We studied the seasonal abundance and diversity of waterbirds around the Begnas lake of Pokhara Valley. The status of waterbirds in Begnas wetland is not documented so; we monitored the waterbirds using the point count method in 12 different plots around the lake and compared the seasonal abundance and diversity during the 2019 Summer and 2020 winter with 24 hours of observation in each plot. A total of 585 individuals of 25 waterbird species from 10 families were recorded during the study period. Among the recorded species two species were globally threatened and the remaining were the least concerned categories. The greater abundance of waterbirds was recorded during winter (t = -5.98, p < 0.001). The abundance of all feeding guilds was found higher during winter. Cattle egret was recorded with the greatest abundance (N = 85) and Relative abundance (RA = 14.52), it was followed by great cormorant (N = 57, RA = 9.74) and common pochard was the least abundant (N = 2, RA = 0.34). There was no seasonal variation in the Shannon Wiener index (H’) and species evenness however, the species richness was higher during winter (W = 16.5, p < 0.01). Distance to the forest, road, and settlement did not affect the abundance and diversity of waterbirds however, the abundance of insectivore birds was increased with the decrease of distance to croplands (t = -3.13, p < 0.05). The Begnas wetland was found with a lower abundance and diversity of waterbirds in comparison to the Phewa and other wetlands of the Terai region of Nepal. The lake water pollution, infrastructural development, anthropogenic activities, recreational activities, and infestation of invasive plants like water hyacinth were the main threats to the waterbirds around Begnas lake. An awareness program about the conservation of waterbirds and regular monitoring of waterbirds in Begnas was recommended.

As the economy develops and the population increases, there is an increasing demand for goods such as timber, food, medicine, and so on, and ecological services such as fresh water and the environment. Because goods and services produced by the original forest cannot meet the increasing need of people, so most of the original forest has become farmland, plantation, and grass. In the process of Forest restoration, a lot of exotic plants was introduced to produce special products and service. As exotic plants grow, vegetation declines, and crop failure will happen in dry years or resource waste in wet years. In order to solve these problems, Years of theoretical research and investigation in fixed positions have shown that there is a soil water resources use limit by plants and the soil water vegetation carrying capacity in the process of vegetation restoration. When the soil water resources in the range of the maximum infiltration depth are equal to the soil water resources use limit by plants, the plant water relation enters the key period of plant water relation regulation. If existing plant density is more than the soil water vegetation carrying capacity in the key period of plant water relation regulation, the plant water relation has to be regulated on the soil water vegetation carrying capacity to get maximal yield and service and realize high-quality sustainable management of forest vegetation in a water shortage area.

Carotenoids in bio-fortified gari are degraded by light and oxidation during storage resulting in fading of their yellow color. In this study, gari from yellow-root (bio-fortified) cassava varieties (YCVs) were evaluated for color change during storage in two seasons. About 400 g of fresh gari samples of five YCVs (IITA-TMSI011368, IITA-TMSI011371, IITA-TMSI011412, IITA-TMSI070539 and IITA-TMS-I070593) and white-root variety (TMEB419-check) were packaged in transparent plastics to ensure exposure to light. The samples were evaluated monthly for color change using a chart with a scale of 1 (white) to 8 (pink) for 12 months in each season. Data collected were subjected to ANOVA, descriptive and correlation analyses. Reduction in yellow color intensity was observed among the yellow gari samples in the first month from average of 4.40 to 3.53 representing about 20% decrease. At 12 months after processing, varieties IITA-TMSI011368 and IITA-TMSI011371 had the highest (68%) and least (58%) yellow pigment retention, respectively. There was significant variation among the varieties for gari color change and yellow pigment retention over the storage period. Therefore, carotenoid content in bio-fortified gari depends on the cassava variety and storage period. These factors should be considered in future breeding program to improve cassava for carotenoid content.

The research arises from the interest in investigating the pollen contained in the various honey samples analyzed to identify its geographical and botanical origin and to evaluate its allergenic potential. With the Louveaux method, the pollen content shall be observed under a microscope using the same procedure as the aerobiological analysis described in national and European standards. From the microscopic observation of the pollen grains, it is possible to identify the plants that produced them, thus going back to a particular type of vegetation that distinguishes the production area. The percentage values for pollen of nectariferous plants identified have been calculated to establish frequency classes and dominant species. Starting from an exploratory analysis, the results obtained with melissopalynology provide assessments that, combined with sensory and physical analysis, represent a useful control tool to address the growing trend of food fraud as an element of consumer choice. By comparing the percentages of the pollen taxa contained in the honey analyzed with those reported in the characterization cards, it was possible to verify the conformity to the declared botanical origin. The samples were analyzed in duplicate to reduce operator uncertainty and to ensure the identification of the largest number of species/families present and the recognition of botanical families. The results provided a clear picture of a first assessment of the conformity of the reference values; in general, most of the samples examined, both those taken on the market and those of local producers, are in line with the data obtained. Bibliographical research on cross allergies related to the presence of pollen in honey has established that allergic forms to honey are still a rare condition and the incidence does not exceed 0.001%. Studying the few reported cases worldwide, it is difficult to say that pollen proteins are the only and directly responsible for the allergic manifestations that follow the ingestion of honey; however, if we wanted to attribute the responsibility, we could refer in particular to Compositae pollens, such as mugwort, ragweed, and dandelion. This work, while identifying many possible triggers for allergic reactions, has detected a very low number of cases of ingestion of honey; therefore, the study can be a starting point to investigate the allergenic potential.

