An Entrepreneurial Transition? Development and Economic Mobility in Rural Tibet

This paper documents the rise of entrepreneurs in rural Tibet, a process that started in the 1980s and then gained considerable momentum in the wake of China’s Develop the West Campaign that was launched in 2000. The authors describe economic transformations in rural Tibet from 1959 to the present, and present case studies of entrepreneurs to show how some Tibetans are capitalizing on new economic opportunities that stem both directly and indirectly from the government’s development policies. Whereas many critics allege that China’s development initiatives do not benefit rural Tibetans, or do so only marginally, today’s rural entrepreneurs illustrate how some Tibetans are successfully negotiating the new matrix of opportunities. However, because Tibet’s economy is highly dependent on government investments, it is unclear whether the increase in entrepreneurial activities is sustainable over the long-term. Nevertheless, the case studies presented in this paper demonstrate several entrepreneurial pathways to upward mobility that are currently available, including farm-based initiatives, construction contracting, cottage industry, and retail business

A Tibetan Porter’s View of the 1960 Chinese Everest Expedition

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Observation of gamma rays up to 320 TeV from the middle-aged TeV pulsar wind nebula HESS J1849−-000

Gamma rays from HESS J1849$-$000, a middle-aged TeV pulsar wind nebula (PWN), are observed by the Tibet air shower array and the muon detector array. The detection significance of gamma rays reaches $4.0\, \sigma$ and $4.4\, \sigma$ levels above 25 TeV and 100 TeV, respectively, in units of Gaussian standard deviation $\sigma$. The energy spectrum measured between $40\, {\rm TeV} < E < 320\, {\rm TeV}$ for the first time is described with a simple power-law function of ${\rm d}N/{\rm d}E = (2.86 \pm 1.44) \times 10^{-16}(E/40\, {\rm TeV})^{-2.24 \pm 0.41}\, {\rm TeV}^{-1}\, {\rm cm}^{-2}\, {\rm s}^{-1}$. The gamma-ray energy spectrum from the sub-TeV ($E < 1\, {\rm TeV}$) to sub-PeV ($100\, {\rm TeV} < E < 1\, {\rm PeV}$) ranges including the results of previous studies can be modeled with the leptonic scenario, inverse Compton scattering by high-energy electrons accelerated by the PWN of PSR J1849$-$0001. On the other hand, the gamma-ray energy spectrum can also be modeled with the hadronic scenario in which gamma rays are generated from the decay of neutral pions produced by collisions between accelerated cosmic-ray protons and the ambient molecular cloud found in the gamma-ray emitting region. The cutoff energy of cosmic-ray protons $E_{\rm p\, cut}$, cut is estimated at ${\rm log}_{10}(E_{\rm p,\, cut}/{\rm TeV}) = 3.73^{+2.98}_{-0.66}$, suggesting that protons are accelerated up to the PeV energy range. Our study thus proposes that HESS J1849$-$000 should be further investigated as a new candidate for a Galactic PeV cosmic-ray accelerator, PeVatron.Comment: 10 pages, 2 figures, Accepted for publication from the Astrophysical Journa

Reconstruction of Glacier Mass Balance and Sensitivity Tests to Climate Change: A case study of Ålfotbreen and Nigardsbreen

A physically-based one dimensional CROCUS snow model was applied to simulate the surface mass balances of Ålfotbreen (1964-2009) and Nigardsbreen (1962-2009) in southern Norway. The required hourly meteorological input data (9 parameters) are obtained from daily data of meteorological observation from stations surrounding the glaciers combined with NCEP 6 hourly reanalysis data to get the diurnal cycle. The results of simulations show that the model was able to simulate the mass balance of Ålfotbreen Nigardsbreen. The correlation coefficients were 0.99 and 0.97 for cumulative mass balance and 0.89 and 0.76 for net balance compared to the observations, respectively. Mass balances for long-term trends are also investigated. According to the model, precipitation changes dominated the contribution of the mass balances changes from the beginning of simulation (1960s) to 1995 for both glaciers. In the last 15 years (1995-2009), temperature changes was the major contributor of mass balance changes for Ålfotbreen, but precipitation was still the major contributor to the changes in cumulative mass balance for Nigardsbreen. The average mass balance sensitivities to temperature were -0.76m w.e./1K and -0.35m w.e./K and to precipitation were 0.33m w.e./10% and 0.18m w.e./10% for Ålfotbreen and Nigardsbreen, respectively. The results of mass balance sensitivity tests indicate that Ålfotbreen is more sensitive to both temperature and precipitation change than Nigardsbreen. Our results also indicate a nonlinear relation between net mass balance sensitivity and temperature perturbation for both glaciers, but no significant non-linearity were found for different precipitation perturbations

Geochronology and Geochemistry of Early Cretaceous Granitic Rocks in the Dongqiao Area, Central Tibet: Implications for Magmatic Origin and Geological Evolution

