Morphometric and meristic variations in bream (Abramis brama orientalis, Berg, 1949) during larval development

This study was conducted to examine morphometric and meristic characteristics alongside pigmentation patterns of bream larvae, Abramis brama orientalis, in four stages of larval development. Morphological characters including total length (TL), standard length (SL), notochord length (NL), head length (HL), head depth (HD), eye diameter (ED) and mouth width (MW) were examined from hatching time through 30 days after hatching (DAH). The results showed morphometric variations in the different larval stages. Growth and development of fins occurred mainly at the Post Flexion stage with the completion of caudal fin at 9 mm TL and pelvic fin at 13.33 mm TL. At all larval stages, the highest concentration of pigments was seen on dorsal, ventral and somewhat on the lateral sides of body in descending order. The highest density of melanophores at larvae yolk sac stage was observed on the yolk sac and the back of head zone, while at preflexion and flexion stages melanophores were dominant on the back of head and on the skin folds which resulted from yolk absorption. At post flexion stage, high density of melanophores was found on the back of the head, bases of fins and caudal fin, while less concentrations of these cells were evident on the lateral sides of fish' body. In conclusion, a clear change in the growth and main morphological characters were observed in postflexion stage. This may be due to the main development of fins, which would suggest enhanced swimming capabilities and also prey capture efficiencies

Documentation of ethno-medicinal practices: A case study on tribal forest fringe dwellers of Terai West Bengal in India

The ethno-medicinal practices were documented which were being used by tribal population dwelling forest fringe areas of Terai zone of West Bengal, India on under exploited, non conventional, traditional and indigenous plant species for the sustainable utilization of these resources to cure day to day ailments. A total number of forty seven medicinal plant species belonging to 25 families were documented during the survey period 2012-13, which was used in curing many diseases. Among the families, Euphorbiaceae, Zingeberaceae and Leguminosae were the dominant families that represented four species each. Herb was the highest proportion of plant species 18 (38%) followed by 15 tree species (32%), 8 species of shrubs (17%) and rest were climbers and fern. It was observed that the tribal forest fringe communities of the Terai zone of the West Bengal have a good ethno-medicinal knowledge of using plant resources and developed their own traditional practices to cure day to day diseases

A Global Forum on Ultramafic Ecosystems: From Ultramafic Ecology to Rehabilitation of Degraded Environments

The 9th International Conference on Serpentine Ecology (ICSE) was held in Tirana and Pogradec (Albania) from June 5 to 9, 2017. More than 100 delegates from 29 countries around the world gathered to present their research on recent advances in: (i) ultramafic soils, (ii) biogeochemistry, (iii) diversity of ultramafic flora, microflora and fauna, (iv) ecophysiology of ultramafic-adapted organisms, (v) interactions between ultramafic organisms and their ecology, (vi) nature rehabilitation of degraded ultramafic environments (resulting from mining activities), and (vii) the production of bio-based metals through agromining technology. Additionally, the ICSE featured the first symposium on ultramafic aquatic ecology and ecotoxicology. Albania has one of the most diverse ultramafic floras in Europe. During the conference delegates visited some of the most emblematic ultramafic sites in Albania as well as the first agromining field trial in Europe. Here, we present the major topics and provide some highlights of the 25 contributions in this Special Issue (Vol. 33 no.3 and 4)

EEG calmness index establishment using computational of Z-score

A lot of useful information can be obtained through observation of the electroencephalogram (EEG) signal such as the human psychophysiology. It has been proven that EEG is handy in human diagnosis and tools to observe the brain condition. The study aims to establish a calmness index, which can differentiate the calmness level of an individual. Alpha waves were selected as the data features and computed into asymmetry index. The data features were clustered using Fuzzy C-Means (FCM) and resulted in three clusters. Wilcoxon Signed Ranks test was applied to determine the significance of the data features clustered by FCM. The Z-score obtained successfully distinguish three level of calmness index from the lower index until the higher index. With the advancement of signal processing techniques, the feature extractions for calmness index establishment computation is achievable

GAMBARAN ANATOMI DAN HISTOLOGI GINJAL DAN VESIKA URINARIA PADA MUSANG LUWAK (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) DI PULAU TIMOR

