The comparison of under-5-year nutritional status among Fars-native, Turkman and Sistani ethnic groups in the north of Iran

Background: Under nutrition is a health problem in developing countries and the main aim of this study was determine of the nutritional status and some sociodemographic factors among rural under-5-year children in the North of Iran in 2013. Methods: This was a descriptive, cross-sectional study, which carried out on 2530 children (637 = Fars-native, 1002 = Turkman and 891 = Sistani) from 21 villages in the North of Iran. Villages were chosen by random sampling among 118, and all of under-five children were chosen by simple sampling. For all of cases, a questionnaire with contain questions on the socialdemographic condition was completed and anthropometric indexes were measured by a learned team. Anthropometric data were compared with those in Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reference population. SPSS 18.0 software was used for statistical data analysis and P value under 0.05 included significations. Results: Generally, under nutrition (Z-score ≤ −2) was observed in 6.6%, 18.5% and 3.3% based on underweight, stunting and wasting, respectively and there were in boys more than girls and in Sistani more than other ethnic groups. Based on underweight and stunting, under nutrition was seen in Sistani more than other ethnic groups. Among three ethnic groups, stunting was significant both in boys (P = 0.013) and in girls (P = 0.004), but wasting was significant only in girls (P = 0.001). The estimated odds ratio (OR) with 95% confidence interval of under nutrition was obtained from logistic regression. Compared with good economic group, the OR was 1.831 in poor economic groups (P = 0.001). The risk of under nutrition in Sistanish ethnic group was 1.754 times more than Fars-native group (P = 0.001). Conclusions: Under nutrition is a health problem among under-5-year children in rural area in the North of Iran and stunting was seen in an alarming rate among them. Among ethnic groups, Sistanish children more than others were under nourished. Poor economic status is a risk factor for under nutrition in this area. © 2015 Veghari G

Large-scale distribution patterns of mangrove nematodes: A global meta-analysis

Mangroves harbor diverse invertebrate communities, suggesting that macroecological distribution patterns of habitat-forming foundation species drive the associated faunal distribution. Whether these are driven by mangrove biogeography is still ambiguous. For small-bodied taxa, local factors and landscape metrics might be as important as macroecology. We performed a meta-analysis to address the following questions: (1) can richness of mangrove trees explain macroecological patterns of nematode richness? and (2) do local landscape attributes have equal or higher importance than biogeography in structuring nematode richness? Mangrove areas of Caribbean-Southwest Atlantic, Western Indian, Central Indo-Pacific, and Southwest Pacific biogeographic regions. We used random-effects meta-analyses based on natural logarithm of the response ratio (lnRR) to assess the importance of macroecology (i.e., biogeographic regions, latitude, longitude), local factors (i.e., aboveground mangrove biomass and tree richness), and landscape metrics (forest area and shape) in structuring nematode richness from 34 mangroves sites around the world. Latitude, mangrove forest area, and forest shape index explained 19% of the heterogeneity across studies. Richness was higher at low latitudes, closer to the equator. At local scales, richness increased slightly with landscape complexity and decreased with forest shape index. Our results contrast with biogeographic diversity patterns of mangrove-associated taxa. Global-scale nematode diversity may have evolved independently of mangrove tree richness, and diversity of small-bodied metazoans is probably more closely driven by latitude and associated climates, rather than local, landscape, or global biogeographic patterns.Marco C. Brustolin, Ivan Nagelkerken, Gustavo Fonsec

Autonomy in vocabulary learning: vocabulary learning strategies teaching programme for EFL Libyan learners

Can learner autonomy be promoted through programmed teaching? To answer this question, a model of teaching vocabulary learning strategies programme, designed to help English as a Foreign Language (EFL) learners acquire autonomy in vocabulary learning, was developed and tested through an experimental study conducted at a secondary school in Libya. The present paper discusses the results obtained from the study. The data was collected through pre-test/post-test, logbooks. The participating students were divided into two groups: experimental group and control group. The experimental group students were taught new English vocabulary items along with teaching them the methods to enrich them further on their own, while the control group students were taught only new vocabulary items.Comparison of pre-test and post-test results showed that experimental group participants made considerable progress in achieving autonomy in vocabulary learning. The results obtained are highly significant in Libyan contexts where English is taught as a foreign language and students largely depend on classroom teaching and teachers' support, which create problems for them in university level education. The findings of the study indicate that (i) learner autonomy can be induced; and (ii) autonomous learners acquire new vocabulary faster. The study was conducted at a small scale.The researcher suggests that if the same study is conducted at a larger scale, the results will hold better validity

NOTES ON MAPANIA LATIFOLIA UITTIEN (CYPERACEAE) FROM LONG BANGA, SARAWAK

Cyperaceae is one of the largest family in the Monocotyledon plant group consisting of 106 genera and approximately 5600 species throughout the world. Mapania is among the important understory genus in this family. To-date about 40 species of Mapania have been recorded for Sarawak that includes 13 newly described species. Mapania latifolia is one of four species with foliaceous involucral bract recorded in Southeast Asia and its distributed in Peninsular Malaysia and Borneo. This species tends to show tremendous variations among the populations from different elevations and localities. This preliminary study is to investigate the variation of M. latifolia from Long Banga and to compare it with the collections from other places in the Heart of Borneo project areas

