Search

The present study provides length-weight relationships (LWRs) and condition factors (Kn) estimates for ten deep-sea scorpaeniform fishes based on data consisting of new maximum size. The samples were collected from Sakthikulangara Harbour, located on the southwest coast of India, from September 2021 to December 2022. These samples were obtained as bycatch from deep-sea shrimp trawlers operating in the Arabian Sea at depths ranging from 200 to 420 m. The estimated b values ranged from 2.92 (Brachypterois serrulata) to 3.76 (Pterygotrigla arabica). The Kn ranged from 0.56 (Satyrichthys laticeps) to 1.53 (Neomerinthe erostris), with four species exhibiting Kn values higher than 1. The LWR estimates and Kn provided in this study are helpful to understand the growth characteristics of these data limited species and also to revalidate the modeled growth parameters using the Bayesian approach. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Morphology of the fish and otoliths are popularly used in the discrimination of species/stocks/populations and also to gather meaningful conclusions about their ecology. This approach is useful to enhance our understanding of the relationship between form and function in fishes when a direct assessment is impossible. Inter-species variation was analysed using geometric morphometric analysis for fish body shape, while morphometry and wavelet functions for sagittae morphology. A clear ecomorphological pattern in the body, as well as otolith shape, is evident among species as deeper inhabiting species possess a deeper body with oblong otoliths compared with shallower species that possess a more streamlined body with fusiform otoliths. We also observed that deeper species (P. obscura) possess bigger eyes for the optimum use of available light and bigger otoliths with higher otolith sensory area and otolith area ratio (S:O) for better sound reception capacities. Our hypothesis supports that the differences in fish morphological as well as sensorial traits (otoliths), which are closely related to their locomotion, foraging pattern and depth of habitation, lead to trophic segregation which in turn encourages their coexistence. This is the first work that discusses the relationship between body shape, otolith morphometry and morphology in deep-sea fishes and their ecomorphological interpretations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer-based Bakelite resistive plate chamber detector samples were exposed to 60Co gamma source for various irradiation doses. To explore the impact of gamma irradiation induced structural modifications, Positron annihilation lifetime, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopic and X-ray diffraction (XRD) studies were performed. The increased free volume (Vf) for lower irradiation doses is attributed to the scission of polymeric chains. The free volume parameters are in good agreement with XRD and conductivity results. The ac conductivity varies linearly with the applied frequency and obey Jonscher power law. The conduction mechanism is explained on the basis of barrier hopping model. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article reviews the importance of bait, bait loss, and depredation in longline fishery operations worldwide. In general, fish bait is preferred over squid due to reduced sea turtle and elasmobranch bycatch. However, there are many reports which have indicated high shark catch and deep hooking when using fish as bait. High and low hooking rates for blue shark have been reported from different fishing areas when using mackerel as bait, indicating the need for further studies on selection of appropriate baits. Conflicting results from many part of the world on the catching efficiency of different bait species on target and nontarget species indicate the need to consider area, species specific and cross taxa effect of various combinations of baits and hooks, before their adoption in commercial fishing. Baiting pattern has also been reported to affect the catch rates significantly. The review has revealed that bait loss and depredation on the hooked fish cause considerable damage to the fishery and significant economic loss. Loss rates can be significantly minimized using squids as bait while it may also incur a high catch rate of bycatch. The review has confirmed the superiority of natural baits over alternative and artificial baits during the longline fishing operations. Though an effective substitute for the natural bait has not been developed, so far, such alternatives which make use of the food and foraging behavior and the olfactory response of the fish are necessary for future development of longline fisheries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bycatch from the experimental longline operations in the Lakshadweep Sea were studied. The experiments were conducted on converted Pablo boats, originally used for pole and line fishing operations, to capture skipjack tuna in the Lakshadweep Islands. The overall bycatch rate was very high, with a mean hooking rate of 8.05/1000 hooks compared to the targeted tuna catch (1.75/1000 hooks). Bycatch contributed 82.4% of the catch in comparison to the tuna (17.6%) Thunnus albacares, in the longline operations. Silky shark ( Carcharhinus falciformes) with 89.9% was the dominant shark species followed by C. amblyrhynchos, Galeocerdo cuvier, Alopias pelagicus, Negapriion acutedens and Sphyrna lewinii with 4.7, 2.7, 1.4, 0.7 and 0.7%, respectively. Sharks contributed to 74.1% of the catch, followed by 15.7% sailfishes and 10.2% miscellaneous fishes. Higher bycatch rates were evident during evening hours compared to mornings, but the results were not significant statistically. Studies on the effects of depth on the overall fishing performance and species selectivity failed to establish any significant relationship at a depth range of 35-100 m. Soaking time had a significant effect on bycatch rates. The hooking rate of sharks declined with an increase in soaking time. Considering the high shark bycatch in the fishery, an accurate monitoring of the longline fish catches in the Lakshadweep waters is an important step towards ensuring the sustainability of other populations, especially sharks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents the discussion on improving soil properties and making rice cultivation more sustainable. Topics include rice cultivation under the acidic clay loam soils with modern input-intensive practices and reducing soil productivity; and researchers monitoring the soil quality at different depths and the quality of the grains in terms of nutrients.

