黄土丘陵区人工刺槐林土壤活性有机碳与碳库管理指数演变

土壤碳库管理指数是表征土壤碳变化的重要量化指标,研究黄土丘陵区人工刺槐林土壤活性有机碳与碳库管理指数的变化过程对认识该地区生态恢复过程中土壤质量的演变及其效果评价具有重要意义。【方法】采用时空互代法,以典型侵蚀环境纸坊沟流域生态恢复过程中不同年限的人工刺槐林为研究对象,选取坡耕地和天然侧柏林为参照,分析了植被恢复过程中土壤有机碳(TOC)、活性有机碳(LOC)、非活性有机碳(NLOC)及碳库管理指数(CPMI)的演变特征,并运用相关和回归分析方法对生态恢复过程中碳库各组分和恢复年限进行拟合。【结果】营造刺槐林可以显著增加土壤碳库各组分含量,并随恢复年限呈显著线性关系,50a时TOC、LOC、NLOC和碳库指数(CPI)分别较坡耕地增加271%、174%、467%和271%,其中NLOC增加速率略高于LOC,表明植被恢复增加的土壤碳素绝大多数以非活性形态贮存起来,而为了满足生物生长所必须的活性物质来源,土壤碳库必须维持一定的活度状态来满足碳素的动态转化平衡,碳库管理指数在营造刺槐林初期显著降低,随后先增加后降低,与刺槐林生长特性密切相关;但与天然林相比差距仍然较大,恢复50a时TOC、LOC和NLOC仅...

侵蚀环境人工灌木林土壤活性有机碳与碳库管理指数演变

采用时空互代法,以黄土丘陵区纸坊沟流域生态恢复过程中不同年限的人工柠条和沙棘林为研究对象,选取坡耕地和天然侧柏林为对照,分析了植被恢复过程中土壤有机碳(TOC)、活性有机碳(LOC)、非活性有机碳(NLOC)及碳库管理指数的演变特征。结果表明,侵蚀环境下的坡耕地由于人为干扰,土壤碳库含量偏低,退耕营造柠条林可以显著增加土壤碳库各组分含量,并随恢复年限呈显著线性关系,25 a时TOC、LOC和NLOC分别较坡耕地增加271%、144%和204%,仅为侧柏林的32%、30%和29%,碳库指数和碳库管理指数较坡耕地明显增加,增幅分别达到144%和108%,仅为侧柏林的28%和43%;不同灌木林对土壤碳库管理的改善作用不同,恢复年限相同的沙棘林土壤碳库组分含量和管理指数明显高于柠条林,坡耕地营造灌木林后土壤经营和管理水平得到了显著改善,土壤系统向着良性方向转变。相关性分析表明有机碳、活性有机碳、非活性有机碳、碳库指数、碳库管理指数与土壤主要肥力因子相关性极其密切,可以作为反映生态恢复过程土壤质量演变的指标。

A Single Mode 980nm InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs Large Optical Cavity Quantum Well Laser with Low Vertical Divergence Angle

To achieve high optical power as well as low vertical divergence angle, a new kind of optimized large optical cavity (LOC) structure is applied to a ridge waveguide 980nm InGaAs/GaAs/AlGaAs multi-quantum well laser. The optical power density in the waveguide is successfully reduced. The maximum output power is more than 400mW with a slope efficiency of 0.89W/A and the far-field vertical divergence angle is lowered to 23°.

