Search results for: global invasive species database

Authors: Yusuf Ziya Ayık, Ferhat Kahveci

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Currently, database management systems have various tools such as backup and maintenance, and also provide statistical information such as resource usage and security. In terms of query performance, this paper covers query optimization, views, indexed tables, pre-computation materialized view, query performance analysis in which query plan alternatives can be created and the least costly one selected to optimize a query. Indexes and views can be created for related table columns. The literature review of this study showed that, in the course of time, despite the growing capabilities of the database management system, only database administrators are aware of the need for dealing with archival and transactional data types differently. These data may be constantly changing data used in everyday life, and also may be from the completed questionnaire whose data input was completed. For both types of data, the database uses its capabilities; but as shown in the findings section, instead of repeating similar heavy calculations which are carrying out same results with the same query over a survey results, using materialized view results can be in a more simple way. In this study, this performance difference was observed quantitatively considering the cost of the query.

Keywords: cost of query, database management systems, materialized view, query performance

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Authors: Daniel Kostrzewa, Henryk Josiński

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The expanded Invasive Weed Optimization algorithm (exIWO) is an optimization metaheuristic modelled on the original IWO version created by the researchers from the University of Tehran. The authors of the present paper have extended the exIWO algorithm introducing a set of both deterministic and non-deterministic strategies of individuals’ selection. The goal of the project was to evaluate the exIWO by testing its usefulness for solving some test instances of the traveling salesman problem (TSP) taken from the TSPLIB collection which allows comparing the experimental results with optimal values.

Keywords: expanded invasive weed optimization algorithm (exIWO), traveling salesman problem (TSP), heuristic approach, inversion operator

Procedia PDF Downloads 807

Authors: I. M. Abd Rahim, H. Abdul Rahim, R. Ghazali

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There is numerous non-invasive blood glucose measurement technique developed by researchers, and near infrared (NIR) is the potential technique nowadays. However, there are some disagreements on the optimal wavelength range that is suitable to be used as the reference of the glucose substance in the blood. This paper focuses on the experimental data collection technique and also the analysis method used to analyze the data gained from the experiment. The selection of suitable linear and non-linear model structure is essential in prediction system, as the system developed need to be conceivably accurate.

Keywords: linear, near-infrared (NIR), non-invasive, non-linear, prediction system

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Authors: Rishana Bilimoria

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Darwin’s insightful anthropological theory on the evolution drove mankind’s understanding of our existence in the natural world. Scientists consider analysis of dental and craniofacial remains to be pivotal in uncovering facts about our evolutionary journey. The resilient mineral content of enamel and dentine allow cranial and dental remains to be preserved for millions of years, making it an excellent resource not only in anthropology but other fields of research including forensic dentistry. This literature review aims to chronologically approach each ancestral species, reviewing Australopithecus, Paranthropus, Homo Habilis, Homo Rudolfensis, Homo Erectus, Homo Neanderthalis, and finally Homo Sapiens. Studies included in the review assess the features of cranio-dental remains that are of evolutionary importance, such as microstructure, microwear, morphology, and jaw biomechanics. The article discusses the plethora of analysis techniques employed to study dental remains including carbon dating, dental topography, confocal imaging, DPI scanning and light microscopy, in addition to microwear study and analysis of features such as coronal and root morphology, mandibular corpus shape, craniofacial anatomy and microstructure. Furthermore, results from these studies provide insight into the diet, lifestyle and consequently, ecological surroundings of each species. We can correlate dental fossil evidence with wider theories on pivotal global events, to help us contextualize each species in space and time. Examples include dietary adaptation during the period of global cooling converting the landscape of Africa from forest to grassland. Global migration ‘out of Africa’ can be demonstrated by enamel thickness variation, cranial vault variation over time demonstrates accommodation to larger brain sizes, and dental wear patterns can place the commencement of lithic technology in history. Conclusions from this literature review show that dental evidence plays a major role in painting a phenotypic and all rounded picture of species of the Homo genus, in particular, analysis of coronal morphology through carbon dating and dental wear analysis. With regards to analysis technique, whilst studies require larger sample sizes, this could be unrealistic since there are limitations in ability to retrieve fossil data. We cannot deny the reliability of carbon dating; however, there is certainly scope for the use of more recent techniques, and further evidence of their success is required.

Keywords: cranio-facial, dental remains, evolution, hominids

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Authors: S. Takaidza, M. Pillay, F. Mtunzi

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Since time immemorial, plants have been used by several communities to treat a large number of diseases. Numerous studies on the pharmacology of medicinal plants have been done. Medicinal plants constitute a potential source for the production of new medicines and may complement conventional antimicrobials and probably decrease health costs. Phytochemical compounds in plants are known to be biologically active aiding, for example, as antioxidants and antimicrobials. The overwhelming challenge of drug resistance has resulted in an increasing trend towards using medicinal plants to treat various diseases, especially in developing countries. Species of the genus Tulbaghia has been widely used in traditional medicine to treat various ailments such rheumatism, fits, fever, earache, tuberculosis etc. It is believed that the species possess several therapeutic properties. This paper evaluates some of the biological activities of the genus Tulbaghia. It is evident from current literature that T. violacea is the most promising species. The other species of Tulbaghia still require further studies to ascertain their medicinal potential.

