Slow Changes Research Articles

Comparative transcriptome analysis of two varieties of common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) to identify candidate drought resistance genes

In this work, we studied the physiological, biochemical and molecular mechanisms underlying the response to polyethylene glycol (PEG) in a drought-resistant variety ‘HZYTJ’ and the sensitive variety ‘WZWJD’ of common beans. The two bean varieties were subjected to a 10% PEG simulated drought stress treatment, and the resultant physiological and biochemical characteristics of the leaves and roots were compared. The superoxide dismutase (SOD), peroxidase (POD), catalase (CAT) and other indicators were higher in ‘HZYTJ’ than in ‘WZWJD’; additionally, the ‘HZYTJ’ exhibited slower changes in response to stress. The proline content in ‘HZYTJ’ changed slowly compared to that in ‘WZWJD’. The transcriptome analysis of the two varieties showed that 1,361 and 1,447 genes were differentially expressed in ‘HZYTJ’ and ‘WZWJD’, respectively. DEGs were also analyzed via the KEGG pathway database, and 10 significant metabolic pathways were found to be involved in ‘HZYTJ’, while nine were found in ‘WZWJD’. Using the GO function database, we found that 111 significant GO terms were involved in ‘HZYTJ’, whereas 125 were involved in ‘WZWJD’. Through analysis of transcription factors, 487 DEGs were identified, of which bHLH transcription factors were the most abundant, followed by ERF, MYB-related, B3 and other transcription factor families. The selected and screened genes with DEGs were validated by qRT–PCR. These results provide a basis for further research into the drought resistance of the common bean.

Effect of change rates and directions of air temperature ramps on thermal responses of occupants under warm summer conditions

Understanding thermal comfort in dynamic environments is vital for developing various air temperature control strategies that consider energy flexibility. However, studies on the quantitative effects of air-temperature change rates and directions on human thermal responses in thermal environments with temperature ramps (TRs) are limited. In this study, 22 sex-balanced young adults were recruited to investigate the thermal perceptions and physiological responses to room air TRs at rates of 0.10–0.30 °C/min in a climate chamber. The results revealed that the air temperature change direction had no effect on the mean skin temperature (Tskin) but significantly affected the thermal sensation vote (TSV), that is, the TSV was approximately 0.5 scales lower when the temperature was decreasing than when it was increasing (P < 0.05). Moreover, the slow change rates of Tskin within the range of ±0.07 °C/min had no significant effect on dynamic TSV, unlike that in step-change environments with higher change rates. The head was the most thermally sensitive body part with the highest TSV/Tskin values and change rates of Tskin (up to ±0.08 °C/min) in warm TR environments. In most cases, the thermal response of limbs was delayed. The thermal experience and adaptation levels of occupants may play essential roles in thermal perceptions within TR environments. Preliminary thermal comfort models suitable for hot summer climates were proposed in this study, which could be used in TR control strategies, such as intermittent cooling or demand response control.

