Leonmunro0410

Integrated multi trophic aquaculture (IMTA) is well developed in seawater, while the only suitable organisms for bioremediation in freshwater are bivalves. The aim of this research has been to investigate a novel system, based on freshwater bivalves integrated with rainbow trout, for the bioremediation of inland aquaculture systems. The Unionid species selected for the experiments was Sinanodonta woodiana. Five mesocosm experiments were conducted to evaluate the efficiency of mussels in filtering the total bacteria and Aeromonas hydrophila, as well as their clearance efficiency on trout farm wastewater. The temperatures, dissolved oxygen, nitrates, and phosphates were monitored and were all within the physiological tolerance range of the species in all the experiments. The feasibility of bioremediation with S. woodiana in trout farming has thus been demonstrated, and among the tested rearing densities (3.75; 7.5; 15; 30 and 60 kg m-3) that of 7.5 kg m-3 was found to be optimal. The net reduction of the total bacterial concentration was as much as 72%, while that of A. hydrophila reached a level of 95-98%. No relevant effects of the mussels on particulate suspended material or sedimented material was observed, regardless of the temperature. The efficiency of freshwater bivalves in reducing the bacterial load, in particular toward A. hydrophila, indicates a bioremediation system with the possibility of interesting applications on inland fish farms, and as a biotechnological tool against the diffusion of antibiotic resistance in aquaculture.The research assessed land use/cover changes and their socio-economic impacts on local resident farmers in ward 32 of Mazowe District. A mixed method research design that combines both qualitative and quantitative approaches was adopted. Questionnaires, interviews and observations were employed to gather data from the field. GIS and Remote sensing techniques were used for land use/cover change detection and calculations. Data collected from the field was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 25.0 and Microsoft excel. Arc map 10.5 was used to analyze Remote sensing data. Four major land use/covers namely forest, grassland, water and cultivated were identified as baseline land covers of Mazowe ward 32 in 2000. The research revealed that there has been significant loss in forest, grassland and wetland/water cover and gain in cultivated and bare land cover between 2000 and 2018 in ward 32 of Mazowe District. Scarcity of high energy tree species, fruit trees, construction poles and extinction of wild animals are some of the observed impacts of forest cover loss. The study recommends that Mazowe EMA, RDC and Forestry Commission should cooperate in monitoring natural resources in Mazowe District to ensure sustainable utilization.Treatments with follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) to enhance ovarian follicular development before ovum pick-up (OPU) are important for improving in-vitro embryo production (IVEP) procedures in cows, however, their procedural efficacy needs to be evaluated. The objective of the present study was to use meta-analytic methods to determine the effects of FSH treatments prior to OPU when there is progestin-priming on ovarian functions and IVEP in parous Bos taurus cows (n = 243). The literature was systematically reviewed and data from eight experiments, with 23 treatment means including 448 OPU sessions, were used for analyses. All eight experiments included a group of cows in which there was no FSH treatment (CON), and treatment with FSH before OPU to conduct IVEP. Mixed models were fitted using MIXED and GLIMMIX procedures of SAS. Additionally, classical meta-analytical statistics were also fitted using METAN and METAREG procedures of STATA. Models included fixed effects of treatment (i.e., CON and FSH) and random effect of the experiment, and data were weighted using the inverse of the SEM squared to account for precision of each experiment. Number of medium sized follicles, quality of oocytes, and transferable embryos were greater (P less then 0.05) in FSH-treated as compared with cows of the CON group, without indications of publication bias or heterogeneity of data. Taken together, the results from the present study lead to the recommendation for treatments with FSH prior to OPU for IVEP when there was progestin-priming imposed to obtain a large number of transferable embryos for economic sustainability of commercial embryo transfer programs in parous non-lactating Bos taurus cows.To assess the effects of season and genotype on fresh semen quality for freezing and subsequent use for AI, 32 healthy, mature (>4 to 0.05). It is concluded that in tropical regions, season and genotype can affect bull semen variables, particularly those which affect the success of semen freezing and AI.An earlier paper demonstrated a methodology for modeling the spreading process with a Gaussian random walk procedure, but was limited to the gravity-viscous spreading regime. Here we extend the methodology of representing spread and transport of oil slicks on calm sea surface by updated Voronoi diagrams to account for the surface tension-viscous spreading regime as well. We have utilized the analogy between diffusion and spreading processes by defining a step length for the particle-based random walk scheme. In this study, calculation of the diffusive length is improved by including the surface tension term in the numerical solution method. The results from the numerical simulation of the spreading oil slick agree very well with the analytical solutions. The solution is robust in that good