Search results for: night hunting

Authors: Abdullahi Ibrahim

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The culture of Clarias gariepinus for fish production is becoming increasingly essential as the fish is contributing to the food abundance and nutritional benefit to family health, income generation, and employment opportunities. The effect of feeding frequency was investigated over a period of ten (10) weeks; the experiment was conducted to monitor survival rates, growth performance, and feeding behavior of juvenile catfish. The experimental fish were randomly assigned to five treatment groups; (i.e., with different feeding frequency intervals) of 100 fish each. Each treatment was replicated twice with 50 fish per replicate. All the groups were fed with floating fish feed (blue crown®). The five treatments (feeding frequency) were T1- once a day feeding of night hours only, T2- twice a day feeding time of morning and night hours, T3- trice a day feeding time of morning, evening and night hours, T-4 four times a day feeding of morning, afternoon, evening, and night hours, T-5 five times a day feeding at four hours interval. There were significant differences (p > 0.05) among treatments. Feed intake and weight gain improved significantly (p < 0.05) in T-4 and T-3. The best of the feeding time on weight gain, survival rate, and feed conversion ratio were obtained at three times a day feeding (T-3) compared to other treatments, especially those fed once and five times feeding a regiment. This might be attributed to the high level of dissolve oxygen and less stress. Feeding fish three times a day is therefore recommended for efficient catfish production to maximize profits as the feed represents more than 50% of aquaculture inputs, particularly in intensive farming systems.

Keywords: catfish, floating fish feed, dissolve oxygen, juvenile

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Authors: Nausheen Irshad

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Human-wildlife conflict (HWC) exists in both developed and developing countries though it is more serious in developing nations. Knowledge of species ecology and species sensitivity to anthropogenic pressures is an important prerequisite for conservation/management. Therefore, three districts (Poonch, Bagh, and Muzaffarabad) of Azad Jammu and Kashmir were selected to highlight the wildlife hunting practices from January 2015 to November 2018. The study area was thoroughly explored to recover dead animals. Moreover, the local community was investigated (questionnaire survey) to catch on motives of killing. The results showed HWC mainly arises due to feeding habits of wild animals as some are frugivorous (small Indian civet and small Kashmir flying squirrel) who damaged human cultivated fruit trees. Besides, Indian crested porcupine and wild boar act as serious crop pests. The feeding upon domestic animals (common leopard) and poultry (Asiatic Jackal and Red fox) were also reported as factors of conflict. Hence numerous wild animals and birds (N=120) were found killed by natives in revenge. Despite protected status in Pakistan, the killed mammals belonged to categories of critically endangered (Panthera pardus) and near threatened (Viverricula indica) species. The important birds include critically endangered (Falco peregrines) and endangered (Lophura leucomelanos) species. It was found that mammals were primarily killed due to HWC (60%) followed by recreation (20%) and trade (15%) Whereas, the foremost hunting reasons for birds are recreation (50%), food (25%) and trade (25%). The drastic hunting/killing of the species needs our immediate attention. This unwarranted killing must be stopped forthwith otherwise these animals become extinct.

Keywords: Azad Jammu and Kashmir, anthropogenic pressures, endangered species, human-wildlife conflicts

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Authors: Pholosho M. Kgopa, Phatu W. Mashela, Alen Manyevere

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Increasing incidents of drought spells in most Sub-Saharan Africa call for using alternative sources of water for irrigation in arid and semi-arid regions. A study was conducted to investigate chemical composition of borehole and treated wastewater from different sampling disposal sites at University of Limpopo Experimental Farm (ULEF). A 4 × 5 factorial experiment, with the borehole as a reference sampling site and three other sampling sites along the wastewater disposal system was conducted over five months. Water samples were collected at four sites namely, (a) exit from Pond 16 into the furrow, (b) entry into night-dam, (c) exit from night dam to irrigated fields and (d) exit from borehole to irrigated fields. Water samples were collected in the middle of each month, starting from July to November 2016. Samples were analysed for pH, EC, Ca, Mg, Na, K, Al, B, Zn, Cu, Cr, Pb, Cd and As. The site × time interactions were highly significant for Ca, Mg, Zn, Cu, Cr, Pb, Cd, and As variables, but not for Na and K. Sampling site was highly significant on all variables, with sampling period not significant for K and Na. Relative to water from the borehole, Na concentration in wastewater samples from the night-dam exit, night-dam entry and Pond16 exit were lower by 69, 34 and 55%, respectively. Relative to borehole water, Al was higher in wastewater sampling sites. In conclusion, both sampling site and period affected the chemical composition of treated wastewater.

Keywords: irrigation water quality, spatial effects, temporal effects, water reuse, water scarcity

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Authors: Lamis Kattan, Joanne Haddad

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This paper examines the impact of gender focused labor legislation on women's labor force participation and economic empowerment. We rely on historical legislative acts passed by state legislatures and exploit whether or not states passed regulatory laws regulating overall and industry specific employment and work conditions for women, night work laws and labor laws requiring provision of seats for working women. We exploit the fact that not all states enacted these laws as well as the variation in the timing of enactment of such laws. Our results show that women in comparison to men in treated states are more likely to be in the labor force post introduction of night work laws in comparison to control states. We also document the effect of industry-specific labor policies on women's likelihood to be employed in the affected industry and in higher-wage occupations within the industry of interest. Policy implications of our findings endorse the adoption of labor laws in favor of women to advocate their empowerment through a higher involvement in the labor market and financial independence.

