Dominant Class Research Articles

Analysis of spatiotemporal heterogeneity and influencing factors of soil erosion in a typical erosion zone of the southern red soil region, China

The southern red soil region (SRSR) of China, a region that is environmentally sensitive, suffers severe soil erosion (SE) as a result of climate change and human activity. The factors driving SE changes in the SRSR of China under changing settings have, however, only been the subject of a small number of research. Changting County is a typical SE area in the SRSR of China. The spatiotemporal variation characteristics of SE in Changting County from 2000 to 2020 were investigated using the revised universal soil loss equation (RUSLE), while the dominant factors influencing the spatiotemporal dynamic change of SE were analyzed using the optimal parametric geographical detector (OPGD) and logarithmic mean Divisia Index (LMDI). The results showed that the average annual soil erosion modulus in Changting County shows a decreasing trend, with the SE modulus decreased from 10.00 t·hm−2·a−1 in 2000 to 3.38 t·hm−2·a−1 in 2020. Slight SE intensity was the dominant SE class, accounting for more than 75% of the total area, and the proportion is trending upwards. Natural and anthropogenic factors showed significant effects on the spatial variation of SE, of which land use and vegetation cover were the main factors influencing the spatial distribution of SE. Furthermore, the interaction between these two dominant factors explained greatly the spatial variation of SE. The mitigation of SE was mainly attributed to the increase in vegetation cover following the implementation of various ecological projects, contributing to the reduction of SE by 68.7%. In addition, the changes in land use types and rainfall amounts also played positive roles in reducing SE, showing contributions of 20.2% and 11.1%, respectively.

Environmental Parameters Determine the Structure of Soil Bacteria under Different Land use Types in Tailings Area

Soil microorganisms contribute substantially to a wide range of services and thereby improve recovery in ecosystem restoration. However, there is relatively limited information on how microbial communities respond to different land-use types with similar plant species and their potential roles in supporting soil restoration in mine tailings. To understand the importance of the response of soil microbial communities to the stress of tailings area in different soil habitats, this article selected three different land use types (Tailings area, Buffer zone and Vegetable field) as the variables in the Yanzibian tailings area in Ningqiang, Shaanxi Province, China. Soil physicochemical properties and heavy metal concentrations of the different land use types were compared. Illumina MiSeq. 2500 Sequencing Technology was used to analyze the abundance and structural diversity of the microbial community in soil samples. The results showed that most of the soil samples were unsafe with multiple metals. All soil samples in the buffer zone and tailings ponds were acidic. With the acidity decreased, bacterial community richness and diversity increased significantly. Briefly, different environmental factors and soil microbial communities were significantly distinct across different land-use types. Cu, Zn, Pb, pH, MC (Moisture content), TN (Total nitrogen), TP (Total phosphorus), and TK (Total potassium) were essential factors affecting the abundance and structural diversity of soil microbial communities across three different land-use types. As a result, Actinobacteria, Alphaproteobacteria, and Gammaproteobacteria were the top dominant classes in the buffer zone and Vegetable field soils, while Sulfobacillia dominated in tailings pond soils. Further, we found that with the continuous decline of the pH, the dominant genera transferred from norank_f__norank_o__Vicinamibacterales, Bacillus and Nocardioides to the norank_f__norank_o__Gaiellales and norank_f__norank_o__Acidobacteriales, then to Sulfobacillus. These confirmed that the responses of microbiota to heavy metals stress varied in different land-use types. Together, this study provides important information on the occurrence and distribution of soil microbiomes in tailings areas and their potentially beneficial roles in soil restoration.

The Patterns of Hegemony of the Kokoda Tribe in the City and Regency of Sorong, Southwest Papua

The essence of social justice in development, as the nation's ideal, is ideally present to provide changes for the better to all people without exception. However, in reality, there are still social inequalities in development, such as those experienced by the Kokoda Tribe in Southwest Papua. The research aims to find out the pattern of hegemony experienced by the Kokoda Tribe. Therefore, the type of research used is qualitative. Qualitative research emphasizes the socially constructed nature of reality. The data analysis process was carried out during the research. Each observation and interview was followed by an interpretation process by connecting one meaning with another. The results show that the hegemony that occurs in the Kokoda Tribe takes place through four patterns, namely: Domination pattern, intellectual hegemony pattern, moral hegemony pattern, and spiral hegemony pattern. The marginalization experienced by the Kokoda Tribe does not occur naturally but is the result of hegemony patterns, namely the existence of a dominant class that constructs the whole life of society.

