scholarly journals Fish assemblages along the coasts of Tunisia: a baseline study to assess the effectiveness of future Marine Protected Areas

2018 ◽  
Vol 19 (1) ◽  
pp. 11
Author(s):  
EMNA BEN LAMINE ◽  
PAOLO GUIDETTI ◽  
MOHAMED SALAH ROMDHANE ◽  
PATRICE FRANCOUR
Keyword(s):  
Sampling Design ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Underwater Visual Census ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Coastal Fish ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Status ◽  
Total Fish ◽  
Density And Biomass

The present study investigated coastal fish assemblages, using Underwater Visual Census (UVC) transects, in Tunisia (south Mediterranean basin). The rationale behind this work is to get i) a suggestive evidence about the status of fish assemblages, and ii) baseline data at 3 locations in Tunisia where 3 MPAs will be established, before the implementation of protection measures. At each location, we used a sampling design where fish censuses were performed in two types of zone: zones that will be inside MPAs, and zones that will remain outside. On the whole, 49 taxa belonging to 19 families were censused. Data reveal clear symptoms of overfishing, especially in terms of dominance of small- and medium-sized individuals of commercially relevant species. Our analyses, moreover, did not show any significant difference in whole fish assemblage structures (considering both density and biomass), patterns of average species richness, total fish density and biomass, density and biomass of different trophic categories of fishes, size distribution of commercially relevant species, between future-protected and unprotected zones. Overall, results suggest that 1) current fish assemblages at the three studied locations are likely to be seriously impacted by fishing activities, and 2) these data could be used as reliable baselines to assess the effectiveness of protection measures within the MPAs that will be established in the future. Our study is the first in Tunisia, and in North African coasts, that assessed distribution patterns of coastal fish assemblages by means of UVC, using a formal spatially replicated sampling design for resource management.

scholarly journals The Pattern of Herbivorous Fish Assemblages in The In Western and Eastern Outermost Island Indonesia

Omni-Akuatika ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 116
Author(s):  
Risandi Dwirama Putra ◽  
Rikoh Manogar Siringoringo ◽  
Muhammad Abrar ◽  
Muhammad Abrar ◽  
Ni Wayan Purnamasari ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Coral Reef ◽  
Fish Assemblages ◽  
Basic Research ◽  
Present Condition ◽  
Herbivorous Fish ◽  
Underwater Visual Census ◽  
Herbivorous Fishes ◽  
Eastern Indonesia ◽  
Outer Island ◽  
Density And Biomass

The herbivorous fishes have been considered as a critical functional group and have capability maintaining coral reef resilience and avoiding coral-algal phase-shifts. The present condition shown, almost in tropical reef location, alga has dominated coral, even in the small outer island. The requirement to conduct comprehensive basic research in studying the patterns and composition of herbivorous fish, especially on the small outer islands. Twelve coral reef sites in eastern Indonesia (Liki Islands) and western Indonesia (Natuna Island) used as a research location for comparing the structure patterns of herbivorous fish communities (diversity, density, and body size) using the Underwater Visual Census (UVC) method. There was different pattern of herbivorous fishes families in Liki Island and Natuna Islands, where Acanthuridae is dominant in eastern Indonesia (Liki Islands), including Ctenochaetus striatus (41,00 ± 11,72 se) individuals/350m2, A. maculiceps (23,33 ± 13,61 se) individuals/350m2, Naso hexacanthus (18,67 ± 6,34 se) individuals/350m2 while Scaridae is dominant in western Indonesia (Natuna island), including Scarus rivulatus (31,67 ± 10,61 se) individuals/350m2, Chlorurus sordidus (30,00 ± 8,52 se) individuals/350m2 and Scarus quoyi (19,00 ± 9,73 se) individuals/350m2. Based on herbivore fishes composition Liki Island has a higher density and biomass compared to Natuna Island.Keywords: herbivore, fish, coral, small outer island, Indonesia

The Status of Noise Pollution in the Major Traffic Intersections of Khulna Metropolitan City in Bangladesh and its Possible Effect on Noise-Exposed People