Keywords: biological activities, antimicrobial, antioxidant, phytochemicals, tulbaghia

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Authors: Rachel deCatanzaro, Madeline Austen, Ken Tuininga, Kathy St. Laurent, Christina Rohe

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In Canada, the federal Species at Risk Act (SARA) provides protection for wildlife species at risk and a national legislative framework for the conservation or recovery of species that are listed as endangered, threatened, or special concern under Schedule 1 of SARA. Key aspects of the federal species at risk program include the development of recovery documents (recovery strategies, action plans, and management plans) outlining threats, objectives, and broad strategies or measures for conservation or recovery of the species; the identification and protection of critical habitat for threatened and endangered species; and working with groups and organizations to implement on-the-ground recovery actions. Environment Canada’s progress on the development of recovery documents and on the identification and protection of critical habitat in Ontario will be presented, along with successes and challenges associated with on-the ground implementation of recovery actions. In Ontario, Environment Canada is currently involved in several recovery and monitoring programs for at-risk bird species such as the Loggerhead Shrike, Piping Plover, Golden-winged Warbler and Cerulean Warbler and has provided funding for a wide variety of recovery actions targeting priority species at risk and geographic areas each year through stewardship programs including the Habitat Stewardship Program, Aboriginal Fund for Species at Risk, and the Interdepartmental Recovery Fund. Key research needs relevant to the recovery of species at risk have been identified, and include: surveys and monitoring of population sizes and threats, population viability analyses, and addressing knowledge gaps identified for individual species (e.g., species biology and habitat needs). The engagement of all levels of government, the local and international conservation communities, and the scientific research community plays an important role in the conservation and recovery of species at risk in Ontario– through surveying and monitoring, filling knowledge gaps, conducting public outreach, and restoring, protecting, or managing habitat – and will be critical to the continued success of the federal species at risk program.

Keywords: conservation biology, habitat protection, species at risk, wildlife recovery

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Authors: Faezeh Zaefarian1, Sajedeh Golmohammadzadeh, Mohammad Rezvani

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Weed management decisions for weed species can be derived from knowledge of seed germination biology. Experiments were conducted in laboratory and greenhouse to determine the effects of light, temperature, salt and water stress, seed burial depth on seed germination and seedling emergence of Papaver rhoeas and P.dubium and to assay the response of these species to commonly available POST herbicides. Germination of the Papaver seeds was influenced by the tested temperatures (day/night temperatures of 20 and 25 °C) and light. The concentrations of sodium chloride, ranging from 0 to 80 mM, influence germination of seeds. The osmotic potential required for 50% inhibition of maximum germination of P. rhoeas was -0.27 MPa and for P. dubium species was 0.25 MPa. Seedling emergence was greatest for the seeds placed at 1 cm and emergence declined with increased burial depth in the soil. No seedlings emerged from a burial depth of 6 cm. The herbicide 2,4-D at 400 g ai ha-1 provided excellent control of both species when applied at the four-leaf and six-leaf stages. However, at the six-leaf stage, percent control was reduced. The information gained from this study could contribute to developing components of integrated weed management strategies for Papaver species.

Keywords: germination, papaver species, planting depth, POST herbicides

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Authors: Abera Hailu Degaga, Emana Getu Degaga

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Spodoptera frugiperda is an invasive insect pest that infests and feeds various crops, particularly affecting maize yields. However, nature has its own way of maintaining balance, and in this case, natural enemies play a crucial role in regulating the population of S. frugiperda. Locally available and easily prepared botanical sources, bio-pesticides, are also important. The objectives of the study were to investigate the natural enemies of S. frugiperda in the Gurage zone and to compare Neem aqueous extracts against its larvae in central Ethiopia. S. frugiperda larvae and egg masses were collected randomly from smallholder maize farms infested with pests between June and August 2023. Our findings revealed the existence of diverse types of parasitoids, predators, and entomopathogenic fungi associated with S. frugiperda. Notably, we documented three species of parasitoids, namely Exorista xanthaspis and Tachina spp. (Diptera: Tachinidae) and Charops annulipes (Hymenoptera: Ichneumonidae). All three species of parasitoids were recorded from Ethiopia for the first time. The overall parasitism rate was 5.3%, with individual rates ranging from 1.3 to 4%. Additionally, we identified ten species of predator insects from four different orders, including Hemiptera, Dermaptera, Coleoptera, and Mantodea, in the maize farms infested with S. frugiperda. Aqueous extract of Neem seed and leaf powder and green leaf exhibited similar mortality rates of S. frugiperda larvae at 72 hours even though there was a significant difference at 24 and 48 hours of the test. For effective management of S. frugiperda further research is necessary to fully exploit the potential of these natural enemies and additionally to use botanical source pesticides like Azadirachta indica.

Keywords: bio-pesticide, natural enemy, parasitoids, predators, Tachinid flies

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Authors: Arvind Lal, Chumphila Bhutia, Bidhan Pradhan, Retika Sharma, Monisha Limboo

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There have been many proposals to optimize the students’ management system in higher education. Managing student attendance during lecture periods have become a difficult challenge. Manual calculation of attendance produces errors and wastes a lot of time. This proposed system manages the student’s attendance in a web portal and the records of the attendance will be stored in a database. The attendance of the students will be further forwarded to their HOD (Head OF Department), class teacher and their parents/guardians. This system will use MySQL for the database. The template of the website will be built using HTML and CSS (Cascading StyleSheet) code. JavaScript will be added to improve the use of the system. Student’s details will be stored in the database. Also, it will contain the details of the teachers according to their subjects and the classes they teach. The system will be responsive which can be used in mobile phones. Also, the development of this project will be user-friendly by facilitating with clear and understandable tabs. Hence, this website will be beneficial to institutes.

