Comment on “The diurnal variation pattern of choroidal thickness in macular region of young healthy female individuals using spectral domain optical coherence tomography”

Dear Editor,We have read and reviewed the article entitled＂The diurnal variation pattern of choroidal thickness in macular region of young healthy female individuals using spectral domain optical coherence tomography＂by Zhao et al^（[1]）with great interest.

Hourly and monthly variations in the surface activity patterns of Hemilepistus reaumurii in arid environments of Tunisia

Life in desert ecosystems drives animals to adapt their surface locomotor activity according to environmental conditions. In this study, the hourly and monthly variations in the surface activity patterns of the terrestrial crustacean Hemilepistus reaumurii were investigated. The surface activity of H. reaumurii at the population scale was observed by collecting the hourly active individuals from the sunrise to the sunset of the studied day in each month of 2013 in the Bchachma locality, Tunisia. The collected active individuals were put in perspex boxes（on which we labeled the hourly time interval in which the individuals were collected） in the field and then transported to the laboratory for analysis. Individuals were counted, sexed, and measured in the laboratory. Despite desert conditions in the studied site, H. reaumurii was characterized by a diurnal surface activity, showing a bimodal pattern during the warm months（i.e., May to October）. However, it exhibited a unimodal surface activity pattern in the cold months（i.e., February, March, and November）. The surface activity was significantly correlated with sunrise and sunset. Moreover, a significant quadratic effect of temperature on the surface activity of H. reaumurii was observed. Furthermore, the study showed that the most important surface activity was recorded in March. The daily exploitation of the temporal niches was significantly different as a function of months. The body size of males was larger than that of females, and the body size of active individuals changed with months. All these behavioural changes in the surface activity represent an adaptive strategy of life in the arid environment.

Dynamic pattern characteristics of fault deformation and gravity field in the development process of Yongdeng M_S=5.8 earthquake

In this paper, the fault deformation abnormality, dynamic evolution features of gravity and vertical deformation field in the seismogenic process of the Yongdeng, Gansu Province earthquake on July 22, 1995 are studied primarily. There appeared α β γ tri stage anomaly at three sites near the epicenter, and there appeared anomalies of step and sudden jump at more than 10 sites in outer region since 1993. The high value area before shock, coseismic effect and process of recovery aftershock were monitored by portable gravity data. Data reflects the changing process of fault movement from the quasi linear to the nonlinear in the near source region during seismogenic development of the Yongdeng earthquake and evolution of gravity field from heterogeneity of seismogenic term to quasi homogeneity of postseismic term. There exists close relationship between strong earthquake and dynamic evolution of regional stress strain field. Considering all above, the experience and lessons in this medium short term prediction test are summarized.

Study of elemental distribution in soil on the loess plateau of China

Instrument neutron activation analysis (INAA) has been employed in this study to determine 32 elements in soil on the loess plateau. The preliminary results suggest that geochemical characteristics of elements in the soil mainly retained those in the parent materials (loess). It has been found that fractional deposition among grain sizes in the process of loess transportation as well as the bioclimate in which the soil developed are main factors affecting the regional variations of elemental distribution in soil on the plateau. Contour maps of element concentrations plotted from the trend analyses exhibit the major patterns of the distributions and variations on the plateau. Furthermore, the study also provides evidence for the aeolian theory of the loess transportation in China.

NUMERICAL EXPERIMENT ON MID-LATITUDE SST ANOMALY AND VARIATION IN CIRCULATION PATTERN

By means of simulation experiments with a two-dimensional zonal-mean model,a study is made of the influence of the western North-Pacific midlatitude sea-surface temperature(SST)anomalies on the circulation pattern and wet-seasonal precipitation over the East-China Changjiang-Huaihe reaches and the North-China plain.The SST anomalies are divided into two types,one being“colder in the south and warmer in the north”and the other just opposite,depending on season.Results show that the occurrence of the anomalies is followed by considerable changes in the position of the subtropical high happening for 3-5 months to come.For instance,the spring“colder in the south and warmer in the north”anomalous type (i.e.,colder for 20—35°N,and warmer north of 35°N)leads to the intensification of the summer subtropical high,with the ridge line moved slightly northward,resulting in drought over Changjiang reaches for July-August and in excessive rainfall in the North-China plain,and vice versa.

The genome basis and whole-genome patterns of DNA variation of a major oil crop-oil palm Dura

Subject Code:C01The United Nations estimates that world population will increase to 11.2billion in the year 2100.Vegetative oil that serves as one of the major energy resources is essential to feeding human beings.Oil palm(Elaeis guineensis Jacq,Elaeis from ancient Greek,meaning'oil')produces more than 13times the yield of oil/year/hectare of soybean,one major human annual oil crop.In consequence,it represents a