Asian palm civet (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) also known as toddy cat or Asian palm civet. Urinary system is a system that plays an important role in cleaning products that are not useful in the body, the cleaning process includes all products that dissolve in the blood, transporting all the material out of the body and also eliminate excess water in the body. The purpose of this research was to observe the structure of the anatomy and histology of kidney and urinary bladder the asian palm civet. Three Asian palm civets were used in this study. Asian palm civets were anaesthetized and perfused then opened the abdomen to observe the anatomy of kidneys and urinary bladder. The anatomy of kidney and urinary bladder representation showed that the asian palm civet had 3 parts: the renal cortex, renal medulla and renal pelvis. The mean length, width and weight of toddy cat kidney was 1.80 ± 0.1 cm, 1.16 ± 0.15 cm and 1.43 ± 0.15 g respectively. Meanwhile, renal histology with Hematoxiline Eosin staining (HE) showed the glomerulus, Bowman's capsule, urinary space, proximal convoluted tubule, distal convoluted tubule, and macula densa. Overview anatomy bladder Asian palm civets (Paradoxurus hermaphroditus) had conical with a strong and flexible muscles when pulled. The mean length, width and weight of the bladder for urine unallocated was 2.43 ± 0.15 cm, 1.7 ± 0.1 cm, and 1.13 ± 0.2 g respectively. Meanwhile, the bladder looks epithelial histology transisional, longitudional and circular muscle  smooth and connective tissue

Effect of zero tillage and different weeding methods on grain yield of durum wheat in semi-arid regions

Received: September 28th, 2020 ; Accepted: December 1st, 2020 ; Published: December 10th, 2020 ; Correspondence: [email protected] high grain yield of wheat is limited by the dominance of weeds, particularly wild oat. Therefore, to improve wheat yield under these conditions, a field experiment was carried out in Maru Agricultural Research Station, Jordan during 2015–2016 and 2016–2017 to investigate yield response of two wheat varieties (Triticum durum L.) to different tillage and weeding treatments. The experimental design used was a split-split arrangement in a randomized complete block design with three replicates. Two-tillage treatments (conventional vs. zero tillage) were applied to the main plot, two wheat varieties to sub-plot, and five weeding methods (hand weeding, broadleaf + narrow leaf herbicide, broadleaf herbicide, narrow leaf herbicide, and controls) as a sub-sub-plot. The variety ‘Umqais’ had higher plant height, biological, grain, and straw yield than the variety ‘Sham’. Hand weeding slightly increased grain yield compared with mixed herbicides (the 2,4-D plus Antelope Clodinatop- propagyl). Furthermore, mixed herbicides presented a higher grain yield than using either single herbicide. The interaction between tillage systems and weeding methods was significant in both years. The highest (P < 0.05) straw yield (5,990 kg ha-1 ) was obtained by hand weeding under conventional tillage in the first season while the highest grain yield (2,005 kg ha-1 ) was obtained by hand weeding under zero tillage in the second season. Under all weed control treatments, the variety ‘Umqais’ had higher biological, grain, and straw yields than the variety ‘Sham’ in the second season indicating that variety ‘Umqais’ performed better under dry conditions. Our results confirmed the superior of zero tillage for increasing the grain yield of the variety ‘Umqais’, and for increasing the biological and straw yields of the variety ‘Sham’ under semi-arid rainfed conditions of Jordan

An application of hybrid life cycle assessment as a decision support framework for green supply chains

In an effort to achieve sustainable operations, green supply chain management has become an important area for firms to concentrate on due to its inherent involvement with all the processes that provide foundations to successful business. Modelling methodologies of product supply chain environmental assessment are usually guided by the principles of life cycle assessment (LCA). However, a review of the extant literature suggests that LCA techniques suffer from a wide range of limitations that prevent a wider application in real-world contexts; hence, they need to be incorporated within decision support frameworks to aid environmental sustainability strategies. Thus, this paper contributes in understanding and overcoming the dichotomy between LCA model development and the emerging practical implementation to inform carbon emissions mitigation strategies within supply chains. Therefore, the paper provides both theoretical insights and a practical application to inform the process of adopting a decision support framework based on a LCA methodology in a real-world scenario. The supply chain of a product from the steel industry is considered to evaluate its environmental impact and carbon ‘hotspots’. The study helps understanding how operational strategies geared towards environmental sustainability can be informed using knowledge and information generated from supply chain environmental assessments, and for highlighting inherent challenges in this process