Keywords: female employment, labor laws, marriage, fertility

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Authors: Oksana Mykytyuk

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Chronic desynchronosis is an important factor of progression of osteoarthritis in shift workers. 80 patients with primary osteoarthritis (female:male ratio = 3:1, average age: 57.6 years, average disease duration: 6.4 years, radiological stage: II-III) were examined, 42% reported systematic night shift-work for more than two years. Full clinical examination was performed, all patients filled in SF-36, WOMAC questonnaries, marked visual analog scales for estimation of pain intensity and general well-being. Patients who had been exposed to night work had significantly worse clinical course of osteoarthritis marked by more (27.5%, p < 0.05) extensive pain syndrome, especially at night hours, (10.00 pm-2.00 am period) and estimated life quality as poorer comparing those working at day time. Osteoarthritis initiation occurred at earlier age in them comparing those who worked in non-shifted regimen. They showed a trend to generalized affliction of bigger quantity of joint groups, higher frequency of synovitis as well. Shift-workers administered higher doses of non-steroid anti-inflammatory drugs (NSAIDs) and estimated their effect as lower (39.6% average daily relief vs 62.5% in non-shift workers after 10 days of regular application of therapy). Frequency of chronic NSAID-induced gastropathy was 25% higher among night-workers. Shift-workers are predisposed to worse course of osteoarthritis with marked clinical symptoms, requiring higher doses on NSAIDs and with inclination towards bigger frequency of complication. That should be kept in mind while developing individual treatment and secondary prophylaxis strategy.

Keywords: desynchronosis, osteoarthritis, questionnaries, shift-work

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Authors: Emi Yuda, Yutaka Yoshida, Junichiro Hayano

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Distinct circadian rhythm of activity, i.e., high activity during the day and deep rest at night are a typical feature of a healthy lifestyle. Exposure to the skylight is thought to be an important factor to increase arousal level and maintain normal circadian rhythm. To examine whether sunshine hours influence the day-night contract of activity, we analyzed the relationship between 24-hour heart rate (HR) and weather data of the recording day. We analyzed data in 36,500 males and 49,854 females of Allostatic State Mapping by Ambulatory ECG Repository (ALLSTAR) database in Japan. Median (IQR) sunshine duration was 5.3 (2.8-7.9) hr. While sunshine hours had only modest effects of increasing 24-hour average HR in either gender (P=0.0282 and 0.0248 for male and female) and no significant effects on nighttime HR in either gender, it increased daytime HR (P = 0.0007 and 0.0015) and day-night HF difference in both genders (P < 0.0001 for both) even after adjusting for the effects of average temperature, atmospheric pressure, and humidity. Our observations support for the hypothesis that longer sunshine hours enhance circadian rhythm of activity.

Keywords: big data, circadian rhythm, heart rate, sunshine

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Authors: Iti Roychowdhury

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India to the Colonial mind was a crazy quilt of multicoloured patchwork- a land of untold wealth and bejewelled maharajas, of snake charmers and tight rope walkers. India was also the land that offered unparalled game. Indeed Shikar (hunting) was de rigueur for the Raj experience. Tales of shootings and trophies were told and retold in clubs and in company. Foremost among the writers of this genre is Jim Corbett – tracker, hunter, writer, conservationist. Corbett is best known for the killing of man eating tigers and his best known books are Man eaters of Kumaon, The Temple Tiger, Man eating Leopard of Rudraprayag etc. The stories of Jim Corbett are stories of hunting, with no palpable design, no subtext of hegemony, or white man’s burden. The protagonists are the cats. Nevertheless from his writings emerge a vibrant picture of Indian villages, of men, women and children toiling for a livelihood under the constant shadow of the man eaters. Corbett shared a symbiotic relationship with the villagers. They needed him to kill the predators while Corbett needed the support of the locals as drum beaters, coolies and runners to accomplish his tasks. The aim of the present paper is to study the image of Indians in the writings of Jim Corbett and to examine them in the light of colonial perception of Indians.

Keywords: hegemony, orientalism, Shikar literature, White Man's Burden

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Authors: Dinh-Ha Tran, Chung-Ruey Yen, Yu-Kuang H. Chen

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A collection of thirty cultivars/clones of red pitaya was used to investigate flowering response to lighting supplementation in the winter season of 2013-2014 in southern Taiwan. The night-breaking treatment was conducted during the period of 10 Oct. 2013 to 5 Mar. 2014 with 4-continuous hours (22.00–02.00 hrs) of additional lighting daily using incandescent bulbs (100W). Among cultivars and clones tested, twenty-three genotypes, most belonging to the red-magenta flesh type, were found to have positive flowering response to the lighting treatment. The duration of night-breaking treatment for successful flowering initiation varied from 33 - 48 days. The lighting-sensitive genotypes bore 1-2 flowering flushes. Floral and fruiting stages took 21-26 and 46-59 days, respectively. Among sixteen fruiting genotypes, the highest fruit set rates were found in Damao 9, D4, D13, Chaozou large, Chaozhou 5, Small Nick and F22. Five cultivars and clones (Orejona, D4, Chaozhou large, Chaozhou 5, and Small Nick) produced fruits with an average weight of more than 300 g per fruit which was higher than those of the fruits formed in the summer of 2013. Fruits produced during off-season contain total soluble solids (TSS) from 17.5 to 20.7 oBrix, which was higher than those produced in-season.

Keywords: flowering response, long-day plant, night-breaking treatment, off-season production, pitaya

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Authors: Amruta Amune, Rohit Agrawal, Yashashree Shastri, Syeda Zarah Aiman, Rutuja Rathi, Vaishnav Suryawanshi, Sameer Sumbhe

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Every human being needs a sense of security. The requirement for security has risen in proportion with the population growth. However, because of a scarcity of resources, effective protection is not possible. It costs a lot of money to get appropriate security that not many can handle or afford. The goal of the study was to find a solution to the issue by developing a system capable of providing strong protection at a very low cost when long-term benefits are taken into account. The objective was to design and develop a robot that could travel around and survey the region and inform the command center if anything unusual was found. The system will be controlled manually on the server to find out its workplace's paths. The system is outfitted with a camera so that it can be used to capture built-in live video of the attacker and display it on the server.

