Agricultural development and the opportunities for aquatic resources research in China

China is a large and rapidly developing country. Fisheries and aquaculture have been prominent sectors in the contribution to GDP and the provision of food security, export revenue, and livelihoods for the poor. The rapid development has come at some cost to the environment and the sustainability of natural resources. Levels of marine fisheries catches are stagnant. Some of the rivers and major lakes are polluted and the restoration of the productivity of these lakes is of key concern. These Proceedings, made up of four papers that leading Chinese experts presented to WorldFish Center in 2002, review four aspects of these trends: agricultural development, environmental issues and the contribution of aquaculture and fisheries to development in China.Agricultural development, Aquaculture development, Living resources, Research, WorldFish Center, WorldFish Center Contrib. No. 1668, China,

The superconductivity at 18 K in LiFeAs system

A new iron arsenide superconducting system LiFeAs was found that crystallizes into a tetragonal structure with space group P4/nmm. The superconductivity with Tc up to 18 K was observed in the compounds. This simple 111 type layered iron arsenide superconductor can be viewed as an analogue of the infinite layer structure of copper oxides.Comment: 11 pages 3 Figure

Crystal structure, impedance and broadband dielectric spectra of ordered scheelite-structured Bi(Sc1/3Mo2/3)O4 ceramic

Bi(Sc 1/3 Mo 2/3 )O 4 ceramics were prepared via solid state reaction method. It crystallized with an ordered scheelite-related structure (a = 16.9821(9) Å, b = 11.6097(3) Å, c = 5.3099(3) Å and β = 104.649(2)°) with a space group C12/C1, in which Bi 3+ , Sc 3+ and Mo 6+ are -8, -6 and -4 coordinated, respectively. Bi(Sc 1/3 Mo 2/3 )O 4 ceramics were densifiedat 915 °C, giving a permittivity (ε r ) 24.4, quality factor (Qf, Q = 1/dielectric loss, f = resonant frequency) ~48, 100 GHz and temperature coefficient of resonant frequency (TCF) -68 ppm/°C. Impedance spectroscopy revealed that there was only a bulk response for conductivity with activation energy (E a ) ~0.97 eV, suggesting the compound is electrically and chemically homogeneous. Wide band dielectric spectra were employed to study the dielectric response of Bi(Sc 1/3 Mo 2/3 )O 4 from 20 Hz to 30 THz. ε r was stable from 20 Hz to the GHz region, in which only ionic and electron displacive polarization contributed to the ε r

Smart soils track the formation of pH gradients across the rhizosphere

Aims Our understanding of the rhizosphere is limited by the lack of techniques for in situ live microscopy. Current techniques are either destructive or unsuitable for observing chemical changes within the pore space. To address this limitation, we have developed artificial substrates, termed smart soils, that enable the acquisition and 3D reconstruction of chemical sensors attached to soil particles. Methods The transparency of smart soils was achieved using polymer particles with refractive index matching that of water. The surface of the particles was modified both to retain water and act as a local sensor to report on pore space pH via fluorescence emissions. Multispectral signals were acquired from the particles using a light sheet microscope, and machine learning algorithms predicted the changes and spatial distribution in pH at the surface of the smart soil particles. Results The technique was able to predict pH live and in situ within ± 0.5 units of the true pH value. pH distribution could be reconstructed across a volume of several cubic centimetres around plant roots at 10 μm resolution. Using smart soils of different composition, we revealed how root exudation and pore structure create variability in chemical properties. Conclusion Smart soils captured the pH gradients forming around a growing plant root. Future developments of the technology could include the fine tuning of soil physicochemical properties, the addition of chemical sensors and improved data processing. Hence, this technology could play a critical role in advancing our understanding of complex rhizosphere processes

Measurements of J/psi Decays into 2(pi+pi-)eta and 3(pi+pi-)eta

Based on a sample of 5.8X 10^7 J/psi events taken with the BESII detector, the branching fractions of J/psi--> 2(pi+pi-)eta and J/psi-->3(pi+pi-)eta are measured for the first time to be (2.26+-0.08+-0.27)X10^{-3} and (7.24+-0.96+-1.11)X10^{-4}, respectively.Comment: 11 pages, 6 figure

BESII Detector Simulation

A Monte Carlo program based on Geant3 has been developed for BESII detector simulation. The organization of the program is outlined, and the digitization procedure for simulating the response of various sub-detectors is described. Comparisons with data show that the performance of the program is generally satisfactory.Comment: 17 pages, 14 figures, uses elsart.cls, to be submitted to NIM

Measurements of Cabibbo Suppressed Hadronic Decay Fractions of Charmed D0 and D+ Mesons

Using data collected with the BESII detector at $e^{+}e^{-}$ storage ring Beijing Electron Positron Collider, the measurements of relative branching fractions for seven Cabibbo suppressed hadronic weak decays $D^0 \to K^- K^+$, $\pi^+ \pi^-$, $K^- K^+ \pi^+ \pi^-$ and $\pi^+ \pi^+ \pi^- \pi^-$, $D^+ \to \bar{K^0} K^+$, $K^- K^+ \pi^+$ and $\pi^- \pi^+ \pi^+$ are presented.Comment: 11 pages, 5 figure

Direct Measurement of the Pseudoscalar Decay Constant fD+

The absolute branching fraction of $D^+ \to \mu^+ \nu$ has been directly measured by an analysis of a data sample of about 33 ${\rm pb^{-1}}$ collected around $\sqrt{s}=3.773$ GeV with the BES-II at the BEPC. At these energies, $D^-$ meson is produced in pair as $e^+e^-\to D^{+} D^{-}$. A total of $5321 \pm 149 \pm 160$ $D^-$ mesons are reconstructed from this data set. In the recoil side of the tagged $D^-$ mesons, $2.67\pm1.74$ purely leptonic decay events of $D^+ \to \mu^+ \nu$ are observed. This yields a branching fraction of $BF(D^+ \to \mu^+ \nu_{\mu}) = (0.122^{+0.111}_{-0.053}\pm 0.010)$, and a corresponding pseudoscalar decay constant $f_{D^+}=(371^{+129}_{-119}\pm 25)$ MeV.Comment: 7 pages, 8 figures, Submitted to Physics Letters B in October, 200