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In tropical areas, since the day length (DL) is shorter than the critical DL for chrysanthemum (Dendranthema x grandiflorum Kitam.), chrysanthemum flowers before reaching the required stem length (SL) for cut flower. Two experiments were conducted with the aim of determining critical DL for vegetative growth of chrysanthemum genotype; to attain a required SL and promote vegetative growth of chrysanthemum using night break (NB) with red light for spray type of chrysanthemum. In the first experiment, DL was extended by one, two, and three hours using white fluorescent light (WL) after sunset. In the second experiment, red light (RL) was applied at the middle of the night for 15, 30, or 45 minutes to break the night. The experiments were laid out in completely randomized design with four replications. The results indicated DL extension with WL and RL night breaks had significant effect on vegetative characters and biomass yield. Similarly, flower bud initiation, coloring and blooming were significantly affected. NB using RL had a significant effect on flower diameter. The three hours DL extension (12+3 hours) totally inhibited flowering of chrysanthemum genotype, which can be considered a critical DL for Hawa1. NB with RL for 15, 30, or 45 minutes effectively inhibited flowering of chrysanthemum. In conclusion, breaking the night with RL at the middle of the night for 15 minutes with small amount of intensity (9.42 µmolm-2s-1) is enough to inhibit flowering and promote stem elongation of chrysanthemum Hawa1. Resumo Em áreas tropicais, como o comprimento do dia (CD) é menor do que o CD crítico para o crisântemo (Dendranthema x grandiflorum Kitam.), o crisântemo floresce antes de atingir o tamanho de haste (TH) necessário para a flor de corte. Dois experimentos foram conduzidos com o objetivo de determinar o CD crítico para que o crescimento vegetativo do crisântemo cultive ‘Hawa1’ do tipo spray e para atingir um TH necessário e promover o crescimento vegetativo do crisântemo usando quebra do nictoperíodo (QB) com luz vermelha. No primeiro experimento, o CD foi estendido em uma, duas e três horas usando luz fluorescente branca (LFB) após o pôr do sol. No segundo experimento, a luz vermelha (LV) foi aplicada no meio da noite por 15, 30 e45 minutos para quebrar a noite. Os experimentos foram dispostos em delineamento inteiramente casualizado com quatro repetições. Os resultados indicaram que a extensão do CD com pausas noturnas LFB e LV teve efeito significativo sobre os caracteres vegetativos e produção de biomassa. Da mesma forma, a iniciação, coloração e florescimento do botão floral foram significativamente afetados. QB usando LV teve um efeito significativo no diâmetro da flor. A extensão de DL de três horas (12+3 horas) inibiu totalmente o florescimento do genótipo de crisântemo, o que pode ser considerado um CD crítico para ‘Hawa1’. QB com LV por 15, 30 e 45 minutos inibiu efetivamente o florescimento do crisântemo. Em conclusão, interromper a noite por 15 minutos com LV com pequena intensidade (9,42 µmolm-2s-1) é suficiente para inibir o florescimento e promover o alongamento do caule do crisântemo ‘Hawa1’.

The sunrise, sunset, and day length times for Baghdad (Latitude =33.34º N, Longitude =44.43º E) were calculated with high accuracy on a daily basis during 2019. The results showed that the earliest time of sunrise in Baghdad was at 4h: 53m from 5 Jun. to 20 Jun while the latest was at 7h: 07m from 5 Jan. to 11 Jan. The earliest time of sunset in Baghdad was at16 h: 55m from 30 Nov. to 10 Dec. whereas the latest was at 19h: 16m from 25 Jun. to 5 Jul. The minimum period of day length in Baghdad was 9h: 57m) in 17 Dec. whereas the maximum period was 14h: 22m) in 20 Jun. Day length was calculated and compared among regions of different latitudes(0, 15, 30, 45 and 60 north).

