Autopoiesis: a review and a reappraisal

The aim of the paper is to review critically the notion of autopoiesis as presented by Maturana and Varela. In particular, recognizing that there are difficulties in obtaining a complete and clear picture from the primary literature, an effort is made to present a coherent view--also based on many years of personal contact with Francisco Varela. The paper begins with a few historical notes to highlight the cultural background from which the notion of autopoiesis arose. The basic principles of autopoiesis as a theory of cellular life are then described, emphasizing also what autopoiesis is not: not an abstract theory, not a concept of artificial life, not a theory about the origin of life--but rather a pragmatic blueprint of life based on cellular life. It shown how this view leads to a conceptually clear definition of minimal life and to a logical link with related notions, such as self-organization, emergence, biological autonomy, auto-referentiality, and interactions with the environment. The perturbations brought about by the environment are seen as changes selected and triggered by the inner organization of the living. These selective coupling interactions impart meaning to the minimal life and are thus defined by Maturana and Varela with the arguable term of "cognition". This particular view on the mutual interactions between living organism and environment leads these authors to the notion of "enaction", and to the surprising view that autopoiesis and cognition are two complementary, and in a way equivalent, aspects of life. It is then shown how cognition, so defined, permits us to build a bridge between biology and cognitive science. Autopoiesis also allows one to conceive chemical models of minimal cellular life that can be implemented experimentally. The corresponding work on "chemical autopoiesis" is then reviewed. The surprising impact of autopoiesis in the social sciences ("social autopoiesis") is also briefly discussed. This review also comments on why the theory of autopoiesis had, and still has, a difficult time being accepted into the mainstream of life-science research. Finally, it is pointed out that the new interest in system biology and complexity theories may lead to a reappraisal of autopoiesis and related notions, as outlined also by other authors, such as Tibor Ganti and Stuart Kauffmann.     

公众环境意识与可持续发展关系初探

目前,国内存在的各种环境问题,归根到底是由于发展战略的不同所致,人们开始重新去认识和评价传统发展战略的局限性,标志着人类文明即将步入一个被称之"环境文明"新的历史时代.历史文化传统和经济发展水平决定公众环境意识,公众的环境意识直接影响可持续发展战略的实施,如何增强,提出决策和建议,通过大力开展环境宣传教育,提高公众环境意识,可持续发展,实现可持续发展的战略.     

Self-Injection of a Dipteran Parasitoid into a Spider

 A host invasion strategy hitherto unknown from other insect parasitoids was observed in the dipteran Acrocera orbicula (Fabricius) (Diptera: Acroceridae) parasitizing the wolf spider, Pardosa prativaga (L. Koch) (Araneida: Lycosidae). In laboratory experiments the free-living first instar acrocerid larvae attached themselves firmly to the spiders' integument by the mouthparts, cutting a tiny hole through the integument. No first instar larvae invaded the host. A week later the parasitoids molted, and a small, flexible, and glabrous second instar larva left each of the attached first instar exuviae and invaded the host through the attachment hole of the first instar larva. The novel host invasion pattern observed may reduce physical damage to the host in the initial phase of endoparasitism, enhancing parasitoid survival. Received: 14 April 1999 / Accepted in revised form: 2 July 1999     

建设绿色重庆构建和谐社会

"十一五"是我国经济社会发展的重要战略机遇期,也是环境保护工作极具挑战的时期.我们将以党的十六届五中全会精神为指针,以建设"绿色重庆"为目标,以"预防为主、综合治理,不欠新账、多还旧账,创新机制、强化监管,突出重点、分类指导,典型示范、带动全面"为基本原则,发展循环经济,解决突出问题,改善环境质量,建立工作机制,努力构建环境友好型社会.     

Attributes of a hopper-predator community in a rice field

A hopper-predator community in an experimental rice field was observed weekly with regard to information content (H′), formation of a geometric series or the grade of orderly distribution of component taxa (R²), and clumping index (I). These community attributes changed with time in close association with one another, and attained the highest values around the heading time of the rice. Significant correlations were found between the density of prey and that of predators when a certain time-lag was assumed for the increase of predators.     

