Marked Transition Research Articles

A double ITCZ phenomenology of wind errors in the equatorial Atlantic in seasonal forecasts with ECMWF models

Abstract. Modern coupled general circulation models produce systematic biases in the tropical Atlantic that hamper the reliability of long-range predictions. This study focuses on a common springtime westerly wind bias in the equatorial Atlantic in seasonal hindcasts from two coupled models – ECMWF System 4 and EC-Earth v2.3 – and in hindcasts also based on System 4, but with prescribed sea-surface temperatures. The development of the equatorial westerly bias in early April is marked by a rapid transition from a wintertime easterly, cold tongue bias to a springtime westerly bias regime that displays a marked double intertropical convergence zone (ITCZ). The transition is a seasonal feature of the model climatology (independent of initialisation date) and is associated with a seasonal increase in rainfall where a second branch of the ITCZ is produced south of the Equator. Excess off-equatorial convergence redirects the trade winds away from the Equator. Based on arguments of temporal coincidence, the results of our analysis contrast with those from previous work, and alleged causes hereto identified as the likely cause of the equatorial westerly bias in other models must be discarded. Quite in general, we find no evidence of remote influences on the development of the springtime equatorial bias in the Atlantic in the IFS-based models. Limited evidence however is presented that supports the hypothesis of an incorrect representation of the meridional equatorward flow in the marine boundary layer of the southern Atlantic as a contributing factor. Erroneous dynamical constraints on the flow upstream of the Equator may generate convergence and associated rainfall south of the Equator. This directs attention to the representation of the properties of the subtropical boundary layer as a potential source for the double ITCZ bias.

Palaeoenvironmental dynamics at the southern Alpine foothills between the Neolithic and the Bronze Age onset. A multi-proxy study from Bande di Cavriana (Mantua, Italy)

The onset of the Bronze Age (approximately 4150 yrs cal. BP) in the southern Lake Garda region (N-Italy) is marked by an increase in the number of settlements and by the widespread adoption of pile-dwelling building techniques. The prominence of this phenomenon polarized the attention of local palaeoenvironmental investigations. As a result, pre-Bronze age landscape and climate dynamics have been investigated to a lesser degree. In an attempt to address this disparity, our contribution focuses on the period between ∼7100 and ∼3800 yrs cal. BP, i.e. approximately between Early Neolithic and Early Bronze Age. The location of our analysis is the former lake of Bande di Cavriana (Mantua). Multi-proxy investigations highlight few major climatic shifts prior to the Bronze Age onset. A first transition into more warm/dry conditions is recorded between ∼6300 and 6100 yrs cal. BP. Similar conditions occur again after ∼4600 yrs cal. BP, peaking at ∼4300 yrs cal. BP. Speculatively, taking into account dating uncertainties, this second shift might represent the local expression of the ‘4.2Ka’ event. A marked transition into a colder/more humid situation occurs then after ∼4300 yrs cal. BP and persists into the Bronze Age. Major vegetational changes begin during the Neolithic with the steady rise of Carpinus betulus pollen (from ∼5700 yrs cal. BP). A more rapid expansion of this taxon after ∼5100 yrs cal. BP might reflect shifts in forest exploitation strategies during the Copper Age (e.g. coppicing) or changes in the ruminant fauna (e.g. grazing vs. browsing habits), arguably due to human intervention. Nonetheless, pollen grains of anthropogenic indicators appear with consistent frequency only since the Bronze Age. The establishment of the Bande di Cavriana pile dwelling (∼3950 yrs cal. BP) is marked by declining arboreal pollen values and growing anthropogenic taxa. This behavior likely reflects a more intense landscape exploitation (deforestation, expansion of arable fields and meadows), although an influx of herbaceous pollen from near-site activities (e.g. cereal processing, garbage dumping) should not be overlooked.

Tuning conformation, assembly, and charge transport properties of conjugated polymers by printing flow.

