WikiJournal of Science/Volume 7 Issue 1
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VOLUME 7 (2024)
ISSUE 1
Current issue
Author: Kholhring Lalchhandama
The Himalayan fossil hoax, or simply the Himalayan hoax, or the case of the peripatetic fossils, was perpetrated by an Indian geologist Vishwa Jit Gupta of Panjab University. Since his doctoral research in the early 1960s and the following two decades, Gupta worked on the geological and fossil studies of the Himalayan region, producing hundreds of research publications that were taken as fundamental to understanding the geology of the Himalayas. The Australian geologist John Talent of Macquarie University, who also worked on the geology of the Himalayas, found that Gupta's reports did not match those geological settings and the fossils were particularly odd, with some of them extraordinarily similar to those from other parts of the world. With Glenn Brock, Talent meticulously scrutinised Gupta's voluminous publications and revealed that Gupta had manipulated, faked, recycled, and plagiarised his data. [...] Early in 1978, Gilbert Klapper and Willi Ziegler had suspected foul play when they noticed that Gupta's conodont fossils were similar to those collected by George Jennings Hinde from Buffalo, New York, a century before. As Arun Deep Ahluwalia recalled, Gupta had faked conodont fossils by planting them in the Himalayan rock samples to impress Kiril Budurov in 1980. Gupta duped Philippe Janvier into describing a fish fossil as a new species in 1982, which Janvier later found was collected from China. Talent also discovered in 1986 that Gupta used Moroccan fossils available in a Paris shop to report the presence of ammonoid fossils in the Himalayas. Brock's investigation showed that Gupta's earliest publications including his doctoral thesis indicated plagiarised fossil pictures directly clipped from the 20th-century monographs of Frederick Richard Cowper Reed. Talent publicly revealed Gupta's anomalous fossils and geological inconsistencies at the International Symposium on the Devonian System held at Calgary, Canada, in 1987. His documented criticism was published in German serial Courier Forschungsinstitut Senckenberg the next year, but was not widely read. Dubbed the Himalayan peripatetic (misplaced) fossils, the case became global news in 1989 when Talent summarised the Courier story in Nature, with an associated journalistic investigation by Roger Lewin published in Science. It came to light that many of Gupta's Himalayan fossils were acquired from different parts of the world − some bought and some apparently stolen. Gupta had chosen "phantom localities" to attribute his fossil discoveries without ever visiting them. The University Grants Commission of India withdrew its funding to his research. Although suspended for 11 months, Panjab University continued his employment until his normal retirement in 2002. The case was described as "the biggest paleontological fraud of all time" by Talent and as the "greatest scientific fraud of the century" by the Indian magazine Down to Earth. doi: 10.15347/WJS/2024.008
Authors: Thanduanlung Kamei, Irene Ikiriko, Susan Abernathy, Amanda Rasmussen, Erin E Sparks
Brace roots (roots developing from aerial stem nodes) are a type of adventitious root that develop from aboveground stem nodes in many monocots. Brace roots may remain aerial or penetrate the soil as they perform root functions such as anchorage and resource acquisition. Although brace root development in soil or aerial environments influences function, a lot is still unknown about how their anatomy, architecture and development contributes to their function. This article summarizes the current state of knowledge on brace roots.
doi: 10.15347/WJS/2024.007
Author: Francesco Cattafi
In differential geometry, a field in mathematics, a Poisson manifold is a smooth manifold endowed with a Poisson structure. The notion of Poisson manifold generalises that of symplectic manifold, which in turn generalises the phase space from Hamiltonian mechanics. A Poisson structure (or Poisson bracket) on a smooth manifold is a function on the vector space of smooth functions on , making it into a Lie algebra subject to a Leibniz rule (also known as a Poisson algebra). Poisson structures on manifolds were introduced by André Lichnerowicz in 1977 and are named after the French mathematician Siméon Denis Poisson, due to their early appearance in his works on analytical mechanics.