The Buprestidae (Coleoptera, Buprestoidea) of the Tuscan Archipelago (Italy)

Background Buprestidae is a group of beetles of important conservation and phytosanitary value that is poorly studied in the Tuscan Archipelago and the limited faunistic knowledge available refers to a few scant historical records. New information The present contribution increments the species documented in the Archipelago from 27 to 51, providing more than 300 georeferenced occurrence records, derived from both direct field research and citizen science via iNaturalist. Of particular importance is the discovery of Eurythyrea quercus on Isola d'Elba, an uncommon and localised species currently critically endangered

First In-Situ Measurements of Plume Chemistry at Mount Garet Volcano, Island of Gaua (Vanuatu)

Recent volcanic gas compilations have urged the need to expand in-situ plume measurements to poorly studied, remote volcanic regions. Despite being recognized as one of the main volcanic epicenters on the planet, the Vanuatu arc remains poorly characterized for its subaerial emissions and their chemical imprints. Here, we report on the first plume chemistry data for Mount Garet, on the island of Gaua, one of the few persistent volatile emitters along the Vanuatu arc. Data were collected with a multi-component gas analyzer system (multi-GAS) during a field campaign in December 2018. The average volcanic gas chemistry is characterized by mean molar CO2/SO2, H2O/SO2, H2S/SO2 and H2/SO2 ratios of 0.87, 47.2, 0.13 and 0.01, respectively. Molar proportions in the gas plume are estimated at 95.9 ± 11.6, 1.8 ± 0.5, 2.0 ± 0.01, 0.26 ± 0.02 and 0.06 ± 0.01, for H2O, CO2, SO2, H2S and H2. Using the satellite-based 10-year (2005–2015) averaged SO2 flux of ~434 t d−1 for Mt. Garet, we estimate a total volatile output of about 6482 t d−1 (CO2 ~259 t d−1; H2O ~5758 t d−1; H2S ~30 t d−1; H2 ~0.5 t d−1). This may be representative of a quiescent, yet persistent degassing period at Mt. Garet; whilst, as indicated by SO2 flux reports for the 2009–2010 unrest, emissions can be much higher during eruptive episodes. Our estimated emission rates and gas composition for Mount Garet provide insightful information on volcanic gas signatures in the northernmost part of the Vanuatu Arc Segment. The apparent CO2-poor signature of high-temperature plume degassing at Mount Garet raises questions on the nature of sediments being subducted in this region of the arc and the possible role of the slab as the source of subaerial CO2. In order to better address the dynamics of along-arc volatile recycling, more volcanic gas surveys are needed focusing on northern Vanuatu volcanoes

Critical design factors on performance of car jack lifting operations

Car jack is an equipped accessory package in every units of car sold to customer that used to uplift the cars while replacing tires during an emergency or repair. The automotive manufacturers are actively conducting their Product Improvement Campaign and the objective of the campaign is to improve the quality of product sold to the customers. The current jack design has a possibility of failure during its operations. The customer satisfaction point of view will be converted to engineering characteristic to acquire the concept of design and input into new design proposal and at the same time eliminate the possibility of failure of the current design. The research is conducted to improve the current jack design on its performance in lifting operations. The scope of research is to identify the critical zone in jack design structure that possibly causing the failure during its operations. To optimize the existing design, it is proposed some modification on the jack structure with a minimum weight increment but improve the design structural strength. The failure root cause analysis, reliability test and Design Failure Mode and Effect Analysis have been used to identify the specific critical area in the structure and resolve them by proposing the new improved jack design. The current car jack sample in market is used as an industrial sample for design analysis to find the target area for further improvement. From the analysis, we can know the critical design factors in the current car jack design and the required design improvement to enhance its performance in lifting operations