The Buttermilk Creek complex and the origins of Clovis at the Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas

Compelling archaeological evidence of an occupation older than Clovis (~12.8 to 13.1 thousand years ago) in North America is present at only a few sites, and the stone tool assemblages from these sites are small and varied. The Debra L. Friedkin site, Texas, contains an assemblage of 15,528 artifacts that define the Buttermilk Creek Complex, which stratigraphically underlies a Clovis assemblage and dates between ~13.2 and 15.5 thousand years ago. The Buttermilk Creek Complex confirms the emerging view that people occupied the Americas before Clovis and provides a large artifact assemblage to explore Clovis origins.     

Jadeite: shock-induced formation from oligoclase, ries crater, Germany

Jadeite (high-pressure sodium aluminum pyroxene) has been identified in a shock-phase assemblage of oligoclase. The shock assemblage consists of minute particles with high refractive indices that contain at least two phases: one (identified by x-ray) is a jadeite that is nearly pure NaAlSi(2)O(6); the other has the chemical composition of oligoclase minus jadeite and appears to be largely amorphous.     

Comment on "Late Mousterian persistence near the Arctic Circle"

Slimak et al. (Reports, 13 May 2011, p. 841) reanalyzed the lithic assemblage from the northern site of Byzovaya (Russia) and concluded that it was Mousterian and produced by Neandertals. The previous interpretation of this assemblage as falling within Early Upper Paleolithic variability remains the most parsimonious explanation; pending additional fossil discoveries, there is no evidence supporting the occurrence of Neandertals at these high latitudes.     

Cyclic change in late triassic lacustrine communities

A new type of lake and shore assemblage has been found in the Late Triassic age rocks of North Carolina and Virginia (Dan River group). It includes abundant aquatic reptiles, fishes, at least seven orders of insects, crustaceans, and a diverse flora. Cyclic changes in the fauna and flora correlate with sedimentary cycles, which together reflect the repetitive development and extinction of large meromictic lakes.     

Cordierite-spinel troctolite, a new magnesium-rich lithology from the lunar highlands

A clast of spinel troctolite containing 8 percent cordierite (Mg(2)Al(4)Si(5)O(18)) has been identified among the constituents of Apollo 15 regolith breccia 15295. The cordierite and associated anorthite, forsteritic olivine, and pleonaste spinel represent a new, Mg-rich lunar highlands lithology that formed by metamorphism of an igneous spinel cumulate. The cordierite-forsterite pair in the assemblage is stable at a maximum pressure of 2.5 kilobars, equivalent to a depth of 50 kilometers, or 10 kilometers above the lunar crust-mantle boundary. The occurrence of the clast indicates that spinel cumulates are a more important constituent of the lower lunar crust than has been recognized. The rarity of cordierite-spinel troctolite among lunar rock samples suggests that it is excavated only by large impact events, such as the one that formed the adjacent Imbrium Basin.     

Diversity of planktonic foraminifera in deep-sea sediments

The diversity of a planktonic foraminiferal assemblage on the ocean floor depends on the state of preservation of that assemblage. As dissolution progresses, species diversity (number of species in the assemblage) decreases, but compound diversity (based on relative species abundance) first increases and then decreases; species dominance first decreases and then increases. The reason for these changes is that the species most susceptible to solution deliver moresediment to the ocean floor than do species with solution-resistant shells, possibly because the more soluble tests are produced in surface waters, where growth and production are greatest.     

Association reaction in forsterite under shock compression

Transmission electron microscopic observation of forsterite (Mg(2)SiO(4)) shocked to peak pressures of 78 to 92 gigapascals revealed that forsterite breaks down to an assemblage of MgO plus MgSiO(3) glass. This strongly supports the interpretation that the high-pressure phase of forsterite under shock compression is due to the assemblage of MgSiO(3) perovskite plus MgO.     

通过种群互作阐释森林群落多样性格局

生态位理论、中性理论和近中性理论等都倾向于从群落水平上解释群落构建。目前利用种群互作和种群动 态理论解释群落生态学现象的理论基础仍旧十分薄弱。建立种群生态与群落生态联系,推动种群生态和群落生态 学理论相互融合,必将大大促进群落构建理论的快速发展。本文简单回顾了生态位理论和中性理论等群落构建理 论,重点梳理了建立在种群动态和种群互作基础上的群落构建研究进展。种群动态过程包括出生、死亡、迁入和迁 出,在基本种群动态过程基础上,物种相对多度分布可用Dirichlet 分布模型和中性模型进行描述。ISAR(individual species-area relationships)模型建立在种-面积关系和Ripley K 函数基础上,实现了从植物个体冶角度描述一个物种 周围不同尺度上相邻物种的丰富度状况。非对称竞争在植物群落邻体关系中普遍存在,描述了资源在竞争植物之 间进行的不平等分配。结合ISAR 模型和非对称竞争现象,从种群互作角度阐述了邻域多样性冶格局构建的相关 评价方法和理论。      