Chrysanthemum is a Short Day Plant (SDP) that will flower if the day length is less than 12 hours. Indonesian Chrysanthemum farmers provide additional light at night to maintain the Chrysanthemum’s vegetative phase so obtained the stem length which accordance to the cut flower standard (±76 cm). In other side, Chrysanthemum flowers are known has contain metabolites product and potentially useful. This study is purpose to determine the effect of differences in LED light intensity and light exposure duration on growth, flower production, and metabolites profile of chrysanthemum. The study used a RAL method 3x2 factorial pattern which is in the form of giving an additional light intensity of 0 W, 10 W and 20 W and an additional light exposure duration of 2 hrs and 4 hrs. The results showed that the combination of 20 W + 4 hrs is optimaly increases the stem length (96,2 cm) and flowers diameter (6,6 cm). The 20 W light intensity is optimally inhibits the flower initiation and increases the amount of flower. The most compounds produced by chrysanthemum are from fatty acid groups, then hydrocarbons, and diterpenes. The combination of 10 W + 4 hrs is an optimally increases flower metabolites production that produces the most compounds compared to other treatments.

BackgroundHeading time is an important trait for regional and seasonal adaptabilities in rice, and is controlled by genetic factors in relation with environmental factors, mainly day length and temperature. The following genes controlling heading were examined for their responses to six different environmental conditions involving different day lengths using five early near-isogenic lines (NILs) of T65-R and three late NILs of T65wx: two earliness genes,Ef1andEfxcontrolling basic vegetative phase (BVG), andm-Ef1, the enhancer to the former gene; and two lateness genes,Se1-pat(t) andse-patcontrolling photo-sensitivity and BVG, respectively. T65-R and T65-T were different accessions of Taichung 65. T65wx is a NIL of T65-T carryingwx.ResultsThe five early NILs of T65-R were in the order of ER50 (Ef1,Efx,m-Ef1) Ef1,m-Ef1) ≤ ER20 (Ef1,Efx) Ef1) ≤ ER21 (Efx) Se1-pat(t)) ≤ LF2 (Se1-pat(t),se-pat) ≤ T65wx se-pat) under two short-day conditions (10-h photoperiod condition with artificial-light and natural short-day condition from autumn to winter). The NILs and T65wx were in the order of T65wx Ac-ef1) was 2.8 or 5.1 days earlier in DTH than T65-T (ac-ef1) under the two spring-sowing PF conditions. However, T65-R was 19 and 10 days earlier than T65-T under the two short-day conditions.ConclusionsEarliness gene(s) and their combinations reduced DTH regardless of photoperiod lengths.Se1-pat(t) increased DTH under long-day conditions but decreased it under short-day conditions, whilese-patelongated DTH under both short-day and long-day conditions indicating thatse-patis responsible for BVG. These-patincreased DTH by adding its effect over that ofSe1-pat(t) under long-day conditions. However, this increasing effect of DTH byse-patwas almost completely masked when it coexisted withSe1-pat(t) under the short-day conditions. Notably, the response ofAc-ef1to day length was found to delay heading under the short-day conditions.

Photoperiodic responses of a photosensitive species depend on the species-specific critical day length (CD), determined by the entrainment of the endogenous circadian rhythm of photoinducibility. W...

Recent analyses have shown that typically diurnal primates may periodically exhibit some levels of activity at night. Despite this, there have been few studies that have explored whether diurnal primates living in temperate environments will extend their activity budgets to the nocturnal phase as a response to seasonal constraints. Using dual‐axis accelerometers, we explored whether chacma baboons (Papio ursinus; N = 3) in the western Soutpansberg Mountains, South Africa, responded to seasonally fluctuating levels of day length, lunar illumination, wind speed, precipitation and temperature by heightening or lowering nocturnal activity levels. Our results showed that chacma baboons engaged in low levels of activity at night throughout the year. Although baboons had heighted nocturnal activity as a response to shorter days, moonlit nights and lower temperatures, these responses were most likely due to disturbed sleeping patterns rather than more active movement. Nocturnal activity significantly dropped in a female baboon throughout the course of her pregnancy and remained low after giving birth suggesting that females with infants must increase resting. Our results compliment previous analyses which suggest that although diurnal primates may periodically be active at night, there is limited evidence for strategic use of the nocturnal phase even in highly seasonal environments.

