Stock assessment and virtual population analysis of River shad, Tenualosa ilisha (Bloch & Schneider, 1801) in the Shatt Al-Arab River, Iraq

Historically, the river shad, Tenualosa ilisha fishery is the most significant marine fishery from the economic-socio point of view in Basrah province for a long time, but its contribution declined from 90.2% of total landings in 1965-1973 to 5.8% in 2020. The stock and virtual population analysis of the species in the Shatt Al-Arab River, Iraq was assessed using FiSAT II software. Samples were collected from two sites in the river from November 2015 to October 2016. A total of 462 individuals of T. ilisha ranging from 7.0 to 42.5 cm were collected. The length-weight relationship was derived, indicating a positive allometric growth for the species. L∞, K, and Ø were 59.1 cm, 0.27, and 2.975, respectively. Total (Z), natural (M) and fishing (F) mortalities were 1.94, 0.59, and 1.35, respectively. The exploitation rate (E) was 0.70. Length at first capture (Lc50) was found to be 24.4 cm. The recruitment pattern of T. ilisha was continuous throughout the year with two unequal prominent peaks. The relative yield per recruit analysis revealed that the current exploitation rate (E) of T. ilisha was higher than both E0.1 and Emax. Also, the 40 cm length group was more vulnerable to fishing according to VPA analysis, followed by the 34 cm and 26 cm length groups. For management purposes, it must be introduced an extensive T. ilisha management action plan by protecting brood species during the breeding season by imposing a ban on fishing in the Shatt Al-Arab River during the main spawning migration and conserving the small T. ilisha (Milat <23.0 cm) from catching. &nbsp

PROCJENA STOKA SLATKOVODNOG CIPLA, Liza abu (HECKEL, 1843), U TRIMA OBNOVLJENIM JUŽNIM MOČVARAMA IRAKA

The stock of freshwater mullet, Liza abu (Heckel, 1843), in the East Hammar, Huwazah and Chybaish marshes, south Iraq, was assessed between October 2005 and September 2006. The relative abundance of the species formed 35.9, 37.1 and 62% of the total catches in the three marshes, respectively. Length–weight relationships calculated for L. abu were: W = 0.0149 L2.899 (East Hammar), W = 0.0132 L2.910 (Huwazah) and W = 0.0252 L2.662 (Chybaish). Mean values of relative condition factor were 1.00, 1.02 and 0.98 for the three marshes, respectively. Growth and mortality parameters estimated for the species were L∞= 23.2cm, K = 0.37, Z = 2.125, M = 0.903 and F = 1.222 (East Hammar), L∞ = 21.1cm, K = 0.44, Z = 1.688, M = 1.055 and F = 0.632 (Huwazah) and L∞ = 20.0cm, K = 0.41, Z = 2.297, M = 1.006 and F = 1.291 (Chybaish). The stock of L. abu in the Huwazah marsh was unexploited (E = 0.375), while those of the East Hammar and Chybaish marshes were overexploited, E = 0.575 and 0.562, respectively. It is necessary to enforce immediate fishing regulation measures on the fish stock in the investigated locations and this can be assessed by activating the national law of fisheries management.Procjena stoka slatkovodnog cipla, Liza abu (Heckel, 1843), provodila se u močvarama Istočni Hammar, Huwazah i Chybaish na jugu Iraka od listopada 2005. do rujna 2006. godine. Relativna zastupljenost ove vrste bila je 35,9, 37,1 i 62% od ukupnog ulova u trima močvarama. Dobivene vrijednosti dužinsko-masenih odnosa kod L. abu bile su: W = 0,0149 L2.899 (Istočni Hammar), W = 0,0132 L2.910 (Huwazah) i W = 0,0252 L2.662 (Chybaish). Srednje vrijednosti kondicijskog faktora triju istraživanih močvara iznosile su 1,00, 1,02 i 0,98. Parametri rasta i mortaliteta pojedine vrste bili su: L∞ = 23.2 cm, K = 0,37, Z = 2.125, M = 0,903 i P = 1.222 (Istočni Hammar) , L∞ = 21.1cm , K = 0,44 , Z = 1.688 , M = 1.055 i F = 0.632 (Huwazah) i L∞ = 20.0 cm, K = 0,41, Z = 2.297, M = 1.006 i F = 1.291 (Chybaish). Stok L. abu u močvari Huwazah bio je neiskorišten (E = 0,375), dok su močvare Istočni Hammar i Chybaish bile previše iskorištavane (E = 0.575; E = 0.562). Nužna je provedba ribolovnih mjera za riblji fond na istraživanim lokacijama, a to se može procijeniti jedino primjenom nacionalnog zakona o upravljanju u ribarstvu

