Authentication of Tinospora cordifolia derived herbal supplements using high resolution mass spectrometry-based metabolomics approach – A pilot study

Tinospora cordifolia herbal supplements have recently gained prominence due to their promising immunomodulatory and anti-viral effects against SARS-CoV-2. Mislabelling or diluting Tinospora supplements for profit may harm public health. Thus, validating the label claim of these supplements in markets is critical. This study investigated how high resolution mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and chemometrics can be used to distinguish Tinospora cordifolia from two other closely related species (T. crispa and T. sinensis). The Orthogonal Partial Least Square Discriminant Analysis (OPLS-DA) and PLS-DA based chemometric models predicted the species identity of Tinospora with 94.44% accuracy. These classification models were trained using 54 T. cordifolia, 21 T. crispa, and 21 T. sinensis samples. We identified 7 biomarkers, including corydine, malabarolide, ecdysterone, and reticuline, which discriminated Tinospora cordifolia from the two other species. The label claim of 25 commercial Tinospora samples collected from different parts of India was verified based on the relative abundance of the biomarker compounds, of which 20 were found authentic. The relative abundance of biomarkers significantly varied in the 5 suspicious market samples. This pilot study demonstrates a robust metabolomic approach for authenticating Tinospora species, which can further be used in other herbal matrices for product authentication and securing quality. © 2023 Elsevier B.V.

Disruption and recovery of river planktonic community during and after the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, China

During the COVID-19 outbreak in Wuhan, large amounts of anti-coronavirus chemicals, such as antiviral drugs and disinfectants were discharged into the surrounding aquatic ecosystem, causing potential ecological damage. Here, we investigated plankton in the Wuhan reaches of the Yangtze River, before, during, and after COVID-19, with the river reaches of three adjacent cities sampled for comparison. During the COVID-19, planktonic microbial density declined significantly. Correspondingly, the eukaryotic and prokaryotic community compositions and functions shifted markedly, with increasing abundance of chlorine-resistant organisms. Abundance of antibiotic resistance genes, virulence factor genes, and bacteria containing both genes increased by 2.3-, 2.7-, and 7.9-fold, respectively, compared to other periods. After COVID-19, all measured plankton community compositional and functional traits recovered in the Yangtze River.

Assessing the viability of estimating baleen whale abundance from tourist vessels

As Southern hemisphere baleen whales recover, they are again becoming dominant consumers in the Southern Ocean. Key to understanding the present and future role of baleen whales in Southern Ocean ecosystems is determining their abundance on foraging grounds. Distance sampling is the standard method for estimating baleen whale abundance but requires specific logistic requirements which are rarely achieved in the remote Southern Ocean. We explore the potential use of tourist vessel-based sampling, as a cost-effective solution for conducting distance sampling surveys for baleen whales. We aimed to determine if tourist vessel-based surveys could be effective in determining baleen whale abundance in the southwest Atlantic sector of the Southern Ocean. We did this in two parts. First, we used tourist vessel tracks to estimate the likely whale sightings per tourist's vessel voyage to understand how many voyages are needed to meet the model requirements. Second, we simulated the abundance and distributions of four baleen whale species for the study area and sampled them with both non-standardized tourist vessel-based surveys and standardized line transect surveys. Data were modeled using a generalized additive model and results were compared to the original simulated baleen whale abundance and distributions. We show that for the southwest Atlantic, 12-22 tourist voyages are likely required to provide an adequate number of sightings to estimate abundance for humpback and fin whales, and relative estimates for blue, sei, Antarctic minke, and southern right whales. Our analysis suggests tourist vessel-based surveys are a viable method for estimating baleen whale abundance in remote regions.

Evolution of Mass Spectrometry Instruments and Techniques for Blood Proteomics.

