Northwestern Part Of China Research Articles

Spatio-Temporal Evolution of Carbon Emission in China’s Tertiary Industry: A Decomposition of Influencing Factors from the Perspective of Energy-Industry-Consumption

The development of the tertiary industry is of great significance for promoting industrial structure, optimizing and upgrading it, and achieving regional energy conservation and emission reduction goals. This study adopts a quantitative method to analyze the spatio-temporal pattern of carbon emissions from China’s tertiary industry from 2004 to 2019. In order to analyze emissions from aspects such as energy structure, energy intensity, energy carrying capacity, industrial structure, level of industrial development, income level, consumption capacity, energy consumption intensity, and population size, this study establishes a hybrid factor decomposition model called the “energy-industry-consumption” research framework. The study shows that carbon emissions from China’s tertiary industry have been increasing year by year from 2004 to 2019, with a growth rate of 353.10%. Transportation is the largest contributor to the increase in carbon emissions from China’s tertiary industry. The carbon emissions from the tertiary industry in each province show four types: high-speed growth, low-speed growth, fluctuating growth, and stable growth. During the study period, carbon emissions produce a spatial heterogeneity with the highest emissions in the south and lowest in the northwestern part of China. The spatial pattern of per capita carbon emissions is not significant. Guangdong has the highest carbon emissions, and Shanghai and Beijing have higher per capita carbon emissions. Industrial factors and consumption factors have a positive effect on carbon emissions in China’s tertiary industry, while energy factors have a negative effect. The leading factor of carbon emissions in China’s tertiary industry has gradually shifted from energy to industry.

Impacts of the flipped classroom on student performance and problem solving skills in secondary school chemistry courses

The use of the flipped classroom approach in chemistry courses has rapidly increased over the past decade, and it appears that this type of learning environment will play an essential role in improving student success. However, it's crucial to note that the majority of these studies were carried out in higher education environments. There hasn’t been much research comparing flipped to traditional classrooms in K-12 institutions. The majority of comparisons between flipped and non-flipped groups were taught by different teachers, and typically conducted over a brief period of time, often a few weeks. The purpose of this study is to examine the impacts of the flipped classroom on student performance and problem solving skills in chemistry courses. A two-stage experiment was conducted in a secondary school in the Northwestern part of China with the flipped classroom group including 46 students, 20 males and 26 females and the non-flipped classroom group consisting of 50 students, 30 males and 20 females. Both groups were taught by the same chemistry teacher with eight years of teaching experience. Independent t-tests showed that the flipped classroom significantly improved student academic performance compared to the non-flipped classroom, and this effect lasted for at least one year. The study also found that flipped classrooms have a more progressive impact on students’ problem solving skills, which always take a long teaching period. Meanwhile, the research findings revealed that most students preferred or strongly preferred the flipped classroom approach after they experienced it. However, as the duration of the teaching experiment grows, students’ attitudes toward the flipped classroom approach tend to polarize.

아미르 티무르의 동방 원정과 몽골제국의 후예들

The first Timurid envoy to Ming arrived at 1387, and it was considered as a tributary envoy. Ming thought that Samarkand has been one of the many cities in the former Chaghatayid Ulus, and the ruler of Samarkand, Amir Timur Kuregen (the “Son-in-law in Royal Family”) was similar to the former Yuan princes who lived in the north-western part of China. On the other side, Timur use all his effort to conquer Central and West Asia at that time, so it was difficult for him to figure out all the behavior of Muslim Tajik merchants. So they did not notice that Ming thought them as a vassal.<BR> Their relations was strained in the early 1390s when Ming tried to limit the opportunity of mutual trade to Muslim merchants who wanted to enter the Jiayu Passage. After that, Samarkand envoys from 1391 to 1394 were certainly those who were sent from Timur. Especially in 1394, the envoy brought Timur’s letter, which contained certain elements that expressed adherence to the Chinese world order. In reality, the letter that arrived at Jiayu Passage, already had been translated into Chinese. Therefore, some persons among envoys took part in the translation desperately wanting to maintain the relation between the two country. Anyway, Hongwu immediately sent envoys with reply and several presents. But then later, his envoys were also detained in Timurid, and Timur planned to conquer the east and actually initiated an expedition in 1405.

