The influence of moderate ENSO on summer rainfall in eastern China and its comparison with strong ENSO

The 6 major ENSO events since 1979 are classified into the strong and moderate ENSO based on in-tensity. The composite analysis is performed to reveal the influence of ENSO on East Asian summer monsoon (EASM) and summer rainfall in eastern China. It is shown that the influence is changed with the seasonal cycle in summer, with a weaker influence in June and a stronger influence in August, in-dicating a long lagged effect of ENSO on EASM. Besides, the circulation and rainfall anomalies caused by the strong ENSO are also stronger with an earlier starting time, while the influence of the moderate ENSO is evident in August. The composite summer rainfall in eastern China for the moderate ENSO exhibits a northern rainfall pattern, which is totally different from the classical ENSO-type rainfall pat-tern. Based on the composite analysis, two moderate ENSO years with a similar intensity (i.e., 1995 and 2003) are compared. The result shows that, the response of EASM to the moderate ENSO during June and July is, to a certain degree, modulated by the circulation systems in mid-high latitudes of Eurasia and in the Southern Hemisphere, thereby inducing a different rainfall distribution in eastern China. In comparison with the strong ENSO in 1983, it is further revealed that, the strong ENSO plays a dominant role in summer rainfall anomalies in eastern China as well as in controlling the influence of the other factors on EASM. The strong ENSO is therefore different with the moderate ENSO.

Ionization state of cosmic hydrogen by early stars and quasars

Cosmic hydrogen is reionized and maintained in its highly ionized state by the ultraviolet emission attributed to an early generation of stars and quasars. The Lyα opacity observed in absorption spectra of high-redshift quasars permits more stringent constraints on the ionization state of cosmic hydrogen. Based on density perturbation and structure formation theory, we develop an analytic model to trace the evolution of the ionization state in the post-overlap epoch of reionization, in which the bias factor is taken into account. For quasars, we represent an improved luminosity function by utilizing a hybrid approach for the halo formation rate that is in reasonable agreement with the published measurements at 2 ～<z <～6. Comparison with the classic Press-Schechter mass function of dark matter halos, we demonstrate that the biased mass distribution indeed enhances star formation efficiency in the overdense environment by more than 25 per cent following the overlap of ionized bubbles. In addition, an alternative way is introduced to derive robust estimates of the mean free path for ionizing photons. In our model, star-forming galaxies are likely to dominate the ionizing background radiation beyond z = 3, and quasars contribute equally above a redshift of z ～ 2.5. From 5 z 6, the lack of evolution in photoionization rate can thus be explained by the relatively flat evolution in star formation efficiency, although the mean free path of ionizing photons increases rapidly. Moreover, in the redshift interval z ～ 2-6, the expected mean free path and Gunn-Peterson optical depth obviously evolve by a factor of ～ 500 and ～ 50 respectively. We find that the relative values of critical overdensities for hydrogen ionization and collapse could be 430% at z ≈ 2 and 2% at z ≈ 6, suggesting a rapid overlap process in the overdense regions around instant quasars following reionization. We further illustrate that the absolute estimates of the fraction of neutral hydrogen computed from theoretical models may not be important because of comparable uncertainties in the computation.

CH_4 uptake flux of Leymus chinensis steppe during rapid growth season in Inner Mongolia,China

The influence of near ground atmosphere CH4 concentration, soil water content, soil Eh, plants, soil temperature, and pH on CH4 uptake flux of Leymus chinensis steppe during rapid growth season was studied using field in-situ measurement in Xilin River basin of Inner Mongolia, China. The results showed that CH4 uptake flux was positively correlated with near ground atmosphere CH4 concentration and soil Eh but negatively correlated with soil water content. Precipitation may decrease the CH4 flux by increasing the soil water content. The average fluxes of three treatments during the observation period were 1.52 (natural conditions, 1.51 (aboveground plants were excluded), and 2.00 mg m?2 d?1 (all plants were removed), respectively. The difference between the CH4 flux of natural condition treatment and that of removing aboveground plants treatment is small, whereas the flux of removing all plants treatment is larger than the other two treatments. This means that the contribution of aboveground plants to CH4 uptake flux is smaller than that of roots or roots-removing process. CH4 uptake flux is not sensitive to soil temperature and the narrow-ranged soil pH (6.36–7.86). The Leymus chinensis steppe acts as a sink for CH4, and thus more studies should be focused on its affecting factors and related mechanisms.

