Search results for: species classification

Authors: Zelalem Teshager

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The Choke Mountains have several endangered and endemic wildlife species and provide important ecosystem services. Despite their environmental importance, the Choke Mountains are found in dangerous conditions. This raised the need for an evaluation of the community's perception of deforestation and its major drivers and suggested possible solutions in the Choke Mountains of northwestern Ethiopia. For this purpose, household surveys, key informant interviews, and focus group discussions were used. A total sample of 102 informants was used for this survey. A purposive sampling technique was applied to select the participants for in-depth interviews and focus group discussions. Both qualitative and quantitative data analyses were used. Computation of descriptive statistics such as mean, percentages, frequency, tables, figures, and graphs was applied to organize, analyze, and interpret the study. This study assessed smallholder agricultural land expansion, Fuel wood collection, population growth; encroachment, free grazing, high demand of construction wood, unplanned resettlement, unemployment, border conflict, lack of a strong forest protecting system, and drought were the serious causes of forest depletion reported by local communities. Loss of land productivity, Soil erosion, soil fertility decline, increasing wind velocity, rising temperature, and frequency of drought were the most perceived impacts of deforestation. Most of the farmers have a holistic understanding of forest cover change. Strengthening forest protection, improving soil and water conservation, enrichment planting, awareness creation, payment for ecosystem services, and zero grazing campaigns were mentioned as possible solutions to the current state of deforestation. Applications of Intervention measures, such as animal fattening, beekeeping, and fruit production can contribute to decreasing the deforestation causes and improve communities’ livelihood. In addition, concerted efforts of conservation will ensure that the forests’ ecosystems contribute to increased ecosystem services. The major drivers of deforestation should be addressed with government intervention to change dependency on forest resources, income sources of the people, and institutional set-up of the forestry sector. Overall, further reduction in anthropogenic pressure is urgent and crucial for the recovery of the afro-alpine vegetation and the interrelated endangered wildlife in the Choke Mountains.

Keywords: choke afro-alpine, deforestation, drivers, intervention measures, perceptions

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Authors: Thomas Folegot, Arnaud Levaufre, Léna Bourven, Nicolas Kermagoret, Alexis Caillard, Roger Gallou

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Concern for negative impacts of anthropogenic noise on the ocean’s ecosystems has increased over the recent decades. This concern leads to a similar increased willingness to regulate noise-generating activities, of which shipping is one of the most significant. Dealing with ship noise requires not only knowledge about the noise from individual ships, but also how the ship noise is distributed in time and space within the habitats of concern. Marine mammals, but also fish, sea turtles, larvae and invertebrates are mostly dependent on the sounds they use to hunt, feed, avoid predators, during reproduction to socialize and communicate, or to defend a territory. In the marine environment, sight is only useful up to a few tens of meters, whereas sound can propagate over hundreds or even thousands of kilometers. Directive 2008/56/EC of the European Parliament and of the Council of June 17, 2008 called the Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) require the Member States of the European Union to take the necessary measures to reduce the impacts of maritime activities to achieve and maintain a good environmental status of the marine environment. The Ocean-Planner is a web-based platform that provides to regulators, managers of protected or sensitive areas, etc. with a decision support tool that enable to anticipate and quantify the effectiveness of management measures in terms of reduction or modification the distribution of underwater noise, in response to Descriptor 11 of the MSFD and to the Marine Spatial Planning Directive. Based on the operational sound modelling tool Quonops Online Service, Ocean-Planner allows the user via an intuitive geographical interface to define management measures at local (Marine Protected Area, Natura 2000 sites, Harbors, etc.) or global (Particularly Sensitive Sea Area) scales, seasonal (regulation over a period of time) or permanent, partial (focused to some maritime activities) or complete (all maritime activities), etc. Speed limit, exclusion area, traffic separation scheme (TSS), and vessel sound level limitation are among the measures supported be the tool. Ocean Planner help to decide on the most effective measure to apply to maintain or restore the biodiversity and the functioning of the ecosystems of the coastal seabed, maintain a good state of conservation of sensitive areas and maintain or restore the populations of marine species.

Keywords: underwater noise, marine biodiversity, marine spatial planning, mitigation measures, prediction

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Authors: Bruno C. Schimming, Leandro L. Martins, PatríCia F. F. Pinheiro, Raquel F. Domeniconi, FabríCio S. Oliveira

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The agouti is a wildlife rodent that can be used as an alternative source of animal protein and this species has been raised in captivity in Brazil with the aim of providing meat. Thus, the knowledge of their reproductive biology and morphology of the reproductive organs is important. The objective of this study was to describe the morphology of epididymis in the Azara’s agouti, by light microscopy. Samples of epididymis were obtained from five adult Azara’s agouti (Dasyprocta azarae) during castration surgery performed at the Municipal Zoo of Catanduva, Brazil. Fragments of the epididymal regions (initial segment, caput, corpus and cauda) were collected. The biological samples were immediately fixed in paraformaldehyde for 24 hours, followed by histologic procedures comprising embedding in ParaplastTM (Sigma, St. Louis, MO, USA), sections of 5 µm, and staining with HE and Masson’s trichrome. The epididymis was a highly convoluted tubule that links the testis to the vas deferens. The epithelium lining was pseudostratified columnar surrounded by a periductal stroma. The epithelium contains several cell types: principal, basal, apical, clear, and hallo cells. Principal cells were the most abundant cell type. There were observed also migratory cells named halo cells. The caput epididymis was divided into two different regions: initial segment and caput. The initial segment has a very wide lumen, a high epithelium with conspicuous microvilli and the lumen was wide with exfoliated material. The other region of the caput epididymis, showed a lower epithelium when compared with the initial segment, large amounts of spermatozoa in the lumen, and a cytoplasmic vacuolization. This region presented many narrows cells. Many spermatozoa appeared in the lumen of corpus epididymis. The cauda region had a lower epithelium than the other epididymal regions in the agouti. The cauda epithelium presented plicae protruding into the lumen. Large amounts of spermatozoa are also present in the lumen. Small microvilli uniformly arranged so as to form a kind of “brush border” are observed on the apical surface of the cauda epithelium. The pattern of the epithelium lining the duct of the agouti epididymis does not differ greatly from that reported to other mammals, such as domestic and wildlife animals. These findings can cooperate with future investigations especially those related to rational exploration of these animals. All experimental procedures were approved by the institutional ethics committee (CEUA 796/2015). This study was supported by FAPESP (Grants 2015/23822-1).

Keywords: wildlife, testis excurrent ducts, epididymis, morphology

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Authors: Marta Kwiatkowska, Paweł Jarosiewicz, Bożena Bukowska

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Glyphosate (N-phosphonomethylglycine) is a non-selected broad spectrum ingredient in the herbicide (Roundup) used for over 35 years for the protection of agricultural and horticultural crops. Glyphosate was believed to be environmentally friendly but recently, a large body of evidence has revealed that glyphosate can negatively affect on environment and humans. It has been found that glyphosate is present in the soil and groundwater. It can also enter human body which results in its occurrence in blood in low concentrations of 73.6 ± 28.2 ng/ml. Research conducted for potential genotoxicity and cytotoxicity can be an important element in determining the toxic effect of glyphosate. Due to regulation of European Parliament 1107/2009 it is important to assess genotoxicity and cytotoxicity not only for the parent substance but also its impurities, which are formed at different stages of production of major substance – glyphosate. Moreover verifying, which of these compounds are more toxic is required. Understanding of the molecular pathways of action is extremely important in the context of the environmental risk assessment. In 2002, the European Union has decided that glyphosate is not genotoxic. Unfortunately, recently performed studies around the world achieved results which contest decision taken by the committee of the European Union. World Health Organization (WHO) in March 2015 has decided to change the classification of glyphosate to category 2A, which means that the compound is considered to "probably carcinogenic to humans". This category relates to compounds for which there is limited evidence of carcinogenicity to humans and sufficient evidence of carcinogenicity on experimental animals. That is why we have investigated genotoxicity and cytotoxicity effects of the most commonly used pesticide: glyphosate and its impurities: N-(phosphonomethyl)iminodiacetic acid (PMIDA) and bis-(phosphonomethyl)amine on human peripheral blood mononuclear cells (PBMCs), mostly lymphocytes. DNA damage (analysis of DNA strand-breaks) using the single cell gel electrophoresis (comet assay) and ATP level were assessed. Cells were incubated with glyphosate and its impurities: PMIDA and bis-(phosphonomethyl)amine at concentrations from 0.01 to 10 mM for 24 hours. Evaluating genotoxicity using the comet assay showed a concentration-dependent increase in DNA damage for all compounds studied. ATP level was decreased to zero as a result of using the highest concentration of two investigated impurities, like bis-(phosphonomethyl)amine and PMIDA. Changes were observed using the highest concentration at which a person can be exposed as a result of acute intoxication. Our survey leads to a conclusion that the investigated compounds exhibited genotoxic and cytotoxic potential but only in high concentrations, to which people are not exposed environmentally. Acknowledgments: This work was supported by the Polish National Science Centre (Contract-2013/11/N/NZ7/00371), MSc Marta Kwiatkowska, project manager.

