Agricultural Drought Monitoring And Prediction Using Soil Moisture Deficit Index

The purposes of this study are: 1) to evaluate the performance of an agricultural drought index, Soil Moisture Deficit Index (SMDI) at continental scale; 2) to develop an agricultural drought prediction method based on precipitation, evapotranspiration and terrestrial water storage. This study applied multiple linear regression (MLR) with the inputs of precipitation from Parameter-elevation Regressions on Independent Slopes Model (PRISM), evapotranspiration from Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) MOD 16 and terrestrial water storage (TWS) derived from the Gravity Recovery and Climate Experiment (GRACE) to predict soil moisture and SMDI. The inputs of the MLR model were chosen based on the mass conservation of the hydrological quantities at the near surface soil layer (two meters). In addition, the model also includes seasonal and regional terms for estimation. Comparisons with the US drought monitor （USDM）showed that SMDI can be used as a proxy of agricultural drought. The model exhibited strong predictive skills at both one- and two-month lead times in forecasting agricultural drought (correlation \u3e0.8 and normalized root mean square error \u3c15%)

Nitrous oxide research progress in polar and sub-polar oceans

N2O gas depletes ozone and has a powerful greenhouse effect. Oceans are among the most important N2O sources and have been the subject of extensive studies. Polar oceans are important regions for deep water formation and global-scale thermohaline circulation. Therefore, these water bodies play an important role in the N2O budget, however, these regions were not well studied. This review of previously published studies and data on polar oceans, including both the Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean, describes the distribution pattern of N2O and possible regulating mechanism of these distribution patterns and shows that the Arctic Ocean and Southern Ocean both represent source and sink regions, suggesting that the source/sink characteristics of the Arctic and Southern oceans and their strengths need further study. Questions related to N2O circulation in polar oceans were proposed, and future work is suggested

Reporting of ethical considerations in clinical trials in Chinese nursing journals

Background: It is acknowledged that publishers now require all primary research papers to demonstrate that they have obtained ethical approval for their research. Objectives: To assess the rate of reporting of ethical approval in clinical trials in core nursing journals in mainland China. Research design: A retrospective observational study. Participants: All clinical trials published in all of the 12 core nursing periodicals from 2016 edition China Science and Technology Journal Citation Report (core version) between 2013 and 2016 were retrieved by hand to explicate rate of reporting ethical approval and informed consent. Ethical considerations: The study did not require approval from the research ethics committee as it did not involve human subjects or records. Results: In total, 40,278 papers were published in 12 nursing periodicals between 2013 and 2016. Out of these, 9488 (23.6%) focused on clinical trials. Informed consent obtained from patients or the legally authorized representative was reported in 51.8% of clinical trials. Notably, only 27.4% of clinical trials reported that they had obtained written consent. Furthermore, 25.9% of clinical trials described ethical approval; however, the rate of reporting informed consent and ethical approval in these 12 nursing journals in China during 4 years from 2013 to 2016 improved markedly, with 38.1%, 44.0%, 59.0% and 66.6%, respectively (p<0.001), and 17.6%, 21.9%, 28.6% and 35.8%, respectively (p<0.001). In addition, both reporting informed consent and reporting written informed consent had a positive significant correlation with the reporting ethical approval (p<0.05 or p<0.01). Conclusion: Chinese scientific nursing journals have improved the rate of reporting informed consent and ethical approval in clinical trials during the last 4 years. However, it should be noted that nearly half of clinical trials still did not report either ethical approval or whether informed consent was obtained. Efforts from editors, researchers, sponsors and authors are needed to ensure the transparency of ethical scrutiny and adherence to ethical guidelines in publishing clinical trials in Chinese nursing journals