长白山不同林型空间格局及树种多样性多尺度分析

物种空间分布如何影响群落多样性格局目前还不清楚。以长白山针阔混交林、椴树红松林和云冷杉林3 个 5.2 hm2 样地为基础,采用Ripley爷s K 函数分析了树种的空间分布,在种群水平上检验了不同树种对局域多样性格 局的影响。研究结果显示:1)针阔混交林、椴树红松林和云冷杉林样地中绝大多数树种在小尺度上呈聚集分布;针 阔混交林样地中簇毛槭、色木槭和蒙古栎在大尺度( 30 m)上呈现随机或均匀分布;椴树红松林和云冷杉林样地 中树种空间分布受研究尺度影响较小,在不同空间尺度上树种空间格局基本一致。2)在物种组织水平上,同一树 种对不同林分的多样性格局影响存在差异。但在群落组织水平,针阔混交林、椴树红松林和云冷杉林却具有一致 的多样性格局组建规律。多样性促进种比例随着空间尺度的增加而减少,中性种比例随着空间尺度的增加而增 大。中小尺度上多样性促进种在群落构建中起主导作用,而在大尺度上中性种决定了群落多样性格局。3)绝大多 数树种的空间分布与其多样性维持作用之间没有明显关联性。少数针叶树种臭松、红松和鱼鳞松在空间聚集分布 的尺度范围越大时,其对局域群落多样性呈非促进效应的尺度范围相对也越大。建议未来从物种聚集效应角度出 发进一步探讨群落多样性的形成和维持机制。      

四川部分地区断奶前犊牛贾第虫感染调查和基因分型研究

为调查四川部分地区断奶前犊牛贾第虫感染和基因亚型分布情况,采集了278份断奶前犊牛(1月龄以下)新鲜粪便,采用饱和蔗糖漂浮法处理样品并提取DNA,经巢式PCR扩增β-giaidin(bg)、tpi和gdh基因,对阳性样品贾第虫基因型进行鉴定。结果显示,四川部分地区断奶前犊牛贾第虫总感染率为9.35%(26/278)。bg、tpi和gdh基因序列分析表明,本次分离的贾第虫种类均为集聚体E。多位点基因序列和进化树分析显示,基于bg、tpi和gdh三个基因位点均分别鉴定出7种亚型,分别发现3、2、2种新基因亚型(bg: E13、E14、E16;tpi: E21、E24;gdh: E18、E19)。本研究表明,四川地区断奶前犊牛存在贾第虫感染,虫种类型主要为集聚体E,同时该型在四川地区遗传多样性较高。     

Early hominid population densities: new estimates

Proportional faunal representations in excavated fossil occurrences (Shungura Formation, Omo, Ethiopia) are very similar to modern sub-Saharan mammalian faunal proportions in a variety of environments. Early hominids comprise between 0.6 and 1.6 percent of the excavated assemblage, corrected to reflect numbers of individuals. With allochthonous faunal localities for comparison, direct analogies to modern fauna suggest early hominid population densities of between 0.006 to 1.7 individuals per square kilometer. Calculations based on population densities of modern large mammals indicate that population densities of early hominids were between 0.001 and 2.48 individuals per square kilometer.     

The Avalon explosion: evolution of Ediacara morphospace

Ediacara fossils [575 to 542 million years ago (Ma)] represent Earth's oldest known complex macroscopic life forms, but their morphological history is poorly understood. A comprehensive quantitative analysis of these fossils indicates that the oldest Ediacara assemblage-the Avalon assemblage (575 to 565 Ma)-already encompassed the full range of Ediacara morphospace. A comparable morphospace range was occupied by the subsequent White Sea (560 to 550 Ma) and Nama (550 to 542 Ma) assemblages, although it was populated differently. In contrast, taxonomic richness increased in the White Sea assemblage and declined in the Nama assemblage. These diversity changes, occurring while morphospace range remained relatively constant, led to inverse shifts in morphological variance. The Avalon morphospace expansion mirrors the Cambrian explosion, and both events may reflect similar underlying mechanisms.     

池塘生态系基质C/N比对游离细菌群落生长和有机N矿化作用的影响

本文研究了向高产鱼池中人工添加有机C（葡萄糖）和有机N（甘氨酸）对水中游离细菌生长及其分解矿化有机N的影响。研究结果表明，向池塘水中添加有机C促进了细菌生长和细菌对N素的吸收；而添加有机N对细菌生长的影响不明显，但增强了有机N的矿化作用。在池塘水营养条件下，溶解有机C限制了细菌的生长，细菌在鱼池生态系统N循环中起着有机N分解者的作用。     

Scatological origin of microvertebrate fossil accumulations

Small-mammal bone found in Recent carnivore droppings (scat) is identical in appearance with that in many Mesozoic and Tertiary microvertebrate fossil collections. Such fossil specimens passed into or through the digestive tracts of carnivores before being left as scat that was later reworked into sedimentary rocks. The term "coprocoenosis" is proposed for such an assemblage. Caution is urged in drawing conclusions about the composition of paleocommunities because carnivores can catch prey representing several different communities and leave a mixed assemblage in a particular depositional environment.     