The contribution of ecological design to green planning approach of a university campus in Malaysia

The concept of ecological design has produced positive results in terms of supporting the achievement of sustainable development in many fields. However, its practice currently faces many challenges due to many influential factors such as the low level of acceptance amongst stakeholders. As such, this research attempts to study the application of ecological design in contributing to the approach of green planning in designing a university campus in Serdang, Selangor. The researcher had made an observation survey of 23 selected buildings within the Universiti Putra Malaysia area, based on a set of pre-determined factors and its sub-factors in determining the level of compliance to ecological design. Generally, the results demonstrated that the level was relatively moderate and many buildings failed to comply with some factors of ecological design. The reason being that the buildings were built more than 10 years ago in which the concept of ecological design was rather new at that time. Some newer buildings corresponded fairly well to some ecological design, such as the elements of indoor environmental quality

Short-term therapy with rosiglitatzone, a PPAR-¿ agonist improves metabolic profile and vascular function in non-obese lean wistar rats

A number of preclinical and clinical studies have reported blood-pressure-lowering benefits of thiazolidinediones in diabetic subjects and animal models of diabetes. This study was designed to further elucidate vascular effects of rosiglitazone, on healthy nonobese, lean animals. Adult male Wistar rats were randomized and assigned to control and rosiglitazone-treated groups and were dosed daily with either vehicle or rosiglitazone (10 mg kg(−1) day(−1)) by oral gavage for 5 days. Compared with control group, rosiglitazone treatment significantly reduced plasma levels of triglycerides (>240%) and nonesterified free fatty acids (>268%) (both, P < 0.001). There were no changes in vascular contractility to KCl or noradrenaline between two groups. However, rosiglitazone therapy improved carbamylcholine-induced vasorelaxation (93 ± 3 % versus control 78 ± 2, P < 0.01) an effect which was abolished by L-NAME. There was no difference in sodium nitroprusside-induced vasorelaxation between the control and rosiglitazone-treated animals. These results indicate that short-term rosiglitazone therapy improves both metabolic profile and vascular function in lean rats. The vascular effect of rosiglitazone appears to be mediated by alteration in NO production possibly by activation of endothelial PPARγ. This increased NO production together with improved lipid profile may explain mechanism(s) of blood-pressure-lowering effects of thiazolidinediones on both human and experimental animals

Physical tourism potentials in Mubi Town, Adamawa State, Nigeria

World tourism is the fastest growing industries in the world that among others provides multi-million jobs opportunities; assisting in the significant infrastructure development and cross-cultural appreciations. It also supports revenue generation to governments at all levels and serves as the most contributing sector to many countries of the world. Thus, this paper carries out an empirical investigation of the physical tourism potentials of Mubi Town, Adamawa State, Nigeria. Primary data was collected through a well-structured questionnaire survey using five grading scale, and site observations of the physical tourism potentials. A total of 100 residents were selected as the respondents via random sampling technique. The research discovered six significant physical tourism potentials out of 12, namely; Tike Cattle Market, Wednesday Market, traditional local industries, Emir Palace, two minarets of Central Mosque, and River Yadzram. The analysis for the reliability test was also carried out using Spearman correlation techniques between the various segments of the questionnaire. This is based on the respondents’ responses to ascertain the level of the reliability. The descriptive statistics were used to correlate the relationship between Physical Tourism Potentials (PTP) and Environmental Elements (EE) of the study area. The result demonstrates the correlation between PTP and EE is highly significant at (0.01, 2-Tailed), indicating that, the Physical Tourism Potentials (PTP) in Mubi Town plays an integral role in the tourism potentials of the town

Population dynamics of an invasive species Carassius auratus in the Shatt Al-Arab River, Iraq

The population dynamics of the crucian carp, Carassius auratus in the Shatt Al-Arab River, Iraq was studied from November 2015 to October 2016 with monthly samples collected by different fishing gears. The FAO-ICLARM Stock Assessment Tool (FiSAT II) software was used for the mathematical analysis. Length-weight relationship was calculated as W= 0.0149L3.065 for fish length 4.6 to 26.8 cm. Growth parameters L∞, K and Ø were computed as 29.1 cm, 0.51 and 2.635. The total (Z), natural (M) and fishing (F) mortalities were 2.69, 1.09 and 1.60, respectively. Exploitation rate (E) was 0.59. Length at first capture (Lc) was found to be 10.04 cm. C. auratus displayed one main pulse of annual recruitment. The relative yield per recruit analysis revealed that the exploitation rate (E) of C. auratus was higher than the biological target reference points E0.1 and equivalent to Emax. It could be concluded that the C. auratus stock in the Shatt Al-Arab River is operating nearby the exploited situation and needs some precautionary measures to avoid the overexploitation by activating the national law of fishing, exploiting and protecting aquatic resources, in particular preventing illegal fishing methods and follow up the execution of the closed season to prevent the decline of our fish resources

