Foraging plays a vital role in the survival of wildlife, and shifts in food availability can impact species fitness and survival. Ursids are known to consume a wide variety of foods and are known to ...be opportunistic omnivores. Consequently, seasonal shifts in diet, which correspond to temporal and spatial shifts in the availability of food resources, have long captivated researchers studying the foraging behavior of Ursidae. Nevertheless, comprehensive dietary studies encompassing both the population and individual levels remain scarce. In this study, we investigated the dietary patterns of Asiatic black bears (Ursus thibetanus) at both the population and individual levels, using data collected through GPS collars and field surveys of individual bear scat samples in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, from 2016 to 2020. From early April to late June, bears mainly foraged on green vegetation. During this period, male and large‐bodied female bears showed a strong preference for green vegetation. Small‐bodied female bears also ate mostly green vegetation but tended to consume more fruit than other bears towards the end of this period. From June to October, bears' diets included a substantial amount of fruit, with notable peaks in fruit consumption in late June and early September. During the summer months, female bears often incorporated social insects into their diet compared to the population‐level trend. In mid‐September, the consumption of seeds from the Fagaceae family surged, becoming the primary dietary component during this period. This trend was consistently observed across the population. These findings underscore the importance conducting in‐depth dietary analyses that take into account individual characteristics such as sex, age, and body weight.
Focusing on individual differences in the dietary patterns of Asiatic black bears in Nagano Prefecture, Japan, male and large‐bodied female bears preferred green vegetation in early summer, while small‐bodied female bears favored fruit. Additionally, female bears were observed to incorporate ants into their diet during the summer months. These findings highlight the importance of considering individual characteristics in dietary analyses.
The degree of crystallinity of amorphous carbonaceous material (CM) increases with heating. Previous studies have shown good correlations between maximum temperature and the structural state of CM as ...measured by Raman spectroscopy. Changes in CM are also expected to depend on the time‐scale of heating, but there are very few data that can be used to define this relationship. Thermal modelling of contact metamorphism developed around the 66 m thick Great Whin Sill in County Durham, England, shows that the time‐scale of heating was on the order of ~40–270 years with a temperature range of ~300–680 °C within ~110 m from the sill contact. Raman spectroscopy reveals a significant increase in the crystallinity of the CM (from a less crystallized D1‐band width of ~110 cm−1 up to a well crystallized R2 peak area ratio of ~0.43) within ~50 m from the sill contact—corresponding to an apparent increase in temperature of up to ~200 °C when estimated using conventional Raman CM geothermometry. Over this distance, the temperatures derived from thermal modelling exceed ~400 °C and heating occurred over a time‐scale of c. 100 years. Combining the results of this study with the results of previous work shows both the maximum attained temperature and the duration of heating have a significant effect on the resulting Raman spectra and demonstrates the utility of this method to derive quantitative descriptions of the kinetics of CM crystallization in rocks.
For coastal adaptation purposes, it is important to estimate the climate related changes in extreme sea levels due to storm surges and ocean waves, in addition to mean sea level rise. This study ...provides the first consistent and continuous estimation of projected changes in global storm surges and ocean waves from the past to the warmer future, based on an extremely high resolution global climate model. The spatial pattern in the trend of annual maximum sea surface heights and wave heights is predominantly driven by changes in tropical cyclone (TC) frequency. In the western North Pacific, future TC frequencies are projected to decrease, and the annual maximum sea surface heights and wave heights show decreasing trends (−20 cm/century and −200 cm/century). Although highly intense tropical cyclones are enhanced in the warmer climate, highly extreme storm surges and wave heights do not necessarily increase due to the large natural variability.
Plain Language Summary
Ocean waves and storm surges induced by atmospheric low pressure systems are major drivers of coastal hazards. Future global warming can alter the intensity of ocean waves and storm surges as well as sea level rise. Therefore, for coastal adaptation purposes, it is important to estimate the global warming related changes in ocean waves and storm surges in addition to sea level rise. This study provides the first estimation of future changes in global storm surges and global ocean waves at the same time. In the western North Pacific, future tropical cyclone frequencies are expected to decrease, and the annual maximum storm surges and wave heights show decreasing trends (−20 cm/century and −200 cm/century). Less probable extreme storm surges and wave heights such as events occurring once every 50 years do not show clear trends because the trends are masked by large natural variability which is intrinsic to the climate.
