The Impact of Forests in Climate Change

As parallel to industrialization and increasing population, pressures on natural resources have rised, soil, water and air have been polluted. These problems threaten the human. So, environmental protection or in awider meaning nature conservation became a very important duty for the human in this century. The duty is a special action against eradication of living base for the organisms Forest ecosystems are of course economical natural resources. The ecosystem is a monotonous forest area by compositions, characteristics and relationsihips of the main elements within the forest. In the article, firstly, forest ecosystems and their functions were examined, then, importance of forest as natural resources, their roles for preventing risk of climatically changes, and contribution of forests for sustainable development within Turkiye were studied

Cortical oxygenation suggests increased effort during cognitive inhibition in ecstasy polydrug users

Background: It is understood that 3,4-methylenedioxymethamphetamine (ecstasy) causes serotonin dysfunction and deficits in executive functioning. When investigating executive function, functional neuroimaging allows the physiological changes underlying these deficits to be investigated. The present study investigated behavioural and brain indices of inhibition in ecstasy-polydrug users. Methods: Twenty ecstasy-polydrug users and 20 drug-naïve participants completed an inhibitory control task (Random Letter Generation (RLG)) while prefrontal haemodynamic response was assessed using functional near infrared spectroscopy (fNIRS). Results: There were no group differences on background measures including sleep quality and mood state. There were also no behavioural differences between the two groups. However, ecstasy-polydrug users displayed significant increases in oxygenated haemoglobin (oxy-Hb) from baseline compared to controls at several voxels relating to areas of the inferior right medial prefrontal cortex, as well the right and left dorsolateral prefrontal cortex. Regression analysis revealed that recency of ecstasy use was a significant predictor of oxy-Hb increase at two voxels over the right hemisphere after controlling for alcohol and cannabis use indices. Conclusion: Ecstasy-polydrug users show increased neuronal activation in the prefrontal cortex compared to non-users. This is taken to be compensatory activation/recruitment of additional resources to attain similar performance levels on the task, which may be reversible with prolonged abstinence

Evaluation of the nutritional quality of selected dietary ingredients for mud crab Scylla serrata of Suarashtra region in Gujarat, India

Mud crabs, or mangrove crabs, are one of the most valuable groups of crab species in the world. Several studies have been conducted to describe the nutrient requirements of mud crabs. Only preliminary studies have been conducted to define the nutritional ingredients requirements for growing out diets. Results of the analysis revealed the major components of seaweeds (Ulva reticulate and Sargassum cinctum) poultry waste, earth worms and fish meal with carbohydrate 57.18 % (Ulva reticulate) and 55.86 % (Sargassum cinctum), 31.07 %, 21.83 % and 2.89 %, followed by ash content of 21.3 % (U. reticulate) and 14.1 % (S. cinctum), 8.4 %, 12.0 % and 8.40 %, respectively. The crude protein component of fishmeal, soyabean meal, earthworms and seaweeds were obtained in little amount with 61.20 %, 48.3%, 36.2 % and 13.41 % (U. reticulate) and 10.67% (S. cinctum) and followed by crude lipid component of poultry waste 25.0%, seaweeds 13.41 % (U. reticulate) and 10.67 % (S. cinctum), earthworms 9.52% and fishmeal 9.20%  respectively. These results of nutritional composition indicated that poultry waste, earthworms and seaweeds have potential as a source of feed supplement and human nutrition

