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In the present study, Fenneropenaeus chinensis individuals were assigned into six groups, and fed with a diet supplemented with 0 (Control), 0.5% (Group K ), 1.0% (Group E0.5), 2.0% (Group E20), 3.0% (Group E30 .) or 5.0% (Group E 50) of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate (PHB) during their growth and spawning periods, to explore the effect of PHB on the reproductive performance of parents and the development of larvae. The experiment was lasted for 192 d to measure the mortality rate, relative percentage of survival(RPS), weight gain rate(WGR), specific growth rate (SGR) and cycle of gonadal development of parental shrimps, number of eggs, number of nauplii, stages of larval development and metamorphosis. The results indicated that PHB had an obvious effect on the fecundity of parental shrimps and growth performance of larva. Compared with control group, the mortality rate of broodstock in experimental groups decreased initially and increased subsequently with the increase of PHB concentration, while RPS showed an opposite pattern. The mortality rate of group E20 was the lowest among all groups, showing significant difference from that of other groups(P < 0.05) except group E (P > 0.05). WGR of all experimental groups was higher than that of the control group, among which, group E50 and group E10, had significantly higher WGR than the control (P<0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the cycle of gonadal development between the experimental groups and the control group (P > 0.05). The numbers of eggs and nauplii in the experimental groups were higher than those of the control group. And the numbers of eggs and nauplii in group E were significantly higher than those of the control (P < 0.05), bud showed no significant difference from those of other groups (P > 0.05). However, there was no significant difference in the duration of larval development and metamorphosis among all the groups. In summary, PHB is capable of improving the reproductive performance of parents and the survival and development of larva in F. chinensis, and 2.0% is the optimal concentration of PHB supplemented to the diet. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

ABSTRACT: Actual evapotranspiration (ETa) is an important component of the hydrologic cycle. In this study, ETa on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) is calculated using the advection‐aridity model (AA model) with data from 86 meteorological stations during the period from 1961 to 2010. Results show that the mean annual ETa over the TP was 543 mm and range from 147 to 687 mm, with higher values in the southern part and lower values in the northern part of the TP. During 1961–2010, annual and seasonal mean ETa show statistically increasing trend at most all stations. Annual ETa in area‐averaged over the TP changed +1.01 mm year−1. Among the four seasons, the changes were most pronounced in March, April, May (MAM) and June, July, August (JJA). ETa variation is significantly and positively correlated with a drought index, defined as the difference between precipitation (P) and potential evapotranspiration (ETp), i.e. P − ETp, showing that the ETa increases over the TP tend to be affected by an increasing soil water supply associated with global warming, such as the retreat of permafrost, increase in P, and decline of ETp. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, families of selected population for growth (SP_BWT), selected population for white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) resistance (SP_RW), Bohai wild population (WP_BH) and Huanghai wild population (WP_HH) of F. chinensis were constructed through artificial insemination and with the standardized procedure of larvae rearing. Growth and survival performance were studied among four populations after a 70 days common test. The results showed that the maximum least square mean of body weight was 17.50 g in SP_BWT while the minimum was 13.03 g in WP_HH. Compared with WP_BH, body weight of SP_BWT increased by 23.41% (P < 0.01) and that of SP_RW by 12.20% (P > 0.05). Body weights of SP_BWT and SP_RW were significantly higher than that of WP_HH, which increased by 34.31% (P < 0.01) and 22.10% (P < 0.05), respectively. The mean AGR of four populations was 0.19, 0.18, 0.17 and 0.16 g d−1, respectively. Coefficient of variation of body weight among four populations was high, which ranged from 32.67% to 35.25%. Such a range showed that there was the potentiality for further improvement in selected populations. Coefficient of variation of survival rate among four populations was low, varying between 3.20% and 5.90%. The difference of survival was highly significant (P < 0.01) between SP_BWT and WP_BH, and significant (P < 0.05) between SP_RW and WP_BH. However, no significant difference among other populations (P < 0.05) was observed. Different growth performances were also observed among different families in each population. The body weight of 798F family was the highest. The absolute growth rate (AGR) was 0.25 g d−1, 150% higher than that of the lowest one, 0.1 g d−1 in 807F family. Survival rate of families among four populations was different. The highest was 94.74%, and the lowest was 71.88%. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