Keywords: cell viability, DNA damage, glyphosate, impurities, peripheral blood mononuclear cells

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Authors: Navid Kaboudi, Ali Shayanfar

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Introduction: Feeding infants with safe milk from the beginning of their life is an important issue. Drugs which are used by mothers can affect the composition of milk in a way that is not only unsuitable, but also toxic for infants. Consuming permeable drugs during that sensitive period by mother could lead to serious side effects to the infant. Due to the ethical restrictions of drug testing on humans, especially women, during their lactation period, computational approaches based on structural parameters could be useful. The aim of this study is to develop mechanistic models to predict the M/P ratio of drugs during breastfeeding period based on their structural descriptors. Methods: Two hundred and nine different chemicals with their M/P ratio were used in this study. All drugs were categorized into two groups based on their M/P value as Malone classification: 1: Drugs with M/P>1, which are considered as high risk 2: Drugs with M/P>1, which are considered as low risk Thirty eight chemical descriptors were calculated by ACD/labs 6.00 and Data warrior software in order to assess the penetration during breastfeeding period. Later on, four specific models based on the number of hydrogen bond acceptors, polar surface area, total surface area, and number of acidic oxygen were established for the prediction. The mentioned descriptors can predict the penetration with an acceptable accuracy. For the remaining compounds (N= 147, 158, 160, and 174 for models 1 to 4, respectively) of each model binary regression with SPSS 21 was done in order to give us a model to predict the penetration ratio of compounds. Only structural descriptors with p-value<0.1 remained in the final model. Results and discussion: Four different models based on the number of hydrogen bond acceptors, polar surface area, and total surface area were obtained in order to predict the penetration of drugs into human milk during breastfeeding period About 3-4% of milk consists of lipids, and the amount of lipid after parturition increases. Lipid soluble drugs diffuse alongside with fats from plasma to mammary glands. lipophilicity plays a vital role in predicting the penetration class of drugs during lactation period. It was shown in the logistic regression models that compounds with number of hydrogen bond acceptors, PSA and TSA above 5, 90 and 25 respectively, are less permeable to milk because they are less soluble in the amount of fats in milk. The pH of milk is acidic and due to that, basic compounds tend to be concentrated in milk than plasma while acidic compounds may consist lower concentrations in milk than plasma. Conclusion: In this study, we developed four regression-based models to predict the penetration class of drugs during the lactation period. The obtained models can lead to a higher speed in drug development process, saving energy, and costs. Milk/plasma ratio assessment of drugs requires multiple steps of animal testing, which has its own ethical issues. QSAR modeling could help scientist to reduce the amount of animal testing, and our models are also eligible to do that.

Keywords: logistic regression, breastfeeding, descriptors, penetration

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Authors: Joël Passicousset, David Gilbert, Chloé Chervier-Legourd, Emmanuel Caron-Garant, Didier Labarre

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Living soil agriculture tries to reconciliate food production while improving soil health, soil biodiversity, soil fertility and more generally attenuating the inherent environmental drawbacks induced by modern agriculture. Using appropriate organic materials as soil amendments has a role to play in the aim of increasing the soil organic matter, improving soil fertility, sequestering carbon, and diminishing the dependence on both mineral fertilizer and pesticides. Insect farming consists in producing insects that can be used as a rich-in-protein and entomo-based food. Usually, detritivores are chosen, thus they can be fed with food wastes, which contributes to circular economy while producing low-carbon food. This process also produces frass, made of insect feces, exuvial material, and non-digested fibrous material, that have valuable fertilizer and biostimulation properties. But frass, used as a sole fertilizer on a crop may be not completely adequate for plants’ needs. This is why this project considers black soldier fly (termed BSF, one of the three main insect species grown commercially) frass as a complementary fertilizer, both in organic and in conventional contexts. Three kinds of experiments are made to understand the behaviour of fertilizer treatments based on frass incorporation. Lab-scale mineralization experiments suggest that BSF frass alone mineralizes more slowly than chicken manure alone (CM), but at a ratio of 90% CM-10% BSF frass, the mineralization rate of the mixture is higher than both frass and CM individually. For example, in the 7 days following the fertilization with same nitrogen amount introduced among treatments, around 80% of the nitrogen content supplied through 90% CM-10% BSF frass fertilization is present in the soil under mineral forms, compared to roughly 60% for commercial CM fertilization and 45% with BSF-frass. This suggests that BSF frass contains a more recalcitrant form of organic nitrogen than CM, but also that BSF frass has a highly active microbiota that can increase CM mineralization rate. Consequently, when progressive mineralization is needed, pure BSF-frass may be a consistent option from an agronomic aspect whereas, for specific crops that require spikes of readily available nitrogen sources (like cranberry), fast release 90CM-10BSF frass biofertilizer are more appropriate. Field experiments on cranberry suggests that, indeed, 90CM-10BSF frass is a potent candidate for organic cranberry production, as currently, organic growers rely solely on CM, whose mineralization kinetics are known to imperfectly match plant’s needs, which is known to be a major reason that sustains the current yield gap between conventional and organic cranberry sectors.

Keywords: soil mineralization, biofertilizer, BSF-frass, chicken manure, soil functions, nitrogen, soil microbiota

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Authors: Yiea Funk Te, Daniel Mueller, Irena Pletikosa Cvijikj

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Small and medium enterprises (SMEs) play an important role in the economy of many countries. When the overall world economy is considered, SMEs represent 95% of all businesses in the world, accounting for 66% of the total employment. Existing studies show that the current business environment is characterized as highly turbulent and strongly influenced by modern information and communication technologies, thus forcing SMEs to experience more severe challenges in maintaining their existence and expanding their business. To support SMEs at improving their competitiveness, researchers recently turned their focus on applying data mining techniques to build risk and growth prediction models. However, data used to assess risk and growth indicators is primarily obtained via questionnaires, which is very laborious and time-consuming, or is provided by financial institutes, thus highly sensitive to privacy issues. Recently, web mining (WM) has emerged as a new approach towards obtaining valuable insights in the business world. WM enables automatic and large scale collection and analysis of potentially valuable data from various online platforms, including companies’ websites. While WM methods have been frequently studied to anticipate growth of sales volume for e-commerce platforms, their application for assessment of SME risk and growth indicators is still scarce. Considering that a vast proportion of SMEs own a website, WM bears a great potential in revealing valuable information hidden in SME websites, which can further be used to understand SME risk and growth indicators, as well as to enhance current SME risk and growth prediction models. This study aims at developing an automated system to collect business-relevant data from the Web and predict future growth trends of SMEs by means of WM and data mining techniques. The envisioned system should serve as an 'early recognition system' for future growth opportunities. In an initial step, we examine how structured and semi-structured Web data in governmental or SME websites can be used to explain the success of SMEs. WM methods are applied to extract Web data in a form of additional input features for the growth prediction model. The data on SMEs provided by a large Swiss insurance company is used as ground truth data (i.e. growth-labeled data) to train the growth prediction model. Different machine learning classification algorithms such as the Support Vector Machine, Random Forest and Artificial Neural Network are applied and compared, with the goal to optimize the prediction performance. The results are compared to those from previous studies, in order to assess the contribution of growth indicators retrieved from the Web for increasing the predictive power of the model.

Keywords: data mining, SME growth, success factors, web mining

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Authors: Md. Monjurul Islam, Tofael Ahamed, Ryozo Noguchi

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Progress continues in the fight against hunger, yet an unacceptably large number of people still lack food they need for an active and healthy life. Bangladesh is one of the rising countries in the South-Asia but still lots of people are food insecure. In the last few years, Bangladesh has significant achievements in food grain production but still food security at national to individual levels remain a matter of major concern. Ensuring food security for all is one of the major challenges that Bangladesh faces today, especially production of rice in the flood and poverty prone areas. Northern part is more vulnerable than any other part of Bangladesh. To ensure food security, one of the best way is to increase domestic production. To increase production, it is necessary to secure lands for achieving optimum utilization of resources. One of the measures is to identify the vulnerable and potential areas using Land Suitability Assessment (LSA) to increase rice production in the poverty prone areas. Therefore, the aim of the study was to identify the suitable sites for food grain crop rice production in the poverty prone areas located at the northern part of Bangladesh. Lack of knowledge on the best combination of factors that suit production of rice has contributed to the low production. To fulfill the research objective, a multi-criteria analysis was done and produced a suitable map for crop production with the help of Geographical Information System (GIS) and Analytical Hierarchy Process (AHP). Primary and secondary data were collected from ground truth information and relevant offices. The suitability levels for each factor were ranked based on the structure of FAO land suitability classification as: Currently Not Suitable (N2), Presently Not Suitable (N1), Marginally Suitable (S3), Moderately Suitable (S2) and Highly Suitable (S1). The suitable sites were identified using spatial analysis and compared with the recent raster image from Google Earth Pro® to validate the reliability of suitability analysis. For producing a suitability map for rice farming using GIS and multi-criteria analysis tool, AHP was used to rank the relevant factors, and the resultant weights were used to create the suitability map using weighted sum overlay tool in ArcGIS 10.3®. Then, the suitability map for rice production in the study area was formed. The weighted overly was performed and found that 22.74 % (1337.02 km2) of the study area was highly suitable, while 28.54% (1678.04 km2) was moderately suitable, 14.86% (873.71 km2) was marginally suitable, and 1.19% (69.97 km2) was currently not suitable for rice farming. On the other hand, 32.67% (1920.87 km2) was permanently not suitable which occupied with settlements, rivers, water bodies and forests. This research provided information at local level that could be used by farmers to select suitable fields for rice production, and then it can be applied to other crops. It will also be helpful for the field workers and policy planner who serves in the agricultural sector.

