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Background: To control resurging infectious diseases like mumps, it is necessary to resort to effective control and preventive measures. These measures include increasing vaccine coverage, providing the community with advice on how to reduce exposure, and closing schools. To justify such intervention, it is important to understand how well each of these measures helps to limit transmission. Methods: In this paper, we propose a simple SEILR (susceptible-exposed-symptomatically infectious-asymptomatically infectious-recovered) model by using a novel transmission rate function to incorporate temperature, humidity, and closing school factors. This new transmission rate function allows us to verify the impact of each factor either separately or combined. Using reported mumps cases from 2004 to 2018 in the mainland of China, we perform data fitting and parameter estimation to evaluate the basic reproduction number R 0 . As a wide range of one-dose measles, mumps, and rubella (MMR) vaccine programs in China started only in 2008, we use different vaccination proportions for the first Stage I period (from 2004 to 2008) and the second Stage II period (from 2009 to 2018). This allows us to verify the importance of higher vaccine coverage with a possible second dose of MMR vaccine. Results: We find that the basic reproduction number R 0 is generally between 1 and 3. We then use the Akaike Information Criteria to assess the extent to which each of the three factors contributed to the spread of mumps. The findings suggest that the impact of all three factors is substantial, with temperature having the most significant impact, followed by school opening and closing, and finally humidity. Conclusion: We conclude that the strategy of increasing vaccine coverage, changing micro-climate (temperature and humidity), and closing schools can greatly reduce mumps transmission. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Simple Summary: Soft fruit is an economically important global fruit crop. Drosophila suzukii is a significant pest of soft fruit, including grape bayberry. In China, Trichopria drosophilae is the dominant pupal parasitoid of D. suzukii. In order to control the population of D. suzukii more effectively and reduce the use of pesticides, researchers have investigated the potential role of T. drosophilae in the biological control of D. suzukii in China. In this paper, we investigated the functional response and control potential of T. drosophilae on D. suzukii pupae at different temperatures. Our aim was to expand the range of control applications for T. drosophilae. We investigated the functional response and interference effect of T. drosophilae and found that T. drosophilae showed good levels of parasitic ability on D. suzukii pupae in the laboratory environment. At temperatures of 23 °C to 35 °C, T. drosophilae exhibited a type II functional response on D. suzukii pupae. Researchers have previously investigated the role of Trichopria drosophilae as a pupal parasitoid in the biological control of Drosophila suzukii in China. Here, we investigated the ability of T. drosophilae to parasitize D. suzukii pupae at different temperatures. To do this, we evaluated the functional response of T. drosophilae to D. suzukii pupae at different temperatures and investigated the specific effects of density on parasitism. The results show that the parasitic functional response of T. drosophilae under different high-temperature stimuli is Holling type II. After processing at 29 °C, the instantaneous search rate was 1.1611; the theoretical maximum parasitic value was 20.88 at 31 °C. The parasitic efficiency decreased with increasing stimulation temperature, as the host pupa density increased from 5 to 25, and the strongest search effect occurred at 0.87 at 27 °C. The searching effect of T. drosophilae at each temperature fell gradually with an increase in prey density from 5 to 25. At 31 °C, the theoretical parasitic maximum of T. drosophilae reached a maximum of 20.88 pupae. At this temperature, when a pair of T. drosophilae was placed in a pupa density of 50, its actual total number of parasites was 18.60. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this paper, we describe and analyze two datasets entitled "Homogenised monthly and daily temperature and precipitation time series in China during 1960–2021" and "Homogenised monthly and daily temperature and precipitation time series in Greece during 1960–2010". These datasets provide the homogenised monthly and daily mean (TG), minimum (TN), and maximum (TX) temperature and precipitation (RR) records since 1960 at 366 stations in China and 56 stations in Greece. The datasets are available at the Science Data Bank repository and can be downloaded from https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.01731 and https://doi.org/10.57760/sciencedb.01720. For China, the regional mean annual TG, TX, TN, and RR series during 1960–2021 showed significant warming or increasing trends of 0.27°C (10 yr)−1, 0.22°C (10 yr)−1, 0.35°C (10 yr)−1, and 6.81 mm (10 yr)−1, respectively. Most of the seasonal series revealed trends significant at the 0.05 level, except for the spring, summer, and autumn RR series. For Greece, there were increasing trends of 0.09°C (10 yr)−1, 0.08°C (10 yr)−1, and 0.11°C (10 yr)−1 for the annual TG, TX, and TN series, respectively, while a decreasing trend of −23.35 mm (10 yr)−1 was present for RR. The seasonal trends showed a significant warming rate for summer, but no significant changes were noted for spring (except for TN), autumn, and winter. For RR, only the winter time series displayed a statistically significant and robust trend [−15.82 mm (10 yr)−1]. The final homogenised temperature and precipitation time series for both China and Greece provide a better representation of the large-scale pattern of climate change over the past decades and provide a quality information source for climatological analyses. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

SAGD technology has been successfully and widely applied in the development of superheavy oil and oil sand projects. Before normal SAGD process, some preheating ways are often needed to realize interwell hydraulic connection, and this means that determining reasonable SAGD conversion timing from the preheating stage is an essential precondition for good performance. Previous numerical simulations or qualitative analysis of temperature fall-off data are often adopted in the industry, but they have deficiencies in terms of dependent on static geological model or insufficient data utilization. Therefore, on the basis of the temperature and pressure monitoring process comparison in China's superheavy oil and Canada's oil sand projects, this paper proposed a temperature fall-off interpretation model to obtain thermal diffusivity and preheating radius at different measurement points along the horizontal section by combining an unsteady thermal conduction model under constant heating power of wellbores in the radial coordinate system and approximately unsteady thermal conduction model with constant wellbore temperature and Fourier's law of thermal conduction. Besides, the duration time, interpretation method, and application flow chart of temperature fall-off test were presented. Then, it was validated to successfully determine the timing of SAGD conversion from the preheating stage by an example combining with tracking numerical simulation, temperature inflection point analysis, and index analysis during the partial-SAGD and initial SAGD stages. The findings of this study can help determine the SAGD conversion timing from the preheating stage simpler and faster especially for the case of long horizontal well section deployed with more temperature measurement points. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Under the background of the new development concept, compared with the absolute impacts, the relative impacts of climate change on agricultural growth deserve more attention. Based on the data from China for years 1991 and 2018, this paper uses historical fluctuations in temperature within cities to identify the heterogeneous effects on aggregate agricultural outcomes during farming and fallow periods. The results show that: first, as temperature rises reduce the economic growth rate of each agricultural sector, and the areas that are relatively vulnerable (i.e., areas where disposable income of farm households is below the sample mean) are more significantly affected by the negative impact of temperature rise; second, the impact of temperature rise on agricultural economic growth is mainly concentrated in the farming period, while the marginal damage of temperature rise is on a decreasing trend; third, the heterogeneous impact of temperature rise on agricultural economic growth during the agricultural fallow period is also not negligible. At the same time, its impact on agricultural economy is still in the primary stage, that is, its marginal damage tends to increase with the increase in temperature fluctuation. These results inform identifying the climate's role in agricultural development and provide a theoretical and operational perspective for further optimizing the adaptive policy systems. With wide coverage of adaptive technology, we should pay more attention to the even distribution of technological dividends and continuously improve the coping ability of vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper proposes a load transfer optimization (LTO) model involving hot-spot temperature (HST) and top-oil temperature (TOT) limits of transformers. This work aims to address the overload problem and transformer HST and TOT excursions via LTO. First, the equivalent thermal model for the HST and TOT of transformers under external cooling conditions are discussed, and then the corresponding linearized HST and TOT constraints with varied thermal resistances are derived using the discretization method. Moreover, the proposed LTO model is formulated on the reconfigurable topology of high voltage distribution networks (HVDNs) in China. This proposed LTO model can achieve the optimal network reconfiguration scheme subject to temperature limits and system operation constraints, with the least switching operation cost and the maximum margins of reactive power exchange between HVDNs and transmission systems. Finally, the effectiveness of the proposed LTO model is validated by the modified IEEE-14 node system and the practical HVDNs in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The arid region of northwest China (ARNC) is one of the most sensitive areas to global warming. However, the performance of new Global Climate Models (GCMs) from phase 6 of the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project (CMIP6) in simulating climate in this region, especially in the subregions, is not clear yet. Based on the temperature dataset from historical runs of CMIP6, this paper analyzed and evaluated the simulation ability of 29 GCMs in reproducing the annual mean temperature (tas), annual mean maximum temperature (tasmax) and annual mean minimum temperature (tasmin) in the ARNC and subregions from 1961 to 2014. The results show that (1) the correlation coefficients (CCs) between simulation and observation time series for the mean of two model ensembles (MME for equal-weight multi-model ensemble and PME for preferred-model ensemble) are generally better than those of 29 individual GCMs, with CCs ranging from 0.38 to 0.87 (p < 0.01). (2) All the models can simulate the significant warming trend of the three temperature elements in the study area well. However, the warming magnitude simulated by most of the models (41%) is smaller than the observations except for tasmax, which is also shown in the MME. (3) The spatial pattern of the three temperature elements can be better reflected by most models. Model simulation ability for the ARNC is better compared to that of the four subregions, with a spatial CC greater than 0.7 (p < 0.01). Among the subregions, the simulation performance of the north of Xinjiang for spatial pattern is superior to that of the other regions. (4) The preferred models for each subregion are various and should be treated differently when used. Overall, the PME outperforms both the MME and the individual models; it can not only simulate the linear trend accurately but also reduce the deviation effectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A physical retrieval approach based on the one-dimensional variational (1D-Var) algorithm is applied in this paper to simultaneously retrieve atmospheric temperature and humidity profiles under both clear-sky and partly cloudy conditions from FY-4A GIIRS (geostationary interferometric infrared sounder) observations. Radiosonde observations from upper-air stations in China and level-2 operational products from the Chinese National Satellite Meteorological Center (NSMC) during the periods from December 2019 to January 2020 (winter) and from July 2020 to August 2020 (summer) are used to validate the accuracies of the retrieved temperature and humidity profiles. Comparing the 1D-Var-retrieved profiles to radiosonde data, the accuracy of the temperature retrievals at each vertical level of the troposphere is characterized by a root mean square error (RMSE) within 2 K, except for at the bottom level of the atmosphere under clear conditions. The RMSE increases slightly for the higher atmospheric layers, owing to the lack of temperature sounding channels there. Under partly cloudy conditions, the temperature at each vertical level can be obtained, while the level-2 operational products obtain values only at altitudes above the cloud top. In addition, the accuracy of the retrieved temperature profiles is greatly improved compared with the accuracies of the operational products. For the humidity retrievals, the mean RMSEs in the troposphere in winter and summer are both within 2 g kg−1. Moreover, the retrievals performed better compared with the ERA5 reanalysis data between 800 hPa and 300 hPa both in summer and winter in terms of RMSE. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global warming has caused severe regional water security risks, and from the theory of the hydrological cycle, the daily extreme temperature could also bring an impact on the streamflow volume, which could be even more important than the average temperature. Therefore, based on the level of the maximum or minimum temperature warming scenarios, a variety of meteorological datasets were selected to assess the asymmetric effect of increased daily extreme temperature on the streamflow from a multi-scale perspective by using the Variable Infiltration Capacity (VIC) model. Model simulations indicate that the streamflow experiences more significant changes in response to the maximum temperature than in response to the minimum temperature, and the relationships of streamflow with both the maximum and minimum temperatures show an upwards parabolic response function, but the response function varies with the type of warming. Additionally, the seasonal and monthly duration curves results show that the increases in both the maximum and minimum temperatures demonstrate a similar response that leads the proportion of the flood period streamflow to be increased (Tmin : 0.16–0.53%/°C; Tmax : 0.11–0.51%/°C). When the minimum temperature increases, the higher the original temperature in the region, the greater the proportion of the flood period streamflow increases. However, when the maximum temperature increases, the opposite effect occurs. • This paper included a numerical analysis of the sensitivity of streamflow to daily extreme temperature increases. • This paper discusses in detail the regional asymmetric effect of daily extreme temperature increase to streamflow. • A relatively complete picture of the hydrological processes caused by daily extreme temperature rise is presented. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Temperature shocks can cause various adverse effects on manufacturing firms, such that the adaptation activities of manufacturing firms to temperature shocks need to be focused on. Accordingly, this paper aims to investigate whether and why temperature shocks could be an accelerator for digital transformation of manufacturing firms. Empirical results suggest that extreme heat waves can propel manufacturing firms to strengthen their digital transformation orientation, while cold waves cannot. The effect of extreme heat waves on digital transformation orientation is likely to be performance-driven, rather than pro-environmental responsibility-driven. In addition, we indicate that there exist temperature adaptation effects, such that manufacturing firms located in areas with long-term exposure to extreme temperatures are less likely to strengthen digital transformation orientation after extreme temperature shocks, relative to those located in long-term temperature comfort regions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As the increase of the mining depth in China, the underground temperature, in situ stress and CH4 gas pressure also increase. Such factors have great influences on the gas drainage engineering. In this paper, the discontinuous deformation analysis is used to model the stress relief effect of drilling and slot. The effects of slot width, height, and ground pressure was analyzed. The rheology property of the coal mass under different temperature and gas pressure are also studied. the results of this paper can be used as a reference for gas drainage engineering in coal mine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Anormal temperature data caused by various reasons such as sensor faults and operation faults, which has a negative influence on heat metering and operation regulation in district heating system (DHS). However, it is difficult to detect and diagnose anormal temperature among massive unlabeled operation data. Therefore, this paper proposes a novel hierarchical classifying and two-step training strategy to facilitate the anormal temperature detection and diagnosis task. Firstly, self-defined feature change rate of operation data like water temperature, flow rate, and valve opening are constructed as additional training features to capture the characteristics of anormal temperature conditions. Then, a hierarchical classifying method is proposed to detect anormal temperature data. Finally, a two-step training strategy which combines expert knowledge with support vector machine (SVM) to fulfill anormal temperature type diagnosis. The proposed strategy is applied to a typical DHS in cold region of China. A total of 10,920 anormal data are detected. Four anormal temperature conditions are diagnosed including offline sensor, inversely connected sensor, anormal operation of heat source, and shutdown of heat station. The diagnosis accuracy for the 4 kinds of anormal temperature conditions all reached over 98%. • Detecting anormal temperature based on hierarchical classifying strategy. • Self-defined feature change rate added to train the diagnosis model. • A novel two-step training strategy is proposed to train the diagnosis model. • 4 anormal types diagnosed and over 98% diagnosis accuracy achieved. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To match for the different temperature of the geothermal resource and strengthen the flexibility of organic Rankine cycle, a variable capacity power generation superstructure based on flash and organic Rankine cycle for geothermal energy was proposed. A combined flash-binary experimental prototype is newly established to investigate thermodynamic performance both on system and equipment in this paper. Pressured hot water is adopted as the extensive worldwide existed hydrothermal geothermal resource, eliminating the influence of the used heat transfer oil on evaporating process. The experimental results show that there is an optimal mass-flow rate of R245fa under the condition of different heat source temperature. Flash and binary power subsystem dominate the flash-binary power system, respectively, when the heat source temperature is 120 °C and 130 °C. The isotropic efficiency of modified compressor just between 0.2 and 0.25. The power output of per ton geofluid are 0.78 kWh/t and 1.31 kWh/t, respectively, when the heat source temperature are 120 °C and 130 °. These results will predict the operation data of flash-binary power plant driven by the low-medium temperature geothermal water for construction in western of China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In aiming for better access to climate change information and for providing climate service, it is important to obtain reliable high-resolution temperature simulations. Systematic comparisons are still deficient between statistical and dynamic downscaling techniques because of their inherent unavoidable uncertainties. In this paper, 20 global climate models (GCMs) and one regional climate model [Providing Regional Climates to Impact Studies (PRECIS)] are employed to evaluate their capabilities in reproducing average trends of mean temperature (Tm), maximum temperature (Tmax), minimum temperature (Tmin), diurnal temperature range (DTR), and extreme events represented by frost days (FD) and heat-wave days (HD) across China. It is shown generally that bias of temperatures from GCMs relative to observations is over ±1°C across more than one-half of mainland China. PRECIS demonstrates better representation of temperatures (except for HD) relative to GCMs. There is relatively better performance in Huanghuai, Jianghuai, Jianghan, south Yangzi River, and South China, whereas estimation is not as good in Xinjiang, the eastern part of northwest China, and the Tibetan Plateau. Bias-correction spatial disaggregation is used to downscale GCMs outputs, and bias correction is applied for PRECIS outputs, which demonstrate better improvement to a bias within ±0.2°C for Tm, Tmax, Tmin, and DTR and ±2 days for FD and HD. Furthermore, such improvement is also verified by the evidence of increased spatial correlation coefficient and symmetrical uncertainty, decreased root-mean-square error, and lower standard deviation for reproductions. It is seen from comprehensive ranking metrics that different downscaled models show the most improvement across different climatic regions, implying that optional ensembles of models should be adopted to provide sufficient high-quality climate information. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The systematic bias of the estimated average temperature using daily Tmax and Tmin records relative to the standard average temperature of four time-equidistant observations and its effect on the estimated trend of long-term temperature change have not been well understood. This paper attempts to evaluate the systematic bias across mainland China using the daily data of national observational stations. The results revealed that the positive bias of annual mean temperature was large, reaching 0.58°C nationally on average; regional average bias was lowest in the northwest arid region and highest in the Qinghai–Tibetan Plateau; the bias was low in spring and summer and high in autumn and winter, reaching its lowest point in mid- and late May and highest point in early November. Furthermore, the bias showed a significant upward trend in the past 50 years, with a rising rate of 0.021°C (10 yr)−1, accounting for about 12% of the overall warming as estimated from the data of the observational network; the largest positive trend bias was found in the northwest arid region, while the east monsoon region experienced the smallest change; the most remarkable increase of the bias occurred after early 1990s. These results indicate that the customarily applied method to calculate daily and monthly mean temperature using Tmax and Tmin significantly overestimates the climatological mean and the long-term trend of surface air temperature in mainland China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper is to test the relationship between temperature change and industrial green innovation by combing data of China's average temperature change in cities with green patent database of listed companies.First, the results find that rising annual average temperature can inhibit green innovation. For every 1 °C increases in summer, green innovation reduces by 3.2%, and for every 1 °C increases in winter, green innovation increases by 1.9%. Second, rising summer temperature inhibits green innovation by crowding out research and development (R&D) funds and draining labor. While, rising temperature increases green innovation by increasing environmental responsibility and green venture capital. Third, differences in green R&D difficulty, process and objectives were also compared, temperature change has a stronger inhibition on green process innovation than green product innovation. And rising temperature inhibits green exploratory innovation and promotes green developmental innovation. Fourth, rising temperature increases green innovation in polluting firms as temperature is higher than 21 °C. And it inhibits green innovation in clean firms as temperature is higher than 27 °C. This paper can provide policy implications on climate regulation and promoting green innovation. [Display omitted] • For 1 °C increases in summer, industrial green innovation reduce by 2.1%. • Influence paths include cost inhibition effect and responsibility forcing effect. • Temperature increases green simple innovation and weaken green complex innovation. • Suitable temperature for green innovation is 18°C–27 °C. • Classify green innovation from the difficulty, process and purpose of R&D. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Deep mining is the most important way to obtain the resource in China now. Thus, rock is the main objective that the deep mining will encounter. Meanwhile, the frequent catastrophes in deep mining such as rock burst, coal and gas bursts, roof caving, water bursts, is the most serious problem. To have a better understanding of the mechanisms of fracture and the laws of damage evolution of rock and coal under deep environment, in this paper, the micro- and meso-scale method is employed to study the behavior of coal under different temperature, confining pressure and gas pressure. Then, the significance of the effect of temperature, confining pressure, and gas pressure on mechanical parameters is analyzed by using the ANOVA method. The fractal study of coal failure pattern by employing the SEM test and fractal dimension was carried out. The fractal dimension of coal fractures was calculated by using the box-covering method. Then, the effects of all factors on the fractal dimension of coal fractures were analyzed. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The apparent temperature (APT), or human-perceived temperature, is commonly defined as a function of the surface air temperature (SAT), vapour pressure (or humidity) and wind speed. This paper demonstrates that the APT over China, as revealed by daily station-observed data, has generally increased faster than the SAT during summertime in the past 50 years (1968-2017). The rate of increase in APT was significantly faster than that of SAT in 60.1% of stations, and the difference between the average Chinawide APT and SAT was 0.11°C decade-1. This phenomenon is occurring nationwide, but it is more intense over western, north-eastern and eastern coastal China. The more rapid increasing trend in APT indicates that human beings actually experience surplus heat stress under a certain change in SAT, and the increased SAT explains 67.0% of the average APT warming for the country, contributing to the change in the base APT. Apart from the increasing SAT, a decrease in surface wind speed and an increase in surface vapour pressure have also been observed, contributing to 21.6% of the increase in APT and explaining the remaining 11.4%, respectively. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

As global warming intensifies, efforts to understand the changes in extreme climate events have increased in recent years. A combined analysis of the changes in extreme temperature and precipitation events is presented in this paper. Using observational data from 1961 to 2015, a set of hotter and wetter (HW) events is defined, and we examine the changes in these events across China. The results show that more HW events occur in Central and Eastern China than in other subregions, especially in South China (SC). The rate of increase in HW events is 2.7 and 1.9 per decade in SC and East China (EC), respectively. In China, most HW events occurred in the last 20 years of the study period, indicating that China entered a period of high-frequency HW events. Indeed, the range in anomalies in the torrential rain days is greater than that of the high-temperature days in Northwest China (NWC), Central China (CC), and EC after the mid- to late 1990s. The opposite pattern is found in Northeast China (NEC), Southwest China-region 1 (SWC1), Southwest China-region 2 (SWC2), and SC. Finally, the increase in HW events in most regions of China is closely associated with warming. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper attempts to disclose the distribution law of artificial freezing temperature field in Cretaceous sandstone of western China and determine the key parameters of freeze sinking. For this purpose, a numerical model was established in light of the general conditions of freeze sinking project, the model parameters were optimized according to onsite monitored data, and the optimized model was applied to explore the change law of the freezing temperature field. The simulation reveals that the temperature of each measuring point decreased linearly with time, but the mean daily decline differed from point to point: the daily decline is negatively correlated to the distance from the freezing point, i.e. the temperature is positively correlated to the distance from the freezing point at the same time. The freezing time for closure was 79d at the groundwater flow rate of 50m/d. When the freezing intensity was weak (freezing tube temperature: -22°C), the frozen wall failed to achieve closure. This means the groundwater directly bears on the distribution of the temperature field. The freezing intensity has a nonlinear impact on the temperature field. The higher the temperature, the smaller the impact on the closure. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In light of growing concerns about climate change and energy conservation, the adaptive thermal comfort theory has become a research focus. However, to date, few about the dynamic process of human thermal adaptation has been explored. In this paper, we ask the question as to whether people accustomed to one indoor climate can readapt to another one? And what about the timescale and difficulty of thermal re-adaptation? A comparative study was conducted in China where wintertime indoor thermal environments remarkably varied between the northern region (with pervasive district heating) and southern region (without district heating). Four college student groups were surveyed in teaching buildings and over 2000 valid responses were collected. The results show that occupants’ subjective thermal comfort perception is strongly influenced by their previous thermal experience. People accustomed to indoor climate excellence are able to readapt themselves to environments with lesser quality, however, the adapting process may take some time. The effort of this study shed some light on the dynamic process of human thermal adaptation, which is helpful to shape the future indoor climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT Fatigue performance of reinforced concrete (RC) components strengthened with fibre reinforced polymer (FRP) is largely improved. However, temperature changes of service environment have a great effect on the fatigue behaviour of RC components strengthened with FRP. Concerning about temperature variations in subtropical areas such as South China, this paper analyses the fatigue behaviour of RC beams strengthened with carbon fibre laminate (CFL) from experimental studies and theoretical analysis under four different temperatures (5 °C, 20 °C, 50 °C, 80 °C) and five different stress levels (0.60, 0.66, 0.72, 0.78, 0.84). The paper discusses temperature fatigue behaviour of RC beams strengthened with CFL under cyclic bending loads in different service environments, and proposes a calculation formula of fatigue lives of RC beams strengthened with CFL under environmental temperatures and external forces coupling. Experimental results show that the formula not only effectively predicts the fatigue lives of the RC beams strengthened with CFL under environmental temperatures and bending loads coupling but also estimates the fatigue limits. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Middle and eastern routes of the South-North Water Diversion Project (SNWDP) of China, which are approximately located within the area 28°-42°N and 110°-122°E, are being constructed. This paper investigates the past climatic variations on various time scales using instrumental and proxy data. It is found that annual mean surface air temperature has increased significantly during the past 50-100 years, and winter and spring temperatures in the northern part of the region have undergone the most significant changes. A much more significant increase occurs for annual mean minimum temperature and extreme low temperature than for annual mean maximum temperature and extreme high temperature. No significant trend in annual precipitation is found for the region as a whole for the last 50 and 100 years, although obvious decadal and spatial variation is detectable. A seesaw pattern of annual and summer precipitation variability between the north and the south of the region is evident. Over the last 100 years, the Haihe River basin has witnessed a significant negative trend of annual precipitation, but no similar trend is detected for the Yangtze and Huaihe River basins. Pan evaporation has significantly decreased since the mid-1960s in the region in spite of the fact that the trend appears to have ended in the early 1990s. The negative trend of pan evaporation is very significant in the plain area between the Yangtze and Yellow Rivers. There was a notable series of dry intervals lasting decades in the north of the region. The northern drought of the past 30 years is not the most severe in view of the past 500 years; however, the southern drought during the period from the 1960s to the 1980s may have been unprecedented. The dryness-wetness index (DWI) shows significant oscillations with periodicities of 9.5 and 20 years in the south and 10.5 and 25 years in the north. Longer periodicities in the DWI series include 160-170- and 70-80-yr oscillations in the north, and 100-150-yr oscillations in the south. The observed climate change could have implications for the construction and management of the SNWDP. The official approval and start of the hydro project was catalyzed by the severe multiyear drought of 1997-2003 in the north, and the operation and management of the project in the future will also be influenced by climate change-in particular by precipitation variability. This paper provides a preliminary discussion of the potential implications of observed climate change for the SNWDP. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: This paper discusses a case study on a bioheapleaching system operated commercially at Zijinshan copper plant in China, which applied bioheapleaching–SX (solvent extraction)–EW (electrowinning) to treat a distinct secondary copper sulfide ores. The operating parameters and microbial community structure succession were summarized in this paper, and their correlation with the system characters is studied. Over the four years of industrial operation, fully taking advantages of high acidity, high iron concentration, high salinity and elevated temperature caused by the high content of pyrite (5.8%) within the ore, the growth of iron oxidizers was inhibited and that of sulfur oxidizers were promoted to dominate the heap. Copper was leached efficiently with a recovery of 80%, according to the residue analysis and iron was balanced at low cost by jarosite formation in the heap, using appropriate engineering technologies such as multi-lift permanent stacking in coarse particle size (P80 =40mm), without agglomeration and aeration. The total operation cost was low at 1.10USD/lb at a low copper grade of 0.38%. The case study presented in this paper provides operational data and analysis that would benefit the optimization of similar bioleach plants of secondary copper sulfide. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: An extended Gebhart–Block model for large space buildings is proposed in this paper, which is used to predict the vertical temperature distribution of hybrid ventilation. Natural ventilation coupled with air-conditioning is described with a mathematical model. The indoor thermal environment formed by the air-conditioning and the natural ventilation can also be conducted for the potential analysis and optimal use of the natural ventilation. Experiments were carried out in an atrium building in Shanghai Research Institute of Building Sciences. This paper describes aforementioned model, and it is found that the calculation results implying this model agree well with the measurement data. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Background: Leptospirosis is a water-borne and widespread spirochetal zoonosis caused by pathogenic bacteria called leptospires. Human leptospirosis is an important zoonotic infectious disease with frequent outbreaks in recent years in China. Leptospirosis's emergence has been linked to many environmental and ecological drivers of disease transmission. In this paper, we identified the environmental and socioeconomic factors associated with leptospirosis in China, and predict potential risk area of leptospirosis using predictive models.Methods: Leptospirosis incidence data were derived from the database of China's web-based infectious disease reporting system, a national surveillance network maintained by Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention. We built statistical relationship between occurrence of leptospirosis and nine environmental and socioeconomic risk factors using logistic regression model and Maxent model.Results: Both logistic regression model and Maxent model have high performance in predicting the occurrence of leptospirosis, with AUC value of 0.95 and 0.96, respectively. Annual mean temperature (Bio1) and annual total precipitation (Bio12) are two most important variables governing the geographic distribution of leptospirosis in China. The geographic distributions of areas at risk of leptospirosis predicted from both models show high agreement. The risk areas are located mainly in seven provinces of China: Sichuan Province, Chongqing Municipality, Hunan Province, Jiangxi Province, Guangdong Province, Guangxi Province, and Hainan Province, where surveillance and control programs are urgently needed. Logistic regression model and Maxent model predicted that 403 and 464 counties are at very high risk of leptospirosis, respectively.Conclusions: Our results highlight the importance of socioeconomic and environmental variables and predictive models in identifying risk areas for leptospirosis in China. The values of Geographic Information System and predictive models were demonstrated for investigating the geographic distribution, estimating socioeconomic and environmental risk factors, and enhancing our understanding of leptospirosis in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The role of vapor flow in unsaturated freezing soils is unclear, and usually ignored when analyzing water migration. Indeed, vapor flow is seldom considered in geotechnical design. On the other hand, frost heave damages were recently observed in a cold and arid region in China, where the groundwater table is about 20 m deep, and cannot be explained using the classical frost heave theory which focuses on the coupled flow of heat and liquid water. This paper presents a new approach for modeling moisture and heat movement in unsaturated freezing soils, in which the phase change of evaporation, condensation of vapor flow are taken into account. The method enables numerically stable solutions with energy and mass conservation. The performance of the proposed model was evaluated by a series of laboratory freezing experiments, which involve a 60 cm long soil column subjected to different initial conditions and boundary temperatures. It is shown that the proposed model is capable of effectively simulating the freezing process of an unsaturated soil. The vapor flux is shown to be significant, especially at the end stage where the freezing process is stabilized. Parametric analysis was carried out to clarify the role of vapor in moisture migration. The results show that vapor flow apparently contributes to ice formation and generally accounts for more than 10% of total water flux. The percentage of vapor flux in total flux (vapor flux ratio) positively relates to temperature gradient and freezing depth, but negatively relates to initial water content. Relations between vapor flux ratio and hydraulic parameters are less clear. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although temperature is considered a key factor influencing rock decay, little is known about the quantitative relationship between a rock's decay rate and temperature, which makes it difficult to quantitatively predict the rate of rock decay under varied temperature during wetting–drying cycle conditions. Thus, the aim of the present paper was to observe the decay rate of various purple mudstones and to develop a model with which to calculate their decay rates under varied temperature conditions. Three types of purple mudstone were sampled from the Tuodian group (J 3 t), Matoushan group (K 2 m) and Lufeng group (J 1 l), located in the Chuxiong district of Yunnan province, south-western China. All samples were manually cut into cubes of 50 × 50 × 50 mm, before being subjected to 39 wetting–drying cycles in a 2 mm sieve under artificial constant temperature, natural daily temperature variation and artificial temperature alternation (minimum and maximum) treatments in the laboratory. Decay rates were calculated by weighing the mass remaining in the sieve after each treatment cycle. The results showed that the decay rates of the tested rocks rose with an increase in temperature and temperature difference (maximum–minimum), with the rank order of decay rate