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During the Water Vapor Lidar Network Assimilation (WaLiNeAs) campaign, 8 lidars specifically designed to measure water vapor mixing ratio (WVMR) profiles were deployed on the western Mediterranean coast. The main objectives were to investigate the water vapor content during case studies of heavy precipitation events in the coastal Western Mediterranean and assess the impact of high spatio-temporal WVMR data on numerical weather prediction forecasts by means of state–of–the–art assimilation techniques. Given the increasing occurrence of extreme events due to climate change, WaLiNeAs is the first program in Europe to provide network–like, simultaneous and continuous water vapor profile measurements. This paper focuses on the WVMR profiling datasets obtained from three of the lidars managed by the French component of the WaLiNeAs team. These lidars were deployed in the towns of Coursan, Grau du Roi and Cannes. This measurement setup enabled monitoring of the water vapor content within the low troposphere along a period of three months over autumn – winter 2022 and four months in summer 2023. The lidars measured the WVMR profiles from the surface up to approximately 6–10 km at night, and 1–2 km during daytime; with a vertical resolution of 100 m and a time sampling between 15 – 30 min, selected to meet the needs of weather forecasting with an uncertainty lower than 0.4 g kg-1. The paper presents details about the instruments, the experimental strategy, as well as the datasets given in NETcdf format. The final dataset is divided in two datasets, the first with a time resolution of 15 min, which contains a total of 26 423 WVMR vertical profiles and the second with a time resolution of 30 min to improve the signal to noise ratio and signal altitude range. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Leaves often turn red during senescence, providing us with a colorful life. Anthocyanin accumulation is the main cause of the coloration and its biosynthesis during leaf senescence is an important biological process, which might contain different mechanisms from other tissues. It is essential to understand the molecular mechanism of anthocyanin accumulation during leaf senescence, which would provide new insight into leaf coloration and molecular breeding for more colorful plants in spring or autumn. In this review, we focused on leaf coloration during senescence. We emphatically discussed several networks linked to genetic, hormonal, environmental, and nutritional factors in regulating anthocyanin accumulation during leaf senescence. This paper aims to provide a regulatory model for leaf coloration and to put forward some prospects for future studies. Leaf senescence is the last stage of leaf development, and it is accompanied by a leaf color change. In some species, anthocyanins are accumulated during leaf senescence, which are vital indicators for both ornamental and commercial value. Therefore, it is essential to understand the molecular mechanism of anthocyanin accumulation during leaf senescence, which would provide new insight into autumn coloration and molecular breeding for more colorful plants. Anthocyanin accumulation is a surprisingly complex process, and significant advances have been made in the past decades. In this review, we focused on leaf coloration during senescence. We emphatically discussed several networks linked to genetic, hormonal, environmental, and nutritional factors in regulating anthocyanin accumulation during leaf senescence. This paper aims to provide a regulatory model for leaf coloration and to put forward some prospects for future development. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Reproductive strategies vary widely among bats, even within the same species. The molossid Tadarida teniotis has an intermediate latitudinal distribution between tropical bats and those of temperate zones. There are still some uncertainties about its migratory behaviour and reproductive mode that are not yet fully understood. Some authors believe that this species breeds in spring and is sedentary, while others propose a bimodal breeding cycle with occasional or partial migration. In this paper, these contradictory approaches are exposed, providing more data to help solving this controversy. The results of the species monitoring for several years verified the existence of harems in spring and summer-autumn in at least one location of its range (Valladolid, central Spain). In both periods and during several months, males were observed performing patrols and displaying aggressive behaviour towards male intruders. This may have been facilitated by the peaks in migratory moth abundance. For the late parturitions occurring in autumn/winter and in case of absence of deferred reproduction mechanisms, a sex-biased migration is necessary for, at least, the females who got pregnant during the autumn mating. Thus, the species appears to show greater reproductive and migratory complexity than previously thought. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Xinjiang is one of the most sensitive regions in China in terms of its response to climate change. Against the background of global warming, analyses and predictions using different scenarios for Xinjiang should be conducted. The spatial and temporal distribution characteristics and trends of future temperature and precipitation trends should be considered to provide a scientific basis for the government to respond to future climate change. In this paper, using the CN05.1 dataset and seven models from the sixth phase of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project, the delta downscaling method is used to predict the temperature and precipitation changes in Xinjiang Province from 2021 to 2050 under the SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, SSP3-7.0, and SSP5-8.5 scenarios. The results show that (1) most models of CMIP6 have a good effect on temperature simulation in Xinjiang, and the mean values as well as the trends of the temperatures expressed by the multi-model ensemble averaging are in good agreement with the observed data and have a high degree of confidence. The observed precipitation increase rate is significantly higher than that predicted by the model, and the simulation results of each model overestimate the precipitation. (2) The mean annual temperatures in the Xinjiang region increase at rates of 0.32°C/10 a, 0.46°C/10 a, 0.47°C/10 a and 0.67°C/10 a, respectively, under the four scenarios. The rates of temperature increase in the four seasons exhibit the following pattern: autumn > summer > spring > winter. (3) From 2021 to 2050, the average annual precipitation in Xinjiang will change at rates of 3.95 mm/10 a, 1.90 mm/10 a, 2.50 mm/10 a, and 8.67 mm/10 a, respectively, under the four scenarios. The precipitation amounts predicted under the different scenarios increase at the slowest rates in winter and at faster rates in spring. Spatially, the precipitation in the whole Xinjiang region under the four scenarios shows an increasing trend. Overall, except for the SSP1-2.6 scenario, the rates of increase in precipitation increase gradually in all seasons during the future period as the emission scenarios increase. Overall, the climate of the Xinjiang region will be characterized by warming and humidification from 2021 to 2050. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this paper was to characterize the warm and dry compound events (WD days) in Poland during the period of 1966–2023, focusing on assessing the frequency and intensity of such events and their spatial and temporal variability, as well as on the driving factors of warm and dry compound events. WD days are those days that have a maximum temperature equal to or higher than the 90th percentile and the precipitation on that day and the 14 preceding days are equal to or less than the 25 percentile. During 1966–2023, the frequency of WD days increased significantly, mainly in April, the summer months, and December. Higher temperatures favored the occurrence of WD days from March to November, but, in winter months, the heat did not favor the occurrence of WD days. The exception was December, when high temperatures in the first part of the analyzed period did not favor the occurrence of a dry day, whereas, in the second part, it did. The strongest influence on the frequency of WD days had the East Atlantic pattern, where air flowed over Poland from the southwest. Warm and humid air flowing from the Atlantic Ocean must overcome the mountain barrier; therefore, it flows to Poland as warm and dry air. From spring to autumn, the WD days were related to an increase in the geopotential height in central Eastern Europe, and, in the winter, they were related with blocking over the Balkans. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first comprehensive study of a groundbreaking Vertically Mounted Bifacial Photovoltaic (VBPV) system, marking a significant innovation in solar energy technology. The VBPV system, characterized by its vertical orientation and the use of high-efficiency Heterojunction cells, introduces a novel concept diverging from traditional solar panel installations. Our empirical research, conducted over a full year at the University of York, UK, offers an inaugural assessment of this pioneering technology. The study reveals that the VBPV system significantly outperforms both a vertically mounted monofacial PV (VMPV) system and a conventional tilted monofacial PV (TMPV) system in energy output. Key findings include a daily power output increase of 7.12% and 10.12% over the VMPV system and an impressive 26.91% and 22.88% enhancement over the TMPV system during early morning and late afternoon hours, respectively. Seasonal analysis shows average power gains of 11.42% in spring, 8.13% in summer, 10.94% in autumn, and 12.45% in winter compared to the VMPV system. Against the TMPV system, these gains are even more substantial, peaking at 24.52% in winter. These results underscore the VBPV system's exceptional efficiency in harnessing solar energy across varied environmental conditions, establishing it as a promising and sustainable solution in solar energy technology. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