Population dynamics and management of two cichlid species in the Shatt Al-Arab River, Iraq

Cichlids are invasive fish to Iraqi waters and became well established and prevailing in different waters. Despite that, there is no stock assessment study conducted for these fish. So, growth, mortality, recruitment and yield-per-recruit of two cichlid’s species; Coptodon zillii and Oreochromis aureus from the Shatt Al-Arab River, Iraq were evaluated from November 2015 to October 2016 using the FiSAT software. A total of 1285 C. zillii (2.9-24.0 cm TL) and 1353 O. aureus (4.5-25.0 cm TL) were examined. Length-weight relationships were derived, indicating allometric growth for both species. The growth parameters (L?, K, Rn, to and ?) obtained for C. zillii were 25.5 cm, 0.320, 0.212, -0.793 and 2.318, respectively, while for O. aureus were 27.8, 0.490, 0.214, -0.271 and 2.578, respectively. The annual rate of total mortality (Z), fishing (F) and natural (M) for C. zillii was found to be 1.51, 0.84 and 0.68 respectively, and for O. aureus 2.49, 1.08 and 1.41, respectively. The present exploitation rates (Epresent) for C. zillii and O. aureus were computed to be 0.454 and 0.57, respectively. Lengths at first capture (LC) were 12.97 cm for C. zillii and 13.25 cm for O. aureus. The peaks of recruitment of C. zillii and O. aureus were from February to May and May to July, respectively. The Epresent for C. zillii and O. aureus were below the biological target reference points (F0.1&nbsp; and Fmax), indicating that these species were not overexploited. For management purposes, more yields could be obtained by an increase in the fishing activities on cichlids

Iman-restoration therapy (IRTI) : a new counseling approach and its usefulness in developing personal growth of Malay adolescents

Over the years, it has become a trend that those in mental health professions, especially counselors and psychologists are less religious, even atheistic due to their secular belief system. This is coupled with their diminutive efforts to link spirituality and science in most of their research works and intellectual frameworks in relation to counseling and treating psychological illnesses. However, it has been found in recent past that three quarters of counselors, even with secular and Christian belief system, reported using spirituality as an intervention tool in their research. This significant finding reflects the growing realization on the significance of religion and spirituality as an effective psychotherapeutic intervention. Thus, the purpose of this study is to examine ÔmÉn Restoration Therapy, a new psychotherapeutic approach which is based on the study of the Qur‟an, Sunnah and the works of early Muslim scholars, as a new counseling approach in developing personal growth of Malay adolescent clients. Through a single case study design, data was collected from interview and counseling sessions from an undergraduate student at the International Islamic University Malaysia (IIUM). With the emergence of seven themes, results revealed that maintaining ones faith in Allah SWT can bring about a positive functioning in one‟s cognitive, emotive, behavior and motivational components and attain spiritual intuition that fosters religious faith and meaningful living. Implications and suggestions for further studies are duly illustrated

Evaluation of the inland fisheries in Basrah province in Iraq during 2020-2021

The study was aimed to update the knowledge on the fish landings of the inland fisheries in Basrah province, Iraq. The species composition, species and total landings, and their trends in six landing sites throughout the study region were evaluated during the year 2020-2021. Species compositions were included seven cyprinids’ species, three cichlids’ species, three mullet’s species, and two species from sparids and silurids. The exotic species, C. carpio, tilapias species and C. auratus dominated the landings constituting 44.2% of the total catch, whereas the highly valued native species (M. sharpeyi, L. xanthopterus, C. luteus and A. grypus) forming only 12.4% of the total catch. The total landing reached 2,427.78 t in 2020 and 2,365.15 t in 2021, and these values were higher than what was recorded during the past years since the year 2009. This is due to the prevalence of aliened species and the increase in the fishing effort, such as the numbers of fishermen and fishing boats. Therefore, in fisheries management point of view, it is essential to enhance the stocks of the native species, minimize the dispersal and impacts of some exotic species, and activate the national regulating fishing, exploitation and protection of aquatic organisms to improve the inland fisheries