Bankfull curves for the temperate rainforests in the Southern Appalachian Mountains of Western North Carolina

Bankfull hydraulic geometry relationships, also called regional curves, relate bankfull stream channel dimensions and discharge to watershed drainage area. This paper describes results of bankfull curve relationships developed for the temperate rainforests of the Southern Appalachian Mountains primarily on Western North Carolina Mountain streams in the Southeastern United States. Gauge stations for small and larger catchments were selected with a range of 10 to 50 years of continuous or peak discharge measurements, no major impoundments, no significant change in land use over the past 10 years, and impervious cover ranges of <20%. Cross-sectional and longitudinal surveys were measured at each study reach to determine channel dimension, pattern, and profile information. Log-Pearson Type III distributions were used to analyze annual peak discharge data for nine small watersheds sites gauged by the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Forest Service, Southern Research Station, Coweeta Hydrologic Laboratory and for eleven larger watersheds gauged by the United States Geological Survey (USGS). Power function relationships were developed using regression analyses for bankfull discharge, channel cross-sectional area, mean depth, and width as functions of watershed drainage area

Land use and land cover changes along the Boteti-Thamalakane River system in Ngamiland District, Botswana

Analysis of the dynamics of land use and land cover change (LULCC) along rivers that supply water to settlements provides crucial information to decision-makers; it offers information for planners and water supply authorities on water management issues in general. The paper analyzed LULCC along Boteti and Thamalakane rivers and predicted the probable LULCC for the year 2050 using the artificial neural network (ANN) of the module for land use evaluation (MOLUCE) within the QGIS 2.9 software. Adopting a supervised classification method, the Maximum Likelihood Classification (MLC) algorithm was used to classify the study area into five LULC categories. Findings show an increase in a built-up area (46.5%), barren land (90.1%) and a decrease in shrubs/trees (67.4%), water/waterlogged area (48%) and hydrophytes (39.3%) between 1990 and 2020. Using 2020 as the baseline, the ANN modelling approach predicted an increase in the built-up area and a continued shrinking of water and shrubs/trees spatial coverage in the next 30 years. Findings also reveal the presence of building constructions within less than 500 m from the river channel and/or flood plains. While a strict monitoring of the construction works along the riverbank needs to be constantly carried out, the paper also recommends the creation of a buffer zone of 500 m along the rivers where construction activities are prohibited

Indigenous fish processing and preservation practices amongst women in Southwestern Nigeria

668-672The paper investigates indigenous fish preservation practices (IFPs) amongst women of Epe Division in Lagos State of Southwestern Nigeria. Total 120 women engaged in fish processing and preservation were interviewed from five riverine communities in the study area through a multi-stage sampling procedure. About 52.5% of the respondents were solely engaged in fish processing and preservation; 47.5% combined fish processing and preservation business with other income-generating activities. Majority (82.5%) of the respondents were members of the cooperative associations. Salting, sun drying, smoke-drying and frying were the most popular processing and preservation techniques utilized by the women. About 55% of them, however, utilized between 3 and 4 of such methods. Lack of storage facilities, inadequate capital, smoke pollution, low sales of products and transportation problems were identified as major constraints

The effects of germination and roasting on nutraceutical and antioxidant properties of Jirani variety of millet

The objective of this study was to determine the effects of processing variables (germination time, roasting temperature and time) on the phytonutrients and antioxidants activity of millet. The germination time employed in this study ranged from 24 - 72 h, roasting temperature ranged from 112.5 -120.0°C and the roasting time ranged from 15-21 min based on an earlier preliminary study. All samples exhibited antioxidant properties and these properties were dose dependent. Positive correlations were obtained between the antioxidant activity of the samples and the content of the phytochemicals. Both germination and roasting time had an effect on the total antioxidant capacity of the germinated millet product. There was an interactive effect between the germination time and roasting time on the total antioxidant capacity and DPPH scavenging property. A negative interactive effect of germination time and roasting temperature as well as roasting temperature and roasting time on the total antioxidant capacity and DPPH values were observed. The germinated and roasted millet products showed the total antioxidant capacity of 39.30 - 66.01 mg/100g, DPPH value of 68.26 - 79.65 μg/ml and reducing power values of 0.353 - 0.441 μg/ml. The results demonstrated that germinated and roasted millet could be useful as an ingredient for functional food. The optimum conditions for processing millet into a functional food ingredient are germination time of 68.97 h, roasting temperature of 114.79°C and roasting time of 15.00 min, resulting at roasted millet product that possess 54.644 mg/100g of total antioxidant capacity, 72.152 μg/ml of DPPH value and 0.376μg/ml of reducing power values