Effect of climate change on seasonal water use efficiency in subalpine Abies fabri

Abies fabri is a typical subalpine dark coniferous forest in southwestern China. Air temperature increases more at high elevation areas than that at low elevation areas in mountainous regions,and climate change ratio is also uneven in different seasons. Carbon gain and the response of water use efficiency(WUE) to annual and seasonal increases in temperature with or without CO_2 fertilization were simulated in Abies fabri using the atmospheric-vegetation interaction model(AVIM2). Four future climate scenarios(RCP2.6,RCP4.5,RCP6.0 and RCP8.5) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5(CMIP5) were selectively investigated. The results showed that warmer temperatures have negative effects on gross primary production(GPP) and net primary production(NPP) in growing seasons and positive effects in dormant seasons due to the variation in the leaf area index. Warmer temperatures tend to generate lower canopy WUE and higher ecosystem WUE in Abies fabri. However,warmer temperature together with rising CO_2 concentrations significantlyincrease the GPP and NPP in both growing and dormant seasons and enhance WUE in annual and dormant seasons because of the higher leaf area index(LAI) and soil temperature. The comparison of the simulated results with and without CO_2 fertilization shows that CO_2 has the potential to partially alleviate the adverse effects of climate warming on carbon gain and WUE in subalpine coniferous forests.

Identification of Three Interactions to Determine the Conformation Change and to Maintain the Function of Kir2.1 Channel Protein

We find that a conserved mutation residue Glu to residue Asp （E303D）, which both have the same polar and charged properties, makes Kit2.1 protein lose its function. To understand the mechanism, we identify three interactions which control the conformation change and maintain the function of the Kit2.1 protein by combining homology modeling and molecular dynamics with targeted molecular dynamics. We find that the E303D mutation weakens these interactions and results in the loss of the related function. Our data indicate that not only the amino residues but also the interactions determine the function of proteins.

Project on Interaction between Agro-ecosystems and Global Change Making Progress

A research project on interaction between agroecosystems and global change has been accepted as a Category Ⅰ contribution to IGBP-GCTE (International Geosphere-Biosphere Programme-Global Change & Terrestrial Ecosystems) Core Research, the highest-level support GCTE has offered to an individual research project so far. This was confirmed by Prof. Noble, GCTE Chairman, in a letter to Prof. Peng Shaolin, Principal Investigator of

Optical pumping and population transfer of nuclear-spin states of caesium atoms in high magnetic fields

Nuclear-spin states of gaseous-state Cs atoms in the ground state are optically manipulated using a Ti：sapphire laser in a magnetic field of 1.516 T, in which optical coupling of the nuclear-spin states is achieved through hyperfine interactions between electrons and nuclei. The steady-state population distribution in the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels of the ground state is detected by using a tunable diode laser. Furthermore, the state population transfer among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels, which results from the collision-induced modification δa（S·I） of the hyperfine interaction of Cs in the ground state due to stochastic collisions between Cs atoms and buffer-gas molecules, is studied at different buffer-gas pressures. The experimental results show that high-field optical pumping and the small change δa（S · I） of the hyperfine interaction can strongly cause the state population transfer and spin-state interchange among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels. The calculated results maybe explain the steady-state population in hyperfine Zeeman sublevels in terms of rates of optical-pumping, electron-spin flip, nuclear spin flip, and electron-nuclear spin flip-flop transitions among the hyperfine Zeeman sublevels of the ground state of Cs atoms. This method may be applied to the nuclear-spin-based solid-state quantum computation.

Identification of Connection Flexibility Effects Based on Load Testing of a Steel-Concrete Bridge

In the case of composite girders, an effective cooperation of both parts of the section is influenced by deformability of connectors. Limited flexural stiffness of welded studs, used commonly in bridge structures, does not provide full interaction of a steel beam and a concrete slab. This changes strain distribution in cross-sections of a composite girder and results in redistribution of internal forces in steel and concrete element. In the paper partial interaction index defined on the basis of a neutral axis position, which can be used for verification of steel-concrete interaction in real bridge structures rather than in specimens is proposed. The range of the index value changes, obtained during load testing of a typical steel-concrete composite beam bridge, is presented. The investigation was carried out on a motorway viaduct, consisting of two parallel structures. During the testing values of strains in girders under static and quasi-static loads were measured. The readings from the gauges were used to determine the index, characterizing composite action of the girders. Results of bridge testing under movable load, changing position along the bridge span is presented and obtained in-situ influence functions of strains and index values are commented in the paper.

Improving Optimal Fingerprinting Methods Requires a Viewpoint beyond Statistical Science

While being successful in the detection and attribution of climate change,the optimal fingerprinting method(OFM)may have some limitations from a physics-and-dynamics-based viewpoint.Here,an analysis is made on the linearity,noninteraction,and stationary-variability assumptions adopted by OFM.It is suggested that furthering OFM needs a viewpoint beyond statistical science,and the method should be combined with theoretical tools in the dynamics and physics of the Earth system,so as to be applied for the detection and attribution of nonlinear climate change including tipping elements within the Earth system.

Three-dimensional regulation of transcription

Cells can adapt to environment and development by reconstructing their transcriptional networks to regulate diverse cellular processes without altering the underly- ing DNA sequences. These alterations, namely epige- netic changes, occur during cell division, differentiation and cell death. Numerous evidences demonstrate that epigenetic changes are governed by various types of determinants, including DNA methylation patterns, his- tone posttranslational modification signatures, histone variants, chromatin remodeling, and recently discovered chromosome conformation characteristics and non- coding RNAs （ncRNAs）. Here, we highlight recent efforts on how the two latter epigenetic factors participate in the sophisticated transcriptional process and describe emerging techniques which permit us to uncover and gain insights into the fascinating genomic regulation.

Di-Higgs production as a probe of flavor changing neutral Yukawa couplings

Top partners are well motivated in many new physics models.Usually,vector like quarks,T_(L,R),are introduced to circumvent the quantum anomaly.Therefore,it is crucial to probe their interactions with standard model particles.However,flavor changing neutral couplings are always difficult to detect directly in current and future experiments.In this paper,we demonstrate how to constrain the flavor changing neutral Yukawa coupling Tth indirectly,via the di-Higgs production.We consider the simplified model,including a pair of gauge singletT_(L,R).Under the perturbative unitarity and experimental constraints,we selectm_(T)=400 GeV,s_(L)=0.2,andm_(T)=800 GeV,s_(L)=0.1as benchmark points.After the analysis on the amplitude and evaluation of the numerical cross sections,we infer that the present constraints from di-Higgs production have already surpassed the unitarity bound because of the (y_(L,R)^(tT)^4behavior.For the case ofm_(T)=400 GeV and s_(L)=0.2,Rey_(L,R)^(tT) and Imy_(L,R)^(tT)can be bounded optimally in the range (-0.4,0.4) at the HL-LHC wit2σCL.For the case ofm_(T)=800GeV and s_(L)=0.1,Rey_(L,R)^(tT) and Imy_(L,R)^(tT)can be bounded optimally in the range (-0.5,0.5) at the HL-LHC wit 2σCL.The anomalous triple Higgs coupling delta_(hhh) can also affect the constraints ony_(L,R)^(tT).Finally,we determine that the top quark electric dipole moment can provide strongery_(L,R)^(tT)bounds in the off-axis regions for some scenarios.