Examining the evolving structures of intercity knowledge networks: the case of scientific collaboration in China

ABSTRACT Drawing on data on scientific co-publications derived from the Web of Science for the periods 2002–2006 and 2012–2016, we construct and analyse a key element of China's intercity knowledge networks (CIKNs): scientific collaboration networks. Employing network-analytical and exponential random graph modelling techniques, we examine the evolving structures and driving mechanisms underlying these CIKNs. Our results show that the density of the CIKNs has significantly increased over time. CIKN flows are dense in the Southeastern but sparse in the Northwestern part of China, with the Hu Line acting as a clearly visible border. As the dominant knowledge centre, Beijing is involved in scientific collaboration networks throughout the country, with the diamond-shaped structure anchored by Beijing-Shanghai-Guangzhou-Chengdu becoming evident. We find that preferential attachment and transitivity are significant endogenous processes driving scientific collaboration, while a city's administrative level and R&D investment are the strongest exogenous factors. The impact of GDP and geographical proximity is limited, with institutional proximity being the most sizable of the well-known suite of proximity effects.

Evolutionary history and climate conditions constrain the flower colours of woody plants in China

AbstractIn this study, we investigated (i) the differences in flower colour composition among growth forms of woody plants in China and (ii) the influences of biogeographic regions, evolutionary age and climatic conditions on geographic variation in the proportions of different flower colours. Using distribution maps and flower colour information (white, red, yellow, yellow-green, green and blue-purple) of 7673 Chinese woody plant species and a dated genus-level phylogenetic tree, we compared flower colour composition among different growth forms (shrubs, trees and lianas). We further estimated the relationships of geographical patterns in the proportions of different flower colours with seven different biogeographic regions, evolutionary age and different contemporary climatic variables. Compared with trees or lianas, shrubs showed a higher proportion of species with anthocyanin-based red and blue-purple flowers. The geographic patterns of flower colour composition of woody plants in China were strongly influenced by regional effects and contemporary climate, especially precipitation and ultraviolet B irradiance. The proportion of species with presumably bee-pollinated yellow and blue-purple flowers and stress tolerant anthocyanin-based red and blue-purple flower colours tended to be high in the northwestern part of China. Green flowers tended to evolve earlier than others, but evolutionary age had quite weak influences on the geographic pattern of flower colours. Our results reflect both evolutionary and environmental constraints on the distribution of flower colours of woody plants in China.

Construction of Buertai Coal Macromolecular Model and GCMC Simulation of Methane Adsorption in Micropores.

