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Abstract Background Leptospirosis is among the leading zoonotic causes of morbidity and mortality worldwide. Knowledge about spatial patterns of diseases and their underlying processes have the potential to guide intervention efforts. However, leptospirosis is often an underreported and misdiagnosed disease and consequently, spatial patterns of the disease remain unclear. In the absence of accurate epidemiological data in the urban agglomeration of Santa Fe, we used a knowledge-based index and cluster analysis to identify spatial patterns of environmental and socioeconomic suitability for the disease and potential underlying processes that shape them. Methods We geocoded human leptospirosis cases derived from the Argentinian surveillance system during the period 2010 to 2019. Environmental and socioeconomic databases were obtained from satellite images and publicly available platforms on the web. Two sets of human leptospirosis determinants were considered according to the level of their support by the literature and expert knowledge. We used the Zonation algorithm to build a knowledge-based index and a clustering approach to identify distinct potential sets of determinants. Spatial similarity and correlations between index, clusters, and incidence rates were evaluated. Results We were able to geocode 56.36% of the human leptospirosis cases reported in the national epidemiological database. The knowledge-based index showed the suitability for human leptospirosis in the UA Santa Fe increased from downtown areas of the largest cities towards peri-urban and suburban areas. Cluster analysis revealed downtown areas were characterized by higher levels of socioeconomic conditions. Peri-urban and suburban areas encompassed two clusters which differed in terms of environmental determinants. The highest incidence rates overlapped areas with the highest suitability scores, the strength of association was low though (CSc r = 0.21, P

Geographic origin and terroir are very important parameters for wine and significantly impact price. Incorrect declarations are known to occur intentionally to increase profit, thus, measures for control are required. Accompanying paperwork has been shown to be unreliable, thus, control of the product itself is required. Here we investigate and compare the stable isotope pattern of South African (Western Cape Province) wine, and evaluate its potential for discrimination from Central European/Austrian wine. The results show that the isotope values of the investigated South African wine samples differ significantly from the values of average Austrian (Central European) wines. Thus, a differentiation of the products from these two regions by stable isotope analysis is generally straightforward. However, the data suggest that vintages from years with exceptionally hot and dry summer weather in Europe may reduce the differentiation between these regions. Therefore, this method is a potent tool for the discrimination of Austrian (Central European) and South African wines under current climatic conditions, although drier and hotter summer weather in Europe, which is likely to occur more frequently due to global climate change, may require further method adjustments in the future. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abiotic environmental conditions can significantly influence the way species interact. In particular, plant–herbivore interactions can be substantially dependent on temperature and nutrients. The overall product of these relationships is critical for the fate and stability of vegetated ecosystems like marine forests. The last few decades have seen a rapid spread of barrens on temperate rocky reefs mainly as a result of overgrazing. The ecological feedbacks that characterize the barren state involve a different set of interactions than those occurring in vegetated habitats. Reversing these trends requires a proper understanding of the novel feedbacks and the conditions under which they operate. Here, we explored the role of a secondary herbivore in reinforcing the stability of barrens formed by sea urchin overgrazing under different nutrient conditions. Combining comparative and experimental studies in two Mediterranean regions characterized by contrasting nutrient conditions, we assessed: (i) if the creation of barren areas enhances limpet abundance, (ii) the size‐specific grazing impact by limpets, and (iii) the ability of limpets alone to maintain barrens. Our results show that urchin overgrazing enhanced limpet abundance. The effects of limpet grazing varied with nutrient conditions, being up to five times more intense under oligotrophic conditions. Limpets were able to maintain barrens in the absence of sea urchins only under low‐nutrient conditions, enhancing the stability of the depauperate state. Overall, our study suggests a greater vulnerability of subtidal forests in oligotrophic regions of the Mediterranean and demonstrates the importance of environment conditions in regulating feedbacks mediated by plant–herbivore interactions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Polymer-coated urea (PCU) was developed to better synchronize nitrogen (N) supply with crop needs and reduce N losses. The objective of this work was to evaluate the effects of different N rates prepared using combinations of urea and ESN (PCU) on corn (Zea mays L.), grain yield, yield components, in-season nutritional status, and residual soil N. Field experiments were conducted on two sites in eastern Ontario (Canada); Kemptville (sandy loam) and Winchester (clay-loam), and repeated over three years (2011–2013). A total of ten treatments were applied using combinations of three N rates (50, 100, and 150 kg N ha−1) and three fertilizer proportions (100% urea, 75:25 urea:ESN, and 60:40 urea:ESN) for each rate. The tenth treatment consisted of a non-fertilized control (0 N). Grain yield was significantly affected by N source, N rate, site, and year. There was no significant effect of the N source in most sites/years. In the wetter season 2013, treatment 100N60:40 in the sandy site produced a similar yield to treatments receiving 150 kg N ha−1. In the clay-loam site, the 150N75:25 treatment had a yield advantage of 11–12% compared with straight urea. Chlorophyll index generally increased with the higher N application rate. The other grain parameters were little affected by the N rate or source. Soil residual mineral N tended to increase with ESN blends at 100 and 150 kg N ha−1 compared with straight urea. Our findings indicate that replacing a portion of urea with PCU might save N in lighter soils prone to leaching especially in wet years without affecting yields. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Studies into environmental conditions and their effects on the properties of renewable materials are gaining significant attention in the research field, particularly for natural fibres and their resultant composites. However, natural fibres are prone to water absorption because of the hydrophilic nature of the fibres, which affects the overall mechanical properties of natural-fibre-reinforced composites (NFRCs). In addition, NFRCs are based mainly on thermoplastic and thermosetting matrices, which could be used in automobile and aerospace components as lightweight materials. Therefore, such components have to survive the maximum temperature and humid conditions in different parts of the world. Based on the above factors, through an up-to-date review, this paper critically discusses the effects of environmental conditions on the impact performance of NFRCs. In addition, this paper critically assesses the damage mechanisms of NFRCs and their hybrids by focusing more on moisture ingress and relative humidity in the impact damage behaviour of NFRCs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Actuarial senescence, the decline of survival with age, is well documented in the wild. Rates of senescence vary widely between taxa, to some extent also between sexes, with the fastest life histories showing the highest rates of senescence. Few studies have investigated differences in senescence among populations of the same species, although such variation is expected from population‐level differences in environmental conditions, leading to differences in vital rates and thus life histories.We predict that, within species, populations differing in productivity (suggesting different paces of life) should experience different rates of senescence, but with little or no sexual difference in senescence within populations of monogamous, monomorphic species where the sexes share breeding duties.We compared rates of actuarial senescence among three contrasting populations of the Atlantic puffin Fratercula arctica. The dataset comprised 31 years (1990–2020) of parallel capture–mark–recapture data from three breeding colonies, Isle of May (North Sea), Røst (Norwegian Sea) and Hornøya (Barents Sea), showing contrasting productivities (i.e. annual breeding success) and population trends. We used time elapsed since first capture as a proxy for bird age, and productivity and the winter North Atlantic Oscillation Index (wNAO) as proxies for the environmental conditions experienced by the populations within and outside the breeding season, respectively.In accordance with our predictions, we found that senescence rates differed among the study populations, with no evidence for sexual differences. There was no evidence for an effect of wNAO, but the population with the lowest productivity, Røst, showed the lowest rate of senescence. As a consequence, the negative effect of senescence on the population growth rate (λ) was up to 3–5 times smaller on Røst (Δλ = −0.009) than on the two other colonies.Our findings suggest that environmentally induced differences in senescence rates among populations of a species should be accounted for when predicting effects of climate variation and change on species persistence. There is thus a need for more detailed information on how both actuarial and reproductive senescence influence vital rates of populations of the same species, calling for large‐scale comparative studies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Moving bed biofilm reactors have proven to be a good alternative for conventional biological wastewater treatment systems due to their ability to carry out simultaneous removal of carbon and nitrogen (nitrification and denitrification processes). However, optimization of physicochemical growth conditions and operational parameters in a moving bed biofilm reactor system is very crucial to ensure minimized biofilm sloughing and consistent treatment performance. This study investigates the possible ways to enhance biofilm attachment for wastewater treatment. To improve bacterial adhesion, strategies were devised based on enhancing the van der Waal's forces of attraction by varying the operating and chemical growth parameters. Environmental and operating conditions, namely salinity, temperature and rate of aeration, were optimized to further understand biofilm adhesion and to enhance it. The study involving the variation of physicochemical parameters showed that a combination of an aeration rate of 1.5 L per minute, salinity of 6000 mg/L and a temperature of 37 °C was found to be optimum for both bacterial adhesion and chemical oxygen demand reduction. The extracellular polysaccharide secretion enabled excellent adhesion. In addition, the biomass adhesion and chemical oxygen demand reduction efficiency were found to be positively correlated which reinforces that with greater active biomass in the attached phase, better would be the chemical oxygen demand reduction efficiency. Further, owing to the innate resistance of biofilms to toxins, the mechanism developed here, to enhance biofilm adherence can be deployed to treat emerging contaminants such as antibiotics and other pharmaceuticals which are otherwise not easily combatable by conventional suspended growth biological systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Study on Optical Communications / Guangtongxin Yanjiu is the property of Study on Optical Communications Editorial Office and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