Keywords: AHP, GIS, spatial analysis, land suitability

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Authors: Burak Oksuzoglu, Savas Yildirim, Ferhat Kutlu

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Opinion mining (OM) is one of the natural language processing (NLP) problems to determine the polarity of opinions, mostly represented on a positive-neutral-negative axis. The data for OM is usually collected from various social media platforms. In an era where social media has considerable control over companies’ futures, it’s worth understanding social media and taking actions accordingly. OM comes to the fore here as the scale of the discussion about companies increases, and it becomes unfeasible to gauge opinion on individual levels. Thus, the companies opt to automize this process by applying machine learning (ML) approaches to their data. For the last two decades, OM or sentiment analysis (SA) has been mainly performed by applying ML classification algorithms such as support vector machines (SVM) and Naïve Bayes to a bag of n-gram representations of textual data. With the advent of deep learning and its apparent success in NLP, traditional methods have become obsolete. Transfer learning paradigm that has been commonly used in computer vision (CV) problems started to shape NLP approaches and language models (LM) lately. This gave a sudden rise to the usage of the pretrained language model (PTM), which contains language representations that are obtained by training it on the large datasets using self-supervised learning objectives. The PTMs are further fine-tuned by a specialized downstream task dataset to produce efficient models for various NLP tasks such as OM, NER (Named-Entity Recognition), Question Answering (QA), and so forth. In this study, the traditional and modern NLP approaches have been evaluated for OM by using a sizable corpus belonging to a large private company containing about 76,000 comments in Turkish: SVM with a bag of n-grams, and two chosen pre-trained models, multilingual universal sentence encoder (MUSE) and bidirectional encoder representations from transformers (BERT). The MUSE model is a multilingual model that supports 16 languages, including Turkish, and it is based on convolutional neural networks. The BERT is a monolingual model in our case and transformers-based neural networks. It uses a masked language model and next sentence prediction tasks that allow the bidirectional training of the transformers. During the training phase of the architecture, pre-processing operations such as morphological parsing, stemming, and spelling correction was not used since the experiments showed that their contribution to the model performance was found insignificant even though Turkish is a highly agglutinative and inflective language. The results show that usage of deep learning methods with pre-trained models and fine-tuning achieve about 11% improvement over SVM for OM. The BERT model achieved around 94% prediction accuracy while the MUSE model achieved around 88% and SVM did around 83%. The MUSE multilingual model shows better results than SVM, but it still performs worse than the monolingual BERT model.

Keywords: BERT, MUSE, opinion mining, pretrained language model, SVM, Turkish

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Authors: Marcin Debowski, Marcin Zielinski, Magdalena Zielinska, Paulina Rusanowska

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The problem with digestate management is one of the most important factors influencing on the development and operation of biogas plant. Turbidity and bacterial contamination negatively affect the growth of algae, which can limit the use of the effluent in the production of algae biomass on a large scale. These problems can be overcome by cultivating of algae species resistant to environmental factors, such as Chlorella sp., Scenedesmus sp., or reducing load of organic compounds to prevent bacterial contamination. The effluent requires dilution and/or purification. One of the methods of effluent treatment is the use of a membrane technology such as microfiltration (MF), ultrafiltration (UF), nanofiltration (NF) and reverse osmosis (RO), depending on the membrane pore size and the cut off point. Membranes are a physical barrier to solids and particles larger than the size of the pores. MF membranes have the largest pores and are used to remove turbidity, suspensions, bacteria and some viruses. UF membranes remove also color, odor and organic compounds with high molecular weight. In treatment of wastewater or other waste streams, MF and UF can provide a sufficient degree of purification. NF membranes are used to remove natural organic matter from waters, water disinfection products and sulfates. RO membranes are applied to remove monovalent ions such as Na⁺ or K⁺. The effluent was used in UF for medium to cultivation of two microalgae: Chlorella sp. and Phaeodactylum tricornutum. Growth rates of Chlorella sp. and P. tricornutum were similar: 0.216 d⁻¹ and 0.200 d⁻¹ (Chlorella sp.); 0.128 d⁻¹ and 0.126 d⁻¹ (P. tricornutum), on synthetic medium and permeate from UF, respectively. The final biomass composition was also similar, regardless of the medium. Removal of nitrogen was 92% and 71% by Chlorella sp. and P. tricornutum, respectively. The fermentation effluents after UF and dilution were also used for cultivation of algae Scenedesmus sp. that is resistant to environmental conditions. The authors recommended the development of biorafinery based on the production of algae for the biogas production. There are examples of using a multi-stage membrane system to purify the liquid fraction from digestate. After the initial UF, RO is used to remove ammonium nitrogen and COD. To obtain a permeate with a concentration of ammonium nitrogen allowing to discharge it into the environment, it was necessary to apply three-stage RO. The composition of the permeate after two-stage RO was: COD 50–60 mg/dm³, dry solids 0 mg/dm³, ammonium nitrogen 300–320 mg/dm³, total nitrogen 320–340 mg/dm³, total phosphorus 53 mg/dm³. However compostion of permeate after three-stage RO was: COD < 5 mg/dm³, dry solids 0 mg/dm³, ammonium nitrogen 0 mg/dm³, total nitrogen 3.5 mg/dm³, total phosphorus < 0,05 mg/dm³. Last stage of RO might be replaced by ion exchange process. The negative aspect of membrane filtration systems is the fact that the permeate is about 50% of the introduced volume, the remainder is the retentate. The management of a retentate might involve recirculation to a biogas plant.

Keywords: digestate, membrane filtration, microalgae cultivation, Chlorella sp.

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Authors: Mustafa Var, Yasin Kültiğin Yaman, Elif Berna Var, Müberra Pulatkan

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This study deals with real application of an urban transformation project in Trabzon, Turkey. It aims to highlight the significance of using native species in terms of planting design of transformation projects which will also promote sustainability of urban identity. Urban identity is a phenomenon shaped not only by physical, but also by natural, spatial, social, historical and cultural factors. Urban areas face with continuous change which can be whether positive or negative way. If it occurs in a negative way that may have some destructive effects on urban identity. To solve this problematic issue, urban renewal movements initally started after 1840s around the world especially in the cities with ports. This process later followed by the places where people suffered a lot from fires and has expanded to all over the world. In Turkey, those processes have been experienced mostly after 1980s as country experienced the worst effects of unplanned urbanization especially in 1950-1990 period. Also old squares, streets, meeting points, green areas, Ottoman bazaars have changed slowly. This change was resulted in alienation of inhabitants to their environments. As a solution, several actions were taken like Mass Housing Laws which was enacted in 1981 and 1984 or urban transformation projects. Although projects between 1990-2000 were tried to satisfy the expectations of local inhabitants by the help of several design solutions to promote cultural identity; unfortunately those modern projects has also been resulted in alienation of urban environments to the inhabitants. Those projects were initially done by TOKI (Housing Development Administration of Turkey) and later followed by the Ministry of Environment and Urbanization after 2011. Although they had significant potentials to create healthy urban environments, they could not use this opportunity in an effective way. The reason for their failure is that their architectural styles and planting designs are unrespectful to local identity and environments. Generally, it can be said that the most of the urban transformation projects implementing in Turkey nearly have no concerns about the locality. However, those projects can be used as a positive tool for enhanching the urban identity of cities by means of local planting material. For instance, Kyoto can be identified by Japanese Maple trees or Seattle can be specified by Dahlia. In the same way, in Turkey, Istanbul city can be identified by Judas and Stone Pine trees or Giresun city can be identified by Cherry trees. Thus, in this paper, the importance of conserving urban identity is discussed specificly with the help of using local planting elements. After revealing the mistakes that are made during urban transformation projects, the techniques and design criterias for preserving and promoting urban identity are examined. In the end, it is emphasized that every city should have their own original, local character and specific planting design which can be used for highlighting its identity as well as architectural elements.

