PHENOLOGICAL TRAITS OF MANGROVE Kandelia obovata GROWN IN MANKO WETLAND, OKINAWA ISLAND, JAPAN

Phenological traits of Kandelia obovata (S., L.) Yong was investigated on the basis of seasonal leaf recruit, leaf death and leaf growth. The seasonal leaf growth was estimated using the logistic growth curve. Leaf recruitment, leaf death and reproductive cycle were obtained by survey data. This study results showed that new leaf recruitment occurred during the year indicating high productivity of mangrove Kandelia obovata forest. The highest leaf recruit was in July, while it was the lowest in January. However, the highest leaf death was in August, whereas it was the lowest in January. Growth pattern of leaves varied among seasons as of winter leaves are taken longger time to get their maximum size, while other season leaves are taken short time to get their maximum size. Period from flowering to mature propagules of K. obovata trees is considered to be around 12 months, while most the propagules become mature in the next spring season (April and May), which indicated shorter reproduction cycle

Clinical profile of patients with acute coronary syndrome in Lumbini Medical College and Teaching Hospital: A prospective study

Background: The clinical profile among patients with acute coronary syndromes (ACS) is not well studied in this western part of Nepal where Lumbini Medical College and Teaching Hospital (LMCTH) is situated. Cardiovascular disease is now the most common non communicable disease killing thousands of people worldwide. The trend of incidence is increasing in the developing countries including Nepal. Objective: To obtain the clinical profile of patient presenting with ACS in LMCTH. Material and Method: This is a prospective study carried out in LMCTH in the department of Internal Medicine April 14, 2013 to October 14, 2013. Patients were diagnosed to have ACS based on their clinical findings, Electrocardiogram (ECG) and Troponin test. Those with non-cardiac chest pain were excluded. A detail history and all the data pertaining to the patient were noted analyzed in a systematic way. Results: A total of 40 patients with ACS presented during the study period in LMCTH. The mean age of presentation was 67±18 years. Thirty out of those constitute male (75%). Six patients (15%) died during the study period. Seventeen (42.5%) presented with central chest pain, 13(32.5%) presented with left sided chest pain, 4(10%) presented with acute shortness of breath. Four (10%) patient presented in the state of cardiogenic shock and 2 (5%) presented with the Ventricular tachycardia (VT) as their complication. 6 (15%) had unstable angina (UA), 14 (35%) had Non ST elevation Myocardial Infarction (NSTEMI) and 20 (50%) had ST elevation Myocardial Infarction (STEMI). Of the total 20 (50%) patient who had STEMI, only four of them underwent thrombolysis. Anterior wall MI was the most common wall involved. Circadian variation study showed peak incidence of acute coronary syndrome during the early morning hours.  Mean duration of symptoms before presentation to the hospital facility was 4 days. Mean hospital stay was 5±2 days. Conclusion: Cardiovascular disease is common in this Western part of Nepal. STEMI was the commonest presentation and the incidence was more among the male and the elderly patients

Remote sensing to study mangrove fragmentation and its impacts on leaf area index and gross primary productivity in the south of Peninsular Malaysia

