Industrial structural changes in Hong Kong, China under one country, two systems framework

Hong Kong has undergone substantial economic transformations and developed into a sophisticated business and financial center in the Asia-Pacific region,since the return of sovereignty to China as a Special Administrative Region under the One Country Two Systems (OCTS) in 1997.This paper discusses and analyzes the industrial structural changes of Hong Kong in recent decades as well as its future challenges and opportunities.The data and finding reveal that even though Hong Kong will face fierce competition from the Mainland’s cities as the rise of China,the important role as a bridge between China and the rest of the world will brace Hong Kong itself under the OCTS for developing into a service hub for business and trade in the Asia-Pacific region.     

On the Dynamic Disconnection of Rising Omega Loops

The tilt-angle variation of solar bipolar magnetic regions (BMRs) in space and time is a probable indicator of large-scale properties of magnetic field distribution, the dynamo and other different processes affecting the rising of magnetic flux tubes. We analyze the tilt-angle distribution and evolution of clearly oriented BMRs using sunspot position and area measurements from the Greenwich Photo-Heliographic Results (GPHR) supplemented by high-quality full-disk sunspot drawings made in the Haynald Observatory in Hungary. Our work is made on the basis of the 14th sunspot cycle and we compare our results with present theories of magnetic flux evolution in the convective zone. Our results support the assumption that the scatter of tilt angles of BMRs around Joy`s law is determined by the convective turbulence. Furthermore, we find that regular BMRs grouped by age generally do not show the phenomenon of toroidal relaxation towards the east–west direction. We interpret this by the disconnection of -loops from the bottom of the convection zone.     

The ion-composition of the plasma produced by impacts of fast dust particles

The composition of the impact plasma produced by fast dust particles (v > 1 km/sec) hitting an Au or W target was measured both with a model of the HELIOS micrometeoroid experiment (low electric field at the target) and a high field detector. The plasma composition and the total plasma charge depend strongly on the impact velocity and the electric field strength at the target. Spectra of 9 different projectile-target combinations were analysed. Two types of spectra could be observed, depending on the projectile material. (1) Spectra of metals and hard dielectrics (Mohs' hardness ? 5). Particle constituents of low ionisation energy (e · u ? 7eV, e.g. Na, K, Al) dominate the spectra of these materials at impact velocities below 10 km/sec. At higher speed the relative intensities change and new ions with higher ionisation energies appear. (2) Spectra of soft dielectrics (Mohs' hardness < 3). Below 9 km/sec these materials produced less total charge than did the others. The highest masses were detected at 74 amu. The relative abundance of ions with low ionization energies such as Li, Na, K, etc. is comparatively small. Negative ions were also observed in the impact plasma. Their total number was found to be approximately 3–6% of that of the positive ions at 6 km/sec particle speed.     

Late Miocene evaporite geochemistry of Lorca and Fortuna basins (Eastern Betics,SE Spain): Evidence of restriction and continentalization

The Lorca and Fortuna basins are two intramontane Neogene basins located in the eastern Betic Cordillera (SE Spain). During the Late Tortonian—Early Messinian, marine and continental evaporites precipitated in these basins as a consequence of increased marine restriction and isolation. Here we show a stratigraphic correlation between the evaporite records of these basins based on geochemical indicators. We use SO₄ isotope compositions and Sr isotopic ratios in gypsum, and halite Br contents to characterize these units and to identify the marine or continental source of the waters feeding the evaporite basins. In addition, we review the available chronological information used to date these evaporites in Lorca (La Serrata Fm), including a thick saline deposit, that we correlate with the First Evaporitic Group in Fortuna (Los Baños Fm). This correlation is also supported by micropalaeontological data, giving a Late Tortonian age for this sequence. The Second Evaporitic Group, (Chicamo Fm), and the Third Evaporitic Group (Rambla Salada Fm) developed only in Fortuna during the Messinian. According to the palaeogeographical scheme presented here, the evaporites of the Lorca and Fortuna basins were formed during the Late Tortonian—Early Messinian, close to the Betic Seaway closure. Sulphate isotope compositions and Sr isotopic ratios of the Ribera Gypsum Mb, at the base of the Rambla Salada Fm (Fortuna basin), match those of the Late Messinian selenite gypsum beds in San Miguel de Salinas, in the near Bajo Segura basin (40 km to the East), and other Messinian Salinity Crisis gypsum deposits in the Mediterranean. According to these geochemical indicators and the uncertainty of the chronology of this unit, the assignment of the Rambla Salada Fm to the MSC cannot be ruled out.     

