According to a survey for the urban vegetation of Guangzhou, urban vegetation has a significantly difference from natural vegetation because of intense human impacts. The research was conducted in a synthetic survey f...According to a survey for the urban vegetation of Guangzhou, urban vegetation has a significantly difference from natural vegetation because of intense human impacts. The research was conducted in a synthetic survey for soil, species di-versity, roadside trees and ecological function of urban vegetation in Guangzhou City. The results showed that: (1) soil densi-ties of urban roadside and park forests were higher than mean density of natural forest soil. The pH values of soil in urban roadside were higher too, and the content of organic matter and the concentration of nitrogen were lower. (2) Species diversity of urban vegetation was lower. The most number of species was only 16 species in tree layers of urban forest. (3) Tree growth was limited by narrow space in high-density urban area, where the trees with defects and disorders were common. (4) Com-paring with mature natural forests, the productivity of urban vegetation was lower. The effect of urban vegetation on balance of carbon and oxygen were influenced by the low primary production of urban vegetation. Therefore, the growth condition for urban vegetation should be improved. Biodiversity, primary production and ecological function should be increased for urban vegetation in order to improve urban eco-environment.展开更多
Based on the analysis of the bioenergy crop production function of land use,combined with the status quo of Chinese land use,the cultivation of energy plants and the bioenergy crop production function of land use had ...Based on the analysis of the bioenergy crop production function of land use,combined with the status quo of Chinese land use,the cultivation of energy plants and the bioenergy crop production function of land use had been analyzes and discusses in this paper.Results show that there were a lot of unused lands and marginal lands which can be planted bioenergy crops to perform the bioenergy crop production function of land use with great potentials;and currently there were no food production problems.Therefore,it was very important for China to emphasize bioenergy crops planting in order to fully use land resources in our country,moderate the energy crisis and increase peasants' income.展开更多
Energy crops are a basic material in the bioenergy industry, and they can also mitigate carbon emissions and have environ- mental benefits when planted on marginal lands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the pote...Energy crops are a basic material in the bioenergy industry, and they can also mitigate carbon emissions and have environ- mental benefits when planted on marginal lands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential productivity of energy crops on marginal lands in China. A mechanistic model, combined with energy crop and land use characteristics, and meteorological and soil parameters, was used to simulate the potential productivity of energy crops. There were three main results. 1) The total marginal land in China was determined to be 104.78 × 106 ha. The 400-mm precipitation boundary line, which is the dividing line between the semi-humid and semi-arid zones in China, also divided the marginal land into shrub land and sparse forest land in the southeast and bare land, bare rock land, and saline alkali land in the northeast. 2) The total area of the marginal land suitable for planting energy crops was determined to be 55.82 × 106 ha, with Xanthoceras sorbifolia and Cerasus humilis mainly grown in the northern China, Jatropha curcas and Comus wilsoniana mainly grown in the southwest and southeast, and Pistacia chinensis mainly grown in the central area, while also having a northeast-southwest zonal distribution. 3) Taking the highest yield in overlapping areas, the potential productivity of target energy crops was determined to be 32.63 × 106 t/yr. Without considering the overlapping areas, the potential productivity was 6.81× 106 t/yr from X. sorbifolia, 8.86× 106t/yr from C. humilis, 7.18 ×106t/yr from J. curcas, 9.55 × 106t/yr from P. chinensis, and 7.78 ×106 t/yr from C. wilsoniana.展开更多
The European Union Framework Programme 71 Enerfish project aims to demonstrate a new poly-generation application with renewable energy sources for the fishery industry in Vietnam. The fish processing plant under consi...The European Union Framework Programme 71 Enerfish project aims to demonstrate a new poly-generation application with renewable energy sources for the fishery industry in Vietnam. The fish processing plant under consideration can be made by energy self-sufficient when all fish waste oil is processed into biodiesel and further converted to electricity and heat (for cooling) in a CHP (combined heat and power) unit. The purpose of the present paper is to discuss the profitability of such plants in southeast Asia. The economic model shows that electricity production is, due to the low electricity tariff, uneconomical (except during electricity blackout), even if cogeneration heat can be utilized. This prompt a design of the plant whereby the necessary heat for the biodiesel process is taken from the waste heat produced by the compressors of a CO2 cooling system. According to the calculations and assumptions of the present study, the profitability of biodiesel production from fish cleaning wastes in Vietnam depends strongly on the market prices for fish waste and fish oil. Different business case scenarios are described.展开更多
