Line Plots Research Articles

Diversity of plant species and the presence of Invasive Alien Species (IAS) in the Sub-Montane Forest at Pakenjeng Region, Southern Part of Garut, West Java

Plant species diversity is an important ecological characteristic, especially to observe the complexity of forest ecosystems. The research is carried out to elaborate on the species composition, species diversity and the forest structure, and to identify the presence of invasive alien species (IAS) in the sub-montane forests at the Pakenjeng region, the southern part of Garut, West Java. The vegetation survey method used was a stratified sampling technique with the transects and line plots as sampling units for inventorying the trees, forest regenerations, and ground cover. These data are further analyzed to obtain information on abundance, dominance, importance value index (IVI), species diversity and evenness. Based on the species composition, the forest formation was categorized as a primary sub-montane forest with high species diversity characterized by the presence of tree species such as Altingia excelsa, Lithocarpus sundaicus, Castanopsis spp. and Podocarpus spp. showing the curve of inversed-J for horizontal structure with A, B and C canopy layers. The species of Eupatorium inulifolium, Musa zebrina, Piper aduncum and Lantana camara are categorized as IAS.

VOLUNTEER ACTIVITY CHANGES AFTER MIDDLE YEARS OLD AND THE INFLUENCES OF VOLUNTEERING ON WELL-BEING

The objectives of this paper are to examine volunteer activity changes over the life courses and the long-term influences of volunteer activity on the well-being. The paper analyzes the KLoSA data from wave 1 to wave 5, and selects 10,254 persons over 45 years old as study samples in the base year. For the statistical analysis, the two-way connected line plot and transition probability analysis techniques are employed and the GEE method is used for the multivariate regression estimation of the coefficients. The results show that the volunteer activities increase highest in one’s late 40s and decrease abruptly from the age, and slow down 50s to one’s late 70s, showing a repeating rise and fall pattern. Entering one’s 80s, the volunteer activities come to be stable relatively than the previous years. And, the probability of continuing the volunteer status after 2 years is about 31.2 percent and the probability of stopping volunteer activity comes to be around 68.9 percent. As a last, the regression analysis results show that there is a positive relationship between volunteerism and well-being variables. Expecially the interaction term is statistically significant, showing a negative sign of the coefficient. This implies that the volunteerism contributes to increasing the well-being but decreasing by engaging excessively. The results support the previous study outcomes that excessive volunteer activities are not good for the health.

Potential Regeneration of Mangrove Coastal of Payum Beach Merauke District

The purpose of this study was to analyze the regeneration potential of mangroves found on the coast of Payum, Merauke Regency, Papua Province. This research was conducted in August-October 2018. The data collection technique was purposive sampling using Transect Line Plots. The sampling location was chosen based on the representation of the presence of mangroves in three locations, namely zones A, B and C. The results of this study explained that there were three tree-level mangrove species, namely Avicennia alba, Rhizophora apiculata and Sonneratia alba. Type A. alba dominates in zone A with an important value index (INP) of 205.76%, zone B does not have a certain type that dominates, while Rhizophora apiculata dominates in zone C with INP 185.35%. The potential of the three mangrove species in zones A, B and C is good. Aegialitis annulata species are only found in sapling and seedling levels. In zones A and B are classified as new while in zone C is classified as bad. This study concluded that Avicennia alba, Rhizophora apiculata and Sonneratia alba had the potential to regenerate in all three locations (Zones A, B and C) compared to Aegialitis annulata.

Species Composition and Stand Structure in sub-montane Forest of Mount Galunggung, Tasikmalaya, West Java

Mount Galunggung is an active stratovolcano in Tasikmalaya, West Jawa, which shows the last major eruption in 1982-1983. This eruption caused the changes in forest vegetation, so this study aims to analyze species composition and stand structure in Mount Galunggung forest. This study conducted using a combination between transect and line plot methods. Based on the findings, there are 58 species of trees and its regeneration belonging to 24 families and 63 species of understorey belonging to 21 families. The highest species number of trees and its regeneration comes from Theaceae (7 species), Lauraceae (7 species), Moraceae (5 species), and Myrtaceae family (4 species). Furthermore, the highest species number of understorey comes from Urticaceae (4 species), Rubiaceae (3 species), and Orchidaceae (3 species) family. The species composition of trees and its regeneration dominated by pioneer species such as Homalanthus populneus, Ficus spp., and Schima wallichii, and climax species such as Castanopsis javanica, C. tungurrut, and Macropanax dispermum. Besides that, understorey dominated by Begonia robusta, Pilea melastomoides, and Athyrium sorgonense. Diameter distribution of the trees forming inversed J-curve that was dominated by 10-20 cm diameter class. Stratification of the trees canopy dominated by C stratum (4-20 m).

