Reduced light avoidance in spiders from populations in light-polluted urban environments

New finds of bones of the Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), one from Portugal and one from Spain, were directly ¹⁴C dated to the first century AD. While the Portuguese specimen was found without connection to the Chalcolithic occupation of the Pedra Furada cave where it was recovered, the Spanish find, collected in the city of Mérida, comes from a ritual pit that also contained three human and 40 dog burials. The finds reported here show that the Egyptian mongoose, contrary to the traditional and predominant view, did not first arrive in the Iberian Peninsula during the Muslim occupation of Iberia. Instead, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the species was first introduced by the Romans, or at least sometime during the Roman occupation of Hispania. Therefore, radiocarbon dating of new archaeological finds of bones of the Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) in the Iberian Peninsula push back the confirmed presence of the species in the region by approximately eight centuries, as the previously oldest dated record is from the ninth century. With these new dates, there are now a total of four ¹⁴C dated specimens of Egyptian mongooses from the Iberian Peninsula, and all of these dates fall within the last 2000 years. This offers support for the hypothesis that the presence of the species in Iberia is due to historical introductions and is at odds with a scenario of natural sweepstake dispersal across the Straits of Gibraltar in the Late Pleistocene (126,000–11,700 years ago), recently proposed based on genetic data.

     

Did the Romans introduce the Egyptian mongoose (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Herpestes ichneumon</Emphasis>) into the Iberian Peninsula?

New finds of bones of the Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon), one from Portugal and one from Spain, were directly ¹⁴C dated to the first century AD. While the Portuguese specimen was found without connection to the Chalcolithic occupation of the Pedra Furada cave where it was recovered, the Spanish find, collected in the city of Mérida, comes from a ritual pit that also contained three human and 40 dog burials. The finds reported here show that the Egyptian mongoose, contrary to the traditional and predominant view, did not first arrive in the Iberian Peninsula during the Muslim occupation of Iberia. Instead, our findings are consistent with the hypothesis that the species was first introduced by the Romans, or at least sometime during the Roman occupation of Hispania. Therefore, radiocarbon dating of new archaeological finds of bones of the Egyptian Mongoose (Herpestes ichneumon) in the Iberian Peninsula push back the confirmed presence of the species in the region by approximately eight centuries, as the previously oldest dated record is from the ninth century. With these new dates, there are now a total of four ¹⁴C dated specimens of Egyptian mongooses from the Iberian Peninsula, and all of these dates fall within the last 2000 years. This offers support for the hypothesis that the presence of the species in Iberia is due to historical introductions and is at odds with a scenario of natural sweepstake dispersal across the Straits of Gibraltar in the Late Pleistocene (126,000–11,700 years ago), recently proposed based on genetic data.     

Set a thief to catch a thief: brown-necked raven (Corvus ruficollis) cooperatively kleptoparasitize Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus)

Our study describes how brown-necked ravens (Corvus ruficollis) are able to take advantage of an ordinarily inaccessible, high-quality food source by relying upon their innovative and manipulative thinking capabilities to exploit methods used by Egyptian vulture (Neophron percnopterus) to overcome the problem. In five observed interactions, the ravens were first seen in the vicinity of an abandoned clutch of ostrich eggs (Struthio camelus). The area was frequented by a pair of Egyptian vultures that bred on the cliffs across the road from the nature reserve. The Egyptian vulture exhibits tool use in birds, and is able to crack the hard shells of ostrich eggs by lifting a rock in the beak and pounding at the egg till it breaks open or cracks. If the egg is only cracked, the vulture inserts its narrow bill into the fissure and widens it by opening the mandibles. Pieces of eggshell are removed from around the crack in order to further open the egg. This is the point at which the pair of ravens attacked the vulture and harassed it till it abandoned the egg and left the area. The ravens then jointly enjoyed the contents of the egg which was otherwise inaccessible to them because of the strong egg shell.     

ω-Feruloyloxyacids,a novel class of polar lipids in peat soil

This work has been supported by the Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique (C.N.R.S.) through the Action Thématique Programmée Matières Organiques des sols. We thank Dr. B. Guillet and Prof. B. Souchier, Centre de Pédologie Biologique du C.N.R.S., Nancy, for helpful discussions and advice in collecting the samples; we further thank E. Krempp and P. Wehrung for technical assistance in NMR and MS measurements.     

Different isotope compositions of C32 DPEP and C32 etioporphyrin III in oil shale

The authors thank Dr. J. Connan [Société Nationale Elf Aquitaine (Production), Pau, France] for a sample of Julia Creek oil shale and helpful discussions; they also thank the Petroleum Research Fund (PRF 19791-AC2) for financial support.     

