The incidence of Nypa fruticans (Wurmb) and its impact on fisheries production in the Niger Delta mangrove ecosystem

Nypa fruticans occurs in Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River State, Nigeria; invading an estimated area of 821 Km super(2) mangrove dominated swamps. Human activities such as tree felling, urbanization, oil and gas exploration and exploitation and other activities led to the interference in the normal mangrove by the Nypa palm. Lack of utilization by the local population of the Nypa palm as in into-pacification has increased the population over the years. The effect includes the reduction in primary and secondary productivity, disruption of food chain and erosion of riverbanks. The eradication of the Nypa palm from the Niger delta mangrove ecosystem and replacement with red and white mangroves will restore the ecosystem health and enhance biological diversity

Sustainability of indigenous technology in postharvest fisheries operations in Edo and Delta states, Nigeria

The study examined the sustainability of various indigenous technologies in post-harvest fishery operation in Edo and Delta States (Nigeria). A total of seventy processors were interviewed during the survey through a random selection. The data obtained were analysed by descriptive statistics. The results obtained revealed that the majority of the fish processors within the study areas were married with women who were not educated beyond the first Leaving School Certificate. Most of the fish processed were bought fresh, while the commonest method of preservation/processing practiced was smoking. The type of processing equipment used was the Chorkor smoking kiln and the drum smoker while the commonest source of energy is firewood. The processing activities within the communities were found to be profitable. However it was observed that due to the high cost of processing materials and equipment, the economic growth and the living standard is quite low. Some recommendations were made to improve the traditional method of fish preservation and processing

Observations on the ecology of Hepsetus odoe, Bloch, 1794 (Pisces: Hepsetidae) in Epie Creek floodplain, Niger Delta, Nigeria

The distribution, abundance, age and growth, the food and feeding habits, condition factor and reproduction of Hepsetus odoe in the Epie Creek Floodplain (Nigeria) was studied. H. odoe occur in the creek, swamp channel and lake. It is a very common, abundant and one of the major commercial species. A total of 457 specimens weighing 76.90 kg were caught during the period of investigation. The catches were more abundant in the dry season than in the wet season. The total length ranged from 10 cm to 46 cm while the weight varied between 50 g and 900 g. Six distinct components or year classes were observed using Bhattacharya's method. A growth exponential value 'b' was 3.35 with condition factor, 'k' values ranging from 0.69 to 0.83. The main diets of Hepsetus odoe were fish, including crustaceans (shrimps) and insects. The mean fecundity was 6060 plus or minus 358 eggs (range 2,769 to 6.667 eggs). The ova diameter of H. odoe was found to range from 2.2 mm to 2.6 mm with overall mean = 2.4 plus or minus 0.1)

On holism, reductionism and working from 9 to 5

A discussion is presented on the 2 approaches - holism and reductionism - in the study of environmental sciences, making reference to various projects presently being conducted by ICLARM and its collaborators using the holistic approach. Schematic representations are given of ICLARM's FISHBASE, the ECOPATH II model of the Peruvian upwelling ecosystem and submodels which may be incorporated in large simulation models of the upwelling system, and also material flows in a rice-fish/shrimp integrated farming systems of the Mekong Delta, Vietnam.

Impact of sedimentalogical processes on mangrove ecosystem of the Indus Delta

A detailed sedimentalogical study concerning the depletion of mangrove in the Indus Delta due to the marked decrease in the supply of silt was undertaken. Thirty one stations were established for sampling in a selected area of 12000 hectares between Korangi creek and Wad do Khuddi creek. Seventy one samples of soil were collected from 6cm and 1m depth, out of which fifty one samples were selected for sedimentalogical studies. It was inferred from this study that the marine depositional processes are distinctly dominating over the fluvial processes, which is major cause in decreasing the growth of mangrove. It was also inferred that among the sampled stations the sites having clayey silt (with silt 60%-70% and clay 25%-30%) are most favourable for mangrove plantation.

Longitudinal optic phonon-plasmon coupling in delta-doped metamorphic InAlAs/InGaAs high-electron-mobility transistor structures on GaAs substrates

InAlAs/InGaAs metamorphic high-electron-mobility transistor structures with different spacer layers on GaAs substrates are characterized by Raman measurements. The influence of In0.52Al0.48As spacer thickness on longitudinal optic phonon-plasmon coupling is investigated. It is found that the intensity of GaAs-like longitudinal optic phonon, which couples with collective intersubband transitions of two-dimensional electron gas, is strongly affected by the different subband energy spacings, subband electron concentrations, and wave function distributions, which are determined by different spacer thicknesses. (C) 2001 American Institute of Physics.

New modulation structures observed in Bi2.13Sr1.87CuO6+delta superconductors

A new two-dimensional structure modulation along c- and b-axes has been discovered in superconducting single crystals of Bi2.13Sr1.87CuO6+delta (Bi2201) by x-ray scattering. Such modulation structure does not exist in non-superconducting Bi2201 single crystals, but instead lattice distortions are observed in the a-b-plane. This phenomenon may indicate that both strain relaxation and charge modulation in the a-b-plane are important to the occurrence of superconductivity in the copper oxides.

Delta-resonance effective mass in medium

Based on the relativistic chiral effective field theory, we study the effective mass of the Delta-resonance in medium by investigating the self-energy of the Delta-resonance related to the pi N decay channel in symmetric nuclear matter. We find that the effective mass of Delta-resonance decreases evidently with increasing nuclear density rho. In our calculation, we also consider the influence of the shifts of the nucleon mass, pion mass and its decay constant due to the restoration of chiral symmetry in medium. The results are roughly consistent with the data given by Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory.

