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.     

Density variation effect on multi-ions with kinetic Alfven wave around cusp region—a kinetic approach

The kinetic Alfven waves in the presence of homogeneous magnetic field plasma with multi-ions effect are investigated. The dispersion relation and normalised damping rate are derived for low-\(\beta\) plasma using kinetic theory. The effect of density variation of \(\text{H}^{+}\), \(\text{He}^{+}\) and \(\text{O}^{+}\) ions is observed on frequency and damping rate of the wave. The variation of frequency (\(\omega\)) and normalised damping rate (\(\gamma / \varOmega_{H^{ +}} \)) of the wave are studied with respect to \(k_{ \bot} \rho_{j}\), where \(k_{ \bot} \) is the perpendicular wave number, \(\rho_{j}\) is the ion gyroradius and \(j \) denotes \(\text{H}^{+}\), \(\text{He}^{+}\) and \(\text{O}^{+}\) ions. The variation with \(k_{ \bot} \rho_{j}\) is considered over wide range. The parameters appropriate to cusp region are used for the explanation of results. It is found that with hydrogen and helium ions gyration, the frequency of wave is influenced by the density variation of \(\text{H}^{+}\) and \(\text{He}^{+}\) ions but remains insensitive to the change in density of \(\text{O}^{+}\) ions. For oxygen ion gyration, the frequency of wave varies over a short range only for \(\text{O}^{+}\) ion density variation. The wave shows damping at lower altitude due to variation in density of lighter \(\text{H}^{+}\) and \(\text{He}^{+}\) ions whereas at higher altitude only heavy \(\text{O}^{+}\) ions contribute in wave damping. The damping of wave may be due to landau damping or energy transfer from wave to particles. The present study signifies that the both lighter and heavier ions dominate differently to change the characteristics of kinetic Alfven wave and density variation is also an important parameter to understand wave phenomena in cusp region.     

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.     

Antenna design and implementation for the future space Ultra-Long wavelength radio telescope

In radio astronomy, the Ultra-Long Wavelengths (ULW) regime of longer than 10 m (frequencies below 30 MHz), remains the last virtually unexplored window of the celestial electromagnetic spectrum. The strength of the science case for extending radio astronomy into the ULW window is growing. However, the opaqueness of the Earth’s ionosphere makes ULW observations by ground-based facilities practically impossible. Furthermore, the ULW spectrum is full of anthropogenic radio frequency interference (RFI). The only radical solution for both problems is in placing an ULW astronomy facility in space. We present a concept of a key element of a space-borne ULW array facility, an antenna that addresses radio astronomical specifications. A tripole–type antenna and amplifier are analysed as a solution for ULW implementation. A receiver system with a low power dissipation is discussed as well. The active antenna is optimized to operate at the noise level defined by the celestial emission in the frequency band 1 ? 30 MHz. Field experiments with a prototype tripole antenna enabled estimates of the system noise temperature. They indicated that the proposed concept meets the requirements of a space-borne ULW array facility.     

Directional interpolation infinite element for dynamic problems in saturated porous media

In this study, a directional interpolation infinite element suited to a saturated porous medium is presented to account for dynamic problems with semi-infi     

Discovery of Four New Clusters in the Cygnus Cloud

We report the discovery of four new open clusters(named QC 1,QC 2,QC 3 and QC 4)in the direction of Cygnus Cloud and select their members based on five astrometric parameters(l,b,ω,μα*,μδ)of Gaia DR2.We also derive their astrophysical parameters for each new cluster.Structure parameters are generated by fitting the radial density distribution with a King’s profile.Using solar metallicity,we performed isochrone-fitting on their purified color-magnitude diagrams(CMDs)to derive the age of the clusters.The known cluster NGC 7062 in an adjacent area is chosen to verify our identification process.The estimated distance,reddening and age of NGC 7062 are in good agreement with the literature.     

