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Objective Methods Results Significance Epilepsy involves significant changes in neural cells during epileptogenesis. Although the molecular mechanism of epileptogenesis remains obscure, changes in gene regulation play a crucial role in the evolution of epilepsy. This study aimed to compare changes in a subset of specific genes during epilepsy development, focusing on the period after the first spontaneous seizure, to identify critical time windows for targeting different regulators.Using a rat model of acquired focal neocortical epilepsy induced by tetanus toxin, we characterized gene expression at acute, subacute, and chronic stages (48–72 h, 2 weeks, and 30 days after first spontaneous seizure, respectively), focusing on genes' potential contribution to epilepsy progression.We observed dynamic changes in the expression of these genes throughout the period after the first spontaneous seizure. Astrocytic reactions primarily occur early, before epilepsy is well established. Changes in Mtor (mammalian target of rapamycin) and Rest (repressor element 1 silencing transcription factor) signaling pathways are highly dynamic and correlated with the progression of epilepsy development. Ccl2 (chemokine C‐C‐motif ligand) is upregulated at the chronic stage, indicating activation of the neuroinflammatory pathway. Finally, Gabra5 (γ‐aminobutyric acidergic signaling) is downregulated at the late stage after epilepsy is established. Surprisingly, changes in the expression of specific genes are linked to the time since the first seizure, rather than seizure frequency or duration.These results suggest that the regulation of specific genes is essentially stage‐dependent during the development of epilepsy, highlighting the importance of targeting specific genes at appropriate stages of epilepsy development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Quercus chungii, a rare and endangered endemic tree species, is found exclusively in subtropical regions of China. Understanding the population structure and temporal dynamics of Q. chungii is pivotal for effective conservation and restoration of its populations and associated ecosystems. However, large knowledge gaps remain about its population structure and temporal change and its key demographic rates across size classes. In this study, we investigated the population structures of Q. chungii in 2013 and 2023 in a nature reserve specifically established to better conserve this species and its associated ecosystems. We found that Q. chungii increased in its overall abundance and tree size in the past decade, suggesting active regeneration and a rapid growth rate for this species and the effectiveness of past conservation efforts. The age structure in 2023 showed a pyramid shape, with a sharp decline in the numbers of individuals from germinated seeds to seedlings and from seedlings to saplings. These led to the low numbers of seedlings and saplings and high age‐specific death probabilities at the early developmental stages. These results indicated potential risks of future population decline. These risks may have already manifested over the past decade, as a high mortality rate during the seedling‐to‐sapling transition could be one of the primary reasons contributing to the decreased proportion of saplings in 2023 compared to 2013. We propose that future studies may benefit from in‐depth studies on the regeneration processes of Q. chungii by considering seed predation and germination under changing climate. This study improves the prediction of population development of Q. chungii, thereby offering theoretical guidance essential for its conservation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In recent decades, the annual mean temperature has increased, with unusual alternations of hot and cold years. In addition, the changes in temporal precipitation patterns are caused by complex interactions between temperature change, the global water cycle, and other components of the Earth's systems. To construct a statistical model of these temporal patterns in terms of temperature and precipitation, we propose a logistic mixture of spatial multivariate penalized regression splines for temporal profiles and apply this model to the contiguous United States climate data over 123 years (1900 to 2022) at 252 weather stations. The results reveal that the proposed model identifies climatologically meaningful clusters of weather stations in the contiguous United States with two important meteorological variables, temperature and precipitation, identifying the climate change patterns of each climate zone. The surface air temperature increased in the Northeast and West (Mountain and Pacific) regions, where the climate is affected by the continental Arctic air. A notable increment of precipitation also occurred in the Northeast. In contrast, the South region, where the climate is affected by the tropical Atlantic Ocean, is more stable than other regions in terms of year-to-year variations in temperature and precipitation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Converting natural vegetation for agriculture has resulted in the loss of approximately 5% of the current global terrestrial soil organic carbon (SOC) stock to the atmosphere. Increasing the agricultural area under grassland may reverse some of these losses, but the effectiveness of such a strategy is limited by how quickly SOC recovers after conversion from cropland. Using soil data and extensive land‐use histories gathered during the national German agricultural soil inventory, this study aims to answer three questions regarding agricultural land‐use change (LUC): (i) how do SOC stocks change with depth following LUC; (ii) how long does it take to reach SOC equilibrium after LUC; and (iii) what is the legacy effect of historic LUC on present day SOC dynamics? By using a novel approach that substitutes space for time and accounts for differences in site properties using propensity score balancing, we determined that sites that were converted from cropland to grassland reached a SOC equilibrium level 47.3% (95% confidence interval (CI): 43.4% to 49.5%) above permanent cropland levels 83 years (95% CI: 79 to 90 years) after conversion. Meanwhile, sites converted from grassland to cropland reached a SOC equilibrium level −33.6% (95% CI: −34.1% to −33.5%) below permanent grassland levels after 180 years (95% CI: 151 to 223 years). We estimate that, over the past century, today's German agricultural soils (16.6 million ha) have gained about 40 million Mg C. Furthermore, croplands with historic LUC from grassland are losing SOC by −0.26 Mg ha−1 year−1 (10% of agricultural land) while grasslands historically converted from cropland are gaining SOC by 0.27 Mg ha−1 year−1 (18% of agricultural land). This study shows that even long‐standing temperate agricultural sites likely have ongoing SOC change as a result of historical LUC. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Questions: In alpine landscapes, topography creates a mosaic of microclimatic niches that might prevent local extinctions, but the influence of this spatial heterogeneity on plant communities is largely unknown. Here we ask (1) how soil microclimatic variation is comparable at temporal and spatial scales, and (2) how such variation influences species composition and local extinctions in relict alpine communities. Location: Picos de Europa National Park, northern Spain. Methods: We resurveyed permanent plots in four alpine sites following the recording of soil temperatures (temporal survey) for 10 years. We then sampled the spatial variation in species composition and microclimatic temperatures in 80 plots around the permanent plots (spatial survey). We evaluated the variation of six microclimatic indices between the temporal and the spatial surveys, and calculated the temporal trends observed in species cover. We finally predicted local extinction rates under microclimatic scenarios based on the observed microclimate–community relations. Results: Despite high interannual variation, we found a 10‐year trend of temperature warming on (microridge) fellfields and (microvalley) snowbeds. Microclimatic variation was larger in space than in time, with little temperature variation in snowbeds and extreme low temperatures recorded in fellfields. Species composition was mainly influenced by growing degree days (GDD) and freezing degree days (FDD), which were both related to snow cover duration. Plant cover of 16 species (out of 36 frequent species) showed significant responses to microclimatic variation. Local extinctions were mainly predicted under relatively hotter and more freezing conditions. Conclusions: Our results support the idea that microclimatic spatial heterogeneity can reduce the negative influence of climate change on alpine plant communities. However, a continuous reduction of snow cover will result in a tipping point beyond which the buffer effect of this spatial heterogeneity will not be effective in protected microsites, leading to community homogenization. This process may have started in relict alpine communities where species from snowy microclimates are being outcompeted by species adapted to below‐zero winter temperatures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aims: We introduce ReSurveyEurope — a new data source of resurveyed vegetation plots in Europe, compiled by a collaborative network of vegetation scientists. We describe the scope of this initiative, provide an overview of currently available data, governance, data contribution rules, and accessibility. In addition, we outline further steps, including potential research questions. Results: ReSurveyEurope includes resurveyed vegetation plots from all habitats. Version 1.0 of ReSurveyEurope contains 283,135 observations (i.e., individual surveys of each plot) from 79,190 plots sampled in 449 independent resurvey projects. Of these, 62,139 (78%) are permanent plots, that is, marked in situ, or located with GPS, which allow for high spatial accuracy in resurvey. The remaining 17,051 (22%) plots are from studies in which plots from the initial survey could not be exactly relocated. Four data sets, which together account for 28,470 (36%) plots, provide only presence/absence information on plant species, while the remaining 50,720 (64%) plots contain abundance information (e.g., percentage cover or cover–abundance classes such as variants of the Braun‐Blanquet scale). The oldest plots were sampled in 1911 in the Swiss Alps, while most plots were sampled between 1950 and 2020. Conclusions: ReSurveyEurope is a new resource to address a wide range of research questions on fine‐scale changes in European vegetation. The initiative is devoted to an inclusive and transparent governance and data usage approach, based on slightly adapted rules of the well‐established European Vegetation Archive (EVA). ReSurveyEurope data are ready for use, and proposals for analyses of the data set can be submitted at any time to the coordinators. Still, further data contributions are highly welcome. