The effect of octopamine on behavioral responses of free-foraging bumblebees to a change in food source profitability

The invertebrate neuromodulator octopamine is known to be involved in bees' associative learning, enhancing the responsiveness of a bee to a conditioned stimulus. In this study, we tested the effect of octopamine on the choice behavior of free-flying bumblebees using a two-phase experiment in an array of artificial flowers. During the first phase of the experiment, the bee was allowed to collect octopamine-laden sugar water from two types of equally rewarding flowers (yellow versus blue). In the second phase, one type of flower was set to be unrewarding. The behavior of the bee (proportion of visits to the unrewarding flowers) over the two phases was fitted to a sigmoid regression model. Our results show that octopamine had no significant effect on the bees' equilibrium choice or on the overall rate of the behavioral change in response to the change in reward. Rather, octopamine significantly affected the time interval between the change in reward status and the initiation of behavioral change in the bee.     

重庆市主城区及近郊居民环境意识状况分析

采用非概率抽样方法，对重庆市主城区及近郊区居民共542户进行入户调查，分析了居民环境意识状况，发现环境意识水平与文化，经济水平以及信息媒体有密切关系，并提出了具体建议。     

烧结砖生产中氟的逸出及钙基废渣固氟特性研究

砖坯烧制过程中，氟逸出的初始温度约为600℃，大部分氟在约800℃至砖坯发生明显烧结的温度内逸出，以CaO含量高的粘土原料制砖，氟逸出量相对较少。在此基础上，提出在制砖原料中添加适量钙基废渣抑制氟的逸出，并进行了详细的实验室和工业性试验；结果表明，在适宜添加量下，存氟率由约25％增至70％以下，且不影响砖制品质量。     

Quantification of human amniotic fluid constituents by high resolution proton nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) spectroscopy

We have investigated the ability of high-resolution proton NMR spectroscopy to provide a biochemical constituent screening of human amniotic fluid (AF). Proton NMR spectra were obtained at 300 MHz on AF from patients undergoing amniocentesis in the mid-trimester. Only AF from normal pregnancies (normal fetal karyotype, normal a-fetoprotein levels, normal birth outcome) was used in this study. The AF supernatant was lyophilized and resuspended in deuterated water containing 0.1 mm phosphate buffer and 6.02 mm disodium maleate. Identification of low molecular weight compounds was confirmed by two-dimensional NMR spectra (primarily correlated spectroscopy, or COSY) and standard addition techniques. A broad profile of compounds were ‘NMR visible’ in a single proton spectrum, including creatinine, glucose, organic acids (acetate, citrate, and lactate) and several amino acids (alanine, histidine, leucine, phenylalanine, tyrosine and valine). The proton spectrum was unaffected by prior freezing/thawing of AF samples. We were able to quantify compounds by comparison with an added concentration standard (maleate) at concentrations as low as 30 μm. Good agreement with literature values based on other analytical techniques was obtained.     

克山病病区低硒粮喂养的豚鼠红细胞内Na~+浓度变化的研究

豚鼠分别喂以克山病病区粮(低硒)和非病区粮(硒含量正常),借助合成的D_Y(PPP)_2~(-7)位移试剂用XL-400NMR谱仪直接测试完整红细胞内Na~+的NMR谱,并定量计算细胞内Na~+浓度,发现低硒的病区粮饲养的豚鼠红细胞内Na~+浓度显著高于正常组;病区粮喂养的豚鼠红细胞在老化条件下细胞溶血比非病区严重。