This work studied the effect of age at photostimulation on reproductive performance of Beijing-You Chicken (BYC) breeders. A total of 384 fourteen-week-old BYC breeder hens were randomly allocated to 4 treatments of 96 birds each, with 2 replicates per treatment. The treatments represent photostimulation at 16, 18, 20, and 22 wk of age, respectively (PS16, PS18, PS20, and PS22) by incrementally increasing day length from 8L:16D to 14L:10D and by increasing lighting intensity from 10 to 80 lx. Egg production was recorded for each replicate until 51 wk. Four birds randomly selected from each treatment were sacrificed to characterize sexual organ development at 4 time points: 1 D before photostimulation and 2, 4, and 6 wk after photostimulation. Eggshell quality at peak laying was measured. The results showed that the changes in ovary and oviduct weight in PS22 were 8.68- and 4.27-fold higher than in PS16 at 6 wk after photostimulation. PS16 had an earlier age at 5% egg production than PS20 and PS22 (P = 0.003). The interval from photostimulation to age at 5% egg production in PS20 and PS22 was shorter than in other treatments (P = 0.005). Later peak egg production was seen in PS20 (211.0 D) and PS22 (218.0 D) than in PS16 (183.0 D) and PS18 (190.0 D, P = 0.020), but the laying rate of PS20 decreased slowly after peak laying. PS20 and PS22 had higher egg weights than PS16 and PS18 at peak laying (P = 0.018). Age at photostimulation had no effect on egg number, defective egg number, or hatchability (P > 0.05). In summary, the onset of lay can be advanced by photostimulation at early ages, but there is no difference on egg production until 51 wk. Photostimulation at 20 wk improves peak of laying and laying uniformity.

In hydropeaking rivers, flow regulation typically follows demands in electricity consumption. One hundred and twenty one adult salmon were tagged with radio transmitters to study their spawning run migration patterns in hydropeaking conditions. The fish were released in small groups into the rivers Kemijoki and Iijoki, in Finland. Typically, salmon made subsequent up‐ and downstream movements ascending upstream to the tailrace of the power station and then descending again downstream to lower water velocities. The rate of these migration attempts was higher in mid‐summer and at relatively high flows. On an hourly basis, the pattern of migration attempts followed a trend of increasing attempts at dawn and higher discharges and a decreasing trend towards dusk and low flows. It was concluded that day length and discharge were the most important environmental factors, while temperature had less effect on the pattern of migration attempts.

The circadian system is generally considered to be incapable of adjusting to rapid changes in sleep/work demands. In shiftworkers this leads to chronic circadian disruption and sleep loss, which together predict underperformance at work and negative health consequences. Two distinct experimental protocols have been proposed to increase circadian flexibility in rodents using dim light at night: rhythm bifurcation and T-cycle (i.e., day length) entrainment. Successful translation of such protocols to human shiftworkers could facilitate alignment of internal time with external demands. To assess entrainment flexibility following bifurcation and exposure to T-cycles, mice in Study 1 were repeatedly phase-shifted. Mice from experimental conditions rapidly phase-shifted their activity, while control mice showed expected transient misalignment. In Study 2 and 3, mice followed a several weeks-long intervention designed to model a modified DuPont or Continental shiftwork schedule, respectively. For both schedules, bifurcation and nocturnal dim lighting reduced circadian misalignment. Together, these studies demonstrate proof of concept that mammalian circadian systems can be rendered sufficiently flexible to adapt to multiple, rapidly changing shiftwork schedules. Flexible adaptation to exotic light-dark cycles likely relies on entrainment mechanisms that are distinct from traditional entrainment.

The Bible has a variety of perspectives on old age. On the one hand, as exemplified in Ps 91(90):16 and 92(91):15, old age is a sign of God’s blessing and the elderly are held in high regard as valuable, while on the other, as exemplified in Ps 39(38):5; 71(70):9; and 90(89):10, life is seen as fleeting and length of days as insignificant and the elderly fear neglect. The psalms held a high place in Augustine’s Christian identity. This paper explores Augustine’s use of these verses to consider the extent to which his religious outlook shaped his perspectives on ageing, as well as addressing the question of whether or not he was aware of the conflict between the two perspectives. It will be argued that Augustine was not interested in the contradictions presented by the psalmist, and that he interpreted all the verses through an eschatological framework, such that an evaluation of the meaning and value of life is to be found only through a perception of eternity.

This paper proposes a one-step forecasting method based on the LS+AR prediction model that calculates LS and AR model parameters simultaneously. The EOPs products released by the IERS were ...

