Coal mining in northeast India： an overview of environmental issues and treatment approaches

Northeast India has a good deposit of sub-bituminous tertiary coal. The northeast Indian coals have unusual physico-chemical characteristics such as high sulfur, volatile matter and vitrinite content, and low ash content. In addition, many environmental sensitive organic and mineral bound elements such as Fe, Mg, Bi, AI, V, Cu, Cd, Ni, Pb, and Mn etc. remain enriched in these coals. Such characteristics are associated with more severe environmental impacts due to mining and its utilization in coal based industries. Environmental challenges include large scale landscape damage, soil erosion, loss of forest ecosystem and wildlife habitat, air, water and soil pollution. Several physical and chemical methods are reported in literature for the removal of mineral matter, total sulfur and different forms of sulfur from high sulfur coal in northeast India. This paper may help different researchers and stakeholders to understand current state of research in the field. Initiatives may be taken towards sustainable use of coal resources by adopting innovative clean technologies and by implementing effective control measures and regulatory policies.

Spatial Distribution of Plant-Associated Invertebrates and Environmental Bioassessment in a Natural Riverine Lake (Lake Fibreno, Central Italy)

Lake Fibreno is a Mediterranean riverine lake located in Central Italy and fed by large flows of groundwater and characterized by the presence of a wide reed stand area and of the only floating island of the South Europe. It is enclosed in a Natural Reserve recognized as Special Area of Conservation (SAC-IT6050015) for the presence of habitats and species (92/43/EEC) of relevant scientific interest. In this paper, we compare the plant-associated meio-macrobenthic invertebrates among sites with different environmental characteristics. Both vegetation and invertebrates of Lake Fibreno were well diversified and abundant and were composed of a mixing of species typical of lentic and lotic waters. Our results show that a gradient of orthophosphate and nitrite contents and current velocity appeared to be the driver factors affecting the flora and fauna spatial distribution at the sampling sites. To obtain a bioassessment of the ecological quality of the vegetation zone, we compared the riverine Lake Fibreno with typical lentic lakes previously studied in Central Italy. We selected metrics, such as macrophyte belt extent and taxa richness, invertebrate species richness and Shannon diversity, ETOM (Ephemeropta + Trichoptera + Odonata + Mollusca), ETOC (Ephemeropta + Trichoptera + Odonata + Coleoptera) and LCrM (Large Crustacea + Mollusca). The comparison indicated a good ecological status of the vegetation zone of Lake Fibreno mainly due to the continuous washout effects (dilution and fast water removal) which reduce the nutrient content available for phytoplankton and maintain the high transparency and good oxygenation of the lake waters.

Tree Role in Environmental Quality Amelioration of the Sapienza University of Rome Campus

The capability of trees growing in the Campus of Sapienza University of Rome to improve environmental quality was analyzed. Measurements of CO2 concentration, air temperature and humidity, traffic density and noise level were carried out along a transect from streets outside the Campus to sites inside. Moreover, measurements were also carried out at the Experimental Garden placed inside the Campus. In each of the considered sites, diameter at breast height, plant height and carbon stored in the tree aboveground biomass were calculated. Air temperature in summer was 5% lower inside the Campus than in the surrounding streets, while relative humidity increased by 4%. CO2 concentration in winter was 11% lower inside than in the surrounding streets. Carbon stored by trees was 374 Mg to which Pinus pinea, Cedrus deodara, Quercus ilex and Tilia × europaea contributed by 30%, 20%, 18% and 13%, respectively. Moreover, noise level was 36% lower inside than in the surrounding streets.

Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Capability of the Botanical Garden of Rome: Environmental and Economic Benefits

Carbon dioxide (CO2) is one of the most abundant anthropogenic greenhouse gases contributing to increase air temperature. Urban areas covered by parks, gardens, tree-lined avenues, sports fields, and hedges are important sinks for CO2. Urban green areas should include the Botanical Gardens, taking into consideration their key role in ex situ plant conservation as well as air quality amelioration and social benefits. In such context, the CO2 sequestration capability of the most representative plant collections developing in the Botanical Garden of Rome and their influence on microclimate was analyzed. Our results highlight that plant collections have a CO2 sequestration capability of 6947 Mg CO2 year-1. The CO2 sequestration capability and air temperature lowering by plant collections growing in the Botanical Garden have positive effects (p ≤ 0.05) on the surrounding area resulting in 4% CO2 concentration and 1°C air temperature decreasing at 150 m from the centre of the Garden.

Purification and Characterization of a Novel Thermostable Chitinase from Thermomyces lanuginosus SY2 and Cloning of Its Encoding Gene

A novel thermostable extracellular chitinase was purified from the culture filtrate of Thermomyces lanuginosus SY2 by using diethylaminoethyl Sepharose chromatography and Phenyl-Sepharose chromatography. The molecular size of the purified chitinase was estimated to be 48 kDa by sodium dodecyl sulfate-polyacrylamide gel electrophoresis. The chitinase exhibited optimum catalytic activity at pH 4.5 and 55℃. The enzyme was stable at 50℃, and its half-life time at 65℃ was 25 rain. The thermostable chitinase was obtained with 60% of the full activity, when it was incubated in the buffer （pH 2.5）. The enzyme showed the unique properties for thermostability and pH stability since it was one of the most thermostable chitinases so far isolated in fungi. Ca^2＋, Ba^2＋, Na^＋, and K^＋ enhanced the enzyme activity, whereas Fe^2＋, Ag^＋, Hg^2＋, and ethylene diamine tetraacetic acid caused obvious inhibition. The N-terminal amino acids were AQGYLSVQYFVNWAI. Degenerate primers based on the N-terminal sequences of purified chitinase and a cDNA fragment encoding the chitinase gene were obtained through reverse transcriptase-polymerase chain reaction amplication. The RACE was used to generate full-length cDNA clones. The cDNA of chit contained an open reading frame of 1 326 bp encoding 442 amino acids. The gene chit has been registered in GenBank with accession number DQ092332. The alignment results of putative amino acid sequence showed the lower similarity to other chitinases in family-18 except for the catalytic domain containing two conserved motifs related with catalytic activity of chitinase.

Effect of abiotic factors on understory community structures in moist deciduous forests of northern India

Understory vegetation controls, in a significant way, the regeneration of overstory trees, carbon sequestration and nutrient retention in tropical forests. Development and organization of understory vegetation depend on climate, edaphic and biotic factors which are not well correlated with plant community structures. This study aimed to explore the relationships between understory vegetation and abiotic factors in natural and planted forest ecosystems. A non-metric multidimensional scaling(NMS) ordination technique was applied to represent forest understory vegetation among five forest communities, i.e., a dry miscellaneous forest(DMF), a sal mixed forest(SMF), a teak plantation(TP), a low-land miscellaneous forest(LMF) and a savanna area(SAV) of the Katerniaghat Wildlife Sanctuary, located in northern India. Microclimatic variables, such as photosynthetically active radiation(PAR), air temperature(AT), soil temperature(ST), ambient atmospheric CO 2 concentration, absolute air humidity(AH), physical and chemical soil properties as well as biological properties were measured. Understory species were assessed via 100 random quadrats(5 m × 5 m) in each of the five forests in which a total of 75 species were recorded encompassing 67 genera from 37 families, consisting of 32 shrubs and 43 plant saplings. DMF was the most dense forest with 34,068 understory individuals per ha of different species, whereas the lowest understory population(13,900 per ha) was observed in the savanna. Ordination and correlation revealed that microclimate factors are most important in their effect compared to edaphic factors, on the development of understory vegetation in the various forest communities in the north of India.