Keywords: website, student's attendance, MySQL database, HTML, CSS, PHP, JavaScript

Procedia PDF Downloads 148

Authors: Davendra S. Malik

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Bhimtal lake is located between 290 21’ N latitude and 790 24’ E longitude, at an elevation of 1332m above mean sea level in the Kumaun region of Uttarakhand of Indian subcontinent. The lake surface area is decreasing in water area, depth level in relation to ecological and biological characteristics due to climatic variations, invasive land use pattern, degraded forest zones and changed agriculture pattern in lake catchment basin. The present study is focused on long and short term effects of climate change on aquatic biodiversity and productivity of Bhimtal lake. The meteorological data of last fifteen years of Bhimtal lake catchment basin revealed that air temperature has been increased 1.5 to 2.1oC in summer, 0.2 to 0.8 C in winter, relative humidity increased 4 to 6% in summer and rainfall pattern changed erratically in rainy seasons. The surface water temperature of Bhimtal lake showed an increasing pattern as 0.8 to 2.6 C, pH value decreased 0.5 to 0.2 in winter and increased 0.4 to 0.6 in summer. Dissolved oxygen level in lake showed a decreasing trend as 0.7 to 0.4mg/l in winter months. The mesotrophic nature of Bhimtal lake is changing towards eutrophic conditions and contributed for decreasing biodiversity. The aquatic biodiversity of Bhimtal lake consisted mainly phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos and fish species. In the present study, a total of 5 groups of phytoplankton, 3 groups of zooplankton, 11 groups of benthos and 15 fish species were recorded from Bhimtal lake. The comparative data of biodiversity of Bhimtal lake since January, 2000 indicated the changing pattern of phytoplankton biomass were decreasing as 1.99 and 1.08% of Chlorophyceae and Bacilleriophyceae families respectively. The biomass of Cynophyceae was increasing as 0.45% and contributing the algal blooms during summer season in lake. The biomass of zooplankton and benthos were found decreasing in winter season and increasing during summer season. The endemic fish species (18 no.) were found in year 2000-05, as while the fish species (15 no.) were recorded in present study. The relative fecundity of major fish species were observed decreasing trends during their breeding periods in lake. The natural and anthropogenic factors were identified as ecological threats for existing aquatic biodiversity of Bhimtal lake. The present research paper emphasized on the effect of changing pattern of different climatic variables on species composition, biomass of phytoplankton, zooplankton, benthos, and fishes in Bhimtal lake of Kumaun region. The present research data will be contributed significantly to assess the changing pattern of aquatic biodiversity and productivity of Bhimtal lake with different time scale.

Keywords: aquatic biodiversity, Bhimtal lake, climate change, lake ecology

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Authors: Nji Queenta Ngum, Mwanza Mulunda

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Introduction Most African research reports on the frequent aflatoxin contamination of various foodstuffs, with researchers rarely specifying which of the Aspergillus species are present in these commodities. Numerous research works provide evidence of the ability of fungi to grow, thrive, and interact with other crop species and focus on the fact that these processes are largely affected by climatic variables. South Africa is a water-stressed country with high spatio-temporal rainfall variability; moreover, temperatures have been projected to rise at a rate twice the global rate. This weather pattern change may lead to crop stress encouraging mold contamination with subsequent mycotoxin production. In this study, the biodiversity and distribution of Aspergillus species with their corresponding toxins in maize from six distinct maize producing regions with different weather patterns in South Africa were investigated. Materials And Methods By applying cultural and molecular methods, a total of 1028 maize samples from six distinct agro-climatic regions were examined for contamination by the Aspergillus species while the high performance liquid chromatography (HPLC) method was applied to analyse the level of contamination by aflatoxins. Results About 30% of the overall maize samples were contaminated by at least one Aspergillus species. Less than 30% (28.95%) of the 228 isolates subjected to the aflatoxigenic test was found to possess at least one of the aflatoxin biosynthetic genes. Furthermore, almost 20% were found to be contaminated with aflatoxins, with mean total aflatoxin concentration levels of 64.17 ppb. Amongst the contaminated samples, 59.02% had mean total aflatoxin concentration levels above the SA regulatory limit of 20ppb for animals and 10 for human consumption. Conclusion In this study, climate variables (rainfall reduction) were found to significantly (p<0.001) influence the occurrence of the Aspergillus species (especially Aspergillus fumigatus) and the production of aflatoxin in South Africa commercial maize by maize variety, year of cultivation as well as the agro-climatic region in which the maize is cultivated. This included, amongst others, a reduction in the average annual rainfall of the preceding year to about 21.27 mm, and, as opposed to other regions whose average maximum rainfall ranged between 37.24 – 44.1 mm, resulted in a significant increase in the aflatoxin contamination of maize.