By using ERA5 reanalysis data, this paper combined existing research definitions of gale processes to analyze the variation characteristics of gale processes occurring in the South China Sea region, and to study the response of the gale process to East Pacific sea surface temperature. The results indicate that the gale process shows the significant annual variation and the most frequent in winter and least frequent in summer. While there is no significant trend in the frequency of gale processes in each season. There is a significant negative correlation between the frequency of gale process and the East Pacific sea surface temperature in spring, autumn, and winter. When the sea surface temperature in the eastern Pacific rises abnormally, the frequency of gale processes in the South China Sea decreases. When abnormally high, the frequency of gale process in the South China Sea increases. In summer, this relationship is the opposite. When sea surface temperature is abnormal, the anomalous anticyclone triggered in the western Pacific, and has a weakening effect on the prevailing winds in the South China Sea, leading to a reduction in high wind speed and gale events, thereby reducing the frequency of gale process. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Milky Way's name and role in ancient Egyptian culture remain unclear. One suggestion is that the Milky Way may have been a celestial depiction of the sky goddess Nut. In this work, I test this association using an interdisciplinary approach. In the first part of this paper, I combine astronomical simulations of the ancient Egyptian night sky with primary Egyptian sources to map the goddess Nut onto the Milky Way. With her head and groin firmly associated by primary texts with the western and eastern horizons, respectively, I argue that the summer and winter orientations of the Milky Way could be construed as figurative markers of Nut's torso (or backbone) and her arms, respectively. In the second part of this paper, I situate Nut within the global, multicultural mythology of the Milky Way. Specifically, I show that Nut's roles in the afterlife and the autumn bird migration are consistent with similar roles attributed to the Milky Way by other cultures. Finally, I show that Nut's identification with the Milky Way may even have echoes in contemporary African conceptions of the Galaxy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Summary: Eupatorium japonicum Thunb. (Compositae: Eupatorieae: Eupatoriinae) is described and illustrated. The current synonymy is provided, together with type citations for each of the names and statements of the located type material, together with appropriate notes and comments on this material, including lectotypifications if present in the literature. A selection of verified illustrations of the species in the literature is provided. Statements of the species' distribution, habitat and ecological preferences, phenology, conservation status, and the etymology of both generic and specific epithets are given, along with an impressive array of vernacular names, reflecting its relatively wide distribution and long cultivation. Cultivation, propagation, and availability notes are provided. The probability of this plant having been 'exported' to China many centuries ago both for its scent and festival significance almost mirrors that of the Chrysanthemum, that came in the opposite direction a few centuries earlier. The author citation for this well‐known Japanese endemic is discussed, as is the long‐standing confusion between E. chinense L., E. japonicum and the separation of E. fortunei Turcz. in many references. Comments on Robert Fortune's Chinese collections relevant to the type material of Eupatorium fortunei are also provided. Included within the synonymy of E. fortunei is E. stoechadosmum Hance, published in a short paper, Manipulus ..., in the Annales des Sciences Naturelles, the Monitum, is dated '7 kal. Februar. 1863', suggesting publication of Cahier 4 post that date when it was published. Hance's novelties (some collected as late as November 1862), and those of Triana & Planchon in their Prodromus florae Novo‐Granatensis ... (from Cahier 5) are listed in major databases as having been published in 1862; there is no other internal evidence in the relevant papers to suggest, or confirm, this is true. Any suggestion that Hance's Manipulis was published in early 1862 is similarly incorrect. Hance's plant supports other records, including the publication of E. fortunei Turcz., that E. japonicum had been long in cultivation in China, but never known to grow in the wild. Eupatorium japonicum, now with E. fortunei (fujibakama) in synonymy, is one of the seven plants, from the Festival of Seven Flowers or Herbs (nanakusa no sekku) that takes place in the autumn – the Autumn's Seven Flowers or Herbs (aki no nanakusa). The autumn tradition, dating back over a millennium, mirrors the spring festival (haru no nanakusa) – when a seven‐herb rice porridge is eaten – but in autumn the simplicity of the flowers is just for visual enjoyment, not eating. The herbal and medicinal uses of this species also have a long history, are wide‐ranging, and clearly have great potential in a number of fields, not least in preventing insect predation, as an insecticide, or as an ovicide, together with antifungal and antimicrobial activity, as well as showing good anti‐inflammatory and cytotoxic activity. The plant's Lavender‐like smell is akin to that produced in sakuramochi (Prunus speciosa (Koidz.) Ingram, of cherry blossom fame), but is based on coumarin and its derivatives, not linalool and related volatiles in Lavandula. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although atmospheric CO2 concentrations collected by satellites play a crucial role in understanding global greenhouse gases, the sparse geographic distribution greatly affects their widespread application. In this paper, a hybrid CNN and spatiotemporal Kriging (CNN-STK) model is proposed to generate a monthly spatiotemporal continuous XCO2 dataset over China at 0.25° grid-scale from 2015 to 2020, utilizing OCO-2 XCO2 and geographic covariates. The validations against observation samples, CAMS XCO2 and TCCON measurements indicate the CNN-STK model is effective, robust, and reliable with high accuracy (validation set metrics: R2 = 0.936, RMSE = 1.3 ppm, MAE = 0.946 ppm; compared with TCCON: R2 = 0.954, RMSE = 0.898 ppm and MAE = 0.741 ppm). The accuracy of CNN-STK XCO2 exhibits spatial inhomogeneity, with higher accuracy in northern China during spring, autumn, and winter and lower accuracy in northeast China during summer. XCO2 in low-value-clustering areas is notably influenced by biological activities. Moreover, relatively high uncertainties are observed in the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and Sichuan Basin. This study innovatively integrates deep learning with the geostatistical method, providing a stable and cost-effective approach for other countries and regions to obtain regional scales of atmospheric CO2 concentrations, thereby supporting policy formulation and actions to address climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore different prognostic methods to account for skin sea surface temperature diurnal variations in a coupled ocean–atmosphere regional model of the Mediterranean Sea. Our aim is to characterise the sensitivity of the considered methods with respect to the underlying assumption of how the solar radiation shapes the warm layer of the ocean. All existing prognostic methods truncate solar transmission coefficient at a warm-layer reference