Dissolved inorganic carbon budget of two alpine catchments in the central Tibetan Plateau: Glaciation matters.

Dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) fluxes account for over one-third of the total carbon transported in most rivers. The DIC budget for glacial meltwater of the Tibetan Plateau (TP), however, is still poorly understood, despite the fact, the TP has the largest glacier distribution outside of the Poles. In this study, the Niyaqu and Qugaqie catchments in the central TP were selected to examine the influence of glaciation on the DIC budget in vertical evasion (CO2 exchange rate at the water-air interface) and lateral transport (sources and fluxes) from 2016 to 2018. Significant seasonal variation in DIC concentration was found in the glaciated Qugaqie catchment, but was absent in the not glaciated Niyaqu catchment. δ13CDIC showed seasonal changes for both catchments, with more depleted signatures during the monsoon season. The average CO2 exchange rates in river water of Qugaqie were ~8 times lower compared to Niyaqu with values of -1294.6 ± 438.58 mg/m2/h and -163.4 ± 581.2 mg/m2/h, respectively, indicating that proglacial rivers can act as a substantial CO2 sink due to CO2 consumption by chemical weathering. DIC sources were quantified via the MixSIAR model using δ13CDIC and ionic ratios. During the monsoon season, the contribution from carbonate/silicate weathering driven by atmospheric CO2 was 13-15 % lower, while biogenic CO2 involved in chemical weathering was 9-15 % higher, indicating a seasonal control on weathering agents. Carbonate dissolution driven by H2SO4/HNO3 was the most important contributor to DIC in both catchments (40.7 ± 2.2 % in Niyaqu and 48.5 ± 3.1 % in Qugaqie). The net CO2 consumption rate in the not glaciated Niyaqu catchment was close to 0 (-0.07 ± 0.04 × 105 mol/km2/y), indicating the carbon sink effect caused by chemical weathering in this area was weak. The net CO2 consumption rate in the glaciated Qugaqie catchment, however, was much lower than that in the not glaciated catchment with a value of -0.28 ± 0.05 × 105 mol/km2/y. This study highlights that chemical weathering in small glaciated catchments of the central TP plays an active role in releasing CO2 to the atmosphere.

Elemental composition of the topsoil fine fraction at and around the Tibetan plateau.

The <20 µm fractions of crusted topsoils on and around the Tibetan Plateau (TP) were analyzed to take a broad view of the composition of major elements (MEs, Al, Fe, and Mn) and twelve trace elements (TEs, As, Ba, Cd, Co, Cr, Cu, Ni, Pb, Sr, U, V, and Zn) and provide a crustal reference for environmental quality evaluation. The concentrations of most elements were generally higher in the Yarlung Zangbo River watershed (YZRW) and Pamirs but lower in the central Tibetan Plateau (CTP), Qaidam Basin (QB), and Tarim Basin (TB) due to the natural geochemical process. The concentrations of most elements in the five regions were higher than those of the upper continental crust (UCC), which was mainly affected by two natural factors. One was that the wide distribution of shale, schist, and phyllite on the TP led to the high concentrations of As and Cr. The other was that the concentrations of most elements in the <20 µm fractions of crusted topsoils were affected by particle sorting. Cu, Cd, As, and Pb in a few sites of the YZRW were influenced by local traffic emissions, mining operations, and increasing fossil fuel combustion over the past three decades (i.e., the 1980s-2010s). Furthermore, the values of crust‒referenced enrichment factor (EFucc) of most TEs (except Ba and Sr) in different environmental media with a high proportion of fine particles, such as aerosols, snow and ice cores, and river and lake sediments were generally 1.2-24.2 times greater than the values of fine fraction (<20 µm)‒referenced enrichment factor (EF < 20 µm), suggesting that the degree of anthropogenic effects on the TP environment should be overestimated in previous assessments using the UCC as the reference.

A novel multiplex of 12 multicopy Y-STRs for forensic application.

