Types Of Disturbances Research Articles

Effect of Phase Shifting on Real-Time Detection and Classification of Power Quality Disturbances

Power quality improvement and Power quality disturbance (PQD) detection are two significant concerns that must be addressed to ensure an efficient power distribution within the utility grid. When the process to analyze PQD is migrated to real-time platforms, the possible occurrence of a phase mismatch can affect the algorithm’s accuracy; this paper evaluates phase shifting as an additional stage in signal acquisition for detecting and classifying eight types of single power quality disturbances. According to their mathematical models, a set of disturbances was generated using an arbitrary waveform generator BK Precision 4064. The acquisition, detection, and classification stages were embedded into a BeagleBone Black. The detection stage was performed using multiresolution analysis. The feature vectors of the acquired signals were obtained from the combination of Shannon entropy and log-energy entropy. For classification purposes, four types of classifiers were trained: multilayer perceptron, K-nearest neighbors, probabilistic neural network, and decision tree. The results show that incorporating a phase-shifting stage as a preprocessing stage significantly improves the classification accuracy in all cases.

Clinicopathological Evaluation of Thyroid Dysfunction in Women with Abnormal Uterine Bleeding

Introduction: Abnormal uterine bleeding describes any variation from normal bleeding patterns in nonpregnant, reproductive-aged women beyond menarche lasting for at least 6 months. Regular cyclic menstruation results the choreographed relationship between the endometrium and its regulating factors. Any type of disturbance between the regulatory mechanism of pituitary ovarian axis or pelvic diseases results in abnormal uterine bleeding. Thyroid hormones play a key role in the menstrual and reproductive function of women. It is recognized universally that menstrual disturbances may accompany clinical alterations in thyroid function. Objectives: To evaluate the thyroid dysfunction in patients with abnormal uterine bleeding. Materials and Methods: This cross sectional study was conducted in Department of obstetrics & gynaecology, Bangabandhu Sheikh Mujib Medical University (BSMMU), Shahbag, Dhaka from April 2023 to December 2023. Women with abnormal uterine bleeding were included in the study. Sample was selected by purposive sampling. Sample size was 100. Detail demographic data were collected from the informant and recorded in structured case report form. Clinical examination and relevant investigation were done meticulously. Data was collected by using a semi-structured questionnaire. Data was processed and analysed with the help of computer program SPSS and Microsoft excel. Quantitative data expressed as mean and standard deviation and qualitative data as frequency and percentage. Result was presented in the form of tables, pie chart, graphs, bar diagrams, histogram & charts etc. Results: In this study, the maximum numbers of cases (43.0%) were between 26-35 years age group. Mean age was 29.57 ± 8.27 years. Large numbers of respondents came from urban area (58%). On evaluation of types & causes of AUB, maximum patient belongs to AUB-L (leiomyoma) group (53%) followed by AUB-A (adenomyosis) (28%); AUB-P (polyp) (8%); AUB-O (ovulatory) (9%) and AUB-M (malignancy) (2%). Present study showed that prevalence of thyroid disorders is 26% in AUB patients. The prevalence of Hypothyroidism was 18% and Hyperthyroidism was 8%. Thyroid dysfunction is associated with menstrual abnormalities in females of all age groups. Conclusion: Abnormal uterine bleeding has a strong association with thyroid disorders. The most common type of disorder is subclinical hypothyroidism. Thus, all patient of AUB must be evaluated for thyroid dysfunction. Medicine Today 2023 Vol.36 (1): 1-6

The Optimal pressure reactivity index range is disease-specific: A comparison between aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage and traumatic brain injury

