Conservation of Mahseer Fish in Madhya Pradesh by following M.I.R.A.C.L.E strategy

The endangered Mahseer species, especially Tor tor (Ham) is a state fish of Madhya Pradesh province of India. Ongoing construction of dams on the state’s rivers destroys the breeding and habitat ground of this fish species. To inspect the current situation, the conservation of Mahseer is commencing a big challenge for biodiversity developers. To conserve the fish from steady deterioration, a unique M.I.R.A.C.L.E strategy has been endorsed which includes mapping of habitat, involving people with this project, research and data collection, advocacy for policy and legal framework, conservation measures following the restoration of the wild species through ex-situ & in-situ conservation, livelihoods connections, extension and training of frontline foresters on this conservation issue. In the future, this M.I.R.A.C.L.E strategy could help to guide in the right way to protecting this valuable fish species from being extinct.

Is it Good or Bad to Provide Driver Fatigue Warning During Take-Over in Highly Automated Driving?

When and how the driver should be intervened to relieve the fatigue status in Society of Automotive Engineers Level 3 automated driving has raised numerous debates. In this paper, we identify the driver’s fatigue level according to the driver’s facial features before the system issues the take-over request (TOR), and then perform the fatigue warning (FW) intervention to investigate whether the driver would be better prepared for taking over the vehicle safely and efficiently. In a simulator-based study, we compared the driver’s driving performance under the condition of whether a FW intervention was provided before a possible TOR, with the aim to gain insights into the ability of fatigued drivers to regain manual control and situation awareness after automated driving. A FW + TOR condition was compared with a TOR-only condition using a within-subject design with 30 participants. Under the effect of FW, participants exhibited better take-over performance; for example, they gazed at the road and placed their hands on the steering wheel earlier before taking over the vehicle. Moreover, in the FW + TOR state, they also exhibited better take-over performance, with a shorter average braking reaction time and a higher average speed, which reflects that the driver’s speed is more stable during the take-over of the vehicle and that the take-over task can be completed with a smaller deceleration. Furthermore, it is concluded that the FW (5 s before TOR) + TOR mode has greater potential to increase the safety and acceptance of automated driving, and could reduce the driver’s safety risk in a fatigue state when driving automatically compared with the FW (10 s before TOR) + TOR mode. It is concluded that FW (5 s before TOR) + TOR mode has the potential to increase safety and acceptance of automated driving as compared with systems that provide only TORs. In addition, we need to design take-over scenarios and non-driving-related tasks with different levels of complexity to satisfy subsequent research. The fatigue detection method based on image-processing techniques also needs further improvement.

EFFECT OF WATER TEMPERATURE ON THE GROWTH PERFORMANCE AND FEED CONVERSION RATIO OF SAHAR (TOR TOR)

Water temperature is a major factor influencing growth performance and feed conversion ratio of fish. To optimize the growth and feed conversion ratio of Tor tor through maintenance of optimum water temperature, a 90 days experiment was conducted in complete randomized design from December 2018 to March 2019. Tor tor fingerlings (2.7±0.1g) were stocked in an aquarium maintained with desired temperature range of 19-21°C, 24-26°Cand 29-31°C and was replicated five times such that 15 aquariums were kept for the intensive study. Ten such fingerlings were kept in each aquarium. The fingerlings were fed with a diet containing 30% crude protein and 4% of wet body weight twice a day, at 6:00 and 15:00 hours and a natural photoperiod was maintained during the experiment. There were few efforts to enhance growth of Mahaseer species through optimizing the water temperature. The aim of this research is to identify the optimal water temperature for growing Tor tor. Among different water, significantly higher body weight (3.892±0.125 g) and total length (7.66±0.059 cm) was observed under water temperature range of 29-31°C. This was followed by body weight of 3.512±0.193 g and total length of 7.34±0.031cm under water temperature range of 24-26°C which was statistically at par with water temperature of 19-21°C. Best feed conversion ratio of 3.722 was obtained at 29-31°C. Temperature significantly affect different growth attribute of fingerlings. This experiment clearly demonstrated that 29-31°C is the most effective for rearing Tor tor.

