Hierarchical Bayesian modeling of spatio-temporal patterns of lung cancer incidence risk in Georgia,USA: 2000–2007

Lung cancer is the second most commonly diagnosed cancer in both men and women in Georgia, USA. However, the spatio-temporal patterns of lung cancer risk in Georgia have not been fully studied. Hierarchical Bayesian models are used here to explore the spatio-temporal patterns of lung cancer incidence risk by race and gender in Georgia for the period of 2000–2007. With the census tract level as the spatial scale and the 2-year period aggregation as the temporal scale, we compare a total of seven Bayesian spatio-temporal models including two under a separate modeling framework and five under a joint modeling framework. One joint model outperforms others based on the deviance information criterion. Results show that the northwest region of Georgia has consistently high lung cancer incidence risk for all population groups during the study period. In addition, there are inverse relationships between the socioeconomic status and the lung cancer incidence risk among all Georgian population groups, and the relationships in males are stronger than those in females. By mapping more reliable variations in lung cancer incidence risk at a relatively fine spatio-temporal scale for different Georgian population groups, our study aims to better support healthcare performance assessment, etiological hypothesis generation, and health policy making.     

基于多尺度遥感数据的城市扩展模式分析研究

为了研究空间尺度效应对城市扩展模式分析的影响,本文选用TM和SPOT-5的遥感影像作为数据源,以北京市朝阳区作为研究区,首先将SPOT-5数据按照面积占优法获得10米至80米的多尺度数据,用于分析城市景观格局的尺度效应,结果显示10米至30米是城市景观格局变化较大的空间尺度。再结合TM尺度的历史数据,利用最小斑块大小相同的SPOT数据和TM数据对城市扩展模式的景观指数变化情况进行了分析:边界密度和面积加权平均斑块分维数都呈相反的变化方向,这对城市扩展方式的确定有较大影响;居民地斑块类型百分比和最大斑块指数虽然趋势正确,但是差别较大;斑块密度受尺度的影响较小。     

Sediment and Water Discharge Assessment on Santiago and Pánuco Rivers (Central Mexico): The Importance of Topographic and Climatic Factors

This study explores the main factors controlling sediment and water discharge in the Santiago and Pánuco Rivers, the two largest rivers of central Mexico. Both Santiago and Pánuco Rivers are sourced in the Central Plateau of Mexico and flow in an opposite direction. Santiago River flows over a tectonically active margin draining to the Pacific Ocean, and Pánuco River flows into the passive margin of the Gulf of Mexico. Mean annual and monthly values of suspended sediment load and water discharge spanning around 50 years were used to evaluate sediment load and water discharge in these two rivers. Our findings indicated that Santiago River delivers to the ocean around 45% more sediment than Pánuco River. However, we found that Santiago River has about half the water discharge of Pánuco River. The high river gradient along Santiago River is likely to enhance the net erosion and sediment transport capacity. Water discharge at Pánuco Basin is higher than in Santiago Basin because the annual rainfall is higher for the former. The difference in sediment and water discharge for both rivers are also related to El Niño Southern Oscillation events. Our results indicated that water discharge in Santiago River increases during El Niño and La Niña events. In contrast, Pánuco River is mostly affected by La Niña events.     

Climate changes and their impacts on water resources in semiarid regions: a case study of the Wei River basin,China

Understanding the impacts of climate change and human activity on the hydrological processes in river basins is important for maintaining ecosystem integrity and sustaining local economic development. The objective of this study was to evaluate the impact of climate variability and human activity on mean annual flow in the Wei River, the largest tributary of the Yellow River. The nonparametric Mann–Kendall test and wavelet transform were applied to detect the variations of hydrometeorological variables in the semiarid Wei River basin in the northwestern China. The identifications were based on streamflow records from 1958 to 2008 at four hydrological stations as well as precipitation and potential evapotranspiration (PET) data from 21 climate stations. A simple method based on Budyko curve was used to evaluate potential impacts of climate change and human activities on mean annual flow. The results show that annual streamflow decreased because of the reduced precipitation and increased PET at most stations. Both annual and seasonal precipitation and PET demonstrated mixed trends of decreasing and increasing, although significant trends (P < 0.05) were consistently detected in spring and autumn at most stations. Significant periodicities of 0.5 and 1 year (P < 0.05) were examined in all the time series. The spectrum of streamflow at the Huaxian station shows insignificant annual cycle during 1971–1975, 1986–1993 and 1996–2008, which is probably resulted from human activities. Climate variability greatly affected water resources in the Beiluo River, whereas human activities (including soil and water conservation, irrigation, reservoirs construction, etc.) accounted more for the changes of streamflow in the area near the Huaxian station during different periods. The results from this article can be used as a reference for water resources planning and management in the semiarid Wei River basin. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Sub-arcsecond radio and optical observations of the likely counterpart to the gamma-ray source 2FGL J2056.7+4939

We have searched and reviewed all multi-wavelength data available for the region towards the gamma-ray source 2FGL J2056.7+4939 in order to constrain its possible counterpart at lower energies. As a result, only a point-like optical/infrared source with flat-spectrum radio emission is found to be consistent with all X-ray and gamma-ray error circles. Its structure is marginally resolved at radio wavelengths at the sub-arcsecond level. An extragalactic scenario appears to be the most likely interpretation for this object.     

