Observations on the function of the glands of the foot of the pediveliger of Ostrea edulis during settlement

The use during settlement of secretions of the 9 different types of gland in the foot of the pediveliger of Ostrea edulis L. was examined experimentally. During settlement, there is a progressive decrease in the crawling speed of the larva and a strengthening of its bond with the substratum. Both changes are related to (a) a change from ciliary to muscular pedal locomotion; (b) the increasing acidity and viscosity of the mucoid secretions used; (c) the secretion of a byssus thread by the glands of the byssus duet; (d) changes in the form and composition of this byssus. At the termination of settlement, the entire contents of 2 types of gland are discharged. Their secretions give rise to the cement which permanently fixes the larva to the substratum. The 9 types of gland are utilised sequentially in a manner closely related to the 6 phases recognised in settlement behaviour.     

Comparative measurement of the redox potential of marine sediments as a rapid means of assessing the effect of organic pollution

A rapid method for measuring the redox potential (Eh) values of marine sediments is described. This method has been used to relate changes in the areas of highly reduced sediment in a sea loch system to the continuously fluctuating inputs of organic waste from a pulp and paper mill. Subsequent faunal changes in these areas can be related to changes in the measured sedimentary redox level. The method is suggested as a rapid means of assessing the potential impact of an additional organic input to a marine sediment.     

甲苯二异氰酸酯(TDI)致癌性的综合评估

甲苯二异氰酸酯(TDI)被数家机构分类为可能的人类致癌物,其主要依据为动物实验发现对啮齿动物经灌胃暴露TDI后肿瘤发生率升高。基于研究结果的可靠性以及一致性,综合评估了现有研究数据是否支持这一分类。结果显示现有的流行病学数据不足以有力证明TDI为人类致癌物。动物实验研究表明,吸入接触TDI并不导致肿瘤发生。经灌胃暴露后观察到的肿瘤很可能是由于TDI转化为已知的啮齿动物致癌物甲苯二胺(TDA)所致。在TDI吸入暴露的体内实验中,当由TDI转化生成的TDA不能达到具有显著生物学效应的浓度时,TDI对啮齿动物或人类都没有遗传毒性。由于哺乳动物在生理性接触条件下TDI不能转变成TDA,所以对人类而言,TDI接触与致癌效应之间无直接的显著因果关系。因此虽然在如灌胃等非生理暴露的条件下,TDI可能的人类致癌物的分类是正确的,但本文对其致癌研究数据的合理评估和正确理解有助于将产品监管力度集中于与职业暴露更相关的有害健康效应上。     

On the nature and role of protein constituents of the cuticle of crustaceans in relation to permeability of the cuticle

The chemical composition of the cuticle in regions which are permeable and impermeable to water in 4 crustaceans (Ocypode platytarsis, Metapenaeus monoceros, Emerita asiatica, Ligia exotica) was investigated, with special reference to the protein components. It was found that the cuticle which is permeable lacks the outer epicuticle or the entire epicuticle compared to the cuticle in the impermeable regions. The permeable cuticle is distinguished by the absence of a fuchsinophil protein, which is a precursor of tanning. Permeability of the cuticle is also associated with the presence of a simple protein, positive to the biuret test, and with a protein containing sulphydryl groups. It is considered that the cuticle protein may play a role in conferring permeability properties to the cuticle itself.     

Responses of wintering humpback whales (Megaptera novaeangliae) to playback of recordings of winter and summer vocalizations and of synthetic sound

