Seismicity in the platform regions of Ukraine in the zones of anomalous electrical conductivity

It is established for the first time that there are several regions in Ukraine, in which the earthquakes occurring within platform territory are correlated to the anomalous conductive structures in the Earth’s crust and upper mantle. These regions are identified as (1) Donbass and the eastern part of the Dnieper-Donetsk Depression (DDD); (2) eastern margin of the Ingulets-Krivoi Rog suture zone in the area of the Krivoi Rog-Kremenchug fault zone; (3) the western part of the Cis-Azov megablock; (4) the western boundary of the Ukrainian Shield and its slope; (5) North Dobruja and Pre-Dobrujan Depression. The reconstructed tree-dimensional (3D) geoelectrical models of the Earth’s crust and upper mantle feature anomalously low values of electric resistivity. The earthquake sources in the platform areas of Ukraine are localized above the top and in the upper parts of the crustal anomalies of electrical conductivity.     

Symmetry distribution of cities in China

The authors of this paper induced five principles of geographical symmetry based on the space distributions of cities and towns in China. There is a symmetry distribution of cities and towns. The symmetry characteristics are the following: (i) the average coordination number of the cities (including large cities, medium cities and county towns) is 6 (i.g. rotation symmetry); (ii) the distribution of large and medium cities are shown to be the latticework in which two directions are parallel to two main tectonic ones in China, respectively; (iii) the distribution of county towns of a province is also shown to be the latticework in which two directions are parallel to two tectonic ones in this province (i. g. two-dimensional translation) and (iv) the concentric circle distribution of cities (CCDC) is centered round a large city (i. g. rotation symmetry).     

Use of Chrysotile Fibres in the Degradation of Cationic and Nonionic Surfactants in Aqueous Solutions

It was previously observed that sodium dodecylbenzenesulfonate (SDBS) is degraded in the presence of chrysotile fibres. A higher catalytic efficiency was obtained than the reported values for TiO₂ under the same conditions. Chrysotile, a clay mineral fibre of low cost and relatively abundant, probably acts as a catalyst through an Advanced Oxidative Process (AOP) involving free radical formation. In this work, experiments with non‐ionic – Triton X‐45 (octil‐phenoxy polyethoxy ethanol) – and cationic – Herquat 3500 (alkyl dimethyl benzyl ammonium chloride) – surfactants were carried out. Diluted aqueous solutions (50 ppm) of these surfactants were kept in contact with chrysotile (4.0 g) in the dark at room temperature. The aromatic ring disappearance was followed through the absorbance peaks at 224 nm (Triton X‐45) and 208 nm (Herquat 3500) in the UV spectra. After 4 h, reductions in the surfactant solution concentration of 65.0% and 35.0% were observed for the Triton X‐45 and the Herquat 3500 surfactants, respectively. In both cases, reactions carried out without aeration showed a lower reduction of the aromatic ring concentration (30.0% less) when compared to the values obtained for the systems with airflow. The system containing the non‐ionic surfactant seems to achieve equilibrium after 2 h, what is not observed for the cationic surfactant system.     

Analysis and attribution of trends in water levels in the Vietnamese Mekong Delta

In the Vietnamese Mekong Delta (VMD), water levels at some stations have increased. However, the factors that cause this rise in the VMD have not been identified. We considered four factors that may have contributed to the water level rise: (1) increased runoff from upstream, (2) sea‐level rise, (3) land subsidence, and (4) decrease in flood mitigation function because of construction of high dykes. We analysed daily maximum and minimum water levels, and mean daily water levels from 24 monitoring stations from 1987 to 2006. Using daily and annual water level differences, we classified the delta into two groups: one is dominated by flows from upstream, while the other is tide dominated. We then tested the trends of annual maximum and minimum water levels using the Mann–Kendall test, and identified the slope of the trend using the method of Sen. The areas of dyke construction were estimated using the Enhanced Vegetation Index (EVI) and Land Surface Water Index (LSWI) from the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data. Results show (1) river inflow has little impact on rising water levels in the VMD, (2) the influence of high dykes on water level rise could not be quantified in this study, and (3) both maximum and minimum water levels significantly increased in the tide‐dominated area. Trend of annual minimum water level can be considered as the sum sea‐level rise and land subsidence. Therefore, we attribute 6.05 mm year^?1 (80%) to land subsidence and 1.42 mm year^?1 (20%) to sea level rise, indicating that inundations have been severe in the VMD, caused primarily by land subsidence. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Seasonal variations and bioavailability of inorganic phosphorus in soils of Yeyahu Wetland in Beijing, China

