Responses of soil respiration in non-growing seasons to environmental factors in a maize agroecosystem,Northeast China

Based on continuous three-year measurements (from 2004 to 2007) of eddy covariance and related environmental factors, environmental controls on variation in soil respiration (Rs) during non-growing season were explored in a maize agroecosystem in Northeast China. Our results indicated that during non-growing seasons, daily Rs was 1.08-4.08 g CO2 m-2 d-1, and the lowest occurred in late November. The average Rs of non-growing season was 456.06 ± 20.01 g CO2 m-2, accounting for 11% of the gross primary production (GPP) of the growing season. Additionally, at monthly scale, the lowest value of Rs appeared in January or February. From the beginning to the end of non-growing season, daily Rs tended to decrease first, and then increase to the highest. There was a significant quadratic curve relationship between Rs and soil temperature at 10 cm depth when soil temperature was more than 0°C (P<0.001), with the explaining ratio of 38%-70%. When soil water content was more than 0.1 m3 m-3, soil moisture at 10 cm depth was significantly parabolically correlated with Rs (P<0.001), explaining the rate of 18%-60%. Based on all the data of soil temperature of more than 0°C, a better model for Rs was established by coupling soil temperature and moisture, which could explain the rate of up to 53%-79%. Meanwhile, the standard error of regression estimation between the values of prediction and observation for Rs could reach 2.7%-11.8%. Rs in non-growing season can account for 22.4% of Rs in growing season, indicating that it plays a critical role in assessing the carbon budget in maize agroecosystem, Northeast China.

Periodicity of Retzius lines in fossil Pongo from South China

Periodicity of Retzius lines is a key factor in dental development. In this study, we examined the periodicity of Retzius lines in fossil Pongo from South China using polarized light microscope observation of dental ground sections. The periodicities all of the 15 teeth were 9 d. Comparisons of periodicity were made with extant primates, fossil apes and hominins. Periodicity of fossil Pongo from South China was relatively long but fell within the variation of extant Pongo, Gorilla and modern human, and longer than periodicity of Pan and other extant primates. Fossil Pongo from South China was similar to Lufengpithecus and Sivapithecus, shorter than Gigantopithecus and longer than European and African fossil apes and most early hominins in periodicity. Generally, the periodicities of Asian large-body fossil apes were longer than the periodicities of European and African large-body fossil apes in Miocene. Difference among species and trend of evolution in periodicity were analyzed and discussed. We found that periodicity might gradually increase from Proconsul in early Miocene to several fossil apes in Miocene and then Gigantopithecus in Pleistocene. In addition, this study made correlate analysis between periodicity and body mass respectively in males and females of six extant apes and five fossil apes, and found that periodicity positively correlated with body mass.

The guanidine hydrochloride-induced denaturation of CP43 and CP47 studied by terahertz time-domain spectroscopy

Terahertz time-domain spectroscopy (THz-TDS) is a new technique in studying the conformational state of a molecule in recent years. In this work, we reported the first use of THz-TDS to examine the dena- turation of two photosynthesis membrane proteins: CP43 and CP47. THz-TDS was proven to be useful in discriminating the different conformational states of given proteins with similar structure and in monitoring the denaturation process of proteins. Upon treatment with guanidine hydrochloride (GuHCl), a 1.8 THz peak appeared for CP47 and free chlorophyll a (Chl a). This peak was deemed to originate from the interaction between Chl a and GuHCl molecules. The Chl a molecules in CP47 interacted with GuHCl more easily than those in CP43.

Indian monsoon influences altitude effect of δ^(18)O in precipitation/river water on the Tibetan Plateau

The δ 18O variation in precipitation acquired from 28 stations within the network of Tibetan Observation and Research Platform(TORP)is studied, with the focus on the altitude effect of δ 18O in river water during monsoon precipitation in an effort to understand the monsoon influence on isotopic composition in annual river water. It is found that δ 18O in precipitation on the Plateau is influenced by different moisture sources, with significant Indian monsoon influence on δ 18O composition in plateau precipitation and river water. The δ 18O of water bodies in the monsoon domain is generally more depleted than that in the westerly domain, suggesting gradual rainout of southwesterly borne marine moisture in the course of long-distance transportation and lifting over the Himalayas. The lapse rate of δ 18O in river water with altitude is the largest during monsoon precipitation, due to the increased temperature vertical gradient over the southern Plateau region controlled by monsoon circulation. The combination of δ 18O in river water in monsoon (wet) and non-monsoon (dry) seasons shows a larger lapse rate than that in non-monsoon (dry) season alone. As the altitude effect of δ 18O in precipitation and river water on the Tibetan Plateau results from the combined effect of monsoon moisture supply and westerly moisture supply, the δ 18O composition and its altitude effect on the Plateau during monsoon seasons should be considered in the reconstruction of paleoelevation of the Tibetan Plateau.

