Perception on the Usage of Information Communication Technology for Ecotourism Development in Nigeria

This study aimed to assess the perception of tourists on the usage of information and communication technology at Old Oyo National Park, Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort and Lacampagne Tropicana by using structured questionnaire directed at 384 tourists randomly; 20 tourists at Old Oyo National Park, 150 tourists at Ikogosi Warm Spring Resort and 214 tourists at Lacampagne Tropicana. Data was analyzed and presented descriptively using tables and inferentially using one way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Results indicated that the tourists mostly made use of internet and social media at the sites. The tourists also perceived that the use of Information Communication Technology would be an innovative approach to solving some of the problems of sustainable tourism development and that use of Information Communication Technology has made work easier and faster. Furthermore, the study indicated significant differences in some socio-demographic characteristics as well as perception on the usage of ICT at the sites (P<0.05). Management of ecotourism sites should therefore create more awareness on the usage of other forms of information communication technology at their sites so as to further enhance tourists’ satisfaction.

A Study on Personal Fashion Color Choices in Manicures and Pedicures

Purpose: The purpose of this study was to offer useful information for improving women’s beauty self-images by analyzing personal color choices in women’s fashions and determining the correlation between color matching and personal fashion color choices in manicures and pedicures.Methods: The research subjects included 32 women aged 20–50 years who lived in capital area and whose personal color fashion choices were determined. The data were analyzed with frequency analysis, a χ2-test, and a one-way ANOVA using SPSS WIN 25.0.Results: Considering the personal color choices, they were high in “summer types” for L* values of skin, high in “winter types” for L* values of hands and feet, and high in “fall types” for values a* and b* of skin, hands, and feet. Also, with regard to matching tones for hands and feet, the personal color choices were mostly “spring types” with warm spring-type tones, summer types with cool summer-type tones, “fall types” with warm fall-type tones, and “winter types” with cool winter-type tones.Conclusion: The results of this study suggested the matched tones for hands and feet are similar to the personal color fashion choices. These findings support a theoretical basis for harmonious color matching when choosing colors in manicure and pedicure nail art. The findings of this study may assist with beauty styling and self-images of women in this fashion era.

A solution to the enigma of the type locality of Telmatobius halli Noble, 1938 (Anura, Telmatobiidae), a frog lost for 86 years

For 80 years, there were no sightings of the Andean frog, Telmatobius halli, due to the ambiguity with which its type locality was described (“warm spring near Ollagüe”, northern Chile). The type specimens were collected during the International High Altitude Expedition to Chile (IHAEC) in 1935 and were subsequently described in 1938. In 2018 and 2020, two studies independently reported the rediscovery of the species, but they reached different conclusions about its identity and geographic distribution. In fact, the populations identified as T. halli in those studies are more phylogenetically related to other species than to each other, so they clearly do not belong to the same taxon. Although the study of 2020 is more in line with the geographic information of the description, it does not consider some bibliographic details and the transport limitations of the IHAEC. Here, based on a detailed analysis of the chronicles of the IHAEC and other bibliographic sources, I first refute the proposals of the 2018 and 2020 studies and then provide a possible solution. The combined information from the chronicles indicates that the type locality of T. halli is found at the sources of the Loa River, a different place from those identified in the two previous studies. By also incorporating geographic information of the time, I conclude that its true type locality is Miño, an abandoned mining camp located near the origin of the Loa River, where currently no populations of the genus have been described.

Anaerobic 3-methylhopanoid production by an acidophilic photosynthetic purple bacterium

Bacterial lipids are well-preserved in ancient rocks and certain ones have been used as indicators of specific bacterial metabolisms or environmental conditions existing at the time of rock deposition. Here we show that an anaerobic bacterium produces 3-methylhopanoids, pentacyclic lipids previously detected only in aerobic bacteria and widely used as biomarkers for methane-oxidizing bacteria. Both Rhodopila globiformis, a phototrophic purple nonsulfur bacterium isolated from an acidic warm spring in Yellowstone, and a newly isolated Rhodopila species from a geochemically similar spring in Lassen Volcanic National Park (USA), synthesized 3-methylhopanoids and a suite of related hopanoids and contained the genes encoding the necessary biosynthetic enzymes. Our results show that 3-methylhopanoids can be produced under anoxic conditions and challenges the use of 3-methylhopanoids as biomarkers of oxic conditions in ancient rocks and as prima facie evidence that methanotrophic bacteria were active when the rocks were deposited.

