Spatial Variability of Mass Movements in the Satluj Valley,Himachal Pradesh during 1990～2006

Satluj Valley is known to have a history of landslides and related mass movement activities since the geological times. Geological and geomorphological settings combined with anthropogenic activities constitute a propensity towards slope failure. During the last two decades,the area witnessed substantial increase in athropogenic pressure,mainly due to the exploitation of hydropower potential,changing landuse pattern and population growth. In addition,a shift of the climatic patterns in the form of larger area falling under the influence of rains was observed. These natural as well as anthropogenic changes in the area have resulted in increased spatial coverage of landslide in the area. This paper documents these changes during 1990～2006.     

Optimum temperature for the growth performance of juvenile orange-spotted grouper （Epinephelus coioides H.）

Effects of water temperature （17, 21, 25, 30 and 35℃） and body size （14.75-281.41 g initial body weight） on food consumption, growth, feed conversion, and dry matter content in orange-spotted grouper fed to satiation were investigated. The combined effect of temperature （T, ℃） and body weight （W, g） on maximum food consumption （Cmax, g/day） was described as： InCmax=-7.411＋0.828 InW＋0.317T4）.004 7T2, and the optimum feeding temperature was 33.9℃. The combined effect of temperature and body weight on growth （G） was described as： lnG=-4.461-0.2081nW＋0.394T-0.006 3T^2. The optimum growth temperature was 31.4℃, whereas overall growth rates were high at 25, 30 and 35 ℃. Feed conversion efficiencies （FCE, %）, increasing first and then decreasing with increasing temperature, averaged from 1.8 to 2.1 in terms of dry weight of food fish. The optimum temperature for FCE tended to be lower than that for growth or feeding. Dry matter content increased with both increasing water temperature （17, 25, 30 and 35℃） and body weight, and the combined effect of temperature and body weight on dry matter content （DM, %） was described as： lnDM =3.232＋0.01 4 lnW-0.004 4T＋0.001 2TInW.     

Cloning and sequence analysis of a full-length cDNA of <Emphasis Type="Italic">SmPP1cb</Emphasis> encoding turbot protein phosphatase 1 beta catalytic subunit

Reversible protein phosphorylation, catalyzed by protein kinases and phosphatases, is an important and versatile mechanism by which eukaryotic cells regulate almost all the signaling processes. Protein phosphatase 1 （PP1） is the first and well-characterized member of the protein serine/threonine phosphatase family. In the present study, a full-length cDNA encoding the beta isoform of the catalytic subunit of protein phosphatase l（PPlcb）, was for the first time isolated and sequenced from the skin tissue of flatfish turbot Scophthalmus maximus, designated SmPPlcb, by the rapid amplification of cDNA ends （RACE） technique. The cDNA sequence of SmPPlcb we obtained contains a 984 bp open reading frame （ORF）, flanked by a complete 39 bp 5＇ untranslated region and 462 bp 3＇ untranslated region. The ORF encodes a putative 327 amino acid protein, and the N-terminal section of this protein is highly acidic, Met-Ala-Glu-Gly-Glu-Leu-Asp-Val-Asp, a common feature for PP1 catalytic subunit but absent in protein phosphatase 2B （PP2B）. And its calculated molecular mass is 37 193 Da and pI 5.8. Sequence analysis indicated that, SmPPlcb is extremely conserved in both amino acid and nucleotide acid levels compared with the PPlcb of other vertebrates and invertebrates, and its Kozak motif contained in the 5＇UTR around ATG start codon is GXXAXXGXXATGG, which is different from mammalian in two positions A6 and G3, indicating the possibility of different initiation of translation in turbot, and also the 3＇UTR of SmPPlcb is highly diverse in the sequence similarity and length compared with other animals, especially zebraf＇lsh. The cloning and sequencing of SmPPlcb gene lays a good foundation for the future work on the biological functions of PP1 in the flatfish turbot.     

Characterization of a mutant of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Alteromonas aurantia</Emphasis> A18 and its application in mariculture

Mutant J61321 with enhanced siderophore production of Alteromonas aurantia AI8 was obtained after a series of chemical-physical mutageneses. It was found that the antibacterial activity against Vibrio anguillarum W-1 and siderophore production of the mutant were higher than those by the original strain A 18 which had been used in mariculture. The results of the specific assay（Csaky and Arnow methods） of siderophore showed that the sidrophore with hydroxamate group was produced by mutant J61321 and the original strain A 18, respectively, while the siderophore with catechol group was yielded by strain W-1 （Aibrio anguillarum）. Meanwhile, the siderophore yield, antibacterial activity and anti-chelator activity of strain J61321 were higher than those of its parent strain A 18.     

Field detection of chlorophyll-a concentration in the sea surface layer by an airborne oceanographic lidar

An airborne oceanographic lidar, with a frequency-tripled Q-switched Nd： YAG laser of 355 nm, has been designed to measure chlorophyll-a （Chl-a） concentration in the sea surface layer by the Ocean Remote Sensing Institute, OUC. The field experiment was carried out in the bay which is located south of the Liaodong Peninsula on the 10th of September 2005. After the flight, the raw data were processed and analyzed by the fluorescence-to-Raman ratio method with seawater attenuation coefficients calculated from signal profiles. The results of Chl-a concentration sea water were also compared with those of Chl-a concentration by measurements by lidar are shown. The measurements in clear a Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer （MODIS）.     