With the increase in high gas mines in the low coal rank mining area in the northwestern part of China, high gas mines in the low-rank coal mining area have caused many gas emission accidents. Coal is a porous material, containing a large number of micropores (<2 nm), which can absorb large amounts of methane, so it is necessary to explore methane adsorption in micropores of low-rank coal. In this work, FTIR, HRTEM, and 13C-NMR were used to test the macromolecular structural parameters of Buertai coal, which was a kind of low-rank Jurassic coal in northwestern China. The results showed that the aromatic structural units in the Buertai coal structure mainly consist of naphthalene, anthracene, and phenanthrene. The fat structure mainly occurs in the form of aliphatic side chains, cycloalkanes, and other compounds. The oxygen atoms are present in the form of carbonyl groups, ether bonds, and phenol groups with a ratio of about 6:4:9. The nitrogen atoms are present in the form of pyrrole and pyridine compounds. Finally, the macromolecular structure model of Buertai coal was built, and the calculated NMR spectrum from the model was very consistent with the experimental NMR spectrum of Buertai coal. The relationship between the macromolecular density and energy of Buertai coal was explored using the Amorphous Cell module in the simulation software, Materials Studios 8.0 (MS 8.0), and the density value at the lowest energy was determined to be about 1.23 g/cm3. The pore structure parameters of Buertai coal were also calculated. It was found that both pore volume and void fraction decreased evenly as the diameter of the probe molecule increased, but the surface area decreased rapidly when the diameter of the probe molecule was 3.46 Å. All pore sizes were found to be smaller than 10 Å from the pore size distribution (PSD) curve of Buertai coal, which provided a lot of adsorption sites for methane (CH4). The results of the CH4 adsorption simulation from Grand Canonical Monte Carlo (GCMC) showed that CH4 is adsorbed inside the micropores of coal, and the adsorption capacity of CH4 depends on the diameters of micropores when the micropores are less than 8.5 Å. There are many micropores where CH4 did not appear because these micropores are closed and did not provide a channel for CH4 to enter. The results of experimental methane adsorption indicate that the excess adsorption capacity from the GCMC simulation was very close to the experimental results of Buertai coal. This work provides a new perspective to study the methane adsorption behavior in micropores of coal.

Determination of amount of irrigation and nitrogen for comprehensive growth of greenhouse cucumber based on multi-level fuzzy evaluation.

In the northwestern part of China, rational and efficient management of irrigation and nitrogen significantly affects the intensive production of greenhouse cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L). To evaluate the effects of different combinations of water use and nitrogen (N) on yield, quality, and profitability of the greenhouse cucumbers that planted in 2018 Spring, nine combined treatments were applied. Results indicated the optimal irrigation and nitrogen demands for yield, quality and other indicators were different. The irrigation amount significantly affected the yield, and the yield gradually increased with increasing in irrigation. Single fruit weight (SFW) was significantly affected by the amount of irrigation, nitrogen and their interactions, and the higher amounts of N and irrigation were beneficial to the increase of SFW. The partial factor productivity of the applied N (PFPN) gradually increased with the nitrogen amount decline. Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) was closely related to the amount of irrigation. The higher irrigation amount would lead to the lower IWUE. When the amounts of irrigation and nitrogen were at an intermediate level, the content of vitamin C (VC) reached the maximum. As the amount of nitrogen was increased or irrigation was decreased, the Nitrate content (NC) would increase. Free amino acid (FAA) and NC followed a similar variation. When the amounts of irrigation and nitrogen both were at medium levels, the total soluble sugar concentration (TSSC) reached the highest. The multi-level fuzzy evaluation method was used to evaluate different indicators of cucumber. The weights of indicators in the first and second layer were determined by analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy weight method, respectively. Then the fuzzy algorithm was used to comprehensively evaluate all the treatments. The evaluation results show that T4 (irrigation, 1957.6 m3/hm2; N, 210 kg/hm2) is the best strategy for greenhouse cucumber irrigation and nitrogen management in the northwestern part of China. Keywords: Cucumis sativus L, water and nitrogen coupling, yield, PFPN, IWUE, quality, multi-level fuzzy evaluation DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211402.5785 Citation: He Z H, Hong T T, Cai Z L, Yang Z, Li M N, Zhang Z. Determination of amount of irrigation and nitrogen for comprehensive growth of greenhouse cucumber based on multi-level fuzzy evaluation. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(2): 35–42.