The red alga Chondria crassicaulis has a wide‐ranging bioactive chemical composition and is used as a local foodstuff, representing a potentially new cultivar in Korea. The cultivation techniques were developed by examining the monthly changes in frond weight in a field population of C. crassicaulis from November 2016 to October 2017. For seedling production, temperature and irradiance effects on the attachment and growth of vegetative propagules of C. crassicaulis were evaluated. In addition, effects of day length and salinity on the propagule growth were examined. C. crassicaulis is a year‐round species with a maximum frond wet weight of 817 mg observed in July 2017, as seawater temperature increases to 20°C. The attachment of vegetative propagules was significantly affected by temperature and irradiance, with maximal values detected at 20–25°C and 60 µmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹. The relative growth rates of vegetative propagules of C. crassicaulis were the highest at 20–25°C, 60 µmol photons m⁻² s⁻¹, and a salinity of 25 psu. In conclusion, due to its tremendous tolerance under variable environmental conditions, the vegetative propagules of C. crassicaulis can be used as seedlings for mass cultivation.

The phenology of soybean explicitly indicates environmental changes and strongly depends on temperature and day length. We adapted an artificial neural network model to predict the time to flowering in nine early maturing soybean accessions in the Northwest region of Russia. We added scaling constants for network inputs, optimized the high and low temperature thresholds and base day length, and implemented a new model written in Python using the Keras and TensorFlow libraries. Experimental data obtained in 1999–2013 in Pushkin (in the Leningrad region) and Kuban were used for training 121 model parameters; after training the mean-root-square error became smaller, 0.026. The investigated accessions had a reduced upper temperature threshold compared to the literature data (23 instead of 30°С) and increased low temperature threshold (12 instead of 5°С). The extension of day length from 12 to 13 h confirmed the adaptation to a longer day. The average prediction error was improved by approximately 2 days compared to the previous model of temperature minima. We generated daily weather for different future greenhouse gas emission scenarios and predicted time to flowering for nine soybean accessions in a changing climate for 2019–2030 and two planting days, that is, May 1 and May 10. The predicted time to flowering decreases to 2030 for most accessions and scenarios but may remain constant or fluctuate in several cases. The difference in the mean between 39.21 days in the experimental data and 36.33 days in the modeling results for 2030 is statistically significant according to Mann–Witney–Wilcoxon criterion (5423.5, P = 0.0097 < 0.01). Consequently, the results confirmed the predictive power of the developed model.

Flowering control is one of the most important techniques in floriculture. The control of day length makes year-round cut-chrysanthemum flower production possible. Night-break is the most widely used flowering control method in both cut flower and pot chrysanthemum production. In this study, we investigated the effects of night-break, night-break time, and light quality on chrysanthemum flowering. On comparing the wavelengths of red (R) light used for night-breaks, it was observed that the inhibition effect on flowering was higher in the wavelength range of 620-640 nm than at 660 nm, in which the conversion efficiency of phytochrome is high. The effect of R light and R + far red (FR) light on the inhibition of flowering changes with the length of night-break. The effect of R light is higher with a short night-break. On the other hand, when the duration of night-break is long, both R and R + FR light showed equivalent inhibition effects, and the effect of R + FR light was higher than R light in some varieties. The most effective time for night-break was not the middle of the dark period, but near the end of the cultivar-specific critical dark period. As the night-break time was extended, the inhibitory effect on flowering initially increased with night-break time up to a certain time period, beyond which the effect decreased again. The results obtained here are contrary to current perspective on night-break. Based on these findings, we propose a new night-break protocol for the inhibition of flowering in chrysanthemum.

An understanding of initiation and influencing factors are necessary to develop forcing techniques for flowering plants. The March lily (Amaryllis belladonna) is a late summer flowering bulbous plant of South Africa. The inflorescence bears 2-12 soft pink fragrant funnel-shaped flowers on 'naked' (leafless) stems. It makes an excellent potted plant and fresh cut flower lasting up to a week in a bouquet. Preliminary data of the aspects influencing the morphological changes to promote flower-bud initiation are discussed. These include physical traits of bulb size, age and dormancy; planting establishment with relevance to methods and bulb disturbance and the environmental factors of temperature, watering, day length and seasonal fire. This review is aimed to encourage further research and popularization to enhance the year-round growing of A. belladonna to expand its economic and commercial potential.

