Evaluation of the realism of climate reconstruction using the Coexistence Approach with modern pollen samples from the Tibetan Plateau

We apply the Coexistence Approach (CoA) to reconstruct mean annual precipitation (MAP), mean annual temperature (MAT), mean temperature of thewarmestmonth (MTWA) and mean temperature of the coldest month (MTCO) at 44 pollen sites on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. The modern climate ranges of the taxa are obtained (1) from county-level presence/absence data and (2) from data on the optimum and range of each taxon from Lu et al. (2011). The CoA based on the optimumand range data yields better predictions of observed climate parameters at the pollen sites than that based on the county-level data. The presence of arboreal pollen, most of which is derived fromoutside the region, distorts the reconstructions. More reliable reconstructions are obtained using only the non-arboreal component of the pollen assemblages. The root mean-squared error (RMSE) of the MAP reconstructions are smaller than the RMSE of MAT, MTWA and MTCO, suggesting that precipitation gradients are the most important control of vegetation distribution on the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau. Our results show that CoA could be used to reconstruct past climates in this region, although in areas characterized by open vegetation the most reliable estimates will be obtained by excluding possible arboreal contaminants.

黄河上游青海沙蜥种组的系统地理学研究

沙蜥属（Phrynocephalus）的卵胎生类群主要分布在我国青藏高原，包括南疆沙蜥（P. forsythii）、西藏沙蜥（P. theobaldi）、红尾沙蜥（P. erythrurus）、贵德沙蜥（P. putjatia）和青海沙蜥（P. vlangalii）。其卵胎生生殖方式适应了高寒生境，与青藏高原隆升有关。纵观前人的研究，上述几种卵胎生沙蜥的分类、系统发育关系以及生物地理都还存在疑问。本文研究了分布在若尔盖湿地的青海沙蜥红原亚种（P. v hongyuanensis）以及分布在黄河上游其它地区青海沙蜥种组的地理分布格局，并探讨了其形成机制。 青海沙蜥在黄河上游主要分布于若尔盖湿地以及青海湖周边地区。若尔盖湿地青海沙蜥红原亚种的生境由于沼泽的形成被切割成不连续的斑块，通过遗传分析可以推测这种特殊生境对它们遗传结构的影响。其次，贵德沙蜥、青海沙蜥的青海湖周边各居群以及若尔盖湿地居群之间的系统地理格局还未见报道。因此本文以居群为单位，将它们作为一个复合体，通过系统地理研究，可以了解其种群遗传结构，据此分析相关的地质历史事件对其分布的影响。主要结果如下： 1. 若尔盖湿地青海沙蜥红原亚种的种群遗传结构： 共研究了三个地理单元（红原（HY）、辖曼（XM）、玛曲（MQ））的7个采集点的72个个体。所有ND4-tRNALeu序列比对得到785 bp的片断，定义了9种单倍型。结果显示总的核苷酸多样性较低，单倍型多样性较高。分子变异分析（AMOVA）显示3个单元间差异显著（P<0.01），遗传变异主要存在于地理单元间，占62.61%。除MQ单元，XM各居群与HY居群混杂在一起，单倍型网络图没有显示出单倍型和地理位置的对应关系。XM单元单倍型的不配对分布（Mismatch distribution）为明显左移的单峰，且Fu’s Fs test为负值，表明XM单元可能经历了近期种群扩张，有足够的时间积累单倍型的多态性，还不足以大幅提高核苷酸多样性，这是其单倍型多样性较高和核苷酸多样性较低的原因。MQ单元遗传多样性低而与其他单元显著分化，推测这与3万年前黄河在若尔盖玛曲之间贯通有关。近期沼泽的形成对XMb居群的隔离时间短，使得其遗传多样性低但还不足以形成大的遗传差异。无论黄河的贯通还是沼泽的形成其隔离形成的时间都不长，其作用改变了单倍型出现的频率，也出现了一些特有单倍型，但共享单倍型还广泛存在，还不足以使得不同居群之间形成较大的遗传距离。 2. 黄河上游青海沙蜥种组的分布格局与地史过程的关系： 黄河上游青海沙蜥种组包括贵德沙蜥、青海沙蜥指名亚种的青海湖周边各居群、青海沙蜥红原亚种若尔盖湿地居群、以及青海湖以西的部分居群（序列由Genbank下载获得），总计22个居群189个样品。所有ND4-tRNALeu序列比对得到703个位点，定义了39种单倍型。以南疆沙蜥为外群构建的贝叶斯树以及MP法构建的无根树，都分为A、B两大组。其中A包括若尔盖湿地居群以及玛多居群（A1）、青海湖以西的居群和兴海居群（A2）、西藏沙蜥；B包括青海湖以南的居群和天祝居群（B1）、青海湖以东北的居群（B2）。单倍型网络图分别对应了系统发育树上的各支。按照系统发育结果分组进行分子变异分析，得到组间变异占88.63％，各组间差异显著（P=0.000）。种群遗传结构分析得到，A1和B2可能经历了近期的种群扩张，前者扩张时间约为0.105－0.189 Ma B.P.（million years before present），后者为0.057－0.102 Ma B.P.，可能与末次间冰期的气候变暖有关。A2和B1对应的两个地理单元都具有较强的种群遗传结构，较为稳定。 青海沙蜥种组A、B两大支之间遗传距离大，分化明显，分化大约发生在4.29－2.38 Ma B.P.，推测青藏运动的A幕运动后复杂的地形变化可能是它们产生分化的原因。B1和B2分化大约发生在1.73－0.96 Ma B.P.，这与湟水流域构造运动发生的时间相符。在早、中更新世时期，B1支内部各居群可能有交流，中更新世末共和盆地出现的抬升以及河流溯源改道等事件可能是引起这支内部多个单倍型丢失的原因。A1、A2支的分化可能与倒数第三次冰期降临之后气候变冷、阿尼玛卿山的大冰帽有关。 The viviparous group of genus Phrynocephalus is mainly distributed in the Qinghai –Tibetan Plateau, including P. forsythii、P. theobaldi、P. erythrurus、P. putjatia and P. vlangalii. These species are adapted well to the cold clime there, and the origin of this group was the result of a vicariance event associated with the uplifting of the Qinghai -Tibetan Plateau. Although many works have been done, there are still several questions about classification、phylogenetic relationships and the biogeography of this group. The phylogeographic pattern of the P. vlangalii complex on the upper reaches of the Yellow River and