A Comprehensive Study of Spatiotemporal Variations in Temperature Extremes across China during 1960–2018

Understanding the changing patterns of extreme temperatures is important for taking measures to reduce their associated negative impacts. Based on daily temperature data derived from 2272 meteorological stations in China, the spatiotemporal variations in temperature extremes were examined with respect to covariates by means of the Mann–Kendall test and a spatiotemporal model during 1960–2018. The results indicated that the temporal changes in cold extremes showed decreasing trends and warm extremes experienced increasing trends across almost all of China, with mean change rates of −3.9 days, −1.8 days, 3.7 days and 2.3 days per decade for TN10p, TX10p, TN90p and TX90p, respectively. Nighttime warming/cooling was higher than daytime warming/cooling, which indicated that trends in minimum temperature extremes are more rapid than trends in maximum temperature extremes. In addition, the temporal effect on the temperature extremes varied throughout the year, with significant increasing trends in the temporal heterogeneity of warm extremes occurring during 1992–2018. The areas with strong spatial heterogeneity of cool nights mainly included northeastern and central China, and the spatial variation on cool days was more prominent in northern China. For warm nights, the areas showing high spatial heterogeneity were mainly located in the northwestern part of China, while areas for warm days were distributed in northern China. Our results provide meaningful information for a deeper understanding of the spatiotemporal variations in temperature extremes across mainland China.

An Exploratory Study of Police Officers' Perceptions of Health Risk, Work Stress, and Psychological Distress During the COVID-19 Outbreak in China.

BackgroundHow do the police officers perceive health risk, psychological distress, and work stress during the COVID-19 outbreak in China? This study explores the health risk perception, work stress, and psychological distress of police officers who worked at the front line to implement lockdown measures.Materials and MethodsWe conducted a large-scale field survey (N = 5,611) with police officers sample in the northwestern part of China from February 29 to March 7, 2020. Independent-sample T-test and ANOVA were used to analyze whether there are differences in health risk perception, work stress, and psychological distress between different groups. The regression analysis was employed to figure out the factors that influence police officers’ psychological distress.ResultsResults showed a gender difference in perceiving work stress among police officers. Also, police officers with chronic disease perceived higher health risks, more psychological distress, and higher work stress. Additionally, police officers above 45 years old significantly perceived higher health risks than young officers did. It also revealed that working hours contribute to police officers’ health risk perception, psychological distress, and work stress. Finally, our results highlight that age, working hours, chronic disease, health risk perception, and work stress significantly contribute to police officers’ psychological distress.ConclusionOur research verifies that there is a gender difference in perceiving work stress among police officers. Police officers with ongoing medical issues and above 45 years old suffer more during the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Our research suggests that the government should pay more attention to their physical health and mental health. The heavy workload containing the COVID-19 extends police officers’ working hours, causing higher health risks, work stress, and psychological distress. This study contributes to the psychological distress literature and provides a way forward to other countries struggling to contain the COVID-19.

Soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) in the Ediacaran and lower Cambrian succession of the Aksu area, NW Tarim Basin, and their implications

The Tarim Basin, the largest continental and marine superimposed basin in the northwestern part of China, is typically viewed as a stable and uninterrupted sequence during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. Undeformed strata, thick shallow marine sediments and thin deep marine sediments characterize the basin. In this study, we identify various types of soft-sediment deformation structures (SSDS) and an unconformity at four localities in the Aksu area, NW Tarim Basin. SSDSs include large-scale load structures, plastic intrusions and extrusions, load casts and pillow structures, liquefied breccias, ground fissures and lateral liquefaction, boudinage-like SSDSs, mound and sag structures, slumps, and small syn-sedimentary faults. The deformed layers are sandwiched between undeformed sedimentary rocks. Deformation features are found in the (a) lower Cambrian Yuertusi Formation consisting of interbedded thin black shale and phosphorite chert layers, thick-bedded shallow gray dolomite and silicate layers; (b) upper Ediacaran Qigebulak Formation composed of dark gray to gray dolomite and grayish green mudstone layers; (c) in the brown sandstone layers of the lower Ediacaran Sugaitebulak Formation. These units contain fluvial-lacustrine, nearshore, carbonate platform, shelf, and bathyal sedimentary environments. The SSDSs and more detailed stratigraphy indicate a dynamic setting that includes the heretofore unrecognized unconformities, a sub-stratigraphic sequence interface and high magnitude seismic events. The SSDS were produced during rifting, short sub-aerial exposure and frequent seismic disturbances. Combined on the carbon and oxygen isotope records, gamma radiations and the concentrations of main and trace elements, the differences between the SSDS layers and the undeformed layers are preliminary analyzed. We propose that this sequence not reflect a stable tectonic-sedimentary environment during the Ediacaran-Cambrian transition. Therefore, these units provide a unique glimpse into paleo-tectonic activity and paleo-ecological-environmental variation in the Tarim Basin during the late period of Rodinia breakup and the assembly of Gondwana.

