Historical change of soil Pb content and Pb isotope signatures of the cultural layers in urban Nanjing

Soils in urban areas are often artificially formed and preserved as cultural layers in which soil materials are mixed with artifacts. The vertical change of soil properties denotes the historical change of human activities, and therefore, urban soil can be considered as a record of history of urban development. We studied a deep profile of urban soil (600 cm) in Nanjing, China, by intensively sampling at every 5 cm. Soil samples were analyzed for lead content. Charcoal from several layers was found and was dated using ¹⁴C to recognize archaeological cultural layers that might be formed in different Chinese dynasties. Pb isotope ratios were determined by thermal ionization mass spectrometry (TIMS) technology. The study found that artificial deposition, i.e., the formation of cultural layer started about 1700 years ago and lasted until recently. All cultural layers above the original loess were heavily contaminated by Pb with total content varying from 100 mg kg^− 1 to more than 2000 mg kg^− 1. There were several historical periods in which Pb content peaked, indicating significant contamination by human activities, such as ancient ore smelting for various purposes and use of Pb-containing materials for handicraft manufacture. Various Pb isotope ratios of the cultural layers differed substantially from that of the original undisturbed loess in the deepest position. ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb value decreased gradually from the bottom layer to top layer, although with occasional exceptions, indicating a long-lasting mixing of extraneous sources of Pb during the entire history since ca. 300 A.D. In comparison with the isotope ratios of lead ores of different sources and that of aerosols, it was illustrated that the source of Pb in cultural layers might come from lead ores of southern China in the earlier dynasties, while Pb from north China might have contributed to the Pb source in the more recent years, suggested by the lowering of ²⁰⁶Pb/²⁰⁷Pb ratio in the near-surface cultural layers. However, the impact of petrol burning on cultural layers was basically excluded, considering the relatively short history of petroleum use in this area.     

施肥水平和种植密度对张杂谷5号产量及其构成要素的影响

优质高产的杂交谷子为我国乃至世界的粮食保障提供了有力保障, 但良种需良法配套, 为此研究杂交谷的最佳栽培条件。采用5因素二次通用旋转组合设计, 探讨氮、磷、钾、行距和株距对张杂谷5号产量及其构成因素穗数、穗粒数、千粒重的影响。结果表明, 产量与穗数、穗粒数显著正相关, 而与千粒重无显著相关。氮、行距、磷、钾对产量和穗粒数有显著影响, 氮肥和行距影响较大, 而磷和钾肥影响较小。行距、株距和氮对穗数有显著影响, 随着施氮量的增加以及株距和行距的缩小, 穗数呈增加趋势。施磷水平对千粒重有显著影响, 随着施磷量的增加, 千粒重表现先升后降的趋势。在研究的5个因素中, 施氮水平、施钾水平以及株距之间交互作用对穗粒数和产量有显著影响;施氮水平与株距之间的交互作用对千粒重有显著影响。该5因素与产量间回归关系极显著, 拟合程度较高, 可用于实际生产预测。使张杂谷5号产量最大的农艺方案为N施用量186 kg hm^–2, P₂O₅施用量95 kg hm^–2, K₂O施用量60 kg hm^–2, 行距23 cm, 株距13 cm, 预期产量为6 683 kg hm^–2。     

基于高时间分辨率农田土壤湿度观测的绿洲农业区土壤质地制图

Due to the almost homogeneous topography in low relief areas, it is usually difficult to make accurate predictions of soil properties using topographic covariates. In this study, we examined how time series of field soil moisture observations can be used to estimate soil texture in an oasis agricultural area with low relief in the semi-arid region of northwest China. Time series of field-observed soil moisture variations were recorded for 132 h beginning at the end of an irrigation event during which the surface soil was saturated. Spatial correlation between two time-adjacent soil moisture conditions was used to select the factors for fuzzy c-means clustering. In each of the ten generated clusters, soil texture of the soil sample with the maximum fuzzy membership value was taken as the cluster centroid. Finally, a linearly weighted average was used to predict soil texture from the centroids. The results showed that soil moisture increased with the increase of clay and silt contents, but decreased with the increase of sand content. The spatial patterns of soil moisture changed during the entire drying phase. We assumed that these changes were mainly caused by spatial heterogeneity of soil texture. A total of 64 independent samples were used to evaluate the prediction accuracy. The root mean square error (RMSE) values of clay, silt and sand were 1.63, 2.81 and 3.71, respectively. The mean relative error (RE) values were 9.57% for clay, 3.77% for silt and 12.83% for sand. It could be concluded that the method used in this study was effective for soil texture mapping in the low-relief oasis agricultural area and could be applicable in other similar irrigation agricultural areas used in this study.     