Keywords: night patrolling, node MCU, server, security

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Authors: S. Hutasavi, D. Chen

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The built-up area is a significant proxy to measure regional economic growth and reflects the Gross Provincial Product (GPP). However, an up-to-date and reliable database of built-up areas is not always available, especially in developing countries. The cloud-based geospatial analysis platform such as Google Earth Engine (GEE) provides an opportunity with accessibility and computational power for those countries to generate the built-up data. Therefore, this study aims to extract the built-up areas in Eastern Economic Corridor (EEC), Thailand using day and nighttime satellite imagery based on GEE facilities. The normalized indices were generated from Landsat 8 surface reflectance dataset, including Normalized Difference Built-up Index (NDBI), Built-up Index (BUI), and Modified Built-up Index (MBUI). These indices were applied to identify built-up areas in EEC. The result shows that MBUI performs better than BUI and NDBI, with the highest accuracy of 0.85 and Kappa of 0.82. Moreover, the overall accuracy of classification was improved from 79% to 90%, and error of total built-up area was decreased from 29% to 0.7%, after night-time light data from the Visible and Infrared Imaging Suite (VIIRS) Day Night Band (DNB). The results suggest that MBUI with night-time light imagery is appropriate for built-up area extraction and be utilize for further study of socioeconomic impacts of regional development policy over the EEC region.

Keywords: built-up area extraction, google earth engine, adaptive thresholding method, rapid mapping

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Authors: Ilham ihoume, Rachid Tadili, Nora Arbaoui

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This study examines the manner in which a solar copper coil heating system performs in a North-South-oriented greenhouse environment. In order to retain heat during the day and release it back ‎into the greenhouse environment at night, this system relies on the circulation of water in a closed ‎loop under the roof of the greenhouse. Experimental research ‎was conducted to compare the results in two identical greenhouses. The first one has a heating system, whilst the second one ‎has not and is regarded as a control. We determined the mass of the heat transfer fluid, which ‎makes up the storage system, needed to heat the greenhouse during the night to be equivalent to ‎‎689 Kg using the heat balance of the greenhouse equipped with a heating system. The findings ‎demonstrated that when compared to a controlled greenhouse without a heating system, the climatic ‎conditions within the experimental greenhouse were greatly enhanced by the solar heating system. ‎‎

Keywords: renewable energy, storage, enviromental impact, heating, agricultural greenhouse

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Authors: Sigal Gat-Lazer, Ronny Geva, Dan Ramon, Eitan Gur, Daniel Stein

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Introduction: Eating disorders (ED) are common psychopathologies which involve distorted body image and eating disturbances. Binge-purge eating disorders (B/P ED) are characterized by repetitive events of binge eating followed by purges. Patients with B/P ED behavior may be seen as impulsive especially when relate to food stimulation and affective conditions. The current study included innovative modification of the day-night task targeted to assess inhibitory control among patients with B/P ED. Methods: This prospective study included 50 patients with B/P ED during acute phase of illness (T1) upon their admission to specialized ED department in tertiary center. 34 patients repeated the study towards discharge to ambulatory care (T2). Treatment effect was evaluated by BMI and emotional questionnaires regarding depression and anxiety by the Beck Depression Inventory and State Trait Anxiety Inventory questionnaires. Control group included 36 healthy controls with matched demographic parameters who performed both T1 and T2 assessments. The current modification is based on the emotional day-night task (EDNT) which involves five emotional stimulation added to the sun and moon pictures presented to participants. In the current study, we designed the food-emotional modification day night task (F-EDNT) food stimulations of egg and banana which resemble the sun and moon, respectively, in five emotional states (angry, sad, happy, scrambled and neutral). During this computerized task, participants were instructed to push on “day” bottom in response to moon and banana stimulations and on “night” bottom when sun and egg were presented. Accuracy (A) and reaction time (RT) were evaluated and compared between EDNT and F-EDNT as a reflection of participants’ inhibitory control. Results: Patients with B/P ED had significantly improved BMI, depression and anxiety scores on T2 compared to T1 (all p<0.001). Task performance was similar among patients and controls in the EDNT without significant A or RT differences in both T1 and T2. On F-EDNT during T1, B/P ED patients had significantly reduced accuracy in 4/5 emotional stimulation compared to controls: angry (73±25% vs. 84±15%, respectively), sad (69±25% vs. 80±18%, respectively), happy (73±24% vs. 82±18%, respectively) and scrambled (74±24% vs. 84±13%, respectively, all p<0.05). Additionally, patients’ RT to food stimuli was significantly faster compared to neutral ones, in both cry and neutral emotional stimulations (356±146 vs. 400±141 and 378±124 vs. 412±116 msec, respectively, p<0.05). These significant differences between groups as a function of stimulus type were diminished on T2. Conclusion: Having to process food related content, in particular in emotional context seems to be impaired in patients with B/P ED during the acute phase of their illness and elicits greater impulsivity. Innovative modification using such procedures seem to be sensitive to patients’ illness phase and thus may be implemented during screening and follow up through the clinical management of these patients.

Keywords: binge purge eating disorders, day night task modification, eating disorders, food related stimulations

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Authors: Mohamed Ahmed M. Azab

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The shortage of fresh water is a major problem in several areas of the world such as arid regions and coastal zones in several countries of Arabian Gulf. Fortunately, arid regions are exposed to high levels of solar irradiation most the year, which makes the utilization of solar energy a promising solution to such problem with zero harmful emission (Green System). The main objective of this work is to conduct a feasibility study of utilizing small autonomous water desalination units powered by photovoltaic modules as a green renewable energy resource to be employed in different isolated zones as a source of drinking water for some scattered societies where the installation of huge desalination stations are discarded owing to the unavailability of electric grid. Yanbu City is chosen as a case study where the Renewable Energy Center exists and equipped with all sensors to assess the availability of solar energy all over the year. The study included two types of available water: the first type is brackish well water and the second type is seawater of coastal regions. In the case of well water, two versions of desalination units are involved in the study: the first version is based on day operation only. While the second version takes into consideration night operation also, which requires energy storage system as batteries to provide the necessary electric power at night. According to the feasibility study results, it is found that utilization of small autonomous desalinations unit is applicable and economically accepted in the case of brackish well water. While in the case of seawater the capital costs are extremely high and the cost of desalinated water will not be economically feasible unless governmental subsidies are provided. In addition, the study indicated that, for the same water production, the utilization of energy storage version (day-night) adds additional capital cost for batteries, and extra running cost for their replacement, which makes the unit price not only incompetent with day-only unit but also with conventional units powered by diesel generator (fossil fuel) owing to the low prices of fuel in the kingdom. However, the cost analysis shows that the price of the produced water per cubic meter of day-night unit is similar to that produced from the day-only unit provided that the day-night unit operates theoretically for a longer period of 50%.