A New Species of Dactylolabis (Eobothrophorus) from Baltic Amber(Diptera:Limoniidae)

A new species, Dactylolabis （Eobothrophorus） hoffeinsorum sp. nov. from the Baltic amber is described, based on one male. The distinctive characters are the shape of the discal cell in the wing and the shape of the process on tergite IX. The description of Dactylolabis （Eobothrophorus） lauryni Podenas, 2003 is amended, based on an additional specimen. With the new species added herein, the number of species of this subgenus totals four. The wing venation, antennae, and tergal processes of all four species of the subgenus described from the Baltic amber are compared.

Neem by-products in the fight against mosquito-borne diseases:Biotoxicity of neem cake fractions towards the rural malaria vector Anopheles culicifacies(Diptera:Culicidae)

Objective: To evaluate the ovicidal, larvicidal and adulticidal potential of neem cake fractions of different polarity against the rural malaria vector Anopheles culicifacies(An.culicifacies).Methods: Neem cake fractions' total methanol extract(NTMeOH), total ethyl acetate extract(NTAc OEt), ethyl acetate fraction after repartition with NTMe OH(NRAc OEt),butanol fraction after repartition with NTMeOH(NRBuOH), and aqueous fraction after repartition of NTMeOH(NRH2O) were tested against An. culicifacies eggs, fourth instar larvae and adults.Results: In larvicidal experiments, NTMeOH, NTAcOEt, NRAcOEt, NRBuOH and NRH2O achieved LC50 values of 1.32, 1.50, 1.81, 1.95 and 2.54 mg/L, respectively. All fractions tested at 150 mg/L were able to reduce egg hatchability of more than 50%, with the exception of NTAc OEt and NRAc OEt. In adulticidal assays, NTMeOH, NTAcOEt,NRAcOEt, NRBuOH and NRH2O achieved LC50 values of 3.01, 2.95, 3.23, 3.63 and3.00 mg/L, respectively.Conclusions: Overall, this study suggests that the methanolic fractions of neem cake may be considered as a new and cheap source of highly effective compounds against the rural malaria vector An. culicifacies.

Engineered NiCo-LDH nanosheets- and ZnFe_(2)O_(4) nanocubes-decorated carbon nanofiber bonded mats for high-rate asymmetric supercapacitors

In this work,we have prepared the hierarchically nanostructured core–shell NiCo layered double hydroxide(NiCo-LDH)nanosheets-and ZnFe_(2)O_(4) nanocubes-decorated polyacrylonitrile(PAN)/pitch-based carbon nanofibers(PPCNs)webs(NiCo-LDH@PPCNs as cathode and ZnFe_(2)O_(4)@PPCNs as anode materials)with the bonded network structure by a facile and scalable hydrothemal method.Herein,the low-cost pitch with lower softening point(~90℃)as co-precursor was utilized to produce the PAN/pitch-based carbon nanofibers(PPCNs)with enhanced electrical conductivity.The obtained PPCNs with pitch content of 30%(PP30CNs)electrode material delivered higher specific capacitance(~67 F g^(-1))than that(~48 F g^(-1))of the PAN-based carbon nanofibers(PCNs)at 1 A g^(-1),due to the increased electrical conductivity and lower interfacial charge transfer resistance(RCT)of~0.16 U.Further,the NiCo-LDH-decorated PP30CNs(NiCoLDH@PP30CNs)as cathode material showed superior specific capacitance of 1162 F g^(-1) at 1.0 A g^(-1) and ultra-high retention rate of 91.56%at 10 A g^(-1).The ZnFe_(2)O_(4)@PP30CNs as anode material also showed higher specific capacitance of 282 F g^(-1) at 1 A g^(-1) and good rate capability with capacitance retention of 56.73%at 10 A g^(-1).The as-fabricated asymmetric NiCo-LDH@PP30CNs//ZnFe_(2)O_(4)@PP30CNs hybrid supercapacitor device delivered a specific capacitance of~98 F g^(-1) at 1 A g^(-1) and excellent capacitance retention of~88%after 5000 charge–discharge cycles.