Intrachain charge transport is unique to conjugated polymers distinct from inorganic and small molecular semiconductors and is key to achieving high-performance organic electronics. Polymer backbone planarity and thin film morphology sensitively modulate intrachain charge transport. However, simple, generic nonsynthetic approaches for tuning backbone planarity and the ensuing multiscale assembly process do not exist. We first demonstrate that printing flow is capable of planarizing the originally twisted polymer backbone to substantially increase the conjugation length. This conformation change leads to a marked morphological transition from chiral, twinned domains to achiral, highly aligned morphology, hence a fourfold increase in charge carrier mobilities. We found a surprising mechanism that flow extinguishes a lyotropic twist-bend mesophase upon backbone planarization, leading to the observed morphology and electronic structure transitions.

Effects of Chain Length of Chitosan Oligosaccharides on Solution Properties and Complexation with siRNA.

In the context of gene delivery, chitosan has been widely used as a safe and effective polycation to complex DNA, RNA and more recently, siRNA. However, much less attention has been paid to chitosan oligosaccharides (COS) despite their biological properties. This study proposed to carry out a physicochemical study of COS varying in degree of polymerization (DP) from 5 to 50, both from the point of view of the solution properties and the complexing behavior with siRNA. The main parameters studied as a function of DP were the apparent pKa, the solubility versus pH, the binding affinity with siRNA and the colloidal properties of complexes. Some parameters, like the pKa or the binding enthalpy with siRNA, showed a marked transition from DP 5 to DP 13, suggesting that electrostatic properties of COS vary considerably in this range of DP. The colloidal properties of siRNA/COS complexes were affected in a different way by the COS chain length. In particular, COS of relatively high DP (≥50) were required to form small complex particles with good stability.

Dynamic Adaptive Changes of the Ileum Transposed to the Proximal Small Intestine in Rats.

Ileal transposition (IT) is an experimental surgery to investigate the role of the distal ileum in Roux-en-Y gastric bypass (RYGB) surgery. To systematically investigate the dynamic adaptation process of the ileum after IT, we performed transcriptome analyses of the transposed ileum compared with the ileum in situ at different postoperative time points. Sprague-Dawley rats fed a chow diet underwent IT or sham surgery. One and 4weeks after IT or sham surgery, total RNA was extracted from the ileal tissue and subjected to transcriptome analyses using microarray. Principal component analysis showed that the difference between weeks 1 and 4 was the largest, and the differences between the IT and sham groups were larger in week 4 than in week 1. We identified 1792 differentially expressed genes (DEGs) between IT and sham ileal tissues, including 659 and 1133 DEGs in weeks 1 and 4, respectively. Interestingly, only 45 and 24 DEGs were commonly up- or downregulated in weeks 1 and 4, indicating a marked transition during the adaptation process. Functional enrichment and network analyses showed that structural adaptation predominantly occurred in week 1, while metabolic and immune adaptations predominantly occurred in week 4. These analyses further revealed potential components that modulate structural adaptation (e.g., extracellular matrix) in week 1 and metabolic (e.g., glucose transporter) and immune (e.g., Th17 cells) adaptations in week 4. The transposed distal ileum underwent dynamic adaptation processes that may help explain the metabolic changes after RYGB.

Evolution of fluviokarst canyons in response to the Quaternary tectonic uplift of the Apulia Carbonate Platform (southern Italy): Insights from morphometric analysis of drainage basins

The evolution of fluviokarst landscapes results from the interplay of karst and fluvial processes, all driven by rock uplift or base level fall. The fluviokarst landscape of the Murge Plateau in the central Apulian Region (southeastern Italy) is characterized by narrow, steep-sided, V-shaped canyons, locally called ‘Gravine’, and deeply incised into the Plio-Pleistocene deposits of the Bradanic Trough and the underlying Apulian limestone bedrock. Previous studies propose alternative models of canyons development, however identifying a dominant morphogenetic process for the evolution of the ‘Gravine’ fluviokarst drainage basins remains an open question. The results of our regional morphometric analysis reveal a marked transition from the relict, low-relief landscape preserved in the Murge uplands to the steep channel reaches below prominent knickpoints showing evidence of a transient wave of river incision that is propagating inland. We observe anomalies of mean local relief and channel steepness, and the distribution of fluvial knickpoints consistent with a regional uplift affecting the Murge Plateau since Middle-Late Pleistocene. These findings demonstrate that the history of landscape evolution was dominated by fluvial processes. Using transformed river profile analysis we show that χ anomalies in the ‘Gravine’ trunk channels indicate drainage basin instability by drainage area capture. The convex-shape of the hypsometric curves and high hypsometric integrals confirm that the disequilibrium state of the 13 analyzed basins results from a combination of regional uplift and subsequent river network reorganization and plateau area captures. Based on our results, we propose a new model of landscape evolution for the ‘Gravine’ fluviokarst drainage basins.

