The stoichiometric characteristics of carbon, nitrogen, and phosphorus in soil aggregates of plantation with stand ages in the Rainy Area of Western China.

Understanding the variations in soil aggregate composition, as well as the contents and stoichiometry of organic carbon (C), total nitrogen (N) and total phosphorus (P), in the surface layer of plantations with different stand ages can provide a theoretical basis for the optimized management of plantations and the improvement of soil fertility in the Rainy Area of West China. With the dry-sieving method, we measured the contents of soil aggregates with different sizes in the 0-15 and 15-30 cm soil layers across plantations with five distinct developmental stages at Hongya Forestry Farm, Sichuan Province, including young stands (7 years old), middle-aged stands (13 years old), nearly mature stands (24 years old), mature stands (33 years old), and over-mature stands (53 years old). We further analyzed the C, N and P contents and ecological stoichiometric characteristics of soil aggregates.

[Effects of snow removal on soil labile nitrogen in a subalpine spruce forest of western Sichuan, China].

Warming-induced decrease in seasonal snow cover has a great potential to affect soil nitrogen cycle in alpine cold forest ecosystems. In this study, a wooden-shelter method was used to remove the snow accumulation. Soil nitrogen pools and mineralization rates in the snow removal and control plots were measured synchronously in three critical periods (early snow cover, deep snow cover and snow cover melting) in a subalpine spruce forest of western Sichuan, China.

[Small mammals burrow selection and habitat characteristics in an alpine forest of eastern Tibet Plateau, China.].

The burrows of small mammals are one of the obvious landscapes in the forest floor, and play important roles in understanding the distribution patterns of small mammals and their ecological functions in the high-frigid regions. Therefore, the burrow selection and habitat characteristics of small mammals were investigated in an alpine forest of eastern Tibet Plateau from July to September in 2015. The results indicated that the average density of small mammals burrow was 182.

[Effects of altitudes on soil microbial biomass and enzyme activity in alpine-gorge regions.].

In order to understand the variations of soil microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities with the change of altitude, a field incubation was conducted in dry valley, ecotone between dry valley and mountain forest, subalpine coniferous forest, alpine forest and alpine meadow from 1563 m to 3994 m of altitude in the alpine-gorge region of western Sichuan. The microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen, and the activities of invertase, urease and acid phosphorus were measured in both soil organic layer and mineral soil layer. Both the soil microbial biomass and soil enzyme activities showed the similar tendency in soil organic layer.

[C, N and P stoichiometric characteristics of different root orders for three dominant tree species in subalpine forests of western Sichuan, China].

Fine root order was classified according to Pregitzer's method. This study measured carbon (C), nitrogen (N) and phosphorus (P) concentrations of the 1-5 root orders (diameter < 2 mm) in three dominant subalpine tree species (Betula albosinensis, Abies faxoniana and Picea asperata) of western Sichuan. Their stoichiometric ratios of different root orders were also calculated.

[Effects of snow pack on soil nitrogen transformation enzyme activities in a subalpine Abies faxioniana forest of western Sichuan, China].

This study characterized the dynamics of the activities of urease, nitrate reductase and nitrite reductase in both soil organic layer and mineral soil layer under three depths of snow pack (deep snowpack, moderate snowpack and shallow snowpack) over the three critical periods (snow formed period, snow stable period, and snow melt period) in the subalpine Abies faxoniana forest of western Sichuan in the winter of 2012 and 2013. Throughout the winter, soil temperature under deep snowpack increased by 46.2% and 26.

[Contributions of soil fauna to litter decomposition in alpine/subalpine forests].

A field experiment was conducted using the litterbag method to quantify the contribution of soil fauna to litter mass loss of Salix paraplesia, Sabina saltuaria, Betula albosinensis and Abies faxoniana during different key periods of the decomposition process of the first year (from November 2011 to October 2012). The results showed that the mass loss rate showed S. paraplesia > B.

[Seasonal dynamics of soil labile nitrogen pools and net nitrogen mineralization in subalpine forests along an elevational gradient in western Sichuan, China].

The seasonal dynamics of soil labile nitrogen pools and net nitrogen mineralization of three subalpine forests along an elevation gradient (3600, 3300 and 3000 m), western Sichuan, China were examined. Obvious seasonal dynamics were found in soil labile nitrogen pools (ammonium, nitrate, microbial biomass nitrogen and dissolved organic nitrogen) and net nitrogen mineralization rate, but the seasonality varied with the measured nitrogen pools. The concentrations of soil nitrate (8.

Nitrogen distribution and cycling through water flows in a subtropical bamboo forest under high level of atmospheric deposition.

Background: The hydrological cycle is an important way of transportation and reallocation of reactive nitrogen (N) in forest ecosystems. However, under a high level of atmospheric N deposition, the N distribution and cycling through water flows in forest ecosystems especially in bamboo ecosystems are not well understood.

Methodology/principal Findings: In order to investigate N fluxes through water flows in a Pleioblastus amarus bamboo forest, event rainfall/snowfall (precipitation, PP), throughfall (TF), stemflow (SF), surface runoff (SR), forest floor leachate (FFL), soil water at the depth of 40 cm (SW1) and 100 cm (SW2) were collected and measured through the whole year of 2009.

[Population structure of soil arthropod in different age Pinus massoniana plantations].

An investigation was conducted on the population structure of soil arthropod community in the 3-, 8-, 14-, 31-, and 40-years old Pinus massoniana plantations in the upper reaches of the Yangtze River in spring (May) and autumn (October), 2011, aimed to search for the scientific management of the plantation. A total of 4045 soil arthropods were collected, belonging to 57 families. Both the individual density and the taxonomic group number of the soil arthropod community decreased obviously with increasing soil depth, and this trend increased with increasing stand age.

