Saltwater Intrusion in the Changjiang Estuary

Saltwater intrusion in the Changjiang Estuary and the impacts of river discharge, tide, wind, sea level rise, river basin, and major estuary projects on saltwater intrusion are studied in this chapter. There is a net landward flow in the NB (North Branch) when river discharge is low during spring tide, resulting in a type of saltwater intrusion known as the SSO (saltwater-spilling-over from the NB into the SB (South Branch)), which is the most striking characteristic of saltwater intrusion in the estuary. A three-dimension numerical model with HSIMT-TVD advection scheme was developed to study the hydrodynamic processes and saltwater intrusion in the Changjiang Estuary. Saltwater intrusion in the estuary is controlled mainly by river discharge and tide, but is also influenced by wind, sea level rise, river basin, and estuary projects. Saltwater intrusion is enhanced when river discharge decreases. There is more time for the reservoir to take freshwater from the river when river discharge is larger. The fortnightly spring tide generates greater saltwater intrusion than the neap tide. The saltwater intrusion in the SP (South Passage) is stronger than that in the NP (North Passage), and the intrusion in the NP is stronger than that in the NC (North Channel). The northerly wind produces southward currents along the Subei coast as well as the landward Ekman transport, which enhances the saltwater intrusion in the NC and NB and weakens the saltwater intrusion in the NP and SP. Saltwater intrusion becomes stronger as the sea level rises and is much stronger when river discharge is much small. The DWP (Deep Waterway Project) alleviates the saltwater intrusion in the NC and the lower reaches of the NP and enhances the saltwater intrusion in the SP and in the upper reaches of the NP. The Three Gorges Dam (TGD) increases river discharge in winter, which weakens saltwater intrusion, and is favorable for reducing the burden of freshwater supplement in the highly populated estuarine region. The Water Diversion South to the North Project (WDP) decreases river discharge, enhances saltwater intrusion, and is unfavorable for freshwater supply in the estuary

Cynodon dactylon (L) Pers (Poaceae) root extract induces apoptotic cell death via the cyclin D1 pathway in human nasopharyngeal carcinoma cells in vitro and in vivo

Purpose: To investigate the activity of Cynodon dactylon root extract as a potential anticancer agent.Methods: Human nasopharyngeal carcinoma HNK-1 cells were treated with ethanol extract of C. dactylon roots. After treatment with C. dactylon root extract, cells were assessed for their cytotoxicity, metabolic status, apoptosis and cell cycle progression. The anticancer activity of the extract was also determined in vivo using a mouse model.Results: C. dactylon extract exhibited significant cytotoxicity and arrested cell cycle in HNK-1 cells in a dose-dependent manner. Fluorescence-activated cell sorting (FACS) data revealed that it also induced apoptotic cell death. Rb phosphorylation and mRNA levels of cyclin E were significantly reduced. Moreover, C. dactylon extract caused a significant reduction in tumor size and volume in vivo.Conclusion: C. dactylon root extract induces apoptosis in nasopharyngeal cancer cells via cyclin D1 pathway and inhibits tumor growth in vivo.Keywords: Cynodon dactylon, Anticancer, Cyclin D1 pathway, Apoptosis, Nasopharyngeal carcinom

Barrier Inhomogeneity of Schottky Diode on Nonpolar AlN Grown by Physical Vapor Transport

An aluminum nitride (AlN) Schottky barrier diode (SBD) was fabricated on a nonpolar AlN crystal grown on tungsten substrate by physical vapor transport. The Ni/Au-AlN SBD features a low ideality factor n of 3.3 and an effective Schottky barrier height (SBH) of 1.05 eV at room temperature. The ideality factor n decreases and the effective SBH increases at high temperatures. The temperature dependences of n and SBH were explained using an inhomogeneous model. A mean SBH of 2.105 eV was obtained for the Ni-AlN Schottky junction from the inhomogeneity analysis of the current-voltage characteristics. An equation in which the parameters have explicit physical meanings in thermionic emission theory is proposed to describe the current-voltage characteristics of inhomogeneous SBDs.Comment: 6 pages, 6 figure

Data Processing Pipeline for Pointing Observations of Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope

We describe the data processing pipeline developed to reduce the pointing observation data of Lunar-based Ultraviolet Telescope (LUT), which belongs to the Chang'e-3 mission of the Chinese Lunar Exploration Program. The pointing observation program of LUT is dedicated to monitor variable objects in a near-ultraviolet (245-345 nm) band. LUT works in lunar daytime for sufficient power supply, so some special data processing strategies have been developed for the pipeline. The procedures of the pipeline include stray light removing, astrometry, flat fielding employing superflat technique, source extraction and cosmic rays rejection, aperture and PSF photometry, aperture correction, and catalogues archiving, etc. It has been intensively tested and works smoothly with observation data. The photometric accuracy is typically ~0.02 mag for LUT 10 mag stars (30 s exposure), with errors come from background noises, residuals of stray light removing, and flat fielding related errors. The accuracy degrades to be ~0.2 mag for stars of 13.5 mag which is the 5{\sigma} detection limit of LUT.Comment: 10 pages, 7 figures, 4 tables. Minor changes and some expounding words added. Version accepted for publication in Astrophysics and Space Science (Ap&SS

Designing an Adaptive Assisting Interface for Learning Virtual Filmmaking

International audienceIn this paper, we present an adaptive assisting interface for learning virtual filmmaking. The design of the system is based on the scaffolding theory, to provide timely guidance to the user in the form of visual and audio messages that are adapted to each person's skill level and performance. The system was developed on an existing virtual filmmaking setup. We conducted a study with 24 participants, who were asked to operate the film set with or without our adaptive assisting interface. Results suggest that our system can provide users with a better learning experience and positive knowledge harvest

Urban Treetop Detection and Tree-Height Estimation from Unmanned-Aerial-Vehicle Images

Individual tree detection for urban forests in subtropical environments remains a great challenge due to the various types of forest structures, high canopy closures, and the mixture of evergreen and deciduous broadleaved trees. Existing treetop detection methods based on the canopy-height model (CHM) from UAV images cannot resolve commission errors in heterogeneous urban forests with multiple trunks or strong lateral branches. In this study, we improved the traditional local-maximum (LM) algorithm using a dual Gaussian filter, variable window size, and local normalized correlation coefficient (NCC). Specifically, we adapted a crown model of maximum/minimum tree-crown radii and an angle strategy to detect treetops. We then removed and merged the pending tree vertices. Our results showed that our improved LM algorithm had an average user accuracy (UA) of 87.3% (SD± 4.6), an average producer accuracy (PA) of 82.8% (SD± 4.1), and an overall accuracy of 93.3% (SD± 3.9) for sample plots with canopy closures less than 0.5. As for the sample plots with canopy closures from 0.5 to 1, the accuracies were 78.6% (SD± 31.5), 73.8% (SD± 10.3), and 68.1% (SD± 12.7), respectively. The tree-height estimation accuracy reached more than 0.96, with an average RMSE of 0.61 m. Our results show that the UAV-image-derived CHM can be used to accurately detect individual trees in mixed forests in subtropical cities like Shanghai, China, to provide vital tree-structure parameters for precise and sustainable forest management.National Key R&D Program of ChinaNational Natural Science Foundation of ChinaChina Postdoctoral Science FoundationPeer Reviewe

High throughput 16SrRNA gene sequencing reveals the correlation between Propionibacterium acnes and sarcoidosis

Sequences of the unique OTUs. (XLS 3616 kb