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mapping and quantification of forest biomass change are key for forest management and for forests' contribution to the global carbon budget. We explored the potential of covering this with repeated acquisitions with TanDEM-X. We used an eight-year period in a Tanzanian miombo woodland as a test case, having repeated TanDEM-X elevation data for this period and repeated field inventory data. We also investigated the use of GEDI space–LiDAR footprint AGB estimates as an alternative to field inventory. The map of TanDEM-X elevation change appeared to be an accurate representation of the geography of forest biomass change. The relationship between TanDEM-X phase height and above-ground biomass (AGB) could be represented as a straight line passing through the origin, and this relationship was the same at both the beginning and end of the period. We obtained a similar relationship when we replaced field plot data with the GEDI data. In conclusion, temporal change in miombo woodland biomass is closely related to change in InSAR elevation, and this enabled both an accurate mapping and quantification wall to wall within 5–10% error margins. The combination of TanDEM-X and GEDI may have a near-global potential for estimation of temporal change in forest biomass. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To gain a comprehensive understanding of the spatiotemporal evolution of global flood disasters, we conducted an in-depth analysis using mathematical statistics and GIS spatial analysis methods. Leveraging long-term global historical flood data spanning from 1980 to 2020 and considering various spatial scales, as well as inter-decadal and inter-annual time scales, our findings revealed the following: ① The peak occurrence of global flood disasters took place in the first decade of the 21st century. Deaths and affected populations reached their zenith in the 1990s, while cumulative economic losses peaked in the 2010s, with average economic losses being highest during the 1990s and 2010s. ② Over the period from 1980 to 2020, both the frequency of flood disasters and the resulting economic losses exhibited notable upward trends, while population losses per disaster demonstrated a declining pattern. ③ Asia experienced pronounced flooding, contributing to 41%, 68%, 95%, and 63% of the global totals in terms of flood occurrences, deaths, affected populations, and economic losses, respectively. Despite this, several Asian countries, including China, displayed a decreasing trend in flood-related population losses. ④ Global flood disasters displayed an east- west distribution, with a discernible southward shift in the centers of disasters. There was a tendency for flood disasters to become more decentralized, impacting progressively broader regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Women's physical activity varies across the adult lifespan. However, changes in physical activity among mid-aged women are not well understood. We analysed 21 years of data from women born in 1946–51 to identify: (1) trajectories of physical activity in the transition from mid- to old-age and (2) determinants of different physical activity trajectories. Methods: Data were from the 1946–51 cohort of the Australian Longitudinal Study on Women's Health (N = 10,371). Surveys were mailed at three-year intervals from 1998 (age 47–52) to 2019 (age 68–73) to collect data on physical activity, sociodemographic factors (country of birth, area of residence, educational attainment, marital status, income management, paid work hours, living with children age < 18, providing care), health indicators (menopause status, BMI, physical and mental health, chronic conditions), and health behaviours (smoking, alcohol status). Group-based trajectory modelling was used to identify trajectories of physical activity. Multinomial logistic regression models were used to examine the determinants of physical activity trajectories. Results: Five trajectories were identified: Low-stable (13.3% of participants), Moderate-stable (50.4%), Moderate-increasing (22.2%), High-declining (7.7%), and High-stable (6.6%). Sociodemographic characteristics (area of residence, education, income management, living with children, and providing care) were determinants of physical activity trajectories, but the strongest factors were BMI, physical and mental health. Women who were overweight/obese and had poor physical and mental health were less likely to be in the High-stable group than in any other group. Changes in these variables (increasing BMI, and declining physical and mental health) and in marital status (getting married) were positively associated with being in trajectories other than the High-stable group. Conclusions: Although most women maintained physical activity at or above current guidelines, very low physical activity levels in the Low-stable group, and declining levels in the High-declining group are concerning. The data suggest that physical activity promotion strategies could be targeted to these groups, which are characterised by socioeconomic disadvantage, high (and increasing) BMI, and poor (and worsening) physical and mental health. Removing barriers to physical activity in these women, and increasing opportunities for activity, may reduce chronic disease risk in older age. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Tropical alpine areas are some of the most vulnerable areas in the world to climate change. Their plant communities have narrow thermal niches and have limited geographic areas to expand. Here we examine changes in plant species' abundance and distribution in the Teleki Valley (3900-4500m asl) of Mount Kenya using a spatially explicit vegetation survey from 1980. Vascular plant species were re-sampled in 35 plots across the valley, and additional size and density data were collected for the two Dendrosenecio species. Overall species richness and diversity were lower in 2021 than in 1980, and the abundance of dominant species had declined. Changes in elevation suggested both upward and downward shifts had occurred. Dendrosenecio keniodendron exhibited a shift towards the valley bottom as well as a change in population structure towards younger individuals. The dominant environmental factors affecting plant composition were similar in both 1980 and 2021, namely elevation, vegetation cover and the presence of D. keniodendron. This keystone species plays a significant role in shaping communities but is undergoing rapid demographic changes, which may have cascading implications on the ecology of the system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

—The high production and widespread use of mineral fertilizers in the Russian Federation (RF) can cause a ubiquitous temporal increase in the concentration of potassium K+ in precipitation. Precipitation receives K+ from the air, forming on aerosols and during precipitation. The maximum duration of this process is estimated at about 10 days. It has also been established that any increase in the mineralization M of atmospheric precipitation is associated to varying degrees with an increase in the concentration of all major ions, including potassium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geographic Information System (GIS) technology can be employed by academic librarians to study interlibrary loan (ILL) lending patterns of circulating materials. The data collected and analyzed using GIS can apprise librarians about the efficacy of existing networks, assist them in making sound cost-saving choices, and inform collection development activities. In this article, the physical lending outputs at The University of Alabama are studied across five years to understand better and explore factors that impact lending activities within Alabama. The data retrieved elucidate stable patterns and highlight identifiable changes in usage that can inform subsequent lending network practices within the state. The totality of this data can aid toward the desired outcomes of enhanced resource sharing as it relates to ILL practices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Objectives: Surveillance of cigarette smoking behavior provides evidence for evaluating the impact of current tobacco control measures. We examined temporal changes and demographic differences in the incidence and mean age of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly in the United States. Methods: We conducted retrospective birth-cohort and cross-sectional analyses using self-reported data from the 1997-2018 National Health Interview Survey to evaluate trends and demographic differences in the incidence and mean age of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly among participants aged 18-84 years. We estimated the incidence and mean age of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly by using Poisson and linear regression. Results: Among adults born during 1950-1999, the incidence of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly before age 35 years decreased by 18.8% (95% CI, 17.0%-20.7%) per 10 years, with a peak incidence at age about age 18 years. Male, non-Hispanic White, and US-born people had a higher incidence of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly than female, other racial and ethnic, and non–US-born people, respectively (P <.001 for all). From 1997 to 2018, the mean age of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly decreased by 0.4% (95% CI, 0.2%-0.6%) per 10 years among adults who ever smoked. Conclusion: The incidence of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly decreased dramatically at all ages during the study period, which suggests a positive impact of current tobacco control measures. For evaluating trends in starting to smoke cigarettes regularly, incidence can be a more sensitive indicator of temporal change than mean age. Differences in smoking incidence by demographic subgroup suggest that additional opportunities exist to further reduce the incidence of starting to smoke cigarettes regularly. