Assessment of the uncertainties in temperature change in China during the last century

We have used the China Homogenized Historic Temperature dataset and some long-term station series of the neighbor countries from CRUTEM3, a 5°×5° gridded dataset of monthly mean temperature since 1900, to provide a 107-year record of surface tem-perature trends and variability. We derived a comprehensive set of uncertainty estimates to accompany the data: measurement and sampling errors, uncertainties in temperature bias estimates, and uncertainties arising from limited observational coverage on large-scale averages have all been estimated. We reanalysed the temperature changes during the period of record. The best estimates of trends for 1900–2006 with uncertainties at 95% confidence range are about 0.09±0.017°C/decade for the year as a whole, and 0.14±0.021°C/decade, 0.11±0.021°C/decade, 0.04±0.017°C/decade, and 0.07±0.017°C/decade for winter, spring, summer and autumn respectively. For 1954–2006, the trends for annual, winter, spring, summer and autumn are: 0.26±0.032°C/decade, 0.35±0.046°C/decade, 0.25±0.051°C/decade, 0.16±0.037°C/decade and 0.22±0.055°C/decade. Winter saw the most significant warming trend in both 1900–2006 and 1954–2006, while during the most recent period (the satellite era, 1979–2006), all the seasons show similar warming trends: 0.45±0.13°C/decade, 0.51±0.11°C/decade, 0.52±0.16°C/decade, 0.37±0.10°C/decade and 0.50±0.16°C/decade for annual, winter, spring, summer and autumn. Trends arising from urbanization have been evaluated as less than 5% of the total warming trend for 1951–2001, so this bias was not removed.     

Mapping of genetic modifiers of <Emphasis Type="Italic">Plcd1</Emphasis> in scant hair mice (<Emphasis Type="Italic">snthr</Emphasis><Superscript><Emphasis Type="Italic">1Bao</Emphasis></Superscript>)

The scant hair mutant mouse (locus symbol: snthr ^1Bao ) is a recessive mutation that originated in an ethylnitrosourea chemical carcinogenesis study using the DBA/2J inbred strain. The gene responsible for the mutation was previously determined to be phospholipase C, delta 1 (Plcd1; mutant allele symbol Plcd1 ^snthr1Bao ). To map the modifiers of Plcd1, an intercross (DBA/2J-snthr ^1Bao /snthr ^1Bao × C57BL/6J+/+) was conducted. The F2 mutant progeny exhibited a variety of alopecia phenotypes; all F2 mutants (n=507) were classified into 3 groups (mild, moderate, and severe alopecia) and genotyped based on 96 microsatellites. A major QTL was identified on mouse chromosome (mChr) 15 at 12 cM with an LOD score greater than 7 (P < 0.0001). Three minor QTLs were detected on mChr 2, 5, and 7 at 40, 84 and 48 cM, respectively. The QTLs on mChr 7 and 15 were associated with minor alopecia while the QTLs on mChr 2 and 5 were associated with moderate to severe alopecia. No antagonistic or synergistic effects among or between the 4 QTLs were found. Integrating the functions of the 4 potential regulatory QTLs and mutant Plcd1 ^snthr1Bao , we found that these QTLs might contribute to variations of scant hair severity by altering the Ca²⁺ signal pathways in mouse skin.     

Solvothermal synthesis and ferromagnetic property of bamboo-shoot-like oriented carbon micromaterials

Bamboo-shoot-like oriented carbon micromaterials (BOCMs) were synthesized by a solvothermal method at 450°C for 4 h using deoiled asphalt (DOA) as carbon source, toluene as solvent, ferrocene as catalyst precursor and amphiphilic triblock copolymer P123 as surfactant. The morphology and structure of the products were characterized by X-ray diffraction, field emission scanning electron microscopy, high resolution transmission electron microscopy and Fourier transform infrared spectroscopy. The results reveal that the obtained products have good distribution with uniform diameters of about 0.5 μm and the lengths of 1–1.5μm, and hydrogen-carbon bonds are observed on the surface of BOCMs. The growth mechanism of BOCMs is discussed, in which that the catalysis of ferrocene and the dispersion and assembly of the aromatic molecules of DOA directed by P123 are critical to the formation of the BOCMs. The coercivity value (231.91 Oe) from the measurement of a vibrating sample magnetometer shows that the BOCMs have an obvious ferromagnetic behavior.     

Precise orbit determination for geostationary satellites with multiple tracking techniques

A new precise orbit determination (POD) strategy based on the combination of satellite laser ranging (SLR) and C-band transfer ranging for geostationary satellites (GEO) is presented.Two approaches to calibrate ranging biases of the C-band ranging system are proposed,namely the two tracking system co-location comparison and the combined POD method,with calibration accuracies estimated to be 0.5 ns and 1 ns respectively.Using data from a C-band tracking network in China,POD experiments indicate that meter-le...     