International business research has provided substantial empirical evidence that foreign firms investing in countries with adverse environmental conditions may emerge as the main competitors in those countries. Against this backdrop, the dominance of local banks in Nigeria is puzzling. Our exploratory study, designed to investigate this inconsistency, revealed that managers of foreign and local banks perceive Nigeria's environmental resources differently and, consequently, respond to them with different strategic choices that lead to different performance outcomes. Building on environmental psychology theory, we theorize the mechanisms by which foreignness affects perceptions and the ways in which these perceptions guide strategic choices. The study makes novel contributions to IB theory by blending insights from environmental psychology with theories of international business and employing individual-level analysis to supplement the firm-level analyses that have dominated preceding studies. The research enabled us to shed light on different explanatory variables than those commonly employed in international business research and to explain the puzzle that triggered our interest. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Many studies have focused on how leaf litter depth affects seed germination and seedling growth because the seedling stage is the most vulnerable portion of a plant's life cycle. Invasive plants with the most severe ecological consequences are those that modify ecosystems, and this can occur through the formation of thick litter layers which can suppress the emergence, survival, and recruitment of native plant seedlings; in addition, in some cases, these litter layers can suppress invasive plant seedling recruitment. Prosopis juliflora is a thorny shrub that is native to arid and semi-arid portions of North America, parts of South America, and the Caribbean. It has invaded millions of hectares around the world, including Saudi Arabia. The objective of this study is to evaluate whether P. juliflora leaf litter reduces the recruitment of its own seedlings under greenhouse and field conditions in Saudi Arabia. In both the greenhouse and the field, the number of days to first emergence increased and germination percentage decreased with increasing litter depth. With the 1, 2, and 4 cm litter depth treatments, the number of viable seeds generally decreased, with no emergence, germination, or viable seeds detected for the 8 cm litter depth treatment. Results of this study reveal that increasing the depth of P. juliflora leaf litter suppresses the survival and recruitment of its own seedlings. Future search should assess the actual mechanisms through which P. juliflora seeds are suppressed, the role of allelopathic compounds in this process, and whether viable seeds are dormant and will persist in the soil seed bank. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Photocatalytic oxidation (PCO) is a successful method for indoor air purification, especially for removing low-concentration pollutants. Volatile organic compounds (VOCs) form a class of organic pollutants that are released into the atmosphere by consumer goods or via human activities. Once they enter the atmosphere, some might combine with other gases to create new air pollutants, which can have a detrimental effect on the health of living beings. This review focuses on current developments in the degradation of indoor pollutants, with an emphasis on two aspects of PCO: (i) influence of environmental (external) conditions; and (ii) catalyst deactivation and possible solutions. TiO2 is widely used as a photocatalyst in PCO because of its unique properties. Here, the potential effects of the operating parameters, such as the nature of the reactant, catalyst support, light intensity, and relative humidity, are extensively investigated. Then the developments and limitations of the PCO technique are highlighted, especially photocatalyst deactivation. Furthermore, the nature and deactivation mechanisms of photocatalysts are discussed, with possible solutions for reducing catalyst deactivation. Finally, the challenges and future directions of PCO technology for the elimination of indoor pollutants are compared and summarized. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study investigated the genetic diversity and population structure of 63 genotypes from Turkish bread wheat germplasm using iPBS-retrotransposons primers. The thirty-four iPBS primers produced a total of 1231 polymorphic bands, ranging from 8 (iPBS-2375) to 60 (iPBS-2381) alleles per marker, with an average number of 36.00 alleles. The polymorphism information content (PIC) per marker varied between 0.048 (iPBS 2087) and 0.303 (iPBS 2382), with an average of 0.175. The numbers of effective alleles (ne), genetic diversity of Nei (h), and Shannon's information index (I) value were calculated as 1.157, 0.95, and 0.144, respectively. The greatest genetic distance (0.164) was between Eastern Anatolia Agricultural Research Institute genotypes and Çukurova Agricultural Research Institute genotypes. The unweighted pair-group method with arithmetic mean (UPGMA) dendrogram placed the 63 wheat genotypes into three clusters. The percentage of genetic diversity explained by each of the three main coordinates of the basic coordinate analysis was determined to be 44.58, 12.08, and 3.44, respectively. AMOVA (Analysis of Molecular Variance) showed that the variation within populations was 99% and that between populations was 1%. The result of genetic structure analysis suggests that the greatest value of K was calculated as 3. The F-statistic (Fst) value was determined as 0.4005, 0.2374, and 0.3773 in the first to third subpopulations, respectively. Likewise, the expected heterozygosity values (He) were determined as 0.2203, 0.2599, and 0.2155 in the first, second, and third subpopulations, respectively. According to the information obtained in the study, the most genetically distant genotypes were the G1 (Aksel 2000) and G63 (Karasu 90) genotypes. This study provided a deep insight into genetic variations in Turkish bread wheat germplasm using the iPBS-retrotransposons marker system. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The present study was carried out to evaluate the essential oil content and chemical composition of sweet marjoram (Majorana hortensis Mnch.) plants grown at seven locations in Egypt (Giza, Beni-Suef, Faiyum, Minia, Assiut, Sohag and east Elowainat). The plant samples were collected from such regions, their volatile oils were extracted and oil content (%) in air-dry herbage was calculated. The essential oil composition was determined by using GC-MS and the percentages of its main components from the studied regions were compared. Moreover, antioxidant potential of total phenolic content (TPC) and total flavonoid content (TFC) in plant extracts were determined. Results showed that the essential oil content and its percentages of volatile oil's major components were changed also TPC and TFC differed among the collected plant samples grown at the studied locations as a result of variations in the geographical regions, soil characteristics and climatic conditions. Thus, the essential oil percentage in such sites varied from 1.2 to 3.0 %. The main components of oil; 4- terpineol, γ-terpinene, α-thujene, (+) trans-4-thujanol, sabinene, α-terpinene, linalool, α-phellandrene, β-thujene, (-)-B-caryophyllene, β-pinene, α-pinene and carvacrol can be interpreted as a factor connected to oil composition which is characteristics for commercial marjoram. The difference variability between the maximum and minimum values of each constituent among the locations gave an account in descending order: 27.57, 11.76, 10.56, 10.46, 8.81, 8.66, 6.01, 4.01, 3.39, 2.16, 0.91, 0.89 and 0.21%, respectively. However, TPC ranged from 128.43 to 140.71 mg PEs /g dry wt., and TFC from 86.61 to 117.22 mg/RU g dry wt. According to this investigation, it is recommended to study the environmental factors of the location where marjoram plants will be cultivated since marjoram is considered to be a promising essential oil crop. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The purpose of this article is to identify and analyze residence changes of popular sectors in Gran San Miguel de Tucumán, based on three different dimensions: the location of the target neighborhood, the implemented residential trajectories and strategies, and housing characteristics. The Los Vásquez neighborhood was taken as a case study, which is located towards the southeast of the conglomerate, in one of the most degraded areas with poor environmental conditions. This neighborhood is characterized by the presence of popular settlements with high levels of informality, vulnerability and poverty. The study of changes in residence in relation to different socio-spatial variables provides an insight into the dynamics of the social division of space. While groups with sufficient economic income can choose the location and type of housing, vulnerable sectors are faced with multiple constraints to meet their housing needs, which are mainly imposed by the labor, land and housing markets. The reconstruction of changes in the residence of the popular sectors made it possible to build a baseline and rethink urban policies with the aim of achieving greater equality among people and equitable access to the city. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The effects of environmental conditions on firm performance are investigated in this study. Within the scope of the research, the relationships between the strategic posture and the performance of logistics companies in varying environmental conditions were examined. During this study, the interaction between variables was also investigated by predicting the presence of the mediating effect of strategic posture. In this context, a research model and related research hypotheses were developed. The created research model was comprised of the three-dimension of environmental conditions developed by Dess and Beard (1984), six dimensions of strategic stance developed by Venkatraman (1989), and firm performance variables. A survey related to the research was conducted with 264 people working in managerial positions in 218 logistics companies operating within the scope of the research to test the hypotheses in the research model. The analysis of the obtained data was performed by the Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) method utilizing the SPSS and AMOS software program. According to the analysis results, it was determined that the strategic posture variable has a full mediating effect between environmental conditions and firm performance. As a result, by enabling logistics companies to realize their strategic posture features, information was provided to guide them on how to improve their performance in changing environmental conditions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Revista Mexicana de Biodiversidad is the property of Universidad Nacional Autonoma de Mexico, Instituto de Biologia and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Elicitors, irrigation regimes and harvest times influence the content, yield and compound of the essential oil (EO) in Salvia officinalis (sage), through changes in biomass dynamics and biosynthetic pathways. A two-year field experiment was conducted to determine if foliar application of putrescine under optimum and deficit stress conditions would favorably affect EO yield, content and profile of sage harvested in spring and summer. The response of dry weight, EO yield and content, myrcene and borneol concentrations to irrigation regime and putrescine concentration can be expressed by a quadratic model. The maximum dry weight (182.63 g m−2) and EO yield (1.68 g m−2) were predicted under irrigation regimes of 9.06% and 27.75% available soil water depletion (ASWD), respectively. The highest EO content (1.05%) was predicted under 3.04 mM of putrescine. Based on results obtained from GC/MS analyses, 25 compounds (mostly monoterpenes) were identified in the EO of sage. Among EO compounds, α-thujone (54.08%), 1, 8-cineole (17.87%), pinocarvone (14.30%), β-thujone (7.97%) and camphor (8.76%) in turn were the most abundant. The concentration of myrcene was higher in spring than summer under the irrigation regimes of 60% and 80% ASWD. The myrcene concentration reached its maximum (4.53%) under the irrigation regime of 86.5% ASWD. The irrigation regimes of 48.03% and 45.6% ASWD caused the highest borneol concentrations of 1.47% and 1.41% by application of 1.5 mM and 2.25 mM putrescine, respectively. All treatments tested on sage, particularly harvest time, can play an important role in the improvement of EO quality and quantity. Averaged over both years, the irrigation regime of nearly 30% ASWD resulted in the highest EO yield harvested with greater quantity and better quality in summer. The EO content and quality changed slightly with the application of putrescine, without significant effect on yield. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Tropical Grasslands / Forrajes Tropicales is the property of International Centre for Tropical Agriculture - CIAT and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