Assessment of Rangelands Around Molepolole Village of Botswana to Ascertain Its Potential to Support Free Range Beef Cattle Despite Its Long Term Use as a Grazing Area

In Botswana, cattle rearing can either be in farms or in communal grazing areas. In communal grazing areas, carrying capacities are never adhered to, hence degradation sometimes occurs. This negatively impact on the livestock industry since cattle are mainly free ranging. This therefore calls for periodic checks of grass species to determine whether grazing areas still have potentials to sustain livestock production. A study was done to take stock of grass species and bush encroachment status around the biggest village of Botswana, known as Molepolole. The survey looked at species composition, distribution and production. The survey was done by using line transects, quadrats and plots in the northern and western direction of the village. In each quadrat, grass species were identified, counted by species, height measured and biomass determined by clipping. In plots, woody plants were counted for all species. The survey revealed that despite heavy grazing and periodic droughts the grazing area still has some grass species of good grazing value and the area is being threatened to being encroached by woody species. Thus there is still a potential for use of the area for grazing but at lower stocking rate. However, it was noted that the area needs some restoration by controlling bush encroachment and reintroduction of good grass species.

The viability of co-active fuzzy inference system model for monthly reference evapotranspiration estimation: case study of Uttarakhand State

Abstract Reference evapotranspiration (ETo) is a major component of the hydrological cycle linking the irrigation water requirement and planning and management of water resources. In this research, the potential of co-active neuro-fuzzy inference system (CANFIS) was investigated against the multilayer perceptron neural network (MLPNN), radial basis neural network (RBNN), self-organizing map neural network (SOMNN) and multiple linear regression (MLR) to estimate the monthly ETo at Pantnagar and Ranichauri stations, located in the foothills of Indian central Himalayas of Uttarakhand State, India. The significant combination of input variables for implemented techniques was decided by the Gamma test (GT). The results obtained by CANFIS models were compared with MLPNN, RBNN, SOMNN and MLR models based on performance evaluation indicators and visual inspection using line, scatter and Taylor plots for both the stations. The results of comparison revealed that CANFIS-5/CANFIS-9 models (RMSE = 0.0978/0.1394, SI = 0.0261/0.0475, COE = 0.9963/0.9846, PCC = 0.9982/0.9942 and WI = 0.9991/0.9959) with three and five input variables provide superior results for estimating monthly ETo at Pantnagar and Ranichauri stations, respectively. Also, the adopted modelling strategy can build a truthful expert intelligent system for estimating the monthly ETo at the study stations.

Identification of dragonfly and damselfly species around Mahaka river, Hasanuddin university teaching forest

Odonata is a group of insects that have medium to large in size and attractive color. These insects play an essential role as biological controllers and environmental bioindicators. This study aims to identify the types of dragonflies and damselfishes that found around Mahaka River, Hasanuddin University Teaching Forest. This research was held in October 2018. Observation and retrieval of dragonfly and damselfly data were carried out using the line transect and plot method. The samples were taken from 3 (three) zones with the distance between zones is 15 meters. The results showed that there were 12 types of dragonflies and damselflies from 3 familia found, namely Libellulidae (8 species), Chlorocyphidae (1 species), and Coenagrionidae (3 species). The highest number of dragonflies and damselfly is founded zone I and sequently found in zone II and zone III. The most frequency of appearance is found in the morning observations, and sequently found in the afternoon and evening observations.

