxy

InN quantum dots (QDs) were fabricated on Si(111) substrate by droplet epitaxy using an RF plasma-assisted MBE system. Variation of the growth parameters, such as growth temperature and deposition time, allowed us to control the characteristic size and density of the QDs. As the growth temperature was increased from 100 °C to 300 °C, an enlargement of QD size and a drop in dot density were observed, which was led by the limitation of surface diffusion of adatoms with the limited thermal energy. Atomic force microscopy (AFM) and scanning electron microscopy (SEM) were used to assess the QDs size and density. The chemical bonding configurations of InN QDs were examined by X-ray photo-electron spectroscopy (XPS). Fourier transform infrared (FTIR) spectrum of the deposited InN QDs shows the presence of In-N bond. Temperature-dependent photoluminescence (PL) measurements showed that the emission peak energies of the InN QDs are sensitive to temperature and show a strong peak emission at 0.79 eV

Hybrid in vitro diffusion cell for simultaneous evaluation of hair and skin decontamination: temporal distribution of chemical contaminants

Most casualty or personnel decontamination studies have focused on removing contaminants from the skin. However, scalp hair and underlying skin are the most likely areas of contamination following airborne exposure to chemicals. The aim of this study was to investigate the interactions of contaminants with scalp hair and underlying skin using a hybrid in vitro diffusion cell model. The in vitro hybrid test system comprised “curtains” of human hair mounted onto sections of excised porcine skin within a modified diffusion cell. The results demonstrated that hair substantially reduced underlying scalp skin contamination and that hair may provide a limited decontamination effect by removing contaminants from the skin surface. This hybrid test system may have application in the development of improved chemical incident response processes through the evaluation of various hair and skin decontamination strategies.Peer reviewedFinal Published versio

Length-weight relationships (LWRs) of Coryphaena hippurus (Linnaeus, 1758) and Coryphaena equiselis (Linnaeus, 1758) from Southeastern Arabian Sea

This study reports the length-weight relationships of two dolphinfish species, namely Coryphaena hippurus (Linnaeus, 1758) and C. equiselis (Linnaeus, 1758) in the south-eastern Arabian Sea. Specimens in various length groups belonging to both the species were collected between April 2012 and May 2017 from Kerala waters, south-west coast of India. The fishes were caught by hook and line (hook no: VI-X) and drift gill net (mesh size: 90-160 mm). The length-weight relationships were established as TW = 0.0217FL2.786 (r2= 0.967) for C. hippurus and TW = 0.0183FL2.891 (r2=0.993) for C. equiselis

Diet composition and feeding habits of flat needlefish Ablennes hians (Valenciennes, 1846) (Beloniformes: Belonidae) in the Southeastern Arabian Sea

The study describes the feeding habits, diet composition and prey diversity of Ablennes hians based on 396 specimens collected between October 2015 and September 2017 from Kerala, south-west coast of India. The Index of Relative Importance (IRI) showed that teleosts were the most preferred food items (%IRI = 65.43 %) followed by molluscs (%IRI = 32.91) and crustaceans (%IRI = 1.66). Prey biodiversity analyses indicated no significant variation in the prey items between the sexes and immature (juvenile) and mature (adult) specimens. Similarly, a non-significant difference in Vacuity Index (VI) and Fullness Index (FI) was observed between the sexes (p > 0.05), juveniles, and adults (p > 0.05). Mean number of prey items per stomach (Nm/ST) was found to be higher in females and juveniles than males and adults; whereas the mean weight of prey items per stomach (Wm/ST) was higher in females and adults. Analysis of similarities (ANOSIM) test also indicated that there was no significant difference in prey types and preferences between sexes (global R = -0.25, P > 0.05) and juveniles and adults (global R = 0.5, P > 0.05). Diet analysis revealed that the species is a carnivorous and active pelagic predator, predominately consuming teleost fishes and an opportunistic feeder and might perform vertical migrations in search of food. The present study provides a first reference on the detailed information on feeding biology of the flat needlefish, which can be used as a baseline information for future studies in the region

Morphological Variation Among Herring Gulls (Larus Argentatus) And Great Black-Backed Gulls (Larus Marinus) In Eastern North America

Herring Gull (Larus argentatus) and Great Black-backed Gull (L. marinus) morphometric data from various eastern North American locations was collected to examine the sources of variation in body size within and among geographic regions. For Herring Gulls, significant differences in all commonly taken measurements at local and regional scales were found. However, most of the variation in measurements was due to sex differences and the natural variance seen within local populations. Herring Gulls breeding in the Arctic did not show any evidence of being morphologically different from other groups. A discriminant function derived from a Newfoundland, Canada, breeding population of Herring Gulls successfully assigned the sex of birds in Atlantic Canada and Nunavut, Canada, further emphasizing that most of the variation seen is between sexes and not among local or even regional populations. It also indicates that the evitable variation introduced by inter-individual differences in measurements was insufficient to compromise the utility of the discriminant function. The correct classification rate was lower for Great Lakes breeding Herring Gulls, indicating that these birds have different morphologies than those of populations in easterly regions. In contrast, few differences and no clear geographic patterns were found in measurements for Great Black-backed Gulls. These results were consistent with recent genetic information, suggesting an older west to east radiation of Herring Gulls across North America and a lack of isolation among Great Black-Backed Gull populations