Effects of site productivity on individual tree maximum basal area growth rates of Eucalyptus pilularis in subtropical Australia

Inventory data were available from 96 plots of even-aged,monoculture,tall-open forests of Eucalyptus pilularis Smith,aged 2-63 years,growing in sub-tropical regions along the east coast of Australia.A model was developed relating the maximum possible stem basal area growth rate of individual trees to their stem basal area.For any tree size,this maximum increased as site productivity increased.However,the size at which this maximum occurred decreased as productivity increased.Much research has shown that,at any stand age,trees of a particular stem basal area are taller on more productive sites than on less productive ones.Taller trees incur greater respiratory costs to ensure maintenance of the photo synthetic capacity of their canopies;this reduces their growth rates.It was concluded that trees with larger basal areas will have the maximum possible growth rate on a less productive site,whilst trees with smaller basal areas will have the maximum possible on a more productive site.The model developed may constitute the first stage of a complete individual tree growth model system to predict wood yields from these forests.

Estimating Synechococcus spp. growth rates and grazingpressure by heterotrophic nanoplankton in theEnglish Channel and the Celtic Sea

-Marine chroococcoid phycoerythrin - containing Synechococcus spp. recently have been implicated as a substantial component of the photosynthetic picoplankton in the ocean. Although the importance of Synechococcus as food sources for heterotrophic nanoplankton are now recognized, the information about its cycling of biomass and diel patterns is limited and the methodology used varies according to different authors. A selective metabolic inhibitor method was used to allow simultanous estimation of both growth rates and grazing disappearance rates of Synechococcus. Results obtained in the English Channel show growth rates ranging from 0. 25 to 0. 72 d-1 with an average value of 0. 51 d -1and grazing disappearance rates ranged from 0. 21 to 0. 64 d-1 (mean = 0. 44 d-1). Offshore in the Celtic Sea of the Northeast Atlantic Ocean, both rates were lower than in the channel. The similarity between average growth and grazing rates suggests a rapid recycling of Synechococcus biomass. In diel pattern, Synechococcus grazing mortality rates were higher during the day (mean = 0. 61 d-1) than during the night (mean = 0. 21d-1) in all the experiments. A positive correlation was observed between growth rates and in situ temperature ranged from 9 to 20 ℃. Sire-fractionated experiments demonstrate that up to about 7 0 % of Synechococcus disappearance could be attributed to the grazer smaller than 2 μm in diameter. The variations of Synechococcus cell characteristics such as size and phycoerythin contents in the growth and grazing experiments were determined with a flow cytometer. The methodology recently used on estimating dynamics of Synechococcus population is reviewed.

PROBABILISTIC MODELS FOR LONG FATIGUE CRACK GROWTH RATES OF LZ50 AXLE STEEL

Experimental study is performed on the probabilistic models for the long fatigue crack growth rates （da/dN） of LZ50 axle steel. An equation for crack growth rate was derived to consider the trend of stress intensity factor range going down to the threshold and the average stress effect. The probabilistic models were presented on the equation. They consist of the probabilistic da/dN-△K relations, the confidence-based da/dN-△K relations, and the probabilistic- and confidence-based da/dN-△K relations. Efforts were made respectively to characterize the effects of probabilistic assessments due to the scattering regularity of test data, the number of sampling, and both of them. These relations can provide wide selections for practice. Analysis on the test data of LZ50 steel indicates that the present models are available and feasible.

In situ measured growth rates of bainite plates in an Fe-C-Mn-Si superbainitic steel

The growth rates of bainite plates in an Fe-C-Mn-Si superbainitie steel were investigated by in situ observation. The lengthening rates of ferrite bainite during both cooling and isothermal holding processes were observed and the growth rates of bainite plates nucleating at grain boundaries, within grains and on preformed bainite were measured. It is indicated that the lengthening rates of bainite plates during the cooling and isothermal processes were different, and that the growth rates of bainite plates nucleating at different types of sites also demon- strated diversity. The bainite plates initiating at [vain boundaries during cooling grew the fastest, while the plates nucleating on preformed bainite did the slowest. However, the growth rate of the bainite plates nucleating at grain boundaries during isothermal transformation de- creased the most, whereas the bainite plates initiating within grains grew the fastest. In addition, the growth rate of ferrite bainite in the study supported the diffusion transformation mechanism of bainite from the viewooint of ~rowth rate.

