The genus Alchemilla in the Beskid Niski Mts

The paper presents information on Alchemilla species occurring in the Beskid Niski Mts. Herbarium specimens collected from 1988 to 2013 and published data records were used to prepare this study. Distribution of each species is shown in the map, whereas appendix contains complete list of localities

How does students motivation to acquire new geospatial skills influence their choices of e-learning content?

Higher education in many disciplines is affected nowadays by an evident orientation to assist students in developing a certain set of skills required by the labour market. This trend is visible also in the field of Geographic Information Science and Technology (GIS&T). The composition of competencies encompasses, apart from industry-specific technical competencies, also soft skills related to personal effectiveness, academic and workplace competencies. Moreover, soft skills are gaining in importance, being identified as future work skills. As a result, students may search for certain skills when they come into contact with a particular learning content. In this study, we investigated how the motivation to acquire specific skills influences students’ behaviour on the e-learning platform. As a case study, we selected a study programme in land management carried out at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Management (Jagiellonian University in Cracow, Poland). Several different motivating factors, like GIS&T skills and the ability to co-operate, were identified and compared with students’ behaviour on the e-learning platform in certain modules of the study programme. The results indicated that students only partially prospected for certain competencies during their work with the content of the e-learning platform. Students’ motivation was more evident in their on-line behaviour when they wanted to acquire technical skills than when they planned to develop soft skills

Extensive range overlap between heliconiine sister species: evidence for sympatric speciation in butterflies?

BACKGROUND: Sympatric speciation is today generally viewed as plausible, and some well-supported examples exist, but its relative contribution to biodiversity remains to be established. We here quantify geographic overlap of sister species of heliconiine butterflies, and use age-range correlations and spatial simulations of the geography of speciation to infer the frequency of sympatric speciation. We also test whether shifts in mimetic wing colour pattern, host plant use and climate niche play a role in speciation, and whether such shifts are associated with sympatry. RESULTS: Approximately a third of all heliconiine sister species pairs exhibit near complete range overlap, and analyses of the observed patterns of range overlap suggest that sympatric speciation contributes 32%-95% of speciation events. Müllerian mimicry colour patterns and host plant choice are highly labile traits that seem to be associated with speciation, but we find no association between shifts in these traits and range overlap. In contrast, climatic niches of sister species are more conserved. CONCLUSIONS: Unlike birds and mammals, sister species of heliconiines are often sympatric and our inferences using the most recent comparative methods suggest that sympatric speciation is common. However, if sister species spread rapidly into sympatry (e.g. due to their similar climatic niches), then assumptions underlying our methods would be violated. Furthermore, although we find some evidence for the role of ecology in speciation, ecological shifts did not show the associations with range overlap expected under sympatric speciation. We delimit species of heliconiines in three different ways, based on "strict and " "relaxed" biological species concepts (BSC), as well as on a surrogate for the widely-used "diagnostic" version of the phylogenetic species concept (PSC). We show that one reason why more sympatric speciation is inferred in heliconiines than in birds may be due to a different culture of species delimitation in the two groups. To establish whether heliconiines are exceptional will require biogeographic comparative studies for a wider range of animal taxa including many more invertebrates

Test measurements of thoron concentration using two ionization chambers AlphaGUARD vs. radon monitor RAD7

The experiment aiming at testing the possibility of using AlphaGUARD monitors based on an ionization chamber for thoron measurements is presented. A single AlphaGUARD monitor working in the flow mode was applied to measure thoron concentration in the radon-free atmosphere. The sensitivity (correction factors) of the monitor to thoron was estimated by comparison with a RAD7 portable detector (Durridge Company), based on spectrometric analysis, in the thoron, radon-free atmosphere in a calibration chamber. This depends on the applied flow rate and changes from 8% for the flow rate of 0.3 dm3/min to 36% for 1 dm3/min. It was also revealed that the sensitivity of the monitor to thoron in the diffusion mode is equal to ca. 5% and may be neglected. The method involving two Alpha-GUARD monitors working in two different modes (diffusion and flow) at the same time may be used to evaluate radon and thoron concentration in the natural environmental conditions where usually both isotopes appear together. In this method thoron concentration is estimated as the difference of results obtained from two AlphaGUARD monitors multiplied by the correction factor corresponding to the applied flow rate. The devices based on spectrometric analysis, e.g. RAD7 seem to be a better tool for thoron measurements in the environmental conditions

Investigation of the influence of chamber construction parameters on radon exhalation rate

Radon exhalation from ground is a process dependent on the emanation and migration of radon through ambient air. Most studies on radon exhalation from soil were performed regarding the influence of meteorological and soil parameters. As radon exhalation rate can be affected by the internal properties of the sample, it may also be influenced by the exhalation chamber geometry such as volume-to-area (V/S) ratio or other construction parameters. The measurements of radon exhalation from soil were made using different constructions of accumulation chamber and two types of radon monitors: RAD7 (Durridge) and AlphaGUARD PQ2000PRO (Genitron). The measurements were performed on one site in two locations and approximately at the same time. The first tests did not show the correlations of exhalation rate values and the chamber's construction parameters and their geometrical dimensions. However, when examining the results, it seems that there are still too many factors that might have affected the process of radon exhalation. The future experiments are planned to be conducted in controlled laboratory conditions

Front-face fluorescence spectroscopy and chemometrics for quality control of cold-pressed rapeseed oil during storage