PurposeImpaired cerebral pressure autoregulation is common and detrimental after acute brain injuries. Based on the prevalence of delayed cerebral ischemia in aneurysmal subarachnoid hemorrhage (aSAH) patients compared to traumatic brain injury (TBI), we hypothesized that the type of autoregulatory disturbance and the optimal PRx range may differ between these two conditions. The aim of this study was to determine the optimal PRx ranges in relation to functional outcome following aSAH and TBI, respectively.MethodsIn this observational study, 487 aSAH patients and 413 TBI patients, treated in the neurointensive care, Uppsala, Sweden, between 2008 and 2018, were included. The percentage of good monitoring time (%GMT) of PRx was calculated within 8 intervals covering the range from -1.0 to + 1.0, and analyzed in relation to favorable outcome (GOS-E 5 to 8).ResultsIn multiple logistic regressions, a higher %GMTs of PRx in the intervals -1.0 to -0.5 and + 0.75 to + 1.0 were independently associated with a lower rate of favorable outcome in the aSAH cohort. In a similar analysis in the TBI cohort, only positive PRx in the interval + 0.75 to + 1.0 was independently associated with a lower rate of favorable outcome.ConclusionExtreme PRx values in both directions were unfavorable in aSAH, possibly as high PRx could indicate proximal vasospasm with exhausted distal vasodilatory reserve, while very negative PRx could reflect myogenic hyperreactivity with suppressed cerebral blood flow. Only elevated PRx was unfavorable in TBI, possibly as pressure passive vessels may be a more predominant pathomechanism in this disease.

Robust cooperative control strategy for a platoon of connected and autonomous vehicles against sensor errors and control errors simultaneously in a real-world driving environment

In a real-world driving environment, a platoon of connected and autonomous vehicles (CAVs) is subject to many internal and external disturbances, resulting in uncertain vehicle dynamics. In general, the disturbances can be categorized into two types: disturbances due to vehicle sensor errors (e.g., GPS error) and disturbances due to vehicle control errors (e.g., actuator delay). In the literature, many control strategies have been proposed to improve the robustness of the CAV platoon against uncertain vehicle dynamics induced by these disturbances. However, most of these strategies only consider one type of disturbance and cannot tackle both types of disturbances simultaneously. Furthermore, they are designed to maximize the benefits of each vehicle in the platoon independently, which can deteriorate the performance of the platoon. To address these problems, this study proposes a robust cooperative control (RCC) strategy to maneuver the vehicles in the platoon cooperatively to counteract the impacts of both types of disturbances. The RCC strategy is developed based on a minimax problem, where the maximization subproblem seeks to find the worst inputs for the uncertainty terms in the vehicle dynamics equation to minimize the platoon performance, while the minimization subproblem seeks to find the optimal control decisions for all subsequent vehicles to maximize the platoon performance in the worst case. To solve the minimax problem, this study proposes a globally convergent solution algorithm. It can solve the minimax problem very efficiently to enable real time deployment of the RCC strategy. Numerical application indicates that compared to the existing methods, the RCC strategy can dramatically improve the robustness of the CAV platoon against the uncertain vehicle dynamics induced by both vehicle state detection errors and vehicle control errors. Therefore, it can maneuver the CAV platoon safely and efficiently in a real-world driving environment.

A meta‐analysis of the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on tropical mammal functional diversity

Abstract Understanding the processes that shape biological communities under a variety of perturbations is a central challenge in ecology and conservation. Mammals contribute to critical functional processes of an ecosystem, such as seed dispersal to maintain forest carbon stocks. The analysis of functional diversity, which measures the range and value of the ecological traits of organisms, provides critical information to understanding the link between biodiversity and ecosystem functioning. A growing number of studies have investigated the effects of anthropogenic disturbances on mammalian functional diversity; however, their results are very heterogeneous. Here, we conduct a comprehensive meta‐analysis of the effects of such anthropogenic disturbances on mammalian functional diversity in the tropics. We highlight major trends and analyse the influence of the type of anthropogenic disturbance, subgroups, and the functional diversity index used/applied. Our results indicate a negative effect of anthropogenic disturbances on mammalian functional diversity, particularly on functional richness (FRic) and functional dispersion (FDis). Habitat isolation was the stressor with the strongest effect, while agriculture and urbanisation showed a positive link with functional diversity. These results indicate that anthropogenic disturbances not only affect taxonomic diversity, but also reduce the functional diversity of mammals, which is likely to affect ecosystem functioning and possibly ecosystem service provision.

