SPAWNING OF THE ENDANGERED AUSTRALIAN LUNGFISH (NEOCERATODUS FORSTERI) IN A HEAVILY REGULATED RIVER: A PULSE FOR LIFE

The Australian lungfish is an endangered native species currently protected under various state, federal and international agreements. Scarce information on their early life history is available due to the absence of juveniles collected in the wild. This has led to concerns about the sustainability of the species and become a driver for the conservation effort for Australian lungfish. This study aimed to consolidate knowledge on the critical hydraulic habitat requirements of this species within a water resource management context. In this study, spawning of Australian lungfish was found to be a seasonal strategy that is highly reliant on a variable low‐flow regime within riverine habitat. Suitable conditions for spawning were characterized by small flow events in early‐to‐mid spring when water temperatures are between 18 and 28 °C, leading to oviposition on short dense macrophytes in shallow water. Importantly, many of the key environmental factors driving the ecological response are manageable through existing water resource infrastructure. Specifically, releases from water storages within the current distribution of Australian lungfish should mimic the natural inflow and temperature regime within the spawning period, and also provide suitable riverine habitat within projected full supply limits. Copyright © 2012 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

Regional variability of disinfection by-products in Canadian drinking water

The chlorination of drinking water forms various disinfection by-products (DBPs), some of which present potential risks to humans. This study investigates occurrences, trends, and regional and seasonal variability of DPBs in two Canadian provinces: Ontario and Quebec. The findings demonstrate that trihalomethanes (THMs) and haloacetic acids (HAAs) can be represented better by region-based analysis than by province-based analysis. THMs in summer months are much higher than in cold months, while HAAs show variable results. The seasonal and regional variability of DBPs can have implications for the selection of DBP sampling locations, sampling frequency, regulatory limitations of DBPs, exposure analysis and risk characterization.     

Irrigation infrastructure development in the Limarí Basin in Central Chile: implications for adaptation to climate variability and climate change

One option to deal with climate variability in agriculture is to build irrigation infrastructure, although this may lead to the overdevelopment of water resources, leading to ‘basin closure’. The Limarí Basin, in central north Chile, has relied on irrigation infrastructure over the last 30 years to increase water supply reliability and extend irrigated acreage, especially for permanent crops. This situation has reduced adaptation opportunities in the basin, which is currently experiencing a severe drought that, according to climate change projections, is expected to persist in the future, with important consequences for the sustainability of agriculture production.     

Two Modified Semicircle Control Charts for Detecting Process Improvement

A semicircle control chart can be used in detecting both increases and decreases in the mean and/or variance. In this paper, we propose two modified semicircle charts for detecting a reduction in the process variance, a.k.a. process improvement. Each of these modified semicircle charts, namely, SC1 and SC2 has two limits, defined by the inner and outer semicircles. A process improvement is detected by the SC1 scheme if a point is plotted inside the smallest semicircle, or if two successive points are plotted between the inner and outer semicircles and by the SC2 scheme if a point plots inside the smallest semicircle or if two of three successive points plot between the inner and outer semicircles. It will be shown that the two modified semicircle charts have superior average run length (ARL) performances to the basic semicircle chart in the detection of process improvement. The ARL study is conducted by means of a simulation.     

Flux, Pulse, and Spin: Dynamic Additions to the Personality Lexicon.

Personality constructs were proposed to describe intraindividual variability in interpersonal behavior. Flux refers to variability about an individual's mean score on an interpersonal dimension and was examined for the 4 poles of the interpersonal circumplex. Pulse and spin refer to variability about an individual's mean extremity and mean angular coordinate on the interpersonal circumplex. These constructs were measured using event-contingent recording. Latent state-trait analyses indicated high stability of flux in submissive, agreeable, and quarrelsome behaviors and some stability in the flux of dominance. Further analyses indicated moderate to high stability in pulse and spin. Neuroticism predicted greater pulse, spin, and submissive behavior flux. Extraversion predicted greater flux in agreeable behavior. In contrast, Agreeableness predicted reduced spin and quarrelsome behavior flux. Social environmental variables predicted greater flux in dominant behavior. Flux, pulse, and spin provide reliable and distinctive additions to the vocabulary for describing individual differences. (PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2010 APA, all rights reserved)     

Comparison of land surface emissivity and radiometric temperature derived from MODIS and ASTER sensors