强光照和黑暗条件下刺参体壁的基因表达差异

参对光照变化非常敏感，研究刺参对光照的分子响应非常重要。本研究应用RNA测序获取了刺参暴露于强光（“强光”）、正常光照（“对照”）和完全黑暗（“黑暗”）环境下体壁的基因表达谱情况，通过“对照”与“黑暗”，“对照”与“强光”和“黑暗”与“强光”的比较，在|log₂ ratio|≥1和FDR≤0.001的标准下分别发现了1161、113和1705个差异表达基因（DEGs）。基因本体分析表明，“cellular process”和“binding”在“生物过程”和“分子功能”类别中的DEGs富集最多，而“cell”和“cell part”在“细胞组分”类别中的DEGs富集最多。将DEGs与Kyoto Encyclopedia基因和基因组数据库上的于214、41和229条通路进行比对，发现了51、2和57条通路分别显著富集。本研究发现的光特异性DEGs可作为深入研究刺参对光照变化的生化适应机制的重要目标基因。     

Higher-dimensional perfect fluid collapse in $$ gravity

In this paper, we analyze higher-dimensional spherical perfect fluid collapse in \(f(R,T)\) theory for minimally coupled models. We use Darmois junction conditions by taking Lemaître-Tolman-Bondi geometry as an interior region and Schwarzschild metric as an exterior spacetime. The solution of field equations is obtained for constant scalar curvature. We determine mass in two regions of the collapsing object and discuss the formation of apparent horizons. We conclude that modified curvature term tends to slow down the collapse rate.     

毛乌素沙区1961-2016年降水特征

基于毛乌素沙区10个气象站1961-2016年观测资料，应用Mann-Kendall方法和t检验法对各气象站年降水量进行了突变检验，借助小波分析讨论了各气象站年降水量的周期特征，根据降水量等值线划分结果对整个研究区分区分析了年、季、月和日尺度上的降水变化特征，并在两个时段上分析了季节性降水的差异。结果表明：毛乌素沙区年降水量空间特征差异明显，东部亚区呈上升趋势，中西部亚区呈下降趋势，但变化趋势不显著且无突变发生；降水年内分配不均，干湿季分明，降水集中在5-9月，夏秋季降水占全年降水比重大，季、月和日尺度降水量存在梯度递减变化；年降水量的年际变化过程存在多重时间尺度的自相似结构；近26年的冬春季降水增加显著，但降水波动幅度小于前30年。     

徐闻南山镇红树林沉积物及红树植物中重金属的累积特征与迁移规律

为探究重金属在红树林沉积物及红树植物中的分布累积及迁移规律，选取了徐闻南山镇红树林为研究对象，通过测定红树林沉积物及红树植物不同部位（根、茎、叶）的重金属质量分数，运用富集因子、生物富集系数、转移系数及相关性分析等方法进行分析。结果表明：1）红树林沉积物重金属质量分数表现为铬（Cr）＞锌（Zn）＞镍（Ni）＞铜（Cu）＞铅（Pb）＞砷（As）＞汞（Hg）＞镉（Cd），为中等变异程度；除了镍（Ni）元素外，其余7种重金属未超过国家一级标准，除了铅（Pb）元素外，其余7种重金属均超过广东省土壤环境背景值，说明研究区沉积物中重金属具有一定的积累效应。2）沉积物中砷（As）、铜（Cu）、锌（Zn）、汞（Hg）、镍（Ni）、铬（Cr）富集因子值均＞1.5，说明受到轻微人为活动影响；各站位镍（Ni）富集因子值均＞5，结合研究区背景，反映了镍（Ni）受到自然和人为输入的共同影响。3）白骨壤体内重金属主要集中在根部，而红海榄体内重金属在根茎叶中分布相对均匀。白骨壤根茎叶部位的大多数重金属质量分数远高于红海榄，说明白骨壤对重金属的吸附能力比红海榄强。汞（Hg）集中分布在植物的叶片部位，且与其他重金属之间相关性不明显；推测汞（Hg）主要通过叶片吸收进入植物体内，与交通运输污染有关。4）不同红树植物对不同重金属富集能力各异，白骨壤对重金属的富集能力表现为：镉（Cd）＞砷（As）＞铜（Cu）＞锌（Zn）＞汞（Hg）＞铅（Pb）＞镍（Ni）＞铬（Cr），红海榄表现为：镉（Cd）＞铜（Cu）＞汞（Hg）＞锌（Zn）＞铅（Pb）＞砷（As）＞镍（Ni）＞铬（Cr）。白骨壤和红海榄对汞（Hg）的运移能力都较强；红海榄对镉（Cd）的富集能力和转运能力都较强，而白骨壤对镉（Cd）富集能力较强，转运能力却较弱，这说明红树植物对重金属元素的富集能力与转运能力不存在正比关系。