Mesh Aperture Research Articles

Length-Weight Relationships for 16 Snapper Fishes fromVisakhapatnam Coast, India

This study presents the length-weight relationships (LWRs) for 16 lutjanid species from Visakhapatnam coastal waters, India (16.98°N-20°.2 N, Long. 82.19°-86.53°E). The samples were collected fortnightly between December 2013 and December 2018 from commercially operated fishing gears viz.: the reef fish trap with single and double horse necked funnel (mesh aperture size 4.5 cm) trap measured about 3 ft in length, 4 ft in width and 2.5 ft in height, having a volume of 30 cu ft. The soak time was between 18 to 22 h. Gill nets made of monofilament nylon netting with a mesh size of 80 mm were used in the collection of snapper fishes. The nets were operated 3 h before morning (sunrise) and hauled 1 h after the sunrise. The depth of the net operated varied from 3 to 8 m, whereas the head rope of the net is around 20–25 m in length. The hook number 8 to 11 is used for the fishing of snapper fishery resources in water depth more than 75 m in Visakhapatnam region. The soak time varied from 5 to 10 h. The bottom trawlers (43 mm with a cod end mesh size of 15–25 mm) a depth range of 10 to 55 m, whereas during each fishing period, 3 to 4 hauls are made with a towing period ranging from 1 to 2 h; trawlers (a depth regime of 12 to 55 m, with a mesh size of 400 mm to 25 mm at the cod end). Around 3 to 6 hauls are made during each fishing trip with a towing period of 1to 2 h. All LWRs were significant with r2 values ranged from 0.9504 for Lutjanus lemniscatus to 0.9951 for Lutjanus fulvus and ‘b’ values ranging from Pinjalo pinjalo for 2.5982 Lutjanus quinquelineatus for 3.4993. In addition, new maximum total length for each of the three species L. indicus, L. xanthopinnis and P. pinjalo was also found. The parameters are found great importance to evaluate the relative condition of populations, biology, ecology, species management and their fisheries and stock assessment.

Annual and seasonal changes in the assemblage of planktonic copepods and appendicularians in Funka Bay before and after intrusion of Coastal Oyashio Water

Annual and seasonal changes in the abundance and the assemblage of planktonic copepods and appendicularians were clarified in Funka Bay. Zooplankton samples were obtained by vertical hauls with a NORPAC net (0.10-mm mesh aperture) from December to May over a 4-year period (2014–2017). Temporal fluctuations of mean abundance of copepods were small from December 2013 to May 2014 under the low water temperature condition (maximum 1.55 times difference between adjacent survey periods), while those were large in other 3 years (1.60–1.93 times). Maximum mean abundance of appendicularians in 2014 (6.0 × 104 ind./m2) was lower than those in 2015–2017 (8.6 × 104–1.4 × 105 ind./m2). Less saline (≤ 33.3) and cold Coastal Oyashio Water (COW) intruded in early February 2014, late February 2015, and late March 2016 and 2017. Phytoplankton blooms occurred in March of all 4 years. Copepods and appendicularians increased nearer periods of phytoplankton bloom than after COW intrusion. In the results of canonical correspondence analysis, the assemblage of copepods and appendicularians gradually changed from small-sized and warm-water species to large-sized and cold-water ones. Northwesterly wind speed had an effect equal to COW intrusion (82% of COW intrusion) to the change in taxonomic compositions of copepods and appendicularians.

A novel, high-welfare methodology for evaluating poultry red mite interventions in vivo

Optimisation and use of a device for the on-hen in vivo feeding of all hematophagous stages of Dermanyssus gallinae is described. The sealed mesh device contains the mites and is applied to the skin of the hen’s thigh where mites can feed on the bird through a mesh which has apertures large enough to allow the mites’ mouth-parts to access to the bird but small enough to contain the mites. By optimising the depth and width of the mesh aperture size we have produced a device which will lead to both reduction and refinement in the use of animals in research, allowing the pre-screening of new vaccines and systemic acaricides/insecticides which have been developed for the control of these blood-feeding parasites before progressing to large field trials. For optimal use, the device should be constructed from 105 μm aperture width, 63 μm depth, polyester mesh and the mites (irrespective of life stage) should be conditioned with no access to food for 3 weeks at 4 °C for optimal feeding and post-feeding survival.

A Three-dimensional Cell Culture Method with a Micromesh Sheet and Its Application to Hepatic Cells.

