Garden Pool Research Articles

Monitoring newt communities in urban area using eDNA metabarcoding.

Newts are amphibians commonly present in small ponds or garden pools in urban areas. They are protected in many countries and their presence is monitored through visual observation and/or trapping. However, newts are not easy to spot as they are small, elusive and often hidden at the bottom of water bodies. In recent years, environmental DNA (eDNA) has become a popular tool for detecting newts, with a focus on individual species using qPCR assays. Here, we assess the effectiveness of eDNA metabarcoding compared to conventional visual surveys of newt diversity in 45 ponds within urban areas of Geneva canton, Switzerland. We designed newt-specific mitochondrial 16S rRNA primers, which assign the majority of amplicons to newts, and were able to detect four species known to be present in the region, including the invasive subspecies Lissotriton vulgaris meridionalis, native to the Italian peninsula, that has been introduced in the Geneva area recently. The obtained eDNA results were congruent overall with conventional surveys, confirming the morphological observations in the majority of cases (67%). In 25% of cases, a species was only detected genetically, while in 8% of cases, the observations were not supported by eDNA metabarcoding. Our study confirms the usefulness of eDNA metabarcoding as a tool for the effective and non-invasive monitoring of newt community and suggests its broader use for the survey of newt diversity in urban area at larger scales.

Susanna and the Elders: A Hebrew Legend with Egyptian Wordplay?

The Egyptian word seshen (“water lily,” a cognate of the Hebrew name Susanna, written with hieroglyphs depicting a door bolt, a garden pool, and water), may have inspired the setting of the Theodotion form of Daniel 13:1–27. This may constitute a novel type of “bilingual visual paronomasia,” and point to an Egyptian source of the details of Susanna’s bath, absent in the earliest (Old Greek) form of the biblical text of Daniel.

Duty to treat: where do the limits lie?

Doctors are dying. The combination of a novel virus, no existing treatment, and inadequate supplies of personal protective equipment (PPE) is putting frontline health workers at risk of serious harm. The question arises: when does work based risk become unacceptable? Does a point come when health professionals have the right not to treat seriously ill patients if their PPE is inadequate? Doctors’ primary duty—to quote the General Medical Council—is to make the care of patients their first concern. This is a paradigm example of what moral philosophers call a “special” positive duty. It can be helpful to compare them to general positive duties. It is widely accepted that we are all under general positive duties—positive in the sense that they require some action from us. If I see a toddler struggling in a garden pool, and I can rescue her without excessive risk, then I am under a duty to do so. It would also be reasonable to criticise me for refusing. These duties are general as they presuppose no special relationship between rescuer and rescued. General duties are not onerous. If I cannot swim and see a child struggling in a torrent, it …

The Complete chloroplast genome sequence of the Nymphaea lotus L. (Nymphaeaceae)

Nymphaea lotus L. (Nymphaeaceae) is a type species of subgenus Lotos, which has been frequently cultivated in ornamental garden pools. Here, we presented complete chloroplast genome of N. lotus which is 159,311 bp long and has four subregions: 89,610 bp of large single copy (LSC) and 19,333 bp of small single copy (SSC) regions are separated by 25,184 bp of inverted repeat (IR) regions including 130 genes (85 coding genes, eight rRNAs, and 37 tRNAs). The overall GC contents of the chloroplast genome were 39.1% and in the LSC, SSC, and IR regions were 37.7%, 34.2%, and 43.4%, respectively. Phylogenetic tree constructed with whole chloroplast genomes present phylogenetic position of subgenus Lotos.

Discussions on the Design of the Pool Landscape in the Rain Garden Construction

With rapid urbanization, the environmental problems are becoming increasingly prominent and diversified ecological landscape designs consequently appear with the rain garden landscape design as a typical. Based on the introduction to rain garden ecological functions and in combination with domestic and international rain garden landscape design cases, this paper discussed the rain garden pool landscape design.

Algae

Algae frequently get a bad press. Pond slime is a problem in garden pools, algal blooms can produce toxins that incapacitate or kill animals and humans and even the term seaweed is pejorative - a weed being a plant growing in what humans consider to be the wrong place. Positive aspects of algae are generally less newsworthy - they are the basis of marine food webs, supporting fisheries and charismatic marine megafauna from albatrosses to whales, as well as consuming carbon dioxide and producing oxygen. Here we consider what algae are, their diversity in terms of evolutionary origin, size, shape and life cycles, and their role in the natural environment and in human affairs.

Ottoman period water structures and water-related architecture: examples in Safranbolu, Turkey

Safranbolu is known for the abundance of its water resources. The city is a unique and historic settlement that hosts very beautiful examples of traditional Turkish architecture. The city attracts both national and international tourists. In this paper, firstly the Ottoman period water supply structures of Safranbolu are described. Incekaya Aqueduct and water transmission system, also known as the Pasha Water Supply System or Spring System are discussed. The Incekaya Aqueduct delivers drinking water from the spring at Danaköy Village to Safranbolu enabling the transfer over the Tokatlı Canyon via gravity. This aqueduct, a very historic and aesthetically pleasing water structure, was commissioned as a city asset by Ottoman Grand Vizier Izzet Mehmet Pasha in the period of 1794–98. The paper secondly discusses the pool rooms that serve as an example of the spatial usage of water features in traditional residential architecture of the Ottoman period in Safranbolu. The pool rooms were constructed either within or separate from the traditional Safranbolu mansions. Asmazlar Mansion in Safranbolu and Deligözler House in the Bağlar District have been evaluated as examples of pool rooms within the house, and two garden pools in the Bağlar and central districts are assessed as examples of outside pools, known as pavilion mansions with a garden pool.