The objective of this study is to improve the production of L-DOPA from fungal source like Aspergillus terreus that can be further used to large-scale commercial production of this important drug from microbial source...The objective of this study is to improve the production of L-DOPA from fungal source like Aspergillus terreus that can be further used to large-scale commercial production of this important drug from microbial sources. L-DOPA, a dopamine precursor that can pass the blood-brain barrier, is presently the drug of choice for Parkinson's disease. Microbial production and isolation of L-DOPA from natural sources is yet to be achieved an economical process. In this study, the mycelial pellets ofAspergillus terreus 104 were entrapped in 2% calcium alginate and were studied for their capacity for L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine production. Results showed that the immobilized pellets produced L-DOPA to the extent of 0.74 mg·G^-1 biomass while the free pellets produced 0.8 mg·G^-1 biomass. Further, storage of immobilized pellets for 96 h at 4 ℃ resulted in the reduction of the original L-DOPA producing activity of the gel beads only 40% and that of free pellets lost completely. In order to improve the production yield, further experiments were designed. It was found that L-DOPA production could be prolonged with repeated batch wise use of immobilized mycelial pellets in calcium alginate retaining 80% of their L-DOPA producing capacity for a period of 72 h while free pellets lost completely within 24 h. Results of this kind therefore is interesting and promising for commercial scale production of L-DOPA from microbial sources.展开更多
Multi-component signals contain multiple signal parts expressed in the same physical modality. One way to identify individual components is if they are produced by different physical mechanisms. Here, I studied the me...Multi-component signals contain multiple signal parts expressed in the same physical modality. One way to identify individual components is if they are produced by different physical mechanisms. Here, I studied the mechanisms generating acoustic signals in the courtship displays of the Calliope hummingbird Stellula calliope. Display dives consisted of three synchronized sound elements, a high-frequency tone (hfl), a low frequency tone (lft), and atonal sound pulses (asp), which were then followed by a frequency-modulated fall. Manipulating any of the rectrices (tail-feathers) of wild males impaired production of the lft and asp but not the hfl or fall, which are apparently vocal. I tested the sound production capabilities of the rectrices in a wind tunnel. Single rectrices could generate the lft but not the asp, whereas multiple rectrices tested together produced sounds sitlfilar to the asp when they fluttered and collided with their neighbors percussively, representing a previously unknown mechanism of sound production. During the shuttle display, a trill is generated by the wings during pulses in which the wingbeat frequency is elevated to 95 Hz, 40% higher than the typical hovering wingbeat frequency. The Calliope hummingbird courtship displays include sounds produced by three independent mechanisms, and thus include a minimum of three acoustic signal components. These acoustic mechanisms have different constraints and thus potentially contain different messages. Producing multiple acoustic signals via multiple mechanisms may be a way to escape the constraints present in any single mechanism .展开更多
基金the Natural Science Founda-tion of Guangdong Province (021740) and Guangdong Environmental Pro-tection Foundation (2001-18)
文摘According to a survey for the urban vegetation of Guangzhou, urban vegetation has a significantly difference from natural vegetation because of intense human impacts. The research was conducted in a synthetic survey for soil, species di-versity, roadside trees and ecological function of urban vegetation in Guangzhou City. The results showed that: (1) soil densi-ties of urban roadside and park forests were higher than mean density of natural forest soil. The pH values of soil in urban roadside were higher too, and the content of organic matter and the concentration of nitrogen were lower. (2) Species diversity of urban vegetation was lower. The most number of species was only 16 species in tree layers of urban forest. (3) Tree growth was limited by narrow space in high-density urban area, where the trees with defects and disorders were common. (4) Com-paring with mature natural forests, the productivity of urban vegetation was lower. The effect of urban vegetation on balance of carbon and oxygen were influenced by the low primary production of urban vegetation. Therefore, the growth condition for urban vegetation should be improved. Biodiversity, primary production and ecological function should be increased for urban vegetation in order to improve urban eco-environment.
文摘Based on the analysis of the bioenergy crop production function of land use,combined with the status quo of Chinese land use,the cultivation of energy plants and the bioenergy crop production function of land use had been analyzes and discusses in this paper.Results show that there were a lot of unused lands and marginal lands which can be planted bioenergy crops to perform the bioenergy crop production function of land use with great potentials;and currently there were no food production problems.Therefore,it was very important for China to emphasize bioenergy crops planting in order to fully use land resources in our country,moderate the energy crisis and increase peasants' income.