Eclogites in the interior of the Tibetan Plateau and their geodynamic implications

Eclogites have been recently reported in the interior of the Tibetan Plateau, including in the central Qiangtang metamorphic belt, in the Basu metamorphic massif of the eastern Bangong-Nujiang suture zone, and at Songdo and Pengco in the eastern Lhasa terrane. Some typical ultrahigh-pressure (UHP) metamorphic phenomena, e.g., garnet exsolution from clinopyroxene, were documented in the Basu and Pengco eclogites. The UHP metamorphism in the interior of the Tibetan Plateau marked by these eclogites generally took place in the Early Mesozoic. Along with exhumation of these eclogites, (post-) collision-related magmatism extensively occurred around the central Qiangtang belt, the eastern Ban-gong-Nujiang suture zone, and the eastern Lhasa terrane. The occurrence of these Early Mesozoic ec-logites manifests an out-of-sequence evolution of the Tethys, and they could be a product of diachro-nous collision between the eastern Qiangtang terrane and the irregular continental margin of the united western Qiangtang-Lhasa plate, along the linked eastern Bangong-Nujiang-central Qiangtang zone. The collision-related magmatic rocks could have been originated from lithospheric thickening, melting, or detachment due to the collision. The presence of UHP metamorphic rocks in central Qiangtang and Basu implies likely continental deep-subduction, and the denudation of these two metamorphic zones could have served as the source of the Triassic turbidites in the Songpan-Garzê complex and the Ju-rassic turbidites in the western Bangong-Nujiang zone, respectively. However, studies of the eclogites in the interior of the Tibetan Plateau just began, and many principal aspects still remain to be explored, such as their distributions, typical lithologies and minerals, temperature-pressure conditions, timing of formation and exhumation, protoliths and tectonic setting, and relationship with the evolution of the Tethys and large-scale basins in Tibet.

Recombinant expression of rt-PA gene (encoding Reteplase) in gametophytes of the seaweed Laminaria japonica (Laminariales,Phaeophyta)

The life cycle of seaweed Laminaria japonica involves a generation alternation between diploid sporophyte and haploid gametophte. The expression of foreign genes in sporophte has been proved. In this research, the recombinant expression in gametophyte was investigated by particle bombardment with the rt-PA gene encoding the recombinant human tissue-type plasminogen activator (Reteplase), which is a thrombolytic agent for acute myocardial infarction (AMI). Transgenic gametophytes were selected by their resistance to herbicide phosphiothricin (PPT), and proliferated in an established bubble column photo-bioreactor. According to the results from quantitative ELISA, Southern blotting, and fibrin agarose plate assay (FAPA) for bioactivity, it was showed that the rt-PA gene had been inte-grated into the genome of gametophytes of L. japonica, and the expression product showed the ex-pected bioactivity, implying the proper post-transcript modification in haploid gametophyte.

An analysis of the wide area differential method of geostationary orbit satellites

This work aims to obtain a wide area differential method for geostationary orbit (GEO) constellation. A comparison between the dilution of precision (DOP) of four-dimensional (4D) calculation including sa- tellite clock errors and ephemeris errors and that of three-dimensional (3D) calculation only including ephemeris errors with the inverse positioning theory of GPS shows the conclusion that all the 3D PDOPs are greatly reduced. Based on this, a basic idea of correcting satellite clock errors and ephem- eris errors apart is put forward, and moreover, a specific method of separation is proposed. Satellite clock errors are separated in a master station with time synchronization, and all the remaining pseu- do-range errors after the satellite clock errors have been deducted are used to work out ephemeris corrections of all GEO satellites. By a comparative analysis of user positioning accuracy before and after differential, the wide area differential method is verified to be quite valid for GEO constellation.

A one-dimensional heat transfer model of the Antarctic Ice Sheet and modeling of snow temperatures at Dome A, the summit of Antarctic Plateau

A vertical one-dimensional numerical model for heat transferring within the near-surface snow layer of the Antarctic Ice Sheet was developed based on simplified parameterizations of associated physical processes for the atmosphere, radiation, and snow/ice systems. Using the meteorological data of an automatic weather station (AWS) at Dome A (80°22′S, 70°22′E), we applied the model to simulate the seasonal temperature variation within a depth of 20 m. Comparison of modeled results with observed snow temperatures at 4 measurement depths (0.1, 1, 3, 10 m) shows good agreement and consistent seasonal variations. The model results reveal the vertical temperature structure within the near-surface snow layer and its seasonal variance with more details than those by limited measurements. Analyses on the model outputs of the surface energy fluxes show that: 1) the surface energy balance at Dome A is characterized by the compensation between negative net radiation and the positive sensible fluxes, and 2) the sensible heat is on average transported from the atmosphere to the snow, and has an evident increase in spring. The results are considered well representative for the highest interior Antarctic Plateau.

