Identification of Prorocentrum minimum and Takayama pulchella by fluorescence in situ hybridization through epifluorescence microscopy and flow cytometry

Partial rDNA sequences of Prorocentrum minimum and Takayama pulchella were amplified, cloned and sequenced. and these sequence data were deposited in the GenBank. Eight oligonucleotide probes (DNA probes) were designed based on the sequence analysis. The probes were employed to detect and identify P. minimum and T. pulchella in unialgal and mixed algal samples with a fluorescence in situ hybridization method using flow cytometry. Epifluorescence micrographs showed that these specific probes labeled with fluorescein isothiocyanate entered the algal cells and bound to target sequences, and the fluorescence signal resulting from whole-cell hybridization varied from probe to probe. These DNA probes and the hybridization protocol we developed were specific and effective for P. minimum and T. pulchella, without any specific binding to other algal species. The hybridization efficiency of different probes specific to P. minimum was in the order: PM18S02 > PM28S02 > PM28S01 > PM18S01, and that of the probes specific to T. pulchella was TP18S02 > TP28S01 > TP28S02 > TP18S01. The different hybridization efficiency of the DNA probes could also be shown in the fluorescent signals between the labeled and unlabeled cells demonstrated using flow cytometry. The DNA probes PM18S02, PM28S02; TP18S02 and TP28S01, and the protocol, were also useful for the detection of algae in natural samples.

Design and Fabrication of Thermo-Optic 4×4 Switching Matrix in Silicon-on-Insulator

A rearrangeable nonblocking thermo-optic 4×4 switching matrix,which consists of five 2×2 multimode interference-based Mach-Zehnder interferometer(MMI-MZI) switch elements，is designed and fabricated.The minimum and maximum excess loss for the matrix are 6.6 and 10.4dB,respectively.The crosstalk in the matrix is measured to be between －12 and －19.8dB.The switching speed of the matrix is less than 30μs.The power consumption for the single switch element is about 330mW.

Dislocation nucleation governed softening and maximum strength in nano-twinned metals

In conventional metals, there is plenty of space for dislocations-line defects whose motion results in permanent material deformation-to multiply, so that the metal strengths are controlled by dislocation interactions with grain boundaries(1,2) and other obstacles(3,4). For nano-structured materials, in contrast, dislocation multiplication is severely confined by the nanometre-scale geometries so that continued plasticity can be expected to be source-controlled. Nano-grained polycrystalline materials were found to be strong but brittle(5-9), because both nucleation and motion of dislocations are effectively suppressed by the nanoscale crystallites. Here we report a dislocation-nucleation-controlled mechanism in nano-twinned metals(10,11) in which there are plenty of dislocation nucleation sites but dislocation motion is not confined. We show that dislocation nucleation governs the strength of such materials, resulting in their softening below a critical twin thickness. Large-scale molecular dynamics simulations and a kinetic theory of dislocation nucleation in nano-twinned metals show that there exists a transition in deformation mechanism, occurring at a critical twin-boundary spacing for which strength is maximized. At this point, the classical Hall-Petch type of strengthening due to dislocation pile-up and cutting through twin planes switches to a dislocation-nucleation-controlled softening mechanism with twin-boundary migration resulting from nucleation and motion of partial dislocations parallel to the twin planes. Most previous studies(12,13) did not consider a sufficient range of twin thickness and therefore missed this strength-softening regime. The simulations indicate that the critical twin-boundary spacing for the onset of softening in nano-twinned copper and the maximum strength depend on the grain size: the smaller the grain size, the smaller the critical twin-boundary spacing, and the higher the maximum strength of the material.

