The origins and spread of domestic horses from the Western Eurasian steppes

This is the final version. Available on open access from Nature Research via the DOI in this recordData availability: All collapsed and paired-end sequence data for samples sequenced in this study are available in compressed fastq format through the European Nucleotide Archive under accession number PRJEB44430, together with rescaled and trimmed bam sequence alignments against both the nuclear and mitochondrial horse reference genomes. Previously published ancient data used in this study are available under accession numbers PRJEB7537, PRJEB10098, PRJEB10854, PRJEB22390 and PRJEB31613, and detailed in Supplementary Table 1. The genomes of ten modern horses, publicly available, were also accessed as indicated in their corresponding original publications57,61,85-87.NOTE: see the published version available via the DOI in this record for the full list of authorsDomestication of horses fundamentally transformed long-range mobility and warfare. However, modern domesticated breeds do not descend from the earliest domestic horse lineage associated with archaeological evidence of bridling, milking and corralling at Botai, Central Asia around 3500 BC. Other longstanding candidate regions for horse domestication, such as Iberia and Anatolia, have also recently been challenged. Thus, the genetic, geographic and temporal origins of modern domestic horses have remained unknown. Here we pinpoint the Western Eurasian steppes, especially the lower Volga-Don region, as the homeland of modern domestic horses. Furthermore, we map the population changes accompanying domestication from 273 ancient horse genomes. This reveals that modern domestic horses ultimately replaced almost all other local populations as they expanded rapidly across Eurasia from about 2000 BC, synchronously with equestrian material culture, including Sintashta spoke-wheeled chariots. We find that equestrianism involved strong selection for critical locomotor and behavioural adaptations at the GSDMC and ZFPM1 genes. Our results reject the commonly held association between horseback riding and the massive expansion of Yamnaya steppe pastoralists into Europe around 3000 BC driving the spread of Indo-European languages. This contrasts with the scenario in Asia where Indo-Iranian languages, chariots and horses spread together, following the early second millennium BC Sintashta culture

The Forest Observation System, building a global reference dataset for remote sensing of forest biomass

International audienceForest biomass is an essential indicator for monitoring the Earth's ecosystems and climate. It is a critical input to greenhouse gas accounting, estimation of carbon losses and forest degradation, assessment of renewable energy potential, and for developing climate change mitigation policies such as REDD+, among others. Wall-to-wall mapping of aboveground biomass (aGB) is now possible with satellite remote sensing (RS). However, RS methods require extant, up-to-date, reliable, representative and comparable in situ data for calibration and validation. Here, we present the Forest Observation System (FOS) initiative, an international cooperation to establish and maintain a global in situ forest biomass database. aGB and canopy height estimates with their associated uncertainties are derived at a 0.25 ha scale from field measurements made in permanent research plots across the world's forests. all plot estimates are geolocated and have a size that allows for direct comparison with many RS measurements. The FOS offers the potential to improve the accuracy of RS-based biomass products while developing new synergies between the RS and ground-based ecosystem research communities

CLASSIFICATION OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY

We offer a multi-level classification of IT based on bottom to up strata distribution of techniques, tools and hardware intended to work with information depending on their degree of complexity – from the tools of human-computer communication, collection, storage, retrieval, different ways of information processing to the IT for knowledge extraction and the emergence of new information as a result of complex methods

Comparison of some indicators of the thyroid gland functional activity in simultaneous testing of capillary and venous blood

Background. In clinical practice it is often impossible to draw blood from peripheral veins for laboratory testing. At the same time the problem of comparison of venous and capillary blood parameters is still insufficiently studied. Aims. To compare 5 laboratory indicators of the thyroid gland function FT3 (free T3), FT4 (free T4), TgAb (thyroglobulin antibodies), TPOAb (thyroid peroxidase antibodies), and TSH in order to assess deviations of these parameters in venous against capillary blood. Materials and methods. The study enrolled 22 clinically healthy patients of both sexes who had their venous and capillary blood samples simultaneously collected in compliance with pre-analytical rules. The tests were performed within three hours of sample collection on the analyzer Roche Cobas e601. Mean values were calculated for all parameters using a 95% confidence interval based on bootstrap. Differences between paired values of venous and capillary blood parameters were calculated and expressed in relative units (%). Wilcoxon test and correlation analysis were used to compare dependent samples. Results. A statistically significant increase in capillary against venous samples was shown for FT3 (mean deviation 3.11; p 0.001), FT4 (3.89%, p 0.001), TgAb (2.73%; p = 0.041) and TPOAb (6.75%; p 0.001), and a decrease for TSH (-4.3%; p 0.001). A 5%-deviation is in most cases clinically insignificant for diagnosis and choosing a treatment. All the capillary blood parameters under study strongly correlate (r 0.75) with the same parameters of the venous blood: r = 0.971 for FT3; r = 0.993 for FT4; r = 0.958 for TgAb; r = 0.836 for TPOAb; r = 0.995 for TSH. Conclusions. Thus, FT3, FT4 and TSH can be determined in the capillary blood without affecting accuracy and precision of clinical evaluation, while for TgAb and TPOAb these deviations may be significant only when the results are in upper borderline values

X-ray Fluorescence Spectroscopy Features of Micro- and Nanoscale Copper and Nickel Particle Compositions

The study is devoted to X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (XRF) features of micro- and nanosized powder mixtures of copper and nickel. XRF is a high accuracy method that allows for both qualitative and quantitative analysis. However, the XRF measurement error due to the size of the studied particles is not usually taken into account, which limits the use of the method in some cases, such as analysis of Ni-Cu mixtures and coatings. In this paper, a method for obtaining copper and nickel nanoparticles was investigated, and the XRF of powder compositions was considered in detail. The initial micro- and nanoparticles of copper and nickel were studied in detail using SEM, TEM, XRD, and EDX. Based on experimental data, calibration curves for copper-nickel powder compositions of various sizes were developed. According to the results, it was experimentally established that the calibration curves constructed for nanoscale and microscale powders differ significantly. The presented approach can be expanded for other metals and particle sizes

Characterization of Multiphase Oxide Layer Formation on Micro and Nanoscale Iron Particles

The article presents a detailed study and characterization of the oxide layers on the surface of iron particles of various sizes. Ten iron samples with a size range from a few nm to 50 µm were studied in detail using SEM, TEM, XRD, and TGA analysis. The composition of the multiphase oxide layers on the powder surface was investigated. The main components of the oxide layer were FeO, Fe3O4, and Fe2O3. By the obtained data, a model for the calculation of a multiphase oxide layer thickness on the surface of iron particles was proposed. The proposed model was validated and can be used for the characterization and certification of micro– and nanoscale iron particles