ANALISIS KERAPATAN MANGROVE SEBAGAI SALAH SATU INDIKATOR EKOWISATA DI PERAIRAN PANTAI DUSUN ALARIANO KECAMATAN AMAHAI KABUPATEN MALUKU TENGAH

This study aims to determine the type and density of mangroves on the coast of Alariano sub-village Amahai District, Central Maluku Regency. This research was carried out in May 2019. The research location was divided into 2 stations. this research is descriptive quantitative. The method used in this research is line transect and sample plot (Transect line plot. Based on the results of the study found 6 types of mangroves including Achantus ebracteatus, Aegiceras corniculatum, Sonnerattia alba, Bruguiera gymnorhiza, Rhizophora apiculata, Xylocarpus granatum. According to the standard criteria of mangrove damage. the results of the calculation of species density at station I and station II are categorized as very dense so that they can be potential for ecotourism development.

Performance Evaluation of Vegetable Oil-Based Nano-Cutting Fluids in Environmentally Friendly Machining of Inconel-800 Alloy.

Recently, the application of nano-cutting fluids has gained much attention in the machining of nickel-based super alloys due their good lubricating/cooling properties including thermal conductivity, viscosity, and tribological characteristics. In this study, a set of turning experiments on new nickel-based alloy i.e., Inconel-800 alloy, was performed to explore the characteristics of different nano-cutting fluids (aluminum oxide (Al2O3), molybdenum disulfide (MoS2), and graphite) under minimum quantity lubrication (MQL) conditions. The performance of each nano-cutting fluid was deliberated in terms of machining characteristics such as surface roughness, cutting forces, and tool wear. Further, the data generated through experiments were statistically examined through Box Cox transformation, normal probability plots, and analysis of variance (ANOVA) tests. Then, an in-depth analysis of each process parameter was conducted through line plots and the results were compared with the existing literature. In the end, the composite desirability approach (CDA) was successfully implemented to determine the ideal machining parameters under different nano-cutting cooling conditions. The results demonstrate that the MoS2 and graphite-based nanofluids give promising results at high cutting speed values, but the overall performance of graphite-based nanofluids is better in terms of good lubrication and cooling properties. It is worth mentioning that the presence of small quantities of graphite in vegetable oil significantly improves the machining characteristics of Inconel-800 alloy as compared with the two other nanofluids.

Visualizing gravitational Bessel waves

We explicitly derive a vortex inspired solution for the metric perturbation within the linearized Einstein general theory of relativity in arbitrary dimensions $D\ensuremath{\ge}4$. We focus on $D=4$ where our solution is the gravitational analog of the well-known electromagnetic (or electron) Bessel vortex beams. Next we visualize the perturbed spacetime via tidal tendexes and frame-drag vortexes. We display and analyze mostly two-dimensional sections of the tendexes and the vortexes for different values of an angular momentum of the wave solution. Corresponding geodesic deviation equations are solved and the results are visualized. We show that the physically most important quadrupolelike case leads to a wave with rotating polarization. We discuss asymptotical features of the found solution. We provide also several 3D plots of tendex lines. One of them concerns a special cylindrical-like case and we utilize the topological classification of singularities of the depicted line fields as an approach to characterize the radiation field.

Are wearable heart rate measurements accurate to estimate aerobic energy cost during low-intensity resistance exercise?

The aim of the present study was to assess the accuracy of heart rate to estimate energy cost during eight resistance exercises performed at low intensities: half squat, 45° inclined leg press, leg extension, horizontal bench press, 45° inclined bench press, lat pull down, triceps extension and biceps curl. 56 males (27.5 ± 4.9 years, 1.78 ± 0.06 m height, 78.67 ± 10.7 kg body mass and 11.4 ± 4.1% estimated body fat) were randomly divided into four groups of 14 subjects each. Two exercises were randomly assigned to each group and subjects performed four bouts of 4-min constant-intensity at each assigned exercise: 12%, 16%, 20% and 24% 1-RM. Exercise and intensity order were random. Each subject performed no more than 2 bouts in the same testing session. A minimum recovery of 24h was kept between sessions. During testing VO2 was measured with Cosmed K4b2 and heart rate was measured with Polar V800 monitor. Energy cost was calculated from mean VO2 during the last 30-s of each bout by using the energy equivalent 1 ml O2 = 5 calorie. Linear regressions with heart rate as predictor and energy cost as dependent variable were build using mean data from all subjects. Robustness of the regression lines was given by the scatter around the regression line (Sy.x) and Bland-Altman plots confirmed the agreement between measured and estimated energy costs. Significance level was set at p≤0.05. The regressions between heart rate and energy cost in the eight exercises were significant (p<0.01) and robustness was: half squat (Sy.x = 0,48 kcal·min-1), 45° inclined leg press (Sy.x = 0,54 kcal·min-1), leg extension (Sy.x = 0,59 kcal·min-1), horizontal bench press (Sy.x = 0,47 kcal·min-1), 45° inclined bench press (Sy.x = 0,54 kcal·min-1), lat pull down (Sy.x = 0,28 kcal·min-1), triceps extension (Sy.x = 0,08 kcal·min-1) and biceps curl (Sy.x = 0,13 kcal·min-1). We conclude that during low-intensity resistance exercises it is possible to estimate aerobic energy cost by wearable heart rate monitors with errors below 10% in healthy young trained males.