Region-specific differences and areal interactions underlying transitions in epileptiform activity.

Key points Local neocortical and hippocampal territories show different and sterotypical patterns of acutely evolving, epileptiform activity.Neocortical and entorhinal networks show tonic–clonic‐like events, but the main hippocampal territories do not, unless it is relayed from the other areas.Transitions in the pattern of locally recorded epileptiform activity can be indicative of a shift in the source of pathological activity, and may spread through both synaptic and non‐synaptic means.Hippocampal epileptiform activity is promoted by 4‐aminopyridine and inhibited by GABAB receptor agonists, and appears far more sensitive to these drugs than neocortical activity.These signature features of local epileptiform activity can provide useful insight into the primary source of ictal activity, aiding both experimental and clinical investigation. Understanding the nature of epileptic state transitions remains a major goal for epilepsy research. Simple in vitro models offer unique experimental opportunities that we exploit to show that such transitions can arise from shifts in the ictal source of the activity. These transitions reflect the fact that cortical territories differ both in the type of epileptiform activity they can sustain and in their susceptibility to drug manipulation. In the zero‐Mg2+ model, the earliest epileptiform activity is restricted to neocortical and entorhinal networks. Hippocampal bursting only starts much later, and triggers a marked transition in neo‐/entorhinal cortical activity. Thereafter, the hippocampal activity acts as a pacemaker, entraining the other territories to their discharge pattern. This entrainment persists following transection of the major axonal pathways between hippocampus and cortex, indicating that it can be mediated through a non‐synaptic route. Neuronal discharges are associated with large rises in extracellular [K+], but we show that these are very localized, and therefore are not the means of entraining distant cortical areas. We conclude instead that the entrainment occurs through weak field effects distant from the pacemaker, but which are highly effective at recruiting other brain territories that are already hyperexcitable. The hippocampal epileptiform activity appears unusually susceptible to drugs that impact on K+ conductances. These findings demonstrate that the local circuitry gives rise to stereotypical epileptic activity patterns, but these are also influenced by both synaptic and non‐synaptic long‐range effects. Our results have important implications for our understanding of epileptic propagation and anti‐epileptic drug action.

Detrital zircon provenance constraints on the final closure of the middle segment of the Paleo-Asian Ocean

The main site and timing of the final closure of the middle segment of the Paleo-Asian Ocean (PAO) has been an issue of hot debate, which hampers us from better understanding the late-stage tectonic evolution of the Central Asian Orogenic Belt (CAOB). Synthesizing the available geological records for the ophiolitic mélanges in the Beishan Orogenic Belt (BOB), we regard the Liuyuan ophiolitic mélange as the main site of the final closure of the middle segment of the PAO. To determine the final closure time of the middle segment of the PAO, this study mainly applied field-based, systematic zircon U-Pb-Hf isotopic analyses for the Carboniferous and Permian sedimentary successions on the northern and southern sides of the Liuyuan ophiolitic mélange. Our results indicate that the late Carboniferous sedimentary successions north of the Liuyuan mélange consisting mainly of interbedded sandstone and siltstone with minor conglomerate show primarily affinity with a local, single source, i.e. the constituent units of the BOB north of the Liuyuan mélange. They were closely associated with the northward subduction of the middle segment of the PAO. By contrast, the unconformably overlying Permian clastic deposition on both sides of the Liuyuan ophiolitic mélange shows comparable lithology that fines from a thick sequence of conglomerate at the base to thin-bedded turbidite sequences up section. These Permian units were probably deposited in a progressively deepening basin within an extensional post-collision regime after the disappearance of the middle segment of the PAO. All the <274–261 Ma sandstones on both sides of the Liuyuan ophiolitic mélange were derived from commingling source regions on both sides of the Liuyuan mélange, as supported by comparable, diagnostic ages and εHf(t) values between the studied detrital zircons and coeval magmatic zircons from the BOB and north Tarim. Such a marked transition from a single, local provenance in the late Carboniferous to commingling provenances at ca. 274–261 Ma indicates the final closure of the middle segment of the PAO prior to the end of the early Permian. In conjunction with available data for the eastern and western segments of the PAO, we establish the eastward-younging, scissor-like closure for the whole PAO during mid Carboniferous to Early Triassic time.