模拟增温对川西亚高山人工云杉林土壤碳含量和土壤呼吸的影响

全球气候变化已经成为不争的事实，其中全球变暖是近年来国内外的研究热点之一。土壤碳库作为陆地生态系统最大的碳库，气温升高必然会导致一系列的土壤碳储量和碳通量的变化，这些微小的变化又可能导致大气CO2浓度的变化并强化这种变暖的趋势。目前，土壤碳循环对温度升高的响应仍然是陆地碳循环研究最缺乏的部分，对土壤有机碳动态变化的研究仍存在着很大的不确定性与争议。四川西部的亚高山人工针叶林是青藏高原东部高寒林区的重要组成部分，是研究全球变化对森林生态系统影响的关键地区和重要森林类型。本研究通过采用原位人工模拟增温装置（Open-top chambers，OTCs）对川西米亚罗60年人工云杉林土壤实施增温，研究高海拔地区森林，尤其是人工森林系统下的土壤有机碳 含量、土壤呼吸及土壤酶活性对温度升高的响应。结果表明： 1. 增温处理的660天（2005年11月至2007年9月）期间，增温条件下的平均气温和土壤平均温度分别比对照提高0.43 ℃和0.27 ℃；0~10 cm土壤含水量在增温的不同时期均有不同程度的降低。 2. 土壤蔗糖酶、蛋白酶和脲酶活性在温度升高的不同阶段均有不同程度的提高。在增温处理300天（2006.09）、540天（2007.05）、600天（2007.07）和660天（2007.05）后，0~10 cm层的蔗糖酶活性分别比对照提高了36.36%（P<0.05）、24.31%、14.54%（P<0.05）和7.22%，脲酶活性分别提高了12.90%、24.19%（P<0.01）、34.48%（P<0.05）和14.64%(P<0.05)，蛋白酶活性分别提高了31.37%、1.99%、3.70%和17.80%。10~20 cm层的土壤酶活性也均有不同程度的提高，但均没有显著差异。蔗糖酶、脲酶和蛋白酶活性均呈现出随土层加深而减弱的趋势。 3. 土壤过氧化氢酶和多酚氧化酶活性在增温的第1年内均有不同程度的提高，但在增温的第2年内比对照有所降低。增温300天后（2006.09），过氧化氢酶和多酚氧化酶在0~10 cm层分别比对照增加3.76%和49.25%（P<0.05），10~20 cm层分别增加了5.54%和29.67%。在增温的第2年内，增温540天（2007.05）、600天（2007.07）和660天（2007.09）后，0~10 cm层的过氧化氢酶活性分别比对照降低了27.70%（P<0.05）、4.34%和1.47%，多酚氧化酶活性分别降低了5.86%、11.76%（P<0.05）和7.47%。增温的第2年内，10~20 cm层的过氧化氢酶和多酚氧化酶活性也均有不同程度的降低，但差异均未达到显著水平。不同土层之间相比较，过氧化氢酶活性随土层加深而降低，多酚氧化酶活性随土层加深而增加。 4. 土壤有机碳和有机质在增温的不同阶段，含量比对照均有所降低；且随增温时间的延长，降低的幅度下降。0~10 cm层的土壤有机碳和土壤有机质在增温300天（2006.09）、540天（2007.05）、600天（2007.07）和660天（2007.09）后分别降低了8.69%、4.35%、3.80%和2.44%，差异均未达到显著水平。土壤全氮含量在增温后与对照相比无明显的增加或者降低趋势。增温条件下的土壤C/N比与对照相比有所降低，但在增温各阶段的差异均不显著。10~20 cm层的有机碳、有机质和C/N比也有不同程度的降低趋势，但差异均不显著。不同土层之间相比，0~10 cm层的有机碳、有机质、全氮含量和C/N比均高于10~20 cm层，呈现出随土层加深而降低的趋势。 5. 土壤呼吸速率在增温第1年内，与对照相比明显提高，但在增温处理2年后，与对照相比无显著变化。增温300天（2006.09）和360天（2006.11）后分别提高了13.32%和21.17%，差异显著。增温处理540天（2007.05）到660天（2007.09）期间，与对照相比，不仅没有明显的提升，反而有些月份比对照有所降低，对温度升高的敏感性降低，呈现出对温度升高的适应性。土壤呼吸的日呼吸速率呈现单峰曲线形式，在14:00~20:00期间达到最大值，在4:00~10:00期间具有最低值。土壤呼吸的季节变化，呈现出与外界环境温度相一致的趋势，在7月份（夏季） 最高，11月份（冬季）最低。土壤呼吸与2 cm土壤温度、5 cm土壤温度和空气温度均呈极显著指数相关，与0~10 cm土壤含水量呈线性相关，相关性达到显著水平，但低于土壤呼吸与温度的相关性。 The past century has seen a marked increase in atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and a concomitant warming that has drawn scientific attention to the link between global carbon stocks and climate change. In particular, the decomposition and turnover of soil organic matter is recognised as an important determinant of carbon driven climate change. The slightly variation in soil organic carbon will result in the increase of atmospheric carbon dioxide concentrations and reinforce the tendency of warming. The experiment was conducted in Subalpine coniferous forest in western Sichuan province. Subalpine coniferous forest in western Sichuan was a important part of eastern Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau, which play a important role in reseaching the sensitivity of forest ecosystem to climate change. To investigate the effects of elevated temperature on soil organic carbon content, soil respiration rates, and soil enzyme activities in subalpine Picea asperata plantations, a esimulated warming measure was applied with Open-top chambers. The results were as followed: 1) During the period from Nov. 2005 to Sep. 2007, mean air temperature and soil temperature were respectively 0.43℃ and 0.27℃ the ambient higher. Soil water content decreased to different exent in different months in warmed plots than in unwarned plots at depth of 0-10 cm. 2) In general, elevated temperature enhanced the soil enzyme activities of invertase, protease, and urease. In the first year of warming—after 300 days’ treatment (in Sep,2006), the activities of invertase, protease, and urease increased by 36.36%, 12.90% and 31.37% respectively at the depths of 0-10 cm，among which the activity of invertase reached statistic significance. In the second year of warming, invertase activity increased by 24.31% after 540 days’ treament (in May, 2007), 14.54% after 600 days’ treament (in Jul, 2007) and 7.22% after 