წარმატებული სტრატეგიის თანამედროვე გამოწვევები

A successful strategy is a well-defined long-term strategy, which leads the company to achieve its desired goals and along with it, predicting the expected slow changes in the environment and the opportunities created there. It also gives a chance to find a cost advantage. However, developing and implementing such a strategy in today's rapidly changing environment is associated with many challenges. Among them, one of the most important is the right choice of operational strategy and the compatibility of this strategy with the company's mission. However, if the mission is to tell the public about the company, what makes it similar to its competitors, the main challenge of the operations strategy is to distinguish the given company from competitors with the same mission. All operations, regardless of how correctly they are planned and controlled, always contain a certain potential for development, which does not require a radical change in the budget. It is the realization of such, seemingly insignificant, but numerous opportunities, in the final analysis, ensures the continuous development of the company's operational processes and systems, manufactured products and rendered services. Two important things happen at this time. The first is that all directions of the operational strategy, be it customer relationship management, measures to increase the company's productivity, or the design of innovations, are interrelated and, one might say, interdependent processes; Second, and more importantly, a key management challenge has shifted the planning of operational processes from a position of control to development. Unfortunately, in most national companies, there is no clear development strategy, let alone an operational strategy. And where a strategic development plan seems to exist, very little attention is paid to the challenges of the company's core operating function and to operational development in general. In order to find out what attention should be paid to operational development, we more than 100 managers of small and medium businesses were interviewed in Kutaisi and its surroundings. Analyzing the obtained results gave us the following picture: 36% of respondents have not even heard of a strategic development plan and, naturally, have no idea what operational strategy and operational development should mean; and of those who confirm that they are well aware of the importance of a strategic development plan, almost half (46% to be more precise) have not heard of such a need for the operational strategy of the main creator of such a plan. That is, in fact, 67% of the respondents have no idea even about the essence of operational strategy. It is even more problematic that 18% of the total number of respondents perceived "operative development" as a medical term. The Japanese call continuous development "Kaizen". It can be safely said that today "Kaizen" also represents a culture of successful company development. Although it refers to development in personal life, family and public activities, but when it comes to the company, "Kaizen" means continuous development with managers and hired staff. Shifting the emphasis to situational strategy indicates that not infrequently changes are so sudden that they overwhelm you, and focusing only on a pre-planned strategy does not guarantee success. Today, in fact, two main challenges of strategy formation face each other: focusing on anticipated changes and focusing on changes revealed over time. In our opinion, if today the strategy focused on expected changes, that is, pre-planned, still works well, tomorrow it can be said for sure that the balance will be tilted in favor of focusing on the changes revealed in the process of strategy implementation.

From pigs to incineration and beyond: The evolution of organic waste and food management in Sweden in the period 1800 – 2000 and future prospects

Societies have always been occupied with securing food supply and ensure environmental and human health. Scientific knowledge and technical level have, together with habitat and management patterns, shaped sanitation arrangements and recycling of resources. Because it is the same urban problems that are addressed by societies in different historical contexts, a longitudinal study may allow for novel ways to conjure food security and sanitation management issues in the present century.We trace the historical transition over two centuries away from a circular economy to a more linear one in two Swedish cities, the capital Stockholm and the industrial city Norrköping, and show that big but rather slow changes occurred more or less constantly in these two urban settings. The driving forces have changed from only improving local conditions of sanitation and food production over to global and regional driving forces in this century affecting what local communities can or could do. The ongoing globalization positions the subjects of environmental and human health, recycling and food security in a new global perspective, where climate change and global resource boundaries will play a central role. We cannot continue to rely on trade that causes rainforest destruction elsewhere or harmful chemical consumer products that lead to loss of biodiversity and human health risks.We need to put urban sanitation and food issues into this wider perspective with available remedial measures such as dietary changes, food waste reduction, soil less food production and building of new circular infrastructure. All urban areas in the world, including Stockholm and Norrköping in Sweden, need to adopt new strategies that again engage residents as well as public sectors and industry, including agriculture.

Messing up to clean up: Semi-randomized frequency selective space-filling curves to suppress physiological signal fluctuations in MRI.

Rapid 3D steady-state sequences are widely used but are also known to be sensitive to semi-periodic physiological signal fluctuations due to, for example, cardiac pulsation, breathing, and eye/eyelids movement. This semi-periodicity results in repeating artifacts in the image whose intensity depends on the scan parameters. The purpose of this study is to design a reordering of the 2D phase encodes (within the 3D acquisition) that reduces these artifacts. A randomized order of the phase encodes can suppress repeating artifact but may also introduce its own apparent noise, for example, in cases of slow subject movement or gradual changes in eddy currents. In a new design a semi-randomized space-filling curve is generated by scrambling the local order of the phase encodes to achieve a controlled frequency selective effect, that is, eliminating artifacts above a chosen (fluctuation) frequency threshold while leaving lower frequencies untouched, thus overcoming the limitations of a randomized order. The method was characterized in simulations and substantiated by human brain imaging at 7 T using two steady-state gradient echo variants that suffer from pulsation, either near blood vessels or near the ventricles. The simulations with a point source show that the maximum artifact intensity can be reduced by factors of 10-50 depending on the scan parameters. In human scanning, the new approach drastically reduced physiologically induced artifacts and was superior in this regard to both full randomization and a generalized Hilbert curve, another semi-randomized approach. The phase-encodes reordering presented here effectively removes artifacts arising from local fluctuations.