The Preamble of 1945 Constitutions as Post-Colonial Normative Expression and Its Contextuality (A Politics of Law Analysis)

The proclamation of Indonesian independence on August 17, 1945, marked Indonesia's transition from being a nation as an imaginary community to being a state as a legal-rational community. For the first time, the Indonesian have the authority to form the rule of law independently, apart from the intervention of the colonial nation. The fierce spirit of anti-colonialism was immediately reflected in various legislative products, including the 1945 Constitution. The opening part of the 1945 Constitution, which is often regarded as the highest source of value in the Indonesian legal system, reflects a thick post-colonial spirit. During the colonial period, the legal system was built on hegemony, by placing indigenous people as The Other in their own homeland. They are labelled as third-class identities, under other national groups. This mentality is then tried to be reversed after independence. The values of independence, perpetual peace, and social justice are presented clearly into the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution. The Preamble of the 1945 Constitution inherited the anti-colonial spirit and immediately became a manifesto of resistance to colonial domination. However, the process of value petrifaction of the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution should not be considered as complete when that text was announced. The real challenge actually happened today, decades after Indonesia's independence. The injustice and hegemony relation that still occurs throughout the world ideally awakens the Indonesian to continue to contextualize anti-colonial values in the Preamble of the 1945 Constitution.

Environmental changes of the last 1000 years on Prince of Wales Island, Nunavut, Canada

ABSTRACTA pollen record from a lake sediment core from southeastern Prince of Wales Island, Nunavut, Canada (SW08; 72.3177, −97.2678, 104 m a.s.l) provides the first high-resolution July temperature reconstruction for the last 1,000 years for the central Canadian Arctic Archipelago. The vegetation underwent marked transitions during the Little Ice Age (LIA; 1500–1800 CE) and Medieval Climate Anomaly (MCA; 1090–1250 CE), which was primarily observed in the proportion of Cyperaceae, Poaceae, and Salix pollen. Cyperaceae pollen was highest in the samples corresponding to the MCA, whereas Poaceae increased during the LIA. In the last 30 years, Salix and Betula pollen increased. The mean July temperature reconstruction showed a long-term cooling from 1080–1915 CE with a sustained cold period from 1800–1915 CE prior to twentieth-century warming. A synthesis of paleoclimate records from across the Arctic demonstrates that pollen-based reconstructions record both high and low frequency climate variability, when sampling resolution is sufficient, and can improve regional climate reconstructions.

Carbon cycling in the Sargasso Sea water column: Insights from lipid biomarkers in suspended particles

