Larval development of the bamboo borer (Dinoderus minutus Fabricius) using individual rearing method

Detailed information on larval development of the powder-post beetle, Dinoderus minutus, was investigated using individual rearing method under laboratory conditions at 27±2°C and 75±5% relative humidity. Five classes of head capsules were recorded, indicating five moults from first instar to prepupa. The mean larval duration recorded was 52.8±0.31 days with 8.04±0.12 days for the first instar larva, followed by 9.74±0.20 days, 13.10±0.17 days, 16.20±0.15 days and 5.72±0.13 days, for the second to fifth instar larvae, respectively. The longest instar stage was the fourth instar, with a development time ranging from 14 to 18 days and the shortest was the fifth instar ranging from 4 to 6 days. The highest growth ratio of larva by body weight was 2.70, which was observed between the first and second instars. This indicated that the maximum feeding rate of the larva occurred between these instar stages. The highest growth ratio, with respect to head capsule and larval length, was 1.35 and 1.34 between the fourth and fifth instar

Predation of potential insect pests in oil palm plantations, rubber tree plantations, and fruit orchards

In human‐modified landscapes, important ecological functions such as predation are negatively affected by anthropogenic activities, including the use of pesticides and habitat degradation. Predation of insect pests is an indicator of healthy ecosystem functioning, which provides important ecosystem services, especially for agricultural systems. In this study, we compare predation attempts from arthropods, mammals, and birds on artificial caterpillars in the understory, between three tropical agricultural land‐use types: oil palm plantations, rubber tree plantations, and fruit orchards. We collected a range of local and landscape‐scale data including undergrowth vegetation structure; elevation; proximity to forest; and canopy cover in order to understand how environmental variables can affect predation. In all three land‐use types, our results showed that arthropods and mammals were important predators of artificial caterpillars and there was little predation by birds. We did not find any effect of the environmental variables on predation. There was an interactive effect between land‐use type and predator type. Predation by mammals was considerably higher in fruit orchards and rubber tree than in oil palm plantations, likely due to their ability to support higher abundances of insectivorous mammals. In order to maintain or enhance natural pest control in these common tropical agricultural land‐use types, management practices that benefit insectivorous animals should be introduced, such as the reduction of pesticides, improvement of understory vegetation, and local and landscape heterogeneity

Alley-cropping system can boost arthropod biodiversity and ecosystem functions in oil palm plantations

Oil palm (Elaeis guineensis) is among the fastest expanding crops, due to high global demand for vegetable oils. Large areas of forest are converted into oil palm plantation to meet the market demand in producing countries which causes rapid decline in tropical biodiversity, including arthropods. The alley-cropping system has the potential to promote faunal biodiversity, related ecosystem services and food security in agricultural landscapes. In alley-cropping, a main crop is intercropped with a secondary crop (often a food crop), secondary crops are cultivated in the alleys in between the main crop. We compared arthropod taxonomic richness, arthropod predators and decomposers between five alley-cropping treatments (pineapple, bamboo, black pepper, cacao, bactris), where oil palm is intercropped with another species. In addition, we sampled two control treatments: monoculture oil palm, aged seven and 15 years old. A total of 50,155 arthropod individuals were recorded using pitfall trap sampling, representing 19 orders and 28 families. Fourteen orders belonging to sub-phylum Insecta, three orders from Arachnida (Araneae; Acarinae; Scorpiones) and two orders from Myriapoda (Chordeumatida; Geophilomorpha). We detected an increase in beta-diversity of oil palm production landscape. Specifically, we found that the number of arthropod orders, families and abundance were significantly greater in alley-cropping farming plots than those in monoculture plots. In addition, alley-cropping treatments contained larger numbers of predators and decomposers. Our findings suggest that the alley-cropping system can become a key management strategy to improve biodiversity and ecosystem functions within oil palm production landscapes

Time to revisit oil palm-livestock integration in the wake of United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs)