Arctic climate warming: discrepancies between global climate&#x0D; models and observations and possible causes

Global climate models are used to predict anthropogenic climate change and to plan social and economic activities under changing climatic conditions. At the same time, there are discrepancies between model projections and observed climate changes, especially in low latitudes and polar regions. One reason for the discrepancy may be insufficient attention to natural forcings on the climate system. Therefore, studies of the role of natural factors in the development of modern warming are relevant for&#x0D; improving the reliability of forecasts for the development of the climatic situation on Earth. Particular attention is paid to the impact of climate change in low latitudes on the Arctic. A significant contribution to these changes can be made by a long-term increase in low-latitude insolation. Most of the low latitudes&#x0D; are occupied by the ocean, which absorbs the bulk of the incoming solar radiation. The contribution of the increase in insolation to the increase in ocean surface temperature at low latitudes is estimated from the available data on insolation of the upper boundary of the atmosphere. The changes in SST at low latitudes are compared according to reanalysis data and calculations of global climate models. Comparison of climate changes in low latitudes and in the Arctic is made. The influence from low latitudes on the reduction in the area of sea ice and the increase in water temperature in the Arctic basin is estimated. Changes in the characteristics of the atmosphere and ocean at low latitudes, associated with an increase in insolation, after&#x0D; 3 years are manifested in changes in the characteristics of the climate and sea ice in the Arctic. This indicates the potential for improved global modeling of warming in the Arctic and at low latitudes when taking into account slow changes in radiative forcing at the upper boundary of the atmosphere due to the Earth’s orbital dynamics. Insolation trends at low latitudes are maximum in spring, i.e., in the vicinity of the vernal equinox in the Earth’s orbit. This indicates the influence of precession — a slow shift of the equinox point, when the influx of solar radiation to low latitudes is maximum, to the perihelion, where it will be 3 W/m2more.

Evaluation of remotely sensed imagery to monitor temporal changes in soil organic carbon at a long-term grazed pasture trial

Temporal variation of soil organic carbon (SOC) is driven by land use/management practice, ecosystem conditions and climatic variation. Robust quantification of changes in SOC that is cost-effective and provides a statistical assessment of uncertainty is challenging, particularly in the face of large spatial variability and slow soil SOC changes. Remote-sensing indicators of above-ground vegetation provide some indication of the amount of fresh organic material being supplied to the soil. Although, because of the time taken for this organic material to decay and become incorporated into the soil, there will be a lag between the changes in the indicator of vegetation growth and the resulting changes in SOC. In this work, we investigate how a remotely sensed indicator of vegetation cover can be used with a lag period to predict or indicate changes in SOC for grazed pasture sites at a long-term monitoring study, which has been monitoring soil under different land uses for over forty years. We assessed how well this worked for indicating the SOC changes for different depths in the soil profile. Results suggested that a lagged remotely sensed vegetation cover—the average cover of the two preceding years—provides some indication of SOC changes for the 0–10 cm soil depth, but changes for deeper soil depths were not well predicted. Further, we investigated the potential of using soil data from a point-in-time spatial dataset (e.g. data from a baseline sampling round) to calibrate a relationship between the remotely sensed cover and SOC, which can then be applied to predict or indicate the temporal variation of SOC. Results showed this approach gave large prediction errors, likely because the temporal variation (at a fixed point in space) and spatial variation (for a fixed point in time) of SOC that is predictable by cover differences are not interchangeable.

The Intertwined Renewable Energy–Water–Environment (REWE) Nexus Challenges and Opportunities: A Case Study of California

In our built environment, societal production of energy and clean water is inextricably linked to the natural resources from which they are derived. Acknowledgement and consideration of the coupling of energy, water, and the environment (the energy–water–environment nexus) will be critical to a sustainable future. This is particularly true as we transition away from historical energy sources (e.g., coal, petroleum, natural gas) and into the widespread adaptation of renewable energy (RE) sources (e.g., solar, wind, geothermal, hydro, bioenergy) as a strategy to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and consequently slow global climate change. This transition is fraught with both challenges and opportunities at the county, state, national, and international levels, as addressing future societal needs with respect to energy and water, and the environment requires recognition of their interdependence and development of new technologies and societal practices. In this study, the focus is on the RE–water–environment (REWE) nexus. In California, the REWE nexus is becoming increasingly important in achieving 100% clean electricity from eligible RE and zero-carbon resources by 2045 and in the face of climate change and population and economic growth. In this context, California’s RE deployment and renewable electrical generation, its RE legislative information, REWE nexus, and intertwined REWE nexus challenges and opportunities in California (e.g., administrative–legal, technology development, digitalization, and end-of-life RE waste) are comprehensively discussed to identify the knowledge gaps in this nexus and solutions.