Keywords: aspergillus species, aflatoxins, diversity, drought, food safety, HPLC and PCR techniques

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Authors: Gulcan Sahal, Isil Seyis Bilkay

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Candida species which often exist as commensal microorganisms in healthy individuals are major causes of important infections, especially in AIDS and immunocompromised patients, by means of their biofilm formation abilities. Therefore, in this study, determination of biofilm formation in different clinical strains of Candida species, investigation of strong biofilm forming Candida strains, examination of clinical information of each strong and weak biofilm forming Candida strains and investigation of some plant substances’ effects on biofilm formation of strong biofilm forming strains were aimed. In this respect, biofilm formation of Candida strains was analyzed via crystal violet binding assay. According to our results, biofilm levels of strains belong to different Candida species were different from each other. Additionally, it is also found that some plant substances effect biofilm formation. All these results indicate that, as well as C. albicans strains, other non-albicans Candida species also emerge as causative agents of infections and have biofilm formation abilities. In addition, usage of some plant substances in different concentrations may provide a new treatment against biofilm related Candida infections.

Keywords: anti-biofilm, biofilm formation, Candida species, biosystems engineering

Procedia PDF Downloads 447

Authors: Osamu Komori, Shinto Eguchi, Hiroshi Okamura, Momoko Ichinokawa

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The long time-series data on population assessments are essential for global ecosystem assessment because the temporal change of biomass in such a database reflects the status of global ecosystem properly. However, the available assessment data usually have limited sample sizes and the ratio of populations with low abundance of biomass (collapsed) to those with high abundance (non-collapsed) is highly imbalanced. To allow for the imbalance and uncertainty involved in the ecological data, we propose a binary regression model with mixed effects for inferring ecosystem status through an asymmetric logistic model. In the estimation equation, we observe that the weights for the non-collapsed populations are relatively reduced, which in turn puts more importance on the small number of observations of collapsed populations. Moreover, we extend the asymmetric logistic regression model using propensity score to allow for the sample biases observed in the labeled and unlabeled datasets. It robustified the estimation procedure and improved the model fitting.

Keywords: double robust estimation, ecological binary data, mixed effect logistic regression model, propensity score

Procedia PDF Downloads 237

Authors: N. Norazlimi, R. Ramli

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A study was conducted to determine the diversity and abundance of shorebird species habituating the mudflat area of Jeram Beach and Remis Beach, Selangor, Peninsular Malaysia. Direct observation technique (using binoculars and video camera) was applied to record the presence of bird species in the sampling sites from August 2013 until July 2014. A total of 32 species of shorebird were recorded during both migratory and non-migratory seasons. Of these, eleven species (47.8%) are migrants, six species (26.1%) have both migrant and resident populations, four species (17.4%) are vagrants and two species (8.7%) are residents. The compositions of the birds differed significantly in all months (χ2=84.35, p<0.001). There is a significant difference in avian abundance between migratory and non-migratory seasons (Mann-Whitney, t=2.39, p=0.036). The avian abundance were differed significantly in Jeram and Remis Beaches during migratory periods (t=4.39, p=0.001) but not during non-migratory periods (t=0.78, p=0.456). Shorebird diversity was also affected by tidal cycle. There is a significance difference between high tide and low tide (Mann-Whitney, t=78.0, p<0.005). Frequency of disturbance also affected the shorebird distribution (Mann-Whitney, t=57.0, p= 0.0134). Therefore, this study concluded that tides and disturbances are two factors that affecting temporal distribution of shorebird in mudflats area.

Keywords: biodiversity, distribution, migratory birds, direct observation

Procedia PDF Downloads 366

Authors: Uswah Khairuddin, Rubiyah Yusof, Nenny Ruthfalydia Rosli

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This paper presents a comparative study between k-Nearest Neighbour (k-NN) and Multi-Layer Perceptron Neural Network (MLP-NN) classifier using Genetic Algorithm (GA) as feature selector for wood recognition system. The features have been extracted from the images using Grey Level Co-Occurrence Matrix (GLCM). The use of GA based feature selection is mainly to ensure that the database used for training the features for the wood species pattern classifier consists of only optimized features. The feature selection process is aimed at selecting only the most discriminating features of the wood species to reduce the confusion for the pattern classifier. This feature selection approach maintains the ‘good’ features that minimizes the inter-class distance and maximizes the intra-class distance. Wrapper GA is used with k-NN classifier as fitness evaluator (GA-kNN). The results shows that k-NN is the best choice of classifier because it uses a very simple distance calculation algorithm and classification tasks can be done in a short time with good classification accuracy.

Keywords: feature selection, genetic algorithm, optimization, wood recognition system

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Authors: Zeynep Yazgan, Gökhan Aygün, Reyhan Çalışkan