660 days’ treatment (in Sep, 2007) at the depths of 0-10 cm, and the differences in July and Septemmber were statistically significant. Elveated temperature also increased the activity of urease in the second year of warming and had significant effects in May and July. The activity of protease in warmed plots was also higher than in unwarmed plots at depths of 0-10 cm, but there was no significant difference. Elevated temperature had no significant effects on all soil enzyme acitivities at the depths of 10-20 cm in the first and sencond year. The values of above-mentioned soil enzyme all decreased with soil layers. 3) Eleavted temperature enhanced the activities of catalase and polyphenol oxidase in the first year of warming while they turned out downtrend in the second year. The activity of catalase increased by 3.76% and 5.54% at depths of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm respectively in the first year—after 300 days’ warming (in Sep, 2006), the differences of which had no statistical significance. The activity of polyphenol oxidase was significantly increased by 49.25% at depths of 0-10 cm and not significantly increased by 29.67% at depths of 10-20 cm after 300 days’ warming. In the second year of warming, the catalase activity was significantly decreased by 27.70% after 540 days’ treament (in May, 2007) and not significantly decreased by 4.34% and 1.47% after 600 days’ (in Jul, 2007) and 660 days’ treament (in Sep, 2007) respectively. The activities of catalase and polyphenol oxidase at depths of 10-20 cm were decreased to different extent, but there was no significant difference. Catalase activity stepped down with soil layers while polyphenol oxidase activity stepped up. 4) Increased temperature in both the first year and the second year resulted tendency of decrease in the contents of soil organic carbon and soil organic matter, and C/N ratios at soil depths of 0-10 cm and 10-20 cm. However, with the prolonged warming, the tendency of decrease gradually tapered off and the extent of decrease in the second year of experiment were lower than that in the first year. The contents of soil organic carbon and soil organic matter were all decreased 8.69% by warming in the first year and dcreased 4.35%, 3.80% and 2.44% in May, July and September of the second year, but no significant difference were found. The C/N ratios increased 8.52% in the first year of warming and had less increment in the second year, all of which were not statistical significant. Eleveated temperature had no obvious effect on the content of tatol N in two year consecutive warming experiment. The contents of soil organic carbon and soil organic matter, total N and C/N ratios all had the tendency of dcreasing with soil layers. 5) Soil respiration rates were significantly enhanced by 13.32% and 21.17% after 300 days’ (in Sep, 2006) and 360 days’ (in Nov, 2006) treament in the first year of warming, but the same showed no obvious difference in the second year of treatment, which was assumed the adaptability of soil respiration with a certain heightened temperature. Diurnal soil resspiration showed a daily variation with a minimum value between 4:00 and 10:00 h and a maximum value between 14:00 and 20:00 h, coinciding with the minimum and maximum values of soil temperature at 2 cm. Soil respiration rates exhibited a pronounced seasonal variation with minimum values in Novmber and a maximum value in July, approximately coinciding with the seasonal variation of air and soil temperature. An exponential function provided the best fit for soil respiration with temperature while a quadric equation was used to estimate the effect of soil moisture on soil respiration, which were all significantly correlated. Soil respiraion rate was more highly correlated with the soil temperature than soil moisture.

