Miracle-dz/UniFAR-FTUs huggingface dataset:
Forest vegetation of the last full-glacial period in the Western Carpathians (Slovakia and Czech Republic)

Palaeobotanical data from last full-glacial period in eastern-central Europe repeatedly confirm the existence of parkland landscapes with coniferous trees at relatively northern latitudes. However, up to now, the absence of fossils prevented a study of the full-glacial vegetation in the mountain areas of the Western Carpathians – a region crucial to determining whether there were refugia for present European forest biota during the Last Glacial period. This paper provides new pollen and macrofossil evidence from this key region, dated to a critical period in the Weichselian full glaciation (between 50 and 16 ka 14C BP). Our data from two study sites in the Western Carpathians (part of today’s Slovakia and easternmost Czech Republic – Moravian region) support the hypothesis that well-protected and relatively humid valleys in this mountain range were, as far as climate is concerned, favourable for forest vegetation during the last full-glacial period. These forests were similar to present Siberian coniferous taiga. In the lowlands and highlands that surround the Western Carpathians, there occurred a diversity of parkland landscapes: mosaic of steppe communities and tundra patches. However, we use the example of one site in central Bohemia, near what is the present city of Prague, to show that trees may also have occurred here on sites with a suitable local climate.
Analogue models of delta systems above ductile substrates

Abstract Delta systems developed above ductile substrates such as overpressured shales and salt have been modelled using layered sand-packs above ductile silicone polymer layers. Gravity spreading of progradational sedimentary wedges produces delta-top and upper delta-slope grabens linked to delta-toe contractional fold-thrust and diapir zones. The delta-top grabens are bound by both regional and counter-regional listric growth faults. A basinward-stepping sequence of regional, counter-regional followed by regional faulting is commonly developed. Polymer pillows and ridges commonly develop in the footwalls of the major listric extensional faults and may evolve into reactive diapirs. Successive progradational loads generate new delta-top or upper delta-slope graben systems on top of older contractional belts where the ductile polymer layer has been thickened significantly. The analogue model results in cross-section show many similarities to examples of natural deltas and differential sedimentary load systems such as offshore Angola, the Niger and Nile Deltas, Kutai Basin, Kalimantan, the Baram delta, Brunei and the Orinoco delta, Columbus basin and offshore Trinidad.
A mechanism for African monsoon breaks: Mediterranean cold air surges

Surges of cold air from the Mediterranean into northern Africa during the boreal summer are documented, and their influence on monsoon breaks is analyzed using Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission rainfall estimates and reanalysis products. Between 1998 and 2006, 6–10 cold air surges occurred each summer, with low‐level temperature anomalies ranging from less than −1 K to over −6 K. Composite analysis indicates that cold air surges over northern Africa persist for 2–10 days and travel equatorward at approximately 5.5 m s–1, which is 0.5–1.5 m s–1 faster than the observed climatological low‐level meridional flow. Northern African cold surges have characteristics similar to surges observed elsewhere in the world, including a hydrostatically induced ridge of surface pressure and an amplified upper tropospheric ridge/trough pattern. The African cold surge is preceded by the passage of a shortwave trough and an intensification of the upper tropospheric subtropical westerly jet streak over the Mediterranean Sea. These events are associated with increased confluence in the jet entrance region over the central Mediterranean, an enhanced direct secondary circulation, subsidence, and low‐level ageostrophic northerly flow over northeastern Africa. Composite analysis shows that the passage of a cold surge is associated with an enhancement in convective activity over southern Algeria, western Niger, northern Mali, and Mauritania 2 to 5 days before the surge reaches the eastern Sahel (∼17.5°N), when northeasterly flow channeled between the Atlas and Ahaggar Mountains strengthens and transports relatively moist air from the western Mediterranean and eastern North Atlantic over the region and increases moisture convergence over western Africa north of 20°N. Over the eastern Sahel of Sudan and eastern Chad, the composite results reveal a break in convective activity and decrease in low‐level convergence when the surge arrives that persists for about 6 days. These results offer great promise for improving the short‐range prediction of rainfall over northern Africa.
Effects of aerosols on the dynamics and microphysics of squall lines simulated by spectral bin and bulk parameterization schemes

