Diet and habitat of toxodont megaherbivores (Mammalia, Notoungulata) from the late Quaternary of South and Central America

The toxodont megaherbivores Toxodon and Mixotoxodon were endemic to South and Central America during the late Quaternary. Isotopic signatures of 47 toxodont teeth were analyzed to reconstruct diet and ancient habitat. Tooth enamel carbon isotope data from six regions of South and Central America indicate significant differences in toxodont diet and local vegetation during the late Quaternary. Toxodonts ranged ecologically from C₃ forest browsers in the Amazon (mean δ¹³C = −13.4‰), to mixed C₃ grazers and/or browsers living either in C₃ grasslands, or mixed C₃ forested and grassland habitats in Honduras (mean δ¹³C = −9.3‰), Buenos Aires province, Argentina (δ¹³C = −8.7‰), and Bahia, Brazil (mean δ¹³C = −8.6‰), to predominantly C₄ grazers in northern Argentina (δ¹³C = −4.4‰), to specialized C₄ grazers in the Chaco of Bolivia (δ¹³C = −0.1‰). Although these toxodonts had very high-crowned teeth classically interpreted for grazing, the isotopic data indicate that these megaherbivores had the evolutionary capacity to feed on a variety of dominant local vegetation. In the ancient Amazon region, carbon isotope data for the toxodonts indicate a C₃-based tropical rainforest habitat with no evidence for grasslands as would be predicted from the Neotropical forest refugia hypothesis.     

Early Albian marine environments in Madagascar: An integrated approach based on oxygen,carbon and strontium isotopic data

New palaeotemperature reconstructions have been obtained on the basis of oxygen isotopic analysis of 178 aragonitic shell samples taken from specimens of three ammonoid orders (and some corresponding families): Phylloceratida (Phylloceratidae), Lytoceratida (Tetragonitidae) and Ammonitida (Oppeliidae, Desmoceratidae, Silesitidae, Cleoniceratidae and Douvilleiceratidae). Those obtained from aragonite shells, secreted in the lower epipelagic and in the middle mesopelagic zones during coolest season (winter), range from 15.4 to 16.8 °C, and from 11.8 to 12.0 °C, respectively. Presumed spring/autumn palaeotemperatures obtained from aragonite shells, secreted apparently in the upper and lower epipelagic, upper and middle mesopelagic zones, are somewhat higher. Presumed summer palaeotemperatures, calculated apparently for the upper and lower epipelagic, and upper mesopelagic zones range from 19.4 to 21.7 °C, from 17.7 to 19.4 °C, and from 14.4 to 16.1 °C, respectively. The predominant part of investigated ammonoids from Madagascar inhabited the epipelagic zone, but some phylloceratid, tetragonitid and silesitid ammonoids preferred deeper, cooler conditions (upper-middle mesopelagic zone). The study supports the hypothesis that Madagascar was located in middle latitudes within the tropical-subtropical climatic zone during the early Albian. Available carbon and strontium isotope data allow us to assume a more or less expressed carbon and strontium isotope stratification of the water column in this region in the early Albian. On the basis of the stable isotope data, following partly Lukeneder (2015), two large ethological groups can be recognised mainly in mid-aged and adult ammonoids. Some ammonoids (group 1) preferred apparently mesopelagic conditions, and to a lesser degree the epipelagic zone, being mainly cool-requiring animals. However, a significant part of the isotopically investigated ammonoids (group 2) preferred, on the contrary, only epipelagic conditions, being mainly thermophilic dwellers.     

Grid pattern recognition in road networks using the C4.5 algorithm

Pattern recognition in road networks can be used for different applications, including spatiotemporal data mining, automated map generalization, data matching of different levels of detail, and other important research topics. Grid patterns are a common pattern type. This paper proposes and implements a method for grid pattern recognition based on the idea of mesh classification through a supervised learning process. To train the classifier, training datasets are selected from worldwide city samples with different cultural, historical, and geographical environments. Meshes are subsequently labeled as composing or noncomposing grids by participants in an experiment, and the mesh measures are defined while accounting for the mesh’s individual characteristics and spatial context. The classifier is generated using the C4.5 algorithm. The accuracy of the classifier is evaluated using Kappa statistics and the overall rate of correctness. The average Kappa value is approximately 0.74, which corresponds to a total accuracy of 87.5%. Additionally, the rationality of the classifier is evaluated in an interpretation step. Two other existing grid pattern recognition methods were also tested on the datasets, and comparison results indicate that our approach is effective in identifying grid patterns in road networks.     

Biogenic processes in crystalline bedrock fractures indicated by carbon isotope signatures of secondary calcite