Structural deformation and fault activity of the Tan-Lu Fault zone in the Bohai Sea since the late Pleistocene

The Tan-Lu Fault zone (TLFZ) is a significant fractural zone in eastern China and also a seismicity belt in North China. Based on total 4000-km-long shallow penetrated single seismic data with high-resolution, structural deformation and fault activity of the TLFZ in the Bohai Sea since the late Pleistocene are discussed in detail. The results show that the TLFZ with a discontinuous distribution and a general NNE-trending consists of 14 active subfaults with an NNE or NE strike in the Bohai Sea. Seismic data reveal that de-formation zones along the subfaults in the central Bohai Sea and the Laizhou Bay are wider and more complex than those in the Liaodong Gulf. Related folds and lots of secondary normal faults which are characterized by nearly vertical fault planes and a same or reverse dip construct the fractural zone in the Laizhou Bay and the central Bohai Sea. Usually, micro symmetrical grabens develop on the top of anticlines. In the Liaodong Gulf, subfault fractural zones usually consist of secondary normal faults with the same inclination or opposite inclination. Ages of seismic sequences and cutting relation between subfaults and seismic sequences suggest that the latest faulting age of the TLFZ is the end of the late Pleistocene in the Liaodong Gulf and the early Holocene in the Laizhou Bay and the central Bohai Sea. There is a good match between distribution of earthquakes and that of the subfaults in the Laizhou Bay and the central Bohai. Statistical result shows that total vertical offset of the TLFZ since the late Pleistocene ranges from 6 to 11 m. On the basis of offsets of the subfaults, the vertical slip rate is calculated and results show that average vertical slip rates in the central Bohai Sea are larger than those in the Liaodong Gulf and the Laizhou Bay. Slip rates more than 0.06 mm/a during 23–10 ka B.P. and 85–65 ka B.P. are larger than those in other stages. The TLFZ was mainly dominated by tensional normal component since the late Pleistocene. Synthesizing shallow deformation, activity and distribution of earthquakes, the TLFZ in the Bohai Sea can be divided into three segments: the Laizhou-Bay segment, the Bozhong segment, and the Liaodong-Gulf segment.     

Precorrected-FFT method for EM scattering from composite metallic-dielectric objects

The volume-surface integral equation(VSIE) ,the surface integral equation(SIE) and the volume integral equation(VIE) of EM scattering problem are converted into linear equations with the method of moment,then the precorrected-FFT method is used to solve the linear equations.To overcome the drawback of conventional stencil topology,two kinds of improved stencil topology,stencil topology B and stencil topology C,are presented,and the construction and actual performance of the three kinds of stencil topology a...     

The determination of atmospheric phosphine in Ny-Ålesund

Phoshpine (PH3), a volatile and toxic gas, has been proved to commonly exist in the environment. The determination of gaseous phosphine and its emission fluxes in Ny-Ålesund is reported in this paper. Results showed that gaseous phosphine exist in Arctic atmosphere commonly and the concentration of phosphine ranged from 16.3–600.2 ng/m³, with the maximum concentration of phosphine in tundra areas and the minimum in surface air of ocean. The concentration of phosphine ranged from 65.79–1259 ng/m³ in colliery atmosphere at different altitudes and the maximum was found in the center of colliery. Emission fluxes of phosphine were different in various Arctic areas. Emission fluxes of phosphine from protected areas, with average concentration of 32.13±5.353 ng m^–2 h^–1, were higher than from other areas. And the flux of phosphine from ocean was lower.     

Chiral <Emphasis Type="Italic">N</Emphasis>-formyl amino alcohol as Lewis basic organocatalyst for enantioselective hydrosilylation of ketimines

Easily accessible (1R,2S)-1,2-diphenyl-2-formamidoethanol has been developed as an effective Lewis base catalyst in the enanti-oselective hydrosilylation of ketimines, affording high isolated yields (up to 94%) and moderate to high enantioselectivities (up to 82% ee) for a broad range of ketimines.     

Entanglement dynamics and transfer in a double Jaynes-Cummings model

We study the entanglement dynamics for a double Jaynes-Cummings model where two entangled atoms A and B locally interact with independent cavities a and b, respectively, but there are no interactions between locations Aa and Bb. We point out that there exists a parameter range in which simultaneous pairwise entanglement sudden death (ESD) for remote parties, i.e. AB, ab, Ab and Ba, may occur. We show that during this simultaneous ESD period various multipartite entanglement can be created. Our results imply that the pairwise entanglement between two independent locations may be transferred into other multipartite forms which account for the correlations between the two independent locations.     

ZnO microsheet modified TiO<Subscript>2</Subscript> nanoparticle composite films for dye-sensitized solar cells

Randomly oriented ZnO microsheets were successfully self-assembled on TiO₂ nanoparticle (TN) film to act as the scattering layer via a cathodic electrodeposition process. The light scattering properties of ZnO microsheets were studied by UV-Vis spectrometer in the 400–800 nm wavelength range. It was found that ZnO microsheets exhibited excellent ability to scatter the incident light for ZnO microsheet-TiO₂ nanoparticle (ZT) composite films. The results showed that dye-sensitized solar cells (DSSCs) fabricated with ZT composite films showed higher short-circuit density (J_sc) and conversion efficiency than TN-based DSSCs, due to the light scattering properties of ZnO microsheets.