Modern human behaviors during the late stage of the MIS3 and the broad spectrum revolution: Evidence from a Shuidonggou Late Paleolithic site

The last glacial period was vital for the distribution and evolution of early modern humans in Asia. The Shuidonggou Late Paleolithic site, dated at 30-20 ka BP, accumulated cultural remains during the important late stage of MIS 3 period in the last glacial. These remains represent characteristics of typical Late Paleolithic conditions in North China:high degree of standardization and morphological variability of tool types, exploitation of bone materials, systematic use of body decorations, extensive use of earth-pit hearths, distinct functional spatial organization within habitations, and conversion of subsistence patterns. These characteristics illustrate early modern human behaviors during the late MIS3 period, and provide clues and perspectives for the analysis of early modern human origins in China. At the same time, the conversion of subsistence patterns is considered to be a combination of multiple early modern human behaviors, as well as the result of the Broad Spectrum Revolution. In this paper, we argue for the dynamic mechanism of Broad Spectrum Revolution from a human behavioral and ecological perspective.     

Periodicity of Retzius lines in fossil <Emphasis Type="Italic">Pongo</Emphasis> from South China

Periodicity of Retzius lines is a key factor in dental development. In this study, we examined the periodicity of Retzius lines in fossil Pongo from South China using polarized light microscope observation of dental ground sections. The periodicities all of the 15 teeth were 9 d. Comparisons of periodicity were made with extant primates, fossil apes and hominins. Periodicity of fossil Pongo from South China was relatively long but fell within the variation of extant Pongo, Gorilla and modern human, and longer than periodicity of Pan and other extant primates. Fossil Pongo from South China was similar to Lufengpithecus and Sivapithecus, shorter than Gigantopithecus and longer than European and African fossil apes and most early hominins in periodicity. Generally, the periodicities of Asian large-body fossil apes were longer than the periodicities of European and African large-body fossil apes in Miocene. Difference among species and trend of evolution in periodicity were analyzed and discussed. We found that periodicity might gradually increase from Proconsul in early Miocene to several fossil apes in Miocene and then Gigantopithecus in Pleistocene. In addition, this study made correlate analysis between periodicity and body mass respectively in males and females of six extant apes and five fossil apes, and found that periodicity positively correlated with body mass.     

Aerodynamic optimization and evaluation for the three-dimensional afterbody/nozzle integrated configuration of hypersonic vehicles

The optimization of 2D expansion lines and key parameters of three-dimensional configurations was carried out under simulated conditions of Mach 6.5 and a flight altitude of 25 km for an integrated configuration of the afterbody/nozzle of a hypersonic vehicle.First,the cubic B-spline method was applied to parameterize the expansion lines of the upper expansion ramp.The optimization procedure was established based on computational fluid dynamics and the sequential quadratic programming method.The local mesh reconstruction technique was applied to improve computational efficiency.A three-dimensional integrated configuration afterbody/nozzle was designed based on the two-dimensional optimized expansion lines.The influence rules incorporated certain key design parameters affecting the lift and thrust performance of the configuration,such as the ratio of the lengths of the lower expansion ramp to the afterbody (l/L),the dip angle of the lower expansion ramp ω,and the ratio of exit height to the length of afterbody (H/L).Under these conditions,we found that the integrated configuration has optimal performance when l/L=1/6,H/L=0.35 and =10°.We also showed that the presence of a side-board promotes lift and thrust performance,and effectively prevents the leakage of high pressure gas.     

Improved zero-sum distinguisher for full round <Emphasis Type="Italic">Keccak-f</Emphasis> permutation

Keccak is one of the five hash functions selected for the final round of the SHA-3 competition,and its inner primitive is a permutation called Keccak-f.In this paper,we observe that for the inverse of the only nonlinear transformation in Keccak-f,the algebraic degree of any output coordinate and the one of the product of any two output coordinates are both 3,which is 2 less than its size of 5.Combining this observation with a proposition on the upper bound of the degree of iterated permutations,we improve the zero-sum distinguisher for the Keccak-f permutation with full 24 rounds by lowering the size of the zero-sum partition from 21590 to 21575.     

