THE LI FOUNDATION FELLOWSHIP OF NEW YORK to honour the memory of Dr Lu Gwei-djen

A visiting Fellowship tenable at the Needham Research Institute in Cambridge,England,is offered by the Li Foundation of NewYork.The fellowship will run for the academic yearfrom October 2007 to June 2008,and the successful applicant should be free to arrive inCambridge at the beginning of October.The objective of this fellowship is to enable a Chinesescholar from mainland China,Taiwan,Hong Kong or Singapore to conduct research in a sub-ject relevant to the concerns of the Institute,i.e…     

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博士研究生奖学金 [英国] University of Cambridge The Centre aims to promote the study of placental biology, with special reference to the trophoblast. It is offering up to three PhD studentships commencing in October 2009. These may be held in any relevant department within the University or its affiliated institutes.     

Spatiotemporal characteristics of freezing and thawing of the active layer in the source areas of the Yellow River （SAYR）

Based on the analysis of data on temperatures and moisture of soils in the active layer at four different permafrost sites in the source areas of the Yellow River(SAYR)in 2010–2012,the freeze–thaw processes of soils in the active layer were compared and contrasted for understanding the spatiotemporal variations.At the four studied sites,the thickness and mean annual temperature of permafrost are different.The temperatures at the top of permafrost(TTOP),i.e.,the maximum depth(s)of seasonal frost and/or thaw penetration,are-1.9°C at the Chalaping site(CLP),-0.9°C at the site on the southern bank of the Zhaling Lake(ZLH),-0.4°C at the Maduo Town site(MDX),and 1.1°C at the site on the northern bank of the Eling Lake(ELH).Differences in the mean annual ground temperature of permafrost and TTOPs may be responsible for the differentiations in the freeze–thaw processes of soils in the active layer.With rising TTOPs,the ground thawing started earlier:CLP in early June,ZLH in late May,MDX in early May,and ELH in mid-April,while the freezing began later:CLP in early October,ZLH in early to midOctober,MDX in mid-October,and ELH in the mid-to late October.With increasing TTOPs,the freeze-up periods for permafrost sites were shortened:202 days at CLP,130 days at ZLH,100 days at MDX,and the period of complete thaw was 89 days at ELH.At the CLP and ZLH sites,the two-directional ground freezing(downwards from ground surfaces and upwards from the permafrost table)and thawing finished in the same year,but the ground freezing at the MDX continued to the end of the nextJanuary,with very slow freezing rates in the end.At the ELH site,ground freezing kept on until early May when thawing began on the surface,and upward and downward thawing became increasingly stable in late June to early July.At each site,with rising TTOPs,the downward freezing accelerated in comparison with the upward freezing,and with an increasing proportion of downward frozen depth,and with the larger ratios of freezing to thawing duration.In summary,the patterns of thawing and freezing processes in the active layer in the SAYR differ from those in other parts of the Qinghai–Tibet Plateau to a noticeable extent.     

Estimation of soil respiration in a paddy ecosystem in the subtropical region of China

Water vapor, energy exchange, and CO2 flux were measured continuously from 2003 to 2005 using the eddy covariance technique in a paddy ecosystem in the subtropical region of China. The CO2 fluxes at nighttime during fallow periods (from middle October to late April) were used to analyze the dynamics of soil respiration and its relationship with soil temperature, and to simulate the annual dynamics of soil respiration in paddy ecosystems. The variation of soil respiration showed a clear seasonal pattern. The soil respiration rates at night during the fallow periods were 52―398 mg·m-2·h-1, and exponen- tially correlated (P<0.001) with soil temperatures at different depths of soil (5, 10, and 20 cm), particularly the temperature measured at a depth of 5 cm. Based on the simulated exponential equations developed, annual average soil respiration rates and total soil respiration of paddy soil in the subtropical region of China were estimated to be 178.5―259.9 mg·m-2·h-1 and 1.56―2.28 kg·m-2·a-1, respectively. The simulation equations can be applied to evaluating soil respiration in paddy ecosystems during the rice-growing season.     

Estimation of soil respiration in a paddy ecosystem in the subtropical resion of China

Water vapor, energy exchange, and CO2 flux were measured continuously from 2003 to 2005 using the eddy covariance technique in a paddy ecosystem in the subtropical region of China. The CO2 fluxes at nighttime during fallow periods （from middle October to late April） were used to analyze the dynamics of soil respiration and its relationship with soil temperature, and to simulate the annual dynamics of soil respiration in paddy ecosystems. The variation of soil respiration showed a clear seasonal pattern. The soil respiration rates at night during the fallow periods were 52--398 mg· m^-2· h^-1, and exponentially correlated （P〈0.001） with soil temperatures at different depths of soil （5, 10, and 20 cm）, particularly the temperature measured at a depth of 5 cm. Based on the simulated exponential equations developed, annual average soil respiration rates and total soil respiration of paddy soil in the subtropical region of China were estimated to be 178.5--259.9 mg· m^-2· h^-1 and 1.56--2.28 kg· m^-2· a^-1, respectively. The simulation equations can be applied to evaluating soil respiration in paddy ecosystems during the rice-growing season.     