Variation in ¹³C/¹²C-isotope ratios of fracture filling calcite was analyzed in situ to investigate carbon sources and cycling in fractured bedrock. The study was conducted by separating sections of fracture fillings, and analyzing the ¹³C/¹²C-ratios with secondary ion mass spectrometry (SIMS). Specifically, the study was aimed at fillings where previously published sulfur isotope data indicated the occurrence of bacterial sulfate reduction. The results showed that the δ¹³C values of calcite were highly variable, ranging from −53.8‰ to +31.6‰ (VPDB). The analysis also showed high variations within single fillings of up to 39‰. The analyzed calcite fillings were mostly associated with two calcite groups, of which Group 3 represents possible Paleozoic fluid circulation, based on comparison with similar dated coatings within the Baltic Shield and the succeeding Group 1–2 fillings represent late-stage, low temperature mineralization and are possibly late Paleozoic to Quaternary in age. Both generations were associated with pyrite with δ³⁴S values indicative of bacterial sulfate reduction. The δ¹³C values of calcite, however, were indicative of geochemical environments which were distinct for these generations. The δ¹³C values of Group 3 calcite varied from −22.1‰ to +11‰, with a distinct peak at −16‰ to −12‰. Furthermore, there were no observable depth dependent trends in the δ¹³C values of Group 3 calcite. The δ¹³C values of Group 3 calcite were indicative of organic matter degradation and methanogenesis. In contrast to the Group 3 fillings, the δ¹³C values of Group 1–2 calcite were highly variable, ranging from −53.8‰ to +31.6‰ and they showed systematic variation with depth. The near surface environment of <30 m (bsl) was characterized by δ¹³C values indicative of degradation of surface derived organic matter, with δ¹³C values ranging from −30.3‰ to −5.5‰. The intermediate depth of 34–54 m showed evidence of localized methanotrophic activity seen as anomalously ¹³C depleted calcite, having δ¹³C values as low as −53.8‰. At depths of ∼60–400 m, positive δ¹³C values of up to +31.6‰ in late-stage calcite of Group 1–2 indicated methanogenesis. In comparison, high CH₄ concentrations in present day groundwaters are found at depths of >300 m. One sample at a depth of 111 m showed a transition from methanogenetic conditions (calcite bearing methanogenetic signature) to sulfate reducing (precipitation of pyrite on calcite surface), however, the timing of this transition is so far unclear. The results from this study gives indications of the complex nature of sulfur and carbon cycling in fractured crystalline environments and highlights the usefulness of in situ stable isotope analysis.     

青蛤(Cyclina sinensis) TRAF6基因克隆及其在Poly I:C胁迫下的免疫应答

对青蛤(Cyclina sinensis)转录组文库筛选并克隆得到青蛤TRAF6(Cs TRAF6)基因的c DNA序列,其开放阅读框为2337bp,编码778个氨基酸,分子量为86.59k Da。Cs TRAF6蛋白包含RING型锌指结构,两个TRAF型锌指结构,coiled-coil结构域以及MATH结构域。经生物信息学及分子系统学分析表明Cs TRAF6属于TRAF6家族的一员。利用实时荧光定量PCR方法检测了Cs TRAF6基因在青蛤各个组织以及在Poly I:C侵染下在血淋巴中的时序性表达情况。结果表明,Cs TRAF6基因在青蛤血淋巴、闭壳肌、鳃、性腺、外套膜和肝脏中普遍表达,其中在血淋巴中的表达水平最高。在Poly I:C刺激后的3h,青蛤血淋巴中Cs TRAF6的表达量迅速升高,在6h达到最大值,说明青蛤的Cs TRAF6基因参与了病毒类似物侵染下的免疫应答反应。     

Landslide susceptibility zonation method based on C5.0 decision tree and K-means cluster algorithms to improve the efficiency of risk management

Machine learning algorithms are an important measure with which to perform landslide susceptibility assessments,but most studies use GIS-based classification methods to conduct susceptibility zonation.This study presents a machine learning approach based on the C5.0 decision tree(DT)model and the K-means cluster algorithm to produce a regional landslide susceptibility map.Yanchang County,a typical landslide-prone area located in northwestern China,was taken as the area of interest to introduce the proposed application procedure.A landslide inventory containing 82 landslides was prepared and subse-quently randomly partitioned into two subsets:training data(70％landslide pixels)and validation data(30％landslide pixels).Fourteen landslide influencing factors were considered in the input dataset and were used to calculate the landslide occurrence probability based on the C5.0 decision tree model.Susceptibility zonation was implemented according to the cut-off values calculated by the K-means clus-ter algorithm.The validation results of the model performance analysis showed that the AUC(area under the receiver operating characteristic(ROC)curve)of the proposed model was the highest,reaching 0.88,compared with traditional models(support vector machine(SVM)=0.85,Bayesian network(BN)=0.81,frequency ratio(FR)=0.75,weight of evidence(WOE)=0.76).The landslide frequency ratio and fre-quency density of the high susceptibility zones were 6.76/km2 and 0.88/km2,respectively,which were much higher than those of the low susceptibility zones.The top 20％interval of landslide occurrence probability contained 89％of the historical landslides but only accounted for 10.3％of the total area.Our results indicate that the distribution of high susceptibility zones was more focused without contain-ing more"stable"pixels.Therefore,the obtained susceptibility map is suitable for application to landslide risk management practices.     

北京市城近郊区地下水的环境同位素研究

应用环境同位素方法,研究北京城近郊区地下水演化规律。沿北京市永定河冲洪积扇地下水流动方向取样15组(D、18O、T、14C及全分析),对所取水样进行D、18O、T、14C分析,并确定地下水同位素年龄。运用地下水14C和T含量在垂向和水平方向变化的结果,验证了地下水的流向并计算了地下水的流速变化范围为5·02~62·63m/a,从山前至平原浅层地下水径流速度逐渐变小,反映了地下水水平径流强度逐渐减弱,地下水交替逐渐变差;浅层孔隙水以垂向交替为主,深层孔隙水以水平径流为主。对地下水D、18O之间的关系进行分析,从而判断地下水的补给来源等。