Assessing water scarcity by simultaneously considering environmental flow requirements,water quantity,and water quality

Water scarcity is a widespread problem in many parts of the world. Most previous methods of water scarcity assessment only considered water quantity, and ignored water quality. In addition, the environmental flow requirement (EFR) was commonly not explicitly considered in the assessment. In this study, we developed an approach to assess water scarcity by considering both water quantity and quality, while at the same time explicitly considering EFR. We applied this quantity–quality-EFR (QQE) approach for the Huangqihai River Basin in Inner Mongolia, China. We found that to keep the river ecosystem health at a “good” level (i.e., suitable for swimming, fishing, and aquaculture), 26% of the total blue water resources should be allocated to meet the EFR. When such a “good” level is maintained, the quantity- and quality-based water scarcity indicators were 1.3 and 14.2, respectively; both were above the threshold of 1.0. The QQE water scarcity indicator thus can be expressed as 1.3(26%)|14.2, indicating that the basin was suffering from scarcity problems related to both water quantity and water quality for a given rate of EFR. The current water consumption has resulted in degradation of the basin's river ecosystems, and the EFR cannot be met in 3 months of a year. To reverse this situation, future policies should aim to reduce water use and pollution discharge, meet the EFR for maintaining healthy river ecosystems, and substantially improve pollution treatment.     

Effects of the supply levels and ratios of nitrogen and phosphorus on seed traits of Chenopodium glaucum

全球氮沉降不仅改变土壤氮和磷的有效性, 同时也改变氮磷比例。氮磷供应量、比例及其交互作用可能会影响植物种子性状。该研究在内蒙古草原基于沙培盆栽实验种植灰绿藜(Chenopodium glaucum), 设置3个氮磷供应量水平和3个氮磷比例的正交实验来探究氮磷供应量、比例及其交互作用对灰绿藜种子性状的影响。结果发现氮磷供应量对种子氮浓度、磷浓度和萌发率影响的相对贡献(15%-24%)大于氮磷比例(3%-7%), 而种子大小只受氮磷比例的影响。同时氮磷供应量和比例之间的交互作用显著影响种子氮浓度和磷浓度。同等氮磷比例情况下, 低量养分供应提高种子氮浓度、磷浓度和萌发率。氮磷比例只有在养分匮乏的环境中才会对种子大小和萌发率产生显著影响。总之, 灰绿藜种子不同性状对氮或磷限制的敏感性不同, 同时种子性状也对养分限制表现出适应性和被动响应。     

Aggregating land use quantity and intensity to link water quality in upper catchment of Miyun Reservoir

Eutrophication resulting from nutrient enrichment decreases water quality and harms ecosystem structure and function, and its degree is significantly affected by land use in the catchment. Quantifying the relationship between eutrophication and land use can help effectively manage land use to improve water quality. Previous studies principally utilized land use quantity as an indicator to link water quality parameters, but these studies lacked insight into the impact of land use intensity. Taking the upper catchment of Miyun Reservoir as a case study, we developed a method of aggregating land use quantity and intensity to build a new land use indicator and tested its explanatory power on water quality. Six nutrient concentrations from 52 sub-watersheds covering the whole catchment were used to characterize the spatial distribution of eutrophication. Based on spatial techniques, empirical conversion coefficients, remote sensing data, and socio-economic statistical data, land use intensity was measured and mapped visually. The new land use indicator was calculated and linked to nutrient concentrations by Pearson correlation coefficients. Results demonstrated that our new indicator incorporating intensity information can quantify the different nutrient-exporting abilities of different land use areas. Compared to traditional indicators that only incorporate land use quantity, most Pearson correlation coefficients between the new indicator and water nutrient concentrations increased. This new information enhanced the explanatory power of land use on water nutrient concentrations, and so will be able to help us understand the impact of land use on water quality and guide decision making for better land use management.     

Vertical and horizontal distribution patterns of the giant sea anemone Heteractis crispa with symbiotic anemonefish on a fringing coral reef

The distribution patterns of the leathery sea anemone, Heteractis crispa, which contains an algal endosymbiont (zooxanthellae) and anemonefish, were investigated in relation to size distribution on a shallow fringing reef (3.2 ha, 0–4 m depth) in Okinawa, Japan. Individual growth and movements were also examined. Large individuals (>1,000 cm²) inhabited reef edges up to a depth of 4 m, while small anemone (<500 cm²) inhabited shallow reefs including inner reef flats. Individuals rarely moved, and their sizes were significantly correlated with their water depths. Growth of small anemones was negatively correlated with their distance from the reef edge, suggesting that reef edges provide more prey and lower levels of physiological stress. This study suggested that deep reef edges are suitable habitats for H. crispa. Large anemones were inhabited by large Amphiprion perideraion or large Amphiprion clarkii, both of which are effective defenders against anemone predators. Anemones that settle in deep reef edges may enjoy a higher survival rate and attain a large size because of their symbiotic relationship with anemonefish. However, early settlers do not harbor anemonefish. Their mortality rate would be higher in the deep edges than in shallow edges, the complicated topography of which provides refuge.     