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reverse total shoulder arthroplasty is a definitive solution for the treatment of massive rotator cuff tear and shoulder pseudoparalysis since it can improve shoulder function, especially in elderly individuals. For many elderly individuals, the concern is when they can return to their daily lives after surgery. This study aimed to clarify the characteristics of temporal postoperative values following reverse total shoulder arthroplasty and investigate the factors that affect clinical outcomes. This study included 52 patients (mean 79.2 years, range 70–87 years) who underwent primary reverse total shoulder arthroplasty for shoulder pseudoparalysis at a single institution by a single surgeon using the same implant between October 2014 and June 2019. We divided 52 patient into the following groups (1) female (n = 34)vs. male (n = 18) patients; (2) with (n = 19) vs. without (n = 33) arthritic changes in glenohumeral joints (Hamada grade 2, 3 vs. 4, 5); (3) with (n = 23) vs. without (n = 29) subscapularis tendon repair; and investigated the temporal changes in the range of motion (flexion, abduction, external rotation, and internal rotation) and American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scores. Significant differences were observed in postoperative shoulder flexion (P =.046) and abduction (P =.049) between the female and male groups. The male patients were able to obtain quick functional recovery. However, no significant differences were observed in postoperative American Shoulder and Elbow Surgeons scores, and the shoulder range of motion between patients with Hamada grade 2, 3 and 4, 5, and between the subscapularis repair and no repair groups. The factor that affected the final and temporal values of range of motion after reverse total shoulder arthroplasty was sex, rather than the arthritic changes in glenohumeral joint and the treatment of the subscapularis tendon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ludwig's Bustard Neotis ludwigii is near-endemic to the semi-arid shrublands of southwestern southern Africa and is listed as Endangered. The primary threat to this species is collisions with overhead powerlines; however, loss and fragmentation of its habitat may contribute to its population decline. The 1990 and 2020 land-use land-cover (LULC) maps prepared for South Africa were used to determine the LULC categories that best describe suitable habitat for Ludwig's Bustard using beta regressions and data on exact localities, as recorded in the real-time BirdLasser logging app. Optimized Hot Spot Analysis was used to determine the priority areas for conserving Ludwig's Bustard and its habitat. Beta regression models were compiled using the reporting rate for this bird and the total surface area of suitable habitat, and three other landscape metrics, calculated using the per pentad LULC categories considered suitable habitat for the bird. These analyses revealed that, between the first and second Southern African Bird Atlas Projects, the distribution range of Ludwig's Bustard increased by 153 quarter-degree grid cells, whereas the reporting rate for the species declined by 5.6%, along with a small net decline in its quarterdegree-grid-cell-based area of occupancy, its pentad-based area of occupancy and habitat. The habitat of Ludwig's Bustard is dominated by shrubland with limited grassland, in primarily the Nama Karoo and Succulent Karoo biomes, and the Grassy Karoo Biome in the eastern part of its distribution. In the relative abundance hot spot of Ludwig's Bustard, there does not currently appear to be any significant loss or fragmentation (distance between patches) of its habitat. A landscape-based approach to conserving Ludwig's Bustard can be achieved by expanding the current network of protected areas and conserving critical biodiversity areas and ecosystem support areas, especially in the bird's relative abundance hot spots in the Nama Karoo and Succulent Karoo biomes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Soil and phyllosphere (leaves and fruit) microbes play critical roles in the productivity and health of crops. However, microbial community dynamics are currently understudied in orchards, with a limited number incorporating temporal monitoring. We used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing to investigate bacterial community temporal dynamics and community assembly processes on the leaves and fruit, and in the soil of 12 kiwifruit orchards across a cropping season in New Zealand. Results: Community composition significantly differed (P < 0.001) among the three sample types. However, the communities in the phyllosphere substrates more closely resembled each other, relative to the communities in the soil. There was more temporal stability in the soil bacterial community composition, relative to the communities residing on the leaves and fruit, and low similarity between the belowground and aboveground communities. Bacteria in the soil were more influenced by deterministic processes, while stochastic processes were more important for community assembly in the phyllosphere. Conclusions: The higher temporal variability and the stochastic nature of the community assembly processes observed in the phyllosphere communities highlights why predicting the responsiveness of phyllosphere communities to environmental change, or the likelihood of pathogen invasion, can be challenging. The relative temporal stability and the influence of deterministic selection on soil microbial communities suggests a greater potential for their prediction and reliable manipulation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal changes exist in clinical trials. Over time, shifts in patients' characteristics, trial conduct, and other features of a clinical trial may occur. In typical randomized clinical trials, temporal effects, that is, the impact of temporal changes on clinical outcomes and study analysis, are largely mitigated by randomization and usually need not be explicitly addressed. However, temporal effects can be a serious obstacle for conducting clinical trials with complex designs, including the adaptive platform trials that are gaining popularity in recent medical product development. In this paper, we introduce a Bayesian robust prior for mitigating temporal effects based on a hidden Markov model, and propose a particle filtering algorithm for computation. We conduct simulation studies to evaluate the performance of the proposed method and provide illustration examples based on trials of Ebola virus disease therapeutics and hemostat in vascular surgery. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study aimed to explore the 1-year temporal change in prevalence, variety, and potential risk factors of long COVID symptoms and to further predict the prognostic trends of long COVID. We searched electronic databases for related studies published from January 2020 to February 2022 and conducted 1-group meta-analysis and locally weighted regression to explore the monthly temporal change in the prevalence of each long COVID symptom in 1-year follow-up period. A total of 137 studies were included in meta-analysis, including 134 093 participants. The temporal change of any long COVID symptom showed a steep decrease initially (from 92% at acute phase to 55% at 1-month follow-up), followed by stabilization at approximately 50% during 1-year follow-up. Six months or more after the acute phase, the odds ratio of population characteristic–related factors increased, such as female (from 1.62 to 1.82), whereas the odds ratio value of acute phase–related factors (severe or critical cases and hospitalization) decreased. As for specific symptoms, approximately two-thirds of the symptoms did not significantly reduce during the 1-year follow-up, and the neuropsychiatric symptoms showed a higher long-term prevalence (approximately 25%) and longer persistence than physical symptoms. The temporal changes in the prevalence and characteristics speculate that long COVID may persist longer than expected. In particular, we should pay more attention to neuropsychiatric symptoms and other symptoms for which there is no significant downward trend in prevalence. The influence of acute phase–related factors for long COVID gradually decreases over time, whereas the influence of population characteristic–related factors gradually increases. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Bacterial communities are critical to ecosystem functioning and sensitive to their surrounding physiochemical environment. However, the impact of land use change on microbial communities remains understudied. We used 16S rRNA gene amplicon sequencing and shotgun metagenomics to assess soil microbial communities' taxonomic and functional responses to land use change. We compared data from long-term grassland, exotic forest and horticulture reference sites to data from sites that transitioned from (i) Grassland to exotic forest or horticulture and from (ii) Exotic forest to grassland. Results: Community taxonomic and functional profiles of the transitional sites significantly differed from those within reference sites representing both their historic and current land uses (P < 0.001). The bacterial communities in sites that transitioned more recently were compositionally more similar to those representing their historic land uses. In contrast, the composition of communities from sites exposed to older conversion events had shifted towards the compositions at reference sites representing their current land use. Conclusions: Our study indicates that microbial communities respond in a somewhat predictable way after a land use conversion event by shifting from communities reflecting their former land use towards those reflecting their current land use. Our findings help us to better understand the legacy effects of land use change on soil microbial communities and implications for their role in soil health and ecosystem functioning. Understanding the responsiveness of microbial communities to environmental disturbances will aid us in incorporating biotic variables into soil health monitoring techniques in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Macrophyte (aquatic plant) recovery has occurred in rivers worldwide, but assemblage patterns and habitat requirements are generally not well understood. We examined patterns of species composition and macrophyte abundance in the Upper Mississippi River (UMR), spanning 22 years of monitoring and a period of vegetation recovery. Non-metric multidimensional scaling (NMDS) ordination revealed a gradient of macrophyte abundance and diversity for 25 species, which were associated with water velocity, depth, wind fetch, and water clarity. Three macrophyte genera of ecological and restoration interest (Zizania aquatica, Vallisneria americana, and Sagittaria spp.) occupied different ecological niches. Trends of NMDS values showed that Z. aquatica first co-occurred in shallow areas with Sagittaria spp. but then expanded into deeper, lotic habitats where V. americana often resided. Curve Fit regression analysis identified large areas of significant increases in the relative abundance of V. americana and percent cover of Z. aquatica in several reaches of the UMR from 1998–2019. Sagittaria spp. were more spatiotemporally dynamic, which may indicate specific