[1] A new spectral bin microphysical scheme (SBM) was implemented into the Weather Research and Forecasting model referred to as Fast-SBM, which uses a smaller number of size distribution functions than the original version of the scheme referred to as Exact-SBM. It was shown that both schemes produced similar dynamical and microphysical structure of a squall line simulated. An excellent agreement in the simulated precipitation amounts between the schemes was found within a range of cloud condensation nuclei concentrations from 100 to 3000 cm−3. The Fast-SBM requires about 40% of the computing power of the Exact-SBM, allowing it to be used for “real-time” simulations over limited domains. The results obtained using the SBM simulations have been compared with those using a modified version of the Thompson bulk parameterization scheme. The main extension of the bulk scheme was the implementation of the process of drop nucleation, so that drop concentration is no longer prescribed a priori but rather calculated using the prescribed aerosol concentration. This scheme is referred to as the Drop scheme. A large set of sensitivity studies have been performed, in which microphysical parameters and precipitation, droplet nucleation above cloud base, etc., have been compared with those obtained from SBM. The SBM scheme produces more realistic dynamical and microphysical structure of the squall line. The Drop scheme did relatively little to change the cloud structures simulated by the bulk scheme. Unlike the SBM simulations that show different precipitation sensitivities to aerosol concentrations in relatively dry and humid environments, the Drop scheme indicates monotonic decrease in precipitation with increasing aerosol concentrations.
Authentic Leadership’s Impact on Follower Psychological Capital and Performance Through Organizational Identification and Role Clarity

ABSTRACT Scholars have criticized positive leadership styles, such as authentic leadership, as being limited to influencing follower performance through relations-oriented behaviors without necessarily providing more task-oriented direction. Applying this behavioral leadership theory dichotomy, we extend authentic leadership theory and research by proposing and testing how authentic leadership influences followers’ psychological capital (PsyCap) and subsequent performance through both relations- (organizational identification) and task-oriented (role clarity) pathways. The results of a three-wave field study, multiple experiments, and a time-lagged, multi-source field study support that authentic leadership influences follower psychological resources and performance through both organizational identification and role clarity. Moreover, our results hold when controlling for other leadership constructs (ethical and transformational leadership) and other potential mediators that have been the focus of prior authentic leadership research (leader trustworthiness, leader identification, and LMX). We discuss the implications of our findings for expanding work on authentic leadership by examining a more task-oriented focus in future research, including how this research sheds light on several recent critiques of authentic leadership theory.
Electronic Human Resource Management and Employee Efficiency: Test of the Mediating Role of Impersonal Trust

This study investigates the relationships between electronic human resource management (e-HRM) and employee efficiency in private companies, with impersonal trust being the intervening variable. A conceptual model was developed and tested using data collected from 167 HR professionals for the study. Data set was examined, and hypotheses were tested by employing Partial Least Squares-Structural Equation Modelling (PLS-SEM) analysis. The result reveal that all hypothesis supported, as well as impersonal trust mediates (partially) the relationship between e-HRM and employee efficiency. The results show that technology-enabled HRM supports organisations by enhancing organisational trust and efficiency outcomes. The key predictors for improving employee efficiency are organisational trust and e-HRM. e-HRM, in the HRM department has a positive impact on employees’ trust. The outcomes show the valuable insights for HR professionals allowing them to enhance employee efficiency by applying e-HRM to upgrade employees’ trust in the company.
Discourses of Difference: An Analysis of Women's Travel Writing and Colonialism

Part I, Critical Responses to Women's Travel Writing: Feminist Work on Women's Travel Writing Gender and the Study of Colonial Discourse. Part II, Constraints on Production and Reception: Foucault and Constraints on the Production of Text Constraints on the Reception of Women's Travel Writing. Part III, Case Studies Alexandra David-Neel - My Journey to Lhasa (1927) Mary Kingsley - Travels in West Africa (1897) Nina Mazuchelli - The Indian Alps and How We Crossed Them (1876).
From Island of Hills to Cartesian Flatland? Using GIS to Assess Topographical Change in New York City, 1819–1999

Historical geographic information systems (GIS) scholarship has provided important insights into a broad spectrum of historical questions in recent years. This article contributes to the emerging field of historical GIS by employing map algebra and transect analysis to quantitatively assess topographical change resulting from rapid urban growth in New York City since the first quarter of the nineteenth century. These methodological techniques enable a systematic comparison of Manhattan's historical and contemporary topography through a spatial analysis of various topographic metrics, including the extent of positive and negative elevation change, shifts in elevation range, the percentage of geographic area that experienced elevation changes, and the estimated volume of Earth added to and removed from particular areas within the study site. The results indicate that there were more valleys filled than hills leveled on Manhattan's East Side, whereas the reverse was the case on the West Side. The West Side, however, experienced considerably more topographic changes than its eastern counterpart, in large part due to the former's more rugged terrain. Overall, the evidence suggests that although Manhattan's topography has been radically transformed in certain respects, the broader spatial pattern of topographic variation has remained largely constant. These findings, therefore, can be used to support competing narrative claims concerning the significance of the topographical transformations that resulted from the urbanization process in New York City.
Acid/base character of organic acids in a boreal stream during snowmelt

