Effects of damming on population sustainability of Chinese sturgeon, Acipenser sinensis: evaluation of optimal conservation measures

The numbers of spawning sites for Chinese sturgeon have been drastically reduced since the construction of the Gezhouba Dam across the Yangtze River. This dam has blocked migration of Chinese sturgeon to their historic spawning ground causing a significant decline of the Chinese sturgeon population. We conducted a VORTEX population viability analysis to estimate the sustainability of the population and to quantify the efficiency of current and alternative conservation procedures. The model predicted the observed decline of Chinese sturgeon, resulting from the effect of the Gezhouba Dam. These simulations demonstrated the potential interest of two conservation measures: increasing spawning area and reducing predation on sturgeon eggs. The simulations also demonstrated that the actual restocking program is not sufficient to sustain sturgeon population as the artificial reproduction program induce the loss of more wild mature adults that the recruitment expected by the artificial reproduction.

Optimal displacement mechanisms beneath shallow foundations on linear-elastic perfectly plastic soil

An energy method for a linear-elastic perfectly plastic method utilising the von Mises yield criterion with associated flow developed in 2013 by McMahon and co-workers is used to compare the ellipsoidal cavity-expansion mechanism, from the same work, and the displacement fields of other research by Levin, in 1995, and Osman and Bolton, in 2005, which utilise the Hill and Prandtl mechanisms respectively. The energy method was also used with a mechanism produced by performing a linear-elastic finite-element analysis in Abaqus. At small values of settlement and soil rigidity the elastic mechanism provides the lowest upper-bound solution, and matches well with finite-element analysis results published in the literature. At typical footing working loads and settlements the cavity-expansion mechanism produces a more optimal solution than the displacement fields within the Hill and Prandtl mechanisms, and also matches well with the published finite-element analysis results in this range. Beyond these loads, at greater footing settlements, or soil rigidity, the Prandtl mechanism is shown to be the most appropriate.

Communities of gastrointestinal helminths of fish in historically connected habitats: habitat fragmentation effect in a carnivorous catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco from seven lakes in flood plain of the Yangtze River, China

Background: Habitat fragmentation may result in the reduction of diversity of parasite communities by affecting population size and dispersal pattern of species. In the flood plain of the Yangtze River in China, many lakes, which were once connected with the river, have become isolated since the 1950s from the river by the construction of dams and sluices, with many larger lakes subdivided into smaller ones by road embankments. These artificial barriers have inevitably obstructed the migration of fish between the river and lakes and also among lakes. In this study, the gastrointestinal helminth communities were investigated in a carnivorous fish, the yellowhead catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco, from two connected and five isolated lakes in the flood plain in order to detect the effect of lake fragmentation on the parasite communities. Results: A total of 11 species of helminths were recorded in the stomach and intestine of P. fulvidraco from seven lakes, including two lakes connected with the Yangtze River, i.e. Poyang and Dongting lakes, and five isolated lakes, i.e. Honghu, Liangzi, Tangxun, Niushan and Baoan lakes. Mean helminth individuals and diversity of helminth communities in Honghu and Dongting lakes was lower than in the other five lakes. The nematode Procamallanus fulvidraconis was the dominant species of communities in all the seven lakes. No significant difference in the Shannon-Wiener index was detected between connected lakes (0.48) and isolated lakes (0.50). The similarity of helminth communities between Niushan and Baoan lakes was the highest (0.6708), and the lowest was between Tangxun and Dongting lakes (0.1807). The similarity was low between Dongting and the other lakes, and the similarity decreased with the geographic distance among these lakes. The helminth community in one connected lake, Poyang Lake was clustered with isolated lakes, but the community in Dongting Lake was separated in the tree. Conclusion: The similarity in the helminth communities of this fish in the flood-plain lakes may be attributed to the historical connection of these habitats and to the completion of the life-cycles of this fish as well as the helminth species within the investigated habitats. The diversity and the digenean majority in the helminth communities can be related to the diet of this fish, and to the lacustrine and macrophytic characters of the habitats. The lake isolation from the river had little detectable effect on the helminth communities of the catfish in flood-plain lakes of the Yangtze River. The low similarities in helminth communities between the Dongting Lake and others may just be a reflection of its unique water environment and anthropogenic alterations or fragmentation in this lake.