Mass spectrometry (MS)-based blood proteomics is a crucial research focus in identifying disease biomarkers. Blood serum or plasma is the most commonly used sample for such analysis; however, it presents challenges due to the complexity and dynamic range of protein abundance. Despite these difficulties, the development of high-resolution MS instruments has made comprehensive investigation of blood proteomics possible. The evolution of time-of-flight (TOF) or Orbitrap MS instruments has played a significant role in the field of blood proteomics. These instruments are now among the most prominent techniques for blood proteomics due to their sensitivity, selectivity, fast response, and stability. For optimal results, it is necessary to eliminate high-abundance proteins from the blood sample, to maximize the depth coverage of the blood proteomics analysis. This can be achieved through various methods, including commercial kits, chemically synthesized materials, and MS technologies. This paper reviews recent advancements in MS technology and its remarkable applications in biomarker discovery, particularly in the areas of cancer and COVID-19 studies.

First sighting of a pelagic seabird entangled in a disposable COVID-19 facemask in the Mediterranean Sea

Seabirds are increasingly recognized as important bio-indicators of marine ecosystems that are useful in assessing environ-mental disturbance on the marine biota. Over the period 2020-22 and during the first national systematic recording of the sea wa-ters surrounding the Republic of Cyprus, we recorded the spatio-temporal presence, abundance and behaviour of seabirds using the ESAS (European Seabirds At Sea) methodology. Here we present the observation of an accidentally entangled pelagic seabird in COVID-19 material which to the best of our knowledge is the first incident in the Mediterranean Basin. The systematic recording of entangled marine birds in personal protective equipment (PPE) used to prevent COVID-19 transmission worldwide seems to be of crucial importance for one of the most important emerging threats for the conservation of seabirds at global scale.

H Geoffrey Moser. Larval Fishes: Taxonomy, Distribution, and Fisheries Biology

Authors' note.-H Geoffrey Moser was one of the most influential larval-fish biologists of the past century. He was perhaps best known to ASIH members as the coeditor and motivating force behind the first ASIH Special Publication, Ontogeny and Systematics of Fishes. His other accomplishments included an extensive body of publications on larval fishes, with descriptions of development in almost 50 families and as editor of one of the most comprehensive regional identification guides for the California Current (relevant for much of the eastern Pacific and elsewhere). He co-taught courses in larval-fish identification that trained a generation of ichthyologists in that discipline. Many of those scientists have passed that skill on to younger students, continuing his legacy to the present. In addition, he was a talented illustrator and a poet. Geoff, as he was known to his colleagues and friends, passed away unexpectedly at the age of 83 on September 30, 2021. He was interviewed for this Historical Perspective by internet during the COVID-19 pandemic at his home in Bozeman, Montana, in April, 2021 by Eric Hilton and Bruce Mundy. He also provided most of the photographs. The interview was completed through questions and answers exchanged by email. Geoff was shown all of the drafts of this account. He actively contributed to it until the day before his death and approved its content.

Mining and analysis of microsatellites in human coronavirus genomes using the in-house built Java pipeline.

Microsatellites or simple sequence repeats are motifs of 1 to 6 nucleotides in length present in both coding and non-coding regions of DNA. These are found widely distributed in the whole genome of prokaryotes, eukaryotes, bacteria, and viruses and are used as molecular markers in studying DNA variations, gene regulation, genetic diversity and evolutionary studies, etc. However, in vitro microsatellite identification proves to be time-consuming and expensive. Therefore, the present research has been focused on using an in-house built java pipeline to identify, analyse, design primers and find related statistics of perfect and compound microsatellites in the seven complete genome sequences of coronavirus, including the genome of coronavirus disease 2019, where the host is Homo sapiens. Based on search criteria among seven genomic sequences, it was revealed that the total number of perfect simple sequence repeats (SSRs) found to be in the range of 76 to 118 and compound SSRs from 01 to10, thus reflecting the low conversion of perfect simple sequence to compound repeats. Furthermore, the incidence of SSRs was insignificant but positively correlated with genome size (R2 = 0.45, p > 0.05), with simple sequence repeats relative abundance (R2 = 0.18, p > 0.05) and relative density (R2 = 0.23, p > 0.05). Dinucleotide repeats were the most abundant in the coding region of the genome, followed by tri, mono, and tetra. This comparative study would help us understand the evolutionary relationship, genetic diversity, and hypervariability in minimal time and cost.

