Factors influencing the distribution of Chl-a along coastal waters of East Peninsular Malaysia

Determination of chlorophyll-a (Chl-a) distribution in the coastal waters is important to understand the coastal environmental conditions. This study was conducted to understand the spatial and temporal distribution of Chl-a along coastal waters of east Peninsular Malaysia and factors influencing its variability using Chl-a data derived from Aqua MODIS satellite (1 km spatial resolution) from January 2006 to December 2012. Chl-a variability was described using empirical orthogonal function (EOF) analysis. In-situ data (temperature, salinity, density and nitrate) and rainfall data from the Department of Meteorology were analyzed using spatial interpolation to determine factors influencing the distribution of Chl-a. The seasonal progressions of Chl-a showed high value during northeast monsoon along the coast. This variability was described by four modes of the EOF analysis. The first mode (72.08% of total variance) indicated seasonal cycle with high variability along the coast. Second mode (17.03% of variance) explained the northeast monsoon with high variability from river mouth to the south. Third mode (2.39% of variance) indicated variability during southwest monsoon along the coast and much higher to the south. Mode 4 (1.93% of variance) explained the inter-monsoon period observed along the northern and southern coastline. Concentration and distribution of Chl-a were related to availability of nutrient influenced by rainfall. The thermohaline front was also observed to play an important role in accumulation of phytoplankton biomass during northeast and southwest monsoon

Coral reef and associated habitat mapping using ALOS satellite imagery

Coral reefs are rich in biodiversity and ecosystem services. However increase in degradation are still occurring at an alarming rate. In management of this ecosystem, determination of its spatial distribution is of importance. Satellite imageries can be used to map distribution extent using spectral characteristics which is a fundamental parameter in mapping. The aims of this study were to determine the spectral characteristics of corals and associated habitats and to map its spatial distribution using 2009 ALOS advanced visible and near infrared radiometer type 2 (AVNIR-2) satellite imagery. Results indicated that coral and habitats surrounding the area display variation in the spectral characteristics magnitude but displays similar spectral curve. Spectral characteristics from the corals and surrounding habitats were determined by presence of benthic microalgae and calcium carbonate. Maximum likelihood classification on the image produced five main classes. Spatial distribution of coral and associated habitats indicated five main zones which are sandy shore zone, sandy intertidal zone, seagrass zone, coral/submerged sandy zone and rocky zone. Distribution of live corals indicated coverage of 0.54 km2, sea grass (0.94 km2), sandy bottom (1.31 km2) and rocky shores (0.19 km2). The results of this study indicated that ALOS satellite data was able to determine variation in spectral characteristics of coral reefs and other habitats thus is capable of mapping the ecosystems spatial distribution

Feedforward backpropagation, genetic algorithm approaches for predicting reference evapotranspiration

Water scarcity is a global concern, as the demand for water is increasing tremendously and poor management of water resources will accelerates dramatically the depletion of available water. The precise prediction of evapotranspiration (ET), that consumes almost 100% of the supplied irrigation water, is one of the goals that should be adopted in order to avoid more squandering of water especially in arid and semiarid regions. The capabilities of feedforward backpropagation neural networks (FFBP) in predicting reference evapotranspiration (ET0) are evaluated in this paper in comparison with the empirical FAO Penman-Monteith (P-M) equation, later a model of FFBP+Genetic Algorithm (GA) is implemented for the same evaluation purpose. The study location is the main station in Iraq, namely Baghdad Station. Records of weather variables from the related meteorological station, including monthly mean records of maximum air temperature (Tmax), minimum air temperature (Tmin), sunshine hours (Rn), relative humidity (Rh) and wind speed (U2), from the related meteorological station are used in the prediction of ET0 values. The performance of both simulation models were evaluated using statistical coefficients such as the root of mean squared error (RMSE), mean absolute error (MAE) and coefficient of determination (R2). The results of both models are promising, however the hybrid model shows higher efficiency in predicting ET0 and could be recommended for modeling of ET0 in arid and semiarid regions

Processing rodent brain tissues: review of basic anatomical techniques for scientists with minimal knowledge of neuroanatomy

An understanding of brain structure, how to harvest rodent brain samples and the various histological procedures to follow is imperative in conducting researches in neuroscience especially for beginners. The general brain aversion bias and complexity of studying the brain, poses a real challenge in identifying and understanding its anatomy either grossly or microscopically. Therefore, this review attempts to provide a basic explanation for researchers with little knowledge of neuroanatomy but are interested in processing brain tissues ranging from opening the skull of the rodents, harvesting freshly perfused or unperfused brain, weighing of the brain and identifying various landmarks on the brainstem, cerebellum, and cerebrum. This review further provides a clue to the various anatomical landmarks in the brain and the functional role each structure identified in such landmarks play. Since most of the brain cytoarchitecture is viewed microscopically, knowing the appropriate staining techniques that clearly show the desired brain cell or region in question is important in determining various neuropathologies as well as in conducting various pilot studies on the brain. This review therefore provides a solid foundation for researchers who are not too familiar with the brain but need to conduct various studies on it.Keywords: brain, histological procedures, anatomical landmarks, staining techniques, cytoarchitecture, fixatio

Decision making autonomy and maternal healthcare utilization among Nigerian women