Performance of a novel vertical-flow settler: a comparative study

By increasing particle concentration and G value （root-mean-square velocity gradient） to enhance flocculation, a novel vertical-flow settler was designed to increase sedimentation effectiveness, and to simultaneously improve operational stabilization. Due to the gradual decrease in upward flow-rate of raw water, a floes blanket would form and suspend in the middle section of the settler, not at the bottom as in a conventional clarifier. Enough large floes, resulted from flocculation or fltration, would continuously settle out of the floes blanket, and simultaneously, the floes in raw water or those forming above the blanket would ceaselessly enter the floes blanket. As a result, the floes concentration in the blanket could keep a dynamic balance. The hydrodynamic shear in the blanket was improved by flow separation, which was induced by the abrupt change in flow channel. Due to the floes blanket and improved hydrodynamic shear, flocculation would be enhanced, which was helpful for removing fine particles in raw water. A comparative study showed that the novel vertical-flow settler had a much better performance in the removal of the particles in raw water than a conventional one, when they treated kaolin suspensions of different concentrations （500, 100 and 50 mg/L, respectively） coagulated by polyaluminum chloride（PAC1） at the up-flow rates of 1 and 2 mm/s, respectively.     

建设宁静家园 营造和谐环境——厦门市思明区创建“安静居住小区”的做法和体会

创建安静居住小区,是以营造安静和谐的宜居生活环境为目标,通过强化噪声监管、开展宣传教育等方式,改善城区声环境质量,提高居民环保意识,提高城市文明水平的一种有效方式.2009年以来,厦门市思明全区开展创建“安静居住小区”工作.目前,25个创建小区中共有24个通过验收达标.“安静居住小区”创建以来,小区居民对居住环境质量的满意率达到97％,小区噪声污染得到有效治理,居民的环保意识得到极大提高.     

When a year takes 18 months: evidence for a strong circannual clock in a shorebird

During the last three of 20 years kept as a pet, a red knot (Calidris canutus) went through two complete 'circannual' cycles of body mass and plumage. With a record cycle length of 18 months, this individual shorebird provides evidence for an exceptionally strong circannual clock system. The absence of synchronisation to outdoor but visible periodic cues suggests that the constant, socially-induced, day-night environment was of overriding importance. So far, only for songbirds is there firm experimental evidence that annual cycles are orchestrated by an endogenous circannual clock system. In constant environments the circannual cycles of these passerines tend to have periods that are shorter, rather than longer, than a year.     

Male-biased predation of a cave fish by a giant water bug

Male-biased predation has been described from several epigean species, and in many cases, intrinsic differences between the sexes (such as male ornaments) have been suggested as an explanation. Here we report on male-biased predation of a cave fish (Poecilia mexicana) by an aquatic insect (Belostoma sp.) in a Mexican sulfur cave. P. mexicana use aquatic surface respiration (ASR) to survive in their sulfidic, hypoxic habitat. We found that males typically exhibit more ASR activity than females, which leads to increased exposure to the sit-and-wait predator that catches fish near the water surface. Our finding is novel, because male vulnerability to predation is not directly related to male traits involved in courtship, but rather due to other sexual differences in behavior and ultimately, oxygen demands.     

Syndromic encephalocele in a fetal case with a 1p35-pter deletion and a 14q32-qter duplication inherited from a maternal balanced translocation

Occipital encephalocele belongs to the family of neural tube defects, which occur in one among 2000 to 5000 live births. Syndromic encephaloceles include Meckel–Gruber syndrome and various chromosomal abnormalities. We report on a fetal case (13 WG) with bilateral cleft lip and palate, choanal atresia, occipital encephalocele, bilateral club feet, bilateral multicystic kidneys, enlarged bladder and urethral atresia. The fetal chromosome analysis showed a maternally inherited unbalanced translocation between the short arm of chromosome 1 and the long arm of chromosome 14, resulting in 1p35-pter deletion and 14q32-qter duplication (46,XY,der(1),t(1;14)(p35;q32)). Since the chromosomal breakpoints have not previously been implicated in syndromic encephalocele, this observation is of interest for the identification of other genes responsible for occipital encephalocele. Copyright © 2007 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.     