Keywords: solar energy, water desalination, reverse osmosis, arid regions

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Authors: Naseer M. A.

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Buildings are major consumers of energy in both their construction and operation. They account for 40% of World’s energy use. It is estimated that 40-60% of this goes for conditioning the indoor environment. In India, like many other countries, the residential buildings have a major share (more than 50%) in the building sector. Of these, single-family units take a mammoth share. The single-family dwelling units in the urban and fringe areas are built in two stories to minimize the building foot print on small land parcels. And quite often, the bedrooms are located in the first floors. The modern buildings are provided with reinforced concrete (RC) roofs that absorb heat throughout the day and radiate the heat into the interiors during the night. The rooms that are occupied in the night, like bedrooms, are having their indoors uncomfortable. This has resulted in the use of active systems like air-conditioners and air coolers, thereby increasing the energy use. An investigation conducted by monitoring the thermal comfort condition in the residential building with RC roofs have proved that the indoors are really uncomfortable in the night hours. A sustainable solution to improve the thermal performance of the RC roofs was developed by an experimental study by continuously monitoring the thermal comfort parameters during summer (the period that is most uncomfortable in temperate climate). The study conducted in the southern peninsular India, prove that retrofitting of existing residential building can give a sustainable solution in abating the ever increasing energy demand especially when it is a fact that these residential buildings that are built for a normal life span of 40 years would continue to consume the energy for the rest of its useful life.

Keywords: energy efficiency, thermal comfort, retrofitting, residential buildings

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Authors: Dharmendra Jariwala, Robin Christian

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Thermal exposure is a common problem in every manufacturing industry where heat is used in the manufacturing process. In developing countries like India, a lack of awareness regarding the proper work environmental condition is observed among workers. Improper planning of factory building, arrangement of machineries, ventilation system, etc. play a vital role in the rise of temperature within the manufacturing areas. Due to the uncontrolled thermal stress, workers may be subjected to various heat illnesses from mild disorder to heat stroke. Heat stress is responsible for the health risk and reduction in production. Wet Bulb Globe Temperature (WBGT) index and relative humidity are used to evaluate heat stress conditions. WBGT index is a weighted average of natural wet bulb temperature, globe temperature, dry bulb temperature, which are measured with standard instrument QuestTemp 36 area stress monitor. In this study textile processing units have been selected in the industrial estate in the Surat city. Based on the manufacturing process six locations were identified within the plant at which process was undertaken at 120°C to 180°C. These locations were jet dying machine area, stenter machine area, printing machine, looping machine area, washing area which generate process heat. Office area was also selected for comparision purpose as a sixth location. Present Study was conducted in the winter season and summer season for day and night shift. The results shows that average WBGT index was found above Threshold Limiting Value (TLV) during summer season for day and night shift in all three industries except office area. During summer season highest WBGT index of 32.8°C was found during day shift and 31.5°C was found during night shift at printing machine area. Also during winter season highest WBGT index of 30°C and 29.5°C was found at printing machine area during day shift and night shift respectively.

Keywords: relative humidity, textile industry, thermal stress, WBGT

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Authors: Gail Schofield, Antoine M. Dujon, Nicole Esteban, Rebecca M. Lester, Graeme C. Hays

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Variation in diel movement patterns during migration provides information on the strategies used by animals to maximize energy efficiency and ensure the successful completion of migration. For instance, many flying and land-based terrestrial species stop to rest and refuel at regular intervals along the migratory route, or at transitory ‘stopover’ sites, depending on resource availability. However, in cases where stopping is not possible (such as over–or through deep–open oceans, or over deserts and mountains), non-stop travel is required, with animals needing to develop strategies to rest while actively traveling. Recent advances in biologging technologies have identified mid-flight micro sleeps by swifts in Africa during the 10-month non-breeding period, and the use of lateralized sleep behavior in orca and bottlenose dolphins during migration. Here, highly accurate locations obtained by Argos-linked Fastloc-GPS transmitters of adult green (n=8 turtles, 9487 locations) and loggerhead (n=46 turtles, 47,588 locations) sea turtles migrating around thousand kilometers (over several weeks) from breeding to foraging grounds across the Indian and Mediterranean oceans were used to identify potential resting strategies. Stopovers were only documented for seven turtles, lasting up to 6 days; thus, this strategy was not commonly used, possibly due to the lack of potential ‘shallow’ ( < 100 m seabed depth) sites along routes. However, observations of the day versus night speed of travel indicated that turtles might use other mechanisms to rest. For instance, turtles traveled an average 31% slower at night compared to day during oceanic crossings. Slower travel speeds at night might be explained by turtles swimming in a less direct line at night and/or deeper dives reducing their forward motion, as indicated through studies using Argos-linked transmitters and accelerometers. Furthermore, within the first 24 h of entering waters shallower than 100 m towards the end of migration (the depth at which sea turtles can swim and rest on the seabed), some individuals travelled 72% slower at night, repeating this behavior intermittently (each time for a one-night duration at 3–6-day intervals) until reaching the foraging grounds. If the turtles were, in fact, resting on the seabed at this point, they could be inactive for up to 8-hours, facilitating protracted periods of rest after several weeks of constant swimming. Turtles might not rest every night once within these shallower depths, due to the time constraints of reaching foraging grounds and restoring depleted energetic reserves (as sea turtles are capital breeders, they tend not to feed for several months during migration to and from the breeding grounds and while breeding). In conclusion, access to data-rich, highly accurate Argos-linked Fastloc-GPS provided information about differences in the day versus night activity at different stages of migration, allowing us, for the first time, to compare the strategies used by a marine vertebrate with terrestrial land-based and flying species. However, the question of what resting strategies are used by individuals that remain in oceanic waters to forage, with combinations of highly accurate Argos-linked Fastloc-GPS transmitters and accelerometry or time-depth recorders being required for sufficient numbers of individuals.

