Open Access Research Paper

Classification of cancer patterns from gene expression data is a difficult task in computational biology and artificial intelligence due to the sufficient number of training samples is often difficult, expensive, and hard to gather. Although, the classification results obtained by the conventional classifiers trained with insufficient training samples are generally low. However, unlabeled samples are relatively low-cost and easy to gather, whereas conventional classifiers do not utilize these unlabeled samples to train the model. In this context, a self-training-based model semi-supervised ordered weighted average fuzzy-rough nearest neighbour classifier for cancer pattern classification from gene expression data is proposed. The experiments are carried out on eight publicly available real-life gene expression cancer datasets. The performance of the proposed method is compared with four other methods (two supervised and two semi-supervised) in terms of percentage accuracy, precision, recall, macro averaged F1 measure, micro averaged F1 measure and kappa. The dominance of the proposed method is justified by the experimental results.

Numerous creative key innovations in the field of nanotechnology have turned the minds of scientists to explore new possibilities in diagnosis and treatment of incipient diseases. Nanotoxicity, the sector of vigorous research, has emerged the increased use of nanoparticles mainly in commercially available products. The risk factors of nanomaterials are still unknown. For this purpose, extensive procedures were used to carry out the toxic effects of these nanomaterials. Recently, many researchers have focused on brine shrimp lethality assay owing to their low cost, convenience, and rapid screening procedure. The species of Brine shrimp, Artemia salina is commonly used nowadays in drug discovery to screen the toxic effect of different components. The current review article is focused to elucidate the cytotoxic approach of nanomaterials towards Brine shrimp (Artemia salina), their mechanistic perspective, procedure and why scientists use it as a screening system with possible future prospects.

The use of leaded gasoline play a major role in the air pollution in Iraq and most Asian countries that did not band the addition of lead to gasoline, also the increased use of private electricity generators contribute to the lead air pollution. In this study the blood lead level (BLL) of traffic policemen, national guards, electricity generator workers, and a control group for compression was measured. The results showed that the highest BLL mean was in the traffic policemen (26.077µg/dl) and the lowest mean was in the control (15.846µg/dl). Also, the reproductive hormones: testosterone, luteinizing hormone and follicle stimulating hormone of the exposed and control men were tested. The testosterone (T) concentration level was significantly decrease with the increase of blood lead level for the exposed and control groups and the results was 1.849, 3.367, 2.640 and 7.070µg/ml, respectively for the traffic police men, national guards, electricity generator workers, and control groups. While, the concentration level of both luteinizing hormone (LH) and follicle stimulating hormone (FSH) were increased with the increase of blood lead level. The concentration for LH were 6.906, 5.32, 5.513and 4.237mlU/ml, respectively for the mentioned groups above. And the concentration of FSH were 9.329, 9.932, 7.486 and 5.280mlU/ml, respectively for the mentioned groups.

Mangrove forests are important blue carbon ecosystems due to their ability to store carbon in aboveground biomass, belowground biomass, and soil. This study compared the carbon stock of natural and planted mangrove forests in Malita and Jose Abad Santos, Davao Occidental, Philippines. Carbon stocks were quantified using non-destructive quadrat and stratified random sampling across landward, mid, and seaward zones. Aboveground and belowground biomass was estimated using allometric equations, while soil organic carbon was determined through laboratory analysis and bulk density measurements. Total carbon stock in natural mangrove forests ranged from 372.28 to 8,167.92 Mg C ha⁻¹, whereas planted mangrove forests ranged from 245.92 to 2,506.52 Mg C ha⁻¹. The maximum carbon stock in natural forests was recorded in the landward zone of Transect 2 (8,167.92 Mg C ha⁻¹), while the highest value in planted forests occurred in the midzone of Transect 1 (2,506.52 Mg C ha⁻¹). Non-parametric analysis showed a significant effect of forest type on carbon stock (H= 16.81, p < .001), whereas ecological zone (H= 0.18, p= .914) and the forest type × zone interaction (H= 0.03, p= .987) were not significant. Correlation analyses indicated no significant relationships between total carbon stock and tree density or average basal area in either natural (r= .01–.48, p > .05) or planted forests (r= .32–.38, p > .05). These results demonstrate clear differences in carbon stock between natural and planted mangrove forest types.