the P. v. hongyuanensis in Zoige Wetland were studied in this thesis. On the upper reaches of the Yellow River, P. vlangalii complex are distributed in Zoige Wetland and the southeast and northeast region of Kuku-noor Lake. Because of the forming of the wetland in Zoige, the habitats for sand lizards are divided into many discontinuous ones, and it is necessary to analyze genetic structure in these unique habitats. The phylogeographic patter among P. putjatia、populations of P. vlangalii in the southeast region of Kuku-noor Lake and populations of P. vlangalii in Zoige Wetland hasn’t been studied yet, and the complicated geological events of the Plateau may play an important role in the populations’ diversity and species forming there. So these populations were gathered as a complex, and phylogeographic analysis were used to clarify these doubts. According to the two topics above, this thesis has two parts of results as follows: 1. Three geographic units of P. vlangalii hongyuanensis in Zoige Wetland were defined, and they were Xiaman （XM）、Hongyuan （HY） and Maqu （MQ）. 785bp fragments of the mtDNA ND4-tRNAleu were determined from 72 samples and nine haplotypes were identified. As a whole, the nucleotide diversity was low，but the haplotype diversity was high. Analysis of molecular variance （AMOVA） showed that the three units were distinctly different（P<0.01），and 62.61% of the total genetic diversity was attributable to variation among units. There were 3 haplotypes shared among XM and HY，and no geographic clustering was observed except MQ from the TCS network. The results from the mismatch distribution analysis and Fu’s Fs test implied that there might be a recent population expansion in the XM unit, and this may be the reason why XM had a high haplotype diversity but a low nucleotide diversity. We estimate that the MQ and XMb have lower diversities because of some very recent geographic events, such as the formation of the Yellow river’s upriver and the Zoige Wetland. Although they are distinctly different, not enough time has passed for them to have diverged a great genetic distance. 2. 189 samples in 22 populations of P. vlangalii complex were collected, including P. putjatia、populations of P. vlangalii in the southeast and northeast region of Kuku-noor Lake、 populations of P. vlangalii in Zoige Wetland and the data from Genbank. 703bp ND4-tRNALeu sequences identified 39 haplotypes. P. forsythii was selected as outgroup, and both the Bayesian tree and the MP unrooted tree were divided into two groups（A、B）. A included populations in Zoige Wetland and Xinghai（A1）、populations in the west of Kuku-noor Lake（A2）、P. theobaldi, and B included populations in the southeast of Kuku-noor Lake and Tianzhu（B1）、populations in the northeast of Kuku-noor Lake（B2）. The haplotype network agreed with these groups. AMOVA showed that these five groups were distinctly different（P<0.01）, and 88.63% of the total genetic diversity was attributable to variation among groups. There might be recent population expansion in A1 and A2, which corresponded to the dry climate of the last interglacial period. The expansion times were 0.189-0.105 Ma B.P. and 0.102-0.057 Ma B.P., respectively. A2 and B1 had strong genetic structure. The large genetic distance between A and B showed that they had been separated from each other for a long time（about 4.29-2.38 Ma B.P.）, and it corresponded to the A phase of Qingzang Movement. The diversity between B1 and B2 at 1.73-0.96 Ma B.P. may be caused by the geological event in Huangshui valley. In early Pleistocene, populations in B1 may have gene flow because of geographic linkage, and later the uplift of the Plateau and the change of river route there made a few haplotypes lost. A1 and A2 were divided into two parts by A’nyemaqen Mountains at 0.66-0.37 Ma B.P., which maybe corresponded to glaciations at about 0.7 Ma B.P.