In vitro 3D cultures of hepatocytes are increasingly being used to assess human hepatic metabolism and toxicity in drug development. Here, we developed an in vitro 3D cell culture method with a microstructured mesh sheet and applied it to culturing human hepatoma HepG2 cells. The micromesh sheet is constituted of fine mesh strands and apertures that are each much larger than a single cell in size. Proliferating on a micromesh sheet, HepG2 cells spread out in a planar manner and then formed a multilayered cell sheet, so that cell-cell adhesion was dominant over cell-substrate adhesion as being different from 2D cultures. In micromesh cultures, the increase rate in thickness of the cell mass was visually slower than that in spheroid cultures, enabling us to clearly observe inside cells of the cell population by microscopy. Micromesh-cultured HepG2 cells showed higher viability compared with spheroid-cultured cells. The multilayered HepG2 cell sheet increased expression of hepatic marker genes and induced cell polarization with bile canalicular membranes. Furthermore, a combination of micromesh cultures with medium perfusion further induced expression of hepatic marker genes in HepG2 cells; especially CYP1A1 and CYP1A2 mRNA increased 86-fold and 43-fold compared with 2D controls, respectively, which were much higher than those in spheroid cultures. Thus, this simple and versatile micromesh culture method holds some advantages over traditional spheroid cultures and is expected to be instrumental in culturing more differentiated hepatic cells such as HepaRG cells and primary hepatocytes for future preclinical testing.

Deployment analysis of deployable antennas considering cable net and truss flexibility

Dynamic analysis of antennas during the deployment is very important. Several successful methods have been demonstrated. However, few studies have been conducted on the deployment analysis of antennas with cable net and flexible truss. This paper presents an analysis method of the deployment of antennas consisting of cable net and flexible truss. First, a beam element is used to model the flexible truss and a cable element with a transition function is used to model the cable net from slack to tension state. Then, the deployment of the antenna is planned and the corresponding variation of the length of the driving cable is obtained. Due to the fact that antennas deploy very slowly in space, the mechanism analysis problem for the antenna during deployment is discretized to several quasi-static configuration analysis problems. By using the principle of minimum potential energy, the equilibrium state of the quasi-static configuration at an instant of the deployment is computed. Numerical simulation of 2 m aperture mesh reflector antenna was performed. The numerical results are compared with previous works, and the validity of the method is demonstrated.

Таксономический состав и сезонная динамика меропланктона в районе мидийно-устричной фермы (Севастополь, Чёрное море)

При организации мидийно-устричных ферм необходимо учитывать динамику численности личинок объектов культивирования и сопутствующих видов, которые могут неблагоприятно повлиять на качество и количество ожидаемой продукции марикультуры. В 2014–2017 гг. проведён мониторинг меропланктона в акватории мидийно-устричной фермы, расположенной на внешнем рейде Севастопольской бухты. Материал собирали ежемесячно сетью Джеди (диаметр входного отверстия — 36 см, размер ячеи газа — 135 мкм). Облавливали слой воды от дна до поверхности (10–0 м). Обработку проводили на живом материале путём тотального подсчёта личинок в камере Богорова под бинокуляром МБС-9. Идентифицированы личинки 62 таксонов, из них Bivalvia — 9 видов, Gastropoda — 15, Polychaeta — 19, Cirripedia — 2, Decapoda — 12, прочие — 5. Таксономический состав меропланктона зависел от сроков размножения донных беспозвоночных и изменялся по сезонам. С декабря по февраль численность меропланктона не превышала 195 экз.·м-3, число видов — 6. Увеличение количества видов и численности личинок отмечено с июня по сентябрь. Максимальная численность меропланктона зарегистрирована в августе 2014 г. Изучена сезонная динамика численности личинок мидии Mytilus galloprovincialis Lamarck, 1819 и потенциального объекта культивирования — анадары Anadara kagoshimensis (Tokunaga, 1906). Личинки M. galloprovincialis присутствовали в планктоне с середины сентября по май и отсутствовали в летние месяцы. Увеличение их численности зарегистрировано в апреле и сентябре — октябре. Зимний нерест мидий отмечен в декабре — январе при температуре воды 8,0–8,9 °C. Личинки анадары A. kagoshimensis встречались с июля по ноябрь. Их численность существенно увеличивалась в сентябре. Приведены данные по встречаемости личинок беспозвоночных, оказывающих негативное влияние на культивируемых моллюсков. Велигеры хищного брюхоногого моллюска Rapana venosa (Valenciennes, 1846) встречались с июля по октябрь. Личинки полихеты-перфоратора Polydora websteri Hartman in Loosanoff & Engle, 1943 обнаружены с июня по октябрь. Личинки полихеты Hydroides dianthus (Verrill, 1873) отмечены в октябре. Науплиусы усоногого рака Amphibalanus improvisus Darwin, 1854 присутствовали круглый год, их численность увеличивалась с марта по июнь и в октябре — ноябре. Сроки нахождения личинок в планктоне необходимо учитывать при планировании гидротехнических работ на мидийно-устричной ферме.