Investigation of the interfacial water structure on poly[2-（dimethylamino）ethyl methacrylate] at the air/water interface by sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy

The effect of pH on the conformation of surface alkyl groups and the structure of interfacial water molecules on poly[2-(dime-thylamino)ethyl methacrylate](PDEM) at the air/water interface were investigated with sum frequency generation vibrational spectroscopy(SFG-VS).At pH 4.1,the hydrogen bonding SFG spectra were similar to that of the air/pure water interface.As the pH increased from 5.4 to 9.6,the SFG intensities of both highly ordered hydrogen bonding(3200 cm-1 band) and less-ordered hydrogen bonding(3400 cm-1 band) were enhanced because of the charge-induced effect of deprotonated PDEM.The free OH peak disappeared completely because it was replaced by interfacial PDEM molecules.At pH 11.5,a new spectral band appeared at about 3580 cm-1 in the ppp and sps spectra,and this could be assigned to the C2v asymmetric stretching mode of the water molecules through molecular symmetry simulation.These hydrogen bonding structures are fully consistent with the conformational change of PDEM alkyl groups,and PDEM molecules act as a Hofmeister solvent.PDEM molecules are kosmotropic when they are charged and become more chaotropic as the pH increases.     

First record of Lower Triassic <Emphasis Type="Italic">Undichna</Emphasis> spp. fish swimming traces from Emei,Sichuan Province,China

We discuss traces from the ichnospecies Undichna unisulca recorded from the Triassic that are reported for the first time in this paper. These fossils are also some of the oldest vertebrate ichnites discovered in China to date. The fish swimming traces (Undichna unisulca) described originate from the Lower Triassic. These traces were found in the Jialingjiang Formation and are located at a gorge ~7.5 km from Emei, Sichuan Province, China. The ichnospecies Undichna unisulca consists of a regular sinusoidal wave. The wavelengths and amplitudes are quite constant between each specimen ranging between 28-32 mm and 9-12 mm, respectively. The fish swimming traces and distribution within the same bed are preserved as hypichnial ridges at the undersurface.     

Production of 316L stainless steel implant materials by powder metallurgy and investigation of their wear properties

In this study,the mechanical and wear properties of AISI 316L stainless steel implant materials,produced by powder metallurgy(P/M),were investigated.AISI 316L stainless steel powder was cold-pressed with 800 MPa of pressure and then sintered at 1200,1250 and 1300°C for 30 min as three sample groups.The microstructure,and mechanical and wear properties of the resulting steels were investigated.Light optical and scanning electron microscopiese were used to characterize the microstructure of the steels.Room temperature mechanical properties of the steels were determined by hardness measurements and impact tests.Wear was determined using the pin-on-disc wear test,and the results were evaluated according to weight loss.The results indicate that the sintering temperature,time and atmosphere are important parameters that affect the porous ratio of materials produced by P/M.Sintering at high temperature can eliminate small pores and make the residual pores spherical.The wear tests showed that the wear of the AISI 316L stainless steel implants changed depending on the sintering temperature and load.Spherical pores in the samples increase the wear resistance.Moreover,decreasing the porosity ratio of these materials improves all of their mechanical properties.     

Efficient synthesis of functionalized 2-pyridones by ytterbium chloride catalyzed tandem condensation

An efficient method was developed for the synthesis of arylidene heterobicyclic 3-cyano-2-pyridones via ytterbium chloride catalyzed tandem condensation of aromatic aldehydes,cyclic ketones,and cyanoacetamide.The conditions and scope of the reaction were investigated and a reaction mechanism was proposed.     