Growth Rates of Fine Aerosol Particles at a Site near Beijing in June 2013

Growth of fine aerosol particles is investigated during the Aerosol-CCN-Cloud Closure Experiment campaign in June 2013 at an urban site near Beijing. Analyses show a high frequency （- 50%） of fine aerosol particle growth events, and show that the growth rates range from 2.1 to 6.5 nm h-1 with a mean value of - 5.1 nm h-1. A review of previous studies indicates that at least four mechanisms can affect the growth of fine aerosol particles： vapor condensation, intramodal coagulation, extramodal coagulation, and multi-phase chemical reaction. At the initial stage of fine aerosol particle growth, condensational growth usually plays a major role and coagulation efficiency generally increases with particle sizes. An overview of previous studies shows higher growth rates over megacity, urban and boreal forest regions than over rural and oceanic regions. This is most likely due to the higher condensational vapor, which can cause strong condensational growth of fine aerosol particles. Associated with these multiple factors of influence, there are large uncertainties for the aerosol particle growth rates, even at the same location.

El Ni?o/Southern Oscillation during the 4.2 ka event recorded by growth rates of corals from the North South China Sea

The 4.2 ka event that occurred during the period from 4 500–3 900 a BP was characterized by cold and dry climates and resulted in the collapse of civilizations around the world. The cause of this climatic event, however, has been under debate. We collected four corals(Porites lutea) from Yongxing Island, Xisha Islands, South China Sea, dated them with the U-series method, and measured the annual coral growth rates using X-ray technology. The dating results showed that the coral growth ages were from 4 500–3 900 a BP, which coincide well with the period of the4.2 ka event. We then reconstructed annual sea surface temperature anomaly(SSTA) variations based on the coral growth rates. The growth rate-based SSTA results showed that the interdecadal SSTA from 4 500–3 900 a BP was lower than that during modern times(1961–2008 AD). A spectral analysis showed that the SSTA variations from4 500–3 900 a BP were under the influence of El Nino-Southern Oscillation(ENSO) activities. From 4 500–4 100 a BP, the climate exhibited La Nina-like conditions with weak ENSO intensity and relatively stable and lower SSTA amplitudes. From 4 100–3 900 a BP, the climate underwent a complicated period of ENSO variability and showed alternating El Nino-or La Nina-like conditions at interdecadal time scales and large SSTA amplitudes. We speculate that during the early and middle stages of the 4.2 ka event, the cold climate caused by weak ENSO activities largely weakened social productivity. Then, during the end stages of the 4.2 ka event, the repeated fluctuations in the ENSO intensity caused frequent extreme weather events, resulting in the collapse of civilizations worldwide. Thus, the new evidence obtained from our coral records suggests that the 4.2 ka event as well as the related collapse of civilizations were very likely driven by ENSO variability.

Plasma assisted molecular beam epitaxial growth of GaN with low growth rates and their properties

A systematic investigation on PA-MBE grown GaN with low growth rates(less than 0.2μm/h)has been conducted in a wide growth temperature range,in order to guide future growth of sophisticated fine structures for quantum device applications.Similar to usual growths with higher growth rates,three growth regions have been revealed,namely,Ga droplets,slightly Ga-rich and N-rich 3D growth regions.The slightly Ga-rich region is preferred,in which GaN epilayers demonstrate optimal crystalline quality,which has been demonstrated by streaky RHEED patterns,atomic smooth surface morphology,and very low defect related yellow and blue luminescence bands.The growth temperature is a critical parameter to obtain high quality materials and the optimal growth temperature window(~700-760℃)has been identified.The growth rate shows a strong dependence on growth temperatures in the optimal temperature window,and attention must be paid when growing fine structures at a low growth rate.Mg and Si doped GaN were also studied,and both p-and n-type materials were obtained.