Land animals in the silurian: arachnids and myriapods from shropshire, England

A new assemblage of arthropod cuticles from Upper Silurian rocks in Shropshire, England, includes at least two centipedes and a trigonotarbid arachnid. This unequivocal terrestrial fauna from the Silurian constitutes the earliest direct record of land animals. The presence of predatory arthropods suggests that complex terrestrial ecosystems were in place by the late Silurian (414 x 10(6) years before present) and that the animal invasion of the land occurred earlier than was previously thought.     

Microfossils in conophyton from the soviet union and their bearing on precambrian biostratigraphy

Silicified specimens of the Vendian (late Precambrian) "index fossil" Conophyton gaubitza from South Kazakstan contain a diverse assemblage of well-preserved cyanophytic and apparently eukaryotic algae, the first stromatolitic microbiota to be reported from the Soviet Union. Unlike the stromatolites in which they occur, the microorganisms that apparently built this form of Conophyton did not become extinct at the end of the Precambrian.     

High-Temperature Phase Transition and Dissociation of (Mg, Fe)SiO3 Perovskite at Lower Mantle Pressures

To study the crystallography of Earth's lower mantle, techniques for measuring synchrotron x-ray diffraction from a laser-heated diamond anvil cell have been developed. Experiments on samples of (Mg, Fe)SiO(3) show that silicate perovskite maintains its orthorhombic symmetry at 38 gigapascals and 1850 kelvin. Measurements at 65 and 70 gigapascals provide evidence for a temperature-induced orthorhombic-to-cubic phase transition and dissociation to an assemblage of perovskite and mixed oxides. If these phase transitions occur in Earth, they will require a significant change in mineralogical models of the lower mantle.     

一套研究水稻抗瘟性材料体系的建立和应用

 以中国华南地区曾普遍使用的抗瘟性水稻材料外选 35、目前广东省水稻生产上种植面积最大的具有水平抗瘟性和高收获指数特点的水稻品种粤香占和广东最早的优质食味好的品种七丝占为亲本材料 ,通过杂交后代单粒传递方法和DNA杂交方法 ,创造了一套对抗瘟性基因及抗性机理和优质等农艺性状研究具有重要价值的材料体系 ,分别为重组自交系群体 (recombinationinbredline ,RIL)、扩展重组自交系群体 (expendrecombinationinbredline ,ERIL)和突变体重组自交系群体 (transfered mutantrecombinationinbredline,TRIL)。在RIL群体中 ,鉴定出该材料体系中对鉴定稻瘟病菌株的各种抗性基因组合材料 ,为“基因对基因学说”提供了直接的材料证据。用同一对照和同样方法 ,在ERIL群体中 ,肯定了表现水平抗性的粤香占具有多个主效抗性基因和多个微效抗性基因 ,为水平抗性的多基因控制提供了初步证据。还创造出了一套可用于研究水平抗性的稳定材料群体。用野生稻外源DNA电激导入方法获得粤香占水平抗性突变为垂直抗性的突变株 ,并从简单重复序列多态性 (SSLP)方面 ,证明了突变体群体的变异情况。这些研究和材料体系为抗瘟性机理研究、基因克隆、抗性基因尤其是水平抗性基因研究提供了重要的新材料     

Triassic vertebrates of gondwanan aspect from the richmond basin of virginia

A new locality of early Late Triassic age in the Richmond basin of east-central Virginia has yielded abundant remains of a diversified assemblage of small to medium-sized tetrapods that closely resembles Southern Hemisphere (Gondwanan) assemblages in the predominance of certain synapsids. Associated palynomorphs indicate an early middle Carnian age for the fossiliferous strata. The discovery suggests that previously recognized differences between tetrapod assemblages of early Late Triassic age from Gondwana and Laurasia at least in part reflect differences in stratigraphic age, rather than geographic separation.     

Melting of (Mg,Fe)2SiO4 at the Core-Mantle Boundary of the Earth

The lower mantle of the Earth is believed to be largely composed of (Mg,Fe)O (magnesiowustite) and (Mg,Fe)SiO3 (perovskite). Radiative temperatures of single-crystal olivine [(Mg0.9,Fe0.1)2SiO4] decreased abruptly from 7040 +/- 315 to 4300 +/- 270 kelvin upon shock compression above 80 gigapascals. The data indicate that an upper bound to the solidus of the magnesiowustite and perovskite assemblage at 4300 +/- 270 kelvin is 130 +/- 3 gigapascals. These conditions correspond to those for partial melting at the base of the mantle, as has been suggested occurs within the ultralow-velocity zone beneath the central Pacific.