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Objective: Invasive fungal infections are a serious threat in terms of morbidity and mortality, especially in immunocompromised patients. The most frequently isolated agents are Aspergillus genus fungi, and sensitivity to azoles, which are the first choice in treatment, decreases. In our study, we aimed to investigate the use of the agar plate screening method as a fast, easy, and practical method in determining azole resistance in Aspergillus spp. species. Methods: Our study was conducted with 125 Aspergillus spp. isolates produced from various clinical samples. Aspergillus spp. isolates were identified by conventional methods and azole resistance was determined by gradient test and agar plate screening method. Broth microdilution method was applied to resistant isolates, and CypA-L98H and CypA-M220 mutations in the cyp51A gene were investigated. Results: In our study, 55 A. fumigatus complex (44%), 42 A. flavus (33.6%), 6 A. terreus (5%), 4 A. niger (3%) and 18 Aspergillus spp. (14%) were identified. With the gradient test method, resistance to VOR and POS was detected in 1 (1.8%) of A.fumigatus isolates, and resistance to ITR was detected in 3 (5.45%). With the agar plate method, 1 of the A.fumigatus isolates (1.8%) had VOR, ITR, POS, 1 of the A.terreus isolates (16.7%) had VOR, 1 of the A.niger isolates (25%) had ITR. Resistance to VOR and POS was detected in 2 Aspergillus spp. isolates (11%), and resistance to ITR was detected in 1 (5.6%). Sensitivity and specificity were determined as 100% for VOR and POS in A. fumigatus species, 33.3% and 100% for ITR, respectively, 100% for ITR in A. flavus species, and 100% for ITR and POS in A. terreus species. By broth microdilution method in 7 isolates in which resistance was detected by gradient test and/or agar plate screening method; 1 A.fumigatus resistant to ITR, VOR, POS, 2 A.fumigatus resistant to ITR, 2 Aspergillus spp. ITR, VOR, POS MICs were determined as 2µg/ml and 8µg/ml, 8µg/ml and >32µg/ml, 0.5µg/ml and 4µg/ml, respectively. CypA-L98H mutations were detected in 5 of these isolates, CypA-M220 mutations were detected in 6, and no mutation was detected in 1. CypA-L98H and CypA-M220 mutations were detected in 1 isolate for which resistance was not detected. Conclusion: The need for rapid antifungal susceptibility screening tests is increasing in the treatment of aspergillosis. Although the sensitivity of the agar plate method was determined to be 33.3% for A.fumigatus ITR in our study, its sensitivity and specificity were determined to be 100% for ITR, VOR, and POS in other species. The low sensitivity value detected for A.fumigatus showed that agar plate drug concentrations should be updated in accordance with the latest regulations of EUCAST guidelines. The CypA-L98H and CypA-M220 mutations detected in our study suggested that the distribution of azole resistance-related mutations in different regions in our country should be investigated. In conclusion, it is thought that the agar plate method, which can be easily applied to detect azole resistance, is a fast and practical method in routine use and can contribute to both the determination of effective treatment strategies and the generation of epidemiological data.

Keywords: Aspergillus, agar plate, azole resistance, cyp51A, cypA-L98H, cypA-M220

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Authors: Sunil M. Gaikwad, Yogesh J. Koli, Gopal A. Raut, Ganesh P. Bhawane

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The present investigation was directed to study the diversity of short-horned grasshoppers from a forested area of Kolhapur district, Maharashtra, India, which is spread along the hilly terrain of the Northern Western Ghats. The collection was made during 2013 to 2015, and identified with the help of a reference collection of ZSI, Kolkata, and recent literature and dry preserved. The study resulted in the enumeration of 40 species of short-horned grasshoppers belonging to four families of suborder: Caelifera. The family Acrididae was dominant (27 species) followed by Tetrigidae (eight species), Pyrgomorphidae (four species) and Chorotypidae (one species). The report of 40 species from the forest habitat of the study region highlights the significance of the Western Ghats. Ecologically, short-horned grasshoppers are integral to food chains, being consumed by a wide variety of animals. The observations of the present investigation may prove useful for conservation of the Diversity in Northern Western Ghats.

Keywords: diversity, Kolhapur, northern western Ghats, short-horned grasshoppers

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Authors: Rich Osaretin Iyagbaye, Michael Osasele Omoigberale, Louis Aiwiegbenegbe Iyagbaye

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Zooplankton communities of Ugbogui River at Ugbogui, Southwest Nigeria were investigated from August 2015 to April 2016. Four stations were studied from upstream to downstream with a distance of about 2 kilometres between each station. A total 10 species were identified; 5 copepods and 5 cladocerans in the following order of dominance: copepod > cladocera. A total zooplankton population of 272 individuals was recorded during the study period. Copepods and cladocera represented the predominant species (76.73% and 23.89% of the total zooplankton community respectively). Copepods and cladocera were dominated by both cycloid (77%) and bosmids (12.13%), respectively. The dominant copepod and Cladocera species were Tropocyclops prasinus and Bosmina longirostris representing 28.68% and 12.13% of the total zooplankton, respectively. The calculated diversity indices indicated that station 1 (1.992) was more diverse followed by station 4 (1.893), while zooplankton species in station 2 (1.4) were least diverse. Species richness was highest and lowest in stations 4 (2.015) and 2 (1.165) respectively. Community composition was similar at both stations 1 and 4, but varies seasonally across the four stations. Higher number and density was found during the wet season with a trend of declining proportion towards the dry months.

Keywords: abundance, diversity, population, species, Ugbogui river, zooplankton

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Authors: Sally Shepherd, Richard De Boer, Craig Murphy

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Background: Invasive lobular carcinoma (ILC) can metastasize to atypical sites within the peritoneal cavity, gastrointestinal, or genitourinary tract. Management varies depending on the symptom presentation, extent of disease burden, particularly if the primary disease is occult, and patient wishes. Case Series: 6 patients presented with general surgical presentations of ILC, including incomplete large bowel obstruction, cholecystitis, persistent lower abdominal pain, and faecal incontinence. 3 were diagnosed with their primary and metastatic disease in the same presentation, whilst 3 patients developed metastasis from 5 to 8 years post primary diagnosis of ILC. Management included resection of the metastasis (laparoscopic cholecystectomy), excision of the primary (mastectomy and axillary clearance), followed by a combination of aromatase inhibitors, biologic therapy, and chemotherapy. Survival post diagnosis of metastasis ranged from 3 weeks to 7 years. Conclusion: Metastatic ILC must be considered with any gastrointestinal or genitourinary symptoms in patients with a current or past history of ILC. Management may not be straightforward to chemotherapy if the acute pathology is resulting in a surgically resectable disease.

