Climatic dependence of the Late Holocene dynamics of tree species cenotypes in the intrazonal ecotone of Eastern Sayan forests

A comprehensive study of paleobotanical materials collected in the northern part of the Eastern Sayan was performed, including botanical analysis of peat, palynological and carpological analysis, and radiocarbon dating. The results provided a basis for reconstructing in detail the spatiotemporal distribution of ecocenotic complexes and corresponding paleoclimate types and calculating quantitative gradients of heat and moisture supply in the Late Holocene, beginning from 3500 ka.     

Experimental investigations on direct injection diesel engines using grape seed oil methyl ester with different bowl geometries

In this paper, the performance of direct injection diesel engine was experimentally investigated under the influence of two different pistons’s geometry deep bowl combustion chamber (DBCC) and toroidal combustion chamber (TCC) compared with standard piston combustion chamber (SPCC) geometry. The experiments were carried out standard atmospheric conditions of 1.01325 bar and 30 ± 2 °C. The piston bowl was designed and developed without modifying the compression ratio of the engine. The investigations were carried out with B25 (25% GOME + 75% diesel), B50 (50% GOME + 50% diesel), B75 (75% GOME +25% diesel) and B100 (100% GOME) by volume blends for three different bowl geometries. The thermogravimetric analysis (TGA) was given the importance of higher in-cylinder temperature for the mass change of GOME leads to a more premixed phase of combustion. The results showed that DBCC has better combustion characteristics when compared with SPCC and TCC for all the blends. The B25 and B50 blends showed good combustion characteristics with DBCC and SPCC individually. While TCC showed average engine characteristics for all the blends categorically, the brake thermal efficiency for B25 blend confirmed a 4.7% higher than SPCC-diesel with DBCC piston, and the smoke, CO (Carbon monoxide), and HC (Hydrocarbon) are reduced by 9.2%, 30.7%, and 4.6%, respectively. Thus, the B25 blend in a DBCC piston engine was observed to be the distinction than other configurations. The results confirmed that the DBCC is a good option for B25 blend.     

CFD simulation of pool fires situated at differing elevation

When two or more pool fires happen to burn so close to each other that they interact, they are termed ‘multiple pool fires’ (MPF). Past accident analysis reveals that MPFs occur quite frequently in chemical process industries. Controlled experiments done so far to study MPFs have indicated that MPFs lead to increase in the fuel burning rate, flame height and heat release rate (HRR) but the nature and the extent of the impacts of different factors on these manifestations is as yet poorly understood. In this context computational fluid dynamics (CFD) appears to be a tool which can enable more detailed and realistic simulation of MPFs than other possible approaches, especially due to its ability to closely approximate the underlying physical phenomena. In tank farms there are situations where different storage tanks are placed at different elevations yet close to each other. If such tanks happen to catch fire, the resulting fires may influence each other in a manner that may be a function of the difference in the tanks’ elevation. However no CFD study has been carried out which addresses this type of situation. Hence an attempt has been made to employ CFD to study MPFs involving two pools with fuel surfaces are at different elevations. Results reveal that good correlation is possible between the experimental findings and the CFD simulations.     

Cu、Cd污染背景下加拿大一枝黄花叶水提液对莴苣种子萌发和生长的生态毒理效应

在重金属污染加重及多样化的背景下,入侵植物对本地植物种子萌发和生长的生态毒理效应可能发生改变甚至增强。因此,本文探究了Cu和Cd单污染及其复合污染下入侵植物加拿大一枝黄花叶水提液对其本地近缘种莴苣种子萌发和生长的生态毒理效应。结果表明:加拿大一枝黄花叶水提液处理及3种重金属污染类型和加拿大一枝黄花叶水提液复合处理均显著降低莴苣种子发芽指数,表明重金属和加拿大一枝黄花叶水提液均对莴苣的种子萌发和生长产生明显生态毒理效应。Cu和Cd复合污染下加拿大一枝黄花叶水提液对莴苣幼苗株高产生的生态毒理效应显著大于在Cu和Cd单污染下的生态毒理效应,而在Cu和Cd复合污染下加拿大一枝黄花叶水提液对莴苣幼苗发芽速度指数产生的生态毒理效应也大于在Cu和Cd单污染下的生态毒理效应(未达到显著水平)。这表明在Cu和Cd复合污染下加拿大一枝黄花叶水提液对莴苣种子萌发产生的生态毒理效应大于在Cu和Cd单污染下的生态毒理效应,即Cu和Cd复合污染可能对加拿大一枝黄花对本地植物种子萌发和生长产生的生态毒理效应具有一定的叠加效应。     

Physicochemical and physiological basis of dichromatic colour

Out of three perceptual characteristics of the colour of any substance, the hue depends mostly on the spectral properties of a substance, while the brightness and saturation depend also on the concentration of a substance and its thickness. Here, we report that evident change of the hue of the colour (i.e., from green to red) is due to a change in concentration or the thickness of a layer in some exceptional substances such as pumpkin seed oil or an aqueous solution of bromophenol blue. In some regions of Central Europe, salad dressing is made preferably with the pumpkin seed oil, which has a strong characteristic nut-like taste and remarkable properties of the colour: it appears red in a bottle, but green when served as a salad dressing. The colour of the pumpkin seed oil was previously described as brownish yellow, dark green, dark green to red ochre or dark reddish brown to light yellow green. We elucidated the physicochemical and physiological basis of such dichromatism by Beer-Lambert law and by the characteristics of human colour perception. Our concept was corroborated by the outcome of calculations of colour from spectral properties using colour matching functions. We found that dichromatism is observed if the absorption spectrum of any substance has at least two local minima: one wide but shallow and one narrow but deep local minimum.     

