Water-saving Potential in aeolian sand soil under straight tube and surface drip irrigation in Taklimakan Desert in Northwest China

Evaporation loss from the saturated soil beneath drip irrigation emitters highly influences the irrigation efficiency of drip krigation （D1]. Subsurface drip irrigation （SDI） is one good approach to curb this inefficiency, but in a new irrigation method, straight tube irrigation （STI）, the irrigation tubes do not need to be buried and thus STI is recommended to increase the irrigation efficiency under normal surface-applied DI. STI consists of only connectors and water-transference tubes that can directly transfer irrigation water from the lateral emitters in the drip line to the root zone of plants. Five-month field experiments were carried out in aeolian sand soil in the forest-belts of the Taklimakan Desert, which have poor water storage capacity, to compare the potential water saving between STI and DI. The preliminary results showed that, compared with DI, STI （1） improved the soil water content in soil depths from 40 to 100 cm under the soil surface; （2） achieved the same irrigation effects in relatively shorter irrigation durations; （3） had very little water loss due to deep seepage; and （4） formed a layer of dry sand about 10 to 30 cm thick immediately below the soil surface, which lessened evaporation loss of soil water beneath the emitters on the soil surface. This demonstrates that STI can maximize the water-saving potential of DI through the reduction of wetted soil perimeters on the soil surface. This is valuable information for water-saving engineering applications and projects with STI in arid and semiarid regions.

Adaptive median threshold algorithm used in FDIS of DSSS receivers

For direct sequence spread spectrum （DSSS） receivers, the capability of rejecting narrow-band interference can be significantly improved by a process of frequency-domain interference suppression （FDIS）. The key issue of this process is how to determine a threshold to eliminate interference in the frequency domain, which has been extensively studied. However, these previous methods are tedious or very complex. A simple and ef- ficient algorithm based on medians is proposed. The elimination threshold is only related to the median by a scale factor, which can be obtained by the numerical analysis. Simulation results show that the algorithm provides excellent narrow-band interfer- ence suppression while only slightly degrading the signal-to-noise ratio （SNR）. A one-pass algorithm using logarithmic segmentation is further derived to estimate medians with low computational complexity. Finally, the FDIS is implemented in a field programmable gate array （FPGA） of Xilinx. Experiments are carried out by connecting the FDIS FPGA to a DSSS receiver, and the results show that the receiver has an effective countermeasure for a 60 dB interference-to-signal ratio （ISR）.

Method of adaptive PLL bandwidth adjustment without phase slipping

In a system based on the phase lock loop（PLL）, a trade-off must be made between the tracking precision and the dynamic performance if constant parameters are adopted. To overcome this drawback, a new method called no phase slipping adaptive bandwidth（NPS-AB） is proposed, which can adjust the loop bandwidth adaptively for different working conditions. As a result, both the tracking precision and the dynamic performance can be achieved concurrently. NPS-AB has two features to keep the loop stable： one is the capability of quick response to dynamics; the other is a series of additional constraints when the bandwidth is switched. Compared with other methods, there is no phase slipping during the adjustment process for NPS-AB. The phase integer ambiguity can be avoided and the phase value is kept valid. It is meaningful for carrier ranging systems. Simulation results show that NPS-AB can deal with sudden dynamics and keep the pseudo-range value stable in the entire dynamic process.

Application and improvement of wavelet packet de-noising in satellite transponder

The satellite transponder is a widely used module in satellite missions, and the most concerned issue is to reduce the noise of the transferred signal. Otherwise, the telemetry signal will be polluted by the noise contained in the transferred signal, and the additional power will be consumed. Therefore, a method based on wavelet packet de-noising （WPD） is introduced. Compared with other techniques, there are two features making WPD more suit- able to be applied to satellite transponders： one is the capability to deal with time-varying signals without any priori information of the input signals; the other is the capability to reduce the noise in band, even if the noise overlaps with signals in the frequency domain, which provides a great de-noising performance especially for wideband signals. Besides, an oscillation detector and an av- eraging filter are added to decrease the partial oscillation caused by the thresholding process of WPD. Simulation results show that the proposed algorithm can reduce more noises and make less distortions of the signals than other techniques. In addition, up to 12 dB additional power consumption can be reduced at -10 dB signal-to-noise ratio （SNR）.

Assessment of water quality using benthic diatom and macroinvertebrate assemblages:A case study in an East China canal

The East Zhejiang Canal is an artificial waterway located in the plains of East China.Because of its role in providing social services,it is frequently subjected to human activities affecting its health.To improve the water resource management and condition of this canal,assessment of its ecological health is necessary.We measured water quality variables and benthic diatom and macroinvertebrate assemblages to evaluate the ecological status of the canal.We found that the canal was eutrophic with an average chemical trophic level index of 64.3 and an average trophic diatom index of 68.1(with Nitzschia palea,Melosira varians,and Navicula rostellata,Encyonema minutum abundant).Macroinvertebrate assemblages also showed that the canal was eutrophic based on the dominance of Limnodrilus sp.A low BMWP(Biological Monitoring Working Party)score further indicated the poor water quality of the canal.Correlation analysis indicated that phosphorus was the main driver of eutrophication in the canal.Consequently,more attention should be paid to reduce phosphorus loadings.

Rapid and accurate detection of carbapenem-resistance gene by isothermal amplification in Acinetobacter baumannii

Background:Acinetobacter baumannii(A.baumannii)is one of the pivotal pathogens responsible for nosocomial infections,especially in patients with low immune response,and infection with carbapenem-resistant A.baumannii has been increasing in recent years.Rapid and accurate detection of carbapenem-resistance genes in A.baumannii could be of immense help to clinical staff.Methods:In this study,a 15-μL reaction system for recombinase polymerase amplification(RPA)was developed and tested.We collected 30 clinical isolates of A.baumannii from the Burn Institute of Southwest Hospital of Third Military Medical University(Army Medical University)for 6 months and tested antibiotic susceptibility using the VITEK 2 system.A.baumannii was detected based on the blaOXA-51 gene by PCR,qPCR and 15μL-RPA,respectively.Sensitivity and specificity were evaluated.In addition,PCR and 15μL-RPA data for detecting the carbapenem-resistance gene blaOXA-23 were comparatively assessed.Results:The detection limit of the blaOXA-51 gene by 15μL RPA was 2.86 CFU/ml,with sensitivity comparable to PCR and qPCR.No positive amplification signals were detected in non-Acinetobacter isolates,indicating high specificity.However,only 18 minutes were needed for the 15μL RPA assay.Furthermore,an antibiotic susceptibility test showed that up to 90%of A.baumannii strains were resistant to meropenem and imipenem;15μL RPA data for detecting blaOXA-23 showed that only 10%(n=3)of A.baumannii isolates did not show positive amplification signals,and the other 90%of(n=27)isolates were positive,corroborating PCR results.Conclusion:We demonstrated that the new 15μL RPA assay for detecting blaOXA-23 in A.baumannii is faster and simpler than qPCR and PCR.It is a promising alternative molecular diagnostic tool for rapid and effective detection of A.baumannii and drug-resistance genes in the field and point-ofcare testing.