Key Points
The first consistent and continuous estimation of changes in global storm surges and ocean waves from the past to the warmer future
Storm surge and ocean wave projections are based on an extremely high resolution (20 km) global climate model
Future tropical cyclone frequencies would decrease, and the annual maximum storm surges and waves show negative trends
Summary
Solid organ transplantation is a vital therapy for end stage diseases. Decades of research have established that components of the adaptive immune system are critical for transplant ...rejection, but the role of the innate immune system in organ transplantation is just emerging. Accumulating evidence indicates that the innate immune system is activated at the time of organ implantation by the release of endogenous inflammatory triggers. This review discusses the nature of these triggers in organ transplantation and also potential mediators that may enhance inflammation resolution after organ implantation.
The co-occurrence of multiple hazards can either exacerbate or mitigate risks. The interrelationships between multiple hazards greatly depend on the spatiotemporal scale and can be difficult to ...detect from large to local scales. In this paper, we identified coastal regions worldwide where the leading tropical (El Niño-Southern Oscillation, ENSO) and polar (Arctic Oscillation, AO; Southern Annular Mode, SAM) modes of climate variability simultaneously modify the seasonal conditions of multiple hazards, including the near-surface wind speed and swell and wind-sea wave powers. We classified the results at the national and municipal levels, with a focus on multiple hazards simultaneously occurring in space and time. The results revealed that the ENSO modulates multiple hazards, affecting approximately 40% of coastal countries, while the polar annular modes affect approximately 30% of coastal countries. The ENSO induced a greater diversity of multiple hazards, with Asian countries (e.g., Indonesia experienced increases of + 2% in wind and + 7% in swell) and countries in the Americas (e.g., Peru exhibited increases of + 1.5% in wind and + 6% in wind-sea) the most notably affected. The SAM imposed a greater influence on swells in the eastern countries of ocean basins (+ 2.5% in Chile) than in other countries, while the influence of the AO was greater in Norway and the UK (+ 12% for wind-sea and 8% for swell). Low-lying islands exhibited notable variations in pairwise hazards between phases and seasons. Our results could facilitate the interpretation of multihazard interactions and pave the way for a wide range of potential implementations of different coastal industries.
Recently, convergent close-coupling calculations have been completed for positron scattering from the carbon and oxygen atomic targets. These, together with previously completed calculations for ...atomic hydrogen, are utilized to perform positron scattering calculations for molecular hydrogen (
H
2
), molecular oxygen (
O
2
), diatomic carbon (
C
2
), carbon monoxide (CO), carbon dioxide (
CO
2
), ozone (
O
3
), water (
H
2
O
), and methane (
CH
4
) through a modified independent atom approach. For these molecules, positronium-formation, direct ionization, electron-loss, elastic, total electronic excitation, total inelastic, and total cross sections are obtained for energies between 0.1 and 5000 eV. There is, in general, good agreement between the current results and past experiments for most transitions, particularly at high energies where this approach is expected to be most accurate.
Graphic Abstract
Physical exercise exerts favourable effects on brain health and quality of life of the elderly; some of these positive health effects are induced by the modulation of microbiota composition. We ...therefore conducted a randomised, double blind, placebo-controlled trial that assessed whether a combination of Bifidobacterium spp. supplementation and moderate resistance training improved the cognitive function and other health-related parameters in healthy elderly subjects. Over a 12-week period, 38 participants (66-78 years) underwent resistance training and were assigned to the probiotic Bifidobacterium supplementation (n=20; 1.25×1010 cfu each of Bifidobacterium longum subsp. longum BB536, B. longum subsp. infantis M-63, Bifidobacterium breve M-16V and B. breve B-3) or the placebo (n=18) group. At baseline and at 12 weeks, we assessed the cognitive function, using the Japanese version of the Montreal Cognitive Assessment instrument (MoCA-J); modified flanker task scores; depression-anxiety scores; body composition; and bowel habits. At 12 weeks, the MoCA-J scores showed a significant increase in both the groups, while the flanker task scores of the probiotic group increased more significantly than those of the placebo group (0.35±0.9 vs -0.29±1.1, P=0.056). Only the probiotic group showed a significant decrease in the depression-anxiety scores (5.2±6.3 to 3.4±5.5, P=0.012) and body mass index (24.0±2.8 to 23.5±2.8 kg/m2, P<0.001), with a significant increase in the defecation frequency (5.3±2.3 to 6.4±2.3 times/5 days, P=0.023) at 12 weeks. Thus, in healthy elderly subjects, combined probiotic bifidobacteria supplementation and moderate resistance training may improve the mental condition, body weight and bowel movement frequency.
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