Necessity of a Multifaceted Approach in Analyzing Growth of Impervious Surfaces

While substantial efforts have been devoted to the remote sensing of impervious surfaces, few studies have developed frameworks to connect impervious surfaces&rsquo; growth with spatial planning decisions. To this end, this paper develops a multifaceted approach with three components: Visualization, numerical analysis, and simulation at the sub-pixel level. First, the growth of impervious surfaces was visualized through write function memory (WFM) insertion for the period of 1974&ndash;2009 of Cixi County in Zhejiang Province, China. Second, anomaly detection, statistical analysis, and landscape metrics were used to quantify changes in impervious surfaces over time. Finally, a slope, land use, exclusion, urban extent, transportation, and hill shade (SLEUTH) cellular automata model was employed to simulate the impervious surface growth until 2015 under four specific spatial decision scenarios: Current trends, environmental protection growth, business growth, and Chinese policy for protecting rural regions. The results show that Cixi County experienced compact growth due to expansion and internal intensification. Interestingly, the SLEUTH reveals that the projected space of impervious surfaces&rsquo; growth was consistent with reality in 2015. The framework established in this study holds considerable potential for improving our understanding of the interaction between impervious surfaces&rsquo; growth and planning aspects

Spatial Variability and Factors Influencing the Air-Sea N2O Flux in the Bering Sea, Chukchi Sea and Chukchi Abyssal Plain

The concentrations of the ozone-depleting greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O) in the upper 300 m of the Subarctic and Arctic Oceans determined during the 5th Chinese National Arctic Research Expedition were studied. The surface water samples revealed that the study area could be divided into three regions according to the distribution of dissolved N2O in the surface water, namely, the Aleutian Basin (52° N–60° N), continental shelf (60° N–73° N) and Canadian Basin (north of 73° N), with N2O in the surface water in equilibrium, oversaturated and undersaturated relative to the atmosphere, respectively. The influences of physical and chemical processes, such as eddy diffusion and sedimentary emissions, beneath the surface layer are discussed. The results of a flux evaluation show that the Aleutian Basin may be a weak N2O source of approximately 0.46 ± 0.1 μmol·m−2·d−1, and the continental shelf acts as a strong N2O source of approximately 8.2 ± 1.4 μmol·m−2·d−1. By contrast, the Chukchi Abyssal Plain (CAP) of the Canadian Basin is at least a temporal N2O sink with a strength of approximately −10.2 ± 1.4 μmol·m−2·d−1

Spatiotemporal Distribution of Nitrous Oxide on the Northeastern Bering Sea Shelf

Rapid warming and loss of sea ice in the Arctic Ocean could play an important role in the dissolution and emission of greenhouse gas nitrous oxide (N2O). We investigated dissolved N2O in spatiotemporal distribution on the northeastern Bering Sea shelf (NEBS) in the summer of 2012. The results showed that N2O concentrations were higher in the Chirikov Basin (mean ± SD, 14.8 ± 2.4 nmol/L) than in the south of St. Lawrence Island (mean ± SD, 17.7 ± 2.3 nmol/L). In the Chirikov Basin, N2O displayed a decreasing distribution pattern from west (~20.4 nmol/L) to east (~12.9 nmol/L). In the area south of St. Lawrence Island, N2O almost presented a two-layer structure, although it showed a vertically homogeneous distribution in the inner shelf. In the cold bottom water, the N2O was affected mainly by in situ production or sediment emission. Longer resident time may cause N2O accumulation in the cold bottom water. The calculated sea–air flux (−1.6~36.2 μmol/(m2·d)) indicates that the NEBS is an important potential source of atmospheric N2O and could play an important role in global oceanic N2O emission with intensifying global issues