Spatial and physical characteristics of bison wallows in the Flint Hills of Kansas

AbstractBison have long been considered a keystone species of North American prairies, increasing plant and animal diversity through a number of unique behaviors. One such behavior is wallowing, in which the repeated rolling of bison in the same spot leads to the formation of small, shallow, oval depressions called wallows. The objective of this study was to characterize spatial and physical attributes of bison wallows at the Konza Prairie Biological Station, a tallgrass prairie preserve in northeastern Kansas. We used aerial imagery from two different years (2011 and 2019) to assess the abundance and spatial distribution of these wallows in relation to fire frequency, elevation, and slope. We also recorded physical characteristics (2020) for a randomly selected subset of wallows and analyzed these data in relation to the same landscape features. Results from the analysis of the aerial images indicated that wallows were more abundant in areas characterized by combinations of more frequent burning, higher elevations, and little or no slope. In the 2020 physical measurements, we found that wallows were smaller in areas burned more often and shallower at higher elevations, particularly when located on grazing lawns. Terrestrial plants were found in approximately 72.1% of the wallows that were physically sampled, and their prevalence increased with increasing slope. We found some quantity of aquatic plants in approximately 7.1% of the sampled wallows. The probability of finding aquatic vegetation in wallows was higher on grazing lawns and in areas burned less frequently, particularly every 20 years. This study enhances the understanding of the distribution of wallows and their physical characteristics as a type of disturbance that could alter relationships within grassland communities.

Assessment of internal and external disturbances on the fuzzy-based thermal control of a sub-scaled building testbed

This experimental study follows on our previous work on the development of robust fuzzy-based thermal control strategies of a multi-room sub-scaled building testbed. In the present analysis, the focus is placed on testing the robustness of the fuzzy controller under internal and external disturbances, as it deals with maintaining specific setpoint values of room temperatures. The testbed has eight rooms, distributed on two floors, with a cooling unit that supplies cool air to each room, and eight 40 W light bulbs serving as heat sources. T-type thermocouples gather the temperature data, and eight dampers deliver the airflow. The controller uses information about the difference between setpoint and actual temperatures, their derivative, and their cumulative integral. The fuzzy sets and if-then rules are built based on experimental data, and a Mamdani inference method is used to provide the inputs to the actuators. Results from experimental tests show that the fuzzy control strategy can handle the different types of disturbances while maintaining the room setpoints.

An Extreme Auroral Electrojet Spike During 2023 April 24th Storm

AbstractAbrupt variations of auroral electrojets can induce geomagnetically induced currents, and the ability to model and forecast them is a pressing goal of space weather research. We report an auroral electrojet spike event that is extreme in magnitude, explosive in nature, and global in spatial extent that occurred on 24 April 2023. The event serves as a fundamental test of our understanding of the response of the geospace system to solar wind dynamics. Our results illustrate new and important characteristics that are drastically different from existing knowledge. Most important findings include (a) the event was only of ∼5‐min duration and was limited to a narrow (2°–3°) band of diffuse aurora; (b) the longitudinal span covered the entire nightside sector, possibly extending to the dayside; (c) the trigger seems to be a transient solar wind dynamic pressure pulse. In comparison, substorms usually last 1–2 hr and span almost the entire latitudinal width of the auroral oval. Magnetic perturbation events (MPEs) span hundreds km in radius. Both substorms and MPEs are mainly driven by disturbances in the magnetotail. A possible explanation is that the pressure pulse compresses the magnetosphere and enhances diffuse precipitation of electrons and protons from the inner plasma sheet, which elevates the ionospheric conductivity and intensifies the auroral electrojet. Therefore, the event exhibits a potentially new type of geomagnetic disturbance and highlights a solar wind driver that is enormously influential in driving extreme space weather events.

