Search Results (202)

Background: Human granulocytic anaplasmosis (HGA) is a tick-borne zoonotic infection caused by Anaplasma phagocytophilum and transmitted by Ixodes species. In temperate regions, HGA is considered seasonal, with most cases occurring during late spring and summer. We describe two cases of HGA diagnosed in January during a winter period with episodic temperatures exceeding thresholds for tick activity, highlighting atypical seasonal presentation and diagnostic challenges. Methods: This report details the clinical course, diagnostic reasoning, and management of two patients evaluated at a tertiary care hospital in Suffolk County, New York. Data were derived from direct clinical care and the electronic health record. The institutional review board determined this work did not constitute human subject research. Written informed consent was obtained from both patients. Results: Both patients presented with acute febrile illness and characteristic laboratory abnormalities. Due to winter season, tick-borne infection was not initially suspected, resulting in delayed consideration. PCR testing confirmed A. phagocytophilum infection in Case 1, meeting CDC criteria for confirmed HGA. Case 2 met CDC criteria for probable HGA based on serologic testing showing elevated IgG (1:320) in the appropriate clinical context. Treatment with doxycycline led to rapid clinical improvement and complete recovery. Conclusions: These cases demonstrate that HGA can be diagnosed during winter months in endemic regions. Although the precise timing of infection cannot be determined, these observations occurred during a period when episodic temperatures exceeded thresholds for tick activity. The cases highlight limitations of season-based diagnostic assumptions and suggest maintaining clinical suspicion for anaplasmosis year-round in endemic areas. Full article

The greater horseshoe bat (Rhinolophus ferrumequinum), which is widely distributed across the temperate regions of China, primarily consists of two major evolutionary lineages: a northeastern (NE) lineage with a hibernation period of 6–8 months and a central–eastern (CE) lineage with a hibernation period of 4–5 months. This study conducted a comparative analysis of liver transcriptomes from these two lineages during the active, torpor, and arousal phases. The results indicated that the CE lineage exhibited a significantly greater number of differentially expressed genes (DEGs) compared to the NE lineage. During the torpor phase, both lineages transitioned from carbohydrate metabolism to lipid metabolism, substantially downregulating genes and pathways associated with amino acid metabolism, and upregulating immune-related genes to maintain essential defense functions. In the arousal phase, both lineages only moderately activated several genes associated with immunity and metabolic regulation to facilitate a rapid return to torpor. Notably, the number of DEGs co-regulated between the two lineages was very limited, and a large number of lineage-specific regulatory genes related to energy and metabolism were identified. This may reflect the adaptability of different bat lineages to the local environment, highlighting the importance of habitat conditions in lineage differentiation. Therefore, hibernation induces substantial transcriptomic reorganization in the liver of R. ferrumequinum, particularly affecting metabolic and immune processes. Distinct geographic lineages exhibit unique hibernation adaptation strategies through the regulation of specific genes and pathways. This study enhances the understanding of the molecular mechanisms underlying hibernation adaptation across different evolutionary lineages of the same species at the transcriptomic level, providing insights into the evolutionary adaptations of animals to environmental changes. Full article

