珠江口西岸冬季海陆风背景下羰基化合物的初步研究

于2008年12月7~9日对珠江三角洲新垦的大气环境进行连续加强观测,采用DNPH-HPLC/UV分析方法测量了冬季海陆风条件下大气挥发性羰基化合物的组成及浓度水平,研究了污染特征和来源.结果表明,新垦大气中共检测到17种挥发性羰基化合物,浓度变化范围为7.78′10-9~31.78′10-9,大多数物质地面浓度高于楼顶.其中浓度最高的污染物是丙酮,其次是甲醛和乙醛,三者占总羰基化合物浓度的比例高于70%.大气挥发性羰基化合物的浓度分布呈现出以12月8日为代表的受城区污染物长距离输送影响的变化规律,以及以12月7日和12月9日为代表的受海陆风影响的变化规律.甲醛/乙醛和乙醛/丙醛的特征比值及各成分相关性分析表明它们主要来自城区人为污染源的排放,其组成和含量的变化与污染物长距离输送过程和海陆风影响有密切关系.大气光化学反应生成的二次产物和当地植被排放亦是重要来源.     

林地面积增加提高了农户营林积极性吗?——基于9省1 504个农户数据的倾向值匹配分析

论文利用9省1 504个农户调研数据,实证检验了新一轮集体林改后林地面积增加对农户营林积极性的因果效应。考虑到农户对林地经营面积决策的内生性问题,采用倾向值匹配方法对选择性偏差进行控制。匹配后,处理组和控制组在多个标准上均通过了平衡性检验。结果显示,林地面积增加确实促进了农户营林积极性的提高,但这是一个缓慢的动态调整过程。其中,资本投入强度在2010年以后才逐步表现为显著增加,增长率约为25%~27%,2013年进一步强化为28%~34%。资本投入强度的增加主要是由化肥和农药投入增加引起的,对种苗的投入强度并没有显著改善。这种差异说明,新一轮林改提高了农户的森林经营和管护积极性,但对造林行为的影响有限。同时农户并没有因为林地面积增加而显著提高劳动力的投入强度。这种资本对劳动的替代与农户的非农就业行为密切相关。     

Population dynamics and regulation in the cave salamander <Emphasis Type="Italic">Speleomantes strinatii</Emphasis>

Time series analysis has been used to evaluate the mechanisms regulating population dynamics of mammals and insects, but has been rarely applied to amphibian populations. In this study, the influence of endogenous (density-dependent) and exogenous (density-independent) factors regulating population dynamics of the terrestrial plethodontid salamander Speleomantes strinatii was analysed by means of time series and multiple regression analyses. During the period 1993–2005, S. strinatii population abundance, estimated by a standardised temporary removal method, displayed relatively low fluctuations, and the autocorrelation function (ACF) analysis showed that the time series had a noncyclic structure. The partial rate correlation function (PRCF) indicated that a strong first-order negative feedback dominated the endogenous dynamics. Stepwise multiple regression analysis showed that the only climatic factor influencing population growth rate was the minimum winter temperature. Thus, at least during the study period, endogenous, density-dependent negative feedback was the main factor affecting the growth rate of the salamander population, whereas stochastic environmental variables, such as temperature and rainfall, seemed to play a minor role in regulation. These results stress the importance of considering both exogenous and endogenous factors when analysing amphibian long-term population dynamics.     

'Molecular farming' of antibodies in plants

'Molecular farming' is the production of valuable recombinant proteins in transgenic organisms on an agricultural scale. While plants have long been used as a source of medicinal compounds, molecular farming represents a novel source of molecular medicines, such as plasma proteins, enzymes, growth factors, vaccines and recombinant antibodies, whose medical benefits are understood at a molecular level. Until recently, the broad use of molecular medicines was limited because of the difficulty in producing these proteins outside animals or animal cell culture. The application of molecular biology and plant biotechnology in the 1990s showed that many molecular medicines or vaccines could be synthesised in plants and this technology is termed 'molecular farming'. It results in pharmaceuticals that are safer, easier to produce and less expensive than those produced in animals or microbial culture. An advantage of molecular farming lies in the ability to perform protein production on a massive scale using hectares of cultivated plants. These plants can then be harvested and transported using the agricultural infrastructure. Thus, molecular farming allows rapid progress from genetic engineering to crop production, and new cash crops producing recombinant proteins are already being commercially exploited. We speculate that as functional genomics teaches us more about the nature of disease, molecular farming will produce many of the protein therapeutics that can remedy it.     