Age-related development of a refractive index plateau in the human lens : evidence for a distinct nucleus

The human lens comprises two distinct regions in which the refractive index changes at different rates. The periphery contains a rapidly increasing refractive index gradient, which becomes steeper with age. The inner region contains a shallow gradient, which flattens with age, due to formation of a central plateau, of RI = 1.418, which reaches a maximum size of 7.0 × 3.05 mm around age 60 years. Formation of the plateau can be attributed to compression of fibre cells generated in prenatal life. Present in prenatal but not in postnatal fibre cells, γ-crystallin may play a role in limiting nuclear cell compression.

Death in the Bolivian High Plateau : Burials and Tiwanaku Society

My Ph.D. dissertation presents a multi-disciplinary analysis of the mortuary practices of the Tiwanaku culture of the Bolivian high plateau, situated at an altitude of c. 3800 m above sea level. The Tiwanaku State (c. AD 500-1150) was one of the most important pre-Inca civilisations of the South Central Andes. The book begins with a brief introductory chapter. In chapter 2 I discuss methodological and theoretical developments in archaeological mortuary studies from the late 1960s until the turn of the millennium. I am especially interested in the issue how archaeological burial data can be used to draw inferences on the social structure of prehistoric societies. Chapter 3 deals with the early historic sources written in the 16th and 17th centuries, following the Spanish Conquest of the Incas. In particular, I review information on how the Incas manifested status differences between and within social classes and what kinds of burial treatments they applied. In chapter 4 I compare the Inca case with 20th century ethnographic data on the Aymara Indians of the Bolivian high plateau. Even if Christianity has affected virtually every level of Aymara religion, surprisingly many traditional features can still be observed in present day Aymara mortuary ceremonies. The archaeological part of my book begins with chapter 5, which is an introduction into Tiwanaku archaeology. In the next chapter, I present an overview of previously reported Tiwanaku cemeteries and burials. Chapter 7 deals with my own excavations at the Late Tiwanaku/early post-Tiwanaku cemetery site of Tiraska, located on the south-eastern shore of Lake Titicaca. During the 1998, 2002, and 2003 field seasons, a total of 32 burials were investigated at Tiraska. The great majority of these were subterranean stone-lined tombs, each containing the skeletal remains of 1 individual and 1-2 ceramic vessels. Nine burials have been radiocarbon dated, the dates in question indicating that the cemetery was in use from the 10th until the 13th century AD. In chapter 8 I point out that considerable regional and/or ethnic differences can be noted between studied Tiwanaku cemetery sites. Because of the mentioned differences, and a general lack of securely dated burial contexts, I feel that at present we can do no better than to classify most studied Tiwanaku burials into three broad categories: (1) elite and/or priests, (2) "commoners", and (3) sacrificial victims and/or slaves and/or prisoners of war. On the basis of such indicators as monumental architecture and occupational specialisation we would expect to find considerable status-related differences in tomb size, grave goods, etc. among the Tiwanaku. Interestingly, however, such variation is rather modest, and the Tiwanaku seem to have been a lot less interested in expending considerable labour and resources in burial facilities than their pre-Columbian contemporaries of many parts of the Central Andes.

