Predicting quantiles of water quality from catchment characteristics

Water quality is often highly variable both in space and time, which poses challenges for modelling the more extreme concentrations. This study developed an alternative approach to predicting water quality quantiles at individual locations. We focused on river water quality data that were collected over 25 years, at 102 catchments across the State of Victoria, Australia. We analysed and modelled spatial patterns of the 10th, 25th, 50th, 75th and 90th percentiles of the concentrations of sediments, nutrients and salt, with six common constituents: total suspended solids (TSS), total phosphorus (TP), filterable reactive phosphorus (FRP), total Kjeldahl nitrogen (TKN), nitrate-nitrite (NO_x), and electrical conductivity (EC). To predict the spatial variation of each quantile for each constituent, we developed statistical regression models and exhaustively searched through 50 catchment characteristics to identify the best set of predictors for that quantile. The models predict the spatial variation in individual quantiles of TSS, TKN and EC well (66%–96% spatial variation explained), while those for TP, FRP and NO_x have lower performance (37%–73% spatial variation explained). The most common factors that influence the spatial variations of the different constituents and quantiles are: annual temperature, percentage of cropping land area in catchment and channel slope. The statistical models developed can be used to predict how low- and high-concentration quantiles change with landscape characteristics, and thus provide a useful tool for catchment managers to inform planning and policy making with changing climate and land use conditions.     

EFFECTS OF FISH OIL,DHA OIL AND LECITIHIN IN MICROPARTICULATE DIETS ON STRESS TOLERANCE OF LARVAL GILTHEAD SEABREAM（SPARUS AURATA）

The effects of natural fish oil,DHA oil and soybean lecithin in microparticulate diets on stress tolerance of larval gilthead seabream(Sparus aurata)were investigated after 15 days feeding trials.The tolerance of larval gilthead seabream to various stress factors such as exposure to air(lack of dissolved oxygen),changes in water temperature(low)and salinity(high) were determined.This study showed that microparticulate diet with natural fish oil and soybean lecithin was the most effective for in-creasing the tolerance of larval gilthead seabream to various stresses,and that microparticulate diet with natural fish oil and palmitic acid(16:0)was more effective than microparticulate diet with DHA oil and soybean lecithin.     

AN ILLUSTRATIVE STUDY ON LOCAL LANDSCAPEAND ITS LONG-TERM CHANGES BASED ON IKONOS AND HISTORICAL AERIAL PHOTO

Nowadays, the research works on landscape at fine scales using high-resolution images are uncommon.This research is based on the analysis of the combination of remote sensing data (1KONOS imagery acquired in 2002 and historical aerial photo taken in 1942). In the paper, the ecotopes in Qiujiadou and Xishao villages in Yixing City of Jiangsu Province in 1942 and 2002 were compared and landscape changes as well as the causes of the considerable changes were analyzed. It was found that the ecotope changes were at greater level in some aspects such as water surface and perennial vegetation coverage etc. This study at fine scale is globally significant for the rural areas, especially for the subsistence agricultural land, which occupies larger percentage in the earth. And it analyzes the structure of landscape based on a new landscape classification system--stratifications method.     

Mass loss from Wolf-Rayet stars

The observed times of minimum light derived from the photometry of the Wolf-Rayet eclipsing binary stars CQ Cep and V444 Cyg are used to estimate the mass-loss rate of the Wolf-Rayet components in several modes of mass-loss and mass-exchange.     

Revisiting Sustainable Development of Dry Valleys in Hengduan Mountains Region

Dry valleys are a striking geographic landscape in Hengduan Mountains Region and are characterized by low rainfall, desert type of vegetation and fragile environment. Past efforts and resources have been concentrated mainly on rehabilitation of degraded ecosystem and fragile environment, particularly reforestation, while socio-economic development has been largely overlooked. Despite successes in pocket areas, the overall trend of unsustainability and environmental deterioration are continuing. It is important to understand that uplift of the Tibetan Plateau is the root cause of development of dry valleys, and development and formation of dry valleys is a natural process. Human intervention has played a secondary role in development of dry valleys and degradation of dry valleys though human intervention in many cases has speeded up environmental degradation of the dry valleys. It is important to understand that dry valleys are climatic enclaves and an integrated approach that combines rehabilitation of degraded ecosystems and socio-economic development should be adopted if the overall goal of sustainable development of dry valleys is to be achieved. Promotion of niche-based cash crops, rural energy including hydropower, solar energy, biogas and fuelwood plantation is recommended as the priority activities.     

Self-similar solutions for the blast wave problem in radiative gasdynamics,I

Similarity solutions, describing the flow of a perfect gas behind spherical shock waves, are investigated including the radiation heat flux. The shock is assumed to be propagating in a medium at rest. Shock radius varies exponentially with time and density is inversely proportional to fifth power of the shock radius immediately ahead of the shock front.     

Thermal stability of a layer with permeable boundaries and variable gravitational field

The aim of this paper is to investigate the thermal stability of a fluid layer with permeable boundaries and a variable gravitational field. It is observed that the principle of exchange of stabilities is valid when the layer is heated form below and the complex growth rate of an arbitrary oscillatory mode exists outside of a circle whose radius depends upon the permeability parameter, Prandtl number and wavelength of the mode. In the case of a layer heated from below, gravity increasing upward has a destabilizing effect whereas the permeability parameter has a stabilizing effect.     

Formation of decollement upwarps during thrusting

Geometric and kinematic models reveal that rotation of layers during thrusting or development of drag folds produced by movement along listric thrust faults results in the formation of dilation space at the junction of the thrust ramp with the basal decollement. This is accompanied by upwarping of the basement to occupy the available space thereby producing an antiformal structure, which restricts the thrust displacement. The structure is termed a decollement upwarp and examples are cited from the foothill belt of the Himalaya.     

A note on the kinematics of the tachyon fluid

It is shown that the kinematical parameters associated with the congruence formed by tachyonic motion can be defined in the manner of Greenberg, but not that of Ehlers. The space-like counterpart of Raychaudhuri's equation has also been obtained.     

AGGLOMERATION AND RADIATION EFFECT OF THE PULL OF URBANIZATION

In order to explore the train of thought for China‘s urbanizing development and coordinated rural eco-nomic development, and to find good ways of solving rural problems through urbanization, this paper absorbs the push-and-pull forces theory and the systematic dynamic theory in the traditional population migration theories, views urbanization as a dynamic system, makes research on the push-and-pull mechanism of urbanization. The pulling power of urbanization is analyzed according to two aspects, the agglomeration effect and the radiation effect of cities. The agglomeration effect provides continuous propelling force for urbanization, and the radiation effect further accelerates the urbanization process by pushing forward the development of rural economy. Of course, the slow de-velopment of urbanization can result in the hindrance to rural economic development.