habitat requirements and sensitivity to environmental gradients. Our analyses showed that these three ecologically important genera are spatiotemporally dynamic but have somewhat predictable habitat associations, which can guide macrophyte management and restoration in the UMR and other large, floodplain rivers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutualistic interactions between plants and animal pollinators are increasingly under threat through anthropogenic change, and it is critical to understand how temporal changes affect the structure and function of these ecologically important interactions.Because the responses of plant–pollinator interactions to anthropogenic change may take place over decades, historical collections that store information across long time horizons contribute uniquely to our understanding.In this article, we highlight several key questions related to long‐term changes in the structure and function of plant–pollinator interactions. We articulate how research could proceed rapidly via new techniques, greater integration of resources in museum collections along with coincident use of a single data source.We acknowledge the challenges that come with using historical collections and discuss how to minimize them. We provide suggestions that will allow for full utilization of museum resources for addressing a variety of issues regarding plant–pollinator interactions.This perspective paper aims to stimulate new integrative research aimed at understanding temporal patterns in plant–pollinator interactions. Read the free Plain Language Summary for this article on the Journal blog. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Air pollution monitoring, continuous monitoring, and evaluation are critical in terms of decreasing and mitigating the consequences of air pollution on humans, living things, and the environment. Information technology-based analyses are quite effective to this aim. In this work, the temporal and spatial changes of air pollution in Kocaeli, an industrial city, were examined and mapped seasonally for 2008, 2014, and 2019. The study used data for the air contaminants PM10 and SO2. For places where measurements could not be made from the available data, the interpolation approach was used to generate concentration values. One of the interpolation methods employed was the inverse distance weighted technique (IDW). Pollution maps for the winter, spring, summer, and fall seasons of 2008, 2014, and 2019 were developed for Kocaeli by providing data continuity with the produced values. With the help of geographic information systems technology, overlay analysis was performed on the maps, and seasonal changes between years were observed. In this context, 2014 was compared to 2008 and 2019 was compared to 2014. As a result, despite a drop in concentration values from 2008 to 2019, it has been established that there are local regions in Kocaeli that exceeded the European Union’s and national pollutant concentration limit values in the year 2019. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study explored the impact of Land Use and Land Cover (LULC) change dynamics in relation to the condition and status of an unprotected wetland located in the arid-tropical parts of the Limpopo Province, South Africa. The long-term Landsat archival data series was used to map and quantify the impacts of LULC change on the wetland over a period of 36 years (1983-2019). A multi-source satellite image analysis was performed, using the support vector machine (SVM) algorithm and advanced spatially-explicit geographic information system tools. Landsat data series covering the entire study area was used to assess, map and monitor LULC change that occurred over-time. Post-classification maps for the Maungani wetland area were analysed to provide a quantitative assessment and a detailed overview of the rate of change. The generated wetland detection maps for four temporal phases (i.e., 1983-1992, 1992-2001, 2002-2010) were analysed. This study found that the spatial extent of the wetland area declined severely during the period under study with 728 300 ha. The findings of this work provide critical insights and baseline information about the state of unprotected wetlands in the rural parts. This information is useful for the development of tailor-made wetland management strategies and a possible rehabilitation framework for unprotected wetland ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Land surface temperature (LST) is an essential climate variable (ECV) which can be estimated from appropriate measurements of the surface thermal infrared (TIR) radiance. LST varies on a very short time scale and closely depends on the illumination and scan angles considered. To fully exploit LST products, a method for reconstructing the temporal profile and the angular dependence at the same time is proposed here. A combined visible-thermal envelope method (VT-KDTC) is built using kernel-driven (KD) and diurnal temperature cycle (DTC) models, referring to the surface structure and thermal factors, respectively. To demonstrate the reliability of the approach, TIR data from the geostationary satellite Himawari 8 are combined with visible and near-infrared (VNIR) data from the polar orbit satellite Sentinel-3A/3B. In addition to satellite observations, a synthetic dataset from the Soil Canopy Observation, Photochemistry and Energy Fluxes (SCOPE) model is also generated. Considering an anisotropy model in addition to the DTC model leads to a method displaying a better ability to simulate LSTs with a root mean squared error (RMSE) of 0.48 K against the original satellite results, compared to only the DTC model up to 1.44 K. By utilizing the field measurements as a reference, the reconstructed results are improved with a total bias of 0.72K and an RMSE of 2.58 K. Compared to the original results without correction, approximately 41% and 10% decreases are obtained in bias and RMSE, respectively. Our proposed method can also achieve LST downscaling supported by the higher spatial resolution of VNIR data when the temperature difference is assumed to be homogeneous within the coarse pixels. Thus, a simple achievable solution can be used for temperature reconstruction to enhance the quality of the LST product. • Reconstruct the angular and temporal change of LST. • Apply the VNIR and TIR observations together. • Combine kernel driven and diurnal temperature cycle models. • The spatial resolution of LST can be further improved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• Both N addition and changing precipitation enhance soil respiration. • N addition shows additive effects on soil respiration with changing precipitation. • Increased precipitation effects on soil respiration intensify over time. • Increased precipitation primarily stimulates soil respiration in spring and autumn. • Understory richness and soil C/N ratio contribute to changing soil respiration. Global carbon (C) cycling can be greatly affected by the increasing nitrogen (N) deposition and changing precipitation regimes in terrestrial ecosystems. Nevertheless, whether N enrichment and precipitation variability interactively or additively influence soil C release during a long-term period remain largely elusive. Here, a seven-year (2016–2022) field experiment was conducted to explore the responses of soil respiration to N addition, decreased and increased precipitation in a subtropical-warm temperate forest in Central China. The results showed soil respiration was elevated by 11.0%, 12.2%, and 12.3% under N addition, decreased precipitation, and increased precipitation, respectively, primarily originating from the enhancements in plant root respiration. Increased precipitation led to a temporal increase in soil respiration over the experimental period, mostly due to the elevating understory richness and reducing soil C/N ratio. There were additive effects between N addition and changing precipitation on soil respiration observed in our study, suggesting that the impacts of concurrent global change drivers can be predicted from their respective influences. These findings indicated that global change may intensify soil C release from climate transition forests, thus helping to accurately assess the climate change–C feedback in natural ecosystems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Adverse health impacts have been found under extreme temperatures in many parts of the world. The majority of such research to date for the UK has been conducted on populations in England, whilst the impacts of ambient temperature on health outcomes in Scottish populations remain largely unknown.Methods: This study uses time-series regression analysis with distributed lag non-linear models to characterise acute relationships between daily mean ambient temperature and mortality in Scotland including the four largest cities (Aberdeen, Dundee, Edinburgh and Glasgow) and three regions during 1974-2018. Increases in mortality risk under extreme cold and heat in individual cities and regions were aggregated using multivariate meta-analysis. Cold results are summarised by comparing the relative risk (RR) of death at the 1st percentile of localised temperature distributions compared to the 10th percentile, and heat effects as the RR at the 99th compared to the 90th percentile.Results: Adverse cold effects were observed in all cities and regions, and heat effects were apparent in all cities and regions except northern Scotland. Aggregate all-cause mortality risk in Scotland was estimated to increase by 10% (95% confidence interval, CI: 7%, 13%) under extreme cold and 4% (CI: 2%, 5%) under extreme heat. People in urban areas experienced higher mortality risk under extreme cold and heat than those in rural regions. The elderly had the highest RR under both extreme cold and heat. Males experienced greater cold effects than females, whereas the reverse was true with heat effects, particularly among the elderly. Those who were unmarried had higher RR than those married under extreme heat, and the effect remained after controlling for age. The younger population living in the most deprived areas experienced higher cold and heat effects than in less deprived areas. Deaths from respiratory diseases were most sensitive to both cold and heat exposures, although mortality risk for cardiovascular diseases was also heightened, particularly in the elderly. Cold effects were lower in the most recent 15 years, which may be linked to policies and actions in preventing the vulnerable population from cold impacts. No temporal trend was found with the heat effect.Conclusions: This study assesses mortality risk associated with extreme temperatures in Scotland and identifies those groups who would benefit most from targeted actions to reduce cold- and heat-related