Prediction of Protein Expression and Growth Rates by Supervised Machine Learning

The DNA sequences of an organism play an important influence on its transcription and translation process, thus affecting its protein production and growth rate. Due to the com-plexity of DNA, it was extremely difficult to predict the macroscopic characteristics of or-ganisms. However, with the rapid development of machine learning in recent years, it be-comes possible to use powerful machine learning algorithms to process and analyze biolog-ical data. Based on the synthetic DNA sequences of a specific microbe, E. coli, I designed a process to predict its protein production and growth rate. By observing the properties of a data set constructed by previous work, I chose to use supervised learning regressors with encoded DNA sequences as input features to perform the predictions. After comparing different encoders and algorithms, I selected three encoders to encode the DNA sequences as inputs and trained seven different regressors to predict the outputs. The hy-per-parameters are optimized for three regressors which have the best potential prediction performance. Finally, I successfully predicted the protein production and growth rates, with the best R2 score 0.55 and 0.77, respectively, by using encoders to catch the potential fea-tures from the DNA sequences.

Particle number size distributions and formation and growth rates of different new particle formation types of a megacity in China

To understand the contribution of new particle formation(NPF)events to ambient fine particle pollution,measurements of particle size distributions,trace gases and meteorological conditions,were conducted at a suburban site(NJU)from October to December 2016 and at an industrial site(NUIST)from September to November 2015 in Nanjing.According to the temporal evolution of the particle size distributions,three types NPF events were observed:typical NPF(Type A),moderate NPF events(Type B)and strong NPF(Type C)events.The favorable conditions for Type A events included low relative humidity,low concentration of pre-existing particles,and high solar radiation.The favorable conditions of Type B events were similar to Type A,except for a higher concentration of pre-existing particles.Type C events were more likely to happen with the higher relative humidity,lower solar radiation and continuous growth of pre-existing particle concentration.The formation rate of 3 nm(J3)was the lowest for Type A events and highest for Type C events.In contrast,the growth rates of 10 nm and 40 nm particles were the highest for Type A,and lowest for Type C.Results show that NPF events with only higher J3 would lead to the accumulation of nucleation mode particles.Sulfuric acid was important for the formation of particles but had little effect on the growth of particle size.

Seasonal Variation of the Sea Surface Temperature Growth Rate of ENSO

El Ni?o–Southern Oscillation(ENSO) exhibits a distinctive phase-locking characteristic, first expressed during its onset in boreal spring, developing during summer and autumn, reaching its peak towards winter, and decaying over the next spring. Several studies have demonstrated that this feature arises as a result of seasonal variation in the growth rate of ENSO as expressed by the sea surface temperature(SST). The bias towards simulating the phase locking of ENSO by many state-of-the-art climate models is also attributed to the unrealistic depiction of the growth rate. In this study, the seasonal variation of SST growth rate in the Ni?o-3.4 region(5°S–5°N, 120°–170°W) is estimated in detail based on the mixed layer heat budget equation and recharge oscillator model during 1981–2020. It is suggested that the consideration of a variable mixed layer depth is essential to its diagnostic process. The estimated growth rate has a remarkable seasonal cycle with minimum rates occurring in spring and maximum rates evident in autumn. More specifically, the growth rate derived from the meridional advection(surface heat flux) is positive(negative) throughout the year. Vertical diffusion generally makes a negative contribution to the evolution of growth rate and the magnitude of vertical entrainment represents the smallest contributor. Analysis indicates that the zonal advective feedback is regulated by the meridional immigration of the intertropical convergence zone, which approaches its southernmost extent in February and progresses to its northernmost location in September, and dominates the seasonal variation of the SST growth rate.

