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Trait-Based Modeling of Surface Cooling Dynamics in Olive Fruit Using Thermal Imaging and Mixed-Effects Analysis
No full textEffective postharvest cooling of olive fruit is increasingly critical under rising harvest temperatures driven by climate change. This study models passive cooling dynamics using a trait-based, mixed-effects statistical framework. Ten olive groups-representing seven cultivars and different ripening or size stages-were subjected to controlled cooling conditions. Surface temperature was recorded using infrared thermal imaging, and morphological and compositional traits were quantified. Temperature decay was modeled using Newton's Law of Cooling, extended with a quadratic time term to capture nonlinear trajse thectories. A linear mixed-effects model was fitted to log-transformed, normalized temperature data, incorporating trait-by-time interactions and hierarchical random effects. The results confirmed that fruit weight, specific surface area (SSA), and specific heat capacity (SHC) are key drivers of cooling rate variability, consistent with theoretical expectations, but quantified here using a trait-based statistical model applied to olive fruit. The quadratic model consistently outperformed standard exponential models, revealing dynamic effects of traits on temperature decline. Residual variation at the group level pointed to additional unmeasured structural influences. This study demonstrates that olive fruit cooling behavior can be effectively predicted using interpretable, trait-dependent models. The findings offer a quantitative basis for optimizing postharvest cooling protocols and are particularly relevant for maintaining quality under high-temperature harvest conditions.During the preparation of this manuscript, the authors used ChatGPT [OpenAI GPT-4, 2025] for the purposes of refining the written presentation but not for statistical modeling or analytical decisions. The authors have reviewed and edited the output and take full responsibility for the content of this publication
One Creative Class does not fit all! A case study of a Belgian region
No full text2 Creativity and innovation are vital components for organisations and cities to thrive. Richard Florida 3 proposed a framework for regional development, putting creative individuals (the 'Creative Class') at the 4 centre and linking them with three key elements for success, namely talent, technology and tolerance (the 5 3Ts). Used by policymakers around the world to develop their regional strategy, the importance of this 6 group of creative individuals cannot be underestimated. Understanding them will help attracting them, 7 which will contribute to regional development. However, knowledge on their characteristics, differences, 8 and perceptions is lacking. Therefore, this study researches the Creative Class, gathering insights on their 9 backgrounds and asking about their satisfaction and perceptions of the 3Ts. Through an online survey 10 in Qualtrics targeting people working in creative occupations in Limburg, Belgium, this study examines 11 possible correlations between intrapreneurship, satisfaction with the job or region and the 3Ts using 12 Spearman's rank-order correlation. Next, this research offers new insights into how different demographic 13 and professional subgroups perceive the 3Ts through running T-tests, ANOVA and their non-parametric 14 equivalents. All analyses were run in SPSS. Quantitative analyses reveal correlations and differences in 15 personal and work contexts linked to differences in perceptions of the 3Ts. Through this comprehensive 16 analysis, a deeper understanding of the interplay between creativity, personal backgrounds, and individual 17 perceptions of the expanded 3T model is achieved. The results highlight the importance of measuring the 18 3Ts through personal perceptions, revealing distinct differences within the Creative Class. Acknowledging 19 the diversity of the Creative Class, this research aims to show how individual backgrounds and job context 20 may shape perceptions of the expanded 3T framework. By showing their impact on the 3Ts, this study 21 emphasises the value of incorporating personal and work context measures when examining the Creative 22 Class. 23Theviewsexpressedinthisarticlearesolelytheresponsibilityoftheauthors.Theworkisoriginal; 3 notpreviouslypublished inanyformor language; and isnotconcurrentlysubmittedtoother 4 journalsforreview.Thismanuscriptisauthorizedbyall listedauthorsandanyinvolvedresponsible 5 authorities. Noneof theauthorshaveaconflictof interesttodisclose. Thisresearchwasnot 6 funded.Theauthor(s)haveusedConnectedPapers,PerplexityandElicit inthisresearchwork 7 toscreenandfindpaperswithintherelevantresearchfield.Theauthor(s)haveusedChatGPT 8 andCopilottosummarisepapersandaskquestionsaboutthecontent.Theauthor(s)take(s)full 9 responsibilityforthecontentof theresearchwork
A DNA Barcode Inventory of Austrian Dragonfly and Damselfly (Insecta: Odonata) Species