The post-scarcity world and the post-pandemic office.

We are not yet in the post-scarcity world that John Maynard Keynes famously envisioned, and vaccines have only recently allowed us to hope that a post-COVID-19 future may arrive soon. However, it is not too early to consider the impact of both on the traditional office, and on attempts to bring it back for reasons that may be socially harmful. One lesson of the pandemic is that many workers can be as-or even more-productive working from home, thanks chiefly to software such as Zoom, Microsoft Teams, and Slack, among others, which enable better collaboration across distances than was previously possible. At the turn of the century, we moved toward an economy in which important products were increasingly characterized by low marginal costs of production, such as pharmaceuticals and software. Over the past decade, we have seen fixed costs reduced in some situations-consider how Uber greatly eliminates the need for a central taxi dispatcher, and makes use of idle capital invested in personal vehicles. The traditional office represents a massive fixed cost for many industries; tech-driven work-from-home greatly reduces the need for this fixed cost. While software, Internet connectivity and the cloud are not free, preliminary estimates suggest that replacing traditional offices with work-from-home greatly lowers costs, creates economic efficiencies and, relatedly, reduces environmental harm. That said, the story of work-from-home is not one of unbridled optimism. Real estate firms and local governments are already trying to use law as a tool to return workers to the pre-pandemic traditional office. Various levels of government seek to return workers to physical offices, often motivated by declines in tax receipts. Attempts to bolster a return to the traditional office may raise fixed costs for firms and generate substantial avoidable environmental damage. This Chapter recommends competition advocacy to counterbalance state and local attempts to prevent the efficient disruption of the traditional office's fixed costs. Work-from-home represents an important step toward the post-scarcity world; but without a focus on what amounts to state-and-local protectionism in this sphere, we could wind up taking another step backwards.

METAGENOMIC INTERROGATION OF RESPIRATORY AND GUT MICROBIAL COMMUNITIES, HOST IMMUNE RESPONSE, AND RISK OF SEVERE COVID-19

Background: Human-associated microbial communities have been linked to host immune response to respiratory viral infections. Prior investigations have observed shifts in the composition of the gut or respiratory microbiome in severe COVID-19. However, there has been no comprehensive metagenomic evaluation of the interaction between lower respiratory and gut microbiomes and host immune factors in COVID-19. Methods: From April 2020 to May 2021, we prospectively enrolled 153 hospitalized patients with mild (n=12), moderate (n=65), and severe (n=76) COVID-19 infection categorized using established clinical criteria. We longitudinally collected stool (n=270) for metagenomic profiling, and in a subset, we generated comprehensive host-microbiome-molecular profiles by collecting sputum metagenomes (n=87 participants with 212 samples) and blood cytokine levels (n=109 with 181 samples) weekly until hospital discharge. We performed omnibus testing of overall gut and respiratory community structure, species-level differential abundance testing using mixed effects modeling accounting for repeated sampling, hierarchical clustering of paired gut and respiratory metagenomic profiles, and multi-omic machine learning classification of disease severity. Results: Patients with severe COVID-19 tended to be older, were more frequently male, had higher rates of overweight/obesity, and a greater mean Charlson Comorbidity Index. Patients with severe COVID-19 infection had significantly decreased stool and respiratory microbiome a-diversity irrespective of antibiotic administration. COVID severity accounted for a small proportion of variance in stool (R2=2.4%, p=0.002) and sputum (R2=4.4%, p= 0.03) profiles. Hierarchical clustering of paired gut and respiratory samples from patients with severe COVID revealed the joint expansion of oral-typical taxa typically present during systemic inflammation (i.e., increases in Streptococcus and Peptostreptococus spp. in both gut and sputum). A pro-inflammatory milieu defined by a composite elevation of circulating plasma cytokines (e.g., IL-6, TNF-a, and IL-29 among others) were linked to broad microbial excursions in community structure for both stool and sputum as measured by Bray-Curtis distances. A random forest classifier incorporating either stool or sputum taxonomic features and accounting for age, sex, body mass index, and recent antibiotic use achieved excellent classification of biospecimens from patients with severe vs. non-severe COVID patients (AUROC > 0.80). Conclusions: Alterations of the gut and respiratory microbiome were associated with differences in host immune response and COVID-19 disease severity. Further studies are needed to identify the potential role of human-associated microbial communities as a biomarker for poor patient outcomes in COVID-19 who may warrant escalated levels of care.(Figure Presented) Fig. 1. (A) Using unsupervised feature selection (species abundance > 0.001) inclusive of taxa differentially abundant by non-parametric Wilcoxon rank-sum testing (nominal p-value < 0.05), (B) we performed random forest classification using a twice-repeated 5-fold crossvalidation scheme to predict COVID-19 disease severity from shotgun metagenomic stool profiles (C) yielding an AUROC of 0.91.