Quantifying the natural growth rate of hepatocellular carcinoma:A real-world retrospective study in southwestern China

BACKGROUND In recent years,approximately half of the newly diagnosed cases and mortalities attributed to hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)have been reported in China.Despite the high incidence of HCC,there remains a paucity of data regarding the natural growth pattern and the determination of optimal surveillance intervals specific to the Chinese population.AIM To quantify the natural tumor growth pattern of HCC in regional China.METHODS A retrospective analysis was performed on patients from a single institution in Southwest China who had undergone two or more serial dynamic computed tomography or magnetic resonance imaging scans between 2014 and 2020,without having received any anti-cancer therapy.Tumor growth was assessed using tumor volume doubling time(TVDT)and tumor growth rate(TGR),with volumes measured manually by experienced radiologists.Simple univariate linear regression and descriptive analysis were applied to explore associations between growth rates and clinical factors.RESULTS This study identifies the median TVDT for HCC as 163.4 d,interquartile range(IQR)72.1 to 302.3 d,with a daily TGR of 0.42%(IQR 0.206%-0.97%).HCC growth patterns reveal that about one-third of tumors grow indolently with TVDT exceeding 270 d,another one-third of tumors exhibit rapid growth with TVDT under 90 d,and the remaining tumors show intermediate growth rates,with TVDT ranging between 3 to 9 months.CONCLUSION The identified TGRs support biannual surveillance and follow-up for HCC patients in certain regions of China.Given the observed heterogeneity in HCC growth,further investigation is warranted.

MEASUREMENTS AND THEORETICAL STUDY ON GROWTH RATES OF TURBULENT WIND WAVES

The spatial growth of turbulent wind waves is investigated theoretically and experimentally. Introduction of wave induced turbulent Reynolds stress, in particu- lar at the average interface, makes great improvement in the prediction of wind wave properties.

Tumor growth rates and recurrence-free survival in chronic viral hepatitis patients with hepatocellular carcinoma

Aim:Survival in patients with hepatocellular carcinoma(HCC)is impacted by stage of liver disease,tumor characteristics,and HCC surveillance in high-risk individuals.Factors associated with HCC tumor growth rate(TGR)and its influence on recurrence-free survival after treatment was investigated.Methods:TGR was calculated in 164 HCC patients with chronic viral hepatitis who had two consecutive magnetic resonance imaging or computed tomography scans≥30 days apart prior to treatment and who were followed prospectively to determine the rates of recurrence-free survival.Results:The median TGR in 164 patients was 17.8%per month(mean 33.3%per month).Regression tree analysis indicated that the top three predictors of TGR were alpha-fetoprotein(AFP)levels(≥16.7 ng/mL),platelet counts(≥140,000 mm3),and serum albumin level(<3.55 g/dL).The regression tree identified patient groups with TGRs ranging from 0.65%to 39.4%per month.At a median follow-up of 22 months,the overall recurrence-free survival was 53.8%.The Cox model with backwards AIC search identified TGR(HR=1.34,P=0.029),age>56 years(HR=1.08,P=0.072),hepatitis C virus(HR=1.44,P=0.091),macrovascular invasion(HR=1.94,P=0.092),and the most definitive treatments(orthotopic liver transplantation,HR 0.14,P<0.001;surgical resection,HR=0.54,P=0.072;radiofrequency ablation,HR=0.58,P=0.060)as independent predictors of recurrence-free survival.For all treatment modalities,slow ;TGR was significant for prolonged survival(P=0.029).The poorest survival rates were observed in patients with fast TGRs treated by transarterial chemoembolization.Conclusion:The TGR correlated with AFP,platelet count,and albumin level.Patients with fast TGRs had shorter recurrence-free survival after HCC treatments.TGR is a potential imaging biomarker to predict clinical outcomes in HCC.

