A railroad causeway across Great Salt Lake, Utah (GSL), has restricted water flow since its construction in 1959, resulting in a more saline North Arm (NA; 24%–31% salinity) and a less saline South ...Arm (SA; 11%–14% salinity). Here, we characterized microbial carbonates collected from the SA and the NA to evaluate the effect of increased salinity on community composition and abundance and to determine whether the communities present in the NA are still actively precipitating carbonate or if they are remnant features from prior to causeway construction. SSU rRNA gene abundances associated with the NA microbialite were three orders of magnitude lower than those associated with the SA microbialite, indicating that the latter community is more productive. SSU rRNA gene sequencing and functional gene microarray analyses indicated that SA and NA microbialite communities are distinct. In particular, abundant sequences affiliated with photoautotrophic taxa including cyanobacteria and diatoms that may drive carbonate precipitation and thus still actively form microbialites were identified in the SA microbialite; sequences affiliated with photoautotrophic taxa were in low abundance in the NA microbialite. SA and NA microbialites comprise smooth prismatic aragonite crystals. However, the SA microbialite also contained micritic aragonite, which can be formed as a result of biological activity. Collectively, these observations suggest that NA microbialites are likely to be remnant features from prior to causeway construction and indicate a strong decrease in the ability of NA microbialite communities to actively precipitate carbonate minerals. Moreover, the results suggest a role for cyanobacteria and diatoms in carbonate precipitation and microbialite formation in the SA of GSL.
Data preprocessing is a fundamental stage in deep learning modeling and serves as the cornerstone of reliable data analytics. These deep learning models require significant amounts of training data ...to be effective, with small datasets often resulting in overfitting and poor performance on large datasets. One solution to this problem is parallelization in data modeling, which allows the model to fit the training data more effectively, leading to higher accuracy on large data sets and higher performance overall. In this research, we developed a novel approach that effectively deployed tools such as MPI and MPI4Py from parallel computing to handle data preprocessing and deep learning modeling processes. As a case study, the technique is applied to COVID-19 data from state of Tennessee, USA. Finally, the effectiveness of our approach is demonstrated by comparing it with existing methods without parallel computing concepts like MPI4Py. Our results demonstrate promising outcome for the deployment of parallel computing in modeling to minimize high computational cost.
•Parallelization improves deep learning training and data preprocessing.•Message Passing Interface speeds up data preprocessing and deep learning modeling.•MPI4Py makes data processing libraries in python more flexible.
Pasture-based goat operation is popular among small-scale farmers; however, it may be challenging when forage availability is limited. Grazing opportunity can be increased by developing silvopastures ...after thinning pine plantations. To successfully manage silvopastures, it is important to understand animals’ interaction with trees. The objective of this study was to evaluate the use of goats in the southern pine silvopasture system. Studies were conducted at two sites: Atkins Agroforestry Research and Demonstration Site, Tuskegee (Site 1), and Plantersville Silvopasture Demonstration Site, Plantersville, Alabama (Site 2). Site 1 consisted of six acres of longleaf (
Pinus palustris
Mill.) and loblolly (
Pinus taeda
L.) pine trees (10–11 years old, 147 ± 21.1 trees/acre; longleaf 52.14%, loblolly 47.86%). Site 2 comprised of 14 acres of 17–18 years old loblolly pine silvopastures. Both sites were planted with cool- and warm-season forages, and plots were rotationally grazed with goats (Site 1—Kiko wethers; Site 2—mixed breed of goats) during the 2015–2016 grazing seasons. Goat performance (live weight, body condition score, and FAMACHA score) was monitored every 2 weeks in Site 1, and trees were inspected for possible damage in both sites. Goats performed better while grazing cool-season forages during the spring. In Site 1, goats debarked pine trees, especially longleaf pines during the cool-season grazing period. No debarking was observed in Site 2. This study showed that southern pine silvopastures could provide a good grazing opportunity, but trees can be vulnerable to goats even when they are 10–11 years of age.