Determination of amount of irrigation and nitrogen for comprehensive growth of greenhouse cucumber based on multi-level fuzzy evaluation

In the northwestern part of China, rational and efficient management of irrigation and nitrogen significantly affects the intensive production of greenhouse cucumbers (Cucumis sativus L). To evaluate the effects of different combinations of water use and nitrogen (N) on yield, quality, and profitability of the greenhouse cucumbers that planted in 2018 Spring, nine combined treatments were applied. Results indicated the optimal irrigation and nitrogen demands for yield, quality and other indicators were different. The irrigation amount significantly affected the yield, and the yield gradually increased with increasing in irrigation. Single fruit weight (SFW) was significantly affected by the amount of irrigation, nitrogen and their interactions, and the higher amounts of N and irrigation were beneficial to the increase of SFW. The partial factor productivity of the applied N (PFPN) gradually increased with the nitrogen amount decline. Irrigation water use efficiency (IWUE) was closely related to the amount of irrigation. The higher irrigation amount would lead to the lower IWUE. When the amounts of irrigation and nitrogen were at an intermediate level, the content of vitamin C (VC) reached the maximum. As the amount of nitrogen was increased or irrigation was decreased, the Nitrate content (NC) would increase. Free amino acid (FAA) and NC followed a similar variation. When the amounts of irrigation and nitrogen both were at medium levels, the total soluble sugar concentration (TSSC) reached the highest. The multi-level fuzzy evaluation method was used to evaluate different indicators of cucumber. The weights of indicators in the first and second layer were determined by analytic hierarchy process (AHP) and entropy weight method, respectively. Then the fuzzy algorithm was used to comprehensively evaluate all the treatments. The evaluation results show that T4 (irrigation, 1957.6 m3/hm2; N, 210 kg/hm2) is the best strategy for greenhouse cucumber irrigation and nitrogen management in the northwestern part of China. Keywords: Cucumis sativus L, water and nitrogen coupling, yield, PFPN, IWUE, quality, multi-level fuzzy evaluation DOI: 10.25165/j.ijabe.20211402.5785 Citation: He Z H, Hong T T, Cai Z L, Yang Z, Li M N, Zhang Z. Determination of amount of irrigation and nitrogen for comprehensive growth of greenhouse cucumber based on multi-level fuzzy evaluation. Int J Agric & Biol Eng, 2021; 14(2): 35–42.

Hydrogeochemistry Assessment of Shallow Groundwater and Human Health Threats in the Northwestern Ordos Basin, China.

Groundwater is the main sources of water supply for drinking purposes in the Ordos Basin in the northwestern part of China. In order to sustain and protect the quality of groundwater resources, shallow groundwater samples were collected and analyzed to identify the hydrogeochemical characteristics, and to evaluate health risk to human. Cluster analysis showed that the 134 groundwater samples were divided into three classes (i.e., class 1, class 2, class 3). The groundwater types are mostly characterized by SO4-Cl type and SO4 type, mixed HCO3 type. The primary natural mechanisms controlling the chemical compositions are water-rock interaction and evaporation-precipitation. The extremely high concentrations of sulfate could be caused by contamination from pyrite or from infiltration of sulfate from inorganic fertilizers or from wastewater discharges. Results of the assessment of the health risks for ingestion of Cl-, NO3-, F-, Cr, and As in drinking water indicated that the total health risks are beyond the US EPA acceptable level of 10-6 per year for consumption of groundwater sourced from all three cluster classes. The highest risks were for ingestion of arsenic and chromium in groundwater. The highest total risks to adults and children were 1.51 × 10-5 and 2.45 × 10-2 (class 1), 4.12 × 10-4 and 8.98 × 10-3 (class 2), 3.06 × 10-3 and 5.49 × 10-2 (class 3), respectively. The study showed that there is a high risk of health problems among the residents of the Ordos Basin in China that are ingesting contaminated drinking water, with the health risks to children higher than the risks to adults.

