Autumn Conditions Research Articles

Seasonality in resumption of ovarian activity and reproductive performance of postpartum Holstein cows.

It has been suggested that domestication has turned cattle from seasonal breeders to annual breeders. This study examined the seasonal differences in early postpartum ovulation and subsequent reproductive performance in 542 Holstein cows. Cows displaying corpora lutea in the ovary at 26 days postpartum were defined as early ovulators. Factors affecting the occurrence of early ovulation were analyzed, and subsequent reproductive traits were compared between cows with and without early ovulation. During the summer season, 70.6% of calving cows showed early ovulation, whereas 48.7, 39.2, and 47.2% presented this condition in autumn, winter, and spring, respectively (P < 0.01). Third parity cows showed early ovulation more often than their first parity counterparts (P < 0.05). Cows with a 2.50 to 3.00 or > 3.00 body condition score (BCS) more frequently became early ovulators than those with BCSs < 2.50 (P < 0.01). Calving year was a risk factor, and uterine abnormalities were also often risk factors for early ovulation. The survival analysis showed that seasonal differences in the occurrence of early ovulation did not completely affect the time to first service and pregnancy. Proportional hazard regression analysis revealed that calving year, parity, and early ovulation were risk factors for the time to first service and that calving year was a risk factor for the time to pregnancy. In conclusion, domesticated dairy cows maintain seasonality in postpartum ovarian activity but not in subsequent fertility.

FEATURES OF THE MANIFESTATION OF BIOMETRIC INDICATORS IN VARIETIES AND BREEDING LINES OF BREAD WINTER WHEAT ON THE AUTUMN VEGETATION DORMANCY ONSET DATE IN THE FOREST-STEPPE OF UKRAINE

FEATURES OF THE MANIFESTATION OF BIOMETRIC INDICATORS IN VARIETIES AND BREEDING LINES OF BREAD WINTER WHEAT ON THE AUTUMN VEGETATION DORMANCY ONSET DATE IN THE FOREST-STEPPE OF UKRAINE

Dynamics Changes in Basal Area Increment, Carbon Isotopes Composition and Water Use Efficiency in Pine as Response to Water and Heat Stress in Silesia, Poland.

Trees can be used as archives of changes in the environment. In this paper, we present the results of the analysis of the impact of water stress and increase in air temperature on BAI and carbon stable isotopic composition and water use efficiency of pine. Dendrochronological methods together with mass spectrometry techniques give a possibility to conduct a detailed investigation of pine growing in four industrial forests in Silesia (Poland). Detailed analysis-based bootstrap and moving correlation between climatic indices (temperature, precipitation, and Standardized Precipitation-Evapotranspiration Index) and tree parameters give the chance to check if the climatic signals recorded by trees can be hidden or modified over a longer period of time. Trees have been found to be very sensitive to weather conditions, but their sensitivity can be modified and masked by the effect of pollution. Scots pine trees at all sites systematically increased the basal area increment (BAI) and the intrinsic water use efficiency (iWUE) and decreased δ13C in the last century. Furthermore, their sensitivity to the climatic factor remained at a relatively high level. Industrial pollution caused a small reduction in the wood growth of pines and an increase in the heterogeneity of annual growth responses of trees. The main factors influencing the formation of wood in the pines were thermal conditions in the winter season and pluvial conditions in the previous autumn, and also in spring and summer in the year of tree ring formation. The impact of thermal and pluvial conditions in the year of tree ring formation has also been reflected in the isotopic composition of tree rings and water use efficiency. Three different scenarios of trees' reaction link to the reduction of stomata conductance or changes in photosynthesis rate as the response to climate changes in the last 40 years have been proposed.