Summary Three natural sounds and one synthetic sound were played back to humpback whales during their 1985 and 1986 winter residency in Hawaiian waters. Playback was conducted from a vessel positioned within visual range of an elevated shorestation equipped with a high-precision surveyor's theodolite, used to determine the positions and movements of observed whale and of the playback vessel. A playback session consisted of 20 min of pretest observation with the vessel in place and underwater speaker deployed, followed by a 20-min test phase during which sound, or a blank tape control, was introduced. A total of 143 playback sessions, involving a total of 338 pods (a single whale or a group of whales), were completed over the two winter seasons. The major response observed during playback was a rapid approach to the playback vessel, characterized in some cases by velocities up to 9 km/h and approaches to within 50 m or less. Whales approaching were mainly singletons and, secondly, apparent adult pairs. No cow-calf pair ever approached. The approach was selective: 21.6% of targeted pods approached in response to a feeding sound recorded in summer feeding grounds in Alaska; 8.3% approached in response to social sounds recorded in the Hawaiian winter grounds in the presence of large surface-active pods; 3.4% responded to playback of winter song; and 4.1% responded to playback of synthetic sound. There were no approach responses to the blank tape control. Singing whales have been identified as males by many researchers. Data from Alaska suggested that the feeding sound was produced by a female; data from Hawaii suggests that the social sounds were produced by males. The different rates of response were attributed to the behavior of sexually active males seeking to affiliate with sexually mature females. Although a female may be present in pods producing social sounds, the presence of multiple males exhibiting aggression may inhibit the approach of other males. Song did not serve as an attractant for females, as measured by direct approach, but may still serve as a basis for female choice.     

Diel vertical migration and timing of metamorphosis of larvae of the Dungeness crab Cancer magister

Joint USA/USSR ichthyoplankton surveys off the coasts of Washington, Oregon and northern California during the years 1981 to 1985 sampled more than 120 stations each year, from 5 to 360 km offshore and between Latitude 40° and 48° N, providing information on ontogeny and diel migration of larvae of the Dungeness crab Cancer magister on a scale not studied previously. We developed a maximum likelihood method for estimating abundance and fraction in the neuston at each station from a neuston tow and an oblique bongo tow. Latestage megalopae migrate vertically on a diel basis, with the fraction in the neuston being (on average) 62% at night (19.00 to 08.00 hrs Pacific Standard Time, PST) and 8% during the day (08.00 to 19.00 hrs PST). The hourly pattern of this migration includes a peak in the early evening, possibly another in the early morning, and an intermediate level in the late afternoon. We detected no dependence of vertical migration on cloud cover or sea state. Early-stage megalopae were present in much lower fractions in the neuston, but weakly displayed the same diel pattern of migration. Zoeae appeared to be below the neuston at all times, except for 2 or 3 h in the evening. From an abrupt change in larval stage in samples from a north-south cruise, we concluded that the majority of the larvae metamorphose from zoeae to megalopae over a fairly short time span (2 to 4 wk) at a given latitude. In later cruises, 95% of the larvae were megalopae, indicating that metamorphosis over the study area either occurs at the same time or proceeds from south to north over a time span of less than a month in early spring.     

Dynamics of the head of gravity currents

The present work experimentally investigates the dynamics of unsteady gravity currents produced by lock-release of a saline mixture into a fresh water tank. Seven different experimental runs were performed by varying the density of the saline mixture in the lock and the bed roughness. Experiments were conducted in a Perspex flume, of horizontal bed and rectangular cross section, and recorded with a CCD camera. An image analysis technique was applied to visualize and characterize the current allowing thus the understanding of its general dynamics and, more specifically, of the current head dynamics. The temporal evolution of both head length and mass shows repeated stretching and breaking cycles: during the stretching phase, the head length and mass grow until reaching a limit, then the head becomes unstable and breaks. In the instants of break, the head aspect ratio shows a limit of 0.2 and the mass of the head is of the order of the initial mass in the lock. The average period of the herein called breaking events is seen to increase with bed roughness and the spatial periodicity of these events is seen to be approximately constant between runs. The rate of growth of the mass at the head is taken as a measure to assess entrainment and it is observed to occur at all stages of the current development. Entrainment rate at the head decreases in time suggesting this as a phenomenon ruled by local buoyancy and the similarity between runs shows independence from the initial reduced gravity and bed roughness.     