Summary
Parthenium hysterophorus is a noxious invasive weed of both agricultural and natural ecosystems, spreading aggressively in Nepal. Management of this weed in Nepal has been limited, mainly ...because of the lack of geo‐referenced data concerning the weed's distribution. We conducted a nationwide survey of P. hysterophorus and its coleopteran biological control agent Zygogramma bicolorata from 2013 to 2016 to determine their spatial distribution. Both were widespread, with the distribution of Z. bicolorata lagging behind the invasion front of P. hysterophorus. The weed was present in 21.2% of the 4838 locations examined, including several isolated satellite populations. The weed was found in the Tarai, Siwalik, Middle Mountains and High Mountains regions, reaching up to 2000 m asl. It has invaded natural and modified ecosystems including all six protected areas in the Tarai and Siwalik regions. Road access appears to be the major pathway for its long‐distance dispersal. Zygogramma bicolorata had spread from the east to the west and was present in 15.4% of the weed occurrence locations, inflicting a low amount of damage. A CLIMEX modelling projection revealed the presence of additional geographic areas in Nepal which are climatically suitable for both P. hysterophorus and Z. bicolorata. Eradication of satellite populations of the weed by physical and chemical measures, and the release of Z. bicolorata into new, but climatically suitable, locations should be prioritised for P. hysterophorus management in Nepal. In conclusion, P. hysterophorus has rapidly become widespread in Nepal and the currently available biological control agent has not been able to prevent further spread of the weed.
The spread of Fake News during this global pandemic COVID-19 has dangerous consequences on economy and health of public. From origin of virus, spread, self-medication to hoaxes on vaccination, it ...created more panic than the fatality of the virus. For better infodemic preparedness and control, it is necessary to mitigate fear among people, manage rumours, and dispel misinformation. A survey on Fake News during COVID-19 was made by Poynter Fact Check institute. It stated that major chunk of the fake news on COVID-19 originated majorly in Brazil, India, Spain, and the United States. Fake news menace is severe in countries where the trust on online media is high such as Brazil, Kenya and South Africa. Based on these observations, this study provides preliminary insight on the co-relation of the spatial and temporal meta-information of the news like the news source country, the name of the countries specified in the news, and date of publish of news to the credibility of news. The main contribution of this study is to analyse the impact of spatial and temporal information features for classification of fake news, which to the best of our knowledge has not been explored yet. Also, these features are directly not available in any news article available online. Hence, these features are handcrafted. Meta-data of the news article such as origin of news is considered. Additional spatial information is extracted from the news article using NER tagging. Temporal information such as date of origin of news is given as an input to the LSTM model. These features are given as an input to Long Short-Term Memory (LSTM) model along with GloVe vectors and word length vector. A comparative analysis for accuracy is tested of the models with and without spatial and temporal information. The model with spatial and temporal information has achieved noteworthy results in fake news detection. To ensure the quality of prediction, various model parameters have been tuned and recorded for the best results possible. In addition to accuracy, the spatial and temporal information for fake news detection offers several other important implications for government and policy makers that will be instrumental in simulating future research on this subject.