石漠化过程中的土壤生物地球化学特征

岩溶生境中的土壤具有高度的小生境异质性，与小生境土壤厚度、土壤面积、枯落物厚度等环境因子的异质性密切相关，只有样地土壤的面积权重混合样才能代表样地土壤性质。樵采和开垦干扰方式和不同的干扰程度对土壤生物地球化学特征都有影响，其中干扰方式的影响大于干扰程度。以土壤有机碳氮和有效磷、钾等养分指标和阳离子代换量等为主的化学指标主要与人为干扰方式有关，以土壤微生物生物量碳和微生物活性等为主的生物指标和酶活性除了与人为干扰方式有关外，还与植被生物量有关。初步提出能体现石漠化成因及程度的土壤退化指标体系，包括有化学指标：SOC、碱解氮、全氮、有效钾、CEC、颗粒有机碳的分配；酶指标：脲酶、β-葡萄糖苷酶；生物学指标：LOC、LFOC、SMBC、qSMBC；物理指标：团聚体稳定性、密度、D湿- D干、粉粒。樵采和开垦石漠化过程的土壤退化模式不同，与潜在石漠化等级相比，樵采石漠化轻度等级的土壤退化不明显，中度等级稍有退化，强度等级的退化较明显；开垦石漠化轻度、中度、强度等级的土壤明显退化，轻度与强度接近，中度的退化程度最高。樵采和开垦序列的土壤退化都主要发生在酶活性和生物学性质方面，其次是化学性质的退化，物理学性质的退化都不明显。

Chemical and biological applications of digital-microfluidic devices

The advent of digital microfluidic lab-on-a-chip (LoC) technology offers a platform for developing diagnostic applications with the advantages of portability, reduction of the volumes of the sample and reagents, faster analysis times, increased automation, low power consumption, compatibility with mass manufacturing, and high throughput. Moreover, digital microfluidics is being applied in other areas such as airborne chemical detection, DNA sequencing by synthesis, and tissue engineering. In most diagnostic and chemical-detection applications, a key challenge is the preparation of the analyte for presentation to the on-chip detection system. Thus, in diagnostics, raw physiological samples must be introduced onto the chip and then further processed by lysing blood cells and extracting DNA. For massively parallel DNA sequencing, sample preparation can be performed off chip, but the synthesis steps must be performed in a sequential on-chip format by automated control of buffers and nucleotides to extend the read lengths of DNA fragments. In airborne particulate-sampling applications, the sample collection from an air stream must be integrated into the LoC analytical component, which requires a collection droplet to scan an exposed impacted surface after its introduction into a closed analytical section. Finally, in tissue-engineering applications, the challenge for LoC technology is to build high-resolution (less than 10 microns) 3D tissue constructs with embedded cells and growth factors by manipulating and maintaining live cells in the chip platform. This article discusses these applications and their implementation in digital-microfluidic LoC platforms. © 2007 IEEE.

Las infraestructuras de recarga y el despegue del vehículo eléctrico.

Este trabajo revisa la evolución y estado actual de la automoción eléctrica; analiza las ventajas ambientales, de eficiencia energética y de costes del motor eléctrico frente al de combustión interna; y presenta como limitaciones para el uso del vehículo eléctrico, el desarrollo actual de las baterías recargables y la lenta implantación de electrolineras. Con el objetivo de contribuir al desarrollo de una actividad económica respetuosa con el medio ambiente y basada en nuevas tecnologías, se proyecta, a partir de experiencias previas, una instalación de puntos de recarga para una ciudad de 50.000 habitantes con un parque de 100 vehículos eléctricos que dispone de dos plazas de recarga rápida (poste trifásico 400V CA), siete plazas de recarga lenta (postes monofásicos 230V CA) y de 50 módulos fotovoltaicos que producen diariamente la energía equivalente a la recarga lenta de un vehículo en los meses fríos y de dos en los meses cálidos.

Light-color and body-mass. The subjectivity of the Argentinean nation, according to the painting of Pío Collivadino

Pío Collivadino was a highly recognized painter in life, occupying the most important charges in the artistic field and receiving awards in his country and abroad, which turned him into an inescapable reference of young Argentinean artists who earned recognition throughout the twentieth century. Why, then, with the time, his work began to fall to the wayside? In response to this question, the present article, based on the analysis of the work of that artist, proposes to problematize the notion of subjectivity, both in its individual dimension and its national character, underlining the role that the figure of the artist meets for its formation. Developing the concepts of light-color and body-mass, from Collivadino painting, this article will attempt to explain the relation between the emergence of an Argentinean subjectivity, at the beginning of 20th century, and the art, not only at the level of the issues addressed, but, especially, taking into consideration its formal characteristics.

