Cleaning symbiosis in an obligate goby–shrimp association

Shrimps from the genus Alpheidae had never been considered as a cleaner organism. In the present study, we demonstrate for the first time, Alpheus rapax engaging in cleaning symbiosis with its gobiid fish associate Myersina macrostoma. Within 450 min of observation time, 9 instances totalling 546 s of cleaning behaviour were recorded. Cleaning behaviour was always preceded by physical contact between the shrimps and their goby associates. The shrimps initiated all cleaning incidents, but these were always terminated by the gobies. Cleaning sessions were observed to occur mostly in the tail region (60.8 %) and followed by the head region (26.2 %). In one instance, a shrimp was observed to clean the gills of its goby associate. The gobies appear to exert some control as to where they were being cleaned by repositioning themselves during a cleaning session.     

A study on vertical greening practice emphasizing ecological benefits in Xiamen City of China

Through the practice of vertical greening, which is an important method for modern city greening, a city’s natural geographic conditions and rich plant resources can be efficiently utilized. Using vertical greening to shape the characteristics of a city is a promising method for sustainable development. Integration of vertical greening with urban characteristics offers huge ecological and cultural benefits. Vertical greening was adopted in China much later than other developed cities in the world and is still in the exploratory stage in most of the cities. As one of the pioneer cities to carry out vertical greening in China, Xiamen has managed to project it as one of the city highlights. In this study, we analyzed the problems that Xiamen City faced during its development and the important role vertical greening has played in the urban landscape. In addition, humanistic and ecological benefits of vertical greening are illustrated through an experimental study.     

Effects of design parameters on performance and cost analysis of combined ultraviolet-biofilter systems treating gaseous chlorobenzene based on mathematical modeling

A conceptual mathematical model was used to evaluate the design parameters of a combined ultraviolet (UV)-biofilter system, and perform a cost analysis. Results showed that the UV light source strength and the gas residence times in the UV system (UVRT) and biofilter (EBRT) had positive effects on the overall chlorobenzene removal efficiency of the system. High ratio of UVRT to EBRT improved the removal efficiency, suggesting that the UV system has a greater effect on the overall performance of the system compared with the biofilter. Analysis of the capital and operating costs showed that the capital costs of the standalone biofilter system were much higher than those of the standalone UV system. However, the biofilter operating costs were lower than those of the UV system. The operating costs of the combined UV-biofilter system increased with increasing UVRT/EBRT ratio, whereas its capital costs decreased.     

环境激素的内分泌干扰机制及其对人体的影响

环境激素问题的调查研究标志着地球环境时代的到来。重点讨论了环境激素的分类、特征及其内分泌干扰机制,并涉及了环境激素对人体的影响,以期引起人们的关注和重视,加强这方面的调查研究。     

螯合剂对铜毒性的影响

研究了螯合剂EDTA和DTPA对海州香薷蓄铜能力和铜毒性的影响.结果显示,EDTA和DTPA能抑制植物的生长,使其生物量降低,叶绿素含量下降,同时降低了植物的根系活力.EDTA和DTPA都可引起植物SOD、POD活性上升,在与Cu²⁺共同作用下,EDTA对Cu²⁺毒性影响较小,表现在SOD、POD活性仍按Cu²⁺独立作用下的变化规律而变化,且数值上变化不大.而DTPA则降低了Cu²⁺作用下SOD、POD活性的变化.EDTA使海州香薷地上部分铜浓度增加,DTPA则明显降低了海州香薷的铜含量.     

Turbulence suppression by suspended sediment within a geophysical flow

Experiments are performed in a mixing box to evaluate the effect of suspended sediment on turbulence generated by an oscillating grid. Quartz-density sand of varying sizes and concentrations is used, and particle image velocimetry is employed to quantify only the fluid phase. Results show that (1) while a relatively large secondary flow field is present in the box, turbulence is a maximum near the grid and it decreases systematically toward the water surface; (2) relatively high concentrations of fine sediment can markedly alter this secondary flow field and significantly decrease both the time-mean and turbulent kinetic energy within the flow, yet these same sediment concentrations have little effect on the integral time and length scales derived for each velocity component; and (3) the overall turbulence suppression observed can be related to the transfer of energy from the fluid to the sediment and the maintenance of a suspended sediment load rather than commonly employed turbulence modulation criteria. These experimental data demonstrate unequivocally that the presence of a suspended sediment load can significantly reduce overall turbulent kinetic energy, and these results should be applicable to a range of sediment-laden geophysical flows.     

