Effects of intensive scallop mariculture on macrobenthic assemblages in Sishili Bay, the northern Yellow Sea of China

To elucidate the effects of scallop mariculture on the macrobenthic community in a moderate energy system, bimonthly samples from four transects along a distance gradient in Sishili Bay, the northern Yellow Sea of China, were investigated. Differences in macrobenthic community structure along the distance gradient were evaluated using univariate and multivariate analyses. The AZTI's Marine Biotic Index (AMBI) and multivariate-AMBI analyses indicated that the macrobenthic community suffered little disturbance from the scallop culture. Consistently, the results of two-way analysis of similarities demonstrated that macrobenthic communities showed no difference along the distance gradient, but were significantly affected by the sampling months and transects. This conclusion was also confirmed by other univariate and multivariate analyses. The concentration of total organic carbon was 17.27 +/- A 6.05 mg g(-1), which is below the dangerous threshold of 35 mg g(-1) toxic to benthic fauna. Combined results revealed that no detectable effects on the macrobenthic community were caused by intensive and long-term scallop culture in this moderate energy system. This is likely due to the influence of local hydrodynamics and it is recommended that intensive scallop farming be located in areas with strong tidal or current flows

A Disturbance Rejection Framework for the Study of Traditional Chinese Medicine

The traditional Chinese medicine (TCM) is explained in the language of engineering cybernetics (EC), an engineering science with the tradition of rigor and long history of practice. The inherent connection is articulated between EC, as a science of interrelations, and the Chinese conception of Wuxing. The combined cybernetic model of Wuxing seems to have significant explaining power for the TCM and could potentially facilitate better communications of the insights of the TCM to the West. In disturbance rejection, an engineering concept, a great metaphor, is found to show how the TCM is practiced, using the liver cancer pathogenesis and treatment as a case study. The results from a series of experimental studies seem to lend support to the cybernetic model of Wuxing and the principles of disturbance rejection

Reconstruct the Mesoscale Information of Typhoon with BDA Method Combined with AMSU-A Data Assimilation Method

This paper conducts the assimilating experiments and simulating experiments on typhoon “Aere” (No. 0418), by use of bogus data assimilation (BDA) method combined with advanced microwave sounding unit-A (AMSU-A) data assimilation method in the fifth-generation National Center for Atmospheric Research (NCAR)/Penn State Mesoscale Model Version-3 (MM5V3), the Radiative Transfer for TIROS-N Operational Vertical Sounder Version-7 (RTTOV) model, and their adjoint models. The Bogus data constructed with BDA technique are mainly located at sea level, while the peak energy contribution levels of the sounder channels selected in AMSU-A data assimilation technique are mainly located at upper troposphere. The two types of data can reconstruct the meso-scale information and improve the typhoon initial fields under the model dynamic forcing effect, respectively from the low level and the upper level of atmosphere during the assimilating process. Numerical results show that with four-dimensional variational data assimilation (4DVAR) technique the circulation of initial fields is improved, the “warm core” of typhoon is enhanced, the “cloud water” phenomenon that occurs in the optimal initial fields and the numerical model is changed into “warm start” from “cold start”

Evolution and Comprehensive Analysis of DNaseI Hypersensitive Sites in Regulatory Regions of Primate Brain-Related Genes

How the human brain differs from those of non-human primates is largely unknown and the complex drivers underlying such differences at the genomic level remain unclear. In this study, we selected 243 brain-related genes, based on Gene Ontology, and identified 184,113 DNaseI hypersensitive sites (DHSs) within their regulatory regions. To performed comprehensive evolutionary analyses, we set strict filtering criteria for alignment quality and filtered 39,132 DHSs for inclusion in the investigation and found that 2,397 (~6%) exhibited evidence of accelerated evolution (aceDHSs), which was a much higher proportion that DHSs genome-wide. Target genes predicted to be regulated by brain-aceDHSs were functionally enriched for brain development and exhibited differential expression between human and chimpanzee. Alignments indicated 61 potential human-specific transcription factor binding sites in brain-aceDHSs, including for CTCF, FOXH1, and FOXQ1. Furthermore, based on GWAS, Hi-C, and eQTL data, 16 GWAS SNPs, and 82 eQTL SNPs were in brain-aceDHSs that regulate genes related to brain development or disease. Among these brain-aceDHSs, we confirmed that one enhanced the expression of GPR133, using CRISPR-Cas9 and western blotting. The GPR133 gene is associated with glioblastoma, indicating that SNPs within DHSs could be related to brain disorders. These findings suggest that brain-related gene regulatory regions are under adaptive evolution and contribute to the differential expression profiles among primates, providing new insights into the genetic basis of brain phenotypes or disorders between humans and other primates