Lunar surface dielectric constant,regolith thickness, and ~3He abundance distributions retrieved from the microwave brightness temperatures of CE-1 Lunar Microwave Sounder

Lunar regolith parameters, such as physical temperature, thickness and dielectric constant, are important in studying regolith features, distribution of lunar resources and evolution of the Moon. There had been no measurement obtained by lunar-orbit-borne microwave radiometer applied to evaluate the properties of lunar regolith before CE-1 Lunar Microwave Sounder (CELMS) being launched. CEMLS is the first passive microwave radiometer in the world to sound the surface of the Moon. The brightness temperatures (TB) sensed by CELMS include complicated information on the above geophysical parameters. In this paper, algorithms of retrieving dielectric constant, regolith thickness, and 3He content from CELMS brightness temperatures are developed, and the results are compared with those from literature. The results show that the regolith thicknesses are mostly in the range of 4.0-6.0 m, and 43% of them are bigger than 5.0 m. The content of 3He evaluated by retrieved regolith thickness is about 1.03 million tons.

Effects of the grain size distribution on the temperature-dependent magnetic susceptibility of magnetite nanoparticles

Magnetite is an important magnetic remanence carrier in natural samples and therefore is of great interest in paleo-, rock-, and environmental magnetism. The magnetic properties of magnetite depend on many factors, e.g., concentration and grain size distribution (GSD). In this study, we theoretically investigated the temperature-dependent susceptibility (TDS) of magnetite nanoparticles with a lognormal GSD. Results show that the TDS is affected highly by the GSD mainly in three aspects. Firstly, the unblocking process becomes smoother with the increase of distribution width, characterizing as a wider Hopkinson peak on the TDS curve. Secondly, the blocking temperature increases with the increase of the median diameter or/and the distribution width. Thirdly, the maximum susceptibility decreases with the increase of distribution width, and has a logarithmic function relation with the standard deviation of the distribution. As a case study, this model was further applied to the thermal products of the Chinese loess/paleosol samples to determine the granulometry of newly-formed magnetite upon heating based on TDS curves. The results demonstrate the fidelity and feasibility of this method to determine the GSD of nano-sized magnetic particles.

Terrestrial transect study on driving mechanism of vegetation changes

In terms of Chinese climate-vegetation model based on the classification of plant functional types, to- gether with climatic data from 1951 to 1980 and two future climatic scenarios (SRES-A2 and SRES-B2) in China from the highest and the lowest emission scenarios of greenhouse gases, the distribution patterns of vegetation types and their changes along the Northeast China Transect (NECT) and the North-South Transect of Eastern China (NSTEC) were simulated in order to understand the driving mechanisms of vegetation changes under climatic change. The results indicated that the vegetation distribution patterns would change significantly under future climate, and the major factors driving the vegetation changes were water and heat. However, the responses of various vegetation types to the changes in water and heat factors were obviously different. The vegetation changes were more sensi- tive to heat factors than to water factors. Thus, in the future climate warming will significantly affect vegetation distribution patterns.

Input function and simulated distributions of tritium in the North Pacific

An ocean general circulation model (OGCM) of the North Pacific with a southern open boundary condition is used to simulate the distribution and transport of tritium in the North Pacific. First, the observed tritium in precipitation dataset of GNIP/ISOHIS is chosen, and used to develop an input function of tritium for the model domain from 1951 to 1997 in terms of the triangulation for interpolation. Then, the input function is used as an upper flux for the tritium model. The OGCM with tritium is integrated for 47 years with the initial condition of zero tritium concentrations. Compared with the observations from GEOSECS and WOCE, the model generates a meridional gradient of surface tritium concentrations and the high tritium concentrations in the subsurface layer, which is consistent with that indicated in the observations. The simulated time series of total tritium fluxes from the atmosphere to the ocean shows a spike in 1963. The total inventory of tritium in the ocean changes slowly with time after 1975. Tritium enters the higher-latitude region, and then is mainly transported by the subsurface process towards the equatorial region, which is well simulated in the model. However, the difference mainly occurs at 30°N–40°N, which can be seen also in the simulation of CFCs. This difference may partly originate from the insufficient description of physical processes in the OGCM. Nevertheless, some uncertainties exist in the development of the tritium input function, which can also influence the simulated results.

