Low-mass and high-mass supermassive black holes in radio-loud AGNs are spun-up in different evolution paths

How supermassive black holes(SMBHs) are spun-up is a key issue in modern astrophysics. As an extension to the study in Wang et al., here we address the issue by comparing the host galaxy properties of nearby(z 0.05) radio-selected Seyfert 2 galaxies. With the two-dimensional bulge+disk decompositions for the SDSS r-band images, we identify a dichotomy in various host galaxy properties for radio-loud SMBHs. By assuming that radio emission from the jet reflects a high SMBH spin, which stems from the well-known Blandford-Znajek mechanism of jet production, high-mass SMBHs(i.e., MBH 107.9 M⊙)have a preference for being spun-up in classical bulges, and low-mass SMBHs(i.e., MBH = 106-107 M⊙)in pseudo-bulges. This dichotomy suggests and confirms that high-mass and low-mass SMBHs are spun-up in different ways, i.e., a major "dry" merger and a secular evolution respectively.     

Levels of Metabolic Enzymes and Nitrogenous Compounds in the Swimming Crab Portunus trituberculatus Exposed to Elevated Ambient Ammonia-N

This study investigated the effects of ammonia-N(control and 1 and 5 mg L~(-1)) on the changes of metabolic enzymes activities and nitrogenous compounds levels in the gills, hepatopancreas, muscles, and hemolymph of the swimming crab Portunus trituberculatus. Results showed that the levels of hemolymph ammonia increased significantly at 6 h and then decreased to control level at 12 h. The activities of key enzymes involved in biosynthesis pathways of glutamine(Gln) and urea, such as glutamate dehydrogenase(GDH), glutamine synthetase(GS), and arginase(ARG), increased remarkably in different tissues of P. trituberculatus. Gln level was the highest in muscles, while urea content was the largest in hepatopancreas. The m RNA expression level of xanthine dehydrogenase(XDH) was downregulated sharply in gills but upregulated in the hepatopancreas and muscles. A small amount of uric acid was detected in the hemolymph. This result suggests that Gln in muscles may be used as an intermediary nitrogen repository, while urea may be primarily synthesized in the hepatopancreas and then transferred to other tissues via the hemolymph. Uric acid could be synthesized by the anabolism of purine nucleotides, in additon to the inhibitory activities of gills. In addition, the levels of Gln, urea and uric acid exhibited dose-and time-dependent effects with ammonia content. Therefore, P. trituberculatus could possibly convert ammonia into Gln, urea, or uric acid to detoxify ammonia during high ambient ammonia-N stress.     

Local Oceanic Vertical Deflection Determination with Gravity Data Along a Profile

Deflections of the vertical (DOVs) over oceans cannot be directly measured, which restricts their applications. A local covariance function of anomalous potential is put forward in this paper in conjunction with the least-squares collocation (LSC) method to compute the oceanic DOVs utilization of oceanic gravity data along a profile. The covariance functions of gravity field quantities have been derived directly as functions of x, y and z without the need to introduce coordinate transformations corresponding to along- or cross-profile components. In the proposed methodology, gravity data along a profile were used to calculate the residual gravity anomaly using the remove-compute-restore technique. The residual gravity anomaly was used to calculate the parameters of the proposed covariance function of the local anomalous gravity field, which was used in the LSC to compute the residual DOVs along the profile. The residual DOVs added model DOVs to recover the DOVs along the profile. The results of a simulation experiment prove that the proposed methodology is feasible and effective.     

A new standardized Palmer drought index for hydro‐meteorological use

Accepting the concept of standardization introduced by the standardized precipitation index, similar methodologies have been developed to construct some other standardized drought indices such as the standardized precipitation evapotranspiration index (SPEI). In this study, the authors provided deep insight into the SPEI and recognized potential deficiencies/limitations in relating to the climatic water balance it used. By coupling another well‐known Palmer drought severity index (PDSI), we proposed a new standardized Palmer drought index (SPDI) through a moisture departure probabilistic approach, which allows multi‐scalar calculation for accurate temporal and spatial comparison of the hydro‐meteorological conditions of different locations. Using datasets of monthly precipitation, temperature and soil available water capacity, the moisture deficit/surplus was calculated at multiple temporal scales, and a couple of techniques were adopted to adjust corresponding time series to a generalized extreme value distribution out of several candidates. Results of the historical records (1900–2012) for diverse climates by multiple indices showed that the SPDI was highly consistent and correlated with the SPEI and self‐calibrated PDSI at most analysed time scales. Furthermore, a simple experiment of hypothetical temperature and/or precipitation change scenarios also verified the effectiveness of this newly derived SPDI in response to climate change impacts. Being more robust and preferable in spatial consistency and comparability as well as combining the simplicity of calculation with sufficient accounting of the physical nature of water supply and demand relating to droughts, the SPDI is promising to serve as a competent reference and an alternative for drought assessment and monitoring. Copyright © 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