[Objective] This study was carried out to explore the effect of poly-β-hydroxybutyrate(PHB) on the performance of the nonspecific immune system in Fenneropenaeus chinensis. [Method] F. chinensis individuals were assigned into six groups, and each group was fed with a diet containing 0(Control), 0.5%(Group E0.5), 1.0%(Group E1.0), 2.5%(Group E2.5), 5.0%(Group E5.0) or 10.0% PHB(Group E10.0). The mortality rate and relative percent of survival(RPS) of each group were calculated after 6 weeks. Meanwhile, the total antioxidant capacity(T-AOC), the activity of acid phosphatase(ACP), peroxidase(POD) and catalase(CAT), and the content of malondialdehyde(MDA) in hepatopancreas and serum were measured,and their correlation with PHB concentration was analyzed. [Result] The RPS in PHB treated shrimps increased initially and decreased subsequently with increasing PHB concentration. RPS of Group E1.0 was the highest, showing significant difference from that of other groups( P <0.05).With the increase in PHB concentration, the activity of immunity related enzymes changed in a similar pattern with RPS: increasing at first and decreasing subsequently. In addition, the activity of the enzymes was elevated in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of PHB administration. Among them, T-AOC in serum of groups E1.0 and E2.5, T-AOC in hepatopancreas of Group E1.0, ACP activity in serum of groups E1.0 and E2.5, ACP activity in hepatopancreas of Group E1.0, CAT activity in groups E0.5, E1.0 and E2.5, CAT activity in hepatopancreas of groups E0.5, E1.0 and E10.0, POD activity in both serum and hepatopancreas of groups E0.5, E1.0 and E2.5, SOD activity in both serum and hepatopancreas of Group E1.0, MDA content in serum of Group E1.0 and MDA content in hepatopancreas of groups E0.5 and E1.0 showed significant difference from those of other groups(P<0.05). [Conclusion] PHB can improve the immunity of F. chinensis, 1.0% in feed has the best effect, and the total enzyme activity reaches the highest level in the 2nd and 3rd weeks of PHB administration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Hydrological modeling is a crucial component in hydrology research, particularly for projecting future scenarios. However, achieving reproducibility and automation in distributed hydrological modeling research for modeling, simulation, and analysis is challenging. This paper introduces rSHUD v2.0, an innovative, open-source toolkit developed in the R environment to enhance the deployment and analysis of the Simulator for Hydrologic Unstructured Domains (SHUD). The SHUD is an integrated surface–subsurface hydrological model that employs a finite-volume method to simulate hydrological processes at various scales. The rSHUD toolkit includes pre- and post-processing tools, facilitating reproducibility and automation in hydrological modeling. The utility of rSHUD is demonstrated through case studies of the Shale Hills Critical Zone Observatory in the USA and the Waerma watershed in China. The rSHUD toolkit's ability to quickly and automatically deploy models while ensuring reproducibility has facilitated the implementation of the Global Hydrological Data Cloud (https://ghdc.ac.cn , last access: 1 September 2023), a platform for automatic data processing and model deployment. This work represents a significant advancement in hydrological modeling, with implications for future scenario projections and spatial analysis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, inbreeding population was constructed by full-sib mating of 'Huang Hai No. 2' core population in Fenneropenaeus chinensis. Growth and survival of three different stages were studied in three populations, including selected population, inbreeding population, and wild population. The growth experimental results show that body weight of selected population in all the three growth stages was significantly higher than those of inbreeding population and wild population ( P < 0.05). At day 90, body weight of the selected population increased by 13.1 and 19.4%, compared with those of inbreeding population and wild population and the specific growth rate (SGR) for body weight of three populations were 2.24, 2.16, and 2.11. Coefficient of variation of body weight among the three populations were