Knowing your enemies: seasonal dynamics of host–social parasite recognition

Despite its evolutionary significance, behavioural flexibility of social response has rarely been investigated in insects. We studied a host–social parasite system: the slave-making ant Polyergus rufescens and its host Formica rufibarbis. Free-living host workers from parasitized and from unparasitized areas were compared in their level of aggression against the parasite and alien conspecifics. We expected that a seasonal change would occur in the acceptance threshold of F. rufibarbis workers from a parasitized area towards the parasite, whereas F. rufibarbis workers from an unparasitized area would not show substantial changes connected with the parasites peak in activity (raiding and colony-founding season). The results showed a significant adaptive behavioural flexibility of host species workers and are consistent with the acceptance threshold models (Reeve 1989) prediction that recognition systems are not fixed but context-dependent. In particular, host workers from the unparasitized area were highly aggressive towards the parasite regardless of the season, whereas host workers from the parasitized area significantly increased their aggression towards the parasite during its raiding and colony-founding season. Being able to detect and possibly kill a Polyergus scout searching for host nests can be an effective strategy for a Formica colony to avoid being raided or usurped by a parasite queen.     

Double catholyte electrochemical approach for preparing ferrate-aluminum: a compound dxidant-coagulant for water purification

Ferrate is an excellent water treatment agent for its multi-functions in oxidation, disinfection, coagulation and adsorption, but its coagulation ability depends on its dosage and is after its oxidation. This paper focuses on preparing a new kind of ferrate combined with alum to enhance its coagulation function for water purification. An effective electrolysis reactor was designed and employed in the test. Some key parameters in the process of electrolysis concerning the preparation efficiency, such as the current density, temperature and alkalinity were also investigated. The proper conditions for ferrate-alum preparation were determined. In the condition of 5V given voltage, 6h electrolyzing interval, below 2% alum concentration (in weight), a combined liquid ferrate-alum products was successfully prepared, which contained 0.0294 mol/L FeO_{4/sub>^2-, 0.0302 mol/L total soluble ferron with 2% Al2O3. There was no insoluble ferron produced by controlling an optimum electrochemical condition.}     

How to uncoil your partner—“mating songs” in giant pill-millipedes (Diplopoda: Sphaerotheriida)

The stridulation of the giant pill-millipede genus Sphaerotherium from South Africa, one of only three groups of millipedes that produce sounds, was studied. One hundred one stridulation series of a total of nine different species (Sphaerotherium dorsaloide, Sphaerotherium hanstroemi, Sphaerotherium mahaium, Sphaerotherium similare, Sphaerotherium punctulatum, Sphaerotherium convexitarsum, Sphaerotherium dorsale, Sphaerotherium rotundatum, and Sphaerotherium perbrincki) were analyzed. Stridulation sounds are produced only with a special field of ribs on the posterior surface of the posterior telopod, which is actively moved over a field of sclerotized nubs on the inner margin of the anal shield. The Sphaerotherium male usually stridulates only when in contact with a female to initiate mating. This seems to prevent the female from volvating into a ball or stimulate the female to uncoil when already rolled in. The sound analyzes revealed a broad frequency spectrum in all stridulation sounds produced, without obvious differences in frequency distribution among species. However, the temporal pattern of the stridulation varies greatly between species and seems to be species-specific, arguing for a species recognition function of the stridulation during courtship behavior. A single species (S. punctulatum) was found to stridulate during mating while three species also show postcopulatory stridulation. Apparently, pill-millipedes are not capable of acoustic perception, as no hearing organs are known, indicating that the communication is mainly based on perception of temporal vibration patterns, and not of the acoustic signal itself. The need to overcome the rolling-in reflex of the female is developed as a hypothesis why stridulation exists only in millipedes able to coil into a ball, and apparently evolved four times independently in the superorder Oniscomorpha.     

