High-resolution palaeoenvironmental reconstruction is critical for identifying environmental drivers underlying the emergence of early human civilizations. To achieve this, we systematically collected representative native plants and surface sediments from tidal flats and coastal plains along the eastern coast of China. Using these samples, we established robust qualitative and quantitative relationships between phytolith assemblages and sedimentary environments. These relationships were applied to a sedimentary sequence retrieved from a Neolithic Liangzhu cultural site located on the Yangtze Delta coastline. The results show that coastal wetland sediments in East China are dominated by short-cell phytoliths derived from in situ Poaceae vegetation, alongside allochthonous bulliform phytoliths introduced from terrestrial sources and redistributed into the intertidal zone by marine processes. Consequently, the ratio of bulliform to grass short-cell phytoliths (Bull/GSSC) provides a reliable proxy for assessing the marine influence across the coastal plain. Furthermore, surface sediment phytolith assemblages exhibit strong elevation-dependent patterns along an intertidal transect in the Yangtze Delta, enabling the development of transfer functions that link phytolith composition to surface elevation. When applied to the archaeological sedimentary sequence, these transfer functions and Bull/GSSC ratio reveal pronounced interdecadal fluctuations in relative sea level and heightened frequency of extreme storm events around 5.1 cal. kyr BP, indicating increased climatic instability prior to the strengthening of ENSO dynamics in the mid-Holocene. This study therefore highlights in high precision the environmental drivers for the emergence of Liangzhu civilization around 5000 years ago.
Abstract Although leaves are the primary sites of photosynthesis in most species, non-foliar organs are also photosynthetic. Non-foliar photosynthesis has been documented in a wide variety of species, however, understanding of this phenomenon has not progressed beyond its observation in many cases. Evidence supporting the requirement for non-foliar photosynthesis is absent or largely relies on manipulation of the environment or physical manipulation of the plant rather than genetic manipulation. In keeping with this, our understanding of the genetic mechanisms that control non-foliar photosynthesis relative to leaf photosynthesis is extremely poor. Arguably, our knowledge of seed pod photosynthesis has advanced further than other types of non-foliar photosynthesis, however, many questions remain outstanding. Here, we review the evidence supporting the activity and roles of seed pod photosynthesis. In addition, we discuss our knowledge of the regulatory mechanisms that control seed pod photosynthesis including the carbon and nitrogen transporters that shuttle resources to the seeds, mechanisms controlling differential dispersal of stomata between organs through leucine rich repeat protein activity, the timing of stomatal emergence controlled by a flower-specific transcription factor, and the differential organ activity of paralogous transcription factors that control leaf and seed pod chloroplast biogenesis. We also discuss how manipulation of seed pod photosynthesis may be used in isolation or in combination with modulations of vegetative photosynthesis to improve crop performance in terms of yield, nutrient requirements, and drought resilience.
Missing data is a problem across all types of analysis, with survey nonresponses just one example of a universal problem. This is particularly the case with survey questions on sensitive topics, such as ethnicity or income, as these are often not answered. This can introduce bias into the data and present a challenge to analysts, particularly as they can lead to incorrect conclusions and policy recommendations. Accordingly, methods have been developed to fill these gaps, but their effectiveness depends on how random these omissions are. This article contributes to the topic by first reviewing the theoretical background of missing data and missing spatial data. It then examines demographic and income answers to the UK Financial Lives Survey and investigates the geographic component to the missing data using geographically weighted regression (GWR). We found that there is a geographic component to nonresponse in the financial survey, and this geographic component can be leveraged to improve missing-data estimation. Although location information is not available in every data set, the use of GWR for imputing missing data could provide a useful additional analytical tool in other fields of research when it is.
Spirulina (Arthrospira platensis) is widely recognised in aquaculture as fish feed supplements for its exceptional nutritional value and bioactive compounds with immunostimulatory, antimicrobial and antioxidative properties. Despite its extensive use in aquafeeds, its effects on the growth, feed utilisation, survival and reproductive physiology of Etroplus suratensis as fish meal replacement in the fish diet remain inadequately studied. Fingerlings were stocked at 50 per in each replicate hapa and fed spirulina-supplemented diets at SP0 (0%), SP25 (25%), SP50 (50%), and SP75 (75%) for 90 days. Fish fed the highest spirulina inclusion (SP75) exhibited a significantly greater final mean weight (42.41 +/- 3.79 g) than the control group (25.60 +/- 0.64 g) (p < 0.05). Weight gain, percentage weight gain and specific growth rate (SGR) increased significantly with higher spirulina levels, while feed conversion ratio (FCR) and protein efficiency ratio (PER) improved markedly. The condition factor showed no significant variation (p > 0.05). Moisture and crude protein contents increased with spirulina inclusion, whereas lipid content decreased significantly. Ash content was slightly higher in SP25, and carbohydrate levels declined. Significant dose-dependent variations were recorded in hepatosomatic, stomach, gonadosomatic, and visceral indices, as well as in fecundity and ova diameter. Histological analysis revealed advanced oocyte development and accelerated gonadal maturation in SP75-fed fish. The study concludes that spirulina supplementation significantly enhances both somatic growth and reproductive performance in E. suratensis, demonstrating its potential as an effective alternative to fish meal and other plant-based feed supplements in aquaculture diets. A 50%-75% inclusion level is recommended for broodstock diets to improve growth and reproduction. Further research should evaluate the long-term reproductive success and economic feasibility of spirulina-based diets in aquaculture.
The aim of this research is to explore the social networking behaviours of diaspora entrepreneurs (DE) and the effect of these networks on entrepreneurial determinants. Specifically, we investigate the social interactions and network ecosystems employed by Bangladeshi diaspora communities in Malaysia to achieve entrepreneurial success. We applied an exploratory qualitative methodology to examine the nuances of diaspora in this emerging context, using in-depth interviews with Bangladeshi diaspora entrepreneurs in Malaysia. Our findings demonstrate that diaspora entrepreneurs benefit from two types of social networking: ethnic ties and non-co-ethnic ties. The findings also establish that these social ties are built on two specific network motivators: (i) friendship and personal/familial ties, and (ii) economic interest and mutual benefits. Our research contributes to the extant literature by shedding light on how diaspora entrepreneurs capitalize on personal networking to develop non-ethnic ties, and how this affects the subsequent identification and exploitation of opportunities in foreign markets. The research provides practical insights into how Bangladeshi diasporas leverage ethnic ties to build network relationships, in both their home and host countries.