Hegemoni Kelas Menengah Atas Pada Buku Teks: Studi Analisis Dominasi Kelas Atas Terhadap Kelas Bawah Pada Buku Teks TK B

This study aims to find out how far the upper middle class dominates the lower class and to find out and analyze the narratives built in textbooks when interacting with the lower class. This research uses qualitative research based on library research, where the source of data used as research material is Kindergarten B textbooks. The data is analyzed using content analysis, namely; pragmatic content analysis, semantic content analysis, and analysis of sign means. The results of the study show that the dominance of the upper middle class over the lower class is drawn through lifestyles, such as; vacation to the beach, sitting on soft sofa chairs, diving, and so on. The narrative developed in the Kindergarten B textbook focuses more on urban lifestyles and the balancing narrative that can fit into the upper and lower middle social class is not too significant. Or in another language not apple to apple. Keywords: Hegemony, Upper Middle Class, Textbooks

APPORT DE LA GEOMATIQUE ALA DELIMITATION DES PERIMETRES DE PROTECTION AUTOUR DE LA PRISE DEAUPOUR LALIMENTATION EN EAU POTABLE SUR LA RIVIERE ME A KONGOFON (SUD-EST DE LA COTE DIVOIRE)

The quality of the Me Rivers water is threatened by sources of pollution generated in the region without any measures being taken to protect this resource.So, to reduce the risk of pollution of this water resource, this study aims to delimit the protection perimeters around the water intake on the river.The methodological approach consisted firstly in assessing the vulnerability of the resource through the weighting and combination of five selected parameters, and then in determining the protection perimeters on the basis of the pre-established vulnerability map and data from previous studies.The pollution vulnerability map obtained reveals five classes of vulnerability around the water intake, with a dominance of the high class estimated at 29.44% of the watershed. Three protection perimeters have been defined. The immediate protection perimeter has a 200 m radius around the water intake and covers areas with a strong influence on the rivers vulnerability to pollution over a surface area of 1.97 km2.The close protection perimeter, covering a 1000 m radius, was delimited from the immediate protection perimeter. It covers an area of 43.7 km2 and takes into account the rivers low, medium and very high vulnerability classes, following the direction of water flow in the Me watershed.The remote protection perimeter covers a large part of the watershed, with an area of 1,480 Km2. It covers the rest of the catchments highly vulnerable areas and adjoins the close protection perimeter.The defined protection perimeters can serve as a guide for sustainable management and protection of river quality.

Communication via Biotremors in the Veiled Chameleon (Chamaeleo Calyptratus): Part II- Social contexts.

This study extends recent research demonstrating that the veiled chameleon (Chamaeleo calyptratus) can produce and detect biotremors. Chameleons were paired in various social contexts: dominance (male-male; female-female C. calyptratus); courtship (male-female C. calyptratus); heterospecific (C. calyptratus+C. gracilis); and inter-size class dominance (adult+juvenile C. calyptratus). Simultaneous video and accelerometer recordings were used to monitor their behavior and record a total of 398 biotremors. Chamaeleo calyptratus produced biotremors primarily in conspecific dominance and courtship contexts, accounting for 84.7% of the total biotremors recorded, with biotremor production varying greatly between individuals. Biotremors were elicited by visual contact with another conspecific or heterospecific, and trials in which chameleons exhibited visual displays and aggressive behaviors were more likely to record biotremors. Three classes of biotremor were identified- hoots, mini-hoots, and rumbles, which differed significantly in fundamental frequency, duration, and relative intensity. Biotremor frequency decreased with increasing signal duration and frequency modulation was evident, especially in hoots. Overall, the data show that C. calyptratus utilizes substrate-borne vibrational communication during conspecific and possibly heterospecific interactions.