Keywords: urban identity, urban transformation, planting design, landscape architecture

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Authors: P. M. Sreekanth

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Teak (Tectona grandis L. f.) is a tree species indigenous to India and other Southeastern countries. It produces high-value timber and is easily established in plantations. Reforestation requires a constant supply of high quality seeds. Seed Production Areas (SPA) of teak are improved stands used for collection of open-pollinated quality seeds in large quantities. Information on the genetic diversity of major teak SPAs in India is scanty. The genetic structure of four important seed production areas of Kerala State in Southern India was analyzed employing amplified fragment length polymorphism markers using ten selective primer combinations on 80 samples (4 populations X 20 trees). The study revealed that the gene diversity of the SPAs varied from 0.169 (Konni SPA) to 0.203 (Wayanad SPA). The percentage of polymorphic loci ranged from 74.42 (Parambikulam SPA) to 84.06 (Konni SPA). The mean total gene diversity index (HT) of all the four SPAs was 0.2296 ±0.02. A high proportion of genetic diversity was observed within the populations (83%) while diversity between populations was lower (17%) (GST = 0.17). Principal coordinate analysis and STRUCTURE analysis of the genotypes indicated that the pattern of clustering was in accordance with the origin and geographic location of SPAs, indicating specific identity of each population. A UPGMA dendrogram was prepared and showed that all the twenty samples from each of Konni and Parambikulam SPAs clustered into two separate groups, respectively. However, five Nilambur genotypes and one Wayanad genotype intruded into the Konni cluster. The higher gene flow estimated (Nm = 2.4) reflected the inclusion of Konni origin planting stock in the Nilambur and Wayanad plantations. Evidence for population structure investigated using 3D Principal Coordinate Analysis of FAMD software 1.30 indicated that the pattern of clustering was in accordance with the origin of SPAs. The present study showed that assessment of genetic diversity in seed production plantations can be achieved using AFLP markers. The AFLP fingerprinting was also capable of identifying the geographical origin of planting stock and there by revealing the occurrence of the errors in genotype labeling. Molecular marker-based selective culling of genetically similar trees from a stand so as to increase the genetic base of seed production areas could be a new proposition to improve quality of seeds required for raising commercial plantations of teak. The technique can also be used to assess the genetic diversity status of plus trees within provenances during their selection for raising clonal seed orchards for assuring the quality of seeds available for raising future plantations.

Keywords: AFLP, genetic structure, spa, teak

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Authors: Dace Grauda, Gunta Cekstere, Inta Belogrudova, Andis Karlsons, Isaak Rashal

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Trifolium repens L. (white or Dutch clover) is a perennial herb, belongs to legume family (Leguminosae Juss.), spread extensively by stolons and seeds. The species is cultivated worldwide and was naturalized in many countries in meadows, yards, gardens, along roads and streets etc., especially in temperate regions. It is widespread also in grasslands throughout Riga, the capital of Latvia. The goal of this study was to investigate genetic structure of white clover population in Riga and to evaluate influence of different salt concentration on plants. For this purpose universal retrotranspozone based IRAP (Inter-Retrotransposon Amplified Polymorphism) method was used. The plant material was collected in different regions of Riga and in several urban areas of Latvia. Plant DNA was isolated from in silicogel dried leaves of using 1% CTAB (cetyltrimet-ammonium bromide) buffer DNA extraction procedure. Genetic structure of city population and wild populations were compared. Soil salinization is an important issue associated with low water resources and highly urbanized areas in aride and semi-aride climate conditions, as well as de-icing salt application to prevent ice formation on roads in winter. The T. repens variety ‘Daile’ (form giganteum), one of the often used component of urban greeneries, was studied in this investigation. Plants were grown from seeds and cultivated in the light conditions (18-25 C, 16h/8h of day/night, light intensity 3000 lx) in plastic pots (200 ml), filled with commercial neutralized (pH 5.9 ± 0.3) peat substrate with mineral nutrients. To analyse the impact of increased soil salinity treatments with gradually rising NaCl (0; 20; 40; 60; 80; 100 mM) levels were arranged. Plants were watered when necessary with deionised water to provide optimum substrate moisture 60-70%. The experiment was terminated six weeks after establishment. For analysis of mineral nutrients, dry plant material (above ground part and roots) was used. Decrease of Na content can be significant under elevated salinity till 20 mM NaCl. High NaCl concentrations in the substrate increase Na, Cl, Cu, Fe, and Mn accumulation, but reduce S, Mg, K content in the plant above ground parts. Abiotic stresses generally changes the levels of DNA metilation. Several candidate gene for salt tolerance will be analysed for DNA metilation level using Pyromark-Q24 advanced.

Keywords: DNA metilation, IRAP, soil salinization, white clover

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Authors: Kever Gomes, Rosana Martins

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The use of environmental indicators is today an important strategy for analyzing the sustainability of agricultural systems. Despite of the considerable importance of family agriculture for Brazilian economy, sustainable agricultural practices are still weakly known, and the known ones, underused. Currently, economic aspects of the relationship between man and nature lead to the destruction of natural ecosystems, which justifies the urgent need for dissemination and usage of new sustainable production techniques. The study shows the agro-social and social-cultural trajectory of the farmers and hypothesis are advanced on what would imply the adoption of agroforestry systems in family agriculture. This study aimed to investigate aspects related to the perception of sustainable agriculture, especially on agroforestry systems in farms of farmers from Distrito Federal-Brazil. Agro-social characteristics of farmers were systematized considering their perceptions about agroforestry systems for the preparation of proposal for a program of Environmental Services Payment, intended for families who are involved in the various activities of home gardens. This study used qualitative methodological approaches of quantitative research, using descriptive exploratory research. To get the necessary elements for the intended analysis, interviews were conducted at 40 heads of households of which 15 were men and 25 women. The results were analyzed using descriptive statistics, having been considered in the analysis the frequency, consistency, coherence and originality of responses. It was found that the lack of financial resources and lack of technical assistance are limiting factors for the dissemination and use of sustainable agricultural practices. Considering the great number of species found for the main categories of use, it can be inferred that the home gardens play important functions for the interviewed families, contributing for the food and medicine production destined for the consumption by the families themselves, and also playing an important esthetic function thanks to the variety of their ornamental plants. The wealth of these home gardens may be related to the rural origin and to the culture of the owners, who still keep a cultivation tradition. It was found that the products obtained from the home gardens contributed for the diet’s variety of the informants, representing a promising potential for the improvement of the population alimentation. The study reached the conclusion over the need to motivate the interest of these farmers to seek information and resources to enable the implementation of Agroforestry projects, including the recovery of areas in their properties, even those distinct from their backyards. The study shows the agro-social and social-cultural trajectory of the farmers and hypothesis are advanced on what would imply the adoption of agroforestry systems in family agriculture.

Keywords: agro-biodiversity, natural conservation, silviculture, urban agriculture

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Authors: Zoi Konsoula

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Vegetable oils, which are rich in polyunsaturated fatty acids, are susceptible to oxidative deterioration. The lipid oxidation of oils results in the production of rancid odors and unpleasant flavors as well as the reduction of their nutritional quality and safety. Traditionally, synthetic antioxidants are employed for their retardation or prevention of oxidative deterioration of oils. However, these compounds are suspected to pose health hazards. Consequently, recently there has been a growing interest in the use of natural antioxidants of plant origin for improving the oxidative stability of vegetable oils. The genus Salvia (sage) is well known for its antioxidant activity. In the Cypriot flora Salvia fruticosa is the most distributed indigenous Salvia species. In the present study, extracts were prepared from S. fruticosa aerial parts using various solvents and their antioxidant activity was evaluated by the 1,1-diphenyl-2-picrylhydrazine (DPPH) radical scavenging and Ferric Reducing Antioxidant Power (FRAP) method. Moreover, the antioxidant efficacy of all extracts was assessed using corn oil as the oxidation substrate, which was subjected to accelerated aging (60 °C, 30 days). The progress of lipid oxidation was monitored by the determination of the peroxide, p-aniside, conjugated dienes and trienes value according to the official AOCS methods. Synthetic antioxidants (butylated hydroxytoluene-BHT and butylated hydroxyanisole-BHA) were employed at their legal limit (200 ppm) as reference. Finally, the total phenolic (TPC) and flavonoid content (TFC) of the prepared extracts was measured by the Folin-Ciocalteu and aluminum-flavonoid complex method, respectively. The results of the present study revealed that although all sage extracts prepared from S. fruticosa exhibited antioxidant activity, the highest antioxidant capacity was recorded in the methanolic extract, followed by the non-toxic, food grade ethanol. Furthermore, a positive correlation between the antioxidant potency and the TPC of extracts was observed in all cases. Interestingly, sage extracts prevented lipid oxidation in corn oil at all concentrations tested, however, the magnitude of stabilization was dose dependent. More specifically, results from the different oxidation parameters were in agreement with each other and indicated that the protection offered by the various extracts depended on their TPC. Among the extracts, the methanolic extract was more potent in inhibiting oxidative deterioration. Finally, both methanolic and ethanolic sage extracts at a concentration of 1000 ppm exerted a stabilizing effect comparable to that of the reference synthetic antioxidants. Based on the results of the present study, sage extracts could be used for minimizing or preventing lipid oxidation in oils and, thus, prolonging their shelf-life. In particular, given that the use of dietary alcohol, such as ethanol, is preferable than methanol in food applications, the ethanolic extract prepared from S. fruticosa could be used as an alternative natural antioxidant.

