Future changes in precipitation and water availability over the Tibetan Plateau projected by CMIP6 models constrained by climate sensitivity

Precipitation projections over the Tibetan Plateau(TP)show diversity among existing studies,partly due to model uncertainty.How to develop a reliable projection remains inconclusive.Here,based on the IPCC AR6–assessed likely range of equilibrium climate sensitivity(ECS)and the climatological precipitation performance,the authors constrain the CMIP6(phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project)model projection of summer precipitation and water availability over the TP.The best estimates of precipitation changes are 0.24,0.25,and 0.45 mm d^(−1)(5.9%,6.1%,and 11.2%)under the Shared Socioeconomic Pathway(SSP)scenarios of SSP1–2.6,SSP2–4.5,and SSP5–8.5 from 2050–2099 relative to 1965–2014,respectively.The corresponding constrained projections of water availability measured by precipitation minus evaporation(P–E)are 0.10,0.09,and 0.22 mm d^(−1)(5.7%,4.9%,and 13.2%),respectively.The increase of precipitation and P–E projected by the high-ECS models,whose ECS values are higher than the upper limit of the likely range,are about 1.7 times larger than those estimated by constrained projections.Spatially,there is a larger increase in precipitation and P–E over the eastern TP,while the western part shows a relatively weak difference in precipitation and a drier trend in P–E.The wetter TP projected by the high-ECS models resulted from both an approximately 1.2–1.4 times stronger hydrological sensitivity and additional warming of 0.6℃–1.2℃ under all three scenarios during 2050–2099.This study emphasizes that selecting climate models with climate sensitivity within the likely range is crucial to reducing the uncertainty in the projection of TP precipitation and water availability changes.

Improving Network Availability through Optimized Multipath Routing and Incremental Deployment Strategies

Currently,distributed routing protocols are constrained by offering a single path between any pair of nodes,thereby limiting the potential throughput and overall network performance.This approach not only restricts the flow of data but also makes the network susceptible to failures in case the primary path is disrupted.In contrast,routing protocols that leverage multiple paths within the network offer a more resilient and efficient solution.Multipath routing,as a fundamental concept,surpasses the limitations of traditional shortest path first protocols.It not only redirects traffic to unused resources,effectively mitigating network congestion,but also ensures load balancing across the network.This optimization significantly improves network utilization and boosts the overall performance,making it a widely recognized efficient method for enhancing network reliability.To further strengthen network resilience against failures,we introduce a routing scheme known as Multiple Nodes with at least Two Choices(MNTC).This innovative approach aims to significantly enhance network availability by providing each node with at least two routing choices.By doing so,it not only reduces the dependency on a single path but also creates redundant paths that can be utilized in case of failures,thereby enhancing the overall resilience of the network.To ensure the optimal placement of nodes,we propose three incremental deployment algorithms.These algorithms carefully select the most suitable set of nodes for deployment,taking into account various factors such as node connectivity,traffic patterns,and network topology.By deployingMNTCon a carefully chosen set of nodes,we can significantly enhance network reliability without the need for a complete overhaul of the existing infrastructure.We have conducted extensive evaluations of MNTC in diverse topological spaces,demonstrating its effectiveness in maintaining high network availability with minimal path stretch.The results are impressive,showing that even when implemented on just 60%of nodes,our incremental deployment method significantly boosts network availability.This underscores the potential of MNTC in enhancing network resilience and performance,making it a viable solution for modern networks facing increasing demands and complexities.The algorithms OSPF,TBFH,DC and LFC perform fast rerouting based on strict conditions,while MNTC is not restricted by these conditions.In five real network topologies,the average network availability ofMNTCis improved by 14.68%,6.28%,4.76%and 2.84%,respectively,compared with OSPF,TBFH,DC and LFC.

Toilet Availability and Use in Public Places in Buea: Implications for Public Health

Toilet facilities in public places are a necessity and are supposed to be present in any public place where people visit. Despite the importance of toilet facilities in public places, there is limited access to toilet facilities in public places in Sub-Saharan Africa and this has been a persistent issue. Given that limited studies have been done on availability and use of toilets in public places, this study aimed to fill this research gap. To achieve the objective of the study, a cross-sectional study was used to select participants from the study site. The sample size was 400 after adjustment for non-response. Results from the study showed promising as 95% of public places had a toilet and water for hand washing. However, most of the toilet facilities lacked soap. Toilets in offices and hospitals were perceived to be cleaner and of good quality compared to those in markets and travel agencies. Results also showed that participants hardly used toilets in markets and travel agencies. Toilet facilities in offices and churches were most used, as office toilets were rated clean and of good quality by the participants. The study recommends the need for routine checks by the council to ensure the presence of toilet facilities in public places and the need to sensitise business owners on the importance of having and maintaining toilet facilities in their business establishments.