Flow through a plateau border of cellular foam

Experimentally measured average velocities through plateau borders of stationary cellular foam, when compared with those calculated with the assumption of rigid Plateau Border walls, show that the assumption of rigid walls severely underestimates the velocities. An analysis of the situation wherein plateau border walls have velocities, as decided by the surface viscosity of the system, is presented here. The plateau border is idealized as a pipe of equilateral triangular cross-section with vertices of the triangle having zero velocity. The pertinent form of Navier-Stoke's equations with inhomogeneous boundary conditions and its solution through a procedure of successive approximations is presented in dimensionless form. The solution reduces to the known solution of slow steady flow through a triangular pipe, when surface viscosity is infinite. Results indicate that the assumption of rigid plateau border walls is valid only when value of the inverse of dimensionless surface viscosity is less than 0.044. Beyond that the assumption severely underestimates the flow and the effect of nonrigidity of the wall must be considered.

Imaging of knee injuries with special focus on tibial plateau fractures

Acute knee injury is a common event throughout life, and it is usually the result of a traffic accident, simple fall, or twisting injury. Over 90% of patients with acute knee injury undergo radiography. An overlooked fracture or delayed diagnosis can lead to poor patient outcome. The major aim of this thesis was retrospectively to study imaging of knee injury with a special focus on tibial plateau fractures in patients referred to a level-one trauma center. Multi-detector computed tomography (MDCT) findings of acute knee trauma were studied and compared to radiography, as well as whether non-contrast MDCT can detect cruciate ligaments with reasonable accuracy. The prevalence, type, and location of meniscal injuries in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) were evaluated, particularly in order to assess the prevalence of unstable meniscal tears in acute knee trauma with tibial plateau fractures. The possibility to analyze with conventional MRI the signal appearance of menisci repaired with bioabsorbable arrows was also studied. The postoperative use of MDCT was studied in surgically treated tibial plateau fractures: to establish the frequency and indications of MDCT and to assess the common findings and their clinical impact in a level-one trauma hospital. This thesis focused on MDCT and MRI of knee injuries, and radiographs were analyzed when applica-ble. Radiography constitutes the basis for imaging acute knee injury, but MDCT can yield information beyond the capabilities of radiography. Especially in severely injured patients , sufficient radiographs are often difficult to obtain, and in those patients, radiography is unreliable to rule out fractures. MDCT detected intact cruciate ligaments with good specificity, accuracy, and negative predictive value, but the assessment of torn ligaments was unreliable. A total of 36% (14/39) patients with tibial plateau fracture had an unstable meniscal tear in MRI. When a meniscal tear is properly detected preoperatively, treatment can be combined with primary fracture fixation, thus avoiding another operation. The number of meniscal contusions was high. Awareness of the imaging features of this meniscal abnormality can help radiologists increase specificity by avoiding false-positive findings in meniscal tears. Postoperative menisci treated with bioabsorbable arrows showed no difference, among different signal intensities in MRI, among menisci between patients with operated or intact ACL. The highest incidence of menisci with an increased signal intensity extending to the meniscal surface was in patients whose surgery was within the previous 18 months. The results may indicate that a rather long time is necessary for menisci to heal completely after arrow repair. Whether the menisci with an increased signal intensity extending to the meniscal surface represent improper healing or re-tear, or whether this is just the earlier healing feature in the natural process remains unclear, and further prospective studies are needed to clarify this. Postoperative use of MDCT in tibial plateau fractures was rather infrequent even in this large trauma center, but when performed, it revealed clinically significant information, thus benefitting patients in regard to treatment.