This study compares lipid biomarker and bulk constituents (organic carbon and δ13C, nitrogen and carbonate) in particles (30–4400 m depth) collected at the Oceanic Flux Program site in the northern Sargasso Sea off Bermuda during three periods of contrasting oceanographic conditions: following the spring bloom (April 2015), during the low productivity period (November 2015), and two weeks after the passage of the Category 3 Hurricane Nicole (October 2016). Lipids biomarkers were used to evaluate the contributions of phytoplankton, zooplankton and bacterial sources to the particulate organic carbon (POC), diagenetic transformations of suspended POC throughout the water column and within the nepheloid layer, and seasonal and non-seasonal temporal variability, including the impact of an extreme weather event.Depth profiles of lipid concentration and molecular composition showed seasonal and non-seasonal variability in particle composition throughout the water column. Higher lipid concentrations in April versus November 2015 reflected differences in plankton productivity, while relative abundances in diagnostic phytosterols, C18 polyunsaturated fatty acids and alkenones reflected differences in phytoplankton community structure. A rapid decrease in lipid biomarker concentrations below the euphotic zone was accompanied by a marked transition in lipid composition, e.g. increases in the relative percentages of cholesterol, C16-C18 fatty alcohols, odd- and branched- chain fatty acids. This reveals the intense remineralization of algal-derived carbon and fresh inputs of organic materials from zooplankton and microbial production within the upper mesopelagic zone. Particulate lipids within the bathypelagic zone reveal a close connectivity of deep particulate carbon composition with upper ocean properties, while compositional heterogeneity with depth reflects continuous particle turnover and de novo particle production throughout the deep water column. Additionally, depth trends in the within-class composition of fatty alcohols and bacterial fatty acids were observed, suggesting depth zonation of zooplankton and microbial community structure.Hurricane Nicole (October 2016) strongly impacted upper ocean physics and nutrient supply, resulting in a transient phytoplankton bloom/flux event that increased concentrations of fresh particulate phytodetritus (e.g., C18 polyunsaturated fatty acids) throughout the mesopelagic and upper bathypelagic zones. Concurrent increases in zooplankton and bacterial lipid biomarkers (e.g., 18:1ω9, odd- and branched-chain fatty acids, cholesterol) indicated that this transient pulse of labile carbon stimulated mesopelagic zooplankton and microbial activity, resulting in an enrichment of labile materials in the suspended particle pool throughout the deep ocean. Our study demonstrates that extreme weather events can have a major impact on carbon flux and particle cycling in the deep ocean, with pronounced implications for the ocean carbon pump and deep ocean ecosystems.

Impact of fillers (short glass fibers and rubber) on the hydrolysis-induced embrittlement of polyamide 6.6

This study deals with the durability of composites based on polyamide 6.6 (PA6.6) in a humid environment, and more especially, with the loss of fracture properties. It is known that PA6.6 undergoes plasticization in the presence of water, but hydrolysis also occurs. This hydrolysis leads to a sharp decline in fracture properties in resin. The aim of this study is thus to understand the behavior of two PA6.6-based composites, one containing short glass fibers and the other both glass fibers and a rubber. The results showed the transition from ductile to brittle behavior as a function of hydrolysis time in resin. For composites, the drop in elongation breaking with the macromolecular chain length was linear for all ageing conditions considered here without marked transition. The results presented here can be used for lifetime prediction of PA6.6-based composites in a humid environment.

Proportion of cancers attributable to major lifestyle and environmental risk factors in the Eastern Mediterranean region

Introduction Many countries in the Eastern Mediterranean region (EMR) are undergoing marked demographic and socioeconomic transitions. Cancer increasingly becomes a major contributing cause of morbidity and mortality. Primary prevention through lifestyle and environmental changes offers a large potential for reducing this burden. The aim of the study was to estimate the cancer burden attributable to major lifestyle and environmental risk factors. Methods We used age-, sex-, and cancer-specific incidence data from GLOBOCAN 2012. Risk factors being considered were smoking, alcohol, high body mass index (BMI), insufficient physical activity, diet (salt, red meat, processed meat, fruit, and vegetables consumption), suboptimal breastfeeding, infections, and air pollution. Prevalence of these risk factors came from different sources including international literature, World Health Organisation, NCD-RisC, or the Food and Agriculture Organization. Based on the prevalence of the selected risk factors and the relative risks obtained from meta-analyses, we estimated sex-specific population-attributable fractions (PAF) in the 22 countries of the Eastern Mediterranean region. Results We estimated that about 43% (or 210,000 cases) of all new cancer cases in adults aged 30 years and older in 2012 were attributable to the selected eight potentially modifiable risk factors. In terms of risk factors, the highest PAF was estimated for infections (15.3%), followed by smoking 14.9% among men. In women, the highest PAF was estimated for insufficient physical activity (23.1%), followed by infections (12.2%). The EMR is culturally and economically heterogeneous region and the estimated PAF therefore varied greatly by country. The overall PAF ranged from 26.6% in Djibouti to 53.0% in Tunisia among men and from 38.3% in United Arab Emirates to 51.0% in Lebanon among women. In terms of risk factors, the highest PAFs for some risk factors were observed in Tunisia (36.0%) for smoking, in Egypt (5.8%) for high BMI, in Qatar (9.3%) for insufficient physical activity, in Afghanistan (24.8%) for diet, in Egypt (29.3%) for infections, and in Bahrain (3.4%) for PM2.5 among men. Among women, the highest PAFs were estimated in Lebanon (5.2%) for smoking, in Kuwait (9.9%) for high BMI, in Kuwait (34.4%) for insufficient physical activity, in Afghanistan (12.1%) for diet, in Lebanon (4.1%) for suboptimal breastfeeding, in Somalia (27.6%) for infections, and in Bahrain (1.1%) for PM2.5. Conclusions Reduction in exposure to major lifestyle and environmental risk factors may potentially prevent a substantial number of cancer cases. Although the contribution of the risk factors varied greatly between countries, strategies tackling smoking, programmes promoting healthy diet and physical activity, and policies controlling infections in the population would largely reduce the cancer burden in the EMR.