Role of topographical disturbances on hydroelastic response of a floating membrane over a slippery bottom

Some disruptions occur at the bottom of the sea due to underwater explosions and natural disasters (e.g. tsunamis, submarine earthquakes, landslides, rock and asteroid falls, drastic changes in weather conditions, etc.). The current paper aims to study how a transitory ground disturbance affects the membrane deflection in a viscous fluid over a porous slippery bottom at a finite water depth in the presence of a floating elastic membrane. Three types of ground disturbance are considered such as H 0 ( x ) = δ ( x ) , H 0 ( x ) = e ( − x 2 / 2 ) and H 0 ( x ) = e − | x | Kundu et al. [Waves generated on running stream due to a disturbance on sea bed. Int J Appl Comput Math. 2020;6(2):1–17.] and Maiti and Mandal [Waves generated by bottom disturbance in an ice-covered ocean. Int J Appl Mech Eng. 2007;12(2):477–486.]. The Stokes stream function and wave potential boundary value problems are used to formulate this problem. The membrane deflection is obtained as infinite integrals using the Fourier, and Laplace transforms. These integrals are then evaluated using the steepest descent method. The effects of the bottom slip parameter, the fluid's viscosity, and the floating membrane's tension and mass on the membrane deflection are analyzed. The study reveals that the amplitude of the membrane deflection decreases, and the oscillatory pattern of the deflection curve is changed by reducing the value of viscosity. Furthermore, the membrane's deflection amplitude decreases with an increase in the values of mass and tension of the floating membrane. Moreover, the slippery bottom plays a vital role in reducing the amplitude of the membrane deflection.

Large, sustained soil CO2 efflux but rapid recovery of CH4 oxidation in post-harvest and post-fire stands in a mixedwood boreal forest

The net effect of forest disturbances, such as fires and harvesting, on soil greenhouse gas fluxes is determined by their impacts on both biological and physical factors, as well as the temporal dynamics of these effects post-disturbance. Although harvesting and fire may have distinct effects on soil carbon (C) dynamics, the temporal patterns in soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes and the potential differences between types of disturbances, remain poorly characterized in boreal forests. In this study, we measured soil CO2 and CH4 fluxes using a off-axis integrated cavity output spectroscopy system in snow-free seasons over two years in post-harvest and post-fire chronosequence sites within a mixedwood boreal forest in northwestern Ontario, Canada. Soil CO2 efflux showed a post-disturbance peak, with differing dynamics depending on the disturbance type: post-harvest stands exhibited a nearly tenfold increase (from ∼1 to ∼11 μmol CO2.m-2.s−1) from 1 to 9–10 years post-disturbance, followed by a steep decline; post-fire stands showed a more gradual increase, peaking at ∼6–7.2 μmol CO2.m-2.s−1 after ∼12–15 years. The youngest post-harvest stands were net sources of CH4,whereas post-fire stands were never net CH4 sources. In both disturbance types, the strength of the CH4 sink increased with stand age, approaching ∼2.4 nmol.m-2.s−1 by 15 years post-disturbance. Volumetric water content, bulk density, litter depth, and pH were significant predictors of CO2 fluxes; for CH4 fluxes, litter depth, pH, and the interaction of VWC and soil temperature were significant predictors in both disturbance types, with EC also showing a relationship in post-harvest stands. Our findings indicate that while soil CH4 oxidation rapidly recovers following disturbance, both post-harvest and post-fire stands show a multi-decade release of soil CO2 that is too large to be offset by C gains over this period.

The influence of bottom disturbances on wave generation in a viscous liquid in the presence of uniform current

In the present paper, the effect of bottom disturbances on wave generation in a viscous liquid in the presence of uniform current is studied. The wave potential and Stokes stream function are used to formulate this problem. Multiple integrals representing the free surface elevation are obtained by mathematical analysis using the Laplace transform in time and the Fourier transform in space. This is divided into various multiple integrals, using the steepest descent method to evaluate them asymptotically for a large time and distance. There are three types of ground disturbances taken into consideration: D0(x)=e(−x2/2), D0(x)=e−|x|, and D0(x)=δ(x). The effect of uniform current speed (U) and viscosity (ν) on the free surface elevation is illustrated for the three forms of ground disturbances. It is observed that the presence of current often amplifies the energy of the propagating wave and also increases its amplitude. Moreover, as viscosity increases, the amplitude of free surface elevation decreases with respect to time, and further, the period of oscillation of surface elevation becomes smaller for a large time.