Identification of Urban Functional Areas Based on POI Data: A Case Study of the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone

Functional areas are the basic spatial units in which cities or development zones implement urban plans and provide functions. Internet map big data technology provides a new method for the identification and spatial analysis of functional areas. Based on the POI (point of interest) data from AMap (a map application of AutoNavi) from 2017, this paper proposes an urban functional areas recognition and analysis method based on the frequency density and the ratio of POI function types. It takes the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone as a case study to analyze the main function and spatial distribution characteristics of the detailed functional areas. The research shows the following: (1) The POI frequency density index and the function type ratio can effectively distinguish the functions of the grid units and analyze the spatial distribution characteristics of a complex functional area. (2) The single functional area is the most common area type in the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone. The largest proportion of all areas is allocated to traditional manufacturing industry functional areas, followed by high-tech enterprises, catering and entertainment, real estate, and education and health care, in descending order. The smallest proportion is allocated to finance and insurance functional areas. (3) The current layout of the functional areas in the Guangzhou Economic and Technological Development Zone conforms to the overall requirements and planning objectives of the central and local government. The layout and agglomeration of different blocks within the economic development zone are consistent with local industry’s target orientation and development history

Information Extraction and Spatial Distribution of Research Hot Regions on Rocky Desertification in China

Rocky desertification is an important type of ecological degradation in southwest of China. The author uses the web crawler technology and obtained 9345 journal papers related to rocky desertification from 1950s to 2016 in China. The authors also constructed a technological process to extract research hot regions on rocky desertification and then a spatial distribution map of research hot regions on rocky desertification was formed. Finally, the authors compared the spatial distribution using the sensitivity map of rocky desertification to find the differences between two maps. The study shows that: (1) rocky desertification research hot regions in China are mainly distributed in Guizhou, Yunnan and Guangxi, especially in Bijie, Liupanshui, Guiyang, Anshun, Qianxinan Autonomous Prefecture, QianNan Autonomous Prefecture, Qiandongnan Autonomous Prefecture in Guizhou Province, Hechi, Baise, Nanning, Guilin in Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region and Zhaotong in Yunnan Province. (2) The research hot regions on rocky desertification have good spatial consistency with the sensitivity regions of rocky desertification. At the prefecture level, the overlap rate of the two regions reached 85%. Because of the influence of topography, vegetation coverage, population distribution, traffic accessibility and other factors, there were regions that consisted of combinations of high sensitivity but low research popularity regarding rocky desertification; these sites included Qionglai Mountain-Liangshan Area of Sichuan, Wushan-Shennongjia Area of Hubei, Hengduan Mountain Area of western Yunnan and Dupangling Area of southern Hunan. (3) The research hot regions and sensitive regions cannot be matched completely in time, space and concept. Therefore, we can use their spatial distribution differences to improve the pertinence of planning, governance and study of rocky desertification

Detection of oceanic Rossby waves in the extratropics by complex networks

Complex network is a versatile tool for exploring the internal structures and dynamical properties of complex system. The Earth's climate is a typical complex system, and the climate variability is mainly controlled by Sun-Earth interactions on planetary scales. The Earth's rotation could induce Rossby waves, and the oceanic Rossby waves significantly affect the Earth's climate in turn. In this study, climate network, a kind of complex network for climate sciences, has been applied to detect Rossby waves in extratropics of global oceans. The nodes of the climate networks are the regular grid points zonally distributed in four regions of global oceans (North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic and South Atlantic-Indian), and the links represent the statistically significant cross-correlations of sea level anomalies. The results show that the westward propagation of oceanic Rossby waves in the extratropics could be detected by the climate network. Also, the climate network has the potential to detect the more oceanic dynamics

Nonhomogeneous poisson process model of summer high temperature extremes over China

In this study, nonhomogeneous Poisson process (NHPP) models arising from the extreme value theory have been fitted to summer high temperature extremes (HTEs) at 321 meteorological stations over China. The seasonality and six prominent atmospheric teleconnection patterns in Northern Hemisphere are incorporated in the NHPP models reflecting the non-stationarity of occurrence rate in Poisson process of HTEs. In addition, Poisson regression model has also been applied to link HTEs and these teleconnection patterns. The linkages of HTEs and teleconnection patterns have been identified in both NHPP modeling and Poisson regression. Composite maps of differences of 500-hPa geopotential height and wind fields in the positive and negative phases of teleconnection patterns are constructed to show the impacts of atmospheric circulation patterns on extreme heat events. The spatial pattern of the associated anticyclonic or cyclonic circulations with teleconnection patterns partly explains the spatial variability of the occurrences of summer HTEs over China