A cold high-pressure system over North China hinders the southward migration of Mythimna separata in autumn

BackgroundIn warm regions or seasons of the year, the planetary boundary layer is occupied by a huge variety and quantity of insects, but the southward migration of insects (in East Asia) in autumn is still poorly understood.MethodsWe collated daily catches of the oriental armyworm (Mythimna separata) moth from 20 searchlight traps from 2014 to 2017 in China. In order to explore the autumn migratory connectivity of M. separata in East China, we analyzed the autumn climate and simulated the autumn migration process of moths.ResultsThe results confirmed that northward moth migration in spring and summer under the East Asian monsoon system can bring rapid population growth. However, slow southerly wind (blowing towards the north) prevailed over the major summer breeding area in North China (33°–40° N) due to a cold high-pressure system located there, and this severely disrupts the autumn ‘return’ migration of this pest. Less than 8% of moths from the summer breeding area successfully migrated back to their winter-breeding region, resulting in a sharp decline of the population abundance in autumn. As northerly winds (blowing towards the south) predominate at the eastern periphery of a high-pressure system, the westward movement of the high-pressure system leads to more northerlies over North China, increasing the numbers of moths migrating southward successfully. Therefore, an outbreak year of M. separata larvae was associated with a more westward position of the high-pressure system during the previous autumn.ConclusionThese results indicate that the southward migration in autumn is crucial for sustaining pest populations of M. separata, and the position of the cold high-pressure system in September is a key environmental driver of the population size in the next year. This study indicates that the autumn migration of insects in East China is more complex than previously recognized, and that the meteorological conditions in autumn are an important driver of migratory insects’ seasonal and interannual population dynamics.

Egg-Laying Behavior of Cataglyphis niger Ants Is Influenced More Strongly by Temperature Than Daylength.

Temperature and photoperiod are the two most important factors that affect all aspects of animal life. We conducted two experiments to examine the effect of temperature and photoperiod on egg laying and development in the desert ant Cataglyphis niger. In the first experiment, we examined the effect of decreasing temperatures and shortening daylength on egg-laying behavior. An additional treatment was exposure to natural autumn conditions. Decreasing temperatures impaired egg laying much more than shortening daylength. The effect, however, was rapidly reversible when raising the temperature. When the outdoor treatment was brought inside the lab at a suitable temperature, queens started laying eggs as well. In the second experiment, we first kept the colonies under warmer temperatures and moved them gradually to cooler temperatures, 1-20 days after the eggs were laid. The probability of eggs developing into larvae and pupae under cooler temperatures was positively influenced by the exposure duration to warmer temperatures before the temperature switch. When the eggs developed into larvae, longer exposure to warmer temperatures before the temperature switch led to faster development. However, when the eggs disappeared (and were probably eaten), longer exposure to warmer temperatures before the temperature switch led to slower egg disappearance. We suggest that the decision to lay eggs is reversible to some extent because the workers can consume the eggs if conditions deteriorate. We suggest that this reversibility reduces the cost of laying eggs at the wrong time.

Vernalization and photoperiod alleles greatly affected phenological and agronomic traits in bread wheat under autumn and spring sowing conditions

The responses to temperature (vernalization) and day length (photoperiod) in wheat (Triticum aestivum L.) are mainly defined by allelic differences at the respective VRN-1 and PPD-1 loci, which greatly affect wheat phenology and adaptability. Using molecular markers, a panel of 61 diverse bread wheat varieties was genotyped for VRN-1 and PPD-1 alleles, and the traits were evaluated under two conditions by sowing in autumn and spring to investigate the impact of these genes and their alleles on phenological stages, morphological and yield traits. The results revealed that the earlier heading and flowering conferred by the dominant alleles of VRN-1 and the insensitive alleles of PPD-1 genes were consistent under both the autumn and spring sowing conditions. The effects of a single dominant allele of the three VRN-1 genes were similar whereas the effects of a single insensitive allele of the three PPD-1 genes differed, with Ppd-D1a stronger than Ppd-B1a while Ppd-A1a was the least. Varieties sown under spring conditions recorded a larger flag leaf area than those sown under autumn conditions regardless of the allelic influence at the VRN-1 and PPD-1 loci. When compared to other genes, PPD-D1 had a consistent and significant effect on flag leaf area, spike length, and plant height across both sowing conditions. Furthermore, the varieties with Ppd-D1b had larger biomass across both sowing conditions, but this did not translate into increased yield because the Ppd-D1a recorded a higher yield. The impact of PPD-D1 gene on grain yield was evident across both sowing conditions.