Ecological Assessment of the Native Flora of Matta Kharari Village, Swat, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Pakistan

Plant species composition, diversity and distribution is a hierarchical expression of vegetation determined by different environmental factors. A study was conducted to document the floristic composition and biological spectrum of plant species of the Matta-Kharari region, Swat. The region has not been ecologically explored yet. We used quantitative ecological techniques for sampling plant species. Sixty-seven quadrats of 1x1 m2 for herbs, 5x5 m2 for shrubs and 10x10 m2 size for trees were established. Plant species data were analyzed using multivariate statistical techniques. We evaluated 76 plant species belonging to 42 families. Asteraceae and Rosaceae were the leading families with 8 species each, followed by Ranunculaceae, Lamiaceae and Moraceae with 4 species each. Among life form classes i.e., geophytes were dominant (13 species, 17.10 %), followed by therophytes (12 species, 15.87 %), nanophanerophytes (11 species, 14.47 %), and chamaephytes (10 species, 13.58 %). Moreover, Mesophylls (36.84 %) were the dominant leaf spectra class followed by nanophyll (30.26 %), microphyll (27.63 %), and megaphyll (2.63 %). The two-way cluster analysis classified the vegetation into three clusters. The detrended correspondence analysis shows the distribution of plants in a mixed array because the locations explored are characterized by similar climatic factors and vegetation. We elucidate that the variation in climatic factors and topography brings variation in vegetation. Understanding these responses at the life form and leaf spectra level will provide a better understanding and knowledge that how plant species and their communities or associations respond to changes in climate in the future. The current study could be utilized as a baseline for large-scale studies in the future.

Land Cover Change Detection and Analysis of Mts. Palay-Palay Mataas-Na-Gulod Protected Landscape, Philippines using Satellite Imagery

Several studies have already proven the existence of unsustainable human activities or disturbances assumed to cause land cover change on the Mts. Palay-Palay Mataas-Na-Gulod Protected Landscape (MPPMNGPL)in the Philippines. However, there is a dearth of published works on how these disturbances affect the different land cover classes in this protected landscape. This study aimed to help fill such information gap by investigating the extent of land cover changes and potentially disturbed forest areas inside the MPPMNGPL. Using geographic information system and remote sensing, classified maps were produced from Sentinel-2 and Landsat-8 images through supervised classification. The study described the land cover types and land cover changes in the area from 2015 to 2021 and identified potentially disturbed forest areas using the normalized difference moisture index (NDMI). The land cover classes identified in the area included forest, grassland, built-up, barren land and water. From 2015 to 2021, the largest land cover change came from the 510.92 ha of forest area in Ternate that turned into a grassland area as reflected in the NDMI result – an indicator of potential forest disturbance. Change detection showed that from 2015 to 2021, the grassland area had an increase of +14.05%, while the forest area had a decrease of -13.8%. Results showed that forest is still the most dominant land cover class in the protected landscape. Further studies and ground validation must be conducted to determine the specific causes of the land cover changes.

Parasitological Quality Evaluation of Pipe Waters in Abidjan, the Capital City of Cote D’ivoire

Background: Treatment and wastewater disposal lack in Abidjan leads to wastewater discharge in the natural environment without treatment. These waters were loaded with pathogenic microorganisms that are the causes of many diseases. Objectives: This study aims to assess the parasitological quality of water from pipes of Abididjan City, studying protozoa and helminths. Methodology: 400 samples were collected in three municipalities and 19 sites. Parasites were identified using sedimentation. Results: Biological analyzes revealed 269 (67.2%) positive samples, with the presence of 19 taxa belonging to helminths (nematodes, trematodes) and protozoa group (amoeba, ciliates, flagellates). Protozoa are most common with a clear dominance of amoebas class followed by ciliates and flagellates. In 269 positives samples, Entamoeba coli (160 (59.48%)), Endolimax nana (112 (41.64%)), Giardia spp (71 (26.4%)), and Paramecium caudatum (66 (24.54%)) are the most common species. The spatial distribution showed that Yopougon commune was the most parasitized, followed by Abobo-Adjame. The most parasitized sites were CHU, SEL, and AG. At the seasonal level, the dry season was where the parasite load was highest regardless of municipality and sites. Conclusion: The presence of these parasite groups and the diversity of parasitic taxonomic indicates faecal contamination of piped water in Abidjan city. These parasites present a potential danger for these piped waters' direct and indirect uses. Therefore, it is necessary to treat this water before any use and before it flows into surface water to avoid these parasites.

