Oxygen uptake in relation to body size during the early life of the fish Channapunctatus shows a significant two-component curve: one related to the fully aquatic phase and the other to the bimodal phase of respiration. The onset of the air-breathing habit around the 18-20th day after hatching brings about a 45% drop in O2 uptake through the gill/ skin in water.

In Periopkrlialnwdon scldosseri the respiratory organs consist of the gills, the suprabranchial and opercular chambers. The gills are more suited for aerial than aquatic respiration as is shown by the presence of the vascular papillae, blood sinusesand dilated blood vessels in their lamellae. The gill lamellae possess a surface coat of sulphated mucopolysaccharides that prevents water loss during exposure to the air. The filaments of the outer hemibranchs in the first gill arch are reduced to nearly one quarter of those of its posterior hemibranch. The gill area in relation to body weight shows a high slope value (b = 0.93).

Gill area and other component parameters of Colisajasciuius during early life were measured for fish larvae divided into two groups (a) exclusively aquatic and (b) bimodal breathers. Statistical analyses of the data in relation to body size yielded two significantly different straight lines (one for aquatic and other for bimodal breathers) for each parameter. Morphological examinations ofgill arches indicated that an increase in the gill area was brought about mainly by an increase in the filament length. The higher slope value (2.41) of gill area in the aquatic phase than that in the bimodal phase (b =0.80) is suggestive of a higher weight-specific metabolism in the younger larvae. A heterogenous growth pattern during early ontogenesis of the fish results in intraspecific variation in the gill dimensions which might have been influenced by the acquisition of the airbreathing mechanism in the post-larval stage, besides ecological factors.

Background. The use of Childhood Asthma Control Test (C-ACT) has been advised for monitoring asthma control by the Global Initiative for Asthma (GINA) guidelines.Objective. To validate the tool C-ACT for the assessment of control of asthma and to examine the correlation between C-ACT score and lung function assessed by forced expiratory volume in one second (FEV 1 ).Methods. This was a prospective observational study conducted between January 2010 to January 2011. Children diagnosed to have bronchial asthma and aged 5 to 14 years, were enrolled in the study. Asthma severity and control status were classified according to the National Asthma Education and Prevention Programme (NAEPP) and GINA guidelines, respectively. Patients were followed-up at three and six months and C-ACT and spirometric measurements were obtained.Results. Significant positive correlations were found between C-ACT score and FEV 1 at enrollment (r=0.772) (p<0.001), three months (r=0.815) (p<0.001) and at six months follow-up (r=0.908) (p<0.001). Baseline C-ACT score was useful for predicting the levels of control of asthma upto three months (0.004), but not at six months follow-up (0.787). A cut-off C-ACT value of >19 had a sensitivity, specificity, positive predictive value, negative predictive value and area under the curve (AUC) 98.5%, 89.1%, 94.9%, 96.6%, 0.717, respectively for the control of asthma. Conclusion.C-ACT is a simple and feasible tool to assess and predict the levels of control in children with bronchial asthma upto three months.

No abstract