利用遥感技术建立墨西哥热带地上生物量模型(英文)

Spatially-explicit estimation of aboveground biomass(AGB) plays an important role to generate action policies focused in climate change mitigation,since carbon(C) retained in the biomass is vital for regulating Earth’s temperature.This work estimates AGB using both chlorophyll(red,near infrared) and moisture(middle infrared) based normalized vegetation indices constructed with MCD43A4 MODerate-resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer(MODIS) and MOD44B vegetation continuous fields(VCF) data.The study area is located in San Luis Potosí,Mexico,a region that comprises a part of the upper limit of the intertropical zone.AGB estimations were made using both individual tree data from the National Forest Inventory of Mexico and allometric equations reported in scientific literature.Linear and nonlinear(expo-nential) models were fitted to find their predictive potential when using satellite spectral data as explanatory variables.Highly-significant correlations(p = 0.01) were found between all the explaining variables tested.NDVI62,linked to chlorophyll content and moisture stress,showed the highest correlation.The best model(nonlinear) showed an index of fit(Pseudo-r2) equal to 0.77 and a root mean square error equal to 26.00 Mg/ha using NDVI62 and VCF as explanatory variables.Validation correlation coefficients were similar for both models:lin-ear(r = 0.87**) and nonlinear(r = 0.86**).     

Climatic variability in the Late Copper Age: stable isotope fluctuation of prehistoric Unio pictorum (Unionidae) shells from Lake Balaton (Hungary)

Geochemical records of bivalve shells have been increasingly studied in the last decade to obtain information on climate conditions. In this paper we present stable isotope compositions of living and prehistoric shells of freshwater mussels (Unionidae) and their relationships with climate conditions in a shallow lake environment of Lake Balaton, West-Central Hungary. Physical conditions and stable oxygen isotope compositions of lake water samples were monitored where living bivalves were collected. Comparisons between seasonal variations in ambient temperature, water composition and within-shell isotopic variations indicate that the shells of Unio pictorum do reflect local changes at high resolution and thus can be used to study past conditions. Additionally, shells covering the last two decades were gathered at several locations along the lake in order to determine spatial and temporal variations in the shells’ isotopic compositions as a function of weather conditions. As an application, prehistoric shells collected in archaeological excavations were analysed in order to study past environmental variations. Climate variations during the Late Copper Age (5460–4870 cal. yr BP) have been assumed on the basis of geomorphological and archaeozoological observations at the site Balatonkeresztúr-Réti-dűlő (south of Lake Balaton), that suggested increasing humidity as a cause of changes in settlement location and domestic livestock husbandry. Stable carbon and oxygen isotope compositions of prehistoric bivalve shells were analyzed from excavations representing five archaeological subphases (Boleráz subphase, 5460–5310 cal. yr BP; two transitional subphases around 5310 cal. yr BP; Early Classic subphase, 5310–5060 cal. yr BP; Late Classic subphase, 5040–4870 cal. yr BP). The analyses revealed significant negative C and O isotope shifts in the transitional subphases relative to the earlier and later subphases. The isotopic variations indicate that the local climate became relatively wet and possibly cold around 5310 cal. yr BP, then it returned to drier (and likely warmer) conditions during the Classic subphases. This interpretation is in agreement with previous studies on climate changes related to the “5.3 ky event” in the European continental area and the North Atlantic Region, indicating an Atlantic influence in the Carpathian Basin.     

Dinophysoid dinoflagellates from subphotic depths: Amphisolenia sp. aff. brevicauda,Dinofurcula tricornuta sp. nov., and Dinophysis profunda sp. nov. (Dinophysales,Dinophyceae)

Journal of Oceanology and Limnology - Three species of dinophysoid planktonic dinoflagellates are described from the eastern Mediterranean Sea. Amphisolenia sp. aff. brevicauda was collected at...