2020 ◽  
Vol 1 (5) ◽  
Author(s):  
Aliza Sultana ◽  
Ashok Kumar Paul ◽  
Meher Un Nessa
Keyword(s):  
Noise Level ◽  
Noise Pollution ◽  
Pressure Level ◽  
Pollution Level ◽  
Metropolitan City ◽  
Mixed Area ◽  
Commercial Area ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Traffic Intersections ◽  
The Status

This study was conducted in the Khulna metropolitan city to determine the status of noise pollution at major traffic intersections and assess the possible effect of noise on regular noise afflicted people. For this research, five busiest roadways and traffic intersections; two mixed zone and three commercial zones were selected purposively and 'ST-8850 Sound Level Meter' was used to record the noise pressure level. Average noise pressure level and some noise parameters (Leq, L10, L50, L90, and Lnp) were measured at different shifts in each location both on working days and holidays. The result evidently specified that noise level in all major traffic circles of Khulna metropolitan city was much higher than the recommended threshold of acceptable noise level set by the Department of Environment (DOE) of Bangladesh. It was observed that the mixed area (Sonadanga, Gollamari) tends to have a higher average noise level than those of the commercial area (Shibbari, Notunrasta, Dakbangla). The noise pollution level (Lnp) in mixed areas varied from 92.77 dB (A) to 104.74 dB(A) on working days and 86.9 dB(A) to 105.5 dB(A) on holidays. On working days, the highest Leq was observed 92.65 ± 4.15 dB(A) in Sonadanga (mixed area), whereas the lowest was 85.13 ± 2.83 dB(A) in Dakbangla (commercial area). However, on holidays the highest level of Leq was found 90.41 ± 2.25 dB(A) in Sonadanga, while the lowest levels were 80.43 ± 3.20 dB(A) in Dakbangla. One-way ANOVA with LSD post-hoc test results illustrated that on working days there was a significant difference between the noise pollution levels (NPL) in different shifts of day time (F = 8.412, p < .05). The respondents of the study area addressed that they were the most affected by annoyance (70%), headache (62%), and hearing loss (46%) due to regular exposure to the traffic noise. Therefore, it is recommended to enhance awareness regarding the cause and effect of noise pollution among the noise producers and oppressed people. Subsequently, administrative measures have to take to attenuate noise pollution and indemnify the quality health of the citizens.

scholarly journals Computing infection distributions and longitudinal evolution patterns in lung CT images

2021 ◽  
Vol 21 (1) ◽  
Author(s):  
Dongdong Gu ◽  
Liyun Chen ◽  
Fei Shan ◽  
Liming Xia ◽  
Jun Liu ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Time Course ◽  
Lower Lobe ◽  
Ground Truth ◽  
Distribution Patterns ◽  
Lung Infection ◽  
Ct Images ◽  
Community Acquired Pneumonia ◽  
Disease Course ◽  
Distribution Maps ◽  
Significant Difference

Abstract Background Spatial and temporal lung infection distributions of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) and their changes could reveal important patterns to better understand the disease and its time course. This paper presents a pipeline to analyze statistically these patterns by automatically segmenting the infection regions and registering them onto a common template. Methods A VB-Net is designed to automatically segment infection regions in CT images. After training and validating the model, we segmented all the CT images in the study. The segmentation results are then warped onto a pre-defined template CT image using deformable registration based on lung fields. Then, the spatial distributions of infection regions and those during the course of the disease are calculated at the voxel level. Visualization and quantitative comparison can be performed between different groups. We compared the distribution maps between COVID-19 and community acquired pneumonia (CAP), between severe and critical COVID-19, and across the time course of the disease. Results For the performance of infection segmentation, comparing the segmentation results with manually annotated ground-truth, the average Dice is 91.6% ± 10.0%, which is close to the inter-rater difference between two radiologists (the Dice is 96.1% ± 3.5%). The distribution map of infection regions shows that high probability regions are in the peripheral subpleural (up to 35.1% in probability). COVID-19 GGO lesions are more widely spread than consolidations, and the latter are located more peripherally. Onset images of severe COVID-19 (inpatients) show similar lesion distributions but with smaller areas of significant difference in the right lower lobe compared to critical COVID-19 (intensive care unit patients). About the disease course, critical COVID-19 patients showed four subsequent patterns (progression, absorption, enlargement, and further absorption) in our collected dataset, with remarkable concurrent HU patterns for GGO and consolidations. Conclusions By segmenting the infection regions with a VB-Net and registering all the CT images and the segmentation results onto a template, spatial distribution patterns of infections can be computed automatically. The algorithm provides an effective tool to visualize and quantify the spatial patterns of lung infection diseases and their changes during the disease course. Our results demonstrate different patterns between COVID-19 and CAP, between severe and critical COVID-19, as well as four subsequent disease course patterns of the severe COVID-19 patients studied, with remarkable concurrent HU patterns for GGO and consolidations.