The aim of the study was to evaluate the yield and yield elements of cotton under the influence of the conditions of the year and mineral fertilization, applied independently and in different rates. The research was conducted at the Field Crops Institute–Chirpan at the Agricultural Academy in 2019/2021. The Philippopolis variety was tested under fertilization with nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) at rates of 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg/ha and potassium (K) – 80 kg/ha. A no-fertilization variant was adopted as the control (N0P0K0). The results of the study showed that the conditions of the year, mineral fertilization and their interaction have a strong effect on all the studied traits. Nitrogen fertilization had a more pronounced influence than phosphorus and potassium. The greatest increase in seed cotton yield (49%), number of bolls per 1 plant (72.9%) and weight per 1 boll (9.15%) was recorded when fertilized with N120. Only plant height was most affected by the high nitrogen rate of 160 kg/ha with an increase of 46.9% over the control. These results proved that high rates of mineral fertilizers do not have the strongest influence on yield and yield elements. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ornamental corals have become the main attention objects for many hobbyists and have already become a source for foreign exchange in developing countries. Through ornamental coral propagation, the continuity of ornamental coral trade can be guaranteed and the level of damage is very limited. The propagation technique has been developed by ornamental coral exporters in several locations in Indonesia. This paper has two main objectives: a) to determine the site suitability of ornamental coral propagation locations and b) to provide a detailed description of the development and progress of ornamental coral propagation in Indonesia with first-hand information from 14 companies. The present study showed that the highest growth rate was found on branched specimens of E. glabrescens (2.50 cm) after 5 months, and the lowest growth rate was found on branched specimens of E. paraancora (0.42 cm). Corals with larger branches or with two or three branches of E. glabrescens and E. paraancora have a low mortality and increased the number of branches to three to four branches after 5 months. Small colonies also survive with a mortality of 20%. The cultured corals can grow optimally and have exotic colors when placed at different depths. Best coral growth was obtained from fast-growing coral species at a shallow depth ( 15 m) were characterized by bright-colored corals with slow-growing rates. Color quality and growth of corals are closely related to some supporting factors such as the suitability of locations that have different physical, biological, and chemical factors in different depths and thus follow different requirements among coral species. Location choices determine the success of coral cultivation both for ornamental and restoration purposes. These results are valuable background information for traded ornamental corals that can be utilized by propagators.

