The Cold Tongue in the South China Sea during Boreal Winter and Its Interaction with the Atmosphere

A distinct cold tongue has recently been noticed in the South China Sea during the winter monsoon, with the cold tongue temperature minimum occurring in the January or February. This cold tongue shows signi¯cant links with the Maritime Continent's rainfall during the winter period. The cold tongue and its interaction with the Maritime Continent's weather were studied using Reynolds SST data, wind ¯elds from the NCEP{NCAR reanalysis dataset and the quikSCAT dataset. In addition, rainfall from the GOES Precipitation Index (GPI) for the periods 2000 to 2008 was also used. The propagation of the cold tongue towards the south is explained using wind dynamics and the western boundary current. During the period of strong cold tongue, the surface wind is strong and the western boundary current advects the cold tongue to the south. During the period of strong winds the zonal gradient of SST is high [0.5±C (25 km)¡1]. The cold tongue plays an important role in regulating the climate over the Maritime Continent. It creates a zonal/meridional SST gradient and this gradient ultimately leads in the formation of convection. Hence, two maximum precipitation zones are found in the Maritime Continent, with a zone of relatively lower precipitation between, which coincides with the cold tongue's regions. It was found that the precipitation zones have strong links with the intensity of the cold tongue. During stronger cold tongue periods the precipitation on either side of the cold tongue is considerably greater than during weaker cold tongue periods. The features of convection on the eastern and western sides of the cold tongue behave di®erently. On the eastern side convection is preceded by one day with SST gradient, while on the western side it is four days.

Diurnal Structure of Monsoon Boundary Layer

The characteristics of the monsoon boundary layer are imperative to understand in the perception of the tropical regions. The southwest monsoon is associated with a strong wind in the lower troposphere near 1.5 km and is referred to as Low Level Jet stream (LLJ). The boundary layer structure associated with the LLJ during monsoon can be studied using L-band Ultra High Frequency (UHF) radar. This L-band wind profiler-commonly referred as lower atmospheric wind profiler (LAWP), was installed at NARL, Gadanki. Zonal, meridional and vertical wind components are used to understand the diurnal variation of the wind in the Atmospheric Boundary Layer (ABL) and associated features. From the analysis during non rainy days of the southwest monsoon, it is found that the LLJ has maximum strength during the early morning hours at lower level and the height increases as day progresses. The vertical wind shows the transfer of momentum from the LLJ towards the surface, indicating the sinking motion during the daytime. Vertical gradient of the wind shear shows the intensity of clear air turbulence is moderate and no severe clear air turbulence is noticed during the monsoon period

Long term trends of seasonal and monthly rainfall in different intensity ranges over Indian subcontinent

In general Indian summer monsoon rainfall did not show any significant trend in all Indian summer monsoon rainfall series, however, it was reported that the ISMR is subjected to spatial trends. This paper made an attempt to bring out long term trends of different intensity classes of summer monsoon rainfall in different regions of Indian subcontinent. The long term trend of seasonal and monthly rainfall were also made using the India Meteorological Department gridded daily rainfall data with a spatial resolution of 1° × 1° latitude-longitude grid for the period from 1st January, 1901 to 31st December, 2003. The summer monsoon rainfall shows an increasing trend in southeast, northwest and northeast regions, whereas decreasing trend in the central and west coastal regions. In monthly scale, July rainfall shows decreasing trend over west coastal and central Indian regions and significant increasing trend over northeast region at 0.1% significant level. During the month August, decreasing trend is observed in the west coastal stations at 10% significant level. In most of the stations, mean daily rainfall shows an increasing trend for low and very high intense rainfall. For the moderate rainfall, the trend is different for different regions. In the central and southern regions the trend of moderate and moderately high classes show increasing trend. And for the high and very high intensity classes, the trend is decreasing significantly. In the northeastern regions, above 10 mm/day rainfall shows significantly increasing trend with 0.1% significant level.

