Female discharges are more electrifying: spontaneous preference in the electric fish,Eigenmannia (Gymnotiformes,Teleostei)

Summary The tropical South American teleost Eigenmannia lineata showed a spontaneous preference for the female type, compared with the male type, of its sexually dimorphic, weak-electric organ discharge (EOD). Female and male EODs differ in waveform and harmonic content. An isolated fish was simultaneously stimulated with digitally synthesized natural male and female EODs of equal peak-to-peak amplitudes, at ±35 Hz frequency difference centered on its stable resting discharge frequency. The stimulus dipoles were arranged symmetrically to the right and left of the fish's hiding place. All stimulus conditions were permuted at random sequence. Among 11 fish tested, 8 showed a statistically significant preference for one stimulus, the female type, as measured by the amount of time a fish spent close to a stimulus dipole (P<0.05 in each fish, two-tailed). Thus female EODs rather than male EODs were more attractive to adult and juvenile fish of both sexes. It was also concluded that E. lineata is capable of discriminating female from male EODs by a complex sensory capacity requiring neither amplitude nor frequency cues. The EOD waveform changed very little within the ecological range of water conductivities (approximately 10–100 S·cm^-1); the P/N-ratio (a waveform character based on zerocrossing intervals) depended only weakly, but significantly, on conductivity (negative correlation in all four fish). Also, the effect of temperature on EOD waveform was very weak: Q ₁₀-values of the P/N-ratio were below but close to 1 in all fish (27±5°C). Thus, it can be concluded that the EOD waveform is remarkably stable within widely changing conditions-even beyond the variation found in the field-and is therefore potentially useful as a social cue.     

Effects of methyl-, phenyl-, ethylmercury and mercurychlorid on immune cells of harbor seals （Phoca vitulina）

Mercury (Hg) is present in the marine environment as a natural metal often enhanced through human activities. Depending on its chemical form, Hg can cause a wide range of immunotoxic e ects. In this study, the influence of methyl-, ethyl- and phenylmercury as well as mercurychloride on immune functions was evaluated. Two parameters of cellular immunity, proliferation and mRNA cytokine expression of interleukin-2, -4, and transforming growth factor , were investigated in harbor seal lymphocytes after in vitro exposure to Hg compounds. While all Hg compounds had a suppressive e ect on proliferation, di erences between juvenile and adult seals were found. Lymphocytes from juveniles showed a higher susceptibility to the toxic e ect compared to lymphocytes from adults. Furthermore, the degree of inhibition of proliferation varied among the four Hg compounds. The organic compounds seem to be more immunotoxic than the inorganic compound. Finally, for the cytokine expression of methylmercury-incubated lymphocytes, timedependent changes were observed, but no dose-dependency was found. Marine mammals of the North Sea are burdened with Hg, and lymphocytes of harbor seals may be functionally impaired by this metal. The present in vitro study provides baseline information for future studies on the immunotoxic e ects of Hg on cellular immunity of harbor seals.     

负载型纳米金催化剂对室内空气中甲醛的去除

采用沉积-沉淀法(deposition precipitation,简称DP法)和共沉淀法(coprecipitation,简称 CP法)制备了负载型纳米金催化荆Au/Fe2O3,催化剂中金含量(质量分数)小于1%.并以甲醛完全氧化反应作为研究的目标反应.这个反应可以有效地去除室内空气中的有害成分甲醛.通过催化活性的测试和XRD、TEM、TPR等技术对催化剂进行了表征.结果表明,两种方法制备的催化剂有各自的优势和特点,其中DP法制备的催化剂金含量(质量分数)只有0.67%的情况下,经过条件优化,甲醛完全转化温度为80℃,是一个较好的结果;而CP法制备的样品有较好的抗热性,可能有利于催化剂的使用寿命.因此,本工作为该类催化剂实用化提供了有价值的信息和依据.     