This study compared surface emissivity and radiometric temperature retrievals derived from data collected with the MODerate resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) and Advanced Spaceborne Thermal Emission Reflection Radiometer (ASTER) sensors, onboard the NASA's Earth Observation System (EOS)-TERRA satellite. Two study sites were selected: a semi-arid area located in northern Chihuahuan desert, USA, and a Savannah landscape located in central Africa. Atmospheric corrections were performed using the MODTRAN 4 atmospheric radiative transfer code along with atmospheric profiles generated by the National Center for Environmental Predictions (NCEP). Atmospheric radiative properties were derived from MODTRAN 4 calculations according to the sensor swaths, which yielded different strategies from one sensor to the other. The MODIS estimates were then computed using a designed Temperature-Independent Spectral Indices of Emissivity (TISIE) method. The ASTER estimates were derived using the Temperature Emissivity Separation (TES) algorithm. The MODIS and ASTER radiometric temperature retrievals were in good agreement when the atmospheric corrections were similar, with differences lower than 0.9 K. The emissivity estimates were compared for MODIS/ASTER matching bands at 8.5 and 11 μm. It was shown that the retrievals agreed well, with RMSD ranging from 0.005 to 0.015, and biases ranging from −0.01 to 0.005. At 8.5 μm, the ranges of emissivities from both sensors were very similar. At 11 μm, however, the ranges of MODIS values were broader than those of the ASTER estimates. The larger MODIS values were ascribed to the gray body problem of the TES algorithm, whereas the lower MODIS values were not consistent with field references. Finally, we assessed the combined effects of spatial variability and sensor resolution. It was shown that for the study areas we considered, these effects were not critical.     

潮褐土土壤养分的空间分布特征

应用主成分分析方法和地统计学方法,对河北省栾城县一15hm2试区里潮褐土全氮、全磷、有机质、速效磷、速效钾、碱解氮、NH 3-N等土壤养分含量的空间变异规律进行了定量分析。为实现土壤养分的精准管理和4-N和NO-变量平衡施肥提供了科学依据。     

Unbiased stereological estimation of the number and volume of nuclei and nuclear size variability in invasive ductal breast carcinomas

The application of design-based stereological methods for estimating nuclear features quantitatively in invasive ductal breast cancer is described. Nuclear number, size and size variability are explored in relation to the tumour grade and patient prognosis. The study includes an examination of the efficiency in estimating different nuclear volumes, and two different estimators of the nuclear size variability are contrasted. Forty-two invasive ductal breast carcinomas diagnosed and graded by two pathologists were used. Both 5-μm and 25-μm-thick sections were obtained from paraffin blocks for stereological study. More undifferentiated tumours show significantly larger nuclei than low-grade tumours. The estimates based on the disector method demonstrate a decrease in the number of tumour cell nuclei per unit volume of tissue from grades 1 to 2 and especially from grades 2 to 3. The univariate survival analysis shows a high prognostic value of the nuclear volume estimates. The study shows that an efficient sampling procedure was performed, particularly when estimating volume-weighted mean nuclear volume using the point-sampled intercepts method. This method is more efficient than estimation of the number-weighted mean nuclear volume using the selector method; however, the latter provides paired estimates of volume- and number-weighted mean nuclear volume, as well as an estimate of the coefficient of variation of nuclear volume in the number distribution of the same cells.     

江西省余江县土壤肥力变化和驱动因素与对策研究

对照分析了余江县第二次土壤普查时期和2003年土壤养分和土壤pH的时空变化和土壤肥力综合指数变化。运用模糊数学、多元统计和层次分析方法,选取指标并计算了余江县土壤肥力各指标的隶属度、权重,并最终求得土壤肥力综合指数。通过比较发现,20年来,余江县土壤pH有显著下降,土壤酸化加重;速效磷、速效钾有较大幅度的显著提高;而有机质略有下降、全氮略有升高,但是变化幅度不大,不明显;土壤肥力综合指数显著增加。分析了变化的驱动因素主要是农业产业结构的调整和施肥量增加、施肥结构的更加合理,还与气候、地形、酸雨和土壤侵蚀的改善有一定的关系。并根据余江县的实际提出了合理对策。     

电容式土壤水分传感器的电导变异性试验研究

为评估电容式土壤水分传感器受土壤电导率的影响及其对农田土壤电导率变化范围的适用性,配制了一系列土壤等效含水率为40.6%、电导率为0~1.91dS/m的土壤等效介电溶液,分别对激励信号频率为40,50,60,70,80,90,100MHz的7种传感器进行了电导变异性试验,并且配制了相同含水率但电导率分别为0,0.31,0.46和0.61dS/m的4种土样进行了验证试验。试验结果表明:1)土样中的测试结果基本上与介电溶液吻合,可采用等效介电溶液评估传感器的电导变异性;2)传感器的电导变异率随待测介质电导率的升高而近似线性增大,相同电导率下,传感器激励信号频率越高其电导变异率越小;3)在农田土壤电导率基本变化区域0.239~0.650 dS/m内,当传感器激励信号频率从不低于80MHz时,其最大电导变异率为9.2%,能满足工程上的实际应用要求。