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Moraxella catarrhalis commonly colonizes the upper respiratory tract of humans, but infection caused by M. catarrhalis after orthopedic surgery is rare. Here, we report the first case of septic arthritis of the shoulder caused by an M. catarrhalis infection and outline the diagnosis and treatment steps as well as differences compared with other cases.

Seasonal variation in westward-propagating quasi-10 d waves (Q10DWs) in the mesosphere and lower thermosphere of the Southern Hemisphere (SH) high-latitude regions is investigated using meteor radar (MR) observations for the period of 2012–2016 and using the Specified Dynamics (SD) version of the Whole Atmosphere Community Climate Model (WACCM). The phase difference in meridional winds measured by two MRs located in Antarctica gives observational estimates of the amplitude and phase of the Q10DW with zonal wavenumber 1 (W1). The amplitude of the observed Q10DW-W1 is large around equinoxes. In order to elucidate the variations in the observed Q10DW-W1 and its possible amplification mechanism, we carry out two SD-WACCM experiments nudged towards the MERRA-2 reanalysis from the surface up to ∼ 60 km (EXP60) and ∼ 75 km (EXP75). Results of the EXP75 indicate that the observed Q10DW-W1 can be amplified around regions of barotropic and/or baroclinic instability in the middle mesosphere around 60–70° S. In the EXP60 experiment, it was also found that the Q10DW-W1 is amplified around the regions of instability, but the amplitude is too large compared to MR observations. The large-scale instability in the EXP60 in the SH summer mesosphere is stronger than that in the EXP75 and Microwave Limb Sounder observations. The larger instability in the EXP60 is related to the large meridional and vertical variations in polar mesospheric zonal winds in association with gravity wave parameterization (GWP). Given uncertainties inherent in GWP, these results can suggest that it is possible for models to spuriously generate traveling planetary waves such as the Q10DW, especially in summer, due to excessively strong large-scale instability in the SH high-latitude mesosphere.

The process of digital restoration of lost cultural heritage often takes a lot of effort and it is difficult to judge the accuracy of the restoration. In this paper, we propose a set of basic methods and processes for digital restoration based on the lost heritage by mining materials and information, and can trace the evidence based on the restoration results. Taking the restoration of the South Gate of the Shangjing Palace in the Liao Dynasty as an example, this paper introduces the methods and processes of establishing a database of restoration materials and identifying relevant information, restoration design steps and accuracy assessment in the process of digital restoration, and finally realizing the digital presentation of the lost heritage. It is hoped that this paper can provide problem-solving ideas and methods for workers in the field of digital restoration of vanished heritage.

In this study, AISI 1035 steel was selected as the research object, and a single-pass thermal compression simulation experiment was carried out. Based on the true stress-strain curve obtained from the experiment, the dynamic DMM thermal processing map theory was used to draw the material under different thermal deformation conditions. and the rheological instability map based on the Prasad instability criterion, and the thermal processing map is used to predict the suitable processing interval and rheological instability interval for the thermal deformation process of the material under different process conditions. So as to provide theoretical support for the optimization of the material processing technology.