Realistic ocean initial condition for stimulating the successful prediction of extreme cold events in the 2020/2021 winter

In the first half of winter 2020/2021, several unprecedented cold events occurred in most parts of China and caused record-breaking low temperatures in many cities. However, seasonal predictions related to the onset and evolution of extreme cold events are still challenging. In this study, we first evaluated the short-term climate prediction skills in winter of the CAS-ESM-c global coupled model and revealed the key dynamic processes of the onset and development of 2020/2021 extreme cold events based on the ensemble forecasts starting on October 1st, 2020. Under the background provided by the synergistic effect of the warm Arctic and the cold tropical Pacific (La Niña), the model captured the abnormal meridional atmospheric pattern well, including the intensification of the Ural Blocking High and the negative phase of the Arctic Oscillation, forecasted the negative geopotential height anomalies over the Eastern Asian region, and finally, successfully predicted the outbreak of cold waves in December 2020 two months in advance. Moreover, the dominant differences in the initial ocean fields between the best and the worst forecast members were further compared to isolate the triggering factor for predicting cold events by CAS-ESM-c. The initial warm sea surface temperature over the Barents Sea can gradually form a meridional pattern between the warm Arctic and the cold Asian continent, which could lead to a reduction in the large-scale meridional temperature gradient at mid-high latitudes and weaken the atmospheric baroclinicity with more conducive to the southward outbreak of cold waves, highlighting that realistic Arctic ocean conditions in autumn can be reasonably assimilated into coupled models to stimulate the successful prediction of extreme cold events in the 2020/2021 winter.

The effects of Borrelia infection on its wintering rodent host

In seasonal environments, appropriate adaptations are crucial for organisms to maximize their fitness. For instance, in many species, the immune function has been noticed to decrease during winter, which is assumed to be an adaptation to the season’s limited food availability. Consequences of an infection on the health and survival of the host organism could thus be more severe in winter than in summer. Here, we experimentally investigated the effect of a zoonotic, endemic pathogen, Borrelia afzelii infection on the survival and body condition in its host, the bank vole (Myodes glareolus), during late autumn–early winter under semi-natural field conditions in 11 large outdoor enclosures. To test the interaction of Borrelia infection and energetic condition, four populations received supplementary nutrition, while remaining seven populations exploited only natural food sources. Supplementary food during winter increased the body mass independent of the infection status, however, Borrelia afzelii infection did not cause severe increase in the host mortality or affect the host body condition in the late autumn–early winter. While our study suggests that no severe effects are caused by B. afzelii infection on bank vole, further studies are warranted to identify any potentially smaller effects the pathogen may cause on the host fitness over the period of whole winter.

Hidden Potential in Predicting Wintertime Temperature Anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere

AbstractVariability of the North Atlantic Oscillation (NAO) drives wintertime temperature anomalies in the Northern Hemisphere. Dynamical seasonal prediction systems can skilfully predict the winter NAO. However, prediction of the NAO‐dependent air temperature anomalies remains elusive, partially due to the low variability of predicted NAO. Here, we demonstrate a hidden potential of a multi‐model ensemble of operational seasonal prediction systems for predicting wintertime temperature by increasing the variability of predicted NAO. We identify and subsample those ensemble members which are close to NAO index statistically estimated from initial autumn conditions. In our novel multi‐model approach, the correlation prediction skill for wintertime Central Europe temperature is improved from 0.25 to 0.66, accompanied by an increased winter NAO prediction skill of 0.9. Thereby, temperature anomalies can be skilfully predicted for the upcoming winter over a large part of the Northern Hemisphere through increased variability and skill of predicted NAO.

Growth phenological variations in the narrow-leaved ash (Fraxinus angustifolia) over the Mediterranean region: A simulation study

Tree species inhabiting riparian forests under Mediterranean climate have evolved to face summer water shortage but may fail to cope with future increases in drought severity. Thus, understanding tree growth phenological variations in response to environmental conditions is necessary to assess the impact of seasonal drought in riparian forests. In this study, we investigated the response of stem radial growth to climate in the narrow-leaved ash (Fraxinus angustifolia) over its distribution in southern Europe. We simulated intra- and inter-annual growth patterns using the Vaganov-Shashkin (VS) model considering five sites subjected to summer drought but showing different climate conditions. The growth pattern in this species varied from unimodal in cool-wet sites to facultative bimodal in warm-dry sites. Bimodal patterns were characterized by two growth peaks coinciding with favorable climate conditions in spring and autumn. The spring growth peak occurs earlier (May) in warm-dry sites than in wet-cool sites (June–July). The variation in the season growth length and growth timing suggests different strategies adopted by this species to cope with summer drought. The VS model revealed different growth patterns across which would be relevant in predicting the response of this and other riparian tree species to climate warming and aridification. Differences in the length of the growing season, timings of growth peaks and the shift from unimodal to bimodal growth patterns should be considered when assessing growth adjustments to future climate scenarios.