The article presents the discussion on absorbing plates with higher surface area for heat transfer and heat flow improving thermal efficiency. Topics include type of surface absorbing heat significantly influencing the absorption of solar radiation; and solar air heater showing a higher temperature rise than seen in other fin spacing or conventional solar air heaters.

The article presents the discussion on breathing difficulty during birth considering a leading cause of death among premature babies. Topics include physicians misdiagnosing breathing difficulty cases as respiratory distress syndrome without considering the underlying pathology; and placental pathology of the women during the pregnancy and monitoring the premature babies in the neonatal intensive care units.

The article presents the discussion on simple queries retrieving large amounts of information from search engines. Topics include reducing the vocabulary mismatch where search engines using a thesaurus for expanding query terms; and testing the technique on different search engines using pseudo-relevant documents.

The article presents the discussion on adequate understanding of the basement under the Traps. Topics include understanding the seismicity in the region having data on the basement rocks below the Deccan Traps; and basement rocks in the Koyna region being typical of gneisses of the Dharwar craton exposed in peninsular India.

The article presents the discussion on combining the properties of the proteins for improving metal detecting biosensors. Topics include copper being a harmful contaminant needs to be detected and removed during wastewater treatment; and green light-emitting fluorescent protein being used as a sensor for monitoring various biological processes having no affinity towards metals.

The article presents the discussion on prevalence of sickle cell anaemia being eight percent among the Badagas, an endogamous indigenous tribal community of the Nilgiri district, Tamil Nadu. Topics include severity of sickle cell anaemia increase when both variants present together; and haemoglobin S variant associated with a group of genes inherited together such as the Arab–Indian haplotype.

The article presents the discussion on developing vaccines and treatments for COVID-19 where researchers targeting the spike protein. Topics include SARS CoV-2 playing a major role in the survival and reproduction of the virus inside human cells; and downloading the sequences of the two genes in eleven variants from an online database.

The article presents the discussion on drugs targeting pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 3 used for treating cancer. Topics include pyruvate dehydrogenase, an enzyme in mitochondria inhibited by the addition of a phosphate group by another enzyme, pyruvate dehydrogenase kinase 3; and showing a significant decrease in fluorescence intensity with increasing concentrations of artemisinin.

The article presents the discussion on finding a sustainable approach for maximum turmeric yield. Topics include acidic soil, poor nutrient management, soil erosion, use of low-yielding varieties and poor irrigation resulting in low crop output; and rhizomes being covered with banana stems protecting from rain, reducing soil erosion, and improving soil fertility.

The article informs that Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in the Western Ghats is facing increasing human interference such as cattle grazing, firewood collection and induced forest fires with growing presence of non-native species frequency of exotic shrubs and herbs tended to reduce in areas with higher density of trees. It discusses about evaluated the diversity of native and alien species in the understory layer of the Nilgiri Biosphere Reserve in Kerala.

The article presents the discussion on super capacitors having excellent charge storage capacity and faster charging discharging rate than conventional batteries. Topics include physical and chemical properties of the carbon electrodes playing a vital role; and size of the ring structure, substitutions, and the types of glycosidic linkage joining the carbohydrate units.

The article presents the discussion on applying machine learning based on historical yield data. Topics include sugarcane fields being easily identified by satellite-based remote sensing; and using the land-use and land cover map from the thematic services of the Bhuvan portal of ISRO for extracting the state's agricultural mask.

The article presents the discussion on COVID-19 infection causing stillbirth, intrauterine growth restriction, and preterm birth. Topics include pregnant women being at a higher risk of getting the infection than the general population due to the unique immune status; and evaluating the seroprevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies for SARS-Cov-2 in pregnant women.

The article focuses on research of researcher from Centre for Interdisciplinary Research and Education and Jadavpur University on identification of region of spike protein with declined probability of mutation and mentions solvent accessibility for amino acid of spike protein sequence.

The article discusses study of researchers from Jamia Millia Islamia in New Delhi, India on use of artificial intelligence techniques for analyzation of natural disaster happened across the world, and mentions framework based on transfer learning.

The article discusses migration and dispersal of fruit flues due to lack of resources and mentions understanding impact of desication stress on the associated costs.

The article presents the discussion on lithium-ion batteries used in many modern devices. Topics include lighter batteries using carbon nanotubes, fibres or graphene as current collectors instead of conventional metal foil; and modifying fabrication methods and decreasing the overall capacity of the battery having the potential for use in wearable devices justifying the drawback.

The article presents the discussion on Preeclampsia which being a condition during pregnancy leading to organ damage. Topics include high blood pressure and the presence of proteins in urine around the 20th week of gestation being the main symptoms of the condition; and disorder being marked by a shift in the balance of angiogenic and antiangiogenic proteins in maternal blood circulation.

