Millipedes (Diplopoda) of the Aggtelek National Park, Northeast Hungary

Twenty-two species of millipedes (Diplopoda) were recorded during a survey of the Aggtelek National Park in north-eastern Hungary, consisting of one-fifth of the total Hungarian millipede fauna. The relatively low representation may be due to the general pitfall trap collecting method, thus leaving out species with special habitat requirements such as bark-dwellers, etc. Species worth mentioning, however, could still be recorded: Glomeris tetrasticha, Polyzonium germanicum, Enantiulus tatranus, and Unciger transsilvanicus were only collected in very few occasions. Specimens of Mastigona bosniensis Verhoeff, 1897, M. bosniensis hungaricum Loksa, 1953, and M. mehelyi Verhoeff, 1897 were found so similar and geographically so closely occurring to each other, that they are considered here as synonyms. The same is true for Enantiulus tatranus evae (Loksa, 1968) which we consider identical with the nominal form

Report on a collecting trip of the British Myriapod Group to Hungary in 1994

During a collecting trip participated jointly by the members of the British Myriapod Group and by Hungarian experts in 1994, 34 species of millipedes, 14 of centipedes, 8 of woodlice and 73 of spiders were recorded from Hungary. Two records of the millipede species Boreoiulus tenuis (Bigler, 1913) and Styrioiulus styricus (Verhoeff, 1896) were new to the fauna of Hungary

Millipedes (Diplopoda) of twelve caves in Western Mecsek, Southwest Hungary

Twelve caves of Western Mecsek, Southwest Hungary were examined between September 2010 and April 2013from the millipede (Diplopoda) faunistical point of view. Ten species were found in eight caves, which consistedeutroglophile and troglobiont elements as well. The cave with the most diverse fauna was the Törökpince Sinkhole, while thetwo previously also investigated caves, the Abaligeti Cave and the Mánfai-kőlyuk Cave provided less species, which couldbe related to their advanced touristic and industrial utilization

Short-term solar eruptive activity prediction models based on machine learning approaches: a review

Solar eruptive activities, mainly including solar flares, coronal mass ejections (CME), and solar proton events (SPE), have an important impact on space weather and our technosphere. The short-term solar eruptive activity prediction is an active field of research in the space weather prediction. Numerical, statistical, and machine learning methods are proposed to build prediction models of the solar eruptive activities. With the development of space-based and ground-based facilities, a large amount of observational data of the Sun is accumulated, and data-driven prediction models of solar eruptive activities have made a significant progress. In this review, we briefly introduce the machine learning algorithms applied in solar eruptive activity prediction, summarize the prediction modeling process, overview the progress made in the field of solar eruptive activity prediction model, and look forward to the possible directions in the future

Effect of Vitamin D Status on Vascular Function of the Aorta in a Rat Model of PCOS

Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) is associated with elevated cardiovascular risk. Early vascular dysfunction may lead to the development of cardiovascular disease in PCOS. Vitamin D deficiency (VDD) is a common comorbidity of PCOS that contributes to the pathogenesis of the disease and its complications. Both PCOS and VDD are accompanied by increased oxidative stress that may be involved in the arising vascular dysfunction. We aimed to investigate the role of vitamin D status on aortic function. PCOS was induced by an 8-week-long transdermal testosterone treatment of female rats, and low and adequate vitamin D status was achieved by dietary means. Contraction and relaxation abilities of isolated aortic segments were measured by myograph. Resorcin-fuchsin staining and immunohistochemical labeling of 3-nitrotyrosine were performed. No difference was shown in the norepinephrine-induced contraction of the aortas of different groups, whereas we detected reduced acetylcholine- and insulin-evoked relaxation in VDD groups. A lower level of resorcin-fuchsin staining and elevated 3-nitrotyrosine immunostaining was observed in VDD. In our study, we demonstrated early endothelial dysfunction in VDD PCOS rat model. Vitamin D supplementation could prevent vascular disturbances, while VDD itself damaged endothelium-dependent vasorelaxation and induced nitrative stress

Abundance patterns of terrestrial isopods along an urbanization gradient

The abundance of terrestrial isopods (Isopoda: Oniscidea) was evaluated along an urban-suburban-rural gradient. We tested two hypotheses regarding the response of species: (i) habitat specialist hypothesis, according to which the abundance of the forest specialists would increase, while the abundance of the urban environment specialist isopods would decrease along the urban-rural gradient, and (ii) opportunistic species hypothesis (abundance of the generalist species would increase by increasing level of urbanization). The abundance of the forest specialist isopod Trachelipus ratzeburgii increased significantly along the studied gradient. An opposite tendency was observed for the abundance of the urban environment specialist isopod Porcellio scaber , as it was significantly higher in the urban area than in the suburban and rural sites. One generalist species (Trachelipus rathkii) gained dominance in the urban area, while other two generalists (Armadillidium vulgare and Porcellium collicola) showed no significant changes in abundance along the gradient