An Attempt to Study on the Growth and Damping Rates with Approximate Solutions by Using Mathematical Models

As is already known, most of the plasma literature is occupied with the plasma instabilities and the inevitable plasma waves, which remain major obstacles to the thermonuclear fusion process. Many experimental data on the plasma waves （growth or damping） and their accompanied theoretical interpretations have been published during the last five decades; lots of them have been identified and justified as well, some not yet. One of these is our previous research on plasma waves, which originated in the early 80＇s at the Plasma Physics Laboratory of the NCSR ＂Demokritos＂. As the wave rising is defined by the growth rate （or the damping on the extinguishment）, these important wavy quantities will be studied in detail in the present paper. Three examples are taken from our previous theoretical results, and the first observation reveals that the involved quantities are complicated enough to be studied by themselves. So, the use of suitable approach models, which may interpret the experimental wavy quantities, is the central idea of the present attempt, Furthermore, calculations with a little change of the initial conditions have been repeated in order to determine whether the plasma behaves as a chaotic medium.

Effects of larval size and hydrodynamics on the growth rates of the black fly Simulium tribulatum

Black flies are ubiquitous and important members of lotic ecosystems.Size is known to affect many aspects of their life in the aquatic larval stage,including intraspecific competition for feeding sites.As filter feeders,flow affects their ability to feed and reach sufficiently fast flow.This,in turn,can lead to risky fluid-mediated disper-sal behavior in search of better conditions.It is surprising,therefore,that little information is available regard-ing how physiological and environmental factors combine to affect larval growth rates.The present study deter-mines the relative growth rates of small(0.6 mm)and large(approximately 4 mm)larvae in laboratory flumes designed to produce spatially homogeneous and temporally consistent flow regimes at ecologically relevant ve-locities(44 and 64 cm/s).Our results indicate that size and flow both influence growth rates and that the 2 in-teract significantly.Young larvae exhibit faster growth rates and a greater positive response to increased flow speed.This result might help explain why smaller larvae have a greater propensity to disperse than larger lar-vae:the benefit of increased growth rate that they receive from relocating to faster flow might balance the risks inherent in dispersal.

Species divergence in seedling leaf traits and tree growth response to nitrogen and phosphorus additions in an evergreen broadleaved forest of subtropical China

Tree competitiveness generally depends on trait plasticity in response to environmental change.The effects of nitrogen(N)and phosphorus(P)on leaf trait variability by species is poorly understood,especially in China’s subtropical forests.This study examined the seedling leaf traits and net primary productivity of all trees>5 cm DBH of two dominant species,Schima superba and Castanopsis carlesii,in an evergreen broadleaved forest fertilized with nitrogen(+N),phosphorus(+P),and nitrogen plus phosphorus(N+P).The effect of N on seedling leaf traits was stronger than P,while fertilization in general was species dependent.Leaf mass per unit area decreased with N for S.superba seedlings but not for C.carlesii.Leaf N,P,and N/P ratios changed with N addition for both species.All four N fractions of carboxylation,bioenergetics,cell wall,and other N metabolites in C.carlesii leaves responded significantly to fertilization,while only the cell wall in S.superb a leaves responded.Other leaf functional traits,including light-saturated photosynthetic rates,water,N,and P use efficiencies,chlorophyll and non structural carbohydrate contents increased with N addition in S.superb a and by P addition in C.carlesii.Canopy closure at the stand-level increased due to N.Litter biomass and relative growth rate of S.superb a was not affected by any treatments,while both for C.carlesii significantly decreased with N+P addition.Collectively,nutrient limitation may vary at a small scale among species in a subtropical forest based on their responses of seedling traits and net primary productivity to fertilization.Seedling traits are not correlated with the net primary productivity of larger trees except for N fractions,because low light conditions induced by fertilization reduces the proportion of N allocated to photosynthesis in seedlings.In addition,acclimation differences of tree species may increase the uncertainty of community succession.

Growth performance and scale insect infestation of Shorea leprosula in a common garden experimental plot

Many tree planting programmes have long been initiated to increase forest cover to mitigate the effects of global climate change.Successful planting requires careful planning at the project level,including using suitable species with favourable traits.However,there is a paucity of improvement data for tropical tree species.An experimental common garden of Shorea leprosula was established to study traits related to growth performance which are key factors in planting success.Seedlings of S.leprosula were collected from nine geographical forest reserves.To study the effects of genetic variation,seedlings were planted in a common environment following a randomized complete block design.From performance data collected 2017‒2019,one population showed the highest coefficient for relative height growth,significantly higher than most of the other populations.Interestingly,this population from Beserah also exhibited the lowest coefficient for scale insect infestation.This study provides preliminary results on growth performance and susceptibility to scale insect infestation in S.leprosula and the first common garden experiment site conducted on dipterocarp species.It lays a foundation for future genome-wide studies.