Abstract Background The preservation of biological and physiological vitality as well as the formation of dentin are among the main tasks of human dental pulp for a life time. Odontoblastic differentiation of human dental pulp stem cells (hDPSCs) exhibits the capacity of dental pulp regeneration and dentin complex rebuilding. Exploration of the mechanisms regulating differentiation and proliferation of hDPSCs may help to investigate potential clinical applications. BTB and CNC homology 1 (BACH1) is a transcription repressor engaged in the regulation of multiple cellular functions. This study aimed to investigate the effects of BACH1 on the proliferation and odontoblastic differentiation of hDPSCs in vitro. Methods hDPSCs and pulpal tissues were obtained from extracted human premolars or third molars. The distribution of BACH1 was detected by immunohistochemistry. The mRNA and protein expression of BACH1 were examined by qRT-PCR and Western blot analysis. BACH1 expression was regulated by stable lentivirus-mediated transfection. Cell proliferation and cell cycle were assessed by cell counting kit-8 assay, 5-Ethynyl-2'-deoxyuridine assay and flow cytometry. The expression of mineralization markers, alkaline phosphatase (ALP) activity and alizarin red S staining were conducted to assess the odontoblastic differentiation ability. Results BACH1 expression was stronger in the odontoblast layer than in the cell rich zone. The total and nuclear protein level of BACH1 during odontoblastic differentiation was downregulated initially and then upregulated gradually. Knockdown of BACH1 greatly inhibited cell proliferation, arrested cell cycle, upregulated the heme oxygenase-1 (HO-1) expression and attenuated ALP activity, decreased calcium deposits and downregulated the expression of mineralization markers. Treatment of Tin-protoporphyrin IX, an HO-1 inhibitor, failed to rescue the impaired odonto/osteogenic differentiation capacity. Overexpression of BACH1 increased cell proliferation, ALP activity and the expression of mineralization markers. Conclusions Our findings suggest that BACH1 is an important regulator of the proliferation and odontoblastic differentiation of hDPSCs in vitro. Manipulation of BACH1 expression may provide an opportunity to promote the regenerative capacity of hDPSCs.

Hot forging forming of railway wagon bogie adapter is a new railway wagon bogie adapter processing technology. In this paper, a hot forging die for railway wagon bogie adapter was designed, and the forming quality were analyzed by using DEFORM-3D software. Then, the feasibility of the process was verified by experiments. It was found that using this mold can eliminate the defects such as loose as-cast in metal smelting process, optimize the microstructure, forging products with good density, product quality and other characteristics of stability.

The influence of nano dispersion on the thermoelectric properties of Bi2Te3 was actively investigating to wide-spread thermoelectric applications. Herein this report, we have systematically controlled the microstructure of Bi0.5Sb1.5Te3 (BST) alloys through the incorporation of carbon nanofiber (CNF), and studied their effect on thermoelectric properties, and mechanical properties. The BST/x-CNF (x-0, 0.05, 0.1, 0.2 wt.%) composites powder was fabricated using high energy ball milling, and subsequently consolidated the powder using spark plasma sintering. The identification of CNF in bulk composites was analyzed in Raman spectroscopy and corresponding CNF peaks were recognized. The BST matrix grain size was greatly reduced with CNF dispersion and consistently decreased along CNF percentage. The electrical conductivity was reduced and Seebeck coefficient varied in small-scale by embedding CNF. The thermal conductivity was progressively diminished, obtained lattice thermal conductivity was lowest compared to bare sample due to induced phonon scattering at interfaces of secondary phases as well as highly dense fine grain boundaries. The peak ZT of 0.95 achieved for 0.1 wt.% dispersed BST/CNF composites. The Vickers hardness value of 101.8 Hv was obtained for the BST/CNF composites.

Abstract To evaluate national epidemiologic data on infants treated for patent ductus arteriosus (PDA) in Korea and analyze outcomes associated with different PDA treatments. We retrospectively evaluated data on 12,336 patients diagnosed with PDA (International Classification of Diseases-10 code: Q250) between 2015 and 2018 from the Health Insurance Review and Assessment database. Among them, 1623 patients underwent surgical ligation (code: O1671). We used birth certificate data from Statistics Korea to estimate the prevalence, diagnosis, and treatment of PDA. The prevalence of infants with PDA was 81 infants per 10,000 live births and 45.2% in very low birth weight (VLBW) infants, which increased from 2015 to 2018. PDA ligation was performed in 2571 infants and 22% VLBW infants. Medical treatment was administered to 4202 infants, which decreased significantly, especially in VLBW infants (62% to 53%). The proportion of treatment was as follows: conservative treatment (53.1%), intravenous ibuprofen (24.4%), surgery (20.4%), and oral ibuprofen (10.7%); that among 4854 VLBW infants was as follows: intravenous ibuprofen (46.3%), conservative treatment (33.2%), surgery (22.2%), and oral ibuprofen (14.2%). Surgical treatment had a significantly higher risk (odds ratio 1.36) of mortality than conservative treatment. Surgical and/or medical treatments were associated with a higher risk of morbidity. Recently, increased use of conservative management of PDA has contributed to improved neonatal outcomes in VLBW infants. Select patients may still benefit from surgical ligation following careful consideration.