On the effect of nocturnal radiation fog on the development of the daytime convective boundary layer: A large‐eddy simulation study

AbstractThe potential effect of failing to predict nocturnal deep radiation fog on the development of the daytime convective boundary layer (CBL) is studied using large‐eddy simulations. Typical spring and autumn conditions for the mid‐latitudes are used to perform simulations in pairs. Fog formation is allowed in one simulation of each pair (nocturnal fog [NF]) and is suppressed in the other (clear sky [CS]). This allows for the identification of properties (temperature, humidity, boundary‐layer depth), conditions, and processes in CBL development that are affected by fog. Mixing‐layer temperatures and boundary‐layer depths immediately after fog dissipation in CSs are shown to be up to 2.5 K warmer and 200 m higher, respectively, than the NF counterparts. Additionally, greater water vapor mixing ratios are found in the CSs. However, owing to greater temperatures, relative humidities at the CBL top are found to be less in CSs than in the corresponding NFs. This relative humidity difference might be an indication that cloud formation is suppressed to some extent. The magnitude of the differences between CSs and NFs during the day is mainly correlated to the fog depth (in terms of duration and liquid water path), whereas the key processes responsible for differences are the atmospheric long‐wave cooling of the fog layer (for temperature development) and droplet deposition (for water vapor mixing ratio development).

Time- and temperature-dependent dynamics of prothoracicotropic hormone and ecdysone sensitivity co-regulate pupal diapause in the green-veined white butterfly Pieris napi

Diapause, a general shutdown of developmental pathways, is a vital adaptation allowing insects to adjust their life cycle to adverse environmental conditions such as winter. Diapause in the pupal stage is regulated by the major developmental hormones prothoracicotropic hormone (PTTH) and ecdysone. Termination of pupal diapause in the butterfly Pieris napi depends on low temperatures; therefore, we study the temperature-dependence of PTTH secretion and ecdysone sensitivity dynamics throughout diapause, with a focus on diapause termination. While PTTH is present throughout diapause in the cell bodies of two pairs of neurosecretory cells in the brain, it is absent in the axons, and the PTTH concentration in the haemolymph is significantly lower during diapause than during post diapause development, indicating that the PTTH signaling is reduced during diapause. The sensitivity of pupae to ecdysone injections is dependent on diapause stage. While pupae are sensitive to ecdysone during early diapause initiation, they gradually lose this sensitivity and become insensitive to non-lethal concentrations of ecdysone about 30 days into diapause. At low temperatures, reflecting natural overwintering conditions, diapause termination propensity after ecdysone injection is precocious compared to controls. In stark contrast, at high temperatures reflecting late summer and early autumn conditions, sensitivity to ecdysone does not return. Thus, here we show that PTTH secretion is reduced during diapause, and additionally, that the low ecdysone sensitivity of early diapause maintenance is lost during termination in a temperature dependent manner. The link between ecdysone sensitivity and low-temperature dependence reveals a putative mechanism of how diapause termination operates in insects that is in line with adaptive expectations for diapause.

The spatial and temporal exploitation of anthropogenic food sources by common ravens (Corvus corax) in the Alps

