Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XIII. Review of \u3cem\u3ePandinops hawkeri, P. peeli, P. platycheles\u3c/em\u3e, and \u3cem\u3eP. pugilator\u3c/em\u3e (Scorpionidae)

Pandinops platycheles (Werner, 1916) is diagnosed and fully complemented with color photos of types, and Pandinops pugilator (Pocock, 1900) is diagnosed and fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as its habitat. The hemispermatophore of P. pugilator is illustrated and described for the first time. Pandinus hawkeri Pocock, 1900 and Pandinus peeli Pocock, 1900 are synonymized with Pandinops pugilator (Pocock, 1900)

Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida, Scorpiones). Part XVII.Revision of \u3cem\u3eNeobuthus\u3c/em\u3e, with description of seven new species from Ethiopia, Kenya and Somaliland (Buthidae)

New information about the taxonomy and distribution of the genus Neobuthus Hirst, 1911 is presented, based on material recently collected mainly from Somaliland, but also Djibouti and Kenya. Emended diagnoses are proposed for N. berberensis Hirst, 1911 and N. ferrugineus (Kraepelin, 1898) sensu stricto. New species described are: N. amoudensis sp. n. from Ethiopia and Somaliland; N. erigavoensis sp. n., N. factorio sp. n., N. gubanensis sp. n., N. maidensis sp. n., and N. montanus sp. n. from Somaliland; and N. kloppersi sp. n. from Kenya. This doubles the number of species in Neobuthus, unearthing a rich diversification of this genus of diminutive buthids in the Horn of Africa. Included is a key and distribution map. In N. gubanensis sp. n., we report a second known case of anomalous pectine development with tarsal-like structures that implicate homeotic mutation, providing further evidence of pectine-leg homology in scorpions

Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XV. Review of the genus \u3cem\u3eGint\u3c/em\u3e Kovařík et al., 2013, with description of three new species from Somaliland (Scorpiones, Buthidae)

We describe herein three new species of Buthidae: Gint amoudensis sp. n., G. gubanensis sp. n., and G. maidensis sp. n. from Somaliland. Additional information is provided on the taxonomy and distribution of other species of the genus Gint, fully complemented with color photos of live and preserved specimens, as well as of their habitat. The hemispermatophores of most Gint species are illustrated and described for the first time. In addition to the analyses of external morphology and hemispermatophores, we also describe the karyotype of four Gint species. The number of chromosomes is different for every one of the analysed species (G. dabakalo 2n=23, G. gaitako 2n=30, G. amoudensis sp. n. 2n=35–36, and G. maidensis sp. n. 2n=34)

Treatment and generation of electricity from palm oil mill effluent using locally isolated electroactive microbes in microbial fuel cell

Palm oil industries are the largest agricultural based industries in Malaysia and in processing palm oil, high pollutant liquid waste known as palm oil mill effluent (POME) is being generated. Currently, treatment of POME to meet the standard discharge limit and generate environmentally friendly renewable energy has become an important issue. Therefore, this study was conducted to treat final discharge POME in microbial fuel cell (MFC) and generate electricity using electro-active bacteria from palm oil mill sludge (POMS). Double chamber MFC fabricated using polyacrylic sheets with a working volume of 1 L, proton exchange membrane (Nafion 115) and carbon electrodes connected to copper wires attached to a resistor of 10 kO were used. The anodic solution consisted of final discharge pond POME, overnight SRB1 inoculum (10% v/v) and phosphate buffer (pH 7) while the cathodic solution consisted of phosphate buffer (pH 7) and potassium hexacyanoferrate (III). The results showed 58% of COD removal and 60% of colour removal in 8 days. Simultaneously electricity generation was monitored and the maximum voltage, current density, power density and columbic efficiency recorded using a digital multimeter was 942 mV, 89.2 mA/m2, 83.7 mW/m2 and 54% respectively. The SRB1 bacterium that was used to treat the POME and produced electricity was later identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain NCIM 5223 using molecular techniques (16S rDNA analysis). In conclusion SRB1 was able to treat and generate electricity from final pond POME

Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XXV. Description of Pandinurus awalei sp. n. and the male of Pandiborellius somalilandus (Kovařík, 2012), with remarks on recent synonymies (Scorpionidae: Pandininae)

Kovařík, František, Lowe, Graeme, Elmi, Hassan Sh Abdirahman (2020): Scorpions of the Horn of Africa (Arachnida: Scorpiones). Part XXV. Description of Pandinurus awalei sp. n. and the male of Pandiborellius somalilandus (Kovařík, 2012), with remarks on recent synonymies (Scorpionidae: Pandininae). Euscorpius - Occasional Publications in Scorpiology 322: 1-21, DOI: http://doi.org/10.5281/zenodo.424390

Bioelectricity generation in microbial fuel cell using natural microflora and isolated pure culture bacteria from anaerobic palm oil mill effluent sludge

A double-chambered membrane microbial fuel cell (MFC) was constructed to investigate the potential use of natural microflora anaerobic palm oil mill effluent (POME) sludge and pure culture bacteria isolated from anaerobic POME sludge as inoculum for electricity generation. Sterilized final discharge POME was used as the substrate with no addition of nutrients. MFC operation using natural microflora anaerobic POME sludge showed a maximum power density and current density of 85.11 mW/m2 and 91.12 mA/m2 respectively. Bacterial identification using 16S rRNA analysis of the pure culture isolated from the biofilm on the anode MFC was identified as Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain ZH1. The electricity generated in MFC using P. aeruginosa strain ZH1 showed maximum power density and current density of 451.26 mW/m2 and 654.90 mA/m2 respectively which were five times higher in power density and seven times higher in current density compared to that of MFC using anaerobic POME sludge

Table_1_The bigger the threat, the longer the gaze? A cross-cultural study of Somalis and Czechs.xls

High fear reaction, preferential attention, or fast detection are only a few of the specific responses which snakes evoke in humans. Previous research has shown that these responses are shared amongst several distinct cultures suggesting the evolutionary origin of the response. However, populations from sub-Saharan Africa have been largely missing in experimental research focused on this issue. In this paper, we focus on the effect of snake threat display on human spontaneous attention. We performed an eye-tracking experiment with participants from Somaliland and the Czechia and investigated whether human attention is swayed towards snakes in a threatening posture. Seventy-one Somalis and 71 Czechs were tested; the samples were matched for gender and comparable in age structure and education level. We also investigated the effect of snake morphotype as snakes differ in their threat display. We found that snakes in a threatening posture were indeed gazed upon more than snakes in a relaxed (non-threatening) posture. Further, we found a large effect of snake morphotype as this was especially prominent in cobras, less in vipers, and mostly non-significant in other morphotypes. Finally, despite highly different cultural and environmental backgrounds, the overall pattern of reaction towards snakes was similar in Somalis and Czechs supporting the evolutionary origin of the phenomenon. We concluded that human attention is preferentially directed towards snakes, especially cobras and vipers, in threatening postures.</p