No full textSimple Summary Dragonflies and damselflies are good indicators of the health of rivers, ponds, and wetlands. In Austria, 78 species of these insects have been recorded. While we know a lot about where they live and how threatened they are, genetic data have been largely lacking. This study begins to fill that gap by creating a DNA reference library for Austrian dragonflies and damselflies. We collected many dragonfly and damselfly individuals from across Austria and sequenced two key DNA markers: COI, commonly used for species identification, and 16S, which is often used to detect species from environmental samples like water (a method known as eDNA metabarcoding). More than 90% of the samples were successfully identified using both markers. Some challenges appeared with closely related species, where the genetic differences are very small, but overall, the results show that both markers work well for identifying most species. This new reference DNA barcode library will support future biodiversity monitoring and conservation work, especially through non-invasive eDNA methods that help track species without needing to see or catch them.Abstract Dragonflies and damselflies are important indicator species for quality and health of (semi-)aquatic habitats. Hitherto, 78 species of Odonata have been reported for Austria. Ecological data, Red List assessments, and a dragonfly association index exist, but population- and species-level genetic data are largely lacking. In this study, we establish a comprehensive reference DNA barcode library for Austrian dragonflies and damselflies based on the standard barcoding marker COI. Because of the increasing significance of environmental DNA (eDNA) analyses, we also sequenced a segment of the mitochondrial 16S rRNA gene, a marker often used in eDNA metabarcoding approaches. In total, we provide 786 new COI barcode sequences and 867 new 16S sequences for future applications. Sequencing success was >90 percent for both markers. Identification success was similar for both markers and exceeded 90 percent. Difficulties were only encountered in the genera Anax Leach, 1815, Chalcolestes Kennedy, 1920, Coenagrion Kirby, 1890 and Somatochlora Selys, 1871, with low interspecific genetic distances and, consequently, BIN (barcode index number) sharing. In Anax, however, individual sequences clustered together in species-specific groups in the COI tree. Irrespective of these challenges, the results suggest that both markers perform well within most odonate families in terms of sequencing success and species identification and can be used for reliably delimiting Austrian species, monitoring, and eDNA approaches.Funding:
Financial support was provided by the Austrian Federal Ministry of Science, Research and Economy in the frame of ABOL (Austrian Barcode of Life) and an ABOL associated project within the framework of the “Hochschulraum-Strukturmittel” Funds as well as by the Municipal Department 22—Environmental Protection (MA22) and the European Agricultural Fund for Rural Development 2014–2020 (Project Number W-UNS-01/17). Open Access Funding by the University of Graz.
Acknowledgments:
We would like to thank the people who helped with sampling and lab work. Furthermore, we are grateful anonymous reviewers for their valuable comments. Open Access Funding by the University of Graz
On the lagged non-linear association between air pollution and COVID-19 cases in Belgium
No full textExposure to air pollution has been proposed as a determinant of COVID-19 dynamics. While the connection between air pollution and COVID-19 has been established for several countries worldwide, few such analyses exist in Belgium. Therefore, we examine this potential association in Belgium, using COVID-19 cases of all 581 municipalities between September 2020 and January 2022. We employ a Bayesian spatio-temporal negative binomial model, allowing for potential non-linear and lagged effects of pollution. Comparing different single-pollutant models, we find that the model providing the best fit to the data contains black carbon. At the median pollution level, a cumulative risk of 1.66 (1.57, 1.74) over 8 weeks is found for this pollutant, compared to the 5% pollution quantile. In addition, the study reveals a remarkable similarity in COVID-19 incidence between adjacent municipalities in Belgium.
Our findings suggest paying careful attention to highly air polluted areas when preparing for future pandemics of respiratory diseases.TN gratefully acknowledges funding by the Research Foundation - Flanders, Belgium (grant number G0A4121N
Symbiotic interactions challenged by environmental stress in aquatic transitional habitats
No full textEstuaries present transitional habitats between freshwater and marine ecosystems. They are known for their changing abiotic conditions, influenced by daily and seasonal changes in sea levels, changes in temperature, and river influx. Estuaries are also significantly impacted by climate change, which affects them through changes of sea levels, water temperature, salinity and acidity. These changes will increase the environmental stress experienced by aquatic organisms and their symbiotic communities, which include bacteria and metazoan parasites, and influence their symbiotic relationships. The impact of climate change and environmental stress on aquatic estuarine organisms is underexplored on the level of symbiotic communities. This project is focused on understanding the effects of global climate change on these communities. We will research the diversity present in fish-parasite-microbiome communities on the east coast of the United States of America using the Atlantic mummichog (Fundulus heteroclitus) as a fish host model species; identify mechanisms of stress response to salinity change in fish ectoparasites; describe the genomic landscape of salinity tolerance in a symbiont community; and model the possible direction of change in a symbiont