different; the highest was 23.75% in the selected population and the lowest was 16.76% in the wild population, which showed that there is potentiality for further selection. The survival results indicated that the difference of survival of the three populations were significant ( P < 0.05), that of the selected population increased by 10.78 and 14.20%, compared with those of inbreeding population and wild population, and the average survival rate of the three populations were 74, 66.8, and 64.8%, respectively. Full-sib matings revealed that the amount of inbreeding depression of body weight varied from −7.68 to −11.53%, and the estimated average inbreeding depression coefficient was −4.61 per 10% increase of inbreeding coefficient of F. For survival trait, the estimated average inbreeding depression coefficient ranged from −2.62-3.81%, and the inbreeding depression was −1.05 per 10% increase of inbreeding coefficient of F, lower than the estimate obtained for growth. These results suggest that selection works well in the breeding program of F. chinensis, and inbreeding especially full-sib matings should be avoided in the following breeding programs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic evaluation of feed efficiency for Fenneropenaeus chinensis was implemented in the breeding population of 'Huanghai No. 2' using phenotypic, pedigree and genomic information via a single-step genomic best linear unbiased prediction method (ssGBLUP). Feed efficiency ratio (FER) and average daily gain (ADG) were recorded individually during the grow-out period in 51 full-sib families from the breeding population. High level of inter-individual variation (0.055-0.593) existed in FER. Marginal means of families for FER (0.115-0.388) displayed large inter-family variation. A total of 123 individuals in the pedigree were genotyped with 14,165 single nucleotide polymorphism (SNP) markers, which were used to construct a genomic relationship matrix. Heritability estimate of FER based on pedigree and genomic information reached a moderate level (0.259 ± 0.101), which was not significantly different from that based on only pedigree ( P > 0.05). FER exhibited strong and positive genetic and phenotypic correlations (> 0.80) with ADG. ssGBLUP and the pedigree-based method were found to be consistent in predicting breeding values. No clear differences in accuracy were observed between the two methods through cross-validation. Although the heritability estimate of FER highlights the potential to implement breeding programs for feed efficiency in Huanghai No. 2, indirect selection for FER through increased growth may be a better choice considering the difficulty of measuring individual FER in shrimps. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

To elucidate the molecular response of shrimp hepatopancreas to white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection, microarray was applied to investigate the differentially expressed genes in the hepatopancreas of 'Huanghai No. 2' ( Fenneropenaeus chinensis). A total of 59137 unigenes were designed onto a custom-made 60K Agilent chip. After infection, the gene expression profiles in the hepatopancreas of the shrimp with a lower viral load at early (48-96 h), peak (168-192 h) and late (264-288 h) infection phases were analyzed. Of 18704 differentially expressed genes, 6412 were annotated. In total, 5453 differentially expressed genes (1916 annotated) expressed at all three phases, and most of the annotated were either up- or down-regulated continuously. These genes function diversely in, for example, immune response, cytoskeletal system, signal transduction, stress resistance, protein synthesis and processing, metabolism among others. Some of the immune-related genes, including antilipopolysaccharide factor, Kazal-type proteinase inhibitor, C-type lectin and serine protease encoding genes, were up-regulated after WSSV infection. These genes have been reported to be involved in the anti-WSSV responses. The expression of genes related to the cytoskeletal system, including β-actin and myosin but without tubulin genes, were down-regulated after WSSV infection. Astakine was found for the first time in the WSSV-infected F. chinensis. To further confirm the expression of differentially expressed genes, quantitative real-time PCR was performed to test the expression of eight randomly selected genes and verified the reliability and accuracy of the microarray expression analysis. The data will provide valuable information to understanding the immune mechanism of shrimp's response to WSSV. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

