Bibliography of the Indian Ocean 1931 – 1961 - A supplement to the ‘Partial Bibliography’

This Bulletin is a continuation of Bulletin No. 4 issued from this Institute as a Supplement (for the 1900-1930 period) to the ‘Partial Bibliography of the Indian Ocean’ brought out by the U. S. Program in Biology in 1962. In spite of various handicaps my colleagues have managed to bring together as many relevant references as possible for the 1931-1961 period, which did not find a place in the ‘Partial Bibliography’. There are in all 2682 references of which the greater part comes under fishes (827), crustaceans (418) and molluscs (293). The preparation of the Bulletin was undertaken at my suggestion by Messrs. R. S. Lal Mohan, D.B. James and K.K. Appukuttan who completed the same without prejudice to their routine work. It is needless to say that they had sacrificed a great deal of their spare time for this purpose and gives me great pleasure to record my sincere thanks and appreciation for their high sense of responsibility, co-operative spirit and devotion to duty. My thanks are also due to other members of the staff who in various ways helped in the completion of the Bulletin

Bibliography of the Indian Ocean 1900-1930 –A Supplement to the ‘Partial Bibliography’

The first Bulletin of the Central Marine Fisheries Research Institute on the “Bibliography of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography of the Indian Ocean 1962-67” was issued in March 1968 to provide the scientific workers in this region with a reasonably comprehensive list of references relating to the area since the issue of “A Partial Bibliography of the Indian Ocean” by the U.S. Programme in Biology in June 1962. It is most gratifying that the Bulletin was very well received. More than anything else this has enabled the outside world to get a correct idea of the extent of work carried out in this country in general and in this Institute in particular in marine fisheries and oceanography during the last few years. The usefulness of the venture has encouraged us to go ahead with the programme of preparation of a supplement to the “Partial Bibliography” as indicated in the Forword of the first Bulletin. However, owing to various practical difficulties it was not possible to cover the period from 1900-1961 in one Supplement as announced earlier and therefore to avoid delay it was considered expedient to issue the present one for 1900-1930. The Supplement for the subsequent period, viz., 1931-1961, will be issued in due course

Biotoxicity in Marine Organisms

The results from the screening of 118 marine organisms (corals, alcyoniarians, mollusks, echinoderms, flagellates) found in the coastal waters of India for their toxicity on fish and mice fingerlings as well as their hemolytic activities are presented

Location and Dynamics of the Immunodominant CD8 T Cell Response to SIVΔnef Immunization and SIVmac251 Vaginal Challenge

Live-attenuated SIV vaccines (LAVs) have been the most effective to date in preventing or partially controlling infection by wild-type SIV in non-human primate models of HIV-1 transmission to women acting by mechanisms of protection that are not well understood. To gain insights into mechanisms of protection by LAVs that could aid development of effective vaccines to prevent HIV-1 transmission to women, we used in situ tetramer staining to determine whether increased densities or changes in the local distribution of SIV-specific CD8 T cells correlated with the maturation of SIVΔnef vaccine-induced protection prior to and after intra-vaginal challenge with wild-type SIVmac251. We evaluated the immunodominant Mamu-A1*001:01/Gag (CM9) and Mamu-A1*001:01/Tat (SL8) epitope response in genital and lymphoid tissues, and found that tetramer+ cells were present at all time points examined. In the cervical vaginal tissues, most tetramer+ cells were distributed diffusely throughout the lamina propria or co-localized with other CD8 T cells within lymphoid aggregates. The distribution and densities of the tetramer+ cells at the portal of entry did not correlate with the maturation of protection or change after challenge. Given these findings, we discuss the possibility that changes in other aspects of the immune system, including the quality of the resident population of virus-specific effector CD8 T cells could contribute to maturation of protection, as well as the potential for vaccine strategies that further increase the size and quality of this effector population to prevent HIV-1 transmission

Survey of green mussel seed resources of Kerala and Karnataka

Farming of marine mussels Is practiced extensively in the temperate and Southeast Asian countries. In India two species of mussels, Perna viridis and Perna indica commonly known as the green and brown mussels respectively have been reported

Effects of long-term exposure to an electronic containment system on the behaviour and welfare of domestic cats

Free-roaming cats are exposed to a variety of risks, including involvement in road traffic accidents. One way of mitigating these risks is to contain cats, for example using an electronic boundary fence system that delivers an electric ‘correction’ via a collar if a cat ignores a warning cue and attempts to cross the boundary. However, concerns have been expressed over the welfare impact of such systems. Our aim was to determine if long-term exposure to an electronic containment system was associated with reduced cat welfare. We compared 46 owned domestic cats: 23 cats that had been contained by an electronic containment system for more than 12 months (AF group); and 23 cats with no containment system that were able to roam more widely (C group). We assessed the cats’ behavioural responses and welfare via four behavioural tests (unfamiliar person test; novel object test; sudden noise test; cognitive bias test) and an owner questionnaire. In the unfamiliar person test, C group lip-licked more than the AF group, whilst the AF group looked at, explored and interacted more with the unfamiliar person than C group. In the novel object test, the AF group looked at and explored the object more than C group. No significant differences were found between AF and C groups for the sudden noise or cognitive bias tests. Regarding the questionnaire, C group owners thought their cats showed more irritable behaviour and AF owners thought that their cats toileted inappropriately more often than C owners. Overall, AF cats were less neophobic than C cats and there was no evidence of significant differences between the populations in general affective state. These findings indicate that an electronic boundary fence with clear pre-warning cues does not impair the long term quality of life of cat

