Vocal acrobatics in a Chinese frog, <Emphasis Type="Italic">Amolops tormotus</Emphasis>

Although amphibians are highly vocal, they generally emit only a limited number of acoustic communication signals. We report here the extraordinarily rich vocal repertoire of Amolops tormotus, a ranid species in China. These frogs produce countless vocalizations, some of which share features of birdsong or primate calls, e.g., ultrasonic frequency components, multiple upward and downward FM sweeps, and sudden onset and offset of selective harmonic components within a call note. Frame-by-frame video analysis of the frog's calling behavior suggests the presence of two pairs of vocal sacs that may contribute to the remarkable call-note complexity in this species. Electronic supplementary material to this paper can be obtained by using the Springer LINK server located at http://dx.doi.org/10.1007/s00114-002-0335-x.     

Inventory of emissions from major air pollutant categories in Turkey

In this study, an inventory of air pollutant emission estimates from major air polluting sources in Turkey for period between 1985 and 2005 with 5-year intervals were estimated. Inventory covers anthropogenic sources of five major air pollutants of particulate matter, sulfur dioxide, carbon monoxide, nitrogen oxides and non-methane volatile organic compounds. Their break-down with respect to main activity sectors were shown and their distribution by the largest industrial source categories were worked out as annual estimates. This inventory and its analysis point to serious environmental implications of air pollutants and a need to develop a policy plan for reducing these emissions.     

Symmetrieüberlegungen zur Supraleitung

Prof. Dr. Max Anwärter, Balzers, zum 80. Geburtstag gewidmet     

Practical environmental monitoring of major construction projects

Independent teams undertook environmental monitoring of particular concentrations of major construction projects forming part of Hong Kong’s U.S. $20 billion airport infrastructure programme located in dense urban areas. The team combination of environmental specialists with experienced civil engineers enabled pragmatic mitigation measures to be developed and accepted by the construction personnel with the result that potentially significant adverse impacts were averted. The authors discuss the mechanism and success of this innovative approach.     

Hydrogen storage and distribution systems

Hydrogen storage and transportation or distribution is closely linked together. Hydrogen can be distributed continuously in pipelines or batch wise by ships, trucks, railway or airplanes. All batch transportation requires a storage system but also pipelines can be used as pressure storage system. Hydrogen exhibits the highest heating value per weight of all chemical fuels. Furthermore, hydrogen is regenerative and environment friendly. There are two reasons why hydrogen is not the major fuel of toady’s energy consumption: First of all, hydrogen is just an energy carrier. And, although it is the most abundant element in the universe, it has to be produced, since on earth it only occurs in the form of water. This implies that we have to pay for this energy, which results in a difficult economic task, because since the industrialization we are used to consuming energy for free. The second difficulty with hydrogen as an energy carrier is the low critical temperature of 33 K, i.e. hydrogen is a gas at room temperature. For mobile and in many cases also for stationary applications the volumetric and gravimetric density of hydrogen in a storage system is crucial. Hydrogen can be stored by six different methods and phenomena: high pressure gas cylinders (up to 800 bar), liquid hydrogen in cryogenic tanks (at 21 K), adsorbed hydrogen on materials with a large specific surface area (at T < 100 K), absorbed on interstitial sites in a host metal (at ambient pressure and temperature), chemically bond in covalent and ionic compounds (at ambient pressure), oxidation of reactive metals e.g. Li, Na, Mg, Al, Zn with water. These metals easily react with water to the corresponding hydroxide and liberate the hydrogen from the water. Finally, the metal hydroxides can be thermally reduced to the metals in a solar furnace.     

Alteration in Rhizosphere Soil Properties of Afforested <Emphasis Type="Italic">Rhamnus lycioides</Emphasis> Seedlings in Short-Term Response to Mycorrhizal Inoculation with <Emphasis Type="Italic">Glomus intraradices</Emphasis> and Organic Amendment

The reestablisment of autochthonous plant species is an essential strategy for recovering degraded areas under semiarid conditions. A field experiment was carried out to assess the short-term effect of two reafforestation methods involving mycorrhizal inoculation and compost addition on soil quality parameters and Rhamnus lycioides seedling growth. The nutrient content (NPK) and enzymatic activities (dehydrogenase, urease, protease-BAA, acid phosphatase and β-glucosidase) increased and bulk density decreased in the rhizosphere soil with the organic amendment. Biomass C of rhizosphere soil increased by at least 240% with respect to the control soil after mycorrhizal inoculation and the combination of compost addition + mycorrhizal inoculation. Both mycorrhizal inoculation and composted organic residue addition increased R. lycioides seedling growth in the same proportion. In the short term, we conclude that the application of both reafforestation methods not only enhances the establishment of R. lycioides seedlings, but also improves soil quality.     

Effect of Cross-Linking Waste Protein with Diepoxides on its Biodegradation under Anaerobic Conditions

Biodegradability testing was performed in an aqueous environment under anaerobic conditions after inoculation with digested sludge from municipal wastewater treatment plant. In cross-linking with 1,2:3,4-diepoxybutane in limits 0.8–9.1% weight, biodegradability degree decreased from 76.8 to 62.2%; when 1,2:7,8 diepoxyoctane in quantities 1.1–13.2% weight was used, biodegradability degree dropped more prominently – from 72.3 to 22.8%. There is obviously a direct connection between growing cross-link degree (assessed by so-called fixation index) and decreasing readiness to biodegradation, apparently owing to build-up of a network forming an obstacle to access of micro-organisms and enzymes.     

Symptom patterns, and perceptual and cognitive styles in subjects with multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS)

Multiple chemical sensitivity (MCS) is defined as a syndrome with multiple medically unexplained symptoms attributed to low levels of chemically unrelated substances in the environment. The etiology of this syndrome is still unclear. As MCS may be conceptualized as an atypical type of somatoform disorder, the purpose of the study was to examine whether MCS subjects show symptom patterns, personality traits, and perceptual and cognitive styles as typically found in somatoform patients. Nonsensitive controls (n=36) were compared to subjects with moderate (n=35) and high (n=35) MCS intensity with self-report psychological questionnaires and structured interviews for depression and somatoform disorders. The high MCS group scored significantly higher than the other two groups on self-report scales for somatoform symptoms and depression. Moreover, high MCS was strongly associated with the diagnosis of somatoform disorder, and weaker but still significantly with depression. In a stepwise multiple regression analysis, cognitions about environmental threat, trait anxiety, focus on autonomic sensations, and general environmental sensitivity predicted MCS symptoms in the total sample, explaining 53% of the variance. These results support the hypothesis that trait negativity and mechanisms of symptom perception and symptom amplification contribute to the enhanced symptom reports of MCS individuals.