The Mediterranean red coral (Corallium rubrum) is a long-lived and slow-growing gorgonian, which suffered intense exploitation due to its precious calcium carbonate skeleton used in jewelry and traded worldwide [1].

Most optimization problems naturally have several objectives, usually in conflict with each other. The problems with two or three objective functions are referred to as Multi-Objective Problems (MOP). However, many real-world applications often involve four or more objectives, which are commonly recognized as many-objective optimization problems (MaOP). Multi and many-objective algorithms have a great application in engineering science. This study addresses a complete and updated review of the literature for multi and many-objective problems and discusses 32 more important algorithms in detail. Afterward, the ZDT and DLTZ benchmark problems for multi-objective test problems are reviewed. All methods have been studied under recent state-of-the-art quality measures. Moreover, we discuss the historical roots of multi-objective optimization, the motivation to use evolutionary algorithms, and the most popular techniques currently in use.

A detailed multi-year observational study of Red-Billed (RB) oxpecker (Buphagus erythrorhynchus) and yellow-billed (YB) oxpecker (B. Africanus) occurrence on a range of ungulate species was performed in two Kenyan national parks. Surprisingly observation of over 2100 individual Kongoni, in group sizes of 1 to > 50, revealed a total absence of oxpeckers, of either species, on Kongoni (Alcephalus buselaphus: subfamily Alcephalinae) in Nairobi National Park (NNP), although it was one of the most common bovid species present. There is no population of A. buselaphus at the second study site in central Kenya, Lake Nakuru National Park (LNNP). By contrast, the Impala (Aepyceros melampus), a smaller species, whose taxonomic status is phylogenetically ambiguous, but is widely considered to have evolved relatively recently in Africa, was a frequent oxpecker host in both NNP (29% of animals observed) and LNNP (12.9% of individual animals observed. Two species of gazelle Thompson’s gazelle (Gazella rufifrons)) and Grant’s gazelle (G. granti), subfamily Gazellinae, which were present in both parks but in relatively low abundance, were also not observed to host oxpeckers. The reason for these bovid subfamilies, apparently not being utilized as oxpecker hosts in central Kenya, is unclear and requires further research.

Along with economic development and an increase in population, there is an increasing demand for goods such as timber, food, medicine, and so on, and ecological services such as fresh water and the environment. Because goods and service produced by the original forest cannot meet the increasing need of people, so most of the original forest has become farmland, plantation, and grass, and a lot of exotic plants was introduced to produce special products and service. As introduced plants grow, vegetation decline and crop failure happen in dry years or resource waste in wet years. In order to solve these problems, Years of theoretical research and investigation in fixed positions have shown that there is a soil water resources use limit by plants and the soil water vegetation carrying capacity in the process of vegetation restoration. When the soil water resources in the range of the maximum infiltration depth are equal to soil water resources use limit by plants, the plant water relation enters the key period of plant water relation regulation. If existing plant density is more than the soil water vegetation carrying capacity in the key period of plant water relation regulation, the plant water relation has to be regulated on the soil water vegetation carrying capacity to get maximal yield and service and realize high-quality sustainable management of forest vegetation in a water shortage area.

Due to the increased demand for energy and the near depletion of fossil fuel sources, in addition to the problems of global warming, the world has turned to renewable energy sources as an alternative solution. One energy source is the anaerobic digestion of organic matter, such as animal or food waste. Biogas is produced from this process, used to generate electricity and heat, or processed for use as a transportation fuel and compost production for agriculture. This process is affected by many factors like the potential of hydrogen (PH), temperature, carbon/nitrogen ratio (C/N), and other factors. Dry anaerobic digestion has higher total solid content (TS) than wet anaerobic digestion. On the other hand, it has lower maintenance and construction costs compared with wet anaerobic digestion. In this research, we will highlight the operational conditions of the process in addition to its different types. It also contains an overview of this system, its working principle, its advantages, and the system component and show the best ways to improve its efficiency.

Modern mentality tends to minimize what is real to a physical world that is accessible to its senses, instruments, reasoning and equations, ignoring other states of reality that, clearly throughout humanity’s history have been known. Modern human believes that he is capable of dispensing all knowledge from what he has been taught in the past by starting over again, trusting only their point of view and their own new prejudices. His attention increasingly focusing outwards prevents him from looking inwards, towards the center of consciousness, of being, which is, however, the first data that has been imposed on us and the basis on which necessarily everything else rests. A physical analysis of a piece of music or a painting, however scientific it might be, does not annul the meaning- so deeper and on another type of level-shows that the reality of a work of art is much more than its physical components. This objective work creates communication bonds interconnecting classical and modern science, relating different areas of knowledge. Like the invisible presence of microorganisms that participate in the evolution of nature, we intend to give a new approach to recovering the empirical knowledge long way forgotten by modern science in order to strengthen the reality of the parts that do not precede the whole, but when are born acquire sense together with the whole. Their role as “parts” is only a role in the cognitive process, not in the generative process.