Rheological and resistance properties of magnetorheological elastomer with cobalt for sensor application

Cobalt particles have been introduced as a filler due to the advantages of embedding their magnetic and electrical properties in magnetorheological elastomer (MRE). In the present research, the rheology and resistance of MRE are experimentally evaluated. Isotropic and anisotropic MRE samples containing silicone rubber and cobalt particles were fabricated. The magnetic properties of MRE are conducted using a vibrating sample magnetometer (VSM). The morphological aspects of MRE are observed by using field emission scanning electron microscopy (FESEM) and characterized by energy-dispersive X-ray spectroscopy (EDX). Rheological properties under various magnetic field strengths were measured for the magnetic field, strain amplitude, and frequency sweep test by using a parallel-plate rheometer. Subsequently, the resistance of MRE is tested under different applied forces and magnetic fields. The MRE storage modulus depicted an enhancement in field-dependent modulus across all the applied magnetic fields. The electrical resistance generated from the sample can be manipulated by external magnetic fields and mechanical loads. The conductivity of MRE is due to the existence of cobalt arrangements observed by FESEM. By introducing cobalt as filler and obtaining satisfactory results, the study might open new avenues for cobalt to be used as filler in MRE fabrication for future sensing applications

Distribution of two species of Asian horseshoe crabs at west coast of Sarawak's Waters, East Malaysia

Conservation of horseshoe crabs worldwide has become challenging as the number of horseshoe crabs were decreased due to human activities. Therefore, this research was designed to assess the habitat of horseshoe crabs by determining their distribution at nine different locations in west coast of Sarawak’s waters. A line transect method was used to determine species distribution where Pasir Putih Village had the highest density of T. gigas caught with of 1.72 individuals per hectare. Based on sediment analysis, T. gigas was found mainly in sandy beach of Pasir Putih Village, Pandan Beach, Sibu Laut Village, and Gerigat Beach with total organic matter and the sediment size ranging from 0.39% to 10.9% and 125 mm to 250 mm, respectively. Meanwhile, C. rotundicauda was mostly collected from mangrove area (high content silt-clay) with sediment size less than 63 mm and total organic matter ranging from 0.35% to 27.91%. The findings of this research indicated that the distribution of T. gigas and C. rotundicauda in different preferred habitat in west coast of Sarawak’s waters were influenced by the in-situ physico-chemical parameters, type of sediment, lunar cycle and spawning season

Movement patterns of blue swimming crab, Portunus pelagicus in the Sarawak coastal water, South China Sea

A study was carried out to determine the movement patterns of P. pelagicus within the near-shore marine embayment of the Sarawak coastal water, South China Sea. These mark-recapture tagging studies were conducted for about five months from 26th March till 30th August 2005 comprising 48 sampling trips. Out of 976 crabs tagged and released, 212 (21.72%) were recaptured. The mean distances moved by male and female crabs were 7.36 km ± 1.78 and 9.15 km ± 1.87 respectively. The study shows that the female crabs moved significantly (p=0.01; p<0.05) further than males. The percentage of tagged crabs recaptured within the original release site were 50.0% for male and 45.83% for female crabs. The result shows that the male crabs only significantly (p=0.01; p<0.05) moved towards the deeper off-shore areas as compared to the near-shore areas. On the other hand, the female crabs moved significantly more towards both deeper off-shore and shallow near -shore areas. Most of the tagged crabs were recaptured within the sampling site of 2 km radius after a minimum of 30 days at liberty. The movement activities from the study were not necessarily limited because only 21.72% of the tagged-and-released crabs were recaptured. Thus, the main movement activities were attributed to the migration movements associated with reproduction and this can be seen from the tagged crabs which were recaptured at the off-shore deeper water

Analysis of Variance in Vocabulary Learning Strategies Theory and Practice: A Case Study in Libya

The present study is an outcome of a concern for the teaching of English as a foreign language (EFL) in Libyan schools. Learning of a foreign language is invariably linked to learners building a good repertoire of vocabulary of the target language, which takes us to the theory and practice of imparting training in vocabulary learning strategies (VLSs) to learners. The researcher observed that there exists a divergence in theoretical knowledge of VLSs and practically training learners in using the strategies in EFL classes in Libyan schools. To empirically examine the situation, a survey was conducted with secondary school English teachers. The study discusses the results of the survey. The results show that teachers of English in secondary school in Libya are either not aware of various vocabulary learning strategies, or if they are, they do not impart training in all VLSs as they do not realize that to achieve good results in language learning, a judicious use of all VLSs is required. Though the study was conducted on a small scale, the results are highly encouraging.Keywords: vocabulary learning strategies, vocabulary learning theory, teaching of vocabulary learning strategie