Y chromosomal short tandem repeats (Y-STRs) have been applied overwhelmingly in forensic areas for solving paternity identification and sexual assault cases. Yet the widely used Y-STR kits contain mostly single-copy markers, which may restrict the discrimination power. Here, a novel Y-STR multiplex was developed and validated in order to complement the currently available Y-STR kits, especially on differentiating male relatives. The assay includes twelve multicopy Y-STR loci (DYF371, DYF383S1, DYS385, DYF387S1, DYS389I/II, DYF399S1, DYF404S1, DYF409S1, DYF411S1, DYS464, DYS526, DYS527; four of them are rapidly mutating ones), 1 single-copy Y-STR (DYS391), and Amelogenin, and was optimized to amplify at annealing temperature of 59°C and 28 cycles. Validation studies show that full profiles are obtained with 0.125 ng of male DNA. The system is capable of overcoming high concentrations of inhibitors such as hematin, EDTA, and humic acid. Besides, the results demonstrate good sizing precision and the ability to detect male-specific profiles in male/female DNA mixtures at a ratio of 1:800. Excellent species specificity was also observed in microorganisms and non-primates, while detectable peaks were found in some primates. Based on published genetic data, gene diversity values were above 0.7 for most of the loci in our multiplex, inferring a high capacity in discriminating unrelated and related male individuals. The kit is of great potential for forensic application.

Development and validation of a new 18 X-STR typing assay for forensic applications.

With a unique inheritance pattern compared to autosomal short tandem repeats (A-STRs), X chromosomal STRs (X-STRs) have special usage in forensic relationship testing. In this study, we designed a multiplex amplification system (named TYPER-X19 multiplex assay) consisting of 18 STR loci spreading from 7.837 to 149.460 Mb on the X chromosomes (DXS9895, DXS8378, DXS9902, DXS6810, DXS7132, DXS10079, DXS6789, DXS7424, DXS101, DXS6797, DXS7133, DXS6804, GATA165B12, DXS10103, HPRTB, GATA31E08, DXS8377, and DXS7423), and the amelogenin. PCR primers were marked with four kinds of fluorophores including FAM, HEX, TAMRA, and ROX. The multiplex system was optimized and tested for precision, concordance, reproducibility, sensitivity, stability, DNA mixture, and species specificity according to the conventional validation guidelines. The results indicated that the system was accurate, reliable, and sensitive enough, and was suitable for common forensic case-type samples. In the population genetic study, a total of 148 alleles were detected at the 18 X-STR loci in 398 Southern Han Chinese. Relatively high combined power of discrimination in male (PDm ), power of discrimination in female (PDf ), mean paternity exclusion chance in trios (MECtrio ), and mean paternity exclusion chance in duos (MECDuo ) by Desmarais were detected, and HPRTB-DXS10103 was in linkage disequilibrium. The results suggested that the TYPER-X19 multiplex assay was suitable for forensic applications.

Comparative evaluation of autosomal STRs and X-chromosome STRs as a complement of autosomal STRs in kinship testing in Southern Han Chinese.

Nowadays, kinship testing is very common in forensic caseworks, but the power of autosomal short tandem repeats (A-STRs) may be limited in complex cases. X-Chromosome short tandem repeats (X-STRs), having a unique heritage mode, should be of special use in some deficient cases. To evaluate and compare the potential of A-STR and X-STR as supplement genetic markers in deficient kinship testing, we simulated 10,000 duos for each of 18 kinds of relationships involving full sibling, half-sibling, grandparent-grandchild, and uncle/aunt-nephew/niece. Loci from STRTyper10, PowerPlex 16, and Investigator Argus X-12 were studied in Southern Han Chinese and the distribution of likelihood ratio (LR) values was analysed. With the addition of the X-12 system, the distribution of LR values for the full sisters, paternal half-sisters, paternal grandmother-granddaughters, maternal aunt-nieces, and maternal aunt-nephews separated much more obviously from those of unrelated duos, and the effectiveness was 1.0000, 0.99865, 0.9991, 0.8996 and 0.9634, respectively, which was more efficient than A-STRs. For the individual duos with other relationships, the effects of adding X-STRs and A-STRs were similar. Therefore, for the Southern Han Chinese, X-STRs can be very useful in kinship testing involving full sisters, paternal half-sisters, paternal grandmother-granddaughters, and maternal aunt-nieces/nephews.

Allelic diversity and forensic estimations of the Beijing Hans: Comparative data on sequence-based and length-based STRs.