Pre-storage of gelified reagents in a lab-on-a-foil system for rapid nucleic acid analysis

Reagent pre-storage in a microfluidic chip can enhance operator convenience, simplify the system design, reduce the cost of storage and shipment, and avoid the risk of cross-contamination. Although dry reagents have long been used in lateral flow immunoassays, they have rarely been used for nucleic acid-based point-of-care (POC) assays due to the lack of reliable techniques to dehydrate and store fragile molecules involved in the reaction. In this study, we describe a simple and efficient method for prolonged on-chip storage of PCR reagents. The method is based on gelification of all reagents required for PCR as a ready-to-use product. The approach was successfully implemented in a lab-on-a-foil system, and the gelification process was automated for mass production. Integration of reagents on-chip by gelification greatly facilitated the development of easy-to-use lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices for fast and cost-effective POC analysis.

Gold Nanoparticles-Coated SU-8 for Sensitive Fluorescence-Based Detections of DNA

SU-8 epoxy-based negative photoresist has been extensively employed as a structural material for fabrication of numerous biological microelectro-mechanical systems (Bio-MEMS) or lab-on-a-chip (LOC) devices. However, SU-8 has a high autofluorescence level that limits sensitivity of microdevices that use fluorescence as the predominant detection workhorse. Here, we show that deposition of a thin gold nanoparticles layer onto the SU-8 surface significantly reduces the autofluorescence of the coated SU-8 surface by as much as 81% compared to bare SU-8. Furthermore, DNA probes can easily be immobilized on the Au surface with high thermal stability. These improvements enabled sensitive DNA detection by simple DNA hybridization down to 1 nM (a two orders of magnitude improvement) or by solid-phase PCR with sub-picomolar sensitivity. The approach is simple and easy to perform, making it suitable for various Bio-MEMs and LOC devices that use SU-8 as a structural material.

GELIFICATION - A SIMPLE AND EFFICIENT METHOD FOR ON-CHIP STORAGE OF REAGENTS: TOWARDS LAB-ON-A-CHIP SYSTEMS FOR POINT-OF-CARE DIAGNOSTICS

In this study, we describe a simple and efficient method for on-chip storage of reagents for point-of-care (POC) diagnostics. The method is based on gelification of all reagents required for on-chip PCR-based diagnostics as a ready-to-use product. The result reported here is a key step towards the development of a ready and easy to use fully integrated Lab-on-a-chip (LOC) system for fast, cost-effective and efficient POC diagnostics analysis.

Food web indicators under the Marine Strategy Framework Directive: From complexity to simplicity?

The Marine Strategy Framework Directive (MSFD) requires that European Union Member States achieve "Good Environmental Status" (GES) in respect of 11 Descriptors of the marine environment by 2020. Of those, Descriptor 4, which focuses on marine food webs, is perhaps the most challenging to implement since the identification of simple indicators able to assess the health of highly dynamic and complex interactions is difficult. Here, we present the proposed food web criteria/indicators and analyse their theoretical background and applicability in order to highlight both the current knowledge gaps and the difficulties associated with the assessment of GES. We conclude that the existing suite of indicators gives variable focus to the three important food web properties: structure, functioning and dynamics, and more emphasis should be given to the latter two and the general principles that relate these three properties. The development of food web indicators should be directed towards more integrative and process-based indicators with an emphasis on their responsiveness to multiple anthropogenic pressures. (C) 2013 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.