“Notes on the Index”

Contemporary art is increasingly reverting to notions of the index to image the slow changes and catastrophic destructions caused by climate breakdown. Looking at Gideon Mendel’s photo series Watermarks (since 2011), Tomonari Nishikawa’s short film sound of a million insects, light of a thousand stars (2014), and Santiago Sierra’s installation 52 Canvases Exposed to Mexico City’s Air (2019), the essay analyzes three positions that employ analog techniques of direct exposure to the elements and to toxicity. They use the index to create artworks that function as collaborative testimonies of human and non-human witnessing work, prompting a re-reading of Rosalind Krauss’ two-part essay “Notes on the Index” (1977) for the present. Central to such a re-reading is the form the testimonies take on. I describe them as indexical abstractions, seeing in them images that are materially connected to the world yet expressing that involvement in non-mimetic ways. The works cite the idiom of abstract art not only to show that modernism has put the planet into distress but to also find a pictorial code operating beyond the confines of linear perspective. By doing so, they give expression to what Timothy Morton has called the hyperobject of climate change, creating pictures that combine image and imagination, thereby asking viewers to approach them – and the world they index – with care.

Social Inequalities of Climate Change With a Regional and Global Approach

Climate change is a slow and long-term change that is different from other types of crises, and its effects will eventually cause the paralysis of society and the world economy. Considering the last climate change summit in Glasgow and the previous summit, according to the authors of this text, preventing and dealing with climate change in the present era will not be possible except with the cooperation of all countries. In this regard, considering the discussion of social inequalities of climate change, we attend a series of ideas and suggestions that are further discussed.

DINAMIKA PERKEMBANGAN HUKUM DALAM KEHIDUPAN BERMASYARAKAT

Community development (change) is usually identified with development. Generally people think that development is a neutral noun which means a word used to describe processes and efforts to improve economic, political, cultural life, community infrastructure, and so on. With such an understanding, development is equated with the word "social change". The law that develops in society is not a static law but a dynamic law. In fact, the legal system is not merely a set of static rules, but a reflection that is always changing from developments, especially the relationship between the diversity of social characteristics that live in society, both traditional and modern societies, both rapid changes and slow changes. In line with the notion that law is a reflection of the diversity of social characteristics, then there is no law that does not experience change and change is always a product of conflict.

Legal principles of ensuring social security in the conditions of digitalization of Ukraine

The transformation of society is due to the development of the information society and the gradual transition to the knowledge society, the impact of digitization on all spheres of life of society and citizens. Recently, the issue of the transformation of social security in the context of the development of digitalization of all spheres of the life of the state and society has been brought up to date. The purpose of the article is to analyze the legal framework for ensuring social security in the context of digitalization in Ukraine with a view to developing the ways to improve the policy in this area. The methodology of the article is based on a complex, interdisciplinary approach, the principle of historicism for conducting a legal analysis of normative legal acts in the field of social security of Ukraine for 1990-2022 in the conditions of digitalization. The results demonstrate the dynamism of technology development and digitalization of society with slow legislative changes in the field of social security. Since the beginning of 2007, legislative provisions in the researched field and conceptual principles of digitalization of the socio-economic system have been implemented in Ukraine. Complex digitization is aimed at comprehensive and deep transformation of existing analogues of economic and social systems and spheres into new value and quality to ensure social security of the state, society and citizen. Therefore, the authors note the importance of introducing key legislative acts regarding the effective implementation of digital technologies in the further development of social security in accordance with the strategic goals of the state and modern technological trends.