Improvement of a 3D radar backscattering model using matrix-doubling method

Radiative transfer models have been widely used to simulate the radar backscattering from forested areas. A three-dimensional radar backscatter model of forest canopy developed in previous studies takes full account of spatial position of trees in a forest stand, and the interactions among crown, trunk and ground surface. The model predicted well for the co-polarized backscatter measurements, but underestimated the backscattering for cross-polarization, primarily because only the first-order scattering within tree crowns was considered in the model. The backscattering at cross-polarization depends strongly on multiple scatter- ing within tree crowns. To produce good estimations for cross-polarized component, the matrix-doubling method is employed here to compute multiple-scattering within the crown. The modified model is compared with the original model, and the field forest measurements and AIRSAR data are used for validation of the modified model. The cross-polarization backscattering is improved in different degrees for different crown structures and at different bands.

Three-dimensional decomposition method of global atmospheric circulation

By adopting the idea of three-dimensional Walker, Hadley and Rossby stream functions, the global atmospheric circulation can be considered as the sum of three stream functions from a global per- spective. Therefore, a mathematical model of three-dimensional decomposition of global atmospheric circulation is proposed and the existence and uniqueness of the model are proved. Besides, the model includes a numerical method leading to no truncation error in the discrete three-dimensional grid points. Results also show that the three-dimensional stream functions exist and are unique for a given velocity field. The mathematical model shows the generalized form of three-dimensional stream func- tions equal to the velocity field in representing the features of atmospheric motion. Besides, the vertical velocity calculated through the model can represent the main characteristics of the vertical motion. In sum, the three-dimensional decomposition of atmospheric circulation is convenient for the further in- vestigation of the features of global atmospheric motions.

Effects of quorum sensing autoinducer degradation gene on virulence and biofilm formation of Pseudomonas aeruginosa

The aiiA gene from Bacillus thuringiensis was cloned into the Pseudomonas/E. coli shuttle vector and transformed into Pseudomonas aeruginosa strain PAO1. Western blotting showed that the AiiA protein was expressed in PAO1. After induction by IPTG for 6 h and 18 h, expression of the aiiA gene in PAO1 completely degraded the quorum sensing autoinducers N-acylhomoserine lactones (AHLs): N-oxododecanoyl-L-homoserine lactone (OdDHL) and N-butyryl-L-homoserine lactone (BHL). The re- duced amount of AHLs in PAO1 was also correlated with decreased expression and production of several virulence factors such as elastase and pyocyanin. AiiA expression also influenced bacterial swarming motility. Most importantly, our studies indicated that aiiA played significant roles in P. aeruginosa biofilm formation and dispersion, as observed by the differences of the biofilm formation on liquid and solid surfaces, and biofilm structures under a scanning electron microscope.

The flhDC gene affects motility and biofilm formation in Yersinia pseudotuberculosis

The flagella master regulatory gene flhDC of Yersinia pseudotuberculosis serotype III (YPIII) was mu- tated by deleting the middle region and replaced by a tetracycline resistant gene, and the subsequent mutant strain named YPIII?flhDC was obtained. Swimming assay showed that the swimming motility of the mutant strain was completely abolished. The promoter region of the flagella second-class regula- tory gene fliA was fused with the lux box, and was conjugated with the mutant and the parent strains respectively for the first cross. LUCY assay result demonstrated that flhDC regulated the expression of fliA in YPIII as reported in E. coli. Biofilm formation of the mutant strain on abiotic and biotic surfaces was observed and quantified. The results showed that mutation of flhDC decreased biofilm formation on both abiotic and biotic surfaces, and abated the infection on Caenorhabdtis elegans. Our results suggest that mutation of the flagella master regulatory gene flhDC not only abolished the swimming motility, but also affected biofilm formation of YPIII on different surfaces. The new function of flhDC identified in this study provides a novel viewpoint for the control of bacterial biofilm formation.

Semi-analytical analysis of the response of the air temperature over the land surface to the global vegetation distribution

Response of the air temperature over the land surface to the global vegetation distribution is investigated, using a three-dimensional governing equation to simulate the steady, large-scale, limited amplitude perturbation of the free, inviscid and adiabatic atmosphere. The adoption of the static equation leads to a temperature governing equation in the terrain following coordinate. With the prescribed temperature as the upper boundary condition and the radiation balance as the lower boundary condition, the semi-analytical solution of the global circulation temperature can be calculated. In this article, only the air temperature (at 2 m height) over the land surface is analyzed, and the result suggests that this model can simulate the air temperature pattern over the land surface reasonably. A better simulation occurs when a simple feedback of the albedo on the temperature is included. Two sensitivity experiments are analyzed through this model. One suggests that the air temperature over the land surface descends obviously when the land surface is covered with ice all over, while another suggests that the air temperature rises a little when the land surface is covered with forest except the ice-covered area. This model appears to be a good tool to study the response of the air temperature to the vegetation distribution. Limitations of the model are also discussed.