Keywords: breast cancer, gastrointestinal metastasis, invasive lobular carcinoma, metastasis

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Authors: Manjiri A. More, Manisha M. Bhosale

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Agriculture is the backbone of Indian economy and India is one of the world’s largest producers of Rice. Today, paddy crop is facing a severe problem of insect pests and is attacked by more than 100 species of insects, among those 20 species cause economic damage. Rice is the staple food of people of panhala tehasil, Kolhapur, Maharashtra, India. During June 2017 to September 2017 efforts were made to study the diversity of insect pests associated with the paddy crop in the study region. The collection and preservation of the specimens were done by following standard procedure and the identification was done with the help standard literature, taxonomic keys, and webography. In all, 6 species were recorded as pests of paddy in which order Lepidoptera was dominant with 2 species, while orders Diptera, Orthoptera, Hemiptera, and Coleoptera were represented by 1 species each respectively. The results of the present investigation will be helpful for formulating control strategies against these paddy pests.

Keywords: diversity, insect pests, Panhala, staple

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Authors: Ruth Gerritsen-McKane, Mimi Sodhi, Lisa Gray, Donette Considine, Henry Kronner, Tameca Harris-Jackson

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During these extraordinary times amid a global pandemic, political/civil unrest, and natural disasters, the need for appropriately trained professional social workers has never been stronger. Needs do not diminish but are heightened during such remarkable times. All too often, “developed” countries see the crisis in developing countries as uniquely theirs; 2020 has shown, there are no “others”; there is only us. Consequently, engaging in meaningful collaboration worldwide is essential! This presentation speaks to the fundamentals of global collaboration and, more importantly, how an in these trying times, the development of strong international partnerships can create opportunities for social work students across the planet to engage in meaningful field education opportunities. Accomplished by multiple modalities, a deeper understanding and response to social work students becoming formidable global citizens can be achieved.

Keywords: global citizens, global crisis, global collaboration, modalities

Procedia PDF Downloads 187

Authors: M. Y. Abubakar, Ipinjolu J. K., Yuzine B. Esa, Magawata I., Hassan W. A., Turaki A. A.

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Catfish (Heterobranchus spp.) is a major freshwater fish that are widely distributed in Nigeria waters and are gaining rapid aquaculture expansion. However, indiscriminate artificial crossbreeding of the species with others poses a threat to their biodiversity. There is a paucity of information about the genetic variability, hence this insight on the genetic variability is badly needed, not only for the species conservation but for aquaculture expansion. In this study, we tested the level of Genetic diversity, population differentiation and phylogenetic relationship analysis on 35 individuals of two populations of Heterobranchus bidorsalis and 29 individuals of three populations of Heterobranchus longifilis using the mitochondrial cytochrome c oxidase subunit I (mtDNA COI) gene sequence. Nucleotide sequences of 650 bp fragment of the COI gene of the two species were compared. In the whole 4 and 5 haplotypes were distinguished in the populations of H. bidorsalis & H. longifilis with accession numbers (MG334168 - MG334171 & MG334172 to MG334176) respectively. Haplotypes diversity indices revealed a range of 0.59 ± 0.08 to 0.57 ± 0.09 in H. bidorsalis and 0.000 to 0.001051 ± 0.000945 in H. longifilis population, respectively. Analysis of molecular variance (AMOVA) revealed no significant variation among H. bidorsalis population of the Niger & Benue Rivers, detected significant genetic variation was between the Rivers of Niger, Kaduna and Benue population of H. longifilis. Two main clades were recovered, showing a clear separation between H. bidorsalis and H. longifilis in the phylogenetic tree. The mtDNA COI genes studied revealed high gene flow between populations with no distinct genetic differentiation between the populations as measured by the fixation index (FST) statistic. However, a proportion of population-specific haplotypes was observed in the two species studied, suggesting a substantial degree of genetic distinctiveness for each of the population investigated. These findings present the description of the species character and accessions of the fish’s genetic resources, through gene sequence submitted in Genetic database. The data will help to protect their valuable wild resource and contribute to their recovery and selective breeding in Nigeria.

Keywords: AMOVA, genetic diversity, Heterobranchus spp., mtDNA COI, phylogenetic tree

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Authors: Zahra Safaeian, Shila Goldasteh, Rouhollah Radjabi

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Flowerflies of Syrphidae family is one of the largest families among the Diptera order that due to predatory habit of some species in larva stage has an important role for controlling aphids of the fields. In the present study, flowerflies fauna in the alfalfa fields of the north of Khouzestan were studied during 2012-2013. The species of the family were collected using appropriate methods including insect collecting sweeping net and Malaise traps. According to the fact that the shape of male genitalia in the male insect is important in identification of these species the male genitalia was separated from the body and microscopical slide was prepared then species identification was done considering the male genitalia, the patterns and figures on the abdomen and using available keys. Based on the finding four species of Sphaerophoria scripta, Sphaerophoria turkmenica, Melanostoma mellinu, Sphaerophoria ruppelli were collected and according to the abundance frequency of the collected species the most abundance was related to Sphaerophoria scripta, then Sphaerophoria turkmenica had the most abundance and the least abundance was related to Sphaerophoria ruppelli.

