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Efficient detection of selected persistent organic pollutants (POPs) is extremely important for the safety of humans and for the moderation of agriculture. This calls for the design of versatile nanosensors capable of sensing toxic POPs with high sensitivity and selectivity. Inspired by this, the sensing characteristics of carbon nitride (C3N5) monolayers toward selected POPs are reported, such as Dichlorodiphenyltrichloroethane (DDT), Methoxychlor (DMDT), Fenthion (FT), Fenitrothion (FNT), and Rennol (RL), employing density functional theory calculations. Analysis of results predicts adsorption energies of −0.93, −1.55, −1.44, −0.98, and −1.15 eV for DDT, DMDT, FT, FNT, and RM, respectively, on C3N5 monolayers. Significant charge transfers among organic pollutants and C3N5 lead to distinct electronic properties of the conjugated complexes, revealed by the density of states, electrostatic potential, and work function calculations. To detect the selected pollutants in high humidity, the effects due to aqueous medium are considered. Additionally, a statistical thermodynamic analysis utilizing the Langmuir adsorption model is utilized to explore the influence of temperature and pressure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The World's most extensive mangrove region, the Sundarbans ecosystem, is highly biodiverse but severely stressed. Past, present, and future potential changes in Sundarbans mangroves have been assessed from multi‐temporal satellite data of 1980, 2000, and 2020, elevation data, and topographical maps using geospatial techniques, digital shoreline analysis system, land change modelling, and ground truth verification. The mangrove loss was 16,025 ha between 1980 and 2020 and is predicted to be 22,286 ha between 2020 and 2050. Major changes were observed in mangroves, waterbodies, mudflats, agriculture, and aquaculture. The shoreline change by endpoint rate indicated the erosion rate by 5.81 m yr−1 in 2000–2020 compared to −0.90 m yr−1 in 1980–2000. The weighted linear regression indicated the average erosion and accretion rate of −5.96 m‐yr −1 and 4.92 m yr−1, respectively, with erosion in 76% of transects and accretion in the remaining 24% between 1980 and 2020. A sea‐level rise by 1 m will inundate 17,486 ha of mangroves. The finding revealed the dynamic nature of mangroves, past and expected future loss, the severely eroding transects, hotspots, and the consequences of mangrove loss on depending the population. As fringe mangroves will be at greater risk, speedy measures are needed to stabilize the highly eroding regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 28‐day experiment was carried out to evaluate different C/N ratios (10:1, 15:1 and 20:1) on growth performance, water quality, survival rate and gene expression related to metabolic pathways of Penaeus vannamei in a biofloc system. To maintain the C/N ratio of the feed input, different carbon sources (molasses, rice bran and wheat flour) in combination were applied after fermentation for a day with biofloc consortium. Results showed that shrimps reared in C/N 10 (630 mg) and C/N 15 (646 mg) biofloc systems showed significantly (p =.0229 and.0263) higher growth when compared to C/N 20 (528 mg) and control (374 mg). With regard to the production of extracellular enzymes, protease, lipase and xylanase were found predominantly in colonized bacteria isolated from biofloc treatments, whereas amylase was commonly found in all the treatments. The proPO activity was considerably increased in C/N 10 and 15 treatments than C/N 20 and control. The ranges of relative expression levels of potential genes entailed in metabolite pathway like hexokinase (HK‐ 6.57–8.17), pyruvate kinase (PK‐5.79–7.96), crustacean hyperglycaemic hormone (CHH‐ 6.99–7.66) and fatty acid synthase (FAS‐ 6.57–8.86), triacylglycerol lipase (TGL‐6.99–8.66) and immune gene (Toll receptor‐ 4.57–4.86) fold up‐regulated expression were observed in the biofloc treatments than that of the control. The overall findings indicate that the rearing of P. vannamei shrimp in C/N 10 and 15 biofloc systems could improve the growth performance, water quality and development of immune and metabolic responses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A 16‐week indoor culture trial was conducted to evaluate the effect of varying C:N ratio on growth performance, physico‐chemical parameters, microbial dynamics, feed utilization, and immunological parameters. The experiment comprised of five biofloc treatment groups (with varying C:N ratio 5:1, 10:1, 15:1, 20:1) and a control with three replicates each, having 100 nos/m3 as stocking density in 500 L tanks with constant aeration. The C:N ratios of the treatments were manipulated using molasses as an organic carbon source whereas there was no carbon source added in control. The water quality parameters monitored throughout the experiment were found to be within permissible limits in shrimp culture. At the end of the experiment, it was observed that there were significant differences between the treatment groups and the control regarding absolute growth, SGR, FCR, PER, and FER. Furthermore, a considerable difference in immunological parameters, namely, THC, phagocytosis, and PO activity (17.5 × 106 cells per ml, 43.5%, 0.112 Units min−1 mg min−1), was recorded among the treatments compared to that of the control groups (6.2 × 106 cells per ml, 31.5%, 0.051 Units min−1 mg min−1) respectively. Enhanced growth and survival with substantial disease resistance were recorded in C15 treatment. The results indicate that the CN15 ratio coupled with minimal water exchange is optimal for improved survival, growth, and immune activity. