Development and characterization of tri- and tetra-nucleotide polymorphic microsatellite markers for skipjack tuna (Katsuwonus pelamis)

Skipjack tuna (katsuwonus pelamis) (SJT) is the largest tuna fishery in all the major oceans around the world, and the largest marine fishery in Sri Lanka. Knowledge of genetic population structure and effective population size of SJT in the Indian Ocean and other major oceans, however, is still lacking for better management practices and conservation strategies. We developed microsatellite genetic markers using SJT around Sri Lanka in the Indian Ocean, and characterise one tri- and seven tetra-nucleotide microsatellite loci isolated from enriched genomic libraries from SJT, to provide tools for addressing both conservation and fisheries management questions. An analysis of these eight microsatellite markers in two populations of SJT from eastern Sri Lanka (n = 44) and the Maldives Islands (n = 53) showed that all eight microsatellites were polymorphic with an average number of alleles per locus of 11.80 (range 5-27). Expected heterozygosities at marker loci ranged from 0.450 to 0.961. These markers are being used currently to characterise population structure and extent of natural gene flow in SJT populations from the eastern and western Indian Ocean. No significant linkage disequilibrium was detected among any loci pairs

Extremely low frequency based communication link

The paper discusses the literature review and the possibility of using the ground itself as transmission medium for various users’ transceivers and an administrator transceiver using Multi-Carrier-Direct Sequence-Code Division Multiple Access (MC-DS-CDMA), Orthogonal Frequency Division Multiplexing (OFDM),16-Quadrature Amplitude Modulation (16-QAM), Frequency Division Duplex (FDD) and Extremely Low Frequency (ELF) band for the applications of Oil Well Telemetry, remote control of power substations or any system that its responding time is not critical

Manual on application of molecular tools in aquaculture and inland fisheries management. Part 2. Laboratory protocols and data analysis

The aim of this manual is to provide a comprehensive practical tool for the generation and analysis of genetic data for subsequent application in aquatic resources management in relation to genetic stock identification in inland fisheries and aquaculture. The material only covers general background on genetics in relation to aquaculture and fisheries resource management, the techniques and relevant methods of data analysis that are commonly used to address questions relating to genetic resource characterisation and population genetic analyses. No attempt is made to include applications of genetic improvement techniques e.g. selective breeding or producing genetically modified organisms (GMOs). The manual includes two ‘stand-alone’ parts, of which this is the second volume: Part 1 – Conceptual basis of population genetic approaches: will provide a basic foundation on genetics in general, and concepts of population genetics. Issues on the choices of molecular markers and project design are also discussed. Part 2 – Laboratory protocols, data management and analysis: will provide step-by-step protocols of the most commonly used molecular genetic techniques utilised in population genetics and systematic studies. In addition, a brief discussion and explanation of how these data are managed and analysed is also included. This manual is expected to enable NACA member country personnel to be trained to undertake molecular genetic studies in their own institutions, and as such is aimed at middle and higher level technical grades. The manual can also provide useful teaching material for specialised advanced level university courses in the region and postgraduate students. The manual has gone through two development/improvement stages. The initial material was tested at a regional workshop and at the second stage feedback from participants was used to improve the contents

Making Meaning of Student Activism: Student Activist and Administrator Perspectives

College campuses have experienced a recent resurgence of student activism, particularly in response to some of President Donald Trump’s executive orders as well as controversial speakers like Ann Coulter and Milo Yiannopoulous. Student activism presents both challenges and opportunities for higher education leaders seeking to engage productively in these often complex and highly charged issues. We conducted a phenomenological study of ten student activists and eight administrators at three universities to examine the meaning and goals they identify in their experience of campus activism. Findings indicated students identify their activist involvement as highly meaningful, especially with regard to what they feel they learn in college. Similarly, findings indicated administrators found their experience with student activists to be highly consequential in terms of both career satisfaction and dissatisfaction. We also found communication differences between student activists and administrators, even on topics where they generally agree. Given the frequently high stakes nature of contemporary student activism, we present recommendations for practice in the context of understanding these communication differences

Implementing Appreciative Education in a First-Year Seminar

Appreciative Education involves intentionally designing educational approaches that are based on principles of positive psychology and appreciative inquiry. This paper presents findings from a study of the meaning that 15 first-year experience course instructors attributed to implementing positivity interventions in their courses at a large, Midwestern university. The study suggests that these interventions, which fall under the umbrella of Appreciative Education, can disrupt conventional classroom expectations and dynamics. These disruptions can result in spaces of openness and vulnerability among instructors and students. Finally, the applications increase student engagement, support student success, and shape instructors’ thinking about teaching practices

Is the technology acceptance model a valid model of user satisfaction of information technology in environments where usage is mandatory?