E-Resources in the Engineering College Libraries of Kerala: Problems towards Sustainable Collection Development

Electronic resources have become a vital part of an academic library especially in universities and higher education institutions. The availability of electronic resources and the acceptance of the fonnat among the academics are rising day by day. As far as engineering students are concerned, they are much techno-savy and are more used to electronic resources. So it has become necessary for the libraries of engineering institutions to subscribe and provide access to electronic resources to satisfy its user community. Many studies have identified that academics are much preferring online journals and databases than their print counter-parts

Bioremediation of Zinc Using Bacillus sp. Isolated from Metal- Contaminated Industrial Zone

The production of heavy metals has increased quickly since the industrial revolution. Heavy metals frequently form compounds that can be toxic, carcinogenic, or mutagenic, even in very small concentrations. The usual techniques of removing metals from wastewaters are in general expensive and have many restrictions. Alternative methods of metal removal and recovery based on biological materials have been measured. Among various agents, the use of microbes for the removal of metals from industrial and municipal wastewater has been proposed as a promising alternative to conventional heavy metal management strategies in past decades. Thus, the present study aims to isolate and characterize bacteria from soil, sediment, and waters of metal-contaminated industrial area to study the zinc resistance patterns and the zinc bioaccumulation potential of the selected microorganism. Zinc analysis of the samples revealed that concentrations varying from 39.832 m g/L to 310.24 m g/L in water, 12.81 m g/g to 407.53 m g/g in soil, and 81.06 m g/g to 829.54 m g/g in sediment are present. Bacterial zinc resistance study showed that tolerance to Zn was relatively low (<500 m g/ml). Ten bacterial genera were represented in soil and 11 from water, while only 5 bacterial genera were recorded from sediment samples. Bacillus, Pseudomonas , and Enterobacter were found in soil, sediment, and water samples. Highly zincresistant Bacillus sp. was selected for zinc removal experiment. Zinc removal studies revealed that at pH 5 about 40% reduction occurs; at pH 7, 25% occurs; and at pH 9, 50% occurs. Relatively an increased removal of Zinc was observed in the fi rst day of the experiment by Bacillus sp. The metal bioaccumulative potential of the selected isolates may have possible applications in the removal and recovery of zinc from industrial ef fluents.

A Study On The Utilisation Of Plastic Wastes In Stabilised Masonry Blocks

At this era of energy crisis and resource depletion, availability of conventional materials throughout the year in quantity and quality, pose a hectic problem for the builders. Adding fuel to the fire, the demand of these materials increases day by day, since the housing and habitat requirements exponentially increase time to time. There is an international concern over this crisis and researchers are reorienting themselves, so as to evolve appropriate masonry units, using locally available cheap materials and technology. The concept of green material and construction has been well conceived in the research so that marginal materials and unskilled labour can be employed for the mass production of building blocks. In this context, considering earth as a sustainable material, there is a growing interest in the use of it, as a modern construction material. Solid waste management is one of the current major environmental concerns in our country. Our country is left with millions of cubic metre of waste plastics. One of the methods to satisfactorily address this solid waste management and the environmental issues is to suitably accommodate the waste in some form (as fibres). Their employability in block making in the form of fibres (plastic fibre- mud blocks) can be investigated through a fundamental research. Also, the review of the existing literature shows that most studies on natural fibres are focussed on cellulose based/ vegetable fibres obtained from renewable plant resources except in very few cases, where animal fibre, plastic fibre and polystyrene fabric were used. At this context, for the plastic fibre-mud blocks to be more widely applicable, a systematic quantification of the relevant physical and mechanical properties of the fibre masonry units is crucial, to enable an objective evaluation of the composite material’s response to actual field condition. This research highlights the salient observations from the detailed investigation of a systematic study on the effect of embedded fibres, made of plastic wastes on the performance of stabilised mud blocks.

Immunostimulatory effect of a marine yeast Candida sake S165 in Fenneropenaeus indicus

The efficacy of a marine yeast Candida sake as source of immunostimulant to Indian white shrimp Fenneropenaeus indicus was estimated. Biomass of C. sake was prepared using malt extract agar and incorporated at graded levels into a standard diet to prepare yeast diets of varying biomass concentrations (1%, 10% and 20%). F. indicus were fed on these diets for a period of 28 days and challenged orally with white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) and immune parameters such as total haemocyte count, phenoloxidase and nitroblue tetrazolium reduction (NBT) were determined. Ten per cent C. sake in the diet was found to support an optimum immune response in the animals in general and their enhancement could be observed on the second and third day following challenge with the virus. The study has demonstrated that marine yeast C. sake at 10% in diet (w/w) may be used as an effective source of immunostimulants in F. indicus

Anti-lipopolysaccharide factor and crustin-III, the anti-white spot virus peptides in Penaeus monodon: Control of viral infection by up-regulation

