Serangga akuatik sebagai indikator kualiti air di Johor

Serangga akuatik diketahui sebagai alat pemonitoran kualiti air dan kajian ini menentukan potensi serangga sebagai indikator kualiti air di Johor. Pembangunan pesat di negeri Johor boleh menyebabkan pencemaran sumber air sehingga memerlukan satu program pemantauan kualiti air yang lebih cekap. Objektif kajian ini adalah (i) mengumpul, mengenalpasti, menentukan dan menghasilkan data taburan kepelbagaian serangga akuatik di sungai-sungai terpilih di Johor, (ii) mengaitkan kehadiran kepelbagaian serangga akuatik dengan beberapa ciri-ciri fizikal sungai-sungai di Johor dan (iii) membandingkan kecekapan beberapa indek biotik berdasarkan data serangga akuatik di sungai-sungai di Johor. Tujuh kawasan persampelan dipilih atas dasar taburan geografi serta kegunaan jasad air tersebut kepada komuniti setempat: Taman Negara Johor Endau Rompin (PETA) (TNJER-PETA), Taman Hutan Lagenda Gunung Ledang (THLGL), Hutan Lipur Soga Perdana (HLSP), Hutan Lipur Gunung Belumut (HLGB), Hutan Lipur Sungai Bantang (HLSB), Hutan Lipur Gunung Pulai 1 (HLGP1) dan Sungai Sayong Pinang. Persampelan serangga menggunakan kaedah jaring tendang dan berbeza mengikut jenis mikrohabitat. Sejumlah 11,647 individu serangga akuatik terdiri dari 68 famili mewakili sembilan order telah disampel. Sebanyak 69% serangga terkumpul merupakan indikator air berkualiti baik antaranya adalah famili Hydropsychidae dari order Trichoptera, famili Baetidae dari order Ephemeroptera dan famili Simuliidae dari order Diptera. Berdasarkan kepada kepelbagaian famili mengikut indek kepelbagaian Shannon (H’), TNJER- PETA direkodkan sebagai yang mempunyai indeks tertinggi (H’= 3.215) diikuti HLSP (H’= 2.791) dan HLGB (H’= 2.482). Berdasarkan ciri-ciri fizikal, tapak kajian dikelaskan kepada tiga kategori (i) kawasan paling disukai oleh serangga akuatik (HLSB, THLGL, HLGP1 dan HLGB), (ii) kawasan pertengahan paling disukai (TNJER-PETA dan HLSP) dan (iii) kawasan paling kurang disukai (Sg. Sayong). Berdasarkan hasil pembandingan antara indeks biotik, mendapati indeks biotik Malaysia (MFBI, BMWP-My dan ASPT-My) lebih baik berbanding indeks biotik asal (HFBI, BMWP dan ASPT) berdasarkan data serangga akuatik di tapak kajian. Oleh itu, hasil ini membayangkan bahawa kualiti air sungai di Johor boleh dipantau menggunakan serangga sebagai penunjuk biologi kerana kelimpahan, taburan dan tindakbalas yang cepat serangga akuatik terhadap keadaan persekitaran

Exploring potential neuroprotective properties of aqueous Centella asiatica extract in chronic stress-induced rats

Centella asiatica is one of the traditional herbs consumed by many communities due to its wide range of applications such as treating Parkinsonism, promoting memory enhancement, and preventing oxidative stress. This study was conducted to investigate the neuroprotective potential of aqueous C. asiatica extract (CAE) against neurodegeneration induced by chronic stress. Administration of CAE at three different dosages (200 mg/kg/day, 400 mg/ kg/day and 800 mg/kg/day) was conducted for a period of 21 days along with exposure to chronic stress using restrainer and forced swimming regimes. The administration of CAE significantly improved the thickness of dentate gyrus and reduced the amount of neuronal cell death at dentate gyrus and CA3 (p<0.05). Additionally, administration of CAE significantly alleviated the expression c-fos protein (p<0.05). Thus, this study highlighted the neuroprotective effect of CAE against neurodegeneration from chronic stress exposure

Tourists’ Perceptions of Insects as the Determinants of Insect Conservation through Entomological Ecotourism

Insects are commonly featured in recreation and tourism around the world, despite the generally negative public perception surrounding them. Many people enjoy watching butterflies in insectarium gardens, observing and collecting dragonflies, and admiring the light displays of fireflies. In many cases, activities like these are becoming increasingly popular and these positive interactions with insects encourage public appreciation of insects, but vary acuities in their forms and approaches. Thus, understanding the pattern of insect appearances in recreation and tourism activities in a variety of discernments can provide important insights into effective ways of promoting insect conservation through ecotourism, which is often overlooked in biodiversity conservation strategies. However, these types of interdisciplinary studies are relatively new and remain limited in both entomology and tourism sciences. A field survey was carried out at Kangkawat Research Station, Imbak Canyon Conservation Area, where a 1 kilometre entomological ecotourism trail was designed and developed to incorporate insects in enhancing ecotourism at the reserve. Insects that can be found along the 1 kilometre trail were recorded and the collection was conducted using baited traps and sweep netting. Based on the insects survey, the Shannon Diversity Index (H’) of Kangkawat is 4.60 while Simpson Index is 176.72 with Fisher Alpha Index at 313.3 that concludes Kangkawat Research Station insect richness to be the second highest after the Crocker Range. In adressing the knowledge gaps between insect conservation and ecotourism, a survey on attitudes towards insects was designed and then completed by 384 tourists around Kota Kinabalu City. The standardized questionnaire known as the Personal Meaning of Insects Map (PMIM) was administered to tourists and their responses were elicited prior to and after observing insect photos. The results shows that “spider” had the 100% connectivity in response to the most detested insect based on their previous encounters with insects. This result shows that there is an existing entomology knowledge gap among the respondents, indicating the need for further interventions in terms of nature interpretation. Therefore a quality guided nature interpretation as an educational tool should take into account how the general public understands (or misunderstands) insects further and where interpretive information could be better applied if we are to develop management and educational tools that address human-insect encounters