The features of soil aggregation and its eco-environmental effects under different subalpine forests on the east slope of Gongga Mountain, China

Structural properties of forest soils have important hydro-ecological function and can influence the soil water-physical characters and soil erosion. The experimental soil samples were obtained in surface horizon (0-10 cm) from different subalpine forest types on east slope of Gongga Mountain in the upriver area of Yangtze River China in May 2002. The soil bulk density, porosity, stable infiltration rate, aggregate distribution and particle-size distribution were analyzed by the routine methods in room, and the features and effects on eco-environment of soil aggregation were studied. The results showed that the structure of soil under mixed mature forest is in the best condition and can clearly enhance the eco-environmental function of soil, and the soil structure under the clear-cutting forest is the worst, the others are ranked between them. The study results can offer a basic guidance for the eco-environmental construction in the upper reaches of Yangtze River.

The selective 5-HTIA receptor antagonist WAY-100635 inhibits neuronal activity of the ventromedial prefrontal cortex in a rodent model of Parkinson's disease

Objective The ventral part of the medial prefrontal cortex（mPFC）plays an important role in initiation and control of voluntary movement,mood and cognition.However,after the degeneration of the nigrostriatal pathway,the neuronal activity of the ventral mPFC and the role of serotonin1A（5-hydroxytryptamine,5-HT1A）receptors in the firing of the neurons are still unknown.The present study is to investigate the change of neuronal activity in the ventral mPFC and the effect of systemic administration of the selective 5-HT1Areceptor antagonist WAY-100635 on the activity of the neurons in normal and 6-hydroxydopamine（6-OHDA）-lesioned rats.Methods Single unit responses were recorded extracellularly with glass microelectrodes from ventral mPFC neurons in normal rats and 6-OHDA unilaterally lesiond rats in vivo.Results 6-OHDA lesion of the substantia nigra pars compacta（SNc）significantly increased the firing rate with no change in the firing pattern of neurons of the ventral mPFC in rats.Systemic administration of WAY-100635（0.1 mg/kg,i.v.）did not change the mean firing rate and firing pattern of ventral mPFC neurons in normal rats.In contrast,WAY-100635 signifi- cantly decreased the mean firing rate of the neurons in rats with 6-OHDA lesion of the SNc.Conclusion These data suggest that the degeneration of the nigrostriatal pathway results in an increase of neuronal activity of ventral mPFC and dysfunction of 5-HT1Areceptor.

Acid Buffering Capacity of Forest Litter from Some ImportantPlantation and Natural Forests in South China

The role of forest litter as an acid-base buffering system was assessed by litter from plantation and natural forests in South China. Samples were either extracted with acid solutions or titrated with acid or base solutions. Litter was found to be a strong acid-base buffering system. Two legume species, Acacia mangium Willd and A. auriculaiformis A. Cunn, had very high litter pH values of around 6, which was 2 pH units higher than that of the soil where they grew. Litter of all other plantation species had litter pH of around 4, similar to that of the soil. Both legume species have high potential to neutralize soil acidity and the litter layer could act to shield soil against acid rain. The current stand of two legume species was estimated to be able to raise rain acidity by 0.1 to 0.4 pH units. Inorganic ions did not fully explain the pH pattern of different litter extracts, but high sodium and low nitrate partly accounted for the high pH of the two legume species. Some natural forest species had extremely low pH. As a whole, the litter of the natural climax forest was the driving force of soil acidification. Although plant residues are strong acid-base buffering system and able to adjust acidity of environment, only a few species can be expected to make soil more acid or alkaline through this mechanism since most species have litter pH values similar to those of soil where they grow.