Keywords: antioxidant activity, corn oil, oxidative deterioration, sage

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Authors: Ayesha Anjum, Arbaz Basha

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Active Galactic Nuclei (AGN) are the actively accreting centers of the galaxies that host supermassive black holes. AGN emits radiation in all wavelengths and also shows variability across all the wavelength bands. The analysis of flux variability tells us about the morphology of the site of emission radiation. Some of the major classifications of AGN are (a) Blazars, with featureless spectra. They are subclassified as BLLacertae objects, Flat Spectrum Radio Quasars (FSRQs), and others; (b) Seyferts with prominent emission line features are classified into Broad Line, Narrow Line Seyferts of Type 1 and Type 2 (c) quasars, and other types. Sloan Digital Sky Survey (SDSS) is an optical telescope based in Mexico that has observed and classified billions of objects based on automated photometric and spectroscopic methods. A sample of blazars is obtained from the third Fermi catalog. For variability analysis, we searched for light curves for these objects in Wide-Field Infrared Survey Explorer (WISE) and Near Earth Orbit WISE (NEOWISE) in two bands: W1 (3.4 microns) and W2 (4.6 microns), reducing the final sample to 256 objects. These objects are also classified into 155 BLLacs, 99 FSRQs, and 2 Narrow Line Seyferts, namely, PMNJ0948+0022 and PKS1502+036. Mid-infrared variability studies of these objects would be a contribution to the literature. With this as motivation, the present work is focused on studying a final sample of 256 objects in general and the Seyferts in particular. Owing to the fact that the classification is automated, SDSS has miclassified these objects into quasars, galaxies, and stars. Reasons for the misclassification are explained in this work. The variability analysis of these objects is done using the method of flux amplitude variability and excess variance. The sample consists of observations in both W1 and W2 bands. PMN J0948+0022 is observed between MJD from 57154.79 to 58810.57. PKS 1502+036 is observed between MJD from 57232.42 to 58517.11, which amounts to a period of over six years. The data is divided into different epochs spanning not more than 1.2 days. In all the epochs, the sources are found to be variable in both W1 and W2 bands. This confirms that the object is variable in mid-infrared wavebands in both long and short timescales. Also, the sources are observed for color variability. Objects either show a bluer when brighter trend (BWB) or a redder when brighter trend (RWB). The possible claim for the object to be BWB (present objects) is that the longer wavelength radiation emitted by the source can be suppressed by the high-energy radiation from the central source. Another result is that the smallest radius of the emission source is one day since the epoch span used in this work is one day. The mass of the black holes at the centers of these sources is found to be less than or equal to 108 solar masses, respectively.

Keywords: active galaxies, variability, Seyfert galaxies, SDSS, WISE

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Authors: Tomás Sobrino, Lara García-Varela, Marta Aramburu-Núñez, Mónica Castro, Noemí Gómez-Lado, Mariña Rodríguez-Arrizabalaga, Antía Custodia, Juan Manuel Pías-Peleteiro, José Manuel Aldrey, Daniel Romaus-Sanjurjo, Ángeles Almeida, Pablo Aguiar, Alberto Ouro

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Introduction: Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and other tauopathies are primary causes of dementia, causing progressive cognitive deterioration that entails serious repercussions for the patients' performance of daily tasks. Currently, there is no effective approach for the early diagnosis and treatment of AD and tauopathies. This study suggests a theragnostic approach based on the importance of phosphorylated tau protein (p-Tau) in the early pathophysiological processes of AD. We have developed a novel theragnostic monoclonal antibody (mAb) to provide both diagnostic and therapeutic effects. Methods/Results: We have developed a p-Tau mAb, which was doped with deferoxamine for radiolabeling with Zirconium-89 (89Zr) for PET imaging, as well as fluorescence dies for immunofluorescence assays. The p-Tau mAb was evaluated in vitro for toxicity by MTT assay, LDH activity, propidium iodide/Annexin V assay, caspase-3, and mitochondrial membrane potential (MMP) assay in both mouse endothelial cell line (bEnd.3) and cortical primary neurons cell cultures. Importantly, non-toxic effects (up to concentrations of p-Tau mAb greater than 100 ug/mL) were detected. In vivo experiments in the tauopathy model mice (PS19) show that the 89Zr-pTau-mAb and 89Zr-Fragments-pTau-mAb are stable in circulation for up to 10 days without toxic effects. However, only less than 0.2% reached the brain, so further strategies have to be designed for crossing the Brain-Blood-Barrier (BBB). Moreover, an intraparenchymal treatment strategy was carried out. The PS19 mice were operated to implement osmotic pumps (Alzet 1004) at two different times, at 4 and 7 months, to stimulate the controlled release for one month each of the B6 antibody or the IgG1 control antibody. We demonstrated that B6-treated mice maintained their motor and memory abilities significantly compared with IgG1 treatment. In addition, we observed a significant reduction in p-Tau deposits in the brain. Conclusions /Discussion: A theragnostic pTau-mAb was developed. Moreover, we demonstrated that our p-Tau mAb recognizes very-early pathology forms of p-Tau by non-invasive techniques, such as PET. In addition, p-Tau mAb has non-toxic effects, both in vitro and in vivo. Although the p-Tau mAb is stable in circulation, only 0.2% achieve the brain. However, direct intraventricular treatment significantly reduces cognitive impairment in Alzheimer's animal models, as well as the accumulation of toxic p-Tau species.

Keywords: alzheimer's disease, theragnosis, tau, PET, immunotherapy, tauopathies

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Authors: Debjit Ray

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Horizontal gene transfer (HGT) and recombination leads to the emergence of bacterial antibiotic resistance and pathogenic traits. HGT events can be identified by comparing a large number of fully sequenced genomes across a species or genus, define the phylogenetic range of HGT, and find potential sources of new resistance genes. In-depth comparative phylogenomics can also identify subtle genome or plasmid structural changes or mutations associated with phenotypic changes. Comparative phylogenomics requires that accurately sequenced, complete and properly annotated genomes of the organism. Assembling closed genomes requires additional mate-pair reads or “long read” sequencing data to accompany short-read paired-end data. To bring down the cost and time required of producing assembled genomes and annotating genome features that inform drug resistance and pathogenicity, we are analyzing the performance for genome assembly of data from the Illumina NextSeq, which has faster throughput than the Illumina HiSeq (~1-2 days versus ~1 week), and shorter reads (150bp paired-end versus 300bp paired end) but higher capacity (150-400M reads per run versus ~5-15M) compared to the Illumina MiSeq. Bioinformatics improvements are also needed to make rapid, routine production of complete genomes a reality. Modern assemblers such as SPAdes 3.6.0 running on a standard Linux blade are capable in a few hours of converting mixes of reads from different library preps into high-quality assemblies with only a few gaps. Remaining breaks in scaffolds are generally due to repeats (e.g., rRNA genes) are addressed by our software for gap closure techniques, that avoid custom PCR or targeted sequencing. Our goal is to improve the understanding of emergence of pathogenesis using sequencing, comparative genomics, and machine learning analysis of ~1000 pathogen genomes. Machine learning algorithms will be used to digest the diverse features (change in virulence genes, recombination, horizontal gene transfer, patient diagnostics). Temporal data and evolutionary models can thus determine whether the origin of a particular isolate is likely to have been from the environment (could it have evolved from previous isolates). It can be useful for comparing differences in virulence along or across the tree. More intriguing, it can test whether there is a direction to virulence strength. This would open new avenues in the prediction of uncharacterized clinical bugs and multidrug resistance evolution and pathogen emergence.

Keywords: genomics, pathogens, genome assembly, superbugs

Procedia PDF Downloads 173

Authors: Ravi Kant Anand, Nikkey Keshri

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The Great Barrier Reef of Australia is known for its beautiful landscapes and seascapes with ecological importance. This site was selected as a World Heritage site in 1981 and popularized internationally for tourism, recreational activities and fishing. But the major environmental hazards such as climate change, pollution, overfishing and shipping are making worst the site of marine ecosystem. Climate change is directly hitting on Great Barrier Reef through increasing level of sea, acidification of ocean, increasing in temperature, uneven precipitation, changes in the El Nino and increasing level of cyclones and storms. Apart from that pollution is second biggest factor which vanishing the coral reef ecosystem. Pollution including over increasement of pesticides and chemicals, eutrophication, pollution through mining, sediment runoff, loss of coastal wetland and oil spills. Coral bleaching is the biggest problem because of the environmental threatening agents. Acidification of ocean water reduced the formation of calcium carbonate skeleton. The floral ecosystem (including sea grasses and mangroves) of ocean water is the key source of food for fishes and other faunal organisms but the powerful waves, extreme temperature, destructive storms and river run- off causing the threat for them. If one natural system is under threat, it means the whole marine food web is affected from algae to whale. Poisoning of marine water through different polluting agents have been affecting the production of corals, breeding of fishes, weakening of marine health and increased in death of fishes and corals. In lieu of World Heritage site, tourism sector is directly affected and causing increasement in unemployment. Fishing sector also affected. Fluctuation in the temperature of ocean water affects the production of corals because it needs desolate place, proper sunlight and temperature up to 21 degree centigrade. But storms, El Nino, rise in temperature and sea level are induced for continuous reduction of the coral production. If we do not restrict the environmental problems of Great Barrier Reef than the best known ecological beauty with coral reefs, pelagic environments, algal meadows, coasts and estuaries, mangroves forests and sea grasses, fish species, coral gardens and the one of the best tourist spots will lost in upcoming years. My research will focus on the different environmental threats, its socio-economic impacts and different conservative measures.