黄骅坳陷大港探区油气资源潜力与资源结构预测

Facing the problems that Dagang region of Huanghua Depression has high exploration degree and its remaining resource potential and structure are not clear, the theory of Petroleum Accumulation System (PAS) is applied to divide and evaluate the oil/gas systems quantitatively. Then, the petroleum accumulation systems are taken as units to forecast and analyse the oil/gas resources and their structure using statistical methods of sampling analysis of discovery process model and generalized pareto distribution model. The exploration benefit of the unit is estimated using exploration simulation methods. On the basis of the above study, the resource potential of Huanghua Depression is discussed.Huanghua Depression can be diveded into four petroleum accumulation systems, i.e. North PAS5 Middle Qibei PAS, Middle Qinan PAS and South PAS. Each PAS can be diveded futher into several sub- PASs. Using the basic princple of Analytical Hierarchy Process, the method of quantitative evaluation of PAS is established. Then the elements and maturity of PAS are evaluated quantitatively.Taking migration and accumulation units and sub-PASs as prediction units, sampling analysis of discovery process model and generalized pareto distribution model are applied comparatively to forecast the resource structure of eight migration and accumulation units in six PASs of medium-high exploration degree. The results of these two methods are contrasted and analyzed. An examination of X2 data of these two models from exploration samples shows that generalized pareto distribution model is more effective than sampling analysis of discovery process model in Huanghua Depression. It is concluded that minimum and maximum size of reservoir and discovery sequence of reservoirs are the sensitive parameters of these two methods.Aiming at the difficult problem of forecast in low exploration degree, by analysis of relativity between resource parameters and their possible influential geological factors, forecast models for resource parameters were established by liner regressing. Then the resource structure is forecasted in PASs of low exploration degree.Based on the forecast results, beginning with the analysis of exploration history and benefit variation, the exploration benefit variation of the above PASs is fitted effectively using exploration simulation method. The single well exploration benefit of remaining oil resource is also forecasted reasonably.The results of resource forecast show that the total oil resources ofHuanghua Depression amount to 2.28 b illion ton. By the end o f 2 003, the accumulative total proved oil reserve is 0.90 billion ton and the remaining oil resources is 1.38 billion ton. The remaining oil resource is concentrated in Kongdian-Dengmingshi, Banqiao-Beidagang, Qidong-Yangerzhuang and Baidong-Qizhong sub-PASs.

Whistles of boto, Inia geoffrensis, and tucuxi, Sotalia fluviatilis

Whistles were recorded and analyzed from free-ranging single or mixed species groups of boto and tucuxi in the Peruvian Amazon, with sonograms presented. Analysis revealed whistles recorded falling into two discrete groups: a low-frequency group with maximum frequency below 5 kHz, and a high-frequency group with maximum frequencies above 8 kHz and usually above 10 kHz. Whistles in the two groups differed significantly in all five measured variables (beginning frequency, end frequency, minimum frequency, maximum frequency, and duration). Comparisons with Published details of whistles by other platanistoid river dolphins and by oceanic dolphins suggest that the low-frequency whistles were produced by boto, the high-frequency whistles by tucuxi. Tape recordings obtained on three occasions when only one species was present tentatively support this conclusion, but it is emphasized that this is based on few data. (C) 2001 Acoustical Society of America.

Structural and up-conversion luminescence properties in Tm (3+)/Yb3+-codoped heavy metal oxide-halide glasses

Tm3+/Yb3+-codoped heavy metal oxide-halide glasses have been synthesized by conventional melting and quenching method. Structural properties were obtained based on the Raman spectra, indicating that halide ion has an important influence on the phonon density and maximum phonon energy of host glasses. Intense blue and weak red emissions centered at 477 and 650 nm, corresponding to the transitions (1)G(4) -> H-3(6) and (1)G(4) -> H-3(4), respectively, were observed at room temperature. The possible up-conversion mechanisms are discussed and estimated. With increasing halide content, the up-conversion luminescence intensity and blue luminescence lifetimes of Tm3+ ion increase notably. Our results show that with the substitution of halide ion for oxygen ion, the decrease of phonon density and maximum phonon energy of host glasses both contribute to the enhanced up-conversion emissions. (c) 2005 Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.

Molecular phylogeny of the Chinese ranids inferred from nuclear and mitochondrial DNA sequences

The phylogeny of representative species of Chinese ranids was reconstructed using two nuclear (tyrosinase and rhodopsin) and two mitochondrial (12S rRNA, 16S rRNA) DNA fragments. Maximum parsimony, Bayesian, and maximum likelihood analyses were employed.-

The complete mitochondrial genomes of two species from Sinocyclocheilus (Cypriniformes: Cyprinidae) and a phylogenetic analysis within Cyprininae

We determined the complete mitochondrial DNA sequences for two species of surface- and cave-dwelling-cyprinid fishes, Sinocyclocheilus grahami and S. altishoulderus. Sequence comparison of 13 protein-coding genes shows that the mutation pattern of each single gene is quite similar to those of other vertebrate animal species. Analysis of the ratios of Ka/Ks at these loci between Sinocyclocheilus and two other cyprinid species (Cyprinus carpio and Procypris rabaudi) show that Ka/Ks ratios are differed, consistent with purifying selection and variation in functional constraint among genes. Bayesian analysis and maximum likelihood analysis of the concatenated mitochondrial protein sequences for 14 cyprinid taxa support the monophyly of the family Cyprininae, and further confirm the monophyly of the genus Sinocyclocheilus. The two Sinocyclocheilus species fall within the Cyprinion-Onychostoma lineage, including Cyprinus, Carassius, and Procypris, rather than among the Barbinae, as previously suggested on morphological grounds.