Background and Objectives: Low assess to ante-natal care (ANC) services continue to pose a major public health challenge leading to high maternal mortality rates in developing countries. Non-utilization of ANC services among about a quarter of Nigerian women of reproductive age remains a major concern in the actualization of Sustainable Development Goals. Considering the complexity of healthcare utilization in Nigeria, the relationship between a particular health care utilization pattern and women autonomy has not been fully examined. This study examines the patterns of women autonomy and their relationships with ANC utilization in Nigeria. Methods: This was a cross-sectional analysis of the 2013 nationally representative data from the Nigerian Demographic and Health Survey (NDHS). Factor analysis/score were used to construct women autonomy index, while chi-square and logistic regression were used to establish the relationships between the response and exposure variables. Results: There is a strong relationship between women decision making autonomy status and ANC services among Nigeria women. The odds of utilizing ANC services among women with more decision making autonomy were significantly 3.79 higher than among women with low decision-making autonomy. The use of ANC increases as age, education and wealth status of respondents increase. Conclusions and Global Health Implications: These results indicate that women autonomy is undoubtedly a major determinant of ANC utilization in Nigeria

An anatomical perspective: does the male greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus) have a scrotum?

We evaluated the anatomy of the “scrotal” skin pouch in an attempt to answer the question of whether (or not) there exist true scrotum in the greater cane rat (Thryonomys swinderianus). The “scrotal” skin folds from ten (10) matured male cane rats were morphologically and morphometrically studied with samples routinely processed for histology. Grossly, the pouch has features like fine hair on thin skin and longitudinal raphae typical of scrotum in other species. The histoarchitecture of the “scrotal” skin in the cane rat follows the normal scrotal pattern and the arrangements of the cutaneous strata, hair follicles and glands were similar in animals with perineal staining and those without perineal stain. The cane rat scrotal skin, though different in conformation from the scrotum of other mammalian species, has all the properties of a true scrotum thereby establishing the presence of scrotum in the greater cane rat.Keywords: Scrotum, Greater cane rat, Skin Pouch, Perineal stainin

Sensitivity of Earthworm (Eisenia fetida) in Mining Soil from Ijero-Ekiti, Nigeria

Excavation and processing of mineral deposits are valuable revenue sources yet they contribute serious environmental problems worldwide. Mining activities are widespread and contribute to heavy metal contamination in rural communities in Ekiti State, Nigeria. Available research failed to establish how mining soil may impact on resident terrestrial organisms. This study assessed the health of soil from active mining site by testing it on earthworms (Eisenia fetida) for 10 weeks. Survival, mobility, morphology and behaviour of worms were assessed while soil was analyzed for selected heavy metals by atomic absorption spectrometry. Worm survival was evident as the proportion of reference soil increased in exposure mixture and improved until 92% in the control. Worms curled up at the bottom of test vessels with varying proportions of mining site soil and appeared discolored and dehydrated when taken out of test soil, with characteristic sluggishness, particularly as the proportion of mining soil increased in exposure mixtures. Though metal levels were within permissible limits, morphology of exposed worms were visibly impacted, which corresponds in severity with increasing proportion of mining soil. On the contrary, worms tested in 100% reference soil appeared healthy and active in upper part of exposure vessels. These results suggest that the tested mining soil had adverse impacts on mobility, morphology, behavior and survival of exposed organisms when compared with the control population. Therefore, food products grown downstream of the mining site may be at risk of heavy metal contamination with consequences on food quality, water quality and food chain

Characteristics of fresh and frozen-thawed Uda ram semen extended with Oviplus®, egg yolk and coconut milk

Semen characteristics of Uda sheep and the effects of the egg yolk and coconut milkbased extenders on the quality of semen preserved at 4 oC and -196 oC were evaluated. Semen was collected from six Uda rams using an electro-ejaculator twice a week for ten weeks. Fresh semen samples were pooled and analyzed macroscopically and microscopically. The pooled semen was divided into 2 aliquots. One aliquot was extended in OviPlus® and egg yolk. The second aliquot was extended with OviPlus® and coconut milk. Each of the aliquots was further subdivided into 2 parts and evaluated microscopically. One part was chilled at 4 oC and evaluated for the same parameters after extension at 24, 48 and 72 hours. Second part was loaded into 0.25 ml plastic straws for cryopreservation at -196 ℃ and analyzed after 24 hours. The post thaw spermatozoa motility, livability and morphological abnormalities were determined at 24, 48 and 72 hours. The motility and concentration of freshly collected Uda semen were 81.7 ± 1.7 % and 3.2 ± 0.3 ×109/ml respectively. After extension, the motility decreased significantly (P < 0.05) from 82 % at 3 hours to 17 % at 72. The percentage live spermatozoa of the chilled semen did not differ significantly (P > 0.05) between the two extenders. Post thaw spermatozoa motility and livability were significantly (P < 0.05) reduced. There were significant differences (P < 0.05) between the post-thaw proportions of morphological abnormalities, between semen preserved at 4 oC and the frozen-thawed semen. In conclusion, semen motility, livability, and morphological abnormalities of Uda ram are equally preserved in coconut milk and egg yolk-based extenders at 4 oC up to 24 hours post extension. However, semen motility and livability were significantly reduced in the Uda semen earlier cryopreserved at -196 oC after thawing