DISC1 gene polymorphisms and the risk of schizophrenia in an Iranian population: A preliminary study

Background: Schizophrenia, schizoaffective disorder, and bipolar illness are common psychological disorders with high heritability and variable phenotypes. The disrupted in schizophrenia 1 ( DISC1) gene, on chromosome 1q42, has an essential role in neurite outgrowth and cell signaling. The purpose of this study was to investigate the association of three single-nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs; rs6675281, rs2255340, and rs2738864) with schizophrenia disorder. These three SNPs were chosen as they had been used in most of the previous studies. Methods: In a case-control study of Iranian population for the first time 778 blood samples were collected including, 402 schizophrenic patients and 376 healthy controls. Genomic DNA was extracted from peripheral blood using DNA extraction kit (BioFlux Co). The genotypes of rs6675281, rs2255340, and rs2738864 were detected by nested allele-specific multiplex polymersae chain reaction (PCR). Results: Our data revealed that the three SNPs are significantly associated with schizophrenia (rs2255349 C>T: confidence interval (CI), 2.115 to 3.268; P = 0.0000 OR: 2.629; rs2738864 C>T: CI, 1.538 to 2.339; P = 0.0000 OR: 1.897; rs6675281 C>T: CI, 2.788 to 4.662; P = 0.0009241 OR: 3.605). Through applying the expectation-maximization (EM) algorithm, we calculated the haplotype frequency, and finally performed haplotype analysis with Bonferroni correction and data preprocessing methods and the results showed rs66875281 to have the highest association. Discussion: Our findings primarily showed that DISC1 gene polymorphisms contribute to schizophrenia risk and have a significant association with this disorder among Iranian population. The strategy was found to be easy, rapid, specific, and consistent for the co-occurring detection of the DISC1 polymorphisms. We could finally confirm that the polymorphisms are related to schizophrenia studied in Iranian population.     

Epilogue — Demography and anthropology

As a conclusion, this paper reviews briefly the content of the volume. The wealth of demographic data has not been adequately exploited in anthropology; this is why this publication is valuable in showing attempts to apply demographic data in a variety of anthropological problems. This symposium has explored many interesting points which we recall here. Yet it has also opened up a whole range of further questions on the material presented as well as in this broad field. Several directions of research could be developed, for instance, testing among human populations, over long periods, the ecological thoughts of ecosystems evolving as a cascade of instabilities, rather than a succession of equilibrium states. Let us also recall the pervasive nature of demographic facts in topics such as the energy cycle or the genetic structure and evolution of human populations.     

Conserved water-mediated H-bonding dynamics of catalytic Asn 175 in plant thiol protease

The role of invariant water molecules in the activity of plant cysteine protease is ubiquitous in nature. On analysing the 11 different Protein DataBank (PDB) structures of plant thiol proteases, the two invariant water molecules W1 and W2 (W220 and W222 in the template 1PPN structure) were observed to form H-bonds with the O_b atom of Asn 175. Extensive energy minimization and molecular dynamics simulation studies up to 2 ns on all the PDB and solvated structures clearly revealed the involvement of the H-bonding association of the two water molecules in fixing the orientation of the asparagine residue of the catalytic triad. From this study, it is suggested that H-bonding of the water molecule at the W1 invariant site better stabilizes the Asn residue at the active site of the catalytic triad.     

Modulation of Coordinated Activity across Cortical Layers by Plasticity of Inhibitory Synapses

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Identification of up-regulated genes in human uterine leiomyoma by suppression subtractive hybridization

In searching for differentially expressed genes in human uterine leiomyomas (ULs), suppression sub-tractive hybridization was used to construct an UL up-regulated library, which turned out to represent 88genes. After two rounds of screening by reverse Northern analysis, twenty genes were proved to be up-regulated, including seventeen known genes and three genes with unknown function. All these genes werefirstly associated with UL. Three genes with notable difference were selected for Northern confirmationOur results proved the authenticity of the twenty genes. One gene named Phospholipase A2 (PLA2) showedup-regulation in 4/6 of the patients and investigation of tissue distribution indicated that it had obviousexpression in prostate, testis, liver, heart and skeletal muscle.