Ferns of paleophytic

Papratnjače su najprimitivnije stablašice koje su više od 200 milijuna godina (tijekom paleofitika) vladale kopnom. Akumulacijom prilagodbi i promjenom geoloških, klimatskih i geografskih čimbenika ostvarile su prijelaz biljaka iz vode na kopno te započele kolonizaciju koju su u kasnijim razdobljima nastavile sjemenjače. U ovom radu učinjen je kratki pregled pojedinih anatomskih i morfoloških prilagodbi potrebnih za naseljavanje kopna kao i uvjeta koji su vladali u tom razdoblju. Opisani su pojedini pripadnici svih skupina papratnjača koje su nastanjivale prvobitna kopnena staništa kao i njihova biogeografska raspodjela tokom paleofitika. Iako veliki broj papratnjača nije preživio paleofitik (prvenstveno drvenasti oblici), njihova je raznolikost i danas velika.Ferns are the most primitive tree plants which have over the period of 200 million years (during paleophytic) ruled the land. With the accumulation of adaptations and change in geology, climate and geography of the Earth, they have made transition from water to land and started the colonization, that in the later periods, is continued by seed plants. In this work, a short review of anatomical and morphological adaptations needed to colonize the land is given as well as the conditions that were present in that period. The individual examples of all groups of ferns which were the first to inhabit land habitats are given as well as their biogeographical distribution during paleophytic. Although the great number of fern species did not survive paleophytic (most of all tree ferns), their diversity today is still great

Ferns of paleophytic

Papratnjače su najprimitivnije stablašice koje su više od 200 milijuna godina (tijekom paleofitika) vladale kopnom. Akumulacijom prilagodbi i promjenom geoloških, klimatskih i geografskih čimbenika ostvarile su prijelaz biljaka iz vode na kopno te započele kolonizaciju koju su u kasnijim razdobljima nastavile sjemenjače. U ovom radu učinjen je kratki pregled pojedinih anatomskih i morfoloških prilagodbi potrebnih za naseljavanje kopna kao i uvjeta koji su vladali u tom razdoblju. Opisani su pojedini pripadnici svih skupina papratnjača koje su nastanjivale prvobitna kopnena staništa kao i njihova biogeografska raspodjela tokom paleofitika. Iako veliki broj papratnjača nije preživio paleofitik (prvenstveno drvenasti oblici), njihova je raznolikost i danas velika.Ferns are the most primitive tree plants which have over the period of 200 million years (during paleophytic) ruled the land. With the accumulation of adaptations and change in geology, climate and geography of the Earth, they have made transition from water to land and started the colonization, that in the later periods, is continued by seed plants. In this work, a short review of anatomical and morphological adaptations needed to colonize the land is given as well as the conditions that were present in that period. The individual examples of all groups of ferns which were the first to inhabit land habitats are given as well as their biogeographical distribution during paleophytic. Although the great number of fern species did not survive paleophytic (most of all tree ferns), their diversity today is still great

Ferns of paleophytic

Papratnjače su najprimitivnije stablašice koje su više od 200 milijuna godina (tijekom paleofitika) vladale kopnom. Akumulacijom prilagodbi i promjenom geoloških, klimatskih i geografskih čimbenika ostvarile su prijelaz biljaka iz vode na kopno te započele kolonizaciju koju su u kasnijim razdobljima nastavile sjemenjače. U ovom radu učinjen je kratki pregled pojedinih anatomskih i morfoloških prilagodbi potrebnih za naseljavanje kopna kao i uvjeta koji su vladali u tom razdoblju. Opisani su pojedini pripadnici svih skupina papratnjača koje su nastanjivale prvobitna kopnena staništa kao i njihova biogeografska raspodjela tokom paleofitika. Iako veliki broj papratnjača nije preživio paleofitik (prvenstveno drvenasti oblici), njihova je raznolikost i danas velika.Ferns are the most primitive tree plants which have over the period of 200 million years (during paleophytic) ruled the land. With the accumulation of adaptations and change in geology, climate and geography of the Earth, they have made transition from water to land and started the colonization, that in the later periods, is continued by seed plants. In this work, a short review of anatomical and morphological adaptations needed to colonize the land is given as well as the conditions that were present in that period. The individual examples of all groups of ferns which were the first to inhabit land habitats are given as well as their biogeographical distribution during paleophytic. Although the great number of fern species did not survive paleophytic (most of all tree ferns), their diversity today is still great

