Morphometric and geological conditions for sediment accumulation in the Udava River,Outer Carpathians,Slovakia

The accumulation of sediment in river channels is a phenomenon that is not only influenced by the channel morphology, but also by the physical and geographical characteristics and the endogenous and exogenous processes taking place in the catchment. This paper presents an analysis of the impact the changes in lithological conditions have on the morphological and morphometric parameters of the Udava River channel and their relation to the channel accumulation forms representative of the river’s longitudinal profile as well as of its planform. Results document when accumulation forms occur and what is their spatial distribution within the longitudinal and cross-sectional river profiles. More resistant structures created sections with a lower degree of sedimentation, while in depression segments the degree of sedimentation was higher. With the increase in longitudinal slope, the impact of channel width on the average channel bar size increased. Also a difference in the accumulation was observed between the left and right bank which could be possibly explained by the impact of Coriolis force.     

Potential promoted productivity and spatial patterns of medium- and low-yield cropland land in China

With a continuously increasing population and better food consumption levels, improving the efficiency of arable land use and increasing its productivity have become fundamental strategies to meet the growing food security needs in China. A spatial distribution map of medium- and low-yield cropland is necessary to implement plans for cropland improvement. In this study, we developed a new method to identify high-, medium-, and low-yield cropland from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) data at a spatial resolution of 500 m. The method could be used to reflect the regional heterogeneity of cropland productivity because the classification standard was based on the regionalization of cropping systems in China. The results showed that the proportion of high-, medium-, and low-yield cropland in China was 21%, 39%, and 40%, respectively. About 75% of the low-yield cropland was located in hilly and mountainous areas, and about 53% of the high-yield cropland was located in plain areas. The five provinces with the largest area of high-yield cropland were all located in the Huang-Huai-Hai region, and the area amounted to 42% of the national high-yield cropland area. Meanwhile, the proportion of high-yield cropland was lower than 15% in Heilongjiang, Sichuan, and Inner Mongolia, which had the largest area allocated to cropland in China. If all the medium-yield cropland could be improved to the productive level of high-yield cropland and the low-yield cropland could be improved to the level of medium-yield cropland, the total productivity of the land would increase 19% and 24%, respectively.     

Why chromatic imaging matters

During the last two decades, the first generation of beam combiners at the Very Large Telescope Interferometer has proved the importance of optical interferometry for high-angular resolution astrophysical studies in the near- and mid-infrared. With the advent of 4-beam combiners at the VLTI, the u ? v coverage per pointing increases significantly, providing an opportunity to use reconstructed images as powerful scientific tools. Therefore, interferometric imaging is already a key feature of the new generation of VLTI instruments, as well as for other interferometric facilities like CHARA and JWST. It is thus imperative to account for the current image reconstruction capabilities and their expected evolutions in the coming years. Here, we present a general overview of the current situation of optical interferometric image reconstruction with a focus on new wavelength-dependent information, highlighting its main advantages and limitations. As an Appendix we include several cookbooks describing the usage and installation of several state-of-the art image reconstruction packages. To illustrate the current capabilities of the software available to the community, we recovered chromatic images, from simulated MATISSE data, using the MCMC software SQUEEZE. With these images, we aim at showing the importance of selecting good regularization functions and their impact on the reconstruction.     

Hydro-hypsometric analysis of tropical river basins,Southwest Coast of India using geospatial technology

The key aspect in planning and management of water resources is to analyze the runoff potential and erosion status of the river basin. For the detailed investigation of hydrological response, freely available Cartosat-1 (IRS-P5) data was used for the preparation of digital elevation model (DEM). The runoff potential and type of erosive process of 22 river basins originating in the global biodiversity hotspot of Western Ghats, was inferred through hypsometric analysis. Several parameters like Hypsometric integral (HI), maximum concavity (Eh), coordinates of slope inflection point (I) given by a* and h* and normalized height of hypsometric curve (h) were extracted from the hypsometric curves and used for understanding the hydrological responses. From the hypsometric curves, the landform evolution processes were inferred. Contribution of diffusive and fluvial processes in slope degradation of the river basins was understood. Basins with lesser area (<100 km²) were found to have a positive correlation between hypsometric integral and basin area, whereas for large basins no such correlation exists. Based on the study, river basins can be prioritized for the appropriate conservation measures.     

鲁西北平原夏玉米产量与土壤硝态氮淋失

供水量和氮肥施用量是影响农田硝态氮淋失的主要因素。本文通过田间小区试验,研究了水分和氮肥用量对夏玉米产量和土壤硝态氮的影响。试验表明,高水处理（0～50cm平均含水量控制在85%FC,FC为田间持水量032）和低水处理（0～50cm平均含水量控制在70%FC）间产量差异不显著,施肥量（0、100、200、和300kgNha^-1）则具有显著影响,并且在200kgNha^-1左右时达到最高产量;高水条件下土壤水分硝态氮下渗强,运移深度大,所有施肥处理在200cm处的土壤水硝态氮浓度都要高于国家饮用地下水标准10mgNL-1;低水条件下水分下渗弱,运移深度小于高水处理,但是在200cm处,200、300kgNha^-1处理的土壤溶液硝态氮浓度依然高于10mgNL^-1。     

Protective effects of C-phycocyanin on alcohol-induced acute liver injury in mice