Species contributions to ecosystem stability change with disturbance type

Simultaneous exposure to multiple stressors complicates the challenge of predicting ecological responses to global environmental change. Here, we show that the contributions of individual species and functional groups to the overall stability of ecosystems can be modified by the presence of different stressors, both individually and in combination. By disturbing natural rocky shore communities with nutrients and sediments and simulating extinction of predatory whelks and grazers, we also found that consumers can simultaneously stabilise and destabilise communities along different stability dimensions, irrespective of their trophic position. Our results suggest that our experimental disturbances influenced consumer contributions to stability indirectly by modifying the interactions between consumers and macroalgae in different ways. These findings merit further exploration in different systems exposed to a range of different stressors to better understand how perturbations of different kinds can modify the multifaceted contributions of species to the overall stability of ecosystems.

Sleep Disturbance and Related Factors in the Patients with Relapsing-Remitting Multiple Sclerosis

Background. Sleep disturbances are commonly reported, although underestimated complaints from people with multiple sclerosis (MS). The aim of the study was to analyze the frequency and type of sleep disturbances in MS patients and to evaluate their relationships with demographics and clinical data. Methods. The study group consisted of 178 patients with relapsing-remitting MS: 130 females and 48 males. Clinical measures (disease duration, disability level in Expanded Disability Status Scale (EDSS), and treatment) were acquired from medical records. The questionnaire was applied, containing questions about sleep disturbances, somatic complaints, perception of fatigue, depression, anxiety, and problems at work and in social/family life. Athens Insomnia Scale (AIS) and Karolinska Sleepiness Scale (KSS) were performed to quantify sleep problems and Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HDRS) and Addenbrooke’s Cognitive Examination (Mini-ACE) to assess level of depression and cognitive performance. Electroencephalography was recorded to identify electrophysiological indices of sleep. Results. 109 patients (61%) reported sleep disturbances, most frequently insomnia, snoring, and parasomnias. This subgroup had significantly higher scores in AIS (p<0.0001) and KSS (p=0.010) and slightly higher EDSS score (p=0.048) and more often complained of fatigue (71% vs. 53%, p=0.0148), involuntary limb movement (42% vs. 25, p=0.0170), and breathing disturbances (10% vs. 0%). There was a significant correlation between the results of AIS and HDRS (Rs=0.715, p<0.05). Conclusion. Sleep disturbances, predominantly insomnia, are reported by more than a half of the patients with relapsing-remitting MS. Significant associations were found between sleep problems and MS-related clinical symptoms and psychosocial issues.

UAV‐derived greenness and within‐crown spatial patterning can detect ash dieback in individual trees

Abstract Ash Dieback (ADB) has been present in the UK since 2012 and is expected to kill up to 80% of UK ash trees. Detecting and quantifying the extent of ADB in individual tree crowns (ITCs), which is crucial to understanding resilience and resistance, currently relies on visual assessments which are impractical over large scales or at high frequency. The improved imaging capabilities and declining cost of consumer UAVs, together with new remote sensing methods such as structure from motion photogrammetry (SfM) offers potential to quantify the fine‐scale structural and spectral metrics of ITCs that are indicative of ADB, rapidly, and at low‐cost. We extract high‐resolution 3D RGB point clouds derived from SfM of canopy ash trees taken monthly throughout the growing season at Marden Park, Surrey, UK, a woodland impacted by ADB. We segment ITCs, extract green chromatic coordinate (gcc), and test the relationship with visual assessments of crown health. Next, we quantify spatial patterning of dieback within ITCs by testing the relationship between internal variation of gcc and path length, a measure of the distance from foliage to trunk, for small clusters of foliage. We find gcc correlates with visual assessments of crown health throughout the growing season, but the strongest relationships are in measurements taken after peak greenness, when the effects of ADB on foliage are likely to be most prevalent. We also find a negative relationship between gcc and path length in infected trees, indicating foliage loss is more severe at crown extremities. We demonstrate a new method for identifying ADB at scale using a consumer‐grade 3D RGB UAV system and suggest this approach could be adopted for widespread rapid monitoring. We recommend the optimum time of year for data acquisition, which we find to be an important factor for detecting ADB. Although here applied to ADB, this framework is applicable to a multitude of drivers of crown dieback, presenting a method for identifying spectral‐structural relationships which may be characteristic of disturbance type.