Characteristics of rock fragments in different forest stony soil and its relationship with macropore characteristics in mountain area, northern China

Rock fragments have major effect on soil macropores and water movement. However, the characteristics of rock fragments and their relationship with macropore characteristics remain elusive in forest stony soils in northern mountainous area of China. The objectives of this study are to(1) use Industrial Computed Tomography(CT) scanning to quantitatively analyze rock fragment characteristics in intact soil columns in different forest lands and(2) identify the relationship between characteristics of rock fragments and that of the macropores. Intact soil columns that were 100 mm in diameter and 300 mm long were randomly taken from six local forest stony soils in Wuzuolou Forest Station in Miyun, Beijing. Industrial CT was used to scan all soil column samples, and then the scanned images were utilized to obtain the three-dimensional(3 D) images of rock fragments and macropore structures. Next, theparameters of the rock fragments and macropore structure were measured, including the volume, diameter, surface area, and number of rock fragments, as well as the volume, diameter, surface area, length, angle, tortuosity and number of macropores. The results showed that no significant difference was found in soil rock fragments content in the 10-30 cm layer between mixed forest and pure forest, but in the 0-10 cm soil layer, the rock fragments in mixed forest were significantly less than in pure forest. The number density of macropores has significant negative correlation with the number of rock fragments in the 0-10 cm soil layer, whereas this correlation is not significant in 10-20 cm and 20-30 cm soil layers. The volume density of macropore was not correlated with the volume density of rock fragments, and there is no correlation between the density of macropore surface area and the density of rock fragment surface area. Industrial CT scanning combined with image processing technology canprovide a better way to explore 3 D distribution of rock fragments in soil. The content of rock fragments in soil is mainly determined by parent rocks. The surface soil(0-10 cm) of forest contains fewer rock fragments and more macropores, which may be caused by bioturbation, root systems, gravitational settling and faunal undermining.

Effects of Thidiazuron,basal medium and light quality on adventitious shoot regeneration from in vitro cultured stem of Populus alba×P. berolinensis

The effect of Thidiazuron （TDZ）, basal media and light quality on adventitious shoot regeneration from in vitro cultured stem of Populus albaxP berolinensis were determined to establish a high efficiency shoot regeneration system from stem explants of P. alba^P berolinensis. Stems ofPopulus alba^P berolinensis were collected from cultured shoots in vitro derived from dormancy buds of 3-year-old seedlings. The stem explants were cultured on MS medium containing 0.02-mg·L-1NAA （naphthaleneacetic acid）, and 0.1, 0.3, 0.5 and 1.0 mg·L-1 concentrations of TDZ to determine the effect of TDZ on shoot regeneration. Three basal media, i.e. MS, woody plant medium （WPM） and B5, were used to test their influences of different media on adventitious shoot regeneration. Green, red, blue and yellow plastic films in comparison with florescent light as control were used to observe their effects on shoot regeneration. The results showed that differ- ent concentrations of TDZ had an evident influence on shoot regeneration. Lower concentration of TDZ （0.1 mg·L-1） resulted in more ad- ventitious shoot regeneration and higher concentration of TDZ （〉0.1 mg·L-1） inhibited shoot regeneration. Among different media, MS medium exhibited a high efficiency for shoot regeneration, followed by WPM medium, while B5 medium inhibited shoot regeneration. Normal light and yellow light exhibited better effects on shoot regeneration, compared with other light.

Relationship between magnetic Barkhausen noise and the stresses, the hardness and the phase content of ferromagnetic materials

Magnetic Barkhausen Noise (MBN) is a phenomenon of electromagnetic energy emission due to the movement of magnetic domain walls inside ferromagnetic materials when they are locally magnetized by an alternating magnetic field. According to Faraday’s law of electromagnetic induction, the noise can be received by the coil attached to the surface of the material being magnetized and the noise carries the message of the characteristics of the material such as stresses, hardness, phase content, etc. Based on the characteristic of the noise, research about the relationship between the welding stresses in the welding assembly and the noise, the fatigue damage of the plate structure and the noise, and the influence of heat treatment and the variation of phase content to the noise are carried out in this paper.