Diversity of reptile sex chromosome evolution revealed by cytogenetic and linked-read sequencing

Reptile sex determination is attracting much attention because the great diversity of sex-determination and dosage compensation mechanisms permits us to approach fundamental questions about mechanisms of sex chromosome turnover. Recent studies have made significant progress in better understanding diversity and conservation of reptile sex chromosomes, with however no reptile master sex determination genes identified. Here we describe an integrated genomics and cytogenetics pipeline,combining probes generated from the microdissected sex chromosomes with transcriptome and genome sequencing to explore the sex chromosome diversity in non-model Australian reptiles. We tested our pipeline on a turtle, two species of geckos, and a monitor lizard. Genes identified on sex chromosomes were compared to the chicken genome to identify homologous regions among the four species. We identified candidate sex determining genes within these regions, including conserved vertebrate sex-determining genes pdgfa,pdgfra amh and wt1, and demonstrated their testis or ovary-specific expression. All four species showed gene-by-gene rather than chromosome-wide dosage compensation. Our results imply that reptile sex chromosomes originated by independent acquisition of sex-determining genes on different autosomes,as well as translocations between different ancestral macro-and microchromosomes.We discuss the evolutionary drivers of the slow differentiation and turnover of reptile sex chromosomes.

Evaluation of the anticonvulsant activity of the essential oil of Myrothamnus moschatus in convulsion induced by pentylenetetrazole and picrotoxin

Objective: To evaluate the anticonvulsant effect of the essential oil of Myrothamnus moschatus(M. moschatus) in convulsion induced by pentylenetetrazole and picrotoxin in rodent models.Methods: The essential oil of the aerial parts of M. moschatus was extracted by steam distillation. Thereafter, it was injected subcutaneously to rats and mice at escalating doses(0.1–0.8 m L/kg). Ten minutes after drug injection, pentylenetetrazole was injected intraperitoneally to rats and picrotoxin was administered to mice by the same route.Diazepam served as the positive control. Every single animal was placed into transparent cage and observed for convulsive behavior for 30 min by using ordinary security cameras connected to a video recorder. Death occurring for a period of 24 h was also recorded.Results: The essential oil at 0.8 m L/kg completely arrested the pentylenetetrazole-induced convulsion without any sedative effect and delayed its appearance at lower doses, but showed moderate activities on picrotoxin-induced convulsion. For the rats treated with pentylenetetrazole alone, the mortality was 100% within 1 h, but for the rats pre-treated with the essential oil, the mortality was 0%. For the mice treated with picrotoxin, the mortality rate was also 100%, while 20%–100% died in those that had been pre-treated with the oil.Conclusions: The results confirmed at least partly the traditional uses of the smoke of M. moschatus for the management of convulsion, and implied that the essential oil may inhibit the convulsion by GABAergic neuromodulation.

Role of malaria induced oxidative stress on anaemia in pregnancy

Objective:To assess the role of oxidative stress on anaemia in pregnancy.Methods:Blood samples were collected from pregnant and non-pregnant women who came for antenatal clinic and medical check at Comprehensive Health Center,Akungba-Akoko and Iwaro General Hospital in Akoko Area of Ondo State,Nigeria.Thick and thin blood films were prepared and used for malaria parasite counts.Haemoglobin level was determined by colorimetric method using Drabkin’s solution.Oxidative status was determined using malondiadelhyde level as an indicator of lipid peroxidation,while ascorbic acid and reduced glutathione levels were measured by standard spectrophotometric methods.Results:Mean parasite density was significantly higher in pregnant women than non-pregnant women(P【0.05).Haemoglobin level was significantly reduced in malaria positive pregnant and non-pregnant women than malaria negative(8.3-10.0 g/dL)(P【0.05).The oxidative status indicated that malondialdehyde(MDA) was significantly increased in pregnant[(2.5±0.7) nmol/mL]than non-pregnant women[(1.8±0.1) nmol/mL] (P【0.05),while Vit C and superoxide dismutase(SOD) levels were significantly reduced in pregnant than non-pregnant women(P【0.05).There was an inverse correlation between Hb and MDA levels in pregnant women studied.Positive correlation was observed between the mean MDA level and parasite density(r = 0.53).The Hb level decreased as the parasite density and MDA level increased in pregnant women.Conclusions:This study shows that oxidative stress, caused by malaria infection could be part of the contributing factors responsible for anaemia in pregnancy.