Growth rate of CO_(2) hydrate film on water-oil and water-gaseous CO_(2) interface

It is known that injection of carbon dioxide into the petroleum reservoir(CO_(2) flooding) is one of the effective methods for enhanced oil recovery. CO_(2) flooding may be complicated by formation of CO_(2) hydrate plugs. It makes topical investigation of CO_(2) hydrate formation in the system gaseous CO_(2)-oil-water. In this work, the growth rates of carbon dioxide hydrate films at the water-oil as well as the water-gas interface are studied in the pressure range of 2.30-3.04 MPa and at temperatures between -5.4 and 5.0℃. It is found that the growth rate for the water-oil interface is 3.5 times lower than that for the water-gas interface with carbon dioxide. It is hypothesised that the observed decrease in the growth rate is related to the mechanical resistance of the oil components adsorbed on the interface to the growth of the hydrate film. The growth rate of the film has been shown to depend on the experimental procedure,most likely due to the different initial concentrations of carbon dioxide in the aqueous solutions.

Crack Growth Rate Model Derived from Domain Knowledge-Guided Symbolic Regression

Machine learning(ML)has powerful nonlinear processing and multivariate learning capabilities,so it has been widely utilised in the fatigue field.However,most ML methods are inexplicable black-box models that are difficult to apply in engineering practice.Symbolic regression(SR)is an interpretable machine learning method for determining the optimal fitting equation for datasets.In this study,domain knowledge-guided SR was used to determine a new fatigue crack growth(FCG)rate model.Three terms of the variable subtree ofΔK,R-ratio,andΔK_(th)were obtained by analysing eight traditional semi-empirical FCG rate models.Based on the FCG rate test data from other literature,the SR model was constructed using Al-7055-T7511.It was subsequently extended to other alloys(Ti-10V-2Fe-3Al,Ti-6Al-4V,Cr-Mo-V,LC9cs,Al-6013-T651,and Al-2324-T3)using multiple linear regression.Compared with the three semi-empirical FCG rate models,the SR model yielded higher prediction accuracy.This result demonstrates the potential of domain knowledge-guided SR for building the FCG rate model.

Aqueous extract of Protaetia brevitarsis larvae increases mTOR-mediated growth rate in zebrafish larvae

Objective:To evaluate the effects of an aqueous extract of Protaetia brevitarsis(AEPB)on the growth of zebrafish and preosteoblast MC3T3-E1 cells.Methods:The effects of AEPB on the linear growth and the expression of growth-related genes in zebrafish and MC3T3-E1 cells were assessed using various molecular techniques.Furthermore,the involvement of the mammalian target of rapamycin(mTOR)pathway in AEPB-induced growth was investigated by employing the mTOR inhibitor rapamycin.Results:AEPB administration led to a significant and dose-dependent increase in zebrafish larvae growth over time.Additionally,AEPB treatment upregulated the expression of growth hormone-1(GH-1),insulin-like growth factor-1(IGF-1),growth hormone receptor-1(GHR-1),and cholecystokinin-a(CCKA)in zebrafish.Similarly,AEPB stimulated the expression and release of IGF-1 and accelerated mTOR expression in MC3T3-E1 cells.In addition,rapamycin hindered AEPB-induced linear growth in zebrafish larvae and suppressed the expression of growth-promoting genes by inhibiting mTOR activation.Conclusions:AEPB shows growth-promoting effects by upregulating growth-related genes and activating the mTOR signaling pathway.Further investigations are warranted to elucidate its mechanisms of action and explore its potential application in the development of growth-enhancing supplements for various purposes.