Discrimination of Clinacanthus nutans extracts and correlation with antiplasmodial activity using ATR-FTIR fingerprinting

Clinacanthus nutans or Sabah Snake Grass is a small shrub indigenous to tropical Asia. It has been used in the treatment of skin rashes, insect and snake bites, cancer and diabetes. In this study, Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy was used to discriminate the effects of different extraction methods on the chemical composition of C. nutans freeze dried leaves and stems. The samples were extracted using different methods (soaking and sonication) followed by the measurement of its antiplasmodial activity. Based on the absorption peaks, C. nutans extracts comprise of compounds with hydroxyl, methyl, sulfoxide, sulfone, aromatic and carbonyl functionalities which indicate the presence of carbohydrates, terpenes, sulfurous glycosides and aromatic compounds in the extracts. Multivariate data analysis such as orthogonal partial least square (OPLS) was used to correlate the FTIR spectra of the extracts with antiplasmodial activity. The OPLS model exhibited R2Y and Q2Y values of 0.896 and 0.736, respectively. The RMSEE and RMSECV value were 22.41 and 32.36. The loading line plot of the OPLS model revealed that OH, CO, CH and CC functional group induced the activity, whereas, CN and SO reduced the bioactivity. These preliminary results demonstrated that FTIR spectroscopy can be used as a simple and rapid technique to discriminate C. nutans extracts obtained from different extraction methods which is useful in the quality control during processing of this plant.

Identification of lactic acid bacteria Enterococcus and Lactococcus by near-infrared spectroscopy and multivariate classification

Lactic acid bacteria are important in numerous biological processes. The fabrication of cheese, for example, uses the lactic acid bacteria found in raw milk such as Lactococcus lactis as starters to improve the organoleptic properties of milk. Conventional methods to determine the genus and species of lactic acid bacteria isolated from raw milk involve genotyping and phenotyping, which require specific preparation and sample destruction. To improve on this situation, we present herein a simple and non-destructive screening method to discriminate between the Lactococcus and Enterococcus species most commonly found in raw milk (L. lactis, E. durans, E. faecalis, and E. faecium). The bacteria are grown on agar plates and assessed by using near-infrared spectroscopy in a spectral range from 800 to 2777 nm. Principle component analysis loading line plots highlight the inter-genus and inter-species differences at various wavelengths, which are mostly assigned to cell-wall compounds such as polysaccharides. The best artificial neural network identification models give 98.8% and 86.3% classification rates at the genus and species level, respectively, for an external validation set made of 80 samples. These results suggest that near-infrared spectroscopy may be used to identify lactic acid bacteria on agar medium.

Optimal parametric mixing analysis of active and passive micromixers using Taguchi method

Mixing of fluids flowing through channels and chambers is a crucial step in chemical and biochemical reactions inside microfluidic devices due to laminar flow because of small size channel and chamber dimensions. Mixing can be enhanced by passive or active mechanism which makes convection dominant over diffusion. To address this challenge, the study proposes three novel mixing designs: passive mixer, active mixer and a combination of active and passive mixing. These designs mixing performance has been studied by numerical simulation using COMSOL 5.3. According to the preliminary results of the study, pure active micromixer design has superior mixing ability. The mixing ability was proved by concentration line plots, concentration contours and videos. In order to further optimize the mixing index of the pure active micromixer, Taguchi method is applied against various input parametric values for micromixer such as frequency, voltage and velocity. The velocity is required for two fluids to flow, while frequency and voltages are for providing an external energy for active mixing. A total of nine cases were analyzed; the two best cases out of nine were selected for comparing mixing index line plots. The result of the study conclude that pure active micro-mixer at an optimal set of parameters, frequency of 10 Hz, velocity of 0.05 mm s–1 and voltage of 0.5 V achieved 99.6% mixing index at t = 0.2 s.