Phosphorus (P) in soils has an important influence on the development and productivity of wetland. The objective of this study was to investigate the distribution, bioavailability and seasonal variations of inorganic phosphorus (IP) in soils of Yeyahu Wetland. The results showed that the concentration of Ca-bound P (Ca-P) remained the main occurrence in all IP fractions despite the season, at the same time the Al-bound P (Al-P) was always the lowest IP fraction despite the season. Al-P and Fe-bound P (Fe-P) concentration were all reached the highest value in May and the lowest in November, which was opposite to the occluded P (Oc-P) fraction. The notable higher Oc-P concentration in November observed in this study was probably due to the decomposition of plants and the subsequently releasing of oxides to soils. Ca-P didn't change much with season variations. Exchangeable P (Ex-P) and Oc-P were all positively correlated with soil moisture content and organic matter content, but Al-P was negatively correlated with these two soil properties. As a stable form, Ca-P was not associated with soil properties. Al-P, Fe-P and Ca-P might contribute to the storage of P in studied wetland with the principle component analysis results. The concentration rank order of the bio-available P in soils was generally as follows: Olsen-P > Algal available P (AAP) > Water soluble P (WSP) > Readily desorbed P (RDP). Olsen-P was positively correlated with Ex-P and Oc-P, and it was thought to be a more suitable indicator for bio-available P in soils.     

Population dynamics of autotrophic picoplankton in relation to environmental factors in a productive lake

Spatial and seasonal fluctuations in autotrophic picoplankton (APP) abundance in a eutrophic, dimictic lake (Lake Aydat, France) were measured concurrently with a variety of environmental variables. Cell number ranged from 0.03 to 2.36×10⁶ cells·ml^–1 (highest concentrations were >5-fold higher than in oligotrophic lakes) and averaged 24 ± 7% of total picoplankton abundance (APP + heterotrophic bacteria). APP abundance (1) peaked in spring simultaneously with heterotrophic flagellate and ciliate densities, (2) decreased during the nitrogen-limited and summer stratification period, and (3) increased with fall turnover. In summer-autumn, the contribution of single-cell eukaryotic (up to 66%) and colonial prokaryotic (18%) forms to total abundance peaked in the bottom waters. Multivariate regression analyses suggest that >40% variance in APP number changes may be explained by ciliate abundance (at 0–4 m depth-range), heterotrophic flagellate number and oxygen concentration (5–9 m), and ciliate carbon biomass (10–14 m). The model accounting for changes in heterotrophic bacterial abundance (5–9 m) indicates chlorophylla concentration (r ²=58%) and ciliate abundance (r ²=34%) as dominant covariates. The data presented here suggest that micrograzers control APP abundance in Lake Aydat.     

Methodology for determination of correction factors in direct gamma spectrometric measurement of radionuclides in sediments