Reed-wetland beds for municipal wastewater treatment

The performance of 11 reed-wetland beds for municipal wastewater treatment is described in this paper. The interrelation between pollutants removal (BOD5, SS, N and P) and hydraulic loading rate, organic loading rate, hydraulic retention time as well as the seasonal variation could be found in this study. The treatment efficiencies of reed beds are better than the secondary treatment standards with high and steady nitrogen and phosphorus removal. The total nitrogen and phosphorus of the final effluent are less than 10 mg/L and 0.5 mg/L, respectively.     

Double catholyte electrochemical approach for preparing ferratealuminum：a compound oxidant—coagulant for water purification

Ferrate is an excellent water treatment agent for its multi-functions in oxidation,disinfection,coagulation and adsorption,but its coagulation ability depends on its dosage and is after its oxidation.This paper focuses on preparing a new kind of ferrate combined with alum to enhance its coagulation function for water purification.An effective electrolysis reactor was designed and employed in the test.Some key parameters in the process of electrolysis concerning the prepar\ation efficiency,such as the current density,temperature and alkalinity were also investigated.The proper conditions for ferrate-alum preparation were determined.Under the condition of 5V given voltage,6h electrolyzing interval,below 2% alum concentration (in weight),a combined liquid ferrate-alum products was successfully prepared,which contained 0.0294 mol/L FeO4^2- and 0.0302 mol/L total soluble ferron with 2% Al2O3.There was no insoluble ferron produced by controlling an optimum electrochemical condition.     

A novel respirometer for biological toxicity tests

ＡｎｏｖｅｌｒｅｓｐｉｒｏｍｅｔｅｒｆｏｒｂｉｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｔｏｘｉｃｉｔｙｔｅｓｔｓＺｈａｎｇＭｉｎｑｕａｎ，ＣｈｅｎＨｕａｎｑｉｎＣｈｅｍｉｃａｌＥｎｇｉｎｅｅｒｉｎｇＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＩｎｓｔｉｔｕｔｅ，ＳｏｕｔｈＣｈｉｎａＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉｔ...     

Renovated water reuse for rapid infiltration system

The renovated water in the rapid infiltration system (RI) as area for fish and duck farming is feasible. The flesh of fish and duck is edible. The farming of fish for 5 months and duck for 120 - 130 days can be accepted. It is beneficial to environment and economy, especially in developing countries. The production of fish and duck can make up for the cost of wastewater treatment.     

Model for sulfide weathering in pyritic wastestone

The model for sulfide weathering in pyritic wastestone was studied based on the sulfide weathering rate in pyritic wastestone as well as relationship between the accumulating amount of sulfide weathered during pyritic wastestone weathering and some factors affecting weathering．The relationship is mainly based on the results of simulating experiment of pyritic wastestone weathering and analysis of field samples of the acid water． The model may be practical to predict the rate of sulfide weathering in pyritic wastestone of Dexing Copper M ine and the quality of the acid mine drainage generated by the wastestone weathering．     

Large pore size polyacrylonitrile membrane for ultrafiltration

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＩｎｒｅｃｅｎｔｙｅａｒｓ,ｔｈｅｔｅｃｈｎｉｑｕｅｆｏｒｕｌｔｒａｆｉｌｔｒａｔｉｏｎｈａｓｇａｉｎｅｄｒａｐｉｄｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔ.Ｍｏｒｅａｎｄｍｏｒｅｋｉｎｄｓｏｆｍｅｍｂｒａｎｅｓａｒｅｓｔｕｄｉｅｄａｎｄｍａｎｕｆａｃｔｕｒｅｄ ,ａｎｄａｌａｒｇｅ ｓｃａｌｅｉｎｄｕｓｔｒｉａｌａｐｐｌｉｃａｔｉｏｎｈａｓｂｅｅｎｇｒｏｗｎ .ＰＡＮｐｏｌｙｍｅｒｉｓｅｘｔｅｎｓｉｖｅｌｙｕｓｅｄｔｏｐｒｅｐａｒｅＵＦｍｅｍｂｒａｎｅｓ(Ｓｔｏｉｋｏ,1 991 ) .Ｉｔｓｈｙｄｒｏｐ…     

