Purification and Characterization of a Novel Hydrolase That Can Specifically Degrade the Polysaccharide Isolated from Green Seaweed Ulva prolifera

The extracellular polysaccharide hydrolase-producing strain EP-1 was isolated from seawater and identified as Paenibacillus pabuli. Furthermore, a homogeneous extracellular polysaccharide hydrolase from Paenibacillus pabuli EP-1 was purified by combining ion-exchange chromatography and size exclusion chromatography with a purification fold of 90.69 and recovery of 16.23%. Characterization of the purified polysaccharide hydrolase revealed a molecular mass of 38 k Da and optimum activity at 45℃ and pH 6.0. The polysaccharide hydrolase maintained its stability within a wide range of pH(3.0–12.0) and thermal stability when the temperature was below 50℃. The presence of Hg²⁺, Fe²⁺, Mn²⁺, Co²⁺ and SDS notably decreased hydrolase activity, and organic solvents such as formaldehyde, acetone, DMF and acetonitrile completely inhibited hydrolase activity. The purified hydrolase had no activity on agar, carrageenan, gellan gum, sodium alginate, or starch, but effectively hydrolyzed the polysaccharide from Ulva prolifera. The Km and Vmax values of this hydrolase were 43.84 mg m L^-1 and 4.33 mg m L^-1 min^-1, respectively. The sequence analysis with quantitative time-of-flight mass spectrometry indicated that the hydrolase was an endoglucanase.     

The difference in pollen harvest between Apis mellifera and Apis cerana in a Tibetan alpine meadow

To explore the difference in pollen harvest between the western honey bee Apis mellifera and a native eastern honey bee A. cerana in the Zoige alpine meadows in the northeastern part of the QinghaiTibetan Plateau, we investigated species diversity of the harvested pollen and the amount of harvested pollen per bee for both species, and calculated the niche overlap(in terms of similarity in harvested pollen) between the two bee species during the flowering season from June to August 2016. Results showed that the species diversity of the harvested pollen was indistinguishable between the two bee species. Nevertheless, A. mellifera carried more(although not significant) pollens per bee than A.cerana. Moreover, pollen composition differed between the two bee species: A. mellifera mainly foraged on Anemone rivularis, Saussurea nigrescens and Anemone trullifolia, while A. cerana foraged on Anemone rivularis, Stellera chamaejasme, and Pedicularis longiflora. Consistently, the niche overlap between the two honeybee species was particularly small in several observations. Our results indicate a niche separation in pollen resource between the two honeybee species in a Tibetan alpine meadow.     

GIS-based landslide susceptibility mapping using hybrid integration approaches of fractal dimension with index of entropy and support vector machine

The loess area in the northern part of Baoji City, Shaanxi Province, China is a region with frequently landslide occurrences. The main aim of this study is to quantitatively predict the extent of landslides using the index of entropy model(IOE), the support vector machine model(SVM) and two hybrid models namely the F-IOE model and the F-SVM model constructed by fractal dimension. First, a total of 179 landslides were identified and landslide inventory map was produced, with 70%(125) of the landslides which was optimized by 10-fold crossvalidation being used for training purpose and the remaining 30%(54) of landslides being used for validation purpose. Subsequently, slope angle, slope aspect, altitude, rainfall, plan curvature, distance to rivers, land use, distance to roads, distance to faults, normalized difference vegetation index(NDVI), lithology, and profile curvature were considered as landslide conditioning factors and all factor layers were resampled to a uniform resolution. Then the information gain ratio of each conditioning factors was evaluated. Next, the fractal dimension for each conditioning factors was calculated and the training dataset was used to build four landslide susceptibility models. In the end, the receiver operating characteristic(ROC) curves and three statistical indexes involving positive predictive rate(PPR), negative predictive rate(NPR) and accuracy(ACC) were applied to validate and compare the performance of these four models. The results showed that the F-SVM model had the highest PPR, NPR, ACC and AUC values for training and validation datasets, respectively, followed by the F-IOE model.Finally, it is concluded that the F-SVM model performed best in all models, the hybrid model built by fractal dimension has advantages than original model, and can provide reference for local landslide prevention and decision making.     

Effects of rainfall intensity and topography on rill development and rill characteristics on loessial hillslopes in China

Rill development is a major soil erosion process that causes severe soil degradation.This study examined the effects of representative rainfall intensities(50 and 75 mm h-1),slope gradients(10°and 150),and slope lengths(7.5 and 10.0 m)on rill development and rill characteristics on loessial hillslopes in China.Loessial soil was collected from the cropland of Ansai Town,Yan'an City,Shaanxi Province.The soil with 28.3%sand,58.1%silt,and13.6%clay was packed into a soil pan to conduct rainfall simulations in 2012.The results showed that the time of the knickpoint occurrence(5-16 min),the rill headcut extension(9-33 min),and the mean headward erosion rate(1.7-5.o cm min-1)were better representative indicators for reflecting the changes in the rill development than other indicators used in this study.For a quick evaluation of the rill erosion severity,the rill coverage ratio(1%-12%,generallyincreasing with an increase in the rainfall intensity)was better than the other indicators for treatments with different rainfall intensities,and the rill width-depth ratio(1.56-2.27,generally decreasing with an increase in the slope gradient)was better than the other indicators for treatments with different slope gradients.Furthermore,the rill inclination angle(8.2°-19.1°,significantly increasing with an increase in the slope length)and rill density(0.19-1.34 m·m-2,generally increasing with an increase in the slope length)were more suitable for evaluating the rill erosion severity on hillslopes with different slope lengths.Therefore,the representative indicators could reflect the differences in the rill development and rill characteristics under different rainfall and topographic situations.The study greatly improved the evaluation of rill erosion severity and the prediction of the development of rills for loessial hillslopes.     