In this study, the practical methodologies are described for the determination of the factors for the self-absorption effect (Fs), spectral interferences (Fcsi), and true coincidence summing effects (Fcoi), which are used in direct gamma-spectrometric measurement of radionuclides such as 210Pb, 238U, 234Th, 226Ra, 214Pb, 228Ac, 208Tl, 214Bi, 137Cs and 40K in samples. To validate the applied methods, certified reference materials (CRMs) of lake and stream sediments were measured with an n-type Germanium (Ge) detector-calibrated using a multinuclide reference source. The highest self-absorption correction factors ranged from Fs = 1.44–2.10 for 46.5 keV peak (210Pb) and Fs = 1.25–1.60 for 63.3 keV peak (234Th) lying in the low energy region of the spectrum. The systematic influence was observed for 186.2 keV (226Ra) peak due to spectral interferences with the 235U contribution. For this peak, Fcsi is changed from 0.921 to 0.955. Additionally, the present study suggests that true coincidence summing (TCS) effects are not dominant, except for 208Tl and 214Bi for which Fcoi ranged from 1.179 to 1.192 an ranged from 1.140 to 1.151, respectively.     

Distribution of organochlorines in the dissolved and suspended phase of the sea-surface microlayer and seawater in Hong Kong, China

Polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) and organochlorine pesticides (OCPs) were measured in the dissolved and suspended particulate phase in the sea-surface microlayer (SML) and subsurface water (SSW) collected from Hong Kong's coastal environment. The concentration ranges (pg/L) for summation sigmaHCHs, summation sigmaDDTs and summation sigmaPCBs in the SSW dissolved phase (DP i.e. sum of truly dissolved and colloidal phase) were 409-940 (mean 602), 774-5583 (mean 1908) and 266-433 (mean 278), respectively. The concentration ranges (pg/L) for summation sigmaHCHs, summation sigmaDDTs and summation sigmaPCBs in SSW suspended particulate matter (SPM) were <5-85 (mean 59), 358-1369 (mean 787) and 85.6-273 (mean 172), respectively. The enrichment factor of PCBs and OCPs in the SML varied between 1.1 and 4.5 for the DP, and 0.4-8.2 for the SPM. The distribution of contaminants between DP and SPM in both the SML and SSW indicates that particulate matter plays an important role in the distribution and fate of DDTs and PCBs, but not for HCH isomers. The Pearl River Estuary is likely to be a major source of contaminants transported to Hong Kong.     

太湖冬季底泥中活体藻类的检测

2002年冬从太湖梅梁湾采集柱状底泥,取三段进行直接镜检和用MA培养基进行光照培养．镜检发现表层(0-3cm)底泥中有多种藻类细胞,中层(10-13cm)底泥的藻类细胞种类明显减少,下层(20-23cm)底泥中没有发现藻类细胞．底泥培养的结果与之有相似的趋势,但得到的活体藻类细胞的种类相应减少．培养3个月后得到在外观和群落结构上与夏季水华相似的群落．结果表明底泥中的微囊藻和小环藻在太湖底泥中具有良好的适应性,占有明显的优势地位,底泥可以作为水华蓝藻的越冬场所和来年水华的种源．     

InferRead软件测量肺纯磨玻璃结节体积的准确性评价

目的:探讨人工智能（AI）肺结节检测软件对肺纯磨玻璃结节（pGGN）体积自动测量的准确性及测量误差的影响因素。方法:选择2021年1月1日至31日在本院行常规胸部CT扫描的患者90例,共计170个pGGN病灶。将CT扫描原始数据（含1 mm薄层图像）传送至AI服务器进行肺结节体积自动测量并记录其测量数据;由两名资深胸部影像诊断医师以手动进行pGGN逐层测量相加得出体积数值,并以3次测量平均值作为“金标准”数据与AI测量结果进行比较;并分析pGGN体积大小、位置、毗邻等因素对AI测量误差的影响。采用SPSS 26.0进行统计分析。结果:本研究90例患者中共计170个pGGN,右肺上叶者49个（28.82％）,右肺中叶者21个（12.35％）,右肺下叶者27个（15.89％）,左肺上叶者49个（28.82％）,左肺下叶者24个（14.12％）。在pGGN的毗邻关系中,完全位于肺实质内无毗邻关系者82个（48.24％）,贴近血管者29个（17.06％）,贴近胸膜者59个（34.70％）。①两名观察者之间、同一观察者不同时间点对pGGN手动测量的体积数值均无差异;②对相同pGGN体积的测量,使用AI自动测量与人工手动测量的结果亦无差异,且二者相关性很高（r=0.981）,一致性也很高（ICC值为0.987）;③pGGN的体积大小、发生位置、毗邻关系对AI体积测量的误差均无统计学意义。结论:InferRead肺结节检测软件对肺pGGN三维体积测量具有良好的准确性,可适用于临床肺结节诊断与相关研究。      