Environmental availability and ecological risk assessment of heavy metals in zinc leaching residue

Four different methods,namely mineralogical analysis,three-stage BCR sequential extraction procedure,dynamic leaching test and Hakanson Potential Ecological Risk Index Method were used to access the environmental activity and potential ecological risks of heavy metals in zinc leaching residue.The results demonstrate that the environmental activity of heavy metals declines in the following order：CdZnCuAsPb.Potential ecological risk indices for single heavy metal are CdZnCuAsPb.Cd has serious potential ecological risk to the ecological environment and contributes most to the potential toxicity response indices for various heavy metals in the residue.

AVAILABILITY SIMULATION OF MULTI-COMPONENT SYSTEM BASED ON OPPORTUNISTIC MAINTENANCE POLICY

A multi-component system has the long fixed maintenance time, so the opportunistic maintenance policy is adopted to put preventive replacement and corrective replacement together, so that the long fixed maintenance time can be shared by more than one component, and the system availability can be improved. Then, the generation characteristics of the random failure time are researched based on the replacement maintenance and the minima[ maintenance. Furthermore, by choosing the opportunistic replacement ages of each component as opti- mized variables, a simulation algorithm based on an opportunistic maintenance policy is designed to maximize the total availability. Finally, the simulation result shows the validity of the algorithm by an example.

Effects of freeze-thaw on soil nitrogen and phosphorus availability at the Keerqin Sandy Lands,China

A laboratory simulated freeze-thaw was conducted to determine the effects of freeze-thaw on soil nutrient availability in temperate semi-arid regions. Soil samples were collected from sandy soils （0-20 cm） of three typical ecosystems （grassland, Mongolian pine plantation and poplar plantation） in southeastern Keerqin Sandy Lands of China and subjected to freeze-thaw treatment （-12℃ for 10 days, then r 20℃ for 10 days） or incubated at constant temperature （20℃ for 20 days）. Concentrations of the soil NO3^--N, NH4^＋-N, NaHCO3 extractable inorganic P （LPi） and microbial biomass P （MBP） were determined on three occasions： at the start of the incubation, immediate post-thawing and at the 10th day post-thawing. The results showed that soil net nitrification and N mineralization rates at three sites were negatively affected by freeze-thaw treatment, and decreased by 50%-85% as compared to the control, of which the greatest decline occurred in the soil collected from poplar plantation. In contrast, the concentration of soil NH4^＋-N, NaHCO3 extractable inorganic P （LPi） and microbial biomass P were insignificantly influenced by freeze-thaw except that LPi and NH4^＋-N showed a slight increase immediate post-thawing. The effects of freeze-thaw on soil N transformation were related to soil biological processes and the relatively constant available P was ascribed to severe soil aridity.

High efficiency AODV routing protocol based on link availability prediction in MANETs

To cope with the problem of low protocol efficiency of the standard ad hoc on-demand distance vector （AODV） routing protocol with the periodic Hello message broadcast mechanism, a new link availability prediction based strategy is introduced to reduce the amount of Hello messages. In this strategy, a novel wireless link availability prediction model under line-of-sight （LOS） propagation environments is proposed based on which the parameter of Hello Interval in AODV can be dynamically adjusted to achieve the goal of changing the frequency of Hello message broadcasts under different link stability degrees. Simulation results demonstrate that, compared with the standard AODV with the periodic Hello message broadcast mechanism, the proposed protocol effectively reduces unnecessary control message overhead and greatly improves the performance in terms of end-to-end delay and efficiency.

Available Contents of Trace Nutrient Element and Factors Affecting Their Availability in Western Jilin

Based on the assay of the total content and available content of the trace nutrient elements and the soil pH and organic matter of the soil samples,the characteristic of the available content of the trace nutrient elements and their affecting factors are studied. The results show that the available B in western Jilin is in a middle level,the content in Nong'an is higher than that in the others; the available Mn is extremely abundant; the available Cu in Nong'an is obviously higher than other areas,and the content in Da'an differs greatly; the available Zn is in a middle level; the severe shortage of available Mo differs between different areas; and the available Fe is extremely abundant. The available Mn,Cu and Fe have significantly positive correlation with their total content; the available B has significantly positive correlation with pH,and Zn has obviously negative correlation with pH; the available Mn and Fe had significantly positive correlation with soil organic matter.