being J 3 t > K 2 m > J 1 l. Quantitative analysis revealed rock decay rate to be significantly related to temperature by a power function, and exponentially related to temperature difference. Our results suggested that temperature difference has a stronger effect on purple mudstone decay than that of temperature magnitude during the wetting–drying processes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The authors note that: "Fig. 5 in the published paper appeared incorrectly. The correct figure and the figure caption are provided below. The main message and the interpretation of our paper remain unaffected by this correction." [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents projected changes in temperature and precipitation extremes in China by the end of the twenty-first century based on the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 5 (CMIP5) simulations. The temporal changes and their spatial patterns in the Expert Team on Climate Change Detection and Indices (ETCCDI) indices under the RCP4.5 and RCP8.5 emission scenarios are analyzed. Compared to the reference period 1986-2005, substantial changes are projected in temperature and precipitation extremes under both emission scenarios. These changes include a decrease in cold extremes, an increase in warm extremes, and an intensification of precipitation extremes. The intermodel spread in the projection increases with time, with wider spread under RCP8.5 than RCP4.5 for most indices, especially at the subregional scale. The difference in the projected changes under the two RCPs begins to emerge in the 2040s. Analyses based on the mixed-effects analysis of variance (ANOVA) model indicate that by the end of the twenty-first century, at the national scale, the dominant contributor to the projection uncertainty of most temperature-based indices, and some precipitation extremes [including maximum 1-day precipitation (RX1day) and maximum 5-day precipitation (RX5day), and total extremely wet day total amount (R95p)], is the difference in emission scenarios. By the end of the twenty-first century, model uncertainty is the dominant factor at the regional scale and for the other indices. Natural variability can also play very important role. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the process of heat exchange with the external environment, the internal temperature of ballastless track structure presents a nonlinear distribution. The vertical temperature gradient will cause repeated warping and deformation of track slab, resulting in mortar layer separation, which will affect driving comfort and track durability. The traditional temperature field analysis method of concrete structure based on thermodynamics has the disadvantages of too many assumptions, difficult parameter selection and too much calculation of energy consumption. In this paper, based on the finite element software ANSYS, the heat exchange was transformed into the boundary condition of heat flux, which was applied to the thermodynamic analysis model to study the nonlinear temperature distribution law of ballastless track. The accuracy of the analysis method was verified by the measured data. On this basis, the regional distribution law of temperature gradient of ballastless track under different geographical coordinates and climatic conditions was studied. By adding a regional adjustment coefficient, the vertical temperature load model of ballastless track suitable for typical areas in China was proposed. The proposed temperature load model makes up for the lack of refinement of climate division and temperature load model in relevant specifications, and has strong engineering application and popularization value. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper explored the projected changes in precipitation, maximum temperature (T max), and minimum temperature (T min) over the Yangtze River Basin (YRB) based on 23 Global climate models (GCMs) from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project phase 6 (CMIP6). The Empirical Quantile Mapping (EQM) approach was firstly applied to correct the biases in the GCMs. Next, the future changes were investigated by analyzing the multi-model ensemble (MME) of the bias-corrected dataset during 2025–2044 (near-term), 2045–2064 (mid-term), and 2081–2100 (long-term) periods, with reference to the baseline period 1995–2014, under three integrated scenarios (SSP1-2.6, SSP2-4.5, and SSP5-8.5) of the Shared Socioeconomic Pathways (SSPs) and the Representative Concentration Pathways (RCPs). Results show that: (1) the biases in CMIP6 GCMs can be effectively corrected by EQM, and the MME performs better than individual models for each climatic variable. (2) Precipitation over the YRB from 2025 to 2100 is projected to increase at the rate of 9.66 mm/decade, 13.45 mm/decade, and 21.01 mm/decade under SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, and SSP5‐8.5, respectively. In the long-term, the annual precipitation is projected to increase by 10.41%, 10.66% and 15.80%, under SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5 and SSP5‐8.5, respectively. (3) T max (T min) over the YRB is projected to increase by 0.09 (0.07) °C/decade, 0.29 (0.27) °C/decade, and 0.66 (0.64) °C/decade under SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5, and SSP5‐8.5, respectively. In the long-term, T max (T min) averaged over the YRB is projected to increase by 1.75 (1.50) °C, 2.72 (2.54) °C and 5.04 (4.85) °C under SSP1‐2.6, SSP2‐4.5 and SSP5‐8.5, respectively. (4) Uncertainties in the projected precipitation and temperature over the YRB were reduced based on MME. But further researches, such as selecting the superior models with respect to the regional climate of the YRB from the CMIP6 and using the ensemble methods that assign weight based on the performance of each model, are still needed to provide more reliable climate projections. • Projected changes were explored by 23 CMIP6 GCMs under the three SSP-RCP scenarios. • Biases in the GCMs were corrected by Empirical Quantile Mapping (EQM) method. • Multi-model ensemble (MME) was used to reduce the uncertainties. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In Yangtze River area in China, the temperature in the transitional seasons is moderate but the humidity is high so that the inhabitants feel uncomfortable, thus, the air needs to be dehumidified without lowering the temperature (isothermal dehumidification). In this paper, a novel isothermal dehumidification method in a room air-conditioner is discussed. The system can switch between cooling mode and isothermal dehumidification mode by switching valves, and the indoor reheat coil can be utilized as evaporator in the cooling mode. Through experimental study, the dehumidification capacity, energy efficiency ratio, and energy consumption are studied and fitting formula are given. The results show that the dehumidification capacity is 1.08–3.2kg/h, which could meet the isothermal dehumidification demand of an average residential apartment. The dehumidification EER was 1.13–2.5, and the outlet temperature of the unit was 0–2.4°C lower than the inlet temperature. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: In cold region, precipitation, air temperature and snow cover significantly influenced soil water and heat transfer, and thus freezing–thawing processes of active soil layer. On the basic of physical processes of water and heat balances and their transfers in the snow covered soil, a water-heat coupling model for snow cover and its underlying soil layers was established in this paper. Numerical solution of the model was conducted by a full-implicit finite volume method. Observation data of snow cover depth, soil water content and active soil depth at two typical sites in the northeast of Three-River Source Region of China were selected for model calibration and validation. The results indicate that the model can capture soil freezing–thawing processes at the two sites. Simulated results reveal that variations of soil water content, soil temperature and soil freezing depth depend on climate conditions of air temperature, precipitation and snow cover as well. In comparison of the simulated results at two sites, we know that thick snow cover hinders temperature transfer from air to soil, resulting in prolonging the time lag between air and soil temperatures, decreasing variations of soil temperature and soil water content and reducing soil freezing depths of active soil. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