mortalities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: There is increasing evidence of positive improvement in clinical and radiological outcomes following minimally invasive hallux valgus deformity correction surgery (MIS). This study investigated the rate of improvement in clinical patient reported outcome measures (PROMs) following MIS as this is not well understood.Methods: Between July 2014 and July 2019, data was prospectively collected from consecutive patients pre-operatively and at 6, 12, and 24 months following third-generation minimally invasive chevron and Akin osteotomies (MICA). Radiographic deformity and correction was assessed using weight-bearing radiographs pre-operatively and 6 weeks post-operatively. The primary outcome measure was the change in Manchester Oxford Foot Questionnaire (MOXFQ) score at each time point. Secondary outcomes include radiographic deformity correction, health-related quality of life PROMs and exploration of cases where PROMs did not improve.Results: There were 202 feet with complete PROM data for every time point. There was a statistically significant improvement in MOXFQ Index score at each time point (p < 0.05) following MICA surgery. The majority of the improvement occurred within the first 6 months. A subgroup of 17 feet (8.4%) were identified which had worse MOXFQ Index scores 6 months following MICA. For 14 feet in this subgroup (82.4%), the MOXFQ Index score subsequently improved over time such that by two years, their score had significantly improved compared to their pre-operative score.Conclusion: The majority of PROM improvement with MICA is gained by 6 months post-operatively but further significant improvement can be seen up to 2 years. Those patients who have not improved at 6 months, are likely to do so with time.Level Of Evidence: IV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Human population and economic growth have resulted in roads transecting much of the North American landscape and this has negatively affected wildlife populations by fragmenting habitat, impeding movement between populations and increasing the chance of wildlife‐vehicle collisions. A common conservation tool to counteract these effects is the incorporation of road mitigation structures (RMS, i.e., jumpouts and overpasses/underpasses/fencing) into highway systems. However, gaps remain in our knowledge on RMS efficacy due to a lack of long‐term multispecies studies that can assess temporal and species‐specific variation in use. We investigate the efficacy of the Alberta Environment and Parks and Alberta Transportation RMS on the Trans‐Canada Highway (TCH) in the Bow Valley by analyzing annual reported wildlife‐vehicle collisions over a 23‐year period and wildlife use of the underpasses over a ten‐year period. We found that the incorporation of multiple underpasses and jumpouts, along with fencing, reduced the number of reported wildlife‐vehicle collisions on the TCH. We also found that wildlife use of the RMS exhibited variation with regards to month and location. Overall, our results add to the research supporting RMS effectiveness and suggest that incorporating additional similar infrastructure has the potential to further reduce wildlife‐vehicle collisions on the TCH. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global climate models are important tools for investigating historical and future responses of snow under climate change. However, snow simulations from Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) models have not been well evaluated in terms of temporal change and mountain snow, with major error sources remaining unclear. This study synthetically uses long‐term station observations, reanalysis, and remote sensing data to evaluate snow depth simulations of 31 state‐of‐the‐art CMIP6 models in both the high mountain Tibetan Plateau and other areas of China, and analyzes the sources of error. For the first‐time, the accumulated errors of precipitation and temperature of prior months are found to be crucial for explaining why CMIP6 models failed to capture trends and hotspots of snow depth change and notable time lags of the peak month. The worst snow depth performance of CMIP6 was on the Tibetan Plateau and resulted from more serious precipitation overestimates and temperature underestimates than in other regions. Plain Language Summary: Snow greatly affects agricultural water availability in global mountainous regions. The global climate models of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) are important tools for predicting future snow changes under climate change. A comprehensive evaluation of snow outputs from CMIP6 models is important for characterizing the uncertainties and identifying reliable predictions of snow changes, especially for high mountain regions where CMIP6's performance remains unknown. Such an evaluation can also help to determine the sources of error and ultimately lead to improved predictions. Here, we use long‐term station observations, reanalysis and remote sensing data to evaluate snow depth from 31 state‐of‐the‐art CMIP6 models in terms of temporal change and high mountain snow, with an improved measurement for trend evaluation. We first show that all CMIP6 models have much lower accuracy in simulating hotspots of snow depth change than the reanalysis data. Then, the accumulated errors of precipitation and temperature of prior months are found to be crucial for explaining why CMIP6 models failed to capture interannual changes of snow depth. Our study highlights that priority should be given to improving the accuracy of precipitation and temperature simulations for future snow depth predictions, especially in the high mountain Tibetan Plateau. Key Points: Hotspot score was proposed to evaluate performances of Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 6 (CMIP6) models more efficiently in predicting significant trends of snow depth changeThe accumulated errors of precipitation and temperature of prior months lead to a notable time lag of peak snow depth month of CMIP6CMIP6 models have larger snow depth errors in the Tibetan Plateau mainly due to more serious wet bias and cooling bias than other regions [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The maximum of daily surface temperature from 1961 to 2018,which were obtained from 87 meteorological observation stations in CIMISS,were utilized to analyze temporal and spatial distribution of high temperature weather in Jiangxi province in recent 60 years, building on the ground meteorological observation data analysis service system and resorting to the trend analysis method.The results showed that:（1） There has been a general uptrend in the number of high temperature day but failed to pass through the significance test, the interdecadal variability appears a "more-less-more",and the number of high temperature day was much more in 1960 s and 2000,and less in 1970 s to 1990 s.（2） The high temperature had a large time span from April to October in every years, and the maximum of daily temperature above 40℃ concentrated from July to August.（3） The daily high temperature lasted for a long time, and the high temperature usually started at 10～12 o’clock every day and ended at 19～21 o’clock, lasting about 10 hours.（4） The spatial distribution of high temperature showed regional differences.Specifically, high temperature was mainly distributed in the south and east of northern Jiangxi, the middle and north of southern Jiangxi, while there were relatively few high temperature days in the middle and north of northern Jiangxi, the area around Poyang Lake, the south of southern Jiangxi and mountainous areas.（5） The extreme high temperature in most areas of Jiangxi Province has exceeded 40℃,especially since the beginning of the 21 st century, the number of stations above 40 ℃ has increased significantly.It can be seen that the high-temperature weather in Jiangxi Province had the characteristics of large interannual change, long duration, large time span of occurrence, high-temperature day concentration, uneven regional distribution and so on.With the global warming, extreme high-temperature events also tend to be more and stronger.The results will be helpful to further understand the regional characteristics of high temperature in Jiangxi. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Ionizing radiation exposure of the circulatory system occurs at various dose rates. Our previous work showed sparing and enhancing effects of dose protraction for aortic changes in wild-type mice at 6 months after starting acute, intermittent, or continuous irradiation with 5 Gy of photons. Here we report that irradiation produces qualitatively similar albeit quantitatively less aortic changes at 12 months than at 6 months after stating irradiation. The magnitude of changes at 12 months was not smaller in 25 fractions (Frs), but was smaller in 100 Frs and chronic exposure, than acute exposure. The magnitude at 6 and 12 months was greater in 25 Frs, smaller in 100 Frs, and much smaller in chronic exposure, compared with acute exposure. These findings suggest that dose protraction changes aortic damage, in a manner that depends on post-irradiation time and is not a simple function of dose rate. In medical and occupational settings, ionizing irradiation of the circulatory system occurs at various dose rates. We previously found sparing and enhancing dose protraction effects for aortic changes in wild-type mice at 6 months after starting irradiation with 5 Gy of photons. Here, we further analyzed changes at 12 months after stating irradiation. Irrespective of irradiation regimens, irradiation little affected left ventricular function, heart weight, and kidney weight. Irradiation caused structural disorganizations and intima-media thickening in the aorta, along with concurrent elevations of markers for proinflammation, macrophage, profibrosis, and fibrosis, and reductions in markers for vascular functionality and cell adhesion in the aortic endothelium. These changes were qualitatively similar but quantitatively less at 12 months than at 6 months. The magnitude of such changes at 12 months was not smaller in 25 fractions (Frs) but was smaller in 100 Frs and chronic exposure than acute exposure. The magnitude at 6 and 12 months was greater in 25 Frs, smaller in 100 Frs, and much smaller in chronic exposure than acute exposure. These findings suggest that dose protraction changes aortic damage, in a fashion that depends on post-irradiation time and is not a simple function of dose rate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of pet cemeteries has recently intensified in multiple disciplines. However, the focus of this research has been more on the interpretation of information available on grave markers, while only touching on the geographical context, the land use zone of these