Pool boiling heat transfer on micro-fins with wire mesh – Experiments and heat flux prediction

The article presents experimental data for two kinds of enhanced surfaces: a micro-finned structure without a covering (MF) and micro-fins covered with a copper wire mesh (MFM). The experiments were carried out for water, ethanol and FC-72 at atmospheric pressure. Micro-fins of 0.5/1 mm in height were uniformly spaced on the base surface. The wire mesh with apertures of 0.32, 0.4 and 0.5 mm was sintered with the micro-fin tips. The widths of spaces between the micro-fins (tunnel widths) were 0.6, 1.0 and 1.5 mm. The highest heat transfer coefficients for ethanol used as the working fluid and 1 mm high micro-fins were obtained at the largest mesh aperture size and tunnel widths of 1 mm and plain micro-fins with 0.6 mm wide tunnel. For 0.5 high micro-fins, the highest heat transfer coefficient was obtained for the structure with the widest, 1.5 mm tunnels.The measurement data collected for the three working fluids helped generalize the results in the form of a graph of the increase in heat transfer coefficient as a function of the dimensionless numbers.Visualization studies aimed at identifying nucleation sites and determining the diameter and frequency of departing bubbles for boiling water. A different mechanism of pool boiling was observed for plain micro-fins and micro-fins covered with wire mesh.A simplified model was proposed for determining the total heat flux for micro-fins with the wire mesh. It was assumed that the structure formed a system of connected perpendicular horizontal tunnels limited with a porous top covering. Regarding the calculated bubble parameters (diameter, nucleation sites density, frequency), the heat fluxes were determined for the evaporation in the tunnels between the micro-fins and for the convection on the wire mesh surface. The predicted heat fluxes, when compared to the experimental results, showed satisfactory agreement for boiling water at medium and high heat fluxes (range from 70 to 355 kW/m2). Less accurate results were obtained for ethanol and FC-72.

Thin ceramic membrane with dendritic microchanneled sub structure and high oxygen permeation rate

A novel dendritic microchanneled membrane has been prepared using a mesh-guided phase inversion process. A mesh-guided phase inversion mechanism is proposed to explain the formation mechanism of the microchannels. It is believed that the mesh influenced the formation of microchannels by restricting the organic solvent diffusion rate. The dendritic microchanneled structure was analysed using scanning electron microscopy and 3D reconstruction technologies. The microchanneled structure in this dendritic structure is found to be very different from the previously fabricated microchanneled membrane structure because the microchannels are formed by merging many small microchannels into larger channels with lateral dimensions corresponding to the mesh aperture size. It is confirmed that this structure offers a thin dense layer, a large surface area, good connectivity of microchannels and broad gas diffusion paths. As a result, the La0.6Sr0.4Co0.2Fe0.8O3-δ membrane with dendritic microchanneled structure demonstrates a very high oxygen permeation rate, 3.4mlcm−2min−1 at 900°C.

The use of ferrocement in the construction of squat grain silos

In this study, an investigation is made from the statics and economic aspects of the possibility of using the composite material ferrocement on the surfaces of squat cylindrical grain silos. For this purpose, the geometry of two model silos, each of height 5 m and diameter 5 m and 12.5 m, was designed. Five different reinforced plates of 10 and 20 mm thickness were produced to research the most suitable ferrocement plates to be used on the surface of these silos. Most durable reinforcement type for covering the silo surface was determined by pressure and bending tests. Grade 30 and Grade 55 steel plates were also considered for use in covering steel-coated silos. In the statics analysis performed with SAP2000, the least plate thicknesses needed for silos surfaced with Grade 30 and Grade 55 steel were found to be 6.20 mm and 4.70 mm respectively for silos of diameter 5 m, and 6.70 mm and 5.00 mm for silos of diameter 12.5 m. In the economic analysis, it was found that 20 mm thick Type 4 (with a wire diameter of 0.30 mm and a mesh aperture of 2 mm x 2 mm square type) reinforced ferrocement surfacing material was 5.6-6.1 times more economical than Grade 30 steel surfacing material and 4.4-4.7 times more economical than using Grade 55 steel. These results show that ferrocement can be used in place of steel from the point of view both of statics and economy.