Short tandem repeat (STR) profiling is routinely used in forensic genetics. At present, STR analysis is mainly performed by capillary electrophoresis (CE). However, due to limitations associated with the CE method, STR genotyping has been limited to length polymorphisms only. Because next generation sequencing (NGS) is capable of providing full resolution STR data at the sequence variation level, the individual identification capability of forensic STR loci could be significantly improved. Here we present sequence-based STR data for the Beijing Han population in which 291 individuals were screened for 23 commonly used forensic STRs using the SeqTypeR24 CASE kit on an Ion PGM platform. In total, 234 length-based alleles and 356 sequence-based alleles, which included 22 novel core repeat sequences, were observed. The sequence-based matching probability and power of discrimination were superior to the length-based numbers for 16 loci bearing micro-variant alleles. Combined matching probability reached 8.2 × 10-29 for 23 STR loci at the sequence level. This was two orders of magnitude higher than the parameters at length level and provides a data base for sequence-based STR casework applications.

Mercury speciation and distribution in a glacierized mountain environment and their relevance to environmental risks in the inland Tibetan Plateau.

Glacierized mountain environments can preserve and release mercury (Hg) and play an important role in regional Hg biogeochemical cycling. However, the behavior of Hg in glacierized mountain environments and its environmental risks remain poorly constrained. In this research, glacier meltwater, runoff and wetland water were sampled in Zhadang-Qugaqie basin (ZQB), a typical glacierized mountain environment in the inland Tibetan Plateau, to investigate Hg distribution and its relevance to environmental risks. The total mercury (THg) concentrations ranged from 0.82 to 6.98ng·L-1, and non-parametric pairwise multiple comparisons of the THg concentrations among the three different water samples showed that the THg concentrations were comparable. The total methylmercury (TMeHg) concentrations ranged from 0.041 to 0.115ng·L-1, and non-parametric pairwise multiple comparisons of the TMeHg concentrations showed a significant difference. Both the THg and MeHg concentrations of water samples from the ZQB were comparable to those of other remote areas, indicating that Hg concentrations in the ZQB watershed are equivalent to the global background level. Particulate Hg was the predominant form of Hg in all runoff samples, and was significantly correlated with the total suspended particle (TSP) and not correlated with the dissolved organic carbon (DOC) concentration. The distribution of mercury in the wetland water differed from that of the other water samples. THg exhibited a significant correlation with DOC as well as TMeHg, whereas neither THg nor TMeHg was associated with TSP. Based on the above findings and the results from previous work, we propose a conceptual model illustrating the four Hg distribution zones in glacierized environments. We highlight that wetlands may enhance the potential hazards of Hg released from melting glaciers, making them a vital zone for investigating the environmental effects of Hg in glacierized environments and beyond.

[Value of specific 16S rDNA fragment of algae in diagnosis of drowning: an experiment with rabbits].

OBJECTIVE: To establish a method for amplifying specific 16S rDNA fragment of algae related with drowning and test its value in drowning diagnosis. METHODS: Thirty-five rabbits were randomly divided into 3 the drowning group (n=15), postmortem water immersion group (n=15, subjected to air embolism before seawater immersion), and control group(n=5, with air embolism only). Twenty samples of the liver tissues from human corpses found in water were also used, including 14 diatom-positive and 6 diatom-negative samples identified by microwave digestion-vacuum filtration-automated scanning electron microscopy (MD-VF-Auto SEM). Seven known species of algae served as the control algae (Melosira sp, Nitzschia sp, Synedra sp, Navicula sp, Microcystis sp, Cyclotella meneghiniana, and Chlorella sp). The total DNA was extracted from the tissues and algae to amplify the specific fragment of algae followed by 8% polyacrylamide gelelectrophoresis and sliver-staining. RESULTS: In the drowning group, algae was detected in the lungs (100%), liver (86%), and kidney (86%); algae was detected in the lungs in 2 rabbits in the postmortem group (13%) and none in the control group. The positivity rates of algae were significantly higher in the drowning group than in the postmortem group (P<0.05). Of the 20 tissue samples from human corps found in water, 15 were found positive for algae, including sample that had been identified as diatom-negative by MD-VF-Auto SEM. All the 7 control algae samples yielded positive results in PCR. CONCLUSIONS: The PCR-based method has a high sensitivity in algae detection for drowning diagnosis and allows simultaneous detection of multiple algae species related with drowning.

[Difference of Karst Carbon Sink Under Different Land Use and Land Cover Areas in Dry Season].