Particle monitoring techniques for water treatment applications

１　ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＰａｒｔｉｃｌｅｓｉｎｎａｔｕｒａｌｗａｔｅｒｓａｒｅｏｆｔｅｎｔｏｏｓｍａｌｌｔｏｂｅｅｆｆｅｃｔｉｖｅｌｙｒｅｍｏｖｅｄｂｙｔｈｅｓｅｓｅｐａｒａｔｉｏｎｔｅｃｈｎｉｑｕｅｓ．Ｔｈｅｐｒｏｃｅｓｓｏｆｃｏａｇｕｌａｔｉｏｎ／ｆｌｏｃｃｕｌａｔｉｏｎｃａｕｓｅｓｆｉｎｅｐａｒｔｉｃｌｅｓｔｏａｇｇｒｅｇａｔｅｉｎｔｏｌａｒｇｅｒｕｎｉｔｓ（ｆｌｏｃｓ）ｗｈｉｃｈｃａｎｂｅｍｏｒｅｅａｓｉｌｙｓｅｐａｒａｔｅｄ．Ｉｎｗａｔｅｒｔｒｅａｔｍｅｎｔｓａｌｔｓｏｆａｌｕｍｉ…     

Unified wet deposition data summaries for North America: Data summary procedures and results for 1980–1986

This paper presents a framework for data quality assessment of annual and seasonal precipitation chemistry data summaries. Consideration has been to (i) using data from regional or national networks with established quality assurance/quality control programs and well documented network operation protocols, (ii) assessing regional representativeness of each sites, (iii) determining quantitative measures to define data completeness levels, and (iv) documenting the calculation procedures used to compute precipitation-weighted mean concentrations and wet deposition amount. The procedures described here are applied to data collected from 1980 to 1986 by five major acid deposition monitoring networks in North America and examples of annual sulfate deposition summaries are reported. It is recommended that the concepts of site representativeness, data completeness and overall data quality levels be adopted by the user community and routinely be reported along with a data summary. Further work on assesing accuracy and precision to accompany the data quality levels is recommended.     

Indicator system and evaluation framework for sustainable development

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＴｈｅｎｏｔｉｏｎｏｆｓｕｓｔａｉｎａｂｌｅｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｗａｓｐｒｏｐｏｓｅｄｉｎｔｈｅＷｏｒｌｄＣｏｎｓｅｒｖａｔｉｏｎＳｔｒａｔｅｇｙ（ＩＵＣＮ，１９８０）．Ｉｔｉｓｐｏｉｎｔｅｄｏｕｔｔｈａｔｔｈｅｃｏｎｓｅｒｖａｔｉｏｎａｎｄｔｈｅｓｕｓｔａｉｎａｂｌｅｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔａｒｅｍｕｔｕａｌｌｙｄｅｐｅｎｄｅｎｔａｎｄｔｈｅｙｓｈｏｕｌｄｂｅｉｎｔｅｇｒａｔｅｄ，ｗｈｅｒｅｔｈｅｃｏｎｓｅｒｖａｔｉｏｎｍｅａｎｓｔｈｅｍａｎａｇｅｍｅｎｔｏｆｈｕｍａｎ…     

A test method for determining biodegradabilityof organic substances

ＡｔｅｓｔｍｅｔｈｏｄｆｏｒｄｅｔｅｒｍｉｎｉｎｇｂｉｏｄｅｇｒａｄａｂｉｌｉｔｙｏｆｏｒｇａｎｉｃｓｕｂｓｔａｎｃｅｓＭａｉＷｅｎｎｉｎｇ；ＪｉａｎｇＺｈａｎｐｅｎｇ；ＧｕＸｉａｓｈｅｎｇ（ＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＥｎｇｉ...     

Metbodology of environmental impact assessment for regional development

ＭｅｔｂｏｄｏｌｏｇｙｏｆｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｉｍｐａｃｔａｓｓｅｓｓｍｅｎｔｆｏｒｒｅｇｉｏｎａｌｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔＺｈｕＴａｎ；ＣｈｅｎＷｅｉ（ＤｅｐａｒｔｍｅｎｔｏｆＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔＳｃｉｅｎｃｅｏｆＮａｎｋａｉＵｎｉｖｅｒｓｉ...     