Detection of taeniid (Taenia spp., Echinococcus spp.) eggs contaminating vegetables and fruits sold in European markets and the risk for metacestode infections in captive primates.

Due to frequent cases of alveolar echinococcosis (AE) in captive primates in Europe, 141 samples of food, which consisting of vegetables and fruits, were investigated for contamination with egg-DNA of taeniids. Each sample consisted of at least 40 heads of lettuce as well as various vegetables and fruits. The samples were purchased at different times of the year: either from September to November (autumn), originating from greenhouses or fields in the Basel region in the North of Switzerland, or in April and May (spring) when fruit and vegetables are sourced from throughout Europe from various wholesalers. Each sample was washed, and the washing water sieved through mesh apertures of 50 μm and 21 μm, respectively. The debris, including taeniid eggs, collected on the 21 μm sieve were investigated by a multiplex PCR-analysis followed by direct sequencing. In 17 (18%) of the 95 samples collected in autumn, taeniid-DNA was detected (Taenia hydatigena in four, Taenia ovis in three, Taenia polyacantha in two and Hydatigera (Taenia) taeniaeformis in five cases). Similarly, in 13 (28%) of the 46 samples collected during spring taeniid-DNA was detected (Echinococcus granulosus s.l. in two, Taenia crassiceps in one, T. hydatigena in two, Taenia multiceps/Taenia serialis in two, Taenia saginata in one and H. taeniaeformis in five cases). Although DNA of Echinococcus multilocularis was not found specifically in this study, the detection of other fox taeniids reveals that vegetables and fruit fed to the primates at the Zoo Basel at different times of the year and from different origin are contaminated with carnivore's faeces and therefore act as a potential source of AE infections.

Surface Coating of a Metal Mesh Device Sensor With Gold to Improve the Separation and Sensing of Mammalian Cells

Separation and detection of particular cells from culture media and clinical specimens is important for cell engineering and clinical examination. In this paper, we developed a metal mesh device (MMD) in which a thin nickel mesh with periodic microstructures consisting of square apertures plays a pivotal role in cellular fractionation and sensing. The mesh aperture in our 100-THz MMD had a side length of 1.8 $\mu \text{m}$ . This size of aperture was suitable for optically sensing mesh-captured particles by detecting transmittance of the corresponding electromagnetic waves, and simultaneously functioned as a sieve to separate microspheres according to their size. HeLa cells could be selectively captured by filtration through the 100-THz MMD, and the captured cells were detected by infrared transmittance changes. Coating of the mesh with gold improved sensing capability by sharpening of the transmittance peak. Most (98%) HeLa cells captured on the gold-coated mesh were viable and proliferated normally when re-cultured. When a mixture consisting of HeLa cells and an excess number of erythrocytes was filtered, HeLa cells were captured on the mesh, whereas erythrocytes were not, even though the average size of erythrocytes was much larger than the mesh aperture. Thus, gold-coated mesh may be useful for separating solid tumor-derived circulating cancer cells from erythrocytes, a major blood cell type. In addition, metal mesh-aided recovery of mammalian cells from cultures without cellular damage may facilitate the large-scale culture in cell biotechnology, because centrifugation, a laborious process for harvesting cells, becomes dispensable.

Determination of breakage rate and breakage mode of roller compacted pharmaceutical materials

Roller compaction is a common unit operation in the manufacture of oral solid dose pharmaceutical products. The roller compactor can produce intermediate ribbons of compacted material that exhibit a range of mechanical properties. Both the breakage rate and the breakage mode of these intermediates will have an effect on the final particle size distribution (PSD), and are therefore important parameters in determining the performance of the final product in pharmaceutical manufacturing. The breakage rates of roller compacted ribbons of two pharmaceutical excipients, microcrystalline cellulose (MCC) and mannitol, were determined with two different approaches, i.e. by analysing the milling mass throughput and the change in mass in the largest granule size class. The self-similar solution of the breakage population balance equation provided an insight into size dependencies of breakage rates and the prevailing breakage mode for specific process parameters. The breakage rate was found to be dependent on the impeller speed, milling mesh aperture size and ribbon porosity, but not on grinding media fill level. For MCC ribbons the milling kinetic profile changed with the mesh aperture size, suggesting dependence of the breakage mode on screen size. Our work shows clear correlation between the amount of fines produced during milling and the underlying breakage mode. For the materials studied, it is evident that mannitol ribbons tend more toward an attrition breakage mode than MCC ribbons of equal porosity when milling with the same process settings.