Positive Consequences of Declining Fertility: Socioeconomic Analysis of Punjab, Pakistan

Objectives: The present paper attempted to discover the behaviour of fertility differentials across the districts of Punjab, Pakistan. More precisely, it aimed to investigate some salient determinants of fertility differential through fitted regression line and scatter plot including the confidence interval. Materials and Methods: Data in this study were gathered from Multiple Indicator Cluster Survey 2013-2014. The regression analysis was employed to evaluate the relationship of fertility determinants, followed by plotting two-way scatter plots and confidence intervals. For the empirical analysis, the total fertility rate (TFR) was taken as an outcome variable while the employment rate, underfive mortality, and contraceptive use were considered as determinants. Results: The results indicated that child mortality is a very significant variable in determining the level of fertility and it had the coefficient value of 0.0096. It was further found that child mortality has a positive relationship with fertility rates. Thus, child mortality must be reduced to overcome the issue of high fertility rates at the district level of Punjab. Contraceptive use was also a very effective variable regarding determining the level of fertility and had a negative coefficient value of -0.033. Finally, the employment rate was a very useful variable for the determination of fertility level. Conclusions: The empirical results revealed that child mortality should be reduced in order to decrease the level of fertility in Punjab, Pakistan, and contraceptive use should develop through family planning programs.

Correlation of environmental factors and spatial distribution of moluscs communities in mangrove reboisation areas of Seribu Islands, Indonesia

Mangrove reforestation is often carried out in various regions or regions, but information about the relationship of environmental factors and the distribution of fauna associations is still very minimal. The Principal Component Analysis (PCA) study on the correlation of environmental factors and the spatial distribution of the molusks community in the Seribu Islands mangrove reforestation area was conducted in March 2014 with the aim of analyzing environmental factors for the diversity and presence of the molusks. Environmental factors are measured insecurely, while the moluccan community is collected by making line transects and plots measuring 10 x 10 m2 and in the size of 10 x 10 m2, a small plot of 1 x 1 m2 is made. The results of the study show that environmental factors are not so different between stations and do not exceed the quality standard for the lives of 4 species of mollusks, where the parameters of aquatic pH are the environmental factors that most influence their distribution.Keywords: environmental factors, distribution, mollusks community, mangrove reforestation, Seribu Islands

Detecting the association between Salagundi (Roudholia teysmanii) and other vegetation at Salib Kasih tourism areas

Salagundi (Roudholia teysmanii) is a lesser-known species with great potentially. It was discovered at Salib Kasih Tourism Areas, Simorangkir Julu Village, North Tapanuli. At first, it was planted by the community around Tourism Areas because of its wood quality. Recently, the area was dominated by Pine, and thus Salagundi was not the main vegetation anymore. Salagundi will sustain if people understanding the use of space for each species. The purpose of this research was to detect the association between Salagundi and other vegetation. The analysis data of this research was vegetation analysis with line plot sampling. Contingency 2 x 2 was used as a method to detect the association between species. The result showed that there was a positive association between (1) Salagundi and Haudolok (Syzigium racemosum) at sapling and tree levels and (2) Salagundi and Pine (Pinus merkusii) at sapling and pole levels.

Noninvasive determination of fiber orientation and tracking 2-dimensional deformation of human skin utilizing spatially resolved reflectance of infrared light measurement in vivo

We propose a noninvasive method for determining Langer’s tension lines and tracking two-dimensional (2D) deformation of human skin utilizing spatially resolved diffuse reflectance (SRDR) of infrared (IR) light measurement in vivo. The anisotropic light propagation pattern of the skin was measured at several locations on the human body; then, the principal axis (i.e., eigenvector) of the radial plot of equi-distant intensity lines was obtained to determine the orientation of the scattering-induced anisotropic reflectance of IR light. The results indicate the proposed method is able to determine preferential orientation of filamentous fiber with a reasonable degree of prediction accuracy over the entire body. We validated the proposed method by comparing the detected orientations of fiber with a previous scattering model-based light propagation anisotropy analysis method. We measured temperature dependence and tensile stress-induced changes of the spatially resolved reflectance of IR light on the skin. The surface temperature affects the light transmittance almost isotopically on the propagation patterns. The main contribution of this work is tracking the direction of tension causing 2D deformation of human skin without visible markers. The proposed method is applicable to sensing facial gestures or skin movements induced by human motion of skeletal or facial muscles.