Seasonal heterogeneity and a link to precipitation in the release of microplastic during COVID-19 outbreak from the Greater Jakarta area to Jakarta Bay, Indonesia.

To reduce microplastic contamination in the environment, we need to better understand its sources and transit, especially from land to sea. This study examines microplastic contamination in Jakarta's nine river outlets. Microplastics were found in all sampling intervals and areas, ranging from 4.29 to 23.49 particles m-3. The trend of microplastic contamination tends to increase as the anthropogenic activity towards Jakarta Bay from the eastern side of the bay. Our study found a link between rainfall and the abundance of microplastic particles in all river outlets studied. This investigation found polyethylene, polystyrene, and polypropylene in large proportion due to their widespread use in normal daily life and industrial applications. Our research observed an increase in microplastic fibers made of polypropylene over time. We suspect a relationship between COVID-19 PPE waste and microplastic shift in our study area. More research is needed to establish how and where microplastics enter rivers.

Microbial contamination in the coastal waters of the southeast coast of India: A comparison of pre and post COVID-19 lockdown scenario

Anthropogenic activities on the land side cause microbial pollution in coastal waters. The primary culprits in changing coastal water quality are industrial effluents, urban discharges, and agricultural runoff. The current study provides a comparative overview of microbial abundance during the pre (July 2019) and post-lockdown (July 2020) periods. Microbial densities were significantly higher during July 2019. Total heterotrophic bacteria (THB) and E. coli (ECLO) like organisms were about 53 % higher during pre-lockdown, while Fecal coliform (FC) counts were approximately seven× higher than post-lockdown. FC levels surpassed the standard safe limits (100 FC/100 ml) prescribed by Central Pollution Control Board (CPCB) at many locations. Physiochemical variables are significantly high during pre-lockdown. Total suspended matter levels were higher by 40.1 %, Total nitrogen (69.2 %), Total phosphorus (7×), Biological oxygen demand (45.6 %), and pCO2 (20.4%). Although nutrients are not limiting (high TN & TP), the phytoplankton biomass (Chl-a) was relatively low in pre-lockdown due to higher TSM restricting light penetration and affecting photosynthetic activities. Significant reductions in microbial contamination during July 2020 corroborated lesser anthropogenic activities associated with the lockdown, demonstrating the positive impact of lockdown on the coastal water quality. © 2022 IEEE.

Knowledge on Stage: Public Roles of Scientists in Times of Communicative Abundance

This article explores the challenges and dilemmas the current scenario of communicative abundance poses to experts and scientists that are willing to influence policy-making (or that are dragged to arenas of political debates). It identifies eight contemporary challenges worth noting: (1) dissemination of disinformation;(2) scepticism towards science and experts;(3) multiplication of voices with public resonance;(4) volume and (in)accessibility of data;(5) polarisation and fragmentation of publics;(6) algorithmic distribution of communication;(7) grammars of current public communication;and (8) a complex interplay between visible and invisible discursive arenas. It, then, discusses the strategies used by scientists to deal with these challenges in the context of the Covid-19 Pandemic. It does so through a series of illustrations drawn from visible scientists acting in the Brazilian public sphere. Despite the fact that novel strategies and innovative adaptions are noticed, the article also points to the resilience of top-down forms of communication. [ FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Javnost-The Public is the property of Taylor & Francis Ltd and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full . (Copyright applies to all s.)