agreement is achieved for a large range of model and numerical solution parameters. This modeling procedure remains valid only for passive, quiescent spreading. The inclusion of spreading due to important horizontal and vertical turbulent shear processes in the Voronoi diagram paradigm remains a challenge for future work.A series of flow-through reactor experiments were undertaken to assess the potential effect of porewater advection and dissolved inorganic phosphorus (DIP) concentration on benthic DIP dynamics in permeable sediments collected from the Weizhou Island, northern South China Sea. The flux of DIP ranged from -0.13 to 0.05 mmol m-2 h-1, and the reversal from DIP efflux to influx occurred when the DIP concentration reached a threshold. DIP release from the sediment into the seawater peaked at intermediate advection rate, which perhaps provide optimum conditions for DIP release related to CaCO3 dissolution. Phosphorus limitation in seawater could be relieved by DIP release from the sediment, and CaCO3-bound P in carbonate sands may play a major role in benthic DIP release and decrease in the molar nitrogen/phosphorus ratio in seawater around the Weizhou Island.The environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding was applied to assess benthic ecological health in the west coast of South Korea by investigating a long-term microbial community change (2015-17). The ecological interaction among microorganisms, from phylum to family level, and their associations to environmental variables across the five regions were highlighted. As part of the study, the available chemistry and toxicological data in the regions during the monitoring periods were incorporated into an integrated sediment triad assessment. The bacterial communities were dominated by Proteobacteria (34.2%), Bacteroidetes (13.8%), and Firmicutes (10.8%). Proteobacteria and Bacteroidetes dominated consistently across regions and years, while Firmicutes and Cyanobacteria significantly varied by region and years (p less then 0.05). The abundance of this phylum declined over time with the increasing abundance of Cyanobacteria, indicating their independent interactions to certain environmental changes. Planctomycetes and Gemmatimonadetes linked to some contaminants (ΣPAHs and Cu), implying indicator taxa. Overall, eDNA-based microbial community analysis combined with exposures of contaminants and responses of microorganisms is a promising strategy for the assessment of benthic ecological health in contaminated sediments from coastal waters.Sea-level rise and overfishing could enhance the strength of hydrological connectivity and the presence of herbivores, resulting in salt marsh loss through physical stress and trophic cascade effects. Our aim was to estimate the effects of these two stresses on autochthonous producers. Survivorship and biomass of Suaeda salsa (S. salsa) were the lowest in areas with high hydrological connectivity, whereas the highest biomass was observed in the areas with moderate connectivity. The biomass of benthic microalgae was higher under low hydrological connectivity and no herbivores. The interactive effects between hydrological connectivity and herbivores on S. salsa but not on benthic microalgae were observed. Herbivores were somewhat (28%) important for the survival of initial S. salsa seedlings, while hydrological connectivity controlled (50%) the biomass of benthic microalgae. Our study highlights that, the autochthonous producers in coastal salt marshes may disappear due to strong hydrological connectivity and the excessive presence of herbivores.Prenatal exposure to stress increases risk for suboptimal child and adult mental and physical health outcomes, hypothesized to occur via fetal exposure to maternal stress hormones that alter growth and development. One proposed pathway through which stress exposure in utero could affect the offspring is by accelerating cellular aging in the form of telomere attrition. We tested this hypothesis in a cohort of 111 mother-child dyads, where mothers were assessed over 6 or more years, beginning prior to conception, and later during pregnancy, postpartum, and when the children were 3-5 years old. Adjusting for child age and concurrent maternal stress, we found that higher maternal perceived stress in the 3rd trimesters of pregnancy was predictive of shorter child buccal telomere length (bTL) (β = -0.24, p  0.42). These findings suggest a vulnerable time period in pregnancy when maternal stress influences offspring telomere length, suggesting the early embedding of adult disease might occur through biological aging pathways.

Although the linkage between psychological stress and cortisol is believed to mediate the association of stress with health outcomes, several studies have been unable to demonstrate this association. We suggest this inability may be a consequence of limitations in the measurement approach and/or reliance on analytic strategies that focus on associations across, rather than within individuals. The link between psychological stress and cortisol is of particular interest in the context of pregnancy and fetal development. Using an ecological momentary assessment (EMA) design, we examined the association between psychological stress and cortisol at the between- and the within-person level.

152 participants completed a 4-day long EMA protocol serially in early, mid and late pregnancy to provide momentary stress appraisals (average of 150 measures/subject) and saliva samples (average of 55 samples/subject) for quantification of cortisol. The association between stress and cortisol was estimated using linear mixed models.