Ionospheric electric potential as an alternative indicator of solar effect on the lower atmosphere

We have explored the possibility of applying the ionospheric electric potential (EP) as a parameter describing the effects of solar activity on the troposphere. We calculated EP, using the semi-empirical model, where the potential spatial distribution is determined by solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field parameters, and the geomagnetic activity index AL. We have carried out a comparative analysis of EP and the commonly used geomagnetic activity indices in a high-latitude region for 1975–2019. It has been shown that EP can be used as an indicator of solar activity since it describes both short-period disturbances and long-term variations. The revealed similar trends in long-term EP variations and near-surface temperature suggest that the changes in climate system parameters are induced by slower changes in the Sun’s large-scale magnetic field. The performed analysis of EP and near-surface temperature correlation maps has revealed that the atmospheric static stability conditions have an effect on spatial distribution of tropospheric response to solar impact.

Электрический потенциал ионосферы — альтернативный индикатор солнечного воздействия на нижнюю атмосферу

We have explored the possibility of applying the ionospheric electric potential (EP) as a parameter describing the effects of solar activity on the troposphere. We calculated EP, using the semi-empirical model, where the potential spatial distribution is determined by solar wind, interplanetary magnetic field parameters, and the geomagnetic activity index AL. We have carried out a comparative analysis of EP and the commonly used geomagnetic activity indices in a high-latitude region for 1975–2019. It has been shown that EP can be used as an indicator of solar activity since it describes both short-period disturbances and long-term variations. The revealed similar trends in long-term EP variations and near-surface temperature suggest that the changes in climate system parameters are induced by slower changes in the Sun’s large-scale magnetic field. The performed analysis of EP and near-surface temperature correlation maps has revealed that the atmospheric static stability conditions have an effect on spatial distribution of tropospheric response to solar impact.

The Important but Mysterious Antarctic Krill

Antarctic krill are very important animals. They are well-known as the food of ocean giants such as blue whales, but they also feed many other animals and help to slow climate change by keeping millions of tons of carbon out of the air. Antarctic krill grow no longer than a human thumb, but together they weigh more than any other wild animal species. Although Antarctic krill live only in the cold waters of the Southern Ocean, they can live anywhere from sunlit surface waters to the darkest depths, from near the coast and under sea ice to ice-free waters far from land. In this article, we explore how their huge population and ability to live in diverse conditions make Antarctic krill important for other animals, people, and the world. We also introduce some key mysteries, such as what will happen to these animals as the climate continues to change.

Rumänistik in Berlin: die Geschichte einer philologischen Kleindisziplin

"This study is a short history of the Academic teaching of Romanian language and literature in Berlin since the foundation of the Romance Languages Studies. Romanian appears for the first time as an academic curricula at the beginning of the 20th century at the Friedrich-Wilhelms-University which after WW II was called Humboldt-University and remained in the eastern sphere after the division of the city of Berlin in east and west. In 1949 the Freie University of Berlin will be established in the western part of the city with support of the US-Government. From this moment on, we have two academic institutes for Romance languages in Berlin offering Romanian Studies, one in the Eastern and one in the Western part of the city. This paper highlights the personalities and their activities in the development of the curricula of these studies in the historical context from the social and political standpoint. We give an outline of how the Romanian teaching developed after the Fall of Berlin Wall and at what point we are now today. Hariton Tiktin was the first scholar to found the department of Romanian language at the Berlin University. Despite his valuable contribution through his comprehensive dictionary, his academic personality has gone forgotten. Tiktin was followed in the 1930s by Ernst Gamillscheg, an Austrian with strong sympathies for the upcoming national-socialist and fascist politics. Retrospectively his academic role in the two decades has been subject to controversy. The second half of this period is also marked by the Romanian linguist Sextil Pușcariu, that was active in Berlin as an academic scholar, being a guest lecturer at the University and as a founder of the Romanian Cultural Institute. The Ending of the War was characterized by a denazification of the academic world, and shows that the measures have never been consistent. The case Bucur is just a tragic academic anecdote. The Afterwar finds the Cold War represented by two competing Universities, and each of them had a Romanian department. On one hand in the western Free University Romanian was focused on Eastern European Studies and in the context of the Romance Philology as well, on the other hand in the Humboldt University the emphasis was on Language Studies and Translation. With the Fall of the Berlin Wall there is a slow change in the curricula reducing Romanian Studies in both Universities to the point that Romanian has been given up in the Free University. The Romanian Studies are still vivid at the Humboldt University but not as independent subject. It is part of different Bachelor and Master-Studies and is open to a wide variety of study subjects and also to all German students from other Universities of the region. At the End of the Essay there is a short analysis of the students interested in the subject, which leads to some conclusions about the future development of the Studies."