To date, the idea of using livestock animals as biological tools to manage weeds, sequester carbon, and boost food security in oil palm plantations has not been seriously considered by industry stakeholders of major producing countries (e.g., Indonesia, Malaysia, Thailand, Colombia, and Nigeria). We revisit the integration of oil palm cultivation with livestock farming as a silvopastoral agroforestry practice in the wake of Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Oil palm-livestock integration has the potential to promote sustainable palm oil production because it can provide multiple environmental and socio-economic benefits, including carbon sequestration, restoring top soil, improving ecosystem biodiversity, reducing pesticide and fertilizer inputs, and boosting national food security. In contrast to monocultural outputs of most conventional plantations, an oil palm silvopastoral system is an ideal way to address the global food insecurity challenge as it produces bioenergy, vegetable oil/fat and animal-based protein sources (e.g., red meat). In addition, the potential of contract targeted grazing could be considered as a new type of business and income diversification for rural people. Oil palm-livestock integration is a strategy by the palm oil industry to achieve multiple SDGs. Out of the 17 SDGs, oil palm-livestock integration is likely to deliver nine SDGs. Palm oil certification bodies should recognize oil palm-livestock integration as a biological control method in weed management practices. We recommend that oil palm-livestock integration should be promoted to revitalize sustainable palm oil production and strategic biodiversity conservation policy. Policy makers should encourage major players in the palm oil industry to practice oil palm-livestock integration

Intra-luminal thrombus bleeding in abdominal aortic aneurysm as an indicator for acute or impending rupture: a case series

Bleeding into Intra luminal thrombus, famously known as “hyper attenuating crescent sign”, due to blood entering the ILT, has been advocated to be associated with impending rupture of abdominal aortic aneurysm (AAA). We present two cases of patients presenting to our centre with a finding as described above. The importance of these finding correlating with intra-operative findings and review of relevant literatures will be highlighted

Retrospective analysis of primary patency of vascular access maturity: a single centre experience at HTAA, Kuantan, Malaysia

Introduction Arteriovenous stula (AVF) has been proven to be the best vascular access for the purpose of haemodialyis due to its’ longevity and robustness. Unfortunately, despite of its’ popularity in Malaysia, there is a limited local data being published. HTAA is a main referral center for AVF creation for the east coast of Malaysia. We examined our data for primary patency rate and possible factors that may associates with it. Methods Patients who underwent AVF creation created by a single surgeon from July 2012 to July 2013 in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA), Kuantan were identi ed using theatre list and also logbook. Data were collected retrospectively from the patients’ medical notes. A total of 89 patients were identi ed. Primary patency rate is being assessed at 6 weeks. Statistical analysis performed using SPSS® v20. Results The patient’s median age of the patients was 53 years with a slight male predominance (53%). Majority of the subjects have no history of tobacco use (71.4%). The Malays make up the majority in ethnicity (79.6%). 53.1% and 18.4% have underlying diabetes mellitus and obesity respectively. Brachio-cephalic stulas (BCF) are the majority of AVF (71.4%) that were created. 78% of our patients had already been diagnosed with ESRF and 59% was already on dialysis upon AVF creation. 57.1% of the subjects are statins users. The mean diameters of artery and veins are 2.56mm and 2.94mm respectively. Our primary patency rate is 87.8%. Multivariate analysis shows no signi cance between the demographics and maturity but a suggestive association of venous diameter and statins with primary patency rate with p values of 0.06 and 0.07 respectively. Conclusion This study described a comparable success rate of AVF creation at our centre in to other published data. We have identi ed, venous diameter and statins use have a positive trend with primary patency rate of our AVF in a multivariate analysis

Agroforestry orchards support greater butterfly diversity than monoculture plantations in the tropics

Large-scale deforestation in the tropics, triggered by logging and subsequent agricultural monoculture has a significant adverse impact on biodiversity due to habitat degradation. Here, we measured the diversity of butterfly species in three agricultural landscapes, agroforestry orchards, oil palm, and rubber tree plantations. Butterfly species were counted at 127 sampling points over the course of a year using the point count method. We found that agroforestry orchards supported a greater number of butterfly species (74 species) compared to rubber tree (61 species) and oil palm plantations (54 species) which were dominated by generalist (73%) followed by forest specialists (27%). We found no significant difference of butterfly species composition between agroforestry orchards and rubber tree plantation, with both habitats associated with more butterfly species compared to oil palm plantations. This indicates butterflies were able to persist better in certain agricultural landscapes. GLMMs suggested that tree height, undergrowth coverage and height, and elevation determined butterfly diversity. Butterfly species richness was also influenced by season and landscape-level variables such as proximity to forest, mean NDVI, and habitat. Understanding the factors that contributed to butterfly species richness in an agroecosystem, stakeholders should consider management practices to improve biodiversity conservation such as ground vegetation management and retaining adjacent forest areas to enhance butterfly species richness. Furthermore, our findings suggest that agroforestry system should be considered to enhance biodiversity in agricultural landscapes

Habitat fragmentation and logging affect the occurrence of lesser mouse-deer in tropical forest reserves