Biological exposure models for oil spill impact analysis

1　ＢｒｉｅｆｄｅｓｃｒｉｐｔｉｏｎｏｆｏｉｌｓｐｉｌｌｉｍｐａｃｔａｎａｌｙｓｉｓｓｙｓｔｅｍＡｓｌｏｎｇａｓｃｒｕｄｅｏｉｌｓａｒｅ ｐｒｏｄｕｃｅｄｏｆｆｓｈｏｒｅａｎｄｔｒａｎｓｐｏｒｔｅｄａｃｒｏｓｓｔｈｅｓｅａｓｂｙｓｈｉｐｓｏｒｐｉｐｅｌｉｎｅｓ,ｔｈｅｒｅｉｓａｒｉｓｋｏｆｏｉｌｓｐｉｌｌｓｗｉｔｈｔｈｅｐｏｔｅｎｔｉａｌｔｏｃａｕｓｅｓｉｇｎｉｆｉｃａｎｔｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｄａｍａｇｅ .Ｔｈｅ“ＥｘｘｏｎＶａｌｄｅｚ”ｉｎｃｉｄｅｎｔｉｎＡｌａｓｋａ ,ａｎｄｏｔｈｅｒｏｉ…     

Phytoremediation and its models for organic contaminated soils

ＩｎｔｒｏｄｕｃｔｉｏｎＳｏｉｌｓａｒｅａｓｉｎｋｆｏｒｏｒｇａｎｉｃｐｏｌｌｕｔａｎｔｓｏｆｃｏｎｃｅｒｎｆｏｒｈｕｍａｎａｎｄｅｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌｈｅａｌｔｈａｎｄｓｕｓｔａｉｎａｂｉｌｉｔｙ .Ｓｏｍｅｏｒｇａｎｉｃｐｏｌｌｕｔａｎｔｓａｒｒｉｖｉｎｇｉｎｓｏｉｌｓｃａｎｂｅｒａｐｉｄｌｙｄｅｃｏｍｐｏｓｅｄ ,ｗｈｉｌｓｔｇｒｅａｔａｍｏｕｎｔｏｆｏｒｇａｎｉｃｐｏｌｌｕｔａｎｔｓｓｕｃｈａｓｐｅｒｓｉｓｔｅｎｔｏｒｇａｎｉｃｐｏｌｌｕｔａｎｔｓ (ＰＯＰｓ)ｍａｙｐｅｒｓｉｓｔｉｎｓｏ…     

Special analysis methods for hydrolysis polymerization of aluminium

--Al-Ferron timed complex colorimetric method (AFM), 27Al     

Technological system for sustainable development of Chinese agriculture

ＴｅｃｈｎｏｌｏｇｉｃａｌｓｙｓｔｅｍｆｏｒｓｕｓｔａｉｎａｂｌｅｄｅｖｅｌｏｐｍｅｎｔｏｆＣｈｉｎｅｓｅａｇｒｉｃｕｌｔｕｒｅＺｈａｎｇＲｅｎｗｕ；ＪｉＷｅｎｙｉｎｇ；ＺｈａｎｇＴｏｎｇ（Ａｇｒｏ－ＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａｌＰｒｏｔｅｃｔｉｏｎＩｎ...     

Species analysis methods for hydrolysis polymerization of aluminum

ＳｐｅｃｉｅｓａｎａｌｙｓｉｓｍｅｔｈｏｄｓｆｏｒｈｙｄｒｏｌｙｓｉｓｐｏｌｙｍｅｒｉｚａｔｉｏｎｏｆａｌｕｍｉｎｕｍＦｅｎｇＬｉ，ＬｕａｎＺｈａｏｋｕｎ，ＴａｎｇＨｏｎｇｘｉａｏＲｅｓｅａｒｃｈＣｅｎｔｅｒｆｏｒＥｃｏＥｎｖｉｒｏｎｍｅｎｔａ...