In order to identify the distinction of soil CO2 consumed by carbonate rock dissolution, Baishuwan spring, Lanhuagou spring and Hougou spring were selected as objects to monitor the hydrochemistry from November 2013 to May 2014. The results showed that the highest HCO3- concentration was observed in Baishuwan spring which is covered by pine forest, while the lowest HCO3- concentration was observed in Hougou spring which is mainly covered by cultivated land. In Baishuwan spring, HCO3- was mainly derived from carbonic acid dissolving carbonate rock and the molar ratio between Ca(2+) + Mg2+ and HCO3- was close to 0. 5; while the molar ratio between Ca(2+) + Mg2+ and HCO3- exceeded 0.5 because the carbonate rock in Lanhuagou spring and Hougou spring was mainly dissolved by nitric acid and sulfuric acid. Because of the input of litter and the fact that gas-permeability of soil was limited in Baishuwan spring catchment, most of soil CO2 was dissolved in infiltrated water and reacted with bedrock. However, in Lanhuagou spring catchment and Hougou spring catchment, porous soil made soil CO2 easier to return to the atmosphere in the form of soil respiration. Therefore, in order to accurately estimate karst carbon sink, it was required to clarify the distinction of CO2 consumption by carbonate rock dissolution under different land use and land cover areas.

[Influences of Biological Processes on Geochemical Characteristics: An Example of a Mountain Karst Pool in Spring Season].

Karst hydrologic system is quite sensitive to the surrounding environment, which leads to changes in the quality of karst water within diel, hours even minutes. Many surface water undergoes changes of pH value, dissolved gas, trace elements, nutrition and other hydrochemical parameters in a daily timescale. The Shuifang spring and its draining pool are located in Jinfo Mountain in Chongqing, the middle karst mountain belonging to temperate climate with an elevation of about 2050 m a. s. l. Diel cycles of geochemistry were measured for three days and nights to investigate the influence of biological processes on the geochemistry of the karst pool. Results showed that the geochemistry of Shuifang spring didn't exhibit diel variations, while the pool water appeared diurnal change, even if the variation amplitudes of water temperature, pH value, dissolved oxygen and specific conductance were slight. Under different weather conditions, variation amplitude of the geochemical parameters in the pool appeared discriminatory. pCO2 and concentrations of Ca2+, dissolved inorganic carbon (DIC) decreased during the day time and increased in night, while calcite saturation index (SIc) showed an inverse trend. Those phenomena might be attributed to water temperature change, calcite precipitation or dissolution and the process of metabolism by the aquatic plants in the pool. It was found that the influence of water temperature change on pCO2 accounted for only 0.79% to 10.01% by means of calculation of Henry constants. DIC loss contributed by physical factors, such as temperature and calcite precipitation, accounted for 39%, whereas the metabolism of aquatic plants accounted for 61%.

[Characteristics and Resources of Fly Ash Particles in the Snowpack of Jinfo Mountain, Chongqing].

Snow can preserve the atmospheric information, which makes it become a good media in studying regional environment. Jinfo Mountain with an elevation of 2251.1 m, located at the transition zone between Sichuan basin and Yunnan-Guizhou Plateau, is deeply affected by human activities, and snowfall is the main form of precipitation during the winter. While the literature focus on single spherical particles in this area is uncommon. Five snow samples were collected, and determined morphology and chemical composition of 132 single spherical particles by the scanning electron microscope couples with energy dispersive X-ray spectrometer (SEM-EDS). Results show that snowfall in Jinfo Mountain includes the massive fly ash particles with 1.64 µm in average diameter and 1.09 in average roundness which contains smooth particles, rough particles and soot particles, accounting for 80. 31% , 14. 39% and 5.30% of statistical particles respectively. Furthermore, on the basis of chemical information obtained from EDS, the fly ash particles counted in this research can be classified into 5 types, namely, Si-dominant particles, C-dominant particles, Fe-dominant particles, Al-dominant particles and Ti-dominant particles, which make up 34.09%, 49.24%, 12.88%, 2.27% and 1.52% respectively. In conclusion, it can be inferred, based on the analysis of meteorological information, the properties of fly ash particles, and backward air mass trajectory and dispersion analysis, that C-dominant fly ash mainly comes from daily life and industry activities, Si-dominant fly ash particles may originate from the plant industry located in west Chingqing, north of Guizhou province, central of Hunan province, Zhejiang province, Jiangxi province and the west of Guangdong province, while the activities of foundry and iron or steel plants in the west of Chongqing, the north of Guizhou province and the central of Hunan province may be the main sources of Fe-dominant fly ash particles in our samples.

[Distribution and Transportation Characteristics of Heavy Metals in Nanshan Laolongdong Subterranean River System and Its Capacity of Self-Purification in Chongqing].