The peace process in Colombia allowed biodiversity experts to visit unexplored regions in the tropical Andes mountains. The diversity of fish species and characteristics of the aquatic environments (creeks, streams, and river channels) in which they live were determined by means of the Bio Anorí expedition. During the expedition, we evidenced the presence of alluvial mining activity, and we contrasted the environmental characteristics of the sites without disturbances with those where there was mining activity. A total of 478 specimens were captured, representing 22 endemic species of the region. The dominant species (Brycon henni, Chaetostoma aff. brevilabiatum, Creagrutus affinis) were distributed in the three environments, while the less abundant species (e.g., Leptoancistrus or Characidium) were captured in a particular environment. The number of species captured in each aquatic environment was representative and adjusted to the values expected to be obtained. Stream environments harbored a higher diversity of fish. A representative species inventory was inferred; however, this analysis suggested that it is possible to capture more species in the aquatic environments evaluated. The composition of assemblages was similar among aquatic environments; although, differences were observed between creeks and rivers. Stream environments connected creeks and river assemblages. In terms of environmental characteristics, the evaluated streams and creeks were cold, more transparent, and highly oxygenated; the opposite occurred in the rivers, which were less oxygenated, more turbid, and warmer. Canonical correspondence analysis suggested that species composition was influenced by the physicochemical conditions of the water. This study provides information associated with fish distribution in a region of the Colombian Andes that was under an armed conflict for more than five decades. In addition, it allowed us to observe habitat transformations because of alluvial mining activity. Finally, it is essential to continue exploring remote areas to know their preservation status and apply conservation measures.

Rubberized concrete is a form of concrete in which discarded tyre rubber particles are used instead of natural aggregates. This sort of concrete provides an environmental alternative to the millions of discarded tires. Many successful achievements were reported by researchers around the world. However, in Egyptian researches using local materials, very rare information can be gathered. The purpose of this study is to evaluate both the mechanical and durability properties of concrete with local rubber aggregates in Egypt. Two concrete groups were studied, each with a different target control strength. Each group had four different mixes, for a total of eight different mixes in which crumb rubber partially replaced fine aggregates by 0%, 10%, 15%, and 20% of volume. The effect of slump, compressive strength, density, water absorption, water sorptivity, rapid chloride penetration, sulphric acid attack, and exposure to elevated temperatures of 300 °C and 600 °C were investigated. The rubberized concrete mixtures had better workability and lower density than the control mixes. Compressive strength was shown to be gradually decreasing. It is possible to identify that rubberized concrete is extremely resistant to aggressive environments based on the results of durability testing.

Cucumber belongs to the family Cucurbitaceae (melon genus) and is an annual herbaceous vegetable crop. Cucumber is an important cash crop that is grown all over the world. From morphology to cytology, from canonical genetics to molecular biology, researchers have performed much research on sex differentiation and its regulatory mechanism in cucumber, mainly in terms of cucumber sex determination genes, environmental conditions, and the effects of plant hormones, revealing its genetic basis to improve the number of female flowers in cucumber, thus greatly improving the yield of cucumber. This paper reviews the research progress of sex differentiation in cucumber in recent years, mainly focusing on sex-determining genes, environmental conditions, and the influence of phytohormones in cucumber, and provides a theoretical basis and technical support for the realization of high and stable yield cultivation and molecular breeding of cucumber crop traits.