Rapid urbanization has significantly increased energy demand in buildings, which now represent nearly 30% of global energy use. In India, buildings are built across highly varied climatic conditions, from hot-dry and warm-humid to cold, high-altitude areas, making climate-responsive envelope design essential to enhance thermal performance. Among envelope components, roofs are the most exposed to solar and outdoor thermal loads, playing a key role in managing indoor heat transfer. This study offers a parametric analysis of climate-responsive roof design strategies for India’s five main climatic zones, using transient simulations and statistical evaluation. The effectiveness of insulation placement, insulation material and thickness, and external surface absorptivity was systematically assessed based on roof heat gain and heat loss. Results indicate that over-slab insulation can lower roof heat gain by approximately 15–35% compared to under-slab insulation in warm-humid, hot-dry, composite, and temperate zones. In comparison, under-slab insulation decreases heat loss by about 10% in colder areas. Among insulation materials, 50 mm polyurethane foam (U = 0.433 W/m²·K) consistently outperformed extruded polystyrene and expanded polystyrene, achieving 82–83% reductions in maximum heat gain in cooling-dominated climates and 89% reductions in heat loss in cold regions relative to uninsulated roofs. When combined with a white reflective surface finish (α = 0.26), the total heat transfer reduction increased further to 89–92%. Surface treatments alone cut heat gain by 37–51% in non-cold climates, highlighting their potential as cost-effective retrofit options. Statistical analysis confirmed that dry-bulb temperature is the primary climatic factor influencing roof heat transfer (R² = 0.86–0.98, p < 0.0001), while solar radiation had a weaker effect, especially in optimized roof systems. The findings emphasize the importance of climate-specific roof design and demonstrate that insulation U-value has a greater impact on thermal performance than surface absorptivity, although both are significant. This research offers practical, climate-adjusted guidance for architects, engineers, and policymakers to enhance the thermal performance of roofs in Indian buildings. It supports the development of more resilient, energy-efficient building envelopes. Full article

Long-term fire histories are well-documented across most North American temperate forest systems, yet the fire regimes of high-alpine treeline environments remain poorly understood. Here, we present a millennial-scale fire history from the Sawtooth Fen Palsa (SFP), a rare permafrost fen palsa located in the high-alpine treeline ecotone of the Beartooth Plateau, Wyoming, a permafrost system now unraveling due to recent decades of rapid warming. Analysis of paleoenvironmental proxies from peat sediments overlying the permafrost reveals a multi-century peak in fire activity at the beginning of the record, ca. 10,000 cal yr BP, coinciding with the afforestation of newly deglaciated, ice-free sites. This initial surge in high-severity fire activity was followed by a decline when solar-orbitally driven increases in growing-season temperatures likely promoted forest opening and more surface fire activity within the SFP watershed. High-severity fire activity increased again during the mid-Holocene (ca. 5800–5000 cal yr BP), when effective moisture increased, favoring subalpine forest expansion and increased connectivity of woody biomass (sagebrush and forest), enhancing the potential for canopy fire spread. Only two small fire episodes were recorded in recent millennia when a rapid change in the sedimentation rate may indicate a partial loss of the sediment record. Rapid warming in recent decades has triggered the formation of dozens of thermal collapse ponds across the fen palsa. The frequency of these features has more than doubled since 2000 CE, underscoring the degradation of underlying permafrost in response to changing climatic conditions. Continued warming is expected to cause the complete loss of the permafrost lens and alter ecosystem dynamics, disturbance regimes, and carbon and nutrient cycling in alpine systems throughout the Rocky Mountains. Full article

Wildfire escalation is increasingly threatening ecosystems and communities in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), Pakistan, particularly in forest and rangeland landscapes where ecological flammability interacts with human activity. While environmental and climatic drivers are well studied, governance factors remain underexplored despite their decisive role in shaping how ecological risk translates into disasters. Regional forests show considerable ecological diversity, including chir pine-dominated stands, mixed temperate conifer forests, broadleaved oak-associated systems, and shrub rangeland mosaics, each differing in fuel structure and fire behavior. Dependence on fuelwood collection, grazing, and forest access further influences ignition probability and fire spread. This study examines how governance failures influence wildfire risk and severity through a Governance-Fire Risk Framework. Governance is treated as a determining institutional condition affecting prevention capacity, regulation of hazardous land use, fuel management, and emergency response effectiveness. A cross-sectional survey of 540 stakeholders from rural (Dir Lower, Dir Upper) and peri-urban districts (Swat, Mansehra, Abbottabad) was analyzed using SPSS (version 26) and AMOS (version 24) (CFA and SEM). Governance failure significantly escalates wildfire risk through delayed emergency response, regulatory non-compliance, political interference, and weak institutional coordination. Institutional preparedness and response capacity reduce risks, whereas corruption intensifies them. Corruption functions through illegal land conversion, diversion of fire management resources, procurement irregularities, nepotistic staffing, and selective enforcement, increasing ignition sources, fuel accumulation, and response delays. Rural districts show stronger governance-fire linkages. Wildfire escalation in KP is governance-driven in interaction with ecological conditions and community dependence on forest resources. Effective mitigation requires anti-corruption measures, rapid response systems, stronger enforcement, and improved preparedness. The study offers a transferable governance-focused framework for wildfire management in fire-prone developing regions. Full article