doi: 10.15347/WJS/2024.006
Author: Richard Digirolamo
Play behaviour in non-avian reptiles is poorly understood compared to mammals and birds. No previous reports provide systematic data regarding play-like behavior in the third most popular non-avian pet reptile, the leopard gecko (Eublepharis macularius). Leopard geckos are known to engage with enrichment of novel items, and anecdotal observation by pet owners report high activity and play-like behaviour. An adult leopard gecko kept as a companion animal was provided with a running wheel to formally investigate possible play behaviour. Video recordings and a cycle counter attached to the running wheel were used to create an ethogram of one pet leopard gecko. The animal interacted with the wheel 16% of each measured day, in 11 wheel interaction episodes on average per measured day. The mean total distance measured by the cycle counter was 124 meters per measured day which surpasses the daily movement distance of some similar-sized diurnal lizards. The pattern of results indicates that the leopard gecko’s wheel use met all five previously established criteria for locomotion play, and showed that the leopard gecko to sometimes have high activity levels. These data suggest that when kept as a pet, given a running wheel or possibly other enrichment item, small reptiles such as leopard geckos engage in locomotion play. However, further studies with more individuals should be done to confirm this and investigate the possible physiological benefits of exercise.
非鳥類型爬虫類の遊び行動は、哺乳類や鳥類に比べてあまり理解されていない。また、非鳥類型爬虫類の中で、家庭用の愛玩動物として3番目に人気のあるヒョウモントカゲモドキ(Eublepharis macularius)の遊び行動に関する系統的なデータはこれまで報告されていない。ヒョウモントカゲモドキは目新しいものを与えることで興味を示すことが知られており、飼育者による逸話的観察によると、高い活動性と遊びのような行動が報告されている。当研究ではコンパニオンアニマルとして飼育されている成体のヒョウモントカゲモドキに回し車を与え、遊び行動の可能性を調査した。ヒョウモントカゲモドキ1匹のエソグラムを作成するために、ビデオ録画と回し車に取り付けたサイクルカウンターを使用した。その結果、各測定日の16％、1日平均11回の回し車とのインタラクションを行ったことが確認された。サイクルカウンターで測定された平均総距離は1日あたり124mで、これは同サイズの昼行性トカゲの1日の移動距離例を上回るものであった。この結果から、ヒョウモントカゲモドキの回し車の使用は、これまでに確立されているロコモーションによる遊びの5つの基準をすべて満たしており、ヒョウモントカゲモドキは時に高い活動レベルを持つことがわかった。これらのデータは、ペットとして飼育されているヒョウモントカゲモドキのような小型爬虫類に、回し車やその他のエンリッチメント・アイテムを与えることで、ロコモーションによる遊びを行うことを示唆している。ただし、当結果を最終的に結論づけること及び運動による生理学的な利点の可能性を調査するためには、より多くの個体でさらなる研究を行う必要がある。 doi: 10.15347/WJS/2024.005
Author: Tal Galili
In survey research, the design effect is a number that shows how well a sample of people may represent a larger group of people for a specific measure of interest (such as the mean). This is important when the sample comes from a sampling method that is different than just picking people using a simple random sample. The design effect is a positive real number, represented by the symbol . If , then the sample was selected in a way that is just as good as if people were picked randomly. When , then inference from the data collected is not as accurate as it could have been if people were picked randomly. When researchers use complicated methods to pick their sample, they use the design effect to check and adjust their results. It is also used when planning a study in order to figure out how many people should be in the sample.