Carbon sequestration capability of Fagus sylvatica forests developing in the Majella National Park (Central Apennines,Italy)

Terrestrial ecosystems represent a major sink for atmospheric carbon(C) and temperate forests play an important role in global C cycling, contributing to lower atmospheric carbon dioxide(CO2) concentration through photosynthesis. The Intergovernmental Panel of Climate Change highlights that the forestry sector has great potential to decrease atmospheric CO2concentration compared to other sectoral mitigation activities. The aim of this study was to evaluate CO2sequestration(CO2S)capability of Fag us sylvatica(beech) growing in the Orfento Valley within Majella National Park(Abruzzo,Italy). We compared F. sylvatica areas subjected to thinning(one high-forest and one coppice) and no-management areas(two high-forests and two coppices). The results show a mean CO2S of 44.3 ± 2.6 Mg CO2ha-1a-1,corresponding to 12.1 ± 0.7 Mg C ha-1a-1the no-managed areas having a 28% higher value than the managed areas. The results highlight that thinning that allows seed regeneration can support traditional management practices such as civic use in some areas while no management should be carried out in the reserve in order to give priority to the objective of conservation and naturalistic improvement of the forest heritage.

Insecticide susceptibility in larval populations of the West Nile vector Culex pipiens L.(Diptera: Culicidae) in Saudi Arabia

Objective: To investigate the susceptibility to some conventional and non-conventional insecticides in laboratory and field larval populations of the West Nile vector Culex pipiens L.(Cx. pipiens), the dominant species in Jeddah Province, Saudi Arabia.Methods: The tested conventional insecticides were Actikil and Pesgard, while the nonconventional ones were Bacilod, Dudim and Baycidal. Probit analysis and photomicroscopical observations were carried out to shed light on acute toxicity in laboratory and field Cx. pipiens strains.Results: Cx. pipiens were more susceptible to Pesgard(LC50: 0.045 and 0.032 mg/L)than Actikil(0.052 and 0.038 mg/L) and Bacilod(0.129 and 0.104 mg/L), for the field and laboratory strains, respectively. Results showed that treatments with the chitin synthesis inhibitor Dudim and Baycidal evoked morphological effects similar to those induced by other insect growth regulators. According to IC50 values obtained(concentration which to inhibit the emergence of 50% of mosquito adults), the compound Dudim(0.000 3 and 0.000 1 mg/L) was more effective against Cx. pipiens L. mosquitoes than Baycidal(0.000 4 and 0.000 3 mg/L) for both the field and laboratory strains, respectively.Conclusions: Our results provide baseline data to enhance control programs and orient public health decisions on the selection of pesticides against mosquito vectors in Saudi Arabia.