Keywords: climate change, overfishing, acidification, eutrophication

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Authors: Praniil Nagaraj

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This paper proposes a method to collect homeless data using crowdsourcing and presents an approach to analyze the data, demonstrating its potential to strengthen existing and future policies aimed at promoting socio-economic equilibrium. The 2022 Annual Homeless Assessment Report (AHAR) to Congress highlighted alarming statistics, emphasizing the need for effective decision-making and budget allocation within local planning bodies known as Continuums of Care (CoC). This paper's contributions can be categorized into three main areas. Firstly, a unique method for collecting homeless data is introduced, utilizing a user-friendly smartphone app (currently available for Android). The app enables the general public to quickly record information about homeless individuals, including the number of people and details about their living conditions. The collected data, including date, time, and location, is anonymized and securely transmitted to the cloud. It is anticipated that an increasing number of users motivated to contribute to society will adopt the app, thus expanding the data collection efforts. Duplicate data is addressed through simple classification methods, and historical data is utilized to fill in missing information. The second contribution of this paper is the description of data analysis techniques applied to the collected data. By combining this new data with existing information, statistical regression analysis is employed to gain insights into various aspects, such as distinguishing between unsheltered and sheltered homeless populations, as well as examining their correlation with factors like unemployment rates, housing affordability, and labor demand. Initial data is collected in San Francisco, while pre-existing information is drawn from three cities: San Francisco, New York City, and Washington D.C., facilitating the conduction of simulations. The third contribution focuses on demonstrating the practical implications of the data processing results. The challenges faced by key stakeholders, including charitable organizations and local city governments, are taken into consideration. Two case studies are presented as examples. The first case study explores improving the efficiency of food and necessities distribution, as well as medical assistance, driven by charitable organizations. The second case study examines the correlation between micro-geographic budget expenditure by local city governments and homeless information to justify budget allocation and expenditures. The ultimate objective of this endeavor is to enable the continuous enhancement of the quality of life for the underprivileged. It is hoped that through increased crowdsourcing of data from the public, the Generosity Curve and the Need Curve will intersect, leading to a better world for all.

Keywords: crowdsourcing, homelessness, socio-economic policies, statistical regression

Procedia PDF Downloads 57

Authors: Tomas Makaras, Gintaras Svecevičius

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Landfill waste is a common problem as it has an economic and environmental impact even if it is closed. Landfill waste contains a high density of various persistent compounds such as heavy metals, organic and inorganic materials. As persistent compounds are slowly-degradable or even non-degradable in the environment, they often produce sublethal or even lethal effects on aquatic organisms. The aims of the present study were to estimate sublethal effects of the Kairiai landfill (WGS: 55°55‘46.74“, 23°23‘28.4“) leachate on the locomotor activity of rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss juveniles using the original system package developed in our laboratory for automated monitoring, recording and analysis of aquatic organisms’ activity, and to determine patterns of fish behavioral response to sublethal effects of leachate. Four different concentrations of leachate were chosen: 0.125; 0.25; 0.5 and 1.0 mL/L (0.0025; 0.005; 0.01 and 0.002 as part of 96-hour LC50, respectively). Locomotor activity was measured after 5, 10 and 30 minutes of exposure during 1-minute test-periods of each fish (7 fish per treatment). The threshold-effect-concentration amounted to 0.18 mL/L (0.0036 parts of 96-hour LC50). This concentration was found to be even 2.8-fold lower than the concentration generally assumed to be “safe” for fish. At higher concentrations, the landfill leachate solution elicited behavioral response of test fish to sublethal levels of pollutants. The ability of the rainbow trout to detect and avoid contaminants occurred after 5 minutes of exposure. The intensity of locomotor activity reached a peak within 10 minutes, evidently decreasing after 30 minutes. This could be explained by the physiological and biochemical adaptation of fish to altered environmental conditions. It has been established that the locomotor activity of juvenile trout depends on leachate concentration and exposure duration. Modeling of these parameters showed that the activity of juveniles increased at higher leachate concentrations, but slightly decreased with the increasing exposure duration. Experiment results confirm that the behavior of rainbow trout juveniles is a sensitive and rapid biomarker that can be used in combination with the system for fish behavior monitoring, registration and analysis to determine sublethal concentrations of pollutants in ambient water. Further research should be focused on software improvement aimed to include more parameters of aquatic organisms’ behavior and to investigate the most rapid and appropriate behavioral responses in different species. In practice, this study could be the basis for the development and creation of biological early-warning systems (BEWS).

Keywords: fish behavior biomarker, landfill leachate, locomotor activity, rainbow trout juveniles, sublethal effects

Procedia PDF Downloads 243

Authors: L. C. Sánchez, L. C. Corrales, A. G. Lancheros, E. Castañeda, Y. Ariza, L. S. Fuentes, L. Sierra, J. L. Cuervo

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The importance of environment friendly alternatives in agricultural processes is the reason why the research group Ceparium, the Colegio Mayor de Cundinamarca University, Colombia, investigated the genus Bacillus and its applicability for improving crops of economic importance in Colombia. In this investigation, we presented a study in which the genus Bacillus plays a leading role as beneficial microorganism. The objective was to identify the biochemical potential of three indigenous species of Bacillus, which were able to carry out actions for biological control against pathogens and pests or promoted growth to improve productivity of crops in Colombia. The procedures were performed in three phases: first, the production of biomass of an indigenous strain and a reference strain starting from culture media for production of spores and toxins were made. Spore count was done in a Neubauer chamber, concentrations of spores of Bacillus sphaericus were prepared and a bioassay was done at the Laboratory of Entomology at the University Jorge Tadeo Lozano of Plutella xylostella larvae, insect pest of crucifers in several Colombian regions. The second phase included the extraction in the liquid state fermentation, a secondary metabolite that has antibiosis action against fungi, call iturin B, and was obtained from strains of Bacillus subtilis. The molecule was identified using High Resolution Chromatography (HPLC) and its biocontrol effect on Fusarium sp fungus causes vascular wilt in economically important plant varieties, was confirmed using testing of antagonism in Petri dish. In the third phase, an initial procedure in that let recover and identify microorganisms of the genus Bacillus from the rhizosphere in two aromatic herbs, Rosmarinus officinalis and Thymus vulgaris L. was used. Subsequently, testing of antagonism against Fusarium sp were made and an assay was done under greenhouse conditions to observe biocontrol and growth promoting action by comparing growth in length and dry weight. In the first experiment, native Bacillus sphaericus was lethal to 92% Plutella xylostella larvae in 10 DDA. In the second experiment, iturin B was identified and biological control of Fusarium sp was demonstrated. In the third study, all strains demonstrated biological control and the B14 strain identified as Bacillus megaterium increased root length and productivity of the two plants in terms of weight. It was concluded that the native microorganisms of the genus Bacillus has a great biochemical potential that provides a beneficial interactions with plants, improve their growth and development and therefore a greater impact on production.

Keywords: genus bacillus, biological control, PGPRs, biochemical potential

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Authors: Rachael Bentley, Callahan Gergen, Brodie Thiede

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Roadways have a significant impact on the environment in so far as they function as barriers to wildlife movement, both through road mortality and through resultant road avoidance. Roads have an im-mense presence worldwide, and it is predicted to increase substantially in the next thirty years. As roadways become even more common, it is important to consider their environmental impact, and to mitigate the negative effects which they have on wildlife and wildlife mobility. In a thorough analysis of several related studies, a common conclusion was that roads cause habitat fragmentation, which can lead split populations to evolve differently, for better or for worse. Though some populations adapted positively to roadways, becoming more resistant to road mortality, and more tolerant to noise and chemical contamination, many others experienced maladaptation, either due to chemical contamination in and around their environment, or because of genetic mutations from inbreeding when their population was fragmented too substantially to support a large enough group for healthy genetic exchange. Large mammals were especially susceptible to maladaptation from inbreed-ing, as they require larger areas to roam and therefore require even more space to sustain a healthy population. Regardless of whether a species evolved positively or negatively as a result of their proximity to a road, animals tended to avoid roads, making the genetic diversity from habitat fragmentation an exceedingly prevalent issue in the larger discussion of road ecology. Additionally, the consideration of solu-tions, such as overpasses and underpasses, is crucial to ensuring the long term survival of many wildlife populations. In studies addressing the effectiveness of overpasses and underpasses, it seemed as though animals adjusted well to these sorts of solutions, but strategic place-ment, as well as proper sizing, proper height, shelter from road noise, and other considerations were important in construction. When an underpass or overpass was well-built and well-shielded from human activity, animals’ usage of the structure increased significantly throughout its first five years, thus reconnecting previously divided populations. Still, these structures are costly and they are often unable to fully address certain issues such as light, noise, and contaminants from vehicles. Therefore, the need for further discussion of new, crea-tive solutions remains paramount. Roads are one of the most consistent and prominent features of today’s landscape, but their environmental impacts are largely overlooked. While roads are useful for connecting people, they divide landscapes and animal habitats. Therefore, further research and investment in possible solutions is necessary to mitigate the negative effects which roads have on wildlife mobility and to pre-vent issues from resultant habitat fragmentation.