Partitioning of \alpha and \beta diversity using hierarchical Bayesian modeling of species distribution and abundance

Diversity partitioning is becoming widely used to decompose the total number of species recorded in an area or region \((\gamma )\) into the average number of species within samples \((\alpha )\) and the average difference in species composition \((\beta )\) among samples. Single-value metrics of \(\alpha \) and \(\beta \) diversity are popular because they may be applied at multiple scales and because of their ease in computation and interpretation. Studies thus far, however, have emphasized observed diversity components or comparisons to randomized, null distributions. In addition, prediction of \(\alpha \) and \(\beta \) components using environmental or spatial variables has been limited to more extensive data sets because multiple samples are required to estimate single \(\alpha \) and \(\beta \) components. Lastly, observed diversity components do not incorporate variation in detection probabilities among species or samples. In this study, we used hierarchical Bayesian models of species abundances to provide predictions of \(\alpha \) and \(\beta \) components in species richness and composition using environmental and spatial variables. We illustrate our approach using butterfly data collected from 26 grassland remnants to predict spatially nested patterns of \(\alpha \) and \(\beta \) based on the predicted counts of butterflies. Diversity partitioning using a Bayesian hierarchical model incorporated variation in detection probabilities by butterfly species and habitat patches, and provided prediction intervals for \(\alpha \) and \(\beta \) components using environmental and spatial variables.     

Occurrence of estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals concern in sewage plant effluent

The purpose of this study was to give a worldwide overview of the concentrations of typical estrogenic endocrine disrupting chemicals （EDCs） in the effluent of sewage plants and then compare the concentra- tion distribution of the estrogenic EDCs in ten countries based on the survey data of the estrogenic EDCs research. The concentrations of three main categories （totally eight kinds） of estrogenic EDCs including steroidal estrogens （estrone （El）, estradiol （E2）, estriol （E3） and 17a- ethynylestradiol （EE2））, phenolic compounds （nonylphe- nol （NP） and bisphenol A （BPA）） and phthalate esters （dibutyl phthalate （DBP） and dibutyl phthalate （2- ethylhexyl） phthalate （DEHP）） in the effluents of sewage plants reported in major international journals over the past decade were collected. The statistics showed that the concentration distributions of eight kinds of EDCs were in the range of ng·L^-1 to μg·L^-1. The concentrations of steroidal estrogens mainly ranged within 50.00 ng. L-1, and the median concentrations of El, E2, E3 and EE2 were 11.00, 3.68, 4.90 and 1.00 ng·L^-1, respectively. Phenolic compounds and phthalate esters were found at pg. L-1 level （some individual values were at the high level of 40.00 μg·L^-1）. The median concentrations of BPA, NP, DBP and DEHP were 0.06, 0.55, 0.07 and 0.88 μg·L^-1, respectively. The concentrations of phenolic compounds and phthalate esters in the effluents were higher than that of steroids estrogens. The analysis of the concentration in various ten countries showed that steroids estrogens, phenolic compounds and phthalate esters in sewage plant effluents were detected with high concentration in Canada, Spain and China, respectively.     

大气细颗粒物暴露后小鼠肺组织microRNA差异表达谱芯片分析

microRNAs作为临床疾病早期诊断的新型生物标记物越来越受到重视,为了进一步探究其在大气污染暴露后引起疾病的分子染毒机制。本研究通过建立大气污染小鼠染毒模型,利用Agilent芯片筛查小鼠肺组织中microRNAs差异表达谱,并通过实时荧光定量PCR方法验证芯片结果,使用Target Scan,PITA,microRNAorg数据对差异mi RNA进行靶基因预测,进行靶基因富集的基因功能(GO)和信号通路(KEGG)分析。结果显示,大气细颗粒物暴露2周后小鼠肺组织microRNAs有显著差异表达谱,高剂量暴露组与对照组比较有4个mi RNAs上调,低剂量暴露组与对照组比较有2个mi RNAs上调,高剂量组与低剂量组比较,有4个mi RNAs上调(标准为fold change值=2.0且P值=0.05),挑选差异明显的mi RNAs进行q RT-PCR验证,mi R-139-5p、mi R-691及mi R-340-3p变化趋势与芯片一致,生物信息学结果显示,差异表达的mi RNAs所调控的靶基因明显富集于34个GO通路(包括RNA转录酶II启动子的转录,RNA拼接,DNA模板,蛋白质结合和核酸结合)和32个KEGG通路(主要集中轴突导向通路和癌症通路)。综上所述,大气细颗粒物暴露染毒可诱导小鼠肺组织中mi R-139-5p、mi R-691及mi R-340-3p明显上调,且生物信息学分析提示中枢神经系统发育及癌症通路可能作为PM2.5暴露相关差异表达mi RNAs调控靶基因介导的主要致病通路。     

湿地生态风险评价中生物完整性指数研究进展

湿地是陆地与水域之间的过渡地带,是地球上生产力最高的生态系统。湿地生态风险评价的实际应用将使人们更好地理解物理、化学和生物风险源如何影响湿地,并为湿地管理提供科学支撑,这就要求确定湿地生态健康评价指标的完整性。生物完整性指数以环境生态毒理学数据为依据,是进行生态系统健康风险评价的最有力工具。大中型无脊椎动物作为易选择的分类群,可用于湿地评估的生物完整性指数的建立,土壤动物特别是线虫类群作为湿地土壤和水环境健康评价的指示生物具有广阔前景。通过线虫分子毒理学等研究方法,可优化出生物完整性指数体系,建立扰动背景下的湿地生态风险评价模型,为湿地污染的监测、防控和修复,提供理论依据和实践方法。