Optimal data fitting on lie groups: A coset approach

This work considers the problem of fitting data on a Lie group by a coset of a compact subgroup. This problem can be seen as an extension of the problem of fitting affine subspaces in n to data which can be solved using principal component analysis. We show how the fitting problem can be reduced for biinvariant distances to a generalized mean calculation on an homogeneous space. For biinvariant Riemannian distances we provide an algorithm based on the Karcher mean gradient algorithm. We illustrate our approach by some examples on SO(n). © 2010 Springer -Verlag Berlin Heidelberg.

Construction of habitat suitability models (HSMs) for benthic macroinvertebrate and their applications to instream environmental flows: A case study in Xiangxi River of Three Gorges Reservior region, China

Based on a long-term ecological monitoring, the present study chose the most dominant benthic macroinvertebrate (Baetis spp.) as target organisms in Xiangxi River, built the habitat suitability models (HSMs) for water depth, current velocity and substrate, respectively, which is the first aquatic organisms model for habitat suitability in the Chinese Mainland with a long-term consecutive in situ measurement. In order to protect the biointegrity and function of the river ecosystem, the theory system of instream environmental flow should be categorized into three hierarchies, namely minimum required instream flow (hydrological level), minimum instream environmental flow (biospecies level), and optimum instream environmental flow (ecosystem level). These three hierarchies of instream environmental flow models were then constructed with the hydrological and weighted usable area (WUA) method. The results show that the minimum required instream flow of Xiangxi River calculated by the Tennant method (10% of the mean annual flow) was 0.615 m(3) s(-1); the minimum instream environmental flow accounted for 19.22% of the mean annual flow (namely 1.182 m(3) s(-1)), which was the damaged river channel. ow in the dry season; and 42.91% of the mean annual flow (namely 2.639 m(3) s(-1)) should be viewed as the optimum instream environmental flow in order to protect the health of the river ecosystem, maintain the instream biodiversity, and reduce the impact of small hydropower stations nearby the Xiangxi River. We recommend that the hydrological and biological methods can help establish better instream environmental. ow models and design best management practices for use in the small hydropower station project. (C) 2008 National Natural Science Foundation of China and Chinese Academy of Sciences. Published by Elsevier Limited and Science in China Press. All rights reserved.

Genetic variation of fish parasite populations in historically connected habitats: undetected habitat fragmentation effect on populations of the nematode Procamallanus fulvidraconis in the catfish Pelteobagrus fulvidraco

Habitat fragmentation may have some significant effects on population genetic structure because geographic distance and physical barriers may impede gene flow between populations. In this study, we investigated whether recent habitat fragmentation affected genetic structure and diversity of populations of the nematode Procamallanus fulvidraconis in the yellowhead catfish, Pelteobagrus fin't4draco. The nematode was collected from 12 localities in 7 floodplain lakes of the Yangtze River. Using I I intersirnple sequence repeat markers, analysis of molecular variance showed that genetic diversity occurred mainly within populations (70.26%). Expected heterozygosity (He) of P. fulvidraconis was barely different between connected (0.2105) and unconnected lakes (0.2083). Population subdivision (Fst) between connected lakes (0.2177) was higher than in unconnected lakes (0. 1676). However, the connected and unconnected lakes did not Cluster into 2 clades. A Mantel test revealed significant positive correlation between genetic and geographic distances (R = 0.5335, P < 0.01). These results suggest that habitat fragmentation did not cause genetic differentiation among populations or a reduction of diversity in isolated populations of P. fulvidraconis. At least 2 factors may increase the dispersal range of the nematode, i.e., flash flooding in summer and other species of fish that may serve as the definitive hosts. Moreover, lake fragmentation is probably a recent process; population size of the nematode in these lakes is large enough to maintain Population structure.

Optimal recall from bounded metaplastic synapses: predicting functional adaptations in hippocampal area CA3.