Keywords: syrphidae, fauna, alfalfa, Iran

Procedia PDF Downloads 367

Authors: Svetlana Chovancova, Frantisek Illek, Jan Winkler

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The effect of tillage technology of maize on intensity of weed infestation and weed species composition was observed at experimental field. Maize is grown consecutively since 2001. The experimental site is situated at an altitude of 230 m above sea level in the Czech Republic. Variants of tillage technology are CT: plowing – conventional tillage 0.22 m, MT: loosening – disc tillage on the depth of 0.1 – 0.12 m, NT: direct sowing – without tillage. The evaluation of weed infestation was carried out by numerical method in years 2012 and 2013. Within the monitoring were found 20 various species of weeds. Conventional tillage (CT) primarily supports the occurrence of perennial weeds (Cirsium arvense, Convolvulus arvensis). Late spring species (Chenopodium album, Echinochloa crus-galli) were more frequently noticed on variants of loosening (MT) and direct sowing (NT). Different tillage causes a significant change of weed species spectrum in maize.

Keywords: weeds, maize, tillage, loosening, direct sowing

Procedia PDF Downloads 438

Authors: S. Mhamdi, O. Brendel, P. Montpied, K. Ben Yahia, N. Saouyah, B. Hasnaoui, E. Dreyer

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Leaf Life Span (LLS) is used to classify trees into two main groups: evergreen and deciduous species. It varies according to the forms of life between taxonomic groups. Co-occurrence of deciduous and evergreen oaks is common in some Mediterranean type climate areas. Nevertheless, in the Tunisian forests, there is no enough information about the functional inter-specific diversity among oak species, especially in the mixed stand marked by the simultaneous presence of Q. suber L., Q. canariensis Willd. and their hybrid (Q. afares), the latter being an endemic oak species threatened with extinction. This study has been conducted to estimate the LLS, the relative growth rate, and the count of different growth flushes of samplings in semi-controlled conditions. Our study took 17 months, with an observation's interval of 4 weeks. The aim is to characterize and compare the hybrid species to the parental ones. Differences were observed among species, both for phenology and growth. Indeed, Q. suber saplings reached higher total height and number of growth flushes then Q. canariensis, while Q. afares showed much less growth flushes than the parental species. The LLS of parental species has exceeded the duration of the experiment, but their hybrid lost all leaves on all cohorts. The short LLSs of hybrid species are in accordance with this phenology in the field, but for Q. canariensis there was a contrast with observations in the field where phenology is strictly annual. This study allowed us to differentiate the hybrid from both parental species.

Keywords: leaf life span, growth, hybrid, Q. afares Pomel, Q. suber L., Q.canariensis Willd

Procedia PDF Downloads 331

Authors: Abdulrazaq O. Raji, Abba Mohammed, Ibrahim D. Mohammed

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This study was conducted to investigate foetal loss among slaughtered livestock species at the Maiduguri abattoir from 2009 to 2013. Record of animals slaughtered monthly and fetuses recovered were collected from the management of the Maiduguri abattoir. Data was subjected to Analysis of Variance using the General Linear Model of SPSS 13.0 with Season, Species and their interaction as fixed factors. Average yearly slaughter at the Maiduguri abattoir was 63,225 animals with cattle, camel, goat and sheep accounting for 19737, 7374, 19281 and 17540 of the total. The corresponding number of those pregnant were 3117, 839, 2281 and 2432 out of a total of 8522 animals. Thus, cattle, camel, goat and sheep accounted for 30.87, 11.53, 30.16 and 27.44%, respectively of the animals slaughtered at the Abattoir and 35.96, 9.68, 26.31 and 28.05% of the foetal loss. The effect of season and species on foetal loss was significant (P < 0.05). The number of pregnant animals slaughtered and foetal loss were higher during wet than dry season. Similarly, foetal loss at the abattoir was higher in the month of May in respect of camel, goat and sheep, and August for cattle. Camel was the least slaughtered animal and had the least number of pregnant females. Foetal loss (%) was higher (P < 0.05) for cattle compared to other species. The interaction showed that camel was the least slaughtered species in both seasons and cattle in the wet season had the highest foetal loss.

Keywords: abattoir, foetal loss, season, species

Procedia PDF Downloads 500

Authors: Mona M. Marzouk, Ahmed Elkhateeb, Mona Elshabrawy, Mai M. Farid, Salwa A. Kawashty, EL-Sayed S. Abdel-Hameed, Sameh R. Hussein

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The genus Farsetia Turra belongs to the family Brassicaceae and has approximately 30 accepted species distributed worldwide. Amongst them, Farsetia aegyptia Turra and Farsetia longisiliqua Decne. are two common species characteristic to the Egyptian flora. The present study considers the first characterization of the chemical constituents of F. longisiliqua, aiming to compare with those identified from the medicinal species (F. aegyptia). Additionally, the chemosystematic relationships between the two studied species were evaluated and highlight the medicinal importance for F. longisiliqua. The chemical profiling of their aqueous methanol extracts were carried out using the LC-ESI-MS technique and afforded 54 compounds belonging to different chemical groups. Flavonoids are the major constituents and are represented by 32 compounds (two C-glycosyl flavone, four flavones, and 26 flavonols). Their structural variations and common constituents confirmed the chemosystematic significance of the two species. Moreover, the flavonoid profiles showed major common constituents between the two investigated species, which predicted the medicinal importance of F. longisiliqua.