sites. The advantages of focusing on the broader context are shown here through a case study focusing on the Hiironen pet cemetery in the city of Oulu in northern Finland. First, by combining a variety of sources – archival documents, photographs, maps, and news reports – with field documentation, a contextual site history extending both before and after the official period of use of the pet cemetery (1971–1993) is established. This history mirrors temporal changes in societal values regarding human-companion animal relations. By defining and examining these changes, the current notion of the increasing status of present-day companion animals as dear family members is confirmed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Urbanized coral reefs experience anthropogenic disturbances caused by coastal development, pollution, and nutrient runoff, resulting in turbid, marginal conditions in which only certain species can persist. Mortality effects are exacerbated by increasingly regular thermal stress events, leading to shifts towards novel communities dominated by habitat generalists and species with low structural complexity.There is limited data on the turnover processes that occur due to this convergence of anthropogenic stressors, and how novel urban ecosystems are structured both at the community and functional levels. As such, it is unclear how they will respond to future disturbance events.Here, we examine the patterns of coral reef community change and determine whether ecosystem functions provided by specialist species are lost post‐disturbance. We present a comparison of community and functional trait‐based changes for scleractinian coral genera and reef fish species assemblages subject to coastal development, coastal modification, and mass bleaching between two time periods, 1975–1976 and 2018, in Nakagusuku Bay, Okinawa, Japan.We observed an increase in fish habitat generalists, a dominance shift from branching to massive/sub‐massive corals and increasing site‐based coral genera richness between years. Fish and coral communities significantly reassembled, but functional trait‐based multivariate space remained constant, indicating a turnover of species with similar traits. A compression of coral habitat occurred, with shallow (<5 m) and deep (>8 m) coral genera shifting towards the mid‐depths (5–8 m).We show that although reef species assemblages altered post disturbance, new communities retained similar ecosystem functions. This result could be linked to the stressors experienced by urban reefs, which reflect those that will occur at an increasing frequency globally in the near future. Yet, even after shifts to disturbed communities, these fully functioning reef systems may maintain high conservation value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We modeled the vertical deformation detected from a leveling survey in Jigokudani valley, Tateyama volcano, central Japan. In Jigokudani valley, uplift of 4 cm/year was previously detected during the period from 2007 to 2010 by interferometric synthetic aperture radar (InSAR). To confirm whether this inflation has continued to present day, we have conducted leveling surveys in Jigokudani valley since 2015. Most bench marks showed a subsidence of up to 5.6 cm during the 4-year period from October 2016 to September 2020, while a bench mark located at the center of the leveling route uniquely showed an uplift of 1.6 cm. We applied a dislocation source model to the deformation using a grid search method. A crack with a length of 650 m, a width of 425 m, a strike of N18° E and a dip of 67° is located at a depth of 50 m near the center of Jigokudani valley (Koya jigoku and the new fumarolic area) where higher activity has been observed recently. Closing of the crack of 59 cm yields a volume decrease of 163,000 m3. The closing direction of the crack is parallel to the line of old explosion craters (Mikurigaike and Midorigaike ponds) and corresponds to the current maximum compressive stress field in the region of the Hida Mountains, including Tateyama volcano. The deformation source of the previous period from 2007 to 2010 detected from InSAR was estimated to be at a depth of 50 m and a gas chamber was correspondingly found in an audio-frequency magnetotelluric (AMT) survey. The AMT survey also revealed that thermal fluid is accumulating from a magma chamber and the location of our crack is similar to uppermost part of the thermal fluid path. During the period from 2015 to 2016, the crack opened and the inflation stopped during the next 1 year period from 2016 to 2017. During the period from 2017 to 2020, the crack began closing, probably because of the increase in emissions of volcanic fluid or gas with the formation of a new crater at the western side of Jigokudani valley during the period from 2017 to 2018. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mangroves play key ecological role in structuring the availability of coastal resources. The current study was focused on change detection in a large mangrove patch located in Votua area of the Ba province in Fiji. Globally, the mangrove population continues to decline with the changes in climatic conditions and anthropogenic activities. Baseline information through wetland maps and time series change are essential references for the development of effective mangrove management plans. These maps reveal the status of the resource over a period of time and the impacts from anthropogenic activities. Remote sensing techniques were integrated with geographic information system tools for mapping and detecting temporal change over a period of 20 years. Remotely sensed imagery data from Landsat satellite was sourced from the year 1999 to 2018 for this investigation. The mapping analysis of temporal changes in mangrove forests was carried using the versatile ArcGIS and ENVI software. The pilot change detection analysis revealed a small but important change in the mangrove patch over these years. Landward creep of mangroves was also detected. The outcomes of this study serve as baseline and conservation information for the development and implementation of effective management plans for one of Fiji's largest mangrove patches. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Yield increases by use of phosphorus (P) fertiliser has been a defining aspect of last century's agriculture, but in many countries P inputs are now being regulated to avoid ecological damage and improve agricultural sustainability. We tested the hypothesis that P forms and functions in agricultural soils have changed over a period of 50–70 years of agricultural change using topsoils from 35 agricultural sites in North East Scotland compared at 'original' and 'resampled' timepoints. The original dried and archived samples were collected between 1951 and 1981, and resampling took place in the autumn of 2017 with all samples reanalysed at the same time and by same methods. A range of soil extractants, from labile (water soluble) P, carbon (C) and nitrogen (N) forms, to surface exchangeable P (acid ammonium oxalate extraction), to complexed P (NaOH‐EDTA extraction), were compared with agronomic soil test P (modified Morgan; MM‐P), soil pH, and, on a subset of five time pairs (n = 10), specific P compounds using 31P NMR spectroscopy. Whilst MM‐P had declined significantly in time, all soils were originally and remained at high soil P status. In contrast, no change in labile P pools, nor in the more refractory P pools that replenish labile P, were observed. In the subset analysed by NMR, orthophosphate P consistently increased in concentration. This suggests that soil P shows a slow (multidecadal) response to the documented reductions in fertiliser P for the study region. Significantly greater soil pH (by 0.4 units) over time and reduced water‐soluble C and N forms suggests that labile P in contemporary soils exists in a biogeochemical environment of enhanced solubility and in excess to other available macronutrients that control its microbial cycling. This study represents a long and important period of changing drivers acting on soil P change with potential to improve understanding future soil P trajectories. The value of archived historical soils samples is shown, if care in interpretation of storage implications is made. Highlights: Phosphorus fractions in agricultural soil were compared at two timepoints 50–70 years apart.Whilst soil test P declined with time, other labile and refractory P pools did not change.The readjustment of P pools is slow even to substantial change in fertiliser inputs.The investigation of long‐term land use to inform future policy is enabled by soil archives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ambient noise interferometry between seismic stations makes it possible to monitor temporal changes of the Earth's media continuously. Here, we examined seasonal changes of Rayleigh‐wave empirical Greens functions at 2–10‐s period from 8 years of continuous data of 200 seismic station pairs in Sichuan, China. We used a wavelet decomposition to extract the seasonal signals. We found that most station pairs show seasonal variations with velocity perturbations of up to 0.8%. The seasonality varies in strength, amplitude, phase, periods, and location, but the phase is remarkably consistent, with the largest changes mostly in summer or winter months. We believe that the cause of the seasonality is likely the elastic loading due to regional precipitation. The effect is greater in the tectonically active Tibetan Plateau margin than in the stable Sichuan basin and in the deeper crust than in the uppermost crust. The effect is also strongly influenced by local crustal structure. Our results indicate that studies of tectonic crustal changes need to consider non‐tectonic effects. Plain Language Summary: Monitoring of the temporal variations of the sub‐surface medium has been a long‐sought goal for understanding earthquake genesis. A recent technology (so‐called ambient noise interferometry) that uses ubiquitous ambient noise of the Earth allows the extraction of seismic surface waves between two observing receivers, which makes it possible to monitor changes in the earth's crust continuously. In this study, we used 8 years of continuous data from a network of seismic stations in Sichuan, China and found strong seasonal signals in seismic velocity. The seasonal changes show some distinct patterns; the largest changes generally occur in the summer or winter months and are stronger in the earthquake‐prone Tibetan Plateau margin than in the stable Sichuan Basin. But the seasonal changes are complex, depending on sampling paths. We believe that the seasonal changes are related to the loading of annual rainfalls or snowfalls, which change crustal properties. The magnitudes of the seasonal velocity changes are much greater than