The relationship between temperature and drought was investigated using the temperature-sensitive growth of Larix chinensis Beissn in the Qinling Mountains, central China. Extremely high tree-ring width index values (TRWI) agreed well with dry conditions defined by the dryness-wetness index (DWI) obtained from data in Chinese historical documents and climate-related papers between 1814 and 1956 (before the short of instrumental measurements); the reverse applied to extremely low TRWI values. The main severe drought epochs occurred from the late 1850s to the 1870s, the 1920s to 1930s and in the 2000s, whereas wet spells occurred from 1817-1827 and 1881-1886. The droughts in the 2000s exhibited a similar pattern as the ones from the 1920s to 1930s, with obviously an increasing temperature. The variation of tree growth agreed well with other reconstructed temperature series from nearby and remote regions, suggesting that Larix chinensis could respond to broad-scale climate variability. The longest cold interval, 1817-1827, could be associated with the influence of the Tambora eruption in 1815. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Global Circulation Models (GCMs) contributed to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) Fourth Assessment Report (AR4) and are widely used in global change research. This paper assesses the performance of the AR4 GCMs in simulating precipitation and temperature in China from 1960 to 1999 by comparison with observed data, using system bias (B), root-mean-square error (RMSE), Pearson correlation coefficient (R) and Nash-Sutcliffe model efficiency (E) metrics. Probability density functions (PDFs) are also fitted to the outputs of each model. It is shown that the performance of each GCM varies to different degrees across China. Based on the skill score derived from the four metrics, it is suggested that GCM 15 (ipsl_cm4) and GCM 3 (cccma&lowbar;cgcm&lowbar;t63) provide the best representations of temperature and precipitation, respectively, in terms of spatial distribution and trend over 10 years. The results also indicate that users should apply carefully the results of annual precipitation and annual temperature generated by AR4 GCMs in China due to poor performance. At a finer scale, the four metrics are also used to obtain best fit scores for ten river basins covering mainland China. Further research is proposed to improve the simulation accuracy of the AR4 GCMs regarding China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, the variability of daily temperature in the Yangtze River Delta (YRD) for the period 1958–2007 was investigated by selecting three typical temperature variables (daily minimum, mean and maximum temperatures) and the diurnal temperature range (DTR). Three variability patterns of daily mean temperature and two variability patterns of daily minimum and maximum temperatures were first classed, and then statistical properties of three temperature variables in 1958–1985 and 1986–2007 were analyzed. After that, temporal trends of three temperature variables and DTR were detected. Finally, the impacts of urbanization on the variability of daily temperature were investigated. Results indicate that: (1) daily mean temperature shows more complex variability than daily minimum and maximum temperatures; (2) in 1986–2007 three temperature variables have bigger mean values but smaller C v (coefficient of variance) values, and are more close to normal probability distribution; (3) three temperature variables show positive trends in 1986–2007, and the increase of daily mean temperature is more due to the increase of daily minimum temperature in the northern YRD but due to daily maximum temperature in the mid and southern YRD; (4) in the mid and southern YRD, daily maximum temperature has bigger increasing magnitude than daily minimum temperature in 1986–2007, causing positive trend of DTR; and (5) rapid urbanization causes normal distribution of three temperature variables, and notably increasing magnitude of daily temperature and DTR in 1986–2007 at the lower reaches of the Yangtze River and the Hangzhou Bay. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Detection of abrupt change is a key issue for understanding the facts and trends of climate change, but it is also a difficult task in practice. The Mann-Kendall (MK) test is commonly used for treating the issue, while the results are usually affected by the correlation and seasonal characters and sample size of series. This paper proposes a discrete wavelet entropy-aided approach for abrupt change detection, with the temperature analyses in the Haihe River Basin (HRB) as an example. The results show some obviously abrupt temperature changes in the study area in the 1960s-1990s. The MK test results do not reflect those abrupt temperature changes after the 1980s. Comparatively, the proposed approach can detect all main abrupt temperature changes in HRB, so it is more effective than the MK test. Differing from the MK test which only considers series' value order or the conventional entropy which mainly considers series' statistical random characters, the proposed approach is to describe the complexity and disorderliness of series using wavelet entropy theories, and it can fairly consider series' composition and characteristics under different scales, so the results can more accurately reflect not only the abrupt changes, but also the complexity variation of a series over time. However, since it is based on the entropy theories, the series analyzed must have big sample size enough and the sampling rates being smaller than the concerned scale for the accurate computation of entropy values. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract: In this paper, a soft measurement model has been proposed by combining recursive fixed-memory principal component analysis (RFMPCA) with least squares support vector machines (LS-SVM). To solve outliers, missing data points of the outliers and deviation from normal values are detected. The RFMPCA was applied to the model, which not only solved drawbacks of conventional PCA and data saturation, but also simplified the LS-SVM structure and improved the training speed. The proposed model has been successfully applied to the decomposition process of Jiuganghongda Cement Plant in China. Industrial application results have shown that the soft measurement model has high accuracy and guidance to calciner temperature setting. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Abstract: Recently, studies of microalgae in China have increased a lot because of their obvious advantages over other biological fuels. In this paper, the combustion behavior of Chlorella vulgaris (a genus of unicellular green microalgae) was investigated in a thermogravimetric analyzer (TGA) from room temperature to 800°C in O2/N2 atmospheres. The effects of different oxygen concentrations (20, 50, 60, 80vol.%) and different heating rates (10, 20 and 40°Cmin−1) on the combustion processes of C. vulgaris had been studied. The results indicated that the combustion processes of C. vulgaris could be divided into three stages. The oxygen concentrations and heating rates had important effects on the main combustion processes of C. vulgaris. The iso-conversional method involving Flynn–Wall–Ozawa (FWO) and the Kissinger–Akahira–Sunose (KAS) methods were used for the kinetic analysis of the main combustion process. The results indicated that, when the oxygen concentration varied from 20 to 80vol.%, the value of activation energy increased respectively from 134.03 to 241.04kJmol−1 by using FWO method and from 134.53 to 242.33kJmol−1 by KAS method. Moreover, the optimal oxygen concentration for C. vulgaris combustion was 25–35vol.%. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