Kinetic theory for the density plateau in the granular flow down an inclined plane

The striking lack of observable variation of the volume fraction with height in the center of a granular flow down an inclined plane is analysed using constitutive relations obtained from kinetic theory. It is shown that the rate of conduction in the granular energy balance equation is O(delta(2)) smaller than the rate of production of energy due to mean shear and the rate of dissipation due to inelastic collisions, where the small parameter delta = (d/(1 - e(n))H-1/2), d is the particle diameter, en is the normal coefficient of restitution and H is the thickness of the flowing layer. This implies that the volume fraction is a constant in the leading approximation in an asymptotic analysis in small delta. Numerical estimates of both the parameter delta and its pre-factor are obtained to show that the lack of observable variation of the volume fraction with height can be explained by constitutive relations obtained from kinetic theory.

Origin of the plateau in the low-temperature thermal conductivity of silica

Thermal conductivities of glasses at low temperatures show strikingly similar behavior irrespective of their chemical composition. While for T<1 K the thermal conductivity can be understood in the phenomenological tunneling model; the ‘‘universal plateau’’ in the temperature interval 15>T>2 K is totally unexplained. While Rayleigh scattering of phonons by structural disorder should be the natural cause for limiting the mean free path of phonons in this temperature range, it has been concluded before that in glasses a strong enough source of such scattering does not exist. In this study we show by a proper structural analysis in at least one material (namely, silica) that a strong enough source of Rayleigh scattering of phonons in glasses does exist so that the ‘‘universal plateau’’ can be explained without invoking any new mechanism. This may be for the first time that the low-temperature property of a structural glass has been correlated to its structure.

Plateau模拟在微重力科学中的应用

Ｐｌａｔｅａｕ模拟使用中性悬浮技术来模拟太空的微重力条件，在微重力科学中的应用包括：研究液桥的平衡和振荡、研究液体封套悬浮区熔晶体生长技术和研究声悬浮技术等三个方面．本文综述这三方面研究的进展，评述这个方法的意义和局限，讨论了进一步有待研究的问题．

Relatório apresentado a S. Ex. o Sr. Ministro da Industria, Viação e Obras Públicas =Rapport présenté a Son Ex. M. le Ministre de l'Industrie, de la Voirie et des Travaux Publics /por L. Cruls. --Relatório da Comissão Exploradora do Planalto Central do Brazil = Rapport de la Commission d'Exploration du Plateau Central du Brésil

Documento com duas páginas-de-rosto, em português e francês. Título em francês : Rapport présenté a Son Ex. M. le Ministre de l'Industrie, de la Voirie et des Travaux Publics

Vertical and seasonal distribution of phytoplankton in the Shen Reservoir Plateau State, Nigeria

The phytoplankton distribution of the Shen Reservoir, Bukuru in the Jos Plateau, Nigeria was monitored at 6 depths. Higher floral abundance occurred within the upper 00-03 meters with highest values at the first 1 meter. Bacillariophyceae and Dinophyceae recorded higher values in March-April with lower values in July and January respectively. Phytoplankton were most abundant in the rainy season. Secchi disc transparency was lowest in the peak of the rainy season (July) due to higher levels of suspended matter resulting from the increased run-off from surrounding farmlands of allochthonous materials as well as higher levels of phytoplankton population arising from the former factor. The low water temperature of December/January 15 degree C plus or minus 2 degree C might have depressed growth among the major groups of plankters but enhanced rapid multiplication of the Chlorophyta, Trachelomonas which showed a bloom at this season

Investment prospects of fish farming in the Jos-Plateau, Nigeria

The investment prospects of fish farming in the Jos-Plateau, Nigeria, strategically located in about the centre of the country are discussed with special reference to its numerous abandoned mine lakes and the tripartite role of government, universities and individuals. In the Jos-Plateau, about 17.0 km super(2) is covered by these disused mine lakes, making up about 20-30% of the area covered. In such enterprise, problems commonly encountered, like population growth and government planning policies, fish demand and supply, manpower, feed and seed availability, preservation, processing and marketing are discussed. Inspite of these, prospects still abound with regards to land-use of these numerous disused mine lakes and feed availability based on the principles of using both industrial and farm by-products for fish culture, processing and marketing. These potentials, if properly harnessed, will help to supplement the protein insufficiency in the diet of the populace. In this regard, proposals on the economics of production and sales, strategies for achieving these development goals, cost-benefit analysis and their implications in further development of fish culture are discussed