The effects of the risk of fire on the optimal rotation of a forest

The effects of the risk of fire or other unpredictable catastrophe on the optimal rotation period of a forest stand are investigated. It is demonstrated that when fires occur in a time-independent Poisson process, and cause total destruction, the policy effect of the fire risk is equivalent to adding a premium to the discount rate that would be operative in a risk-free environment. Other cases are also investigated and in each a modified form of the Faustmann formula is derived and a “marginal” economic interpretation given.     

Response Variables for Evaluation of the Effectiveness of Conservation Corridors

Many studies have evaluated effectiveness of corridors by measuring species presence in and movement through small structural corridors. However, few studies have assessed whether these response variables are adequate for assessing whether the conservation goals of the corridors have been achieved or considered the costs or lag times involved in measuring the response variables. We examined 4 response variables—presence of the focal species in the corridor, interpatch movement via the corridor, gene flow, and patch occupancy—with respect to 3 criteria—relevance to conservation goals, lag time (fewest generations at which a positive response to the corridor might be evident with a particular variable), and the cost of a study when applying a particular variable. The presence variable had the least relevance to conservation goals, no lag time advantage compared with interpatch movement, and only a moderate cost advantage over interpatch movement or gene flow. Movement of individual animals between patches was the most appropriate response variable for a corridor intended to provide seasonal migration, but it was not an appropriate response variable for corridor dwellers, and for passage species it was only moderately relevant to the goals of gene flow, demographic rescue, and recolonization. Response variables related to gene flow provided a good trade‐off among cost, relevance to conservation goals, and lag time. Nonetheless, the lag time of 10–20 generations means that evaluation of conservation corridors cannot occur until a few decades after a corridor has been established. Response variables related to occupancy were most relevant to conservation goals, but the lag time and costs to detect corridor effects on occupancy were much greater than the lag time and costs to detect corridor effects on gene flow. Variables de Respuesta para la Evaluación de la Efectividad de los Corredores de Conservación     

Physicochemical fingerprinting of thermal waters of Beira Interior region of Portugal

Mineral natural waters and spas have been used for therapeutic purposes for centuries, with Portugal being a very rich country in thermal waters and spas that are mainly distributed by northern and central regions where Beira Interior region is located. The use of thermal waters for therapeutic purposes has always been aroused a continuous interest, being dependent on physicochemical fingerprinting of this type of waters the indication for a treatment in a specific pathological condition. In the present work, besides a literature review about the physicochemical composition of the thermal waters of the Beira Interior region and its therapeutic indications, it was carried out an exhaustive multivariate analysis—principal component analysis and cluster analysis—to assess the correlation between different physicochemical parameters and the therapeutic indications claims described for these spas and thermal waters. These statistical methods used for data analysis enables classification of thermal waters compositions into different groups, regarding to the different variable selected, making possible an interpretation of variables affecting water compositions. Actually, Monfortinho and Longroiva are clearly quite different of the others, and Cró and Fonte Santa de Almeida appear together in all analysis, suggesting a strong resemblance between these waters. Thereafter, the results obtained allow us to demonstrate the role of major components of the studied thermal waters on a particular therapeutic purpose/indication and hence based on compositional and physicochemical properties partially explain their therapeutic qualities and beneficial effects on human health. This classification agreed with the results obtained for the therapeutic indications approved by the Portuguese National Health Authority and proved to be a valuable tool for the regional typology of mineral medicinal waters, constituting an important guide of the therapeutic armamentarium for well and specific-oriented pathological disturbs.     

刍议医院资产管理的现状及其对策

医院的固定资产和流动资产是医院赖以生存和发展的基础,是一项非经营性国有资产．目前公立医院固定资产、流动资产管理现状不容乐观,针对这种状况,首先分析问题形成的原因,然后提出管理的措施或建议,从而使资产管理工作规范化、制度化、科学化,使有限的卫生资源发挥出最大的社会效益和经济效益．参3．     

Continuous plankton records: Persistence in time-series of annual means of abundance of zooplankton

Time-series of annual means of abundance of zooplankton of the north-east Atlantic Ocean and the North Sea, for the period 1948 to 1977, show considerable associations between successive years. The seasonal dynamics of the stocks appear to be consistent with at least a proportion of this being due to inherent persistence from year-to-year. Experiments with a simple model suggest that the observed properties of the time-series cannot be reproduced as a response to simple random forcing. The extent of trends and long wavelength variations can be simulated by introducing fairly extensive persistence into the perturbations, but this underestimates the extent of shorter wavelength variability in the observed time-series. The effect of persistence is to increase the proportion of trend and long wavelength variability in time-series of annual means, but stocks can respond to short wavelength perturbations provided these have a clearly defined frequency.     

