Intraspecific morphometric diversity of barramundi (Lates calcariferBloch, 1790) in the waters of southern Bangladesh

A total of 160 barramundi's (Lates calcarifer Bloch, 1790) sampled from four rivers (Tentulia, Balaswar, Bakkhali, and Andarmanik) along the southern coastal region of Bangladesh were investigated in terms of morphometric characters to reveal the intraspecific variation. Twenty-five morphometric measurements were extracted using the conventional method and subjected to multivariate analyses (i.e., principal component analysis (PCA), discriminate function analysis (DFA), cluster analysis (CA)) to distinguish individuals from different rivers. The result demonstrated that twenty-two out of 25 measurements was statistically significant (Univariate ANOVA) among all four populations. PCA analysis of morphometric characters resulted in two principal components, PC I and PCⅡ which accounted for 79.25% and 4.28% of the total data variance. PC I-PC Ⅱ plot explained 83.53% of total variance differentiated the population of L. calcarifer into two groups. Discriminate analysis correctly classified about 88.1% of the examined fish into the four areas. The UPGMA dendrogram showed that Bakkhali populations were the most morphologically different populations in comparison to other populations, while Andarmanik and Balaswar populations were very close to each other. The strong morphometric variation between Bakkhali and Tentulia, Andarmanik and Balaswar was observed in the present study, suggested the evidence of the separate stock population of barramundi in these locations, which might require distinct stock management strategies for resource sustainability in the waters of southern Bangladesh. However, if these findings are supported by further molecular markers and geometric morphometry, this would be a strong indication of different stocks of this population in the four rivers of southern Bangladesh.     

Archaeal community structure in sediments from a seamount in the Mariana Volcanic Arc

Seamounts are subsurface mountains in the ocean. Examination of the abundance and distribution of Archaea in seamount ecosystems may provide a better understanding of their ecological functions. Most studies of marine archaeal assemblages in seamount area have focused on hydrothermal vents or ferromanganese crusts. We investigated the archaeal communities from a seamount of the Mariana Volcanic Arc, in the tropical western Pacific Ocean by using high-throughput sequencing. Thaumarchaeota was dominant in the sediments of all sample stations. Community diversity and species richness were greatest at stations near the top of the seamount, and lowest at the deepest station. One sample station on the steep southeast slope that faced the Yap-Mariana trench had a unique composition of Archaea. In summary, depth has an important influence on archaeal community structure, and the geographic properties and sediment characteristics may explain the unique distribution patterns of Archaea in this seamount. This study provides a foundation for future research on Archaea in seamounts.     

Search for H I emission from superdisk candidates associated with radio galaxies

Giant gaseous layers(termed “superdisks”) have been hypothesized in the past to account for the strip-like radio emission gap(or straight-edged central brightness depression) observed between twin radio lobes, in over a dozen relatively nearby powerful Fanaroff-Riley Class II radio galaxies. They could also provide a plausible alternative explanation for a range of observations. Although a number of explanations have been proposed for the origin of the superdisks, little is known about their material content. Some X-ray observations of superdisk candidates indicate the presence of hot gas, but a cool dusty medium also seems to be common. If they are entirely or partly composed of neutral gas, then it may be directly detectable and we report here a first attempt to detect/image any neutral hydrogen gas present in the superdisks that are inferred to be present in four nearby radio galaxies. We have not found a positive H I signal in any of the four sources, resulting in tight upper limits on the H I number density in the postulated superdisks,estimated directly from the central rms noise values of the final radio continuum subtracted image. The estimated ranges of the upper limit on neutral hydrogen number density and column density are 10^-4-10^-3 atoms per cm3 and 10^19-10^20 atoms per cm^2, respectively. No positive H I signal is detected even after combining all the four available H I images(with inverse variance weighting). This clearly rules out an H I dominated superdisk as a viable model to explain these structures, however, the possibility of a superdisk being composed of warm/hot gas still remains open.     

地基干涉雷达IBIS-S桥跨结构振动变形测量与模态分析

地基雷达干涉测量技术能够以较高的时空采样频率获取线性结构目标整体瞬时变形状态。本文将该技术引入大型桥梁桥跨结构的振动变形测量与模态分析中。对动静载试验过程中的武汉二七长江大桥东岸桥跨结构开展连续变形监测,利用频域分解法计算桥跨结构的自振频率、阻尼比和模态振型。计算结果表明,地基干涉雷达干涉测量技术能够快速探测桥跨结构竖弯模态,特别适用于灾后大型线形结构健康状态的应急检测。     

多尺度邻域特征下的机载LiDAR点云电力线分类

利用机载激光雷达技术三维测量精度高且获取快速的优点进行电力线自动分类提取已成为点云数据处理与电力应用的重要领域。针对电力线分类模型的自动化和高精度需求,本文提出了基于三维多尺度邻域特征的机载LiDAR点云电力线分类提取模型框架,主要包括4个步骤：电力线候选点滤波、多尺度邻域类型选取、形状结构特征提取和支持向量机分类。通过对2个复杂城市区域的试验数据集和8种不同邻域类型的详细结果对比分析,发现基于多尺度圆球邻域形状结构特征的分类模型结果准确率、召回率和质量分别达到97%、94%和93%,同时整体处理时间在2个试验数据中分别从366、256 s减少到274、160 s。试验结果表明,该方法在多种复杂城市场景中能够实现机载LiDAR数据的电力线较高精度分类提取。     

