Identification and phenotypic plasticity of Pseudanabaena catenata from the Svalbard archipelago

A filamentous benthic cyanobacteria, strain USMAC16, was isolated from the High Arctic Svalbard archipelago, Norway, and a combination of morphological, ultrastructural and molecular characterisation (16S rRNA gene sequence) used to identify to species level. Cell dimensions, thylakoid arrangement and apical cell shape are consistent with the Pseudanabaena genus description. The molecular characterisation of P. catenata gave 100% similarity with Pseudanabaena catenata SAG 1464-1, originally reported from Germany. Strain USMAC16 was cultured under a range of temperature and photoperiod conditions, in solid and liquid media, and harvested at exponential phase to examine its phenotypic plasticity. Under different culture conditions, we observed considerable variations in cell dimensions. The longest cell (5.91±0.13 μm) was observed at 15°C under 12:12 light:dark, and the widest cell (3.24±0.06 μm) at 4°C under 12:12 light: dark in liquid media. The study provides baseline data documenting the morphological variation of P. catenata in response to changing temperature regimes

Semen characteristics of Bornean sun bear (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus)

The Bornean sun bear (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus), endemic to Borneo Island, is the subspecies of the Malayan sun bear. The species is at risk, not just because of anthropogenic threats, but also slow reproduction in the wild. In captivity, due to poor reproductive performance, assisted reproductive technology is deemed a fundamental tool to propagate the depleting numbers of the Bornean sun bear. This is a pioneer study that presents the semen characteristics of the Bornean sun bear via conventional semen evaluation methods. Forty-two semen samples from ten sun bears were collected via electroejaculation and evaluated. The electro ejaculator probe (2.5 cm in diameter and 7.0 cm in length) was inserted rectally and positioned dorsal to the prostate gland. The optimum voltage used to obtain semen differed with each individual, but all showed hindlegs contraction and penile erection before ejaculation. The average combined testes volume in the Bornean sun bear was 23.37 ± 5.09 cm³. The mean semen volume was 617.30 µL, with sperm concentration of 1034.40 × 10⁶ sperm/mL and pH 7.79. Sperm viability was 80.19% with a general motility of 79.13% and progressive movement of 70.20%. There were high sperm abnormalities at 70.67%. Sun bear sperm length was 61.28 ± 2.46 µm and consisted of an oval head, midpiece, and tail. From this study, good semen donors were identified from the captive Bornean sun bear population in Sabah, Malaysia. The fresh semen baseline data established in this study will provide crucial reference for assisted reproduction programs in the Bornean sun bear

Semen charcteristics and histological changes in testes of saanen crossbred bucks fed palm kernel cake - based diets

An experiment was conducted to evaluate the effects of different diets based on PKC on sperm quality and spermatogenesis of goats. Fifteen adult Saanen crosses buck were randomly assigned into three formulated diet which are concentrates (Control),65% Palm Kernel Cake (PKC), 65% Palm Kernel Cake plus ammonium molybdate and sodium sulphate (PKCMS) for six months. Semen characteristics and body weight (BW) were determined fortnightly and dry matter intake (DMI) was measured daily. Blood serums from each buck were collected for copper and testosterone concentration. Testes samples of three bucks from each dietary treatment were assessed for Cu concentration, quantitative histological evaluation and transmission electron microscopy (TEM) viewing. There were no differences in initial and final BW among treatments (P> 0.05). The average daily gain (ADG) were highest (P0.05) in the Control diet followed by PKC and PKCMS groups. The DMI values were not significantly different (P>0.05) among dietary treatment groups. There are no interaction between treatment and time of semen collections. Sperm concentrations and total sperm motility percentage showed significant differences (P<0.05) among dietary treatments. The sperm concentration of PKC was 4% and 16% higher compared to Control and PKCMS, respectively. Total percentage of motility of sperm was consistent with the sperm concentration (P<0.05). Addition of molybdenum sulphate with PKC did not alter the semen quality. However, PKCMS showed the highest mean number among treatment in the percentage of abnormalities (P<0.05). Progressive motility percentage was significantly higher in PKC and Control as compared to PKCMS. Rapid motility was affected by PKC and significantly higher than Control and PKCMS respectively (P0.05) between dietary treatment groups. Generally, the best semen quality in Saanen crossbred buck was obtained in PKC group. Mean testosterone values under PKC group were significantly higher than PKCMS and Control group at week 4 and 24 (P 0.05) in the mean number of spermatogonia, spermatocyte, spermatid, spermatozoa,Sertoli cells, Leydig cells. However, degenerative cells were significantly higher in goat fed with PKC compared to others (P<0.05). This condition is reflected in the TEM result when there was significant increase in the number of degenerated cell ofthe same animal group. Toxic effect on mitotic secondary permatocytes and cap phase spermatids were observed in buck fed on PKC. In conclusion, the Cu content in PKC diet did not alter the overall spermatogenic cells in buck after feeding for six months. However, TEM evaluation did showed the effect of Cu content in PKC in seminiferous tubules. Further study with larger number of buck and longer period are required

Two-sided lid-driven cavity flow at different speed ratio by lattice Boltzmann method

In this study, the Lattice Boltzmann method has been used to investigate flow configuration of the two-sided lid driven cavity. The top and bottom lid were moved at the same direction but with different speed ratio which varies from 0 to 1. The range of Reynolds number is 100,400 and 1000. The results show that the increase in both speed ratio and Reynolds number give an effect on flow configuration of the cavity

Pemberdayaan Perempuan melalui Pengelolaan UMKM dengan Membuat Koperasi dan Pemanfaatan BUMDes di Desa Pangkalan