Keywords: fences, habitat fragmentation, roadways, wildlife mobility

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Authors: Gunjan Srivastava, Shamila Kalia

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Dalbergia sissoo Roxb., (Family- Leguminosae; Subfamily- Papilionoideae), is an economically and ecologically important tree species having medicinal value. Of the rich complex of insect fauna, ten have been recognized as potential pests of nurseries and plantations. Present study was conducted to explore an effective ecofriendly control of Dichomeris eridantis Meyrick, an important defoliator pest of D. sissoo. Health and environmental concerns demanded devising a bio-intensive pest management strategy and employing ecofriendly measures. In the present laboratory bioassay two entomopathogenic fungi Acremonium perscinum and Beauveria bassiana were tested and compared for evaluating the efficacy of their seven different concentrations (besides control) against the 3rd, 4th and 5th instar larvae of D. eridantis, on the basis of mean percent mortality data recorded and tabulated for seven days after treatment application. Analysis showed that both treatments vary significantly among themselves. Also, variations amongst instars and duration with respect to their mortality were highly significant (p < .001). All their interactions were found to vary significantly. B. bassiana at 0.25x107 spores / ml spore concentration caused maximum mean percent mortality (62.38%) followed by mean percent mortality at its 0.25x106 spores / ml concentration (56.67%). Mean percent mortality at maximum spore concentration (0.054x107 spores / ml) and next highest spore concentration (0.054 x106 spores / ml) due to A. perscinum treatment were far less effective (mean percent mortality of 45.40% and 31.29%, respectively). At 168 hours mean percent mortality of larval instars due to both fungal treatment applications reached its maximum (52.99%) whereas, at 24 hours mean percent mortality remained least (5.70%). In both cases, treatments were most effective against 3rd instar larvae and least effective against 5th instar larvae. A comparative acccount of efficacy of B. bassiana and A. perscinum on the 3rd, 4th and 5th instar larvae of D. eridantis on 5th, 6th and 7th post treatment observation days after their application, on the basis of their median lethal concentrations (LC50) proved B. bassiana to be more potential microbial pathogen of the two fungal microbes, for all the three instars (3rd, 4th and 5th) of D. eridantis, on all the three days (5th, 6th and 7th post observation days after application of both treatments). Percent mortality of D. eridantis increased in a dose dependent manner. Koch’s Postulates tested positive, thus confirming the pathogenicity of B. bassiana against the larval instars of D. eridantis. LC90 values of 0.280x1011 spores/ml, 0.301x108 spores/ml and 0.262x108 spores/ml concentrations of B. bassiana were standardized which can effectively cause mortality of all the larval instars of D. eridantis in the field after 5th, 6th and 7th day of their application, respectively. Therefore, these concentrations can be safely used in nurseries as well as plantations of D. sissoo for effective control of D. eridantis larvae.

Keywords: Acremonium perscinum, Beauveria bassiana, Dalbergia sissoo, Dichomeris eridantis

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Authors: Elisavet Kechagia

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Due to the interplay of different genetic and environmental risk factors and its heterogeneous nature, the concept of attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) has shaped controversy and conflicts, which have been, in turn, reflected in the controversial arguments about its treatment. Taking into account recent well evidence-based researches suggesting that ADHD is a condition, in which biopsychosocial factors are all weaved together, the current paper explores the multiple risk-factors that are likely to influence ADHD, with a particular focus on adolescents with ADHD who might experience comorbid social, emotional and behavioural disorders (SEBD). In the first section of this paper, the primary objective was to investigate the conflicting ideas regarding the definition, diagnosis and treatment of ADHD at an international level as well as to critically examine and identify the limitations of the two most prevailing sets of diagnostic criteria that inform current diagnosis, the American Psychiatric Association’s (APA) diagnostic scheme, DSM-V, and the World Health Organisation’s (WHO) classification of diseases, ICD-10. Taking into consideration the findings of current longitudinal studies on ADHD association with high rates of comorbid conditions and social dysfunction, in the second section the author moves towards an investigation of the transitional points −physical, psychological and social ones− that students with ADHD might experience during early adolescence, as informed by neuroscience and developmental contextualism theory. The third section is an exploration of the different perspectives of ADHD as reflected in individuals’ with ADHD self-reports and the KENT project’s findings on school staff’s attitudes and practices. In the last section, given the high rates of SEBDs in adolescents with ADHD, it is examined how cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT), coupled with other interventions, could be effective in ameliorating anti-social behaviours and/or other emotional and behavioral difficulties of students with ADHD. The findings of a range of randomised control studies indicate that CBT might have positive outcomes in adolescents with multiple behavioural problems, hence it is suggested to be considered both in schools and other community settings. Finally, taking into account the heterogeneous nature of ADHD, the different biopsychosocial and environmental risk factors that take place during adolescence and the discourse and practices concerning ADHD and SEBD, it is suggested how it might be possible to make sense of and meaningful improvements to the education of adolescents with ADHD within a multi-modal and multi-disciplinary whole-school approach that addresses the multiple problems that not only students with ADHD but also their peers might experience. Further research that would be based on more large-scale controls and would investigate the effectiveness of various interventions, as well as the profiles of those students who have benefited from particular approaches and those who have not, will generate further evidence concerning the psychoeducation of adolescents with ADHD allowing for generalised conclusions to be drawn.

Keywords: adolescence, attention deficit hyperctivity disorder, cognitive behavioural theory, comorbid social emotional behavioural disorders, treatment

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Authors: Nurul Huda Baharuddin, Nik Meriam Nik Sulaiman, Mohammed Kheireddine Aroua

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The effects of pH, polymer concentration, and metal ions feed concentration for four selected heavy metals Zn (II), Pb (II), Cr (III) and Cr (VI) were tested by using Polymer Enhanced Ultrafiltration (PEUF). An alternative biopolymer namely unmodified starch is proposed as a binding reagent in consequences, as compared to commonly used water-soluble polymers namely polyethylene glycol (PEG) and polyethyleneimine (PEI) in the removal of selected four heavy metal ions. The speciation species profiles of four selected complexes ions namely Zn (II), Pb (II), Cr (III) and Cr (VI) and the present of hydroxides ions (OH-) in variously charged ions were investigated by available software at certain pH range. In corresponds to identify the potential of complexation behavior between metal ion-polymers, potentiometric titration studies were obtained at first before carried out experimental works. Experimental works were done using ultrafiltration systems obtained by laboratory ultrafiltration bench scale equipped with 10 kDa polysulfone hollow fiber membrane. Throughout the laboratory works, the rejection coefficient and permeate flux were found to be significantly affected by the main operating parameter, namely the effects of pH, polymer composition and metal ions concentrations. The interaction of complexation between two binding polymers namely unmodified starch and PEG were occurred due to physical attraction of metal ions to the polymer on the molecular surface with high possibility of chemical occurrence. However, these selected metal ions are mainly complexes by polymer functional groups whenever there is interaction with PEI polymer. For study of single metal ions solutions, Zn (II) ions' rejections approaching over 90% were obtained at pH 7 for each tested polymer. This behavior was similar to Pb (II), Cr (III) and Cr (VI); where the rejections were obtained at lower acidic pH and increased at neutral pH of 7. Different behavior was found by Cr (VI) ions where a high rejection was only achieved at acidic pH region with PEI. Polymer concentration and metal ions concentration are found to have a significant effect on rejections. For mixed metal ion solutions, the behavior of metal ion rejections was similar to single metal ion solutions for investigation on the effects of pH. Rejection values were high at pH 7 for Zn (II) pH 7 for Zn (II) and Cr (III) ions, corresponding to higher rejections with unmodified starch. Pb (II) ions obtained high rejections when tested with PEG whenever carried out in mixed metal ion solutions. High Cr (VI) ions' rejection was found with PEI in single and mixed metal ions solutions at neutral pH range. The influence of starch’s granule structure towards the rejections of these four selected metal ions is found to be attracted in a non-ionic manner. No significant effects on permeate flux were obtained when tested at different pH ranges, polymer concentrations and metal ions feed either by single or mixtures metal ions solutions. Canizares Model was employed as the theoretical model to predict permeate flux and metal ions retention on the study of heavy metal ions removal.