依据传统土壤数据应用数字土壤制图法对香港山地地区土壤建立土纲信息

Based on legacy soil data from a soil survey conducted recently in the traditional manner in Hong Kong of China, a digital soil mapping method was applied to produce soil order information for mountain areas of Hong Kong. Two modeling methods (decision tree analysis and linear discriminant analysis) were used, and their applications were compared. Much more eflort was put on selecting soil covariates for modeling. First, analysis of variance (ANOVA) was used to test the variance of terrain attributes between soil orders. Then, a stepwise procedure was used to select soil covariates for linear discriminant analysis, and a backward removing procedure was developed to select soil covariates for tree modeling. At the same time, ANOVA results, as well as our knowledge and experience on soil mapping, were also taken into account for selecting soil covariates for tree modeling. Two linear discriminant models and four tree models were established finally, and their prediction performances were validated using a multiple jackknifing approach. Results showed that the discriminant model built on ANOVA results performed best, followed by the discriminant model built by stepwise, the tree model built by the backward removing procedure, the tree model built according to knowledge and experience on soil mapping, and the tree model built automatically. The results highlighted the importance of selecting soil covariates in modeling for soil mapping, and suggested the usefulness of methods used in this study for selecting soil covariates. The best discriminant model was finally selected to map soil orders for this area, and validation results showed that thus produced soil order map had a high accuracy.     

种子引发对水分胁迫下大豆幼苗生理特性的影响

试验研究了种子引发处理对弱抗旱"晋豆19号"和强抗旱"晋大53号"两个大豆品种种子膜透性、可溶性蛋白含量、种子发芽指标的影响及在干旱胁迫下大豆幼苗生理特性的变化.结果表明:种子引发处理使两个大豆品种种子的膜透性显著降低,可溶性蛋白含量显著升高,且不同程度地提高了两个品种的发芽势、发芽率、发芽指数和活力指数;幼苗在水分胁迫加重时(6～9 h),与未引发处理比,引发处理下两个品种幼苗叶片膜透性减小,MDA含量降低,SOD、POD活性和脯氨酸、可溶性蛋白含量升高.表明对种子进行引发处理,通过提高幼苗保护酶活性、脯氨酸和可溶性蛋白含量,增强了大豆幼苗的耐旱性.试验还表明,引发处理对弱抗旱品种"晋豆19号"产生的耐早效应优于强抗旱品种"晋大53号".     

Structural mechanics of wood composite materials I: Ultrasonic evaluation of internal bond strength during an accelerated aging test

This research attempts to observe indirectly the variation of internal bond characteristics for wood composite materials during accelerated aging test treatment using ultrasonic pulse-transmission techniques. Particleboard (PB) and oriented strandboard (OSB) were the representative specimens. The transit time of the ultrasonic wave propagating through the samples along the nominal length and thickness directions was recorded using an apparatus called PUNDIT (C.N.S. Electronic, London). The transit times were measured in the samples under an oven-dried condition after treating them with boiling water at different treating time stages, and the velocity was then calculated based on the transit time. Examination of the internal bond strength conducted on the same samples was done according to JIS A 5908. A study of the relations among springback, internal bond strength, and velocity indicated that a high correlation existed between ultrasonic velocity measured in the length or thickness direction and the internal bond strength for the PB specimen, but no significant correlation was observed between the velocity measured in the length direction and the internal bond strength for the OSB specimen. The results of this research suggested that ultrasound techniques can be applied to predict or evaluate the internal bond state of some wood-composite materials made of relatively small particles, such as PB especially, during accelerated aging test treatment processes.Part of this paper was presented at the 47th annual meeting of the Japan Wood Research Society, Kochi, April 1997     

Gene cloning, expression, and characterization of a nitrilase from Alcaligenes faecalis ZJUTB10