基金Under the auspices of National Science and Technology Support Project of China(No.2013BAJ11B02)
文摘Energy crops are a basic material in the bioenergy industry, and they can also mitigate carbon emissions and have environ- mental benefits when planted on marginal lands. The aim of this study was to evaluate the potential productivity of energy crops on marginal lands in China. A mechanistic model, combined with energy crop and land use characteristics, and meteorological and soil parameters, was used to simulate the potential productivity of energy crops. There were three main results. 1) The total marginal land in China was determined to be 104.78 × 106 ha. The 400-mm precipitation boundary line, which is the dividing line between the semi-humid and semi-arid zones in China, also divided the marginal land into shrub land and sparse forest land in the southeast and bare land, bare rock land, and saline alkali land in the northeast. 2) The total area of the marginal land suitable for planting energy crops was determined to be 55.82 × 106 ha, with Xanthoceras sorbifolia and Cerasus humilis mainly grown in the northern China, Jatropha curcas and Comus wilsoniana mainly grown in the southwest and southeast, and Pistacia chinensis mainly grown in the central area, while also having a northeast-southwest zonal distribution. 3) Taking the highest yield in overlapping areas, the potential productivity of target energy crops was determined to be 32.63 × 106 t/yr. Without considering the overlapping areas, the potential productivity was 6.81× 106 t/yr from X. sorbifolia, 8.86× 106t/yr from C. humilis, 7.18 ×106t/yr from J. curcas, 9.55 × 106t/yr from P. chinensis, and 7.78 ×106 t/yr from C. wilsoniana.
文摘The European Union Framework Programme 71 Enerfish project aims to demonstrate a new poly-generation application with renewable energy sources for the fishery industry in Vietnam. The fish processing plant under consideration can be made by energy self-sufficient when all fish waste oil is processed into biodiesel and further converted to electricity and heat (for cooling) in a CHP (combined heat and power) unit. The purpose of the present paper is to discuss the profitability of such plants in southeast Asia. The economic model shows that electricity production is, due to the low electricity tariff, uneconomical (except during electricity blackout), even if cogeneration heat can be utilized. This prompt a design of the plant whereby the necessary heat for the biodiesel process is taken from the waste heat produced by the compressors of a CO2 cooling system. According to the calculations and assumptions of the present study, the profitability of biodiesel production from fish cleaning wastes in Vietnam depends strongly on the market prices for fish waste and fish oil. Different business case scenarios are described.
文摘The objective of this study is to improve the production of L-DOPA from fungal source like Aspergillus terreus that can be further used to large-scale commercial production of this important drug from microbial sources. L-DOPA, a dopamine precursor that can pass the blood-brain barrier, is presently the drug of choice for Parkinson's disease. Microbial production and isolation of L-DOPA from natural sources is yet to be achieved an economical process. In this study, the mycelial pellets ofAspergillus terreus 104 were entrapped in 2% calcium alginate and were studied for their capacity for L-3, 4-dihydroxyphenylalanine production. Results showed that the immobilized pellets produced L-DOPA to the extent of 0.74 mg·G^-1 biomass while the free pellets produced 0.8 mg·G^-1 biomass. Further, storage of immobilized pellets for 96 h at 4 ℃ resulted in the reduction of the original L-DOPA producing activity of the gel beads only 40% and that of free pellets lost completely. In order to improve the production yield, further experiments were designed. It was found that L-DOPA production could be prolonged with repeated batch wise use of immobilized mycelial pellets in calcium alginate retaining 80% of their L-DOPA producing capacity for a period of 72 h while free pellets lost completely within 24 h. Results of this kind therefore is interesting and promising for commercial scale production of L-DOPA from microbial sources.
基金Acknowledgments I thank S. Weinstein, A. Varma, and T. Feo for assistance in the field L. Benedict and T. Libby for use of equipment, J. Brown for accommodations, and G. Weston-Murphy for assistance with the wind tunnel. Walter Nussbaumer kindly allowed use of a photo. The manuscript was improved by comments from T. Feo and two anonymous reviewers. The research was supported by the MVZ and National Science Foundation IOS-090353 to R. Prum.
文摘Multi-component signals contain multiple signal parts expressed in the same physical modality. One way to identify individual components is if they are produced by different physical mechanisms. Here, I studied the mechanisms generating acoustic signals in the courtship displays of the Calliope hummingbird Stellula calliope. Display dives consisted of three synchronized sound elements, a high-frequency tone (hfl), a low frequency tone (lft), and atonal sound pulses (asp), which were then followed by a frequency-modulated fall. Manipulating any of the rectrices (tail-feathers) of wild males impaired production of the lft and asp but not the hfl or fall, which are apparently vocal. I tested the sound production capabilities of the rectrices in a wind tunnel. Single rectrices could generate the lft but not the asp, whereas multiple rectrices tested together produced sounds sitlfilar to the asp when they fluttered and collided with their neighbors percussively, representing a previously unknown mechanism of sound production. During the shuttle display, a trill is generated by the wings during pulses in which the wingbeat frequency is elevated to 95 Hz, 40% higher than the typical hovering wingbeat frequency. The Calliope hummingbird courtship displays include sounds produced by three independent mechanisms, and thus include a minimum of three acoustic signal components. These acoustic mechanisms have different constraints and thus potentially contain different messages. Producing multiple acoustic signals via multiple mechanisms may be a way to escape the constraints present in any single mechanism .