Observation results of relativistic electrons detected by Fengyun-1 satellite and analysis of relativistic electron enhancement (REE) events

The space particle component detector on Fengyun-1 satellite which works at the sun-synchronous orbit of about 870 km altitude has detected relativistic electrons for a long time. In comparison with the SAMPEX satellite observations during 1999 -2004, the relativistic electron data from Fengyun-1 satellite from June 1999 to 2005 are used to analyze the relativistic electron enhancement (REE) events at the low earth orbit, and the possible correlation among REE events at the low earth orbit, high-speed solar wind and geomagnetic storms is discussed. The statistical result presents that 45 REE events are found in total during this time period, and the strong REE events with the maximum daily average flux > 400 cm?2·sr?1·s?1 occur mostly during the transition period from solar maximum to solar minimum. Among these 45 REE events, four strong REE events last a longer time period from 26- to 51-day and correlate closely with high speed solar wind and strong geo- magnetic storms. Meanwhile, several strong geomagnetic storms occur continu- ously before these REE events, and these continuous geomagnetic storms would be an important factor causing these long-lasting strong REE events. The correlation analysis for overall 45 events indicates that the strength of the REE events corre- lates with the solar wind speed and the strength of the geomagnetic storm, and the correlation for strong REE events is much stronger than that for weak REE events.

The establishment of crystal position look-up table for positron emission tomography with block detectors

A method has been developed to establish the crystal position look-up table for positron emission tomography with block detectors. It is based on the principle that the counts in crystal position histogram obey the Gaussian mixture model (GMM). This method has taken full consideration of the characteristics of the GMM and the detector itself. The experimental results have proved that it is simple, reliable, and universal.

First discovery of fossil Diplothrix (Muridae, Rodentia) outside the Ryukyu Islands, Japan

The first Diplothrix (Muridae, Rodentia) fossils of the early Early Pleistocene are described as D. yangziensis sp. nov., which were collected from the Renzidong Cave deposits in Anhui Province, Eastern China. Diplothrix was previously represented by a single species, D. legata, whose geographical distribution during the Late Pleistocene is restricted to the Ryukyu Islands, Japan. With straight chevrons on M1, distinct t3 and t9 on upper molars, primitive M3, mlc on m1, and developed a-lab on m2 and m3, the new species is morphologically distinct from other large murids in East Asia, and should belong to the genus Diplothrix. There are also differences in molar morphology between the new species and D. legata, the type species of Diplothrix, as well as other known fossils. For example, D. yangziensis sp. nov. has a smaller size, a more elongated crown, developed precingulum and pc on M1, more primitive M3, weaker mlc and more primitive pc on m1, and stronger plc and pc on m3. In short, Diplothrix yangziensis sp. nov. is evidently more primitive than D. legata, suggesting that the former is likely the ancestor of the latter. Diplothrix yangziensis sp. nov. is the first discovery of the genus outside the Ryukyu Islands, Japan and is also the earliest and most primitive species of the genus in Eurasia. Its discovery has significant implications for reconstructing the evolution and dispersal pattern of Diplothrix, as well as for discussing its palaeoecological variation.

Effects of various solar indices on accuracy of Earth’s thermospheric neutral density models

Four kinds of solar indices F10.7, E10.7, S10, Mg10 and four thermospheric neutral density models, i.e., CIRA72, DTM94, NRLMSISE00 and JB2006, are discussed. The CHAMP accelerometer data are used to calculate thermospheric total mass density. Based on the comparison of the model densities with CHAMP observations, the effects of various indices on the model accuracy are detected. It is found that under quiet and moderate solar conditions (F10.7<160), all of the models’ errors are reduced about 15% by using E10.7 instead of F10.7, while under active solar conditions (F10.7>200) the error’s standard deviation using E10.7 increases quickly and causes the models’ accuracy to fall down. With regard to S10, Mg10, their effects under quiet solar conditions are inconspicuous. If under active solar conditions, they can reduce the model error’s standard deviation by 5%-10%, implying that S10, Mg10 make the model error more stable. The JB2006 model, which was constructed by multi-solar-index (F10.7, S10, Mg10), is compared with DTM94 and NRLMSISE00 based on single-solar-index. It is found that JB2006’s accuracy is better than DTM94’s, and is close to NRLMSISE00 under the quiet solar condition. During the solar burst occurring on October 26, 2003, JB2006 has been in best agreement with CHAMP observations. All in all, the new indices may improve thermospheric density models’ accuracy under some special conditions. Concretely, E10.7 may reduce the average error of models and S10, Mg10 may prevent the error’s divergence.