Effects of Continuous Irrigation of Biogas Slurry on Forms and Biological Availability of Pb in Soil of a Tea Garden

Through indoor culture experiments, the effects of continuous irrigation of biogas slurry on the forms and biological availability of Pb in soil of a tea garden were studied. The results show that continuous irrigation of biogas slurry could change the forms of Pb in the soil, and exchangeable Pb, Pb bonded to iron and manganese oxides, and Pb bonded to carbonates transformed to Pb bonded to or- ganic matter and residual Pb in the soil. Among various forms of Pb in the soil, the content of residual Pb was the highest in the soil irrigated with biogas slurry contin- uously in various treatments, accounting for 54.56%, 60.00% and 60.70% in the treatments T1, T2 and T3 respectively. Compared with the CK, the application of bio- gas slurry could decrease the biological activity and biological availability of Pb in the soil obviously, and the reduction of the biological activity was 21.26%-22.83%. In a word, the application of biogas slurry in soil of the tea garden could inhibit the biological activity and biological availability of Pb.

The rhizosphere pH change of Pinus koraiensis seedlings as affected by N sources of different levels and its effect on the availability and uptake of Fe, Mn, Cu and Zn

Dark brown forest soil was collected from the upper 20 cm soil layer in Changbai Mountain Research Station of Ecosystem, Chinese Academy of Sciences. The soil was amended with two different forms of nitrogen fertilizers: NO3- as Ca(NO3)2, NH4+ as NH4Cl at the concentrations of 50, 100, 200 and 400 mgkg-1 respectively. The experiment was carried out with 2-yr-old Pinus koraiensis seedlings in pot. The pH change of rhizosphere soil and the contents of available Fe, Mn, Cu, and Zn in soil and leaves were analyzed. The result indicated that the addition of NH4--N decreased the rhizosphere pH value, while the addition of NO3--N increased the rhizosphere pH value in contrast with the control treatment. The direction and extent of the pH change mainly depended on N source and its concentrations applied. The rhizosphere pH change had a remarkable influence on the availability of the micronutrients in the rhizosphere, and thereafter affected the nutrient uptake by the seedlings. The contents of available mineral nutrients had a negative correlation with the pH value in the rhizosphere soil. The contents of available mineral nutrients in leaves were positively correlated to the levels of the available nutrients in the rhizosphere soils.

The pH change in rhizosphere of Pinus koraiensis seedlings as af-fected by different nitrogen sources and its effect on phosphorus availability

Root mat method described by Kuchenbuch and Jungk was used to study the rhizosphere processes. The experi-ment was carried out on two years old Pinus koraiensis seedlings. Soil samples collected from the upper 20-cm soil layer in Changbai Mountain were treated with three different forms of nitrogen fertilizers: NO3--N, NH4+-N and NH4NO3. The results showed that the soil pH and available P near the roots were all lower than in the bulk soil in control treatment. NH4+-N applica-tion greatly decreased the soil pH near the roots compared to the control treatment and promoted the absorption of phosphorus, which led to a more remarkable depletion region of available P. On the contrary, the rhizosphere soil pH was higher than in the bulk soil in treatments with NO3--N and retarded the P absorption, which led to a nearly equal available P contents to the bulk soil. In treatment with NH4NO3, the rhizosphere soil pH was only a little lower than that in the control treatment and its effects on P absorption is mediate between the treatments with NH4+-N and NO3--N.

A SOLUTION TO HIGH AVAILABILITY OF OPENSTOCK

High availability is a critical mission for business system. At first, an instance of business system OPENSTOCK for pharmacy is introduced including both client and server sides. Secondly, a solution to the high availability of this system is given in detail, including design and implementation. The essentiality of this solution consists of scope of system information, system parameter tables of service status, schedule strategies of load ba lance and how to acquire system parameters and detect service states. The solution proposed is scalable and application oriented and supporting load balance for high performance and fault tolerate for high reliability. This application system has been applied and verified realistically, and the features of this business system derived in this paper have been achieved.

Telemedicine and public health–pearls and pitfalls

We hereby comment on the interesting systematic review by Grewal et al where they have provided an overall picture of the current status of available tele-health programs in the United States with emphasis on the Amazon Clinic.Their analysis is an appreciable effort in discovering the features available and features lacking in these tele-health programs.The concept of tele-health originated to curtail the need for physical attendance of patients at health clinics,and has been beneficial during the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic.We implore that the pearls and pitfalls of these programs have to be understood by policymakers prior to forming a consensus regarding the availability,accessibility and affordability of these programs as methods of healthcare delivery.Unrestricted proliferation of tele-health programs in their current form may pose threats to patient and provider safety and medicolegal liability.However,patients and providers must work together to improve them to meet their expectations and enable them to provide the best care for the ailing public.