Variability of snail growing season at the Chinese Loess Plateau during the last 75 ka

Knowledge of seasonal climate change is one of the key issues facing Quaternary paleoclimatic studies and estimating seasonal climate change is difficult,especially changes such as seasonal length on glacial-interglacial timescales.The stable isotope composition from seasonal land snail shells provides the potential to reveal seasonal climatic features.Two modern land snail species,cold-aridiphilous Pupilla aeoli and thermo-humidiphilous Punctum orphana,were collected from different climatic zones in 18 localities across the Chinese Loess Plateau,spanning 11 degrees of longitude and covering a range of 1000 km2.The duration of the snail growing season(temperature ≥10℃) was shorter(202 ± 6 d) in the eastern Loess Plateau compared with in the western Loess Plateau(162 ±7 d).The δ13C of P.aeoli shells was ?9.1‰ to ?4.7‰ and ?5.0‰ to 0.3‰ for δ18O.For P.orphana,the δ13C ranged from ?9.1‰ to ?1.9‰ and ?8.9‰ to ?2.9‰ for δ18O.Both the δ13C and δ18O differences between the two snail species were reduced from the east to the western Loess Plateau(2.8‰ to 0.2 ± 1.1‰ for δ13C and 4.7‰ to 2.9 ± 1.3‰ for δ18O).These isotopic differences roughly reflect the difference in the growing season lengths between the east and west Loess Plateau indicating that the duration of the snail growing season shortens by 15 d or 19 d if the difference decreases by 1‰ in δ13C or δ18O,respectively.Thus,the difference in δ13C and δ18O between both snail species can be used to reveal the length of the snail growing season in the past.Based on our investigation,the length of the snail growing seasons from the Xifeng region during the last 75 ka was reconstructed.During the mid-Holocene(8-3 ka),the mean isotopic difference from both snail species reached maximum values of 2.6 ± 0.7‰ and 2.1 ± 1.4‰ for δ13C and δ18O,respectively.This was followed by MIS 3 that ranged from 2.5 ± 0.4‰ for δ13C and 1.6 ± 0.8‰ for δ18O.The Last Glacial Maximum changed by only 0.2‰ and 0.4‰ for δ13C and δ18O,respectively.Therefore,we estimate that the duration of the snail growing seasons to be ～200 ± 10 d during the mid-Holocene,190 ± 6 d in MIS 3 and 160 ± 3 d during the last glacial period.     

Effects of soil stoichiometry of the CaCO<Subscript>3</Subscript>/available phosphorus ratio on plant density in <Emphasis Type="Italic">Artemisia ordosica</Emphasis> communities

In soil, CaCO3 can reduce the availability of phosphorus in arid and semi-arid regions, thereby influencing plant growth. However, the effects of soil stoichiometry of the CaCO3/available phosphorus ratio (CaCO3/AP ratio) on plant density are unknown. In this study, we examined 4 Artemisia ordosica communities located in arid and semi-arid regions, and performed a pot experiment with an orthogonal design to examine the relationships between the soil CaCO3/AP ratio and plant density. The results showed that the soil stoichiometry of the CaCO3/AP ratio had a greater effect on growth of A. ordosica than either CaCO3 or AP as single factor. The influence of the soil CaCO3/AP ratio on density of A. ordosica was related to the climatic zone and the types and/or amplitudes of increases in the soil CaCO3/AP ratio. When the soil CaCO3/AP ratio was within the same amplitude and was less than 2.5, the A. ordosica density increased in the semi-arid region, whereas the density decreased with increasing soil CaCO3/AP ratios in the arid region. In the semi-arid region, when the soil CaCO3/AP ratio was within the same amplitude and the increase in the soil CaCO3 content was greater than the increase in soil AP, the A. ordosica density increased with increasing soil CaCO3/AP ratios. This means that the relationship between the soil CaCO3/AP ratio and the A. ordosica density remained the same. In the arid region, an increase in the soil CaCO3/AP ratio as a result of increased soil CaCO3 content and decreased soil AP resulted in increased density of A. ordosica. Therefore, the relationship between soil CaCO3/AP ratios and density of A. ordosica was altered by these changes in soil chemistry. Thus, the soil stoichiometry of the CaCO3/AP ratio is an important factor affecting the density of A. ordosica in arid and semi-arid regions.