ck-NN: A Clustered k-Nearest Neighbours Approach for Large-Scale Classification

k-Nearest Neighbor (k-NN) is a non-parametric algorithm widely used for the estimation and classification of data points especially when the dataset is distributed in several classes. It is considered to be a lazy machine learning algorithm as most of the computations are done during the testing phase instead of performing this task during the training of data. Hence it is practically inefficient, infeasible and inapplicable while processing huge datasets i.e. Big Data. On the other hand, clustering techniques (unsupervised learning) greatly affect results if you do normalization or standardization techniques, difficult to determine "k" Value. In this paper, some novel techniques are proposed to be used as pre-state mechanism of state-of-the-art k-NN Classification Algorithm. Our proposed mechanism uses unsupervised clustering algorithm on large dataset before applying k-NN algorithm on different clusters that might running on single machine, multiple machines or different nodes of a cluster in distributed environment. Initially dataset, possibly having multi dimensions, is pass through clustering technique (K-Means) at master node or controller to find the number of clusters equal to the number of nodes in distributed systems or number of cores in system, and then each cluster will be assigned to exactly one node or one core and then applies k-NN locally, each core or node in clusters sends their best result and the selector choose best and nearest possible class from all options. We will be using one of the gold standard distributed framework. We believe that our proposed mechanism could be applied on big data. We also believe that the architecture can also be implemented on multi GPUs or FPGA to take flavor of k-NN on large or huge datasets where traditional k-NN is very slow

Effect of higher salinities on growth and survival of pacific white shrimp, Litopenaeus vannamei (Boone, 1931)

The growth and survival of Litopenaeus vannamei post larvae was measured in controlled different salinities condition 35ppt (T1), 40ppt (T2), 45ppt (T3) and 50ppt (T4) were maintained. Group of Shrimp post larvae (weight 0.032 g ± 0.002) were stocked at a density of 35 nos. /aquarium in above salinity ranges. Animals were fed with commercial feed (35% Crude Protein) @ 5% of body weight four times a day. The results indicate that higher SGR was observed in T2 (1.99±0.08) followed by T1 (1.75±0.07), T3 (1.54±0.06) and T4 (1.49±0.17). Highest survival (100 %) was recorded in T1 followed by T2 (96.42%), T3 (94.99%) and T4 (74.21%). From the results of the present study it could be seen that higher salinity significantly reduced the growth and survival of L. vannamei but will also open study area of physiological adaption of animal at higher saline water in performance of organisms

Microwave-assisted synthesis, characterizations, antimicrobial activities, and DFT studies on some pyridine derived Schiff base

This study reports a joint experimental, theoretical and microbiological investigation on the (E)-N,N-dimethyl-4-((pyridine-2-ylmethylene)amino)aniline (5), (E)-N,N-dimethyl-4-((pyridine-4-ylmethylene)amino)aniline (6) and (E)-N,N-dimethyl-4-((pyridine-3-ylmethylene)amino)aniline (7). These compounds were synthesized with microwave method and their structures characterized by FT-IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, and elemental analysis tecniques. In the theoretical studies, torsional barriers analysis, ground state structure, Fourier Transform Infrared spectra (FT-IR), and Nuclear Magnetic Resonance spectra (NMR) of 5, 6, and, 7 were calculated by Density Functional Theory (DFT) computations. The conformers obtained from the torsional barrier scanning were optimized by B3LYP/6-31G(d,p) level. The harmonic vibrational frequencies, potential energy distribution (PED), infrared intensities, and NMR chemical shifts of the most stable conformers were determined using the B3LYP/6-311++G(d,p). Theoretically, predicted spectral data were compared with experimental results. Antimicrobial studies of the synthesized compounds were performed against various microbial strains. Antimicrobial activities of 5, 6, and, 7 were tested against selected bacteria and yeast through minimum inhibitory concentration (MIC) and diffusion method. Compound 7 was found to be the most active against bacteria and yeast, while compound 5 was found to be moderately active. Compounds 6 (against S. aureus and C. albicans) and, 7 were found to have a very high minimum inhibitory concentration, ranging between 1.95 and 7.81 g/mL (against P. aeruginosa and E. coli). Compounds (6 and 7) showed zone of inhibition values in the range of 10–20 mm against other bacteria except L. monocytogenes and S. thyphimurium. © 2022 Elsevier B.V

Evolución de los ácidos grasos en el mesocarpo del níspero (Mespilus germanica. L.) a diferentes estados de maduración

