Closely Related Tree Species Differentially Influence the Transfer of Carbon and Nitrogen from Leaf Litter Up the Aquatic Food Web

Decomposing leaf litter in streams provides habitat and nutrition for aquatic insects. Despite large differences in the nutritional qualities of litter among different plant species, their effects on aquatic insects are often difficult to detect. We evaluated how leaf litter of two dominant riparian species (Populus fremontii and P. angustifolia) influenced carbon and nitrogen assimilation by aquatic insect communities, quantifying assimilation rates using stable isotope tracers (13C, 15N). We tested the hypothesis that element fluxes from litter of different plant species better define aquatic insect community structure than insect relative abundances, which often fail. We found that (1) functional communities (defined by fluxes of carbon and nitrogen from leaf litter to insects) were different between leaf litter species, whereas more traditional insect communities (defined by relativized taxa abundances) were not different between leaf litter species, (2) insects assimilated N, but not C, at a higher rate from P. angustifolia litter compared to P. fremontii, even though P. angustifolia decomposes more slowly, and (3) the C:N ratio of material assimilated by aquatic insects was lower for P. angustifolia compared to P. fremontii, indicating higher nutritional quality, despite similar initial litter C:N ratios. These findings provide new evidence for the effects of terrestrial plant species on aquatic ecosystems via their direct influence on the transfer of elements up the food web. We demonstrate how isotopically labeled leaf litter can be used to assess the functioning of insect communities, uncovering patterns undetected by traditional approaches and improving our understanding of the association between food web structure and element cycling

Comparative Study of element composition of some honey samples in Ibadan metropolis

The study was carried out at the Federal College of Forestry, Ibadan with seven honey samples were randomly selected within Ibadan metropolis, labeled as: Sample A (Forestry Honey), Sample B(Pure Honey), Sample C (Mr. Honey), Sample D (Taraba Honey), Sample E (Sokoto Honey), Sample F (Saki Honey), and Sample G (Natural Honey). The samples were then analysed at the chemical laboratory of the International Institute of Tropic Agriculture (IITA). The TXRF and infrared spectrophotometer techniques were used to measured elemental concentrations present in the sample. Eight elements – K, Ca, P, Fe, Mn, Cu, Zn, and Na – were analysed. The result showed the honey samples to be quite rich in minerals. Potassium was the most abundant element in the honey samples (range 6.629 – 7.744ppm) with a mean value of 7.029, followed by Na (range 0.86 – 1.13ppm) with a mean value of 1.03 and P (range 0.565 – 0.644ppm) with a mean of 0.605. Calcium ranges between 0.277 and 0.591ppm with a mean value of 0.384, while Mn has a range of 0.025-0.036ppm with a mean of 0.030, followed by Zn(range 0.02-0.03ppm) with a mean value of 0.03ppm. iron also ranges between 0.015 and 0.024ppm with a mean value of 0.018ppm, while Cu came last with a range of 0.001-0.003 and a mean value of 0.002ppm. The computation of the standard deviation shows Potassium to have a value of 0.344, Ca 0.078, P0.023, Fe0.003, Mn 0.003, Cu 0.001, Zn 0.006 and Na 0.476. In addition, the processed honey samples had more elemental concentrations than the unprocessed honeys. Nevertheless the results have shown that Nigeria honey samples are rich in mineral composition, hence the need for better processing method and packaging in order to achieve wide market and income both locally and internationally

Analysis of physical and chemical composition of honey samples in selected market in Ibadan metropolis

The study analyzed the physical and chemical compositions of seven honey samples, which were obtained from selected markets in Ibadan metropolis. Seven samples of honey were obtained namely from sample A (Forestry honey Ibadan), Sample B (Pure honey), Sample C (Mr. honey), Sample D (Taraba honey), sample E (Sokoto honey), sample F (Saki honey) and sample G (Natural honey). The variables analyzed were pH, % purity, Ash content, Refractive index, Viscosity, Colour and specific gravity. The average price/litre of the honey samples B,C and G (N1,250) was higher than samples D, E and F (N666.00). The average % purity of the honey samples is 92.64.Result also showed that the mean value of the variables tested namely Viscosity (4.37), Refractive index (1.49), specific gravity (1.12), pH (5.27) and % Ash content (0.35) were within the established codex standard values of honey; i.e. 1.95 – 5.65, 1.4000 – 1.9000, 1.38 - 1.45, 3.6 – 5.6 and 0.20 – 1.03 respectively. The result further revealed that the variables considered were within the standard set by Codex alimentrus. Improvement in processing and packaging techniques will not only enhance the acceptability of these products but also brings about higher income to the producers and marketers

Effect of waste water on vegetable production

This experiment was carried out in Ibadan, Oyo State Nigeria purposively selecting four sites where waste waters were used for growing vegetables. Water, soil and leafy vegetables (Amarantus) samples were collected randomly form each siute and subjected to analysis for heavy metals such as Lead, Nickel, Arsenic, Cadmium and Mercury at laboratories in Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife for leafy vegetables and University of Ibadan for soil and water analysis. The result showed that there are significant difference with the respect of contaminant presence in the waters and soils samples. With regard to the analysis results, specimen C (Eleyele dam) vegetable had the highest percentage value of Lead (0.28%) Arsenic (62.5%) and Cadmium (0.92%) which was influenced by the amount of heavy metals taken from both soil and water

Impact of Land Use Changes on Soil Quality of a Biosphere Reserve in Southwestern Nigeria