Sequence analysis and quantitative detection of Norwalk-like viruses in cultured oysters of China

We isolated 4 Norwalk-like viruses (NLVs) contaminated oysters from 33 Chinese oysters collected from local commer-cial sources of Shandong Province. After amplification of the RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) region of NLVs genomes with RT-PCR, the open reading frame 1 (ORF1) of the RdRp was sequenced and subjected to multiple-sequence alignment. The re-suits showed that NLVs in the four isolates belong to genogroup Ⅱ. The sequence comparison showed that the similarity between four Chinese oyster isolates were higher than 99.0%, which indicated that NLVs prevalent in close areas have high homogeneity in genome sequences. In addition, the most conserved sequences between diverse NLVs were used to design primers and TaqMan probes, then the real-time quantitative PCR assay was performed. According to the standard curve of GII NLVs, the original amounts (copies) of NLVs in positive patient's fecal isolate, positive Japanese oyster isolate, and the Chinese oyster isolate were 8.9×108, 1.25×108 and 4.7×101 respectively. The detecting limit of NLVs was 1×101 copies. This study will be helpful for routine diagnosis of NLVs pathogens in foods and thus for avoiding food poisoning in the future.     

Landscape Dynamics and Driving Factors in Da＇an County of Jilin Province in Northeast China During 1956-2000

The landscape pattern of Da＇an County, Northeast China has undergone significant changes since the 1950s as a result of climatic change and human activities. The aim of this paper is to quantitatively study landscape pattern and its spatial dynamics of Da＇an County at the landscape level over the nearly 50-year span. Patch dynamics were examined according to land use and land cover change processes built from a series of images, as well as topographic maps, and temporal patterns built from landscape pattern metrics. The transition matrix of landscape patch types and changes of various landscape metrics were applied. The results showed that, from 1956 to 2000, the landscape within the study area had undertaken a complicated evolution in landscape structure and composition. The outstanding characteristic is that saline-alkali land increased and grassland decreased. As some smaller patches amalgamated, the heterogeneity of patch decreased. All those changes were the synthetic result of both climatic and anthropogenic influences, but the predominant factor was different in different parts. In the southern part of the study area, the landscape pattern changes resulted from the modification of climate obviously, while in the northern part, the landscape pattern changes were mainly caused by human activities, such as the conversion between farmland and saline-alkali land. This phenomenon showed that human activities played more important role in the north than in the south of Da＇an County.     

Singularly perturbed solution of coupled model in atmosphere-ocean for global climate

A box model of the interhemispheric thermohaline circulation （THC） in atmosphere-ocean for global climate is considered. By using the multi-scales method, the asymptotic solution of a simplified weakly nonlinear model is discussed. Firstly, by introducing first scale, the zeroth order approximate solution of the model is obtained. Secondly, by using the multi-scales, the first order approximate equation of the model is found. Finally, second order approximate equation is formed to eliminate the secular terms, and a uniformly valid asymptotic expansion of solution is decided. The multi-scales solving method is an analytic method which can be used to analyze operation sequentially. And then we can also study the diversified qualitative and quantitative behaviors for corresponding physical quantities. This paper aims at providing a valid method for solving a box model of the nonlinear equation.     

Analysis of stochastic characteristics of the Benue River flow process

Stochastic characteristics of the Benue River streamflow process are examined under conditions of data austerity. The streamflow process is investigated for trend, non-stationarity and seasonality for a time period of 26 years. Results of trend analyses with Mann-Kendall test show that there is no trend in the annual mean discharges. Monthly flow series examined with seasonal Kendall test indicate the presence of positive change in the trend for some months, especially the months of August, January, and February. For the stationarity test, daily and monthly flow series appear to be stationary whereas at 1%, 5%, and 10% significant levels, the stationarity alternative hypothesis is rejected for the annual flow series. Though monthly flow appears to be stationary going by this test, because of high seasonality, it could be said to exhibit periodic stationarity based on the seasonality analysis. The following conclusions are drawn： （1） There is seasonality in both the mean and variance with unimodal distribution. （2） Days with high mean also have high variance. （3） Skewness coefficients for the months within the dry season period are greater than those of the wet season period, and seasonal autocorrelations for streamflow during dry season are generally larger than those of the wet season. Precisely, they are significantly different for most of the months. （4） The autocorrelation functions estimated ＂over time＂ are greater in the absolute value for data that have not been deseasonalised but were initially normalised by logarithmic transformation only, while autocorrelation functions for i = 1, 2 365 estimated ＂over realisations＂ have their coefficients significantly different from other coefficients.     

Preliminary comparison of trace metals in coastal aerosols between Qingdao and Liverpool

Aerosol samples were collected at two coastal suburban stations, Qingdao （China） in 1995-1996 and Liverpool （U.K.） in 1995, respectively. The samples were analyzed to determine the concentrations of trace metals （Cr, Zn, Cu, Co, Ni, Pb, V, and Cd） as well as A1, Fe and Mn. Data were examined to understand the difference of trace metals in aerosols between coastal zones downwind the developing area （near the Yellow Sea） and developed region （near the Irish Sea）. The results show that most elements at Qingdao have levels 4-5 times higher than those at Liverpool, particularly for the crust-dominated elements （e.g. Al, Fe and Mn）. Moreover, the aerosol composition at Qingdao is higher in spring than in summer, underlying the influence of westerlies and local emissions in combination, whereas seasonal change of aerosol composition is not significant at Liverpool. The enrichment factors for the crustal source elements （EFcrust） at Liverpool are much higher than those at Qingdao. The contributions from the pollutant source （Rp） for some trace metals like Cu, Pb, Zn and Cd are 〉90% at Qingdao and Liverpool, suggesting overwhelming anthropogenic contributions to these metals. The contributions from crustal source （Re） for trace metals tend to increase with higher aerosol levels and Al concentration at Qingdao, indicating a good correlation between the crust-dominated component and the air mass. At Liverpool, the Rc values for trace metals are positively correlated with Al concentrations instead of with aerosol mass, suggesting that Al in aerosols represents the crustal component even though the aerosols come from different sources.