Wisdom of the Established Pattern

Wisdom of the Established Pattern

Molecular and Phenotypic Changes in FLExDUX4 Mice.

Facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD) is caused by the aberrant expression of the double homeobox 4 (DUX4) gene. The FLExDUX4 mouse model carries an inverted human DUX4 transgene which has leaky DUX4 transgene expression at a very low level. No overt muscle pathology was reported before 16 weeks. The purpose of this study is to track and characterize the FLExDUX4 phenotypes for a longer period, up to one year old. In addition, transcriptomic changes in the muscles of 2-month-old mice were investigated using RNA-seq. The results showed that male FLExDUX4 mice developed more severe phenotypes and at a younger age in comparison to the female mice. These include lower body and muscle weight, and muscle weakness measured by grip strength measurements. Muscle pathological changes were observed at older ages, including fibrosis, decreased size of type IIa and IIx myofibers, and the development of aggregates containing TDP-43 in type IIb myofibers. Muscle transcriptomic data identified early molecular changes in biological pathways regulating circadian rhythm and adipogenesis. The study suggests a slow progressive change in molecular and muscle phenotypes in response to the low level of DUX4 expression in the FLExDUX4 mice.

Mid-Infrared Sheep Segmentation in Highland Pastures Using Multi-Level Region Fusion OTSU Algorithm

In highland pastures, grazing is a common method for managing sheep due to the abundance of grassland resources. However, it is easy for sheep to encounter situations such as stray, deviation and attacks from natural enemies; therefore, the remote monitoring of sheep in the highland pastures is an urgent problem to be solved. This paper proposes a mid-infrared sheep segmentation method based on the multi-level region fusion maximum between-class variance algorithm, i.e., OTSU algorithm, for sheep surveillance. First, a mean adjustment OTSU algorithm is designed to better distinguish the interference areas in the background. Second, the Butterworth high-pass filter is combined with the mean adjustment OTSU segmentation algorithm to remove the high-brightness interference areas in the background with slow gray intensity changes. Finally, after filtering out the large area background and small stray point, the two processed results above are fused with the AND logical operation to obtain a final segmentation result. Our algorithm is evaluated using three objective evaluation indicators: the root mean square error (RMSE), structural similarity index metric (SSIM), and peak signal to noise ratio (PSNR). The RMSE, SSIM, PSNR of highland wetland image are 0.43187, 0.99526, and 29.16353. The RMSE, SSIM, PSNR of sandy land image are 0.87472, 0.98388, and 23.87430. The RMSE, SSIM, PSNR of grassland image are 0.65307, 0.99437, and 30.33159. The results show that our algorithm can meet the requirements for the mid-infrared sheep segmentation in highland pastures.

‘Picturing’ instruction: an exploration of higher education students’ knowledge of instruction

ABSTRACT Especially in higher education – but true for any setting – what students do within a learning environment determines their learning outcomes. Given that they regulate their own learning, students do not always act in accordance with the instructions and intentions of the designed learning environment, which in turn has implications for their learning and achievement. To better understand this phenomenon, a variety of research examined factors that are presumed to influence students’ learning behavior within learning environments. This paper aims to broaden this research by pointing attention to students’ knowledge of micro-level education as a type of domain-independent prior knowledge. This so-called ‘instructional knowledge’ of students is also presumed to have important implications for learning in educational settings. An attempt was made to map this construct by thematically analyzing 91 drawings depicting Flemish higher education students’ spontaneous and general knowledge of instruction. Findings confirm previous research by revealing that students’ instructional knowledge is (a) very similar, and (b) rather ‘classical’ in nature. In extension to previous findings, it was also revealed that in addition to classical and common elements, many drawings portray new (especially digital) and individual elements. This study contributes to understanding instructional knowledge as a complex and personal set of shared and unique experiences susceptible to slow structural change. Moreover, it provides opportunities for further research and – in time – the enhancement of instructional design models.