Temperate oak forests are biodiversity-rich ecosystems, and Mexico is a major center of diversification for Quercus, with high levels of endemism. In Michoacán (central Mexico), the rapid expansion of avocado cultivation has reduced oak forest cover and increased landscape fragmentation. Foliar endophytic fungi can contribute to host performance under biotic and abiotic stress, yet their diversity in endemic Mexican oaks and their response to land-use change remain poorly characterized. Here, we characterized the cultivable foliar endophytic fungal communities associated with Quercus castanea and Quercus obtusata along a forest–avocado orchard cover gradient. We isolated 112 endophytic fungal strains from leaves of Q. castanea (n = 56) and Q. obtusata (n = 56). All isolates belonged to Ascomycota and were assigned to four classes, 10 orders, and 32 genera based on nrITS sequences and genus-level phylogenetic analyses. The most abundant genera were Nigrospora (8%), Xylaria (7%), Nodulisporium (6%), and Daldinia (6%). Patterns of genus exclusivity and richness indices consistently showed higher diversity in forest-dominated landscapes than in orchard-dominated sites. Overall, our results indicate that forest-to-orchard conversion is associated with shifts in the structure of the cultivable foliar endophytic fungal communities of oak species and with a tendency toward reduced diversity in more disturbed landscapes. Further studies integrating culture-dependent and culture-independent approaches are needed to evaluate the functional implications of these patterns for host health and ecosystem resilience. Full article

Temperate seagrass meadows are foundation habitats, but their communities are hard to census. Here, I provide a first COI environmental DNA (eDNA) metabarcoding snapshot from seawater at a Zostera marina meadow in the Vostok Bay marine reserve (Peter the Great Bay, Sea of Japan). In September 2021, eDNA from two 900 mL replicates of water were filtered, isolated, amplified for the 313 bp COI fragment with dual-index PCR (multiple replicates), and sequenced on Illumina NovaSeq. I obtained 53,666 reads for 176 operational taxonomic units (OTUs). Eukaryota dominated (154 OTUs; 93.7% of reads), while 22 bacterial OTUs comprised 6.3%. The assemblage was largely photosynthetic microeukaryotes, especially diatoms (61 OTUs; 49% of reads), consistent with late-summer productivity. Metazoan detections included a strong signal of the phoronid Phoronopsis harmeri (7511 reads; 14%), diverse invertebrates, and few vertebrate reads (0.5%), indicating limited fish sensitivity of universal COI assays. One abundant OTU was initially assigned to the giant kelp Macrocystis pyrifera but was rejected after additional BLAST and phylogenetic checks, illustrating database-driven misassignments. COI eDNA offers rapid, low-impact screening for marine protected area monitoring, but robust use requires seasonal replication, multi-marker assays, and a curated regional reference library. Full article