We present here new geochronological and whole-rock geochemical data for the Dongqiao intrusive rocks. Six samples yield zircon U-Pb ages of 111-115 Ma, indicating that the Dongqiao granitic rocks are contemporaneous with an Early Cretaceous (115-110 Ma) magmatic flare-up event in central Tibet. On the basis of geochemical data, granitic rocks from the Dongqiao area can be divided into I- and A-type granites. The A-type granites contain higher Na2O + K2O, Zr, Hf, and Zr + Ce + Nb + Y contents than the I-type granites. The results indicate that I-type granites were formed by partial melting of a juvenile mafic lower-crustal source, while A-type granites were derived from a middle-crustal source, followed by fractional crystallization. The formation of A-type granites requires broad thermal anomalies, indicating that Early Cretaceous magmatism occurred in a postcollision extensional setting, likely related to the upwelling of hot asthenospheric mantle triggered by detachment and sinking of the Bangong-Nujiang oceanic lithosphere

Construction of Magnetic Composite Bacterial Carrier and Application in 17<i>β</i>-Estradiol Degradation

Estrogen contamination is widespread and microbial degradation is a promising removal method; however, unfavorable environments can hinder microbial function. In this study, a natural estrogen 17β-estradiol (E2) was introduced as a degradation target, and a new combination of bacterial carrier was investigated. We found the best combination of polyvinyl alcohol (PVA) and sodium alginate (SA) was 4% total concentration, PVA:SA = 5:5, with nano-Fe3O4 at 2%, and maltose and glycine added to promote degradation, for which the optimal concentrations were 5 g·L−1 and 10 g·L−1, respectively. Based on the above exploration, the bacterial carrier was made, and the degradation efficiency of the immobilized bacteria reached 92.3% in 5 days. The immobilized bacteria were reused for three cycles, and the degradation efficiency of each round could exceed 94%. Immobilization showed advantages at pH 5, pH 11, 10 °C, 40 °C, and 40 g·L−1 NaCl, and the degradation efficiency of the immobilized bacteria was higher than 90%. In the wastewater, the immobilized bacteria could degrade E2 to about 1 mg·L−1 on the 5th day. This study constructed a bacterial immobilization carrier using a new combination, explored the application potential of the carrier, and provided a new choice of bacterial immobilization carrier

Lysinibacillus sp. GG242 from Cattle Slurries Degrades 17&beta;-Estradiol and Possible 2 Transformation Routes

Environmental estrogen pollution has long been a concern due to adverse effects on organisms and ecosystems. Biodegradation is a vital way to remove estrogen, a strain of Lysinibacillus sp. was isolated, numbered strain GG242. The degradation rate of 100 mg&middot;L&minus;1 17&beta;-estradiol (E2)) &gt; 95% in one week, and compared with extracellular enzymes, intracellular enzymes have stronger degradation ability. Strain GG242 can maintain a stable E2 degradation ability under different conditions (20&ndash;35 &deg;C, pH 5&ndash;11, salinity 0&ndash;40 g&middot;L&minus;1). Under appropriate conditions (30 &deg;C, pH 8, 1 g&middot;L&minus;1 NaCl), the degradation rate increased by 32.32% in one week. Based on the analysis of transformation products, inferred E2 was converted via two distinct routes. Together, this research indicates the degradation potential of strain GG242 and provides new insights into the biotransformation of E2

Preparation, purification, and biochemical of fat-degrading bacterial enzymes from pig carcass compost and its application

Abstract Background A lot of kitchen waste oil is produced every day worldwide, leading to serious environmental pollution. As one of the environmental protection methods, microorganisms are widely used treating of various wastes. Lipase, as one of the cleaning agents can effectively degrade kitchen waste oil. The composting process of pig carcasses produces many lipase producing microorganisms, rendering compost products an excellent source for isolating lipase producing microorganisms. To our knowledge, there are no reports isolating of lipase producing strains from the high temperature phase of pig carcass compost. Methodology Lipase producing strains were isolated using a triglyceride medium and identified by 16S rRNA gene sequencing. The optimal fermentation conditions for maximum lipase yield were gradually optimized by single-factor tests. The extracellular lipase was purified by ammonium sulfate precipitation and Sephadex G-75 gel isolation chromatography. Amino acid sequence analysis, structure prediction, and molecular docking of the purified protein were performed. The pure lipase's enzymatic properties and application potential were evaluated by characterizing its biochemical properties. Results In this study, a lipase producing strain of Bacillus sp. ZF2 was isolated from pig carcass compost products, the optimal fermentation conditions of lipase: sucrose 3 g/L, ammonium sulfate 7 g/L, Mn2+ 1.0 mmol/L, initial pH 6, inoculum 5%, temperature 25 ℃, and fermentation time 48 h. After purification, the specific activity of the purified lipase reached 317.59 U/mg, a 9.78-fold improvement. Lipase had the highest similarity to the GH family 46 chitosanase and molecular docking showed that lipase binds to fat via two hydrogen bonds at Gln146 (A) and Glu203 (A). Under different conditions (temperature, metal ions, organic solvents, and surfactants), lipase can maintain enzymatic activity. Under different types of kitchen oils, lipase has low activity only for ‘chicken oil’, in treating other substrates, the enzyme activity can exceed 50%. Conclusions This study reveals the potential of lipase for waste oil removal, and future research will be devoted to the application of lipase