Resources of Ribbon Fish and Cat Fish off the South West Coast of lndia

The acoustic surveys and fishing experiments conducted by the research vessels RASTRELLIGER and SARDINELLA of the Pelagic Fishery Project from Ratnagiri to the Gulf of Mannar for the past four years have considerably enhanced our knowledge of the pelagic fishery resources, their abundance and seasonal distribution and possible methods of exploitation (Anonymous 1974, 1975 & 1976). The average annual landings of ribbon fish and cat fish for the past ten years with 78,000tonnes form only 7.7% of the total marine fish production in India

Fast decay of the velocity autocorrelation function in dense shear flow of inelastic hard spheres

We find in complementary experiments and event driven simulations of sheared inelastic hard spheres that the velocity autocorrelation function $\psi(t)$ decays much faster than $t^{-3/2}$ obtained for a fluid of elastic spheres at equilibrium. Particle displacements are measured in experiments inside a gravity driven flow sheared by a rough wall. The average packing fraction obtained in the experiments is 0.59, and the packing fraction in the simulations is varied between 0.5 and 0.59. The motion is observed to be diffusive over long times except in experiments where there is layering of particles parallel to boundaries, and diffusion is inhibited between layers. Regardless, a rapid decay of $\psi(t)$ is observed, indicating that this is a feature of the sheared dissipative fluid, and is independent of the details of the relative particle arrangements. An important implication of our study is that the non-analytic contribution to the shear stress may not be present in a sheared inelastic fluid, leading to a wider range of applicability of kinetic theory approaches to dense granular matter.Comment: 6 pages, 4 figure

Stock assessment of the Indian oil-sardinella (Sardinella longiceps) off the West Coast of India

The Indian oil-sardinella (Sardinella longiceps Val .) has traditionally played a critical role in the marine fishery economics of India, and in particular in the State of Kerala. It's production on the west coast of India exhibits large fluctuations over the years, though it continues to be commercially the most important and abundant pelagic resource (Table 1). These fluctuations have attracted the attention of many research workers. As early as 1910 Hornell attributed them to changes in diatom production or food availability to the fry and the prevalence of favourable hydrological conditions. Kesteven (1967) was of the view that the fluctuations are related to shifts in the migratory path of the fish, causing variations in the accessibility of the stocks to fishing due to the limited range of the fishing operations

Unified description of long-time tails and long-range correlation functions for sheared granular liquids

Unified description on the long-time tail of velocity autocorrelation function and the long-range correlation for the equal-time spatial correlation functions is developed based on the generalized fluctuating hydrodynamics. The cross-over of the long-time tail from $t^{-3/2}$ to $t^{-5/2}$ is predicted independent of the density, and the equal-time spatial density correlation function and the equal-time spatial velocity correlation function respectively satisfy $r^{-11/3}$ and $r^{-5/3}$ for large $r$ limit.Comment: 10 pages. to be published in Euro. Phys. J.

Lamin A/C Haploinsufficiency Modulates the Differentiation Potential of Mouse Embryonic Stem Cells

BACKGROUND: Lamins are structural proteins that are the major determinants of nuclear architecture and play important roles in various nuclear functions including gene regulation and cell differentiation. Mutations in the human lamin A gene cause a spectrum of genetic diseases that affect specific tissues. Most available mouse models for laminopathies recapitulate disease symptoms for muscle diseases and progerias. However, loss of human lamin A/C also has highly deleterious effects on fetal development. Hence it is important to understand the impact of lamin A/C expression levels on embryonic differentiation pathways. METHODOLOGY AND PRINCIPAL FINDINGS: We have investigated the differentiation potential of mouse embryonic stem cells containing reduced levels of lamin A/C by detailed lineage analysis of embryoid bodies derived from these cells by culture. We initially carried out a targeted disruption of one allele of the mouse lamin A/C gene (). Undifferentiated wild-type and embryonic stem cells showed similar expression of pluripotency markers and cell cycle profiles. Upon spontaneous differentiation into embryoid bodies, markers for visceral endoderm such as α-fetoprotein were highly upregulated in haploinsufficient cells. However, neuronal markers such as β-III tubulin and nestin were downregulated. Furthermore, we observed a reduction in the commitment of cells into the myogenic lineage, but no discernible effects on cardiac, adipocyte or osteocyte lineages. In the next series of experiments, we derived embryonic stem cell clones expressing lamin A/C short hairpin RNA and examined their differentiation potential. These cells expressed pluripotency markers and, upon differentiation, the expression of lineage-specific markers was altered as observed with embryonic stem cells. CONCLUSIONS: We have observed significant effects on embryonic stem cell differentiation to visceral endoderm, neuronal and myogenic lineages upon depletion of lamin A/C. Hence our results implicate lamin A/C level as an important determinant of lineage-specific differentiation during embryonic development