scholarly journals Evaluation of Human Disturbance on the Activity of Medium–Large Mammals in Myanmar Tropical Forests

Forests ◽  
2021 ◽  
Vol 12 (3) ◽  
pp. 290
Author(s):  
Giacomo Cremonesi ◽  
Francesco Bisi ◽  
Lorenzo Gaffi ◽  
Thet Zaw ◽  
Hla Naing ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Human Disturbance ◽  
Daily Activity ◽  
Wildlife Conservation ◽  
Activity Patterns ◽  
Circular Statistics ◽  
Large Mammals ◽  
Human Presence ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Status ◽  
Statistical Approaches

The effects of human disturbance represent one of the major threats for wildlife conservation. Many studies have shown that wildlife avoids or reduces direct contact with human activities through changes in activity patterns, and by minimizing spatiotemporal overlap. In this study, we investigated the possible effects of human presence on the temporal activity of medium-to-large mammals using two areas in Myanmar that differ in the intensity of human disturbance. We monitored temporal segregation mechanisms using camera trapping data and with two statistical approaches: daily activity overlaps between humans and wildlife and circular statistics. We did not find a significant difference in overlapping activity between areas but, thanks to circular statistics, we found that some species show changes in activity patterns, suggesting temporal avoidance. We observed that the daily activity of five species differed between areas of Myanmar, likely adopting mechanisms to reduce overlap in areas highly frequented by humans. Interestingly, these species are all threatened by hunting or poaching activities, four of which have been described in literature as “cathemeral”, or species that are active through day and night. This study suggests that some species adapt their behavior, at least partially, to avoid human presence in habitats with higher anthropic occurrence and increase our knowledge on the status of medium–large mammals in a poorly studied country as Myanmar.

scholarly journals Status of formalin in commercially important fishes from the northeastern region of Bangladesh

2020 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-28
Author(s):  
TOFAEL AHMED SUMON ◽  
MD. ASHRAF HUSSAIN ◽  
FARJANA AKHTER MITA ◽  
JOYANTA BIR ◽  
SARKER MOHAMMED IBRAHIM KHALIL
Keyword(s):  
Labeo Rohita ◽  
Industrial Research ◽  
Catla Catla ◽  
Northeastern Region ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
Fish Samples ◽  
The Status ◽  
Commercially Important ◽  
Tenualosa Ilisha

The study revealed the status of formalin used in four commercially important fishes namely Rohu (Labeo rohita), Catla (Catla catla), Mrigal (Cirrhinus cirrhosus) and Hilsa (Tenualosa ilisha) from Sylhet and Moulvibazar district for a period of four months from April to July 2016. A total of 100 fish samples from different town and village markets were collected and analyzed instantly on the market to detect the presence of formalin by using a kit developed by Bangladesh Council of Scientific and Industrial Research (BCSIR). Among the analyzed fishes 46.7, 26.7, 20.0 and 13.3% of Rohu, Catla, Mrigal and Hilsa, respectively were found treated with formalin from Sylhet district. Similarly, formalin was also detected in 40, 20, 20 and 20% of investigated Rohu, Catla, Mrigal and Hilsa from Moulvibazar district, individually. There was no significant difference in formalin used between town and village market, whereas a significant difference in application of formalin in domestic and imported fishes except Catla has been identified. Two-third of imported Rohu (66.7%) was found formalin positive followed by Hilsa (44.4%), Mrigal (40%) and Catla (35.7%). Amongst the domestic fishes, presence of formalin was detected in 27.8, 18.8, 10.0 and 4.8% in Rohu, Catla, Mrigal and Hilsa, separately. This devastating use of formalin in food fishes should be banned through proper enactment of the existing laws of the country, as well as timely and appropriate implementation of government monitoring is mandatory to combat the unethical formalin use.