Succession of embryonic and the intestinal bacterial communities of Atlantic salmon (Salmo salar) reveals stage-specific microbial signatures.

Host‐associated microbiota undergoes a continuous transition, from the birth to adulthood of the host. These developmental stage‐related transitions could lead to specific microbial signatures that could impact the host biological processes. In this study, the succession of early‐life and intestinal bacterial communities of Atlantic salmon (starting from embryonic stages to 80‐week post hatch; wph) was studied using amplicon sequencing of 16S rRNA. Stage‐specific bacterial community compositions and the progressive transitions of the communities were evident in both the early life and the intestine. The embryonic communities showed lower richness and diversity (Shannon and PD whole tree) compared to the hatchlings. A marked transition of the intestinal communities also occurred during the development; Proteobacteria were dominant in the early stages (both embryonic and intestinal), though the abundant genera under this phylum were stage‐specific. Firmicutes were the most abundant group in the intestine of late freshwater; Weissella being the dominant genus at 20 wph and Anaerofilum at 62 wph. Proteobacteria regained its dominance after the fish entered seawater. Furthermore, LEfSe analysis identified genera under the above ‐ mentioned phyla that are significant features of specific stages. The environmental (water) bacterial community was significantly different from that of the fish, indicating that the host is a determinant of microbial assemblage. Overall the study demonstrated the community dynamics during the development of Atlantic salmon.

Biaxial extensional viscosity in wheat flour dough during baking

Lubricated squeezing flow (LSF) experiments on wheat flour dough were conducted at a constant biaxial extensional rate followed by relaxation experiments. The effect of temperature on the rheology of the dough was studied in the range 25–95 °C under small and large strain to characterize changes in the dough through a possible pathway to simulate the dough-crumb transition during the first step of the baking process. A strain hardening effect was shown over the whole temperature range. Like extensional viscosity measured at 0.1 and 0.65 biaxial strain, the consistency index (K) decreased from 25 °C to 45 °C and increased at temperatures above 50 °C. Two levels of the behaviour index (n) were found: 0.35–0.40 below 45 °C, and 0.1–0.2 above 45 °C. The relaxation degree also changed dramatically but only at higher temperatures (56–60 °C), below which it remained almost constant (98-99%), once the dough became a viscoelastic liquid, above this temperature the main physical-chemical reactions (starch and protein) started to occur, leading to more solid properties. These results complement those of LSF. LSF experiments at large biaxial strain (0.75), combined with a relaxation experiment, were successfully used for dough/crumb characterisation at a temperatures ranging from 25 °C to 74 °C. Alpha values estimated from Launay's model were incorporated in the flow behaviour index, underwent the same type of changes as a function of temperature as n but with a less marked transition; n was divided by two and K increased by about one decade.

