Refraction of the Flat Optical Beam in a Transparent Heterogeneous Environments

Presents a method of visualization and laser diagnostics of optically inhomogeneous media based on the phenomenon of refraction of the structured laser radiation (SLR). The described method of studies of the diffusion layer of the optical refractography method. Experimental setup for digital recording refractive pattern (refractograms). Shown for examples application of methods of the laser refractography thermal processes

Multi-ancestry study of blood lipid levels identifies four loci interacting with physical activity.

Many genetic loci affect circulating lipid levels, but it remains unknown whether lifestyle factors, such as physical activity, modify these genetic effects. To identify lipid loci interacting with physical activity, we performed genome-wide analyses of circulating HDL cholesterol, LDL cholesterol, and triglyceride levels in up to 120,979 individuals of European, African, Asian, Hispanic, and Brazilian ancestry, with follow-up of suggestive associations in an additional 131,012 individuals. We find four loci, in/near CLASP1, LHX1, SNTA1, and CNTNAP2, that are associated with circulating lipid levels through interaction with physical activity; higher levels of physical activity enhance the HDL cholesterol-increasing effects of the CLASP1, LHX1, and SNTA1 loci and attenuate the LDL cholesterol-increasing effect of the CNTNAP2 locus. The CLASP1, LHX1, and SNTA1 regions harbor genes linked to muscle function and lipid metabolism. Our results elucidate the role of physical activity interactions in the genetic contribution to blood lipid levels

Consistent patterns of common species across tropical tree communities

Trees structure the Earth’s most biodiverse ecosystem, tropical forests. The vast number of tree species presents a formidable challenge to understanding these forests, including their response to environmental change, as very little is known about most tropical tree species. A focus on the common species may circumvent this challenge. Here we investigate abundance patterns of common tree species using inventory data on 1,003,805 trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm across 1,568 locations1,2,3,4,5,6 in closed-canopy, structurally intact old-growth tropical forests in Africa, Amazonia and Southeast Asia. We estimate that 2.2%, 2.2% and 2.3% of species comprise 50% of the tropical trees in these regions, respectively. Extrapolating across all closed-canopy tropical forests, we estimate that just 1,053 species comprise half of Earth’s 800 billion tropical trees with trunk diameters of at least 10 cm. Despite differing biogeographic, climatic and anthropogenic histories7, we find notably consistent patterns of common species and species abundance distributions across the continents. This suggests that fundamental mechanisms of tree community assembly may apply to all tropical forests. Resampling analyses show that the most common species are likely to belong to a manageable list of known species, enabling targeted efforts to understand their ecology. Although they do not detract from the importance of rare species, our results open new opportunities to understand the world’s most diverse forests, including modelling their response to environmental change, by focusing on the common species that constitute the majority of their trees.Publisher PDFPeer reviewe

Multi-ancestry study of blood lipid levels identifies four loci interacting with physical activity

The present work was largely supported by a grant from the US National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) of the National Institutes of Health (R01HL118305). The full list of acknowledgments appears in the Supplementary Notes 3 and 4.Peer reviewedPublisher PD

Spatial Distribution and Environmental Significance of Phosphorus Fractions in River Sediments and Its Influencing Factor from Hongze and Tiaoxi Watersheds, Eastern China

This study explored the spatial distribution of phosphorus fractions in river sediments and analyzed the relationship between different phosphorus fractions and their environmental influence on the sediments within different watersheds in Eastern China. River sediments from two inflow watersheds (Hongze and Tiaoxi) to Hongze and Taihu Lake in Eastern China were analyzed by the sequential extraction procedure. Five fractions of sedimentary phosphorus, including freely sorbed phosphorus (NH4Cl-P), redox-sensitive phosphorus (BD-P), bound phosphorus metal oxide (NaOH-P), bound phosphorus calcium (HCl-P), and residual phosphorus (Res-P) were all analyzed. The orders of rankings for the P fractions of the rivers Anhe and Suihe were HCl-P > NaOH-P > BD-P > NH4Cl-P and HCl-P > BD-P > NaOH-P > NH4Cl-P, respectively. For the rank order of the Hongze watershed, HCl-P was higher while the NH4Cl-P contents were significantly lower. The rank order for the Dongtiaoxi River was NaOH-P > HCl-P > BD-P > NH4Cl-P, and that of Xitiaoxi River was NaOH-P > BD-P > HCl-P > NH4Cl-P. Compared with the phosphorus forms of the Tiaoxi watershed, NaOH-P contents were significantly higher compared to HCl-P, which was significantly higher in the Hongze watershed. In comparison, NH4Cl-P contents were significantly lower in both. Variations may be attributed to differential discharge of the P form in the watershed due to land-use changes and urban river ambient conditions