Effect of Organic Ligands on Biological Availability of Inorganic Phosphorus in Soils

Citrate, oxalate, tartrate and malate were added into soils during the growthperiod of ryegrass to study the effect of different organic ligands on the release of variousinorganic P (Pi) fractions in a yellow-brown soil and a paddy soil. The results showed that oxalatewas most effective in promoting the release of total Pi in the yellow-brown soil and tartrate in thepaddy soil. The dominant Pi fractions released from the yellow-brown soil were calcium phosphate(Ca-P) and aluminum phosphate (Al-P) and those from the paddy soil were iron phosphate (Fe-P) andreductant soluble phosphate (O-P) mobilized by tartrate. Phosphorous-mobilizing capability oforganic acids in the yellow-brown soil revealed the following order: oxalate > citrate > malate >tartrate. In the paddy soil, the order was tartrate > citrate ≈ oxalate > malate. It wasdemonstrated that organic ligands were different in their capabilities of mobilizing Pi and the sameorganic ligand showed also a discrepancy in mobilizing P in different soils. Although the additionof organic ligands into soils could increase the amount of P taken up by ryegrass, the more uptakeof P, however, was not only due to the more release of Pi, but also partly from organic P. In manycases, organic ligands promoted the release of the total Pi, while different fractions showeddifferent trends: some increased and others decreased.

Heavy metal availability and impact on activity of soil microorganisms along a Cu/Zn contamination gradient

All the regulations that define a maximum concentration of metals in the receiving soil are based on total soil metal concentration. However, the potential toxicity of a heavy metal in the soil depends on its speciation and availability. We studied the effects of heavy metal speciation and availability on soil microorganism activities along a Cu/Zn contamination gradient. Microbial biomass and enzyme activity of soil contaminated with both Cu and Zn were investigated. The results showed that microbial biomass was negatively affected by the elevated metal levels. The microbial biomass-C （Cmic）/organic C （Corg） ratio was closely correlated to heavy metal stress. There were negative correlations between soil microbial biomass, phosphatase activity and NH4NO3 extractable heavy metals. The soil microorganism activity could be predicted using empirical models with the availability of Cu and Zn. We observed that 72% of the variation in phosphatase activity could be explained by the NH4NO3-extractable and total heavy metal concentration. By considering different monitoring approaches and different viewpoints, this set of methods applied in this study seemed sensitive to site differences and contributed to a better understanding of the effects of heavy metals on the size and activity of microorganisms in soils. The data presented demonstrate the relationship between heavy metals availability and heavy metal toxicity to soil microorganism along a contamination gradient.

Effects of Phosphate Adsorption on Adsorption-Desorption and Availability of Cu and Zn Ions in Ultisols and Alfisols

Surface charge, secondary adsorption- desorption and form distribution of Cu2+ and Zn2+ in Ultisols and Alfisols having adsorbed phosphate were studied by potentiometric titration, adsorption equilibrium and sequential extraction method, respectively. The soil surface negative charges increased whereas the amount of positive charges decreased with increase of P adsorbed. The soil secondary adsorption capacity for Cu2+ and Zn2+ was positively significantly correlated with the amount of P adsorbed by the soils, which could be described by the Langmuir equation. The amounts of Cu2+ and Zn2+ desorption from soils were decreased after P adsorption by the soils and the relationship between them was linear. After the soils adsorbed P, form distribution of Cu2+ and Zn2+ in soils changed remarforbly.

Activity budget of Rhinopithecus bieti at Tibet:Effects of day length,temperature and food availability

How animals allocate their time to various activities has significant consequences for their survival because they reflect the different constraints on time-energy balances. Many ecological variables, such as day length, temperature, food availabil- ity, are supposed to effect on activity budgets allocation of temperate primates. To examine the potential influence of these three variables, the activity budgets ofRhinopithecus bieti was studied at Xiaochangdu, Tibet from June 2003 to March 2005. Pearson correlations were utilized to assess potential relationships between activity budget and day length, food availability and temperature, and stepwise multiple regressions to identify the priority of resting and other activities （activities besides feeding, moving and resting）. Time spent resting and doing ＂other activities＂ is positively related to day length, temperature and food availability. No significant correlations were found between feeding/moving time and any of these variables. This suggests that foraging time （feeding ＋ moving） takes priority over rest and other activities. Day length and foraging time （as independent variables） were related to the time spent in the other two activities besides feeding/moving （as dependent variables）. Both time spent resting and in ＂other activities＂ were highly significant positive functions of day length, with the latter a highly significant negative function of feeding time and moving time. Resting time may therefore be interpreted as taking priority over ＂other activities＂ time. These results provide further evidence of the importance of day length, temperature and food availability to seasonal activity budgets [Current Zoology 56 （6）： 650q559, 2010].