Keywords: argos-linked fastloc GPS, data loggers, migration, resting strategy, telemetry

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Authors: Chales Mumbere Musavandalo, Lucie B. Mugherwa, Gloire Kayitoghera Mulondi, Naanson Bweya, Muyisa Musongora, Francis Lelo Nzuzi

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The landscape of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve in the Democratic Republic of Congo harbors a large community of Mbuti indigenous peoples, often described as the guardians of nature. Living in and off the forest has long been a sustainable strategy for preserving natural resources. This strategy, seen as a form of eco-responsible citizenship, draws upon ethnobotanical knowledge passed down through generations. However, these indigenous communities are facing socio-cultural upheaval, which impacts their traditional way of life. This study aims to assess the relationship between the Mbuti indigenous people’s way of life and the preservation of the Okapi Wildlife Reserve. The study was conducted under the assumption that, despite socio-cultural upheavals, the forest and its resources remain central to the Mbuti way of life. The study was conducted in six encampments, three of which were located inside the forest and two in the anthropized zone. The methodological approach initially involved group interviews in six Mbuti encampments. The objective of these interviews was to determine how these people perceive the various services provided by the forest and the resources obtained from this habitat. The technique of using pebbles was adopted to adapt the exercise of weighting services and resources to the understanding of these people. Subsequently, the study carried out ethnobotanical surveys to identify the wood resources frequently used by these communities. This survey was completed in third position by a transect inventory of 1000 m length and 25 m width in order to enhance the understanding of the abundance of these resources around the camps. Two transects were installed in each camp to carry out this inventory. Traditionally, the Mbuti communities sustain their livelihood through hunting, fishing, gathering for self-consumption, and basketry. The Manniophyton fulvum-based net remains the main hunting tool. The primary forest and the swamp are two habitats from which these peoples derive the majority of their resources. However, with the arrival of the Bantu people, who introduced agriculture based on cocoa production, the Mbuti communities started providing services to the Bantu in the form of labor and field guarding. This cultural symbiosis between Mbute and Bantu has also led to non-traditional practices, such as the use of hunting rifles instead of nets and fishing nets instead of creels. The socio-economic and ecological environment in which Mbuti communities live is changing rapidly, including the resources they depend on. By incorporating the time factor into their perception of ecosystem services, only their future (p-value = 0, 0,121), the provision of wood for energy (p-value = 0,1976), and construction (p-value = 0,2548) would be closely associated with the forest in their future. For other services, such as food supply, medicine, and hunting, adaptation to Bantu customs is conceivable. Additionally, the abundance of wood used by the Mbuti people has been high around encampments located in intact forests and low in those in anthropized areas. The traditional way of life of the Mbuti communities is influenced by the cultural symbiosis, reflected in their habits and the availability of resources. The land tenure security of Mbuti areas is crucial to preserve their tradition and forest biodiversity. Conservation efforts in the Okapi Wildlife Reserve must consider this cultural dynamism and promote positive values for the flagship species. The oversight of subsistence hunting is imperative to curtail the transition of these communities to poaching.

Keywords: traditional life, conservation, Indigenous people, cultural symbiosis, forest

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Authors: Maha Bakkari, R.Tadili

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The present work is a study of the performance of a solar copper coil heating system in a greenhouse microclimate. Our system is based on the circulation of a Heat transfer fluid, which is water in our case, in a closed loop under the greenhouse's roof in order to store heat all day, and then this heat will supply the greenhouse during the night. In order to evaluate our greenhouse, we made an experimental study in two identical greenhouses, where the first one is equipped with a heating system and the second (without heating) is used for control. The heating system allows the establishment of the thermal balance and determines the mass of water necessary for the process in order to ensure its functioning during the night. The results obtained showed that this solar heating system and the climatic parameters inside the experimental greenhouse were improved, and it presents a significant gain compared to a controlled greenhouse without a heating system. This research is one of the solutions that help to reduce the greenhouse effect of the planet Earth, a problem that worries the world.

Keywords: solar energy, energy storage, greenhouse, environment

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Authors: Andrea Giacomelli, Luciano Massetti, Elena Maggi, Antonio Raschi

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The presentation will report the activities managed during the Summer of 2017 by a team composed by staff from a University Department, a National Research Council Institute, and an outreach NGO, collecting measurements of night sky brightness and other information on artificial lighting, in order to characterize light pollution issues on portions of the Tuscan coast, in Central Italy. These activities combine measurements collected by the principal scientists, citizen science observations led by students, and outreach events targeting a broad audience. This campaign aggregates the efforts of three actors: the BuioMetria Partecipativa project, which started collecting light pollution data on a national scale in 2008 with an environmental engineering and free/open source GIS core team; the Institute of Biometeorology from the National Research Council, with ongoing studies on light and urban vegetation and a consolidated track record in environmental education and citizen science; the Department of Biology from the University of Pisa, which started experiments to assess the impact of light pollution in coastal environments in 2015. While the core of the activities concerns in situ data, the campaign will account also for remote sensing data, thus considering heterogeneous data sources. The aim of the campaign is twofold: (1) To test actions of citizen and student engagement in monitoring sky brightness (2) To collect night sky brightness data and test a protocol for applications to studies on the ecological impact of light pollution, with a special focus on marine coastal ecosystems. The collaboration of an interdisciplinary team in the study of artificial lighting issues is not a common case in Italy, and the possibility of undertaking the campaign in Tuscany has the added value of operating in one of the territories where it is possible to observe both sites with extremely high lighting levels, and areas with extremely low light pollution, especially in the Southern part of the region. Combining environmental monitoring and communication actions in the context of the campaign, this effort will contribute to the promotion of night skies with a good quality as an important asset for the sustainability of coastal ecosystems, as well as to increase citizen awareness through star gazing, night photography and actively participating in field campaign measurements.