The ecology of the banded civet (Hemigalus derbyanus) in Southeast Asia with implications for mesopredator release, zoonotic diseases, and conservation.

Habitat loss and degradation threaten forest specialist wildlife species, but some generalist mesopredators exploit disturbed areas and human-derived food, which brings them into closer contact with humans. Mesopredator release is also important for human health for known zoonotic disease reservoirs, such as Asian civets (Viverridae family), since this group includes the intermediator species for the SARS-CoV-1 outbreak. Here we use camera trapping to evaluate the habitat associations of the widespread banded civet (Hemigalus derbyanus) across its range in Southeast Asia. At the regional scale, banded civet detections among published studies were positively associated with forest cover and negatively associated with human population. At the local scale (within a landscape), hierarchical modeling of new camera trapping showed that abundance was negatively associated with forest loss and positively associated with distance to rivers. These results do not support mesopredator release and suggest a low likelihood overlap with humans in degraded habitats and, therefore, a low risk of zoonotic disease transmission from this species in the wild. We also estimate that banded civet distribution has contracted to under 21% of its currently recognized IUCN Red List range, only 12% of which falls within protected areas, and a precipitous recent decline in population size. Accordingly, we suggest the banded civet's Red List status should be re-evaluated in light of our findings.

Trees to towers shift: Power lines emerging as a novel habitat for birds in Gujranwala, Pakistan

Power infrastructure (electricity towers, mobile phone towers, transmission lines and wires) is a unique anthropogenic structure in terms of material composition, design and continuity serving as artificial habitat to avian wildlife for roosting and nesting. This study aimed at finding out the diversity, abundance and behaviour of birds using the power structures as artificial habitat in the Gujranwala city area, Pakistan. Field data was collected in Feb-Mar 2021 during the COVID-19 pandemic and resulting lockdowns in the city by recording all birds species and nests on power lines along a circular path (~32 km) by dividing into sampling zones. A total of 24 bird species of 16 families were found to be using these structures as roosting and nesting sites. The occupation rate of mobile phone towers is found to be 61%, transmission lines 32%, and electricity towers 1.8%. House crow was the most common species (~20% population) followed by the Black kite (~ 18% population). The spatial distribution pattern of nests on power structures indicated higher concentration in the southwestern area contrary to the highest abundance and diversity in the northwestern area close the urban forest planation. Total 112 nests of 4 species (Black kite, House crow, Common myna and Eurasian collard dove) were present on power lines. Black kite is the most frequent nesting species (>80% of all nests), preferring high structures i.e. transmission lines (99% of all nests) and mobile phone towers (78% of all nests) for making nests. House crow and Common myna make nests on electricity towers at low height. It is found that the area where cutting of trees during the past time period occurred, birds have shifted their nesting habitat from trees to towers (i.e., power structures). Moreover, if habitat destruction continues these power lines will be the new nesting habitat of the birds in the urban area, hence, posing risks to both birds and utility structures. This study also highlighted the importance of strategic plantation in relation to spatial distribution and protection of urban birds.

Assay for Evaluating the Abundance of Vibrio cholerae and Its O1 Serogroup Subpopulation from Water without DNA Extraction.

