我国北方3种典型土壤-作物体系中微生物量磷库特征

土壤微生物量磷(Microbial Biomass Phosphorus, MBP)是土壤磷组分中最为活跃的形态,在土壤磷素的形态转化与生物地球化学循环过程中起着关键作用,是植物可利用磷的重要来源。研究土壤MBP库容的大小对于充分认识微生物的固磷潜力和掌握土壤磷素循环与转化能力意义重大。以我国北方农田3种典型的土壤-作物体系为研究对象,基于定点采样,通过分析测定采集的362个表层(0—30 cm)土壤样品来量化不同土壤-作物体系MBP库容的大小。结果表明：黑土-春玉米、潮土-冬小麦/夏玉米、灰漠土-棉花体系表层土壤MBP平均含量分别为17.36、14.45、8.75 mg/kg,且不同土壤-作物体系间MBP含量存在显著差异;3种土壤-作物体系表层土壤(0—30 cm)MBP库容的大小分别为83.60、54.26、39.80 kg P/hm~2,其储存的磷在数量上相当于当季作物需磷量的1.10—2.73倍,表明土壤MBP库是农田生态系统中一个不容忽视的巨大有效养分磷储库。其库容的大小受土壤性质和气候因素的共同影响,土壤pH、有机碳、年均气温和年均降雨量是我国北方农田土壤MBP库容大小的主...     

Conceptus ecobiometry and triplex Doppler ultrasonography of uterine and umbilical arteries for assessment of fetal viability in dogs

The objectives were to: 1) evaluate blood flow in the uterine (UA) and umbilical (Uma) arteries in the pregnant bitch, by measuring the resistive index (RI) and pulsatility index (PI); 2) to note the presence or absence of the early diastolic notch and diastolic flow in the UA and Uma flow waveforms, respectively; and 3) perform conceptus ecobiometry for fetal growth assessment during pregnancy. Six healthy bitches were examined on approximately Days -44, -42, -36, -31, -28, -25, -21, -18, -14, -8, -4, and -2 of pregnancy (whelping = Day 0). Triplex Doppler and B-mode ultrasonography were used to assess blood flow and conceptus ecobiometry. All pregnancies ended with a normal whelping and birth of live puppies. Prior to whelping, all conceptus dimensions increased significantly, whereas RI and PI of both the Uma and UA decreased significantly. For the UA, RI and PI were (mean ± SEM) 0.95 ± 0.02 and 2.75 ± 0.41, respectively, on Day -44, and were 0.60 ± 0.01 and 0.99 ± 0.03 on Day -4. For the Uma, RI and PI were 0.99 ± 0.01 and 2.42 ± 0.03 on Day -31, and were 0.62 ± 0.01 and 1.15 ± 0.02 on Day -4. The complete disappearance of the early diastolic notch in the UA, and the appearance of diastolic flow in the Uma occurred on Days -16 ± 5 and -21 ± 1. The authors concluded that UA and Uma perfusion were important end points to assess fetal vitality in bitches. Furthermore, the current reference values provided a baseline for monitoring normal and abnormal pregnancies in bitches.     

海洋氮循环中细菌的厌氧氨氧化

细菌厌氧氨氧化过程是在一类特殊细菌的厌氧氨氧化体内完成的以氨作为电子供体硝酸盐作为电子受体的一种新型脱氮反应.厌氧氨氧化菌的发现,改变人们对传统氮的生物地球化学循环的认识:反硝化细菌并不是大气中氮气产生的唯一生物类群.而且越来越多的证据表明,细菌厌氧氨氧化与全球的氮物质循环密切相关,估计海洋细菌的厌氧氨氧化过程占到全球海洋氮气产生的一半左右.由于氮与碳的循环密切相关,因此可以推测,细菌的厌氧氨氧化会影响大气中的二氧化碳浓度,从而对全球气候变化产生重要影响.另外,由于细菌厌氧氨氧化菌实现了氨氮的短程转化,缩短了氮素的转化过程,因此为开发更节约能源、更符合可持续发展要求的废水脱氮新技术提供了生物学基础.     

我国主要森林生态系统碳贮量和碳平衡

在广泛收集资料的基础上,估算了我国主要森林生态系统的碳贮量和碳平衡通量,分析了它们的区域特征。主要结果如下：1)我国森林生态系统的平均碳密度是258.83t·hm^-2,基本趋势是随纬度的增加而增加;其中植被的平均碳密度是57.07t·hm^-2,随纬度的增加而减小;土壤碳密度约是植被碳密度的3．4倍,其区域特点与植被碳密度呈相反趋势,随纬度升高而增加;凋落物层平均碳密度是8.21t·hm^-2,随水热因子的改善而减小。2)森林生态系统有机碳库包括植被、土壤和凋落物层3个部分,采用林业部调查规划设计院1989～1993年最新统计的我国森林资源清查资料,估算我国主要森林生态系统碳贮量为281.16×10⁸t,其中植被碳库、土壤碳库、凋落物层碳库分别为62.00×10⁸t、210.23×10⁸t、8.92×10⁸t。落叶阔叶林、暖性针叶林、常绿落叶阔叶林、云冷杉(Picea-Abies)林、落叶松(Larix)林占森林总碳贮量的87％,是我国森林主要的碳库。3)我国森林生态系统在与大气的气体交换中表现为碳汇,年通量为4.80×10⁸t·a^-1,基本规律是从热带向寒带,碳汇功能下降,这取决于系统碳收支的各个通量之间的动态平衡;阔叶林的固碳能力大于针叶林。我国森林生态系统可以吸收生物物质、化石燃料燃烧和人口呼吸释放总碳量(9.87×10⁸t·a^-1)的48.7％。     

Effect of corazonin and crustacean cardioactive peptide on heartbeat in the adult American cockroach (Periplaneta americana)

Changes in the frequency of cardiac pulsations have been monitored in the decapitated body of adult P. americana before and 5 h after the injections of [Arg(7)]-corazonin and CCAP, using newly invented touch-free, noninvasive optocardiographic methods. Relatively large dosages of these peptides (10(-6) M concentrations in the body) had no effect on the rate of the heartbeat beyond the Ringer control limits. It has been concluded, therefore, that Corazonin and CCAP, which are currently cited in the literature as "the most potent cardiostimulating peptides" in insects, have no effect on the physiological regulation of cardiac functions in the living body.     