Differences in Morphological, Physiological and Growth Traits between Two Endemic Subspecies of <i>Brassica rupestris</i>Raf.: Implications for Their Conservation

The goal of this work was to analyze the phenological and physiological responses of Brassica rupestris Raf. subsp. hispida Raimondo & Mazzola and Brassica rupestris Raf. subsp. rupestris to environmental factors also in consideration of global change. We used seedlings of the two subspecies originated from wild plants from the natural habitats in Sicily and cultivated in the Botanical Garden of Rome. Leaf morphological and physiological traits and growth dynamic were analyzed as well as the response to an imposed water stress experiment. The results underlined a higher relative growth rate in plant height (RGRH, cm·cm-1·d-1) in B. rupestris subsp. rupestris also attested by the highest plant height (H, cm), leaf area (LA, cm2), specific leaf area (SLA, cm·g-1), total leaf area per plant (TLA, cm2) and total plant dry mass (PDM, g plant-1). Moreover, the significantly highest net photosynthetic rates (A, μmol CO2 m-2·s-1) during the study period of this subspecies was related to the high Chlorophyll content (Chl, SPAD units). B. rupestris subsp. rupestris was also the most tolerant subspecies to imposed water stress showing the highest relative water content (RWC, %), A and water use efficiency (WUE, μmol·mmol-1).

Traditional Agrodiversity Management:A Case Study of Central Himalayan Village Ecosystem

Environmental, biological, socio-cultural and economic status variation existing in the Central Himalaya have led to the evolution of diverse and unique traditional agroecosystems, crop species and livestock, which facilitate the traditional mountain farming societies to sustain themselves. Indigenous agroecosystems are highly site specific and differ from place to place, as they have evolved along divergent lines. For maintenance of traditional agrodiversity management the farmers of the Central Himalaya have evolved various types of crop rotations in consonance with the varied environmental conditions and agronomic requirements. In irrigated fiat lands two crops are harvested in a year with negligible fallow period but in rainfed conditions if a cropping sequence is presumed to be starting after winter fallow phase then four major cropping seasons can be identified namely first kharif season （first crop season）, first rabi season （second crop season）, second kharif season （third crop season） and second rabi season （fourth crop season）. Highest crop diversity is present in kharif season in comparison to rabi season. Traditionally the fields are left fallow after harvest of the second kharif season crop. Important characteristics of agrodiversity management are the use of bullocks for draughtpower, human energy as labour, crop residues as animal feed and animal waste mixed with forest litter as organic input to restore soil fertility levels. Women provide most of the human labour except for ploughing and threshing grain. The present study deals with assessment of traditional agrodiversity management such as （i） crop diversity, （ii） realized yield under the traditional practices and （iii） assess the differences of realized yields under sole and mixed cropping systems. It indicated that crop rotation is an important feature of the Central Himalayan village ecosystem which helps to continue the diversity of species grown, as are the distribution of crops in the growing period and the management of soil fertility. The cropping diversity existing and the sequences practiced by the traditional farmers seems to have achieved high degree of specialization and thus even when the yield/biomass variations are about 6o%, the farmers continue to practice these sequences as they need to maintain diversity and synergistic relationships of crops in addition to manage the food and labour requirements for crop husbandry. Crop yields are generally higher in irrigated systems than rainfed systems and in sole cropping as compared with mixed cropping. However, gross biological and economic yields are higher in mixed cropping than sole cropping systems.

Understanding the Benefits from Green Areas in Rome: The Role of Evergreen and Deciduous Species in Carbon Dioxide Sequestration Capability

Urban areas are a major source of anthropogenic carbon dioxide (CO2) emissions because of road traffic and local heating with natural gas, oil or coal. Rome is among the largest European cities (129,000 ha) with a large volume of green areas (69.6% of the total Municipality area). The CO2 sequestration (CS) capability for the greenery extending for about 300 km2 inside the area delimited by the Great Ring Road (GRA) in Rome was calculated combining satellite data with CS data measured in the field. Data from Sentinel-2 were collected and the Normalized Difference Vegetation Index (NDVI) was computed on a pixel-base. Three plant classes homogeneous in terms of annual NDVI profile were identified: deciduous trees (DT), evergreen trees (ET) and meadows (M) covering an area of 14,142.027 ha within the GRA, of which M had the highest percentage (48%), followed by DT (27%) and ET (25%). CS ranged from 428,241,492.9 Tons CO2 year-1 (ET) to 263,072,460.6 Tons CO2 year-1 (M). The total CS of the greenery inside the GRA was 1049,490,355.4 Tons CO2 year-1 resulting in an annual economic value of $772,424,901.6/ha. The CO2 sequestration capability of the considered plant classes could be incorporated into the national greenhouse gas emission budget to calculate the contribution of CO2 sequestration to the economy of Rome.