Evaluating Soil Fertility and Plant Nutrient Status of Lemon (Citrus Limon L.) Orchards in the North-Eastern Region of Bangladesh

Soil (0 to 15 cm and 15 to 30 cm depth), leaf and fruit samples were collected from seventeen orchards of lemon (Citrus limon L.) from different locations of Habiganj district to evaluate the physicochemical properties, nutrient status of soil, and nutrient concentrations in lemon leaves and fruits. The soil was found to vary pH from extreme to medium acidic (3.9 to 6.0), organic matter content 0.63 to 1.71% at 0 to 15 cm and 0.16 to 1.42% at 15 to 30 cm depth. Electrical Conductivity was found non-saline in nature which was 37.9 to 100.1 μS/cm at 0 to 15 cm and 25.1 to 69.0 μS/cm at 15 to 30 cm depth. The dominant soil textural class was sandy clay loam. The total N, P, K and S in soils were found 0.038 to 0.085%, 0.024 to 0.071%, 0.022 to 0.144%, and 0.040 to 0.294% at 0 to 15 cm depth, respectively and 0.012 to 0.076%, 0.024 to 0.056%, 0.012 to 0.139%, and 0.016 to 0.333% at 15 to 30 cm depth, respectively. Available N was found 20.37 to 67.90 mg/kg at 0 to 15 cm and 20.37 to 74.69 mg/kg at 15 to 30 cm depth. Major soil samples were found low in available phosphorous, 0.35 to 66.95 mg/kg at 0 to 15 cm and 0.83 to 29.19 mg/kg at 15 to 30 cm depth. Available sulphur was also found low in concentration, 4.62 to 68.48 mg/kg at 0 to 15 cm and 2.10 to 15.54 mg/kg at 15 to 30 cm depth. The exchangeable K+, Ca2+ and Mg2+ in soils at 0 to 15 cm depth were found 0.040 to 0.221 meq/100g, 0.002 to 0.046 meq/100g and 0.017 to 0.042 meq/100g, respectively and at 15 to 30 cm depth these were found from 0.025 to 0.097 meq/100g, 0.003 to 0.054 meq/100g, and 0.016 to 0.050 meq/100g, respectively. The concentrations of total N, P, K and S in leaf were 1.198 to 2.659%, 0.500 to 0.778%, 0.112 to 0.246% and 0.010 to 0.133%, respectively. The concentrations of total N, P, K and S in fruit were 0.760 to 1.549%, 0.250 to 0.611%, 0.107 to 0.190% and 0.005 to 0.031%, respectively. The present findings illustrated the low to medium soil fertility status under the lemon plantation in the north-eastern region of Bangladesh and growers could be recommended to plant lemons after applying soil amendments to improve the physico-chemical properties of soils in the north-eastern region of Bangladesh. J. Biodivers. Conserv. Bioresour. Manag. 2023, 9(1): 69-78

The Transformation of Class Organization and Management Mode Under the Background of Novel Coronavirus Pneumonia

The COVID-19 pandemic, which has affected every aspect of human life in many ways, has led to the temporary closure of educational institutions around the world. To ensure the continuity of students' education, the Ministry of Education has launched an emergency policy initiative called "No School, No School" to transform teaching activities into large-scale online teaching during the pandemic. In order to deal with the relationship between offline school education and online education, the education model will be updated and improved. In the future, school education and online education will tend to integrate, complement each other and become one. It not only realizes the normalization, normalization and systematic cultivation of students' growth by school education, but also satisfies the space for students' self-development, self-improvement and personalized design. In the relationship between the two, school education is still in the dominant position, class organization and management will expand from the school to the off-campus, to realize the deep integration of school education, family education and social education. Different from the conventional class management, online education has added a new situation to the work of head teachers and new changes to the requirements of students.