For figuring out the distribution and transportation characteristics of heavy metals Mn, Pb, Cu and As among overlying water-pore water-surface sediments so as to offer a scientific basis for the development of urban construction and protection of karst groundwater, overlying water, pore water and surface sediment samples were collected in December 2013 ( winter) and June 2014 (summer) respectively. Results show that the detection rates of Mn, Pb, Cu and As are 100% both in overlying water and pore water with the concentration Mn > Pb > Cu > As, summer > winter, pore water > overlying water, respectively, and the groundwater could not be a source of drinking water because of the excessive content of Mn and Pb. In addition, the concentration of heavy metals Mn, Pb, Cu and As in pore water are higher than that in overlying water, indicating that heavy metals could diffuse into overlying water from pore water because of concentration gradient, especially in summertime. Moreover, study also finds that heavy metals are accumulated in surface sediments, the total content of four heavy metals has a decreasing trend between UGR6( sampling site 7) and UGR5 (sampling site 6), but has an increasing trend from UGR5 (sampling site 6) to URG0 (sampling site 1). Mn, in surface sediments, has strong instability and mobility, which can not only cause the pollution of overlying water but also enlarge contaminated area. In a word, Laolongdong subterranean river has strong capacity of self-purification, especially the surface sediments.

The effect of enzyme digestion time on the detection of diatom species.

This study is aimed at detecting diatom in lung, liver and kidney tissues using PCR - DHPLC technology after different periods of enzyme digestion to assess the effect of enzyme digestion on the detection of diatom species. Twenty Randomly selected experimental rabbits were drowned at the same place. Their liver, kidney, and lung tissues were removed for sampling. After the extraction of DNA from the samples, amplification was conducted with specific primers of the SSU gene of diatom. Then, an analysis was performed with agarose gel electrophoresis and DHPLC. Within 2 h-8 h, the amount of the diatom species found in the lung gradually increased over time and was statistically significant <. After 8 h, with enzyme digestion, the amount of the diatom species found in lung showed no significant increase (>). However, as for the liver and kidney, within 2h-6h, the amount of the diatom species gradually increased over time and was statistically significant <. After 6h, the fig. did not present significant growth (>). The amount of the diatom species found in the organs after different periods of digestion time had significant differences, which provides a reference for the detection of diatoms and also, has a good application prospect in the forensic identification of drowning.

[Formation of geochemistry in underground river under rainfall conditions: an examule for underground river at Xueyu Cave, Chongqing].

Through the monitoring of geochemical indexes in underground river of Xueyu Cave in Chongqing under rainfall conditions, we found that all indexes responded quickly to rainfall, and there was a correlation among them. Each index was analyzed with the principal component analysis, three main components were extracted which can represent 82.761% of the information to reflect the formation of geochemistry in underground river under rainfall conditions. The results showed that the contribution rates of soil leaching represented as increased concentration of total Fe, total Mn, and Al3+, and dilution effect represented as reduced concentration of K+, Na+ and Sr2+ to the change of geochemical characteristics were 41.718%, which should be paid more attentions for its great damage to karst soil and safety of drinking water. Karst water dissolution of dolomite and recharge area of agricultural activities, caverns were 29.958%, as for karst water on limestone dissolution represented, as increased concentration of Ca2+ the contribution rate was 11.084%.

An improved transmutation method for quantitative determination of the components in multicomponent overlapping chromatograms.

An improved method is proposed for the quantitative determination of multicomponent overlapping chromatograms based on a known transmutation method. To overcome the main limitation of the transmutation method caused by the oscillation generated in the transmutation process, two techniques--wavelet transform smoothing and the cubic spline interpolation for reducing data points--were adopted, and a new criterion was also developed. By using the proposed algorithm, the oscillation can be suppressed effectively, and quantitative determination of the components in both the simulated and experimental overlapping chromatograms is successfully obtained.

Resolution of multicomponent NMR signals using wavelet compression and immune algorithm.

A novel algorithm for fast resolution of multicomponent overlapping nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectrum using the wavelet compression and the immune algorithm (IA) is proposed. Taking advantage of the linear property of the wavelet transform (WT), the overlapping NMR spectrum (antigen) can be compressed by WT before it is input into the immune network, the antibodies are also compressed to the same scheme. After extraction of the compressed information of each component, the resolved NMR spectra can be restored by the WT reconstruction. It was proven that the result is almost the same with the result from an IA, but the calculation speed is much faster.