Three Horizons for Future Geoscience

Geoscience, along with other scientific disciplines, is being increasingly challenged on how it can best confront key global challenges, such as climate change, food insecurity, biodiversity loss, human conflict and migration, and persistent poverty. But its traditional association with exploitation of the planet’s natural resources for energy and materials links it with contemporary concerns around unsustainable human practices, arguably fueling a growing disenchantment that is most evident in declining enrollment in university geoscience courses in many countries. Therefore, a fresh re-framing of the geoscience’s relationship to society would seem to be urgently needed. In response to this need, we introduce the “Three Horizons” concept for visualizing paradigm change in complex systems as a tool to explore how the future global geoscientific mission might be re-imagined. Using this conceptual framework, we consider three parallel pathways – “business as usual” (horizon 1), “entrepreneurial” (horizon 2) and “visionary” (horizon 3)—that offer alternative narrative trajectories for how geoscience and geoscientists might serve society’s grand challenges

Field-aged phosphate impacts on glyphosate and phosphorus sorption patterns in two prairie soils

Non-Peer ReviewedThis research measured field-aged phosphate concentrations in sandy clay-loam, clay-loam soils and utilized samples in batch equilibrium studies to quantify adsorption maximum of phosphate and glyphosate retention. Soil samples were collected in 2013 from two research sites that had received annual applications of mono ammonium phosphate at different rates from 2002 to 2009. The effect of fresh phosphate addition on glyphosate sorption in soil was also determined. Measured parameters were the glyphosate sorption distribution constant, Kd, as well as the Langmuir adsorption constants, b (phosphorus adsorption maximum), and k (affinity constant). Glyphosate Kd values significantly decreased with increasing phosphate level in soils, regardless of the background liquid (CaCl2 and KCl) used in the batch equilibrium experiment. Applications of potassium dihydrogen phosphate in the laboratory with glyphosate reduced the available sorption sites to retain glyphosate in soil. Field-aged phosphate did not significantly influence the adsorption maximum (b), but b was significantly higher with CaCl2 than KCl as background liquid. The affinity constant was significantly greater in soils with lower field-aged phosphate concentrations, suggesting that these soils had more readily-available sorption sites for phosphate than soils with higher phosphate concentrations

Bird Communities and Feeding Guilds From Three Land Use Types in Kerian River Basin, Perak

The objectives of this study were to determine the current bird species present in the study areas and to analyze variation of feeding guilds in different habitat types. Point count and mist-netting methods were used for bird census in SF and OP, while only point count method was used in PF. Feeding guilds were determined for each species recorded. A total of 183 species representing 49 families were recorded at all study sites. Secondary forest scored 106 species, followed by PF with 70 species and OP with 58 species. The highest abundance of bird families observed in SF was Pycnonotidae (26.65%), Hemiprocnidae (19.77%) and Muscicapidae (7.10%); in OP, Pycnonotidae (21.59%), Muscicapidae (19.12%) and Sturnidae (17.95%); in PF, Ardeidae (29.09%), Sturnidae (10.15%) and Hirundinidae (7.86%). Alternative hypothesis established that the abundance of species is different across habitat types, F(2,105) = 99.83, p < 0.05. Eight feeding guilds were identified in paddy field and seven in both secondary forest and oil palm plantation. If forests were converted to OP feeding guild could possibly change with a decreased in insectivore, insectivore-frugivore, insectivore-nectarivore and frugivore species; and increased in carnivore, grainivore and omnivore species. If forests were converted to PF feeding guild could possibly change with a decreased in insectivore, insectivore-frugivore and frugivore species; and increased in carnivore, insectivorenectarivore, insectivore-grainivore, grainivore and omnivore species. Comparison between SF and OP with Mann-Whitney U-test showed significant differences in six feeding guilds, including insectivore, insectivore-frugivore, insectivore-nectarivore, frugivore, grainivore and omnivore. Comparison between SF and PF showed significant differences in five feeding guilds, comprising of carnivore, insectivore-grainivore, frugivore, grainivore and omnivore. Comparison between OP and PF showed all feeding guilds to be significantly different. Complex vegetation in forestoffers more niches, with higher plant and insect diversity to support more bird species. In contrast, PF, a temporary wetland, support predominantly various waterbirds and migratory species

Effect of omega 3 fatty acid in infertile males with oligozoospermia

Background: Oligozoospermia is the cause of male infertility in 33.3% of cases. Omega-3 fatty acid has been utilized in infertility because of its widespread availability, low cost, and high safety profile. We intended to conduct a study to evaluate the efficacy of omega-3 fatty acid in oligozoospermia. Methods: A prospective comparative study was conducted in the outdoor of the department of reproductive endocrinology and infertility, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Dhaka, from July 2022 to August 2023. A total of 70 Infertile males with oligozoospermia, were enrolled in the study. The participants were assigned to the omega-3 fatty acid group who was treated with omega-3 fatty acid 1 gm orally twice daily for 12 weeks. The other group was treated with placebo orally twice daily for 12 weeks. Sixty patients completed the 12 weeks of treatment. The changes in sperm count were determined. Results: The mean age of the participants was 35.6±4.59 years. Following treatment with omega-3 fatty acid significant improvement was observed in sperm count from 11.10±2.81 million/ml to 34.2±31.36 million/ml. Significant improvement in total motile sperm count was also observed. At the end of 12 weeks of treatment 76.7% of participants in the omega 3 fatty acid group and 10.0% in the placebo group had normozoospermia. Conclusions: Supplementation with omega-3 fatty acid results in improvement of sperm concentration and total motile sperm count in infertile men with oligozoospermia