Keywords: polyethyleneimine, polyethylene glycol, polymer-enhanced ultrafiltration, unmodified starch

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Authors: Hisham Arab Alkabeya, A. M. Hughes, J. Adams

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Background: People with Rheumatoid Arthritis (RA) continue to experience problems with hand function despite new drug advances and targeted medical treatment. Consequently, it is important to identify the factors that influence the impact of RA disease on hand function. This systematic review identified observational studies that reported factors that influenced the impact of RA on hand function. Methods: MEDLINE, EMBASE, CINAL, AMED, PsychINFO, and Web of Science database were searched from January 1990 up to March 2017. Full-text articles published in English that described factors related to hand functional disability in people with RA were selected following predetermined inclusion and exclusion criteria. Pertinent data were thoroughly extracted and documented using a pre-designed data extraction form by the lead author, and cross-checked by the review team for completion and accuracy. Factors related to hand function were classified under the domains of the International Classification of Functioning, Disability, and Health (ICF) framework and health-related factors. Three reviewers independently assessed the methodological quality of the included articles using the quality of cross-sectional studies (AXIS) tool. Factors related to hand function that was investigated in two or more studies were explored using a best-evidence synthesis. Results: Twenty articles form 19 studies met the inclusion criteria from 1,271 citations; all presented cross-sectional data (five high quality and 15 low quality studies), resulting in at best limited evidence in the best-evidence synthesis. For the factors classified under the ICF domains, the best-evidence synthesis indicates that there was a range of body structure and function factors that were related with hand functional disability. However, key factors were hand strength, disease activity, and pain intensity. Low functional status (physical, emotional and social) level was found to be related with limited hand function. For personal factors, there is limited evidence that gender is not related with hand function; whereas, conflicting evidence was found regarding the relationship between age and hand function. In the domain of environmental factors, there was limited evidence that work activity was not related with hand function. Regarding health-related factors, there was limited evidence that the level of the rheumatoid factor (RF) was not related to hand function. Finally, conflicting evidence was found regarding the relationship between hand function and disease duration and general health status. Conclusion: Studies focused on body structure and function factors, highlighting a lack of investigation into personal and environmental factors when considering the impact of RA on hand function. The level of evidence which exists was limited, but identified that modifiable factors such as grip or pinch strength, disease activity and pain are the most influential factors on hand function in people with RA. The review findings suggest that important personal and environmental factors that impact on hand function in people with RA are not yet considered or reported in clinical research. Well-designed longitudinal, preferably cohort, studies are now needed to better understand the causality between personal and environmental factors and hand functional disability in people with RA.

Keywords: factors, hand function, rheumatoid arthritis, systematic review

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Authors: Fabio L. Vieira, Micaelle F. C. Lemos, Luciano C. Lemos, Rafaela S. Oliveira, Ian A. Cunha

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Brazil has some challenges ahead related to population oral health, most of them associated with the need of expanding into the local level its promotion and prevention activities, offer equal access to services and promote changes in the lifestyle of the population. The program implemented an oral health initiative in public schools in the city of Salvador, Bahia. The mission was to improve oral health among students on primary and secondary education, from 2 to 15 years old, using the school as a pathway to increase access to healthcare. The main actions consisted of a team's visit to the schools with educational sessions for dental cavity prevention and individual assessment. The program incorporated a clinical surveillance component through a dental evaluation of every student searching for dental disease and caries, standardization of the dentists’ team to reach uniform classification on the assessments, and the use of an online platform to register data directly from the schools. Sequentially, the students with caries were referred for free clinical treatment on the program’s Health Centre. The primary purpose of this study was to analyze the effects and outcomes of this school-based oral health program. The study sample was composed by data of a period of 3 years - 2015 to 2017 - from 13 public schools on the suburb of the city of Salvador with a total number of assessments of 9,278 on this period. From the data collected the prevalence of children with decay on permanent teeth was chosen as the most reliable indicator. The prevalence was calculated for each one of the 13 schools using the number of children with 1 or more dental caries on permanent teeth divided by the total number of students assessed for school each year. Then the percentage change per year was calculated for each school. Some schools presented a higher variation on the total number of assessments in one of the three years, so for these, the percentage change calculation was done using the two years with less variation. The results show that 10 of the 13 schools presented significative improvements for the indicator of caries in permanent teeth. The mean for the number of students with caries percentage reduction on the 13 schools was 26.8%, and the median was 32.2% caries in permanent teeth institution. The highest percentage of improvement reached a decrease of 65.6% on the indicator. Three schools presented a rise in caries prevalence (8.9, 18.9 and 37.2% increase) that, on an initial analysis, seems to be explained with the students’ cohort rotation among other schools, as well as absenteeism on the treatment. In conclusion, the program shows a relevant impact on the reduction of caries in permanent teeth among students and the need for the continuity and expansion of this integrated healthcare approach. It has also been evident the significative of the articulation between health and educational systems representing a fundamental approach to improve healthcare access for children especially in scenarios such as presented in Brazil.

Keywords: primary care, public health, oral health, school-based oral health, data management

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Authors: Henry Lau, Dilupa Nakandala, Li Zhao

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In today’s business, it is well-recognized that risk is an important factor that needs to be taken into consideration before a decision is made. Studies indicate that both the number of risks faced by organizations and their potential consequences are growing. Supply chain risk management has become one of the major concerns for practitioners and researchers. Supply chain leaders and scholars are now focusing on the importance of managing supply chain risk. In order to meet the challenge of managing and mitigating supply chain risk (SCR), we must first identify the different dimensions of SCR and assess its relevant probability and severity. SCR has been classified in many different ways, and there are no consistently accepted dimensions of SCRs and several different classifications are reported in the literature. Basically, supply chain risks can be classified into two dimensions namely disruption risk and operational risk. Disruption risks are those caused by events such as bankruptcy, natural disasters and terrorist attack. Operational risks are related to supply and demand coordination and uncertainty, such as uncertain demand and uncertain supply. Disruption risks are rare but severe and hard to manage, while operational risk can be reduced through effective SCM activities. Other SCRs include supply risk, process risk, demand risk and technology risk. In fact, the disorganized classification of SCR has created confusion for SCR scholars. Moreover, practitioners need to identify and assess SCR. As such, it is important to have an overarching framework tying all these SCR dimensions together for two reasons. First, it helps researchers use these terms for communication of ideas based on the same concept. Second, a shared understanding of the SCR dimensions will support the researchers to focus on the more important research objective: operationalization of SCR, which is very important for assessing SCR. In general, fresh food supply chain is subject to certain level of risks, such as supply risk (low quality, delivery failure, hot weather etc.) and demand risk (season food imbalance, new competitors). Effective strategies to mitigate fresh food supply chain risk are required to enhance operations. Before implementing effective mitigation strategies, we need to identify the risk sources and evaluate the risk level. However, assessing the supply chain risk is not an easy matter, and existing research mainly use qualitative method, such as risk assessment matrix. To address the relevant issues, this paper aims to analyze the risk factor of the fresh food supply chain using an approach comprising both fuzzy logic and hierarchical holographic modeling techniques. This novel approach is able to take advantage the benefits of both of these well-known techniques and at the same time offset their drawbacks in certain aspects. In order to develop this integrated approach, substantial research work is needed to effectively combine these two techniques in a seamless way, To validate the proposed integrated approach, a case study in a fresh food supply chain company was conducted to verify the feasibility of its functionality in a real environment.

Keywords: fresh food supply chain, fuzzy logic, hierarchical holographic modelling, operationalization, supply chain risk

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Authors: Zhuo Job Chen, Kevin Nute

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The work reported examines potential linkages between spatial and temporal prospects, and more specifically, between variations in the spatial depth and foreground obstruction of window views, and observers’ sense of connection to the future. It was found that external views from indoor spaces were strongly associated with a sense of the future, that partially obstructing such a view with foreground objects significantly reduced its association with the future, and replacing it with a pictorial representation of the same scene (with no real actual depth) removed most of its temporal association. A lesser change in the spatial depth of the view, however, had no apparent effect on association with the future. While the role of spatial depth has still to be confirmed, the results suggest that spatial prospects directly affect temporal ones. The word “prospect” typifies the overlapping of the spatial and temporal in most human languages. It originated in classical times as a purely spatial term, but in the 16th century took on the additional temporal implication of an imagined view ahead, of the future. The psychological notion of prospection, then, has its distant origins in a spatial analogue. While it is not yet proven that space directly structures our processing of time at a physiological level, it is generally agreed that it commonly does so conceptually. The mental representation of possible futures has been a central part of human survival as a species (Boyer, 2008; Suddendorf & Corballis, 2007). A sense of the future seems critical not only practically, but also psychologically. It has been suggested, for example, that lack of a positive image of the future may be an important contributing cause of depression (Beck, 1974; Seligman, 2016). Most people in the developed world now spend more than 90% of their lives indoors. So any direct link between external views and temporal prospects could have important implications for both human well-being and building design. We found that the ability to see what lies in front of us spatially was strongly associated with a sense of what lies ahead temporally. Partial obstruction of a view was found to significantly reduce that sense connection to the future. Replacing a view with a flat pictorial representation of the same scene removed almost all of its connection with the future, but changing the spatial depth of a real view appeared to have no significant effect. While foreground obstructions were found to reduce subjects’ sense of connection to the future, they increased their sense of refuge and security. Consistent with Prospect and Refuge theory, an ideal environment, then, would seem to be one in which we can “see without being seen” (Lorenz, 1952), specifically one that conceals us frontally from others, without restricting our own view. It is suggested that these optimal conditions might be translated architecturally as screens, the apertures of which are large enough for a building occupant to see through unobstructed from close by, but small enough to conceal them from the view of someone looking from a distance outside.

Keywords: foreground obstructions, prospection, spatial depth, window views

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