depth that is constant in space and time; instead, we implement a new scheme where this latter is estimated from a chlorophyll dataset as the e -folding depth of solar transmission, which thus allows it to vary in space and time depending on seawater's transparency conditions. Comparison against satellite data shows that our new scheme, compared to the one already implemented within the ocean model, improves the spatially averaged diurnal signal, especially during winter, and the seasonally averaged one in spring and autumn, while showing a monthly basin-wide averaged bias smaller than 0.1 K year-round. In April, when most of the drifters' measurements are available, the new scheme mitigates the bias during nighttime, keeping it positive but smaller than 0.12 K during the rest of the monthly averaged day. The new scheme implemented within the ocean model improves the old one by about 0.1 K, particularly during June. All the methods considered here showed differences with respect to objectively analysed profiles confined between 0.5 K during winter and 1 K in summer for both the eastern and the western Mediterranean regions, especially over the uppermost 60 m. The new scheme reduces the RMSE on the top 15 m in the central Mediterranean for summertime months compared to the scheme already implemented within the ocean model. Overall, the surface net total heat flux shows that the use of a skin sea surface temperature (SST) parameterisation brings the budget about 1.5 Wm-2 closer to zero on an annual basis, despite all simulations showing an annual net heat loss from the ocean to the atmosphere. Our "chlorophyll-interactive" method proved to be an effective enhancement of existing methods, its strength relying on an improved physical consistency with the solar extinction implemented in the ocean component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Meteorological processes over islands with complex orography could be better simulated by Convection Permitting Regional Climate Models (CP-RCMs) thanks to an improved representation of the orography, land–sea contrasts, the combination of coastal and orographic effects, and explicit deep convection. This paper evaluates the ability of the CP-RCM CNRM-AROME (2.5-km horizontal resolution) to simulate relevant meteorological characteristics of the Mediterranean island of Corsica for the 2000–2018 period. These hindcast simulations are compared to their driving Regional Climate Model (RCM) CNRM-ALADIN (12.5-km horizontal resolution and parameterised convection), weather stations for precipitation and wind and gridded precipitation datasets. The main benefits are found in the representation of (i) precipitation extremes resulting mainly from mesoscale convective systems affected by steep mountains during autumn and (ii) the formation of convection through thermally induced diurnal circulations and their interaction with the orography during summer. Simulations of hourly precipitation extremes, the diurnal cycle of precipitation, the distribution of precipitation intensities, the duration of precipitation events, and sea breezes are all improved in the 2.5-km simulations with respect to the RCM, confirming an added value. However, existing differences between model simulations and observations are difficult to explain as the main biases are related to the availability and quality of observations, particularly at high elevations. Overall, better results from the 2.5-km resolution, increase our confidence in CP-RCMs to investigate future climate projections for Corsica and islands with complex terrain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Since the 1990s, the golden cuttlefish (Sepia esculenta) has become the dominant cuttlefish fisheries target in the seas around China. In this paper, we aim to determine the current resource status and spatio-seasonal variation in the population in the East China Sea region. We found more juveniles at latitudes of 27.50–28.00° N and 29.00° N and more subadult individuals at 28.50° N in autumn, exhibiting different growth rates and resource densities. In addition, we found the majority of the catches were composed of parent groups in spring, while in autumn, the majority of the catches were composed of juvenile groups. We concluded that the subadult groups might have dispersed widely for feeding and growth along the latitude of 30.00° N and to the south in summer, and the southern area of the Yangtze River extending north was the spawning ground in spring. The groups of S. esculenta preferred to stay in areas with a stable water temperature of ~20.00 °C, and many S. esculenta juveniles might have adapted to endure the negative influence of the low oxygen content in summer. The depth range of the S. esculenta population was 10.00–133.00 m from spring to autumn, but this shrank to 66.00–107.00 m in winter. The golden cuttlefish (Sepia esculenta) is an important cephalopod species with a lifespan of approximately one year. The species plays a crucial role in marine ecological support services and is commercially valuable in fisheries. In the seas around China, this species has emerged as the main target for cuttlefish fisheries, replacing Sepiella maindroni since the 1990s. Variations in oceanographic conditions associated with global warming could significantly impact the temporal-spatial distribution of the species. In this study, we performed bottom trawling surveys with four cruises during 2018–2019 in the East China Sea region to determine the current resource status and seasonal-spatial variations in S. esculenta. We found that the average individual weight (AIW) values were 4.87 and 519.00 g/ind at stations located at 30.50° N, 124.00° E and 30.50° N, 124.50° E, respectively, with the aggregation of larvae and parent groups in spring. The species was not distributed north of 32.00° N in summer. The catch per unit effort by weight (CPUEw) value decreased in the order of 2772.50→2575.20→503.29→124.36 g/h, corresponding to latitudes of 34.50° N→34.00° N→33.50° N→32.50° N 121.50° E in autumn. The most suitable fishing areas were the south of the East China Sea region in spring; the south of the East China Sea region extending to the center and outer parts of the East China Sea region in summer; the south of the Yellow Sea close to the Haizhou Bay fishing ground and the forbidden fishing line region of the Lusi and Dasha fishing grounds in autumn; and the south and center of the East China Sea region in winter. The most suitable sea bottom temperature (SBT) values from spring to winter were 14.76–20.53 °C, 19.54–22.98 °C, 11.79–17.64 °C, and 16.94–20.36 °C, respectively. The most suitable sea bottom salinity (SBS) values were 31.53–34.80‰ in spring, 32.95–34.68‰ in summer, 31.51–34.77‰ in autumn, and 33.82–34.51‰ in winter. We concluded the following: (1) the southern and northern areas of the East China Sea region are spawning and nursery grounds, respectively, in spring; (2) the central distribution is located at a latitude of 28.00° N in autumn and winter; and (3) the southern area of the Yangtze River to the north is a spawning ground in spring, and the areas located at 29.00–34.50° N, 124.00–124.50° E, and 28.00–30.50° N, 125.50–126.50° E are nursery grounds. The results of this study provide useful guidance for appropriate fisheries management, thereby avoiding a collapse in the S. esculenta population, which has been experienced in other species in this area. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Drought is a natural phenomenon that occurred in Central Europe in the past, but it is becoming a more serious problem due to the changes in its occurrence and intensity related to climate change. The main aim of this paper was to determine changes in air temperature and precipitation amounts in Slovakia from 1931 to 2020 and to identify changes in drought occurrence and intensity using the Standardised Precipitation and Evapotranspiration Index (SPEI). Cluster analysis was used to determine regions with similar drought occurrences. For each of the identified five clusters, drought characteristics were determined and compared between two reference periods 1961–1990 and 1991–2020. While a decrease in the number of months with SPEI-1 below − 1 was observed in autumn, spring and summer months showed a drying tendency. Overall, we can say that we observed a shift in drought occurrence from autumn and winter months to spring and summer months. This is an important finding for the agriculture or forestry because it affects work management and planning. The clearest tendency in drought events was observed in the western part of Slovakia covering areas with agriculturally intensive land use. Besides prolonging drought events, there was also a higher accumulated deficit for each event. The increase in drought intensity was not spatially consistent over the cluster area, mostly reaching a slight decline of about − 0.1 to − 0.3, which means slight intensification of drought periods in 1991–2020. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Due to the increasingly warm winters of the last 20 years, the wintering of cultured carp is achieved with increasing numerical and weight losses. Water temperatures during the winter period reach 10-12oC, temperatures that intensify the metabolism and set the fish material in motion. Because these temperatures are for short periods, no natural food grows in the water. The paper presents the results of the research carried out in the cold seasons of 2020-2021, 2021- 2022, and 2022-2023 on cultured carp aged two summers, from the Research and Development Station for Fisheries Nucet. Wintering was done in earthen ponds, in two variants: variant V1 - without feed distribution and variant V2 - with feed distribution. In view of this study, somatic measurements were carried out, both in autumn and in spring, to assess the change in the values of the condition coefficient, survival percentages, as well as the decrease in weight and number, during the cold season period, in the context of climate change. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We respond to the note by Russo et al. "Of greater noctule "migration" from Russia to Italy: a comment on Vasenkov et al. (2023)", which comments on our paper "Vasenkov DA, Vasiliev NS, Sidorchuk NV, Rozhnov VV (2023) Autumn migration of greater noctule bat (Nyctalus lasiopterus): through countries and over mountains to a new migration flight record in bats. Dokl Biol Sci 513:395–399. https://doi.org/10.1134/S0012496623700746" regarding our use of the term "migration". We used "migration" to describe the long-distance seasonal flights of three greater noctule (Nyctalus lasiopterus) individuals. We chose exactly this term as it is commonly used in a broader sense to refer to bat autumn long-distance flights, when the further fate of these flying bats remains unknown. Russo and co-authors challenge the use of the term "migration" in the context of bat long-distance movements. However, we believe that it is not always easy to efficiently distinguish between cases of dispersal flight and migratory flight. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, a daily gridded observation data across China from 1961 to 2022 were used to calculate daily potential evapotranspiration (PET). The observed variables included daily temperature, sunshine hours, average wind speed, and average relative humidity. PET was determined using the Penman-Monteith method recommended by the Food and Agriculture Organization (FAO). The long-term trend of PET was investigated in six regions of China during different seasons. To further compressed the influence of various meteorological factors on the PET trend, the contribution of each meteorological element to the long-term trend of PET was analyzed. The results indicate the following: (1) PET reaches its peak during summer which values from 145 to 640 mm, while it is lowest during winter from 21 to 244 mm. (2) The spatial patterns of PET trend changes are relatively similar across the four seasons, characterized by a decrease in the eastern regions and an increase in the western regions. The reduction is most significant during the summer and the range of trend is from -2.04 to 1.48 mm/day, while the increase becomes more pronounced in the winter which trend is from -0.34 to 0.53 mm/day. (3) The contribution of factors varies significantly across different regions. In spring and autumn, RH and U have little difference in contribution from other factors. But tsun is varies different from regions, the contribution value is largest in the northwest and smallest in the northeast. However, during summer, tsun become the most significant contributor in the YZ and SE regions, while in winter, Tm emerges as the most significant contributor to the PET trend in all six subregions. In SW, the contribution from U2 is the smallest in all seasons, with RH and Tm being the two crucial factors determining the PET trend in this region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Geostationary satellites have the capability to offer AOD products with a higher frequency of observation within a given period, thus improving the geographical coverage of averaged AOD products compared to polar satellites. Moreover, the averaged AOD of geostationary satellites is more reflective of the average aerosol load as compared to AOD products derived from polar orbit satellites. Despite this, there is still an absence of comprehensive research on the comparative representativeness of AOD mean products from geostationary and polar orbit satellites, and most current research only focuses on retrieval accuracy. This paper compares the geographical coverage of averaged AOD products released by the Advanced Baseline Imager (ABI) sensor on the Geostationary Operational Environmental Satellite-R (GOES-R) (09:00 UTC-23:00 UTC) with AOD products released by the Moderate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) (16:00 UTC and 19:00 UTC) on hourly, daily, semi-monthly and monthly scales. Moreover, the Aerosol Robotic Network datasets were used to evaluate the accuracy of ABI AOD and to propose usage suggestions. In terms of daily AOD products, the AOD daily mean generated by the geostationary satellite GOES-R/ABI consistently outperforms the AOD daily mean generated by MODIS AOD in terms of spatial coverage. However, on monthly scales, the difference is no longer significant. With regard to accuracy, it is proved that when the time scale of averaging is gradually expanded, root mean square error (RMSE) and mean absolute error (MAE) gradually decrease. On the season scale, ABI AOD exhibits the highest level of accuracy during the autumn season (September, October, November); on the spatial scale, ABI AOD exhibits the best accuracy in North America. Therefore, if the daily, semi-monthly or monthly averaged ABI AOD datasets are used, the recommended time is autumn, and the study area is North America. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Bumble bees are known to be amongst the most efficient natural pollinators and their increased scarcity in the ecosystem has led us to study their habitat and ethological preferences, so that future efforts can be designed for their restoration under the natural habitat. The present investigation explores the natural nest architecture, structural features of nest habitat, location of the nest, environmental parameters, population dynamics, emergence of drones, gynes, and variation in the sex ratio of Bombus haemorrhodalis. A total of ten natural nests were excavated at different altitudes ranging from 473.05 to 1258.52 m from different sites in two locations Nauni and Gandhal. The species inhabited the underground abandoned rodent's cavities as nests at a depth of 15 cm to 140 cm with 1–2 external hidden entrances or below ground covered with involucrum made of small dried grass, leaves, pine needles, paper infused on/with wax, etc. The shape of the nest varied from circular to oval with an average size of about 3.88 cubic decimeters. The colony strength of all excavated nests ranged between 15 and 113 individuals, with average internal ambient temperature and relative humidity of the nest cavity varying from 20.9–29.7 °C and 24.6–79.3 percent, respectively. The honey storage (length x width; 16.02 × 15.74 mm), queen (15.02 × 14.60 mm), worker (13.25 × 12.58 mm) and drone cells (11.13 mm × 10.45 mm) varied in dimensions and were constructed by the workers with colony development. As a potential natural strategy to ensure survival, the gynes emerged earlier and higher in number than drones in late summer to early autumn and this progeny survived until the end of autumn. The current study exploring the natural environment of B. haemorrhoidalis helps understand and correlate the natural nest characteristics with laboratory-reared colonies for year-round rearing. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Pediculus capitis infests the human scalp, affecting people in all nations and having worldwide distribution. There are no studies on global P. capitis infestation and trends related to parameters of gender, years, seasons, months, hemispheres, continents, and countries among preschool and primary school students and the community. Therefore, based on the selected parameters, this global-scale evidence review looked at the levels of P. capitis infestation in the target population. Among the papers reviewed, 436 were selected because they contained information that suited the study objectives. The levels of P. capitis infestation in the target population related to gender, years, seasons, the world hemispheres and tropical regions, continents, and countries were the parameters used for comparison. Irrespective of the variations in the above conditions, the global P. capitis infestation levels among selected parameters were around 25% or rarely above in the target population. Due to environmental, epidemiological, or cultural conditions, P. capitis infestation levels in the target population in the southern hemisphere and tropical regions had a significantly higher infestation rate than in the northern hemisphere. The global trends of seasonal and monthly P. capitis infestation in the target population have been relatively constant over the past decades, with a slight increase or decrease. In terms of temporal, spatial and climatic conditions, the observations indicated that the countries often located in the tropical regions of North and South America, Europe, Africa and Asia are at greater risk of infestation. Significantly, the increased risk of infestation is adjusted by gender (girl as a risk factor) and season (summer as a risk factor and autumn and winter as the protecting factors). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, the statistics of cloud cover at night from 2016 to 2018 above the Ali observatory has been summarized, using the meso-scale numerical model and the cameras (Canon and AllSky-340 Camera). Above the western Tibetan Plateau, in the area of 200 km × 200 km centred at the Ali site, the average cloud cover during night was basically less than 30 per cent in 2016, and the Ali site was located in the zone with small value around 20 per cent; large cloud cover always occurred in summer, with mean value above 50 per cent in most parts of this area; while in winter, the smallest cloud cover was basically below 10 per cent; in other seasons, the cloud cover was mostly less than 30 per cent, and the Ali site located in the zone with cloud cover below 10 per cent in autumn and below 20 per cent in spring. At each monitored field of view from 90° to 45°, the cloud cover varied little; the proportion of clear nights with cloud cover below 10 per cent was close to 60 per cent of total observable nights per year, and the less cloudy nights with cloud cover below 40 per cent accounted for more than 70 per cent, besides, the observable nights with cloud cover below 70 per cent was around 80 per cent every year. Generally, the cloud cover condition at the Ali observatory above the western plateau is excellent, there are always abundant observable nights, while a bit worse just in July and August. Meanwhile, the numerical model has been proved to be a reliable tool to estimate cloud cover conditions above the Tibetan Plateau. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Plant secondary metabolites (PSMs) are produced by plants to overcome environmental challenges, both biotic and abiotic. We were interested in characterizing how autumn seasonality in temperate and subtropical climates affects overall PSM production in comparison to herbivory. Herbivory is commonly measured between spring to summer when plants have high resource availability and prioritize growth and reproduction. However, autumn seasonality also challenges plants as they cope with limited resources and prepare survival for winter. This suggests a potential gap in our understanding of how herbivory affects PSM production in autumn compared to spring/summer. Using meta‐analysis, we recorded overall production of 22 different PSM subgroups from 58 published papers to calculate effect sizes from herbivory studies (absence to presence) and temperate to subtropical seasonal studies (summer to autumn), while considering other variables (e.g., plant type, increase in time since herbivory, temperature, and precipitation). We also compared production of five phenolic PSM subgroups – hydroxybenzoic acids, flavan‐3‐ols, flavonols, hydrolysable tannins, and condensed tannins. We wanted to detect a shared response across all PSMs and found that herbivory increased overall PSM production in herbaceous plants. Herbivory was also found to have a positive effect on individual PSM subgroups, such as flavonol production, while autumn seasonality was found to have a positive effect on flavan‐3‐ol and condensed tannin production. We discuss how these responses might stem from plants producing some PSMs constitutively, whereas others are induced only after herbivory, and how plants produce metabolites with higher costs only during seasons when other resources for growth and reproduction are less available, while other phenolic PSM subgroups serve more than one function for plants and such functions can be season dependent. The outcome of our meta‐analysis is that autumn seasonality changes some PSM production differently from herbivory, and we see value in further investigating seasonality–herbivory interactions with plant chemical defense. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Health monitoring systems based on the internet of things (IoT) improve patient well-being and reduce mortality risks. Machine learning techniques are most helpful in early fall prediction and detection. In this paper, fall prediction analysis and decision-making are done with existing benchmark clinical records. Classification techniques are incorporated to track the consistency and precision of data acquired by the IoT-based remote health monitoring for elderly people, especially those who are living alone. This work undertakes two approaches to early predicting a patient’s acute illness. The first approach has analyzed the existing benchmark patient activity data with different features. This approach builds the classification model for fall incidence with the help of machine learning models. In second approach, we collect real-time sensor data such as blood pressure and heart rate from IoT sensor gadgets which are transmitted to the prediction model for early prediction. Experimental results prove that the random forest (RF) classifiers and XGBoost provides the maximum accuracy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we explore different prognostic methods to account for skin sea surface temperature diurnal variations in a coupled ocean-atmosphere regional model of the Mediterranean Sea. Our aim is to characterize the sensitivity of the considered methods with respect to the underlying assumption of how the solar radiation shapes the warm layer of the ocean. All existing methods truncate solar transmission coefficient at a constant warm layer reference depth; instead, we develop a new scheme where this latter is estimated from a chlorophyll dataset as the e-folding depth of solar transmission. This allows spatial and temporal variations of the warm layer extent to depend on seawater transparency. Comparison against satellite data shows that our new scheme improves the diurnal signal especially during winter, spring, and autumn, with an averaged bias on monthly scales year-round smaller than 0.1 K. In April, when most of the drifters measurements are available, the new scheme mitigates the bias during nighttime, keeping it positive but smaller than 0.12 K during the rest of the monthly-averaged day. The new scheme implemented within the ocean model improves the old one by about 0.1 K, particularly during June. All the methods considered here showed differences with respect to objectively analyzed profiles confined between 0.5 K during winter and 1 K in summer for both the eastern and the western Mediterranean regions, especially over the uppermost 60 m. Overall, the surface net total heat flux shows that the use of a skin SST parametrization brings the budget about 1.5 W/m2 closer to zero on an annual basis, despite all simulations showing an annual net heat loss from the ocean to the atmosphere. Our “chlorophyll-interactive” method proved to be an effective enhancement of existing methods, its strength relying on an improved physical consistence with the solar extinction implemented in the ocean component. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Background: In early 2021, the Department of Health and Social Care in the UK called for research on the safety and immunogenicity of concomitant administration of COVID-19 and influenza vaccines. Co-administration of these vaccines would facilitate uptake and reduce the number of healthcare visits required. The ComFluCOV trial was designed to deliver the necessary evidence in time to inform the autumn (September–November) 2021 vaccination policy. This paper presents the statistical methodology applied to help successfully deliver the trial results in 6 months. Methods: ComFluCOV was a parallel-group multicentre randomised controlled trial managed by the Bristol Trials Centre. Two study statisticians, supported by a senior statistician, worked together on all statistical tasks. Tools were developed to aid the pre-screening process. Automated data monitoring reports of clinic data and electronic diaries were produced daily and reviewed by the trial team and feedback provided to sites. Analyses were performed independently in parallel, and derivations and results of all outcomes were compared. Results: Set-up was achieved in less than a month, and 679 participants were recruited over 8 weeks. A total of 537 [at least] daily reports outlining recruitment, protocol adherence, and data quality, and 695 daily reports of participant electronic diaries identifying any missed diary entries and adverse events were produced over a period of 16 weeks. A preliminary primary outcome analysis of validated data was reported to the Department of Health and Social Care in May 2021. The database was locked 6 weeks after the final participant follow-up and final analyses completed 3 weeks later. A pre-print publication was submitted within 14 days of the results being made available. The results were reported 6 months after first discussions about the trial. Conclusion: The statistical methodologies implemented in ComFluCOV helped to deliver the study in the timescale set. Working in a new clinical area to tight timescales was challenging. Having two statisticians working together on the study provided a quality assurance process that enabled analyses to be completed efficiently and ensured data were interpreted correctly. Processes developed could be applied to other studies to maximise quality, reduce the risk of errors, and overall provide enhanced validation methods. Trial registration: ISRCTN14391248, registered on 30 March 2021 [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Nitrogen dioxide (NO2) is a highly photochemically reactive gas, has a lifetime of only a few hours, and at high concentrations is harmful to human beings. Therefore, it is important to monitor NO2 with high-precision, time-resolved instruments. To this end, a Pandora spectrometer has been installed on the roof of the laboratory building of the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences in the Olympic Park, Beijing, China. The concentrations of trace gases (including NO2 , HCHO , O3) measured with Pandora are made available through the open-access Pandora database (https://data.pandonia-global-network.org/Beijing-RADI/Pandora171s1/ , last access: 11 July 2023). In this paper, an overview is presented of the Pandora total and tropospheric NO2 vertical column densities (VCDs) and surface concentrations collected during the first year of operation, i.e., from August 2021 to July 2022. The data show that NO2 concentrations were high in the winter and low in the summer, with a diurnal cycle where the concentrations reached a minimum during the daytime. The concentrations were significantly lower during the 2022 Winter Olympics in Beijing, showing the effectiveness of the emission control measures during that period. The Pandora observations show that during northerly winds, clean air is transported to Beijing with low NO2 concentrations, whereas during southerly winds, pollution from surrounding areas is transported to Beijing and NO2 concentrations are high. The contribution of tropospheric NO2 to the total NO2 VCD varies significantly on daily to seasonal timescales; i.e., monthly averages vary between 50 % and 60 % in the winter and between 60 % and 70 % in the spring and autumn. A comparison of Pandora-measured surface concentrations with collocated in situ measurements using a Thermo Scientific 42i-TL analyzer shows that the Pandora data are low and that the relationship between Pandora-derived surface concentrations and in situ measurements is different for low and high NO2 concentrations. Explanations for these differences are offered in terms of measurement techniques and physical (transport) phenomena. The use of Pandora total and tropospheric NO2 VCDs for validation of collocated TROPOspheric Monitoring Instrument (TROPOMI) data, resampled to 100 m × 100 m , shows that although on average the TROPOMI VCDs are slightly lower, they are well within the expected error for TROPOMI of 0.5 Pmolec.cm-2 + (0.2 to 0.5) ⋅ VCDtrop (1 Pmolec.cm-2 = 1 × 10 15 moleccm-2). The location of the Pandora instrument within a sub-orbital TROPOMI pixel of 3.5 km × 5.5 km may result in an error in the TROPOMI-derived tropospheric NO2 VCD between 0.223 and 0.282 Pmolec.cm-2 , i.e., between 1.7 % and 2 %. In addition, the data also show that the Pandora observations at the Beijing-RADI site are representative of an area with a radius of 10 km. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is dedicated to the scientific and pedagogical activities of Nikolay Dmitrievich Kopachevsky (1940–2020) — a well-known mathematician, head of the Department of Mathematical Analysis of the V. I. Vernadsky Crimean Federal University, organizer and head of the Crimean Autumn Mathematical School-Symposium (KROMSH). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The paper discusses the study of nutrition and ichthyopathological analysis of naked osman from the Charyn River, which is located on the territory of the Charyn State National Natural Park in the Almaty region. The naked osman belongs to the carp family. The fish does not have any scales on other part of the body exept the lateral line. The naked osman currently dwells in Kazakhstan, China, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan, India, Nepal and other Asian countries. The purpose of the work is to determine the Charyn River’s food base and water condition by studying the food spectrum, fish pathology. To carry out the given study the fish were caught in the autumn in 2021. Only 15 samples of the caught fish were taken for the analysis. According to the ichthyological analysis results, the absolute length of 15 samples of the fish ranged from 8.3 cm to 12.7 cm, and their mass was from 4.81 g to 17.60 g. The standard quantitative – weight method was used for ichthyotrophological research. The special histological method was employed for ichthyopathological study. According to the ichthyotrophological study, the fullness index was about 10.75%00, and insect larvae were an essential food. Histological studies did not reveal an obvious pathology. As a result, the nutrient reserves in the reservoir were found to be at a good level and the external environment was found not to produce a negative effect on the fish. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents the first detailed analysis of cloud-to-ground (CG) and intra-cloud (IC) strokes characteristics from the Lightning Detection Network (LINET) over Italy and the Central Mediterranean area, a lightning active area in south Europe. We study the strokes over a 13-year period from 2010 to 2022, aiming to understand how it varies with different temporal scales (hourly, monthly, seasonally, and yearly), surface types (sea and land), and ground levels (0–100 m ; 100–200 m ; 200–400 m ; 400–800 m ; 800–1200 m ; 1200–2000 m and above 2000 m). We found that the stroke's maximum activity was observed in August; specifically, July has the maximum activity over the land with a maximum diurnal peak in the afternoon, while in September, the convection shifts over the sea with a secondary daily maximum in the morning. The largest current intensities are observed in January, over sea and during nighttime. Moreover we found that stroke current intensities, polarity and IC height emissions are influenced by ground altitude level. Our paper provides new insights into the spatio-temporal patterns and characteristics of lightning over Italy and the Central Mediterranean area, which can be useful for improving weather forecasting, climate modeling, risk assessment, and damage mitigation strategies in this area. • Orography has strong impact on lightning density, polarity, intensity and discharge height. • Vigorous convection develops over the land in summer and over the sea in autumn. • Overall stroke density reaches its peak in August. • Atmospheric instability decreases the breakdown threshold increasing weaker strokes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In Romania, castor bean (Ricinus communis L.) is not cultivated on large areas, offering beneficial perspectives to those who want to set up a business in the agricultural field. The expansion of surfaces with this species is limited by climatic conditions, and in particular by the fall of early autumn broths, which can compromise the entire production of secondary colds. Climate change in recent years has led to the expansion of the castor cultivation area, which has obtained satisfactory production in the central area of Moldova if all technological links are respected. The research aimed to identify the genotype with the highest adaptability to the pedoclimatic conditions in the area of influence in order to establish the optimal sowing age and the distance between rows on the production and quality of seeds, implicitly in obtaining a net profit. The results obtained from 2018-2020 showed that the best option of cultivation and obtaining high net profit for the pedoclimatic conditions in the center of Moldova is the one for the variety Teleorman sown in second age and 70 cm distance between rows (12,046 lei·ha-1 for a production of 1,607 Mg·ha-1). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Legumes represent crops with multiple values at the farm level, from an economic and ecological point of view. The study evaluated the variation of biological yield, grain production and some productivity elements in field peas. The research took place in ARDS Lovrin, Romania. The experiment was organized under the conditions of a cambic chernoziom type soil, in a non-irrigated system. The 'Boxer' pea cultivar was cultivated. Fertilization was done with phosphorus, applied in autumn, in five concentrations (0, 40, 80, 120 and 160 kg ha-1 a.s.; a.s. - active substance). On each phosphorus level, nitrogen was applied in spring in five doses (0, 25, 50, 75 and 100 kg ha-1 a.s.). The combination of the two fertilizers resulted in 25 experimental variants, in four repetitions. Biological yield recorded values BY=0.800 - 1.640±0.046 kg m-2. Pea grains production recorded values PgP=0.091 - 0.604±0.031 kg m-2. Pea stalks varied between PS=0.584 - 1.026±0.026 kg m-2. Secondary pea production varied between PsP=0.659 - 1.127±0.027 kg m-2. Correlation of variable intensity was recorded between determined parameters. Based on PCA, PC1 explained 72.664% of variance, and PC2 explained 27.217% of variance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since 2018, severe and recurrent copepod depletions have been observed in Belgian coastal waters. These depletions have been described as temperature-induced mass mortality events. This paper confirms the relation of copepod abundance anomalies with periods of high temperature based on new data. Although severe, the effects, consequences and implications of this depletion remain unknown. Our study suggests that the absence of zooplanktonic predators in autumn, together with the availability of nutrients discharged via the Scheldt estuary, allowed a bloom of the diatom Bellerochea , in a season otherwise characterised by low phytoplanktonic activity. Although the bloom reaches high abundances, its effects on the marine environment are not yet visible. The enormous abundances are likely to induce small-scale oxygen depletions which might further translate to the environment. Communities of Calanoida, Canuelloida and Cyclopoida tend to recover from the annual autumn depletion, although the typical autumn peak is entirely missing in the years subject to severe heat waves and associated high water temperatures. As a result, copepod dynamics have drastically changed since the first observed depletion and associated bloom of Bellerochea in 2018. • Bellerochea blooms emerged in the Belgian part of the North Sea (BPNS) due to temperature-induced copepod depletion. • It is the first documented bloom of Bellerochea in the BPNS • Image-based datasets allow retrospective analysis of unchanged samples, revealing ecosystem changed without decay. • Copepod depletion and Bellerochea blooms intensified, wiht longer durations observed in 2022 compared to 2018. •. Copepod depletion and Bellerochea blooms may reduce oxygen, impacting thropic levels, larval fish and zooplankton in the BPNS ecosytem. • Recurrent copepod depletions and Bellerochea blooms pose challenges to predict ecosystem responses, intensified by global warming and associated heatwaves. • Since 2018, copepod dynamics have shifted, potentially favoring more temperature-resilient species in the ecosystem. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

• New root production timing, peaks and distribution patterns of SHB cultivars '8-42′ and '9–02′ were quantified using mini-rhizotrons. • The first root production peak commenced during early winter and flowering and continued until harvest and suggested that biomass growth above ground during winter may depend on current photosynthesis. • The second root production peak coincided with mid-summer, after harvest and during summer pruning. • Root formation during this time occurred simultaneously with active shoot growth and continued until shoot activity declined in late autumn. • Root formation was not linked to soil conditions and probably determined by the stage of plant development and resource acquisition between above- and belowground growth, similar to previous findings in apple trees. The objective of this research was to obtain a better understanding of the root growth dynamics of two southern highbush blueberry (SHB) cultivars, '8-–42′ 42′ and '9–02′, in the Western Cape, South Africa, southern hemisphere (SH). The number and length of new roots were measured from June 2020 to June 2021 in commercial orchards in the Hex River production area. Root production was similar between the cultivars and initially peaked at the onset of early winter, to coincide with flowering. A second peak occurred in mid-summer, approximately one month after fruit harvest and summer pruning (late November, SH) and continued until shoot growth declined in late autumn (early May, SH). Soil temperatures ranged between 11 and 20 °C during the first peak in root production and 17 and 31°C during the second peak, suggesting that new root production was controlled by the stage of plant development rather than soil temperature. This paper provides the first report on root development in SHB under the SH conditions and contributes towards implementing precision irrigation and fertigation strategies for evergreen systems. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Display omitted] • The drought pattern in China is closely related to the basin distribution and multiple teleconnection factors. • The intensity and frequency of drought in China exhibited an increasing trend. • The ENSO-AO had important positive effects in the major basins in China. • Multiple wavelet coherence helps identify the processes controlling drought changes. Due to increasing global warming and the frequent occurrence of severe drought risk in recent decades, many studies have investigated drought in China. However, the spatiotemporal heterogeneities of droughts are complicated, and a comprehensive analysis of the driving forces has not been thoroughly explored. In this paper, we studied the temporal and spatial patterns of drought in China from 1960 to 2018 and disclosed its relationship with multiple teleconnection factors on different time scales. The results show that (1) Drought in China has exhibited a fluctuating increasing trend over the past 59 years, with a standardized precipitation–evapotranspiration index (SPEI) rate of change of –0.12/10 a, and the most severe droughts occurred during 2000–2010. (2) There was a significant abrupt change in China's meteorological droughts induced by climate change around 1997. (3) The trend in China was characterized by drought in spring and autumn and humidification in winter, while the trend in the Southwest River Basin was characterized by drought. (4) A combination of factors can best explain the drought variations from basin to basin, and the El Niño-Southern Oscillation (ENSO)-Arctic Oscillation (AO) was most commonly the best predictor. The use of multiple wavelet coherence helps to identify the dominant drought change processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The Elevation Dependent Warming (EDW) in the mountain regions have wider implications to its cryosphere, hydrological, and ecological systems. This paper explores an EDW in the Indus River Basin, considering Jhelum, Kabul, and Indus sub-basins to improve the accuracy and understanding of cryospheric and hydrological changes in the basin. We use the maximum (Tmax), minimum (Tmin), and mean (Tmean) near surface atmospheric temperature data from 21 ground stations for the 1988–2021 period and applied the Mann-Kendall (MK) trend tests for exploring the trends in the data. The results show that Tmax and Tmin has significant (p < 0.001) warming trends in the Upper Indus Basin (UIB) until 2210 mean above sea level (m asl). Tmax has increased with a rate of 0.031 °C yr−1 (p < 0.001) while Tmin increased with a rate of 0.029 °C yr−1 (p < 0.001), hence the "diurnal temperature range (DTR) also increased significantly" (0.015 °C yr−1, p < 0.001). In this study, a symmetric pattern of increasing trends has been observed in Tmax and Tmin. Moreover, Tmax has increasing trends throughout the period in the middle and high-altitude regions, except in Autumn and Monsoon seasons, respectively. While more significant and prominent increasing trend observed in Tmax during the winter season. Thus, this consistent warming trends in all seasons with more prominent trend in the winter season for Tmax can have harmful impact on the cryosphere of the region and ultimately, leading to water scarcity and extreme droughts. • A symmetric rising trend has been observed in Tmax and Tmin. • No prominent and significant relationship observed between stations elevation and temperature. • A significant and prominent trend observed above 700 m for Tmax in winter. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Amaranthus spp. is a nephrotoxic plant with unknown toxic principle, affecting production animals worldwide, mainly in South America. The aim of this paper is to describe 5 spontaneous outbreaks of A. hybridus intoxication in beef cattle, where 7 autopsies were performed. Main gross findings were pale diffuse and enlarged kidneys. Microscopically, kidneys were characterized by severe tubular acute to subacute nephrosis, with dilatated tubules showing different degrees of epithelial degeneration and necrosis, and containing intraluminal eosinophilic hyaline casts. Intratubular birefringent crystals, compatible with oxalate, were observed under polarized light in kidneys from 3 autopsies. Positive von Kossa and red alizarin S staining confirmed the intratubular crystals as calcium deposits. This intoxication occurs mainly in stubble paddocks during summer and early autumn. The data from the present study suggests that oxalates were related to nephrotoxicity due to Amaranthus consumption. [Display omitted] • Amaranthus spp. consumption is responsible of nephrotoxicosis in animal production with toxic principle unknown. • Amaranthus spp. have high invasive capacity on fertile soils, therefore invading crops. • A seasonality of this intoxication was observed during summer-autumn, associated to stubble paddocks. • Calcium crystals were observed in kidney from cattle after A. hybridus consumption. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We investigated spatiotemporal variations of nutrients, dissolved organic pools (C, N, P), phosphomonoesterase (PME) and phosphodiesterase (PDE) activities, heterotrophic prokaryotic production and planktonic microorganisms within the mixed layer (ML) in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea. We characterized two contrasted situations: autumn 2018 (highly stratified period, deep chlorophyll maximum within 100 m depth) and winter 2019 (including a bloom period). We compared the distribution of biogeochemical variables within the mixed layer and hydrological vertical structure between the different stations using a principal component analysis. Six groups of stations were identified (one group in autumn, 5 in winter), based on variable physical descriptors but also environmental biogeochemical conditions related to i) the seasonal aspect (for instance, all stations sampled within the Ierapetra anticyclone in autumn clustered in one, single group); ii) transitions between cyclonic and anticyclonic structures with a large range of ML depths (18–269 m) and indications of intense, preceding winter convection events: iii) progression of a high phytoplankton bloom during the winter cruise inferred from a series of observations: a strong nitrate drawdown, important growth of Synechococcus , pico and nano eukaryotes, accumulation of chlorophyll a (>60 mg m−2), primary production rates up to 509 mg C m−2 d−1, changes in the pigments' diversity, increase in biomass-specific ectoenzymatic activities and of heterotrophic prokaryotic production, all in conjunction with the vicinity of the Rhodes gyre. Here, we studied the distribution of biological and biogeochemical properties within the mixed layer, in particular by employing sensitive methods for the detection of low phosphate concentrations and of the labile dissolved organic phosphorus pool. From this data set, we demonstrate that the surface mixed layer classically considered as a P-depleted and uniform layer in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea was highly biologically dynamic, and prone to rapid spatio-temporal changes in phosphatase activities and phytoplankton dynamics. Altogether, these data reveal a strong short-term population dynamics. The results highlight the role of mixing episodes in winter, which provide pulsed supplies of phosphate and/or nitrate from the deeper layer to the euphotic zone, triggering transient blooms that often go undetected by satellites. • Significant role of mixing episodes in winter in eastern Mediterranean Sea. • Meso-scale variability in the mixed layer (P-depleted) affects P cycle and populations. • Phosphomonoesterase and phosphodiesterase kinetics tracers of P availability. • An important, winter phytoplankton bloom evidenced in the vicinity of the Rhodes gyre. • Highest cell specific phosphatases were seen in the Rhodes gyre. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rapid rise of salinity is observed in the Black Sea in recent years, with the largest positive trend (0.07 psμ per 10 years) detected in the pycnocline. We use long-term hydrological measurements for 1985–2019 to show that salinity of pycnocline has intense seasonal and interannual variability modulated by the mechanical and convective mixing. In the warm period of a year, shear turbulence driven by strong winds and intense geostrophic currents causes the penetration of warm waters into the lower density layers. This is accompanied by the rise in their salinity, the source of which is the deep saline waters situated below the halocline. This process is most intense in the areas of downwelling and intensifies in the autumn period, when thermal stratification is relatively weak. Another important reason is the entrainment of salty Mediterranean waters in the upper part of the Black Sea halocline, which is modulated by the deepening of the seasonal thermocline near the Bosphorus strait and mechanical mixing. The increase of salinity is compensated during cold winters, when convective mixing transports fresher water influenced by river discharge into lower density layers of the basin and causes a decrease in pycnocline salinity. This process is most intense in the center of the cyclonic gyres, where pycnocline is located closer to the surface and winter temperature reaches minimal values. Due to the long-term warming of the Black Sea, the process of freshening of deep layers now is observed only in rare cold years. At the same time, an intensification of wind speed, vorticity, and geostrophic circulation processes promote the blurring of the halocline and the rise of the salinity of the Black Sea upper layers. Such rise begins after 2007 in the upper part of Black Sea halocline (depth 50–100 m) and is traced down to 250 m by 2020. • Global warming suppresses the freshening of pycnocline during winter convection. • Shear turbulence in warm period causes the entrainment of salt from deep layers. • Injections of Mediterranean waters in pycnocline intensify in warm conditions. • Intensification of currents and wind, and rise of winter temperature is observed. • All this processes cause rapid rise of pycnocline salinity in the Black Sea. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soil plays a crucial role in the provision of ecosystem services, particularly in mountain areas that are frequently regarded as delicate and vulnerable systems. The alteration of vegetation cover is known to impact the various fractions of organic matter and other soil properties, subsequently influencing the activities of microbes and enzymes that play a role in nutrient cycling. However, there is not much information available regarding the effect on soil properties in semi-arid mountain landscapes. Here, we studied different soil features under woodland (dominated by Carpinus orientalis Miller.), shrubland (dominated by Berberis integerrima Bunge.) and grassland (dominated by Festuca ovina L., Dactylis glomerata L. and Bromus danthoniae Trin.) in the north of Iran. In the summer, a total of eighteen soil (0–10 cm depth) samples were collected from each vegetation type. In addition, to investigate the dynamics of soil microclimate and biota population, the same number of soil samples were collected in the fall season. Results indicated that woodland had a more fertile soil and a higher biological activity than the other vegetation types. Soil earthworm groups showed higher densities in the fall season, whereas soil biota population and microbial processes were enhanced in the summer season. In addition, the study area presented hot spots of soil fertility and biological activities in woodland compared with shrubland and grassland. As a conclusion, distinct soil properties are influenced by various types of vegetation (particularly woody species in contrast to grass covers). With the aim of increasing soil functioning or rehabilitating degraded areas, natural resource managers are suggested to establish wood covers (trees or shrubs) rather than grasslands, whenever possible. [Display omitted] • Soil fertility and biological activities decreased in the order woodland > shrubland > grassland. • Soil biota showed higher densities in the fall season. • Soil culturable fungi and bacteria population and microbial processes were enhanced in the summer season. • Different types of vegetation had significantly different C and N contents. • It is suggested to use woody species to improve the soil condition of semi-arid areas. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]