In northern regions, spring snowmelt generally results in an episodic decline of surface water pH. Natural organic acids may be an important factor in this type of pH change. We studied the variations in the acid/base character of aquatic organic acids during spring snowmelt in 1997 at Svartberget, a stream rich in total organic carbon (TOC) that is located in the boreal zone of northern Sweden. Snowmelt at Svartberget was accompanied by a drop in stream pH of up to 1.8 pH units, as well as the dilution of base cation and strong acid anion concentrations. Aluminum and TOC increased or decreased during snowmelt, depending on the sampling site within the 50‐ha catchment. Although there were distinct differences in pH, TOC, and major inorganic ions in the runoff from three subcatchments, there was very little variation in the acid/base character of TOC. Thus organic acids in the Svartberget catchment share a common set of acid/base properties despite markedly different subcatchment drainage patterns, vegetation, and soils. The dissociation behavior of organic acids at Svartberget could be described with high precision (R2 = 0.91, p < 0.001, and n = 115) by a triprotic acid analog model (pKa1 = 2.5, pKa2 = 4.0, and pKa3 = 5.8), together with the measured site density of organic acids (8.6±0.8 μeq (mg TOC)−1). A Gaussian pKa distribution (μ = 4.20 and σ = 1.43) predicted organic acid dissociation with similar precision (R2 = 0.91, p < 0.001, and n = 94). Variations in site density among the tributary streams could largely be explained by aluminum complexation. Sites with lower measured site densities had greater concentrations of organically bound Al. Thus Al binding reduces the potential release or neutralization of H+ by organic acids.
Short-Chain Fatty-Acid-Producing Micro-Organisms Regulate the Pancreatic FFA2-Akt/PI3K Signaling Pathway in a Diabetic Rat Model Affected by Pumpkin Oligosaccharides

Herein, we applied the Illumina MiSeq pyrosequencing platform to amplify the V3–V4 hypervariable regions of the 16 S rRNA gene of the gut microbiota (GM) and a gas chromatograph–mass spectrometer to detect the metabolites after supplementation with pumpkin oligosaccharides (POSs) to determine the metabolic markers and mechanisms in rats with type 2 diabetes (T2D). The POSs alleviated glucolipid metabolism by decreasing the serum low-density lipoprotein (LDL), total cholesterol (TC), and glucose levels. These responses were supported by a shift in the gut microbiota, especially in the butyric-acid-producing communities. Meanwhile, elevated total short-chain fatty acid (SCFA), isovaleric acid, and butyric acid levels were observed after supplementation with POSs. Additionally, this work demonstrated that supplementation with POSs could reduce TNF-α and IL-6 secretion via the FFA2-Akt/PI3K pathway in the pancreas. These results suggested that POSs alleviated T2D by changing the SCFA-producing gut microbiota and SCFA receptor pathways.
The potential of winter stormflow coefficients for hydrological regionalization purposes in poorly gauged basins of the middle Rhine region

Abstract Three different statistical models were used to regionalize the winter stormflow coefficient for mesoscale basins of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg and the neighbouring Rhineland Palatinate (Germany). The methodology is derived from a previous study, in which winter stormflow coefficients were regionalized for the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg only. The models are based on regression analysis and it is shown that model performances do not differ considerably between parsimoniously and heavily parameterized models. Next, a regionalization procedure based on a raster grid was performed, producing a qualitative grid-based analysis of runoff-producing areas for the mesoscale. The winter runoff coefficient turned out to be highly correlated with the permeability of the lithology, yet not with basin area. The grid appeared to be useful in merging basin characteristics, which were used in a statistical model to describe the winter stormflow coefficients.
Growth, Yield and Physiological Responses of the Bioenergy Crop Miscanthus × Giganteus To Fertilizer, Biochar and Drought

This study was done to determine whether giant miscanthus (Miscanthus × giganteus) could produce acceptable yields in western North Carolina and whether fertilization and biochar improve growth. Fertilizer and biochar treatments were applied in a randomized block design (0 and 100 kg NPK ha-1 and 0 and 15 t ha-1) at two sites: Mills River (650 m) and Valle Crucis (830 m). Rhizomes were planted in 2012 and allowed to grow for two seasons. No treatment differences were found for gas exchange but rates were higher at Mills River. No biochar or fertilizer effects were found for yield in either site in both years. Second year yields averaged 15.57 and 16.95 Mg DW ha-1 at Mills River and Valle Crucis, respectively, showing that this perennial bioenergy crop can grow in western North Carolina and produce yields comparable to those in other geographic areas. A greenhouse drought study, with and without biochar (50 t ha-1), showed no biochar effects, but gas exchange and water potentials declined after 12 days of drought. Remarkably, plants recovered nearly pre-drought functioning within three days of rewatering. The ability of giant miscanthus to recover quickly may contribute to its ability to grow productively in marginal soils.
A comparison of simplified methods for routing topographically driven subsurface flow