Differences in the rumen bacterial community have been previously reported for Soay sheep housed under different day length conditions. This study extends this previous investigation to other organs of the digestive tract, as well as the analysis of ciliated protozoa and anaerobic fungi. The detectable concentrations of ciliated protozoa and anaerobic fungi decreased with increased day length in both the rumen and large colon, unlike those of bacteria where no effect was observed. Conversely, bacterial community composition was affected by day length in both the rumen and large colon, but the community composition of the detectable ciliated protozoa and anaerobic fungi was not affected. Day length-associated differences in the bacterial community composition extended to all of the organs examined, with the exception of the duodenum and the jejunum. It is proposed that differences in rumen fill and ruminal ‘by-pass’ nutrients together with endocrinological changes cause the observed effects of day length on the different gut microbial communities.

In this study, we made monthly assessments of the reproductive phenology of ten cacti species that are widely distributed in the Brazilian Chaco over a 2-year period. We tested whether different climatic regimes in this region promoted the evolution of different reproductive strategies among cacti species. We applied circular statistics and the Rayleigh test to determine whether flowering and fruiting were seasonal and to detect significant periodic patterns. Multiple linear regressions were used to determine the influence climatic variables had on the number of flowers and fruits produced by each species. The flowering and fruiting periods began during the rainy season and peaked in November and January, respectively. Annual and continuous patterns were observed, which presented extended durations. The timing of flowering and fruiting was positively associated with day length and temperature. Rainfall was not significant in any of the models. In the Brazilian Chaco, the cacti reproductive phenophases were triggered by changes in day length and temperature. The similarity in flowering and fruiting patterns among the cacti species with extended durations generated a significant amount of overlap in flowering and fruiting, which may be a strategy to maintain pollinator and seed disperser populations in this environment.

Awareness of the role of temperature and day length on plant growth and development can be used in agronomic management and plant breeding, and provide basic and essential information for prediction of development stages. To estimate the length of development stages of a soybean variety namely Wood Worth using the temperature, day length and planting dates of this variety in different regions of Isfahan during 1996-1999. To determine the model of each stage, the length of each stage as a dependent variable and thermal variables, day length, and the product of multiplication of thermal variables with day length variables were used as an independent variable in step wise regression. For all stages by delaying in planting, the length of the stage decreased. The coefficients of determination for planting to emergence, emergence to flowering, emergence to poding and emergence to maturity were 76.4%, 85.6%, 86.9% and 92.2%, respectively. The results of this study show that the contributions of thermal parameters play a major role in determining the estimation models of development stages of Wood Worth variety.

The results suggested that all the pure Basmati lines or genotypes initiate flowering within a specific range of day length duration and temperature. Delaying the transplanting date did not significantly affect the flowering time of studied Basmati lines. Maximum threshold of daily minimum temperature (MT) was 24°C during both the years. Likewise, maximum threshold of daily day-length (DL) durations was 12 hours and 18 minutes during both the study years. Results showed that the flowering was maximum when the MT and DL values were optimum as depicted by peak of the trend lines, where maximum lines flowered. Maximum flowering initiations took place when DL was about 11 hours and 15 minutes indicating Basmati as short day plant which flowers maximum when day lengths are shorter and dark or night duration is longer. During 2013, 1st date trial showed strong relationship between flowering initiation with dates of flowering during the flowering period as depicted by higher regression (R2 = 0.837) values. In 2nd date trial during the same year, the value is lower (R2 = 0.513) depicting less relationship of flowering initiation with the dates of flowering. The same trend was observed in 2014 trial. In 1st date trial, strong relationship between flowering initiation with dates of flowering during the flowering period as depicted by higher regression (R2 = 0.864) values, was observed. In 2nd date trial during the same year, the value is lower (R2 = 0.1789) depicting very poor relationship of flowering initiation with the dates of flowering, and the same trend (R2 = 0.0544) in 3rd date of trial.