scholarly journals ONLINE LEARNING DURING LOCKDOWN: EFFECT ON MENTAL HEALTH OF HIGHER EDUCATION STUDENTS

2021 ◽  
Vol 9 (47) ◽  
pp. 11515-11527
Author(s):  
Shubhashree Dash
Keyword(s):  
Mental Health ◽  
Online Learning ◽  
Human Life ◽  
Health Assessment ◽  
Survey Method ◽  
Online Learners ◽  
Mental Health Assessment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Status ◽  
Descriptive Survey

COVID-19 pandemic has influenced every aspect of human life including Education and Mental Health of the learners. Thus, the present study was aimed at assessing the status of online learning and mental health of online learners and to investigate the relationship between the two variables. The descriptive survey method was adopted for the present study and the collected data analysed quantitatively. For collection of the data two self-made tools were used namely Status of Online Learning Scale for Learners and Mental Health Assessment Scale for Learners. The tools were administered on 140 students. The tabulated data was analysed through the Mean, Standard Deviation, correlation and t test. The results revealed that learners are moderately active in online learning. Mental health of the online learners is moderately stable. Online learning is negatively affecting the mental health of the online learners and there was no significant difference found between the mental health of online learners in terms of the gender and the locality.

scholarly journals Analysis of the reliability of patient COVID-19 screening data compared against their actual test data

2021 ◽  
Vol 104 (3) ◽  
pp. 003685042110429
Author(s):  
Abdulaziz M Albargi ◽  
Ali A Assiry ◽  
Hammam A Bahammam ◽  
Mohand Y Alassiri ◽  
Anand Marya ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Data Collection ◽  
Dental Treatment ◽  
Descriptive Analysis ◽  
Age Groups ◽  
Screening Tests ◽  
Dental Clinic ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Status ◽  
Feasible Option ◽  
Pre Treatment

Objectives: This study aimed to evaluate the truthfulness of patients about their pre-appointment COVID-19 screening tests at a dental clinic. Methods: A total of 613 patients were recruited for the study from the dental clinic at the Faculty of Dentistry, Najran University, Saudi Arabia. The data collection was done in three parts from the patients who visited the hospital to receive dental treatment. The first part included the socio-demographic characteristics of the patients and the COVID-19 swab tests performed within the past 14 days. The second part was the clinical examination, and the third part was a confirmation of the swab test taken by the patient by checking the Hesen website using the patient ID. After data collection, statistical analysis was carried out using SPSS 26.0. Descriptive analysis was done and expressed as mean, standard deviation, frequency, and percentage (%). A cross-tabulation, also described as a contingency table, was used to identify trends and patterns across data and explain the correlation between different variables. Results: It was seen from the status of the swab test within 14 days of the patient's arrival at the hospital for the dental treatment that 18 (2.9%) patients lied about the pre-treatment swab test within 14 days, and 595 (97.1%) were truthful. The observed and expected counts showed across genders and diagnosis a statistically significant difference ( p < 0.001), and there was no significant difference seen across different age groups ( p = 0.064) of the patients. Conclusions: Dental healthcare workers are worried and assume a high risk of COVID-19 infection as the patients are not truthful about the pre-treatment COVID-19 swab test. Routine rapid tests on patients and the healthcare staff are a feasible option for lowering overall risks.

scholarly journals Evaluating the Quality of Health-Related WeChat Public Accounts: Cross-Sectional Study

10.2196/14826 ◽  
2020 ◽  
Vol 8 (5) ◽  
pp. e14826 ◽  
Author(s):  
Fuzhi Wang ◽  
Zhuoxin Wang ◽  
Weiwei Sun ◽  
Xiumu Yang ◽  
Zhiwei Bian ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Health Information ◽  
Code Of Conduct ◽  
Cross Sectional Study ◽  
Washington Dc ◽  
Cross Sectional ◽  
Suitability Assessment ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Status ◽  
Health Related