This article has examined the role of environmental conditions and purchasing power parity in deciding the quality of life among big Asian cities. The study has constructed an index for quality of life with the help of housing, crime rates, death rate, average life expectancy, environmental degradation, and level of education. Quality of life has been selected as the dependent variable and the level of pollution, availability of health care facilities, local purchasing power, availability of groceries, level of democracy, cost of living, restaurants, level of traffic, and level of rents are selected explanatory variables. For empirical analysis, this study uses data for the years 2017, 2018, and 2019. The estimated results show that pollution has a negative and significant impact on the quality of life in the case of Asian cities. Local purchasing power has a positive and significant relationship with the quality of life in the cities of Asia. Groceries and democracy are very important parts of the daily life of human beings but they have insignificant impacts on the quality of life in Asian cities. Restaurants have a positive and significant impact on quality of life. This study finds that level of traffic and the level of rent have a negative and significant impact on the quality of life in the case of Asian cities. The overall results conclude that selected indicators play a significant role in determining the quality of life in Asian cities.

Due to it is irreplaceable physical characteristics, Hollow core optical fiber has become a precious basic research topic for scientific research institutions. However, the industry has been keeping a wait-and-see attitude because of its overall performance and supporting applications are not mature. In recent years, with the continuous optimization of the loss performance, and the successful promotion of several industrial application cases, hollow core fiber has gradually been paid more attention by the industry side. In this paper, three types of hollow core fibers: hollow core bragg layered fiber, hollow core photonic bandgap fiber and hollow core antiresonant fiber, are reviewed. The paper is mainly focused on their optical principles and testing methods, and combined with the application of communication, laser power delivery and sensing fields to analyze the advantages of hollow core fiber. Finally, the future technology development trend of hollow core fiber is prospected.

Calotropis procera (C. procera) was evaluated as a pharmaceutically useful plant and for its therapeutic effects in the most significant studies. Uzarigenin and Calotropagenin are significant components of this plant that have pharmacological effects on certain systems, including the digestive, immunological, and focal, and peripheral sensory systems. In this study, pathway genes are extracted from high throughput data acc.no. SRR1554320. Seven critical enzymes are involved in studying the effects of sunlight on the formation of Uzaragenin and Calotropagenin in C. procera before and after irrigation. Molecular identification and NCBI submission of six enzyme genes were successful; HSD (acc.no. OQ091761) for 3β-hydroxystroid dehydrogenase, OR (acc.no. OQ091762) for 5beta-pregnan oxidoreductase, MO (acc.no. OQ091763) for Pregnan monooxygenase, HOX (acc.no. OQ091764) for Steroid hydroxylase, MAT (acc.no. OQ091765) for Melonyletransferase, UHOX (acc.no. OQ091766) for Uzarigenin hydroxylase. During dawn after irrigation, the Uzargenin pathway showed the highest activity, however midday after irrigation was the lowest. The most period that showed high activity for the Uzargenin pathway was dawn after irrigation, however, midday after irrigation was the lowest. This data is confirmed by chromatography analysis (UPLC) to calculate the accumulation of Uzarigenin and Calotropagenin in different periods.

The first millennium BC saw the expansion of the Western Zhou dynasty in its northwestern frontier, alongside the rise and development of the Qin State in the Longshan Mountain region of northern China. Exploring the subsistence practices of these communities is crucial to gaining a better understanding of the social, cultural, and political landscape in this region at the time. While much of the research to date has focused on the Qin people, the subsistence practices of the Zhou people remain poorly understood. In this study, we analyzed animal remains from Yucun, a large settlement site associated with the Zhou people, located to the east of the Longshan Mountain. These animal remains were recovered in the excavation seasons of 2018–2020. Our results show that pigs, dogs, cattle, caprines, and horses, which were the major domestic animals at Yucun, accounted for over 90.8% of the animal remains examined in terms of the number of identified specimens (NISP) and 72.8% in terms of the minimum number of individuals (MNI), with cattle and caprines playing dominant roles. In terms of the taxonomic composition and the mortality profiles of pigs, caprines, and cattle, Yucun shared similarities with Maojiaping and Xishan, two contemporaneous Qin cultural sites located to the west of the Longshan Mountain, and differ from other farming societies in the middle and lower reaches of the Yellow River valley. Considering the cultural attributes and topographic conditions of these various sites, these findings imply that environmental conditions may have played a more significant role than cultural factors in shaping the animal-related subsistence practices in northern China during the first millennium BC.

Composites made from fiber-reinforced polymers (FRPs) are a crucial and highly adaptable category of materials widely utilized in numerous fields. Their flexibility and the range of criteria for classification enable the creation of tailored solutions to address distinct requirements in sectors such as civil engineering, aerospace, automotive, and marine, among others. The distinguishing characteristics of FRP composites include the type of reinforcing fiber used, the composition of the matrix material, the employed manufacturing process, the orientation of the fibers, and the specific end-use application. These classification variables offer engineers a versatile structure to determine and select the most appropriate materials and production techniques for their specific needs. Furthermore, the present study aims to reunite the criteria of classification for FRPs and specific manufacturing technologies of FRPs, such as conventional ones (matched die molding, contact molding), automated ones (filament winding, tape lay-up, and fiber placement), and advanced ones (electrospinning and additive manufacturing),with the chronological development of FRPs, insights on material characteristics, and comprehensive design guidelines based on their behavior in different environments of use.

Dielectric Elastomer Actuators (DEAs) enable the realization of energy-efficient and compact actuator systems. DEAs operate at the kilovolt range with typically microampere-level currents and hence minimize thermal losses in comparison to low voltage/high current actuators such as shape memory alloys or solenoids. The main limiting factor for reaching high energy density in high voltage applications is dielectric breakdown. In previous investigations on silicone-based thin films, we reported that not only do environmental conditions and film parameters such as pre-stretch play an important role but that electrode composition also has a significant impact on the breakdown behavior. In this paper, we present a comprehensive study of electrical breakdown on thin silicone films coated with electrodes manufactured by five different methods: screen printing, inkjet printing, pad printing, gold sputtering, and nickel sputtering. For each method, breakdown was studied under environmental conditions ranging from 1 °C to 80 °C and 10% to 90% relative humidity. The effect of different manufacturing methods was analyzed as was the influence of parameters such as solvents, silicone content, and the particle processing method. The breakdown field increases with increasing temperature and decreases with increasing humidity for all electrode types. The stiffer metal electrodes have a higher breakdown field than the carbon-based electrodes, for which particle size also plays a large role.