Hemolytic Staining of the Intima of the Aortic Root in Freshwater Drowning

A retrospective study was conducted of files at the Institute of Legal Medicine in Hamburg, Germany from 1998 to 2003 of all cases of drowning where there was no putrefaction, to document the rate of recording of hemolytic staining of the intima of the great vessels. All cases had full police investigations with reviews of previous histories, circumstantial evidence, and autopsy findings. A series of control subjects who had died of various natural and nonnatural, nondrowning deaths, matched for age, sex, and postmortem interval, was also reviewed. One hundred twenty cases of freshwater drowning were identified. Drowning occurred in a garden pool in 1 case, in a bath in 2, and in the river Elbe in 117. The age range was from 2 to 91 years (mean = 55 years; M:F = 1:1.8). Hemolytic intimal staining of the aortic root was documented in 6 cases (6 of 120; 5%). This consisted of reddened discoloration of the proximal portion of the aortic root, without any significant staining of the proximal pulmonary artery. No significant hemolytic staining of the intima of the great vessels was recorded in any of the 120 control cases. Although under-reporting of findings may occur in retrospective analyses, this study has shown that at least 5% of freshwater drowning cases showed differential staining of the pulmonary trunk and aorta, with hemolytic discoloration of the aortic intima. When present, hemolytic staining of the aortic root intima may be a useful and possibly under-recognized corroborative sign of freshwater drowning.

Planting pots at Petra: a preliminary study of ollae perforatae at the Petra Garden Pool Complex and at the 'Great Temple'

In June 2005, I conducted a survey of pottery from the Petra Garden and Pool Complex and the Petra 'Great Temple' to determine if there were any ollae perforatae, or planting pots, in use at these sites. My study demonstrated that planting pots were indeed present. In addition to my study of the pottery from past seasons, the ongoing excavations at both the Petra Garden and Pool Complex and the Petra 'Great Temple' yielded ollae perforatae. In this note, I will describe the known ollae perforatae and offer preliminary conclusions about the pots.

KAJIAN ARKEOLOGI MENGENAI KERATON SUROSOWAN BANTEN LAMA, BANTEN

This research intrinsically is about activity of field and non-field archaeology. Focus of this research is to know form, settlement, and room function and/or building specially undercarriage building structure which still can be seen in Surosowan keraton. Methods used for the research are excavation, bibliography study, artifact and feature analysis, special analysis, and reconstruction. The result may indicate that, according to ancient map analysis, Surosowan keraton at least have experienced of five development phase. Excavation can only show the existence of is biphase of development pursuant to building structure indication which is overlap. According to tiling remains in every room, this research can reconstruct measure and pattern of tiling installation at every room in complex of keraton. The Research also obtain data to reconstruct building wall brick couple pattern and foundation at building in complex of keraton. Meanwhile, according to field observation is also obtained an assumption for some building function which have been shown, like sultan’s residence, audience hall, garden pool of Roro Denok, and bath of Pancuran Mas. Keywords: Archaeology, excavation, reconstruction, palace

About the oldest domesticates among fishes

Domestication of mammals such as cattle, dogs, pigs and horses preceded that of fishes by at least 10 000 years. The first domesticated fish was the common carp Cyprinus carpio. Initially it was held as an exploited captive and did not undergo major changes in body shape or colour variations. About 2000 years ago, wild common carp were most abundant in the inland delta of the Danube River. These fish were torpedo shaped, golden‐yellow in colour and had two pairs of barbels and a mesh‐like scale pattern. Large schools of them thrived and reproduced on the flood plains of the Danube. The Romans kept fishes in specially built ponds at that time. The common carp was an ideal candidate and its rearing became more popular in medieval times. Common carp culture gradually became the most profitable branch of agriculture in central Europe and many special ponds were built. Soon common carp were being produced in pond systems including spawning and growing ponds. Unintentional artificial selection had taken place between the 12th and mid‐14th century, and deep bodied and variously scaled or scaleless domesticated forms appeared in nearly every pond system. Some colour aberrations appeared in the 1950s in Japan, which, as koi, became the most expensive of fish. Common carp were not originally domesticated in China but wild ‘chi’Carassius auratus occasionally appeared as a xanthic form that, as the goldfish, has been known since 960 A.D. By the 1200s the fish were used as ornamental animals in the garden pools of rich landowners. Circa 1276 to 1546, the Chinese began keeping golden chi in aquarium‐like vessels and soon rich and poor alike became breeders of the fancy domesticated goldfish. The variously shaped monstrosities and colour aberrants were freaks but they became very fashionable at that time and still are. Domesticated goldfish monstrosities were first exported from China to Japan and much later to Europe and around the world. More recently other species have been domesticated by aquarists, such as the guppy Poecilia reticulata or the neon tetra Paracheirodon innesi. Other fishes kept as ornamentals, like swordtails Xiphophorus hellerii and platies Xiphophorus maculatus, the discus and angelfishes (Cichlidae), as well as those cultured for food like the rainbow trout Oncorhynchus mykiss, channel catfish Ictalurus punctatus or sturgeons (Acipenseridae) are merely exploited captives.

The garden pool experiment: A fundamental defect in the theory of origins of cardiac muscle action currents

Two simple experiments are described which cast serious doubt on modern interpretations of the electrocardiogram and in particular of the T wave.