Molecular phylogeography and population structure of a mid-elevation montane frog Leptobrachium ailaonicum in a fragmented habitat of southwest China

Leptobrachium ailaonicum is a vulnerable anuran restricted to a patchy distribution associated with small mountain streams surrounded by forested slopes at mid-elevations (approximately 2000-2600 m) in the subtropical Mount Wuliang and Mount Ailao ranges in southwest China (Yunnan Province) and northern Vietnam. Given high habitat specificity and lack of suitable habitat in lower elevations between these ranges, we hypothesized limited gene flow between populations throughout its range. We used two mitochondrial genes to construct a phylogeographic pattern within this species in order to test our hypothesis. We also examined whether this phylogeographic pattern is a response to past geological events and/or climatic oscillations. A total of 1989 base pairs were obtained from 81 individuals of nine populations yielding 51 unique haplotypes. Both Bayesian and maximum parsimony phylogenetic analyses revealed four deeply divergent and reciprocally monophyletic mtDNA lineages that approximately correspond to four geographical regions separated by deep river valleys. These results suggest a long history of allopatric separation by vicariance. The distinct geographic distributions of four major clades and the estimated divergence time suggest spatial and temporal separations that coincide with climatic and paleogeographic changes following the orogeny and uplift of Mount Ailao during the late Miocene to mid Pliocene in southwest China. At the southern distribution, the presence of two sympatric yet differentiated clades in two areas are interpreted as a result of secondary contact between previously allopatric populations during cooler Pleistocene glacial cycles. Analysis of molecular variance indicates that most of the observed genetic variation occurs among the four regions implying long-term interruption of maternal gene flow, suggesting that L ailaonicum may represent more than one distinct species and should at least be separated into four management units corresponding to these four geographic lineages for conservation. (C) 2009 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Molecular phylogeny and biogeography of woolly flying squirrel (Rodentia : Sciuridae), inferred from mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences

To investigate the genetic diversity between the populations of woolly flying squirrels (Eupetaurus) from the eastern and western extremes of the Himalayas, partial mitochondrial cytochrome b gene sequences (390-810bp) that were determined from the museum specimens were analyzed using maximum parsimony (MP) and maximum likelihood (ML) methods. The molecular data reveal that the two specimens that were collected in northwestern Yunnan (China) are members of the genus Eupetaurus. Reconstructed phylogenetic relationships show that the populations of Eupetaurus in the eastern and western extremes of the Himalayas are two distinct species with significant genetic differences (12%) and diverged about 10.8 million years ago. Eupetaurus is significantly different from Petaurista and Pteromys. The level of estimated pairwise-sequence divergence observed between Eupetaurus and Petaurista or Pteromys is greater than that observed between Eupetaurus and Trogopterus, Belomys, Glaucomys, or Hylopetes. Considering the divergence time of the two Eupetaurus groups, the glaciations and the uplift of the Himalayas and Qinghai-Tibet plateau during the Pliocene-Pleistocene period might be the major factors affecting the present distribution of Eupetaurus along the Himalayas. (C) 2004 Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Comparative studies on photosynthesis and phosphate metabolism of Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii with Microcystis aeruginosa and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae

The physiological differences for three bloom-forming cyanobacteria (Cylindrospermopsis raciborskii, Microcystis aeruginosa, and Aphanizomenon flos-aquae) were investigated. In comparison with M. aeruginosa and A. flos-aquae, C. raciborskii exhibited a significantly higher concentration of carotenoids, higher values in maximum photosynthesis rate (P-m), apparent photosynthetic efficieny (a), and maximum electron transport rate (ETRmax) during the growth period. In addition, higher extracellular alkaline phosphatase activities and lower light compensation point (I-c) were also detected in C raciborskii (p < 0.05, ANOVA). Therefore, it is suggested that the higher photosynthetic activities, more effective uptake and utilization to phosphate, and low light requirements might play important roles in the occurrence and invasive behavior of C. raciborskii. Crown Copyright (C) 2009 Published by Elsevier B.V. All rights reserved.