On 22 July 2020, tornadoes occurred successively in Suzhou, Anhui and Suqian, Lianyungang and Yancheng in Northern Jiangsu. Era-5 (0.25°×0.25°) hourly reanalysis data and radar echo data are used to analyze and compare the weather background, environmental conditions and radar characteristics of the tornadoes. The results indicated that: (1) the two tornadoes occurred under the circulation background of Meiyu period which is conducive to strong convection. Tornado places is located at the edge of the subtropical high. The westerly trough moves eastward on 500 hPa, and the low vortex shear at 700 hPa and 850 hPa is significant. The southwest jet at medium and low altitude is strong and continuously transports water vapor. (2) The similarities of environmental conditions are as follows: strong 0-6 km vertical wind shear and 0-1 km vertical wind shear. The tornado occurred in the high gradient area on the left of the high value center of 0-3 km storm relative helicity Srh, and near the high value center of energy helicity index Ehi. The ascending motion in front of the Meiyu front is strong and the low-level pseudo equivalent potential temperature θse value is large. The difference is only obvious in the Cape value of the two processes. (3) The radar characteristics show that the two tornadoes are caused by the supercell at the south end of the linear convective rain belt, and have obvious mesocyclone characteristics. The hook echo characteristics of the Suzhou tornado are obvious. The northern Jiangsu tornado has obvious inflow gap, bounded weak echo area and suspended echo characteristics.

Knowing and analyzing the effect of the successful implementation of forest management policies mediated by community empowerment by moderating a network of actors and stakeholder collaborations. This study uses a quantitative approach to examine specific populations and samples. The research instrument is a questionnaire. The sample in this study were 100 people around the KPHP Model Yogjakarta. The analytical tool used Structural Equation Modeling (SEM) WarpPLS and IPA approaches. Communication, resources, environmental conditions, and relationships between organizations have a direct and significant effect on community empowerment, and the empowerment variable has a direct and significant effect on the successful implementation of forest management policies. The variables that do not directly affect the disposition and organizational structure variables do not significantly influence community empowerment. The influence of actor-networks and stakeholder collaborations as moderation which strengthens implementation of community empowerment and successful implementation is a novelty in research.

Abstract Abiotic environmental conditions can significantly influence the way species interact. In particular, plant–herbivore interactions can be substantially dependent on temperature and nutrients. The overall product of these relationships is critical for the fate and stability of vegetated ecosystems like marine forests. The last few decades have seen a rapid spread of barrens on temperate rocky reefs mainly as a result of overgrazing. The ecological feedbacks that characterize the barren state involve a different set of interactions than those occurring in vegetated habitats. Reversing these trends requires a proper understanding of the novel feedbacks and the conditions under which they operate. Here, we explored the role of a secondary herbivore in reinforcing the stability of barrens formed by sea urchin overgrazing under different nutrient conditions. Combining comparative and experimental studies in two Mediterranean regions characterized by contrasting nutrient conditions, we assessed: (i) if the creation of barren areas enhances limpet abundance, (ii) the size‐specific grazing impact by limpets, and (iii) the ability of limpets alone to maintain barrens. Our results show that urchin overgrazing enhanced limpet abundance. The effects of limpet grazing varied with nutrient conditions, being up to five times more intense under oligotrophic conditions. Limpets were able to maintain barrens in the absence of sea urchins only under low‐nutrient conditions, enhancing the stability of the depauperate state. Overall, our study suggests a greater vulnerability of subtidal forests in oligotrophic regions of the Mediterranean and demonstrates the importance of environment conditions in regulating feedbacks mediated by plant–herbivore interactions.

Environmental conditions are rapidly changing with every passing day worldwide. Degradation of ecological conditions hurts human health. Carbon emission severely destroys greenhouse gases, CO2 is generated from different sectors, but the major portion of CO2 is generated from the transport sector. This environmental deterioration stimulates academicians and practitioners to study ecological consumption behaviour. Protecting the environment by reducing carbon emissions is a shared responsibility. In the current era, the world is shifting from conventional vehicles to electric vehicles or hybrid vehicles to control carbon emissions. This study examines the factors in predicting consumers’ purchase intention toward hybrid cars through the S-O-R model and theory of consumption values (functional and non-functional values). This will help academics and policymakers to expand the penetration of this new and favourable green technology in terms of protecting the environment. For our study, we collected data from the three big cities of Punjab, i.e., (Multan, Sahiwal, and Lahore). In this study, 500 questionnaires were distributed, from which 245 were returned. In the first step, we provide detailed information about demographic variables. The structural equation model (SEM) is used for evaluating the impact of identified constructs. The study results conclude that functional values (except conditional value) and non-functional values (except social value responsibility) positively influence the consumer’s attitude toward the intention to adopt hybrid electric vehicles. The reasons behind the results and implications for the practitioners and policymakers are discussed. Furthermore, directions for future research have also been suggested.

Spatiotemporal patterns in seagrass-epiphyte dynamics for Thalassia testudinum in the northwestern Gulf of Mexico were evaluated through biomass measurements and scanned-image based metrics to investigate the potentially harmful impact of excessive epiphyte accumulations on seagrass condition. Image analysis with Spectral Angle Mapper algorithms distinguished epiphyte and uncovered seagrass leaf pixels to generate a normalized metric of leaf area coverage (epiphyte pixels/total leaf pixels). Imaging metrics were compared to biomass-based metrics seasonally, among three locations with different environmental conditions (depth, salinity, temperature and nutrient levels inferred from sediment porewater measurements) near Redfish Bay, Texas, USA. Image analysis, in conjunction with biomass measures, provides enhanced insight into the seagrass-epiphyte dynamic relationship and how it varies with environmental conditions. Compared with the biomass and morphological measures, image analysis may be more informative as an indicator of environmental changes. Variation in linear regressions of epiphyte biomass vs. epiphyte area (pixels) suggested changes in the thickness and/or density of accumulated epiphytes across environmental contexts and seasons. Two different epiphyte colonization patterns were presented based on the correlation between the normalized metrics of epiphyte load and epiphyte leaf coverage. The epiphyte load was highest at low temperatures and locations with elevated DIN:P ratio in sediment porewater. Conversely, the mean leaf coverage by epiphytes stayed relatively constant (± 10%) across seasons but differed by location (25% ~55% in this case), suggesting that leaf growth in this study is regulated to maintain the proportion of uncolonized leaf surface and that epiphyte coverage plays a role in its regulation.