Excessive alcohol consumption leads to liver disease. Extensive evidence suggests that C-phycocyanin (C-PC), a chromophore phycocyanobilin derived from Spirulina platensis, exerts protective effects against chemical-induced organ damage. In this study, we investigated whether C-PC could protect against ethanol-induced acute liver injury. Serum alanine aminotransferase (ALT), aspartate aminotransferase (AST), triglyceride (TG), total cholesterol (CHOL), low-density lipoprotein (LDL), liver homogenate malondialdehyde (MDA), superoxide dismutase (SOD) content were measured, and pathological examination of liver sections were examined. C-PC showed obvious inhibitory effects on serum ALT, AST, TG, CHOL, LDL and MDA, and SOD content significantly increased in the liver. The structure of hepatic lobules was clear, liver sinus returned to normal, and liver cell cords were arranged in neat rows. Cloudiness, swelling, inflammatory cell infiltration and spotty necrosis of liver cells were significantly reduced. Therefore, C-PC can significantly protect against ethanol-induced acute liver injury.     

Characteristics and cause analysis of heavy haze in Changchun City in Northeast China

Northeast China has been reported as having serious air pollution in China with increasing occurrences of severe haze episodes. Changchun City, as the center of Northeast China, has longstanding industry and is an important agricultural base. Additionally, Changchun City has a long winter requiring heating of buildings emitting pollution into the air. These factors contribute to the complexity of haze pollution in this area. In order to analyze the causes of heavy haze, surface air quality has been monitored from 2013 to 2015. By using satellite and meteorological data, atmospheric pollution status, spatio-temporal variations and formation have been analyzed. Results indicated that the air quality in 88.9% of days exceeding air quality index(AQI) level-1 standard(AQI 50) according to the National Ambient Air Quality Standard(NAAQS) of China. Conversely, 33.7% of the days showed a higher level with AQI 100. Extreme haze events(AQI 300) occurred frequently during agricultural harvesting period(from October 10 to November 10), intensive winter heating period(from Late-December to February) and period of spring windblown dust(April and May). Most daily concentrations of gaseous pollutants, i.e., NO_2(43.8 μg/m~3), CO(0.9 mg/m~3), SO_2(37.9 μg/m~3), and O_3(74.9 μg/m~3) were evaluated within level-1 concentration limits of NAAQS standards. However, particulate matter(PM_(2.5) and PM10) concentrations(67.3 μg/m~3 and 115.2 μg/m~3, respectively) were significantly higher than their level-1 limits. Severe haze in spring was caused by offsite transported dust and windblown surface soil. Heavy haze periods during fall and winter were mainly formed by intensive emissions of atmospheric pollutants and steady weather conditions(i.e., low wind speed and inversion layer). The overlay emissions of widespread straw burning and coal combustion for heating were the dominant factors contributing to haze in autumn, while intensive coal burning during the coldest time was the primary component of total emissions. In addition, general emissions including automobile exhaust, road and construction dust, residential and industrial activities, have significantly increased in recent years, making heavy haze a more frequent occurrence. Therefore, both improved technological strategies and optimized pollution management on a regional scale are necessary to minimize emissions in specified seasons in Changchun City, as well as comprehensive control measures in Northeast China.     

Understanding the implications of the EU-LULUCF regulation for the wood supply from EU forests to the EU

Background

In June 2018, the European Parliament and Council of the European Union adopted a legislative regulation for incorporating greenhouse gas emissions and removals from Land Use, Land Use Change and Forestry (EU-LULUCF) under its 2030 Climate and Energy Framework. The LULUCF regulation aim to incentivise EU Member States to decrease greenhouse gas emissions and increase removals in the LULUCF sector. The regulation, however, does not set a target for increasing the LULUCF carbon sink, but rather includes a ‘no net debit’ target for LULUCF (Forests and Agricultural soils). For Managed Forest Land (MFL) an accounting framework with capped credits for additional mitigation against a set forest reference level (FRL) was agreed for 2021–2030. The FRL gives the projected future carbon sink in the two compliance periods 2021–2025 and 2026–2030 under “continuation of forest management practices as they were in the reference period 2000–2009”. This FRL was disputed by some Member States as it was perceived to put a limit on their future wood harvesting from MFL. Here we simulated with the EFISCEN European forest model the “continuation of forest management practices” and determined the corresponding wood harvest for 26 EU countries under progressing age classes.

Results

The simulations showed that under “continuation of forest management practices” the harvest (wood removals) in the 26 EU countries as a whole can increase from 420 million m³/year in 2000–2009 to 560 million m³/year in 2050 due to progressing age classes. This implies there is a possibility to increase absolute wood harvests without creating debits compared to the forest reference level. However, the manner in which ‘continuation of forest management’ developed with a progressing age class development over time, meant that in some countries the future harvesting exceeded 90% of the increment. Since this generally is considered to be unsustainable we additionally set a harvesting cut-off as max 90% of increment to be harvested for each individual country as a possible interpretation of sustainability criteria that are included in the regulation. Using this additional limit the projected harvest will only increase to 493 million m³/year.

Conclusions

The worry from Member States (MS) that the FRL will prevent any additional harvesting seems unwarranted. Due to differences between Member States concerning the state of their forest resources, the FRL as a baseline for harvesting works out very differently for the different Member States. The FRL may have other unforeseen consequences which we discuss. Under all scenarios the living forest biomass sink shows a decline. This can be counteracted through incentivising measures under Climate Smart Forestry.