Multi-temporal Land-Cover Classification of Kinabalu Eco Linc Site and the Protected Park Areas

The Crocker Range Park and Kinabalu Park are Sabah’s largest terrestrial parks physically separated by approximately 10 km. Both parks are involved in a set up plan of ecological linkages to connect and further strengthen the biodiversity conservation efforts in the State of Sabah. The part of ecological linkages project is known as Kinabalu Eco-Linc (Kinabalu Ecological Linkage). This study is designed to monitor the land use change of the area between year 1991 - 2018 using Landsat imagery. Maximum likelihood classifier was used to create the land cover change map of both protected areas. Seven land cover type were identified in the area which comprises of primary forest, secondary forest, shrubland/grassland, barren land, agriculture, plantation, and river. The result illustrated a drastic declined of primary forest and increased secondary forest and agricultural over the period of 28-years assessed. The spatial changes that occur throughout the period within state park and KEL area is drives by natural and anthropogenic activities. To support the increase in local population and their demand, the natural environment underwent changes for their welfare improvement. It is concluded that, monitoring protected area using remote sensing technique provide useful spatiotemporal data to locate key areas that are vulnerable to threat and can be utilized for better management of both protected areas and human use resources in adjacent area

In-ovo feeding with creatine monohydrate: implications for chicken energy reserves and breast muscle development during the pre-post hatching period

The most dynamic period throughout the lifespan of broiler chickens is the pre-post-hatching period, entailing profound effects on their energy status, survival rate, body weight, and muscle growth. Given the significance of this pivotal period, we evaluated the effect of in-ovo feeding (IOF) with creatine monohydrate on late-term embryos’ and hatchlings’ energy reserves and post-hatch breast muscle development. The results demonstrate that IOF with creatine elevates the levels of high-energy-value molecules (creatine and glycogen) in the liver, breast muscle and yolk sac tissues 48 h post IOF, on embryonic day 19 (p < 0.03). Despite this evidence, using a novel automated image analysis tool on day 14 post-hatch, we found a significantly higher number of myofibers with lower diameter and area in the IOF creatine group compared to the control and IOF NaCl groups (p < 0.004). Gene expression analysis, at hatch, revealed that IOF creatine group had significantly higher expression levels of myogenin (MYOG) and insulin-like growth factor 1 (IGF1), related to differentiation of myogenic cells (p < 0.01), and lower expression of myogenic differentiation protein 1 (MyoD), related to their proliferation (p < 0.04). These results imply a possible effect of IOF with creatine on breast muscle development through differential expression of genes involved in myogenic proliferation and differentiation. The findings provide valuable insights into the potential of pre-hatch enrichment with creatine in modulating post-hatch muscle growth and development

Mapping pre and post earthquake land cover change in Melangkap, Kota Belud Sabah using multi-temporal satellite Landsat 8/OLI and Sentinel 2 Imagery

It is generally accepted that vegetation provides important ecosystem services especially in term of rainfall partitioning. This study aims to evaluate the influence of canopy structure namely crown area (CA), diameter at breast height (DBH), tree height (TH) and crown spread (CS) and stand density on the partitioning of rainfall. Twelve throughfall plots of 20 x 20 m with 64 gauges randomly placed within each plot were established. For stemflow measurements, all trees within a 100 m2 plot within the study area were collared. Interception loss was computed as the difference between precipitation and throughfall plus stemflow. Throughfall ranged from 73.47 – 82.32 % of the gross rainfall. Stemflow was found to be roughly around 2.01% of the gross rainfall. Highest interception was 24.52 % attributed to the plot having the highest above ground biomass (AGB) density. The relation between canopy interception and forest structure were analyzed by regression method. Multiple regression analysis on the potential influence of stand structure to the throughfall percentage shows that all the forest structures variables measured in this study are negatively correlated to the amount of throughfall generated. This study suggests that forests with higher value of DBH, CA, CS and TH had higher interception rate

New Insights into the Evolution of Wolbachia Infections in Filarial Nematodes Inferred from a Large Range of Screened Species

Wolbachia are intriguing symbiotic endobacteria with a peculiar host range that includes arthropods and a single nematode family, the Onchocercidae encompassing agents of filariases. This raises the question of the origin of infection in filariae. Wolbachia infect the female germline and the hypodermis. Some evidences lead to the theory that Wolbachia act as mutualist and coevolved with filariae from one infection event: their removal sterilizes female filariae; all the specimens of a positive species are infected; Wolbachia are vertically inherited; a few species lost the symbiont. However, most data on Wolbachia and filaria relationships derive from studies on few species of Onchocercinae and Dirofilariinae, from mammals.We investigated the Wolbachia distribution testing 35 filarial species, including 28 species and 7 genera and/or subgenera newly screened, using PCR, immunohistochemical staining, whole mount fluorescent analysis, and cocladogenesis analysis. (i) Among the newly screened Onchocercinae from mammals eight species harbour Wolbachia but for some of them, bacteria are absent in the hypodermis, or in variable density. (ii) Wolbachia are not detected in the pathological model Monanema martini and in 8, upon 9, species of Cercopithifilaria. (iii) Supergroup F Wolbachia is identified in two newly screened Mansonella species and in Cercopithifilaria japonica. (iv) Type F Wolbachia infect the intestinal cells and somatic female genital tract. (v) Among Oswaldofilariinae, Waltonellinae and Splendidofilariinae, from saurian, anuran and bird respectively, Wolbachia are not detected.The absence of Wolbachia in 63% of onchocercids, notably in the ancestral Oswaldofilariinae estimated 140 mya old, the diverse tissues or specimens distribution, and a recent lateral transfer in supergroup F Wolbachia, modify the current view on the role and evolution of the endosymbiont and their hosts. Further genomic analyses on some of the newly sampled species are welcomed to decipher the open questions

Linear and nonlinear fractional hereditary constitutive laws of asphalt mixtures

The aim of this paper is to propose a fractional viscoelastic and viscoplastic model of asphalt mixtures using experimental data of several tests such as creep and creep recovery performed at different temperatures and at different stress levels. From a best fitting procedure it is shown that both the creep one and recovery curve follow a power law model. It is shown that the suitable model for asphalt mixtures is a dashpot and a fractional element arranged in series. The proposed model is also available outside of the linear domain but in this case the parameters of the model depend on the stress level

Differences in stream responsiveness between a tropical montane cloud forest and a tropical lowland rainforest

Tropical Montane Cloud Forests (TMCF) have unique hydrology considering their high moisture, steep headwater terrain, shallow soils, frequent precipitation, and the presence of horizontal precipitation. While the hydrology of Tropical Lowland Rainforests (TLRF) has been given due attention, TMCF in Malaysia have been less explored. This study compares stream responsiveness and peak flow dynamics between TLRF (substation Inobong, 5.33 ha) and TMCF (substation Alab, 8.53 ha) in Crocker Range, Sabah, Malaysia. Streams in both study site were instrumented with water level sensors and dataloggers, and meteorological stations that records data at 10-minute intervals. Two hydrograph metrices namely Tres (time taken from start of precipitation to hydrograph initiation) and Tpeak (time taken from start of hydrograph response to peak discharge) were assessed via a combination of the Mann-Whitney test and ANCOVA. TMCF took a longer time to achieve peak water level (mean Tpeak=143 mins) compared to TLRF (mean Tpeak=118 mins). Average rainfall intensity (Pi) was negatively correlated with Tpeak. Tres was higher in TMCF (mean=141 mins) than in TLRF (mean=51 mins) and was not affected by P or Pi. Understanding such hydrological dynamics in TMCF is important for better headwater resource management and for flood prevention