Many primary forests in the tropical regions of the world have been converted into degraded secondary or intensively used agricultural areas. Using the Spatial Analogue technique of studying ecosystem dynamics, soil impact of deforestation and conversion was evaluated by comparing soil properties under the natural forest, secondary regrowth of a logged-over forest, monoculture plantation of Cedrela odorata (Linn), and maize/cassava farm at 0 10, 10 20 and 20 30cm soil depths. % sand decreased with soil depth in all the land use types and was significantly different between the natural forest and each of the logged-over forest regrowth, monoculture plantation and farmland except at 0 10cm depth. % Clay increased with soil depth but did not vary significantly among land use types except at 20 30cm depth. Available phosphorus decreased gradually with soil depth in all land use types with the natural forest and farmland having the highest and lowest mean values respectively. Organic matter varied significantly between each of the natural forest, logged-over forest regrowth and monoculture plantation, with the farmland at the three soil depths. Total nitrogen was generally low in all land use types, though, the natural forest compared better than the others. Soil pH, calcium, magnesium, effective cation exchange capacity, and percentage base saturation decreased with soil depth in all land use types with the natural forest having higher mean values than the others. Indices of change computed for organic matter, total nitrogen, available phosphorus, calcium, magnesium, potassium, effective cation exchange capacity and percentage base saturation, showed that soil management in the introduced land use types, is tending away from sustainability. Inter-cropping with nutrient-regenerating agroforestry trees on the farmland and the use of low-impact logging techniques are suggested for soil conservation

State-of-the-art in the pneumococcal field: Proceedings of the 11th International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD-11)

The International Symposium on Pneumococci and Pneumococcal Diseases (ISPPD) is the premier global scientific symposium dedicated to the exchange, advancement and dissemination of the latest research on the pneumococcus, one of the world's deadliest bacterial pathogens. Since the first ISPPD was held in 1998, substantial progress has been made to control pneumococcal disease, for instance, more than half of surviving infants (78.6 million) from 143 countries now have access to the life-saving pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV). The 11th ISPPD (ISPPD-11) was held in Melbourne, Australia in April 2018 and the proceedings of the symposium are captured in this report. Twenty years on from the first ISPPD, there remain many challenges and unanswered questions such as the continued disparity in disease incidence in Indigenous populations, the slow roll-out of PCV in some regions such as Asia, the persisting burden of disease in adults, serotype replacement and diagnosis of pneumococcal pneumonia. ISPPD-11 also put the spotlight on cutting-edge science including metagenomic, transcriptomic, microscopy, medical imaging and mathematical modelling approaches. ISPPD-11 was highly diverse, bringing together 1184 delegates from 86 countries, representing various fields including academia, primary healthcare, pharmaceuticals, biotechnology, policymakers and public health

Toward Establishing Integrated, Comprehensive, and Sustainable Meningitis Surveillance in Africa to Better Inform Vaccination Strategies

Large populations across sub-Saharan Africa remain at risk of devastating acute bacterial meningitis epidemics and endemic disease. Meningitis surveillance is a cornerstone of disease control, essential for describing temporal changes in disease epidemiology, the rapid detection of outbreaks, guiding vaccine introduction and monitoring vaccine impact. However, meningitis surveillance in most African countries is weak, undermined by parallel surveillance systems with little to no synergy and limited laboratory capacity. African countries need to implement comprehensive meningitis surveillance systems to adapt to the rapidly changing disease trends and vaccine landscapes. The World Health Organization and partners have developed a new investment case to restructure vaccine-preventable disease surveillance. With this new structure, countries will establish comprehensive and sustainable meningitis surveillance systems integrated with greater harmonization between population-based and sentinel surveillance systems. There will also be stronger linkage with existing surveillance systems for vaccine-preventable diseases, such as polio, measles, yellow fever, and rotavirus, as well as with other epidemic-prone diseases to leverage their infrastructure, transport systems, equipment, human resources and funding. The implementation of these concepts is currently being piloted in a few countries in sub-Saharan Africa with support from the World Health Organization and other partners. African countries need to take urgent action to improve synergies and coordination between different surveillance systems to set joint priorities that will inform action to control devastating acute bacterial meningitis effectively

Genomic diversity of Escherichia coli isolates from backyard chickens and guinea fowl in the Gambia

Chickens and guinea fowl are commonly reared in Gambian homes as affordable sources of protein. Using standard microbiological techniques, we obtained 68 caecal isolates of Escherichia coli from 10 chickens and 9 guinea fowl in rural Gambia. After Illumina whole-genome sequencing, 28 sequence types were detected in the isolates (4 of them novel), of which ST155 was the most common (22/68, 32 %). These strains span four of the eight main phylogroups of E. coli, with phylogroups B1 and A being most prevalent. Nearly a third of the isolates harboured at least one antimicrobial resistance gene, while most of the ST155 isolates (14/22, 64 %) encoded resistance to ≥3 classes of clinically relevant antibiotics, as well as putative virulence factors, suggesting pathogenic potential in humans. Furthermore, hierarchical clustering revealed that several Gambian poultry strains were closely related to isolates from humans. Although the ST155 lineage is common in poultry from Africa and South America, the Gambian ST155 isolates belong to a unique cgMLST cluster comprising closely related (38-39 alleles differences) isolates from poultry and livestock from sub-Saharan Africa - suggesting that strains can be exchanged between poultry and livestock in this setting. Continued surveillance of E. coli and other potential pathogens in rural backyard poultry from sub-Saharan Africa is warranted