Background As representatives of health information communication platforms accessed through mobile phones and mobile terminals, health-related WeChat public accounts (HWPAs) have a large consumer base in the Chinese-speaking world. However, there is still a lack of general understanding of the status quo of HWPAs and the quality of the articles they release. Objective The aims of this study were to assess the conformity of HWPAs to the Health on the Net Foundation Code of Conduct (HONcode) and to evaluate the suitability of articles disseminated by HWPAs. Methods The survey was conducted from April 23 to May 5, 2019. Based on the monthly (March 1-31, 2019) WeChat Index provided by Qingbo Big Data, the top 100 HWPAs were examined to evaluate their HONcode compliance. The first four articles published by each HWPA on the survey dates were selected as samples to evaluate their suitability. All materials were assessed by three raters. The materials were assessed using the HONcode checklist and the Suitability Assessment of Materials (SAM) score sheet. Data analysis was performed with SPSS version 17.0 (SPSS Inc, Chicago, IL, USA) and Excel version 2013 (Microsoft Inc, Washington DC, USA). Results A total of 93 HWPAs and 210 of their released articles were included in this study. For six of the eight principles, the 93 HWPAs nearly consistently did not meet the requirements of the HONcode. The HWPAs certified by Tencent Corporation (66/93, 71%) were generally slightly superior to those without such certification (27/93, 29%) in terms of compliance with HONcode principles. The mean SAM score for the 210 articles was 67.72 (SD 10.930), which indicated “adequate” suitability. There was no significant difference between the SAM scores of the articles published by certified and uncertified HWPAs (P=.07), except in the literacy requirements dimension (tdf=97=–2.418, P=.02). Conclusions The HWPAs had low HONcode conformity. Although the suitability of health information released by HWPAs was at a moderate level, there were still problems identified, such as difficulty in tracing information sources, excessive implicit advertisements, and irregular usage of charts. In addition, the low approval requirements of HWPAs were not conducive to improvement of their service quality.

scholarly journals A study of the status of access facilities available for children with disabilities studying in BMC school at Mumbai

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (2) ◽  
pp. 54-63
Author(s):  
Arun A Banik ◽  
Aninda Duti Banik
Keyword(s):  
Mental Retardation ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
Children With Disabilities ◽  
School Principal ◽  
Significant Difference ◽  
The Disabled ◽  
The Status ◽  
Free Environment ◽  
Visually Handicapped ◽  
Descriptive Survey

The present study title “A study of the status of access facilities available for children with disabilities studying in BMC school”, a descriptive survey designed was made with the aim to study the status of access facility available for the children with disabilities viz. hearing impairment, mental retardation, physically handicapped (Locomotors Disability), visually handicapped in BMC recognized schools. Further to give recommendation in order to promote the access needs for children with disabilities in school. Looking into the prospective of the study it also aim to create an awareness on the issue of barrier free environment for children with disabilities. As a part of tool of the study, self-made questionnaire was developed and validated by a group of professionals. 10 BMC recognized schools were selected in and around Mumbai and the questionnaire was administered by the researcher and taken information from the school principal.Mean average and percentage was calculated from the obtained data. On an average, overall 14.38% schools or centers with disabilities were having access facilities for students with disabilities. With respect to schools or centers related to Locomotors Disabilities, Hearing Disabilities, Mental Retardation, and Visually Handicapped study findings were 14.4%, 14.3%, 13.7% and 15.1% respectively, having access facilities for the children with disabilities in BMC schools. Where the data was subjected to statistical analysis and it was found that there was no significant difference (p&#62;0.05) in terms of access facilities between the schools or centers for disabilities. Results indicated that there were very insufficient as well as inadequate access facilities across all children with disabilities in the BMC recognized schools. The results has shown an impact in the education of the disabled students as they need full accessible educational support to undertake their successful study. Hence, Government and all other educational authorities are suggested to take up this issue in a positive manner to improve the quality of education as there is a much needed access facilities in all the schools.

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