Urban Boundary-Layer Stability and Turbulent Exchange during Consecutive Episodes of Particle Air Pollution in Beijing,China

Based on measurements at the Beijing 325-m Meteorological Tower,this study reports an analysis of atmospheric stability conditions and turbulent exchange during consecutive episodes of particle air pollution in Beijing(China),primarily due to haze and dust events(15–30 April 2012).Of particular interest were relevant vertical variations within the lower urban boundary layer(UBL).First,the haze and dust events were characterized by different atmospheric conditions,as quite low wind speed and high humidity are typically observed during haze events.In addition,for the description of stability conditions,the bulk Richardson number(RiB) was calculated for three different height intervals: 8–47,47–140,and 140–280 m.The values of RiB indicated an apparent increase in the occurrence frequency of stably-stratified air layers in the upper height interval—for the 140–280-m height interval,positive values of RiB occurred for about 85% of the time.The downward turbulent exchange of sensible heat was observed at 280 m for the full diurnal cycle,which,by contrast,was rarely seen at 140 m during daytime.These results reinforce the importance of implementing high-resolution UBL profile observations and addressing issues related to stably-stratified flows.

Recognition of newspaper printed in Gurumukhi script

In this work,a system for recognition of newspaper printed in Gurumukhi script is presented.Four feature extraction techniques,namely,zoning features,diagonal features,parabola curve fitting based features,and power curve fitting based features are considered for extracting the statistical properties of the characters printed in the newspaper.Different combinations of these features are also applied to improve the recognition accuracy.For recognition,four classification techniques,namely,k-NN,linear-SVM,decision tree,and random forest are used.A database for the experiments is collected from three major Gurumukhi script newspapers which are Ajit,Jagbani and Punjabi Tribune.Using 5-fold cross validation and random forest classifier,a recognition accuracy of 96.19%with a combination of zoning features,diagonal features and parabola curve fitting based features has been reported.A recognition accuracy of 95.21%with a partitioning strategy of data set(70%data as training data and remaining 30%data as testing data)has been achieved.

Entanglement in Spin-1／2 Dimerized Heisenberg Systems

We study entanglement in dimerized Heisenberg systems. In particular, we give exact results of groundstate pairwise entanglement for the four-qubit model by identifying a Z2 symmetry. Although the entanglements cannot identify the critical point of the system, the mean entanglement of the nearest-neighbor qubits really does, namely, it reaches a maximum at the critical point.

Growing stock variation in different teak (Tectona grandis) forest stands of Mizoram,India

The growing stock assessment of three different teak forest stands （Tuirial： 500 m asl, Sairang： 200 m asl and Phunchawng： 550 m asl） was done in 2006 in Mizoram, India. Five diameter classes were arbitrarily established for knowing the volume attribute data and population structure, viz. a （10-20 cm）, b （20-30 cm）, c （30-40 cm）, d （40-50 cm）, and e （50-60 cm）. Results revealed that the density of the individuals among the studied stands varied from 280 stems/ha to 620 stems/ha. The average diameter of all the individuals ranged between 27.48 cm and 35.43 cm. Similarly, the average height was oscillated between 17.87 m and 22.24 m. The total basal area was recorded between 24.28 m2.ha-1 and 45.80 m2.ha＂l. The maximum and minimum values of total growing stock under all the diameter classes were 669.01 m3.ha-1 and 284.7 m3.ha-1, respectively. The representation of population structure of different stands explained that the perpetuation of this species was ensured for a quite long time.

Quantum Phase Transition in Quasi-two-dimensional Heisenberg Antiferromagnet with Single-Ion Anisotropy

In the present paper, we investigate the quantum phase transition in a spatially anisotropic antiferrornagnetic Heisenberg model of S =1 with single-ion energy anisotropy. By using the Schwinger boson representation, we calculate the Gaussian correction to the critical value J⊥^c caused by quantum spin fluctuations. We find that, for the positive single-ion energy, a nonzero value of J⊥^c is always needed to stabilize the antiferromagnetic long-range order in this model. It resolves a difference among literature and shows clearly that the effect of quantum fluctuations may qualitatively change a result obtained by the mean-field theories on lower-dimensional systems.