doi: 10.15347/WJS/2024.004
Author: Aryan Kunkekar
The black-and-red broadbill (Cymbirhynchus macrorhynchos) is a species of bird in the Asian broadbill family, Eurylaimidae. It is the only species in the genus Cymbirhynchus. A large, distinctive bird, it has maroon underparts, black upperparts, a maroon half-collar covering the auricular regions, and white scapulars that form a white stripe on the wings at rest. It also has a large, two-colored, blue-and-yellow bill. The species shows slight sexual dimorphism, with females being smaller than males. No other bird in its range resembles it, though the black-and-yellow broadbill has a similar call. [...] It is found in Brunei, Cambodia, Indonesia, Laos, Malaysia, Myanmar, Singapore, Thailand, and Vietnam. Inhabiting lowland riparian forest throughout its range, it can also adapt quite well to disturbed habitat, such as secondary forest growth and degraded habitat near rivers. The black-and-red broadbill is mainly insectivorous, supplementing its diet with aquatic creatures such as mollusks, snails, fish, and crustaceans. It also takes leaves and seeds incidentally. Breeding takes place during the dry season throughout its range, with the nest being a large, conspicuous structure that usually hangs over water. Nests are built by both sexes, out of creepers, fungal hyphae, moss, and other plant matter. Eggs are laid in clutches of two to three, occasionally with a fourth runt egg, and incubated by both parents. The black-and-red broadbill is evaluated as a least-concern species by the International Union for Conservation of Nature due to its large range and the lack of a severe decrease in its global population. However, the species has experienced declines in several parts of its range, and may face threats due to deforestation, trapping for the songbird trade, and hunting. doi: 10.15347/WJS/2024.003
Authors: Enemuo Chidili Ijeoma, Okafor Emeka Christian, Okeke Somadina Nnamdi, Agulanna Ambrose Echefulachi, Ifeanacho Ezetaonu Abireh, Idorenyin Umoh, Kingsley Akaninyene Okon, Okara Andy-Davis Chidi, Ezejindu Damian Nnabuihe, Udodi Princewill Sopuluchukwu
Background: Kunu is a local beverage drink that finds its origin in the northern part of Nigeria. This study was aimed at determining the effect of the liquid drink on the epididymis, testes, sperm parameters, and hormonal assay. [...] Methods: A total of sixteen rats were used for this study and the animals were separated into four groups of four rats each (A-D). The animals were then sacrificed and the testes and epididymis were harvested and fixed in 10% formal saline. Group A was fed only rat feed and water. Groups B, C, and D were fed 0.2 ml, 0.9 ml, and 2.5 ml of Kunu respectively orally using a metal cannula for 21 days. Findings: There was a significant increase (P<0.05) in the relative testicular weights of groups B, C, and D as compared with those of group A. There was a significant decrease (P<0.05) in sperm count in groups B, C, and D when compared to group A. There was an insignificant increase (P>0.05) in FSH in groups B, C, and D when compared to group A. The histopathological findings revealed that the group B rats of 0.2ml and group C rats of 0.9ml showed epididymal tissue with moderate accumulation of spermatozoa and testicular tubules with moderately enhanced spermatogenesis. The group D rats showed well-accumulated spermatozoa in the epididymal lumen and improved spermatogenesis in the testis as did group A. Conclusion: Kunu beverage may not be used as a natural male fertility booster since it does little to improve sperm count, motility, morphology, pH, and hormonal levels of FSH and testosterone. doi: 10.15347/WJS/2024.001
Author: Katsutoshi Seki
Bioclogging or biological clogging refers to the blockage of pore space in soil by microbial biomass, including active cells and their byproducts such as extracellular polymeric substance (EPS). The microbial biomass obstructs pore spaces, creating an impermeable layer in the soil and significantly reducing water infiltration rates. [...] Bioclogging occurs under continuous ponded infiltration at various field conditions such as artificial recharge ponds, percolation trenches, irrigation channels, sewage treatment systems, constructed wetlands, landfill liners and natural systems such as riverbeds and soils. It also affects groundwater flow in the aquifer, such as ground source heat pumps, permeable reactive barriers, and microbial enhanced oil recovery. Bioclogging is a significant problem where water infiltration is hampered and countermeasures such as regular drying of the system can reduce the levels of bioclogging. However, bioclogging can also serve beneficial purposes in specific conditions. For instance, bioclogging can be utilized to make an impermeable layer to minimize the rate of infiltration or to enhance soil mechanic properties. doi: 10.15347/WJS/2024.002
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