Cholera is a severe diarrheal disease caused by Vibrio cholerae, a natural inhabitant of brackish water. Effective control of cholera outbreaks depends on prompt detection of the pathogen from clinical specimens and tracking its source in the environment. Although the epidemiology of cholera is well studied, rapid detection of V. cholerae remains a challenge, and data on its abundance in environmental sources are limited. Here, we describe a sensitive molecular quantification assay by qPCR, which can be used on-site in low-resource settings on water without the need for DNA extraction. This newly optimized method exhibited 100% specificity for total V. cholerae as well as V. cholerae O1 and allowed detection of as few as three target CFU per reaction. The limit of detection is as low as 5 × 103 CFU/L of water after concentrating biomass from the sample. The ability to perform qPCR on water samples without DNA extraction, portable features of the equipment, stability of the reagents at 4 °C and user-friendly online software facilitate fast quantitative analysis of V. cholerae. These characteristics make this assay extremely useful for field research in resource-poor settings and could support continuous monitoring in cholera-endemic areas.

Efficacies of Nitrogen Removal and Comparisons of Microbial Communities in Full-Scale (Pre-Anoxic Systems) Municipal Water Resource Recovery Facilities at Low and High COD:TN Ratios

At a low COD:TN ratio (≤5) in influent, maintaining a longer HRT (≥9 h) and longer SRT (≥30 d) are suggested to improve higher N removal efficiency in case of operation at low DO (Dissolved oxygen) level (0.9 ± 0.2 mg-O2/L). However, in case of operation at high DO level (4.0 ± 0.5 mg-O2/L), short HRT (1 h) and typical SRT (17 d) make it possible to achieve nitrogen removal. On the other hand, at a high COD:TN ratio (≥8.4), a typical HRT (9–15 h), SRT (12–19 d), and DO level (1.3–2.6 mg-O2/L) would be applied. Microbial distribution analysis showed an abundance of AOA (Ammonia-oxidizing archaea) under conditions of low DO (≤0.9 mg-O2/L). Nitrosomonas sp. are mostly found in the all investigated water resource recovery facilities (WRRFs). Nitrosospira sp. are only found under operating conditions of longer SRT for WRRFs with a low COD:TN ratio. In comparison between abundances of Nitrobacter sp. and Nitrospira sp., abundances of Nitrobacter sp. are proportional to low DO concentration rather than abundance of Nitrospira sp. A predominance of nosZ-type denitrifiers were found at low DO level. Abundance of denitrifiers by using nirS genes showed an over-abundance of denitrifiers by using nirK genes at low and high COD:TN ratios.

Microbial diversity and the abundance of keystone species drive the response of soil multifunctionality to organic substitution and biochar amendment in a tea plantation

High nitrogen (N) fertilizer inputs accelerate soil acidification and degradation in tea plantations, thus posing a threat to soil microbial diversity, species composition, and ecosystem service functions. The effects of organic fertilizer and biochar applications on improving soil fertility have been extensively studied on cropland;however, little is known about their effectiveness in promoting soil multifunctionality on rapidly expanding acidic soils in tea plantations. In this study, we conducted a two‐year field experiment in a subtropical tea plantation to investigate the effects of organic fertilizer substitution and biochar amendment on soil microbial communities and multifunctionality. The results showed that soil multifunctionality was enhanced in plots amended with organic fertilizer and biochar. Soil multifunctionality was significantly and positively correlated with alpha‐diversity of bacteria but not fungi. We also found that organic fertilizer substitution and biochar amendment improved soil multifunctionality by altering the abundance of keystone species. The abundance of keystone species classified as module hubs in the bacterial co‐occurrence network contributed significantly and positively to soil multifunctionality. In contrast, the keystone species categorized as module hubs in the fungal co‐occurrence network negatively affected soil multifunctionality. Soil pH was a key driver of soil microbial community composition, indicating that the increase in soil pH under organic fertilizer and biochar amendment had a crucial role in biological processes. These results suggest that organic substitution and biochar amendment are beneficial in preventing soil degradation and maintaining soil multifunctionality in subtropical tea plantations.