Background/Objectives: Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) continues to pose a significant challenge for infection prevention, particularly because of its ability to persist on surfaces and form resilient biofilms. Although bacteriophages have attracted renewed interest as alternatives or complements to chemical disinfectants, their applied use requires careful assessment of antimicrobial performance, formulation tolerance, and genomic context. Methods: Staphylococcus-infecting bacteriophages were isolated from environmental sources and examined against reference Staphylococcus isolates. Two phage isolates, designated MRSA-W3 and SA-W2, displayed lytic activity against a broad subset of clinical MRSA strains. Using a time-resolved agar-based infection assay, phage exposure resulted in a multiplicity-of-infection-dependent decline in viable MRSA populations. Results: Time-resolved infection assays revealed a multiplicity-of-infection-dependent reduction in viable MRSA, with a pronounced decrease observed approximately 40 min post-infection. At this time point, phage-treated cultures showed a reduction of 1.2–1.8 log₁₀ CFU/mL relative to untreated controls (mean Δlog₁₀ = 1.5; 95% CI, 1.1–1.9), while control cultures remained stable. Quantitative biofilm assays demonstrated that both phages reduced biofilm biomass compared with untreated conditions, with inhibition values ranging from 20% to 45% across isolates (p ≤ 0.05), reflecting strain-dependent but reproducible effects. Assessment of formulation compatibility indicated that both phages retained infectivity following exposure to sodium dodecyl sulfate, Triton X-100, and Tween 80, whereas ethanol (≥10%) and higher concentrations of dimethyl sulfoxide were associated with rapid loss of activity. In surface disinfection models, selected phage–surfactant formulations achieved a maximum reduction of 2.18 log₁₀ CFU/cm² compared with untreated controls (p ≤ 0.05). Infection-coupled whole-genome sequencing of MRSA-infecting phage MRSA-W3 produced a high-quality assembly (99.99% completeness; 0.13% contamination) and revealed a mosaic genome containing incomplete prophage-like regions, which were interpreted conservatively as evidence of shared phage ancestry rather than active temperate behavior. Conclusions: Therefore, these findings suggest that bacteriophage-based approaches may be feasible for MRSA surface decontamination, while clearly emphasizing the need for context-specific validation before practical implementation. Full article

The rapid rise in atmospheric CO₂ necessitates strategies for mitigation and valorization. Microalgae offer potential through simultaneous CO₂ capture and production of high-value biomolecules. Five Chlorophyta strains (A–E: Micractinium sp., Chlamydomonas sp., Micractinium sp., Chlorococcum sp., and Chlorella vulgaris) were isolated from temperate waters and soils and tested for growth and biochemical responses under controlled nitrogen availability (low: 0.346 g L⁻¹ nitrate; high: 0.6 g L⁻¹ nitrate + ammonia), carbon supply (low: 0.04% CO₂; high: 4% CO₂), and cultivation systems (batch reactors, fermenters, and varied illumination). Over 14 days, maximum dry biomass was achieved in batch cultivation with CO₂ sparging, low nitrogen, and continuous light, ranging from 1.47 g L⁻¹ (strain A) to 2.67 g L⁻¹ (strain D). Biomass composition varied: proteins, 25–45%; carbohydrates, 20–35%; and lipids, 18–28%. Nitrogen limitation promoted lipid accumulation (e.g., strain D: +40%) with concurrent protein decline (−25%). Chlorophyll a/b displayed strain-specific plasticity; high CO₂ generally increased chlorophyll, while nitrogen stress reduced it up to 50%. Overall, this study demonstrates that locally adapted Chlorophyta strains can achieve high biomass productivity under CO₂ enrichment while allowing for flexible redirection of carbon flux toward lipids, carbohydrates, or pigments through nutrient management. Among the tested isolates, strains D and E emerged as the most promising candidates for integrated CO₂ sequestration and biomass production, while strains B, C, and D showed strong potential for biodiesel feedstock; strain A for carbohydrate valorization; and strain E for chlorophyll extraction. Future research should focus on scale-up validation in pilot photobioreactors under continuous operation, optimization of two-stage cultivation strategies for lipid production, integration with industrial CO₂ point sources, and strain improvement using modern genomics-assisted breeding and genome-editing technologies. These efforts will support the translation of regional microalgal resources into scalable carbon-capture and bioproduct platforms. Full article