Keywords: citizen science, light pollution, marine coastal biodiversity, environmental education

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Authors: Sheheryar Khan, Weidong Li, Fanqian Meng

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The Urban Heat Island (UHI) effect is one of the foremost problems out of other ecological and socioeconomic issues in urbanization. Due to this phenomenon that human-made urban areas have replaced the rural landscape with the surface that increases thermal conductivity and urban warmth; as a result, the temperature in the city is higher than in the surrounding rural areas. To affect the evidence of this phenomenon in the Zhengzhou city area, an observation of the temperature variations in the urban area is done through a scientific method that has been followed. Landsat 8 satellite images were taken from 2013 to 2015 to calculate the effect of Urban Heat Island (UHI) along with the NPP-VRRIS night-time remote sensing data to analyze the result for a better understanding of the center of the built-up area. To further support the evidence, the correlation between land surface temperatures and the normalized difference vegetation index (NDVI) was calculated using the Red band 4 and Near-infrared band 5 of the Landsat 8 data. Mono-window algorithm was applied to retrieve the land surface temperature (LST) distribution from the Landsat 8 data using Band 10 and 11 accordingly to convert the top-of-atmosphere radiance (TOA) and to convert the satellite brightness temperature. Along with Landsat 8 data, NPP-VIIRS night-light data is preprocessed to get the research area data. The analysis between Landsat 8 data and NPP night-light data was taken to compare the output center of the Built-up area of Zhengzhou city.

Keywords: built-up area, land surface temperature, mono-window algorithm, NDVI, remote sensing, threshold method, Zhengzhou

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Authors: Hanaa Sameen Ameen Bajilan

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Gender statuses are inherently unequal; it is difficult to establish equality between men and women in the light of traditional inequalities across the world. This research focuses on the similarities and differences among women from different generations different kinds of educational backgrounds and highlights the conflict experiences of the characters in Githa Hariharan's novel ‘The Thousand Faces of Night’ The purpose is to show how women are suffering and are being humiliated in a male-dominated society. The paper depicts how women in India grapple from male domination aggressiveness as well as the cultural, social and religious controlling in the society they live in. The paper also seeks to explore the importance of Knowledge as a powerful component that produces positive effects at the level of desire. The paper is based on the theories of Simone Beauvoir, Pierre Bourdieu, Edward Said, Rene Descartes and Amy Bhatt. Finally, the paper emphasizes on survival against hegemonic regimes and Indian women's hope for a better life.

Keywords: equality, gender, Githa Hariharan, humiliation

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Authors: Takashi Yamaguchi, Ichio Asanuma, Jong G. Park, Kenneth J. Mackin, John Mittleman

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In this paper, vessel detection using the artificial neural network is proposed in order to automatically construct the vessel detection model from the satellite imagery of day/night band (DNB) in visible infrared in the products of Imaging Radiometer Suite (VIIRS) on Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership (Suomi-NPP).The goal of our research is the establishment of vessel detection method using the satellite imagery of DNB in order to monitor the change of vessel activity over the wide region. The temporal vessel monitoring is very important to detect the events and understand the circumstances within the maritime environment. For the vessel locating and detection techniques, Automatic Identification System (AIS) and remote sensing using Synthetic aperture radar (SAR) imagery have been researched. However, each data has some lack of information due to uncertain operation or limitation of continuous observation. Therefore, the fusion of effective data and methods is important to monitor the maritime environment for the future. DNB is one of the effective data to detect the small vessels such as fishery ships that is difficult to observe in AIS. DNB is the satellite sensor data of VIIRS on Suomi-NPP. In contrast to SAR images, DNB images are moderate resolution and gave influence to the cloud but can observe the same regions in each day. DNB sensor can observe the lights produced from various artifact such as vehicles and buildings in the night and can detect the small vessels from the fishing light on the open water. However, the modeling of vessel detection using DNB is very difficult since complex atmosphere and lunar condition should be considered due to the strong influence of lunar reflection from cloud on DNB. Therefore, artificial neural network was applied to learn the vessel detection model. For the feature of vessel detection, Brightness Temperature at the 3.7 μm (BT3.7) was additionally used because BT3.7 can be used for the parameter of atmospheric conditions.

Keywords: artificial neural network, day/night band, remote sensing, Suomi National Polar-orbiting Partnership, vessel detection, Visible Infrared Imaging Radiometer Suite

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Authors: Muhammad Idnan, Arshad Javid, Muhammad Nadeem

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The present study was conducted from April 2013 to March 2014 to observe the behavioral parameters of Chinkara (Gazella bennettii) under captive conditions by comparing the captive-born and wild-caught animals for conservation strategies. Understanding the behavioral conformations plays a significant role in captive management. Due to human population explosion and mechanized hunting, the captive breeding seems to be the best way for sports hunting, bush meat, for leather industry and horns for traditional medicinal usage. Primarily, captive management has been used on trial and error basis due to deficiency of ethology of this least concerned species. Behavior of [(20 wild-caught (WC) and 10 captive-bred (CB)] adult Chinkara was observed at captive breeding facilities for ungulates at Ravi Campus, University of Veterinary and Animal Sciences at Kasur district which is situated on southeast side of Lahore. The average annual rainfall is about 650 mm, with frequent raining during monsoon. A focal sample was used to observe the various behavioral patterns for CB and WC chinkara. A similarity was observed in behavioral parameters in WC and CB animals, however, when the differences were considered, WC male deer showed a significantly higher degree of agonistic interaction as compared to the CB male chinkara. These findings suggest that there is no immediate impact of captivity on behavior of chinkara nevertheless 10 generations of captivity. It is suggested that the Chinkara is not suitable for domestication and for successful deer farming, a further study is recommended for ethology of chinkara.

