Enhancement of Interdecadal Climate Variability in the Sahel by Vegetation Interaction

The role of naturally varying vegetation in influencing the climate variability in the West African Sahel is explored in a coupled atmosphere-land-vegetation model. The Sahel rainfall variability is influenced by sea-surface temperature variations in the oceans. Land-surface feedback is found to increase this variability both on interannual and interdecadal time scales. Interactive vegetation enhances the interdecadal variation substantially but can reduce year-to-year variability because of a phase lag introduced by the relatively slow vegetation adjustment time. Variations in vegetation accompany the changes in rainfall, in particular the multidecadal drying trend from the 1950s to the 1980s.     

Model projections of an imminent transition to a more arid climate in southwestern North America

How anthropogenic climate change will affect hydroclimate in the arid regions of southwestern North America has implications for the allocation of water resources and the course of regional development. Here we show that there is a broad consensus among climate models that this region will dry in the 21st century and that the transition to a more arid climate should already be under way. If these models are correct, the levels of aridity of the recent multiyear drought or the Dust Bowl and the 1950s droughts will become the new climatology of the American Southwest within a time frame of years to decades.     

Toxicity Evaluation of Weathered Coal Fly Ash–Amended Manure Compost

The general use of manure compost is limited by its residualtoxicity, and hence a study was performed to evaluate the use ofweathered coal fly ash (lagoon ash) to alleviate the toxicity ofmanure compost. Mature and immature manure compost were amendedwith lagoon ash at 0, 5, 10 and 20% (w/w dry weight basis), andtheir phyto-toxicity was evaluated by germination and root lengthgrowth of lettuce seed. The immature manure compost hadsignificantly higher contents of NH₄-N, PO₄-P, andacid- and water-extractable Cu and Zn contents than those of mature manure compost. Ash amendment caused asignificant increase in electrical conductivity (EC), but adecrease in NH₄-N, PO₄-P, and DTPA-, CaCl₂- andwater-extractable Cd, Cu, Pb and Zn contents of both manurecompost. Addition of lagoon ash at a rate of 5% for immaturemanure compost and 10% for mature manure compost resulted in ahigher seed germination rate and root length growth. Thegermination index demonstrated significant negative correlationswith EC, NH₄-N and DTPA extractable Cd, Cu, Pb and Zncontents. The present study supports the use of lagoon ash foramending manure compost to reduce the availability of traceelements and NH₄-N.     

Preparation and characterization of acid dehydration products of aflatoxicol

Treatment of aflatoxicol with acid resulted in the formation of dehydrated derivatives with the 2,3 double bond either hydrated or unaffected. Chromatographic and physicochemical analyses of the purified derivatives revealed that hydration of the 2,3 double bond of aflatoxicol with simultaneous dehydration occurred when sulfuric acid was used. When a weaker acid such as chloroacetic acid was used, no hydration occurred, and 2 isomeric forms of the dehydrated aflatoxicol were obtained. Chicken embryo assay and the Ames test revealed that dehydrated aflatoxicols were much less toxic and mutagenic than aflatoxicol. A mechanism for the dehydration of aflatoxicol is proposed.     

Discovery of mass anomalies on Ganymede

We present the discovery of mass anomalies on Ganymede, Jupiter's third and largest Galilean satellite. This discovery is surprising for such a large icy satellite. We used the radio Doppler data generated with the Galileo spacecraft during its second encounter with Ganymede on 6 September 1996 to model the mass anomalies. Two surface mass anomalies, one a positive mass at high latitude and the other a negative mass at low latitude, can explain the data. There are no obvious geological features that can be identified with the anomalies.     

为21世纪的木工机械制造业作准备

本文中作者对２１世纪木工机械制造商的生存问题提出构想。     

Chemical and biological assessment of Angelicae Sinensis Radix after processing with wine: an orthogonal array design to reveal the optimized conditions

The roots of Angelica sinensis [Angelica Sinensis Radix (ASR)] have been used as a common health food supplement for women's care for thousands of years in China. According to Asian tradition, ASR could be processed with the treatment of wine, which subsequently promoted the biological functions of ASR. By chemical and biological assessments, an orthogonal array design was employed here to determine the roles of three variable parameters in the processing of ASR, including oven temperature, baking time, and flipping frequency. The results suggested that oven temperature and baking time were two significant factors, while flipping frequency was a subordinate factor. The optimized condition of processing with wine therefore was considered to be heating in an oven at 80 °C for 90 min with flipping twice per hour. Under the optimized processing conditions, the solubilities of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide from ASR were markedly increased and decreased, respectively. In parallel, the biological functions of processed ASR were enhanced in both anti-platelet aggregation and estrogenic activation; these increased functions could be a result of the altered levels of ferulic acid and Z-ligustilide in wine-processed ASR. Thus, the chemical and biological assessment of the processed ASR was in full accordance with the Chinese old tradition.