面向城区宽基线立体像对视角变化的结构自适应特征点匹配

提出一种基于结构自适应特征的城区宽基线影像特征点匹配方法。首先,对影像提取点特征和直线特征,挖掘点特征与其邻域内直线特征之间的几何关系,构建结构自适应的特征区域和特征描述符,并通过双向匹配策略获得初始匹配结果。然后,基于初匹配结果估计影像基础矩阵,构建核线约束的结构自适应特征匹配算法进行二次匹配。最后,将已匹配特征作为控制基础设计匹配扩展算法,进一步增加匹配点数量。本文方法以特征点邻域几何结构为出发点,构建自适应的特征区域,能够在显著的影像视角变化下,为同名特征点提取影像内容一致的特征区域,进而获得相似的特征描述符。试验结果证明,与传统算法相比,本文方法在城区宽基线影像上能够同时获得更多的正确匹配特征和更高的匹配正确率。     

Spatial patch structure and adaptive strategy for desert shrub of Reaumuria soongorica in arid ecosystem of the Heihe River Basin

In many arid ecosystems, vegetation frequently occurs in high-cover patches interspersed in a matrix of low plant cover. However, theoretical explanations for shrub patch pattern dynamics along climate gradients remain unclear on a large scale. This context aimed to assess the variance of the Reaumuria soongorica patch structure along the precipitation gradient and the factors that affect patch structure formation in the middle and lower Heihe River Basin (HRB). Field investigations on vegetation patterns and heterogeneity in soil properties were conducted during 2014 and 2015. The results showed that patch height, size and plant-to-patch distance were smaller in high precipitation habitats than in low precipitation sites. Climate, soil and vegetation explained 82.5% of the variance in patch structure. Spatially, R. soongorica shifted from a clumped to a random pattern on the landscape towards the MAP gradient, and heterogeneity in the surface soil properties (the ratio of biological soil crust (BSC) to bare gravels (BG)) determined the R. soongorica population distribution pattern in the middle and lower HRB. A conceptual model, which integrated water availability and plant facilitation and competition effects, was revealed that R. soongorica changed from a flexible water use strategy in high precipitation regions to a consistent water use strategy in low precipitation areas. Our study provides a comprehensive quantification of the variance in shrub patch structure along a precipitation gradient and may improve our understanding of vegetation pattern dynamics in the Gobi Desert under future climate change.

     

Spatial distribution characteristics of national protected areas in China

Journal of Geographical Sciences - This paper investigated spatial structures of 3418 national protected areas (NPAs) grouped into 13 types using GIS and quantitative analysis, including point...     

Extracting energy while reducing hydroelastic responses of VLFS using a modular raft wec-type attachment

This paper presents the use of a modular raft Wave Energy Converter (WEC)-type attachment at the fore edge of a rectangular Very Large Floating Structure (VLFS) for extracting wave energy while reducing hydroelastic responses of the VLFS under wave action. The proposed modular attachment comprises multiple independent auxiliary pontoons (i.e. modules) that are connected to the fore edge of the VLFS with hinges and linear Power Take-Off (PTO) systems. For the hydroelastic analysis, the auxiliary pontoons and the VLFS are modelled by using the Mindlin plate theory while the linear wave theory is used for modelling the fluid motion. The analysis is performed in the frequency domain using the hybrid Finite Element-Boundary Element (FE-BE) method. Parametric studies are carried out to investigate the effects of pontoon length, PTO damping coefficient, gap between auxiliary pontoons, and incident wave angle on the power capture factor as well as reductions in the hydroelastic responses of the VLFS with the modular attachment. It is found that in oblique waves, the modular attachment comprising multiple narrow pontoons outperforms the corresponding rigid attachment that consists of a single wide pontoon with respect to the power capture factor and the reduction in the deflection of the VLFS. In addition, it is possible to have a considerable gap between pontoons without significantly compromising the effectiveness of the modular attachment.     

Analytical convolution model for shipping water evolution on a fixed structure

The shipping of water is a problem that affects naval and offshore structures. Estimating its propagation on the decks of these structures by using analytical methods has been a main concern of projects. However, classical approaches disregard the decay tendency of water elevation time series and tend to overestimate the resultant water on deck. This paper is concerned with estimating the evolution of water along the deck of a fixed structure due to shipping water events. An analytical convolution model is proposed to estimate water elevations. The model considers the freeboard exceedance time series and the mean shipping flow velocity as inputs and the frictional effects of the bottom by resistance coefficients, which enables an approximated representation of the water elevation time series over the deck. It was validated with experiments of isolated shipping water events that were generated with the wet dam-break approach. The results obtained with the proposed model captured the experimental results, approximating the peak values and the decay trend of time series. Improvement of the proposed approach over classical models to represent shipping water elevations was demonstrated by comparing the results obtained with those of the dam-break model of Stoker.