Beyond the usual suspects: methanogenic communities in eastern North American peatlands are also influenced by nickel and copper concentrations

Peatlands both accumulate carbon and release methane, but their broad range in environmental conditions means that the diversity of microorganisms responsible for carbon cycling is still uncertain. Here we describe a community analysis of methanogenic archaea responsible for methane production in 17 peatlands from 36 to 53 N latitude across the eastern half of North America, including three metal-contaminated sites. Methanogenic community structure was analyzed through Illumina amplicon sequencing of the mcrA gene. Whether metal-contaminated sites were included or not, metal concentrations in peat were a primary driver of methanogenic community composition, particularly nickel, a trace element required in the F430 cofactor in methyl-coenzyme M reductase that is also toxic at high concentrations. Copper was also a strong predictor, likely due to inhibition at toxic levels and/or to cooccurrence with nickel, since copper enzymes are not known to be present in anaerobic archaea. The methanogenic groups Methanocellales and Methanosarcinales were prevalent in peatlands with low nickel concentrations, while Methanomicrobiales and Methanomassiliicoccales were abundant in peatlands with higher nickel concentrations. Results suggest that peat-associated trace metals are predictors of methanogenic communities in peatlands.

Hailstorm risk assessment for crop areas in Moldova Region (Romania)

Estimating the impact of hail on agricultural land is needed in order to streamline damage reduction methods. In this regard, hail risk maps were prepared for the region of Moldova for the main types of crops (wheat and rye, corn, potato, sugar beet, sunflower, vegetables, orchards and vineyards). The methodology that we used consists in determining the risk map, as the product between the hazard map (average annual number of days with hail), the exposure map (agricultural crop value) and the vulnerability map (the percentage occupied by a certain agricultural crop in the administrative units). Areas with severe hail risk are in the eastern half of Vrancea County, the western part of Galati County and the northeastern part of Iasi County, where there are large areas cultivated with vines, orchards and vegetables. In Vaslui County, the most exposed ATUs are those in the vicinity of Bârlad, Fălciu Hills and the Huși wine area. Most AUs in Bacău and Suceava counties, in the southern part of Neamț County, are included in the medium and high-risk classes due to the suitable conditions for cultivating most plants and the higher frequency of hail. The ATUs from Botosani County are included in the low and medium risk classes. The lowest level of risk is registered in the case of AUs from the mountainous area, the Curvature Subcarpathians and the areas with higher altitudes from the Central Moldavian Plateau and Tutova Hills.

Report on the activities of the Society of Physicians at Kazan University in 1921 and a look at its tasks in the future

Under difficult conditions, our Society entered the reporting 54th year of its existence. Kazan University, this lighthouse, which for more than a century illuminated the entire eastern half of our fatherland with the light of higher enlightenment, threatened to go out completely.

Iberoccitanemys atlanticum (Lapparent de Broin & Murelaga, 1996) n. comb.: new data on the diversity and paleobiogeographic distributions of the Campanian-Maastrichtian bothremydid turtles of Europe

Bothremydidae is the most abundant clade of turtles in the Campanian and Maastrichtian (Upper Cretaceous) fossil record of southwestern Europe. Several members of Foxemydina Gaffney, Tong & Meylan, 2006 are known in an area that includes Southern France and the North-Eastern half of Spain. The problematic ‘Polysternon’ atlanticum is the worst characterized, lacking a diagnosis that allows its specific validity to be confirmed, and whose generic attribution has been recognized as doubtful. Its presence was exclusively proposed in its type locality, the upper Campanian quarry of Laño, in Treviño County (Burgos Province, North of Spain). Despite the fact that knowledge about Bothremydidae has markedly increased after the description of ‘Polysternon’ atlanticum Lapparent de Broin & Murelaga, 1996, no new information about this species has been published since the 1990s. The analysis of abundant unpublished material of the bothremydid from Laño allows us to confirm the validity of this species. As a consequence of this study, it is not only identified in its type locality, but also in other Spanish regions and in the south of France. The diversity of Bothremydidae Baur, 1891 in the Upper Cretaceous of Europe is lower than previously considered. Thus, the species ‘Iberoccitanemys convenarum’ (Laurent, Tong & Claude, 2002), originally defined for the French record, and subsequently also identified in Spain, is identified here as a synonym of the species described in Laño. An emended diagnosis for the upper Campanian to upper Maastrichtian, Iberoccitanemys atlanticum (Lapparent de Broin & Murelaga, 1996) n. comb., is proposed.

Justinian, Roman Progress, and the Death of the Western Roman Empire

Roman control of Italy persisted after the loss of much of the West. Italian fortunes recovered under the leadership of the non-Roman sovereigns Odoacer and Theoderic, both of whom presented their regimes as continuations of the Western Roman state. The eastern half of the Roman Empire, centered on Constantinople, continued to thrive. Under the emperor Justinian, some people believed it had ultimately realized the end stage of creating a Christian, Roman empire. Following on that achievement, Justinian began a campaign to reconquer the Roman territories of the West and reintegrate them into this more perfect Roman state. This effort led to a claim, originating in the East with Marcellinus Comes and echoed by Procopius, that the Western Roman Empire had fallen and required restoration. Justinian then mounted military campaigns that began with the reconquest of North Africa, but soon were directed against Italy.