Evolutionary cause of the vulnerability of insular communities

Communities on oceanic islands are considered to be vulnerable to biological invasion. However, because the detailed structures of such communities have not yet been revealed, the relationship between their vulnerability and structure is not clear. Because such communities evolved without biological invasion, they are expected to have structures different from those of mainland communities, and this difference is expected to affect their vulnerability to invasion. I conducted computer simulations based on a food web model and investigated the difference in structure between mainland and insular model communities, the former of which evolved with frequent invasion and the latter without invasion. In addition, by conducting computer simulations of invasion of these model communities, I investigated the relationship between community structure and vulnerability to biological invasion. The insular model community evolved to have an unstable structure, in that a small number of plant species supported a large number of animal species, and each species in the community had a small biomass. When a plant species invaded and disturbed the base of the insular model community, many animal species relying on the plants easily became extinct. In addition, when a carnivorous species invaded, animal species with small biomass tended to become extinct. Community collapses caused by biological invasion occurred more frequently in the insular model community than in the mainland model community. These results indicated that those communities that evolved without invasion were vulnerable to invasion. The available data on real insular communities suggest that some have reached the endangered state predicted by this model.     

北京山区生态系统稳定性评价模型初步研究

在建立北京山区生态评价体系的基础上,参考有关资料和北京的实际状况确定山区生态系统稳定性评价的标准和分级,选择适当的方法确定评价因子的层次关系和重要度,建立了综合评价模型。并以北京山区的一典型区为例对评价模型进行检验,结果与实际基本相符。     

On the elasticity of range limits during periods of expansion

Dispersal is known to play a crucial role in the formation of species' ranges. Recent studies demonstrate that dispersiveness increases rapidly during the range expansion of species due to a fitness increase for dispersers at the expanding front. R. D. Holt concluded, however, that emigration should decline after the period of invasion and hence predicted some range contraction following the initial expansion phase. In this study, we evaluate this hypothesis using a spatially explicit individual-based model of populations distributed along environmental gradients. In our experiments we allow the species to spread along a gradient of declining conditions. Results show that range contraction did emerge in a gradient of dispersal mortality, caused by the rapid increase in emigration probability during invasion and selection disfavoring dispersal, once a stable range is formed. However, gradients in growth rate, local extinction rate, and patch capacity did not lead to a noticeable contraction of the range. We conclude, that the phenomenon of range contraction may emerge, but only under conditions that select for a reduction in dispersal at the range edge in comparison to the core region once the expansion period is over.     

Non-invasive measurement of the physiological stress response of wild rabbits to the odour of a predator

Summary. Stress has been widely studied in different mammals, but the physiological stress reaction that the odour of a predator could induce in preys has not received much attention. Besides, not all the animals would respond to the same extent to a known stressor. We developed an experimental procedure with eleven na?ve European rabbits (Oryctolagus cuniculus) in order to determine the individual physiological response to the olfactory detection of a potential predator. The rabbits were housed singly in small enclosures with a concrete burrow system and food and water were available ad libitum. The animals followed a control trial, without odour, and an experimental trial where we confronted the rabbits with fox (Vulpes vulpes) odour. Furthermore, another sample of eleven rabbits followed a control procedure subjected to the same housing and handling procedures but without facing the predator odour. In order to assess the physiological response we analysed the concentration of glucocorticoid metabolites in the faeces of the rabbits. Therefore, everyday faecal samples were collected and analysed with an enzyme immunoassay in order to measure the corticosterone metabolites (CM), particularly, those metabolites with a 5α-3β, 11β-diol structure. After validating the assay for wild rabbits, we found that the simulated presence of a predator (fox odour) in the enclosure resulted in an increase in faecal CM concentrations. However, the stressor did not affect all the animals in the same way. We found a general increase in the individual differences. In particular, males experienced a higher increase than females, though the overall response was similar for both sexes. To our knowledge this is one of the first attempts to analyse the assessment of the risk of predation by means of non-invasive methods.     