基于时间序列遥感数据的嵯岗国家沙化土地封禁保护成效评估

2013年中国启动实施了内蒙古自治区新巴尔虎左旗嵯岗国家沙化土地封禁保护区试点。本研究利用2001—2017年生长季NDVI数据分析了嵯岗封禁保护区及周边区域植被长势时空演变特征，分析了多年的生长季降水量和历年旱情，之后利用植被降水利用效率和NDVI残差趋势分析对保护成效进行了评估。结果表明：（1）封禁项目实施之前，封禁区内外植被长势变化趋势基本一致，而在项目实施后的2016、2017年，封禁区内NDVI距平明显高于封禁区外；（2）降水为影响该区域植被长势的主导气候因素，在封禁实施后的2015—2017年该区域连续3 a干旱，极大地限制了区域植被生长；（3）封禁区内植被降水利用效率和NDVI残差均呈现明显的增加趋势，而封禁区外变化不明显，说明封禁提升了植被的自我修复能力；（4）嵯岗封禁保护区由3个地块组成，其中嵯岗林场封禁效果比牧场八队和牧场十一队明显。国家沙化土地封禁保护措施有效促进了植被自我修复，提高了沙漠生态系统应对气候变化的能力。     

青藏铁路沿线不同类型挡沙墙阻沙率

基于风洞试验对青藏铁路沿线不同类型防沙措施防沙效果进行模拟研究，探讨了不同类型挡沙墙的防沙效果。结果表明：挂板式、轨枕式和箱式挡沙墙输沙率随高度基本呈递增缓变型趋势，最大输沙率低于20%；铃铛式和高立式聚乙烯（PE）网挡沙墙随高度呈递减陡降型趋势，距地表6~8 cm处为转折点，转折点以上输沙率随高度增大急剧减小，转折点以下输沙率随高度变化较为平缓，最大输沙率低于50%。随着风速的增大，各挡沙墙的阻沙率呈递减趋势：挂板式和轨枕式挡沙墙对风速的敏感性最弱，整体阻沙效果较优，可大范围推广；箱式挡沙墙对风速的敏感性较弱，建议在风速18 m·s^-1以下的地区使用；PE网挡沙墙防沙效果对风速的敏感性最强，建议在风速10 m·s^-1以下的地区使用。     

A modified three-dimensional ionospheric tomography algorithm with side rays

The three-dimensional ionospheric tomography (3DCIT) algorithm based on Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) observations have been developed into an effective tool for ionospheric monitoring in recent years. However, because the rays that come into or come out from the side of the inversion region cannot be used, the distribution of the rays in the edge and bottom part of the inversion region is scarce and the electron density cannot be effectively improved in the inversion process. We present a three-dimensional tomography algorithm with side rays (3DCIT-SR) applying the side rays to the inversion. The partial slant total electron content (STEC) of side rays in the inversion region is obtained based on the NeQuick2 model and GNSS-STEC. The simulation experiment results show that the algorithm can effectively improve the distribution of GNSS rays in the inversion region. Meanwhile, the iteration accuracy has also been significantly improved. After the same number of iterations, the iterative results of 3DCIT-SR are closer to the truth than 3DCIT, in particular, the inversion of the edge regions is improved noticeably. The GNSS data of the International GNSS Service (IGS) stations in Europe are used to perform real data experiments, and the inversion results show that the electron density profiles of 3DCIT-SR are closer to the ionosonde measurements. The accuracy improvement of 3DCIT-SR is up to 56.3% while the improvement is more obvious during the magnetic storm compared to the case of a calm ionospheric state .     

TBC 4.0软伴下的长基线数据处理精度分析

针对工程测量中高精度数据处理的需要,大宝公司研发的新版本TBC 4.0软件不仅兼容多导航定位系统,而巨显著改进了长基线解算精度.本文基于IGS观测数据,将TBC 4.0软件的基线解算精度与Bernese软件、GAMIT软件基线解算精度进行了对比,并与日版本TBC软件解算能力进行了比较.结果表明,在1000 km长基线的情况下,TBC 4.0软件获得了与Bernese、GAMIT软件相当的解算精度,三维位置精度为毫米级,巨不受星历类型的限制.另外,与日版本TBC相比,TBC 4.0软件的基线解算能力有了很大的提高.     

Porosity and wave velocity evolution of granite after high-temperature treatment: a review

The evolution of porosity and changes in wave velocity in granite after high-temperature treatment has been experimentally investigated in different studies. Statistical analysis of the test results shows that there is a temperature threshold value that leads to variations in porosity and wave velocity. At a temperature that is less than 200 °C, the porosity of granite slowly increases with increases in temperature, while the wave velocity decreases. When the temperature is greater than 200 °C (especially between 400 and 600 °C), the porosity quickly increases, while the wave velocity substantially decreases. The temperature ranges of room temperature to 200 and 200–400 °C correspond to the undamaged state and the micro-damage state, respectively. The results confirm that there is an important link between the variations of physical and mechanical properties in response to thermal treatment. By studying the relationships among rock porosity, wave velocity and temperature, this provides the basis for solving multi-variable coupling problems under high temperatures for the thermal exploitation of petroleum and safe disposal of nuclear waste.