Lay Summary Human-wildlife conflict is a growing concern around the world, where further knowledge is required on the manner animals adjust to human disturbances. We found that Himalayan marmots ...adjusted their activity patterns in relation to the timing of pastoralist grazing activities, by shifting the time and manner by which they forage (temporal niche shift). Marmots were less active when human disturbances were high, but compensated by increasing their activity and movements when disturbances were low.Activity patterns of wildlife are often associated with the risk of predation, foraging requirements, and impacts of anthropogenic disturbance. Animals may adjust their temporal niche by shifting their activity patterns in relation to anthropogenic disturbance activities; however, few studies have recorded this response. We investigated the extent to which disturbances associated with pastoralism changed the timing of foraging and activity patterns of Himalayan marmot, a widely distributed rodent that inhabits alpine meadows in the mountains of central Asia. Using a scan-sampling observational approach, we collected data from 30 marmot sites in the Upper Mustang region of Annapurna Conservation Area, Nepal. We developed an index of pastoralism intensity for each site, based on the presence of livestock, herders, guard dogs, distance from pastoralist camps, and density of major tracks. Using this index, marmot time spent above-ground, and foraging distance from burrows, was compared between high and low pastoralism sites. Using a linear mixed modeling approach, there was no significant difference between areas of high and low pastoralism in either the total daily activity time or foraging distance from burrows. However, marmots adjusted their diurnal patterns of activity and the distances moved from their burrows in relation to the timing of pastoralist activities (temporal niche shift). In areas experiencing high levels of pastoralism, marmots were less active during periods of herding activity, and compensated by increasing activity when herding activity was less. By changing foraging behaviors, any increase in pastoralism may have significant consequences in terms of marmot population viability.
We reanalyze data collected with the DarkSide-50 experiment and recently used to set limits on the spin-independent interaction rate of weakly interacting massive particles (WIMPs) on argon nuclei ...with an effective field theory framework. The dataset corresponds to a total (16660 ± 270) kg d exposure using a target of low-radioactivity argon extracted from underground sources. We obtain upper limits on the effective couplings of the 12 leading operators in the nonrelativistic systematic expansion. For each effective coupling we set constraints on WIMP-nucleon cross sections, setting upper limits between 2.4 × 10−45 cm2 and 2.3 × 10−42 cm2 ( 8.9 × 10−45 cm2 and 6.0 × 10−42 cm2 ) for WIMPs of mass of 100 GeV/c2 ( 1000 GeV/c2) at 90% confidence level.
Background & AimThe health benefits of polyphenols (p-coumaric acid) due to its antioxidant effects are well known. In other hands, recombinant COMP-Ang1 a chimera of angiopoietin-1 (Ang1) and a ...short coiled-coil domain of cartilage oligomeric matrix protein (COMP), is under consideration as a therapeutic agent for tissue regeneration with increased angiogenics capacity. However, their combined functional roles as a processing cofactor in tissue engineering applications are less widely known. Polyphenols have been used to stabilize collagen and to improve its resistance to degradation in biological systems. Generation of harmful reactive oxygen species is one of the current problems in tissue engineering. Therefore, several studies to fabricate tissue replacement with the antioxidant capability to protect the replaced organ from free radicals have been reported. Further, multifunctional bone grafting biomaterials with both antioxidants and angiogenic properties have earned increasing interest in regenerative medicine. This study focuses on the functionality of antioxidant and angiogenic efficacy of p-CA and COMP-Ang1 to promote bone and vascular growth into biomaterials.Methods, Results & ConclusionCollagen scaffold were synthesized and loaded with p-CA and COMP-Ang1. Scaffold were divided into four groups-only scaffold, scaffold with p-CA, scaffold with COMP-Ang1 and scaffold with p-CA + COMP-Ang1.To evaluate the potential of each scaffold in bone regeneration, a critical-sized defect was made at the mandible of Sprague-Dawley rats. The defects were filled with scaffold accordingly groups as mentioned above. At 2, 6 and 10 weeks post-implantation, bone growth around the defect was examined by histology and µCT. Results revealed that implanting a COMP-Ang1 plus p-CA impregnated scaffold into a bone defects synergistically enhanced the amount of new bone. Furthermore, osteoinductivity of the COMP-Ang1+ p-CA scaffold result in striking upregulation of osteogenesis-related molecules, including osterix, osteocalcin and osteopontin with increased expression of angiogenic molecules, like- fibroblast growth factor-2 and vascular endothelial growth factor compared with only COMP-Ang1 and p-CA activated scaffold. These findings demonstrate that combined grafting of COMP-Ang1 with p-CA promotes bone formation in mandible defects, which is coupled with enhanced osteogenesis and angiogenesis and provides new insights for developing bone substitutes for tissue engineering and regenerative medicine.
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