BackgroundAnthropogenic food sources (AFSs) are widespread in human-transformed landscapes and the current scale at which they occur drives ecological change at the individual, population, and community levels. AFSs are exploited extensively by common ravens, Corvus corax. Understanding how raven populations use AFSs can provide insight into their ecological responses to AFSs.MethodsWe equipped 81 ravens in the Austrian Alps with GPS-transmitters over a period of 2.75 years. Using these tracking data, we investigated how cohort differences (i.e., age, sex, and origin) and seasonal changes influence raven movement patterns (i.e., occurrence distribution and maximum daily displacement) and AFS-use (i.e., number of AFSs visited and probability of being present at any AFS) at 45 extensively exploited sites.ResultsWe found that proxies for experience and dominance, inferred by age (i.e., juvenile versus adult) and origin (i.e., wild-caught versus captive-bred-released) cohorts, influenced movement patterns and the number of AFSs visited. However, all individuals were equally likely to be present at AFSs, highlighting the importance of AFSs for non-breeders in the study population. Seasonal changes in environmental conditions that affect energetic demands, the availability of natural and anthropogenic food, and foraging competition, influenced individuals’ occurrence distributions and AFS-use. We found that under harsher conditions in autumn and winter, individuals ranged wider and depended on AFSs to a larger degree. However, contrary to expectation, they were less likely to be present at AFSs in these seasons compared to spring and summer, suggesting a trade-off between time spent moving and exploiting resources. We attribute the small ranging movements exhibited by non-breeders in spring and summer to the presence of highly territorial and socially dominant breeders. As breeders mostly stay and forage within their territories during these seasons, competition at AFSs decrease, thereby increasing the likelihood of individuals being present at any AFS.ConclusionsWe emphasize that movement and AFS-use differ according to cohort differences and the seasonality of the environment. Our results highlight that predictable AFSs affect foraging strategies among non-breeding ravens. The extent of AFS-exploitation among non-breeding ravens in our study emphasize the potential of AFSs in shaping raven movement and resource-use.

ВПЛИВ ПОГОДНИХ УМОВ ТА СОРТОВИХ ОСОБЛИВОСТЕЙ НА ФОРМУВАННЯ ЕЛЕМЕНТІВ СТРУКТУРИ ВРОЖАЮ ПШЕНИЦІ М’ЯКОЇ ОЗИМОЇ В ПІВНІЧНОМУ СТЕПУ

Probability. The key task of the agrarian sector of the Ukrainian economy is to ensure a stable winter wheat yield in the face of climate change and the introduction of new intensive varie-ties. It should be noted that most of the mechanisms of formation of increased productivity of win-ter wheat are not yet fully understood and require additional research. Issues. Productivity of winter wheat depends largely on the variety and influence of environmental factors, and is closely related to all processes of plant growth and development. Scientific substantiation of optimal development of its main structural elements is necessary to further increase the yield. Purpose. To identify the influence of weather conditions and varietal characteristics on the formation of yield structure ele-ments of soft winter wheat in the Northern Steppe. Materials and methods. The research was con-ducted on black fallow (on the background N0-30P60K30) and after spring barley (on the background N60P60K30) in the fields of the Research Farm "Dnipro" SE Institute of Grain Crops NAAS in ac-cordance with generally accepted recommendations. Results. The productive plant density of winter wheat is one of the main elements of the yield structure, and the most critical conditions for the formation of plant density were in the 2011/12 growing year. The number of productive stems after spring barley depending on the variety was 166–215 pcs/m2, and on black fallow – 249–416 pcs/m2. The level of biological yield depending on the predecessor varied between 194–264 and 369–478 g/m2. In the years of research, the maximum yield was formed on black fallow: in 2012–2014 for Lytanivka and Zamozhnist varieties (664 and 658 g/m2), and in 2016-2018 - in Pylypivka variety (766 g/m2). Conclusions. Hydrothermal factors during the growing season have a significant effect on the condition of winter crops. Arid conditions in autumn and spring-summer significantly reduce the productive plant density, and, consequently, biological yield, especially after non-fallow prede-cessors. It was determined that some varietal pattern are in the formation of next structural yield elements, such as ear length, number of productive spikelets and grains per ear, thousand grain weight. Keywords: winter wheat, variety, predecessor, productive plant density, ear grain weight, thousand grain weight, biological yield.

Variability of early autumn planktonic assemblages in the strait of Gibraltar: a regionalization analysis