The MALINA oceanographic campaign was conducted during summer 2009 to investigate the carbon stocks and the processes controlling the carbon fluxes in the Mackenzie River estuary and the Beaufort Sea. During the campaign, an extensive suite of physical, chemical and biological variables were measured across seven shelf–basin transects (south–north) to capture the meridional gradient between the estuary and the open ocean. Key variables such as temperature, absolute salinity, radiance, irradiance, nutrient concentrations, chlorophyll a concentration, bacteria, phytoplankton and zooplankton abundance and taxonomy, and carbon stocks and fluxes were routinely measured onboard the Canadian research icebreaker CCGS Amundsen and from a barge in shallow coastal areas or for sampling within broken ice fields. Here, we present the results of a joint effort to compile and standardize the collected data sets that will facilitate their reuse in further studies of the changing Arctic Ocean. The data set is available at https://doi.org/10.17882/75345 (Massicotte et al., 2020).

Using Gleeble-3800 thermal simulation testing machine, the TC4 titanium alloy was subjected to hot compression experiments under the conditions of deformation temperature of 810 – 950 °C, strain rate of 0.001 - 1s-1. The research shows that the flow stress of TC4 titanium alloy is more sensitive to the deformation temperature and strain rate during thermal deformation, and it increases with the decrease of the deformation temperature and the increase of the strain rate. Based on BP neural network, a constitutive model of TC4 titanium alloy α+β two-phase region is established. The correlation coefficient reaches 0,996, which proves that the model can predict the high temperature flow stress of TC4 titanium alloy.

Use Gleeble-1500D thermal simulation test machine to conduct thermal tensile test on AISI 1035 in the deformation temperature range of 1 173,15~1 373,15 K and strain rate range of 0,2 ~ 20 s-1. Using the obtained true stress-strain curves, an intrinsic model of the material was constructed using a model considering strain compensation. The results showed that the correlation coefficient of the Arrhenius model of AISI 1035 considering strain compensation was 0,984 with an average absolute error of 3,550 %, which can accurately predict the flow profitability. The experimental data matched well with the prediction curves obtained from the model calculation, which verified the feasibility of the model.

Marine dimethyl sulfide (DMS) is important to climate due to the ability of DMS to alter Earth's radiation budget. Knowledge of the global-scale distribution, seasonal variability, and sea-to-air flux of DMS is needed in order to improve understanding of atmospheric sulfur, aerosol/cloud dynamics, and albedo. Here we examine the use of an artificial neural network (ANN) to extrapolate available DMS measurements to the global ocean and produce a global climatology with monthly temporal resolution. A global database of 82 996 ship-based DMS measurements in surface waters was used along with a suite of environmental parameters consisting of latitude–longitude coordinates, time of day, time of year, solar radiation, mixed layer depth, sea surface temperature, salinity, nitrate, phosphate, and silicate. Linear regressions of DMS against the environmental parameters show that on a global-scale mixed layer depth and solar radiation are the strongest predictors of DMS. These parameters capture ∼9 % and ∼7 % of the raw DMS data variance, respectively. Multilinear regression can capture more of the raw data variance (∼39 %) but strongly underestimates DMS in high-concentration regions. In contrast, the artificial neural network captures ∼66 % of the raw data variance in our database. Like prior climatologies our results show a strong seasonal cycle in surface ocean DMS with the highest concentrations and sea-to-air fluxes in the high-latitude summertime oceans. We estimate a lower global sea-to-air DMS flux (20.12±0.43 Tg S yr−1) than the prior estimate based on a map interpolation method when the same gas transfer velocity parameterization is used. Our sensitivity test results show that DMS concentration does not change unidirectionally with each of the environmental parameters, which emphasizes the interactions among these parameters. The ANN model suggests that the flux of DMS from the ocean to the atmosphere will increase with global warming. Given that larger DMS fluxes induce greater cloud albedo, this corresponds to a negative climate feedback.