Molecular Identification of Delphinids and Finless Porpoise (Cetacea) from the Arabian Sea and Bay of Bengal

The exact number of extant delphinid species from seas around India is still debated and the lack of adequate field keys and reliable inventory has resulted in misidentification of several species. As a part of a project to develop a molecular taxonomy of cetaceans from this region, partial sequences of mtDNA cytochrome b were generated from accidentally caught/stranded delphinids and finless porpoise. Species were identified by phylogenetic reconstruction of sample sequences with the reference sequences available in portals GenBank (NCBI) and the web-based program DNA Surveillance. A comparison was made with the homologous sequences of corresponding species from other seas of the world. Our molecular investigations allowed us to identify five species of cetaceans from Indian coasts, including Delphinus capensis, previously reported as D. delphis. We detected unique haplotypes in Indo pacific humpbacked dolphin (Sousa chinensis; n = 2) and finless porpoise (Neophocaena phocaenoides; n = 12) from Indian coast. On the other hand, some haplotypes were shared with other regional populations in spinner dolphin (Stenella longirostris; n = 16) and bottlenose dolphin (Tursiops aduncus; n = 3). Common dolphins (Delphinus capensis; n = 2) had both unique and shared haplotypes including one highly divergent sequence

Enhancing Skin Cancer Diagnosis with Deep Learning-Based Classification

The diagnosis of skin cancer has been identified as a significant medical challenge in the 21st century due to its complexity, cost, and subjective interpretation. Early diagnosis is critical, especially in fatal cases like melanoma, as it affects the likelihood of successful treatment. Therefore, there is a need for automated methods in early diagnosis, especially with a diverse range of image samples with varying diagnoses. An automated system for dermatological disease recognition through image analysis has been proposed and compared to conventional medical personnel-based detection. This project proposes an automated technique for skin cancer classification using images from the International Skin Imaging Collaboration (ISIC) dataset, incorporating deep learning (DL) techniques that have demonstrated significant advancements in artificial intelligence (AI) research. An automated system that recognizes and classifies skin cancer through deep learning techniques could prove useful in the medical field, as it can accurately detect the presence of skin cancer at an early stage. The ISIC dataset, which includes a vast collection of images of various skin conditions, provides an excellent opportunity to develop and validate deep learning algorithms for skin cancer classification. The proposed technique could have a significant impact on the medical industry by reducing the workload of medical personnel while providing accurate and timely diagnoses.

Live-bait resources and development

The success of the pole and line fishery of Lakshadweep depends, among other factors, directly on the availability in sufficient quantities of suitable live-bait fishes around the islands. Information on the live-bait resources of Lakshadweep is limited to a few reports from Minicoy- Jones (1958, 1964) described the fishing method, storage and utilisation of bait fish and Iisted the various species of live-bait fishes of Lakshadweep. Jones (1961 a, 1961 b) has predicted the potentialities of Spratelloides delicatulus and S. japonicus as live-bait for pole and line fishery for skipjack much earlier than mechanised fishing was introduced in the northern islands of Lakshadweep. Thomas (1964) made some observations on the fluctuations in the live-bait fishes at Minicoy. Fluctuations in the seasonal availability of live-baits at Minicoy during the years 1981-85 has been presented by Pillai et al. (1986). However, details of exploited bait fish resources and seasonal abundance of different bait species around the various islands is still lacking

Automated Sensing System for Monitoring Road Surface Condition Using Fog Computing

The principle point of this task is to build up an Intelligent Monitoring System used to screen the Road Surface Condition using Fog Computing that increases the road safety. Multiple solutions have been proposed which make use of mobile sensing, more specifically contemporary applications and architectures that are used in both crowd sensing and vehicle based sensing. Nonetheless, these initiatives have not been without challenges that range from mobility support, location awareness, low latency as well as geo-distribution. As a result, a new term has been coined for this novel paradigm, called, fog computing

Stomach contents of cetaceans incidentally caught along Mangalore and Chennai coasts of India

Abstract The stomachs of 32 individuals of seven cetacean species incidentally caught in gill net and purseseine fisheries along Mangalore and Chennai coasts (India) between 2004 and 2006 were examined. The whole stomach (fore-gut, mid-gut and hind-gut) was examined in all cases. Prey remains (666 prey items comprising six species of teleosts, one crustacean and one squid species) were found in the stomachs of eight individuals (the remaining 24 stomachs were found to be empty). All cetaceans were found to feed mostly on teleosts with wide range of trophic levels. Based on an index that included frequency of occurrence, percentage by number and by weight, the oil sardine Sardinella longiceps was the main prey in the sample. Cetaceans appear to favour both pelagic as well as demersal prey, possibly indicating surface and benthic feeding habits