Biogeochemistry of iron in an acidic lake

In this paper, the fate of iron in Lake Cristallina, an acidic lake in the Alps of Switzerland, is discussed. A simple conceptual model is developed in order to explain the observed diel variation in dissolved iron(II) concentration. Biotite weathering provides reduced iron that is oxidized and subsequently precipitated in the lake. The amorphous Fe(III)hydroxide (FeOOH xH₂O), found in the sediments of Lake Cristallina, is an Fe(II) oxidation product. This oxygenation reaction is most probably catalyzed by bacteria surfaces, as indicated by the relatively high estimated oxidation rate compared to the oxidation rate of the homogeneous oxidation of inorganic Fe(II) species at the ambient pH of Lake Cristallina (pH 5.4 at 4 °C) and by the scanning electron micrograph pictures. Under the influence of light, these amorphous iron(III)hydroxide phases are reductively dissolved. The net concentration of Fe(II) reflects the balance of the reductive dissolution and the oxidation/precipitation reactions and tends to parallel the light intensity, leading to a diurnal variation in the Fe(II) concentration. The rate of the photochemical reductive dissolution of Lake Cristallina iron(III)hydroxides is greatly enhanced in situ and in the laboratory by addition of oxalate to the lake water.     

太湖秋季真光层深度空间分布及浮游植物初级生产力的估算

基于2004年10月对全湖67个采样点水下光合有效辐射(photosynthetically active radiation:PAR)和各光学活性物质浓度的测定,分析了真光层深度的空间分布及其影响因素.利用实测的叶绿素a浓度,真光层深度,PAR强度,由水温计算得到的最佳固碳速率以及由经纬度计算的日照周期等,在垂向归纳模型(vertically generalized production model:VGPM)的支持下估算了全湖秋季浮游植物初级生产力.真光层深度的变化范围为0.37-5.27m(均值为1.52±1.06m),高值出现在东太湖、胥口湾、东西山之间等水生植物分布茂盛的草型湖区,而在梅梁湾、湖心区以及西南面的开阔湖区真光层深度均较小.回归分析显示,真光层深度主要受制于非色素颗粒物浓度,浮游植物和溶解性有机物的贡献相对要小得多.叶绿素a浓度和VGPM模型估算的浮游植物初级生产力变化范围分别1.21-53.59μg/L、77.4-2484.9mg/(m2·d),其时空分布基本一致,高值出现在富营养化的藻型湖区梅梁湾,低值出现在胥口湾和西南开阔湖区.VGPM模型和经验模式对比结果显示两者值比较接近并存在显著相关(r2=0.79.P<0.0001).两类模型全湖的均值分别为694.5±492.0、719±84±315.4mg/(m2·d),但由于VGPM模型考虑到真光层深度、温度、PAR强度以及日照周期对初级生产力的影响,其变化范围明显大于经验模型,也更能反映初级生产力的空间变化.     

Metallothionein in intestine of red mullet, Mullus barbatus as a biomarker of copper exposure in the coastal marine areas

Dietary metal exposure in fish is studied in native red mullet, Mullus barbatus, involving metallothionein (MT) response in the intestine, a primary site for metal uptake. Intestinal MTs (microg mg(-1) proteins), total proteins (mgml(-1) S50), Cu, Zn, Fe, Mn and Cd (microg ml(-1) S50) are considered as indicators of metal exposure in specimens from near-shore and off-shore locations of the Eastern Adriatic Sea. Metallothionein and Cu are statistically significantly higher in 68 specimens from the Kastela Bay, a near-shore area (30.0+/-6.71microg MT mg(-1) proteins; 0.30+/-0.08microg Cu ml(-1) S50), in comparison to 51 specimens from off-shore area, Solta Island (25.9+/-4.21microg MT mg(-1) proteins; 0.26+/-0.09microg Cu ml(-1) S50). Cytosolic Cu, a MT inducer, is significantly correlated (p<0.05, r=0.44) with MT in specimens from the Kastela Bay, independent on fish biometry. Our study indicates that cytosolic intestinal Cu and MT represent a measurable biochemical response in red mullet specimens, dwelling above sediments contaminated with Cu.     