Urban dog spaces: the openness of dog-related government data in the city of Zagreb, Croatia *

Dogs and dog owners are increasingly present in modern urban spaces, and the construction and maintenance of urban infrastructure that includes places for them has become standard in most major cities. We wanted to investigate the extent to which the City of Zagreb is adhering to open data principles when it comes to dog-related data it makes available to citizens.The openness and quality of dog-related data was analysed in three steps. First, dog-related data was searched on various official websites and portals of the city and the data formats were ranked according to the five-star system for open data. In the second step, based on the available data, a field survey was conducted in 2020 to verify the found datasets and geocode them using a GPS device. In addition, the locations obtained from the local community of dog owners through social media were reviewed. Finally, data obtained from the survey was cross-checked with the government data to assess their quality. Government data on the locations of 300 dog waste bins and 72 green areas where dogs can be walked off-leash were available in Croatian from one or more government sources. All data sets found received the lowest score in terms of open data formats. Field survey revealed differences between the data and reality. The location of 40 dog waste bins could not be confirmed, and additional 53 bins were found that were not mentioned in the data. As for green areas, there were reportedly 10 dog parks in the city of Zagreb. The survey confirmed all locations and discovered 12 more, five of which were mentioned in the data but not designated as dog parks. The results suggest that the municipality needs to update the already open datasets more frequently. Improved implementation of these datasets into existing city data portals or the creation of a separate hub for dog owners would greatly improve the availability and reuse of this data by citizens

The first contribution to the ethnobotany of inland Dalmatia: medicinal and wild food plants of the Knin area, Croatia

An ethnobotanical survey was carried out in the Knin area (northern Dalmatia, Croatia) with the aim of recording traditional plant use by the local (native) people and contributing to the knowledge of plant biodiversity in the investigated area. Ethnobotanical data were collected by interviewing 40 local people at 17 locations. Data on 123 plant taxa (on average 21 taxa per interview) and 122 unique medicinal and 18 food uses in the local community were recorded. Prevalent medicinal uses of the recorded taxa were the treatment of digestive, respiratory, cardiovascular disorders, and injuries. The most commonly used plant parts gathered were leaves (35%) and flowers (20%). The most commonly collected plants in the investigated area were: Urtica dioica, Thymus longicaulis, Sambucus nigra, and Hypericum perforatum

The extraction efficiency of maceration, UAE and MSPD in the extraction of pyrethrins from Dalmatian pyrethrum

Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium /Trevir./ Sch. Bip.) synthesizes secondary metabolite pyrethrin, known for its potent insecticidal and repellent activity. The present study was aimed at optimizing the maceration extraction parameters that improve the efficiency of pyrethrin extraction from the dried Dalmatian pyrethrum flower heads. Extraction efficiencies under several conditions were investigated: different solvent types, extraction time, the rotational speed of the stirrer, and the solvent volume. The highest recovery values were obtained with 5 mL of acetone, at the rotational speed of 400 rpm, and the extraction time of three hours. In addition, the extraction efficiency of maceration was compared to that of ultrasound-assisted and matrix solid phase dispersion extraction, both previously optimized for pyrethrin extraction. The extractions were carried out on samples of three natural Dalmatian pyrethrum populations (Krk, Mt. Kozjak, and Senj). Both the total pyrethrin content and the HPLC profile varied between different extraction techniques. Across applied methods, the highest efficiency was observed with matrix solid phase dispersion extraction. Evaluation of the differences between data obtained using different extraction techniques was performed by the Bland-Altman analysis, revealing good agreement between the three methods