Leaf surface micromorphology and mesophyll structure of the Platanus orientalis plants were studied. The plants originated from two localities: Kresna (Bulgaria) and Sicily (Italy), and were grown together from seeds under controlled conditions. The mature leaves showed variations in cuticular ornamentation, shape and size of the epidermal cells, which could testify to resistant traits formed in the source plants as a result of the specific environment they inhabited. For all examined leaves, paracytic, laterocytic and anomocytic stomata on the abaxial epidermis were identified, as well as non-glandular candelabra and glandular capitate trichomes on both surfaces. Regarding histological organization of the leaf lamina, no differences were observed between the plants of the two origins. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines (i) the state of environmental conditions in two low-income urban communities in Accra, Ghana, using a Participatory Rapid Assessment (PRA) method, and (ii) changes in the environmental conditions in the two low-income communities over the years using the PRA method. The PRA was augmented with qualitative interviews with selected heads of household and other stakeholders from the study communities. The results showed that environmental conditions in the two study communities were poor as indicated by the computed average scores for the environmental problem areas. However, conditions were poorer in Chorkor compared to La. The paper recommends that local governments units in Ghana must prioritise sustained, improved, and reliable funding for Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) to ensure undisruptive implementation of environmental health programs and policies. This must be accompanied with improved community education and sensitization on proper sanitary practices, which have the potential to mitigate the effects of disease epidemics such as cholera in the two communities. The study also provides important perspectives on differentials in environmental conditions in low-income communities in urban Ghana. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temporal stability of primary productivity is the key to stable provisioning of ecosystem services to human beings. Yet, the effects of various global changes on grassland stability remain ambiguous.Here, we conducted a comprehensive meta‐analysis based on 1070 multi‐year paired observations from 173 studies, to examine the impacts of various global changes on productivity, community stability and plant diversity of grasslands on a global scale. The global change drivers include nitrogen (N) addition, phosphorus (P) addition, N and P addition, precipitation increase, precipitation decrease, elevated CO2 and warming.Global change drivers generally had stronger impacts on grassland productivity than on temporal stability, except for precipitation changes. Community temporal stability was reduced by N addition, N and P addition and precipitation decrease, but was increased by precipitation increase and remained unchanged under P addition, elevated CO2 and warming. In addition, species richness decreased under N addition, N and P addition and precipitation decrease. At the plant functional group level, N and P addition reduced grasses' stability and precipitation increase enhanced forbs' stability.Nutrient additions decreased community stability via increasing the inter‐annual variation more than the mean of primary productivity, while precipitation changes mainly affected community temporal stability via changing mean productivity. The negative impacts of global change drivers (i.e. N and P addition, warming) on community temporal stability increased with the degree of species loss but decreased with increasing stability of grasses. Moreover, the negative impacts of nutrient addition and precipitation decrease on community stability was lessened while the positive effect of precipitation increase on community stability was enhanced in grasslands with higher historical precipitation variability, greater soil fertility and longer experimental duration.Synthesis. Our findings demonstrate that N‐based nutrient additions and drought destabilise grassland productivity, while precipitation increase enhances community stability. Impacts of global changes on community productivity and stability are mediated by species richness, plant functional group, site‐specific environmental conditions (i.e. climate, soil) and experimental duration, which deserve more attention in grassland management practices under future global change scenarios. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article examines the formative impact of environmental conditions on spatial policies in the Palestine of the British Mandate government. The article focuses on the Bay area extending from Acre to Haifa, whose southern part was a centre of Mandatory and Zionist economic and urban development, while its northern part, the city of Acre and its environs, was a target of limited urban development and attention from the Mandatory authorities. Moving away from common national dichotomies in the study of modern Palestine's history, this article identifies the environmental conditions and conflicting interests pursued by the various agencies that played key roles in the Mandatory government's urban and rural development policy considerations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To study the lands covered by the border rivers of Kermanshah province to provide the pattern of fruit tree cultivation from 2017 to 2019 based on field studies of the target areas and the review of meteorological information, soil science, the history of fruit tree cultivation in the study areas, the pattern of tree cultivation of fruit was determined in these areas. Climatic zoning and providing a regional cultivation model is one of the duties of those in charge of production to reduce the damage to producers due to climatic factors and to control the amount of production, which helps regulate the market. Presenting a regional cultivation model in line with production policy and preventing production surplus, which by completing the production chain can overcome the problems of the past few decades in the country's fruit industry. The purpose of this project is to study and analyze the climatic, soil, and social conditions of land covered by border rivers in different parts of Kermanshah provinces that have different climates and microclimates. Also, field studies are the history of cultivation of horticultural products, and finally, the suitable species of each region and the bases appropriate to the soil conditions of those regions are suggested. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Uncovering the relationships between the content and compositions of olive oil, environmental factor, and developmental stages can lead to the effective cultivation choices and maximizing productivity. Fatty acid contents of 4 olive cultivars are screened at 5 developmental stages during 2 cropping seasons. Moreover, the transcript abundance of 4 fatty acids and triacylglycerol biosynthesis genes are evaluated in 2 cultivars displaying distinct oil content and composition. Thought, all studied cultivars display a rise in oil content and a decline in oleic/linoleic acid as maturity advances, the fatty acid content, however changes in a cultivar‐dependent manner. In contrast to other cultivars, "Mari" shows an increasing trend for oleic acid and fruit RH, and steady state pattern for linoleic acid during fruit development. All these characteristics result in a unique oil quality in "Mari". Accordingly, there are slight differences in the oil related‐attributes in 2 cropping years at different sampling dates which are also cultivar dependent. The expression patterns of oil biosynthesis genes are well‐paralleled with oil accumulation and compositions in the studied olive cultivars; as OeSAD2 and OeDGAT2 experience a significant higher expression in "Mari", while "Shengeh" has higher levels for OeFAD2‐2 and OeDGAT1 during most sampling times. Practical Applications: According to these data, the lower expression of OeFAD2‐2, as well as, substantially higher expression of OeSAD2 and OeDGAT2 are suggested as the major players for higher oil and oleic acid production in "Mari". Results obtained from this study improve knowledge about oil biosynthesis in olive drupe in relation to fruit ripening and environmental factors. These data are useful for both growers and experts enabling them to make