Analysis of Multi-ingredient Food Supplements by Fingerprint HPTLC Approach

The increase of import/export of every kind of herbal products calls urgently for adequate controls. Analysis of herbal food supplement （botanicals） is a difficult task, like in the composition determination of a multi-ingredient product, where several botanical drugs were used. Actually, this is an important argument in consideration of health security. The authors reported the results of an analytical approach based on HPTLC （high performance thin layer chromatography） fingerprints comparison and tailored to determine the composition of marketed multi-ingredient botanicals. The method gave positive data in case of the presence of 3-5 species, whereas difficulties were recorded when the number of plants is increased.

Discrimination of Wild and Hatchery-Reared Black Porgy <i>Acanthopagrus schlegelii</i>Using Otolith Elements Analysis of Magnesium and Manganese

Due to the decreasing resources of both inshore and offshore fisheries, many organizations have released fry to enhance their stock in recent years. The discrimination between wild and hatchery-reared individuals must be performed to assess the efficiency of the release. Fresh groundwater is generally used by hatchers in southwesternTaiwanto decrease salinity and to promote the growth of larvae prior to feeding;thus, the elemental composition of the otolith may be different in stocks, and this difference may be used for identification. This study used Laser Ablation Inductively Coupled Plasma Mass Spectrometry (LA-ICPMS) to analyze the trace elements in the nuclei of otoliths from black porgy Acanthopagrus schlegelii, including six hatchery reared specimens from the Tainan County, three recaptured marked and ten captured unmarked specimens from the Miaoli County in Northwestern coast of Taiwan. Among the six hatchery and three recaptured marked specimens, which ranged from 4.9 to23.4 cmin body length, the nucleus zone (relative to within5 cmin size growth) of the otoliths showed higher magnesium concentrations than that observed on both edges. The distribution was similar to an inverse “V” shape. The otoliths also showed lower manganese concentrations near the nucleus and had higher values near the edges, resulting in a distribution similar to a “U” shape. According to the appeared shape of Mg2+/Ca2+ and Mn2+/Ca2+ ratio in the central area of the nucleus zone, this study determined six specimens which were from hatchery reared and three specimens were from wild among ten unmarked specimens captured from the Northwestern coast of Taiwan. Under the conditions used in this study, the absorption of calcium into the otolith was active and required energy in the seawater and freshwater, while the incorporation of magnesium and manganese was passive and was primarily affected by diffusion.

Bancroftiasis among the mumuye of Northeastern Nigeria: Parasitological and clinical studies in Northern Taraba State

The study reports the prevalence of bancroftiasis in three Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Taraba State, Nigeria. Night blood samples collected from one thousand and thirty one individuals were stained with haematoxylin and examined microscopically for the presence of Wu-chereria bancrofti. The overall prevalence of infection in the study area was high (21.2%) but mean microfilaria densities were generally low. Statistically, prevalence rate differed significantly (χ2d.f.2 = 10.498;P χ2d.f.1 = 1.385;P > 0.05) between sexes. Infection also did not statistically differ between age groups (χ2d.f.5 = 13.219;P > 0.05) even though infection rate increased steadily with age and reaching a peak at the 40 - 49 year age group. Lymphoe-dema was the commonest (M = 12.4%, F = 19.2%) clinical manifestation of bancroftian morbidity encountered in the survey. Overall, the findings indicate that bancroftian filariasis is a public health problem in Taraba state and there is an urgent need to establish an elimination programme with a view of halting transmission in the area.