Statistical Average of Spin Operators for Calculation of Three-Component Magnetization

When one wants to calculate all the three components of magnetization of Heisenberg model under random phase approximation, at least one of the components should be the solution of an ordinary differential equation. In this paper such an equation is established. It is argued that the general expressions of magnetization for any spin quantum number S suggested before are the solution of the ordinary differential equation.

More than Carbon Stocks:A Case Study of Ecosystem-based Benefits of REDD+ in Indonesia

During the 15th Conference of the Parties （COP 15）, Parties agreed that reducing emissions from deforesta- tion and forest degradation and enhancing ＇removals of greenhouse gas emission by forests＇ （REDD＋） in developing countries through positive incentives under the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change （UNFCCC） was capable of dealing with global emissions. As REDD＋ seeks to lower emissions by stopping deforestation and for- est degradation with an international payment tier according to baseline scenarios, opportunities for ecosystem benefits such as slowing habitat fragmentation, conservation of forest biodiversity, soil conservation may be also part of this effort. The primary objective of this study is to evaluate ecosystem-based benefits of REDD＋, and to identify the rela- tionships with carbon stock changes. To achieve this goal, high resolution satellite images are combined with Normal- ized Difference Vegetation Index （NDVI） to identify historical deforestation in study area of Central Kalimantan, In- donesia. The carbon emissions for the period of 2000-2005 and 2005-2009 are 2.73 ×10^5 t CO2 and 1.47× 10^6 t CO2 respectively, showing an increasing trend in recent years. Dring 2005-2009, number of patches （NP）, patch density （PD）, mean shape index distribution （SHAPE_MN） increased 30.8%, 30.7% and 7.6%. Meanwhile, largest patch index （LPI）, mean area （AREA MN）, area-weighted mean of shape index distribution （SHAPE_AM）, neighbor distance （ENN_MN） and interspersion and juxtaposition index （IJI） decreased by 55.3%, 29.7%, 15.8%, 53.4% and 21.5% re- spectively. The area regarding as positive correlation between carbon emissions and soil erosion was approximately 8.9 x l03 ha corresponding to 96.0% of the changing forest. These results support the view that there are strong syner- gies among carbon loss, forest fragmentation and soil erosion in tropical forests. Such mechanism of REDD＋ is likely to present opportunities for multiple benefits that fall outside the scope of carbon stocks.

Josephson Current in Superconductor-Ferromagnet／Insulator／d-Wave Superconductor Junctions

Solving the Bogoliubov-de Gennes equation, the energy levels of bound statesare obtained in the ferromagnetic superconductor. The Josephson currents in a ferromagneticsuperconductor/Insulator/d-wave superconductor junction are calculated as a function of the exchangefield, temperature, and insulating barrier strength. It is found that the Josephson criticalcurrent is always suppressed by the presence of exchange Geld h and depends on crystalline axisorientation of d-wave superconductor.

Indelible Rules of Josephson Coupling Energy and Zero-Point Energy in High-Tc Cuprates

This paper shows that the Josephson coupling energy and the zero-point energy have indelible rules on the superfluid density and the superconductivity in the high-Tc cuprates. This paper also shows that the values of Tc at underdoped and overdoped regions are determined by the damage conditions of the phase coherence in the classical and the quantum XY-models, respectively.

A Review and Reflection of Value Account of Forest Resources

The framework of forest valuation accounting has been formed through the development stages of timber value calculation, forest ecosystem valuation and entire value accounting of forest resources, including the forest values of resources in kind, environmental resources and social benefits in China. These theory and methods still face deviation of theories and methods from vague position of discipline, larger accounting results from ignoring differences between forest ecological functions and ecosystem services, and unrealistic and other problems from non-standard index system and accounting methods due to the development history and other reasons. Five suggestions are proposed to make explicit the object and purpose of the forest resource value accounting, establish universal, scientific, measurable and concise index system for value evaluation, calculate forest resources value in consideration of forest type and position, distinguish accurately the functions from benefits of the forest resources, and suit value calculation result to the practice of social economy.