1) Camera trapping allows scientists to study activity patterns of animals under natural conditions. However, comparisons of activity patterns across seasons or latitudes can be biased, because activity is often attuned to sunrise and sunset, the timing of which varies with latitude and season. Existing transformation methods to solve this problem have limitations. (2) Here, we explore whether and how activity patterns can be transformed more accurately using two alternative ‘double anchoring’ transformations – equinoctial and average anchoring – that anchor activity time to two chosen anchor points during the study period. (3) Using simulated noisy datasets mimicking species with either crepuscular, diurnal or cathemeral activity patterns, we compared the ability of different transformation methods to extract the latent pattern and activity levels under different study conditions. We found that average anchoring best retrieved the original diel activity pattern and yielded accurate estimates of activity level. Two alternative transformation methods – single anchoring and equinoctial anchoring – performed less well. Bias in estimates from using untransformed clock times was most marked (up to 2.5-fold over-estimation) for longer studies covering 4-5 months either side of an equinox at high latitude, and focusing on crepuscular species. (4) We applied the average anchoring method to 9 months of data on Red deer (Cervus elaphus), Wild boar (Sus scrofa) and Mouflon (Ovis amon musimon) activity as captured by camera traps in National Park Hoge Veluwe, the Netherlands. Average anchoring revealed more pronounced peaks of activity after sunset than was apparent from untransformed data in red deer and wild boar, but not for mouflon, a cathemeral species. Similarly, activity level was lower when calculated using average-anchored time for red deer and wild boar, but no difference was observed for mouflon. (5) We conclude that transformation of time might not be necessary at latitudes below 20°, or in studies with a duration of less than a month (below 40° latitude). For longer study periods and/or higher latitudes, average-anchoring resolves the problem of variable day length. Code is provided. The transformation functions are incorporated in the R-package ‘activity’.

“The value of life lies not in the length of days, but in the use we make of them.” (Michel de Montaigne) The 28th March 2021 was, and remains, a day of great sadness for many marine biologists worldwide who mourn the passing of Professor Brian Morton (Fig. 1), a distinguished marine biologist, an exemplary teacher and a dear friend, after a brave battle with his chronic lung disease over three years. As the pioneer of marine biology in Hong Kong, Brian dedicated his lifetime to ploughing the fields, sowing the seeds, and cultivating marine biological research and marine conservation, achieving an enormous impact in Hong Kong, China, and beyond, which we see and enjoy today. Brian not only enlightened his students intellectually, his positive, energizing attitude changed the outlook on life for many of us. While we deeply grieve the loss of Brian, we also celebrate his life, so full of memories and achievements.

Cultivation of hemp (Cannabis sativa L.) in tropical and subtropical regions can be challenging if flowering behavior of a given cultivar is unknown, poorly understood, or not accurately selected for the photoperiod. Identifying cultivars adapted to local environmental conditions is key to optimizing hemp vegetative and flowering performance. We investigated the effects of varying light cycles in regulating extension growth and flowering response of 15 essential oil and 12 fiber/grain hemp cultivars both in indoors and outdoors. Plants were subjected to eleven photoperiods in the controlled rooms ranging from 12 h to 18 h, and natural day length in the field. The critical photoperiod threshold was identified for seven essential oil cultivars and two fiber/grain cultivars. ‘Cherry Wine-CC’, ‘PUMA-3’, and ‘PUMA-4’ had the shortest critical day length between 13 h 45 min and 14 h. The flowering of essential oil cultivars was generally delayed by 1 to 2 d when photoperiod exceeded 13 h compared to 12 h, and flowering was further delayed by 7 to 8 d when photoperiod exceed 14 h. In fiber/grain cultivars, flowering was generally delayed by 1 to 3 d when day length exceeded 14 h. Flowering for most essential oil cultivars was delayed by 5 to 13 d under 14 h photoperiod compared to 13 h 45 min, suggesting a photoperiod difference as little as 15 min can significantly influence the floral initiation of some essential oil cultivars. Cultivars represented by the same name but acquired from different sources can perform differently under the same environmental conditions, suggesting genetic variation among cultivars with the same name. Average days to flower of fiber/grain cultivars was correlated with reported cultivar origin with faster flowering occurring among northern cultivars when compared to southern cultivars. Plant height generally increased as the day length increased in essential oil cultivars but was not affected in fiber/grain cultivars. In addition, civil twilight of approximately 2 µmol·m-2·s-1 was discovered to be biologically effective in regulating hemp flowering. Collectively, we conclude that most of the essential oil cultivars and some southern fiber/grain cultivars tested express suitable photoperiods for tropical and sub-tropical region cultivation.