Review

Review

Mid-summer surface air temperature and its internal variability over China at 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming

Recently, extremely hot summers occurred frequently across China, and the mean mid-summer surface air temperature (SAT) continuously broke the records of the past decades, causing huge social and economic losses. As global warming accelerates, these extremely hot summers will undoubtedly occur more frequently. However, the issue of what will happen to the mid-summer SAT over China in the near future remains unclear. Therefore, we investigate the changes of mid-summer SAT and related internal variabilities over China at 1.5 °C and 2 °C global warming above preindustrial level by using the MPI-ESM Grand Ensemble simulations. The results indicate that compared to the present-day (1986–2005), national averaged mid-summer SAT will increase by 1.1 °C and 2.0 °C, in 1.5 °C and 2 °C warming scenarios respectively. This means that the mid-summer SAT is projected to increase by 0.9 °C due to an additional 0.5 °C global warming, which is higher than the annual value (0.8 °C) and almost two times the global warming rate. Regionally, in the two warming targets, the increase in mid-summer SAT will be more enhanced over the northwestern part of China. In addition, the extremely high monthly SAT would increase nationwide due to an additional 0.5 °C in global warming. Among all areas, the Qinghai and Xinjiang provinces would experience the strongest increase in extremely high monthly SAT. It is important to find that, from 1.5 °C to 2 °C global warming, changes of the internal variability of the mid-summer SAT differs across China. It would decrease over some parts of western Northwest China, North China, Northeast China and the Tibetan Plateau. However, it would significantly increase over Qinghai, Sichuan, and northern parts of Inner Mongolia. As a result, at 2 °C global warming, the increase of extreme SAT in Qinghai is caused by the synergistic effect of stronger warming rate and larger internal variability. Differently, the increase in Xinjiang province is mainly caused by the stronger local warming. Further analysis suggests that we can effectively reduce the intensity of extremely hot months over most regions of Northwest China by limiting global warming to 1.5 °C, rather than to 2 °C.

Pollution characteristics, sources, and risk assessment of heavy metals and perfluorinated compounds in PM2.5 in the major industrial city of northern Xinjiang, China

At present, research on PM2.5 has focused on eastern and central China; little attention has been given to Xinjiang, the most northwestern part of China. Ten kinds of heavy metals (HMs) and 12 kinds of perfluorinated compounds (PFCs) in atmospheric PM2.5 are detected by inductively coupled plasma mass spectrometry and high-performance liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry, respectively. Principal component analysis and risk assessment methods are used to study HMs and PFCs and explore their pollution levels and health risks. Results show that HMs and PFCs are prevalent in atmospheric PM2.5 of Shihezi and Urumqi. The spatial distributions of HMs and PFCs in four sampling sites are development zone (B1) = industrial park (A1) > factory (A3) > school (A2) and A1 > A3 > B1 > A2, respectively. In the four sampling sites, copper, lead, zinc, and cadmium (Cd) contents are relatively high. Perfluorooctane sulfonate (PFOS), perfluorohexanoic acid (PFHxA), and perfluorooctanoic acid (PFOA) are the most prevalent PFCs. Risk assessment results show that PFCs in the atmosphere will not harm residents, but the Cd and nickel (Ni) in HMs are harmful to humans, especially Cd, which has both carcinogenic and non-carcinogenic risks. These findings indicate that the carcinogenic risk of HMs and PFCs in children is higher than in adults. In addition, HMs and PFCs may cause joint toxicity.