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil and water interactions and their influence on growth and production in different densities ( SD8 & SD16) under zero water exchange were studied in two successive crops of Penaeus monodon in Tamil Nadu, India during 2007 and 2008. Scraping and tilling during pond preparation increased the mineralization rate than scraping only. During crop, there was no significant difference in soil organic carbon and total nitrogen between the SDs. However, as the crop progressed, organic carbon and total nitrogen content of the soil showed significant difference under both the SDs. Between the SDs, nitrate and phosphate content in water significantly differed, whereas the progress of the crop significantly increased both available and total nutrients. Mass balance of nitrogen indicated that applied feed contributed to 97.4-98.5% of input nitrogen, of which nitrogen in sediment accounted for 16.5-27.3%, nitrogen recovery in shrimp was 34.2-43.6% and the nitrogen lost through denitrification and volatilization varied from 4.7% to 34.7%. Zero water exchange system is highly efficient as nitrogen recovery is higher in shrimp and lower in discharge water. Lack of significant difference in metabolites between the SDs indicates the role of aeration and probiotics in sustaining SD16 cultures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

There is high growth of elderly in the total population in the globe and it is also true for India as well. The increasing number of elderly will have some of the socio-economic implications such as health care facility, social security measure, adjustment, dependency, elderly care, living arrangements, etc. However, little is known about the living arrangements of a growing number of elderly in India. It is expected and common belief that they are well cared by their children with whom they tend to co reside. Living arrangement of the elderly has great importance to understand elderly status and wellbeing. In this paper an attempt has been made to look into the living arrangements patterns of the elderly and their determinants by considering two states in India namely Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. The major data source for this paper is, from the census of India and NSS (National Sample Survey) 60th round have been used. In total there are 34,831 elderly (age 60 years and above) persons were interviewed in the 60th round of the survey, of which 4,715 and 1,766 elderly persons are from the state of Uttar Pradesh and Kerala respectively. Both bi-variate and multi-variate statistical techniques have been used for data analysis. From the analysis it is found the high proportions of elderly are in co residence. Mostly the co residence is with spouse and other members (47.2%) or without spouse but with children (32.6%). However, there is significant proportions (16%) of elderly are either living alone or with spouse only. It is interesting to find the living arrangements of elderly which is broadly based on the background characteristics of the elderly. The living arrangements of elderly are varies with age, gender, marital status, number of surviving children, level of education, occupation and economic dependency. From the logistic regression analysis it is found that those elderly are male, having surviving children and economically dependent on others are more likely to live with family in comparison to their counter parts female, not having children and economically not dependent on others. There is no significant difference in living arrangements of elderly in Uttar Pradesh and Kerala. This study brought out suitable policy and suggestions for strengthening the welfare of the elderly through their living arrangements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study on the different living arrangement preferences within the elderly in Orissa, India. The field study was conducted among 300 elderly persons, with 150 from the urban Orissa and 150 from the rural. The study shows that most of the elderly prefer to live alone, and the demographic characteristics affect their living arrangement preferences. It adds that majority of the elderly prefer a living arrangement due to economic conditions.

Fish type I IFNs are classified into two groups with two (group I) or four (group II) cysteines in the mature peptide and can be further divided into four subgroups, termed IFN-a, -b, -c, and -d. Salmonids possess all four subgroups, whereas other teleost species have one or more but not all groups. In this study, we have discovered two further subgroups (IFN-e and -f) in rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss and analyzed the expression of all six subgroups in rainbow trout and brown trout Salmo trutta. In rainbow trout RTG-2 and RTS-11 cells, polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid stimulation resulted in early activation of IFN-d, whereas the IFN-e subgroup containing the highest number of members showed weak induction. In contrast with the cell lines, remarkable induction of IFN-a, -b, and -c was detected in primary head kidney leukocytes after polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid treatment, whereas a moderate increase of IFNs was observed after stimulation with resiquimod. Infection of brown trout with hemorrhagic septicemia virus resulted in early induction of IFN-d, -e, and -f and a marked increase of IFN-b and IFN-c expression in kidney and spleen. IFN transcripts were found to be strongly correlated with the viral burden and with marker genes of the IFN antiviral cascade. The results demonstrate that the IFN system of salmonids is far more complex than previously realized, and in-depth research is required to fully understand its regulation and function. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]