The Strait of Gibraltar (SG) is the only connection of the Mediterranean Sea with the global circulation. The SG is an outstanding marine region to explore physical-biological coupling of pelagic communities due to its hydrodynamic complexity, including strong tidal forcing and marked spatial gradients and fronts. The authors have unravelled the role of the fortnightly tidal scale (spring and neap tides) and local processes (upwelling and tidal-topographic mixing) that shape planktonic assemblages in the Strait. To do so, an oceanographic cruise was taken in early autumn 2008 with a high-resolution grid sampling and spring/neap tidal conditions. The planktonic features were captured using different automatic and semi-automatic techniques of plankton analyses (flow cytometry, FlowCAM, LOPC and Ecotaxa) that allowed covering a wide range of sizes of the community from pico- to mesoplankton. The SG was sectorized into two clusters based on the biogeochemical and main water column properties. Cluster 1 (CL1) covered shallow productive areas around Cape Trafalgar (CT). CL1 presented higher concentrations of chlorophyll and nutrients, and phytoplankton was mostly represented by Synechococcus and coastal diatoms while zooplankton had the highest percentage of meroplankton (31%). In contrast, cluster 2 (CL2) covered open ocean waters and presented more oligotrophic features, i.e. nitrogen-depleted waters with lower chlorophyll concentrations and a picoplankton community dominated by Prochlorococcus and holoplankton predominance in mesozooplankton. Under early autumn conditions with overall nutrient-depleted and stratified waters, the CT area emerges as an ecosystem where the constant tidal mixing and nutrients supply is coupled with an active production also being favored by high residence times and finally shaping a plankton community with unique features in the area.

Continuous-flow hop dryer with endogenous convection heat producers

The paper describes a KhS-400 hop dryer configuration that calls for operating conditions to be aligned for autumn conditions due to a lower moisture-absorbing capacity of ambient air, thus making consumer-oriented characteristics unstable. It seems relevant to design a continuous-flow hop dryer to provide endogenous convection drying of freshly harvested hops that reduces operating costs and maintains consumer-oriented characteristics. The innovative idea is that the hop dryer incorporates resonators with concave surfaces and ceramic perforated convex bases, and oscillators operating at close frequencies: 915 MHz, 2375 MHz, 2450 MHz. The scientific goal is to develop continuous-flow methods and equipment with microwave generators and reasonably-configured unconventional resonators for drying hops, providing electromagnetic safety with no shield. The configuration comprises concave paraboloid and concave hyperboloid resonators sequentially fitted to form a drying chamber. The shared bases of the joined resonators are dielectric convex perforated disks rigidly fixed. A conveyor belt runs along the drying chamber. A duct is attached at one side of the base to the junction of the hyperboloid resonator with the paraboloid resonator. An air outlet is attached at the other side of the base to the junction of the hyperboloid resonator with another paraboloid resonator. Generators are located along the perimeter of both paraboloid resonators and along the perimeter of a small-diameter circle of the hyperboloid resonator with an offset of 120 °. The vertices of both paraboloid resonators are truncated and have slots wide enough for letting the conveyor belt pass carrying the raw material.

Removal of emerging pollutants by a 3-step system: Hybrid digester, vertical flow constructed wetland and photodegradation post-treatments

The removal of emerging pollutants from municipal wastewater was studied for the first time using a three-step pilot-scale system: 1) hybrid digester (HD) as first step, 2) subsurface vertical flow constructed wetland (VF) as second step, and 3) photodegradation (PD) unit as third step or post-treatment. The HD and VF units were built and operated in series with effluent recirculation at pilot scale. For the PD post-treatment, three alternatives were studied at lab-scale, i) UVC irradiation at 254 nm (0.5 h exposure time), ii) UVA irradiation at 365 nm using a TiO2-based photocatalyst and iii) sunlight irradiation using a TiO2-based photocatalyst, the last two for 1 and 2 h. Alternative iii) was also tested at pilot-scale. Degradation of nine compounds was evaluated: acetaminophen (ACE), caffeine (CAF), carbamazepine (CBZ), ketoprofen (KET), ibuprofen (IBU), diclofenac (DCL), clofibric acid (ACB), bisphenol A (BPA), and sotalol (SOT). Overall, the HD-VF-UVC system completely removed (>99.5 %) ACE, CAF, KET, IBU, DCL and ACB, and to a lesser extent SOT (98 %), BPA (83 %) and CBZ (51 %). On the other hand, the HD-VF-UVA/TiO2 system (at 2 h) achieved >99.5 % removal of ACE, CAF, KET, IBU and DCL while ACB, BPA, CBZ and SOT were degraded by 83 %, 81 %, 78 % and 68 %, respectively. Working also at 2 h of exposure time, in summer conditions, the HD-VF-Sol/TiO2 system achieved >99.5 % removal of ACE, CAF, KET, IBU, DCL and ACB, and to a minor extent BPA (80 %), SOT (74 %) and CBZ (69 %). Similar results, although slightly lower for SOT (60 %) and CBZ (59 %), were obtained in the pilot sunlight plus TiO2 catalyst unit. However, the use of sunlight irradiation with a TiO2-based photocatalyst clearly showed lower removal efficiency in autumn conditions (i.e., 47 % SOT, 31 % CBZ).