Keywords: Chinkara (Gazella bennettii), domestication, deer farming, ex-situ conservation

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Authors: Sabine Pau, Sophia Volz, Emanuel Bauer, Amelie De Gregorio, Frank Reister, Wolfgang Janni, Florian Ebner

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Purpose: The umbilical cord pH is a well evaluated contributor for prediction of neonatal outcome. This study correlates nenonatal umbilical cord pH with the weekday of delivery, the time of birth as well as the staff hand over times (midwifes and doctors). Material and Methods: This retrospective study included all deliveries of a 20 year period (1994-2014) at our primary obstetric center. All deliveries with a newborn cord pH under 7,20 were included in this analysis (6929 of 48974 deliveries (14,4%)). Further subgroups were formed according to the pH (< 7,05; 7,05 – 7,09; 7,10 – 7,14; 7,15 – 7,19). The data were then separated in day- and night time (8am-8pm/8pm-8am) for a first analysis. Finally, handover times were defined at 6 am – 6.30 am, 2 pm -2.30 pm, 10 pm- 10.30 pm (midwives) and for the doctors 8-8.30 am, 4 – 4.30 pm (Monday- Thursday); 2 pm -2.30 pm (Friday) and 9 am – 9.30 am (weekend). Routinely a shift consists of at least three doctors as well as three midwives. Results: During the last 20 years, 6929 neonates were born with an umbilical cord ph < 7,20 ( < 7,05 : 7,1%; 7,05 – 7,09 : 10,9%; 7,10 – 7,14 : 30,2%; 7,15 – 7,19:51,8%). There was no significant difference between either night/day delivery (p = 0.408), delivery on different weekdays (p = 0.253), delivery between Monday to Thursday, Friday and the weekend (p = 0.496 ) or delivery during the handover times of the doctors as well as the midwives (p = 0.221). Even the standard deviation showed no differences between the groups. Conclusion: Despite an increased workload over the last 20 years, the standard of care remains high even during the handover times and night shifts. This applies for midwives and doctors. As the neonatal outcome depends on various factors, further studies are necessary to take more factors influencing the fetal outcome into consideration. In order to maintain this high standard of care, an adaption of work-load and changing conditions is necessary.

Keywords: delivery, fetal umbilical cord pH, day time, hand over times

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Authors: Azadeh Mottaghi, Zeynab Shakeri

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Background: Eating disorders (ED) are group of psychological disorders that significantly impair physical health and psychosocial function. EDconsists wide range of morbidity such as loss of eating control, binge eating disorder(BED), night eating syndrome (NES), and bulimia nervosa. Eating behavior is a wide range term that includes food choices, eating patterns, eating problems. In this study, current knowledge will be discussed aboutcomparison of eating disorders and eating behaviors in morbid obese women with and without type 2 diabetes. Methods: 231 womenwith morbid obesity were included in the study.Loss of eating control, Binge eating disorder and Bulimia nervosa, Night eating syndrome, and eating behaviors and psychosocial factorswere assessed. SPSS version 20 was used for statistical analysis. A p-value of <0.05 was considered significant. Results: There was a significant difference between women with and without diabetes in case of binge eating disorder (76.3% vs. 47.3%, p=0.001). Women with the least Interpersonal support evaluation list (ISEL) scores had a higher risk of eating disorders, and it is more common among diabetics (29.31% vs. 30.45%, p= 0.050). There was no significant difference between depression level and BDI score among women with or without diabetes. Although 38.5% (n=56) of women with diabetes and 50% (n=71) of women without diabetes had minimal depression. The logistic regression model has shown that women without diabetes had lower odds of exhibiting BED (OR=0.28, 95% CI 0.142-0.552).Women with and without diabetes with high school degree (OR=5.54, 95% CI 2.46-9.45, P= 0.0001 & OR=6.52, 95% CI 3.15-10.56, respectively) and moderate depression level (OR=2.03, 95% CI 0.98-3.95 & OR=3.12, 95% CI 2.12-4.56, P= 0.0001) had higher odds of BED. Conclusion: The result of the present study shows that the odds of BED was lower in non-diabetic women with morbid obesity. Women with morbid obesity who had high school degree and moderate depression level had more odds for BED.

Keywords: eating disorders binge eating disorder, night eating syndrome, bulimia nervosa, morbid obesity

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Authors: Zainab Al-Wazzan, Luis Gimenez, Lewis Le Vay, Manaf Behbehani

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The hatching rhythm and larval release patterns of the rocky shore crab Leptoduis exaratus was investigated in relation to the tidal cycle, the time of the day, and lunar cycle. Ovigerous females were collected from rocky shores at six sites along the Kuwait coastline between April and July of 2014. The females were kept separated in aquaria under a natural photoperiod cycle and the pattern of larval release was monitored in relation to local tidal and dial cycles. Larval release occurred mostly during the night time, and was highly synchronized with neap tides that followed full moon; at the end of the hatching period, significant larval release occurred also during spring tides. Time series analysis showed a highly significant autocorrelation and the periodicity at a peak of 14-15 days. The cross-correlation analysis between hatching and the daily low tide level suggests that larvae are released about a day before neap tide. Hatching during neap tides occurred early in the night at times of the expected ebb tide. During spring tide period (late in the season), larval release occurred later during night at tides of the ebb tide. The results of this study indicated a strong relationship between the tidal cycle, time of the day and the hatching rhythm of L. exaratus. In addition, the results suggest that water level in the intertidal zone is also playing a very important role in determining the time of the hatching. Hatching and larval release synchronize with the preferred larval environmental conditions to prevent exposing larvae to physiological or environmental stress during their early larval stages. It is also an important factor in determining the larval dispersal.