Allee effect limits colonization success of sexually reproducing zooplankton

Understanding the dynamics of populations at low density and the role of Allee effects is a priority due to concern about the decline of rare species and interest in colonization/invasion dynamics. Despite well-developed theory and observational support, experimental examinations of the Allee effect in natural systems are rare, partly because of logistical difficulties associated with experiments at low population density. We took advantage of fish introduction and removal in alpine lakes to experimentally test for the Allee effect at the whole-ecosystem scale. The large copepod Hesperodiaptomus shoshone is often extirpated from the water column by fish and sometimes fails to recover following fish disappearance, despite the presence of a long-lived egg bank. Population growth rate of this dioecious species may be limited by mate encounter rate, such that below some critical density a colonizing population will fail to establish. We conducted a multi-lake experiment in which H. shoshone was stocked at densities that bracketed our hypothesized critical density of 0.5-5 copoepods/m3. Successful recovery by the copepod was observed only in the lake with the highest initial density (3 copepods/m3). Copepods stocked into small cages at 3000 copepods/m3 survived and reproduced at rates comparable to natural populations, confirming that the lakes were suitable habitat for this species. In support of mate limitation as the mechanism underlying recovery failure, we found a significant positive relationship between mating success and density across experimental and natural H. shoshone populations. Furthermore, a mesocosm experiment provided evidence of increased per capita population growth rate with increasing population density in another diaptomid species, Skistodiaptomus pallidus. Together, these lines of evidence support the importance of the Allee effect to population recovery of H. shoshone in the Sierra Nevada, and to diaptomid copepods in general.     

CO2泡沫混凝土碳封存潜力分析

CO₂捕集、利用与封存是碳中和技术体系的重要组成部分,混凝土在大规模吸收CO₂方面具有巨大的发展潜力.为了掌握CO₂泡沫混凝土的碳封存潜力,分析了CO₂泡沫混凝土的固碳机制,建立了CO₂泡沫混凝土固碳能力的数学模型,估算了CO₂泡沫混凝土的固碳和储碳能力.结果表明,CO₂泡沫混凝土碳封存能力的99%以上是由混凝土骨架的化学碳化方式完成的,而泡孔的储碳能力较弱;按照30%碳化率估算,我国每年生产的混凝土在全生命周期内的碳封存量平均为2.18亿t,超过大兴安岭林区森林1 a的碳汇;近5年,我国CO₂泡沫混凝土的碳封存潜力为5.80亿t ·a^-1,在煤电一体化矿区的固废和废气资源化利用方面具有很好的应用前景.CO₂泡沫混凝土在凝固前的稳定性是下一步要重点解决的技术难题.     

鄂尔多斯TSP和PM_(10)中有机氯农药的分布与来源

于2012年5月在内蒙古鄂尔多斯的东胜、纳林希里、棋盘井和上湾等4个采样点连续采集大气TSP和PM10样品,利用GC-MS分析了其中18种OCPs。结果表明:除了硫丹Ⅱ、硫丹Ⅰ和α-HCH未检出,β-HCH部分检出以外,其余14种OCPs均有100%检出。鄂尔多斯东胜、纳林希里、棋盘井和上湾TSP中∑OCPs浓度依次为2.63、9.85、5.09和6.22ng/m3;在PM10中为2.13、8.74、4.84和6.77ng/m3。∑OCPs中比重超过15%的有ADs、HCs和DDTs。TSP中∑OCPs浓度基本高于PM10中浓度,并且它们存在较好的正相关,相关系数r达到0.8846。污染源分析表明,纳林希里HCHs、CDs和DDTs可能均有外源输入。     

拟除虫菊酯农药的微波辅助无极汞灯下的降解机理研究

在水溶液中,以微波辅助无极汞灯(Microwave-Assisted Eletrodeless Discharge Mercury Lamp,MW-EDML)降解氯氰菊酯、甲氰菊酯和功夫菊酯等3种拟除虫菊酯农药(Synthetic pyrethroids,SPs),采用固相萃取(Solid Phase Extraction,SPE)富集后,用GC-MS鉴定降解产物,并根据降解产物重点探讨了SPs的降解机理。3种SPs的主要降解产物有6种,其降解途径有:酯键水解、氰基水解、脱羧、醚键断裂、氧化、苯环的羟基化以及与溶剂反应等。实验结果还表明:MW-EDML是个高效、简便的降解SPs类农药手段,可应用于其他有机污染物的降解过程。