Keywords: brassicaceae, chemosystematics, farsetia, flavonoids, glucosinolates, LC-ESI-MS

Procedia PDF Downloads 177

Authors: Vidya Padmakumar, N. C. Tharavathy

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The study was conducted from July 2015 to July 2017 to determine and understand the occurrence, frequency and diversity of avifauna in the Mallathahalli Lake of Bangalore Urban district. During the study period, 46 species of both terrestrial, as well as, aquatic birds belonging to 30 families were identified out of which 9 families were aquatic birds and 21 families were terrestrial birds. There were 4 species of migratory birds out of 46, showing diurnal migration. There was a significant reduce in the number of bird species both terrestrial and aquatic during the summer season and also varied greatly during winters and monsoon. Of the total 24 species of aquatic birds, Fulica atra and Tachybaptus ruficolis were the most common with 100% frequency and the least frequent species with 3.02% frequency was identified as Threskiornis melanocephalus. Among the 22 species of terrestrial birds, Acridotheres tristis had a frequency of 89% and the least frequent was Pycnonotus cafer (4.45%). The most commonly encountered bird species were from the families- Anatidae, Podicipedidae, Ardeidae, Phalacrocoracidae, Rallidae, Accipitridae, Scolopacidae, Charadridae, Laridae, Meropidae, Hirudinidae. All the birds surviving around the area are dependent on the wetland and crop vegetation surrounding the lake, which are deteriorating due to anthropogenic interventions and urbanization which are rising to its peak gradually causing the decline in the avifaunal diversity.

Keywords: Avifaunal diversity, Mallathahalli lake, seasonal migration, urbanization

Procedia PDF Downloads 152

Authors: Manon Ghislain, Timothée Bonnet, Olivier Gimenez, Olivier Dehorter, Pierre-Yves Henry

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Climatic fluctuations affect the demography of animal populations, generating changes in population size, phenology, distribution and community assemblages. However, very few studies have identified the underlying demographic processes. For short-lived species, like common passerine birds, are these changes generated by changes in adult survival or in fecundity and recruitment? This study tests for an effect of annual climatic conditions (spring and winter) on annual, local adult survival at very large spatial (a country, 252 sites), temporal (25 years) and biological (25 species) scales. The Constant Effort Site ringing has allowed the collection of capture - mark - recapture data for 100 000 adult individuals since 1989, over metropolitan France, thus documenting annual, local survival rates of the most common passerine birds. We specifically developed a set of multi-year, multi-species, multi-site Bayesian models describing variations in local survival and recapture probabilities. This method allows for a statistically powerful hierarchical assessment (global versus species-specific) of the effects of climate variables on survival. A major part of between-year variations in survival rate was common to all species (74% of between-year variance), whereas only 26% of temporal variation was species-specific. Although changing spring climate is commonly invoked as a cause of population size fluctuations, spring climatic anomalies (mean precipitation or temperature for March-August) do not impact adult survival: only 1% of between-year variation of species survival is explained by spring climatic anomalies. However, for sedentary birds, winter climatic anomalies (North Atlantic Oscillation) had a significant, quadratic effect on adult survival, birds surviving less during intermediate years than during more extreme years. For migratory birds, we do not detect an effect of winter climatic anomalies (Sahel Rainfall). We will analyze the life history traits (migration, habitat, thermal range) that could explain a different sensitivity of species to winter climate anomalies. Overall, we conclude that changes in population sizes for passerine birds are unlikely to be the consequences of climate-driven mortality (or emigration) in spring but could be induced by other demographic parameters, like fecundity.

Keywords: Bayesian approach, capture-recapture, climate anomaly, constant effort sites scheme, passerine, seasons, survival

Procedia PDF Downloads 269

Authors: Giorgio Visentin, Inna S. Kalinina, Alexei A. Buchachenko

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In the ambit of intermolecular interactions, a combination rule is defined as a relation linking a potential parameter for the interaction of two unlike species with the same parameters for interaction pairs of like species. Some of their most exemplificative applications cover the construction of molecular dynamics force fields and dispersion-corrected density functionals. Here, an extended combination rule is proposed, relating the dipole-dipole dispersion coefficients for the interaction of like target species to the same coefficients for the interaction of the target and a set of partner species. The rule can be devised in two different ways, either by uniform discretization of the Casimir-Polder integral on a Gauss-Legendre quadrature or by relating the dynamic polarizabilities of the target and the partner species. Both methods return the same system of linear equations, which requires the knowledge of the dispersion coefficients for interaction between the partner species to be solved. The test examples show a high accuracy for dispersion coefficients (better than 1% in the pristine test for the interaction of Yb atom with rare gases and alkaline-earth metal atoms). In contrast, the rule does not ensure correct monotonic behavior of the dynamic polarizability of the target species. Acknowledgment: The work is supported by Russian Science Foundation grant # 17-13-01466.

Keywords: combination rule, dipole-dipole dispersion coefficient, Casimir-Polder integral, Gauss-Legendre quadrature

Procedia PDF Downloads 152