Creation of a Gilded Trap by the High Economic Value of the Maine Lobster Fishery

Abstract: Unsustainable fishing simplifies food chains and, as with aquaculture, can result in reliance on a few economically valuable species. This lack of diversity may increase risks of ecological and economic disruptions. Centuries of intense fishing have extirpated most apex predators in the Gulf of Maine (United States and Canada), effectively creating an American lobster (Homarus americanus) monoculture. Over the past 20 years, the economic diversity of marine resources harvested in Maine has declined by almost 70%. Today, over 80% of the value of Maine's fish and seafood landings is from highly abundant lobsters. Inflation‐corrected income from lobsters in Maine has steadily increased by nearly 400% since 1985. Fisheries managers, policy makers, and fishers view this as a success. However, such lucrative monocultures increase the social and ecological consequences of future declines in lobsters. In southern New England, disease and stresses related to increases in ocean temperature resulted in more than a 70% decline in lobster abundance, prompting managers to propose closing that fishery. A similar collapse in Maine could fundamentally disrupt the social and economic foundation of its coast. We suggest the current success of Maine's lobster fishery is a gilded trap. Gilded traps are a type of social trap in which collective actions resulting from economically attractive opportunities outweigh concerns over associated social and ecological risks or consequences. Large financial gain creates a strong reinforcing feedback that deepens the trap. Avoiding or escaping gilded traps requires managing for increased biological and economic diversity. This is difficult to do prior to a crisis while financial incentives for maintaining the status quo are large. The long‐term challenge is to shift fisheries management away from single species toward integrated social‐ecological approaches that diversify local ecosystems, societies, and economies.     

LNG池火热辐射模型及安全距离影响因素研究

重点对LNG池火热辐射模型,模型应用方式,以及热辐射安全距离的影响因素做了详细研究,给出池火热辐射模型采用及安全距离计算的方法。对常用的热辐射计算模型(点源模型、LNGFire3和PoFM ISE模型)加以介绍,并对3种模型做了对比研究。PoFM ISE模型充分考虑大池火直径时不完全燃烧的因素以及风速对火焰高度的影响,建议当风速大于1.5 m/s,池火直径大于20 m时采用。同时,进一步研究影响LNG池火热辐射安全距离的各种因素,包括池火直径、风速、环境温度和湿度,从而得出不同条件下池火热辐射安全距离的要求。     

Morphological and biological features of plants related to their adaptation to coastal habitats

The results of studies on the biomorphological features of 22 plant species growing on the southern coast of the Russian Far East provide evidence for the diversity of pathways of their adaptation to stressful habitat conditions. An analysis of the anatomical and mesostructural characteristics of their leaves has revealed representatives of euhalophytes, crinohalophytes, and glycohalophytes among these plants. Adaptation is achieved by means of halomorphosis, haloxerophytism, and development of some heliophilic features accounted for by species-specific manifestations of succulence, the presence of salt excreting trichomes, and thick pubescence. The similarity of these adaptations to those of desert plants is discussed. Along with plants characterized by a high germination rate, species that counterbalance a low efficiency of seed reproduction by active vegetative propagation have also successfully established themselves on the coast. Adaptation to coastal habitats is also achieved due to the diversity of life forms characterized mainly by tap root systems with laterally extending branch roots, creeping shoots, and a high vegetative mobility.     

玉米种子的DNA指纹计算机化鉴定

对１２个优良玉米自效系的ＤＮＡ进行了ＲＡＰＤ分析,共筛选了２５０个Ｏｐｅｒｏｎ引物,其中１２个引物共扩增出５９个多态性产物,根据这５９个多态性ＲＡＰＤ产物,对１２个自交系进行了聚类分析,把它们分为３个群,结果与根据系谱法的聚类结果一致。经过优选,用ＯＰＮ－１１扩增出的１１种ＤＮＡ带,建立了这１２个自交系的ＲＡＰＤ－ＤＮＡ指纹图谱。在该图谱呼弱个自交系都具有特异的ＤＮＡ指纹,可以与其它自效纱相区别。     

Testing the capacity of clothing to act as a vector for non-native seed in protected areas

Although humans are a major mechanism for short and long distance seed dispersal, there is limited research testing clothing as a vector. The effect of different types of material (sports vs hiking socks), or different items of clothing (boots, socks, laces vs legs) or the same item (socks) worn in different places on seed composition were assessed in Kosciuszko National Park, Australia. Data was analyzed using Repeated Measures ANOVA, independent and paired t-tests, Multi-dimensional Scaling Ordinations and Analysis of Similarity. A total of 24,776 seeds from 70 taxa were collected from the 207 pieces of clothing sampled, with seed identified from 31 native and 19 non-native species. Socks worn off-track collected more native seeds while those worn on roadsides collected more non-native seeds. Sports socks collected a greater diversity of seeds and more native seeds than hiking socks. Boots, uncovered socks and laces collect more seeds than covered socks and laces, resulting in 17% fewer seeds collected when wearing trousers. With seeds from over 179 species (134 recognized weeds) collected on clothing in this, and nine other studies, it is clear that clothing contributes to unintended human mediated seed dispersal, including for many invasive species.