Effects of Season, Variety, and Processing Method on Ellagic Acid Content in Pomegranate Leaves*

Ellagic acid （EA） has aroused great interest worldwide owing to its antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and anticarcinogenetic properties. The EA content in pomegranate leaf was measured in this study using high performance liquid chromatography to investigate the effects of season, variety, and processing method on the EA level. The results show that the EA content in 11 varieties of pomegranate from the Zaozhuang region in China range from 1.30 mg · g^-1 to 6.46 mg · g^-1 of dry weight in five consecutive seasons from June to October. An analysis of variance （ANOVA） shows that the EA content is significantly dependent on the season （p〈0.05）. The EA content increases significantly during the growing season to the highest level in September and October. The effect of the leaf variety on the EA content is less significant than the season. The processing methods have different effects on the EA content. Soaking for 24 hours slightly increases the EA content （p〈0.05）. Heating at 80℃ or 100℃ for 1 h after soaking has little influence on the EA content, while slow-fired cooking at high temperature significantly elevates the EA content （p〈0.05）. To improve quality and stability, several parameters such as leaf collection time, slow-fired cooking, and cooking time should be strictly controlled during the processing of pomegranate leaf tea and its extract.     

10Be/7Be implies the contribution of stratosphere-troposphere transport to the winter-spring surface O3 variation observed on the Tibetan Plateau

10Be/7Be is a stratospheric sensitive tracer.In this paper,measurements of 10Be/7Be and surface O3 from October 2005 to May 2006 at Mt.Waliguan (hereafter WLG,100.898°E,39.287°N,3810 m,a.s.l.),China global atmospheric watch (GAW) observatory,are introduced and used to investigate the stratosphere-troposphere transport (STT) and its impact on surface O3 on the Tibetan Plateau.The results show that the magnitude of STT is weak in winter,followed by strengthening from the end of winter to the middle of spring (from mid February to mid April) with large increases in 10Be,7Be,10Be/7Be and surface O3.At the end of spring (from the end of April to mid May in this paper),the STT weakened,and the continuous increase of surface O3 at WLG is produced by tropospheric photochemistry reactions.     

Preface

Wuzong Zhou is Professor of Chemistry at the University of St Andrews. He obtained his BSc in 1982 (Fudan University, Shanghai) and his PhD in 1988 (University of Cambridge) under the supervision of Professor Sir John M. Thomas and Dr. David A. Jefferson. He then pursued his research in Cambridge for 11 years as a Research Assistant, Research Associate, Research Fellow of Queens’ College (1987-1990) and Assistant Director of Research (1993-1998).     

Preface

The second international workshop on the Statistical Physics and Mathematics for Complex Systems (SPMCS) was held in the Center for Complexity Science at Central China Normal University in Wuhan, China, from 23–27 October 2010; the first workshop, held in 2008 in Le Mans, France, was convened by the Laboratoire de Physique Statistique et Systèmes Complex-es of ISMANS, an engineering college in France. As announced in the Aims and Scope, this conference series is intended to bring together senior and junior scientists, as well as Ph.D. students, to present the state of the art, to exchange recent results, new ideas, and different points of view on     

Dissolved inorganic carbon and its isotopic differentiation in cascade reservoirs in the Wujiang drainage basin

Three cascade reservoirs, built in different periods of time in the Wujiang drainage basin, were investigated in this study. Samples were taken at the surface and also at 20, 40, 60, 80 m depths in front of the dams in April, July, October of 2006 and January of 2007. Chemical parameters were calculated and the concentrations of dissolved inorganic carbon [DIC] and its isotopic composition （δ613CDIC） were determined. In surface waters, the δ613CDIC values are high in summer and autumn and low in winter and spring, while the DIC concentrations are relatively low in summer and autumn and relatively high in winter and spring. In the water column, the DIC concentrations increase while δ613CDIC values decrease with water depth. DIC in various reservoirs is significantly different in isotopic composition from that in natural rivers, but is close to that in natural lakes. In addition, in surface waters, the δ613CDIC values tend to become lower whereas the nutrition level tends to become higher with increasing age of the reservoirs. The conclusion is that after dam blocking, changes took place in the hydrochemical properties of river water, and the impounding rivers developed toward lakes and swamps. In addition, differentiation in DIC isotopic composition may be used to some extent to trace the evolution process of a reservoir.