White Spot Syndrome Virus (WSSV) is the most devastating disease affecting shrimp culture around the world. Though, considerable progress has been made in the detection and molecular characterization of WSSV in recent years, information pertaining to immune gene expression in shrimps with respect to WSSV infection remains limited. In this context, the present study was undertaken to understand the differential expression of antimicrobial peptide (AMP) genes in the haemocytes of Penaeus monodon in response to WSSV infection on a time-course basis employing semi-quantitative RT-PCR. The present work analyzes the expression profile of six AMP genes (ALF, crustin-1, crustin-2, crustin-3, penaeidin-3 and penaeidin-5), eight WSSV genes (DNA polymerase, endonuclease, immediate early gene, latency related gene, protein kinase, ribonucleotide reductase, thymidine kinase and VP28) and three control genes (18S rRNA, β-actin and ELF) in P. monodon in response to WSSV challenge. Penaeidins were found to be up-regulated during early hours of infection and crustin-3 during late period of infection. However, ALF was found to be up-regulated early to late period of WSSV infection. The present study suggests that AMPs viz. ALF and crustin-3 play an important role in antiviral defense in shrimps. WSSV gene transcripts were detected post-challenge day 1 itself and increased considerably day 5 onwards. Evaluation of the control genes confirmed ELF as the most reliable control gene followed by 18S rRNA and β-actin for gene expression studies in shrimps. This study indicated the role of AMPs in the protection of shrimps against viral infection and their possible control through the up-regulation of AMPs

Nitrification in a packed bed bioreactor integrated into amarine recirculating maturation system under different substrate concentrations and flow rates

BACKGROUND: A packed bed bioreactor (PBBR) activated with an indigenous nitrifying bacterial consortia was developed and commercialized for rapid establishment of nitrification in brackish water and marine hatchery systems in the tropics. The present study evaluated nitrification in PBBR integrated into a Penaeus monodon recirculating maturation system under different substrate concentrations and flow rates. RESULTS:Instantnitrificationwasobservedafter integration ofPBBRinto thematuration system.TANandNO2-Nconcentrations were always maintained below0.5 mg L−1 during operation. The TANandNO2-N removalwas significant (P < 0.001) in all the six reactor compartments of the PBBR having the substrates at initial concentrations of 2, 5 and 10 mg L−1. The average volumetric TAN removal rates increased with flow rates from 43.51 (250 L h−1) to 130.44 (2500 L h−1) gTAN m−3 day−1 (P < 0.05). FISH analysis of the biofilms after 70 days of operation gave positive results with probes NSO 190 ((β ammonia oxidizers), NsV 443 (Nitrosospira spp.) NEU (halophilic Nitrosomonas), Ntspa 712 (Phylum Nitrospira) indicating stability of the consortia. CONCLUSION: The PBBR integrated into the P. monodon maturation system exhibited significant nitrification upon operation for 70 days as well as at different substrate concentrations and flow rates. This system can easily be integrated into marine and brackish water aquaculture systems, to establish instantaneous nitrification

Anti–white spot syndrome virus activity of Ceriops tagal aqueous extract in giant tiger shrimp Penaeus monodon

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV), the most contagious pathogen of cultured shrimp, causes mass mortality, leading to huge economic loss to the shrimp industry. The lack of effective therapeutic or prophylactic measures has aggravated the situation, necessitating the development of antiviral agents. With this objective, the antiviral activity in the aqueous extract of a mangrove plant Ceriops tagal in Penaeus monodon was evaluated. The Ceriops tagal aqueous extract (CTAE) was non-toxic to shrimps at 50 mg/ml when injected intramuscularly at a dosage of 10 lL/animal (0.5 mg/animal) and showed a protective effect against WSSV at 30 mg/ml when mixed with WSSV suspension at a 1:1 ratio. When the extract was administered along with the diet and the animals were challenged orally, there was a dose-dependent increase in survival, culminating in 100 % survival at a concentration of 500 mg/kg body weight/day. Neither hypertrophied nuclei nor the viral envelope protein VP28 could be demonstrated in surviving shrimps using histology and indirect immunofluorescence histochemistry (IIFH), respectively. To elucidate the mode of action, the temporal expression of WSSV genes and shrimp immune genes, including antimicrobial peptides, was attempted. None of the viral genes were found to be expressed in shrimps that were fed with the extract and challenged or in those that were administered CTAE-exposed WSSV. The overall results suggest that the aqueous extract from C. tagal can protect P. monodon from white spot syndrome virus infection.