《循环经济促进法》有效实施的思考和建议

颁布实施《循环经济促进法》,是落实党中央提出的实现循环经济较大规模发展战略目标的重要举措。该法实施一年来取得了积极效果,循环经济的理念逐步深入人心,有利于循环经济发展的制度环境初步形成,全国范围内循环经济试点稳步扎实推进,技术、标准、信息化网络等循环经济基本工作得到加强。与此同时,一些深层次问题也开始显现,需要尽早重视和解决。     

Web GIS信息系统对在南京考古遗址中的地理环境影响研究

考古文献是历史地理研究中一个重要的数据来源,在互联网时代对纸质文本进行数字化并根据考古遗址的时空特点建立信息系统,具有重要的意义.针对考古遗址的空间位置不明确,考古遗址信息系统注重空间特性但缺乏对原始文献的重视,基于WebGIS、关系型数据库技术以及MVC系统架构,设计并实现了南京考古遗址信息系统.从考古文献中提取考古遗址各种属性信息,构建考古遗址时空数据库,基于WebGIS信息系统发布南京考古遗址,实现考古遗址的时空可视化以及各个遗址点相关文献的原文阅读.提出了一种将考古遗址信息从单一的文本展示到融合时空信息的多维信息展示的技术流程,并为研究南京的历史地理学者提供了便捷的考古遗址资料共享平台.     

Direct measurement of negative pressure in artificial-biological systems

We are very grateful to A. Gessner for his great help in the construction of the apparatus and A. Meyer for performance of some pressure bomb experiments. This work was supported by grants of the Deutsche Forschungsgemeinschaft (Forschergruppe Ökophysiologie) to U.Z. and O.L.L.     

Pyrolysis — Gas chromatographic studies of the origins of the insoluble aliphatic component of peat

We thank Dr. T. C. Hoering of the Geophysical Laboratory, Carnegie Institution of Washington, Washington, D.C. for kindly providing GC-MS facilities. We also thank Dr. J. W. de Leeuw of the Delft University of Technology, Delft, The Netherlands for making available the results of the study on plant cuticles in advance. We wish to acknowledge the technical assistance of J. Zelibor of the University of Maryland, College Park, MD.     

Assessing high-impact spots of climate change: spatial yield simulations with Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) model

Drybeans (Phaseolus vulgaris L.) are an important subsistence crop in Central America. Future climate change may threaten drybean production and jeopardize smallholder farmers’ food security. We estimated yield changes in drybeans due to changing climate in these countries using downscaled data from global circulation models (GCMs) in El Salvador, Guatemala, Honduras, and Nicaragua. We generated daily weather data, which we used in the Decision Support System for Agrotechnology Transfer (DSSAT) drybean submodel. We compared different cultivars, soils, and fertilizer options in three planting seasons. We analyzed the simulated yields to spatially classify high-impact spots of climate change across the four countries. The results show a corridor of reduced yields from Lake Nicaragua to central Honduras (10–38 % decrease). Yields increased in the Guatemalan highlands, towards the Atlantic coast, and in southern Nicaragua (10–41 % increase). Some farmers will be able to adapt to climate change, but others will have to change crops, which will require external support. Research institutions will need to devise technologies that allow farmers to adapt and provide policy makers with feasible strategies to implement them.     

Neanderthal medics? Evidence for food, cooking, and medicinal plants entrapped in dental calculus

Neanderthals disappeared sometime between 30,000 and 24,000?years ago. Until recently, Neanderthals were understood to have been predominantly meat-eaters; however, a growing body of evidence suggests their diet also included plants. We present the results of a study, in which sequential thermal desorption-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (TD-GC-MS) and pyrolysis-gas chromatography-mass spectrometry (Py-GC-MS) were combined with morphological analysis of plant microfossils, to identify material entrapped in dental calculus from five Neanderthal individuals from the north Spanish site of El Sidrón. Our results provide the first molecular evidence for inhalation of wood-fire smoke and bitumen or oil shale and ingestion of a range of cooked plant foods. We also offer the first evidence for the use of medicinal plants by a Neanderthal individual. The varied use of plants that we have identified suggests that the Neanderthal occupants of El Sidrón had a sophisticated knowledge of their natural surroundings which included the ability to select and use certain plants.     

热带及北太平洋海表温度与两类El Ni?o事件的关系

副热带及热带海温异常变化对两类厄尔尼诺事件具有一定影响,定量分析热带及北太平洋关键海区海表温度对两类厄尔尼诺事件(尤其是中太平洋型厄尔尼诺事件)的不同贡献,对完善两类厄尔尼诺事件预报模型及极端气候预报具有重要意义。本次研究利用海表温度资料,采用旋转经验正交函数分解、功率谱分析、相关分析等方法研究了热带及北太平洋区域海表温度异常变化关键区与两类厄尔尼诺事件的关系。结果表明:1985~2009年热带太平洋海表温度前两个模态的时空分布能够很好地表征两类厄尔尼诺事件发生过程中最大海温变化的时间演变特征。热带及北太平洋海表温度变化最显著的区域主要有四个,分别是赤道中东太平洋、加利福尼亚西南、阿留申群岛和白令海一带。其中阿留申群岛地区与其他海区存在显著的负相关。春季和秋季海温异常变化区域位于赤道中太平洋,夏季和冬季海温异常变化区域位于赤道东太平洋。根据热带及北太平洋海表温度显著变化关键区域与两类厄尔尼诺事件的密切关系,通过回归分析,建立了二者之间的回归方程,得到的结果为进一步研究热带及北太平洋关键海区海温对两类厄尔尼诺事件的影响提供有益的参考。     