A multiwavelength study of the supernova remnant G296.8-0.3

We report XMM-Newton observations of the Galactic supernova remnant G296.8-0.3, together with complementary radio and infrared data. The spatial and spectral properties of the X-ray emission, detected towards G296.8-0.3, was investigated in order to explore the possible evolutionary scenarios and the physical connexion with its unusual morphology detected at radio frequencies. G296.8-0.3 displays diffuse X-ray emission correlated with the peculiar radio morphology detected in the interior of the remnant and with the shell-like radio structure observed to the northwest side of the object. The X-ray emission peaks in the soft/medium energy range (0.5–3.0 keV). The X-ray spectral analysis confirms that the column density is high (N _H∼0.64×10²² cm⁻²) which supports a distant location (d>9 kpc) for the SNR. Its X-ray spectrum can be well represented by a thermal (PSHOCK) model, with kT∼0.86 keV, an ionization timescale of 6.1×10¹⁰ cm⁻³ s, and low abundance (∼0.12 Z _⊙). The 24 μm observations show shell-like emission correlated with part of the northwest and southeast boundaries of the SNR. In addition a point-like X-ray source is also detected close to the geometrical center of the radio SNR. The object presents some characteristics of the so-called compact central objects (CCO). Its X-ray spectrum is consistent with those found at other CCOs and the value of N _H is consistent with that of G296.8-0.3, which suggests a physical connexion with the SNR.     

撞击坑识别方法综述

目前国内外有多种撞击坑识别方法,在一定程度上实现了对撞击坑的识别提取,但是其准确性以及对数据的适应性不尽相同。首先对撞击坑识别研究进展进行概述,再对撞击坑识别方法进行归纳总结,指出不同方法的优缺点和适用条件。最后,对撞击坑识别研究存在的问题进行分析,提出了研究撞击坑识别的重点及解决途径。     

3D dynamic response of a transversely isotropic multilayered medium subjected to a moving load

The dynamic problem of a transversely isotropic multilayered medium is reducible to quasi‐static problem by introducing a moving system that travels synchronously with the load. Based on the governing equations in the moving system, the ordinary differential equations in the Fourier transformed domain are deduced. An extended precise integration method is adopted to solve the ordinary differential equations, and the solution in the physical domain is recovered by the inverse Fourier transform. Numerical examples are performed to verify the accuracy of the presented method and to analyze the influence of material properties and the load characteristic.     

Morphological,demographic and genetic traces of Upper Palaeolithic human impact on limpet assemblages in North Iberia

Human activities have an impact on extant biotic communities, and may have had just as important an impact in the past. We assess human impact on limpet assemblages during the Upper Palaeolithic in Asturias (north‐west Spain). The intensely exploited genus Patella exhibited a marked size decrease and a change in species assemblage composition, substituting the larger species P. vulgata for the smaller P. depressa. The present Patella assemblages in the upper tidal level exhibit the same pattern as those of the Epipalaeolithic (approx. 12 000 to 6000 years before the present). Although climate change may have contributed to such species replacement, spatial differences between close areas with different densities of Palaeolithic human settlements indicate unequivocal human impact. Present Patella species sampled from the region exhibit genetic signatures of past bottlenecks in mitochondrial DNA, which also indicate recent demographic expansion, suggesting that old impacts have been sufficiently important to leave genetic traces in current populations. Copyright © 2011 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

1958-2006年玛纳斯河流域水系结构时空演变及驱动机制分析

为了研究玛纳斯河流域水系结构演变状况,利用其1958、1976、1987、2006年4期遥感影像图,在ArcInfo支持下进行目视解译,根据解译结果,定量分析了水系长度、密度、分枝比、长度比和分维等参数的变化特征,并探讨其主要驱动因素.研究表明:1958-2006年玛纳斯河流域水系变化满足Horton定律,水网数目及河道平均长度随水网级别呈几何级数变化,并且水网密度、水系长度比、分枝比等参数持续增大;流域内绿洲地区水网密度高于南部源流山区与北部荒漠区,这种区域差异是由不同生态经济单元的自然生态环境类型、社会经济发展状况,综合发展需求及生态修复重建等方面共同决定的;玛纳斯河流域水资源量近50年来不断增加,人口数量持续攀升,耕地与绿洲面积不断扩大等因素是玛纳斯河流域水网结构演变的主要驱动力.然而耕地不能无限扩大,绿洲也不能过度扩张,要以水资源的承载能力为限,因此确定合理的绿洲面积,优化水系结构,提高水资源利用效率将成为今后研究的重点.