The effect of clock-shift on the initial orientation of wild rock doves (<Emphasis Type="Italic">Columba l. livia</Emphasis>)

Previous experiments on wild rock doves ( Columba l. livia Gmelin) released within their familiar area revealed an evident effect of fast-shifting, although shifted doves, but not controls, tended to orient homeward. Such an outcome suggested a possible influence of the release time per se on the directional choices of the tested doves. In the present study, this hypothesis was investigated by comparing the orientation of slow-shifted birds to that of two control groups released at different times of the day. As would be expected if doves make use of a time-compensated sun compass, the bearings of shifted birds were deflected clockwise with respect to controls. The time of release itself seemed to influence only the scatter of the vanishing bearings of controls. These findings testify to the substantial similarity of clock-shift effects on the initial orientation of rock doves to those on homing pigeons released from familiar sites.     

To roll or not to roll: nyctinastic behavior in young leaves of sacred lotus,Nelumbo nucifera

The Science of Nature -     

RNA interference: from an ancient mechanism to a state of the art therapeutic application?

Now that the sequencing of many genomes has been completed, the basic challenges are finding the genes and predicting their functions. Up until now, a large information gap has existed between the knowledge of genome sequence and our knowledge of protein function. The assessment of gene function may be performed using the tools of reverse genetics, including knock-out mice, antisense oligomers, aptamers, and ribozymes. These approaches have been superseded by RNA interference (RNAi), which exhibits much more potency for the investigation of protein function than the techniques listed above. As already known some years ago, RNAi is based on an ancient anti-viral defense mechanism in lower eukaryotes. It is induced by double-stranded RNA and its processing to 21–23 nt small interfering RNAs (siRNAs), which cause the degradation of homologous endogenous mRNA. The way RNAi works has still to be determined, but it already serves as a first-choice approach to generate loss-of-function phenotypes among a broad variety of eukaryotic species, such as nematodes, flies, plants, fungi and mammals. RNAi also represents an extremely powerful tool, becoming a therapeutic approach to curing infectious diseases originated by viral or parasitic invasion. In this review we present the current view of how RNAi works in different eukaryotic species and its high potential for functional genomics and in rational drug design.     

The effect of metapleural gland secretion on the growth of a mutualistic bacterium on the cuticle of leaf-cutting ants

In Acromyrmex octospinosus leaf-cutting ants the metapleural glands produce an array of antibiotic compounds that serve as a general defence against unwanted microbes on the cuticle. Leaf-cutting ants also grow mutualistic Pseudonocardiaceae bacteria on their cuticle that produce antibiotics controlling a microfungal parasite of their fungus gardens. Interaction between this bacterium and gland secretion therefore seems unavoidable. We document the typical development of bacterial growth on the cuticle of young major workers, show that growth starts a few days after eclosion, and that the maximal cover is reached after 2–3 weeks and gradually declines when workers mature. Experimental closure of the metapleural glands had no effect on the initial exponential growth phase of the bacterium, but significantly reduced the cover during the decline phase. The age-dependent abundance of the bacterium and its partial dependence on metapleural gland secretion support the hypothesis that the abundance of this mutualist is actively regulated.     

Assessment of global industrial-age anthropogenic arsenic contamination

Arsenic, a carcinogenic trace element, threatens not only the health of millions of humans and other living organisms, but also global sustainability. We present here, for the first time, the global industrial-age cumulative anthropogenic arsenic production and its potential accumulation and risks in the environment. In 2000, the world cumulative industrial-age anthropogenic arsenic production was 4.53 million tonnes. The world-wide coal and petroleum industries accounted for 46% of global annual gross arsenic production, and their overall contribution to industrial-age gross arsenic production was 27% in 2000. Global industrial-age anthropogenic As sources (as As cumulative production) follow the order: As mining production >As generated from coal >As generated from petroleum. The potential industrial-age anthropogenic arsenic input in world arable surface in 2000 was 2.18 mg arsenic kg^–1, which is 1.2 times that in the lithosphere. The development of substitute materials for arsenic applications in the agricultural and forestry industries and controls of arsenic emissions from the coal industry may be possible strategies to significantly decrease arsenic pollution sources and dissipation rates into the environment.     

Transmission of ice-nucleating active bacteria from a prey reduces cold hardiness of a predator (Araneae: Theridiidae)

The influence of ice-nucleating active (INA) bacteria on cold hardiness of the house spider, Achaearanea tepidariorum, was determined by measuring the supercooling point (SCP) of hatchlings given either INA-bacteria-fed or bacteria-free prey (Drosophila melanogaster). Spiders that had eaten INA-bacteria-fed flies showed higher SCPs than those fed on bacteria-free flies. Through feeding, INA bacteria in the prey reduce the cold hardiness of spiders. This fact should be taken into account before using INA agents as a means of pest management.