The proper timing of flowering in response to environmental changes is critical for ensuring crop yields. FLOWERING LOCUS T (FT) homologs of the phosphatidylethanolamine-binding protein family play important roles as floral integrators in many crops. In soybean, we identified 17 genes of this family, and characterized biological functions in flowering for ten FT homologs. Overexpression of GmFT homologs in Arabidopsis revealed that a set of GmFT homologs, including GmFT2a/2b, GmFT3a/3b, and GmFT5a/5b, promoted flowering similar to FT; in contrast, GmFT1a/1b, GmFT4, and GmFT6 delayed flowering. Consistently, expressions of GmFT2a, GmFT2b, and GmFT5a were induced in soybean leaves in response to floral inductive short days, whereas expressions of GmFT1a and GmFT4 were induced in response to long days. Exon swapping analysis between floral activator GmFT2a and floral repressor GmFT4 revealed that the segment B region in the fourth exon is critical for their antagonistic functions. Finally, expression analysis of GmFT2a, GmFT5a, and GmFT4 in soybean accessions exhibiting various flowering times indicated that the mRNA levels of GmFT2a and GmFT5a were higher in early flowering accessions than in late-flowering accessions, while GmFT4 showed the opposite pattern. Moreover, the relative mRNA levels between GmFT2a/GmFT5a and GmFT4 was important in determining day length-dependent flowering in soybean accessions. Taken together, our results suggest that the functions of GmFT homologs have diversified into floral activators and floral repressors during soybean evolution, and the timing of flowering in response to changing day length is determined by modulating the activities of antagonistic GmFT homologs.

The nature, the age and probably first of all the magnitude of driving forces of plate motion since long are a subject of scientific debates and it cannot be regarded as clarified even today.The physical basis of recent plate tectonics is characterized by interaction between plates by viscous coupling to a convecting mantle. Authors are going to demonstrate that changes in the Earth's axial rotation can affect the movement of tectonic plates, and the phenomenon of tidal friction is able to shift the lithospheric plates.The tidal friction regulates the length of day (LOD)and consequently also the rotational energy of the Earth. It can be investigated with the use of total tidal energy, which can be determined as a sum of three energies (energy of axial rotation of the Earth, Moon’s orbital energy around the common centre of mass and the mutual potential energy). It was found that during the last 3 Ga the Earth lost 33% of its rotational energy. The LOD 0.5Ga BP (before present) was ~21 h. This means that the rotational energy loss rate was 4.1 times higher during the Pz (Phanerozoic, from 560 Ma BP to our age) than earlier in the Arch (Archean, 4 to 2.5 Ga BP) and Ptz (Proterozoic 2.5 to0.56 Ga BP). The low-velocity zone (LVZ) at 100-200 km depth interval, close to the boundary between the lithosphere and the asthenosphere characterized by a negative anomaly of shear wave velocities. Consequently, the LVZ can result in a decoupling effect. Tidal friction brakes the lithosphere and the part of the Earth below the asthenosphere with different forces. By model calculation, we show that this force difference is sufficient to move the tectonic plates along the Earth’s surface. Reference: Varga P., Fodor Cs., 2021. About the energy and age of the plate tectonics, Terra Nova. (in print) https://doi.org/10.1111/ter.12518

Like the seasonal and interannual variations in length‐of‐day (LOD), variations on intraseasonal timescales (periods shorter than 183 days) are also predominantly caused by changes in the angular momentum of the zonal winds. But the smaller intraseasonal LOD excitations from atmospheric surface pressure, oceanic currents, and the ocean bottom pressure are less clear. Here sliding window average filtering is applied to isolate intraseasonal signals from both geodetically observed LOD excitation (shorten to geodetic excitation for convenience) and atmospheric and oceanic LOD excitations. Based on careful comparison between these two‐excitation series, we find that during 1993–2018, atmospheric winds reduce the RMS of observed intraseasonal LOD series from 276.1 to 55.6 μs with a correlation coefficient of 0.9795. Including the effect of surface pressure changes with that of the winds reduced the RMS from 55.6 to 43.3 μs, and increased the correlation coefficient with the observations from 0.9795 to 0.9884. Additionally, including the effects of changes in oceanic currents and bottom pressure further reduced the RMS from 43.3 to 33.9 μs, and further increased the correlation coefficient from 0.9884 to 0.9931. Thus, although the impact of oceans is relatively minor, closer agreement with the observations in the intraseasonal frequency band is obtained when the effects of oceanic processes are added to that of atmospheric. The RMS values and correlation coefficients of ESMGFZ and MPIOM residual series are better than NCEP and ECCO in every component, indicating that NCEP model set is generally poorer than ESMGFZ in the intraseasonal band.