The article reports on the study by researchers at the Motilal Nehru National Institute of Technology, Allahabad in India to examine the effectiveness of sugarcane bagasse ash as material in cement production. The ash contains amorphous silica, which has excellent cementitious properties. Based on the study, a 10% bagasse ash and sand content plus 40% stone dust produced maximum compressive and tensile strength and minimum sulphate attack.

The article reports on the research conducted by entomologist Appadurai Daniel Reegan of the National Centre for Disease Control (NCDC), Bengaluru branch and colleagues to assess the prevalence of malaria in India's coastal regions and the environmental variables that cause it. In the study, the researchers collected smears from patients to check for malarial parasites. Also cited is the effects of temperature on malaria incidence.

The article discusses 2021 Indian research which shows that conventional soft computing techniques like Artificial Neural Network or Support Vector Machine Algorithm can be adjusted and used to distinguish viral pneumonia from bacterial pneumonia with low computational load.

The article discusses 2021 Indian collaborative research which shows that emotional resilience was most important for controlling negative emotions during the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic and returning to normalcy.

The article discusses Indian research which showed that chitosan derivative drugs have potential to target the heparan glycoprotein that mediates the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) virus binding to the angiotensin-converging enzyme 2 (ACE2) of the lung cells.

The article presents the discussion on exhibiting playful behaviour with the released mate. Topics include investigating the role of the ventral subiculum, a structure next to the hippocampus in the brain, in social behaviour; and suspecting the subiculum being involved in autism and related social disorders.

The article presents the discussion on technique for detecting microplastics. Topics include commonly employed techniques such as visual identification, spectroscopy, and spectrometry; and researchers measuring resonant frequency and the corresponding quality factor for the empty cavity as well for the one with the samples.

The article presents the discussion on oil spills produced by petroleum industries polluting water bodies. Topics include Tragacanth being one such gum extracted from Astragalus, a genus of leguminous plants; and using ammonium persulphate and glutaraldehyde as cross-linkers for linking acrylic acid and methyl methacrylate to tragacanth gum.

The article presents the discussion on Scarlet sage, Salvia splendens being an important ornamental plant and also a source of medicine in managing diabetes. Topics include using Bemisia tabaci whitefly vectors transmiting the tomato leaf curl virus; and high similarity of the betasatellite of the virus infecting the scarlet sage with the sequence of the betasatellite of the chilli leaf curl virus.

The article presents the discussion on understanding the molecular mechanism behind the drought-tolerance Clusterbean. Topics include growing drought-tolerant and drought-sensitive varieties of clusterbean in pots; and inducing drought-stress by giving the plants lower quantities of water on alternate days.

The article presents the discussion on pregnant women being at a higher risk of getting the infection of Covid-19 than the general population. Topics include Delhi evaluating the seroprevalence of IgG and IgM antibodies for SARS-Cov-2 in pregnant women; and researchers collecting the participants' serum for evaluating the titers of antibodies against SARS-CoV-2.

The article discusses research conducted by Nagender Pal Butail and team on exploration of soil nutrition distribution and mention estimation of phosphorus, soil nitrogen and potassium.

The article discusses research on use of paraffin waxes as solid fuel in hybrid propellants and mentions improved combustion characteristics of wax from beehives in comparision to paraffin.

The article discusses collaborated research by researcher from Tamil Nadu, India with colleagues of Taiwan, Viet Nam and Thailand on use of microalgae as feedstock for biofuel production and mentions recycling ability of the spike protein.

The article focuses on research of Kirtiraj K. Gaikwad and team from institute IIT Roorkee on removal of ethylene liberated from vegetables and fruits and mentions freshness maintained by sepiolite clay in corn starch-gum acacia.

The article discusses breeding of fruit fly at lab in Jawaharlal Nehru Centre for Advanced Scientific Research (JNCASR) that emerged out of pupa of fruit flies and mentions reproductive phase of the population.

The article presents the discussion on Tanjore painting being a classical style originated in Tamil Nadu during the reign of the Cholas. Topics include composed of rich colours, gold foil, gypsum with glue, glass beads and precious gems where the paintings being a part of national heritage; and lack of maintenance and exposure to the environment of religious rituals degraded the paintings.

The article presents the discussion on asbestos used for making automobile brake pads. Topics include aromatic polyamide fibres or aramids being used for replacing asbestos in high-quality brake pads; polyacrylonitrile fibres being synthetic and semicrystalline organic polymer resins with high thermal resistance used for making high-performance brakes.

The article presents the discussion on COVID-19 vaccination normally leading to very mild to moderate side effects. Topics include surveying Indians aged above eighteen using online Google forms and using a physical mode administered by trained ASHA workers; and providing data about the social, demographic, and general health status as well as data on SARS‐CoV‐2 infection.