Regional climate model applications on sub-regional scales over the Indian monsoon region: The role of domain size on downscaling uncertainty

Regional climate models are becoming increasingly popular to provide high resolution climate change information for impacts assessments to inform adaptation options. Many countries and provinces requiring these assessments are as small as 200,000 km2 in size, significantly smaller than an ideal domain needed for successful applications of one-way nested regional climate models. Therefore assessments on sub-regional scales (e.g., river basins) are generally carried out using climate change simulations performed for relatively larger regions. Here we show that the seasonal mean hydrological cycle and the day-to-day precipitation variations of a sub-region within the model domain are sensitive to the domain size, even though the large scale circulation features over the region are largely insensitive. On seasonal timescales, the relatively smaller domains intensify the hydrological cycle by increasing the net transport of moisture into the study region and thereby enhancing the precipitation and local recycling of moisture. On daily timescales, the simulations run over smaller domains produce higher number of moderate precipitation days in the sub-region relative to the corresponding larger domain simulations. An assessment of daily variations of water vapor and the vertical velocity within the sub-region indicates that the smaller domains may favor more frequent moderate uplifting and subsequent precipitation in the region. The results remained largely insensitive to the horizontal resolution of the model, indicating the robustness of the domain size influence on the regional model solutions. These domain size dependent precipitation characteristics have the potential to add one more level of uncertainty to the downscaled projections.

Using open source software for digital libraries A case study of CUSAT

The purpose of this paper is to describe the design and development of a digital library at Cochin University of Science and Technology (CUSAT), India, using DSpace open source software. The study covers the structure, contents and usage of CUSAT digital library. Design/methodology/approach – This paper examines the possibilities of applying open source in libraries. An evaluative approach is carried out to explore the features of the CUSAT digital library. The Google Analytics service is employed to measure the amount of use of digital library by users across the world. Findings – CUSAT has successfully applied DSpace open source software for building a digital library. The digital library has had visits from 78 countries, with the major share from India. The distribution of documents in the digital library is uneven. Past exam question papers share the major part of the collection. The number of research papers, articles and rare documents is less. Originality/value – The study is the first of its type that tries to understand digital library design and development using DSpace open source software in a university environment with a focus on the analysis of distribution of items and measuring the value by usage statistics employing the Google Analytics service. The digital library model can be useful for designing similar systems

Free/Open Source Software in CUSAT: A Success Story

Free/Open Source Software (FOSS) concept is very important in the academic community. The open philosophy of FOSS is consistent with academic freedom and the open dissemination of knowledge and information in academia. FOSS can lower the barriers to access of ICTs by reducing the cost of the software. This article discusses the success story of CUSAT's adoption of Free/Open Source Software

Valorization of date palm (Phoenix dactylifera) fruit processing by-products and wastes using bioprocess technology – Review

The date palm Phoenix dactylifera has played an important role in the day-to-day life of the people for the last 7000 years. Today worldwide production, utilization and industrialization of dates are continuously increasing since date fruits have earned great importance in human nutrition owing to their rich content of essential nutrients. Tons of date palm fruit wastes are discarded daily by the date processing industries leading to environmental problems. Wastes such as date pits represent an average of 10% of the date fruits. Thus, there is an urgent need to find suitable applications for this waste. In spite of several studies on date palm cultivation, their utilization and scope for utilizing date fruit in therapeutic applications, very few reviews are available and they are limited to the chemistry and pharmacology of the date fruits and phytochemical composition, nutritional significance and potential health benefits of date fruit consumption. In this context, in the present review the prospects of valorization of these date fruit processing by-products and wastes’ employing fermentation and enzyme processing technologies towards total utilization of this valuable commodity for the production of biofuels, biopolymers, biosurfactants, organic acids, antibiotics, industrial enzymes and other possible industrial chemicals are discussed

Lead free heterogeneous multilayers with giant magneto electric coupling for microelectronics/microelectromechanical systems applications

Lead free magneto electrics with a strong sub resonant (broad frequency range) magneto electric coupling coefficient (MECC) is the goal of the day which can revolutionise the microelectronics and microelectromechanical systems (MEMS) industry. We report giant resonant MECC in lead free nanograined Barium Titanate–CoFe (Alloy)-Barium Titanate [BTO-CoFe-BTO] sandwiched thin films. The resonant MECC values obtained here are the highest values recorded in thin films/ multilayers. Sub-resonant MECC values are quite comparable to the highest MECC reported in 2-2 layered structures. MECC got enhanced by two orders at a low frequency resonance. The results show the potential of these thin films for transducer, magnetic field assisted energy harvesters, switching devices, and storage applications. Some possible device integration techniques are also discussed