Two Gram-negative, rod-shaped, gliding and pink-pigmented bacterial strains, X14-1 T and X19-1, were isolated from a mixture of sand samples collected from the desert of Xinjiang, China, and characterized by using a polyphasic taxonomic approach. Strains X14-1 T and X19-1 contained MK-7 as the predominant menaquinone. The major cellular fatty acids included iso-C 15 : 0 , iso-C 17 : 0 3-OH, summed feature 3 and summed feature 4.

The ecological footprint (EF) model is an effective tool for determining whether natural assets are over-utilized. The traditional EF (TEF) model and its improved model which include the emergy ecological footprint (EEF) and net primary productivity ecological footprint (NPPEF) have been widely used, but some emergy data are hard to obtain and NPP data is not stable. Therefore, in this paper, a novel three-dimensional (3D) EF model with emergy and net primary productivity (3DEF-ENPP) is proposed. The Henan province of China was chosen as the research area and commonly used statistical yearbook data and NPP data were used which are easy to obtain. We expanded a 2D EF model to a 3D EF model and took advantage of emergy analysis and net primary productivity because they have stable energy parameters, can reflect the difference in bioproductivity of different land types, and are suitable for spatial and temporal analysis. Based on our model, we obtained a rectified emergy-based ecological footprint (REEF), an ecological capacity based on net primary productivity (RNPPEC), a rectified ecological deficit (RED), an ecological footprint intensity (EFI), an ecological coordination coefficient, and a 3D-EF, which can comprehensively reflect Henan’s ecological security status. The results show that: (1) The REEF and RNPPED obtained by our proposed model are more stable than those of the former method. (2) Henan’s RED has been negative and has a downward trend, which indicates the burden of human activities on the natural environment are becoming increasingly serious. (3) The EF is increasing with time, indicating that the consumption of natural resources in Henan is gradually increasing. High EF regions are mainly distributed in the northwestern area. Southeastern regions have relatively low EFs. (4) Capital flows cannot meet the needs of current social development in Henan province and it is in a state of unsustainable development. (5) The ecological stress index is at a safe state but is still at an ecological security warning level and Henan has good ecological coordination.

The thickness and temperature dependence of in situ grown cobalt thin films on Cr2O3(0 0 0 1) single crystalline substrate has been studied by low energy electron microscopy (LEEM). The LEEM images indicate that growth of thin Co films (⩽5 monolayers) on chromia at 100 K tends to be continuous and flat with suppressed island growth compared to films grown on chromia at room temperature and above (to ~440 K). Low energy electron diffraction indicates that disorder builds and crystallinity of the cobalt thin film decreases with increased film thickness. Compared with cobalt thin films on Al2O3(0 0 0 1) single crystalline substrate, cobalt thin films on Cr2O3(0 0 0 1) show larger magnetic contrast in magnetic force microscopy indicating enhancement of perpendicular anisotropy induced by Cr2O3.

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