Identification and removal of block ambiguities in sea surface wind field with scatterometers

The solution of the current wind retrieval algorithm for scatterometers has several wind vector ambi-guities, due to the bi-harmonic relationship between normalized backscattering cross section and the relative wind direction and the existence of the measurement error. In order to remove the ambiguities for a unique wind field, a circular median filter approach (CMF) is usually adopted. But under the con-dition for clustering distribution of the false ambiguities in some local areas, the CMF fails and thus engenders block ambiguities, which degrade the precision of the retrieved wind field. For such a situation, a technique of identification and removal of the block ambiguities is presented to further optimize the retrieved wind field after CMF. It is demonstrated in experiment that this technique can identify and remove most of the block ambiguities.

Spectral analysis of two solar twins and the colors of the Sun

High resolution (R^40,000) and high signal-to-noise ratio (>150) spectra of two solar twins, HD146233 and HD195034, are obtained with the Coude Echelle Spectrograph at the 2.16 m telescope of the National Astronomical Observatories of Chinese Academy of Sciences (Xinglong, China). Based on the detailed spectrum match, comparisons of chemical composition and chromospheric activity, HD146233 and HD195034 are confirmed that they are similar to the Sun except for lithium abundance, which is higher than the solar value. Moreover, among nine solar twin candidates (including HD146233 and HD195034) found in the previous works, we have picked out six good solar twin candidates based on newly-derived homogenous parameters, and collected their colors in the Johnson/Cousins, Tycho, 2MASS and Strmgren system from the literature. The average color are (B-V)⊙=0.644 mag, (V-Ic)⊙=0.707 mag, (BT-VT)⊙=0.725 mag, (J-H)⊙=0.288 mag, (H-K)⊙=0.066 mag, (v-y)⊙=1.028 mag, (v-b)⊙=0.619 mag, (u-v)⊙=0.954 mag and (b-y)⊙=0.409 mag, which represent the solar colors with higher precision than previous works.

Ecological-sedimentary zonations and carbonate deposition,Xiaodonghai Reef Flat,Sanya,Hainan Island,China

Modern fringing reefs are developed on the intertidal to subtidal area of Xiaodonghai bay, Sanya, Hainan Island. The reef flat extends several dozen meters toward the sea. Various ecological and sedimentary zonations can be distinguished, including, from land to sea, beachrocks, large massive corals, inner reef flat, outer reef flat, and fore-reef slope. The carbonate sediments and constituent hermatypic coral communities are different in these zones. The beachrocks are composed mainly of biological sands, including coral skeletons, algae, gastropods, bivalves, and benthic foraminifera. Quartz sands are less common in this zone. Carbonate diagenesis in beachrocks is characterized by early cementation. The fringing reef flat is progradationally developed toward the sea. Large massive corals grew in the zone next to the beachrocks. These corals are large, flat-toped, and autochthonous in the production of bioclastic grains and lime mud. Large and massive coral skeletons are surrounded by coral skeletal grains, bioclasts, and lime-mud sediments. The inner reef flat consists mainly of skeletons of branching corals that are covered by bioclasts and lime mud, and living corals are mostly massive in form. Statistical analysis of coral-community dynamics shows that the outer reef flat with strong waves is the most suitable place for hermatypic corals to flourish. There, the living corals are most densely distributed. Both massive corals and branching corals (e.g., Acropora corymbosa) are exceptionally healthy in this zone. Bioclasts and lime mud are washed out due to strong wave action. Microbial carbonates generally are deposited within cavities of the beachrocks and coral skeletal cavities and on the surfaces of bioclastic grains. The latter two types, however, are more common. Ecological-sedimentary zonations across the Xiaodonghai reef flat from beachrocks to outer reef flat are controlled by variations in wave strength and water energy. Microbial carbonates rarely developed on outer reef flat under strong wave action.

A computational model for feature binding

The "Binding Problem" is an important problem across many disciplines, including psychology, neuroscience, computational modeling, and even philosophy. In this work, we proposed a novel computational model, Bayesian Linking Field Model, for feature binding in visual perception, by combining the idea of noisy neuron model, Bayesian method, Linking Field Network and competitive mechanism. Simulation Experiments demonstrated that our model perfectly fulfilled the task of feature binding in visual perception and provided us some enlightening idea for future research.