Effects of Pairing Correlations on Formation of Proton Halo in C-9

Properties for the ground state of C-9 are studied in the relativistic continuum Hartree-Bogoliubov theory with the NLSH, NLLN and TM2 effective interactions. Pairing correlations are taken into account by a density-dependent delta-force with the pairing strength for protons determined by fitting either to the experimental binding energy or to the odd-even mass difference from the five-point formula. The effects of pairing correlations on the formation of proton halo in the ground state of C-9 are examined. The halo structure is shown to be formed by the partially occupied valence proton levels p(3/2) and p(1/2).

Low-temperature heat capacity and standard molar enthalpy of formation of 9-fluorenemethanol (C14H12O)

Low-temperature heat capacities of the 9-fluorenemethanol (C14H12O) have been precisely measured with a small sample automatic adiabatic calorimeter over the temperature range between T = 78 K and T = 390 K. The solid-liquid phase transition of the compound has been observed to be T-fus = (376.567 +/- 0.012) K from the heat-capacity measurements. The molar enthalpy and entropy of the melting of the substance were determined to be Delta(fus)H(m) = (26.273 +/- 0.013) kJ (.) mol(-1) and Delta(fus)S(m) = (69.770 +/- 0.035) J (.) K-1 (.) mol(-1). The experimental values of molar heat capacities in solid and liquid regions have been fitted to two polynomial equations by the least squares method. The constant-volume energy and standard molar enthalpy of combustion of the compound have been determined, Delta(c)U(C14H12O, s) = -(7125.56 +/- 4.62) kJ (.) mol(-1) and Delta(c)H(m)degrees(C14H12O, s) = -(7131.76 +/- 4.62) kJ (.) mol(-1), by means of a homemade precision oxygen-bomb combustion calorimeter at T = (298.15 +/- 0.001) K. The standard molar enthalpy of formation of the compound has been derived, Delta(f)H(m)degrees (C14H12O, s) = -(92.36 +/- 0.97) kJ (.) mol(-1), from the standard molar enthalpy of combustion of the compound in combination with other auxiliary thermodynamic quantities through a Hess thermochemical cycle. (C) 2004 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Preparation and electrical properties of new oxide ion conductors Ce6-xDyxMoO15-delta (0.0 <= x <= 1.8)

Ce6-xDyxMoO15-delta (0.0 <= x <= 1.8) were synthesized by modified sol-gel method. Structural and electrical properties were investigated by means of X-ray diffraction (XRD), Raman, X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy (XPS) and electrochemical impedance spectroscopy (EIS). The XRD patterns showed that the materials were single phase with a cubic fluorite structure. Impedance spectroscopy measurement in the temperature range between 350 degrees C and 800 degrees C indicated a sharp increase in conductivity for the system containing small amount of Dy2O3. The Ce5.6Dy0.4MoO15-delta detected to be the best conducting phase with the highest conductivity (sigma(t) = 8.93 x 10(-3) S cm(-1)) is higher than that of Ce5.6Sm0.4MoO15-delta (sigma(t) = 2.93 x 10(-3) S cm(-1)) at 800 degrees C, and the corresponding activation energy of Ce5.6Dy0.4MoO15-delta (0.994 eV) is lower than that of Ce5.6Sm0.4MoO15-delta (1.002 eV).

Synthesis and Electrical Properties of New Solid State Electrolyte Materials Ce6-xHoxMoO15-delta(0.0 <= x <= 1.2)

Ce6-xHoxMoO15-delta(0.0 <= x <= 1.2) was synthesized by modified sol-gel method and characterized by differential X-ray diffraction(XRD), Raman, and X-ray photoelectron spectroscopy(XPS) methods. The oxide ionic conductivity of the samples was investigated by AC impedance spectroscopy. It shows that all the samples are single phase with a cubic fluorite structure. The solid solution Ce6-xHoxMoO15-delta(x=0.6) was detected to be the best conducting phase with the highest conductivity(sigma(t)=1.05x10(-2) S/cm) at 800 degrees C and the lowest activation energy(E-a=1.09 eV). These properties suggest that this kind of material has a potential application in intermediate-low temperature solid oxide fuel cells.

Synthesis, characterization and electrical properties of solid state electrolyte materials La2-xCaxMo1.7W0.3O9-delta (0 <= x <= 0.2)

The new compounds La2-xCaxMo1.7W0.3O9-delta (0 <= x <= 0.2) in which La3+ substituted with Ca2+ were synthesized by dry-chemistry techniques based on the oxygen Ionic conductor La2Mo1.7W0.3O9. The new series were characterized by X-ray Diffraction (XRD), Raman and X-ray Photoelectron Spectroscopy (XPS) and the electrical conductivity of samples were investigated by AC impedance spectroscopy. The lattice parameters were reduced due to the smaller atomic radius of the Ca2+ compared with that of the La3+. Furthermore, Additional oxygen vacancies were introduced into La2Mo1.7W0.3O9 lattice by substitution, and then the oxygen ionic conductivity was increased. At 550 degrees C, the conductivity increased 89.9%, that is, from 0.79 x 10(-4) S center dot cm(-1) (x=0) to 1.5 X 10(-4)S center dot cm(-1) (x=0.16, 0.2).