Due to rapid urbanization, logging, and agricultural expansion, forest fragmentation is negatively affecting native wildlife populations throughout the tropics. This study examined the effects of landscape and habitat characteristics on the lesser mouse-deer, Tragulus kanchil, populations in Peninsular Malaysia. We conducted camera-trap survey at 315 sampling points located within 8 forest reserves. An assessment of site-level and landscape variables was conducted at each sampling point. Our study provides critical ecological information for managing and conserving understudied populations of T. kanchil. We found that the detection of T. kanchil was attributed to forest fragmentation in which forest patches had four times greater detection of T. kanchil than continuous forest. The detection of T. kanchil was nearly three times higher in peat swamp forest compared to lowland dipterocarp forests. Surprisingly, the detection of T. kanchil was higher in logged forests (logging ceased at least 30 years ago) than unlogged forests. The detection of T. kanchil increased with the presence of trees, particularly those with DBH of 5 cm to 45 cm, canopy cover, number of saplings and palms, number of dead fallen trees, and distance from nearest roads. However, detection decreased with a greater number of trees with DBH greater than 45 cm and higher elevations, and greater detections where creeping bamboo was abundant. We recommend that conservation stakeholders take the necessary steps (e.g., eradicating poaching, habitat degradation, and further deforestation) to support the conservation of mouse-deer species and its natural habitats

Retrospective analysis of primary patency of vascular acess maturity: A single centre experience at HTAA, Kuantan, Malaysia

Introduction Arteriovenous stula (AVF) has been proven to be the best vascular access for the purpose of haemodialyis due to its’ longevity and robustness. Unfortunately, despite of its’ popularity in Malaysia, there is a limited local data being published. HTAA is a main referral center for AVF creation for the east coast of Malaysia. We examined our data for primary patency rate and possible factors that may associates with it. Methods Patients who underwent AVF creation created by a single surgeon from July 2012 to July 2013 in Hospital Tengku Ampuan Afzan (HTAA), Kuantan were identi ed using theatre list and also logbook. Data were collected retrospectively from the patients’ medical notes. A total of 89 patients were identi ed. Primary patency rate is being assessed at 6 weeks. Statistical analysis performed using SPSS® v20. Results The patient’s median age of the patients was 53 years with a slight male predominance (53%). Majority of the subjects have no history of tobacco use (71.4%). The Malays make up the majority in ethnicity (79.6%). 53.1% and 18.4% have underlying diabetes mellitus and obesity respectively. Brachio-cephalic stulas (BCF) are the majority of AVF (71.4%) that were created. 78% of our patients had already been diagnosed with ESRF and 59% was already on dialysis upon AVF creation. 57.1% of the subjects are statins users. The mean diameters of artery and veins are 2.56mm and 2.94mm respectively. Our primary patency rate is 87.8%. Multivariate analysis shows no signi cance between the demographics and maturity but a suggestive association of venous diameter and statins with primary patency rate with p values of 0.06 and 0.07 respectively. Conclusion This study described a comparable success rate of AVF creation at our centre in to other published data. We have identi ed, venous diameter and statins use have a positive trend with primary patency rate of our AVF in a multivariate analysis

Effects of polyculture and monoculture farming in oil palm smallholdings on tropical fruit-feeding butterfly diversity

1 In many developing countries, commercial oil palm farming supports the livelihood of millions of small scale farmers in the rural areas. However, forest conversion into oil palm monocultures has a major impact on tropical biodiversity. In existing oil palm production landscapes, little is known about how different oil palm agricultural practices affect farmland biodiversity, particularly insect biota. 2 We quantified fruit-feeding butterfly species richness and community composition in oil palm areas subject to polyculture and monoculture farming in Peninsular Malaysia. Polyculture smallholdings were predicted to support greater butterfly diversity than monoculture smallholdings because of the greater structural complexity and floristic diversity associated with crop diversity in polyculture smallholdings. 3 We also identified local-scale habitat attributes important for maintaining fruit-feeding butterfly species richness. 4 We found no significant differences in butterfly species richness, abundance and the composition of butterfly assemblages between polyculture and monoculture smallholdings. Local-scale habitat quality explained 32.1% of the variation in fruit-feeding butterfly richness in oil palm smallholdings. 5 We found that polyculture farming failed to increase fruit-feeding butterfly diversity as a result of a limited number of crop species in oil palm smallholdings. To improve current agricultural practices and maintain high levels of butterfly diversity, commercial growers should increase the number of crop species planted in oil palm smallholdings