Lithium suppression of tau induces brain iron accumulation and neurodegeneration

Lithium is a first-line therapy for bipolar affective disorder. However, various adverse effects, including a Parkinson-like hand tremor, often limit its use. The understanding of the neurobiological basis of these side effects is still very limited. Nigral iron elevation is also a feature of Parkinsonian degeneration that may be related to soluble tau reduction. We found that magnetic resonance imaging T2 relaxation time changes in subjects commenced on lithium therapy were consistent with iron elevation. In mice, lithium treatment lowers brain tau levels and increases nigral and cortical iron elevation that is closely associated with neurodegeneration, cognitive loss and parkinsonian features. In neuronal cultures lithium attenuates iron efflux by lowering tau protein that traffics amyloid precursor protein to facilitate iron efflux. Thus, tau- and amyloid protein precursor-knockout mice were protected against lithium-induced iron elevation and neurotoxicity. These findings challenge the appropriateness of lithium as a potential treatment for disorders where brain iron is elevated (for example, Alzheimer’s disease), and may explain lithium-associated motor symptoms in susceptible patients

Expression of NLRC4 Inflammasome and its Correlation with Treponema Denticola in Stage III/IV Periodontitis with Type II Diabetes mellitus

To evaluate the expression of NLRC4 inflammasome and correlate with Treponema denticola (T. denticola) levels, so as to comprehend their role in mediating chronic inflammation in individuals with periodontitis (PD) and Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus (T2DM). Materials and Methods: A total of fifty-one subjects were recruited and grouped as those systemically and periodontally healthy (PH, n=17), those systemically healthy with PD (PD, n=17), and those with T2DM with PD (PD+T2DM, n=17). Site specific probing pocket depth, clinical attachment level, plaque index, and gingival index were recorded. Thereafter, samples of subgingival plaque and gingival tissue taken with biopsy using an internal bevel incision were procured at sites evidencing the disease state. T. denticola was quantified using qPCR, and NLRC4 expression was evaluated with immunohistochemistry. Results: Compared to the PH controls, significantly higher expression and intensity of NLRC4 inflammasome was observed in the PD and PD with T2DM groups, with a significantly greater expression in the PD+T2DM group (p<0.05). In all three groups, NLRC4 expression (mean percentage, intensity) and T. denticola levels showed a significant positive correlation (p<0.05). Conclusion: The subgingival plaque, T. denticola levels in PD were significantly related to NLRC4 expression, both in the presence and absence of T2DM. NLRC4 activation possibly plays a role in establishing a hyperinflammatory state in diabetes mellitus modified PD

INCF/OCNS Software Working Group

Neuroscience cannot exist without its ecosystem of community-developed software tools that many of us rely heavily upon. The newly established Software Working Group, a community working group shared by the International Neuroinformatics Coordinating Facility (INCF) and the Organization for Computational Neurosciences (OCNS), aims to undertake activities that focus on these software tools. Members of the working group will find and discuss relevant software tools, learn and teach how to use them, test and review them, and report bugs to inform tool developers of issues when required. The working group will also strive to learn how these tools work to get involved in their development and maintenance. The aim is to ensure that the tools that our community depends on continue to be maintained by actively engaged community members, and to bring end users into close collaboration with tool developers. Since the working group includes many tool developers, it also serves as a platform to exchange design and development ideas, and will assist in improving interoperability between related tools. Another related goal of the working group is to help members define, improve, and teach transferable skills in the area of modern research software development, particularly in but not limited to, computational neuroscience. The working group is designed to be flexible, instead of being linked to a particular goal. This approach allows the group to pursue timely projects that its members value and are interested in working on. The current goals of the working group are: - To set up and maintain a living document of the current best practices in research software development to serve as a reference for the research community, especially tool developers - To host regular “developer sessions” where developer teams of various tools discuss their development pipelines (or workflows)—to disseminate various development practices, and help potential contributors get started. The activities of the working group can be followed on its website at https://ocns.github.io/SoftwareWG

Bibliography of Marine Fisheries and Oceanography of the Indian Ocean 1962-67

The need for comprehensive bibliographies on scientific subjects for the ben- efit of the research workers has long been recognized especially in view of the increas- ing number of periodicals and other publications coming out in recent years. In India where library facilities are not adequate except in some of the larger cities and Univer- sity Centres the usefulness of such bibliographies needs no emphasis. Speaking of marine fisheries and oceanography it may be stated that a number of research labora- tories have been established in the country during the past two decades and a bibliog- raphy service for scientific workers there has become an absolute necessity. The present bibliography is intended to meet this need in addition to the Advance Abstracts of Contributions on Fisheries and Aquatic Sciences in India issued from this Insti- tute from 1967