The relative performance of an explicit grid cell by grid cell approach and a statistical‐dynamical method widely used in Topmodel for modeling topographically driven subsurface flow was evaluated using a series of numerical experiments. Both approaches were compared with analytical solutions to the kinematic wave equation for flow down an inclined plane of constant slope. The hillslope discharge and water table profiles simulated by the explicit method were in good agreement with the analytical solution in all test cases. The statistical‐dynamical method converged to the correct steady state solution but failed to reproduce accurately transient conditions. The two algorithms were also compared using topography and observed hourly precipitation for the U.S. Department of Agriculture Mahantango, Pennsylvania, research catchment. The percent root‐mean‐ square‐difference in hourly discharge between the two methods for a 1 year simulation ranged from 20% to several hundred percent. The agreement in discharge between the two methods was best for deep soils, high surface conductivity, and large values of the power law exponent describing the decay in vertical hydraulic conductivity with depth. “Calibration” of the statistical‐dynamical model to discharge simulated by the explicit method was most effective for soils with low power law exponents. However, even in the calibrated cases, there were large discrepancies between local water table depths simulated by the two models.
Role of aerosol size distribution and source location in a three‐dimensional simulation of a Saharan dust episode tested against satellite‐derived optical thickness

An off-line global three-dimensional tracer model based on analyzed wind fields was augmented to simulate the atmospheric transport of mineral dust. The model describes the evolution of the aerosol size distribution and hence allows to compute aerosol number and mass concentrations. In this study we describe the parameterization of the sedimentation process and include a preliminary source formulation but exclude wet deposition. Validation of the model is done during a 16-day period in June-July 1988 with very scarce precipitation. It is based on a comparison of every model grid box with daily satellite-derived optical thickness observations of Saharan dust plumes over the North Atlantic and the Mediterranean. The model reproduces accurately the daily position of the dust plumes over the ocean, with the exception of Atlantic regions remote from the African coast. By systematic analysis of transport and aerosol components we show that the largest uncertainty in reproducing the position of the dust clouds is the correct localization of the source regions. The model simulation is also very sensitive to the inclusion of convection and to an accurate treatment of the sedimentation process. Only the combination of source activation, rapid transport of dust to higher altitudes by convective updraft and long-range transport allows the simulation of the dust plumes position. This study shows that a mineral dust transport model is only constrained if both the source strength and the aerosol size distribution are known. The satellite observation of optical thickness over the Mediterranean and assumptions about the size distribution indicate that the dust emission flux was of the order of 17×106 t for the 16-day period under investigation. The simulations suggest that a major aerosol mode initially around 2.5 μm with a standard deviation of 2.0 plays the dominant role in long-range transport of mineral dust.
Regional Environmental Gradients Influence Ecophysiological Responses of Dominant Coastal Dune Plants to Changes in Local Conditions

ABSTRACT Fidalgo, F. ; Santos, A. ; Pimenta, S. ; Marques, J., and Honrado, J., 2014. Regional environmental gradients influence ecophysiological responses of dominant coastal dune plants to changes in local conditions. Coastal dunes are dynamic systems exposed to multiple environmental changes; therefore, specific, sensitive, and cost-efficient indicators are needed for ecological assessment and monitoring. We addressed whether biochemical indicators of plant physiological stress could provide a complementary approach to classic disturbance indicators for identifying dune areas undergoing ecological change. We hypothesized that disturbance related to a shift from (meta-) stability to erosive dynamics would promote increased stress on foredune plants, which would exhibit adaptive physiological responses that could be captured through standard biochemical tests. Such responses would anticipate other reported responses of foredune communities, such as loss of facilitation capacity or decrease of species richness. We also hypothesized that such responses would be influenced by biogeographic context, based on reported interactions between regional and local gradients. We compared patterns of proline accumulation and membrane lipid peroxidation in plants of sand-couch (Elytrigia juncea), a foredune specialist, from 27 transects at nine locations under contrasting dynamics along a climatic gradient in northern Portugal. Next, we evaluated effects of coastal dynamics and biogeographic context on proline accumulation and lipid peroxidation and compared physiological stress patterns with variations in topographic and phytocoenotic attributes of dune ecosystems related to contrasting coastal dynamics. We found proline accumulation to be significantly higher (and lipid peroxidation proportionally lower) in plants from sites under chronic erosive dynamics. This response of physiological stress indicators was further confirmed by their significant correlation with topographic and phytocoenotic indicators. We also confirmed significant effects of regional gradients on the ecophysiological responses to contrasting coastal dynamics, which were better discriminated under Mediterranean climate than among Atlantic sites. This interaction between regional climate and local disturbance suggests caution in the wide use of ecophysiological responses for ecological assessment and monitoring before regionally stratified models are calibrated to compensate for interactions among processes operating at different scales.