What kind of innovation state matters for social justice? Learning from Poulantzas and going beyond

In the twenty-first century, the notion of the state and its role in innovation and development have become dominant topics of theoretical and empirical inquiry. Although contemporary innovation theorists clearly unpack the myth of market fundamentalism in industrial policy and practice of neo-liberal states, they do not seem to explain precisely how come such states have been justified to play extensive roles in the economy. This paper provides a theoretical explanation by drawing lessons from Poulantzas’ approach to the state and going beyond it to consider alternatives. Accordingly, it conceives the innovation state as a result of the social division of labour and as a condensation of conflicting social relations which have their own materiality. The paper argues that whatever form the innovation state has taken in the western world since the industrial revolution, this has remained predominantly capitalist. Thus, it reproduces the social division of labour that is exploitative and unjust, delivering most benefits of innovation to dominant classes and excluding the very poor and the marginalised. The kind of innovation state that matters for social justice is a non-capitalist one, promoting pluralism of societies of equals through innovation.

The Ecological Role of Ruppia cirrhosa (Petagna) Grande in a Choked Lagoon

We studied the ecological and functional aspects (such as role in sediment characteristics and plant–animal interactions) of a Ruppia cirrhosa (Petagna) Grande meadow during its vegetative season in the choked Valle Campo lagoon, a sub-basin of the wider Valli di Comacchio, on the Northern Adriatic coast. Sampling campaigns were carried out with a roughly fortnightly frequency in 2017 at two sites, one with the Ruppia meadow and one with bare sediment. Sediment parameters analyzed were microphytobenthic chlorophyll-a, protein, carbohydrate, and lipid content, and total organic matter. The macrobenthos was identified at the lowest possible taxonomic level. Chlorophyll a, as a surrogate of microphytobenthos, showed differences between the two sites, probably mainly related to light intensity; thus, it is expected that the absence of seagrass canopy results in the higher production of microphytobenthos. At both sites, proteins were the dominant class of labile compounds, suggesting that detrital organic matter present at both study sites is of high nutritional quality. The high protein/carbohydrate ratio also suggests the presence of non-aged organic matter. We recorded a total of 18 macroinvertebrate taxa. The Ruppia meadow showed a positive influence on macrofauna abundance, diversity, species richness, and composition of trophic groups. Only the infaunal taxa Capitella capitata and Chironomus salinarius exhibited higher abundance at the bare site. The ecological quality status measured by the M-AMBI index was unsatisfactory everywhere. However, the presence of the Ruppia meadow resulted in index values being consistently higher. The role of this minor seagrass has been proved to be of great importance, improving the nutritional quality of the organic matter in the sediments and, above all, providing new habitats and new niches for a number of benthic macrofauna species.

Solvated interaction energy: from small-molecule to antibody drug design.

Scoring functions are ubiquitous in structure-based drug design as an aid to predicting binding modes and estimating binding affinities. Ideally, a scoring function should be broadly applicable, obviating the need to recalibrate and refit its parameters for every new target and class of ligands. Traditionally, drugs have been small molecules, but in recent years biologics, particularly antibodies, have become an increasingly important if not dominant class of therapeutics. This makes the goal of having a transferable scoring function, i.e., one that spans the range of small-molecule to protein ligands, even more challenging. One such broadly applicable scoring function is the Solvated Interaction Energy (SIE), which has been developed and applied in our lab for the last 15years, leading to several important applications. This physics-based method arose from efforts to understand the physics governing binding events, with particular care given to the role played by solvation. SIE has been used by us and many independent labs worldwide for virtual screening and discovery of novel small-molecule binders or optimization of known drugs. Moreover, without any retraining, it is found to be transferrable to predictions of antibody-antigen relative binding affinities and as accurate as functions trained on protein-protein binding affinities. SIE has been incorporated in conjunction with other scoring functions into ADAPT (Assisted Design of Antibody and Protein Therapeutics), our platform for affinity modulation of antibodies. Application of ADAPT resulted in the optimization of several antibodies with 10-to-100-fold improvements in binding affinity. Further applications included broadening the specificity of a single-domain antibody to be cross-reactive with virus variants of both SARS-CoV-1 and SARS-CoV-2, and the design of safer antibodies by engineering of a pH switch to make them more selective towards acidic tumors while sparing normal tissues at physiological pH.