Defining the role of common variation in the genomic and biological architecture of adult human height

Using genome-wide data from 253,288 individuals, we identified 697 variants at genome-wide significance that together explained one-fifth of the heritability for adult height. By testing different numbers of variants in independent studies, we show that the most strongly associated 1/42,000, 1/43,700 and 1/49,500 SNPs explained 1/421%, 1/424% and 1/429% of phenotypic variance. Furthermore, all common variants together captured 60% of heritability. The 697 variants clustered in 423 loci were enriched for genes, pathways and tissue types known to be involved in growth and together implicated genes and pathways not highlighted in earlier efforts, such as signaling by fibroblast growth factors, WNT/I 2-catenin and chondroitin sulfate-related genes. We identified several genes and pathways not previously connected with human skeletal growth, including mTOR, osteoglycin and binding of hyaluronic acid. Our results indicate a genetic architecture for human height that is characterized by a very large but finite number (thousands) of causal variants.

New genetic loci link adipose and insulin biology to body fat distribution

Body fat distribution is a heritable trait and a well-established predictor of adverse metabolic outcomes, independent of overall adiposity. To increase our understanding of the genetic basis of body fat distribution and its molecular links to cardiometabolic traits, here we conduct genome-wide association meta-analyses of traits related to waist and hip circumferences in up to 224,459 individuals. We identify 49 loci (33 new) associated with waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for body mass index (BMI), and an additional 19 loci newly associated with related waist and hip circumference measures (P < 5 × 10(-8)). In total, 20 of the 49 waist-to-hip ratio adjusted for BMI loci show significant sexual dimorphism, 19 of which display a stronger effect in women. The identified loci were enriched for genes expressed in adipose tissue and for putative regulatory elements in adipocytes. Pathway analyses implicated adipogenesis, angiogenesis, transcriptional regulation and insulin resistance as processes affecting fat distribution, providing insight into potential pathophysiological mechanisms.

Genetic studies of body mass index yield new insights for obesity biology

Obesity is heritable and predisposes to many diseases. To understand the genetic basis of obesity better, here we conduct a genome-wide association study and Metabochip meta-analysis of body mass index (BMI), a measure commonly used to define obesity and assess adiposity, in up to 339,224 individuals. This analysis identifies 97 BMI-associated loci (P < 5 × 10(-8)), 56 of which are novel. Five loci demonstrate clear evidence of several independent association signals, and many loci have significant effects on other metabolic phenotypes. The 97 loci account for ∼2.7% of BMI variation, and genome-wide estimates suggest that common variation accounts for >20% of BMI variation. Pathway analyses provide strong support for a role of the central nervous system in obesity susceptibility and implicate new genes and pathways, including those related to synaptic function, glutamate signalling, insulin secretion/action, energy metabolism, lipid biology and adipogenesis.

Digital Technologies and the Museum Experience

This co-edited book focuses on core theories and research on technologies, from the first audio guides to contemporary and future mobile digital devices, which inform practical design considerations. It is framed in case studies and focuses generally on informal learning by museum and gallery visitors. The book fills a significant gap in the literature on museum practice with regard to uses of digital technologies, which are not generally grounded in rigorous research, and is intended to retain its relevance as technologies evolve and emerge. The book includes chapters by invited authors from the USA, UK and Europe who contribute expertise in a number of areas of museum research and practice. The research resulted in invited keynote speeches in France (‘Technologie de l’apprentissage humain dans les musées’ seminar at Laboratoire d’Informatique de Grenoble on 5 March 2009), Iceland (keynote at ‘NODEM Network of Design and Digital Heritage’ conference on 3 December 2008) and London (Keynote at ‘Mobile Learning Conference’ on 26 January 2009). The book was given the highest recommendation ('Essential') by the American Library Association, and was reviewed in MedieKultur (2011, 50, 185–92). Walker’s chapter includes some of the initial findings from his PhD research on visitor-constructed trails in museums, which shifts focus from the design of technologies to the design of activities intended to structure the use of technologies, and constitutes some of the first published research on visitor-generated trails using mobile technologies. Structures such as trails are shown to act as effective mental models for museum visitors, especially structures with a narrow subject focus and manageable amount of data capture; those created as a narrative or a conversation; and those that emphasise construction, rather than data capture. Walker also selected most of the other chapter authors, suggested their topics and led the editing of the publication.