Spatial pattern analysis of heavy metals in Beijing agricultural soils based on spatial autocorrelation statistics.

This study explored the spatial pattern of heavy metals in Beijing agricultural soils using Moran's I statistic of spatial autocorrelation. The global Moran's I result showed that the spatial dependence of Cr, Ni, Zn, and Hg changed with different spatial weight matrixes, and they had significant and positive global spatial correlations based on distance weight. The spatial dependence of the four metals was scale-dependent on distance, but these scale effects existed within a threshold distance of 13 km, 32 km, 50 km, and 29 km, respectively for Cr, Ni, Zn, and Hg.

Plant growth and architectural modelling and its applications. Preface.

Over the last decade, a growing number of scientists around the world have invested in research on plant growth and architectural modelling and applications (often abbreviated to plant modelling and applications, PMA). By combining physical and biological processes, spatially explicit models have shown their ability to help in understanding plant–environment interactions. This Special Issue on plant growth modelling presents new information within this topic, which are summarized in this preface.

Social play behavior in infant Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in Qinling Mountains, China.

We describe the development of social play behavior and assess factors influencing the development of play in infant Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana). Infant snub-nosed monkeys began to exhibit social play at 3 months of age, when they spent an average 0.89% of time engaging in this behavior (range: 0.

Impact of group size on female reproductive success of free-ranging Rhinopithecus roxellana in the Qinling Mountains, China.

Group size influences female reproductive success through scramble/contest feeding competition, predation pressures and infanticide risks in primates. The Sichuan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is an endangered folivorous colobine species living in a multilevel society. From 2002 to 2008, we studied a free-ranging band of R.

Sleeping cluster patterns and retiring behaviors during winter in a free-ranging band of the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey.

Little information is available on the sleeping cluster pattern and retiring behavior of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana). Here, we provide observational data on a provisioned free-ranging band in the Qinling Mountains, central China. The results suggest that winter night activity of R.

Sexual interference in the Golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana): a test of the sexual competition hypothesis in a polygynous species.

Sexual interference (SI), which is defined as any disturbance directed to a mating pair by other individuals, has been reported in several primate species. It is widely suggested that successful harassers experience improved mating success by increasing their access to reproductive partners as well as by reducing the mating success of rivals. Although theories of primate sexual conflict highlight male intra-sexual mating competition, females also are reported to actively disrupt copulations between mating partners.

Three-dimensional distribution of vessels, passage cells and lateral roots along the root axis of winter wheat (Triticum aestivum).

Background And Aims: The capacity of a plant to absorb and transport water and nutrients depends on anatomical structures within the roots and their co-ordination. However, most descriptions of root anatomical structure are limited to 2-D cross-sections, providing little information on 3-D spatial relationships and hardly anything on their temporal evolution. Three-dimensional reconstruction and visualization of root anatomical structures can illustrate spatial co-ordination among cells and tissues and provide new insights and understanding of the interrelation between structure and function.

Range expansion as a response to increasing group size in the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey.

The Yunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti) is characterized by a larger home range and group size than other colobine species. We investigated variations in home range size of a free-ranging group of R. bieti from 1998 to 2007 in the Baimaxueshan National Nature Reserve in Yunnan, China.

A stochastic model of tree architecture and biomass partitioning: application to Mongolian Scots pines.

Background And Aims: Mongolian Scots pine (Pinus sylvestris var. mongolica) is one of the principal species used for windbreak and sand stabilization in arid and semi-arid areas in northern China. A model-assisted analysis of its canopy architectural development and functions is valuable for better understanding its behaviour and roles in fragile ecosystems.

Nocturnal sleeping habits of the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey in Xiangguqing, China.

Weather, predation, and social organization are hypothesized to influence sleeping habits of nonhuman primates at night. To investigate how the Yunnan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus bieti) prepares for and behaves during cold nights in their harsh alpine forest habitat (above 3,000 m), we studied the sleeping habits of the 171 one-male units (OMU) in one group for 12 months at Xiangguqing in the Baimaxueshan Nature Reserve, China. It took 20.

[Evidenced-based clinical practice of interventional therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma:2-year follow-up results in 59 cases].

Objective: To explore the methods of evidence-based medicine to determine objectives and evaluate the efficacy of interventional therapy for advanced hepatocellular carcinoma.

Methods: Clinical questions were raised after a thorough evaluation of the status of interventional therapy. The term of evidence based medicine methods was searched in EBSCO, Cochrane library, Medline (January 1990-January 2007), ACP Journal Club (January 1991-January 2007) and Sumsearch.

[Percutaneous verterbreplasty combined with radiotherapy treating malignant vertebrate metastasis].

Objective: To evaluate retrospectively the treatment effects and side effects of malignant vertebrate metastasis who had received radiotherapy or percutaneous verterbreplasty (PVP) or PVP combined with radiotherapy.

Methods: Two hundred and sixty-three patients who had been diagnosed as malignant tumor with vertebrate metastasis received PVP (87 patients) or radiotherapy (111 patients) or PVP combined with radiotherapy (65 patients). Radiotherapy was done one week after PVP procedure in PVP combined with radiotherapy group.

[New index for crop canopy fresh biomass estimation].

The objective of the present study is to propose a new vegetation index for corn canopy fresh biomass estimation, which improves the ability to accurately estimate high biomass levels by remote sensing technology. For this purpose, hyperspectral reflectance data of corn canopies were collected using a ground-based spectroradiometer during different field campaigns in a region of Quebec (Canada), from 2004 to 2008. Corresponding fresh biomass values were obtained by destructive measurements, and a hyperspectral image was also acquired using the Compact Airborne Spectrographic Imager (CASI) in 2005.