Purpose: To evaluate the safety of one-day length of hospital stay (LOS) after pediatric percutaneous nephrolithotomy (PNL), and to study the predictors of LOS. Methods: A retrospective study included pediatric patients who PNL for renal calculi more than 1 cm between January 2016 and October 2019. PNL was performed in prone position. The nephrostomy tubes and ureteric catheters were removed on the second day and patients were discharged if there was no perforation or significant residual stones. The stone free rate, LOS and the surgical complications were reported. Bivariate and multivariate analysis were used to predict the LOS. Results: 220 patients were identified. The median age (range) was eight (Range: 3–17) years. Stone free rate was achieved in 200 patients (91%) of patients, while residual fragments were detected in 20 patients (9%). Complications, they were reported in 50 (22.7%) patients. 184 (83.6%) of patients stayed at the hospital for only 1 day, while 36 (16. 4%) stayed more than 1 day. Of 36 patients who stayed more than one-day, 34 had complications ( p value Conclusion: Early nephrostomy tube removal and 1-day length of hospital stay could be a safe option after pediatric PNL. Surgical complications is a statistically significant predictor of longer LOS.

Background: Circumcision is a minor surgical procedure that is most widely performed in the world,namely a method of cutting all or part of the prepuce of the penis for specific indications and purposes.Study Design:This study was used one-group pretest-posttest pre-experimental research design, with a totalsample 15 respondents.Results: Based on the results of the bivariate analysis using the Dependent T test, it was found that therewas an effect conventional method with a value (p value = 0, 000) on the on the length of days of care forcircumcision wounds in children undergoing circumcision at the Poniran Khitan Centre Bengkulu.Conclusion: The role of the Poniran Khitan Center will greatly assist in facilitating children in treatingwounds who undergo circumcision

Collisions between road vehicles and trains at level (grade) crossings can be devastating. Injury and economic considerations make prevention efforts of significant interest to society at all levels, and raise important safety concerns. Improving our understanding of the nature and pattern of crashes at level crossings can help inform a variety of types of safety mitigation strategies, including public education, crossing equipment and vehicle design efforts. To this end, a database search of Canadian level crossing crashes for the 11-year period between 2007 and 2017 was conducted to confirm a previously identified seasonal variation in the frequency of level crossing crashes. To determine whether the observed winter increase in crashes was due primarily to winter reductions in light levels/day length or to other seasonal weather factors, a subsequent comparison of Canadian data to American Federal Railroad Administration (FRA) crash data was carried out. A separate inferential log-linear model analysis, using season, time of day and crossing protection type, was also used to explore the increase. As expected, the average rate of crossing collisions in Canada increased during winter months compared to non-winter months. While the seasonal pattern was evident in those U.S. states that experience significant changes in weather patterns (i.e., northern states), it was almost completely absent in those states that do not (i.e., southern states). The log-linear model analysis confirmed these findings. The seasonal variation in North American level crossing crash rate is a result of winter weather conditions, rather than differences in light levels. Future research is planned that will elucidate the specific environmental and human factors contributing to the increase.

The new climate conditions of introduced plants are often very different from their original native places of growing. In this case, these conditions can be considered as stressful. Plants under adverse environmental conditions can adapt at the morphological, physiological, and biochemical levels. This paper discusses the morphological traits of Amaranthus caudatus L. cv. Edulis during introduction process in temperate continental climate. The results show that a combination of environmental factors (temperature, soil moisture, day length) affects the growth and development of plants. Amaranth has a wide response norm and adapts well to new conditions. The functional dependency between a lamina’s area and a petiole’s length is obtained.