Maize-legume intercropping promote N uptake through changing the root spatial distribution,legume nodulation capacity,and soil N availability

Legume cultivars affect N uptake,component crop growth,and soil physical and chemical characteristics in maize-legume intercropping systems.However,how belowground interactions mediate root growth,N fixation,and nodulation of different legumes to affect N uptake is still unclear.Hence,a two-year experiment was conducted with five planting patterns,i.e.,maize-soybean strip intercropping(IMS),maize-peanut strip intercropping(IMP),and corresponding monocultures(monoculture maize(MM),monoculture soybean(MS),and monoculture peanut(MP)),and two N application rates,i.e.,no N fertilizer(N-)and conventional N fertilizer(N+),to examine relationships between N uptake and root distribution of crops,legume nodulation and soil N availability.Results showed that the averaged N uptake per unit area of intercrops was significantly lower than the corresponding monocultures.Compared with the monoculture system,the N uptake of the intercropping systems increased by 31.7-45.4%in IMS and by 7.4-12.2%in IMP,respectively.The N uptake per plant of intercropped maize and soybean significantly increased by 61.6 and 31.8%,and that of intercropped peanuts significantly decreased by 46.6%compared with the corresponding monocultures.Maize and soybean showed asymmetrical distribution of roots in strip intercropping systems.The root length density(RLD)and root surface area density(RSAD)of intercropped maize and soybean were significantly greater than that of the corresponding monocultures.The roots of intercropped peanuts were confined,which resulted in decreased RLD and RSAD compared with the monoculture.The nodule number and nodule fresh weight of soybean were significantly greater in IMS than in MS,and those of peanut were significantly lower in IMP than in MP.The soil protease,urease,and nitrate reductase activities of maize and soybean were significantly greater in IMS and IMP than in the corresponding monoculture,while the enzyme activities of peanut were significantly lower in IMP than in MP.The soil available N of maize and soybean was significantly greater increased in IMS and IMP than in the corresponding monocultures,while that of IMP was significantly lower than in MP.In summary,the IMS system was more beneficial to N uptake than the IMP system.The intercropping of maize and legumes can promote the N uptake of maize,thus reducing the need for N application and improving agricultural sustainability.

Phenotypic plasticity in response to soil moisture availability in the clonal plant Eremosparton songoricum (Litv.) Vass.

Eremosparton songoricum （Litv.） Vass is a dwarf clonal shrubby legume developed on the windward slopes of mobile or semi-fixed sand dunes of Central Asia. It is assumed that E. songoricum must possess a high degree of phenotypic plasticity for such a heterogeneous habitat. The variations of E. songoricum plants growing in two typical microhabitats （the upper slope and the lower slope of semi-mobile dune） were investigated. The morphological characteristics and the biomass allocation patterns were measured and compared at the clonal fragment level. Compared with the clonal fragment on the lower slope of dune, the clonal fragment on the upper slope of the dune （a） declined in total biomass and ramet height, （b） increased the length of rhizomes and the number of roots, （c） increased the degree of asym- metry, and （d） heightened allocation to the belowground biomass. Our results confirmed the hypothesis of high phenotypic adjustment capacity of E. songoricum to habitat moisture availability. Phenotypic plasticity of E. songoricum contributed to reduce the damage risk, led to an environmentally induced specialization in function of resources exploitation, resulted in its persistence in heterogeneous environments and was adaptive in sand dune environment.

THE AVAILABILITY OF DISSOLVED ORGANIC PHOSPHORUS COMPOUNDS TO MARINE PHYTOPLANKTON

The availability of three dissolved organic phosphorus （DOP） compounds as nutrient sources for experimentalcultare of three algae was studied. Results indicated that these compounds could be utilized byalgae, and that dissolved inorganic phosphorus （DIP） was first to be uptaken when various forms ofphosphorus （DIP and DOP） co-existed. Dicrateria zhanjiangensis’ uptake of sodium glycerophosphatewas faster than that of D-ribose-5-phosphate. The increase of sodium glycerphosphate had little effecton the maximum uptake rate(Vmax) of Chlorella sp., but increased the semisaturation constant（Ks） remarkably;the photosynthesis rates（PR） of Dicrateria zhanjiangensis and Chlorella sp. were rarely affected byusing various forms of phosphorus in the culture experiments. The possible DOP pathways utilizedby algae are discussed.