In order to achieve the goal of carbon neutrality, the installed capacity of photovoltaic (PV) modules has been increasing rapidly. In particular, single-glass PV modules are widely deployed in both utility-scale and distributed PV power generation systems. However, single-glass modules are highly susceptible to internal faults (e.g., direct current arc faults and hotspot faults) and external fire sources (e.g., wildland fires and rooftop fires), which may lead to simultaneous burning of the modules and adjacent combustibles, thereby promoting large-scale fire spread and causing severe economic losses. In this study, a dedicated experimental platform was developed to systematically investigate the fire behavior of single-glass PV modules under exposure to a pool fire. Systematic fire experiments were conducted to investigate the influence of module inclination angle and tempered glass integrity on the burning process, molten dripping flame behavior, and temperature-rise characteristics of single-glass PV modules. The results show that the integrity of the front glass has a pronounced effect on the burning behavior. At the same inclination angle, cracked modules exhibit significantly faster fire growth and higher temperature-rise rates than intact modules, while also being more susceptible to rapid burn-through by the external fire, accompanied by the generation of numerous molten dripping flames. In addition, the module inclination angle has a significant influence on the fire behavior of PV modules. As the inclination angle increases, the fire development rate, temperature-rise rate, and average burning duration of dripping flames all display a non-monotonic trend of first increasing and then decreasing, reaching their maxima at an inclination angle of 15°. These findings provide a theoretical basis for the fire protection design and fire risk assessment of PV power generation systems and are of practical significance for enhancing their operational safety. Full article

Rural self-constructed homes in China’s cold-temperate regions often exhibit poor energy performance due to limited budgets and substandard construction, leading to a high reliance on active systems and low climate resilience. This study assesses four passive cooling strategies, nighttime natural ventilation (NNV), envelope retrofitting (ER), window shading (WS), and window-to-wall ratio adjustment (WWR), under 2040–2080 representative future climate conditions using energy simulation, multi-objective optimization, sensitivity analysis, and life-cycle cost assessment. Combined measures (COM) cut annual cooling demand by ~43% and representative peak cooling loads by ~50%. NNV alone delivers ~37% cooling reduction with rapid payback, while ER primarily mitigates heating demand. WS provides moderate cooling but slightly increases winter energy use, and WWR has minimal impact. Economic and sensitivity analyses indicate that COM and NNV are robust and cost-effective, making them the most suitable strategies for low-energy, climate-resilient retrofits in cold-climate rural residences. Since statistically extreme heat events are not explicitly modeled, the findings reflect relative performance under representative climatic conditions rather than guaranteed resilience under extreme heatwaves. Full article

Kyphosids are prominent members of temperate and subtropical reef fish communities, though many species are not targeted due to their poor eating qualities. This study investigated the biology of the non-targeted zebrafish, Girella zebra, from waters off southern Western Australia. Frequent captures of small juveniles enabled confirmation of the formation of the first otolith zone, and marginal increment analysis verified the annual formation of opaque zones. Female G. zebra reached a maximum total length and age of 399 mm and 45 years, while males attained 431 mm and 36 years. Girella zebra exhibits a “square” form of growth, as do other Kyphosids, whereby rapid growth occurs during the first 6–8 years, followed by minimal growth throughout a long adult lifespan. Length and age at maturity were 290 mm and 6.7 years for females and 269 mm and 4.9 years for males. Spawning occurs from August to December, and large gonads in both sexes are indicative of spawning in large schools. Natural mortality (M) estimates (females: 0.10–0.15 year⁻¹; males: 0.12–0.18 year⁻¹) exceeded total mortality from catch curves, reflecting that commonly used M estimators are based on heavily fished stocks. This study provides rare biological data for a species unaffected by fishing. Full article