CT淋巴管成像对原发性乳糜尿患者诊断及分级的应用价值初探

目的：探讨CT淋巴管成像（CTL）对于原发性乳糜尿患者诊断及分级的应用价值。方法：回顾性收集确诊为原发性乳糜尿的79例患者的临床及CTL影像学资料,CTL指标主要包括：(1)肾脏受累侧别及肾内淋巴管分布范围：单肾、双肾、肾窦、肾实质及肾门上区、肾门下区;(2)腹膜后异常淋巴管分布情况：包括腹膜后、腰干区域、肾血管周、肾周脂肪囊、肾上腺区域等;(3)腹盆部及胸部扩张淋巴管分布及淋巴反流情况;(4)其他异常表现：包括腹盆部、胸部及骨骼等部位的淋巴管相关异常改变;(5)影像学分级：按照腹膜后累及区域范围进行影像学分级,将腹膜后区域分为左侧和右侧肾门上区、肾门下区、腰干区、肾血管旁区、肾周区等10个区域,累及5个及以内区域为轻度,累及6个及以上区域为重度。根据乳糜尿临床分级标准进行临床分级,对于原发性乳糜尿患者临床特点及CTL征象采用分类变量资料中的构成比进行统计描述,利用一致性Kappa检验评估原发性乳糜尿患者影像分级及临床分级的一致性。结果：79例CTL示肾内异常碘油沉积74例（93.7%）,单肾55例（69.6%）,双肾19例（24.1%）,肾窦74例（93.7%）,肾实质37例（46....     

秋季太湖悬浮物高光谱估算模型

2004年10月,在太湖设置67个采样点,现场测量了水体遥感反射比、后向散射系数和辅助参数,实验室分析了水体的悬浮物浓度和水色要素吸收系数.本文在对遥感反射比光谱分析的基础上,比较了几种水体遥感反射比光谱估算悬浮物浓度的方法,结果发现广泛应用的带比值项的算法,虽然可以应用于太湖总悬浮物浓度估算,但是普遍存在相对误差较高的弱点.通过对光谱的分析,确定了750hm单波段算法的参数,并提出了利用近红外812nm波峰高度来估算水体悬浮物的方法.文中还详细阐述了为什么比值算法等在太湖水体悬浮物浓度估算中相对误差比较高,并解释了利用近红外估算精度高的原因,并指明以上算法在遥感应用中的优点和不足,以及现实水体(水质)遥感对现有遥感器配置和遥感算法的需求.     

Spatial variability and temporal stability of throughfall in a eucalyptus plantation in the hilly lowlands of southeastern Brazil

Throughfall has been widely studied in forests but there is a scarcity of studies that focus on the spatial variability and temporal stability of throughfall in eucalyptus plantations. We examined throughfall in a daily basis in a 2·5‐year eucalyptus plantation in southeastern Brazil using three sample arrangements: (1) close to tree trunks (CT) and in the central point between trunks (BT), (2) four‐radial layout centred in tree trunk and (3) eight‐radial layout. Throughfall was spatially non‐uniform and varied according to the spatial monitoring arrangement: accumulated throughfall/precipitation ratio of 146% (CT) and 85% (BT) in arrangement 1, mean throughfall of 88% in arrangement 2, 84% (hilltop) and 85% (side slope) in arrangement 3. The highest throughfall values, spatial variability and persistence of dry and wet conditions were found close to eucalyptus trunks. Often accumulated throughfall close to trunks exceeded rainfall, especially for long‐duration rainfall > 5 mm. The ‘funnel effect’ was consistently observed in all three arrangements and we speculate that the high throughfall concentration and temporal stability are related to canopy structures of eucalyptus. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