Effect of net size on estimates of abundance, size, age and sex ratio of Mysis diluviana

Abstract We compared catches of Mysis diluviana in 80 vertical tows with large (1.0 m diameter) and small (0.5 m diameter) plankton nets to determine if the small net could be used in long-term monitoring historically conducted with the large net. Both nets were constructed of 500-μm aperture mesh and were towed simultaneously at 0.4 m/s. Comparisons were made at each of 10 stations on three occasions during July–September, 2014 at Dillon Reservoir, Colorado. Estimates of abundance and sex ratio were not different between the two nets but the larger net sampled a slightly broader range of sizes than the smaller net. We conclude that for most population monitoring purposes, the two nets can be used interchangeably; the smaller net is more useful for studies with gear size and weight constraints, but the larger net provides a four times larger sample size and thus may be better for detecting rare individuals.

Intelligent Prediction of Sieving Efficiency in Vibrating Screens

In order to effectively predict the sieving efficiency of a vibrating screen, experiments to investigate the sieving efficiency were carried out. Relation between sieving efficiency and other working parameters in a vibrating screen such as mesh aperture size, screen length, inclination angle, vibration amplitude, and vibration frequency was analyzed. Based on the experiments, least square support vector machine (LS-SVM) was established to predict the sieving efficiency, and adaptive genetic algorithm and cross-validation algorithm were used to optimize the parameters in LS-SVM. By the examination of testing points, the prediction performance of least square support vector machine is better than that of the existing formula and neural network, and its average relative error is only 4.2%.

Comparison of the effects of two bongo net mesh sizes on the estimation of abundance and size of Engraulidae eggs

Abstract Studies of ichthyoplankton retention by nets of different mesh sizes are important because they help in choosing a sampler when planning collection and the establishment of correction factors. These factors make it possible to compare studies performed with nets of different mesh sizes. In most studies of mesh retention of fish eggs, the taxonomic identification is done at the family level, resulting in the loss of detailed information. We separated Engraulidae eggs, obtained with 0.333 mm and 0.505 mm mesh bongo nets at 172 oceanographic stations in the southeastern Brazilian Bight, into four groups based on their morphometric characteristics. The difference in the abundance of eggs caught by the two nets was not significant for those groups with highest volume, types A and B, but in type C (Engraulis anchoita), the most eccentric, and in type D, of the smallest volume, the difference was significant. However, no significant difference was observed in the egg size sampled with each net for E. anchoita and type D, which exhibited higher abundance in the 0.333 mm mesh net and minor axis varying from 0.45-0.71 mm, smaller than the 0.505 mm mesh aperture and the mesh diagonal.

The effect of different baffles on hydraulic performance of a sediment retention pond

Baffles have been utilised in the ponds and wetland to improve the rate of treatment for the polluted water. However, there is limited research in the optimum configuration and type of baffles for sediment retention ponds (SRP). In this study, the effect of porous and submerged solid baffles on the hydraulic performance of a model SRP is assessed. In order to optimise the type and configuration of baffles, several configurations were tested with four different metal meshes (with different aperture size and open area) as porous baffles, and acrylic sheets as solid baffles. The porous baffles were more effective in increasing the retention time and improving the overall hydraulic performance than the solid baffles. The finest mesh with 0.415mm aperture size and 40% open area had the highest performance for most of the configurations with 3 or less baffles. However, for four and five baffles, the medium-fine mesh with 1mm aperture size and 42% open area was the best. For three porous baffles, they were more effective when installed in the first half of the pond compared with when installed about the middle point of the pond, regardless of the mesh size. The two porous baffles with same aperture sizes but different open areas had different hydraulic performance which highlights the importance of mesh aperture in addition to the total open area.