The small freshwater lakes of Spitsbergen remain poorly studied compared to surrounding marine ecosystems despite their sensitivity to rapid environmental changes. During the short ablation season, these shallow lakes exhibit physicochemical variability influenced by the harsh Arctic climate, local geology, and hydrology. This study analyzed six lakes located on marine terraces, moraine areas, and outwash plains in the Bellsund region to assess how physicochemical variability in their waters affects phytoplankton development. The lakes exhibited local and temporal variations in temperature, conductivity, ion composition, and nutrient levels, with generally low nutrient availability limiting biological productivity. Phytoplankton communities were quantitatively and qualitatively poor, dominated by green algae, either flagellates or mixed communities, including cyanobacteria. Green algae clearly dominated in lakes closest to the fjord shoreline, while dinoflagellates and cryptophytes dominated in inland lakes. Phytoplankton abundance and biomass were extremely low in one of the lakes situated on the raised marine terraces within the tundra vegetation zone (3 × 10³ ind L⁻¹ and 0.004 mg L⁻¹, respectively). In contrast, the much larger lake situated within the tundra zone nearer the fjord shoreline had values that were comparable to fertile lakes in the temperate zone (~30 thousand × 10³ ind L⁻¹ and ~28 mg L⁻¹, respectively). It should be noted that Monoraphidium contortum and Rhodomonas minuta dominated some of the lakes almost entirely. Phytoplankton abundance was related to physicochemical conditions: green algae increased with increasing ion concentrations (Cl⁻, Na⁺, K⁺, SO₄²⁻), P_min, Fe, and Mn; flagellates preferred colder waters with higher N_min and low TOC; cyanobacteria occurred in waters with lower COND, TOC, Ca²⁺, Si, Cu, and Zn. Phytoplankton biomass increased in July with increasing water temperature. Bird activity likely facilitated phytoplankton dispersal, increasing taxonomic diversity in frequently visited lakes. Full article

This paper presents a discrete-time, centralized fractional-order linear quadratic regulator FOLQR for automatic generation control (AGC) of three-area interconnected nonreheat thermal systems. The AGC state explicitly includes the area control error (ACE) and tie-line power; a quadratic performance index penalizes ACE, its integral (IACE), and control effort. The continuous-time plant (governor–turbine dynamics and tie-line flows) is discretized at a fixed sampling interval, and a single centralized gain is obtained from the discrete algebraic Riccati equation; the fractional-order extension shapes memory in the feedback to temper rapid transients. Benchmark studies under 0.01 and 0.05 p.u. step-load disturbances show that FOLQR stabilizes the interconnection and consistently lowers peak excursions relative to a conventional discrete LQR (COQAGC) baseline—reducing frequency peaks by about 9–12% and tie-line peaks by 24–60% in the small-step case—while producing smoother actuator commands. Although FOLQR exhibits longer settling times, this trade-off is acceptable FOr multi-area AGC where limiting overshoot and tie-line excursions is operationally more critical than strict settling-time targets. The proposed controller retains a simple centralized, discrete-time structure with a modest computational burden, making it suitable FOr real-time AGC deployment in large interconnected grids and demonstrating for the first time, to our knowledge, a fractional-order LQR applied to a three-area thermal benchmark. Full article

Although phage@nanozymes have proven to be a rapid, precise, and cost-effective method for detecting pathogens in food, the basis of phage and nanozyme selection remains poorly understood. In this study, a novel colourimetric biosensor utilising the temperate phage SapYZUs891 and an Fe/Mn-MOF nanozyme was constructed and assessed for its efficacy in detecting Staphylococcus aureus in food products. Notably, SapYZUs891 exhibited a high titre, broad host range, and strong pH and thermal stability. Moreover, the bimetallic Fe/Mn-MOF nanozyme exhibited an enhanced oxidase-mimicking ability, greater affinity, and a higher reaction rate. The biosensor had a detection time of 19 min, a detection limit of 69 CFU/mL, and a recovery rate between 92.52% and 121.48%, signifying its high reliability and accuracy in identifying S. aureus. This sensor distinguishes between viable and non-viable bacteria and demonstrates resistance to interferent bacterial and food compounds, likely attributable to the particular receptor-binding proteins of SapYZUs891 that bind to the teichoic acid wall on the S. aureus. These results indicated that the SapYZUs891@Fe/Mn-MOF is suitable for the rapid visual assessment of S. aureus. Moreover, the highly sensitive and specific detection system holds significant potential for extended application in on-site screening of S. aureus contamination within food processing environments. Full article