”Eh ciò, Sergio el xe stà anca sfortunà”

Basato sui principi teorici e metodologici dell’analisi della conversazione, questo studio descrive gli usi in interazione di ciò ([ʧɔ]), un segnale discorsivo presente in diverse varietà italo-romanze ancora ampiamente diffuse in Veneto, ma frequente anche nell’italiano regionale parlato in quest’area. I dati provengono da telefonate informali e da conversazioni in famiglia, in italiano e in dialetto trevigiano ([trevi'zaŋ]). I risultati preliminari mostrano che ciò (dalla forma imperativa del verbo veneto ciór / tór / tòr ([ʧor] / [tor] / [tɔr], ‘prendere’) è usato principalmente all’inizio del turno di parola, spesso preceduto da altre particelle. Tuttavia ciò si trova spesso all’interno e, in un numero limitato di casi, anche alla fine del turno. Dal punto di vista sequenziale, nei nostri dati la presenza di ciò è riscontrabile in maniera pressoché esclusiva in turni di risposta. Questo studio dimostra che un approccio metodologico di tipo analitico conversazionale può dare un utile contributo alla comprensione non solo di strutture e fenomeni caratteristici del parlato ma anche delle complesse relazioni esistenti tra varietà linguistiche diverse in Italia.

Critically endangered mohashol, Tor tor: Present status and road to conservation in Bangladesh

Mohashol, Tor tor is one of the most beautiful indigenous fish of Bangladesh. It is a globally acclaimed sport and table fish and distributed in many South and Southeast Asian countries. In the past Tor tor was reported to be available in some rivers of different parts of Bangladesh, but at present this species is very rarely found only in Someshwari, one of the transboundary rivers of Bangladesh. Illegal fishing practices, soil erosion and siltation, construction of flood control and drainage structures, excessive human intervention on this river for livelihood as well as climate change have been considered as the main causes to degrade the habitat of mohashol. Moreover, unscientific coal mining in Meghalaya has further aggravated the problem. Consequently, T. tor has been red listed as critically endangered fish in Bangladesh. Though few attempts have been made for conservation of T. putitora, the endangered T. tor did not get such due importance. So, it is the prime time to put our heads together to conserve this lucrative, aristocratic and iconic fish and to design an integrated conservation project under a multilateral agreement among the South Asian countries specially India, Bangladesh and Nepal as the initial step in this regard.

A Current Update on the Distribution, Morphological Features, and Genetic Identity of the Southeast Asian Mahseers, Tor Species

The king of rivers or mahseer comprises three genera: Tor, Neolissochilus, and Naziritor, under the Cyprinidae family. The Tor genus has been classified as the true mahseer due to the presence of a median lobe among the three genera. The Tor species are widely distributed across Southeast (SE) Asia, and 13 Tor species have been reported previously: Tor ater, Tor dongnaiensis, Tor douronensis, Tor laterivittatus, Tor mosal, Tor mekongensis, Tor putitora, Tor sinensis, Tor soro, Tor tambra, Tor tambroides, Tor tor and Tor yingjiangensis. However, the exact number of valid Tor species remains debatable. Different and unstandardized approaches of applying genetic markers in taxonomic identification and morphology variation within the same species have further widened the gap and ameliorated the instability of Tor species taxonomy. Therefore, synchronized and strategized research among Tor species researchers is urgently required to improve and fill the knowledge gap. This review is a current update of SE Asia’s Tor species, outlining their distribution, morphology, and genetic identification. In addition, the present review proposes that there are ten valid Tor species in the SE Asian region. This list will serve as a template and standard to improve the taxonomy of the SE Asian Tor species, which could serve as a basis to open new directions in Tor research.