Efflux Estimate of Greenhouse Effect Gases in Three Different Forest Formations and the Influence of Soil

In carbon global cycle, the relationship between the terrestrial ecosystem and the atmosphere where there are, among others, gases that contribute to the greenhouse effect, has become object of relevant scientific interest. The content of organic matter in soil, expressed by its supplies as well as the organic matter degree of stability, are factors that can prevent the soil from acting as a drain and at the same time contribute for it to become a source of those gases. The variations in the way land is used in Brazil are factors responsible for the increase in emission of greenhouse effect gases. Based on these facts, this study was aimed to evaluate the CO2 and CH4 efflux using a gas retention chamber, and to associate these emissions to the organic carbon content in the soil. Two different areas were selected for the study, one in Tijuca Forest National Park, in a forest area, and the other at the Rio de Janeiro Federal Rural University campus. In the latter, the area was stratified in three sub areas according to the vegetation, use and water saturation degree. Samplings were performed during 8 months between 2013 and 2014.

dc Josephson Effect in s-Wave Superconductor/Ferromagnet Insulator/p-Wave Superconductor Junctions

The Josephson currents in s-wave superconductor/ferromagnet insulator/p-wave superconductor（s/FI/p） junctions are calculated as a function of temperature and the phase taking into account the roughness scattering effect at interface. The phase dependence of the Josephson current I （φ） between s-wave and px-wave superconductor is predicted to be sin（2φ）. The ferromagnet scattering effect, the barrier strength, and the roughness strength at interface suppress the dc currents in s/FI/p junction.

Dynamic mechanical properties and instability behavior of layered backfill under intermediate strain rates

To obtain dynamic mechanical properties and failure rule of layered backfill under strain rates from10to80s-1,impactloading test on layered backfill specimens(LBS)was conducted by using split Hopkinson pressure bar system.The results indicatethat positive correlation can be found between dynamic compressive strength and strain rate,as well as between strength increasefactor and strain rate.Dynamic compressive strength of LBS gets higher as the arithmetic average cement-sand ratio increases.Compared with static compressive strength,dynamic compressive strength of LBS is enhanced by11%to163%.In addition,theenergy dissipating rate of LBS lies between that of corresponding single specimens,and it decreases as the average cement contentincreases.Deformation of LBS shows obvious discontinuity,deformation degree of lower strength part of LBS is generally higherthan that of higher strength part.A revised brittle fracture criterion based on the Stenerding-Lehnigk criterion is applied to analyzingthe fracture status of LBS,and the average relevant errors of the3groups between the test results and calculation results are4.80%,3.89%and4.66%,respectively.

＂Everything About You Is Vampiric＂： Vampirism as a Metaphor for Adolescent Maturation in M. T. Anderson＇s Thirsty

Over the past few years, vampire genre has populated young adult （YA） literature. YA literature can be defined as narratives about the individual growth and maturation of adolescent protagonist. Adolescence is the bridging process of growing from childhood to adulthood. Furthermore, it is a turbulent time of rapid physical growth and sexual development. It also creates a critical phase in the formation of identity. In this paper, the author shall identify the ways in which representation of adolescence in an American contemporary young adult novel, Anderson＇s Thirsty （2008）, reflects and shapes the maturation of its young protagonist. The author argues that the transformation of vampire in the novel works as a metaphor for the various changes and maturation process experienced by the protagonist in the novel. Furthermore, the author＇s discussion will be preceded by a short history of vampire narrative. The author＇s analysis is supported by psychological theories of adolescence and socio-cultural approach which focuses on the ambiguities of adolescents＇ identity. Moreover, this paper alludes a psychoanalytic reading of the symbolism of the vampire which refers to Freud＇s notions of libido and death drive The conclusion of this paper is that Anderson＇s Thirsty is a paranormal novel which positions the implied readers to understand the trials of an adolescent protagonist during his difficult time of transition from childhood to adulthood.