Principal component analysis on the effect of early morning awakening in major depressive disorder

Sleep disturbance is one of the most prevalent symptoms associated with Major Depressive Disorder (MDD). A recent article (Wu et al., 2022, Journal of Multiscale Neuroscience 1, 133-139) explored the significant relationship between early morning awakening (EMA), a type of sleep disturbance, and recovery in MDD patients. In the paper, the authors examined the relationship between EMA and the treatment of MDD with twelve neuropsychological parameters. The authors employed two univariate statistical techniques, students’ t-test and ANOVA, to analyze their data. While their analysis derived a meaningful conclusion that EMA may result in a statistically and clinically significant delay in recovery, we found that a multivariate statistical technique, principal component analysis (PCA), extracted additional quantitative information from their study. In this paper, we present quantitative features in the interaction between EMA and the treatment of MDD obtained from PCA.

Adaptive Virtual Inertial Control and Virtual Droop Control Coordinated Control Strategy for Hybrid Energy Storage Taking into Account State of Charge Optimization

For energy-storage-assisting conventional units to participate in the primary frequency regulation of a power system, firstly, based on the frequency regulation mechanism of virtual inertial control (VIC) and virtual droop control (VDC) of energy storage, we analyze the effect of the action timing of energy storage on the frequency deviation of the grid under two control methods and put forward a reasonable combination of the two control methods; on this basis, we also put forward hybrid energy storage adaptive VIC and VDC based on the demand of VIC and VDC on the power and capacity of energy storage. On this basis, based on the demand of VIC and VDC on the power and capacity of energy storage, a hybrid energy storage adaptive VIC and VDC coordinated control strategy based on supercapacitor–lithium batteries is proposed, whereby a high-power storage supercapacitor responds to inertial control signals to rapidly suppress a drop in frequency, and the high-capacity lithium battery responds to droop control signals to perform long-time droop control. The high-capacity lithium battery responds to the sagging control signal and is used to perform a long-time sagging power response; finally, in order to avoid the state of charge (SOC) of energy storage falling into a low/high working condition and losing the subsequent frequency regulation ability, an adaptive power control strategy of energy storage based on the improved logistic function is proposed. The simulation results show that under typical load disturbance, the SOC level of the proposed strategy increases by 19.17% and 30.16%, respectively, compared with that of the single-lithium strategy and no energy storage, and the SOC level of the supercapacitor and lithium battery increases by 29.4% and 2.1%, respectively, compared with that of logistic optimization.

Robustness analysis of exponential stability of fuzzy inertial neural networks through the estimation of upper limits of perturbations

This paper characterizes the robustness of exponential stability of fuzzy inertial neural network which contains time delays or stochastic disturbance through the estimation of upper limits of perturbations. By utilizing Gronwall-Bellman lemma, stochastic analysis, Cauchy inequality, the mean value theorem of integrals, as well as the properties of integrations, the limits of both time delays and stochastic disturbances are derived in this paper which can make the disturbed system keep exponential stability. The constraints between the two types of disturbances are provided in this paper. Examples are offered to validate our results.