Nitrogen isotopic composition of plant-soil in the Loess Plateau and its responding to environmental change

The nitrogen isotope of soil is of emerging significance as an indicator of climatic change and biogeochemical cycle of nitrogen in nature systems. In this paper, the nitrogen content and isotopic composition of modern ecosystems from arid and semiarid Loess Plateau in northwestern China, including plant roots and surface soil, were determined to investigate trends in δ15N variation of plant roots and soil along a precipitation and temperature gradient in northwestern China under the East Asian Monsoon climate condition. The δ15N values of surface soil from the study area vary from ?1.2‰ to 5.8‰, but from -5.1‰ to 1.9‰ in the plant roots. Our results indicate that (1) although the isotopic compositions of both plant roots and surface soil change with a similar trend along the climate gradient, the apparent nitrogen difference between plant roots and soil existed, with -δ15N values ranging from 0.3‰ to 7.2‰ with average of 4.1‰; and (2) mean annual precipitation (MAP) is the dominant factor for isotopic composition of plant-soil nitrogen in the Loess Plateau, and the δ15N values are less correlated with MAT; we suggest that nitrogen isotopic composition of soil is a potential tracer for environmental changes.

Application of the phylogenetic analysis in mitochondrial disease study

Mitochondrial disease currently received an increasing concern. However, the case-control design commonly adopted in this field is vulnerable to genetic background, population stratification and poor data quality. Although the phylogenetic analysis could help solve part of these problems, it has not received adequate attention. This paper is a review of this method as well as its application in mito- chondrial disease study.

Teleconnection between the Indian summer monsoon onset and the Meiyu over the Yangtze River Valley

Based on the Indian and Chinese precipitation data and the NCEP-NCAR reanalysis circulation data, the relationship between the Indian summer monsoon (ISM) onset and the Meiyu over the Yangtze River Valley has been discussed by the methods of correlation analysis and composite analysis. The results show that the date of ISM onset over Kerala in the southwestern coast of the Indian Peninsula is about two weeks earlier than the beginning of the Meiyu over the Yangtze River Valley. After the outbreak of ISM, the teleconnection mode sets up from the western coast of India via the Bay of Bengal (BOB) to the Yangtze River Valley and southern Japan. It is different both in time and space from the telecon- nection mode which is from the northwest of India via the Tibetan Plateau to northern China. The for- mer mode is defined as the "south" teleconnection of the Asian summer monsoon, forming in the pe- riod of ISM onset; while the latter mode is called the "north" teleconnection, mainly occurring in the Asian monsoon culminant period. During the process of the "south" teleconnection’s formation, the Asian monsoon circulation has experienced a series of important changes: ISM onset, the northward movement of the south Asia high (SAH), the onset vortex occurrence, the eastward extension of the stronger tropical westerly belt, and the northeastward jump of the western Pacific subtropical high (WPSH), etc. Consequently, since ISM sets up over Kerala, the whole Asian continent is covered by the upper SAH after about two weeks, while in the mid- and lower troposphere, a strong wind belt forms from the Arabian Sea via the southern India, BOB and the South China Sea (SCS), then along the western flank of WPSH, to the Yangtze River Valley and southern Japan. With the northward moving of the subtropical jet streams, the upper westerly jet stream and the low level jet have been coupled ver- tically over east Asia, while the Yangtze River Valley happens to locate in the ascending motion area between the upper jet stream and the low level jet, i.e. right of the entrance of the upper jet stream and left of the low level jet. Such a structure of the vertical circulation can trigger the Meiyu onset over the Yangtze River Valley.

Validating global hydrological models by ground and space gravimetry

The long-term continuous gravity observations obtained by the superconducting gravimeters (SG) at seven globally-distributed stations are comprehensively analyzed. After removing the signals related to the Earth's tides and variations in the Earth's rotation, the gravity residuals are used to describe the seasonal fluctuations in gravity field. Meanwhile, the gravity changes due to the air pressure loading are theoretically modeled from the measurements of the local air pressure, and those due to land water and nontidal ocean loading are also calculated according to the corresponding numerical models. The numerical results show that the gravity changes due to both the air pressure and land water loading are as large as 100×10-9 m s-2 in magnitude, and about 10×10-9 m s-2 for those due to the nontidal ocean loading in the coastal area. On the other hand, the monthly-averaged gravity variations over the area surrounding the stations are derived from the spherical harmonic coefficients of the GRACE-recovered gravity fields, by using Gaussian smoothing technique in which the radius is set to be 600 km. Com-pared the land water induced gravity variations, the SG observations after removal of tides, polar mo-tion effects, air pressure and nontidal ocean loading effects and the GRACE-derived gravity variations with each other, it is inferred that both the ground- and space-based gravity observations can effec-tively detect the seasonal gravity variations with a magnitude of 100×10-9 m s-2 induced by the land water loading. This implies that high precision gravimetry is an effective technique to validate the re-liabilities of the hydrological models.

Positive Darwinian selection in human population:A review

This paper reviews a large number of genes under positive Darwinian selection in modern human populations, such as brain development genes, immunity genes, reproductive related genes, perception receptors. The research on the evolutionary property of these genes will provide important insight into human evolution and disease mechanisms. With the increase of population genetics and comparative genomics data, more and more evidences indicate that positive Darwinian selection plays an indispensable role in the origin and evolution of human beings. This paper will also summarize the methods to detect positive selection, analyze the interference factors faced and make suggestions for further research on positive selection.