Discourse of Nature in Gregory Skovoroda’s Teaching

Gregory Savich Skovoroda (1724-1794) belongs both to the Russian and Ukrainian philosophy. His philosophical doctrine was only revivified at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries, which was caused by the affinity of the philosophical searches of the Silver Age (beginning of the 1890s-1922) with the religious and philosophical doctrine by Gregory Skovoroda. In the history of philosophy, Gregory Skovoroda can be considered «boundary figure» marking transition from the Middle Ages to the culture of the Modernity. The article deals with the thinker’s ethical doctrine, particularly, with two interpretations of nature: essential and voluntary. Moralizing was the main aim and content of the most works by Gregory Skovoroda. Practical philosophy by Gregory Skovoroda immediately sides with his understanding of nature. Volition, wish (desire), affinity, true man are its basic categories. The main aim of Skovoroda’s moralizing is to show the way to the happy life. The essential topic of the Skovoroda’s creative work are concentrated in his ethics: ontology, or doctrine of three worlds (microcosm, macrocosm, symbolic world – the Bible), exegetical method of cognition and symbolism, doctrine of nature and category of affinity, the principle of self-cognition and doctrine of the «true man», doctrine of heart and anthropology, eudemonism and problem of reality of the evil and the good in the world. According to the canons of the symbolism Skovoroda criticizes material, corporeal side of the world and gives preference to its spiritual meaning. Nevertheless, Skovoroda remains a religious thinker in his practical philosophy; he meditates per religious canons. For the 18th century Gregory Skovoroda’s doctrine had been as archaic as it became relevant at the turn of the 19th-20th centuries.

A rhinocerotid-dominated megafauna at the MIS6-5 transition: The late Middle Pleistocene Coc Muoi assemblage, Lang Son province, Vietnam

Little is known about the ecosystems in the north of the Indochinese peninsula at the Middle-Late Pleistocene transition. In this paper, we analyzed the new fauna from Coc Muoi cave, Lang Son province, northeast Vietnam. In comparison with other well-documented faunas from the region, that of Coc Muoi is distinguished by the predominance of rhinoceroses among diverse large-bodied herbivores. The results of the OSL and pIR-IRSL dating of the cave sediments and U-series dating of flowstones indicate a potential age range of 148-117 ka for the fauna (MIS6-5). The analysis of age-at-death distributions of rhinoceroses, wild cattle, sambar deer, and wild pig, does not show any apparent selectivity of age classes. We also focused our study on rhinoceroses, tapirs, and wild cattle by analyzing the prevalence of hypoplastic defects on deciduous and permanent teeth, in an attempt to assess the health status of the taxa during their first years of growth. The health status of large-bodied herbivores (kouprey and rhinoceros) reveals the importance of stressors (biotic and abiotic) in the rainforest environment during a period of marked climatic transition (MIS6-5) in comparison with other MIS5-4 well-documented faunas from the region.

100 Years of Progress in Hydrology

AbstractThe focus of this chapter is progress in hydrology for the last 100 years. During this period, we have seen a marked transition from practical engineering hydrology to fundamental developme...

Evolution of 2016 drought in the Southeastern United States from a Land surface modeling perspective

Abstract The Southeastern United States (SEUS) climate region experienced a marked transition from excessively wet conditions early in 2016 to an exceptional drought during the Autumn. The unusually warm and dry conditions led to numerous wildfires, including the devastating Gatlinburg, Tennessee (TN) firestorm on 28–29 November. The evolution of soil wetness anomalies are highlighted through soil moisture percentiles derived from an instance of NASA’s Land Information System (LIS). A 33-year soil moisture climatology simulation combined with daily, real-time county-based distributions illustrate how soil moisture began above the 96th percentile early in 2016, and declined to below the 2nd percentile in many locales by late November.

Network Properties in Transitions of Consciousness during Propofol-induced Sedation

Reliable electroencephalography (EEG) signatures of transitions between consciousness and unconsciousness under anaesthesia have not yet been identified. Herein we examined network changes using graph theoretical analysis of high-density EEG during patient-titrated propofol-induced sedation. Responsiveness was used as a surrogate for consciousness. We divided the data into five states: baseline, transition into unresponsiveness, unresponsiveness, transition into responsiveness, and recovery. Power spectral analysis showed that delta power increased from responsiveness to unresponsiveness. In unresponsiveness, delta waves propagated from frontal to parietal regions as a traveling wave. Local increases in delta connectivity were evident in parietal but not frontal regions. Graph theory analysis showed that increased local efficiency could differentiate the levels of responsiveness. Interestingly, during transitions of responsive states, increased beta connectivity was noted relative to consciousness and unconsciousness, again with increased local efficiency. Abrupt network changes are evident in the transitions in responsiveness, with increased beta band power/connectivity marking transitions between responsive states, while the delta power/connectivity changes were consistent with the fading of consciousness using its surrogate responsiveness. These results provide novel insights into the neural correlates of these behavioural transitions and EEG signatures for monitoring the levels of consciousness under sedation.