Ventral polarization vision in tabanids: horseflies and deerflies (Diptera: Tabanidae) are attracted to horizontally polarized light

Adult tabanid flies (horseflies and deerflies) are terrestrial and lay their eggs onto marsh plants near bodies of fresh water because the larvae develop in water or mud. To know how tabanids locate their host animals, terrestrial rendezvous sites and egg-laying places would be very useful for control measures against them, because the hematophagous females are primary/secondary vectors of some severe animal/human diseases/parasites. Thus, in choice experiments performed in the field we studied the behavior of tabanids governed by linearly polarized light. We present here evidence for positive polarotaxis, i.e., attraction to horizontally polarized light stimulating the ventral eye region, in both males and females of 27 tabanid species. The novelty of our findings is that positive polarotaxis has been described earlier only in connection with the water detection of some aquatic insects ovipositing directly into water. A further particularity of our discovery is that in the order Diptera and among blood-sucking insects the studied tabanids are the first known species possessing ventral polarization vision and definite polarization-sensitive behavior with known functions. The polarotaxis in tabanid flies makes it possible to develop new optically luring traps being more efficient than the existing ones based on the attraction of tabanids by the intensity and/or color of reflected light.     

Mantophasmatodea now in the Jurassic

The Mantophasmatodea is the most recently discovered insect order. The fossil records of all other ‘polyneopteran’ orders extend far in the past, but the current absence of pre-Cenozoic fossils of the Mantophasmatodea contradicts a long evolutionary history, which has to be assumed from the morphological distinctness of the group. In this paper, we report the first Mesozoic evidence of a mantophasmatodean from the Middle Jurassic of Daohugou, Inner Mongolia, China. Furthermore, the new fossil shares apomorphic characters with Cenozoic and recent Mantophasmatodea, suggesting a longer evolutionary history of this order.     

Middle-Eocene artiodactyls from Shanghuang (Jiangsu Province,Coastal China) and the diversity of basal dichobunoids in Asia

A new assemblage of basal dichobunoid artiodactyls from the middle-Eocene Shanghuang fissure fillings includes the diacodexeid Jiangsudon shanghuangensis gen. and sp. nov., a new species of the lantianine dichobunoid Elaschitotherium, Elaschitotherium crepaturus sp. nov., and an indeterminate suoid which is presently the earliest record of this clade. Diacodexeids are also represented by two forms provisionally referred to cf. Diacodexis sp. and to an indeterminate Diacodexeidae, respectively. The occurrence of diacodexeids in Shanghuang contrasts with the early and earliest middle-Eocene chronological range of the family in Europe and North America and suggests that the stratigraphic range of the family in Asia extends up to the middle Eocene. This may reflect particular habitats in coastal China that may have been relatively stable during the early and middle Eocene, thus preserving forest-dwelling artiodactyls that became extinct in the other Holarctic regions. Compared to other supposedly coeval North American, European, and Asian faunas, the Shanghuang mammalian assemblage is most similar to early Uintan faunas of North America but is also remarkable in recording forms close to taxa that are characteristic of the Wasatchian and Bridgerian North American Land Mammal Ages. The Irdinmanhan age of the Shanghuang fauna is supported by the mammalian assemblage recovered from the fissure D, but an Arshantan age cannot be completely ruled out at this point. Although the Shanghuang assemblage is biased towards preservation of small components of the mammalian fauna, the Shanghuang fauna provide an important and unique window into the Eocene diversity and early evolution of cetartiodactyls in eastern Asia.     

硝酸—硫酸分解地质物料中的辰砂和有机汞化合物冷蒸气原子吸收光谱法测定全汞

本文列举的数据表明,在室温和低于沸水浴的温度下,辰砂(HgS)在HNO_3-H_2SO_4中溶解很慢。然而在沸水浴上,这种酸混合物能迅速分解辰砂。试验显示了温度对反应速度的影响。基于这些试验提出了一个用HNO_3-H_2SO_4(2+3)从含辰砂和有机汞化合物的地质试样(岩石、土壤和沉积物)中提取全汞的分解方法。     

乙二胺四乙酸二钠盐溶解后用ICP-AES法测定不纯重晶石和菱锶矿中的钡、锶及九种少量元素和微量元素

本文提出一种测定与脉石矿物伴生的重晶石和菱锶矿中的钡、锶、硅及九种少量和微量元素的新方法。本法涉及在氢氧化铵存在时,在乙二胺四乙酸二钠盐(EDTA-2Na)浓溶液的回流下,对试样进行煮沸溶解。在这种条件下,重晶石和菱锶矿定量溶解,任何伴生的硅酸盐和硫化物矿物杂质不能被溶解,滤出后,在白金坩埚中灼烧至恒重。加入浓硫酸和氢氟酸后,对残渣加热,然后再灼烧至氧化物,以重量法测定二氧化硅。以硫酸氢钠熔融残渣,然后溶于稀硫酸中。用乙二胺四乙酸二钠盐溶液进行适度稀释后,用电感耦合等离子体原子发射光谱法(ICP-AES)测定Ba、Sr、Be、Co.Cr、Cu、La、Ni、V、Yb和Zn。用ICP-AES对酸式硫酸盐熔融产物分别进行分析。将测得的各元素的含量与从乙二胺四乙酸二钠盐溶液中所获得的各对应元素的含量分别相加。本文的平行分析测定值之间及这些测定值与用其它测定方法所获得的测定值都很吻合。     