GNSS characterization of hydrological loading in South and Southeast Asia

The elastic response of the lithosphere to surface mass redistributions produces geodetically measurable deformation of the Earth. This deformation is especially pronounced in South and Southeast Asia, where the annual monsoon produces large-amplitude hydrological loads. The Myanmar–India–Bangladesh–Bhutan (MIBB) network of about 20 continuously operating Global Navigation Satellite Systems (GNSS) stations, established in 2011, provides an opportunity to study the Earth's response to these loads. In this study, we use GRACE temporal gravity products as an estimate of long-wavelength surface water distribution and use this estimate in an elastic loading calculation. We compare the predicted vertical deformation from GRACE with that observed with GNSS. We find that elastic loading inferred from the GRACE gravity model is able to explain the phase and much of the peak-to-peak amplitude (typically 2–3 cm) of the vertical GNSS oscillations, especially in northeast India and central Myanmar. GRACE-based corrections reduce the RMS scatter of the GNSS data by 30–45% in these regions. However, this approach does not capture all of the seasonal deformation in central Bangladesh and southern Myanmar. We show by a synthetic test that local hydrological effects may explain discrepancies between the GNSS and GRACE signals in these places. Two independent hydrological loading models of water stored in soil, vegetation, snow, lakes and streams display phase lags compared to the GRACE and GNSS observations, perhaps indicating that groundwater contributes to the observed loading in addition to near-surface hydrology. The results of our calculations have implications for survey-mode GNSS measurements, which make up the majority of geodetic measurements in this region. By using the GNSS data together with estimates of hydrological loading from independent observations and models, we may be able to more accurately determine crustal motions caused by tectonic processes in South and Southeast Asia, while also improving our ability to monitor the annual monsoon and resulting water storage changes in the region.Ministry of Education (MOE)National Research Foundation (NRF)Accepted versionThe authors thank the editor and two anonymous reviewers whose helpful comments greatly improved the manuscript. Many thanks to Christine Puskas at UNAVCO, who computed the GLDAS loading time-series. Thanks also to Yuning Fu for discussions and assistance. GRACE data are available at http://grace.jpl.nasa.gov as D. N. Wiese, D.-N. Yuan, C. Boening, F. W. Landerer, M. M. Watkins. 2018. JPL GRACE Mascon Ocean, Ice and Hydrology Equivalent Water Height Release 06 Coastal Resolution Improvement (CRI) Filtered Version 1.0. Ver. 1.0. PO.DAAC, CA, USA. Data set accessed [2020-05-02] at http://dx.doi.org/10.5067/TEMSC-3MJC6. Some figures were produced with the GMT software (Wessel et al. 2019). KM was supported by the National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship Program and the EAPSI Singapore program. RB acknowledges support from award NNX17AE01G of the NASA Earth Surface and Interior program. The EOS authors and the installation and maintenance of the MIBB network were supported by the Earth Observatory of Singapore, the National Research Foundation of Singapore and the Singapore Ministry of Education under the Research Centres of Excellence initiative. EMH acknowledges support from a Singapore National Research Foundation Investigatorship award (NRF-NRFI05-2019-0009). The MIBB network is also supported by the staff of the EOS Center for Geohazards Observations and collaborators at the Department of Meteorology and Hydrology, Myanmar (Kyaw Moe Oo), Myanmar Earthquake Committee (U. Nyut Maung San), North Eastern Hill University (Devesh Walia), Geological Survey of Bangladesh (Aktarul Ahsan) and Sherubtse College, Royal University of Bhutan (Bimal Sharma). We also thank Syed Humayun Akhter at Dhaka University. This is EOS contribution number 308