The aim of this study was to test the usability of fluorescence spectroscopy to evaluate the stability of cold-pressed rapeseed oil during storage. Freshly-pressed rapeseed oil was stored in colorless and green glass bottles exposed to light, and in darkness for a period of 6 months. The quality deterioration of oils was evaluated on the basis of several chemical parameters (peroxide value, acid value, K232 and K270, polar compounds, tocopherols, carotenoids, pheophytins, oxygen concentration) and fluorescence. Parallel factor analysis (PARAFAC) of oil excitation-emission matrices revealed the presence of four fluorophores that showed different evolution throughout the storage period. The fluorescence study provided direct information about tocopherol and pheophytin degradation and revealed formation of a new fluorescent product. Principal component analysis (PCA) performed on analytical and fluorescence data showed that oxidation was more advanced in samples exposed to light due to the photo-induced processes; only a very minor effect of the bottle color was observed. Multiple linear regression (MLR) and partial least squares regression (PLSR) on the PARAFAC scores revealed a quantitative relationship between fluorescence and some of the chemical parameters.Funding Agency Ministry of Science and Higher Education, Poland NN312428239 Poznan University of Economics and Businessinfo:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersio

Fournier's gangrene – a clinical case report

Fournier’s gangrene is an acute, rapidly progressive, necrotizing infection of the skin and subcutaneous tissues surrounding the genitals and perineum. Necrotizing fasciitis of the genital area is a rare disease entity. Although it concerns mostly males, can also occur in females and adolescents. In this syndrome, bacteria produce gases which accumulate in the infected tissue. The damage may also comprise tissue of the penis and scrotum. The infection is caused by aerobic and anaerobic bacteria. Usually the Fournier’s gangrene is caused by Staphylococci, Streptococci and Enteric bacteria. Bacterial infection can accompany the fungal infection. The high mortality rate is associated with bacterial contagion of the skin, fat, fascia and blood vessels. Harmful enzymes, produced by micro-organisms, induce numerous blood clots. They can lead to ischemia, which contribute to the development of necrosis. Fournier’s syndrome is a disease with a high mortality rate. Immunodeficiency, diabetes and chronic alcohol abuse favor the development of gangrene. Abrasion, burn or surgery complication may be the route of infection for microorganisms. Clinical symptoms appear within few days. Diagnostic process is based on the clinical picture. It is crucial to start treatment as soon as possible. Delay of the wide spectral intravenous antibiotic therapy and surgical removal of the necrotic tissue may result in death of the patient

Uncertainty in historical land-use reconstructions with topographic maps

The paper presents the outcomes of the uncertainty investigation of a long-term forest cover change analysis in the Polish Carpathians (nearly 20,000 km2) and Swiss Alps (nearly 10,000 km2) based on topographic maps. Following Leyk et al. (2005) all possible uncertainties are grouped into three domains - production-oriented, transformation- oriented and application-oriented. We show typical examples for each uncertainty domain, encountered during the forest cover change analysis and discuss consequences for change detection. Finally, a proposal for reliability assessment is presented

Growth of the wildland-urban interface and its spatial determinants in the Polish Carpathians

The Wildland-Urban Interface (WUI) is the area where natural vegetation is close to housing and area of concern due to various negative consequences for humans and the environment including fire ignitions, landscape fragmentation and human-wildlife interactions. The WUI is a global phenomenon, and widespread in many countries but long-term WUI dynamics and the main factors causing WUI growth are unknown. Our goal was to assess WUI changes in the Polish Carpathians since the mid-19th century, based on high-resolution spatial data for 1860s, 1970s and 2013. We found that WUI covered already 30% of the study area in the 1860s but grew to cover nearly half by 2013, especially at lower elevations. Detailed analysis of WUI determinants confirmed the areas closer to regional administrative centres or located on steep slopes were more WUI-prone. Tourist trail density also fostered WUI occurrence. We conclude that in Central Europe, with a long history of human settlements and agricultural activities, WUI has been a persistent landscape feature for centuries, but increased in area in recent decades due to widespread abandonment of agricultural land combined with development of new residential areas

Variation of chemical compounds in wild Heliconiini reveals ecological factors involved in the evolution of chemical defenses in mimetic butterflies.

Evolutionary convergence of color pattern in mimetic species is tightly linked with the evolution of chemical defenses. Yet, the evolutionary forces involved in natural variations of chemical defenses in aposematic species are still understudied. Herein, we focus on the evolution of chemical defenses in the butterfly tribe Heliconiini. These neotropical butterflies contain large concentrations of cyanogenic glucosides, cyanide-releasing compounds acting as predator deterrent. These compounds are either de novo synthesized or sequestered from their Passiflora host plant, so that their concentrations may depend on host plant specialization and host plant availability. We sampled 375 wild Heliconiini butterflies across Central and South America, covering 43% species of this clade, and quantify individual variations in the different CGs using liquid chromatography coupled with tandem mass spectrometry. We detected new compounds and important variations in chemical defenses both within and among species. Based on the most recent and well-studied phylogeny of Heliconiini, we show that ecological factors such as mimetic interactions and host plant specialization have a significant association with chemical profiles, but these effects are largely explained by phylogenetic relationships. Our results therefore suggest that shared ancestries largely contribute to chemical defense variation, pointing out at the interaction between historical and ecological factors in the evolution of Müllerian mimicry