First report of Spotted reef crab off Vizhinjam coast

Carpilius maculatus (Linnaeus, 1758), commonly known as ‘Seven-eleven crab’, ‘Spotted reef crab’, ‘Dark finger coral crab’, or ‘Large spotted crab’ is a member of the family Carpiliidae. One male specimen of the spotted reef crab C. maculatus measuring 130 mm in carapace width was caught by a bottom set gill net along with Portunus sanguinolentus from the rocky area in Vizhinjam coastal waters

Unusual landings of Aluterus monoceros (Linnaeus, 1758) along Vizhinjam coast

On the13th of July 2009, unusual heavy landings of Aluterus monoceros (unicorn leather jacket) of the family Monacanthidae were observed along the coast, from Vizhinjam to Marianadu about 40 km north of Vizhinjam (Fig. 1). These fishes, locally known as “komban clathy” or “mara clathy” are rarely observed in large numbers in the landings at Vizhinjam which has become a subject of surprise to the fishermen. This has been the first incident of such a heavy landing of bigger sized unicorn leather jacket in this area

Coating of alumina on ceno-spheres of fly-ash

A study is reported that fly-ash behaves as an excellent raw-material for synthesising hollow alumina composite. Coating of alumina onto the surface of ceno spheres was accomplished by controlled precipitation around pH-10. Dopants like Ni/Co have also been successfully tried. The resultant co-precipitated composites were then characterized using DTA, XRD,Particle size analysis and specific-gravity measurements. Calcination of co- precipitated samples at 1500°C, for 1h and haracterisation of the calcined product also discussed. The results indicate that alumina can be successfully coated on ceno-spheres

Magneto-transport characteristics of La1.4Ca1.6Mn2O7 thin film deposited by spray pyrolysis

Polycrystalline thin films of double layer manganite La_1.4Ca_1.6Mn_2O_7 (DLCMO) have been deposited by nebulized spray pyrolysis on single crystal LaAlO_3 substrates. These single phase films having grain size in the range 70-100 nm exhibit ferromagnetic transition at T_C ~ 107K. The short range ferromagnetic ordering due to in plane spin coherence is evidenced to occur at a higher temperature around 225 K. Insulator/semiconductor to metal transition occurs at a lower temperature T_P ~ 55K. The transport mechanism above T_C is of Mott`s variable range hopping type. Below T_C the current-voltage characteristics show non-linear behaviour that becomes stronger with decreasing temperature. At low temperatures below T_CA ~ 30K a magnetically frustrated spin canted state is observed. The DLCMO films exhibit resonable low field magnetoresistance and at 77K the magnetoresistance ratio is ~ 5% at 0.6 kOe and \~ 13% at 3 kOe.Comment: 14 pages, 7 figure

Histogenesis of Peyer’s patches in Ovine foetus (Ovis aries)

Tissue pieces of jejunum and ileum from different prenatal age groups of sheep were collected from Corporation slaughter house, Perambur, Chennai. By three months of foetal age in sheep, the Peyer’s patches appeared as an aggregation of lymphocytes in the propria submucosa of the jejunum and ileum. The lymphocytic aggregation appeared only in the antimesenteric part of the jejunum and ileum. By four months of foetal age, the circumscribed nodular aggregations of lymphocytes were found enlarged giving a follicle-like appearance. The capsular connective tissue was predominated by reticular fibres and a few collagen fibres. The dome area of the follicle consisted of closely packed small-sized lymphocytes which appeared darker than the basal area. The smooth muscle fibres of muscularis mucosae were not continuous throughout and were absent in the follicle having domes. In five months-old foetuses, the jejunal and ileal Peyer’s patches were distinctly observed as follicles. The follicle showed a distinct outer cortex and an inner lighter medulla. Numerous small-sized lymphocytes were observed in the outer cortex and few lymphoblasts, medium sized lymphocytes and reticular cells were observed in the medulla. Keywords: Histogenesis; Peyer’s patches; Ovine foetus