community under the influence of climate change. The project started with the research of ectoparasites of estuarine fishes from South Carolina. Species of Anchoa, Fundulus, Gambusia, Gobiosoma, Menidia and Mugil (n=11) were screened for the presence of ectoparasites. In total, 15 species belonging to different lineages of monopisthocotylan flatworms (Gyrodactylus, Ligophorus, Salsuginus), polyopisthocotylan flatworms (Metamicrocotyla) and copepods (Bomolochus, Caligus, Ergasilus, Naobranchia). From all screened hosts species Ligophorus have the highest mean intensity and prevalence. Furthermore, M. cephalus harbors the highest parasite species richness (seven). Some of the parasites identified present new records for the study area. These parasites show strong patterns of host-specificity and can be found in different habitats within the estuary, such as creeks, small lakes and water reservoirs
Gevaarlijke zaken, gebrekkige zaken en de invloed van instructies op het aansprakelijkheidsrisico
No full textRECHTSPRAAK 90 NR. 495 | 7 febRuaRi 2024 De bewering van de heer M.R. als zouden de door de gerechtsdeskundige onder-zochte vuurwerkdozen niet dezelfde zijn als deze aangekocht en aangestoken door de heer M.R. wordt evenmin op enige wij-ze aangetoond. Indien dit het geval zou zijn, stelt het hof vast dat hoe dan ook geen bewijs voor-ligt van het feit dat het vuurwerkproduct, aangekocht bij V., gebrekkig is en het on-geval veroorzaakt heeft. Een andere vuur-werkdoos ligt niet voor. De bewering dat er sprake zou zijn van een aan zekerheid grenzend vermoeden dat het ongeval werd veroorzaakt door een vuurwerkdoos aan-gekocht bij V. kan niet worden gevolgd, nu uit de videobeelden duidelijk blijkt dat er minstens 7 vuurwerkproducten langs de kant van de weg stonden opgesteld en het geenszins wordt aangetoond dat de vuur-werkdoos, die door de heer M.R. werd aan-gestoken deze is, werd aangekocht bij V. Bij gebrek aan het bewijs van het feit dat het bij V. aangekocht vuurwerk gebrekkig zou zijn en het ongeval heeft veroorzaakt, zijn de vorderingen van de heer M.R. ten aanzien van V. Events en B. ongegrond. De vordering in vrijwaring van V. ten aan-zien van B. en deze van B. ten aanzien V. zijn zonder voorwerp. Het bestreden von-nis wordt op dit punt bevestigd
Periodic normal forms for bifurcations of limit cycles in DDEs
No full textA recent work by the authors on the existence of a periodic smooth
finite-dimensional center manifold near a nonhyperbolic cycle in delay
differential equations motivates the derivation of periodic normal forms. In
this paper, we prove the existence of a special coordinate system on the center
manifold that will allow us to describe the local dynamics on the center
manifold near the cycle in terms of these periodic normal forms. To construct
the linear part of this coordinate system, we prove the existence of time
periodic smooth Jordan chains for the original and adjoint system. Moreover, we
establish duality and spectral relations between both systems by using tools
from the theory of delay equations and Volterra integral equations, dual
perturbation theory, duality theory and evolution semigroups.The authors express their sincere gratitude to Prof. Odo Diekmann (Utrecht University) for his invaluable recommendation to delve into the theory of evolution semigroups. The authors are thankful to Prof. Peter De Maesschalck (Hasselt University), Prof. Stephan van Gils (University of Twente) and Stein Meereboer (Radboud University) for helpful discussions and suggestions
Commentaar bij art. 496/3 oud BW
No full text496/3. Indien van de mogelijkheden bedoeld in de artikelen 496 en 496/1 geen ge-bruik is gemaakt of indien het niet mogelijk was de gemaakte keuze te volgen, kiest de vrederechter een bewindvoerder die geschikt is om de te beschermen per-soon bij te staan of te vertegenwoordigen. De vrederechter kiest als bewindvoerder over de persoon bij voorkeur een familiale bewindvoerder, rekening houdend met de mening van deze persoon, alsook met zijn persoonlijke omstandigheden, zijn leefomstandigheden en zijn gezinstoestand. De vrederechter wijst bij voorkeur de bewindvoerder over de persoon aan tot bewindvoerder over de goederen, tenzij dit strijdig is met het belang van de te be-schermen persoon of er geen vertrouwenspersoon werd aangewezen. Bij afwezig-heid van bewindvoerder over de persoon of ingeval de vrederechter oordeelt dat een andere persoon tot bewindvoerder over de goederen moet aangewezen wor-den, kiest hij als bewindvoerder over de goederen bij voorkeur een familiale be-windvoerder, of de lasthebber bedoeld in artikel 490, rekening houdend met de mening van de te beschermen persoon alsook met zijn persoonlijke omstandighe-den, de aard en samenstelling van het te beheren vermogen en de gezinstoestand van de te beschermen persoon. Indien de vrederechter een private stichting of een stichting van openbaar nut wenst aan te wijzen tot bewindvoerder, onderzoekt hij vooraf of de statuten van deze stichting en de reglementen die ter uitvoering van de statuten zijn uitgevaar-digd, aansluiten bij de doelstellingen en bepalingen van dit hoofdstuk. Wanneer de vrederechter geen familiale bewindvoerder kan aanwijzen om re-denen die hij in zijn beschikking vermeldt, wijst hij een professionele bewind-voerder aan. De vrederechter houdt bij zijn keuze rekening met de criteria bedoeld in het tweede of derde lid, naargelang het een bewindvoerder over de persoon of een bewindvoerder over de goederen betreft