Microbial diversity, transformation and toxicity of azo dye biodegradation using thermo-alkaliphilic microbial consortia

In this research, the transformation and toxicity of Reactive Red 141 and 239 biodegraded under anaerobic-aerobic conditions as well as metagenomic analysis of Reactive Red 239 degrading microbial consortia collected from Shala Hot spring were investigated. Toxicity of dyes before treatment and after treatment on three plants, fish and microorganisms were done. A halotolerant and thermo-alkaliphilic bacterial consortia decolorizing azo dyes (>98% RR 141 and > 96% RR 239 in 7 h) under optimum conditions of salt concentration (0.5%), temperature (55 °C) and pH (9), were used. Toxicity effect of untreated dyes and treated dyes in Tomato > Beetroot > Cabbage plants, while the effect was Leuconostoc mesenteroides > Lactobacillus plantarum > Escherichia coli in microorganisms. Among fishes, the toxicity effect was highest in Oreochromis niloticus followed by Cyprinus carpio and Clarias gariepinus. The three most dominant phyla that could be in charge of decolorizing RR 239 under anaerobic-aerobic systems were Bacteroidota (22.6–29.0%), Proteobacteria (13.5–29.0%), and Chloroflexi (8.8–23.5%). At class level microbial community structure determination, Bacteroidia (18.9–27.2%), Gammaproteobacteria (11.0–15.8%), Alphaproteobacteria (2.5–5.0%) and Anaerolineae (17.0–21.9%) were dominant classes. The transformation of RR 141 and RR 239 into amine compounds were proposed via high performance liquid chromatography-mass spectroscopy (HPLC/MS) and fourier transform infrared spectroscopy (FT-IR). Overall, dye containing wastewaters treated under anaerobic-aerobic systems using thermo-alkaliphilic microbial consortia were found to be safe to agricultural (fishes and vegetables) purposes.

Albena Shkodrova. Communist Gourmet. The Curious Story of Food in the People’s Republic of Bulgaria

Albena Shkodrova. <i>Communist Gourmet. The Curious Story of Food in the People’s Republic of Bulgaria</i>

A Novel Dynamic Fusion Approach Using Information Entropy for Interval-Valued Ordered Datasets

Information fusion is capable of fusing and transforming information originated from multiple sources into an integrated representation. As an important representative of information, interval-valued ordered data aims at characterizing inaccurate and ambiguous information. However, existing methods are inappropriate when applied to the multi-source fusion for them. In addition, it is inevitable that in daily-life the sources and attributes of multi-source information systems may update at the same time. Hence there is a need to fuse data as efficiently as possible. Inspired by these deficiencies, we pay attention to the effective and efficient fusion of multi-source interval-valued ordered data in varieties of cases. First, the concepts of fuzzy dominance relation and dominance classes based on it are put forward between any two samples of interval-valued ordered information systems. Second, we define the fuzzy dominating and dominated conditional entropy. Then the fusion model is established and it is multi-source interval-valued ordered data oriented. Furthermore, it is true that there are numerous real-life applications related to concurrent change of both sources and attributes. Consequently, we design four incremental mechanisms and algorithms for fusing multi-source interval-valued data on the ground of the static condition. Eventually, a series of experiments is carried out on twelve datasets to verify that the proposed fusion approach outperforms other comparative methods on efficacy. Meanwhile, our incremental fusion algorithms are efficient compared with the static one for updating multi-source interval-valued data when sources and attributes are in the simultaneous variation.