A coupled model for liquid water-vapor-heat migration in freezing soils

Based on the seepage theory in unsaturated soil mechanics, a coupled model for liquid water-vapor-heat migration is established in this paper, which considers the phase changes of vapor–liquid and water-ice. The results of numerical analysis on layered unsaturated soils show that vapor migration can lead to a significant increase in the total volumetric water content. The depth of the maximum value of the total volumetric water content coincides with the depth of the freezing front (273.15K temperature line). Ground water table has a small effect on the total volumetric water content in silt. However, unfrozen water in the upper sand flows downward from the sand to the silt soil, due to gravitational and matric potentials. A lower temperature of the upper boundary can also lead to an apparent increase in the total volumetric water content. If the temperature of the upper boundary is above 273.15K, the effect of vapor migration on the soil column is small, producing only a 2% increase in the total volumetric water content. Considering actual engineering applications in the northwestern part of China, the water content of the embankments of high-speed railways and airports can also be increased significantly due to vapor migration. Therefore, both liquid water and vapor insulation countermeasures should be considered in practical engineering in frigid and arid regions.

Nondestructive characterization of ancient faience beads unearthed from Ya’er cemetery in Xinjiang, Early Iron Age China

Abstract Faience is a kind of ancient ceramic product which was widely found in many areas. Chinese faience appeared in the Western Zhou Dynasty (1046-771BCE), about three thousand years later than western Asia. The sudden and late emergence of Chinese faience implies that its production technology may be influenced by the West. However, little information is known about how the faience productions spread from the West to central China. The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, located in the northwestern part of China, is one of the most important areas of cultural exchanges between the East and the West since ancient times. The study of faience unearthed in Xinjiang is of great significance to explore the early trade and cultural exchanges between central China and the West. In this paper, Synchrotron Radiation Micro-CT (SR-μCT) and Energy dispersive X-ray fluorescence spectroscopy (EDXRF) have been applied to obtain the information of microstructure and chemical composition of faience beads excavated from Ya’er cemetery (1050-300BCE) in Hami Basin, The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, China. These faience beads are the earliest faience artifacts in China up to our knowledge and this is the first time to analyze the excavated faience in Xinjiang scientifically. Based on the microstructure of faience beads in CT slices, it is found that two glazing methods, direct application and efflorescence, were used in faience production. Additionally, a cylindrical core made of organic material sustained the faience bead during shaping and firing. According to EDXRF analysis, various glaze recipes have been used to produce these faience beads, possibly indicating different provenance. The characteristics of higher Na2O/K2O ratio of faience glaze showed that these faience beads might come from the West. Thus, it is suggested that there was a faience road from Western Asia through Xinjiang to central China about three thousand years ago.

Assessing the uncertainty of CESM‐LE in simulating the trends of mean and extreme temperature and precipitation over China

ABSTRACTClimate change affects mean and extreme temperature and precipitation, increasing the risk of related disasters. Assessing the performance of current models in simulating these aspects is therefore crucial to future projection and policymaking. Based on a large ensemble (LE; 30 members) of the Community Earth System Model (CESM‐LE), this study seeks to answer the following two questions: (1) Are the simulated trends of mean and extreme temperature and precipitation over China consistent with observations? (2) What is the range of model uncertainty due to internal variability? The results show that CESM‐LE can capture the trends of observed annul mean temperature and extremely low temperature days (ELD) over 16–26% of China, but has difficulty in reproducing the observed trends in extremely high temperature days (EHD). For precipitation, CESM‐LE demonstrates similar capability in reproducing the observed trends in annual mean precipitation and extreme precipitation days (EPD). For consecutive dry days (CDD), the decreasing trends over part of northwestern China can be captured, but the increasing trends over northern China cannot be reproduced by CESM‐LE. Regarding the uncertainty of the model resulting from natural internal variability, because all 30 ensemble members of CESM use the same model and external forcing, CESM‐LE's spread (uncertainty) is mainly due to internal variability. Larger uncertainty in simulated trends is found over northern China and the Tibetan Plateau for annual mean temperature, over northeastern China and the Huang‐Huai region for ELD, and over the Tibetan Plateau for EHD. The trends in annual mean precipitation show uniform uncertainty over nearly all of China, except for the northwest. Larger uncertainty trends appear over southern and northwestern China for EPD, and over the Tibetan Plateau and northern China for CDD.