[Effects of snow pack removal on soil microbial biomass carbon and nitrogen and the number of soil culturable microorganisms during wintertime in alpine Abies faxoniana forest of western Sichuan, Southwest China].

To understand the effects of the lack of snow pack under global warming on the characteristics of soil microorganisms during wintertime, a snow-shading experiment was conducted in a primary fir (Abies faxoniana) forest after snow pack removal, with the soil microbial biomass carbon (MBC) and nitrogen (MBN) and soil culturable microorganisms (bacteria and fungi) at the stages of snow forming, snow covering, and snow melting investigated. Snow pack removal had significant effects on the soil MBC and MBN and the number of soil culturable bacteria and fungi, but the responses of the culturable microorganisms differed with the stages of snow-shading. Under the condition of snow pack removal, the MBC and MBN in soil organic layer decreased significantly at the early stages of snow forming and snow melting but increased significantly at snow covering stage and at the later stage of snow melting, and the number of culturable bacteria decreased significantly from the early stage of snow forming to the stage of snow covering while that of culturable fungi had a significant increase from the early stage of snow forming to the stage of snow melting.

Dynamics of the reactions of O(1D) with CD3OH and CH3OD studied with time-resolved Fourier-transform IR spectroscopy.

We investigated the reactivity of O((1)D) towards two types of hydrogen atoms in CH(3)OH. The reaction was initiated on irradiation of a flowing mixture of O(3) and CD(3)OH or CH(3)OD at 248 nm. Relative vibration-rotational populations of OH and OD (1 ≤ v ≤ 4) states were determined from their infrared emission recorded with a step-scan time-resolved Fourier-transform spectrometer.

Effects of Alloyed Metal on the Catalysis Activity of Pt for Ethanol Partial Oxidation: Adsorption and Dehydrogenation on Pt(3)M (M=Pt, Ru, Sn, Re, Rh, and Pd).

The adsorption and dehydrogenation reactions of ethanol over bimetallic clusters, Pt(3)M (M = Pt, Ru, Sn, Re, Rh, and Pd), have been extensively investigated with density functional theory. Both the α-hydrogen and hydroxyl adsorptions on Pt as well as on the alloyed transition metal M sites of PtM were considered as initial reaction steps. The adsorptions of ethanol on Pt and M sites of some PtM via the α-hydrogen were well established.

[Effects of simulated warming on soil enzyme activities in two subalpine coniferous forests in west Sichuan].

With open top chamber (OTC), this paper studied the effects of simulated warming on the activities of soil invertase, urease, catalase, polyphenol oxidase in two contrasting subalpine coniferous forests (a dragon spruce plantation and a natural conifer forest) in west Sichuan. The dynamic changes of soil temperature and soil moisture were monitored synchronously. In the whole growth season, simulated warming enhanced the daily mean temperature at soil depth 5 cm by 0.

[A study on population-based prenatal screening and diagnosis of Down's syndrome in Jiangsu province].

Objective: To screen and diagnose Down's syndrome during mid-term pregnancy to reduce the number of babies with Down's syndrome.

Methods: With the multi-level of stratified cluster sampling, twenty thousand and eight hundred and three women at 15-20 weeks gestation were screened by maternal serum AFP and beta-hCG using the time resolved fluoroimmunoassay (TRFIA). Then the screened high-risk women were diagnosed by amniocentesis, cell culture and chromosome analyses.

[Effects of simulated warming on the growth, leaf phenology, and leaf traits of Salix eriostachya in sub-alpine timberline ecotone of western Sichuan, China].

By using open-top chamber (OTC), the effects of simulated warming on the growth, leaf phenology, and leaf traits of Salix eriostachya in sub-alpine timberline ecotone of Western Sichuan were studied. The results showed that comparing with the control, the mean air temperature at 1.2 m above the ground throughout S.

Ab initio kinetics for decomposition/isomerization reactions of C2H5O radicals.

Radical reactions: The ground-state potential energy surface of the C(2)H(5)O system is investigated by ab initio methods using optimized geometries. The rate constants for the unimolecular isomerization and decomposition reactions of the three isomeric radicals (see picture) are calculated by microcanonical transition-state theory at 200-3000 K, varying the pressures of the diluents.The ground-state potential energy surface of the C(2)H(5)O system, including the decomposition and isomerization of the ethoxy (CH(3)CH(2)O), 1-hydroxyethyl (CH(3)CHOH), and 2-hydroxyethyl (CH(2)CH(2)OH) radicals, is computed by the modified Gaussian-2 (G2M) and CCSD(T)/6-311+G(3df,2p) methods by using the geometries optimized at the B3LYP/6-311+G(3df,2p) level of theory.

Theoretical study on the kinetics and mechanism for the reaction of FCO with NO.

The radical reaction mechanism of FCO + NO on the ground electronic state energy surface has been studied at the G2M level of theory based on the geometric parameters optimized at the B3LYP/6-311+G(d) level of theory. The two kinds of reaction pathways include the direct fluorine abstraction channel producing CO + FNO and the association channel forming the FC(O)NO complex. The former has a distinct barrier of 8.

Effect of electroacupuncture on the expression of interlukin-1beta mRNA after transient focal cerebral ischemia.

It has been reported that interleukin-1beta (IL-1beta ) play a key role in the pathogenesis of cerebral ischemia. Acupuncture is an effective traditional medical therapy in China. The aim of present study was to evaluate the effect of electroacupuncture (EA) on IL-1beta mRNA expression after middle cerebral artery occlusion (MCAO) in rats.