Coupling outdoor air quality with thermal comfort in the presence of street trees: a pilot investigation in Shenyang, Northeast China

Together, the heat island effect and air pollution pose a threat to human health and well-being in urban settings. Nature-based solutions such as planting trees are a mitigation strategy to improve outdoor temperatures (thermal comfort) and enhance air quality in urban areas. In this study, outdoor thermal comfort, and particulate matter levels were compared between treeless and treed areas to provide a better understanding of how street trees improve thermal comfort and air quality. Street trees decreased the physiological equivalent temperature from 46.3 to 44.2 °C in summer but increased it from 36.4 to 37.5 °C in autumn. Air temperature and relative humidity contributed more in summer while wind speed contributed more in autumn. Particulate matter concentrations were negatively correlated with physiological equivalent temperature in summer but not in autumn. The presence of trees decreased concentrations of fine particulate matter in hot summer conditions but increased in hot autumn conditions. The presence of trees increased coarse particulate matter in very hot summer conditions in summer and in hot autumn conditions. Overall, the layout of trees in urban street canyons should consider the trade-off between outdoor thermal comfort and air quality improvement.

Eco-friendly ‘ochratoxin A’ control in stored licorice roots – quality assurance perspective

According to toxicity data, ochratoxin A (OTA) is the second most important mycotoxin and is produced by Aspergillus and Penicillium. As a natural antifungal agent, clove essential oil (CEO) is a substance generally recognised as safe (GRAS) and shows strong activity against fungal pathogens. Here, we aimed to investigate the control efficacy of CEO in nano-emulsions (CEN) against OTA production in licorice roots and rhizomes during storage. The experiments were performed under simulated conditions of all four seasons (i.e. Spring, Summer, Autumn and Winter). Relative humidity (RH) and temperature were simulated in desiccators along with various salt solutions in incubators. Fresh licorice roots were immersed in CEN at various concentrations (150, 300, 600, 1200 and 2400 µl/l). Before utilising the nano-emulsions, we measured their polydispersity index and mean droplet size by the dynamic light scattering (DLS) technique. Also, the chemical composition of the CEO was determined using GC and GC-MS analyses. Sampling was carried out to monitor OTA once every five days. The samples were dried immediately and analysed by high-performance liquid chromatography (HPLC). Results showed that various concentrations of CEN inhibited the growth of fungi and OTA production. The most effective CEN concentrations were 1200 and 2400 µl/l, which reduced OTA production to 19 and 20 ppb under Winter and Autumn conditions, respectively. These results suggest an effective eco-friendly method for the storage of licorice to reduce postharvest fungal decay.

Analysis on Fire-Retardant Performance of non-Class 1E Cables Depending on the Ambient Temperature Condition Surrounding the Facilities for Flame Test of Cables

Electrical cables are extensively used in nuclear power plants. Therefore, the fire-retardant performance of electrical cables is generally verified according to the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE) 383 standard, which describes the requirements for flame testing of cables. However, the IEEE 383 standard only stipulates one requirement for the minimum ambient temperature (5°C) surrounding the facilities for the flame test. To analyze the influence of the ambient temperature on the fire-retardant performance of 5cables, flame test experiments were conducted on two types of non-Class 1E cables under several conditions with respect to the seasonal ambient temperatures surrounding the experimental facilities. According to the results, the burning lengths of the cables did not increase in proportion to the increase in the ambient temperature. The longest burning lengths of the cables were obtained from experiments conducted in the autumn season, and not the summer season (with the highest ambient temperature). To investigate these experimental trends, we analyzed the influence of the ambient temperature on the flammability of the cables in terms of the consumption rate of the propane fuel used for the flame tests and the evaporation rate of volatile cable materials. Consequently, it was found that the highest flammability of the cables was observed under autumn conditions, similar to the standard temperature conditions in accordance with the IEEE 1202 standard and in which the volatile materials in the cables did not evaporate more than in the summer condition.