Four kinds of polymer modifier widely used in China are selected to modify the performance of asphalt mixture: styrene butadiene styrene (China), PR PLAST.S (France), Domix (Germany), and Rad Spunrie (China). The main objective of this paper is to evaluate the influence of these polymer modifiers on the performance of asphalt mixture with the dynamic modulus |E*| indicator through simple performance test. Dynamic modulus is adopted as the primary material property of hot mix asphalt mixtures in the M-E Pavement Design Guide 2002. In this study, the influences of temperature, frequency, and confining pressure on the dynamic characteristic of asphalt mixture are analyzed, and the master curves of dynamic modulus are developed and interpreted. The Witczak |E*| predictive model, which is used in the M-E Pavement Design Guide, is also applied to predict the dynamic modulus, and the predicted values are compared with the examined results. Results show that all these polymer modifiers, especially Domix, can strengthen the mixture stiffness, and that high frequency, low temperature, and high confining pressure increase the dynamic modulus of asphalt mixtures. Additionally, the Witczak |E*| model can soundly predict the dynamic modulus of polymer-modified asphalt mixtures. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper focuses on the primary causes of changes in potential evapotranspiration (ETo) in order to comprehensively understand climate change and its impact on hydrological cycle. Based on modified Penman-Monteith model, ETo is simulated, and its changes are attributed by analyzing the sensitivity of ETo to influence meteorological variables together with their changes for 595 meteorological stations across China during the period 1961–2008. Results show the decreasing trends of ETo in the whole country and in most climate regions except the cold temperate humid region in Northeast China. For China as a whole, the decreasing trend of ETo is primarily attributed to wind speed due to its significant decreasing trend and high sensitivity. Relative humidity is the highest sensitive variable; however, it has negligible effect on ETo for its insignificant trend. The positive contribution of temperature rising to ETo is offset by the effect of wind speed and sunshine duration. In addition, primary causes to ETo changes are varied for differing climate regions. ETo changes are attributed to decreased wind speed in most climate regions mainly distributed in West China and North China, to declined sunshine duration in subtropical and tropical humid regions in South China, and to increased maximum temperature in the cold temperate humid region. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Vegetation around the Daihai Lake, northern China, is very sensitive to climate changes. In this paper, pollen-based quantitative climate reconstructions using three methods [weighted averaging partial least squares method (WAPLS), modern analog technique (MAT), and pollen response surface method (PRS)] were conducted to obtain robust reconstructions of Holocene climate changes in the Daihai Lake area. The result obtained by the three methods all consistently show the annual precipitation to have been 50–100 mm lower in the early Holocene, 100–200 mm higher in the Mid-Holocene, and 50–100 mm lower again in the late Holocene than at present. The WAPLS and the MAT methods also show quasi-synchronous oscillations of the mean annual temperature (Ta); 1°–2°C lower in the Early Holocene and 1°–3°C higher in the Mid-Holocene than today. The time period from 6200 to 5100 cal yr BP was the wettest and the warmest interval, with an annual precipitation (Pa) greater than 550 mm and mean annual temperature Ta higher than 6.5°C. Several cold and dry events can be identified to occur about 8200, 6000, and 4400 cal yr BP, with an annual precipitation less than 400 mm and a mean annual temperature colder than 4.5°C, respectively. The mean temperature of the warmest month (Tw) as reconstructed using both WAPLS and MAT methods was relatively stable during the Holocene, fluctuating about ±2°C relative to the present level, but the PRS method suggests more varied Tw values in both amplitude and frequency. After 1500 cal yr BP, no consistent pattern can be observed from these three different analyses, probably because of the impact of intensified human disturbances on the natural vegetation. The fluctuations of annual precipitation (Pa) correspond to that observed in Dongge Cave in southern China. The differences might be linked to Indian monsoon and East Asia monsoon climates or caused by the different degree of dating precision, different temporal resolution, and different sensitive response of climate proxies to the climate variations. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Shenzhen City in China is developing rapidly now. Correspondingly, deterioration of the outdoor environment in phenomena such as heat island has become a serious problem. This aggravation of the thermal environment has spoiled urban sustainability. In this paper, (1) in order to predict the outdoors thermal environment in summer in an apartment block, unsteady coupled simulation of convection, radiation, and conduction is developed and used. The velocity, temperature, humidity, and MRT in the urban area are obtained from the simulation. In order to estimate the pedestrian level of thermal comfort in the outdoor thermal environment, the spatial distributions of New Standard Effective Temperature (SET*) is calculated using the above results. (2) The actual situation of the outdoors thermal environment in summer in an apartment block in Shenzhen City is investigated by field measurements. (3) The effect of schemes to improve the outdoor thermal environment in this apartment block, such as changing building shapes, planting arrangements, etc. are examined using this prediction method. [Copyright &y& Elsevier]

This paper presents a large data set on carbon isotope composition (δ13C) of modern soils which were collected under the main vegetation communities along an altitude of 1250–5500 m above sea level in the Qinghai-Tibetan Plateau. The δ13C values of 198 samples range from -28.6 to -15.1‰ versus PDB and exhibit a clean relation to different vegetation communities from forest (-25.9 ± 1.2‰) to shrub (-24.7 ± 1.4‰), steppe (-23.1 ± 1.3‰), alpine meadow (-23.6 ± 0.7‰), alpine desert steppe (-21.3 ± 1.6‰), and alpine desert (-18.9 ± 2.5‰). We attributed the observed variability in δ13C values to that the mean annual precipitation (MAP) and the mean annual temperature (MAT) are the main factors controlling the distribution of vegetation types in the Tibetan Plateau, which causes the change in carbon isotope composition of modern soils at any given altitude. The result of both linear and nonlinear regression analyses also confirms that MAP and MAT are the major factors affecting the δ13C values of surface soils. In the absence of favorable moisture and temperature conditions, low pCO2 alone is not sufficient to cause the distinct changes in carbon isotope composition of modern soils in the Tibetan Plateau. This study provides some fundamental information on the carbon isotope composition of terrestrial carbon pools and bears some practical significance for the use of carbon isotope data to document vegetation changes and environmental conditions of the high plateau in the past. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Undaria pinnatifida (Harv.) Sur. is one of the three main seaweed species under commercial cultivation in China. In the mid-1990s the annual production was about 20 000 tons dry. The supply of healthy sporelings is key to the success of commercial cultivation of Undaria. Previous studies demonstrated that instead of the zoospore collection method, sporelings can be cultured through the use of gametophyte clones. This paper reports the experimental results on mass culture of clones and sporeling raising in commercial scale. Light had an obvious effect on growth of gametophyte clones. Under an irradiance of 80 μmol m-2 s-1 and favorable temperature of 22–25 °C, mean daily growth rate may reach as high as 37%. Several celled gametophyte fragments were sprayed onto the palm rope frame. Gametogenesis occurred after 4–6 days. Juvenile sporeling growth experiments showed that nitrate and phosphate concentrations of 2.9 10-4 mol l-1 and 1.7 10-5 mol l-1 were sufficient to enable the sporelings to maintain a high daily growth rate. Sporelings can reach a length of 1 cm in a month. Since 1997, extension of the clone technique has been carried out in Shandong Province. Large-scale production of sporelings for commercial cultivation of 14 and 31 hectares in 1997 and 1998 had been conducted successfully. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The year 1998 was an unusual year for Guangdong Province and Hong Kong, both in southern China, as the frequency and intensity of harmful algal blooms (HAB) were much higher than usual. This paper describes the causative organisms found associated with these blooms and speculates on the possible causes of these blooms, including the effects of increased temperature, reduced salinity, eutrophication and meteorological and oceanographic events on the initiation and spread of these blooms. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]