Keywords: brachyura, hatching rhythm, larvae, Kuwait

Procedia PDF Downloads 654

Authors: Sebastiana Viphindratin, Silvi Asna

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The under ground economy phenomenon is exist in Indonesia. There are some factors which affect the existence this underground economy activity. One of them is a hierarchy power structure that handles the underground economy existence. The example of the existence of underground economy is the occurring informal market in Indonesia. Malang city is one of the city which has this kind of market. Junk night market (JNM) as an underground economy activity is arising in that city. The JNM is located in Gatot Subroto Sidewalk Street. The JNM is a illegal market which sell thrift, antique, imitation and black market goods. The JNM is interesting topic to be discussed, because this market is running in long time without any policy from local government. The JNM activity has their own “power” that run the market rules. Thus, it is important to analyze how the existence and power structure of JNM actors community are in Malang city. This research using qualitative method with phenomenological approach where we try to understand the phenomenon and related actors deeply. The aim of this research is to know the existence and power structure of JNM actors community in Malang. In JNM, there is no any entry barriers and tax charge from Malang government itself. Price competition also occurs because the buyer can do a bargain with the seller. In maintaining buyer loyalty, the JNM actors also do pre-order system. Even though, this market is an illegal market but the JNM actors also give the goods guarantee (without legal contract) as a formal market. In JNM actor’s community, there is no hierarchy and formal power structure. The role in JNM is managed by informal leaders who come up from the trading activity problems that are sidewalk and parking area dividing. Therefore, can be concluded that even the JNM is illegal market but it can survive with natural market pattern. In JNM development, JNM has positive and negative impact for Malang city. The positive impact of JNM is this market can open a new employment but the negative impact is there is no tax income from that market. Therefore, suggested that the government of Malang city should manage and give appropriate policies in this case.

Keywords: junk night market (JNM), Malang city, underground economy, illegal

Procedia PDF Downloads 380

Authors: Feride Eskin Bacaksiz, Arzu K. Harmanci Seren

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The problems about the working hours of nursing personnel, such as overworking, numbers of night or daytime shifts, is stated one of the most complained issues by nurses. Otherwise, besides of nursing shortage, absenteeism of nurses because of sickness, some other health problems, or other reasons enforces nurse managers to make working schedules. In this study, it was aimed to analyse and evaluate the working schedules of nurses working in public hospitals. Working schedule lists of nursing personnel for the months of October and November in two public hospitals were analysed and evaluated. Approvals were acquired from the head nurse managers. Descriptive and comparative analyses were used. Totally 36 lists were analysed from two hospitals. There were totally 416 nurses (manager nurse: 25, nurse: 391) and 6-28 (12.6, SD=5.34) nurses in each list. It was found that nurses were working 8 (42.5%), 12 (27.9%) and 16 (20%) hours, in inpatient clinics (74.8%). Totally 20.2% of the nurses were absent during analysing time due to the annual, paid or unpaid leaves. Nurses were generally working 20-112 hours (80.27, SD=11.92). Most of the nurses over worked 1.5-443 hours (47.436, SD=60.78) the year before that year. It was determined that 11.8% of the nurses (n: 49) were working only night shifts and 42.1% (n: 175) of the nurses were working only daytime shifts. It was found that there were inequities in the working hours of nurses.

Keywords: nurse, public hospitals, working conditions, working schedules

Procedia PDF Downloads 254

Authors: Sat Sharma, Antonella Conflitti, Hilary Reiter

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Introduction: The study's purpose was to assess the efficacy of the oral appliance device O2Vent Optima + ExVent as compared to Optima in the treatment of OSA. Methods: A prospective, open-label study conducted at 3 sites included subjects with mild to moderate OSA (AHI ≥ 5 and ≤ 30). Screening Phase: A diagnostic in-lab PSG study was performed to confirm a diagnosis of mild to moderate OSA. Treatment I: Subjects used O2Vent Optima for 6 weeks and underwent an in-lab PSG sleep night while using the O2Vent Optima. Treatment II: Subjects used O2Vent Optima + ExVent for 6 weeks and underwent an in-lab PSG sleep night while using the O2Vent Optima + ExVent Primary Effectiveness Measure: Change in AHI between baseline vs. O2Vent Optima MAD vs. O2Vent Optima + ExVent. Results: Treatment with Optima, Optima + ExVent reduced AHI from 22.5±6.4/hr to 12.6±4.5/hr to 5.9±2.7 (p< 0.005 baseline vs. Optima and Optima + ExVent; p<0.05 Optima MAD vs. Optima + ExVent). The average reduction in AHI with Optima was 43%, and with Optima + ExVent was 72%. The lowest oxygen during sleep increased from 84.6±2.7% to 88.6±2.9% to 91.6±3.2% (p< 0.005 baseline vs. Optima and Optima + ExVent; p<0.05 Optima vs. Optima + ExVent). During the trial, patients on treatment with Optima and Optima + ExVent demonstrated no excessive adverse events or device malfunction. Conclusion: Treatment with O2Vent Optima and O2Vent Optima + ExVent significantly improved OSA compared to the baseline. An even greater benefit was observed with the addition of ExVent to the Optima in mild to moderate OSA.

Keywords: oral appliance, O2Vent, sleep dentistry, sleep apnea

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Authors: Victoria Goodall, Paul Fatti, Norman Owen-Smith

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Hidden Markov Models have become popular for the analysis of animal tracking data. These models are being used to model the movements of a variety of species in many areas around the world. A common assumption of the model is that the observations need to have regular time steps. In many ecological studies, this will not be the case. The objective of the research is to modify the movement model to allow for irregularly spaced locations and investigate the effect on the inferences which can be made about the latent states. A modification of the likelihood function to allow for these irregular spaced locations is investigated, without using interpolation or averaging the movement rate. The suitability of the modification is investigated using GPS tracking data for lion (Panthera leo) in South Africa, with many observations obtained during the night, and few observations during the day. Many nocturnal predator tracking studies are set up in this way, to obtain many locations at night when the animal is most active and is difficult to observe. Few observations are obtained during the day, when the animal is expected to rest and is potentially easier to observe. Modifying the likelihood function allows the popular Hidden Markov Model framework to be used to model these irregular spaced locations, making use of all the observed data.

Keywords: hidden Markov Models, irregular observations, animal movement modelling, nocturnal predator

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