Local adaptation to the native environment affects pyrethrin variability in Dalmatian pyrethrum populations

The insecticidal compound pyrethrin is synthesized in Dalmatian pyrethrum (Tanacetum cinerariifolium (Trevis.) Sch.Bip.; Asteraceae), a plant species endemic to the eastern Mediterranean. Pyrethrin is a mixture of six compounds, pyrethrin I and II, cinerin I and II, and jasmolin I and II. For this study we sampled 15 natural Dalmatian pyrethrum populations covering the entire natural distribution range of the species; Croatian coastal regions and the islands, inland Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro. The plants were grown in a field experiment under uniform growing conditions to exclude a short-term response to environmental factors and instead observe variation in pyrethrin content and composition among and within populations due to genetic adaptation to the native environment. The drivers of local adaptation were explored by examining the role of bioclimatic factors as a cause of population differentiation. Pyrethrins were extracted by ultrasound-assisted extraction, and the extracts were analyzed by HPLC-UV-DAD. The populations differed significantly in the content and composition of pyrethrins. The highest levels of total pyrethrins (1.27% flower DW), were found in population P14 Budva and the significantly highest levels of pyrethrin I in population P14 Vranjske Njive, Podgorica (66.47% of total pyrethrin). Based on bioclimatic conditions of the sampling sites, populations were grouped into five bioclimatic groups (A, B, C, D, and E), which showed qualitative and quantitative variability in pyrethrin content. The most abundant bioclimatic group was bioclimatic group E, which was characterized by the highest average values for pyrethrin I (53.87% of total pyrethrin), total pyrethrin content (1.06% flower DW) and the ratio of pyrethrin I and II (1.85). The correlation analysis between the pyrethrin compounds and some of the bioclimatic variables (e. g., BIO03 Isothermality and BIO04 Temperature seasonality) showed their significant contribution in explaining the variation of pyrethrins in T. cinerariifolium. The differences in pyrethrin content and composition may be partly due to genetic adaptation to the ecological conditions of the native environment. The obtained data would enable the selection of source populations for breeding programs aimed at producing cultivars with desirable biochemical properties and adaptation to different bioclimatic conditions

Kakav je računalni vid u odnosu na standardni kolorimetar u procjeni boje sjemene ljuske graha (Phaseolus vulgaris L.)?

Common bean (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) exhibits a wide range of seed coat colors and this morphological trait is widely used in cultivar identification and assessment of diversity within this species. With an advancement in technology and informatics, new methods of assessing seed color are emerging in addition to traditionally used visual observation. Due to a great variety of color measuring techniques, the evaluation of the agreement between methods is needed prior to using the methods interchangeably. Seed coat color in terms of CIE L*a*b* color coordinates of 100 common bean accessions belonging to five mono-colored landraces was assessed using two methods, colorimeter and Computer vision. The percentage difference between the two methods across all samples for L* color coordinate was 5.81%, for a* color coordinate 23.32% and for b* color coordinate 44.44%. According to Bland-Altman difference plot there is a considerable lack of agreement between the two methods. However, using stepwise discriminant analysis revealed that colorimeter method correctly classified 97% of accessions into their respective landrace, while the classification success of the Computer vision was 99%.Grah (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) pokazuje veliki raspon boja sjemene ljuske te je korištenje ove morfološke karakteristike uobičajeno u identifikaciji kultivara i procjeni raznolikosti unutar vrste. Napretkom tehnologije i informatike pojavljuju se nove metode određivanja boje sjemena uz klasičnu metodu vizualnog određivanja. Zbog velikog broja tehnika određivanja boja, potrebna je ocjena usuglašenosti između metoda prije njihovog kombiniranja ili naizmjeničnog korištenja. Boja sjemena 100 primki pet jednobojnih tradicijskih kultivara graha opisana CIE L*a*b* koordinatama procijenjena je koristeći dvije metode, kolorimetar i računalni vid. Postotna razlika između dvije metode kroz sve uzorke za koordinatu L* iznosila je 5.81%, za koordinatu a* 23.32%, a za koordinatu b* 44.44%. Bland-Altmanov graf razlike pokazuje da postoji značajan nedostatak usuglašenosti između dvije metode. Koristeći postupnu diskriminantnu analizu uspješno je klasificirano 97% primki na temelju podataka dobivenih kolorimetrom dok je klasifikacijski uspjeh računalnog vida bio 99%