Synthesis of zinc-carboxylate metal-organic frameworks for the removal of emerging drug contaminant (amodiaquine) from aqueous solution

We herein report the removal of amodiaquine, an emerging drug contaminant from aqueous solution using [Zn2(fum)2(bpy)] and [Zn4 O(bdc)3](fum = fumaric acid; bpy =4,4-bipyridine; bdc = benzene-1,4-dicarboxylate) metal–organic frameworks(MOFs) as adsorbents. The adsorbents were characterized by elemental analysis, Fourier transform infrared(FT-IR) spectroscopy, and powder X-ray diffraction(PXRD). Adsorption process for both adsorbents were found to follow the pseudo-first-order kinetics, and the adsorption equilibrium data fitted best into the Freundlich isotherm with the R~2 values of 0.973 and0.993 obtained for [Zn_2(fum)_2(bpy)] and [Zn_4 O(bdc)_3] respectively. The maximum adsorption capacities foramodiaquine in this study were found to be 0.478 and 47.62 mg/g on the[Zn_2(fum)_2(bpy)] and [Zn_4 O(bdc)_3] MOFs respectively, and were obtained at p H of 4.3 for both adsorbents. FT-IR spectroscopy analysis of the MOFs after the adsorption process showed the presence of the drug. The results of the study showed that the prepared MOFs could be used for the removal of amodiaquine from wastewater.     

加尔各答市政固体垃圾中杀虫剂的转化:堆肥的效果

引言 人类活动所产生的固体垃圾已经成为引起大范围污染并对人类健康造成许多威胁的主要问题之一[1].加尔各答市每天约产生3500Mg市政固体垃圾(MSW)[2].MSW堆肥正被越来越多地认为是全世界垃圾处理的一种可行且经济的方法,它比其它垃圾处理方式所造成的环境污染更小.但是,人们仍对堆肥中所含有的有机污染物所产生的潜在健康危险存在顾虑[3].有毒有机化合物对环境的潜在影响是这些化合物浓度水平的作用,其中有许多不仅对人类和动物有毒,而且对植物也有毒.     

Unique zinc mass in mandibles separates drywood termites from other groups of termites

Previously, the presence of metals in arthropod mandibles has been linked with harder cuticle, and in termites, a 20% increase in hardness has been found for mandibles containing major quantities of zinc. The current study utilises electron microscopy and energy-dispersive X-ray microanalysis to assess incidence and abundance of metals in all extant subfamilies of the Isoptera. The basal clades contain no zinc and little to no manganese in the cutting edge of the mandible cuticle, suggesting that these states are ancestral for termites. However, experimentation with mandibles in vitro indicates the presence of some elements of the cuticular biochemistry necessary to enable uptake of zinc. The Termopsidae, Serritermitidae, Rhinotermitidae and Termitidae all contain minor quantities of manganese, while trace to minor quantities of zinc occur in all except the Serritermitidae. In contrast, all Kalotermitidae or drywood termites contain major levels of zinc in the mandible edge. Diet and life type are explored as links to metal profiles across the termites. The presence of harder mandibles in the drywood termites may be related to lack of access to free water with which to moisten wood. Scratch tests were applied to a set of mandibles. The coefficient of friction for Cryptotermes primus (Kalotermitidae) mandibles, when compared with species from other subfamilies, indicates that zinc-containing mandibles are likely to be more scratch resistant.     

Dietary characterization of the hominoid Khoratpithecus (Miocene of Thailand): evidence from dental topographic and microwear texture analyses

The genus Khoratpithecus, a hominoid thought to be related to the orangutan lineage, is represented by two known fossil species K. chiangmuanensis and K. piriyai. Both were discovered in Southeast Asia (Thailand) and are dated to the Middle and Late Miocene, respectively. In this study, dental topographic and microwear texture analyses were used to examine molars from both of these species, with the goal of understanding their dietary preferences. Although sample sizes are small for Khoratpithecus, available data are compared to that collected for extant apes. Environmental evidence, such as botanical remains and sedimentological data, is also considered for comparisons with dietary reconstruction. Results from dental topographic analysis suggest that the two fossil species were better adapted to a diet of fruits than to one of leaves, much like the living orangutan or chimpanzee. Results from microwear texture analysis further support this, suggesting that Khoratpithecus preferred soft fruits to hard fruits or seeds. And finally, the botanical and sedimentological evidence point to environments for Khoratpithecus that would have been compatible with a fruit-eating species. Given the small sample sizes available for analysis, however, definitive judgments are not yet possible at this time.