原始雨林真的是如此圣洁吗?

生物保护学家在描述生物多样性的生境斑块时，用的比较多的是“野域自然”而不是“高度生物多样性”，这些生境相对来说尚未受到人类活动的干扰。他们对这个词的偏爱是受大片生物多样性生境以空前的速率持续消失的状况所驱动，而生物学家认为“流通量”在测量生物多样性价值——遗传学、物种学、种族、稀有性、地方性方面是最好的，同时认为应该选择一些区域努力进行保护。     

Monogamy in a new species of wild guinea pigs (Galea sp.)

A new species of wild guinea pigs from Bolivia was recently discovered: Galea sp. So far no data are available concerning its social and mating systems. We therefore investigated behavioural compatibility, sexual dimorphism, paternity in a male-competing situation, testicular and epididymal size, and sperm morphology and motility. The results showed a complete intrasexual and moderate intersexual behavioural incompatibility between unfamiliar animals, a reversed sexual dimorphism with females larger than males, and litters always fathered by single males. Furthermore, both the reproductive organ weights and the percentage of motile sperm and sperm with intact acrosomes were significantly lower compared with the promiscuous congeneric Galea musteloides. In summary, these data strongly suggest a monogamous social and mating system for the recently discovered Galea sp.     

Using structured systems analysis to design an integrated system for transport planning and environmental analysis

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Adverse effects of mercuric chloride on thyroid of mice, Musculus albinus and pattern of recovery of the damaged activity

The protective role of "essentiale phospholipids" (EPL) on mercury induced thyroid dysfunction with special reference to cholesterol, thyroid peroxidase and thyroxine activity in mice were investigated. The animals were treated with 0.5 ml/day of 0.5 ppm aqueous mercuric chloride for a period of 7, 14 and 21 days. For the recovery 175 mg of EPL was given to mice (already treated with HgCl2) for a period of 7, 14 and 21 days. Daily treatment of HgCl2 for 7, 14 and 21 days decreased serum cholesterol, TPO and T4 activity. Simultaneous administration of EPL (25 mg/mice) restored thyroid function in mice by maintaining serum thyroid hormone concentration almost normal. It increased serum cholesterol, TPO and T4 activity. It appears that the protective effect of EPL against HgCl2 induced thyroid dysfunction is mediated through its antioxidative action.     

Fluoride Content in Bones of Adelie Penguins and Environmental Media in Antarctica

Fluoride (F) distribution and its effects (fluorosis) were investigated in Antarctica. Droppings (L) excreta selected of aquatic birds, lake water, soil and moss (Polytrichum alpinum) showed a high F concentration. Although bones of Adelie penguin (Pygiscelis adeliae) and skua (Catharacta maccormicki) showed exceptionally very high F concentration in the range of 832 to 7187 mg kg(-1), their radiographs did not show any evidence of skeletal fluorosis. The possible reason and geochemical aspects of F in Antarctica region are discussed.     

Thermochemical studies of the toxic actions of heavy metal ions on Rhizopus nigricans

By using a LKB2277 BioActivity Monitor (heat conduction microcalorimeter), stopped-flow method, the thermogenetic curves of Rhizopus nigricans growth at 25 degrees C inhibited by four kinds of heavy metal ions are determined, parameters such as growth rate constants k, inhibitory ratio I, half inhibitory concentration IC50 et al. are obtained. The experimental results show that heavy metal ions can inhibit Rhizopus nigricans growth obviously, low concentration of Cu2+ has promoting action. The inhibitory sequence is Cd2+ > Hg2+ > Pb2+ > Cu2+, half inhibitory concentration of them are Cd+ 0.8 micro g x ml(-1), Hg2+ 1.7 micro g x ml(-1), Pb2+ 48.0 micro g x ml(-1), Cu2+ 110 micro g x ml(-1). This microclorimetric bioassay for acute cellular toxicity is based on metabolic heat evolution from cultured cells. The assay is quantitative, inexpensive, and versatile; moreover, toxicological information can be obtained with cell from other species of interest.     