Effects of realistic propagation of gravity waves (GWs) on distribution of GW pseudomomentum fluxes are explored using a global ray-tracing model for the 2009 sudden stratospheric warming (SSW) event. Four-dimensional (4D; x–z and t) and two-dimensional (2D; z and t) results are compared for various parameterized pseudomomentum fluxes. In ray-tracing equations, refraction due to horizontal wind shear and curvature effects are found important and comparable to one another in magnitude. In the 4D, westward pseudomomentum fluxes are enhanced in the upper troposphere and northern stratosphere due to refraction and curvature effects around fluctuating jet flows. In the northern polar upper mesosphere and lower thermosphere, eastward pseudomomentum fluxes are increased in the 4D. GWs are found to propagate more to the upper atmosphere in the 4D, since horizontal propagation and change in wave numbers due to refraction and curvature effects can make it more possible that GWs elude critical level filtering and saturation in the lower atmosphere. GW focusing effects occur around jet cores, and ray-tube effects appear where the polar stratospheric jets vary substantially in space and time. Enhancement of the structure of zonal wave number 2 in pseudomomentum fluxes in the middle stratosphere begins from the early stage of the SSW evolution. An increase in pseudomomentum fluxes in the upper atmosphere is present even after the onset in the 4D. Significantly enhanced pseudomomentum fluxes, when the polar vortex is disturbed, are related to GWs with small intrinsic group velocity (wave capture), and they would change nonlocally nearby large-scale vortex structures without substantially changing local mean flows.

Superoxide dismutase is a crucial reactive oxygen species (ROS) scavenger and converts the superoxide radical (O2-) to H2O2, so it is thought to enhance abiotic stress tolerance by reducing ROS accumulation and so avoiding oxidative damage. In this study, we isolated a salt- and oxidative stress-responsive Cu/Zn SOD gene TaSOD5 from wheat. The ectopic overexpression of TaSOD5 in Arabidopsis increased total and Cu/Zn SOD activities, and offered the plant tolerance to salt stress. Arabidopsis ectopically expressing TaSOD5 possessed a superior resistance to oxidative stress induced H2O2. The TaSOD5 ectopic overexpression elevated the activities of both ROS scavengers and O2- producer NADPH oxidase. These findings show that Cu/Zn SOD enhances salt tolerance via regulating the machinery of redox homeostasis rather than improving SOD activity alone.

Dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration in the Pearl River estuary (PRE) of China was measured in May, August, and October 2015 and January 2016. Chromophoric and fluorescent dissolved organic matter (CDOM and FDOM) in the latter three seasons were characterized by absorption and fluorescence spectroscopy. CDOM and FDOM exhibited negligible seasonal variations, while DOC displayed a significant seasonality, with the average concentration being highest in May (156 µmol L−1), lowest in November (87 µmol L−1), and comparable between January (118 µmol L−1) and August (112 µmol L−1). Although DOC, CDOM, and FDOM in surface water were generally higher than in bottom water, the difference between the two layers was statistically insignificant. DOC showed little cross-estuary variations in all seasons, while CDOM and FDOM in January were higher on the west side of the estuary than on the east side. All three variables showed rapid drawdowns in the head region of the estuary (salinity ); their dynamics in the main estuary were primarily controlled by conservative mixing, leading to linearly declining or relatively constant (for DOC in May and November only) contents with increasing salinity. The decrease in FDOM with salinity was 5 %–35 % faster than that of CDOM, which in turn was 2–3 times quicker than that of DOC. Salinity and CDOM absorption coefficients could serve as indicators of DOC in August and January. Freshwater endmembers in all seasons mainly contained fresh, protein-rich DOM of microbial origin, a large part of it likely being pollution-derived. Protein-like materials were preferentially consumed in the head region but the dominance of the protein signature was maintained throughout the estuary. Exports of DOC and CDOM (in terms of the absorption coefficient at 330 nm) into the South China Sea were estimated as 195×109 g and 266×109 m2 for the PRE and 362×109 g and 493×109 m2 for the entire Pearl River Delta. The PRE presents the lowest concentrations and export fluxes of DOC and CDOM among the world's major estuaries. DOM delivered from the PRE is, however, protein-rich and thus may enhance heterotrophs in the adjacent coastal waters. Overall, the PRE manifests lower abundance and smaller spatiotemporal variability of DOM than expected for a sizable estuary with a marked seasonality of river runoff due supposedly to the poorly forested watershed of the Pearl River, the rapid degradation of the pollution-derived DOM in the upper reach, and the short residence time of freshwater.