A venerable history of classical work on autoassociative memory has significantly shaped our understanding of several features of the hippocampus, and most prominently of its CA3 area, in relation to memory storage and retrieval. However, existing theories of hippocampal memory processing ignore a key biological constraint affecting memory storage in neural circuits: the bounded dynamical range of synapses. Recent treatments based on the notion of metaplasticity provide a powerful model for individual bounded synapses; however, their implications for the ability of the hippocampus to retrieve memories well and the dynamics of neurons associated with that retrieval are both unknown. Here, we develop a theoretical framework for memory storage and recall with bounded synapses. We formulate the recall of a previously stored pattern from a noisy recall cue and limited-capacity (and therefore lossy) synapses as a probabilistic inference problem, and derive neural dynamics that implement approximate inference algorithms to solve this problem efficiently. In particular, for binary synapses with metaplastic states, we demonstrate for the first time that memories can be efficiently read out with biologically plausible network dynamics that are completely constrained by the synaptic plasticity rule, and the statistics of the stored patterns and of the recall cue. Our theory organises into a coherent framework a wide range of existing data about the regulation of excitability, feedback inhibition, and network oscillations in area CA3, and makes novel and directly testable predictions that can guide future experiments.

Optimal teleportation via thermal entangled states of a two-qubit Heisenberg chain

We study the optimal teleportation based on Bell measurements via the thermal states of a two-qubit Heisenberg XXX chain in the presence of the Dzyaloshinsky-Moriya (DM) anisotropic antisymmetric interaction and obtain an optimal unitary transformation. The explicit expressions of the output state and the teleportation fidelity are presented and compared with those of the standard protocol. It is shown that in this protocol the teleportation fidelity is always larger and the unit fidelity is achieved at zero temperature. The DM interaction can enhance the teleportation fidelity at finite temperatures, as opposed to the effect of the interaction in the standard protocol. Cases with other types of anisotropies are also discussed. Copyright (C) EPLA, 2009

Optimal distance from high power laser diode to cylindrical microlens in a coupling system

In a practical coupling system, a cylindrical microlens is used to collimate the emission of a high powerlaser diode (LD) in the dimension perpendicular to the junction plane. Using passive alignment, the LD isplaced in the focus of the cylindrical microlens generally, regardless of the performance of the multimodeoptical fiber and the LD. In this paper, a more complete analysis is arrived at by ray-tracing technique,by which the angle θ of the ray after refraction is computed as a function of the angle θo of the ray beforerefraction. The focus of the cylindrical microlens is not always the optimal position of the LD. In fact, inorder to achieve a higher coupling efficiency, the optimal distance from the LD to the cylindrical microlensis dependent on not only the radius R and the index of refraction n of the cylindrical microlens, but alsothe divergence angle of the LD in the dimension perpendicular to the junction plane and the numericalaperture (NA) of the multimode optical fiber. The results of this discussion are in good agreement withexperimental results.

Intelligent control of avalanched photodiode to get optimal state

To improve the sensitivity of our laser radar system, we provided a set of control method for APDs (Avalanched Photodiodes) based on single-chip computer together with the circuits dealing with noise and temperature. It adjusts the voltages intelligently and maintains the APD's optimal working status.