The just rate of depletion of a natural resource

The optimal pricing and use of a natural resource is reconsidered with respect to intergenerational equity considerations. It is assumed that in a just economy, each generation chooses the plan that maximizes its own utility, subject to the constraint that the plan should not be exploitative in the sense that each generation does not take advantage of its earlier point in time with respect to future generations. It is shown that if the cost of production of an alternative energy source (e.g., solar) is sufficiently high relative to the stock of naturally stored energy, the constraints of justice result in a lower rate of energy use initially, but a higher rate later.     

Sex-specific effects of yolk-androgens on growth of nestling American kestrels

Maternally derived androgen hormones concentrate in avian egg yolks as the yolks grow on the female’s ovary, possibly forming a basis for important maternal effects in birds. In the American kestrel (Falco sparverius), experimental elevation of yolk androgens in the first-laid egg of a clutch (a-egg) to the concentrations found naturally in a clutch’s later-laid eggs reduces the growth rate of a-egg nestlings compared to controls. These findings, together with discoveries from other species that the effects of yolk androgens on growth of female nestlings may differ from their effects on growth of male nestlings, raise the hypothesis that natural changes in yolk-androgen concentrations with laying order are ultimately due to a difference between the sexes in their yolk-androgen sensitivity and between early- and late-laid eggs in their sex ratio. By re-analyzing previously published data and adding to the analysis data from previously unanalyzed blood samples used for sex determination, we investigated possible sex-specific effects of yolk-androgens in the context of a potential sex-biased laying order in free-living American kestrels. We used a multi-level, mixed model with a Gompertz function to analyze growth of nestlings hatching from a-eggs that were control-treated or in which we experimentally elevated yolk-androgen concentrations shortly after laying to the higher concentrations naturally found in later-laid eggs. We discovered that male nestlings were more susceptible than female nestlings to growth inhibition by yolk-androgen elevation but did not find a bias in sex ratio with respect to laying order. Together, these findings do not support the above hypothesis. However, they are consistent with the hypothesis that sex differences in yolk-androgen sensitivity enable mothers to economically tune reproductive effort to an individual offspring’s reproductive value, which can vary more for one sex than the other.     

Precision of the mean and the design of benthos sampling programmes: caution advised

To calculate the number of samples required to estimate population density to a specified precision, a prior estimate of the sample variance is needed. Using data from the freshwater benthic literature, Downing (1979, 1980a) calculated a regression equation to predict sample variance from sampler size and population density. He used predicted sample variance to calculate the number of samples, of a range of sizes, required to estimate a range of population densities to a specified precision. He concludes that massive savings (1300 to 5000%) of total surface area sampled may be achieved by using sample units of small surface area. These conclusions are misleading. The data set used for the regression does not adequately cover the combination of a low-density population sampled by a device of small surface area. The benthic community of Belhaven Bay, East Lothian, Scotland was sampled in 1982 with a 0.1 m² grab and a 0.0018 m² corer, providing 112 sets of replicate data which were used to test the hypothesis that for a specified precision of the mean a considerable saving of total area sampled may be obtained by sampling with a device of small surface area. The benthos of Loch Creran, Argyll, Scotland was sampled with contiguous corer samples on four occasions in 1980 and 1981, providing 234 independent sets of replicate data. Contiguous samples were grouped to form several simulated series of samples of increasing surface area. A sampler of small surface area provided a saving of total area sampled of about 20%. Whether such a small saving is justifiable will depend on the extra field expenses incurred by taking many small samples.