Thermoreflectance Temperature Mapping of Ga2O3 Schottky Barrier Diodes

There is increasing adoption of SiC and GaN for various high-power applications, including in the areas of transportation, electricity production and distribution, control of industrial machinery, and military systems. These applications are expanding the market for wide bandgap materials beyond the existing important uses in chargers for smartphones, laptops, and television sets. The primary attraction of wide bandgap semiconductors is their ability to deliver higher power density and better efficiency as compared to equivalent devices made with silicon. Wide bandgap materials, such as SiC, GaN, and Ga2O3 can also withstand much higher temperatures, thus reducing the need for costly cooling systems. A major drawback of Ga2O3 as compared to other candidate semiconductors is its low thermal conductivity. This apparent limitation could potentially be mitigated by transferring devices to other substrates as has already been demonstrated for GaN, and/or by using heat spreaders and even top-side heat extraction. At present, the electrical performance of Ga2O3 rectifiers is limited by the presence of defects and by lower than desired breakdown voltage initiated in the depletion region near the electrode corners. In the more established SiC and GaN rectifier technologies, these shortcomings are mitigated by the use of edge termination methods whose effect is to smooth out the electric field distribution around the rectifying contact periphery. Such methods have included field plates and ion-implanted high-resistivity layers. But the recent success in producing Ga2O3 bulk wafers as well as doped epitaxial layers grown on these wafers are promising developments for power device applications of Ga2O3, especially vertical geometry rectifiers. So, if continued efforts can be successful in minimizing the on-state resistance Ron while increasing the breakdown voltage, Ga2O3-based devices can extend power switching to voltages above those possible with SiC and GaN. The thermal behavior of such devices is not only an important gage of electrical performance, but can also serve as an early indicator of the onset of failure, both spatially and temporally. Therefore, in this work, we set out to report on the thermal performance of edge-terminated, vertical geometry, Schottky diode devices. By using thermoreflectance-based thermography, we were able to map the temperature distribution on the surface of a diode with deep submicron resolutions. We also pulse activated the diodes with various prescribed periods and duty cycles, and tracked their thermal response by capturing the surface temperature fields at different times within each activation period. In doing so, we were able to resolve the thermal rise and decay of the active diodes. The attached figure shows an example of the temperature map obtained on the surface of a 100-µm Ga2O3 Schottky diode. The device under test is shown on the left side of the image while on the right side, the temperature rise field is shown just before the device is turned off. The line plot on the bottom left side shows the average temperature in the center of the device at different time points within the 5-second period that the shown device was pulsed at. Figure 1

Evaluation of range flora and fauna composition of a community forest in north-central Nigeria

Forest structure assessment is vital in ensuring environmental function such as habitat provision for biodiversity and soil conservation. This study was carried out to assess the flora and fauna composition of a community forest. The systematic line plot technique was used for the establishment of sampling plots for floristic survey of woody trees species and shrubs. Direct observation and in-depth interview was adopted to acquire information on fauna species in the forest. The abundance and diversity of flora and fauna species in the forest was analyzed. The results reviewed a total 18 species in 13 families were recorded for woody plants, 12 species in 9 families were recorded for shrubs, 7 species in 6 families were recorded for climber and 16 species in 8 families were recorded for herbaceous plants. Pseudocedrela kotschyi, Chromolaena odorata, Opilia celtidifolia and Desmodium adscendens were the most abundance species for both trees, shrubs, climbers and herbaceous species respectively. Forty one species of fauna species within the class mammalian, aves, and reptile were indicated. Bird species form the major component of the animal species in the forest. It is suggested that forest reserve be protected from resource exploitation through monitoring and conservation education.