过去300a长江中下游异常丰梅事件变化与洪涝灾害

2016年6—7月,长江流域发生重大洪涝灾害,给社会生产和人民生活带来严重损失。而该时段内梅雨因其强降水过程频繁、持续时间长、雨量集中等特点成为主要致灾因子。论文利用历史文献和观测资料,构建了1736年以来异常丰梅事件年表,分析了其长期变化特征及与El Ni?o事件的统计关系,并诊断了El Ni?o造成异常丰梅事件的大气环流背景。结果表明:1736—2016年间共发生44次异常丰梅事件(含21次特大梅雨事件),其中1900年代、1910年代、1990年代是异常丰梅事件最为频繁的3个时段;与2016年梅雨特征相近的特大梅雨事件有21次。过去300 a间,异常丰梅事件与El Ni?o存在较好的对应关系,44次异常丰梅事件中37次发生在El Ni?o的当年或次年;在21次特大梅雨事件中16次伴随El Ni?o出现。伴随El Ni?o事件而发生的异常丰梅事件环流特点是中高纬经向环流偏强,我国境内水汽输送通道偏西、偏北,大量水汽滞留在长江流域,并与南下的冷空气交汇,从而形成持续性降水;而在El Ni?o次年,低纬存在较强且稳定的副热带高压,水汽输送路径偏北,长江中下游水汽输送通量显著增强,更容易导致异常丰梅事件的发生。     

Elemental analysis of some Egyptian ores and industrial iron samples by neutron activation analysis

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地球系统模式CESM模拟的ENSO变率与中国东部降水格局

根据地球系统模式（CESM）的千年控制模拟试验结果,以Niño3.4区的逐月海表温度变化为指标,辨识了212次El Niño事件、226次La Niña事件;分析了El Niño和La Niña事件发生当年及次年中国东部5-9月降水异常的空间格局;探讨了ENSO与华北、江淮、江南和华南4个区域旱涝的关系。结果表明：El Niño事件发生的当年5-9月,华北和华南地区降水减少2%~10%,长江中下游地区降水略有增加（0~2%）;次年,江南地区转为降水增加（2%~10%）,华北北部降水继续减少。在La Niña事件发生的当年,华北地区降水偏多（增加2%~10%）;次年,江淮地区降水显著减少（2%~5%）。ENSO增强会导致降水变幅加大。在El Niño衰减并向La Niña快速发展的年份,江南地区出现洪涝灾害的概率较其他年份高1倍以上。这些认识为深入揭示气候系统内部年际变率对中国东部降水格局变化与区域旱涝的影响作用、理解2016年长江中下游发生重大洪涝灾害提供了异常天气气候背景依据。     

Preservation of ancient DNA in thermally damaged archaeological bone

Evolutionary biologists are increasingly relying on ancient DNA from archaeological animal bones to study processes such as domestication and population dispersals. As many animal bones found on archaeological sites are likely to have been cooked, the potential for DNA preservation must be carefully considered to maximise the chance of amplification success. Here, we assess the preservation of mitochondrial DNA in a medieval cattle bone assemblage from Coppergate, York, UK. These bones have variable degrees of thermal alterations to bone collagen fibrils, indicative of cooking. Our results show that DNA preservation is not reliant on the presence of intact collagen fibrils. In fact, a greater number of template molecules could be extracted from bones with damaged collagen. We conclude that moderate heating of bone may enhance the retention of DNA fragments. Our results also indicate that ancient DNA preservation is highly variable, even within a relatively recent assemblage from contexts conducive to organic preservation, and that diagenetic parameters based on protein diagenesis are not always useful for predicting ancient DNA survival.     

Natural rain forest fires in Eastern Borneo during the Pleistocene and Holocene

We thank B. Zentgraf for his basic and constructive ideas and his field support, R. Andi Abdoerrachman for logistic and technical support and E. Shimokawa, Kagoshima University, for providing a charcoal sample from Kutai National Park. We thank P. Becker-Heidmann, Isotope Dating Laboratory, University of Hamburg, for his immediate ¹⁴C-dating by Liquid Scintillation Counting, and Chr. Goedicke, Rathgen Research Laboratory, Staatliche Museen Preussischer Kulturbesitz Berlin, for immediate TL dating. M. A. Gill, C.S.I.R.O. Canberra, has critically reviewed this paper. This research was sponsored by the Volkswagen Foundation.