川西云杉(Picea balfouriana)天然群体的遗传变异

青藏高原东南缘由于特殊的生态地理条件，有着丰富的森林资源，这些资源是长江上游涵养水源、保持水土的生态屏障，是生物多样性的资源宝库。但随着过量的森林采伐，使该区曾经丰富的生物多样性资源遭受了前所未有的破坏，天然林的质量严重下降，生态系统退化，功能减弱。与此同时，许多物种的种群规模正在锐减，物种的遗传多样性也严重丧失。川西云杉是西部地区分布最广的云杉树种之一，在较高海拔的地区有着重要的生态学功能，是一种适应性很强的乡土树种。本项目采用简单序列重复标记(SSR)和特定序列位点(STS)研究不同生境条件下川西云杉群体的遗传变异及其时空分布格局，考察遗传变异与复杂的山地生态环境间的潜在联系，系统地揭示川西云杉天然群体与环境系统相互作用的生态适应与分子进化机制。研究成果能有效地为该树种遗传资源的科学保护与合理利用提供理论依据和科学指导，可为中国西南部亚高山天然林的可持续经营及退化生态系统的恢复与重建提供依据。主要研究结果如下： 1 STS和SSR两种分子标记的研究结果表明：川西云杉群体拥有中等水平的遗传多样性(基于SSR标记，平均He = 0.640；基于STS标记，平均He = 0.553)。造成这种中等水平的遗传多样性，可能是由于历史原因，川西云杉天然林被大量采伐，导致了遗传多样性的丧失。两种方法都检测出群体BT有着最高水平的遗传多样性。 2 两种标记的结果都一致说明：检测的10个川西云杉群体间遗传分化比较高，其存在群体间的遗传变异比例要明显地高于广泛分布的挪威云杉、横贯大陆的黑云杉以及兼有连续分布和不连续分布的西加云杉等，但要低于分布范围狭窄且呈不连续分布的粗枝云杉。青藏高原东南部的片段化生境可能是导致高水平遗传分化的主要原因。 3 基于两种标记的UPGMA 聚类和PCA分析结果，以及基于SSR标记的FCA分析结果都显示：群体BY遗传上明显区别于其它群体，其可能原因是青藏高原东南缘山脉阻隔而导致的生殖隔离的结果。 4 根据软件Bottleneck 1.2.02的检测以及不依赖哈迪一温伯格平衡的M比率检测结果：川西云杉种群很有可能经历了近期的遗传瓶颈效应。在本研究中遗传瓶颈效应并没有显著影响到物种的遗传多样性。然而，在这些片断化群体未来的子代群体中很可能出现遗传瓶颈导致的遗传多样性下降的效应。 Due to the extremely complex topography and climatic conditions, the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau is region abundant in forest resource, which is benefit to the upper reaches of the Yangtze River water conservation, and protecting natural environment and biodiversity resources. However, by the reason of a plenty of trees were cut in these yeas, the biodiversity resource was destroy with degraded ecosystem and imperfect funcation. Picea balfouriana is one of the regionally distributed conifer species in the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and considered as a constructive species within its distribution area. It is an optimal species for the production of biomass. Moreover, it is well adapted to stressful environments at high altitude, especially to cold and drought conditions which are generally harsh for other trees. In our study, two types of molecular markers (SSR and STS) were used to estimate the genetic diversity and genetic structure of P. balfouriana populations originating from the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau with varying climatic and geographical conditions. The results will not only provide a deep insight into its genetic diversity and population genetic structure but also valuable information for further management and breeding programs in P. balfouriana. In summary, the results obtained in this study revealed that: 1 A moderate degree of genetic variation is present in P. balfouriana in the southeast of the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau and it may caused by many trees were cut in the past. Population BT owns the highest level of genetic diversity by both two types of markers. 2 Considerable population differentiation exists among the ten P. balfouriana populations based on both SSR and STS markers, possibly caused by habitat fragmentation and heterogeneous environments. 3 The UPGMA clustering and PCA analyses based on SSR and STS marker, and FCA analyses based on SSR marker congruously separated population BY from other populations, which is likely due to the presence of mountain barriers. 4 The results of bottleneck analysis indicated that P. balfouriana populations that have undergone recent declines. In our research, the bottleneck effect don’t have a significant impact on the genetic diversity of species, however, the level of genetic diversity of P. balfouriana offspring populations growing in the fragmented habitats will decline in the future.

基于克隆选择算法的非线性优化迭代学习控制；Clonal selection algorithm based nonlinear optimal iterative learning control

为实现对模型不确定的有约束非线性系统在特定时间域上输出轨迹的有效跟踪,将改进的克隆选择算法用于求解迭代学习控制中的优化问题。提出基于克隆选择算法的非线性优化迭代学习控制。在每次迭代运算后,一个克隆选择算法用于求解下次迭代运算中的最优输入,另一个克隆选择算法用于修正系统参考模型。仿真结果表明,该方法比GA-ILC具有更快的收敛速度,能够有效处理输入上的约束以及模型不确定问题,通过少数几次迭代学习就能取得满意的跟踪效果。