The cation/H+ exchange is a basic process in transmembrane transport. The acquisition of genome sequences has now established that plants possess genes encoding a large number of cation/proton antiporter 1 (CPA1) proteins, few of which have been characterized with respect to their contribution to ion homeostasis. The CPA1s comprise plasma membrane, vacuolar, and endosomal forms, and they have been identified as important for a salinity tolerance. They are, however, also involved in both the control of cellular pH and K+ homeostasis, and regulate processes over a wide range of physiological events, from vesicle trafficking to development.

It is important to identify molecular candidates involved in morphological and functional changes in the female reproductive system. We have discovered several candidate genes that were significantly altered in chick oviducts by exogenous estrogen and those candidates included dexamethasone (DEX)-induced RAS-related protein 1 (RASD1). RAS-related protein 1, a member of the Ras family of monomeric G proteins, is involved in various cellular processes including cell growth, proliferation and differentiation, as well as a cell-signaling protein regulating hormonal actions. Although the RASD1 gene was first identified as a DEX (a corticosteroid) inducible gene, there is evidence that it is also an estrogen-responsive gene. However, hormone-mediated expression and biological functions of RASD1 in the avian female reproductive system are poorly understood. Therefore, we tested the hypothesis that RASD1 may be involved in the development and remodeling of the chicken reproductive system as an estrogen-responsive gene. Here we demonstrate differential expression of RASD1 gene and candidate microRNAs (miRNAs) targeting chicken RASD1 transcripts in chicken oviducts in response to diesthylstilbestrol (DES, a synthetic non-steroidal estrogen) and the estrogen-mediated molting process. Result of the present study indicated that expression of RASD1 messenger RNA (mRNA) increased in the developing oviducts of chicks treated with DES, particularly in the glandular (GE) and luminal (LE) epithelia of the magnum and the shell gland. Also, during induced molting by zinc feeding, RASD1 expression changed in concert with changes in concentrations of estrogen in blood of laying hens. Our results revealed that expression of RASD1 mRNA decreased as the oviduct regressed and then increased as the oviduct underwent re-growth and recrudescence in hens. Furthermore, RASD1 mRNA was expressed predominantly in GE and LE of the oviduct of laying hens during regeneration of the oviduct after induced molting, but not during the period of regression of the oviduct during molting. In addition, the relative expression of candidate miRNAs (miR-30a-5p, miR-30b-5p, miR-30c-5p and miR-30d) regulating RASD1 transcripts changed in response to estrogen stimulation of chick oviducts. These results indicate that transcription of the RASD1 gene and miRNAs regulating post-transcriptional aspects of expression of RASD1 are modulated by estrogen which is critical for growth, development, remodeling and maintenance of function of the chicken oviduct.

Knowledge of structure and function of microbial communities in different successional stages of biological soil crusts (BSCs) is still scarce for desert areas. In this study, Illumina MiSeq sequencing was used to assess the compositional changes of bacterial communities in different ages of BSCs in the revegetation of Shapotou in the Tengger Desert. The most dominant phyla of bacterial communities shifted with the changed types of BSCs in the successional stages, from Firmicutes in mobile sand and physical crusts to Actinobacteria and Proteobacteria in BSCs, and the most dominant genera shifted from Bacillus, Enterococcus and Lactococcus to RB41_norank and JG34-KF-361_norank. Alpha diversity and quantitative real-time polymerase chain reaction (PCR) analysis indicated that bacterial richness and abundance reached their highest levels after 15 years of BSC development. Redundancy analysis showed that silt + clay content and total K were the prime determinants of the bacterial communities of BSCs. The results suggested that bacterial communities of BSCs recovered quickly with the improved soil physicochemical properties in the early stages of BSC succession. Changes in the bacterial community structure may be an important indicator in the biogeochemical cycling and nutrient storage in early successional stages of BSCs in desert ecosystems.