Quantification of 3D microstructural parameters of trabecular bone is affected by the analysis software

Over the last decades, the use of high-resolution imaging systems to assess bone microstructural parameters has grown immensely. Yet, no standard defining the quantification of these parameters exists. It has been reported that different voxel size and/or segmentation techniques lead to different results. However, the effect of the evaluation software has not been investigated so far. Therefore, the aim of this study was to compare the bone microstructural parameters obtained with two commonly used commercial software packages, namely IPL (Scanco, Switzerland) and CTan (Bruker, Belgium). We hypothesized that even when starting from the same segmented scans, different software packages will report different results. Nineteen trapezia and nineteen distal radii were scanned at two resolutions (20 mu m voxel size with microCT and HR-pQCT 60 mu m). The scans were segmented using the scanners' default protocol. The segmented images were analyzed twice, once with IPL and once with CTan, to quantify bone volume fraction (BV/TV), trabecular thickness (Tb.Th), trabecular separation (Tb.Sp), trabecular number (Tb.N) and specific bone surface (BS/BV). Only small differences between IPL and CTan were found for BV/TV. For Tb.Th, Tb.Sp and BS/BV high correlations (R-2 >= 0.99) were observed between the two software packages, but important relative offsets were observed. For microCT scans, the offsets were relative constant, e.g., around 15% for Tb.Th. However, for the HR-pQCT scans the mean relative offsets ranged over the different bone samples (e.g., for Tb.Th from 14.5% to 19.8%). For Tb.N, poor correlations (0.43 We conclude that trabecular bone microstructural parameters obtained with IPL and CTan cannot be directly compared except for BV/TV. For Tb.Th, Tb.Sp and BS/BV, correction factors can be determined, but these depend on both the image voxel size and specific anatomic location. The two software packages did not produce consistent data on Tb.N. The development of a universal standard seems desirable

Firefly Occurrences in Croatia – One Step Closer from Citizen Science to Open Data*

Fireflies (Coleoptera: Lampyridae), with more than 2 000 species in 100 genera worldwide, are a charismatic nocturnal species. Although popular in different cultures because of their association with warm summer evenings in childhood, fireflies are an under-researched insect. Like numerous other insects worldwide, fireflies have experienced declines in their distribution and abundance. Anthropogenic impacts and climate change are likely to influence their development, reproduction, and survival. A project called “Krešo Krijesnica” (eng. “Krešo the Firefly”), used a Citizen Science model of data collection, to determine where are the fireflies located and how abundant are they throughout Croatia. Citizen Science involves the participation of the general or non-scientific public in data collection so determining the basic demographic profile of the citizen scientists involved was also one of the project goals. During the first phase of the project (2019-2021), data on fireflies were provided by citizen scientists through a formal survey on social media (Facebook, Instagram). Phase two aims to open the fireflies’ datasets to the public through various open data portals. In the three years of the project, more than 16 000 records of fireflies were collected and analysed from over 1800 sightings. Descriptive statistics showed that the highest firefly population density was found in central Croatia, which is consistent with the greater number of people living in this area and thus a greater chance of firefly detection. Higher number pf female reporters were noted during the project. The dataset collected in this Citizen Science project presents a valuable source of information to the scientific community, especially in the field of entomology, conservation biology and ecology