The High–Low Arctic boundary: How is it determined and where is it located?

Geobotanical subdivision of landcover is a baseline for many studies. The High–Low Arctic boundary is considered to be of fundamental natural importance. The wide application of different delimitation schemes in various ecological studies and climatic scenarios raises the following questions: (i) What are the common criteria to define the High and Low Arctic? (ii) Could human impact significantly change the distribution of the delimitation criteria? (iii) Is the widely accepted temperature criterion still relevant given ongoing climate change? and (iv) Could we locate the High–Low Arctic boundary by mapping these criteria derived from modern open remote sensing and climatic data? Researchers rely on common criteria for geobotanical delimitation of the Arctic. Unified circumpolar criteria are based on the structure of vegetation cover and climate, while regional specifics are reflected in the floral composition. However, the published delimitation schemes vary greatly. The disagreement in the location of geobotanical boundaries across the studies manifests in poorly comparable results. While maintaining the common principles of geobotanical subdivision, we derived the boundary between the High and Low Arctic using the most up‐to‐date field data and modern techniques: species distribution modeling, radar, thermal and optical satellite imagery processing, and climatic data analysis. The position of the High–Low Arctic boundary in Western Siberia was clarified and mapped. The new boundary is located 50–100 km further north compared to all the previously presented ones. Long‐term anthropogenic press contributes to a change in the vegetation structure but does not noticeably affect key species ranges. A previously specified climatic criterion for the High–Low Arctic boundary accepted in scientific literature has not coincided with the boundary in Western Siberia for over 70 years. The High–Low Arctic boundary is distinctly reflected in biodiversity distribution. The presented approach is appropriate for accurate mapping of the High–Low Arctic boundary in the circumpolar extent

Russian Arctic Vegetation Archive—A new database of plant community composition and environmental conditions

Motivation: The goal of the Russian Arctic Vegetation Archive (AVA-RU) is to unite and harmonize data of plot-based plant species and their abundance, vegetation structure and environmental variables from the Russian Arctic. This database can be used to assess the status of the Russian Arctic vegetation and as a baseline to document biodiversity changes in the future. The archive can be used for scientific studies as well as to inform nature protection and restoration efforts. Main types of variables contained: The archive contains 2873 open-access geobotanical plots. The data include the full species. Most plots include information on the horizontal (cover per species and morphological group) and vertical (average height per morphological group) structure of vegetation, site and soil descriptions and data quality estimations. In addition to the open-access data, the AVA-RU website contains 1912 restricted-access plots. Spatial location and grain: The plots of 1–100 m2 size were sampled in Arctic Russia and Scandinavia. Plots in Russia covered areas from the West to the East, including the European Russian Arctic (Kola Peninsula, Nenets Autonomous district), Western Siberia (Northern Urals, Yamal, Taza and Gydan peninsulas), Central Siberia (Taymyr peninsula, Bolshevik island), Eastern Siberia (Indigirka basin) and the Far East (Wrangel island). About 72% of the samples are georeferenced. Time period and grain: The data were collected once at each location between 1927 and 2022. Major taxa and level of measurement: Plots include observations of >1770 vascular plant and cryptogam species and subspecies. Software format: CSV files (1 file with species list and abundance, 1 file with environmental variables and vegetation structure) are stored at the AVA-RU website (https://avarus.space/), and are continuously updated with new datasets. The open-access data are available on Dryad and all the datasets have a backup on the server of the University of Zurich. The data processing R script is available on Dryad

Unlocking the Provinces: Defining and Prioritizing Roman Provincial Studies

Despite the fact that the Roman provinces constituted the vast majority of territory of the Roman Empire, research and teaching in North America has focused predominantly on a Roman imperialist perspective borne out of Italy with Rome at the centre. This North American landscape, however, has changed dramatically. Researchers and students in Canada and the US more readily look to the provinces for new modes of research to answer questions about the past. Now, most Canadian universities employ a Roman archaeologist whose research focuses on the provinces rather than on the imperial core. This conference seeks to harness the surge of research interest in Canada and to set that research into an international framework with a globalized perspective. The very nature of the Roman Empire, as a vast multicultural endeavour, favours an approach that foregrounds the provinces, and which requires the insights of a globalized scholarly community

Change of isoforms' spectra of α-l-fucosidase from human skin fibroblasts in intracellular storage of nonhydrolyzable substances

AbstractThe effect of exogenous and endogenous products storage in lysosomes on the activity and multiple forms of α-l-fucosidase from human skin fibroblasts was investigated. It was shown that sucrose load, modelling intralysosomal accumulation of nonhydrolyzable products, causes certain changes in secretion level of α-l-fucosidase and multiple forms' spectra of the intracellular and secreted enzymes. These changes were different for the enzyme from embryonal and postnatal normal fibroblasts. Some changes of secreted α-l-fucosidase isoforms' spectra were found in fibroblasts from a patient with Fabry's disease, characterized by the intralysosomal storage of di- and trihexosylceramides. The alterations of isoforms' profiles in Fabry fibroblasts at the early and late accumulation stages were similar to those in sucrose-loaded embryonal and postnatal normal fibroblasts, respectively. It is proposed that intralysosomal accumulation of nonhydrolyzable compounds influences the α-L-fucosidase posttranslational processing

Culturological analysis of the popularization of physical culture and sports in the Moscow metro

The term "sport" is often used as a synonym for the concept of "physical culture". Physical culture is a collective concept that includes the whole range of achievements accumulated in the process of socio-historical development of the people: the level of health, sports skills, works of culture and art related to physical education, etc. In the USSR, the development of physical culture and sports was given great importance. Evidence of this is not only sports facilities, but also Moscow metro stations, in the design or name of which there is a theme of physical culture and sports. The Moscow Metro is included in the list of attractions that tourists must visit in the Russian capital. The purpose of this study is to study the stations of the Moscow metro, the decoration of which is associated with sports themes. In addition to traditional methods, a relatively new method was used in the study – microurbanism, which allows a detailed approach to the study of historical, artistic and other values of individual stations of the Moscow Metro. The scientific novelty of the work consists in the study of cultural, historical and artistic features of metro stations related to the topic of physical culture and sport