Maternal serum disintegrin and metalloprotease protein-12 in early pregnancy as a potential marker of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the concentration of disintegrin and metalloprotease protein12 (ADAM12) in first trimester maternal serum can be used as a marker for first-trimester complete spontaneous abortions, missed abortions, ectopic pregnancies and hydatidiform moles.The maternal serum concentrations of ADAM12 were measured in the range of 5-9+6 weeks of gestation using an automated AutoDelfia immunoassay platform in 9 cases of complete spontaneous abortion, 27 cases of missed abortions, 56 cases of ectopic pregnancies, 12 cases of hydatidiform moles, and 100 controls. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine significant factors for predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes in early pregnancy. Screening performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves.Two hundred and four women were enrolled in the study. In the control group, the level of ADAM12 increased with gestational age. The median ADAM12 levels in the spontaneous abortion (0.430 MoM), ectopic pregnancy (0.460 MoM) and hydatidiform mole (0.037 MoM) groups were lower than that in the control group, while the median ADAM12 level in the missed abortion group (1.062 MoM) was not significant from the controls (1.002 MoM). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the level of ADAM12 in maternal serum facilitated the detection of ectopic pregnancies (OR = 0.909; 95% CI = 0.841 ∼ 0.982) and complete spontaneous abortion (OR = 0.863; 95% CI = 0.787 ∼ 0.946).In complete spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy, ADAM12 maintained at low levels in early pregnancies, and there were significant differences compared to normal pregnancies. ADAM12 is a promising marker for the diagnosis of complete spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy in symptomatic women, and under certain conditions, ADAM12 can diagnose ectopic pregnancy and spontaneous abortion before an ultrasonographic detection of the conditions

Maternal serum disintegrin and metalloprotease protein-12 in early pregnancy as a potential marker of adverse pregnancy outcomes.

The aim of this study was to determine whether the concentration of disintegrin and metalloprotease protein12 (ADAM12) in first trimester maternal serum can be used as a marker for first-trimester complete spontaneous abortions, missed abortions, ectopic pregnancies and hydatidiform moles.The maternal serum concentrations of ADAM12 were measured in the range of 5-9+6 weeks of gestation using an automated AutoDelfia immunoassay platform in 9 cases of complete spontaneous abortion, 27 cases of missed abortions, 56 cases of ectopic pregnancies, 12 cases of hydatidiform moles, and 100 controls. Logistic regression analysis was used to determine significant factors for predicting adverse pregnancy outcomes in early pregnancy. Screening performance was assessed using receiver operating characteristic curves.Two hundred and four women were enrolled in the study. In the control group, the level of ADAM12 increased with gestational age. The median ADAM12 levels in the spontaneous abortion (0.430 MoM), ectopic pregnancy (0.460 MoM) and hydatidiform mole (0.037 MoM) groups were lower than that in the control group, while the median ADAM12 level in the missed abortion group (1.062 MoM) was not significant from the controls (1.002 MoM). Logistic regression analysis demonstrated that the level of ADAM12 in maternal serum facilitated the detection of ectopic pregnancies (OR = 0.909; 95% CI = 0.841 ∼ 0.982) and complete spontaneous abortion (OR = 0.863; 95% CI = 0.787 ∼ 0.946).In complete spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy, ADAM12 maintained at low levels in early pregnancies, and there were significant differences compared to normal pregnancies. ADAM12 is a promising marker for the diagnosis of complete spontaneous abortion and ectopic pregnancy in symptomatic women, and under certain conditions, ADAM12 can diagnose ectopic pregnancy and spontaneous abortion before an ultrasonographic detection of the conditions

Exploring Spatial Network Structure of the Metropolitan Circle Based on Multi-Source Big Data: A Case Study of Hangzhou Metropolitan Circle

The metropolitan circle is the basic unit of regional competition. Enhancing the connection between cities in the metropolitan circle and optimizing the spatial layout of the metropolitan circle is one of the goals of regional high-quality development in the new era. Therefore, it is of great significance to analyze the spatial network structure of the metropolitan circle. Taking Hangzhou metropolitan circle as an example, this study used web crawler technology to obtain data in multiple Internet big data platforms; used centrality analysis, flow data model, and social network analysis to construct the network connection matrix of human flow, goods flow, capital flow, information flow, and traffic flow; and explored the spatial network structure of the metropolitan circle. The results showed that the node intensity of the metropolitan circle presented a distribution pattern of strong in the east and weak in the west. The network connections of each county under the action of different element flows were different, and the skeleton of the integrated flow network connections showed a starfish-shaped feature. Hangzhou, Jiaxing, Huzhou, and Shaoxing cities had strong group effects in goods flow and traffic flow, while Quzhou and Huangshan cities had relatively independent cohesive subgroups in human flow and information flow. This study can provide useful references for regional development and spatial planning implementation