喷射火焰对容器的热辐射计算

液化气体容器在火灾环境下由于内部压力升高和容器本身强度的下降，爆炸的危险性极大。研究容器在喷射火焰作用的响应规律是预防事故发生的关键。本文研究了由于气体泄漏引起的喷射火焰在有风条件下的火焰形状和温度变化规律，以及对于水平圆柱形容器的热辐射影响，并用编制计算程序进行了数值计算。计算结果表明，容器表面的热辐射随风速、容器表面的位置等因素而变化。风速越大，容器表面的热辐射会减少；轴向距离越大，热辐射减少，周向角度增加，热辐射减少。     

混凝剂FAS的制备及性能研究

报道利用铜矿渣制取固体混凝剂ＦＡＳ。实验表明,该混凝剂具有优良的除蚀、除色、除ＣＯＤ、除硫性能,尤其对采用常规混凝剂难以除去的亲水性染料,ＦＡＳ有独特的去除效率。对各种模拟废水和实际废水,ＦＡＳ的脱色率为９５％,对ＣＯＤ的去除率则在９０％以上。本文还对ＦＡＳ的混凝脱色机理进行了初步的探讨。     

Industrial ecology: a new field or only a metaphor?

In the 10 years since industrial ecology first became a topic of academic interest, it has grown as a field of inquiry and has produced a community of practice in several sectors including academia, business, and government. Even as the shape of industrial ecology becomes clearer, questions remain as to its lasting power beyond the metaphor that gave it its distinctiveness. This paper examines the development of industrial ecology and assesses its progress towards becoming a field of academic inquiry. And, in a related analysis, I look at the progress industrial ecology has made in establishing itself as an institutional (cultural) basis for action in the above sectors. Ideas like industrial ecology must become institutionalized if they are to have much effect on the reality of everyday activities.     

Field survey of a sustainable sanitation system in a residential house

Sustainable sanitation is an approach for more ecological and sustainable water resources management. In this paper, we proposed one of the new integrated waste treatment systems： an ＂sustainable sanitation system＂ that includes separation of the black water from water system by a non-flushing toilet （bio-toilet）, and a gray water treatment based on a biological and ecological concept. Sustainable sanitation system also converts the domestic waste to soil conditioners and fertilizers, for farmland use. As one of the case studies, Environmentally Symbiotic Housing in which people actually live using the bio-toilet for the black water treatment and the household wastewater treatment facility for the gray water was introduced. The availability of this system was investigated by analyzing the sawdust used in the bio-toilet and the quality of the effluent in the household wastewater treatment facility. As the result, the water content of the sawdust did not exceed 60% in any of the sampling points and the BOD and COD of the effluent of the household wastewater treatment facility were below 10 and 20 mg/L respectively, due to the low loading. Compared to the pollution load on the water environment created by the conventional system, it was found that the effluent of the house has a lower load than the tertiary treatment and the volume of the water consumption is 75% of the conventional system.     

船运液态二氧化碳储罐爆炸事故的原因分析

在分析船运液态二氧化碳储罐爆炸事故的基础上,近似计算了其物理爆炸的能量,并采用TNT当量计算方法,分别估算了事故的人员死亡区域、重伤区域、轻伤区域的半径和建筑物毁灭性破坏区域的半径;同时根据事故容器设计参数的验算,指出由于对事故容器归属"低温压力容器"和"低温低应力压力容器"的错误划分造成制造材料选用的错误,以及违规使用,从而导致了事故的发生;并针对事故的原因,提出了应引起的反思。     

B模式:拯救地球延续文明

今天，全世界可能有上千个会议在召开，但我想没有任何一次会议会比我们这个会议更重要，所以我非常荣幸能够来到这里，与各位来自中国和其它国家的著名环境专家坐在一起。同时，我也非常高兴能够见到曲格平先生，他在环境领域一直扮演着领袖的角色，而且我很高兴能够在潘岳局长演讲之后进行我的发言。