Modeling nitrate leaching and optimizing water and nitrogen management under irrigated maize in desert oases in Northwestern China.

Understanding water and N transport through the soil profile is important for efficient irrigation and nutrient management to minimize nitrate leaching to the groundwater, and to promote agricultural sustainable development in desert oases. In this study, a process-based water and nitrogen management model (WNMM) was used to simulate soil water movement, nitrate transport, and crop growth (maize [Zea mays L.]) under desert oasis conditions in northwestern China.

Hand preference for spontaneously unimanual and bimanual coordinated tasks in wild Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys: Implication for hemispheric specialization.

Lateralized behaviour has been studied as an observable measure of cerebral functional asymmetry for many years, and interest in the evolutionary origins of lateralized behaviour in humans has prompted research into the study of manual laterality in nonhuman primates. The Sichuan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is a rarely studied species as far as laterality research is concerned. In this study, we investigated hand preference in spontaneously unimanual and bimanual coordinated tasks during grooming in wild R.

[Effects of different managements on soil humic acid structural features in chestnut soil on typical Leymus chinensis steppe, Inner Mongolia, China].

Grazing has a lot of effects on grassland soil properties. The objective of the present study is to investigate the effects of different managements on soil humic acids. Soil samples were collected from the surface soil of four adjacent plots ( I , II , III and IV) at a long-term experiment site of the Inner Mongolia Grassland Ecosystem Research Station (IMGERS), the Chinese Academy of Sciences.

The mating system of the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana).

This article reports the first genetic study of the mating system of the Sichuan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana), an endemic and endangered species in China. The investigation was carried out in a population (WRT) in the Qinling Mountains using data from both field observation and paternity analysis through microsatellite DNA profiling. During a mating season, a male on an average copulated with 5.

Social dynamics of the golden snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana): female transfer and one-male unit succession.

Among primates that form multilevel societies, understanding factors and mechanisms associated with the movement of individuals between groups, clans, and one-male social units offers important insight into primate reproductive and social strategies. In this research we present data based on an 8-year field study of a multilevel troop of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in the Qinling Mountains of China. Our study troop contained 78-126 individuals, and was usually organized into 6-8 one-male units (OMU).

Multi-scale spatial structure of heavy metals in agricultural soils in Beijing.

To effectively investigate the spatial variability of heavy metals in soil, produce a higher quality spatial distribution map, and identify the potential pollution sources of heavy metals, geostatistics was employed to evaluate the effect of scale on spatial variability of heavy metals in Beijing agricultural soils. The results revealed that spatial variability of Cr, Ni, Zn, and Hg was dependent on scale. Validation of the optimality of theoretical semivariance and comparative analysis of the estimation accuracy demonstrated that the multi-scale nested model can reveal the spatial structure of heavy metals effectively and improve the estimation accuracy better than the single-scale method, thereby enabling production a higher quality spatial interpolation map.

Comparison of architecture among different cultivars of hybrid rice using a spatial light model based on 3-D digitising.

Modification of plant types (i.e. plant architecture) is an important strategy to enhance the yield potential of crops.

Estimating photosynthetically active radiation distribution in maize canopies by a three-dimensional incident radiation model.

The three-dimensional (3-D) radiation distribution model in plant canopy is pivotal for understanding and modelling plant eco-physiological processes. Diffuse and direct radiations penetrate into plant canopies in different ways and may present different intensity and wavelength composition. Sunfleck (the canopy surfaces where the direct radiation reaches) distribution in the plant canopy is usually regarded as an important index for crop development, especially under dense canopy conditions.

Eurasian blackbird predated by wild Rhinopithecus roxellana in the Qinling Mountains, China.

Although there are some reports that have described primates eating animals, it is unknown whether predation on vertebrates exists in herbivorous leaf-eating primates. We have witnessed firsthand wild Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) preying on and consuming Eurasian blackbirds (Turdus meruld) in the Qinling Mountains of China. This event suggests that R.

Mate competition and reproductive correlates of female dispersal in a polygynous primate species (Rhinopithecus roxellana).

Different mating systems in group-living animals have characteristic behavioral correlates that are primarily related to mate competition. Mate competition may push individuals to selectively make dispersal decisions for the purpose of maximizing of opportunities for reproduction. The Sichuan snub-nosed monkey (Rhinopithecus roxellana) is a polygynous primate species endemic to China.

First evidence on foot preference during locomotion in Old World monkeys: a study of quadrupedal and bipedal actions in Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana).

This is the first report of foot preference during locomotion in Old World monkeys. Foot preferences during the quadrupedal walking action and the bipedal shifting action of a naturalistic group of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in Zhouzhi National Nature Reserve in the Qinling Mountains of China were investigated. Twelve of 21 individuals tested on quadrupedal action and all 21 individuals tested on bipedal action exhibited a significant foot preference.

Response of a group of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys to commercial logging in the Qinling Mountains, China.

Habitat destruction is one of the greatest threats to primates worldwide. To understand the impact of forest logging on the habitat use of primates in temperate mixed forest, we compared the range, habitat used, population size, and diet of a troop (ERT) of Sichuan snub-nosed monkeys (Rhinopithecus roxellana) in the Qinling Mountains before (1989), during (1997), and after (2002-2003) commercial logging. Logging significantly changed the composition of the forest and the food supply for the troop.