Mangrove is classified as an important ecosystem along the shorelines of tropical and subtropical landmasses, which are being degraded at an alarming rate despite numerous international treaties having been agreed. Iskandar Malaysia (IM) is a fast-growing economic region in southern Peninsular Malaysia, where three Ramsar Sites are located. Since the beginning of the 21st century (2000–2019), a total loss of 2907.29 ha of mangrove area has been estimated based on medium-high resolution remote sensing data. This corresponds to an annual loss rate of 1.12%, which is higher than the world mangrove depletion rate. The causes of mangrove loss were identified as land conversion to urban, plantations, and aquaculture activities, where large mangrove areas were shat-tered into many smaller patches. Fragmentation analysis over the mangrove area shows a reduction in the mean patch size (from 105 ha to 27 ha) and an increase in the number of mangrove patches (130 to 402), edge, and shape complexity, where smaller and isolated mangrove patches were found to be related to the rapid development of IM region. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectro-radiometer (MODIS) Leaf Area Index (LAI) and Gross Primary Productivity (GPP) products were used to inspect the impact of fragmentation on the mangrove ecosystem process. The mean LAI and GPP of mangrove areas that had not undergone any land cover changes over the years showed an increase from 3.03 to 3.55 (LAI) and 5.81 g C m-2 to 6.73 g C m-2 (GPP), highlighting the ability of the mangrove forest to assimilate CO2 when it is not disturbed. Similarly, GPP also increased over the gained areas (from 1.88 g C m-2 to 2.78 g C m-2). Meanwhile, areas that lost mangroves, but replaced them with oil palm, had decreased mean LAI from 2.99 to 2.62. In fragmented mangrove patches an increase in GPP was recorded, and this could be due to the smaller patches (< 9 ha) and their edge effects where abundance of solar radiation along the edges of the patches may increase productivity. The impact on GPP due to fragmentation is found to rely on the type of land transfor-mation and patch characteristics (size, edge, and shape complexity). The preservation of mangrove forests in a rapidly developing region such as IM is vital to ensure ecosystem, ecology, environment, and biodiversity conservation, in addition to providing economical revenue and supporting human activities

An objective validation of polyp and instrument segmentation methods in colonoscopy through Medico 2020 polyp segmentation and MedAI 2021 transparency challenges

Automatic analysis of colonoscopy images has been an active field of research motivated by the importance of early detection of precancerous polyps. However, detecting polyps during the live examination can be challenging due to various factors such as variation of skills and experience among the endoscopists, lack of attentiveness, and fatigue leading to a high polyp miss-rate. Deep learning has emerged as a promising solution to this challenge as it can assist endoscopists in detecting and classifying overlooked polyps and abnormalities in real time. In addition to the algorithm's accuracy, transparency and interpretability are crucial to explaining the whys and hows of the algorithm's prediction. Further, most algorithms are developed in private data, closed source, or proprietary software, and methods lack reproducibility. Therefore, to promote the development of efficient and transparent methods, we have organized the "Medico automatic polyp segmentation (Medico 2020)" and "MedAI: Transparency in Medical Image Segmentation (MedAI 2021)" competitions. We present a comprehensive summary and analyze each contribution, highlight the strength of the best-performing methods, and discuss the possibility of clinical translations of such methods into the clinic. For the transparency task, a multi-disciplinary team, including expert gastroenterologists, accessed each submission and evaluated the team based on open-source practices, failure case analysis, ablation studies, usability and understandability of evaluations to gain a deeper understanding of the models' credibility for clinical deployment. Through the comprehensive analysis of the challenge, we not only highlight the advancements in polyp and surgical instrument segmentation but also encourage qualitative evaluation for building more transparent and understandable AI-based colonoscopy systems

Mangroves give cause for conservation optimism, for now

No abstract available

Mangrove Ecosystem Ecology and Function

Mangrove Ecosystem Ecology and Function deals with several aspects of mangrove science, as well as conservation, management, and related policies. The book is divided into six sections and structured into 10 chapters. The first section discusses mangrove ecology, structure, and function; the second section explains mangrove physiology related to salt accumulation; the third section focuses on mangrove polychaetes; the fourth section talks about the bioprospect of mangrove microbes; the fifth section discusses soil geochemistry; and the sixth section elucidates mangrove management and conservation. Researchers from different countries and fields of mangrove ecosystem exploration have contributed their findings. This book would be an ideal source of scientific information to graduate students, advanced students, researchers, scientists, and stakeholders involved in mangrove ecosystem research

Size-dependence of the respiration of Kandelia obovata trees at Manko Wetland

琉球大学21世紀COEプログラム「サンゴ礁島嶼系の生物多様性の総合解析」平成20年度成果発表会（平成21年3月14日開催）　講演・特別講演会場：理系複号棟102号室，ポスター発表会場：琉球大学50周年記念館1