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘羊虎沟组物源区分析

鄂尔多斯盆地西缘羊虎沟组物源特征对天然气勘探尤为重要。通过砂岩的碎屑组分、岩屑组分、重矿物组合以及石英阴极发光等研究,认为研究区羊虎沟组受到北部、西南部、南部物源控制,各个方位物源在研究区中部吴忠—马家滩地区汇合。通过砂岩轻、重矿物组合和碎屑组分的Dickinson三角图解,以及泥岩的稀土元素特征等分析,认为研究区羊虎沟组源岩以大陆上地壳岩石为主。研究区北部砂岩物源区为再旋回造山带物源区,泥岩球粒陨石标准化稀土元素配分模式与阿拉善古陆浅变质岩相似,具有亲缘性;西南部及南部砂岩物源区为稳定陆块区和再旋回造山带物源区,泥岩球粒陨石标准化稀土元素配分模式与祁连—北秦岭造山带中浅变质岩相似。综上所述,研究区北部母岩主要为阿拉善古陆的浅变质岩夹少许火山岩,西南部及南部母岩主要为祁连—北秦岭造山带的中浅变质岩,其次为碳酸盐岩和火山岩。     

基于空间计量模型的中国城市化发展与城市空气质量关系

采用中国289个地级及以上城市2016年的空气质量指数（AQI）和夜间灯光数据,运用空间滞后模型,从空间溢出效应视角出发探究了城市化发展与空气质量之间的定量关系。从空间滞后模型的估计结果来看,城市空气污染存在显著的空间溢出效应,周边地区空气质量的下降会导致本地空气污染情况加重。在城市发展过程中,城市经济发展水平的提高,引致的城市建设用地的扩张使得空气质量不断恶化;政府管制力的加强对空气污染的治理起到了促进作用,而居民环保意识和城市技术创新水平的提高有利于空气质量的改善。此外,PM2.5质量浓度的上升导致空气质量恶化。公路货运量在统计上与空气质量的关系不显著。从研究结果来看,协调城市发展与空气质量的关系以及加强空气污染防治的联防联控机制,是未来空气污染治理工作的重点。     

Primary molecular basis of androgenic gland endocrine sex regulation revealed by transcriptome analysis in Eriocheir sinensis

In crustaceans, the male sexual dif ferentiation and maintenance are specially regulated by androgenic gland(AG). However, little is known about the genes involved in the regulation process.RNA-Seq was performed on AG with ejaculatory duct(AG_ED) and ejaculatory duct(ED) as control in Eriocheir sinensis, one of the most important economic and ?shery crabs with typically sex dimorphism. A total of 925 unigenes were identi?ed as dif ferentially expressed genes(DEGs) and the expression of nine genes randomly selected was con?rmed by qRT-PCR. 667 unigenes were up-regulated in AG_ED, being supposed to be AG preferential genes. Among them, the full length of i nsulin-like androgenic gland factor( IAG) cDNA named as Es-IAG was obtained as a logo gene of AG, which together with the genes i nsulin-like receptor( INR), and s ingle insulin binding domain protein( SIBD), might constitute the sex regulation pathway. Several sex related genes were identi?ed, and their function will have to be investigated. Also,the identi?cation of j uvenile hormone epoxide hydrolase 1( JHEH1), ecdysteroid 22-hydroxylase( DIB) and e cdysone receptor( ECR) preliminarily clari?ed the molecular regulation mechanism of eyestalk-AG-testis axis, which plays important roles in molting and reproduction. The results will enhance our understanding for the molecular basis of the AG involved in male sex regulation in crabs.     

Neptune Trojans: a Revisit and a New Membertwo

Up to now, 17 Neptune Trojan asteroids have been detected with their orbits being well determined by continuous observations. This paper analyzes systematically their orbital dynamics. Our results show that except for two temporary members with relatively short lifespans on Trojan orbits, the vast majority of Neptune Trojans located within their orbital uncertainties may survive in the solar system age. The escaping probability of Neptune Trojans, through slow diffusion in the orbital element space in 4.5 billion years, is estimated to be ～50%. The asteroid 2012 UW177 classified as a Centaur asteroid by the IAU Minor Planet Center currently is in fact a Neptune Trojan. Numerical simulations indicate that it is librating on the tadpole-shaped orbit around the Neptune's L₄ point. It was captured into the current orbit approximately 0.23 million years ago, and will stay there for at least another 1.3 million years in the future. Its high inclination of i ≈ 54^° not only makes it the most inclined Neptune Trojan, but also makes it exhibit the complicated and interesting co-orbital transitions between the leading and trailing Trojans via the quasi-satellite orbit phase.     

快速射电暴的数据统计

快速射电暴于2007年首次在脉冲星巡天的历史数据中被发现,是一种在射电波段观测到的具有色散量的单个强脉冲,其特征为持续时间仅为若干毫秒,峰值流量密度可达到央斯基量级。类似于射电脉冲星的单个脉冲,但其色散显著超过同一视线方向上银河系内星际介质的预期最大值。对截止2018年6月帕克斯望远镜、绿岸望远镜、阿雷西博射电望远镜、UTMOST望远镜和ASKAP望远镜已探测到的52例快速射电暴进行了观测量统计分析,根据模型扣除银河系星际介质导致的色散量后,快速射电暴平均色散量为584.5 pc·cm^-3,暗示着快速射电暴来自河外。通过最佳拟合估算红移幂律分布谱dN/dF_obs=4.14±1.30×F■sky^-1·day^-1。根据分析结果预计,FAST望远镜使用19波束接收机后,其多科学目标同时巡天在经过一年时间内能发现大约10个快速射电暴,将有效地扩大样本数量,为快速射电暴研究提供重要信息。