Pengabdian&nbsp; masyarakat&nbsp; ini&nbsp; bertujuan&nbsp; untuk&nbsp; memberikan&nbsp; pengetahuan&nbsp; dan&nbsp; keterampilan&nbsp; para perempuan yang berusia produktif mengenai UMKM (usaha mikro kecil dan menengah) serta memanfaatkan peluang bisnis di era digital yang mana perempuan harus mempunyai peluang dan peran yang sama untuk memajukan perekonomian keluarga, sehingga para perempuan dapat berdaya&nbsp; secara ekonomi. Program ini melibatkan 55 perempuan berusia produktif yang di awali dengan para anggota PKK dan kader posyandu yang nantinya akan terus melibatkan perempuan lain di wilayah Desa Pangkalan. Untuk ikut di berdayakan melalui UMKM (usaha mikro kecil dan menengah) ini. Program ini dilakukan&nbsp; melalui beberapa tahap.&nbsp; Tahap pertama&nbsp; adalah memetakan usaha yang akan membantu perekonomian para perempuan. Tahap kedua adalah tahap pelaksanaan dan tahap ketiga adalah tahap evaluasi untuk memastikan para peserta dapat memiliki panduan dalam memulai atau mengembangkan usaha nantinya. Hasil kegiatan ini menunjukkan bahwa setelah mendapatkan pengetahuan dan&nbsp; keterampilan&nbsp; sebagian besar&nbsp; peserta (75%) memiliki&nbsp; motivasi&nbsp; yang tinggi&nbsp; untuk memulai dan mengembangkan usaha yang diukur dengan&nbsp; skala motivasi berwirausaha

Semen cryopreservation in Bornean Sun Bear (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus)

Semen cryopreservation is one common tool for extended genome storage and serves as insurance for declining biodiversity. In the endangered Bornean sun bear, semen was collected with electroejaculation and this is the first attempt at semen cryopreservation for this subspecies. Chilled semen with motility of more than 50 % was extended with Caniplus freezing medium, and cryopreserved with slow freezing protocol. A total of 22 cryopreserved semen straws were evaluated with computer-assisted sperm analysis and conventional semen evaluation tests as well as additional functional tests including evaluation of the acrosome (Rose Bengal Fast Green stain), plasma membrane (hypoosmotic swelling test), and chromatin (toluidine blue stain). Post-thaw semen quality was compromised with poor viability (27.6 ± 11.2 %), motility (8.3 ± 7.1 %), and progressive movement (1.3 ± 2.0 %) but maintained high integrity for the acrosome (71.1 ± 10.8 %), plasma membrane (54.7 ± 9.6 %), and chromatin (89.7 ± 7.6 %). The total post-thaw sperm abnormality was 51.7 ± 10.7 %, predominantly bent tail (28.0 ± 7.6 %) and proximal droplets (20.0 ± 11.8 %). Although this current cryopreservation was not a success, the compromised frozen-thawed semen may be a valuable resource in assisted reproductive technologies such as intracytoplasmic sperm injection. The three additional functional tests demonstrated were simple and affordable and hence are recommended to be part of the routine semen evaluation. Further research is required to develop species-specific cryopreservation protocols and to explore other assisted reproductive technologies in the Bornean sun bear

Semen characteristics of Bornean sun bear (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus)

abstract: The Bornean sun bear (Helarctos malayanus euryspilus), endemic to Borneo island, is the subspecies of the Malayan sun bear. The species is at risk, not just because of anthropogenic threats, but also slow reproduction in the wild. In captivity, due to poor reproductive performance, assisted reproductive technology is deemed a fundamental tool to propagate the depleting numbers of the Bornean sun bear. This is a pioneer study that presents the semen characteristics of the Bornean sun bear via conventional semen evaluation methods. Forty two semen samples from ten sun bears were collected via electroejaculation and evaluated. The electroejaculator probe (2.5 cm in diameter and 7.0 cm in length) was inserted rectally and positioned dorsal to the prostate gland. The optimum voltage used to obtain semen differed with each individual, but all showed hindlegs contraction and penile erection before ejaculation. The average combined testes volume in the Bornean sun bear was 23.37 ± 5.09 cm³ . The mean semen volume was 617.30 µL, with sperm concentration of 1034.40 × 10⁶ sperm/mL and pH 7.79. Sperm viability was 80.19% with a general motility of 79.13% and progressive movement of 70.20%. There were high sperm abnormalities at 70.67%. Sun bear sperm length was 61.28 ± 2.46 µm and consisted of an oval head, midpiece, and tail. From this study, good semen donors were identified from the captive Bornean sun bear population in Sabah, Malaysia. The fresh semen baseline data established in this study will provide crucial reference for assisted reproduction programs in the Bornean sun bear

Identification and phenotypic plasticity of Pseudanabaena catenata from the Svalbard archipelago

A filamentous benthic cyanobacteria, strain USMAC16, was isolated from the High Arctic Svalbard archipelago, Norway, and a combination of morphological, ultrastructural and molecular characterisation (16S rRNA gene sequence) used to identify to species level. Cell dimensions, thylakoid arrangement and apical cell shape are consistent with the Pseudanabaena genus description. The molecular characterisation of P. catenata gave 100% similarity with Pseudanabaena catenata SAG 1464-1, originally reported from Germany. Strain USMAC16 was cultured under a range of temperature and photoperiod conditions, in solid and liquid media, and harvested at exponential phase to examine its phenotypic plasticity. Under different culture conditions, we observed considerable variations in cell dimensions. The longest cell (5.91±0.13 μm) was observed at 15°C under 12:12 light:dark, and the widest cell (3.24±0.06 μm) at 4°C under 12:12 light: dark in liquid media. The study provides baseline data documenting the morphological variation of P. catenata in response to changing temperature regimes