Dynamics of 2013 Sudden Stratospheric Warming event and its impact on cold weather over Eurasia: Role of planetary wave reflection.

In the present study, we investigate the impact of stratospheric planetary wave reflection on tropospheric weather over Central Eurasia during the 2013 Sudden Stratospheric Warming (SSW) event. We analyze EP fluxes and Plumb wave activity fluxes to study the two and three dimensional aspects of wave propagation, respectively. The 2013 SSW event is excited by the combined influence of wavenumber 1 (WN1) and wavenumber 2 (WN2) planetary waves, which makes the event an unusual one and seems to have significant impact on tropospheric weather regime. We observe an extraordinary development of a ridge over the Siberian Tundra and the North Pacific during first development stage (last week of December 2012) and later from the North Atlantic in the second development stage (first week of January 2013), and these waves appear to be responsible for the excitation of the WN2 pattern during the SSW. The wave packets propagated upward and were then reflected back down to central Eurasia due to strong negative wind shear in the upper stratospheric polar jet, caused by the SSW event. Waves that propagated downward led to the formation of a deep trough over Eurasia and brought extreme cold weather over Kazakhstan, the Southern part of Russia and the Northwestern part of China during mid-January 2013.

Prevalence of Isolated Diastolic Hypertension and Associated Risk Factors among Different Ethnicity Groups in Xinjiang, China

ObjectivesLittle is known about isolated diastolic hypertension (IDH) among different ethnicity groups. We aimed to investigate the prevalence and risk factors for IDH among the major ethnicity population i.e. Han, Uygur and Kazakh in Xinjiang, northwestern part of China.MethodsIn total, 14,618 adult participants (7,799 males, 6,819 females) were recruited from the Cardiovascular Risk Survey conducted during 2007 and 2010. Blood pressure, body mass index and standard lipid profile and fasting glucose level from plasma were measured.ResultsThe overall prevalence of IDH was 10.8% in the Han, 4.5% in the Uygur and 8.7% in the Kazakh populations. When stratified by gender, IDH prevalence was 9.8% in men and 6.8% in women (P<0.001). The prevalence of IDH also varied significantly with age and it was highest in those aged 35–44 yrs old (9.7%) and lowest in those over 75 yrs old (4.1%, P<0.001). Multivariate logistic regression analysis showed that overweight (OR = 1.179, 95%CI: 1.015–1.369) or obesity (OR = 1.202, 95%CI: 1.015–1.424), smoking (OR = 1.362, 95%CI: 1.156–1.604) and high total cholesterol (TC) hyperlipidemia (OR = 1.237, 95%CI: 1.074–1.423) were significantly associated with a higher prevalence of IDH. Identified risk factors for IDH differed among ethnicity groups with male gender, young age (35–44 yrs old), more coffee or tea consumption and high TC hyperlipidemia in the Han; smoking and often coffee or tea consumption in the Uygur and male gender and overweight or obesity in the Kazakh populations.ConclusionsIDH prevalence in the Han population is higher than that in the Uygur and Kazak populations in Xinjiang, northwestern part of China. Male gender, middle age, overweight or obesity, smoking and high TC hyperlipidemia appear to be relevant risk factors of IDH in adults. Different ethnicity background had different sets of risk factors for IDH.