Search Results (3)

Water temperature controls the physiology, growth rate, distribution, and behavior of most plankton populations in the sea and thus affects the energy transfer in marine ecosystems. The present study focuses on the influence of seasonal changes in sea surface temperature on phytoplankton and the size distribution of copepods in the Arraial do Cabo Upwelling System (Brazil), where a wind-driven coastal upwelling can lead to multiple distinct bottom-up cascade effects on the food web. To address the potential effect of the seasonal changes, environmental data were obtained and the abundance of plankton determined from monthly samples collected in triplicate from 2010 to 2014. The samples were analyzed on a Benchtop FlowCAM (FC), and copepods (<1000 µm) were classified according to their Ellipses Equivalent Major Axis using image analysis software ImageJ (IJ). For IJ analysis, a batch-processing macro was built to open all FC raw images and then crop each copepod individually into a single picture. Using these images, prosome and urosome lengths were manually measured with the straight-line tool in IJ. With the combinations of measurements obtained in the IJ adjusted as FC measurements, we established a new, faster, and more effective way to measure copepods. With the copepod size classification, we found that there is a cycle in copepod size combined with the upwelling cycle that is related to temperature rather than to phytoplankton growth. Copepod abundance as a whole peaked during the autumn, winter, and spring seasons. The method performed here proved that FC is an effective tool for classifying copepod sizes and detecting seasonal variation. Full article

Introduction: The growing adoption of social media (SoMe) by the scientific community has cemented the role of SoMe in information dissemination and engagement of academic work. The objective of this study is to evaluate the relationship between traditional and alternative SoMe metrics of urology journals. Methods: Urology journals listed on the SCImago Journal & Country Rank (SJR) electronic portal were selected and data pertaining to traditional metrics were collected. Official SoMe platforms of eligible journals were identified and indicators of online activity were recorded. Correlations between traditional metrics (SJR, h-index, and Scopus CiteScore) and social metrics were performed via Spearman rank-order correlation. Results: Of 107 journals, 54.2% of journals had at least one form of SoMe presence. The median SJR (0.535 versus 0.334, p = 0.005), h-index (34 versus 20, p = 0.001), and Scopus CiteScore (3.25 versus 2.20, p = 0.014) were significantly higher among journals with SoMe networks. All 3 traditional indicators demonstrated strong global correlations with various Twitter-based metrics (r_s = 0.428 to 0.571). In particular, SoMe journals with more than 3000 citations in the previous 3 years also displayed very strong correlations between all 3 traditional metrics and alternative social metrics (r_s = 0.714 to 0.821). Conclusions: Journals with SoMe presence had significantly higher traditional metric values (SJR, h-index, and CiteScore) compared to journals without SoMe presence. Strong, positive correlations between citation-based and alternative social metrics were also observed. Alternative social metrics may be harnessed as supplemental indicators of a journal’s scientific impact. Full article

Male monstrilloid copepods, described herein as Monstrillopsis paradoxa sp. nov., were collected from the Chuja Islands, Jeju, Korea, using a light trap. They display many of the common features of Monstrillopsis, including large, prominent eyes, an anteriorly positioned oral papilla, and four setae on each caudal ramus. Type-2 modification of the antennules further supports the assignment of the new species to Monstrillopsis. However, the present specimens have an unusually low number of urosomal somites, just three in total, compared to five in males of all congeneric species, and from four (in Cymbasoma) to five in males of all other monstrilloid genera. Up until now, in the Monstrilloida only females of Cymbasoma have been known to have as few as three urosomal somites. Full article