Investors versus Workers: A Class‐Based Critique of International Investment Treaties

ABSTRACTBilateral investment treaties constitute an important instrument to facilitate global investment. Recent discussions in political theory have highlighted several normative concerns raised by bilateral investment treaties. One worry is that investment treaties undermine national self‐determination as they grant investors far‐reaching protections that can be legally enforced. Another worry is that the benefits and burdens entailed in bilateral investment treaties are distributed unfairly in a way that benefits investors at the expense of states and disadvantaged groups within states. Instead of critiquing bilateral investment treaties from a perspective of global (distributive) justice, in this article I develop a class‐based critique. This involves a twofold departure. First, the article shifts the focus from distributions to the power relations that are built into the global capitalist economy and that come into sharp relief in the practice of global investment. Second, rather than focusing on the relation between states and investors, I claim that in a class‐based critique the relation between workers and investors should take centre stage. I argue that bilateral investment treaties are effectively an instrument of class domination, insofar as they reproduce and increase the power of transnational corporations while at the same time decreasing the power of workers.

Factors affecting yellow pan trap captures of the emerald ash borer biocontrol agents Tetrastichus planipennisi Yang (Hymenoptera: Eulophidae) and Spathius galinae Belokobylskij & Strazanac (Hymenoptera: Braconidae): Implications for monitoring establishment and seasonal abundance

Yellow pan traps are frequently used to monitor establishment of hymenopteran parasitoids introduced for biological control of the invasive ash pest, emerald ash borer (EAB), Agrilus planipennis Fairmaire (Coleoptera: Buprestidae). To evaluate and improve their efficacy as a monitoring tool, we conducted field studies during 2016–2019 in southern Michigan where the introduced hymenopteran larval parasitoids, Tetrastichus planipennisi Yang (Eulophidae) and Spathius galinae (Braconidae) Belokobylskij & Strazanac are established. Our objectives were to describe parasitoid seasonal abundance, identify host tree variables that might influence parasitoid capture numbers (i.e., number of adults captured) and capture rates (i.e., number of positive traps per collecting period), and compare parasitoid trap captures to parasitized EAB larval densities. Yellow pan trap capture numbers and rates of both species were low for most study sites and years. Captures of both parasitoid species occurred throughout the growing season and neither showed a consistent trend in seasonal abundance. Emerald ash borer infested trees with suppressed or intermediate crown classes had higher T. planipennisi capture numbers and rates than dominant or codominant crown classes. During some years, T. planipennisi capture rates increased with decreasing tree diameter at breast height (DBH) and T. planipennisi capture numbers increased with increasing numbers of epicormics sprouts on host trees. Spathius galinae captures had no significant relationship with host tree variables but low overall capture numbers, due to its more recent introduction, may have prevented detection of any relationships. Tetrastichus planipennisi adult capture numbers were positively related to previous year’s densities of T. planipennisi parasitized larvae dissected from trees. Spathius galinae capture numbers were not correlated with parasitized EAB larval densities. We discuss the relevance of our findings to improve yellow pan trap efficacy for monitoring introduced EAB larval parasitoids.

The State and Dilemma of Post-Colonial Nigeria: An Explanatory Perspective of Security Governance Failure

The post-colonial Nigerian state has experienced series of internal political altercations due to the consistent and persistent behavioural patterns of the political elites, whose inordinate political ambitions have often revolved around appropriating state apparatuses as well as primordial forces for their personal aggrandisement, against the majoritarian vital primary interest of the downtrodden. To this effect, governance has suffered over the years in the hands of the recycled dominant political class that has produced and manipulated institutions of government, thereby deepening copiously and rapaciously spatial social and economic inequalities between the elite and masses. In view of this circumstance, the study is aimed at x-raying the explanatory contradictions responsible for security governance failure in Nigeria after decades of political independence. The study adopted qualitative-descriptive method and relied on secondary sources of data collection. The ‘‘theory of post-colonial state’’ is employed as the main underpinning analytical construct that scientifically studies the society as a whole, and takes into consideration the convergence of ‘unity of the opposites’.