An integral equation method for solving neumann problems on simply and multiply connected regions with smooth boundaries

This research presents several new boundary integral equations for the solution of Laplace’s equation with the Neumann boundary condition on both bounded and unbounded multiply connected regions. The integral equations are uniquely solvable Fredholm integral equations of the second kind with the generalized Neumann kernel. The complete discussion of the solvability of the integral equations is also presented. Numerical results obtained show the efficiency of the proposed method when the boundaries of the regions are sufficiently smooth

Isolation and identification of microbial and fungal flora from female hair samples in Riyadh Saudi Arabia

The human hair harbors several species of fungi and also bacteria. The present study was performed to determine the prevalence of keratinophilic fungi and bacteria from hair samples of femalesfrom November 2016 to April 2017. A total of 50 human hair samples were examinedusing hair-baiting techniques for isolation. After the incubation period, the number of colony forming unit was counted. The microorganisms were identified based on the colony morphology from culture and microscopic features. After purification, each representative colony was gram-stained and examined for cell morphology and gram reaction under a light microscope. Fungal isolates included were Aspergillus Niger, Aspergillus flavus, Penicilliumspp, Alternaria alternata, Chrysosporium keratinophilum. Cladosporium cladosporioides and Trichosporon mucoides. Isolated bacterial species included gram positive bacteria such as Leuconostoc mesenteroidess spcremoris, Kocuriarosea, Staphylococcus haemolyticus, and the gram negative bacteria Kocurikristinae, Stenotrophomonas maltophilia, and Micrococcus luteu/ lylae. Human hair samples from females studied were found have several fungal and bacterial isolates, some of which can cause some serious disease in humans. Healt

PHYTOCHEMICAL STUDY OF THE ARIAL PARTS OF <i>Cleome rutidosperma</i> DC PLANT

Two new compounds were identified as 2-ethyl-cyclohex-2-ene-6-hydroxy-methylene-1-carboxylic acid and 3b-hydroxy-lup-20(29)-en-28-oic acid, respectively, from the petroleum ether extracts of Cleome rutidosperma plant. These two constituents is the first time occurrence in this plant. The structures of the two different type of compounds are elucidated with the help of UV, IR, 1H-NMR, 13C-NMR, COSY, DEPT 90, DEPT 135 and mass spectral data.   Keywords: Cleome rutidosperm DC; isolation; spectral analysi

Peningkatan Kadar Tantalum & Niobium Oksida dari Terak Timah Bangka Menggunakan Pelarut NaOH dilanjutkan dengan HNO3 dan H3PO4

Terak Timah merupakan produk samping dari proses peleburan timah yang mengandung unsur logam tantalum dan niobium. Beberapa sumber unsur tantalum dan niobium yaitu columbite, tantalite, tantalo-columbite, dll. Tantalum & niobium memiliki banyak aplikasi seperti industri pesawat terbang, elektronik dan super alloy. Penelitian ini dilakukan untuk meningkatkan kadar unsur logam tantalum dan niobium dari terak timah melalui proses pelindian asam maupun basa. Hasil penelitian menunjukan bahwa proses pemanggangan yang dilakukan tidak mengalami dekomposisi thermal, selanjutnya proses pelindian basa dengan NaOH mengakibatkan penurunan yang sangat kecil terhadap niobium yaitu dari 0,75 menjadi 0,73%, sedangkan proses pelindian dengan HNO3 dan H3PO4 memberikan peningkatan terhadap tantalum dan niobium yaitu dengan HNO3 2M menghasilkan Ta dan Nb berturut-turut 0,17 menjadi 0,85 dan 0,73 menjadi 1,49. Hal ini juga terlihat pada pelindian menggunakan campuran HNO3: H3PO4 menghasilkan peningkatan Ta dan Nb berturut-turut menjadi 0,88-0,9% dan 1,46-1,54% di setiap peningkatan variasi konsentrasi H3PO4

Identification of bacteria and fungi in the solid waste generated in hospitals of Sana'a city, Yemen

A medical establishment such as hospitals and medical centers generate a sizable amount of hazardous waste. In Yemen, the hospitals' wastes are still largely mismanaged, mainly because the sector did not know what to do with the waste. The present study was undertaken to determine the bacterial and fungal agents present in different various of the hospitals' solid waste. The samples were collected from the different wards/departments and from the central storage rooms/dustbins of the hospitals in Sana'a city, Yemen. The presence of bacterial and fungal agents in the hospitals' waste was determined using the conventional bacteria, and fungi identification methods. The bacteria and fungi were detected in the hospitals' solid waste were Klebsiella spp. (9.3%), E. coli (12.7%), Citrobacter spp. (8.5), Candida spp. (18.6%), Proteus spp. (9.3%), Cladosporium werneckii spp. (19.5%), Bacillus spp. (9.3%), Aspergillus spp. (7.6%), Trichothecium spp. (0.8%), Mucor spp. (3.4%), and Acinetobacter spp. (0.8%). This study results confirmed that the prevalence types of microorganism vary based on seasonal and spatial variables