Using the output from global circulation models to predict changes in the distribution and abundance of cereal aphids in Canada: a mechanistic modeling approach

Climate change will alter the abundance and distribution of species. Predicting these shifts is a challenge for ecologists and essential information for the formation of public policy. Here, I use a mechanistic mathematical model of the interaction between grass growth physiology and aphid population dynamics, coupled with the climate change projections from the UK's Hadley Centre HadCM3 global circulation model (GCM) and Canada's Center for Climate Modeling and Analysis CGCM2 GCM to predict the changes in the abundance and distribution of summer cereal aphid populations in wheat-growing regions of Canada. When used with the HadCM3 projections, the model predicts a latitudinal shift northward in abundances but there is longitudinal variation as well. However, when used with the CGCM2 projections the model predicts that continental regions will see a decline while coastal regions will see an increase in summer cereal aphid populations. These effects are stronger under the higher emissions scenarios.     

Fluid Mechanics of the Human Eye: Aqueous Humour Flow in The Anterior Chamber

We consider and compare the various different kinds of flow that may take place in the anterior chamber of a human eye. The physical mechanisms responsible for causing such flows may be classified as follows: (i) buoyancy-driven flow arising from the temperature difference between the anterior surface of the cornea and the iris, (ii) flow generated by the aqueous production of the ciliary body, (iii) flow generated by the interaction between buoyancy and gravity while sleeping while sleeping in a face-up position, (iv) flow generated by phakodenesis (lens tremor), (v) flow generated by Rapid Eye Movement (REM) during sleep. Each flow is studied using a traditional fluid mechanics/asymptotic analysis approach. We also assess the veracity of a hypothesis that was recently advanced [see Maurice, D.M., 1998. The Von Sallman Lecture 1996: An ophthalmological explanation of REM sleep. Exp. Eye. Res. 66, 139–145, for details] to suggest that, contrary to previous opinion, the purpose of REM during sleep is to ensure corneal respiration in the absence of the buoyant mixing that routinely takes place due to (i) above during waking conditions.     

Non-linear loss of suitable wine regions over Europe in response to increasing global warming

Evaluating the potential climatic suitability for premium wine production is crucial for adaptation planning in Europe. While new wine regions may emerge out of the traditional boundaries, most of the present-day renowned winemaking regions may be threatened by climate change. Here, we analyse the future evolution of the geography of wine production over Europe, through the definition of a novel climatic suitability indicator, which is calculated over the projected grapevine phenological phases to account for their possible contractions under global warming. Our approach consists in coupling six different de-biased downscaled climate projections under two different scenarios of global warming with four phenological models for different grapevine varieties. The resulting suitability indicator is based on fuzzy logic and is calculated over three main components measuring (i) the timing of the fruit physiological maturity, (ii) the risk of water stress and (iii) the risk of pests and diseases. The results demonstrate that the level of global warming largely determines the distribution of future wine regions. For a global temperature increase limited to 2°C above the pre-industrial level, the suitable areas over the traditional regions are reduced by about 4%/°C rise, while for higher levels of global warming, the rate of this loss increases up to 17%/°C. This is compensated by a gradual emergence of new wine regions out of the traditional boundaries. Moreover, we show that reallocating better-suited grapevine varieties to warmer conditions may be a viable adaptation measure to cope with the projected suitability loss over the traditional regions. However, the effectiveness of this strategy appears to decrease as the level of global warming increases. Overall, these findings suggest the existence of a safe limit below 2°C of global warming for the European winemaking sector, while adaptation might become far more challenging beyond this threshold.     

Cardiorespiratory performance in salmonids during exercise at high temperature: insights into cardiovascular design limitations in fishes

Studies in the laboratory with salmonids and now in the field with wild salmon clearly show that critical swimming performance has an optimum temperature. This temperature optimum is coincident with maximum aerobic scope and maximum cardiac scope. At a temperature that is higher than this optimum, however, whole animal performance declines abruptly. Evidence is presented here to suggest that this is directly associated with a decline in cardiac scope which limits oxygen supply to tissues. It is further suggested that the decline in maximum cardiac performance could reflect problems with the heart's own oxygen supply. The reasoning behind this suggestion is that, at temperatures at or below the optimum and probably because of a limitation on oxygen diffusion in skeletal muscle during exercise, venous oxygen does not fall below a threshold level during exercise, and so the heart receives just enough oxygen for its own muscular activity via the cardiac circulation (i.e. the venous return to the heart). However, because high temperature favours increased oxygen extraction by skeletal muscle, which consequently lowers venous oxygen, cardiac oxygen supply may become insufficient to meet cardiac oxygen demand. The hypoxic myocardium then cannot maintain cardiac scope and internal oxygen delivery to tissue declines.