Histone modification is a ubiquitous regulator of gene transcription. Arabidopsis CUP-SHAPED COTYLEDON (CUC) genes serve as a marker for shoot apical meristem initiation, but how they are regulated during shoot regeneration from in vitro culture, it is not yet understood. Here, the histone modification status of CUC1, CUC2, and CUC3 was analysed using a combination of chromatin immunoprecipitation (ChIP) and real time quantitative PCR. The activation of CUC1 and CUC2 was associated with an increased level of histone H3K4 trimethylation and/or H3K9 acetylation, as well as a reduced level of H3K9 demethylation in various parts of their promoter and coding sequences. Histone modification is suggested to play an important role in regulating CUC1 and CUC2 expression during shoot regeneration.

HJ-1A/B NDVI (HJ NDVI) time-series data possess relatively high spatio-temporal resolution which is significant for the research on urban areas. However, its application is hindered by noise resulting from the restrictions of imaging quality and limits of the satellite platform. The NDVI noise reduction is necessary. Some noise-reduction techniques including the asymmetric Gaussian filter (AG), the double logistic filter (DL), the Savitzky-Golay (S-G) filter and the harmonic analysis (Hants) of NDVI time-series have been used to carry out the NDVI time series reconstruction, and based on the comparison results of different filter, S-G filter is the optimal in the application on urban areas. Finally,urban vegetation mapping is carried out based on the new HJ NDVI.

This paper presents a bottom-up methodology based on the local emission factors, complemented with the widely used emission factors of Computer Programme to Calculate Emissions from Road Transport (COPERT) model and near-real-time traffic data on road segments to develop a vehicle emission inventory with high temporal–spatial resolution (HTSVE) for the Beijing urban area. To simulate real-world vehicle emissions accurately, the road has been divided into segments according to the driving cycle (traffic speed) on this road segment. The results show that the vehicle emissions of NOx, CO, HC and PM were 10.54 × 104, 42.51 × 104 and 2.13 × 104 and 0.41 × 104 Mg respectively. The vehicle emissions and fuel consumption estimated by the model were compared with the China Vehicle Emission Control Annual Report and fuel sales thereafter. The grid-based emissions were also compared with the vehicular emission inventory developed by the macro-scale approach. This method indicates that the bottom-up approach better estimates the levels and spatial distribution of vehicle emissions than the macro-scale method, which relies on more information. Based on the results of this study, improved air quality simulation and the contribution of vehicle emissions to ambient pollutant concentration in Beijing have been investigated in a companion paper (He et al., 2016).

Cytosine methylation (C meth) is a ubiquitous regulator of gene transcription. The maize gene ZmGRP3 is a notable marker for root initiation, but how its root-specific transcription is regulated is not understood. Here, bisulfite sequencing and a C meth sensitive Southern blot assay were used to show that the transcription of ZmGRP3 was promoted by a reduction in the extent of C meth both in its promoter and in the vicinity of its translation start site. The result was validated by revealing the effect of 5-aza-2-deoxycytidine on the C meth status in various seedling organs. An analysis of methylation patterns indicates that the C meth of cytosine-guanine dinucleotides was the most important determinant of transcription, however, the C meth of CHG or CHH trinucleotides had little influence.