LAND SURFACE TEMPERATURE INVESTIGATION AROUND IKOGOSI WARM SPRING NIGERIA USING LANDSAT8 DATA

Ikogosi warm spring (IWS) is among the most visited geothermal resource by tourists in Nigeria. On that basis, it has attracted so much attention from researchers using various geophysical methods, except the retrieval of the land surface temperature (LST) from remote sensing data. This work aimed at computing LST to delineate hot zone around Ikogosi geothermal resources. The split-window approach was used to compute the LST from Landsat 8 data. The interpretation of Landsat8 data revealed that the central region of the study area is of high LST, and the temperature then drops towards the southwest direction. The result also shows that the warm spring is situated around a region with high land surface temperature (about 29 °C) which is an indication of a geothermal reservoir. The supervised classification of the LST yields two zones of the high density of pixels with high temperature, hot spot zones. The hot spot zone west of IWS is believed to be the heat source of IWS as it has high LST, and it is closer to IWS while the hot spot zone NW of IWS shows an indication of a viable geothermal resource, high LST

A solution to the enigma of the type locality of Telmatobius halli Noble, 1938 (Anura: Telmatobiidae), a lost frog for 85 years

For 80 years, there were no sightings of the Andean amphibian Telmatobius halli due to the ambiguity with which its type locality was described (“warm spring near Ollagüe”, northern Chile). The type specimens were collected during the International High Altitude Expedition to Chile (IHAEC) of 1935, but they were later described in 1938. Recently, in 2018 and 2020, two studies independently reported the rediscovery of the species. Although in these studies live specimens were analyzed and bibliographic references were consulted, both reached different conclusions about its identity and distribution. The 2018 proposal identifies the populations of the Chijlla-Choja and Copaquire ravines (previously assigned to T. chusmisensis) as T. halli, whereas the 2020 proposal identifies the hot spring “Aguas Calientes”, located in the Carcote salt flat some 12 km SW of Ollagüe, as its type locality. The problem with these two proposals is that these populations are more phylogenetically related to other species than to each other, so they clearly do not belong to the same taxon. Although the last proposal is more in line with the geographic information of the description, it does not consider some bibliographic details and the transport limitations of the IHAEC. Here, based on a detailed analysis of the chronicles of the IHAEC and other bibliographic sources, I first refute the 2018 and 2020 proposals and then provide a solution: the type locality of T. halli is Miño, an abandoned mining camp located at the source of the Loa river

Anaerobic 3-Methylhopanoid Production By An Acidophilic Phototrophic Purple Bacterium

Bacterial lipids are well preserved in ancient rocks and certain ones have been used as indicators of specific bacterial metabolisms or environmental conditions existing at the time of rock deposition. Here we show that an anaerobic bacterium produces 3-methylbacteriohopanepolyols (3-MeBHPs), pentacyclic lipids previously detected only in aerobic bacteria and widely used as biomarkers for methane-oxidizing bacteria. Both Rhodopila globiformis, a phototrophic purple nonsulfur bacterium isolated from an acidic warm spring in Yellowstone, and a newly isolated Rhodopila species from a geochemically similar spring in Lassen Volcanic National Park (USA), synthesized 3-MeBHPs and a suite of related BHPs and contained the genes encoding the necessary biosynthetic enzymes. Our results show that 3-MeBHPs can be produced under anoxic conditions and challenges the use of 3-MeBHPs as biomarkers of oxic conditions in ancient rocks and as prima facie evidence that methanotrophic bacteria were active when the rocks were deposited.