The validity of the two models based on the extended Technology Acceptance Model (Venkatesh and Davies, 2000) in predicting user satisfaction of an incident reporting system in a mandated setting was tested using 84 employees from a large manufacturing company. The models differed in how the construct, subjective norm was represented. Although the results indicated that both models fitted the data, the anticipated relationship between subjective norms and user satisfaction was not supported. Furthermore, some of the antecedent factors did not predict perceived usefulness as anticipated

Stabilisation of experimental bioretention basins during intermittent wetting and drying

Stormwater bioretention basins are subjected to spontaneous intermittent wetting and drying, unlike water treatment filter systems that are subjected to continuous feed. Drinking water filters when constructed new or after back-wash, are subjected to a phase of stabilization. Experiments show that bioretention basins are similarly impacted by intermittent wetting and drying. The common parameter monitored in the stabilisation of filters is the concentration of total solids in the outflow. Filter media in bioretention basins however, consists of a mix of particulate organic matter and fine sand. Organic carbon and solids are therefore needed to be monitored. Four Perspex bioretention filter columns of 94 mm (ID) were packed with a filter layer (800 mm), transition layer and a gravel layer and operated with synthetic stormwater in the laboratory. The filter layer contained 8% organic material by weight. A free board of 350 mm provided detention storage and head to facilitate infiltration. Synthetic stormwater was prepared by adding NH4NO3 (ammonium nitrate) and C2H5NO2 (glycine) and a mixture of kaolinite and montmorillonite clay, to tapwater. The columns were fed with synthetic stormwater with different Antecedent Dry Days (ADD) (0 – 25 day) and constant inflow concentration (2 ppm: nitrate-nitrogen, 1.5 ppm: ammonium-nitrogen, 2.5 ppm: organic-nitrogen 100 ppm: total suspended solids and 7 ppm: organic carbon) at a feed rate of 100mL.min (85.7cm/h). Samples were collected from the outflow at different time intervals between 2 – 150 min from the start of outflow and were tested for Total Suspended Solids (TSS) and Total Organic Carbon (TOC). Both TSS and TOC concentrations in the outflow were observed to be much higher than the concentration of both the parameters in the inflow during the stabilisation period indicating a phase of wash-off (first flush) which lasted for approximately 30 min for both parameters at the beginning of each storm event. The wash-off of TSS and TOC were found to be highly variable depending on the age of the filter and the number of antecedent dry days. The duration of stabilisation phase in the experiments is significant compared with many of the stormwater events. A computational analysis on total mass of each pollutant further affirmed the significance of the first flush of an event on removal of these pollutants. Therefore, the kinetics of the first flush in the stabilisation phase needs to be considered in the performance analysis of the systems

An Algorithmic Approach for Signal Measurement Using Symbolic Dynamics of Tent Map

Abstract: The symbolic time series generated by a unimodal chaotic map starting from any initial condition creates a binary sequence that contains information about the initial condition. A binary sequence of a given length generated this way has a one-to-one correspondence with a given range of the input signal. This can be used to construct analogue to digital converters (ADC). However, in actual circuit realizations, component imperfections and ambient noise result in deviations in the map function from the ideal, which, in turn, can cause significant error in signal measurement. In this paper, we propose the ways of circumventing these problems through an algorithmic procedure that takes into account the non-idealities. The most common form of non-ideality--reduction in the height of the map function--alters the partitions that correspond to each symbolic sequence. We show that it is possible to define the partitions correctly if the height of the map function is known. We also propose a method to estimate this height from the symbolic sequence obtained. We demonstrate the efficacy of the proposed algorithm with simulation as well as experiment. With this development, practical ADCs utilizing chaotic dynamics may become reality

Visible Light Communication Based On Offset Pulse Position Modulation (Offset-PPM) Using High Power LED

In this paper, the performance of a visible light communication (VLC) system based on offset pulse position modulation (Offset-PPM) has been demonstrated using a commercial high power white single LED (30 W) and the new coding scheme. Data at a speed of 11 Mbps has been successfully transmitted over a distance of 1 m with zero bit error rate (BER), and 18 Mbps with 1.15 × 10^-6 of BER through the simplest transceiver circuits