The changes of saprotrophic fungi (SF) and symbiotic arbuscular mycorrhizal fungi (AMF) in response to different fertilizers were investigated in a period of 21 years. Denaturing gradient gel electrophoresis profiles showed fungal community structure significantly changed after long-term fertilization. Long-term organic and mineral fertilization significantly increased the SF diversity, whereas mineral fertilization decreased the AMF diversity. SF quantity significantly increased in response to organic fertilizers, whereas the AMF propagules were down-regulated by nutrient-rich fertilization but induced by N, P or K-deficiency. Redundancy analysis showed that long-term fertilization differentially affected diversity and quantity of SF and AMF. Nutrient-rich organic fertilizers, resulting in higher contents of soil organic C (SOC), total N and mineral N, total and available P, regulated the quantity and diversity of SF positively and quantity of AMF negatively, respectively. The diversity of AMF was slightly down-regulated by SOC, total and mineral N and total P as well as the nutrient-rich mineral treatments, in contrast to the positive effects by available K and P. These results indicate that soil nutritional status and fertilizer types significantly affect SF and AMF. Our study of soil fungal community in response to the long-term fertilization can provide new strategies for agronomic practice.

In this paper, we fabricated NaYF 4:Yb3+, Er3+, Tm3+ nanocrystal/opal photonic crystal composites by depositing NaYF 4:Yb3+, Er3+, Tm3+ nanocrystals on the surface of opal photonic crystals, and we investigated the influence of photonic bandgaps on upconversion (UC) emission properties of NaYF 4:Yb3+, Er3+, Tm 3+ nanocrystals. When the photonic bandgaps overlapped with the UC emission bands of NaYF 4:Yb3+, Er3+, Tm3+ nanocrystals on the opal photonic crystal surfaces, the suppression or enhancement of UC emissions was observed due to the Bragg reflection effect of photonic crystal, resulting in the modification of red, green, and blue UC emissions. Thus, white UC emission was realized.

Biogenic NOx emissions from natural and anthropogenically influenced soils are currently estimated to amount to 9 Tg a−1, hence a significant fraction of global NOx emissions (45 Tg a−1). During the last three decades, a large number of field measurements have been performed to quantify biogenic NO emissions. To study biogenic NO emissions as a function of soil moisture, soil temperature, and soil nutrients, several laboratory approaches have been developed to estimate local/regional NO emissions by suitable upscaling. This study presents an improved and automated laboratory dynamic chamber system (consisting of six individual soil chambers) for investigation and quantification of all quantities necessary to characterise biogenic NO release from soil (i.e. net NO release rate, NO production and consumption rate, and respective Q10 values). In contrast to former versions of the laboratory dynamic chamber system, the four experiments for complete characterisation can now be performed on a single soil sample, whereas former studies had to be performed on four sub-samples. This study discovered that the sub-sample variability biased former measurements of net NO release rates tremendously. Furthermore, it was also shown that the previously reported variation of optimum soil moisture (i.e. where a maximum net NO release rates occur) between individual sub-samples is most likely a methodical artefact of former versions of the laboratory dynamic chamber system. A comprehensive and detailed methodical concept description of the improved laboratory dynamic chamber system is provided. Response of all quantities (necessary to characterise net NO release) to soil temperature and NO mixing ratio of the flushing airstream are determined by automatic monitoring of these variables during one single drying-out experiment with one single soil sample only. The method requires precise measurements of NO mixing ratio at the inlet and outlet of each soil chamber; finally, four pairs of inlet/outlet NO mixing ratios are sufficient to derive all necessary quantities. Soil samples from drylands exhibit particularly low NO production, but even lower NO consumption rates. However, with the improved laboratory dynamic chamber system those low levels can be quantified, as well as corresponding NO compensation point mixing ratios and respective Q10 values. It could be shown that the NO compensation point mixing ratio seems to be generally independent of gravimetric soil moisture content, but, particularly for dryland soils, strongly dependent on soil temperature. New facilities have been included into the improved system (e.g. for investigation of net release rates of other trace gases, namely CO2 and volatile organic compounds – VOCs). First, results are shown for net release rates of acetone (C3H6O), acetaldehyde (C2H4O) and CO2. This new system is thus able to simultaneously investigate potential mechanistic links between NO, multitudinous VOC and CO2.