Chemometrics methods for the investigation of methylmercury and total mercury contamination in mollusks samples collected from coastal sites along the Chinese Bohai Sea

The development and application of chemometrics methods, principal component analysis (PCA), cluster analysis and correlation analysis for the determination of methylmercury (MeHg) and total mecury (HgT) in gastropod and bivalve species collected from eight coastal sites along the Chinese Bohai Sea are described. HgT is directly determined by atomic fluorescence spectrometry (AFS), while MeHg is measured by a laboratory established high performance liquid chromatography-atomic fluorescence spectrometry system (HPLC-AFS). One-way ANOVA and cluster analysis indicated that the bioaccumulation of Rap to accumulate Hg was significantly (P<0.05) different from other mollusks. Correlation analysis shows that there is linear relationship between MeHg and HgT in mollusks samples collected from coastal sites along the Chinese Bohai Sea, while in mollusks samples collected from Hongqiao market in Beijing City, there is not any linear relationship.     

Evaluation of dispersion methods for enumeration of microorganisms from peat and activated carbon biofilters treating volatile organic compounds

To enumerate microorganisms having colonized biofilters treating volatile organic compounds, it is necessary firstly to evaluate dispersion methods. Crushing, shaking and sonication were then tested for the removal of microflora from biofilters packing materials (peat and activated carbon). Continuous or discontinuous procedures, and addition of glass beads had no effect on the number of microorganisms removed from peat particles. The duration of treatment also had no effect for shaking and crushing, but the number of microorganisms after 60 min of treatment with ultrasound was significantly higher than that obtained after 0.5 min. The comparison between these methods showed that crushing was the most efficient for the removal of microorganisms from both peat and activated carbon. The comparison between three chemical dispersion agents showed that 1% Na-pyrophosphate was less efficient, compared with 200 mM phosphate buffer or 1% Na-hexametaphosphate. To optimize the cultivation of microorganisms, three different agar media were compared. Tryptic soy agar tenfold diluted (TSA 1/10) was the most suitable medium for the culture of microflora from a peat biofilter. For the activated carbon biofilter, there was no significant difference between Luria Bertoni, TSA 1/10, and plate count agar. The optimized extraction and enumeration protocols were used to perform a quantitative characterization of microbial populations in an operating laboratory activated carbon biofilter and in two parallel peat biofilters.     

Sorption behaviour of acetochlor,atrazine, carbendazim,diazinon, imidacloprid and isoproturon on Hungarian agricultural soil

Laboratory studies were conducted to determine the sorption behaviour of six commonly used pesticides (acetochlor, atrazine, carbendazim, diazinon, imidacloprid and isoproturon) on Hungarian brown forest soil with clay alluviation (Luvisol) using the batch equilibrium technique. The sorption isotherms could be described by the Freundlich equation in non-linear form (n < 1) for all compounds, however in case of diazinon using the extended Freundlich equation proved to be a better approach. The adsorption constant related soil organic carbon content (Koc) calculated from Freundlich equation were 314 for acetochlor, 133 for atrazine, 2805 for carbendazim, 1589 for diazinon, 210 for imidacloprid and 174 for isoproturon. The octanol-water partition coefficients (Pow), which can be a useful parameter to predict of adsorption behaviour of a chemical on soil, and dissociation coefficients of these pesticides were calculated based on the chemical structure of them using a computerized expert system. The octanol-water partition coefficients were determined experimentally from high performance liquid chromatographic parameters as well. Good agreement was observed between experimental and the computer expert system estimated data. Computer estimated log Pow values ranged 0.5 and 3.86 for the examined pesticides, with imidacloprid and diazinon being the least and most hydrophobic respectively. Experimentally determined logPow ranged between 0.92 and 3.81 with the same tendency. It can be concluded that the Freundlich adsorption constants (Kf) are slightly related to the octanol-water partition coefficients of investigated chemicals, nevertheless no close correlation could be established because of the influence of further characteristics of solutes and soil.