Nitrilases are important industrial enzymes that convert nitriles directly into the corresponding carboxylic acids. In the current work, the fragment with a length of 1068 bp that encodes the A. faecalis ZJUTB10 nitrilase was obtained. Moreover, a catalytic triad was proposed and verified by site-directed mutagenesis, and the detailed mechanism of this nitrilase was clarified. The substrate specificity study demonstrated that the A. faecalis ZJUTB10 nitrilase belongs to the family of arylacetonitrilases. The optimum pH and temperature for the purified nitrilase was 7-8 and 40 °C, respectively. Mg(2+) stimulated hydrolytic activity, whereas Cu(2+), Co(2+), Ni(2+), Ag(+), and Hg(2+) showed a strong inhibitory effect. The K(m) and v(max) for mandelonitrile were 4.74 mM and 15.85 μmol min(-1) mg(-1) protein, respectively. After 30 min reaction using the nitrilase, mandelonitrile at the concentration of 20 mM was completely hydrolyzed and the enantiomeric excess against (R)-(-)-mandelic acid was >99%. Characteristics investigation indicates that this nitrilase is promising in catalysis applications.     

Controlling effects of surface crusts on water infiltration in an arid desert area of Northwest China

Purpose

Surface crusts are important features in arid desert areas and are critical to hydrological processes and ecosystem development. This paper aims to understand the effects of crusts on water movement in the soil and the factors that affect this and to provide the soil parameters for estimation of saturated hydraulic conductivity (K _s) in ecohydrological models.

Materials and methods

The study area was located in the middle and lower reaches of the Heihe River Basin, an arid desert area in Northwest China. There were three crust types in this region: physical soil crusts (PSCs, formed by water drop and erosion), biological soil crusts (BSCs, formed by microorganisms, moss, algae, lichen, and soil materials), and salt soil crusts (SSCs, formed by soluble salts). The infiltration rates of different soil and crust types and scalped soils were determined in situ in the field conditions using a disc infiltrometer with three repetitions. Crusts and soils were collected, and their properties were determined in the laboratory.

Results and discussion

The K _s of crust were significantly lower than that of scalped soils with a decrease of 13–70 %. The K _s of crusts were related to the type of crust and the properties of soil beneath the crusts. In this region, the soil textures are similar throughout, due to ubiquitous loess sedimentation, so textural differences had no significant effect on K _s. Soil organic matter (SOM) played a weak negative role on K _s because most crusts had higher SOM than the underlying soil. However, both crust thickness and electrical conductivity (EC, an index of salt concentration) showed significantly negative exponential relationship with K _s. Therefore, the SSC with high EC and thick crust have the lowest K _s among all crust types. Because soil development is related to salt accumulation, structure, and crust formation, the K _s follows the order of Solonchaks < Cambisols < Regosols, from lowest to highest.

Conclusions

Crusts have different characteristics compared with original soils and are the limiting layer of water infiltration in these arid soils. Therefore, the characteristics of crust must be considered in ecohydrological models. The main apparent controlling parameters of water infiltration rate in this area are crust thickness and EC.

     

一种摆渡车的研制

设计并制造出一种由摆渡平车、顶车机、钩车机、对轨定位系统、动力系统和控制系统6部分组成的摆渡车，并成功地运行在某厂的空心砖生产线上。其作用是把装满砖坯的干燥车转运到砖窑里进行砖坯的烘干烧结。     

苜蓿生物覆盖对幼龄茶园生理生态特征的影响

试验研究了不同带型苜蓿生物覆盖对幼龄茶园生态系统的生理生态效应,结果表明：在盛夏季节,随苜蓿种植比例的增加,系统郁闭度提高,茶园光照强度、气温、土壤温度渐次降低,而湿度增加;苜蓿种植比例的增加,可明显改善盛夏季节茶树叶片的“午休”现象,茶树的净光合速率（Pn）提高,2：1带型、2：3带型和2：5带型的Pn分别比纯茶树处理（BS1）增加29．17％、57．29％和80．73％。幼龄茶树与苜蓿间作可改善茶园生态环境,有利于幼龄茶树生长,但带型差异对幼龄茶树生长速率、新稍数量影响规律性不强;幼龄茶园苜蓿生物覆盖可以获得可观的优质牧草,不同带型与纯紫花苜蓿（BS2）之间以及2：1带型、2：3带型、2：5带型之间的苜蓿干草、鲜草产量差异均达到极显著水平。2：5带型的间作模式效果最好,在改善幼龄茶园生态环境的同时,可收获可观的优质紫花苜蓿。构建茶树、苜蓿人工复合生态系统,不仅能够为幼龄茶树生长创造良好的生态环境,而且可为南方丘陵山区畜牧业发展提供优质饲料。