A Catalogue of Tropical Cyclone Induced Instantaneous Peak Flows Recorded in Puerto Rico and a Comparison with the World’s Maxima

Peak streamflow rates from the Insular Caribbean have received limited attention in worldwide catalogues in spite of their potential for exceptionality given many of the islands’ steep topographic relief and proneness to high rainfall rates associated with tropical cyclones. This study compiled 1922 area-normalized peak streamflow rates recorded during tropical cyclones in Puerto Rico from 1899 to 2020. The results show that the highest peak flow values recorded on the island were within the range of the world’s maxima for watersheds with drainage areas from 10 to 619 km2. Although higher tropical cyclone rainfall and streamflow rates were observed on average for the central–eastern half of Puerto Rico, the highest of all cyclone-related peaks occurred throughout the entire island and were caused by tropical depressions, tropical storms, or hurricanes. Improving our understanding of instantaneous peak flow rates in Puerto Rico and other islands of the Caribbean is locally important due to their significance in terms of flooding extent and its associated impacts, but also because these could serve as indicators of the implications of a changing climate on tropical cyclone intensity and the associated hydrologic response.

Lightning to wind-turbines during snowstorm Filomena over Catalonia

<p>Winter storm Filomena battered the Iberian Peninsula on the 9-10<sup>th</sup> January 2021, covering the eastern half of Spain with a huge amount of snow. Apart from the historical snowfall (e.g. Madrid 40-50 cm), lightning has been recorded during this winter episode. Most of the lighting was oversea, associated with the surface low in southern Spain. Still, some scattered lightning was also recorded in other regions of the Iberian Peninsula like Galicia, Asturias, Extremadura, Valencia and Catalonia.</p><p>This study focuses on the just over a dozen of stokes that hit southern Catalonia. Interestingly, inland lightning took place on the evening of the 9<sup>th</sup> January although NWP models showed no convection conditions over land, the sounding was stable and CAPE was found only far away over sea.</p><p>A closer look at the lightning spots showed wind turbines in the close vicinity of all CG stokes. To check the veracity of these winter lightning, data has been gathered from two independent Lightning Location Systems.</p><p>By means of data from different meteorological systems from the Meteorological Service of Catalonia (weather radar, automatic weather stations), the meteorological conditions during the lightning occurrence are analysed.</p><p>Since lightning only occurred on wind turbines, the effect of rotation may be a key factor on the triggering of lightning from wind-turbines, because the rotation might enhance the electric field at the tips of the blades because they are less shielded by the space charge produced by themselves.</p>

Octavian’s footprints: hillforts, camps and roads between Burnum and Sinotium

On the basis of a recent field survey of Petrovo polje, in comparison to the data of Appian and Dio Cassius, the Octavian war campaign against the Dalamatae in the area between Burnum and Sinotion (Synodium, Synodion, Sinotium) is reconsidered. We recognize two temporary Roman military camps. The first, near the village of Parčić, is part of the Octavian contravallation in the northwest corner of Petrovo polje, the siege system by which Dalmatian Promona was surrounded. We conclude that the central oppidum of that polis integrated three areas on and around the Orišnica hill. On the neighbouring hill, Petrovac, we locate the citadel (acropolis) of Promona. The second camp, above the villages of Otavice and Gradac, located on the southern slope of the Svilaja mountain, we link with the blockade of the Setovia hillforts on the edges of the eastern half of Petrovo polje. The chronological stratification of the Roman road network between Burnum and Salona is considered.

The Development of Monastic Terminology and the Legislative Definition of the Monkish Status

The article deals with the relationship between the development of new appeared monastic terminology and the definition of the status of monasticism by the Church and the early Byzantine state. Or otherwise, it tries to tell when the process of institutionalization began, what vocabulary was used in this process, when the use of the “classical” monastic terminology in laws and canons began, how the emergence of new terminology and the development of status were distributed over time. The study is divided into two parts: monks and nuns. The time frame of the study is the fourth century and the first half of the fifth century. The geographical framework is the Late Roman Empire, mainly its Eastern half. The following conclusions have been drawn: the making of the status of male monasticism occurred a hundred years after its appearance, the laws almost immediately began to use the most common in the papyri and monastic literature term monachus, which gives evidence of the distinct definition of a new social group, but the establishment of the status of female monasticism was extremely slow, the laws and canons practically not using the new terms, which reflects the diversity of female asceticism even in the 5th century.

Die deutsche Einwanderung in Ungarn unter Joseph II. Ursachen, Folgen und gesamtmonarchische Zusammenhänge

Historical research has not yet adequately answered why there was a large-scale, state-organized settlement of German colonists under Joseph II between 1784 and 1787. Previous studies recognize the only reason for this in the low population density generally characterizing the eastern half of the Habsburg Monarchy. In the present study, the causes and consequences of immigration are placed in overall monarchical contexts and examined. This study concludes that state sponsored immigration of German settlers was no priority of the monarch under the reign of Joseph II. The emperor wanted to reform the contemporary agricultural relations in Hungary too but the strong resistance of the Hungarian nobility resulted that he could not introduce the Raab system in contrast to Czechland and Moravia. The subdivision of state lands directed a part of the German migration to Galicia. The German migration helped him to reach two goals. First, it increased the number of peasant workers; second, a portion of state lands became peasant-owned. The subdivision was only an episode on the way to a new agricultural system. It did not reach the significance of other edicts for instance the abolition of serfdom in 1785. However, its beneficial social and economic effects became clear in the long run.