more appropriate planting and harvest decisions, as well as, to design suitable breeding programs to achieve olive improvement objectives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Parapatry occurs when species exhibit adjacent distributions in space, with contact in their boundaries, with or without overlapping. Many factors can generate this pattern, such as environmental conditions and interspecific competition. Mountains are excellent systems to study parapatry because they exhibit large environmental heterogeneity within a small geographical area. Phanaeus splendidulus and P. dejeani are two similar dung beetle species with apparent sympatric distributions at geographical scale, but with a hypothesized parapatric distribution in mountains. We assessed whether P. splendidulus and P. dejeani indeed exhibit a parapatric distribution in two mountain ranges in the Atlantic Forest. We also tested the effects of environmental conditions and interspecific competition on the observed pattern of abundance for both species for one mountain. We placed pitfall traps at every 50 m of elevation from 600 to 2400 m a.s.l. at Itatiaia National Park and from 100 to 2050 m a.s.l. at Serra dos Órgãos National Park in Brazil. We used temperature, vegetation cover, litter volume and soil granulometry as environmental predictors of each species abundance and the abundance of its congeneric species as a measure of interspecific competition. Phanaeus splendidulus and P. dejeani indeed exhibited a parapatric distribution and a small overlapping area, with P. splendidulus reaching up to 1450 m a.s.l. in Itatiaia National Park and 1250 m a.s.l. in Serra dos Órgãos National Park, and P. dejeani occurring above to 1000 m a.s.l. Only maximum temperature was significantly related to species abundance. Maximum temperature affected positively P. splendidulus abundance and negatively P. dejeani, suggesting that these species have opposite climate preferences. The abundance of the congeneric species was not significant for either species. Understand species distributions and what drives them is critical to understand the evolution of species interaction, their responses to the environment and for conservation, in a world of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Using hydrogen fuel cells for power systems, temperature conditions are important for efficient and reliable operations, especially in low-temperature environments. A heating system with an electrical energy buffer is therefore required for reliable operation. There is a research gap in finding an appropriate control strategy regarding energy efficiency and reliable operations for different environmental conditions. This paper investigates heating strategies for the subfreezing start of a fuel cell for portable applications at an early development stage to enable frontloading in product engineering. The strategies were investigated by simulation and experiment. A prototype for such a system was built and tested for subfreezing start-ups and non-subfreezing start-ups. This was done by heating the fuel cell system with different control strategies to test their efficiency. It was found that operating strategies to heat up the fuel cell system can ensure a more reliable and energy-efficient operation. The heating strategy needs to be adjusted according to the ambient conditions, as this influences the required heating energy, efficiency, and reliable operation of the system. A differentiation in the control strategy between subfreezing and non-subfreezing temperatures is recommended due to reliability reasons. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Wheat amylase-trypsin inhibitors (ATIs) are a family of plant defense proteins with an important role in human health for their involvement in allergies, celiac disease and non-celiac wheat sensitivity. Information about the differences in ATI activities among wheat genotypes and the influence of the growing environment is scarce. Therefore, ten selected wheat accessions with different ploidy level and year of release, previously characterized for their ATI gene sequences, were grown during three consecutive crop years at two growing areas and used for in vitro ATI activities. The contributions of the genotype and the crop year were significant for both activities. The hexaploid wheat genotypes showed the highest inhibitory activities. Einkorn had a peculiar behavior showing the lowest alpha-amylase inhibitory activity, but the highest trypsin inhibitory activity. It was not possible to observe any trend in ATI activities as a function of the release year of the wheat samples. The two inhibitory activities were differently affected by the growing conditions and were negatively correlated with the protein content. This information can be important in understanding the extent of variation of ATI inhibitory properties in relation to the wheat genotype and the growing environment and the impact of ATIs, if any, on human health and nutrition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Context: Acacia longifolia is a native legume of south-eastern Australia and Tasmania and is invasive in many parts of the world. A key feature to its success is the production of a high quantity of flowers every season, resulting in a massive seedbank that remains dormant in the soil for decades. Many studies have been performed on this species' reproductive biology, but none has focused on flowering in detail. Aims: Our main objective was to understand this species' resource allocation strategy that ensures its successful reproduction in the invasive range. Methods: We developed an integrative approach, assessing flowering at different levels, namely, canopy and branch flowering (macro scale), downscaling to individual flower functional stages and their duration, pollen longevity and stigma receptivity (micro scale). We performed this study in three different locations in sand dunes along the Portuguese coast with different environmental conditions. Key results: Canopy flowering shows no difference among sites. Pollen and stigma assessment showed that this species is protogynous, with the stigma being highly receptive long before pollen is released. Once released, pollen lasts roughly 72 h. Individual flowers are relatively short-lived, with a rapid progression from closed flower buds to fully open flowers. Implications: Our results indicated that A. longifolia has a resource trade-off strategy of investing in flowers and pollen that are relatively short-lived, which are counterbalanced by their massive quantities. Flowering of the invasive species Acacia longifolia was assessed in three locations of Portugal, with variable environmental conditions to characterise its reproductive strategy. From northern to southern of Portugal, and from a within-plant perspective, we observed similar flowering performances in plants along the coast. Flowers and pollen are short-lived, possibly counterbalancing the massive quantities produced every flowering season. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Modeling air quality in city centers is essential due to environmental and health-related issues. In this study, machine learning (ML) approaches were used to approximate the impact of air pollutants and metrological parameters on SO2 quality levels. The parameters, NO, NO2, O3, PM10, RH, HyC, T, and P are significant factors affecting air pollution in Jeddah city. These factors were considered as the input parameters of the ANNs, MARS, SVR, and Hybrid model to determine the effect of those factors on the SO2 quality level. Hence, ANN was employed to approximate the nonlinear relation between SO2 and input parameters. The MARS approach has successful applications in air pollution predictions as an ML tool, employed in this study. The SVR approach was used as a nonlinear modeling tool to predict the SO2 quality level. Furthermore, the MARS and SVR approaches were integrated to develop a novel hybrid modeling scheme for providing a nonlinear approximation of SO2 concentration. The main innovation of this hybrid approach applied for predicting the SO2 quality levels is to develop an efficient approach and reduce the time-consuming calibration processes. Four comparative statistical considerations, MAE, RMSE, NSE, and d, were applied to measure the accuracy and tendency. The hybrid SVR model outperforms the other models with the lowest RMSE and MAE, and the highest d and NSE in testing and training processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]