Performance of High Strength Rock Fall Meshes: Effect of Block Size and Mesh Geometry

In rockfall science, the bullet effect refers to the perforation of a rockfall mesh by a small block traveling at high speed. To date, there is still no comprehensive experimental data set investigating the underlying mecha- nisms of such effect. The bullet effect illustrates the fact that the capacity of a rockfall mesh depends on the size and speed of the impacting block. This paper presents the results of an experimental study on the effect of block size and mesh geometry (aperture and wire diameter) on the mesh performance. The results clearly show that the amount of energy required to perforate the mesh drops as the blocks get smaller. They also suggest that the mesh performance reaches a maximum and reduces to zero when the mesh cannot sustain the static load imposed by very large blocks. The outcome of the first series validates an analytical model for mesh perforation, making it the first simple model capturing the bullet effect. A second series of tests focused on the effect of mesh geometry and it was found that decreasing the mesh aperture by 19 % improves the performance by 50 % while only an extra 30 % could be gained by increasing the wire diameter by 33 %. The outcomes of the second series were used to discuss and redefine a dimensionless geometrical parameter G* and to

Granulation of Cu-Al-Fe-Ni Bronze

Abstract With the increase in wall thickness of the casting of iron-nickel-aluminium-bronze, by the reduction of the cooling rate the size of κII phase precipitates increases. This process, in the case of complex aluminium bronzes with additions of Cr, Mo and W is increased. Crystallization of big κII phase, during slow cooling of the casting, reduces the concentration of additives introduced to the bronze matrix and hardness. Undertaken research to develop technology of thick-walled products (g> 6 mm) of complex aluminium bronzes. Particular attention was paid to the metallurgy of granules. As a result, a large cooling speed of the alloy, and also high-speed solidification casting a light weight of the granules allows: to avoid micro-and macrosegregation, decreasing the particle size, increase the dispersion of phases in multiphase alloys. Depending on the size granules as possible is to provide finished products with a wall thickness greater than 6 mm by infiltration of liquid alloy of granules (composites). Preliminary studies was conducted using drip method granulate of CuAl10Fe5Ni5 bronze melted in a INDUTHERM-VC 500 D Vacuum Pressure Casting Machine. This bronze is a starting alloy for the preparation of the complex aluminium bronzes with additions of Cr, Mo, W and C or Si. Optimizations of granulation process was carried out. As the process control parameters taken a casting temperature t (°C) and the path h (mm) of free-fall of the metal droplets in the surrounding atmosphere before it is intensively cooled in a container of water. The granulate was subjected to a sieve analysis. For the objective function was assume maximize of the product of Um*n, the percentage weight “Um” and the quantity of granules ‘n’ in the mesh fraction. The maximum value of the ratio obtained for mesh fraction a sieve with a mesh aperture of 6.3 mm. In the intensively cooled granule of bronze was identified microstructure composed of phases: β and fine bainite (α+β′+β′1) and a small quantity of small precipitates κII phase. Get high microhardness bronze at the level of 323±27,9 HV0,1.

Larval fish variability in response to oceanographic features in a nearshore nursery area.

The influence of oceanographic features on ichthyoplankton assemblages in the warm temperate nearshore region of Algoa Bay, South Africa, was assessed. The nearshore ichthyoplankton comprised 88 taxa from 34 families. Samples were collected at six stations between August 2010 and July 2012 using a plankton ring net of 750 mm diameter and 500 µm mesh aperture. The majority of larvae collected were in a preflexion stage, indicating the potential importance of the nearshore for newly hatched larvae. Engraulidae dominated the catch (38·4%), followed by Cynoglossidae (28·1%) and Sparidae (8·4%). Larval fish abundance was highest during austral spring and summer (September to February). Unique patterns in responses of each dominant fish species to oceanographic features in the nearshore indicate the sensitivity of the early developmental stage to environmental variables. Using generalized linear models, ichthyoplankton abundance responded positively to upwelling and when warm water plumes originating from an Agulhas Current meander entered Algoa Bay. Highest abundances of Engraulis encrasicolus and Sardinops sagax were observed during Agulhas Plume intrusions into Algoa Bay. When a mixed and stratified water column persisted in the nearshore region of Algoa Bay, larval fish abundance decreased. The nearshore region of Algoa Bay appears to serve as a favourable environment for the accumulation of ichthyoplankton.

Microchanneled anode supports of solid oxide fuel cells

A novel anode with microchanneled structure has been prepared by a mesh-assisted phase-inversion process. The uniform microchannels templated by mesh apertures cross the anode, and act as efficient gas diffusion pathways, with one end open and the other end stopped with a less porous layer, which functions as a support for thin electrolyte film and provides anode reaction sites. The solid oxide fuel cell supported on the microchanneled anode produced the maximum power densities of 550, 772 and 936mW/cm2 at 750, 800 and 850°C respectively, and no concentration polarization was found, suggesting there is efficient gas diffusion within the anode support.