those induced by tectonic activities. Thus, understanding the seasonal variations is essential in improving our capability to detect the signals from earthquakes and volcanoes. Key Points: Strong seasonal variations in seismic velocity are observed in Sichuan, China from ambient noise interferometryThe seasonality varies in strength, amplitude, phase, periods, and locationThe cause of the seasonality is likely the effects of elastic loading from the precipitation [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: Agricultural management and temporal change including climate conditions and soil properties can result in the alteration of soil enzymatic activity and bacterial community, respectively. Therefore, different agricultural practices have been used globally to explore the soil quality. In this study, the temporal variations in soil property, enzymatic activity, and bacterial community at three successive trimester sampling intervals were performed in the soil samples of litchi orchards that were maintained under conventional and sustainable agricultural practices. Results: Agricultural management found to significantly influence arylsulfatase, β-glucosidase, and urease activities across time as observed by repeated-measures analysis of variance. Shannon and Simpson diversity indices, and the relative abundance of predominant Acidobacteria and Proteobacteria were significantly influenced by temporal change but not agricultural management. This suggested that soil enzymatic activity was more susceptible to the interaction of temporal change and agricultural management than that of the bacterial community. Multiple regression analysis identified total nitrogen, EC, and phosphorus as the significant predictors of acid phosphatase, arylsulfatase, and β-glucosidase for explaining 29.5–39% of the variation. Moreover, the soil pH and EC were selected for the SOBS, Chao, ACE, and Shannon index to describe 33.8%, 79% of the variation, but no significant predictor was observed in the dominant bacterial phyla. Additionally, the temporal change involved in the soil properties had a greater effect on bacterial richness and diversity, and enzymatic activity than that of the dominant phyla of bacteria. Conclusions: A long-term sustainable agriculture in litchi orchards would also decrease soil pH and phosphorus, resulting in low β-glucosidase and urease activity, bacterial richness, and diversity. Nevertheless, application of chemical fertilizer could facilitate the soil acidification and lead to adverse effects on soil quality. The relationship between bacterial structure and biologically-driven ecological processes can be explored by the cross-over analysis of enzymatic activity, soil properties and bacterial composition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The Urbanicity Scale was developed based on the China Health and Nutrition Survey (CHNS) to measure the urbanization index of communities according to 12 components. The present study was designed to systematically investigate the factorial validity, reliability, and longitudinal measurement invariance (LMI) of the Urbanicity Scale.Methods: Six waves of CHNS data from 2000 to 2015 were adopted. The factor structure and reliability of the Urbanicity Scale for 301 communities were examined using Bayesian exploratory factor analysis. Metric and scalar LMIs were evaluated using both the conventional exact and a novel approximate LMI approach via Bayesian structural equation modeling across various timeframes.Results: The findings verified the one-factor structure for the Urbanicity Scale, with adequate reliability. LMI was established for the Urbanicity Scale only over a shorter timeframe from 2006 to 2009 but not over a longer timeframe from 2000 to 2015. Partial LMI was found in the factor loadings and item intercepts for the Urbanicity Scale over the 2004 to 2011 period.Conclusion: Interpretation of the temporal change in urbanicity was supported only for a shorter (2006 to 2009) but not a longer timeframe (2000 to 2015). Adjustments addressing the partial non-invariance of the measurement parameters are needed for the analysis of temporal changes in urbanicity between 2004 and 2011. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • Notch signaling is essential to maintain radial glial cells (RGCs). • The functional relationship between Notch1 and Notch2 in RGCs is elusive. • Notch1 knockout affected RGC maintenance in early to mid-neurogenesis. • Notch1 and Notch2 function together for RGC maintenance in late neurogenesis. During mammalian corticogenesis, Notch signaling is essential to maintain neural stem cells called radial glial cells (RGCs) and the cortical architecture. Because the conventional knockout of either Notch1 or Notch2 causes a neuroepithelial loss prior to neurogenesis, their functional relationship in RGCs remain elusive. Here, we investigated the impacts of single knockout of Notch1 and Notch2 genes, and their conditional double knockout (DKO) on mouse corticogenesis. We demonstrated that Notch1 single knockout affected RGC maintenance in early to mid-neurogenesis whereas Notch2 knockout caused no apparent defect. In contrast, Notch2 plays a role in the RGC maintenance as Notch1 does at the late stage. Notch1 and Notch2 DKO resulted in the complete loss of RGCs, suggesting their cooperative function. We found that Notch activity in RGCs depends on the Notch gene dosage irrespective of Notch1 or Notch2 at late neurogenic stage, and that Notch1 and Notch2 have a similar activity, most likely due to a drastic increase in Notch 2 transcription. Our results revealed that Notch1 has an essential role in establishing the RGC pool during the early stage, whereas Notch1 and Notch2 subsequently exhibit a comparable function for RGC maintenance and neurogenesis in the late neurogenic period in the mouse telencephalon. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Aim: Land use is the foremost cause of global biodiversity decline, but species do not respond equally to land‐use practices. Instead, it is suggested that responses vary with species traits, but long‐term data on the trait‐mediated effects of land use on communities are scarce. Here we study how forest understorey communities have been affected by two land‐use practices during 4–5 decades, and whether changes in plant diversity are related to changes in functional composition. Location: Finland. Time period: 1968–2019. Major taxa studied: Vascular plants. Methods: We resurveyed 245 vegetation plots in boreal herb‐rich forest understories, and used hierarchical Bayesian linear models to relate changes in diversity, species composition, average plant size, and leaf economic traits to reindeer abundance, forest management intensity, and changes in climate, canopy cover and composition. We also studied the relationship between species evenness and plant size across both space and time. Results: Intensively managed forests decreased in species richness and had increased turnover, but management did not affect functional composition. Increased reindeer densities corresponded with increased leaf dry matter content, evenness and diversity, and decreased height and specific leaf area. Successional development in the canopy was associated with increased specific leaf area and decreased leaf dry matter content and height in the understorey over the study period. Effects of reindeer abundance and canopy density on diversity were partially mediated by vegetation height, which had a negative relationship with evenness across both space and time. Observed changes in climate had no discernible effect on any variable. Main conclusions: Functional traits are useful in connecting vegetation changes to the mechanisms that drive them, and provide unique information compared to turnover and diversity metrics. These trait‐dependent selection effects could inform which species benefit and which suffer from land‐use changes and explain observed biodiversity changes under global change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The cities in Turkey are currently witnessing rapid, unplanned expansion, which needs to be regulated . Cittaslow Network—which comprises initiatives such as the prioritization of infrastructural projects, precise planning of sustainable cities, facilities to support people with disabilities, and the provision of renewable and eco-energy for vehicles—has the potential to facilitate better planning of the slow cities in Turkey. To control unplanned urban expansion and overcome infrastructural deficits, participation of the citizens in the Cittaslow Network is important in the rapidly expanding Turkish cities. Although Turkey currently has 18 slow cities, many other Turkish cities are undergoing the application process to qualify under this criterion. The built-up index, which is rarely opted for by researchers in Turkey but frequently used in studies abroad, has been used in this research. The built-up index is a model that extracts urban areas from satellite data. This model determines micro-urban structures and demonstrates the extent of urbanization. The temporal changes observed in 17 Cittaslow Cities in Turkey from 2002 to 2020 were examined in this research. The findings reveal that slow cities such as Yalvaç, Akyaka, and Gökçeada are expanding rapidly, whereas Cittaslow cities such as Vize, Uzundere, Göynük, and Eğirdir have been experiencing slow growth. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Cross-sectional surveys, despite their value, are unable to probe dynamics of risk perceptions over time. An earlier longitudinal panel study of Americans' views on Ebola risk inspired this partial replication on Americans' views of Zika risks, using multilevel modeling to assess temporal changes in these views and inter-individual factors affecting them, and to determine if similar factors were influential for both non-epidemics in the USA. Baseline Zika risk scores – as in the Ebola study – were influenced by dread of the Zika virus, perceptions of a near-miss outbreak, and perceived likelihood of an outbreak. Judgments of both personal risk and national risk from Zika declined significantly, and individual rates of news following predicted slower decline of perceived national risk in both cases. However, few other factors affected changes in Zika risk judgments, which did not replicate in a validation half-sample, whereas several factors slowed or increased the rate of decline in Ebola judgments of the U.S. risk. These differences might reflect differences in the diseases caused by these two viruses – e.g., Ebola's much greater lethality – but more longitudinal studies across multiple diseases will be needed to test that speculation. Benefits of such studies to health risk analysis outweigh the difficulties they pose. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: The soil quality and health of the tea plantations are dependent on agriculture management practices, and long-term chemical fertilizer use is implicated in soil decline. Hence, several sustainable practices are used to improve and maintain the soil quality. Here, in this study, changes in soil properties, enzymatic activity, and dysbiosis in bacterial community composition were compared using three agricultural management practices, namely conventional (CA), sustainable (SA), and transformational agriculture (TA) in the tea plantation during 2016 and 2017 period. Soil samples at two-months intervals were collected and analyzed. Results: The results of the enzyme activities revealed that acid phosphatase, arylsulfatase, β-glucosidase, and urease activities differed considerably among the soils representing the three management practices. Combining the redundancy and multiple regression analysis, the change in the arylsulfatase activity was explained by soil pH as a significant predictor in the SA soils. The soil bacterial community was predominated by the phyla Proteobacteria, Acidobacteria, Actinobacteria, Chloroflexi, and Bacteroidetes in the soil throughout the sampling period. Higher Alpha diversity scores indicated increased bacterial abundance and diversity in the SA soils. A significant relationship between bacterial richness indices (SOBS, Chao and ACE) and soil pH, K and, P was observed in the SA soils. The diversity indices namely Shannon and Simpson also showed variations, suggesting the shift in the diversity of less abundant and more common species. Furthermore, the agricultural management practices, soil pH fluctuation, and the extractable elements had a greater influence on bacterial structure than that of temporal change. Conclusions: Based on the cross-over analysis of the bacterial composition, enzymatic activity, and soil properties, the relationship between bacterial composition and biologically-driven ecological processes can be identified as indicators of sustainability for the tea plantation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper reveals temporal changes of housing inequality in housing space and access in urban China and explores the effects over time of underlying socioeconomic factors (education, occupation, industrial type, and migration status). Household-level micro data from 2000 and 2010 of the national population censuses were pooled. Our results showed that inequality in per capita space increased during the new century's first decade, both within and between social classes. Regression analysis and Oaxaca-Blinder decomposition showed that although the changes in these socioeconomic factors partially explain the enlarged inequality in per capita space, the changes in these factors' returns were the main causes. For housing access, there were no signs of prioritization in the allocations of state-subsidized housing for those in the low-ranked social strata. Further, the roles of education, occupation, and monopoly industry in accessibility to subsidized housing gradually weakened, and the allocation of subsidized housing began covering other households besides local urban residents. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Assessing spatial and temporal patterns of biodiversity change is essential to understand how communities vary over time and confront to environmental changes for the resilience of ecosystem functioning. We use data from two bird atlases of Britain collected during the breeding periods 1988–1991 and 2008–2011 to measure temporal β‐diversity of taxonomic, functional and phylogenetic dimensions and examine the relationship and the level of congruence of the three dimensions of temporal β‐diversity and their respective partitioned components (turnover‐nestedness). Temporal β‐diversity, turnover and nestedness patterns were highly congruent for the taxonomic and phylogenetic dimension, although these dimensions were weakly associated with the functional dimension. We found higher levels of temporal changes for the taxonomic (mean Jaccard β‐diversity 0.27) and phylogenetic (mean Jaccard β‐diversity 0.21) dimensions than for the functional dimension (mean Jaccard β‐diversity 0.09), implying that despite the changes in species composition the functional composition of the communities remained less affected. For taxonomic and phylogenetic dimensions, turnover contributed more than nestedness to shaping β‐diversity, while for functional β‐diversity the two components contributed similarly. Communities at higher altitudes were also more functionally similar in 20 years but with more changes in taxonomic and phylogenetic diversity possibly due to environmental filtering. We hypothesize that the low congruence might be due to species with extreme trait values persisting throughout time and retaining the volume of functional space and thus contributing to the low temporal change of functional diversity despite the high levels of change in species composition, perhaps an indication of functional "stability." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Invasion by generalist tree species can cause biotic homogenization, and such community impoverishment is likely more important in rare forest types. We quantified changes in tree diversity within Carolinian (range in Central Hardwood Forest), central (range in Central Hardwood Forest and Northern Hardwood‐Conifer Forest), and northern species [range reached Northern‐Conifer‐Hardwood/closed Boreal (spruce‐Fir) Forest] in an old forest tract in southern Canada at points surveyed 24 years apart. We asked: How did mature tree and sapling composition and abundance change for the three species' groups? Did those changes lead to biotic homogenization? Can species' changes be explained by community traits? We tested for differences in temporal and spatial tree β‐diversity, as well as forest composition and structure, using univariate/multivariate analyses and a community trait‐based approach to identify drivers of change. Major increases occurred in abundance for mature Acer rubrum (northern), while other species decreased (Fraxinus americana, Populus grandidentata); declines were found in A. saccharinum (central) and Cornus florida (Carolinian). Species composition of saplings, but not mature trees, changed due to replacement; no evidence for biotic homogenization existed in either cohort. As a group, northern mature tree species increased significantly, while central species decreased; saplings of pooled Carolinian species also declined. Shade tolerance in mature trees increased, reflecting successional changes, while drought tolerance decreased, perhaps due to changing temperatures, altered precipitation or ground water levels. Saplings showed declines in all traits, probably because of compositional change. Our results demonstrated that saplings can more closely reflect change in forest dynamics than mature trees, especially over short time periods. Based on sapling trends, this remnant could ultimately transition to a mesophytic hardwood stand dominated by A. rubrum and other shade‐tolerant species, creating a more homogeneous forest. While encouraging regeneration for Carolinian and central tree species could ensure high levels of diversity are conserved in the future, it is important to balance this with the primary management goal of maintaining the forest's old‐growth characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Introduction and Aims: Adolescent drinking and cannabis use in Norway declined in the 2000s, and we tested the assumption that psychosocial problems were more strongly related to substance use when the prevalence was quite low (2012/2013) than when it was considerably higher (2002). Design and Methods: Data stemmed from school surveys of almost 20 000 students aged 14–17 years in 2002 and 2012/2013 in the four largest cities in Norway. We assessed how various deviant behaviours and depressive mood were related to past‐year measures on any alcohol intoxication, frequent intoxication (6+ times) and any cannabis use, and tested whether the associations varied significantly by survey year. Results: The prevalence of any intoxication episodes dropped markedly from 2002 (50%) to 2012/2013 (28%), as did the prevalence of frequent intoxication (29% vs. 10%) and any cannabis use (15% vs. 7%). Deviant behaviours and depressive mood were either more closely related to the drinking outcomes in 2012/2013 than in 2002, or the associations showed no temporal change. None of the associations with cannabis use varied significantly by survey year. Discussion and Conclusion: The assumption that psychosocial problems correlated more strongly with alcohol and cannabis use in a low‐prevalence period (2012/2013) as compared to a high‐prevalence period (2002) was partly supported, but only with respect to drinking. The strength of the associations with cannabis use was stable, which may reflect that the proportion reporting any use of the drug was low even in the relatively 'high‐prevalence' period. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We made intensive samplings to study the seasonal response of spiders across different forest strata (ground and understory) in a tropical mountain cloud forest from Mexico. We sampled spiders from ten plots in six sampling events during the dry and rainy season, to analyze their abundance, structure (distribution of abundance among species), diversity and the response of the five dominant species at each stratum. Results demonstrated that seasonal patterns of spider communities differed among strata, revealing a complex spatiotemporal dynamic. Abundance, structure, diversity of ground spiders, as well as the responses of four dominant species at this stratum, showed low seasonal variations. In contrast, a strong seasonal variation was observed for the understory assemblage, with lowest abundance and highest diversity in the rainy season, and different assemblage structures for each season. Seasonal patterns of each assemblage seem linked to the responses of their dominant species. We found high co‐occurrence among most of the ground dominant species with similar habitat use and with multivoltine patterns, contrasting with low co‐occurrence among most of the understory dominant species with similar habitat use and univoltine patterns. Our results showed that the spiders' assemblages of tropical mountain cloud forest (opposed to what is found in temperate and boreal forests) increase their species richness with the height, and that their responses to seasonal change differ between strata. Management programs of these habitats should consider the spatial and temporal variations found here, as a better understanding of their ecological dynamics is required to support their sustainable management. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]