Preface: Stars and interstellar medium

This issue presents proceedings of the "Stars and Interstellar Medium" section of the AllRussian Astronomical Conference VAK-2017. Sixteen papers(selected from about 70 talks) cover different problems related to stars, pulsars, interstellar gas and dust, and star formation. The preface briefly reviews these papers.     

Plant diversity and community structure of Brazilian <Emphasis Type="Italic">Páramos</Emphasis>

In Eastern South America, high altitude grasslands represent a mountain system that has a high number of endemic species. However, studies on the ecology of plant communities in these environments remain scarce. We aimed to evaluate the patterns of biodiversity and structure of plant communities from rocky outcrops in high altitude grasslands of three areas at the Caparaó National Park, southeastern Brazil, by sampling 300 randomly distributed plots. Then, we compared the floristic composition, relative abundance, and biological and vegetation spectra among areas. We classified species as endemic and non-endemic and verified the occurrence of endangered species. Species richness was evaluated by rarefaction analysis on the sampling units. The importance value and species abundance distribution (SAD) models were assessed. We also performed an indicator species analysis. We sampled 58 species belonging to 49 genera and 32 families. The number of species decreased with increasing altitude, with significant differences being observed among areas regarding richness, abundance, and cover. Of the total number of species, 10 are endemic to the Caparaó National Park and 17 are listed on the Brazilian Red List of endangered species. The dominant families on all peaks were Asteraceae and Poaceae. The SAD models showed lognormal and geometric distributions, corroborating the fact that 10 species that were common to all three areas were also the most dominant ones in the communities and showed the highest importance values, which ranged between 35% and 60%. Indicator species analysis revealed that 28 species (48.27%) were indicators. Of these, 42.85% had maximum specificity, meaning that they occurred only in one area. Thus, the number of species per life form ratio was similar among areas, yet vegetation spectra differed, especially for hemicryptophytes. The altimetric difference among the areas showed to be a very important driver in the community assembly, influencing the evaluated variables, however, other drivers as soil depth, slope and water could also influence the community structure on a smaller and local spatial scale.     

Geology and the Allied liberation of Normandy: highlights to help mark the 75th anniversary of D‐Day, 6 June 1944

During the Second World War, the Allied invasion of the French coast of Normandy on D‐Day, 6 June 1944, was the greatest amphibious assault in world history. An article in Geology Today (v.11, for 1995, pp.58–63) marked the 50th anniversary of the end of the war in Europe, on 8 May 1945, by describing how British military geologists had participated in planning for D‐Day and in the NW Europe campaign that followed it. The work of these geologists provides a classic case history, revealing that ‘military geology’ has many potential applications. Geological factors influenced site selection for temporary airfields, predictions of trafficability for the Normandy beaches, the development of potable water supplies, and quarrying for road metal—and more besides. This new article helps to mark the 75th anniversary of D‐Day by further details of how geologists and geology contributed to Allied victory.     

光照、温度对黑鲷(♀)×真鲷(♂)杂交子代受精卵孵化效果的影响

为了研究不同光照强度、温度对黑鲷(Acantho pagrusschlegelii)(♀)×真鲷(Pagrosomus major)(♂)杂交F1代受精卵孵化效果及仔鱼存活的影响,作者采用试验生态学的方法比较不同温度(16、18、20、22、24、26℃)下杂交鲷受精卵的孵化率、畸形率、孵化时间、7日龄仔鱼的存活率;比较不同光照强度下(10、100、300、800、1500、4 000、10 000 lx)受精卵孵化率、畸形率、孵化时间;比较不同光照强度下(200、1 000、2 000、5 000、10 000、15 000、20 000 lx)7日龄仔鱼的存活率。结果表明:在盐度为22条件下,受精卵最高孵化率(34.00%)和最低畸形率(16.65%)的孵化温度为20℃;在16～26℃范围内,温度与孵化时间呈负相关,与7日龄仔鱼存活率也呈负相关。不同的光照强度对受精卵孵化率和孵化时间的影响不显著,孵化率为65.88%～71.88%;但大于800lx的光照会令畸形率上升(大于15.21%);另外,5000～10000lx的光照强度更适宜仔鱼生存,7日龄仔鱼存活率达到38%～40.75%。黑鲷(♀)×真鲷(♂)杂交子代最佳孵化温度为20℃,最适光照强度为5 000～10 000 lx。     

中国草畜平衡状态时空演变指示的草地生态保护格局

中国草原牧区作为重要生态安全屏障和草地畜牧业生产基地,其草畜平衡状态直接影响草地退化与恢复,进而影响草地生态系统服务能力的强弱。本文分析了2000—2015年主要草原牧区草地植被覆盖、牧草供给、草畜平衡状态的时空变化特征,深入探讨草地退化与恢复及载畜压力下草地生态系统保护与恢复空间格局。结果表明：过去16年主要草原牧区草地面积净减少约163万hm²,6.7%的草地出现植被覆盖退化,而5.4%的草地呈现植被覆盖明显恢复。天然草地牧草供给量以增加为主,年增率约0.3 kg/hm²,然而其载畜压力亦持续增加,不考虑补饲的载畜压力指数高达3.8,除内蒙古东北部、青藏高原中部仍有载畜潜力,其余多处于超载状态;考虑实际冷季补饲的载畜压力指数约3.1,内蒙古中东部有所缓解;假设冷季全额补饲则载畜压力指数减至1.9,内蒙古、青藏高原等区域明显缓解。叠加上述数据,本文针对自然保护地、牧区、半农半牧区和农区等不同区域的草地生态保护格局,提出了平衡草地生态保护与畜牧生产利用的不同发展策略。     