The fatty acid composition of medlar (Mespilus germanica L.) varied significantly among the ripening stages sampled at 157, 172 and 187 DAFs (days after full bloom). Twenty-one different fatty acids were detected in preclimacteric fruit and 17 when the climacteric began. Principal fatty acids, determined in medlar fruit harvested from October (157 and 172 DAFs) to November (187 DAF) were mainly palmitic acid (16:0), linoleic acid (18:2n-6), and a-linolenic acid (18:3n-3). While the content of saturated fatty acids [palmitic acid (16:0) and stearic acid (18:0)] increased, the content of the essential polyunsaturated fatty acids [linoleic acid (18:2n-6) and linolenic acid (18:3n-3)] decreased through ripening, in parallel with pulp darkening. The percentage of linoleic acid and a-linolenic acid in ripe, hard fruits was 60.0 and 13.5 % of dry wt at 157 DAF which decreased throughout ripening, remaining at 28.7 and 5.6 % of dry wt, respectively, in the fully softened and darkened pulp. A marked decreases in the double bond index, percentage of unsaturation and the ratio of unsaturation/saturation were also seen throughout the medlar ripening. The contribution of unsaturated fatty acid to the total fatty acid content decreased markedly as the medlar fruit became progressively softer and darkened.La composición en ácidos grasos del níspero (Mespilus germanica L.) varió significativamente entre los estados de maduración muestreados a los 157, 172 y 187 DAFs (días después de la floración). Veinte y un ácidos grasos diferentes fueron detectados en el fruto preclimatérico y 17 cuando comenzó el climaterio. Los ácidos grasos principales encontrados en nísperos, recolectados desde Octubre (157 y 172 DAFs) hasta Noviembre (187 DAF), fueron principalmente ácido palmítico (16:0), ácido linoléico (18:2n-6), y ácido a-linolénico (18:3n-3). En tanto que el contenido en ácidos grasos saturados (ácido palmítico (16:0) y ácido esteárico (18:0)) aumentó, el contenido en ácidos grasos esenciales (ácido linoleico (18:2n-6) y ácido linolénico (18:3n-6)) disminuyó durante la maduración, en paralelo con el oscurecimiento de la pulpa. El porcentaje de ácido linoleico y de ácido a-linolénico en frutos maduros sin reblandecer fue de 60.0 y 13.5 % del peso seco a 157 DAF, disminuyendo durante la maduración, y permaneciendo a 28.7 y 56 % del peso seco, respectivamente, en la pulpa completamente blanda y oscura. También se observó durante la maduración del níspero una marcada disminución en el número de dobles enlaces, en el tanto por ciento de instauración y en la relación instauración / saturación. La contribución de los ácidos grasos insaturados al contenido de ácidos grasos totales disminuyó marcadamente cuando el níspero comenzó progresivamente a reblandecerse y oscurecerse

Profit based unit commitment and economic dispatch of IPPs with new technique

a b s t r a c t Each generation company may have number of generating units of different fuel consumption characteristics, some generating units consume more fuel as compared to other units this directly effects the production cost and profit of the company. Production cost and profit of the company is also affected by unit commitment and economic dispatch. Each and every power generation company wants to maximize/ increase profit, same is the case for independent power producers (IPPs). Profit can be maximized by changing the unit commitment and economic dispatch strategy. Previously it was achieved in such a way that production cost goes to minimum level. But as the competition in power market is going to increase day by day IPPs trend of UC solution is toward achieving maximum profit. Previously achieved solution by LR-PBUC is slow and may face convergence problem. In this paper, we will see the way how a GENCO or IPP can earn more by UC on the base of profit, with minimum computational time and always with some final solution. Hamiltonian method has been used for ED. To demonstrate the effectiveness of the PBUC achieved and Hamiltonian economic dispatch, it will be tested on two test cases. Profit and computational time comparison of proposed technique with already available/techniques for evaluation of performance are also presented