Static Critical Behavior of the Spin-Freezing Transition in the Geometrically Frustrated Pyrochlore Antiferromagnet Y2Mo2O7

Some frustrated pyrochlore antiferromagnets, such as Y2Mo2O7, show a spin-freezing transition and magnetic irreversibilities below a temperature Tf similar to what is observed nonlinear magnetization measurements on Y2Mo2O7 that provide strong evidence that there is an underlying thermodynamic phase transition at Tf, which is characterized by critical exponents \gamma \approx 2.8 and \beta \approx 0.8. These values are typical of those found in random spin glasses, despite the fact that the level of random disorder in Y2Mo2O7 is immeasurably small.Comment: Latex file, calls for 4 encapsulated postscript figures (included). Submitted to Phys. Rev. Letters

Study of Genetic Parameters in F5 Families of Rice (Oryza sativa L.)

One hundred and fourteen F5 families of rice belonging to six crosses along with seven parents were evaluated during kharif, 2015 at Andhra Pradesh Rice Research Institute and Regional Agricultural Research Station, Maruteru to study variability, heritability, genetic advance as per cent of mean and nature and direction of association among themselves and with grain yield. Data was recorded on ten characters which showed significant differences among themselves. High PCV and GCV were observed for grain yield per plant and test weight. High heritability coupled with high genetic advance as per cent of mean was observed for number of grains per panicle, grain yield per plant and test weight indicating the presence of additive gene action in governing the inheritance of these traits. Hence, direct phenotypic selection is useful with respect to these traits

Differential rates of seed abortion among trees of Dalbergia sissoo: role of post-dispersal sibling competition

It has been suggested that production of a high frequency of few-seeded pods in most trees of Dalbergia sissoo is due to the enhanced dispersal efficiency and reduced sibling competition among the seeds of such pods. However, a few trees exhibit a relatively low seed abortion and hence, a relatively lower frequency of one- and two-seeded pods. Such reduced seed abortion in one such tree (T-9) is shown to be due the lack of establishment of a strong dominance by the early fertilized over the late fertilized ovules. Unlike in the pods of the normal trees, the early fertilized ovules in this tree do not inhibit the metabolic activity of the late fertilized ovules. We show that such reduced abortion in such trees is favoured due to reduced gains to the survivor in the few-seeded pods. While the dispersal advantage of the single-seeded over many-seeded pods in this tree remains the same as in others, the post-dispersal negative interactions among the seeds of a pod are significantly lesser in it than that in the pods of normal trees. We discuss these results in the context of sibling rivalry among, and inclusive fitness of, the seeds developing within the pods of D. sissoo

Effectiveness of hill plots in screening pigeonpea for resistance to Fusarium wilt.

In field trial conducted in a wilt-sick vertisol plot at lCRlSAT Centre during the 1987-88, 1988-89 and 1989-90 crop seasons, no Differences In Fuserlum wilt Incidence were observed in a set of Susceptible, tolerant and resistant Pigeonpea cultivar between row and hlll Sown plot. Similarly, no change in wilt reaction war observed when a susceptible and resistant cultivar were sown either pure or mixed on hills. HIII-rowing can be more economical for evaluating large numbers of genotypes for wilt resistance than row-Sowing as only one fifth of the area is required and thus operational expenses are reduced

Ekpyrosis and inflationary dynamics in heavy ion collisions: the role of quantum fluctuations

We summarize recent significant progress in the development of a first-principles formalism to describe the formation and evolution of matter in very high energy heavy ion collisions. The key role of quantum fluctuations both before and after a collision is emphasized. Systematic computations are now feasible to address early time dynamics essential to quantifying properties of strongly interacting quark-gluon matter.Comment: Talk by R.V. at Quark Matter 2011, Annecy, France, May 23-28, 2011. LaTex, 4 pages; v2, final version to appear in J. Phys.