Deep-water sediment transport patterns and basin floor topography in early rift basins: Plio-Pleistocene syn-rift of the Corinth Rift,Greece

Our current understanding on sedimentary deep-water environments is mainly built of information obtained from tectonic settings such as passive margins and foreland basins. More observations from extensional settings are particularly needed in order to better constrain the role of active tectonics in controlling sediment pathways, depositional style and stratigraphic stacking patterns. This study focuses on the evolution of a Plio-Pleistocene deep-water sedimentary system (Rethi-Dendro Formation) and its relation to structural activity in the Amphithea fault block in the Corinth Rift, Greece. The Corinth Rift is an active extensional basin in the early stages of rift evolution, providing perfect opportunities for the study of early deep-water syn-rift deposits that are usually eroded from the rift shoulders due to erosion in mature basins like the Red Sea, North Sea and the Atlantic rifted margin. The depocentre is located at the exit of a structurally controlled sediment fairway, approximately 15 km from its main sediment source and 12 km basinwards from the basin margin coastline. Fieldwork, augmented by digital outcrop techniques (LiDAR and photogrammetry) and clast-count compositional analysis allowed identification of 16 stratigraphic units that are grouped into six types of depositional elements: A—mudstone-dominated sheets, B—conglomerate-dominated lobes, C—conglomerate channel belts and sandstone sheets, D—sandstone channel belts, E—sandstone-dominated broad shallow lobes, F—sandstone-dominated sheets with broad shallow channels. The formation represents an axial system sourced by a hinterland-fed Mavro delta, with minor contributions from a transverse system of conglomerate-dominated lobes sourced from intrabasinal highs. The results of clast compositional analysis enable precise attribution for the different sediment sources to the deep-water system and their link to other stratigraphic units in the area. Structures in the Amphithea fault block played a major role in controlling the location and orientation of sedimentary systems by modifying basin-floor gradients due to a combination of hangingwall tilt, displacement of faults internal to the depocentre and folding on top of blind growing faults. Fault activity also promoted large-scale subaqueous landslides and eventual uplift of the whole fault block.     

Estimates of Extragalactic Background and Confusion Noise Parameters for the Millimetron Telescope

Astronomy Letters - The sensitivity of future far-infrared telescopes, such as Millimetron, will be limited by the confusion noise produced by distant galaxies. We have constructed a model of the...     

Crinoid localities of the Devonian of the British Isles

Who collects the Devonian crinoids of south-west England? Since the nineteenth century, almost nobody. Few palaeontologists pursue these fossils, undoubtedly handsome in life, but indifferently preserved. Herein, we make a survey of four of the most important crinoid sites, all of which have the potential to produce new specimens.     

A-FPN算法及其在遥感图像船舶检测中的应用

光学遥感图像船舶检测主要面临两个挑战:光学遥感图像背景复杂,船舶检测易受海浪、云雾及陆地建筑等多方面干扰;遥感图像分辨率低,船舶目标小,对于其分类与定位带来很大困难;针对上述问题,在FPN的基础上,提出一种融入显著性特征的卷积神经网络模型A-FPN (Attention-Based Feature Pyramid Networks)。首先,利用卷积提取图像特征金字塔;然后,利用顶层金字塔逐级构建显著特征层,抑制背景信息,通过金字塔顶层的细粒度特征提高浅层特征的表达能力,构建自上而下的多级显著特征映射结构;最后利用Softmax分类器进行多层级船舶检测。A-FPN模型利用显著性机制引导不同感受下的特征进行融合,提高了模型的分辨能力,对遥感图像处理领域具有重要应用价值。实验阶段,利用公开的遥感目标检测数据集NWPU VHR-10中的船舶样本进行测试,准确率为92.8%,表明A-FPN模型适用于遥感图像船舶检测。     

A New Wavelet Method for Identification of Eddies and Assessment of Incidents on Islands of the Eastern Caribbean

Using two dimensional continuous wavelet transforms, a novel method for identification of mesoscale eddies is presented to facilitate extraction of characteristics for area, amplitude, type, and location from maps of sea level anomalies. In comparison with the previously established growing method for eddy identification, it is found that the wavelet method identifies more than twice the number of eddies and is particularly better at resolving small eddies down to the 0.25 degree resolution of the data. Such research into eddy identification and tracking is significant to the assessment of eddies with potential to impact on coastlines of small islands. The method is applied to the identification of eddies on tracks towards islands of the Eastern Caribbean over 23?years. Spatial and temporal variation in rate of occurrence and magnitude is established. For Barbados there is an average of 9 anticyclonic incidents a year with maximum amplitude of typically 0.22?m in the dry seasons and 0.16?m in the wet seasons. Seasonal variation is reversed for the other islands with twice the number of anticyclonic incidents having maximum amplitudes of about 0.20?m annually.