Forecasting solar wind disturbances and geomagnetic storms from ground-based cosmic ray measurements

This work reports on the methods developed by our group at ShICRA SB RAS to forecast negative manifestations of space weather from ground-based measurements of cosmic rays. Such manifestations are registered on the Earth in the form of decreases in galactic cosmic rays known as the Forbush effects, various types of geomagnetic and ionospheric disturbances, as well as auroras. Only the latters are directly visible to the naked eye, while the rest can only be detected with the help of various instruments. These occurrences are all caused by passage through the Earth’s orbit, such as the substantial influxes of charged particles from both solar and interplanetary sources, interplanetary shock waves, ejections of solar material and high-speed solar wind streams, all of which are attributed to the level of solar flares and coronal activity. The state of near-Earth space weather is determined by their presence. To monitor this state, we use data collected from ground-based cosmic ray stations and employ multiple methods to analyse these measurements. Additionally, we incorporate data from the Dst-index of the geomagnetic field and measurements of the interplanetary environmental parameters gathered by ACE, WIND, SOHO and DSCOVR spacecraft at the L1 libration point to confirm events. This has led to the development of techniques for predicting terrestrial effects of space weather in the short-term (1-3 days). Our findings suggest that it is feasible to predict the occurrence of severe geomagnetic storms in real-time through the utilisation of solely ground-based measurements from cosmic ray stations.

Exploring the complex pre-adaptations of invasive plants to anthropogenic disturbance: a call for integration of archaeobotanical approaches.

Pre-adaptation to anthropogenic disturbance is broadly considered key for plant invasion success. Nevertheless, empirical evidence remains scarce and fragmentary, given the multifaceted nature of anthropogenic disturbance itself and the complexity of other evolutionary forces shaping the (epi)-genomes of recent native and invasive plant populations. Here, we review and critically revisit the existing theory and empirical evidence in the field of evolutionary ecology and highlight novel integrative research avenues that work at the interface with archaeology to solve open questions. The approaches suggested so far focus on contemporary plant populations, although their genomes have rapidly changed since their initial introduction in response to numerous selective and stochastic forces. We elaborate that a role of pre-adaptation to anthropogenic disturbance in plant invasion success should thus additionally be validated based on the analyses of archaeobotanical remains. Such materials, in the light of detailed knowledge on past human societies could highlight fine-scale differences in the type and timing of past disturbances. We propose a combination of archaeobotanical, ancient DNA and morphometric analyses of plant macro- and microremains to assess past community composition, and species' functional traits to unravel the timing of adaptation processes, their drivers and their long-term consequences for invasive species. Although such methodologies have proven to be feasible for numerous crop plants, they have not been yet applied to wild invasive species, which opens a wide array of insights into their evolution.

Predictors and disturbances of sleep quality between men and women: results from a cross-sectional study in Jordan

BackgroundSleep disturbances, a public health concern that may lead to critical physiological conditions, are associated with personal characteristics such as gender. Limited evidence is available from the Middle East population on the gender disparities in sleep quality. Therefore, the current study examined gender-specific differences in sleep quality and disturbances among Jordanian citizens.MethodA cross-sectional design was used to recruit a convenient sample of 1,092 adults from different Jordanian cities. Data was collected using a self-reported questionnaire comprising the Pittsburgh Sleep Quality Index (PSQI), which was distributed online via social media networks. The participants were categorized according to their global PSQI scores into poor (PSQI ≥ 5) and good sleepers (PSQI < 5). The analysis focused on finding differences between women and men in terms of sleep quality and the effects of demographic, lifestyle, and socioeconomic factors on reported sleep problems.ResultsWomen were revealed to have a higher prevalence of all types of sleep disturbances than men. Women who were over 55 (compared to younger than 20 years), did not smoke, had multiple jobs or part-time employment (compared to unemployed women), and had a monthly income of more than 500 JD (compared to those with an income of < 500 JD) were less likely to experience poor sleep than other women. In contrast, men who neither smoked nor drank coffee, ate no sweets or only one to two pieces daily (compared to participants who ate more than two pieces daily), and worked fixed night shifts (compared to alternating shifts workers) were less likely to experience poor sleep than other men.ConclusionThis study builds a more nuanced understanding of how different demographic, lifestyle, and socioeconomic factors - such as a participant’s age, time of working duty, income, daily sweet consumption, daily caffeine consumption, and smoking - affect the sleep quality of men and women. Thus, promoting a healthier lifestyle for both genders by modifying risk factors - such as smoking cessation, as well as reducing their intake of caffeine and sweets - is the first step toward improving their sleep quality. Further studies are needed to examine how the social role of Arabic women affects their sleep.