A study was conducted from December 2020 to July 2021 in the application and research farm of the University of Dschang to test the efficiency of two botanical insecticide extracts on FAW (Fall Army Worm). The randomized complete block design with three replications and two maize varieties Panar 53 (white) and Panar 12 (yellow), was used. The treatments (control; Emamectin benzoate 10g / sprayer; 1.5l Chromolaena odorata / sprayer; 1l C. odorata / sprayer; 1.5l Pteridium aquilinum/sprayer) were tested. FAW and other pests encountered were counted weekly until flowering. FAW has been present as well as grasshoppers and leafhoppers and the natural enemies of FAW (ants, spider and ladybug). Leafhoppers transmit viruses to maize in the dry season. The dry season registered the highest average leaf infestation rate (24.39±0.55%) than the rainy season (2.10±0.20%) only on yellow maize. Caterpillars were observed more during the dry season than the rainy season. The peak of FAW infestation reached on the 34th day after planting in both seasons. The control plots were most infested (0.46±0.07; 37.48±1.47%) than the treated one. Chromolaena 1l and Pteridium 1.5l plots were less infested with the lowest FAW (0.34±0.15; 0.15±0.09) and lowest average leaf infestation (18.26±1.02%; 22.63±1.13%). The yields obtained in the rainy season (5.58±0.18t/ha) were higher than in the dry season (4.34±0.20t/ha) on Pannar 12. Chromolaena 1l and Pteridium presented the best yields compared to control in both seasons. In summary, Chromolaena 1l and Pteridium are botanical insecticides substitutes for Emamectin benzoate during the high FAW infestations.

The study was conducted to establish habitat connectivity of Siganids and Lutjanids along mangrove, seagrass and coral reef ecosystems in the coastal waters of Misamis Occidental. A total of 449 individuals belonging to six species of Siganids and five of Lutjanids were identified from the three different study sites. Three species of Siganids and one species of Lutjanids were found common in all ecosystems. Coral reef ecosystem had higher abundance of siganids and lutjanids compared to mangrove and seagrass ecosystems. Siganus spinus and Siganus guttatus exhibited behavior of being ontogenetic shifters. The juvenile individuals prefer to inhabit mangrove and seagrass ecosystem and migrate to coral reef ecosystem as they become adult. Siganus fuscescens are a generalist species, moving across three ecosystems from early life stage to adult. Lutjanus ehrenbergii is an ontogenetic shifter species: the juveniles prefer to stay in mangrove and seagrass ecosystems and adults migrate to coral reef ecosystem. The distribution of common Siganids and Lutjanids among the three major coastal ecosystems based on their different life stages suggests that these ecosystems are interconnected. Results on gut-content analysis reveal that the major food items of Siganids were seagrasses and seaweeds indicating a general trend of being herbivores while the major food items of Lutjanids were crustaceans, small fishes and cephalopods indicating that they are mainly carnivores. The study provides evidence of connectivity of major coastal ecosystems. Thus, removing one ecosystem will affect the other important ecosystems.

The present study was conducted under arid sub-tropical conditions of Quetta Balochistan to evaluate the impact of climatic variations on five olive cultivars, i.e., (Kalamata, Leccino, Pandolino, Arbosona and Arbiquina) through the selection of suitable gene types based on fruit production and oil production. The data recorded for different olive cultivars revealed that the highest oil production percentage was observed in olive cultivars Kalamata 21%, Leccino 20%, and Arbiquina 17%. The lowest oil production percentage was detected in the cultivars Pandolino 16% and Arbosona 10%. Tree canopy, the staminate height of trees and final fruit set percentage and yield per plant reported extremely significant differences among different cultivars. However, fruit size (Length and width), canopy and height of trees and 100 fruit weight of each plant showed less variation among the cultivars. Oil extraction percentage and total fruit weight per plant showed extreme variability among all the characters. Concluding, olive cultivars, i.e., Kalamata, Leccino and Arbiquina found most suitable for oil extraction under the climatic condition of Quetta, Balochistan, Pakistan.

Soil quality assessment is essential for understanding the ecological health of freshwater-influenced environments and in determining potential risks posed by heavy metal contamination. In areas where communities depend on soil and water resources, establishing baseline information on physicochemical characteristics and heavy metal concentrations provides crucial support for environmental management and protection initiatives. This study assessed the physicochemical characteristics and the levels of selected heavy metals (cadmium, copper, chromium, cobalt, lead, manganese, and nickel) in soil samples collected from Lourdes, Alubijid, Misamis Oriental, and compared these values with established soil quality standards. Samples were obtained from purposively selected sampling locations near a river, a waterfall and a creek that represent different freshwater-influenced environments. Results showed no significant differences across soils sampled among stations in terms of pH, conductivity, salinity, total dissolved solids, temperature, and moisture content. Only organic matter was observed to vary significantly across sites reflecting localized environmental conditions and potential anthropogenic influences. Metal concentrations were highest in soil sampled near the river, followed by the waterfall, and the creek. Chromium exceeded the permissible limits at all stations indicating serious contamination concern. Nickel, and cobalt also showed elevated levels in both stations (near the creek and the river) suggesting site-specific contamination patterns, whereas copper, lead, and cadmium remained within safe thresholds. These findings highlight the need for targeted source tracing, continuous monitoring, including standards-based risk assessment to better understand contamination dynamics, especially for metals that exceeded guideline values, to guide appropriate mitigation or remediation strategies in the area.