MicroRNA (miRNA) is a class of small noncoding RNA, which is involved in the post-transcriptional regulation in all metazoan eukaryotes. MiRNAs might play an important role in the host response to virus infection. However, miRNAs in the aquatic crustacean species were not extensively investigated. To obtain a better understanding of the response of Chinese shrimp Fenneropenaeus chinensis to white spot syndrome virus (WSSV) infection, the sequence and expression profile of miRNAs in the hepatopancreas of WSSV-infected F . chinensis were obtained by the high-throughput Illumina HiSeq 2500 deep sequencing technique. A total number of 129 known miRNAs and 44 putative novel miRNAs were identified from the deep sequencing data. The peak size of miRNAs was 22 nt (37.0%). 25 miRNAs were significantly ( P < 0.05) differentially expressed post WSSV infection. Six of the differentially expressed miRNAs were randomly selected for further verification by the real-time RT-PCR technique. The results showed that there was a consistency between the deep sequencing and real-time RT-PCR assay. The target genes of differentially expressed miRNAs were predicted. Each miRNA had 4 target genes on average. The results suggested that some specific miRNAs might be involved in the response of F . chinensis to WSSV infection, and further provided basic information for the investigation of specific miRNAs in F . chinensis . [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A modified Bowen ratio (BRm), the sign of which is determined by the direction of the surface sensible heat flux, was used to represent the major divisions in climate across the globe, and the usefulness of this approach was evaluated. Five reanalysis datasets and the results of an offline land surface model were investigated. We divided the global continents into five major BRm zones using the climatological means of the sensible and latent heat fluxes during the period 1980-2010: extremely cold, extremely wet, semi-wet, semi-arid and extremely arid. These zones had BRm ranges of (−∞, 0), (0, 0.5), (0.5, 2), (2, 10) and (10, +∞), respectively. The climatological mean distribution of the Bowen ratio zones corresponded well with the K¨oppen-like climate classification, and it reflected well the seasonal variation for each subdivision of climate classification. The features of climate change over the mean climatological BRm zones were also investigated. In addition to giving a map-like classification of climate, the BRm also reflects temporal variations in different climatic zones based on land surface processes. An investigation of the coverage of the BRm zones showed that the extremely wet and extremely arid regions expanded, whereas a reduction in area was seen for the semi-wet and semi-arid regions in boreal spring during the period 1980-2010. This indicates that the arid regions may have become drier and the wet regions wetter over this period of time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Surface wrinkling, a film bonded on a pre-strained elastomeric substrate can form periodic wrinkling patterns, is a common phenomenon in daily life. In existing theoretical models, the film is much thinner than the substrate so that the substrate can be considered to be elastomeric with infinite thickness. In this paper, the effect of finite substrate thickness is analyzed theoretically for free boundary condition cases. Based on the minimum potential energy principle, a theoretical model is established, and the wave length and amplitude of the wrinkling pattern are obtained. When the thickness of the substrate is more than 200 times larger than the thickness of the film, the results of this study agree well with the results obtained from the previous models for infinite substrate thickness. However, for thin substrates, the effect of finite substrate thickness becomes significant. The model given in this paper accurately describes the effect of finite substrate thickness, providing important design guidelines for future thin-film-on-substrate systems such as stretchable electronic devices. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of the present study is to detect the potential of the base population from diallel crosses of eight introduced strains of the Pacific white shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei) for improving the yield. Heterosis and heritability were estimated for pond survival at commercial farm conditions for the base population that included 207 full-sib families from a nested mating design by artificial insemination. Among all the hybrids, the heterosis ranged from-11.37% (UA1×UA2) to 20.53% (UA3×SIN) with an average of 0.953%. The results showed that more than half of the hybrids (51.85%) have negative heterosis for survival rate, but most of the hybrids with positive heterosis have high estimates. The high proportion of negative heterosis for survival rate reminders us that the survival trait also should be considered in the crossbreeding program to avoid yield decrease. However, high positive heterosis manifested in most of the hybrids for survival indicates the usefulness of these hybrids for improving the survival to obtain higher yield by crossbreeding in this breeding program. The heritability estimate for pond survival was 0.092±0.043 when genetic groups were included in the pedigree, and it was significantly different from zero ( P<0.05). The results from this study also indicated that significant improvement for survival is possible through selection in L. vannamei. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Soils containing gravel (particle size ≥2 mm) are widely distributed over the Qinghai-Tibet Plateau (QTP). Soil mixed with gravel has different thermal and hydrological properties compared with fine soil (particle size <2 mm) and thus has marked impacts on soil water and heat transfer. However, the most commonly used land models do not consider the effects of gravel. This paper reports the development of a new scheme that simulates the thermal and hydrological processes in soil containing gravel and its application in the QTP. The new scheme was implemented in version 4 of the Community Land Model, and experiments were conducted for two typical sites in the QTP. The results showed that (1) soil with gravel tends to reduce the water holding capacity and enhance the hydraulic conductivity and drainage; (2) the thermal conductivity increases with soil gravel content, and the response of the temperature of soil mixed with gravel to air temperature change is rapid; (3) the new scheme performs well in simulating the soil temperature and moisture-the mean biases of soil moisture between the simulation and observation reduced by 25-48 %, and the mean biases of soil temperature reduced by 9-25 %. Therefore, this scheme can successfully simulate the thermal and hydrological processes in soil with different levels of gravel content and is potentially applicable in land surface models. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

White spot syndrome virus (WSSV)-resistant molecular markers were screened from the selectively bred new variety 'Huanghai No. 2' of Fenneropenaeus chinensis using unlabeled-probe high-resolution melting (HRM) technique. After the artificial infection with WSSV, the first 96 dead shrimps and the last 96 surviving shrimps were collected, representing WSSV-susceptible and -resistant populations, respectively. The genotypes at well-developed 39 single nucleotide polymorphisms (SNPs) loci were obtained. As revealed in the Chi-square test, 3 SNPs, genotype A/A of contig C364-89AT, genotype A/A of C2635-527CA and genotype C/T of contig C12355-592CT, were positively correlated with disease-resistance traits. Other 2 SNPs, genotype G/G of contig C283-145AG and genotype C/C of contig C12355-592CT, were negatively correlated. Moreover, analysis with BlastX program for disease-resistant SNPs indicated that 3 contigs, Contig283, Contig364 and Contig12355, matched to the functional genes of effector caspase of Penaeus monodon, peptide transporter family 1-like protein, and 40S ribosomal protein S2 of Perca flavescens with high sequence similarity. The results will be helpful to provide theoretical and technical supports for molecular marker-assisted selective breeding of F. chinensis. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In this study, the heritability, repeatability, phenotypic correlation, and genetic correlation of the reproductive and growth traits of L. vannamei were investigated and estimated. Eight traits of 385 shrimps from forty-two families, including the number of eggs (EN), number of nauplii (NN), egg diameter (ED), spawning frequency (SF), spawning success (SS), female body weight (BW) and body length (BL) at insemination, and condition factor (K), were measured,. A total of 519 spawning records including multiple spawning and 91 no spawning records were collected. The genetic parameters were estimated using an animal model, a multinomial logit model (for SF), and a sire-dam and probit model (for SS). Because there were repeated records, permanent environmental effects were included in the models. The heritability estimates for BW, BL, EN, NN, ED, SF, SS, and K were 0.49 ± 0.14, 0.51 ± 0.14, 0.12 ± 0.08, 0, 0.01 ± 0.04, 0.06 ± 0.06, 0.18 ± 0.07, and 0.10 ± 0.06, respectively. The genetic correlation was 0.99 ± 0.01 between BW and BL, 0.90 ± 0.19 between BW and EN, 0.22 ± 0.97 between BW and ED, −0.77 ± 1.14 between EN and ED, and −0.27 ± 0.36 between BW and K. The heritability of EN estimated without a covariate was 0.12 ± 0.08, and the genetic correlation was 0.90 ± 0.19 between BW and EN, indicating that improving BW may be used in selection programs to genetically improve the reproductive output of L. vannamei during the breeding. For EN, the data were also analyzed using body weight as a covariate (EN-2). The heritability of EN-2 was 0.03 ± 0.05, indicating that it is difficult to improve the reproductive output by genetic improvement. Furthermore, excessive pursuit of this selection is often at the expense of growth speed. Therefore, the selection of high-performance spawners using BW and SS may be an important strategy to improve nauplii production. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Projections for South Asian summer monsoon ( SASM) precipitation under three representative concentration pathways ( RCPs, including RCP2.6, RCP4.5 and RCP8.5) were investigated using 12 climate models from the Coupled Model Intercomparison Project Phase 5 ( CMIP5). Most models returned results indicating intensified monsoon precipitation over the Asia-Pacific region. The main discrepancies among the models occurred in the vicinities of Iran and Eastern China. Moreover, all projections indicated that the onset of SASM precipitation would be delayed over latitudes spanning 10°-20°N and advanced over latitudes north of 20°N in the 21st near the end of the 21st century. Some of the factors potentially impacting SASM precipitation were also considered. Intensified SASM precipitation can be directly attributed to intensified water vapour flux resulting from positive westerly anomalies, especially over the Arabian Sea. By investigating the water vapour flux, its thermodynamic response to the external forcing should be the main cause of intensified SASM precipitation. The change of atmospheric circulation can be further linked to an enhanced land-sea temperature contrast over the Asian-Australian monsoon region, as well as decreased snowfall during the cold season over the Eurasian continent. Multi-model results indicated that the negative correlation between projected SASM precipitation and El Niño will show little inter-annual change during the 21st century. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Groundwater quality is an essential factor restricting regional sustainable development owing to water resource scarcity, especially in coastal regions. Coastal groundwater is affected by natural conditions and strong human activities, and the evolution of water quality is extremely complex. Information on the hydrochemistry evolution and nitrate contamination status of coastal groundwater under the conjunctive effects of natural processes and human activities is a vital requirement for groundwater resource management in coastal regions. Thus, this study integrated traditional hydrochemical analysis approaches, the entropy-weight water quality index (EWQI), and the health risk assessment model to analyze hydrochemical characteristics, quality, and nitrate health risks in a typical coastal region (i.e. , southern Laizhou Bay) simultaneously affected by seawater intrusion and anthropogenic activities, as well as to explore the dominant mechanisms controlling groundwater quality. The results indicated that the concentrations of major hydrochemical constituents in groundwater exhibited wide variability. The N O 3 − concentration varied from 0.59 to 824.80 mg/L; it surpassed the WHO drinking water standard (50 mg/L) at 89.47% of sampling sites. The predominant hydrochemical types of groundwater were SO 4 •Cl–Ca•Mg and HCO 3 –Ca•Mg. Governing factors influencing groundwater chemistry were recognized as rock weathering, inverse cation exchange and anthropogenic activities, and nitrate contents were largely controlled by agricultural practices. The computed EWQI showed that 55.26% of groundwater samples possessed EWQI values greater than 57, which is relatively poor-quality groundwater. The poor-quality groundwater was concentrated in the southwestern part of the study area. Non-cancer risks of nitrate in 96.71%, 94.74%, 89.47%, and 89.47% of the groundwater samples were unacceptable for infants, children, teens, and adults, and the spatial distribution of the hazard quotient (HQ) was in accordance with the spatial pattern of nitrate concentration. These findings can guide the exploitation and utilization of groundwater resources and water quality conservation in coastal regions. [Display omitted] • Groundwater evolution in southern Laizhou Bay was explored from seawater intrusion and anthropogenic activity perspectives. • Rock weathering, inverse cation exchange and anthropogenic activities control coastal groundwater chemistry. • Groundwater quality is poor based on EWQI analysis. • Nitrate in groundwater exerted high non-cancer risks for infants, children, teens, and adults. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper examines the local and non-local climatic effects of wetter arid areas of Northwestern China (ANWC) in summer using a fully coupled climate model. In response to soil moisture increase, the local air temperature significantly decreases, and precipitation increases in summer. The wetter ANWC results in a warmer and rainless climate over the Central part of North China Plain (CNCP). While the influence of increasing soil moisture on the Tibetan Plateau (TP) precipitation is negligible due to the high altitude. A cooler climate over ANWC leads to an abnormal descending motion occurring. Meanwhile, an anomalous high pressure and an abnormal anticyclonic circulation occurs in 500 hPa over the west of ANWC. Correspondingly, a huge anomalous cyclone circulation occurs over the northeastern part of China and Mongolia, which can hinder the northward movement of the East Asian summer Monsoon (EASM) and reduce the water vapor transport into Central China Plain. As a result, the weakened EASM thus leads to rainless over CNCP. As soil moisture increases over ANWC is stronger, the magnitudes of the influence on the atmospheric field become larger. This study highlights the wetter ANWC effect on local climate and provides more information about the mechanism of wetter ANWC remote effect on non-local climate. • This paper examines the local and non-local climatic effects of wetter arid areas of Northwestern China (ANWC) in summer using a fully coupled climate model. • It finds that the wetter ANWC can result in a warmer and rainless climate over the Central part of North China Plain (CNCP) through a complex atmospheric circulation response. • A cooler climate leads to an abnormal descending motion occurring over ANWC. • A huge anomalous cyclone circulation over the northeastern part of China and Mongolia can block the East Asian summer Monsoon northward and decrease the water vapor transport into Central China Plain. • This study highlights the wetter ANWC effect on local climate and provides more information about the mechanism of wetter ANWC remote effect on non-local climate. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The aim of this study was to estimate heterosis and heritability for harvest body weight of the Pacific white shrimp ( Litopenaeus vannamei) measured at commercial farm conditions. Heterosis and heritability were estimated using a base population from diallel crosses of eight introduced strains. The base population included 9936 shrimp from 207 families that were produced with 188 sires and 172 dams using a nested mating design by artificial insemination. Heterosis was calculated basing on the least squares means ( LSM) of harvest body weight. The results showed that most of the hybrids (75%) have positive heterosis for harvest body weight, which ranged from −13.36% ( UA2 × UA5) to 13.80% ( UA6 × UA5) with a mean of 2.41%. The high amount of heterosis manifested in the hybrids indicated the usefulness of these hybrids for improving the growth. Variance components and heritability for harvest body weight were estimated using an animal model. The heritability estimate for harvest body weight was 0.092 ± 0.082 ( h2) when genetic groups were excluded from the pedigree, but it was decreased when genetic groups were included in the pedigree ( [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Genetic parameters and response to selection were estimated for the harvest body weight of Litopenaeus vannamei. The data consisted of 24 072 progeny from 178 sires and 171 dams in two generations (G0 and G1) with a nested mating structure. All families were randomly divided into two groups and then cultured in two farms at different locations (Huanghua and Qingdao). The heritability estimates from G0 and G1 were 0.278 ± 0.136 and 0.423 ± 0.065 respectively. Over two generations, the heritability estimate was 0.335 ± 0.087, and the common environmental effect was 0.084 ± 0.031. A bivariate animal model was used to estimate variance and covariance components, whereby the body weight in the two farms was treated as a genetically distinct trait. Genetic correlation was close to unity (0.943 ± 0.066), indicating that a genotype by environmental interaction for harvest body weight was small. The response to selection in harvest body weight was estimated using two methods (the realized and predicted responses). The realized response was estimated from the difference in the least squares means of body weight for the selection and control populations. The predicted response was obtained from the difference in the mean estimated breeding values between generations. The realized response was 2.30%, while the predicted responses were 2.00% and 1.37% for within- and across-generation datasets using two sets of genetic parameters respectively. The results would provide crucial information in pacific white shrimp breeding programs in China. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]