Hegemony of two avian species: Black kites and Cattle egrets on two distant landfills during COVID-19 pandemic in Gujranwala, Pakistan

The pandemic of COVID -19 has brought many changes to wildlife globally positively or negatively. During lock downs the abundance of many wild species has increased due to decease in human disturbance in area. This study is designed to compare two landfills situated 22 km apart in the Gujranwala, Punjab in terms of avifauna diversity, abundance and foraging behavior during COVID-19 pandemic. The field observations using the total count method of population census revealed the abundance of contrasting avian species at both sites with a very low values of the diversity index (H= 1.146 Chianwali & H=1.697 Gondalawala ) and species evenness (E= 0.423 Chianwali & E= 0.587 Gondalawala). A large variation in bird's population was recorded at both landfills, i.e. N > 17,300 at one landfill (Chianwali) and N> 26,200 at the other (Gondalawala). Time dependent variation in population was also observed. Cattle egret was dominant species (~75% of population) at the Chianwali landfill site while the Black kite (~55% of population) was the dominant species at Gondalawala landfill. House crow was the second dominant species at both sites. Birds were grouped into categories based on ecological behaviors such as dominance, opportunists, insectivory etc. The study finds that each landfill has its own specific character depending upon the geographical location, accessibility of birds to landfills, and management practices such as presence of boundary wall and artificial lights. Moreover, it also finds that COVID -19 lockdown provided an opportunity to wild avian species to exploit human rehabilitated areas abundantly where there presence was very few because of dominance of human beings and their activities.

Subsistence Hunting During the COVID-19 Pandemic: The Case of the White-Tailed Deer (Odocoileus virginianus) in Rural Communities of Calakmul, Campeche, Mexico

Subsistence hunting for obtaining wild meat is a common practice in rural neotropical communities. Like other peasant practices disrupted by the COVID-19 pandemic, subsistence hunting could exacerbate pressure on wild mammals whose greater size contributes to feeding the hunter and his family. Thus, in the context of the pandemic, we assessed the subsistence hunting of the white-tailed deer (Odocoileus virginianus), one of the main traditional game species in the Calakmul region, Campeche, Mexico, and compared this activity with its pre-pandemic levels of such vertebrate species. Based on ethnographic information and hunting records from three rural communities, we found that in one trimester (July-September 2020) of the rainy season, a total of 26 white-tailed deer (923 kg of game biomass) were obtained by local peasant-hunters carrying out hunting mostly alone. Most peasant-hunters interviewed (36 of 51) stated that they hunted daily, and only a few hunted once a week or once a month (8 and 3%, respectively). This hunting activity and modalities were carried out at night (68%) versus day, stalking (21%) and opportunist (11%) near their community. The game biomass and hunting frequency in the studied communities were twice as high during the pandemic, compared to similar pre-pandemic periods in the region. Our survey highlights the need to expand monitoring and evaluation (during and after the pandemic) of subsistence hunting on key species, such as white-tailed deer, in order to ensure conservation and sustainable use of wildlife in this important Mesoamerican region.

Microplastic pollution in the sediment of Jakarta Bay, Indonesia

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the increased use of plastic for personal protective equipment (PPE), single-use plastic bags, and food packaging raised significant environmental concerns. This study aimed to investigate the shape, abundance, and type of microplastics in the sediment of Jakarta Bay, specifically Tanjung Priok, Ancol Beach, and Sunda Kelapa Port. Sediment was collected using an Ekman sediment grab sampler and was extracted using the density separation method. The microplastics were counted and categorized according to the shape under a microscope. The differences in microplastic abundance in three different stations were determined using a one-way ANOVA. The polymer of microplastics was identified using Fourier Transform Infra-Red (FTIR). The results show that the abundance of the microplastics from coastal sediment was highest in the Sunda Kelapa Port (45066.67 ± 5205.13 particle/kg dry weight), which is significantly different (p<0.05) from Tanjung Priok (40533.33 ± 2444.04 particle/kg dry weight) and Ancol Beach (34666.67 ± 2444.04 particle/kg dry weight). Fragments dominated the shape of microplastic in Tanjung Priok, Ancol Beach, and Sunda Kelapa Post, comprising 36%, 40%, 38%, respectively, followed by fiber, film, and pellet. The FT-IR tests indicated that polypropylene (PP), polyethylene (PE), polystyrene (PS), and polyamide are the most prevalent microplastic polymers.