Grass Species Population Studies in Freshwater Pools of Sivaganga District, South India with Different Land-Use

Vernal pools are seasonal wetlands which fill with water in the rainy season and dry down in the spring and remain desiccated throughout the summer. These extreme conditions create a unique ecosystem that supports high species diversity (King et al. 1996). Ephemeral water pools have recently received more attention where studies have monitored the vegetation dynamics as the system shifts from an aquatic and terrestrial environment (Gopal and Junk 2000; Pott et al. 2010). Landscape changes are considered important on the biodiversity aggregation of meadows (Monterio et al. 2013). The present study was carried out to analyze grass vegetation diversity of the desiccate ephemeral fresh water pools with different land-use patterns

Distribution and abundance of molluscan cryptofauna from Karaichalli Island (Gulf of Mannar), southeastern coast of India

Replicate samples of live coral, dead massive coral, dead branching coral, and live & dead coral were studied. The surface area, volume, percentage cover, biomass and percentage available living space were determined for molluscan cryptofauna in each habitat. The gastropods Pyrene versicolor, Drupa sp. and Cerithium sp. were common in branching corals. The bivalves Saccostrea cllecullata, Area sp., Isognomon sp., Pinctada sp. and Lithophaga sp. were common in dead parts of ramose corals. Mytilids were rare in living parts of ramose corals. Pyrene sp., Drupa sp., Cerithium sp. and Lambis sp. were found crawling on the surface of the massive corals

Gastropods and bivalves associated with reef building corals, Palk Bay, Southeastern India

Reef building corals of the families Pocilloporidae, Acroporidae, Poritidae, and Faviidae were collected at low tide. A total of 73 species of molluscs were associated with corals in Pall, Bay, viz., 46 species of gastropods belonging to 17 families, and 27 species of bivalves belonging to 13 families. Molluscs were rarely associated with young corals. The present study shows that the structure and size (weight) of corals influence the molluscan diversity. The number of molluscan individuals increased with increasing coral weight. With a single exception. no molluscs were associated with the massive coral Favia pallida. Very few boring bivalves were recorded from branching corals

Modified Pipelining Hybridization of Job Shop Scheduling

Hybridization involves generally genetic algorithm in a stage .Here instead of genetic algorithm,metaheuristics method Local search method, is applied as primary search routine, for tacklingcombinatorial search and optimization problems.The dispatching rule LPT is applied first, servingas a preprocessor. The local search methods are works on the iterative exploration of a solutionspace: at each iteration a local search algorithm start search from one solution to one of itsneighbor. The method is analysis the job shop bench mark problems. The comparison of theperformance measure is evaluated

The effect of the addition of SiCp on the mechanical behaviour of silane treated epoxy and polyester composites reinforced with unidirectional carbon fiber fabric.

The prime material for performance intensive applications is carbon fiber reinforced polymer composites (CFRPC). Researchers have improved the properties of CFRPC by creating a stronger interface between the constituents either by treating the fiber surface with alkalis, oxidization agents or gases. However, there is a possibility of fiber damage during treatment. In this investigation two different matrices viz., epoxy and polyester were modified by incorporating (3-Aminopropyl)trimethoxysilane coupling agent and silicon carbide particulate filler (SiCp). The effect of matrix modification on the mechanical behaviour of CFRPC is investigated in terms of tensile, flexural and impact properties. It was observed that CFRPC with modified matrices had better properties due to improved adhesion between the constituents. In particular, carbon fiber reinforced 10 wt. % SiCp filled silane treated polyester matrix composite had better mechanical properties. The results have been supplemented with morphological investigation

The Arecibo Methanol Maser Galactic Plane Survey - II: Statistical and Multi-wavelength Counterpart Analysis

We present an analysis of the properties of the 6.7 GHz methanol maser sample detected in the Arecibo Methanol Maser Galactic Plane Survey. The distribution of the masers in the Galaxy, and statistics of their multi-wavelength counterparts is consistent with the hypothesis of 6.7 GHz maser emission being associated with massive young stellar objects. Using the detection statistics of our survey, we estimate the minimum number of methanol masers in the Galaxy to be 1275. The l-v diagram of the sample shows the tangent point of the Carina-Sagittarius spiral arm to be around 49.6 degrees, and suggests occurrence of massive star formation along the extension of the Crux-Scutum arm. A Gaussian component analysis of the maser spectra shows the mean line-width to be 0.38 km/s which is more than a factor of two larger than what has been reported in the literature. We also find no evidence that faint methanol masers have different properties than those of their bright counterparts.Comment: Accepted by ApJ; Revised footnote number 3 on page 8 based on private communicatio

A Search for 6.7 GHz Methanol Masers in M33

We report the negative results from a search for 6.7 GHz methanol masers in the nearby spiral galaxy M33. We observed 14 GMCs in the central 4 kpc of the Galaxy, and found 3 sigma upper limits to the flux density of ~9 mJy in spectral channels having a velocity width of 0.069 km/s. By velocity shifting and combining the spectra from the positions observed, we obtain an effective 3sigma upper limit on the average emission of ~1mJy in a 0.25 km/s channel. These limits lie significantly below what we would expect based on our estimates of the methanol maser luminosity function in the Milky Way. The most likely explanation for the absence of detectable methanol masers appears to be the metallicity of M33, which is modestly less than that of the Milky Way

Experimental Modeling of Sterilization Effects for Atmospheric Entry Heating on Microorganisms

The objective of this research was to design, build, and test an experimental apparatus for studying the parameters of atmospheric entry heating, and the inactivation of temperature-resistant bacterial spores. The apparatus is capable of controlled, rapid heating of sample coupons to temperatures of 200 to 350 C and above. The vacuum chamber permits operation under vacuum or special atmospheric gas mixtures

Feeding behaviour of the green mussel, Perna viridis (Linn.) in laboratory

The rate of filtration and feeding on six species of diatoms by the green mussel Perna viridis Linn In the laboratory has been studied. The number of cells removed per hour depended upon the size and suspension density of the diatom cultures- Generally the mussel was found to eliminate more than 50% of the filtered cells as pseudofaeces. The rate of ingestion was enchanced when the suspension density and cell size were less. Eventhough large quantities of pseudofaeces were produced when suspension density was increased, the actual ingestion of food was not affected by call concentration. The maximum filtration rate [341.43] ml hour -'gm —1 was noted in Thalassiosira fluviaiillis suspension. The relation between the rate of filtration and call size and density of the suspension was studied and discussed

Evaluation of sampling gear for demersal resource surveys

The three demersal trawls evaluated were 38 m HSDT-II, indigenously developed by CIFT for deep sea fishing in Indian EEZ; and two imported designs, viz., 45.6 m Expo model demersal trawl and 50 m fish trawl operated from vessels of FSI and IFP, respectively. Vertical opening at trawl mouth was heighest for 50 m fish trawl (3.2 m), followed by Expo model demersal trawl (2.5 m) and 38 m HSDT-II (2.2 m), due to differences in overall dimensions and design features. Estimate of horizontal opening between otter boards was highest for 38 m HSDT-II probably due to low drag of the gear, followed by 45.6 m and 50 m trawls. Lowest catch per unit effort obtained by 38 m HSDT-II is presumably due to smaller dimensions of the gear, larger codend mesh size and difference in ground rig, in addition to chance factors. However, 38 m HSDT-II scores on several features desirable in demersal sampling gear such as simplicity in design and construction, ease of operation; lower twine surface area and drag; and ground rig suitable for wider range of bottom conditions. Modifications to make it more effective while sampling for crustaceans and small sized finfish components are described