洞庭湖支流枯水期表层水和沉积物中氯苯甲醚类化合物分布特征与生态风险

环境中的氯苯甲醚类化合物(chloroanisoles,CAs)主要来自于氯酚类化合物及其他结构相似的氯代烃.在我国洞庭湖血吸虫疫区,五氯酚作为灭螺剂施放对周围环境造成了CAs污染.运用气相色谱质谱联用方法测定洞庭湖支流(澧水、藕池河和沱江)表层水和沉积物中的CAs,并分析其分布特征与生态风险.结果显示:(1)水体是CAs的主要赋存介质.三支流表层水中CAs体现出显著差异性,污染水平由大到小为澧水藕池河沱江,三者总CAs浓度分别为18.94、8.83和4.14 ng/L;在3支流中沉积物中的总CAs无明显差异,分别为2.86、3.61和4.07 ng/g.(2)澧水表层水和沉积物中高氯取代CAs(三氯苯甲醚、四氯苯甲醚和五氯苯甲醚)为主要污染物(分别占73.75%和68.89%);藕池河表层水中低氯取代CAs(一氯苯甲醚和二氯苯甲醚)占比相对较高(48.59%),而沉积物中以高氯取代CAs为主(93.38%);沱江表层水和沉积物中占比较高的CAs为一氯苯甲醚,分别占28.26%和75.56%.(3)空间分布上,从上游到下游澧水表层水中CAs浓度呈现波动下降的趋势,而沉积物中呈上升趋势;藕池河表层水中CAs呈现波动下降的趋势,沉积物中无明显变化趋势;沱江表层水和沉积物中一氯苯甲醚呈波动上升趋势,其他CAs有波动但无明显趋势.(4)研究区水中的五氯苯甲醚浓度远低于报道的鱼类和无脊椎动物的五氯苯甲醚急性半数致死浓度,目前不会对水生生物造成太大影响,但其对人类健康和环境的潜在风险不可忽视.     

Trends in extreme rainfall in the state of New South Wales,Australia

The trends in annual maximum rainfall (AMR) intensity data in New South Wales, Australia, were examined. Data from 60 stations were used covering three study periods, 1955–2010, 1965–2010 and 1978–2010. Mann-Kendall (MK) and Spearman’s rho (SR) tests were applied to assess trends at local stations. Pre-whitening (PW), trend-free pre-whitening (TFPW) and the variance correction (VC) tests were used to assess the effects of serial correlation on trend results. For regional trend analysis, the regional MK test was employed. The impacts of climatic variability modes on the observed trends in AMR intensity and seasonal maximum rainfall data were investigated. It was found that positive trends were more frequent than the negative ones. The PW, TFPW and VC tests resulted in a slight reduction in the count of stations exhibiting significant positive trends. The number of stations exhibiting significant trends decreased when the impact of climate variability modes was considered.     

Pathways of birnessite formation in alkali medium

Birnessite, widely distributed in soils, sediments and ocean manganese nodules, is a common layered manganese oxide. It consists of sheets of hydrated cations between sheets of MnO6 octahedra[1,2]. The formations of a variety of manganese oxides are closely related with birnessite, most of those form di- rectly or indirectly from birnessite [3―7]. In natural en- vironment, birnessite has a high surface activity and potential, and plays a significant role in adjusting and controlling the avai…     

阳原地震台的改造建设--地电阻率观测中的干扰及排除

阳原台地电阻率观测受外界影响非常严重，因而严重影响了观测资料的精度，使资料质量大大降低。本文通过实验和研究，找到了影响资料观测精度的因素：(1)漏电；(2)电极老化；(3)稳流源输出不稳定；(4)降雨；(5)风扰，并分别加以排除。